“The greatest happiness you can have
is knowing that
you do not necessarily require happiness.”
~~ William Saroyan ~~
Irish Buskers in the Spanish Arch, Galway…
Hajime…. In the recent past, I’ve been unable to write, thanks, mostly, to the debilitating heat we’ve been stifled by for the last week, beaten down into semi-conscious, lethargic creatures, able only to sweat and pant. It finally broke last night, & the next week promises to be some nice weather, relatively speaking. One can only heave a sigh of relief, & get on with life, trying to catch up to all we’ve left undone in our stupor.
For today’s offering, I’ve managed to piece together some decent material, with some fine old music to read by, and a most excellent group of pearls to finish things off. All in all, despite the continuing lack of ranting (which still strikes me as too futile to spend any time on….), it’s not bad, offering, like cats, no corners to the winds of fate. Given my recent dearth of creativity, I can only applaud the fact it got done, without any foolish forays into predicting its quality. In fact, I’ll say, simply, what you see is what you get, & leave it at that, as one cannot be any more precise without the risk of uttering falsehoods. Wouldn’t want any of that, now, would we? No, of course we wouldn’t….
What I can do is show a bit of sense, as well as courtesy, by bringing this ‘sort of an intro’ to a rapid close, so we can get on with the task at hand. I’ll use one of my oldest techniques, which I used to call ‘old number four’, but, now, I just call it Harold. Don’t ask, just take it & run for the border. That’s what I’m gonna do; watch….
Shall we Pearl?….
“In the beginning, God created the Earth
and he said, “Let there be mud.”
And there was mud.
And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud,
so the mud can see what we have done.”
And God created every living creature that now moveth,
and one was man.
Mud-as-man alone could speak.
“What is the purpose of all this?” man asked politely.
“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all of this,” said God.
And He went away.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut, Between Time and Timbuktu” ~~
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Jackson Browne
Image from the HoustonPress.com via Google Images
While cruising You Tube for music, I found some videos & audio files from this artist, one I’ve enjoyed for more years than I can count. Well, not really; it’s been close to fifty years, as he became prominent when I was in college, in 1968. I, among others, consider him one of the most underrated songwriters in the business, and a great live performer. Yes, it’s another blast from the past; when it’s this good, who cares?…. Enjoy!….
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Jackson Brown Running on Empty
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Augmentation: Inner Aye
Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.
Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.
Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.
Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.
Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.
Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.
~~ gigoid ~~
3/2/2016
***************************************
Naked Pearls
True keys to success in Life….
*******
“Do not eat your heart.”
~~ Pythagoras ~~
*******
“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.”
~~ William Arthur Ward ~~
*******
“If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”
~~ Thumper (1942) ~~
*******
“Let him that would move the world, first move himself.”
~~ Socrates ~~
*******
“Practice random beauty and senseless acts of love.”
~~ Ancient Hippie proverb ~~
*******
“If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.”
~~ Lucy Larcom ~~
*******
“Here is the test
to find whether your mission on Earth is finished:
if you’re alive, it isn’t.”
~~ Richard Bach ~~
*******
***************************************
Though I can’t say it’s the best Pearl ever, I can say, it’s done, which relegates it to the category we love the most, to wit, ‘ready to post’…. Let’s do that, before I lose my nerve, or, regain my senses. I’m off to see the lizard; y’all are, as usual, on your own from this point. Y’all stay strange out there; we does our best to provide y’all with an example, and then hope for the best. See ya, probably sooner than you think….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed
every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up,
till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”
~~ William Blake, English poet, artist, and mystic ~~
Possibilities abound….
Hajime…. Though I never achieved much in the way of balance yesterday, I did manage to stay out of gaol, which wasn’t as simple as it may seem, given the one social encounter of my day was with a cabbie firmly in the ranks of the ignorati. Suffice it to say, I left him (mostly) alive, but, ’twas a close thing…. I stayed in after that, to reduce my chances of failing in my chosen duty, thus keeping myself from the attention of the local myrmidons…. Good thing, there, too; I wasn’t in the mood for dealing with the general run of entitlement seen in many too many officers of the ‘law’ in today’s world; it’s getting rather ubiquitous, & I’m often tempted to abrogate duty in favor of justice.
All in all, though, I digress. I don’t have much time, as I’ve been co-opted again to babysit today; Zoe’s coming, & the adventure begins anew. I did manage to get mostly done with the Pearl for today, though the poem still hasn’t quite come completely clear yet. But, that’s easily remedied with an older poem, so, we’re good to go, and, since we are, we’re going. Moreover, we’re going now, before I lose my chutzpah, or my window of opportunity. See ya down the page, ffolkes. Hang on, we’re going down hot….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes,
and feel with their own hearts.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
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In an attempt to keep relatively current with the world at large, (for the purposes of overall security; it’s wise to know WHEN to jump, as well as in what direction, if & when the time comes….), despite my deliberate hiatus from watching any TV, or other kinds of news cruising, I watched this video, which seemed a good way to hear/see a summarization of all I’d missed. I was so engaged by both the speaker and the content, I am including it here today; I think every American citizen would do well to pay attention to what he says….. not for their own good, directly, but, for the good of the country itself….
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Hasan Minhaj 2017 White House Correspondents Dinner
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Illusory Time
Viewed from askance, the river is long;
deep, uncompromisingly intent, swift and strong.
In duality, perception creates our only reality;
such faux metaphoric paradox enforces mutability.
By two we perceive, both zero, and one;
digital, binary, on or off, such fun.
Separate, melded, we exist, knowing not what we know
ego, striving to be solitary, looking above, seeing below.
Furiously asleep, cultural anomaly claims a victim of choice;
validly unconscious, nobody speaks, nary a voice.
Potential escapees stir in dreams, fighting to wake,
until taking the wheel, for their own bloody sake.
Pots boil in due time, when the fire’s hot,
time exists to our advantage; or, not.
The solitary warrior, head bent in pain,
fights on, with, or without gain.
Night fell, day after day it persisted;
of those who knew, none showed any care, or resisted
Angels, ministers, none had any defense, nor grace;
all that remains is a face.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/22/2016
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Naked Pearls
If you think about it….
*******
“All of the animals excepting man know
that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.”
~~ Samuel Butler ~~
*******
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
~~ John Wesley ~~
*******
“We don’t receive wisdom;
we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey
that no one can take for us
or spare us.”
~~ Marcel Proust ~~
*******
“Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
*******
“Once you can accept the universe as being
something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something,
wearing stripes with plaid is easy.”
~~ Albert Einstein ~~
*******
“The only thing I know for sure
is that I know nothing at all, for sure.”
~~ Socrates ~~
*******
“All this happened, more or less..”
~~ Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, 1968 ~~
*******
***************************************
“In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away
— for the Snark *was* a Boojum, you see.”
~~ Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark ~~
Neither Snark, nor Boojum here; however, I AM in a hurry now, lest I get stopped in the midst of getting this done. Wish me luck today; she’s a pistol…. See y’all, maybe even soon…. Be well, & alert; it’s the least you can do….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Murder is always a mistake….
One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.”
~~ Oscar Wilde ~~
Midsummer colors….
Hajime…. Though I know ‘hope’ to be, in general, a denial of reality, I still allowed myself to entertain some, investing it in my wish to write a most excellent Pearl, including a bright, catchy, and compelling intro section. As usual, ‘hope’ fails the test of time, & while all the elements of a decent piece of work are present, the bright, compelling part has shown itself to be rather problematic. This, of course, is a natural function of my brain, to find even the simplest of tasks problematic; I can’t be positive, but, it’s a pretty sure bet it’s my own fault…. I mean, given my history, (I AM a human…), and my inclinations, (curmudgeon-in-training….), whom else can I blame?….
Still, I guess I can be content with having completed it, at all; my recent lack of consistency, while unsurprising after so much time, still manages to cause me a bit of unwanted and unfamiliar guilt, which, having completed today’s task in a relatively timely, if uncomfortably rushed fashion, can be dismissed as misguided, for today, anyway. As for tomorrow, well, I AM old enough to know better than to place much faith or hope in THAT; after all, as we all know, tomorrow may never come, right? Right. So, we’ll regard that as a fait accompli, which if you think about it, is a pretty neat trick….
What? That last reference is unclear? SIGH…. It must be the extra scoop of coffee I put in the basket this morning; got me typing nearly as fast as I’m thinking. That’s always a confusing thing when one starts discussing matters of time; past, present, future are all rather uniquely related, in a very real way, & our imagination, while a powerful tool, usually isn’t up to the task of keeping them all in their appropriate places, actually believing it has the power to do so in reality, as well as in the mind…. Silly humans. Ah, well, don’t fret; it’ll all be clear eventually, & if not, well, it will give you something to chew over in those quiet moments….
As for me/us, & today’s Pearl, well, we’ll practice what we preach, & get on with it, any time now. In fact, isn’t that our signal? Yes, yes it is, and, look! We’ve already been cleared for landing, or, take-off…. It’s our choice, & I promise, we’ll make it as random as we can….
Shall we Pearl?….
“The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”
~~ Henrik Ibsen, “An Enemy of the People”, 1882 ~~
***************************************
Today’s music is one of our default selections, used when I can’t think of anything else, & time is short. Go figure, eh? It’s well worth a listen, and even more worth donating a small bit of gelt, to an organization that works for peace through music…. Enjoy!….
***************************************
Playing For Change Ripple
***************************************
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***************************************
Augmentation: Inner Aye
Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.
Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.
Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.
Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.
Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.
Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.
~~ gigoid ~~
3/2/2016
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Um… Isn’t it obvious?….
*******
“When we look at a rock
what we are seeing is not the rock,
but the effect of the rock upon us.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
*******
“When it’s dark enough you can see the stars.”
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~
*******
“Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth:
the only way to help yourself is to help others.”
~~ Elbert Hubbard ~~
*******
“How many cares one loses
when one decides not to be something
but to be someone.”
~~ Coco Chanel ~~
*******
“Big, undreamed-of things.
The people on the edge see them first.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr ~~
*******
“The real voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new lands,
but in seeing with new eyes.”
~~ Marcel Proust ~~
*******
“It is something to be able to paint a particular picture,
or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful;
but it is far more glorious to carve and paint
the very atmosphere and medium through which we look,
which morally we can do.
To affect the quality of the day,
that is the highest of arts.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau, “Where I Live”
*******
***************************************
I’m fairly certain there are any number of appropriate techniques for ending today’s outburst, but, since I can’t think of any of them, how about I just say, see ya, ffolkes? Hey, it’s always good to try something new, especially when it offers the possibility of getting out of this intact. In that spirit, y’all stay stay alert, & I’ll see ya on the flip side….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
Subtle Urban Beauty….
Hajime…. In the past here on ECR, when searching for inspiration, I have often faced a vast, frightening expanse of featureless nothing, promising naught but dismay for all my efforts. Some days, I will retreat into introspection, speaking of personal issues, or rumination on past events. Other times, depending on mood, I’ll hare off into nonsense, or, blather incessantly about whatever comes to mind, as long as it makes little sense. Still other days, I’ll make an attempt at writing something new & fictional, just to practice the skills involved in producing something readable, if not compellingly so. Today, however, I’m trying something else….
I can hear the groaning, so just stop it. All I’m going to do is be honest, and forthright about my lack of inspiration. I got nothin’, ffolkes. It’s a miracle a Pearl got done at all; I am surprised enough to not even examine any of the ‘how’ that may have been involved; it would just turn out to have been illegal, or, immoral, at the very least. But, it did, so, I’m going to post it. I’m just not going to say anything relevant beforehand, to preserve any potential intellectual value that may have accrued by accident. This is not only necessary for our purpose, it’s the only compassionate thing to do.
See? Even a surly old curmudgeon can be nice, as long as it isn’t expected. I’ll just use the accumulated expertise I found here on the desk to help us get to the proper configuration to augment the purpose, in what will probably be the most coherent part of all you’ve seen thus far. That looks, suspiciously, like this….
Shall we Pearl?
“Reality is useful: It occupies time between fantasies.”
~~ Heyoka Bee ~~
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Since I’ve got nothing, here’s someone who had it on a regular, consistent basis, & said it well…. I doubt he needs any more introduction than that, so, all that’s necessary now is for me to say, enjoy!….
***************************************
George Carlin Live
***************************************
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***************************************
Early Observations
Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.
All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.
But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.
Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.
‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.
Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.
Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.
Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.
Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.
~~ gigoid ~~
4/12/2013
***************************************
Naked Pearls
A small paradox….
*******
“I’m not a teacher
only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way.
I pointed ahead
– ahead of myself as well as of you.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw, “Getting Married,” 1908 ~~
*******
“As I look at your image,
I see only the light which was not absorbed.”
~~ Mark Middleton ~~
*******
“He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder.”
~~ M C Escher ~~
*******
“Are you trying to somehow deal with the snake?”
~~ Curiously Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“… and she’s buying a stairway to Heaven.”
~~ Led Zeppelin ~~
*******
“And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there”
~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~
*******
“All this happened, more or less..”
~~ Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, 1968 ~~
*******
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There you go, ffolkes. That’s all I’ve got, & it’s probably more than is wise to share. Oh, well. The good news is, it’s done. The other good news is, we get to try again, another day, maybe even tomorrow. The odds are getting a bit hard to figure, but, that’s okay, because the game is rigged, anyway. See ya, ffolkes…. Just try to stop me….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“He who has the courage to laugh
is almost as much a master of the world
as he who is ready to die.”
~~ Giacomo Leopardi ~~
Mornings are fun!….
Hajime…. Just look at that face! Is that not the perfect picture of experiencing joy, simply to be alive? Such serendipitous gifts cannot be overvalued, in my estimation, providing us with a reason to look inside, to find the part of us that once felt that joy, unbidden. For those of us advanced in years, it’s a long way back in memory, but, just seeing such a smile, echoed by the glittering eyes, gives us good reason to spend the time & effort to take that journey into our own past, to share the joy she so obviously feels….
Thanks to a studious application of will, I was able to cobble together this Pearl for today. Two final tasks to complete, then I can post it, before reaching my current limit for sitting. To keep from going wonky, as is my wont, far too often, I’ll truncate this intro, as best I can, & we can all get on with the rest of the day, which, for me, is a busy one. In fact, I’ve so much to do, I actually am experiencing the dreaded deadline anxiety; time to administer the antidote, I think. How, you may ask, will he do it this time? Simple, really. Watch this….
Shall we Pearl?
“If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good.
But you can survive without it
if you have love, compassion, and tolerance.
The clear truth of a person’s love of God
is if that person genuinely shows love to fellow human beings.”
~~ Dalai Lama ~~
***********************************
Since we’re having so much fun this morning, I feel like some good time music. Here is one of my favorite concerts from a good time musician, with whom I’ve spent many a fine evening, both in concert, and on the stereo…. I’ve been a Coral Reefer since the mid-70’s, when I first heard two of his first albums, “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation”, and “Living and Dying in 3/4 Time”. I won’t suggest you enjoy this, as I am sure you will, no matter what I may say; it’s just plain good stuff….
********************************
Jimmy Buffett Live in Anguilla
********************************
********************************
********************************
Dreaming of Calliope
La belle dame sans merci speaks aloud through endless night,
torturing dreams, with powerful words and stentorian phrases.
Manifest visions bathed in unbearable grace and light,
destroying all direction, standing lost, in unfathomable mazes.
Fate plays a part, one that will never face denial,
as fear and courage eternally vie for ascendancy.
Conflict becomes valid, gifting strength in open trial,
but honest emotion wears no costume so fancy.
Blood, sweat, and tears stroll on avenues of gold,
unlikely heroines heralding as in ancient lore;
Sharp, competent knives cut through tales untold,
eternally shifting reality past the naked shore.
Drifting toward origin, bereft of mandate or cause,
finished, nay, abandoned, tied with a figurative bow.
No simple gift from muses to give comfort or pause,
save that all we need to know, we already know…..
~~ gigoid ~~
12/13/2012
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Naked Pearls
Poetic philosophy, aka, Philosophic Poetry….
*********
“A word is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.”
~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
*********
“The hour is striking so close above me,
so clear and sharp,
that all my senses ring with it.
I feel it now: there’s a power in me
to grasp and give shape to my world.
I know that nothing has ever been real
without my beholding it.
All becoming has needed me.
My looking ripens things
and they come toward me, to meet and be met.”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke, from Book of Hours~~
*********
“As for the future,
your task is not to foresee it,
but to enable it.”
~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “Wisdom of the Sands” ~~
*********
“Do I dare disturb the universe?”
~~ T. S. Eliot ~~
*********
“Happiness follows sorrow,
sorrow follows happiness,
but when one no longer discriminates
between happiness and sorrow,
a good deal and a bad deed,
one is able to realize freedom.”
~~ Buddha~~
*********
“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”
~~ Rush, “Freewill” ~~
*********
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.”
~~ Ralph Ellison ~~
*********
“All time in all time.
It does not change.
It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations.
It simply is.
Take it moment by moment,
and you will find that we are all bugs in amber.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr., “Slaughter-House 5” ~~
*********
“Come to the edge, life said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, life said.
They came.
It pushed them….
and they Flew.”
~~ Guillaume Apollinaire ~~
*********
********************************
Well, I did it. Okay, so, I cheated, a bit. Sue me, if you dare. For my own part, I am content, or, as content as possible in my current state of advanced ambiguity. So be it, he said, with a wicked grin and a snap of the fingers. We’re done, and, what’s more, we’re outta here. No telling, at this point, when this might happen again, but, you may rest assured, it will. Hell, I’ve even got a new poem in the process of leaking out, so, eventually, when it’s done, I’ll have to post it, if only to soothe my own fevered dreams of adequacy. For the nonce, I’ll bid thee adieu, until we meet again, somewhere in cyberspace…. See ya, ffolkes; be alert, because it will happen quickly, when it does….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“True silence is the rest of the mind.
It is to the spirit what sleep is to the body
–nourishment and refreshment.”
~~ William Penn ~~
Harold & Violet, circa 1910
Hajime…. In summary of the past five plus days, let me just say, whew! What a ride! It has taken me nearly 48 hours of near catatonia, and about 20 hours sleeping, to approach the near-human state I have awakened to this morning. I managed to finish a Pearl over that time, by working at it in spurts, as more energy became available. I can’t say it’s the most compelling Pearl ever created, but, it’s pretty good, all things considered. Any summary of the time leading up to today should also include two comments, to wit: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, (shout-out here to Chuck Dickens….), and “Regardless of our perceptions, the universe remains in balance.”
I realize those may be a bit obscure, in terms of details which might explain their relevance, but, any such relation of details will have to wait for tomorrow, and/or other Pearls yet to be composed. I will say this now: it was one of the most illuminating periods of time I’ve ever experienced. During the time I spent traveling, and during my stay in Oregon to fulfill death duty, I connected with more new, and old friends than in any previous comparable time in my entire life. Though I am a trifle sad at the passing of my friend, his change of path was accomplished with love, and dignity, and compassion, so, in that, I am content.
I am also more than merely content at the serendipity I found in traveling. On both legs of the train ride to my destination in Oregon, I met people with whom I became incredibly connected, about whom I shall speak in time. Suffice to say, I met one of our species’ Great Souls, one of the most influential men of the 20th and 21st centuries, whom I met when I helped him navigate his way through the coach section in which we found ourselves to the dining car for dinner.
He is 85 years of age, though he appears to be in his 60’s, and spent much of the latter half of the 20th century pursuing his interests on the highest level stages of world events/history, starting with his invitation to come to the US from his home in India to participate in the Manhattan Project. He was traveling in Coach, because he wished to meet new people, to help him achieve a sense of balance lost at his wife’s death the year before. We spent, literally, hours and hours exchanging ideas, and our histories, and our contact information, to ensure we would meet again.
I also met two very intelligent, passionately alive young men, one traveling for pleasure, the other on his way to a Zen Buddhist institute to study advanced Zen mysticism, with whom I debated the existence of God for most of the last night on the train…. Since it is almost impossible for me to sleep on the train, it helped pass the long night in both directions. I’m just now getting over the exhaustion I incurred over the four day trip, having slept very little, but, cannot regret a single moment of the time spent awake, for my mind feasted on joyful cogitation, and discovery, the entire time I was gone…
Now, I’m back, and note I have rambled & blathered quite enough for one intro…. I’m sure I’ll relate more of the trip, as I am still processing all that occurred… In the meantime, let’s get on with today’s mess, so we can all get on with the rest of the day…. See ya down the page, ffolkes… Hang on, we’re goin’ in fast & hard….
Shall we Pearl?
“A man can do something for peace without having to jump into politics.
Each man has inside him a basic decency and goodness.
If he listens to it and acts on it,
he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most.”
~~ Pablo Casals ~~
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Image from You Tube via Google Images
I first became aware of this group last year when Leonard Cohen passed away, whereupon a number of artists covered his works in tribute. This A Capella singing group performed Lenny’s “Hallelujah” in a video, with excellent innovative passion. I found this via a link from a friend on FB, & thought it was perfect for today, to honor the passage of my friend, Dennis, and, offer some hope for the future of humanity…. If naught else, it’s grand craic, and, if you can’t appreciate its genius, you are in need of some cultivation of your basic humanity…. Enjoy!….
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Pentatonix
“Imagine”
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A Dubiously Soft Morning
Idiosyncratic images, clamoring for regard,
fill up the white, white screen on which I view
my life, never seeing, nor invited to sup
ambrosial remnants of anything new.
Still, yet almost in motion, allegory sails away
bobbing gently, quick and easy to find,
signs of one happy child, seriously at play,
blissfully immersed, focused joy in mind.
Formidable cries of outraged simple justice
echo plaintive relevance, in half the time.
Maladaptive infants, destined for hospice
salvage an only child, daring to sing in rhyme.
Creativity equals unquestioning farce,
often reaching for absurdity, brazenly afire.
Instead, a blow is felt no joy will ever soften,
accepting the price, added to the cost of desire.
~~ gigoid ~~
7/26/2013
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Naked Pearls
Notes on Life at Large….
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“All beginnings are hard.”
~~ Chaim Potok, “In The Beginning”, 1975 ~~
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“Big, undreamed-of things.
The people on the edge see them first.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr ~~
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“Only through time time is conquered.”
~~ T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton” ~~
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“Think of everyone as a idiot.”
~~ MSgt. R. H. Moore, Driving Rule #1 ~~
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“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants.
The question is: what are we busy about?:”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
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“To a rational being it is the same thing
to act according to nature and according to reason.”
~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations, vii, 11 ~~
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“You think your pain and your heartbreak
are unprecedented in the history of the world,
but then you read.
It was books that taught me
that the things that tormented me most
were the very things that connected me
with all the people who were alive,
or who had ever been alive.”
~~ James Baldwin ~~
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“If you are stopping now, then stop.
If you are seeking a time when you finish,
there will never be a time when you finish.”
~~ Zen Koan ~~
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“If you get confused, listen to the music play.”
~~ Robert Hunter ~~
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It’s been a number of years since my mornings were so infused with positive energy to any appreciable degree; to feel such again is nothing less than a joy, which I can only work to extend as far as I can. I guess by seeking the balance it brings with it, that can be made real. In point of fact, that’s the plan for the day, and the coming days. Let’s go get a start on it, shall we? I’ll do my best to return tomorrow, with another fine Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, and hope all of y’all have as fine a day as I am having, and intend to maintain…. Be well, be happy as you may, and, remember to stay mindful, and, alert. Things really do work out better that way, y’know….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness
by changing anything but his own disposition
will waste his life in fruitless efforts.”
~~ Samuel Johnson ~~
Iconic Golden Gate Bridge, with boat….
Hajime…. Since there is time (Always… Tardis, remember?), we’ll take a break, first. Hang on; I’ll be back….
It’s been some time since I went for a walk before dawn. In retrospect, it was much the same as all the other times I’ve done so in my life, in that I always find the rest of the world quiet, and, for as much as it can be, at peace, if only on the surface. Such instances of solitude out in the BBR are rare, and it is wise to absorb as much of the calmness into one’s spirit while one may. If naught else, it provides us, or, me, anyway, some inner strength to face the other times when peace is not as readily found. That would be pretty much all the time one spends dealing with society, so, a good stash of inner peace is always welcome.
Now, then…. If I’ve managed to keep any of those who began this mess thus far, I’ll note today’s Pearl is pretty standard. The old-school pearl is pretty special, in some ways; the message it contains is fairly standard, but, the path it takes to get there is rather less so. You’ll see. The poem speaks to the same issue as the previous paragraph, in its way, and the music is Mozart. Not the most engaging of menus, I would guess, but, up to our usual standards, and, thus, acceptable, if only in our dreams. Dreams are, after all, as big a part of our reality as is the flesh and blood world in which we spend the greater portion of our time. I often wonder if the Australian aborigines don’t have it right, when they profess to believe dreamtime is when we are most real, and our standard reality is the true dream. Sounds fairly coherent to my way of perceiving; it’s at least as much so as any of the common religious philosophies people tend to cling to, don’t you think?
Well, I think so. Before we get any further into what conceivably could turn into a controversy, let’s get on with what we have for y’all today. I can’t say it is the best we’ve ever done, but, it ain’t crap. On that elegant note, let’s see what’s down there to find….
Shall we Pearl?….
“We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.”
~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~
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You had to know, given what you’ve seen already, this was coming. Try to enjoy it, anyway, okay? I know I will….
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Classical Music
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Today’s poem is, again, one of mine; it’s been a while since I last posted it, and the message it delivers is our point for the day, hence, no shame. Enjoy!….
Accentuated Lessons
Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.
Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.
Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.
Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.
Peace lies within, always…..
~~ gigoid ~~
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Naked Pearls
Clearly obscure….
*******
Just Say “Know!”
~~ Realist Bee ~~
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“For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.”
~~ Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” ~~
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“The fact that an opinion has been widely held
is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd;
indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind,
a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.”
~~ Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals ~~
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“There is what there is and what we wish there was.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“Tiger gotta hunt. Bird gotta fly.
Man gotta sit and wonder why, why, why.
Tiger gotta sleep. Bird gotta land.
Man gotta tell himself he understand.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ~~
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“There is no birth without pain.”
~~ Carl Jung ~~
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“There are worse things than dying.”
~~ Kalas ~~
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Though we don’t like to keep stats, I’m sure this one fits right into some category; I wouldn’t presume to even guess which it might be. In fact, the degree of how much I don’t care should be expressed in Celsius, to keep the figures smaller; otherwise, y’all might think I don’t even like myself. I do, though, so, rather than get any further into such irrelevant material, I’ll just say, see y’all tomorrow, when we’ll make yet another effort to break completely free of the chains of sanity. Go figure, eh? Be real, ffolkes; there’s really not much choice if you don’t….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport;
when a tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
The Tower of London from mid-Thames
Hajime…. I seem to have reached a plateau, where sitting for a few moments isn’t quite as painful as has been true for the past couple weeks. The process of healing has progressed slowly, as I was/am not entirely certain exactly how and what was injured in my lower back and hips. The symptoms have determined the treatment, as I’ve had to seek and discover ways of moving, and performing normal activities in new ways, to keep from making the pain excruciatingly debilitating. The movements I’ve discovered have told me a new story about what is going on, a story I don’t much like, so far….
What I’ve discovered, and will now discuss with my new Doc, is this: my spinal discs are toast, especially those in the lumbar region. In fact, they probably look like toast, with a grainy, brown, OLD look and feel to them, to go along with the degraded performance of their function. Maybe some peanut butter would help it hold together a little better; ya think? At any rate, I now must perform a new batch of research, to find out just what I CAN do, to improve what is basically an age-related condition, made worse by long-term over-use. Then, of course, comes the difficult part, the reconditioning, to make it strong again…. I have a feeling that may never happen to the degree I’d like to see….
This all bodes ill for writing. Though it seems to have stimulated a few of my poetry genes, it doesn’t much help when I cannot sit long enough to get the words out of my head, onto the screen, much less spend time perusing and editing, to work it into the shape it must assume to fit my inner vision. On the other hand, maybe it will improve my work, since I’ll have to be as efficient a I can, in order to get any of it down in the two or three paragraphs worth of time I can tolerate….
As you see, we’ve reached such a distinction; I’ll quit complaining, & get on with the rest of this, so I’ll have something to post, maybe even tomorrow… whenever THAT is. For now, let’s do this, just as if things were as they’ve always been around here… which, considering the state of disarray in which we find ourselves, is exactly the case….
I do have one good piece of news to relate in this milieu; there’s no rant today, at all. I don’t feel like recycling an old one, and I can’t sit long enough to create one. Hence, I’ll abstain, doing us all a small favor…. With that bonus fresh in mind, let’s get this slow on the toad….
Shall we pearl?….
“Anybody remotely interesting is mad, in some way or another.”
I feel gritty, and real. Can’t get any more real than this…. Pretty gritty, too.
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Gil Scott Heron Live
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Neurons/Parade Rest
Forlorn, he thought, but, then,
no, not really so.
Old, sad, strong; polluted by time’s red pen.
Nowhere left, to be, nor to go.
Tricks, not treats, forever remote,
strike fear into hearts fettered in fog.
Biting deep, stinging, we simper by common rote,
mired eternally in such bilious bog.
Torturous vision, bloody, capitulates in duplicate;
don’t ask for whom the spell trolls.
Ambiguity is real, impossible to extricate,
that’s how it rocks, then rolls.
Spiteful instruments offer no respite, patently.
Filigree lacks properly significant doubt.
Alternative answers formulate motivation, elegantly,
portraying reality as a vulgar lout.
Poltroons, there’s a good word,
for idiotic farmers, enthusiasts who borrow
time, filled with the blood of a bird;
solitary, the trickster cannot follow.
Affable moments trip the light, fantastic;
salacious intimacies fill a shimmering bower.
Night falls, eventually, monastic;
eternity calls with irresistible power.
~~ gigoid ~~
8/11 – 8/15/2016
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Naked Pearls
Life at Large
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“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over.
Out on the edge, you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut ~~
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” It is Maya!
Dost thou not know her?
Illusion — dreams — phantoms.
But, to the wise, Maya is more.
——————
But, to the wise, Maya is more.
Look around:
All that thou see’st,
Trees and shrubs, The grass at thy feet,
All that walks or creeps,
All that flies from tree to tree,
All is unreal: All is Maya.
Our bodies, our limbs, our very thoughts.
We ourselves are slaves to Maya.
What remaineth? Who can say?
Love to the lover,
The child to the mother,
The song to the singer,
God to the worshipper;
These, wandering thro’ the world of Maya,
Are perchance shadows of that which is.”
~~ Holst, Savitri (based upon the sanskrit Mahabharata) ~~
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“Learn what you are and be such. “
~~ Pindar ~~
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Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times,
it’s the only time we’ve got.
— Art Buchwald
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“I wanted a perfect ending …
Now I’ve learned, the hard way,
that some poems don’t rhyme,
and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Life is about not knowing, having to change,
taking the moment and making the best of it,
without knowing what’s going to happen next.
Delicious ambiguity.”
~~ Gilda Radner ~~
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“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone?”
~~ Joni Mitchell, “Pave Paradise” ~~
*******
“Don’t ask me where I’m going,
Just listen when I’m gone
And far away you’ll hear me singing softly to the dawn”
~~ Pippin ~~
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Such as it is, there ’tis. It’s been only three days since last posting, & it will be interesting to see if I get any traffic. I’ve been unable to visit my friends’ blogs much, which is necessary to maintain any sort of audience in blog-land. But, my last absence did produce a massive number of likes, perhaps a record for this blog, so, we’ll see what happens, and be happy with it…. I might even be able to answer some comments this time, since I can sit a little more…. we’ll see how that goes…. It is apparently going to take at least three days to put together enough material to post; I’m hoping it won’t be longer, but, only time will tell. Until I can do so again, y’all be well, and happy as you may….. I will be back, and, though I can’t say when; I will see y’all then…. Count on that….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Hajime…. Today’s opening section has a lesson. The lesson possibly, or even probably, appears more often than not without my mindful appreciation; this too is part of the lesson, one designed to teach us/me how to apply that mindfulness more consistently. To read the lesson, which also requires some thought to identify, one need only look at the two quotes at the bookend position for this section, one after the other, in any order. One is a perfect tautological piece of insight regarding our own mind; the other is a warning, as to how we use that mind. Taken together, the contrasting concepts seem, to me, to provide a pathway toward light, if not full illumination….
This lesson is particularly valuable today for me; it gives me some hope the hole into which I continue to tumble all too regularly may be filling itself in, to some degree. That’s a good sign, as I’ve been getting tired of cleaning up the scrapes and bruises I keep acquiring when it opens up in front of me, and I end up bloody & battered at the bottom, gazing at a small strip of blue or black at a great distance above me. Not much fun when one has plans to fly, and the cost of bandages is becoming prohibitive, to say the least. Total bummer, dudes & dudettes, allow me to assure you. But, with this therapeutic sign grasped firmly in hand, I’ll get on with the slow, & try to get it on the toad…..
Not only will I sally forth with some extra impetus, I’ll do it now, so I don’t lose any of the emotional impact. It comes in handy when energy flags, you know. At any rate, we’ll see if we can come up with something worth spending your time reading, whereupon I will head off to find some clean air, and dirt to play in. Sometimes, when your a human male, getting dirty is a basic need, so, I’ll go back to my simian roots for a time & see if it helps. It should; I’m due….. On that cryptic note, let’s go see what kind of trouble we can find below…..
Shall we pearl?….
“Who sees all beings in his own Self,
and his own Self in all beings,
loses all fear.”
Okay, so, maybe trouble was the wrong word to use. This lady’s music certainly won’t give us any of that, will it? I also don’t believe she needs very much introduction, as one of today’s most popular artists. All I’ll say now is, enjoy!…..
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Sheryl Crow Live
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“Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families, think of our grandchildren and of those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground.” — Peacemaker, founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, (ca. 1000 AD)
I had originally intended to use this quote as the opening thought for a rant; instead, I’ll take it more to heart, by forgoing a new rant in favor of an old one. Here’s a pretty damn good religirant from the archives; it’s more than three and a half years old, but, still on the mark… Enjoy!…..
From 12/12/12:
“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer
This is true…. you never see an atheist going door to door, trying to convert the pious to their unbeliefs. However, I would go further on this train of thought, and add that, “He who proselytizes, in any cause, in basically a man in need of a life.” I’m sure it occurred to Mr. Hoffer, but he was too busy trying to explain this statement to somebody who didn’t understand the word ‘proselytize’….. For my own case, I have never, ever understood why people feel compelled to go door to door to try to get other people to believe what they believe; it’s one of the most persistent delusional systems I’ve ever witnessed, to believe that anyone wants to hear what they have to say, much less they will find their beliefs palatable to others, or find anyone who believes them to be superior to their own…..
“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee
Humans seem to have an immense blind spot when it comes to their own actions and beliefs. Most of them never seem to question the things they are told, even when those things are presented with no evidence other than faith. Of course, the people who are invested in the religious system, to wit: the preachers, begin their indoctrination when their constituents are very young, when they are still prone to accept whatever an adult says as truth. This ensures a life-long predilection for being simple to control…. or, in short, mental slavery, if you will. Unless there is some sort of rebellion of spirit, where new knowledge is injected, these poor saps will spend their entire lives believing that what they have been told is real, when, in fact, they are fitting themselves with shackles, that will forever imprison their minds, and their imagination…..
“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin
In my life-long quest for the truth, I’ve come to believe that religions, while originally intended to benefit people, (by their iconic progenitors, anyway…. I’m sure Jesus was a quite nice man, and wanted the best for those to whom he preached his own philosophy of compassion….), have historically been taken over by the predators who live to control others.
To be fair, some of those who become priests, or any of the other varieties of religious fanatic that prevail in our society, may indeed believe that their beliefs are true, and act accordingly, but the majority are, as far as I can tell, only concerned with maintaining status quo, thereby benefiting themselves, while never actually allowing any REAL progress in the development of the human condition. They would have society behave as if we were still living in caves, in essence, still cowering in our meager shelter while the storms and lightning are raging outside, terrified of the power of what we do not understand, and, therefore, allow ourselves to fear….
“A universe of death, which God by curse
Created evil, for evil only good;
Where all life dies, death lives,
and Nature breeds Perverse,
all monstrous, all prodigious things,
Abominable, unutterable and worse
Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived,
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.”
~~ Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II ~~
(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)
The Universe is a big place, and there is a lot to learn. Fearing that knowledge, or fearing what changes that knowing will always bring, is the act of a coward, to my mind, and should not be encouraged. Supernatural beings of unlimited power are not a required component to the understanding of Nature and the Universe; we need not fear that our lack of knowledge of how things work is unattainable. Just because we do not understand a part of reality does not mean that whatever it is, is beyond our understanding.
It is not necessary to ask for exemptions, or intervention by our own personal gods, for us to achieve happiness, or even contentment; that is completely within our own power, if we but acknowledge that part of us that is free, and connected to everything else we can perceive. The connections may not be fully understood, but they are there, and if we can only learn to recognize it, the power to change reality lies within us, all the time…. As Epictetus said, “Happiness lies in learning to accept a simple truth. There are some things you can change. And there are some things you cannot.” It’s really quite that easy, you know, once one learns to accept this fact of life…. No dogma required…..
“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee
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Serendipity Morning
My mind wants to fly,
my soul wants to hold close, the source,
strong, the moments of time;
each as precious as golden thread,
binding together such elements of longing desire.
Love hovers, always patient,
seeking the open heart,
reaching for the promise of tomorrow…..
only for one, only for now, only what is real….
Dreaming, the morning calls,
heavy with mordant belief,
replete, and eternally alive…..
~~ gigoid ~~
4/1/2013
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Today’s final, old/new-school pearl is one for the books, for sure, and for certain. (My standard disclaimer for those ideas/events which, in my estimation, are something on which it is safe to place belief, even bordering on faith, up to and including the wagering of serious money, whichever may be appropriate….) Some days, even, or, especially, when I am not really focused on it, I’ll cruise through my source(s) without first setting any parameters. Generally, I think of it as a random harlequin style pearl, and that works just fine, both for the process, and to describe today’s effort.
The difference is, today’s results are particularly well directed. They form a continuous train of thought, sort of, loosely (as ever), but, if followed, leads to some rather valuable concepts, all of which can be applied to our examination of consensual reality with better than average results, in re: personal serenity/happiness/all good things…. If it doesn’t quite do that for you, well, that’s okay; there are only three, maybe four people in the world I know of who would/will get that far in their thinking. If there are more, they’ve never contacted me, or come into my ken, which includes a veritable shit-load of people, what with reading, experience, and all.
In my mind, this one is a self-directed rant, a journey to enlightened thought, an odd sort of poem/song/dance (try reading it out loud to your pet/companion…), and good clean fun. Hell y’all might even like it…. Enjoy!…
Naked Pearls
‘The Head….’
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“Neither the water nor the moon make any effort to achieve a reflection.”
~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~
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“The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
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H = R – E
“Happiness equals Reality minus Expectations”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
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“No one regards what is before his feet; we all gaze at the stars.”
~~ Quintus Ennius ~~
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“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.”
~~ Cicero ~~
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“Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral?
It is because we are not the person involved”
~~ Mark Twain ~~
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“In the beginning, God created the Earth and he said, “Let there be mud.”
And there was mud.
And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud,
so the mud can see what we have done.”
And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man.
Mud-as-man alone could speak.
“What is the purpose of all this?” man asked politely.
“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all of this,” said God.
And He went away.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Between Time and Timbuktu” ~~
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“Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches,
and yet a little way beyond the outworks of our divination,
perhaps we would then endure our sorrows with greater confidence than our joys.
For they are the moments when something new has entered us,
something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy perplexity,
everything in us withdraws, a stillness comes,
and the new, which no one knows,
stands in the midst of it and is silent.”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
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“C’mon then. My log does not judge.”
~~ Margaret, the Log Lady, from Twin Peaks ~~
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Well, it’s late, and it’s epic, but, most importantly, it’s done. Just in time, too; my deadline angst alarm went off some time ago. I’ll be nice again, & forgo any further tricks, traps, or bullshit, & just say, see y’all tomorrow, when I’ll try again to reach an island of sanity in an insane world….. Ta, then, luvs….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The fact that we are human beings is infinitely more important
than all the peculiarities
that distinguish human beings from one another.”
~~ Simone de Beauvoir, “The Second Sex” ~~
Guarding the entrance to Cobh/Cork Port
Hajime…. To this point in the day, I have, in the hour and a half since arising, spoken to a friend in Europe, played extensively with Leelu, performed numerous morning ablutions, and, finally, stared bemusedly at this blank screen for a solid ten minutes, trying desperately to find something worthwhile to say. Since, clearly, I’ve had no luck in that regard, I decided to just start typing, to see what came out; what you see is what I’ve got. That particular piece of cyber-slang, i.e., wysiwyg, seems to be cropping up a lot here in the intro, doesn’t it? Go figure….
I suppose, if I were the type of person who was able to slough off responsibilities I’ve assumed, I could just slip in some sort of template; sadly, no such template exists, and I don’t feel like creating one. I’ve often thought of doing so; it would certainly make this process easier if I made it a form I just filled in each morning. But it’s just too much like giving in to expediency, something I swore not to employ in my life, or my work, without dire need. No such need exists, so, that’s off the table, along with almost every other method which might be of that sort of help. That kind of help I can do without….
Instead, I’ll turn to outright honesty, as you see, by admitting I’ve got nothing today. Don’t know why, as I’m rested, and I’ve already proved, at least to myself, my mind is adequately alert to begin the day. It will just have to do; as y’all know, around here, we’re firm believers in “all you can do is all you can do….”; today, this is all I can do. So be it….
Shall we Pearl?….
“There can be no black melancholy
to him who lives in the midst of nature and has his own senses still.”
I tried to find a live concert of this band, but, none I checked out had very good sound. Instead, here is an audio version, in video format, of the album of their best hits…. This is country music at its very best, as far as I am concerned…. Enjoy!….
“Anarchism is the only philosophy which brings to man the consciousness of himself; which maintains that God, the State, and society are non-existent, that their promises are null and void, since they can be fulfilled only through man’s subordination. Anarchism is therefore the teacher of the unity of life; not merely in nature, but in man.” — Emma Goldman “Anarchism: What It Really Stands For”
I was going to rant, using the above as a starting point. However, as I sat here, contemplating the breadth and depth of what is contained in the words, I became convinced any words from me would merely confuse the issue. As far as I can tell, this says it all; there’s very little I could add to make it clearer than it already appears. To show I CAN be a nice guy, that’s all you get.
Think about it, ffolkes. Humans, as they exist, are natural anarchists; we don’t do well with too much order. It’s too artificial, because the universe isn’t built that way…. Chaos and order coexist, side by side, connected, and we are merely a 3D representation of that quality…. THAT is something about which it would be well to have faith, for it is as much a part of you as water….
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Early Observations
Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.
All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.
But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.
Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.
‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.
Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.
Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.
Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.
Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.
~~ gigoid ~~
5/12/2013
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Naked Pearls
Notes on Life at Large
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“We cannot put off living until we are ready.
The most salient characteristic of life is its coerciveness;
it is always urgent, here and now,
without any possible postponement.
Life is fired at us point blank.”
~~ Ortega y Gasset ~~
*******
“All is mystery;
but he is a slave
who will not struggle
to penetrate the dark veil.”
~~ Benjamin Disraeli ~~
*******
“It is the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It is the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.”
~~ Bette Midler, The Rose ~~
*******
“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over.
Out on the edge, you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.”
~~ Kurt Vonnegut ~~
*******
“The higher we soar, the smaller we seem to those who cannot fly”
~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~
*******
“There is nothing more notable in Socrates
than that he found time, when he was an old man,
to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent.”
~~ Michel de Montaigne ~~
*******
“To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”
~~ William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence” ~~
*******
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There are days it is advantageous to NOT examine either the process, or the results of the process, too closely, lest it fall apart right before my eyes. Today is such a day. It’s done, but, we aren’t going to ask how, or why, or anything else. We are merely going to bid y’all a fond farewell, until tomorrow, when, by gosh and by golly, we’ll do this again. Hey, why the hell not?…. See ya, ffolkes….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid 