Well, it does match the door stop….

Posted on February 16, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
One week into the six, and my ass hurts already….. I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it all six weeks here in front of the computer without suffering from some major ass bite. Which is fine, if only I had some way to exercise without turning into a lump of pain. That, to me, is the worst part about having the type of pain I do, i.e., I can’t DO anything I used to do, in the way of physical exertion…. it’s all history, thanks to the cumulative effects of hard physical exercise during the first 40 years of my life…..

Some years ago, when I was first seeing my doctor about my back, and the pain therein (which, at the time, was constant and unrelenting….), he told me that my condition was becoming increasingly common in men and women who had been athletic for much of their lives…. It seems that in later years, the body begins to break down faster, and to a greater degree, than those of people who were not so sports oriented. According to him, my years of playing football, basketball, and baseball, when added to my martial arts conditioning, and over 700 fights in which I engaged in my work, all served to take its toll on my back and joints…. If I had stuck with being a nerd, rather than a warrior/nerd, I’d have been better off, it seems….

I found, and still find, it ironic, that the very activities that I was always told would keep me healthy until my dying day are responsible for the rapidly deteriorating tissues and joints that are giving me fits, here in my declining years. And still, because of the way our culture is skewed, sports and physically extreme activities are encouraged, because it is a billion dollar business, selling sports, and sports accessories.

Sports figures are made into cultural icons, and even held up as examples for the young to emulate, no matter how strange or stupid they may be….. There are a number of things that the BRC encourages among the populace, such as sports, for one, that are NOT what they seem to be….. More than anything else, these activities, (the movie industry, travel industry, and others) exist for the benefit of the BRC, not the people, and actually serve to distract the public from what is actually going on…. The public is actually encouraged to take part in these activities, as the leaders know that those things keep the public busy with stuff that really doesn’t matter, and not focused on what they are doing behind the scenes, about things that DO matter….

How the hell did that happen?….. Here I am, only four or five paragraphs into the intro, and I’m ranting already…. I didn’t even notice when I slipped on the Ratty Old Robe of Outrage and started in on the BRC…. it’s becoming too natural, I guess; I barely know I’m doing it…. Well, it could be worse, I suppose…. I could be the kind of person who didn’t give a shit, and not get outraged at all…. which wouldn’t make ME a happy camper, though there might be some who would smile and nod in approval….

Ah well, it’s quite liberating to let that kind of angst out, so I’ll just let it go without further comment, and get on with today’s Pearl…. Once more, I’ve managed to create an intro out of virtually nothing; that’s got to count for something, right? It says so right here on the label….. Right….. Shall we Pearl?….
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“Laws are only words words written on paper, words that change on society’s whim and are interpreted differently daily by politicians, lawyers, judges, and policemen. Anyone who believes that all laws should always be obeyed would have made a fine slave catcher. Anyone who believes that all laws are applied equally, despite race, religion, or economic status, is a fool.” — John J. Miller, And Hope to Die (in _Jokertown Shuffle – Wild Cards IX_)

Fiction is the repository and temple of the Metaphorse…. which explains this passage from a novel I haven’t read, but obviously need to get around to finding, so I can. This is such a perfect statement of Reality in society today, it could only be said in a work of fiction, because anyone stating this in the public venue would be shouted down by the aforementioned politicians, lawyers judges, policemen, and may I add, preachers/priests and the rest of the priestly hierarchies…. none of whom would wish for the truth of the idea become commonly held knowledge, or even a point of discussion…. They have too much invested in keeping things just as they are to allow any such utterance, without the protection of metaphor….

With metaphor, in both prose and poetic form, the truth can be intimated, and made clear for those who otherwise would never even consider the concepts involved, without being connected directly to Reality itself. Most of society has been brainwashed since birth, and are trained to accept as true anything told to them in a newspaper, on a TV by a person in a suit, or by someone holding a Bible, no matter how disconnected from Reality that may be. Reading things in a book, a piece of fiction, they are taught, is suspect, and not to be believed without corroboration from someone in authority….

“God said it, the Bible told me, and I believe it, so that’s the end of it!” How many people do you know who would say that? It saddens me no end to know that even I, who tend to drive that sort of person crazy in no time at all, know several folks who feel this way. I have to say, if nothing else, these folks are stubborn, but, stubbornness is not always a survival technique… it can also serve as a death warrant. One has to learn to give up knowledge that is shown indisputably to be false, or face consequences not to their liking.

As I’ve stated before, I have no issue with ffolkes who are sincerely devout in their beliefs…. I’ve found that people who do try to live by the rules that Jesus put forth are generally good people, with good instincts, and have a lot of compassion and kindness in their nature. I have at least two people in my own family who fit that description, and at least three of the people with whom I grew up are what I would call true Christians, because they use their faith as a supportive tool to enhance their lives, not as a crutch, or a reason to feel entitled…..

In other words, they don’t use their faith as a mask, to hide from the world what they really are like inside…. or, as tool of manipulation, to further their own agenda, which generally involves theft from everyone else, in one form or another….. I have found, by experience with real people in the real world, that a good 95% of those who claim to be Christians are NOT true believers…. Only about 5% of those who call themselves Christians make any attempt to live up to that social reformer’s rigorous standards….

Of that figure, 95% of all self-identified Christians, the great majority can be considered, and are generally labeled, as the ignorant masses, whose minds have been under the control of someone else their entire lives. The smaller percentage of that number, probably only about 1 or 2% of the 95%, are those who either don’t believe in the dogma at all, but use it as the modus operandi for their sociopathy, or those who at least believe it on the surface, but only because it is to their advantage to do so… They would believe anything at all, if it kept them in power….

“Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

I’m not sure whether those who stubbornly cling to their faith (i.e., they walk through the Forest with eyes closed….) are like that because of their nature, or their nurture, and in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter. But, it sure would be nice, for those of us who ARE aware of the truth behind the lies we’ve been told all our lives, to have a few more of us out there, working against the small percentage of people who are taking advantage of the massive ignorance and apathy of the great masses of people, who don’t have the time or mental energy to care about anything but what is happening right in front of them.

Those who control society for their own personal benefit, without any regard for the rest of humanity’s suffering at their hands, aren’t going to change, and they aren’t ever going to give up what they’ve got without a struggle…. I can only wish for enough ffolkes like myself, who can see the truth, to find a way to save at least a few of our species, if only for some galactic zoo of extinct species…… If enough of us get together, there is still a small chance, though the odds of success are diminishing, second by second….

“I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.” — John Wayne

(Did your jaw drop as far as mine when you read that?)

Bah! Enough pessimism for one day…. let’s go find something a bit more uplifting, shall we?….. As a parting thought, please note the following, which serves to illustrate and define the general feeling in modern society, in terms of ethics and morality…. Consider, if you will, the cultural paradigms that are needed to make this statement a joke, one that no one at all would think was out of place…. In other words, by its calm acceptance of the implied lack of ethics, it shows how deeply ingrained is the attitude (made crystal clear by Mr. Wayne…), in the members that make up that society….

“I think our No.1 problem is that nobody wants to take responsibility for anything, but don’t quote me.” — Randy Glasbergen, “The Saturday Evening Post
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The Meehoo with an Exactlywatt

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Me!
Me who?
That’s right!
What’s right?
Meehoo!
That’s what I want to know!
What’s what you want to know?
Me, who?
Yes, exactly!
Exactly what?
Yes, I have an Exactlywatt on a chain!
Exactly what on a chain?
Yes!
Yes what?
No, Exactlywatt!
That’s what I want to know!
I told you – Exactlywatt!
Exactly what?
Yes!
Yes what?
Yes, it’s with me!
What’s with you?
Exactlywatt – that’s what’s with me.
Me who?
Yes!
Go away!
Knock knock…

~~ Shel Silverstein — from the book “A Light in the Attic” (1981)
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Having spent most of my severe angst in section one, I’m not even going to try to start another rant, but will instead move right to an old school pearl…. Gotta save a little of that negative energy in case some store clerk gets uppity…. 🙂

This one is truly random, with just a hint of order hidden amongst the entropy and chaos, kind of like a hidden treasure, y’know? Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work, anyway. If not, well, it’s all good stuff to think about, and will get us through to the end….. or close enough for our purposes here today…. Someday, I’m going to have to figure out just what that is…..

“The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: “Of course it is none of my business, but –” is to place a period after the word “but.” Don’t use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“When you live in the shadow of insanity, the appearance of another mind that thinks and talks as yours does is something close to a blessed event.” — R. Pirsig

“I know th’MAMBO!! I have a TWO-TONE CHEMISTRY SET!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
(You’ve got to love Zippy’s ability to put his finger on what’s REALLY important!….)

A word is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

— Emily Dickinson

“Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman–a rope over an abyss. A dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and stopping.” — Friedrich Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”

— Bother! said Pooh, as he talked Kanga and Roo into a threesome.
(Oh, that Pooh!…. such a naughty bear…..)

“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have kindled this inner light.” — Albert Schweitzer

Well, there you go…. If y’all can’t figure out a moral, or a hint of one, from that seven, well, I’m failing in my task…. But, if you can’t, no worries, as it’s my fault for being too obscure, and not leaving enough sign posts to the clues…. We don’t grade in this class anyway, it’s not even pass/fail, and doesn’t count toward graduation…. In fact, the only way to take this course is to audit it unofficially…. Ah well, as I said, they will all stand alone, anyway, so…. if nothing else, enjoy!….
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I don’t like to judge these Pearls as they go out, other than from the basic standards I apply to everything I do in life, so I’m not going to say anything about this one except I’m satisfied with it, and it’s done…. Those last three words alone make it all worthwhile, given the effort it took to get there…. So be it…. there’s another three appropriate words for today…. 🙂

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

This order can’t be filled…. it’s digital….

Posted on February 4, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Okay, wait….. hang on, the coffee’s ready……Oh, that’s good! I’m glad…. now, nobody will have to die. This is a good thing; we hate having to dispose of dead bodies before dawn; there isn’t much room left in the backyard…. Besides, I’m feeling too lazy to put an ad in the paper for a new lackey…. SIGH…. It’s so hard to get good help these days….

Now that the fantasy portion of this missive is past, it might be a good thing to explain that, though I often speak lightly of eliminating those in this world who annoy me, I’m actually a pussycat, and have yet to become a “made” man in my life, an accomplishment of which I am deservedly proud.

Like all of us, I’ve had numerous occasions in life when the urge to end it for someone else becomes nearly unstoppable…. why, just the other day, this guy…. well, it doesn’t matter, because I let him live, little as he deserved it….. I’ve done that several times over the years, and thus far have been able to control the urge before giving in to it…..

This isn’t to say I left those idiots to get on with their life, or whatever excuse they use for one, without exacting some payment for their asininity; I don’t believe in letting stuff like that slide, or they’ll begin to think they can do it to anyone…. No, each of the folks who annoyed me enough to have caused me to come close to losing control have paid for their lack of sense, and the payment was such that they regret their foolishness, for certain.

But, they walked away, so in the ultimate sense, they were lucky…. in pain, but lucky to be alive, and knowing it…. Actually, I found the time with that cowboy in Nebraska to be quite rewarding, though I’m sure he had a hard time explaining to his booted and belt-buckled buddies why he’d pissed his pants while talking with the long-haired hippie in the gift shop….

So, when I write of using one of the myriad of techniques for killing I’ve learned, or talk about my wish to see someone suffer great harm, be advised that it is mostly just talk, designed to help me get rid of the urge, instead of hanging on to whatever has annoyed me…..

Often I accompany such threats with vulgarity, because swearing is more of a release than almost anything else we do without resorting to actual violence, and using it diminishes the need to bring ourselves to the point where such potentially dangerous emotion becomes reality…. When life does get to that point, and I am required to step up and use what I’ve been trained to use, I consider it a loss, a fail, for it means I lost control of myself….

“True power is when we have every justification to kill, and don’t.” — Oscar Schindler

Non-violence HAS to be a choice, and only those who truly KNOW violence, from both sides of the coin, can really understand how hard it is to try to live without resorting to its finality. Those who retreat from violence in fear give themselves no choice, and suffer the consequences of that decision regularly, as life will tumble them about just as if they were clothes in a dryer. Those who use violence regularly, as a means of coping with the world, will almost always come to a violent end, eventually, as there is ALWAYS someone who is bigger, or faster, or stronger, or smarter…..

Only those who are perceptive enough to learn to make the decision to NOT be violent, even thought they know how to do so, have an even chance of getting through life with the most satisfaction, of being able to control what happens around them, without giving in to the urge to kill….

Having made my decision today, as must be done daily, to do my best NOT to kill anyone, I guess I should quit blathering about it, and get on with today’s business….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Asking a Republican Senate and Democratic House to make a law is like trying to fry a single egg in two pans.” — New York Times, Jan. 20, 1981

Vice versa is no doubt true, in my estimation, as well as my experience, as the reverse is what we are currently dealing with in the seat of our pants, er, government…. such as it is. If you can’t tell, let me make it crystal clear…. I’m more than just a bit tired of all of them, and really wish they’d leave us all alone for a while, and let us set things to order…..

It shouldn’t take more than a week or two, if they’ll agree to stay out of the way, I’m sure…. Once we have things set up the way we want it, there won’t be any need for them to return to work, anyway, but we don’t have to tell them them at first…. We’ll just let them think they’ve still got the keys to the kingdom, then just laugh at them when they start to whine about the changes….

Oh, didn’t I mention, the first task would be to boot their asses out, in a figurative sense? I mean, we don’t really need them do we? We can take care of each other without all the interference and manipulation we now suffer…. We just have to figure out how to do this without bloodshed, as it has always been accomplished up to now…. it doesn’t seem to work very well, does it? The world is not going to shit, it is already doo doo, and I don’t mean doo dah…. We don’t have the time, or the resources to spare, to keep doing the same old shit we’ve been doing, so, they’ll just have t get over it…. It’s not ABOUT them, even though they want it to be…..

It is about survival…. our survival as a species. I keep pounding on this point because I’m in a near-constant state of panic, because, for all accounts and purposes, it may be too late for us to stop the global climate changes by reducing our particulate emissions. We’ve been pumping shit (shit that is composed of varying percentages of Carbon monoxide, toxic industrial poisons, and about a hundred other substances that have no business in our air….) into the atmosphere now for about a hundred and fifty years or so, since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and the cumulative effects are now at a point of irreversibility. The climate is changing, as we watch, and there is no longer any way to stop it….

For the past 25 or more years, the amount of stuff going into the atmosphere has been doing so at a rate of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF TONS (tons, not pounds or ounces, but tons….) PER HOUR. Per hour…. now, today, as of this moment, we are dumping over a thousand tons into the air every three seconds, according to the World Clock at Poodwaddle.com, here…. You can see for yourself, here…. http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/ It’s frightening, but it’s all real, and true….

I guess what I’m trying to get to here is that the folks who are currently in our government, running things, AREN’T doing anything about all of this, any more than those who came before them…. In fact, a disturbing number of them refuse to accept the truth of the matter, an idiotic viewpoint all-too-common among the faith-based among them…. The rest of them don’t want to acknowledge the issue because it threatens their pocketbooks. Whatever their reasoning, or lack of it, they aren’t going to help at all; in fact, they are the biggest part of the problem, and need to be removed before we will be able to actually DO anything that might help, late as it is….

President Barry has promised to address the issue, strongly…. Well, it’s a bit late, Barry, but, let’s see what you can do…. But, I’d suggest getting off your ass and doing it fast, because the storm is building, and it will blow us all to hell, quickly, if we don’t batten down the hatches and get to work at dealing with the core issues….. which are human cupidity, human avarice, human indifference, and human stupidity, the REAL Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse…..

How admirable, he who thinks not,
Life is fleeting,
When he sees the lightning!

— Basho
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Momentary Terror

Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.

Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.

Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.

Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..

~~ gigoid

I’m not sure what to think about this poem, but, it had to get out, or it would have festered…. Does that mean it is ulcerous, or merely has the potential to be so? You tell me….
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Once again, fate has conspired to force my hand, to the point where I must prevaricate in order to stay on track…. which is to say, I’ve been stupid, and lost my way to wherever it was I’d planned to go…. As is my wont in such cases, we will go old school, with a group of pearls that all have something to say about something or other…. Today, we’ll address stupidity, and how all of us on the bus may fall prey to it at times…. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, the bear eats you, as they say…. Here are some thoughts on the matter from some pretty famous ffolkes, and a couple not so widely known, but respected for their wisdom in their own circle….

“The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.” — Albert Einstein

“There is no sin except stupidity.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Critic as Artist”, 1891

“There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “An outline of Intellectual Rubbish”

“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mrs. Gump, Forrest’s mama

“The only evidence against evolution are its opponents.” — Smart Bee

Boy, if that ain’t the Truth, in big, shiny letters ten feet tall!…. In contrast, below you will find one of my all time favorite aphorisms, from my all time favorite author, advising us of what we CAN be, if we choose….

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
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Well, there you have it. Such as it is, it is all my own, save the quoted aphorisms, so take it all with a big dose of well- salted skepticism; don’t worry, it’s all designed to stand up to that kind of scrutiny, I hope. I’ve proofed it once, so it must be done…. and, as such, is no longer my concern, right? Okay, I’ll drop it…. just remember, it doesn’t HAVE to make sense, it just has to be real…. and there is no question of that, at all, at all…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

More emerald than jade……

Posted on January 25, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
BANG! CRASH! Hey, folks, don’t mind the noise….. SMASH! BANG!…. Murphy has brought some friends this morning…. CRASH!….. and they got into a big argument, that has turned into a huge brawl. RUUUUUMBLE! POW!…… Ouch, that had to hurt!….. I imagine they’ll stop breaking up my furniture in a few minutes, so if y’all don’t object, I’ll take a short break here, and let them finish up. BlAM! POP! CRUNCH!…. Oooh, that was nasty! Duck!…. Okay, I’ll be back shortly, when peace breaks out…..

Okay, then….. they seem to have finished up. What a mess! A couple of mornings ago, Murphy made me knock over a lamp first thing upon awakening, and must have thought it was funny, because he did it again this morning….. only worse, as it took the entire table down today. Then, I sit up, only to find Murphy, and three of his pals, rolling around, locked in fierce combat on my floor, with furniture flying in all directions…. It was almost like a scene from an old western, only there was no honky-tonk piano in the background, and no ever-present odor of horse manure…..

It was almost enough to make me go back to sleep, but, being the dedicated blogger I am, I got up and retreated, WITH my coffee, to worship at the porcelain throne for a while….. which seems to have worked, as they all got bored and left…. It’s handy that Murphy and his myrmidons have an objection to bathrooms and other places dedicated to cleaning up….. That sort of adolescent attitude is helpful to us old farts….. especially those of us who have achieved frequent-flier status in there….

Now, though, I’m at somewhat of a loss, without any idea of where to go from here…. It took all I’ve got to get this far, and I’m afraid I may have used up a good portion of today’s equanimity to keep from freaking out so early. I’m not sure what that will mean later on, but it promises to make life interesting….

Uh oh, there’s that word again…. interesting…. My life has, per the curse leveled at me when I was younger by the old Chinese gentleman, been far too interesting for my comfort up to this point, and I’m not sure I can live through any more “interesting times”…. I suppose I could just hide for the day, stay in my room and let the world go on about its business without my unnecessary presence; it’s not as if I’m involved in any seriously important stuff right now.

But, I can’t allow hiding to become a habitual response to Murphy’s ubiquitous efforts at disrupting my serenity, or he’ll win. Not going to happen, not on my watch….. So, we’ll slip on flippers and a mask, and go see what the old dB has for us this morning….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“How’s the wife? Is she at home enjoying capitalism?” — Zippy the Pinhead
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I’m feeling a bit nasty today, it having occurred to me that I am now into my third year of waiting for Social Security to get through winding their way to giving me my benefits…. It’s insane, is what it is…. So, the following old school group of pearls all have one object… to vilify, denigrate, and otherwise make fun of government, and all those insane, sociopathic people who engage in that disgusting habit…..

“An elephant: a mouse built to government specifications.” — Lazarus Long

“For some reason the little Senators make us laugh.” — Smart Bee

PATRIOT, n. One to whom the interests of a part seem superior to those of the whole. The dupe of statesmen and the tool of conquerors. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch
Beware the jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious bandersnatch

— _Jabberwocky_, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)

(Didn’t anyone ever tell you? In Jabberwocky, indeed, in most of Dodgson’s work, metaphor is king…. the jub jub bird is, of course, a Supreme Court justice, and obviously, a frumious bundersnatch is a member of Congress (in Dodgson’s world, a member of Parliament)….., and the Jabberwock? Patently, we’re talking of the President (or the Prime Minister, take your pick…..)

“Gun collection programs are a good way to get rid of a murder weapon.” — Smart Bee
(Oops…. wrong pearl…. wait…. no, it’s okay, it will work here…. sorry, but, when irony strikes….)

Honest politician — Oxymoron

“All authority is quite degrading.” — Oscar Wilde

Lastly, to round it off at nine… a very cosmic number, BTW… a summary of the other eight pearls, from one of the sharpest political and social philosophers of the twentieth century…..

“Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an ‘inconvenience.’ We have opted instead for an authoritarian system *disguised* as a Democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there.” — Frank Zappa
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Soliloquy of The Solipsist

I?
I walk alone;
The midnight street
Spins itself from under my feet;
When my eyes shut
These dreaming houses all snuff out;
Through a whim of mine
Over gables the moon’s celestial onion
Hangs high.

I
Make houses shrink
And trees diminish
By going far; my look’s leash
Dangles the puppet-people
Who, unaware how they dwindle,
Laugh, kiss, get drunk,
Nor guess that if I choose to blink
They die.

I
When in good humor,
Give grass its green
Blazon sky blue, and endow the sun
With gold;
Yet, in my wintriest moods, I hold
Absolute power
To boycott any color and forbid any flower
To be.

I
Know you appear
Vivid at my side,
Denying you sprang out of my head,
Claiming you feel
Love fiery enough to prove flesh real,
Though it’s quite clear
All you beauty, all your wit, is a gift, my dear,
From me.

~~ Sylvia Plath

SIGH…. gotta love genius….
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“Can I leave now? My brain is full.” — Smart Bee

I’m not sure exactly why, but this appeals to me; I’ve felt this way often, and can empathize strongly with whoever wrote it….. In its quiet little way, it also points at my own current state of mind, in that I seem to be out of outrage…. There are so many examples in my sphere of perception, of the evil being done every day, by the government, by churches, by random assholes with more testosterone than brains, I’m finding it hard to pick out just one or two to rant about…. For me, that is a disastrous state to be caught in, since much of what I do here involves ranting about stuff that tickles my outrage….

I suppose y’all might just be laughing at me just now, as this may seem like a minor complaint…. and, in a cosmic sense, it really is. But, lest we forget, MY cosmos is the one being affected, which will affect what I write about, and when, and how much, and y’all will be the ones that have to deal with the fallout….. You’ll be singing a different song, then, I’ll wager…. Ripples in the pond, don’t’cha know?….

This isn’t to say that’s what I WANT to happen; I’ve given my opinion previously on how much I dislike being unable to write something, whether it’s a rant, or an old-school pearl, or a poem…. Writing has become for me as important as reading, and I’ll consider writing ANYTHING, if it seems even the slightest bit intriguing, just like I’ll read just about ANYTHING, including milk cartons and cereal boxes, if that’s all there is to read…. Now, writing has assumed an equal importance in my scheme, and any glitches in the process can stimulate worry…. mankind’s true nemesis….

“More people have died of worry, than ever bled to death.” — Lazarus Long…..

Rather than spending any significant amount of time worrying, I decided to seize on what I had, and just jump in & start writing…. So far, it isn’t too shabby, but needs…. something…. aha! A hook…. I need a hook…. okay, let’s see what we have laying about…..

Nope, nada damn thing to be seen anywhere in the vicinity, which kicks the worrying up a notch or two, for sure…. Calliope has deserted me for other parts, the headlines are too bland to get worked up about, and the Westboro Baptist Church of Fools has been strangely silent of late…. All I have here, as I gaze around the room in pathetic hope, are the same old items I’ve been looking at for seven months now, since moving here…. most of which has either been already explored, or isn’t worth mentioning….

I see now I should have, perhaps, prepared for this a bit better; research is always useful, and it would be nice to not have to get all antsy just because my imagination is coming up empty. Whining about it isn’t going to help, or solve the issue, so we’ll skip right by that, and go into strategic planning mode, followed by a dip into tactical operations mode, and we’re home free…. Let’s see now, first, a small diversion… I can do that…. Look, over there! It’s a pearl!….

“Why can’t we ever attempt to solve a problem in this country without having a ‘War’ on it?” — Rich Thomson

Now, THERE’s a question for the BRC, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t get as much response as we’d like…. Good strategy demands, after a diversion, a foray out into enemy territory, to gather intelligence…. so….

“All power rests on hierarchy: An army is nothing but a well-organized lynch mob.” — Edward Abbey

Okay, that’s intelligent…. now, we shoot back…..

“If a million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.” — Anatole France

Yep, that had to hurt…. Okay, so now, all we have to do to have achieved our strategic goal is to finish them off with unassailable logic, combined with a bit of humor…. no worries…

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein

“It’s not the pace of life that bothers me, it’s the sudden stop at the end.” — Hobbes

See? It’s all in the wrist…. Using two pearls for the last thought was deliberate, though it helped that both of them came up one after the other, as if pre-ordained…. But it just fit, as the first supplies the unassailable logic, and the second the humor…. and, as we all know by now, timing is everything……
__________________________________

As probably came through loud and clear, I was a bit worried about this Pearl; it didn’t want to come together without some rather tricky meandering. All in all, though, it came out okay, and, once again,…. wait for it…. It’s done! That factor alone accounts for at least half of its charm, in my book…. What’s more, it’s still quite early in the day, so there is hope that the less than auspicious beginning can be mitigated enough to make the rest of the day a bit less chaotic… Time will tell, I have no doubt, whatsoever….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Chance encounters with entropy, unlimited supply….

Posted on January 18, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
In direct contrast to my state of apparent poverty, I consider myself to be a lucky man, all in all. My physical assets, in terms of liquidity of funding, are, shall we say, less than prolific, and my amount of acquired property isn’t what might be termed a fortune. In fact, more accurately, the two combined amounts may be described as a pittance, if you’re feeling generous. My clothes are getting old and somewhat worn, and I’m about to walk out of my shoes. I’m struggling each month to get enough food for the entire month, and have only enough left over to pay for a phone and internet service, which I consider essential in today’s culture.

However, I also have friends, and two children, all of whom taken together make me the richest man alive. I feel very fortunate indeed to have all of them in my life, as they are all the kind of people, and friends, one knows will always be there when needed, as I have tried to be for them for the last 50 years (the average time I’ve known most of them….). And my children, well, my pride in them knows no bounds. Both of them have become fine, generous, loving human beings, and I couldn’t be happier with them….

So, since I have such great support, and know I am loved, I sometimes wonder why am I so depressed? Then I remember….. my gift….. I’ve decided to look at my PTSD as a gift, though some may think that it is strange to consider a mental disorder in a positive light. Those people, who think it is strange, don’t have to live with it, do they?….. See, it is always surprising me, with outbursts of emotion that bring tears, or just waves of anguish; my eyes and head fill up with fluid, my heart pounds, and my mind veers off into memories of terror and pain. These little episodes of severe angst pop up at the weirdest times, and it gets to be a bit embarrassing, nay, humiliating, when it happens in front of others…..

Hell, as I typed that last paragraph, tears of self-pity were, and still are, rolling down my cheeks…. As you can imagine, this becomes problematic in keeping them off the keys, which could short out the whole shebang. Wouldn’t THAT be a treat? Having my entire stash of writing erased by my own tears would be just too ironic for me; I’d have to either shoot myself, or somebody else….. Fortunately, all the Pearls from last year are backed up on a thumb drive, so I’m safe there, but it would still be a royal pain to lose what I’ve got on here, so I try not to drip too close to the desk when I get hit by one of these emotional storms…..

Ah well, they always pass off, eventually, leaving me a bit exhausted and blue, whereupon I try to put all of what I felt into the next pearl….. which finally brings us to the point we’ve been trying to get to for five paragraphs now….. I think, rather than dwell any further on my ‘gift’, I’ll just dive into the ocean of knowledge and quotes that is Smart Bee and the Internet, and see what we can come up with for a morning rant, or poem, or other form of self-indulgence…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“By letting go, it all gets done.” — Tao Teh Ching

If it weren’t for serendipity, a lot of the fun in life would disappear, I think. Finding just the right pearl is a perfect example of this phenomenon, and this is no exception…..

For some reason, mostly to do with our inner nature, and its unfortunate flaws when it comes to dealing with reality, we humans have a tendency to hang on to things that are not helpful to us. Hurt feelings, anger, mistrust, suspicion, and most often, fear, all are reactions we have to the stuff that happens to us, whether we want them or not. Once they are present in our awareness, however, it is unnecessary to keep them; in fact, holding on to them only prolongs the associated pain. But, we hold on to them anyway, going over the incidents again and again in our minds, and reinforcing the negative reaction each time. This, as is plain to see, is rather counter-productive, in terms of getting on with our lives without carrying extra burdens around with us….

Letting go, as the Tao Teh Ching suggests, can get us past this road block, allowing us to remove the weight of the anger, or fear, or other negative emotion from our minds, and freeing us to engage the universe on a more positive level. What remains a mystery, to me, and to anyone who has used this idea to help themselves in life, is why so many people refuse to acknowledge its value, and use it. A great many people in the world seem to prefer the experience of feeling angry, or sad, or afraid, to feeling competent, and comfortable in their skin. It’s almost as if they LIKE to feel those negative feelings, and are actually afraid to be successful at dealing with life…. amazing, and sort of ironic, to my way of thinking…..

Of course, I do tend to forget that this little piece of wisdom is not as easy to do as it is to say. It does take some mental effort, to assume the control of one’s feelings enough to move them to a different spot on the scale; “letting go” isn’t as easy as it may sound. This sort of mental effort, inner directed as it is, is foreign to most people raised in Western culture, as the habit of using one’s mind is not encouraged, for the most part, in most American homes. Conformity of thought, and obedience to custom are much more commonly held as the safe way to live, and learning to think is discouraged, as it may lead to discomfort, more effort than they wish make, and certainly more than they intend to tolerate.

I often wish I could persuade people to live with ideas like this to guide them, but, in order for anyone to try a new way of living, they must first be convinced that the old way isn’t working. This isn’t going to happen, even if compelling evidence of their need to change is presented to them. It would mean admitting that the way they have been living is wrong, and regardless of whether or not it is wrong, or right, they are not willing to “let go” of their investment in the old methods of looking at life. It’s just too much for them to contemplate; it’s unknown, therefore, they fear the change, effectively blocking themselves from even seeing it as an alternative.

So, I just ramble along, singing my little song, and pointing out little gems like what Lao Tzu wrote above in the Tao Teh Ching. People aren’t going to make changes just because I tell them to; they have to make the decisions themselves. But, I can hopefully provide some sign posts for them, to give them an idea of a place where they may find a more peaceful, fulfilling existence than the one they currently are living. Maybe I can’t change the world, but I can at least point the way to where the changes are made….

“Well, O.K. I’ll compromise with my principles because of EXISTENTIAL DESPAIR!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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I feel like a bit of the classics today…. how about y’all?…. Keats will do nicely, I think….

Lines on The Mermaid Tavern

Souls of Poets dead and gone,
What Elysium have ye known,
Happy field or mossy cavern,
Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?
Have ye tippled drink more fine
Than mine host’s Canary wine?
Or are fruits of Paradise
Sweeter than those dainty pies
Of venison? O generous food!
Drest as though bold Robin Hood
Would, with his maid Marian,
Sup and bowse from horn and can.

I have heard that on a day
Mine host’s sign-board flew away,
Nobody knew whither, till
An astrologer’s old quill
To a sheepskin gave the story,
Said he saw you in your glory,
Underneath a new old sign
Sipping beverage divine,
And pledging with contented smack
The Mermaid in the Zodiac.

Souls of Poets dead and gone,
What Elysium have ye known,
Happy field or mossy cavern,
Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?

John Keats
__________________________________

What we have here is what I term a “Seven Star Pearl” The name has a certain significance, and extra points are available, should you choose to address the reasons why I call it this. I’ll give this clue… The choice of quotes was entirely random; I had no particular point in mind when collecting them. I let my impulsive nature pick those it considered suitable, without asking it to explain why…. these are the result. The point(s) it brings out for our examination turned out to be quite appropriate, given much of what I’ve written earlier this week, and today, but, I don’t need to tell YOU that, do I? Of course not…. 🙂 Any who, not to worry, none of this one will be on the Quiz, significant though it is; I’m lazy today, as you might have guessed from the old school format of this one…. Enjoy!

“More persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing nothing, than by believing too much.” — Phineas Taylor Barnum

“The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.” — Albert Einstein

“Belief gets in the way of learning.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“That proves you are unusual,” returned the Scarecrow “, and I am convinced the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed.”” — L. Frank Baum, “The Land of Oz”

A poet is someone who is astonished by everything. — Smart Bee

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” — Victor Hugo

“People are strange.” — The Doors
__________________________________

Two hours, twenty minutes, flat. Not too bad, for a Friday morning, in dead of winter, I’d say. Now, let’s see how it proofs…. Decent… three or four little wipes with the polishing rag, and it will do nicely. It isn’t blinding, but it’s shiny…. I declare this dive completed…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Artichoke juice is an efficient lubricant….

Posted on January 17, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Normally, streams of accidental tourists would be barging through the parlor, trying to see the latest version of Alice’s knickers, but the piano tuner forgot to shut down the coverlets, which caused the maids to neglect the silver. It might have been salvaged, had not the vicar arrived with the generalissimo in tow, hoping to be invited to tea. Since even Timmons, the tinker, was perplexed, Maggot, the farmer’s idiot son was sent to fetch the constable, to file a report for the insurance. Even the cats at the barn door paused in washing their whiskers to watch the ambulance pull away. Farragut Towers had never seen such goings-on, in all its days….

Hmm…. the nonsense doesn’t seem to want to flow this morning. Generally, a paragraph such as the above can fly onto the screen in about two minutes, but I had to struggle a bit to get this one down, taking at least 15 to wind its way to where it faded out. Ah well, I guess it just isn’t an English drawing room kind of day…. It’s probably just a hangover from dreaming last night, or something; I often find myself in dreams, involved in long, drawn out conversations with Lord Peter Wimsey, or Sherlock Holmes, sitting around in a smoky Victorian parlor, with the street noises of Piccadilly Circus or Baker Street muttering outside the window……

Unfortunately, that didn’t translate well onto the screen today. I don’t suppose I can expect to be able to do that on command; none of my other types of writing rely on focus or discipline. I rely far more on impulse and imaginative speculation when I’m deciding what to write, and try very hard NOT to apply a lot of conscious direction to where the decision ends up. My talent, such as it is, seems to work better for me when I just let it flow, without any direction from my conscious mind, and allow it to find its own path down to the sea, in a metaphorical sense. Metaphor is, after all, pretty much what we do around here….

Ranting at the world, even using the power of metaphor, is getting to be somewhat more dangerous, as our BRC (Beloved Ruling Class) is having a lot of success in fooling the public into being afraid, and letting them pass laws against what they fear, or, more dangerously, allowing them to make “executive” decisions to make laws, without bothering Congress about it. They are also performing a lot of surveillance on their own public, and, I am certain, marking down the names of those who are critical of the government’s actions in what they write.

To think that they will allow this criticism to go on forever is naive; they will eventually take steps to curtail freedom of speech further than it has already been eroded, just the same as how they have eliminated the right to protest in public, to gather in groups to obtain redress for grievances against the government, and the right to a fair trial by their peers. We lost the right to public oversight of the police some time ago, when the Patriot Act made it legal for them to arrest people and put them in undisclosed locations, without any judicial review or oversight. Very few of the original Amendments to the Constitution, which provided many of the rights we counted on, remain as law in this country. Americans sat around and watched, as the BRC has methodically and calmly sliced the Bill of Rights into shreds over the last 12 years since 9/11, using that day of infamy to justify their rape of the Constitution.

Oops…. I started ranting too early; forgot I was still in the intro. The latest outrageous moves by the BRC have me all worked up in that respect, as they are now, predictably, coming after the right bear arms, the one amendment that actually gives us real protection from the real world. The slippery slope of gun control is now on the public table, and the show is getting pretty raucous, on both sides of the argument….. But, all this is moot, here in the intro, or should be, so we’ll save it for below, should the subject come up…. (I know, that’s cheating, since I’m the one who picks the subjects…. deal with it…. I don’t cheat much, and when I do, it is merely a time-saving device, and has no direct effect on reality…..)

Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Gun control is not about guns. It is about control.” — Smart Bee

You had to know I couldn’t let this one go….. Yesterday, the POTUS signed several “Executive Orders” regarding the subject of gun control, addressing the issues that much of the American public is focused on (as directed to be by the BRC and the media….). Putting aside for the moment the issue of gun control itself, I wish to make it clear that the “Executive Orders” that were used to create the new regulations are a clear and obvious circumvention of the Constitution, and a direct attempt to bypass the checks and balances that our three pronged government is supposed to be subject to thereby. It seems to be escaping everyone’s notice that the Executive Branch of the government is now MAKING LAWS, not just enforcing them.

The whole system that has grown up around the concept of Executive Orders is, as far as I can see, completely illegal, according to Constitutional law. The President does NOT have the right to make laws, no matter how much urgency is seen to be present, or how much expediency is needed to address a situation. Congress is the body that is supposed to make laws, and the enforcement of those laws is the responsibility of the Executive Branch, with the oversight of both to be accomplished by the Federal Courts…. That is the way it was designed, and that is the way it has worked, to protect our rights as citizens for over 200 years….

Now, because of public fear, due mostly to the media frenzy at the behest of the BRC, and the manipulative dishonesty of the corporate masters of that same BRC, the rights we have enjoyed as Americans are now just about all gone. The assholes who run this country, the corporate masters who pull all the strings from behind the curtains, have successfully created a climate of fear amongst the general populace, and have neatly manipulated events so that it is the public itself clamoring for protection….. from itself. The media have so effectively spread the fear and horror, that the people on the streets are actually asking to have their rights curtailed, “for the good of society”…… What a load of bilge!

I am amazed at times at how naive people can be. The world is a dangerous place, and always has been, as human nature is anything but civilized. Yet people expect the government to be able to eliminate all danger from the public venue. They expect there to never be people who go crazy, and start shooting at everything they see, or attacking their delusional enemies. They expect there to never be an instance where police shoot unarmed citizens, just because they can. They actually expect members of the Beloved Ruling Class to have concern for what is important to them, instead of blithely pursuing their own agendas….. Such naivete is sadly all too common, and is the reason the rest of us will be forced to go along with the repressive regulations that are surely coming….

Yesterday, in discussing the gun control issue with a neighbor, it became clear just how naive, and unwilling to think, the general populace is…. This person is, I’d say, a pretty average citizen, perhaps less educated than some, but with more innate intelligence than many I know of. She actually said “yes” when I asked her if she trusted the police to be more ethical than the average citizen…. When I pointed out the multitude of incidents that occur every day that show police officers to be much less moral than the average joe, she acknowledged the point, but still would not voice mistrust of the police over the citizenry. She actually believes that policemen and women are more capable of carrying a gun, and not using it unethically, than are average folks…. A very, very foolish assumption, to my way of thinking…..

So, what we have now is a dual issue… First, the government wants to limit the citizenry’s access to guns, a direct abrogation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. (Read it…. it says the right to bear arms will “not be abridged.” Period.) Second, the executive branch of government is being allowed to make law, another direct abrogation of the Constitution, which assigns that function to Congress. If nothing else, these two subjects are going to provide the impetus for a shit-load of public discussion, for sure…. The trickiest part of that is to be able to winnow out the wheat from the chaff, for there will be a LOT of chaff thrown up, much of it by the BRC, as they do all they can to obfuscate the issues, and hide their own manipulative interactions.

You will, I’m sure, see and hear more on this, both here on this blog, and out there in the Big Blue Room. I’m not done ranting on either of these issues, you can count on that. For the moment, I’m going to go search out some pearls to use in the discussions, and leave you to chew on what I’ve already brought up. Don’t worry, I’ll be back, to chew on these bones some more…..

“I have the power to HALT PRODUCTION on all TEENAGE SEX COMEDIES!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

Children’s Rhymes

By what sends
the white kids
I ain’t sent:
I know I can’t
be President.
What don’t bug
them white kids
sure bugs me:
We know everybody
ain’t free.

Lies written down
for white folks
ain’t for us a-tall:
Liberty And Justice–
Huh!–For All?

Langston Hughes
__________________________________

It would be difficult for me to try to describe just how influential this statement has been in my life. I first read it around 1965 or so, when it was first published as part of Lazarus’ first appearance, in “Methuselah’s Children”. This incarnation of the idea, which pretty well describes Lazarus himself, was published later, in The Notebooks, as part of Heinlein’s book, “Time Enough For Love”, his magnum opus in later years. When I first read it, I was, as with much of Heinlein’s work, impressed by its relevance, and by how much it appealed to my own view of the universe. To my way of thinking, this is a perfect definition of what a man should be, and how one should approach life in general…..

As humans, our ecological niche in the Earth’s environment is that of the animal that fits into all niches. Our ability to eat any kind of food, to cope with any kind of environment we encounter, are designed to act as characteristics that enhance our ability to survive, and reproduce, which is the genetic mandate of all species. I mean, think about it, anything other than focus on surviving, and reproducing in kind, is kind of counter-productive, isn’t it? So, having this kind of all-encompassing flexibility of talent would seem to be custom made to make us efficient at staying alive long enough to carry on the species by producing offspring.

One of the talents we possess that is an essential underlying factor for our flexibility is our imagination. This unique talent, seemingly absent in most other species, allows us to see into the future, into the realm of possible outcomes of real time actions and events, giving us the advantage of being able to prepare for dealing with such issues much more efficiently than we can by merely reacting to the immediacy of what is happening in front of us. It is a very, very powerful tool, and ultimately, it will be either our saving grace, or our own personal executioner……

You see, humans also have a flaw in their make-up, a flaw that is every bit as powerful as imagination in its effect on our existence. This flaw is part of our emotional make-up, our feelings about what we perceive in the real world, outside our minds and imagination. The flaw can manifest itself in a variety of ways, but the most harmful are when this basic crack in our armor assume the form of deliberate ignorance, exemplified by fearful bigotry, or in indifference to the feelings of others, as typified by the corporate masters of the world and the Beloved Ruling Class (not necessarily the same group of men….). The flaw is typically seen in those public events that are marked by a lack of morality, or ethical behavior, such as the common habitual lying to the public by the candidates during elections, or when the police murder another innocent citizen….

I’ve written myself into another corner here, so to speak….. This subject is one that is constantly in my thoughts of late, as I witness the historic battle that is being waged in today’s political arena, a battle that began the day after the signing of the Constitution. The unseen, hidden rulers of the world have been trying to tear apart the system of protective laws and concepts that our forefathers left as our legacy since that fateful day, and their efforts are coming to fruition now. We are watching every one of the ten rights in the Bill of Rights being eradicated, made moot, by the passage of illegal laws, executive orders, and manipulation of the public’s fear until the lost and ignorant are crying out for protection from the boogie man….

At this point, I don’t know what the answers may be, nor what they may entail…. History, and our place in that history, is about to come to a head, in a manner of speaking. A lot of very volatile issues are currently being played out on the world stage, and the outcome is still in question. I can only hope that there are enough of the people who fit the description above still alive and actively working to maintain human dignity and freedom, to make a difference in the final resolution. I’m not terribly confident of success, but, I haven’t quite given up hope…. I’m not sure why, because, damn it, the BRC and the corporate assholes are holding a lot of good cards, and have a lot of resources at hand that aren’t available to the rest of us.

Ah well, all you can do, is all you can do….. and this is all I can do for now….

“I know everything, but I’m sworn to secrecy.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

Since I can’t ethically reveal any more secrets, it seems to be time to bring this….. whatever it is…. to a close. One can only beat one’s head against a wall for so long, before concussion sets in, and I’d like to get through a day without all the dizziness and nausea that daily events can produce. It would probably help if I didn’t go read the news every day, but, as I’ve said before, and will again, it’s good to keep track of what is going on, if only to be able to jump when necessary, and to know which way to jump…. makes the landing more comfortable….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Uh oh, it’s leaking magic smoke…..

Posted on January 15, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
It isn’t the most horrific thing I can think of to have happen, but, it’s annoying enough…. Did you ever get a song stuck in your head, and not be able to stop it? I have, and it isn’t pretty; by the time the song fades away, I generally have about half my hair left, and have lost weight from the stress of hearing the phrase “oh lord, stuck in Lodi, again..” for the ten-thousandth time in a row….. Like I said, it could be worse (it could have been the theme song to “Barney”…. you know… “You love me, I love you, etc.”, on and on, into nausea unlimited….), but, even Country Joe McDonald’s voice gets old after a while…. of course, he’s old now, too, so…. Oh right, sorry, forgot…. he’s dead, now, so he probably sounds even worse….

This was a particularly sticky episode of this kind of conundrum; even playing classical music to drown it out wouldn’t work, and since my guitar is still in the pawn shop gathering dust, I couldn’t play through it. It wouldn’t be so bad, I guess, if it would change lyrics occasionally, to finish the song, at least. But, no, it has to repeat the same line, over, and over, and over, until you want to scream at your own head to SHUT UP! This, of course, leads people to believe you just might be too near the edge, and give you a wide berth on the sidewalk. It can also make it tough to get a waiter to approach one’s table at the cafe ….. Well, if I were at a cafe, it would…..

The song finally faded out last night, thankfully, just before bed time, but was sure a pain in the old arse while it hung around….. Now this morning, the incident came back to me, and I thought to myself, “Why not?”….. So, shamelessly, I have just used that minor incident, one without any particularly compelling features, or dangerous attributes, and turned it into a three paragraph intro section, through the magic of inconsistency and mumble, mumble, as well as the power of a sick imagination. (‘Mumble, mumble’ is a euphemism, for stuff I choose to hide from you due to its manipulative nature…..). I know, it was a bit unethical of me, but, that is the way we authors get when faced with a blank page…. ruthless, you betcha….

No blood was drawn, however, so I don’t see that there is much to complain about. Sure, I stretched your credibility, but that’s good practice for what comes later. And sure, I took advantage of your willing, or at minimum, unsuspecting, nature, to lead you on down a primrose path to nowhere…. But, ask yourself this: where would you be if I didn’t? See, I’ve done y’all a favor by this, and you should be grateful…. You could be stuck somewhere, reading something that makes sense, and what would that get you? Nothing you need, for sure….

So, quit the bitching, and just buckle up for the ride. It promises to get a bit bumpy today, given the state of this intro…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 5

(Oops! Too late…. I wish I’d gotten the memo earlier in life….)
__________________________________

“Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.” — Udana Varga, c. 500 B. C.

This particular rephrasing of the Golden Rule from ancient India shows how long the concept has been around; in fact, it is a rephrasing of writings that are even older. This rule of behavior in society has been commonly held knowledge since the beginning of civilization, whenever one chooses to mark that date. Given that presence in the basket of platitudes that are carried by all, it brings to mind the question, “Why the fuck doesn’t anyone do this?”….. Well, that’s what came into MY mind, so deal with it…..

The Golden Rule is accepted by all societies on Earth as being a critical key to a peaceful existence, yet those who consistently ignore it, and break it with regularity, seem to always end up as the ones who are in charge of that self-same society. Everyone alive knows the rule, but many choose to not follow its advice and direction, instead, making it their purpose in life to acquire power over others, giving them both the ability, and the right, to harm others at their whim. I say right, because we have only those rights we can defend, and we, the common folk, do not defend ourselves against the BRC…. most of the time, whatever the BRC says is passively accepted by society, sometimes with regret and resignation, but mostly with barely reluctant acquiescence.

Me, I’ve never really been able to grasp what it is in those people that allows them to hurt others without suffering pangs of guilt. I know it is possible to suffer feelings such as that, and still ignore them, but it seems to me like those in power have learned to not even feel the guilt, having somehow come to be able to justify their desire for power as rational and right, rather than evil and cruel. It’s as if they come to decide they are destined to lord it over others, and thus feel only satisfaction at the suffering of others. It doesn’t make any sense to my world view, but, I understand that is how it works for them. Sick bastards….

Yes sick…. in my mind, any person who wants a public office in this country, one requiring election, is a sick person, riddled with all sorts of delusions and aggrandizements, and should be isolated from the rest of us, as it (greedy ambition, and the desire for power) can be a contagious condition. I don’t care how many logical sounding arguments or positions the person is able to spew out, they are mentally ill, and should be forced into treatment, for the safety of all society.

In fact, I think it would be a good thing if we started talking about some political control, rather than gun control. I think the political world needs regulation much more than do guns…. Guns are going to be used against people, it is what they were designed for, and people aren’t going to give them up, or stop doing crazy stuff with them, just because of a few regulations…. But, the politicians NEED to be regulated, much more than they are, and it really can’t wait…..

“Under every stone lurks a politician.” — Aristophanes

This particular subject is an easy rant for me, with all the major characteristics of a good subject right out there to see and write about. As such, I could probably go on all day without running out of stuff to poke at in this area of human nature. But, I’ve made my point, I think, so we’ll save some of the energy for later. Let it suffice to say, how someone feels about the Golden Rule is usually a good indicator of how they feel about politicians, et al. A real politician will look you in the eye, tell you they support the Golden Rule wholeheartedly, then will turn right around and say the exact opposite to your enemy. to gain their support. And, they’ll never feel a moment’s guilt over doing so…. If they did, how could they ever consider trying to be elected in the first place? Just wanting that kind of power is a clear sign of mental illness, guaranteed….

“My CODE of ETHICS is vacationing at famed SCHROON LAKE in upstate New York!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I was done with this, but fate intervened…. Just to show how our culture has developed under the influence of the delusions fostered by the lies of the BRC, consider this, which I found in the 13th Bathroom Reader…. One of our cultural myths says that the soldiers at Valley Forge under Washington during the Revolutionary War starved during winter because there was no food anywhere for them. The truth is, there was plenty of food, but the farmers in Valley Forge sold it all to the British Army, who were able to pay cash…. Kind of takes away from the grandeur of the alleged events, and puts the lie to any elements of implied nobility, doesn’t it? Conversely, it does rather support what I’ve outlined above, wouldn’t you say?…… Sick puppies, all of them, and always ready, and willing, to take advantage of human greed….

“If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vi, 21
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On the birth of his son

Families, when a child is born
Want it to be intelligent.
I, through intelligence,
Having wrecked my whole life,
Only hope the baby will prove
Ignorant and stupid.
Then he will crown a tranquil life
By becoming a Cabinet Minister

— Su Tung-p’o

Remembrance

To what can our life on earth be likened?
To a flock of geese,
alighting on the snow.
Sometimes leaving a trace of their passage.

Su Tung-po

A two-fer…. 🙂
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I’m feeling a bit lazy this morning, having already ranted sufficiently to relieve the toxicity levels in my brain; it always has such a soothing effect on me to spew…. 🙂 So, I’m going to go old school again, as I am wont to do in these cases…. Today’s group of pearls are all in the same vein, so to speak…. Each one gives us a little glimpse into the methodology of life lived well, and can, if duly appreciated, absorbed, and utilized, be quite valuable tools in the daily struggle against entropy and chaos…. If, for some unknown and incomprehensible reason, they don’t strike that chord for you, well, it will impress your friends to quote them now and then; if nothing else they’re quite engaging ideas, well stated…. enjoy!…..

“As you go the way of life you will see a great chasm. Jump. It is not as wide as you think.” — Native American advice

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ii, 14

“Any necessary work that pays an honest wage carries its own honor and dignity.” — W. Kelly Griffith

“Doubt is the key to knowledge.” — Persian Proverb
(Caution: If you quote this one, be prepared to defend your statement….. This has a tendency to create ‘doubt’, even in those who just hear it…..)

And, for the final word, our old friend Alan Watts, doing what he does best…. making the complex seem simple….

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.” — Alan Watts
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I have to say, having the time to spend on these Pearls, without the stress of thinking of how to get it published, is certainly helping the quality of the gems that are being produced. Probably something to do with the available time for editing and polishing, but, no doubt the reduction of the need to hurry is key…. Whatever is the reason, I’m content with how today’s version of my take on Reality has worked out….. plus, it’s done. Therefore, I pronounce this Pearl closed for business…. Hasta mañana, amigos! Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Credit given where due….

Posted on December 24, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Yesterday, it rained all day, hard, in the area where I live. A higher degree of pain than usual, with concomitant stiffness, meant I didn’t have it in me to walk the seven and a half blocks to the library in the rain, and I can’t afford the coffee shop this late in the month…. besides, it’s also over three long blocks away, with the same walk back UP the hill afterward, all in the rain. No thanks…. If I had tried either one, I’d be in bed still, come the New Year…. Also, no thanks…. Unhappily, this means my postings are a day behind, proving once again I am mostly human…… I’ve never been able to quite get it all right….

No worries, though… I decided I’m not going to stress about it; I just came back, fired the computer back up, and proceeded to write this little pre-disclaimer to maintain some clarity. I don’t think any of what is below is time-sensitive, particularly, so it will still be relevant…. and, who knows? I might even get the poem I feel percolating to drip down before I get to a posting point tomorrow, which, now, is today….. At any rate, this is a pretty decent Pearl, I think, so….. enjoy…..

Ffolkes,
I know full well why I am not a success. Wait…. Okay, that’s wrong. I know full well why I AM a success…. Wait…. Okay, that’s wrong, too…

Alright, this is the right way to start….

Most folks in the mainstream would NOT call me successful, I suppose, though I know full well I am. The reason for this discrepancy is a different understanding of the definition of the word itself, along with a somewhat different idea of what determines that definition. To the average person in our world, successful means rich in money or property; you aren’t even in the ball park if you don’t own two cars and four TVs to go with your house and boat. This, as mentioned, differs widely from my own idea of what makes a person successful, as mine has nothing whatever to do with gelt…..

I am rich in friends. I am rich in my children. And, I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice in my mind, which is all I ever wanted. When I was very young, before the age of 10, I remember hearing the phrase “If you want a life full of trouble, fill your house with treasure.” I thought about that, decided that it sounded perfectly logical, and made up my mind there and then to never make the seeking of money, or things, an important goal in my life. There are far greater riches to be found in any random Mark Twain story than in any bank, and this I believe, implicitly…..

Oh, sure, it’s nice to not have to struggle financially, and I’m smart enough that I’ve never before had to struggle as I am today with money issues. Once, back in my early twenties, I went without work for a couple of months, and it was tough for a few weeks, but then I found a job, and all was well…. The rest of the time I’ve spent just enough effort to make enough to take care of myself, and my family, once I started it, and never felt any need for more. I can’t say I’ve felt deprived, at all, for not having experienced more in the way of the rich lifestyle, as I have had all I ever wanted…..

So, in that sense, I’ve always been extremely successful, for I have always done exactly as I wished to do, and been successful at attaining all I wanted. And, I can truthfully say, I have never had a moment of worry or anguish over being threatened with, or experiencing, being robbed. It’s easy, when you know there is nothing about which to worry, for there isn’t enough to tempt any robbers. It makes for a quite serene lifestyle, all in all…..

The other side of this coin under discussion is that I simply don’t give a crap about what others think, and never have….. Maybe it’s a gift, I don’t know, but I’ve never felt that what anyone else thought about ME had any bearing on what I was to do, or think. It just never occurred to me to let what anyone else said have that kind of influence over me…… It’s always been relatively easy for me to say “f___ you” to anyone (figuratively, of course….) when they try to tell me what I SHOULD do or think….. Gift or curse, I don’t care, it works for me….

Well, now, I was going somewhere with all this bilge water; where could that have been? Ah, yes…. the fucking feds & staties….. Sorry, when I write their names, the “fuck” is mandatory; that’s the law. Since the California State Department of Social Services has decided to draw out the time during which they can fuck with me about my own money, I am once again consigned to the confines of financial purgatory. They decided, because I mentioned a word they hadn’t heard before, (to wit: diverticulosis), they decided they’d better send me to another doctor about it, thus extending the process another three or four months, minimum. This puts me right back into limbo, where I’ve languished now for close to two years…. By the time these guys finish dicking around with my case, I’ll be eligible for my regular SS, at age 66, four years from now…. Bloody Assholes!….

I could rant about it for a long time, but this intro is already past the standards set for normalcy around here, so I’d best let it go for now….. Suffice it to say, I am once again NOT A HAPPY CAMPER! Wish me luck with my patience, please, I’m going to need it….. For now, I’m going to go for a dive, to try to take my mind to some other point in the universe, where things aren’t quite so dreary and depressing as they are around here just now…. Thank goodness for books and literature, they’ve saved me all my life, and continue to do so now….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Anyone who isn’t confused doesn’t really know what’s going on.” — Edward R. Murrow

To Mr. Murrow’s assertion, in today’s world, I would add, “Anyone who isn’t worried, isn’t paying attention.” I saw in the news yesterday that the President has offered up Social Security as a sacrifice to the Republicans in the Congress, to bribe them into signing some other tax bill. I can’t say it surprises me, as I have said all along that I don’t trust the President, any more than I trust any office holder in this country. But, given his most recent statements during the election run-up, I’m concerned that he is already turning what he said at that time into a lie; he promised, then, to protect senior citizens, and Social Security, and Medicare, from the depredations of the conservatives. To start abrogating his duties before he is even sworn in is not a good, or hopeful, sign for the future.

This particular threat is a serious one; the cuts proposed would have a very deleterious effect on my income, and that of every senior under the aegis of SS. One article claimed it could decrease the average senior’s yearly income by more than $3000, and possibly more over the next ten years. This, without any doubt whatsoever, is a reprehensible idea, and the person(s) responsible should be taken out an shot, without ceremony or delay. These politicians seem to think that the money that is in SS is theirs, when in fact, it belongs to me, and those like me, who have been pouring a percentage of our pay into it for our entire lives. It is NOT theirs, nor should it be thought of as even public money. It belongs to the people who put it there, and should be protected from the rapacious assholes who can’t stand the idea of anyone having something they don’t control….

ROBBER, n. A candid man of affairs. It is related of Voltaire that one night he and some traveling companion lodged at a wayside inn. The surroundings were suggestive, and after supper they agreed to tell robber stories in turn. “Once there was a Farmer-General of the Revenues.” Saying nothing more, he was encouraged to continue. “That,” he said, “is the story.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Thomas Jefferson, in certain of his writings to other patriots, mentioned the danger to the Republic from corporations, bankers, and preachers. He was particularly clear-sighted in this respect, and saw that once the legislators had voted themselves the power to control the treasury, both the income and output, the public would be in danger of continuous, and ongoing theft of public funds. He stated this many times, but, did anyone listen? Not enough of the right people, apparently, because everything he feared has come to pass.

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” — H. L. Mencken

The legislature in today’s modern world is completely under the financial influence and control of the banks and corporations, aided by the preachers’ continuing repression/distraction of the public, to confuse the issue, and help obfuscate their actions, hiding them from public view. Anyone who does not believe this to be true is under that same influence, and should be referred back to our original statement above, i.e., you don’t really know what’s going on…… or, you are not paying attention…..

Now that Barack no longer has to worry about re-election, he can begin to show his truer colors, and screw the rest of us in the process. I told you all a while back; NO POLITICIAN can be fully trusted, either to tell the truth, or to act in the public’s interests, for they all suffer from the same issue of moral failure, and that is that they WANT to be in power.

“Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on them [public offices], a rottenness begins in his conduct.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 1799

That desire, to have power over others, is a mental disorder, plain and simple. It is insane, both in my mind, and in scientific terms, to want to control other people like that. Even if the desire is motivated by what could be termed a moral impulse, the urge to help, the actual wielding of the power is corrupting, and soon overcomes any leftover morality, in favor of expedience.

Call the White House, and the Senate. Write them. Email them. Tell them we aren’t going to stand for this flip-flop from the President, and let them know that the true power really still does reside with the people. If we don’t, we may all end up regretting we ever listened to them….. again…..

“A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.” — Georges Pompidou

As far as I can see, there are no statesmen alive today, only politicians….
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And, as in uffish thought he stood
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame
Came wiffling through the tulgey wood
And burbled as it came
— _Jabberwocky_, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)

If it isn’t clear to y’all by now, I love nonsense. For me, it provides the balance so necessary to a harmonious existence, as the rest of reality is so often dreary, grim-faced, and sober. (see section one, above, for clear evidence of this assertion….) And, since poetry makes anything in words better, nonsensical poetry is sheer joy for me….. It doesn’t get any better than the above, which will provide adequate balance for whatever I find and choose to go in the latter half of this section…. so, enjoy, both the poetry, and the contrasting styles…..

To Congress, with Love

Politicos don’t care much ’bout seniors and their ilk,
except for their money, I thinks;
Though they talk as if they’d cozen them in silk,
what they actually do, it stinks.

“The banks are failing, we can’t allow that!”,
steal from the aged, that’s their plan.
“Their life’s ending, that’s plainly where they’re at,”
lie shamelessly, because they can.

Maybe just once, if we all act together,
it couldn’t miss.
Right on their shoes, no matter the weather,
take careful aim, and piss.

Why the hell not?
It’s worth a shot!

~~ gigoid

Well, gosh, who knew that was in there?…..
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“Just because you’re not paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you!” — Smart Bee

Last week, or maybe earlier, another blogger and I were both ID’d as being a bit paranoid, (self-identified, I might add) because we happen to believe at least some of the conspiracy rumors continually floating around the internet. Each of us took comfort from the above sentiment, knowing it to be 100% true, and have mutual agreement in that belief. He seems to be pretty tech-savvy, posting a lot of different types of media on his blog, so he must have similar knowledge as I of computers, and the functions of which current technology is capable. This knowledge, along with a deep understanding of human nature, is the root cause for our paranoia, and, it’s justification…..

“No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.” — Aristotle

The little laptop computer upon which I type to create these Pearls of Virtual Wisdom is an amazing machine, and fairly representative of what is available to the public these days. It has, quite simply, more computing power in it than was present in the ENTIRE WORLD when the first laptop was on the design boards, when I got my first clunky 386. What this simple fact(oid) implies is this: the government, and its supporters, the bankers, corporations, and churches, has available for their use, enough computing power to record EVERY piece of communication, of EVERY type, created each day in the ENTIRE WORLD. Along with that capability, to monitor ALL communications, it has the capability of mining that huge amount of data for significant words, phrases, and patterns that will inform them of anyone, anywhere, who is speaking in a way that is potentially against their interests.

Yep…. every single piece of published communication, via phone, internet, TV, radio, or any other form of media by which humans communicate, is vulnerable to being overheard by those in the beloved ruling class…. Allow me to assure you, the reasons for which they want this information have nothing to do with YOUR rights, or YOUR interests, nor are they going to tell you, either that they are doing it, or how often, or where, or anything about it. In many public places, with cameras and recording devices, it is possible for them to overhear even the words we speak to each other face to face. If they wish, they can even concentrate technology on a single spot, (such as your car, your living room, or kitchen…..), and listen to every word spoken there, even if they are not within miles of the place. There is, by published report, no place left on Earth where technology cannot penetrate, to listen to what is being spoken, given the opportunity, and the time to employ the needed technology.

So, my friend and I are well aware that what we write and publish here online is perfectly available to those who care about such matters, and they WILL be listening to what EVERYONE is saying, even, or, perhaps especially, us. Since I have a tendency to rant against the very people who are listening, I doubt that my name is missing from several lists of theirs. In fact, I’d be surprised if it was missing from those lists…. if it is, they’re not paying attention….. 🙂

As I’ve said before ffolkes, be alert; the world needs all the lerts it can get. You are being watched, and listened to, whether you choose to believe it or not, so it would behoove you to, perhaps, take that into account. Please, don’t fall into that, “oh, you’re just being paranoid,” attitude, or the “well, if I don’t say anything wrong, they can’t get me,” fallacy…. One of the primary characteristics of those with the power-mongering gene is a certain irrationality that is inherent in their make-up…. They have an unfortunate tendency to act on belief and faith, not on fact, so their actions, while fairly predictable, are somewhat irrationally chosen, and don’t necessarily make any sense to those of us who use our minds for other things than reclining upon…. Remember, as Lazarus Long advises, “Always cut the cards.”…..

I have read and understood the above. X ______________________
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Today’s effort certainly doesn’t lack for original material….. It’s understandable, to me; I’ve got a lot of stuff to say, no viable, compelling reason not to say it, and plenty of good reasons to do so. (“Stuff” being my most versatile word…. such flexibility of meaning!…..) Having said a lot of it, I’ll leave thee be to pursue thy own ends, for the nonce. You can’t say fairer than that….. Oh, yeah, happy holidays, I guess….

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Sodden reflections of ancient grandeur….

Posted on December 20, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
It is always easy to give in, to give up…. Even those of us who make an effort to maintain honor and dignity in life, can find ourselves far too often in a position where life will be made easier, in a sense, by giving in to some kind of action that is less honorable than another, or less dignified, at least. For example, I’m sitting here, just allowing my mind to wander, and tears begin to form, along with a stray thought about how hard it is to get by while waiting for my SS money to start. The tears, while all-too familiar these days, are NOT welcome; I’m tired of seeing myself as broken, no matter how broken I am in reality…..

In this instance, giving in means crying because I am so tired of being unable to create much of any quality of life beyond the most basic standards. It also means accepting the weakness of spirit that is implied by the tears, that broken quality so common to those who have been grievously injured in some way. I’m not sure what it looks like from the other side, but from the inside, it is not a good feeling to feel fragile and vulnerable, especially for a big, strong man, who has always been seen as, and regarded himself as, a pillar of strength, both physically, and mentally. All my life I was a superior athlete, and a leader among my peers, intellectually and socially; now I am a recluse, living with constant pain and worry, wondering if my food will stretch to the end of the month, and weeping because I can’t buy anything for my kids for Christmas…..

This blog, and the writing of it, is what has kept me relatively sane for the past year plus that I’ve been writing on WordPress (over 560 posts now, and over 16,000 visitors…. way cool, that….). (Well, I have to add, my sanity has received a lot of bolster and support from my friends, in which I am rich…. as it includes some rather excellent people I’ve met here on WordPress, as well as my life-long friends….without them, I would truly be alone….)

Writing here affords me an area of expression that provides the stress relief I so require, and I am sure that if I had not been able to do this, I would most likely be in jail, and somebody would be dead who wasn’t scheduled to be so….. You see, there are just so many logical targets….. but, once again, that is a form of giving in, and I’m reluctant to do so any more than I already do….. Besides, I’m so broke, I can’t afford a gun, so I’d have to use a knife, and it’s so messy…. Quiet, but messy….

Bah! This is all twaddle, isn’t it? I would guess that it is okay for me to use my own feelings as a springboard to begin, but, to some extent, it almost feels like the very giving in of which I am speaking, a cheap way to find subject matter, to be sure. To me, though, it feels as if I’m being overly sentimental and weak…. and, to some degree, I am. But, I’ll be damned if I’ll feel bad about it….

I spent a lot of years feeling bad about the fact that I felt bad (it sounds a bit confusing, I know…. think about being on the inside of that thought….). One who is injured as I was tends to feel unworthy; first, for allowing the injury to occur, and then for being no longer useful for the purpose being served. It doesn’t matter at all that what was done, was done by necessity, or that it was done correctly, and well; the very fact of being injured is enough to outweigh any logical viewpoints. I’ve learned, for the most part, to not give in to that feeling, as it really isn’t a true feeling; it is one we are taught to feel, by those corporate masters who would have us work on, oblivious….guilt isn’t a natural response, it is taught….

Now, however, those unwanted feelings sneak up on me, like this, in the mornings when I am not yet alert, and send me off into an emotional morass that takes a while to dissipate. This morning, it has taken, what?…. Damn near seven paragraphs written before I feel like I’ve regained some equilibrium…. That is simply too much, and I’m putting a stop to it here and now….. Of course, my sub-conscious mind is rather stiff-necked and stubborn, and my decision may have no effect whatsoever on future outbreaks of angst in the early morning…. but, I must make an effort to control my own mind, or what is the point of having one?….. Shall we Pearl?……

“.. hubub, hubub, HUBUB, hubub, hubub, hubub, HUBUB, hubub, hubub, hubub.” — Zippy the Pinhead

(I knew a man once, in reality, whose entire vocabulary consisted of exactly this word, in almost exactly this cadence….. except when he got really upset, then he’d look you in the eye, and say “bastard”, as he took a desultory punch at your nose…. I loved him, dearly…. His existence, while inconceivable to the rest of us, was extremely simplified, and comfortable to him, and, in my view, was not an unreasonable response to a world he did not comprehend, a world in which he lived every moment in fear…..)
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Here is a short trio of pearls, old school style, to indicate a certain point (which, as always, is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader….). Please note, for later reference, the roller coaster characteristics of the path from the beginning to the conclusion…. Taking notes will not be necessary, or graded….

“A little experience often upsets a lot of theory.” — Cadman

“If the King’s English was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!” — Ma Ferguson, Governor of Texas (circa 1920)

“Life is always like high school. Which is interesting, because high school is nothing like life.” — Jon Carroll, SF Chronicle, November 17, 1995.

Hmm….. this is interesting. I’ve noticed previously that Pearls often would take on a completely different meaning if presented in a slightly different order, on those occasions when more than one pearl is used to make a point. At times, the conclusion may be different, while other times may cause the conclusion to remain valid, while the road taken to get to that validity traveled through a different country.

This is kind of like that, except that it is so flexible, I believe it would change its face and clothing no matter which way the three quotes are ordered. In this case, I have merely inverted the order of presentation, to find that the meaning stays the same, relatively, while the path does not….

“Life is always like high school. Which is interesting, because high school is nothing like life.” — Jon Carroll, SF Chronicle, November 17, 1995.

“If the King’s English was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!” — Ma Ferguson, Governor of Texas (circa 1920)

“A little experience often upsets a lot of theory.” — Cadman

Same idea, basically, but it got there on a Segway, not a roller coaster….. I really do love the English language; it is so amenable to torture….. and as an inanimate entity, has no feelings to offend, nor blood to spill…. Well, I guess, given my heavy-handed writing techniques, some blood is unavoidable, but, it cleans up well with a bit of cold water and salt…..

“It is not a fish until it is on the bank.” — Irish Proverb
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Always a hedonist, I have opted today to go with one of my all-time favorite poems….

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

~~ Shel Silverstein
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“Beware the lightning that lurketh in the undischarged capacitor, lest it cause thee to bounce upon thy buttocks in a most untechnician-like manner.” — The First Commandment for Technicians

“Is the printer plugged into the wall power socket? Is the plug wire from the wall plugged into the back of the printer?” — The First Two Questions for the Printer Help Desk Technician

“Did you try to reboot the computer?” — The First Level Help Desk Question

There are many, many more rules, of course, in the technical world, rules whose existence is necessitated by the power and scope of human stupidity. The first one above is, naturally, a corollary of Murphy’s Law of Scientific Endeavor, and one that all those of a geekish nature learn very early in life.

The second and third are indicative of my own experiences as the Computer Technician for a tax business, a large franchise with a number of offices in various cities in the region they served. I installed their networks and tax software, did trouble-shooting for the office computers and systems, set up classrooms for tax classes for taxpayers, and for new employees during the tax season. Essentially, I was their one-person Help Desk, on call for emergencies to any office. Great fun, but hard work, as they weren’t exactly the most well-trained set of managers I’d ever encountered…. but, that’s another story….

“Work thou not on energized equipment, for if thou dost, thy fellow workers will surely buy beers for thy widow and console her in other ways.” — The Seventh Commandment for Technicians

I’ve included this one, just because Smart Bee gave it to me so soon after finding the first one, above; I hadn’t known the Commandments had been codified, and didn’t know they, the Commandments, were there in Smart Bee’s database. Each, of course, is suitable as a starting point for a pearl, and together, they can provide some quality moments of laughter at the foibles of human nature we all share.

The second Help Desk question, re: the printer, is drawn from real life experience, which I obtained one time on a call to the office in V___, California. They were unable to tell me why their network printer would not print any of their files over the phone, so I had to go to the office physically to troubleshoot the unknown issue….

Upon arriving, I walked to the printer, to check if it was plugged in to the wall, and that other machines plugged into the same plug were functioning, as I would with any trouble shooting visit. All good….. I then walked over to the printer, where I found the other end of the wire leading to the plug. It was only halfway plugged into the printer, thus would NOT have supplied any power, but looked okay upon cursory examination. Problem fixed, for as soon as I pushed the plug all the way onto the receptor, the machine fired up and started printing out all of the files it had been sent….. thus certifying the veracity of Lazarus Long’s admonition, to wit: “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”

The saving grace behind our tendency toward bozoid acts of sheer stupidity, is that it also provides us with unending supplies of laughter, at ourselves, and at this crazy world in which we live, or, in some cases, merely spend time. As the Firesign Theater noted in their performance, “I think we’re all Bozos on this bus…..”

None of us, no matter how smart, or competent, or lucky, ever escapes completely from Murphy’s influence, and there is always a reason to laugh at ourselves, if we have the grace of spirit to understand the humorous facets of our own nature. ‘Tis an old Irish proverb that tells us, “There’s no better medicine than a long sleep and a hearty laugh.” Or, it might have been, “a hearty laugh, and a long sleep.” I forget…. so sue me. Oh, crap, that tears it!….

See? Now, my own bozoid tendencies have erupted, and I’m displaying my own proof of my assertions…. Okay, I’m done… quit it. Stop laughing now, I’m done, see? Never mind, I’ll just go away now, having completely lost all continuity, and probably, all credibility….

🙂
__________________________________

It is probably a good thing that I am beginning to regard the passage of just one day as a significant victory of principle. Or, perhaps it would be clearer and more accurate to say the passage of one day without a) snapping, to the point of giving in to illegal, if entirely justifiable, homicidal urges, b) starving, or c) crying without warning or reason, can be regarded as such a victory.

In which case, I’ve already lost today, on record, so there’s no point in getting all weirded out for the rest of the day…. Here ’tis, damn near 10:00 AM, and I’ve completed today’s Pearl, not without struggle, I admit, but, completely ready to join the “done” category….. Therefore, I shall now cease rambling on, without rhyme, or reason…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

In the graveyard of the ancient toaster-ovens….

Posted on December 17, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Freeze-dried brain fever, that’s what I’ll call it. Fdbf, for short. I imagine all people get it, but it affects us who write much more severely than the general population, as might be expected of a pastime where the brain is an important factor in successful operation. We humans do tend to avoid activities that cause that organ to work any harder than necessary, so it becomes clear that having, and using, a brain is advantageous to the writer. I’d say that using it would be a prerequisite for the field, but there is so much evidence out there of the converse, I can’t say that….. The recent vampire story series, Twilight, is a prime example of literature written by a person of no brain, I’d say….. Sorry, in my world, vampires are never “cute”….. and they don’t hang around in Hollywood, even to make movies….

For a few moments this morning, it almost seemed as if I would be caught with my own case of fdbf; I was terrified when I sat down and saw a vast empty plain stretching away to infinity in my mind, completely bereft of any material at all. But, the plug loosened quickly, and words started leaking out, so I knew it was just a false alarm. I’ve had that syndrome previously, and it’s no picnic, believe me. A lot of authors go through some pretty strange rituals and activities to try to get rid of fdbf, or limit its visit, but I was lucky enough today; I didn’t have to break out the pomegranate sauce or the palm oil towelettes. Good thing, too, that palm oil is expensive…..

Even without having to cope with the absence of motivation or material, I’m a bit sticky today. I’m not even sure what I mean by “sticky”; it just seems like the right word. Like the bottom of your shoe gets something stuck on it, and every step slows you down…. It could conceivably be a side-effect, of the forced waiting I’m having to do while Social Security goes through all its bureaucratic posturing, but that helps me in no way, either to know or to prevent. In fact, like almost every time I have to deal with them, I am frustrated by their absolute dedication to procrastination and sloth. Bloody idiots….

Alright…. that’s enough blather for one day. I could rant all day on SS, and their woeful ways, but I’m sure I can find something a bit more entertaining. But, only if I ever stop this nonsense, and get on with the dive….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Don’t bother attacking me. I have more hit points than Godzilla.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

“I’m going to Iowa for an award. Then I’m appearing at Carnegie Hall, it’s sold out. Then I’m sailing to France to be honored by the French government. I’d give it all up for one erection.” — Groucho Marx, 1890-1977

Though my life is in no way as exciting as Groucho’s seems to have been, I can relate to this sentiment completely. At this point in the narrative, I have a choice…. I can go personal, I can go humorous, I can go educational, I can go fantasy, or, I can just go on with what Groucho is implying with his remark, no doubt made when he was of an age similar to mine….. which leads me into a discussion of the manual, and what is NOT in there….

However, every time I start a piece about the manual (you know, the manual of Life, that we were all due to be given at birth….), something intervenes to take the wind from the sails of my rant, so I’m going to change things a bit, to try to throw Murphy off the scent, as it were…. Old school format then; that’s what you’ll get, and you’ll like it!…. Those are your ORDERS!….

Actually, you don’t HAVE to like it, just read it and weep…. Below are some quotes (big surprise….)…. Each one is a good idea, powerful enough to stand alone… In addition, each one is of such a nature that it SHOULD have been included in your manual. As I’ve implied, a LOT of stuff got left out of the manual, so it’s a good idea now and again to add some things to the Notes, just for reference…. Here are some you may have been deprived of in your copy….

“If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential — for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints; possibility never.” — Soren Kierkegaard

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful until it became risky. — C.S. Lewis _The Screwtape Letters_

He who knows man is clever;
He who knows himself is enlightened.
He who conquers men has force;
He who conquers himself is truly strong.
— Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism

“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion — i.e., none to speak of.” — Lazarus Long

“The number of people who agree or disagree with you has absolutely no bearing on whether you’re RIGHT. The universe has a way of deciding that for itself.” — Smart Bee

I could go on for a long time; the manual is historically known to be poor in resources that will actually help. I have a feeling the job of creating them was outsourced….. but, the last one is worth the price of admission, all by itself…..
__________________________________

A Patch of Old Snow

There’s a patch of old snow in a corner
That I should have guessed
Was a blow-away paper the rain
Had brought to rest.

It is speckled with grime as if
Small print overspread it,
The news of a day I’ve forgotten —
If I ever read it.

Robert Frost

Simple, deep, beautiful…. enough said….
__________________________________

“A means of control should exist whereby access operators and their organizations are held responsible for what is posted on the Internet,” — Church of Scientology lawyer Helena Kobrin, 1995.

This is an absolutely astounding statement….. Scary, too, to think there are people out there so ignorant, and so intent on making other people think the way they do (well, if one can call such activity “thinking”….), they would go so far as to make such a ridiculous utterance, and attach their name to it. Especially a lawyer, though in one sense, I can see how this one is thinking of billable hours, as such a set of laws as she is suggesting would make litigation our newest popular sport, another national pastime, as it were, to go along with baseball and apple pie. Sue your internet provider, because they posted an article on the internet that disagrees with you…. what a unique concept! It’s kind of like shooting the milk man, because you’ve developed an allergy to milk….

I know, that example makes no sense at all…. but neither does what is said above. First, the Church of Scientology isn’t a church, so they really don’t have any right to claim the same sort of entitlement as the rest of them take, as they don’t fall into the same category of human stupidity. (Remind me to tell you about Scientology’s creation some time; it’s a story they don’t like being told….) Second, they don’t have the right they believe they have, to tell others what they should think, and aren’t going to be able to pass laws that favor ONLY their organization…. The other, so-called legitimate religions, will see to that, even if the rest of us don’t manage to do so…. which, I might add, is a distinct possibility, as we would probably get stuck laughing so hard we missed the vote….

I’m not going to rant any further, though I could; this subject lends itself well to such treatment. But, I’ve a lot to do today out in the Big Blue Room, and just wanted to furnish a reminder to everyone that people, and I use the term loosely, who think like this, and are invested in seeking out ways to control other folks until the world is all like them, really do exist, and are out there trying to find ways to slip their idiotic ideas into the public venue, hoping to turn things to their advantage. If we, the rational members of society, do nothing, they will achieve at least some success, and life will get harder for everyone…. Be aware, and don’t allow this sort of idiocy to take hold, ffolkes…. your own blog might be at risk, and you’d never even know until it was too late…..

“Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you…..” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

One might think, to look at the last quote used in section three, that I am somewhat insane. This would be to my advantage, as I am not, but, I’ll just defuse the entire question when I tell you that this quote, found many places besides Smart Bee, was first told to me by my own father….. He DID smile when he said it, but also pointed out that any joke has an element of truth to it, and should, therefore, not be entirely dismissed as nonsensical, merely because it isn’t true for the majority of time. Since my father was one of the most solidly grounded individuals I’ve ever known, I’d say his take on this was pretty accurate, and that knowledge has served me well many times throughout my life…. Be alert, ffolkes, the world needs all the lerts it can get….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

But, really, the teacher obviously meant to say “provincial”….

Posted on December 16, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
I’ve managed to make a decision, in spite of the massive cloud of confusion that descends upon me when I try to think about this issue…. I’m going to use the pieces of the Pearl from the 13th, which still refuses to post (another tale….), to fill in other Pearls, until all three sections have been published. Today, I’ll publish the poem, which I think is a good one, and use the rest tomorrow or Tuesday. It all sounds very logical and sensible, so, no doubt, Murphy will have something to say about it beforehand…. I’ll just be on the lookout for that, and hopefully it won’t get any on you…..

Spending more time lamenting my financial state would be both uncomfortable and tactless, as well as just too self-serving; nothing will happen on Sunday anyway. I could try to do laundry, but those pesky finances say not this month. It’s a good thing I have a lot of underwear and socks….. Hmm…. No buses today, either, except for a limited period, limited to two routes. It’s a good thing I checked out a couple of books yesterday when I posted the Pearl, as today is looking like a stay-at-home holiday for us seniors on a budget…..

On days such as today, I always enjoy the process of pearling, because it can take me out of my head, and into the universe, with all its strangeness and beauty. That is, provided Murphy leaves me alone, and Smart Bee doesn’t get smarmy…. either of those events can lead to problematic issues, such as boredom, which I detest and refuse to acknowledge in any form, or worse, angst, which can build up in short order if I get to thinking about stuff like politics, or religion, the beloved ruling class, human nature, or my own personal failures of courage (we’ve all got ’em….). Generally, though, the trips to find pearls are fun, and provide me with countless hours of entertainment (I’m pretty easy to please in that respect, since almost everything is interesting to me…..).

Once again, I’ve also managed to meander through four paragraphs of not very much, to provide a suitable intro…. Of course, given the nature of what I usually produce, I’m not certain at all that the word “suitable” ever applies, so….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“It’s getting harder and harder to act weird.” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

This statement strikes a deep chord within me…. It comes to me upon reflection that there are basically two kinds of people in the world; there are those who will see a statement such as this, read it, think about it, and either accept it, or reject it, though it hardly seems possible to do the latter, given its degree of demonstrable truth.

The other kind of person will start to read this, then give up after a few words, because the words have no meaning for them, beyond the word ‘treasure’. Once these folks discover that the ‘treasure’ isn’t jewels or gold, they stop all thought on the subject, and turn to anything else that will serve their self-interest.

In one sense, this dichotomy of nature is indicative of what is happening in the world at large today. On one hand we observe the people who reject the above statement, and live according to rules that are pathologically oriented to themselves, those who also believe in “do unto others before they can do unto you….”.

Sadly, this group is the same one that the major percentage of elected officials and members of our beloved ruling class come from, along with all of those who spend their lives playing with money, i.e., the bankers. All of these folks refuse to acknowledge the veracity of any of the sentiments expressed by the Buddha above, and in many cases, do so with pride and arrogance…

Another group of folks lend their support to those in power, though they spend a lot of time trying to convince everyone that they are acting out of altruistic motivation rather than monetary. I call these folks preachers, for lack of a better word, and the group, in my mind, includes priests, pastors, vicars, sadhu, imams, Elders, or anyone else who considers themselves a holy man, with the right to interpret the words of gods for the rest of us.

They want us to believe they are acting according to what Buddha has expressed above, but in reality, what they do bears no resemblance at all to virtue. They merely use the words to assume the authority by proxy. In fact, their very insistence that they are acting in the interests of others, or are at all inspired to virtue, to me, is a foul lie, and worthy of their own judgment…..

I could rant for a long time on this subject, as I regard it as the most critical problem in human nature, the root cause of our current dangerous position as a species threatened with extinction. The callousness and self-aggrandizement that characterizes those among us who wish power over others will, in the long run, kill us all, if we don’t put a stop to it. Unfortunately, that would, and will, require making decisions, and taking actions, that challenge our own virtue, and place us at risk of becoming that which we are trying to destroy…. a conundrum, for certain. Time will give us the answer, and I, for one, fear to hear it…..

“It’s too bad ignorance isn’t painful.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

Calliope! Muse to all mad poets! This poem is…. it was…. it’s…. well, I don’t know what it is. It’s been percolating a couple of days, and leaked out this morning when I paused over it to gauge its readiness… which means I guess it was ready, even if I wasn’t, completely…. It seems to work, though, so I’ll let y’all figure out if it was worth the effort…. enjoy!

Dreaming of Calliope

La 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 to gain 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

Hmmm….. well, it’s done. I’ll leave any critical analysis to y’all…. I’m too close to it yet….
__________________________________

I had originally intended to write a rant, or at least a discussion of one of the pearls below…. However, the other entries herein kept popping up while I was still composing it in my head, and just seemed to point the way to where I was trying to reach better than what was percolating in my mind…. That happens a lot, since most everything important has already been said at least once…. or so I’ve been told more than once…. Any who, this pearl will lead the Gentle Reader to a very profound concept, IF that reader is sufficiently attentive, and is capable of moderate levels of comprehension and deduction…. and if not, well, they’re all good reading, and one should still walk away with a sense of having gotten SOMETHING from the experience beyond a bit of eyestrain…..

“To be truly conscious of your stupidity is one of the greatest steps you can make toward wisdom. If you know others, you are learned. If you know yourself, you are indeed wise. It isn’t the things that you don’t know that get you into trouble. What gets you into trouble are those things you know for sure that ain’t so.” — Artemus Ward (1834-1867), aka Charles Farrar Brown

“It is a misconception that spirituality brings everlasting happiness. There is no such thing. Sadness still comes to the wise, but, unlike most people, their clarity of mind allows them to see beyond the temporal emotionalism of the moment. They are farseeing, and so happiness and sorrow become the same to them.” — Deng Ming-Dao

“Why, when no honest man will deny in private that every ultimate problem is wrapped in the profoundest mystery, do honest men proclaim in pulpits that unhesitating certainty is the duty of the most foolish and ignorant? Is it not a spectacle to make the angels laugh?We are a company of ignorant beings, feeling our way through mists and darkness, learning only be incessantly repeated blunders, obtaining a glimmering of truth by falling into every conceivable error, dimly discerning light enough for our daily needs, but hopelessly differing whenever we attempt to describe the ultimate origin or end of our paths; and yet, when one of us ventures to declare that we don’t know the map of the universe as well as the map of our infinitesimal parish, he is hooted, reviled, and perhaps told that he will be damned to all eternity for his faithlessness…” — Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), “An agnostic’s Apology”, — Fortnightly Review, 1876

THEOSOPHY, n. An ancient faith having all the certitude of religion and all the mystery of science. The modern Theosophist holds, with the Buddhists, that we live an incalculable number of times on this earth, in as many several bodies, because one life is not long enough for our complete spiritual development; that is, a single lifetime does not suffice for us to become as wise and good as we choose to wish to become. To be absolutely wise and good — that is perfection; and the Theosophist is so keen-sighted as to have observed that everything desirous of improvement eventually attains perfection. Less competent observers are disposed to except cats, which seem neither wiser nor better than they were last year. The greatest and fattest of recent Theosophists was the late Madame Blavatsky, who had no cat. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“A person is not given integrity. It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.” — Smart Bee

“All things come round to him who will but wait.” — Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882) — Tales of a Wayside Inn, The Student’s Tale

Even the end of a pearl….. This one is an easy one, and I could keep adding evidence to the pile for the rest of the day, if I wished. But, the following note from Jubal Harshaw (the name of the character who said it…) gives me ample reason to stop here, at a point where the entire thing can still be saved from complete chaos, and certain oblivion….

“Read it? Good God, no! It’s bad enough to write such a thing.” — Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
__________________________________

“The moving finger, having writ, moves on….” And aren’t you all thankful for that? Another day’s effort come to fruition, or an approximation thereof, with style and, well, I won’t claim elegance, but, a bit of charm wouldn’t be so far off the mark….

For the record, the poem, should today’s post get online without any glitches, is the one I intended to put up the other day, when WordPress refused to accept my input…. (which it still won’t, for some reason… I attempted, yesterday, to edit the material into the page, but that one date’s page WILL NOT accept the material, but will only post the title. Ah well, software is, after all, written by humans…. I’m off to the Big Blue Room to try to get this posted…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Lazarus Long

Well, it does match the door stop….

This order can’t be filled…. it’s digital….

More emerald than jade……

Chance encounters with entropy, unlimited supply….

Artichoke juice is an efficient lubricant….

Uh oh, it’s leaking magic smoke…..

Credit given where due….

Sodden reflections of ancient grandeur….

In the graveyard of the ancient toaster-ovens….

But, really, the teacher obviously meant to say “provincial”….

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