Tag Archives: Lazarus Long

Kindness and compassion are addictive…

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Ffolkes,
T’is a fine line indeed between madness and genius; a line so fine that the two bleed into each other’s meaning, distorting the sense of reality we depend on to anchor us. It is almost as if they are inter-dependent, one not possible without the presence of the other. In a way, it makes sense, as the only progress humanity makes is when people act abnormally; one must break eggs to make a ….an omelet (I wanted to say another dish, but spell checker refused to use it).

I have long understood this, as many of my best moments in life came when I allowed my madness free rein over my perceptive judgment. But it isn’t wise to allow that too often; it has a tendency to produce concepts that alarm the natives……let’s get on with the day’s musings, eh?….
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“From stupidity there is always something to be learned, but it’s always the same thing: don’t be stupid.” — Robert M. Adams

Again, the saddest part of this is that it has to be said at all. I don’t know about you, but I stopped drinking my shampoo many years ago, and haven’t felt the urge to bite into an electric cord, or see if the stove is hot since infancy. (There are, however, a number of people I have had the urge to bite, on several occasions) But, because our society has the unfortunate habit of repeatedly passing laws intended to “save ourselves” from our own stupidity, regardless of how richly the consequences of acting so might be deserved, our beloved ruling class benevolently bestows upon us a law to “keep people safe.”

This is called legislating morality, and has been attempted by any number of governments throughout history; each and every time we end up  with many more problems than the one for which the solution was created for. It’s all just a piece of human nature, (Robert Heinlein calls its proponents Mrs. Grundy, the old neighbor who watches out the window to gather gossip and judge the morals of everyone else), and has probably caused more deaths than sheer stupidity alone. Being human nature, what can one do? Well, not much…. but, ignoring Mrs. Grundy on a consistent basis can at least make her go bother someone else for a time……

“If you attack Stupidity you attack an entrenched interest with friends in government and every walk of public life.” — Robertson Davies
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“Yes, many primitive people still believe this myth…But in today’s technical vastness of the future, we can guess that surely things were much different.” — The Firesign Theater

What, you may ask, is he talking about now? Primitive myth? What myth?……Well, lemme tell ya….. There is a commonly held belief in this country that the people who are elected to political office are honest, concerned citizens who will work tirelessly to make society a better place for all. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but this belief is sheer caca….(that word, btw, is the word most common to all languages on Earth; every single culture has this very word, or a close variation with the same sound, and they all mean the same thing…..caca) (you though I was going to say s__t, didn’t you? Shame on you….)

Oh, I’ll grant that there are a few Congressmen from small states & districts, or are new to the national scene, that still might retain some of the shiny idealism they had when they first came to D.C., but just a couple years watching everyone else getting rich, and never being able to get any real reform legislation discussed, much less passed, will generally rub off most of that shine. The great majority of the folks in power are there because they have figured out the easiest gig on the planet, i.e., ripping off the rubes, legally.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The ubiquitous ‘they’ do NOT have your interests at heart. Hell, they don’t even care what your interest are, beyond knowing what they need to lie about. Proof? Ever hear this joke? How do you know a politician is lying? His mouth is open. All humor has a piece of truth at the core… And once they are in office, it’s rather like hitting a golf ball. After it’s in the air, you can’t control it at all, no matter how you twist your hips and grimace……

“Will this never-ending series of PLEASURABLE EVENTS never cease?” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sometimes, in the hands of creative genius, prose is almost indistinguishable from poetry; this is a perfect example of that, although F. Scott can only marginally be called genius. His work sometimes seems to me to be channeled into him from some other source, as if he were merely the vessel that contains the ambrosia, not the ambrosia itself.  But, who cares, eh? If you like it, it won’t matter what anybody thinks about it, so go ahead and enjoy.

My point here, though, is that this particular phrase is one of those that I can personally admit to feeling; I’ve spent many a night pondering why I was up at 3 AM, again. All too often, the reasons which make us restive at that hour have their source in despair, or fear, or even anger, all emotions that affect us strongly. But as the animals we are, we also retain a lot of leftover evolutionary habits, or species memory. Our bodies know that 3 AM is the most dangerous part of the night, and being up and awake at that time makes the body/mind nervous, for no apparent reason.

So, we awake from a nightmare, or to answer the call of the porcelain throne, and to our own turmoil is added the signals of danger, flashing across the background of consciousness, with subliminal undertones of our most ancient fears. In a corner of our soul, we cower in abject terror of the horrors in our imagination, until our mind clears well enough to throw off this unintended consequence of wakefulness. We may not live in the forest anymore, but you can’t convince that piece of you that the monsters aren’t out there, just beyond the light of the fire, waiting for us to foolishly leave the cave…..
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“The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper” — Thomas Jefferson

If we consider this to be correct, it bodes ill for our society; if it was true 200+ years ago, it’s all too true now. Advertisements are deliberately misleading; outlandish claims of superior quality are normal and completely untrue. We all know this; we’ve always known this. It’s just that most folks ignore it, and pretend to believe what they hear. So, if the ads are the most truthful, what does that say about the rest of it? Nothing very flattering, to be sure. Sure, everybody claims to not pay attention to all that garbage, and it may be partly true. But people soak up a lot of stuff they are not aware of, and won’t admit to, even when confronted with irrefutable evidence, like a video of them snarfing Cheetos while riding a stationary bike.

The other problem brought to light by this concept is that exposure to this barrage of untruth insidiously conditions people to accept it as truth. Or maybe they just rationalize it as an alternative truth. I don’t know; not a frigging clue. I’ve never understood how people can give up so much control over their minds to other people. Offhand, I forget who said “If you don’t control your own mind, someone else will”; it wasn’t me, but it is bottom line truth, in my not so humble opinion.

Through circumstances not entirely my choice, I haven’t had a television, or cable, or a DVD player other than my computer, for close to two years now. I’ve caught a few games at other folk’s places, or while I am enjoying an adult beverage at the neighborhood watering hole, but mostly, I am completely out of touch with that whole medium of “entertainment”. I don’t miss it a bit….and it cuts my crap intake by at least 40%. Makes it easier to defend against the rest of the crap, online and in newspapers, and is very helpful in reducing the number of times per day I feel like turning homicidal…..

“In our country are evangelists and zealots of many different political, economic and religious persuasions whose fanatical conviction is that all thought is divinely classified into two kinds – that which is their own and that which is false and dangerous.” — Justice Robert H. Jackson
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“Never try to out-stubborn a cat.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

This is an important little piece of advice, based on well-earned experience, backed up by ongoing physical and observational evidence. One good reason to avoid this egregious sort of error is that learning to coexist with a cat can teach one the finer points of diplomacy and negotiation. Plus, it is well to remember that cats do not own shoes that you can pee into, in the middle of night when they aren’t looking. You do, and I’ve never known a cat who was shy about expressing their displeasure with their pet human……
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Why is it that, having misplace an object we need,  everyone always says that what we are looking for is always in the last place we look? OMG, tough one…..doh! When you find it, you stop looking, which automatically makes it the last place you looked, even if it is the first place you’ve looked. The only way for this statement to be untrue would be for us to keep looking after we found it….doh! But people always repeat this as if it were a new concept they just discovered, trying to give the impression it is the first time they’ve ever heard it.  I guess we humans are just easily amused….. y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

In a manner of speaking…..

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Ffolkes,
Mornings such as this are becoming all too familiar. I sit here and stare at the monitor, waiting for an idea to float up to the surface of my mind, where I can pluck it up and lay it out for all to see. But, nothing is floating. The stream of consciousness keeps flowing by; I can feel the current. But, nothing is jumping into the net, or onto shore to flop around, and the baited hook is being ignored. Oh well, I suppose I’ll have to wing it; that’s better than diving in to catch ’em by hand……
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Q: “You’re right, of course.  I’m extraordinarily selfish.  But it has served me so well in the past.”
Picard: “It will not serve you here.”
Q: “Don’t be so hard on me, Jean-Luc.  You’ve been mortal all of your life, you know about dying.  I’ve never even given it a second-thought…or a first one for that matter.  I could’ve been killed.  If it hadn’t been for Data, and that brief little he created, I would’ve been gone.  No more me.  And no one would’ve missed me, would they?” — “Deja Q”, Stardate 43539.1

And right there is the answer to the question, why should one live with compassion and truth, honor and duty? Because if you don’t, NO ONE will miss you when you’re gone. Can there be a sadder way to die? Or, worse yet, a sadder way to live? I don’t believe there can be, at all, at all….
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“The assertion that all men are created equal was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed in the Declaration not for that, but for future use.” —  Abraham Lincoln

“All men are created unequal.”- Lazarus Long

“All men weren’t created equal. All were created with equal rights. But they weren’t created with equal abilities, or equal intelligence, or equal physical capabilities. Every man and woman is created with equal potential of being better than merely equal, and with the right to have that potential respected for what they may achieve. They should not be judged according to what someone with greater talent in one area or another may say, for they judge and condemn only according to their own assumed entitlement.” — gigoid ©
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“Termiter’s argument that God is His own grandmother generated a surprising amount of controversy among Church leaders, who on the one hand considered the argument unsupported by scripture but on the other hand were unwilling to risk offending God’s grandmother.” — Len Cool, American Pie

Vows with so much passion, swears with so much grace, that ‘t is a kind of heaven to be deluded by him. — Nathaniel Lee (1655-1692)  — Alexander the Great, Act i, Sc. 3

It can be a rather sobering pastime to contemplate the staggering effects of ignorance on human society. History is filled with evidence of just how silly mankind tends to be, especially when left to its own devices. How many times have we seen or read about some tin-plated demagogue spewing their vitriolic nonsense so loudly, and with such conviction, that millions of desperate people gather behind their banner, ready to die for the cause, however ignorant, on the off-chance that their lot my be improved thereby.

Let’s see….without googling, I can offer off the top of my head, Alexander. Genghis Khan. Jesus of Nazareth. Mohamed (yes, I know, but the spell-checker wants it spelled this way. Go figure). Hannibal, Adolph Hitler, Baha’ullah, Shrub, Sr. and Shrub, Jr., and a host of other charismatic leaders with the ability to pull people into their own particular delusional system. As a matter of fact, we have spent much of our history just recovering from the times when these charming idiots held sway over society.

Myself, I’m getting pretty tired of trying to live down the absolute nonsense perpetrated by these ignorant sociopaths; I wish it weren’t so, but it looks as if ignorance is going to win the final battle with reason, and humanity will join the dinosaurs in extinction, with the dubious honor of having chosen death over life……

“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.” — Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals

“The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“It may be true that my desk here is really “nothing but” a transient eddy of electrons in the flux of universal process. Nevertheless, I find that it continues to support my feet, my revolver, and my cigars all day long. What happens when my back is turned I don’t know. Or much care. That’s no concern of mine.” — Edward Abbey

I find this to be an insightful epiphany; it’s just curmudgeonly enough to appeal to that side of my nature, which, I do confess, I encourage shamelessly. But, and here’s the important part, it’s pretty much true, in the sense that the Universe does exist and operate in ways we don’t always understand. But, there is also no need to understand everything; many parts of the Universe bring with them an understanding that needs no communication beyond perception. If it looks like a cat, and sounds like a cat, and smells like a cat, and feels like a cat, AND it tastes like a cat, it’s probably a cat. If, after performing all of these perceptual tests upon the cat, you walk away with a number of scratches, well, that is just one more piece of evidence in favor of the theory that it was a cat….. it’s kinda like Mark Twain said, “A man who has held a bull by the tail knows several things more than a man who hasn’t”……
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“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,’ said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
” What’s for breakfast? said Pooh. What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said. — A. A. Milne, “Winnie the Pooh”

Here’s a fine little example of how simple is best. What a wonderful attitude to have in the morning, in whichever form you choose, breakfast, or excitement. It is only when one attains a certain age that mornings assume the aspect of a challenge rather than an inspiration. Part of the process of aging, for us humans, involves learning how to approach each day with some degree of cheerfulness, having found that it is better to accept what is, rather than struggle to make it more to our liking.

When one is young, that unknown day ahead of us is bright and shiny, with promise and potential. As we get older, we see less of the shine, and focus instead on the potential. By now, we know any promises involving reality are false; things usually change before a promise can even be uttered. Mother Nature offers us no guarantees, we just have to take everything “as is”…..therefore, learning to get back to the childish side of our nature allows us to at least look forward to each day, even though we know its challenges…..
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Wait….no, wait a minute…..oh. Okay. It’s okay, I just had a strong feeling of veja du. ” For a moment, I thought I had entered an alternate universe.” — Vir  But, it was only my sense of humor playing a joke on me….. (Sorry, I apologize…I couldn’t resist…..) But, think of this, if you will: these are only my opinions. You should see my convictions.  Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

In the absence of morality…..

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Ffolkes,
If is was, was is were, or was is wasn’t? If is isn’t, is confusing to say the least. Not sure what prompted that nonsense. It’s what happens when I just let my fingers type, without any input from brain. Supposedly that’s how James Joyce achieved his “stream of consciousness” style of writing; who can really say how genius works? But it certainly is hard to make sense that way. Of course, making sense is not always the goal, now is it? Sometimes it’s better to be odd, than it is to be even…..
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When I consider life, ‘t is all a cheat.
Yet fool’d with hope, men favour the deceit;
Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay.
To-morrow ‘s falser than the former day;
Lies worse, and while it says we shall be blest
With some new joys, cuts off what we possest.
Strange cozenage! none would live past years again,
Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain;
And from the dregs of life think to receive
What the first sprightly running could not give.
— John Dryden (1631-1700)
— Aurengzebe, Act iv, Sc. 1

True beauty requires no adornment, nor comment…..
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“All societies are based on rules to protect pregnant women and young children. All else is surplusage, excrescence, adornment, luxury, or folly which can – and must – be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function.  As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible.  Attempts to formulate a “perfect society” on any other foundation other than “Women and children first!” is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal. Nevertheless, starry-eyed idealists (all of them male) have tried endlessly- and no doubt will keep on trying.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

Robert Heinlein was somewhat conservative in his political views, with an occasional foray into Atheism/Solipsism/Pantheism/Libertarianism to assuage his need for independence. The conservatism comes from his military education (he and L. Ron Hubbard were cadets at Annapolis in the early twentieth century), and an (for him) obsessive fear of creeping Communism. He wrote more than one story about revolution, or uprisings by Americans after being conquered, and all referred to the role, and duty, of the citizen in a republic, and in these stories, his conservatism comes through clearly.

But, he also had a very strong sense of personal and societal responsibility, believing each man has the duty to act in a manner that is beneficial to others, as well as to himself; society works best when the wheels are well-greased. I suppose what is attractive about his belief system is that it holds each man responsible for his own actions, while still acknowledging his duty to society. There are many, many too few men like him alive today, and there isn’t one politician alive who even approaches his level of patriotism; they’re all too busy with their personal agendas…..we need more like the one described below…..

“Boys become men by watching men, by standing close to men. Manhood is a ritual passed from generation to generation with precious few spoken instructions. Passing the torch of manhood is a fragile, tedious task. If the rite of passage is successfully completed, the boy-become-man is like an oak of hardwood character. His shade and influence will bless all those who are fortunate enough to lean on him and rest under his canopy.” — Preston Gilham
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If you understand, things are as they are.
If you do not understand, things are as they are.
— Gensha, Zen Master

Cuando se comprende sus problema, se conoce el solución. Y que es, es….. sounds pretty good in Spanish too. Though it’s not completely accurate, the Zen koan is deeply related to my little Latin pearl. For the google-challenged among you, it translates as, “When you understand the problem, you know the answer.” (Not sure, but I may have made it up, as I’ve not seen it before in print, at least, not in Spanish. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t printed, just that I’ve not seen it) The underlying reason for doing so was to find the middle ground between the two quotes, both of which are part of the solution to the Big Picture; around here we call it Consensual Reality.

Consensual Reality is the one that all of us know; it’s the one whose referents are known to all of us, and accepted as being the correct interpretation of what we perceive as real. Learning to see the whole picture is the first task to complete on the path to knowledge and truth; and learning consists of learning to accept what is, just the way it is. To do so, one must often employ Occam’s Razor, to trim away the nonsense and useless facts that accumulate in the process, carving away what is superfluous, to reveal the beauty within the Truth.

It can be a lonely path to walk, as most folks just don’t want to spend the effort to find deeper knowledge. Most are content to just get by, dealing with the peccadilloes of daily life the best they may without expending a lot of effort. But the reward is a renewed sense of self-respect, and the ability to sleep at night unbothered by fearful dreams of what might be……

Pluralitas non ponenda est sine necessitate.  (Multiplicity is not to be asserted when it is unnecessary.) — William of Occam [Occam’s Razor]
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“Truth never tranquilizes. The defining property of truth is its ability to disturb.” — Solomon Short

Bleeding heavily from wounds unseen
the warrior within fights on, on, and on.
In defense of truth, with blade so keen,
for the living dead, for the quick,
for the weak, for the aged sick,
he fights, and dreams on.

Don’t ask me any questions. I just might tell you the truth. It’s a risk only you can fathom……
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There is a pleasure in poetic pains
Which only poets know.
— William Cowper (1731-1800) — The Task, Book ii, The Timepiece, Line 285

When I came across this little gem, an image from a movie flashed into my mind’s eye. In the third Indiana Jones movie, Indiana and his father are fleeing from a German airplane, and all of a sudden become trapped in the open on a beach, while the fighter plane, guns blazing, flies right at them. The elder Jones, (Sean Connery), begins to run at a flock of sea birds, yelling and flourishing his umbrella. The flock flew up, straight into the path of the airplane, taking it down as surely as a .50 caliber Gatling. As he strolls away, he quotes the line about Charlemagne “and the birds in the sky shall be my weapons.” (or something like that), and strolls calmly away. It was a perfect audio-visual example of what is said above by Mr. Cowper…..and a fine testament to the power of language, especially in the form of a poem, even a simple couplet….
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Enough is enough….it’s important to know when to stop. It’s still early; lets go see what kind of trouble I can get myself into. My coping skills need a workout….. y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Purveyors of faint praise….

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Ffolkes,
Today is Friday, which means it is also Friday the thirteenth. I am compelled to say, “Yipee!” and dance a quick jig, because I always have a good day when one of these rolls around. Maybe it has to do with my lack of superstition, though I do have certain personal rituals I perform that ensure the success of any venture (like the little dolls I make to stick pins into when one of my enemies annoys me, or rubbing a child’s head before buying lottery tickets). I could also claim that it is a lucky day for me because I’m a triple Scorpio. Well, I could if I gave any credence at all to astrology; it’s a pretty flimsy theory, without much evidence of being real. I’d say that astrology is just about as true as the myths of creation that tell us that the world was made about 8000 years ago, and all the evidence to the contrary was planted here to fool us into thinking it is real. Sorry, not buying it; why would I think an omnipotent entity  would play tricks like that? Seems a bit petty to my way of thinking….okay, enough distractions, lets get on to the meat of the meal…..
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“It has been said that there are two theories of history: conspiracy and blunder. If there is some truth to that, it is surely equally true that blunder seldom receives all the credit due it as an explanation of complex events.” — Michael Scully

I would say that this is probably pretty accurate; after all, it is the winners who get to tell the story, and why would they make themselves look any worse than they already are? I believe that much of mankind’s progress up to now is, in fact, a result of blundering about, breaking the china and scaring the horses, until something serendipitous falls into someone’s lap.

The example most often given regarding inspiration that brings progress is that of Isaac Newton and the apple, which, according to history, fell upon his head unexpectedly, causing him to fall down and begin writing the 3 Laws of Motion. I think it more likely that he was trying to climb up to get the apple, and took a good fall onto his head; he just blamed it on the apple, and since he was the only witness, who can gainsay him?

This points out one of the less attractive, and most problematic of the characteristics of humans, and that is our inability to get beyond our childish feelings of insecurity. The older we get, the less able we become to handle the embarrassment or ridicule that follows a mistake, and the more contortions we will assume to keep others from seeing our Bozoid Tendencies. You see, like the Firesign Theater said, “I think we’re all Bozo’s on this bus!”; we all have the unfortunate ability to perform ridiculously stupid acts at times.

Most folks, though, don’t like to be thought of this way, and will go through almost anything to prevent themselves from looking inept in front of other folks. Me, I wish they’d just learn to laugh at themselves, and everyone else; maybe then they could grow up enough to be able to look directly at the things in society that we need to change, instead of childishly refusing to even look at the situation. Emotional maturity means dealing with whatever happens, without letting emotions control one’s actions, or reactions, and most of mankind doesn’t exhibit anything close to that sort of maturity……
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A Mexican newspaper reports that bored Royal Air Force pilots stationed on the Falkland Islands have devised what they consider a marvelous new game.  Noting that the local penguins are fascinated by airplanes, the pilots search out a beach where the birds are gathered and fly slowly along it at the water’s edge.  Perhaps ten thousand penguins turn their heads in unison watching the planes go by, and when the pilots turn around and fly back, the birds turn their heads in the opposite direction, like spectators at a slow-motion tennis match.  Then, the paper reports, “The pilots fly out to sea and directly to the penguin colony and overfly it.  Heads go up, up, up, and ten thousand penguins fall over gently onto their backs. — Audobon Society Magazine

I can’t help it. I this is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read; the mental image of thousands of birds falling over kicks me right over into hilarity. And I really, really like the idea of some bozoids spending hundreds of thousands of dollars  to use their supersonic flying machines of death to create a work of visual art, with only one witness, the pilot. Superb irony! It brings reality right up next to fantasy, and gives it a big hug……

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. “Where shall I begin, please your Majesty ?” he asked.  “Begin at the beginning,”, the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
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“The entire world is being driven insane by this single phrase: ‘My religion alone is true.'” — Ramakrishna, Hindu saint & reformer

I guess that Christianity and Islam are not the only world religions that suffer from the actions of their more fanatical devotees. It seems to be a particularly human characteristic to take perfectly rational religious beliefs and twist them into a form that has a dual purpose, to wit: 1) the beliefs now support their own personal agenda, no matter how bigoted and ignorant, and 2) the beliefs now justify that agenda on religious grounds.

It’s been said that a good theologian can dip into Scripture and pull out any number of ideas that seemingly support their own brand of madness; much like a statistician, who can make the numbers in a database say anything at all. I’m sure there are a few genuinely religious preachers out there, who actually try to apply the principles of their religion into life in the way it was intended. But mostly, they are just politicians who have found an even easier set of marks to exploit….

“Any priest or shaman must be presumed guilty until proved innocent.” — Lazarus Long
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All I ask of you is forever to remember me as loving you.

A beautiful sentiment, one I would be happy to claim, had I but said it first.  I live alone now, having been summarily dismissed from my last relationship almost two years ago. But I can truthfully say that this is a statement I could make to each of the women I’ve loved, and for that matter, still love. None of my relationships was terminated at my instigation; I’m not a person who gives vows of fidelity lightly.

But as Tom Robbins pointed out in one of his books, “Finding love is easy, but, how can you make love stay?” I don’t know the answer, obviously; if I did, I’d still be married. What I do know is that my feelings for Carrie, Martha, Ellen, and Julie will never change. When I wrote my own vows for my marriage, one of them promised that I would love her more each day until the day I died, and beyond. I meant it then, and I still do. It’s the hardest thing I know of to be alone, when those you love have chosen to be elsewhere. And it’s especially hard when you don’t know why……
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“Thinking, understanding, reasoning, willing, call not these Soul! They are its actions, but they are not its essence.” — Akhenaton? (c. B.C. 1375)

When? Oh, four thousand four hundred eighty-seven years ago…..is that all? I’ve got acne scars older than that! Well, perhaps not. But I am continually amazed at some of the things I find that were written this long ago. It gives credence to the idea that mankind’s first steps toward modern culture were the result of how our minds work, and our penchant for using our imagination to understand the universe around us. It has been said that the first science was Astronomy, which makes a lot of sense. But, simultaneously, we used Philosophy, and the principles of logic and reason, to apply meaning to what we observed.

Forty-four hundred years is a long time to be working on the same issues, and it seems to me we should be getting somewhere a bit faster than we are. But then I realize that there is another side to human nature, one that is not so moral and ethical as our scientific bent, and this side of us is in constant competition with our virtues to assume control of society. And they are winning, mostly because they have no compunctions against cheating, or lying, or manipulating events to suit their own purposes. We’ve been at this long enough; let’s make a concerted effort to nullify the negative effects of deliberate ignorance and fear. Perhaps we can even find a way to survive our own nature…..
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The abyss stares back at me, unblinking, unmoved.
With passion unveiled, with honor unproved,
Seeking the path only begun
In hope of love, never undone.
I am as I am, unafraid, and so very alone.

There, that’s not bad, is it? Not much, but not bad……I’m stopping here, as I refuse to press my luck any further, even if it is Friday the 13th. I hope youse have as good a day as I intend to have. Y’all take care out there……

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Tawdry inspiration and cold tea….

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Ffolkes,
From where I’m standing, or rather, sitting, it’s all cold tea. I’m tired. I just got up after more than 8 hours in bed, and I’m tired. It must be a side effect of not sleeping very well; I toss & turn a lot, which makes for painful twinges in my back and/or shoulders; not much pain, but enough to keep me more awake than asleep. This has been going on for years now, ever since my back got so much worse about 6 years ago, after working as a tarbender for about a year. Even though I now take enough pain medicine to control the pain, it doesn’t go away; it’s  still there, just manageable most of the time.

There are times when the medicine is not enough to keep the pain down, and I spend a couple of days in unrelenting agony, with pain at about level 7 or 8 of 10. It hasn’t happened in a good while, but the pain I do have is starting to affect my sleep more, which is cumulatively not good; the lack of sleep adds up after a while. I’m not sure what to do at this point; more meds aren’t the answer, and there are no further treatment modalities that will improve the condition. I suppose I’m going to have to go see my doctor again, & see if there is anything I can do; something has to change, or I’m going to go back to wanting to bite people…..hard…….ah well, let us go sublimate…..
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You no longer need to punish, deceive, or compromise yourself. Unless, of course, you want to stay employed.

I must be a lucky man. A bit over a year ago, I was pretty much forced into retiring, before I had actually planned to do so. The period of time since then hasn’t been the most comfortable, but has shown me that retirement has some basic advantages over working. The primary reason to be glad is the above statement. When I talk to folks who still work where I retired from, they all have the same story to tell, and it isn’t pretty. Poor management, personal agendas, petty politics, all combine to create a living hell for even the most calloused individuals. I guess in that way, I’ve always been lucky; I manage to avoid the bad things that happen to a lot of others, not by my own efforts, but by circumstance.

When I was eligible for the military draft back in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, I dragged the process out as far as I could with applying for conscientious objector status, then appealing the decision. In the mean time, I had gone for my physical, and despite every effort to fail, I was pronounced fit for military duty, status 1A. They were holding the first lottery drawing for numbers to determine who would be drafted first, and my birthday was picked at #19, so I was sure my next stop was going to be Fort Benning, Georgia for boot camp.

Next thing I knew, the draft was over, and my birthday group had been classified 1Y, a category that would never be called again. I had slipped right through a huge crack in the floor that no one could even see. I guess dodging bullets is part of my bag o’luck, the basic quotient of luck one is issued at birth. If so, I can’t complain at all…..
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So tell me, what color is the sky on your planet?

This is a question that occurs to me a lot these days, as I bear reluctant witness to the inane mouthings of the crop of Presidential wannabes currently plastered all over our TV’s. How is it possible that only one of the 8 original prospective candidates admits to believing in evolution? Most of the naysayers say so to woo the ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christians, claiming a “faith-based” belief in creationism. I ask again, how is this possible? Has our educational system failed so badly that theories with absolutely no concrete evidence are given precedence over a concept that has been demonstrated to be true by over 150 years of scientific testing?

Evolution is no longer a theory, it is recognized as one of the laws of Nature, from which there is no appeal; every single experiment devised to test it has supplied more proof of its validity, and new knowledge of our inner physical characteristics, as written in our DNA, supplies even further validation of the concept of evolutionary change.  Conversely, after 2000+ years, there is still not a single piece of evidence that one can point to, or pick up in the hand, and say ,”this is evidence of God’s will”. At least they can’t say it with a straight face, because, deep down, they know it’s just wishful thinking. The universe would be a much friendlier place to most folks if they could count on having an omnipotent interlocutor who considers them the pinnacle of creation. I’m sorry to say, however, there just isn’t anything I can see that supports that belief, other than the convictions of the deluded……

“If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.” — William James

“It’s been said that if you pray hard enough, and long enough, you can make water run uphill. How hard and long? Long enough to make it happen, of course!”–Lazarus Long
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“In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.  Then they came for the trade unionists but I didn’t speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.  Then they came for me, and by that time nobody was left to speak up.” — Martin Niemoeller, German Lutheran Pastor, Dachau, 1944

A few days ago, on this site, I published an article stimulated by an article on the net, describing how the National Defense Authorization Act had been signed, quite stealthily, by the President, and would take effect January 1, 2012. I wanted to print this quote with it, but could not find it at the time. But it is the perfect description of what a lot of people in this country will be going through in the next few years. If you don’t think it will happen, I will refer you to the section just previous to this, and reiterate, “So tell me, what color is the sky on your planet?” Wake up, folks, and keep your wits about you; you are going to need them…….
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“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” — Eric Hoffer

See above……I rest my case….

“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797) — Speech at County Meeting of Bucks, 1784
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“A man can only do what he can do.  But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.” — Albert Schweitzer

When I was young, I read about Socrates, who used the word “gadfly” to describe himself. I always thought that was brilliant; to be the gadfly biting the ass of the horse that is Society, in order to cause it to move. Moving where is unimportant, change is what is necessary, in order to remain in harmony with the laws of Nature. In our time, we’ve had some good ones…..Will Rogers, George Carlin, Dick Gregory, Lily Tomlin, Lenny Bruce. All spoke their mind with wit sharp as a chef’s knife, applying just the right sting to make the horse buck. Society needs gadflies; without them, we would certainly sink into the abyss in which ignorance lives. I hope to someday be included among humanities gadflies; it does help me sleep, as well as I ever do…..of course, Society did execute Socrates for his views, but it’s well worth the risk, if what I may say is heeded……

“The fight is what’s important. Doing  what is good and right is why we’re here. The end is variable and relative.  A person can only do what his heart tells him and  break away from the terrible things  around him.  We do what we can … and live with the consequences.” — Marc Zanoni
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Critically speaking, this has not been masterful. At least it doesn’t feel that way. I guess I should take a look at it in toto before making a decision on that. In one sense, I’m amazed I even got it done; it’s been like pushing through cotton candy; it feels unproductive and sticky. So, I’ll be satisfied with that for the nonce….. y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Like ice, on the verge of melting…

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Ffolkes,
According to all reports, today is the beginning of new year, a relatively subjective event in my estimation. I’m an odd duck, I suppose. I was asleep last night by 9:30, and by gosh, I didn’t make any resolutions. Of course, I never do, so that’s nothing new. I figure if I need to make a change in myself, it’s probably best to take care of it when it becomes apparent, rather than waiting and adding it to a list of things I may never get around to anyway.

Most folks, I think, try to be honest with themselves when coming up with resolutions, and may even make an honest effort to keep it. But, mostly I see or hear that the resolutions lasted right up to the first time temptation appeared, and then went flying out the window. My take on the whole matter is to make those kinds of introspective insights into what we need to do better in our lives a part of every day activity. Resolutions should be made each night before bed, and carried out in the morning, not put off to the end of the year. Year-end resolutions set unreasonable standards, and as such are generally a fail-fail situation. For my money, that is a sucker’s bet, and homey don’t play that game…..let’s see what flotsam has washed up on the shores of my mind during the night……
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Before a cat will condescend
To treat you as a trusted friend,
Some little token of esteem
Is needed, like a dish of cream.
— T. S. Eliot

Sometimes I’m not sure which is my favorite poet, between T.S. Eliot, Emily Dickinson, or ee cummings….. all three wrote with such power, and had such a huge influence, they changed the very face of poetry in the 20th century. Poets of earlier ages are always there to give us the beauty and depth of human experience leading up to the last century, and there were a number of great ones. Alexander Pope, Yeats, Keats, Longfellow, Cowper, Shakespeare, and a host of others, all left behind an impressive legacy for later generations, for which I am eternally grateful. This particular poem is one of my favorites; I love cats (and dogs, and just about any other 2, 4, 6, or 8 legged creatures), and it’s obvious that T.S. has known several of them intimately. In my humble opinion, cats and dogs are much better at being what they are, and nothing else, than humans can ever be. If one believes in the concept of a Deity, then they were put here to be our examples of how to live with honor, and we can do no better than to emulate their approach to life at large…..
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“A man can do something for peace without having to jump into politics.  Each man has inside him a basic decency and goodness.  If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most.” — Pablo Casals

In at least one respect, (said respect noted only after 5 portions of the beast last night), this is what this blog is all about. My whole purpose here is to act upon what my sense of decency demands, which often involves giving in to the urge to rant. Or,  at minimum, to write, compelled by duty, constrained by custom. How hard is it to say what needs to be said in a way that folks will listen to? Damn hard…..damn hard. One is often compelled by necessity to speak in harsh terms, of politicians, of celebrities, and other media darlings, terms which one’s mother may not have condoned, due to their deliberate rudeness. Though I respect my mother, and all she gave me, in this I must disagree; so much so that I’m also compelled to say that my rants, all-too-often, are too mild, and do not take nearly enough prisoners, or names of the guilty for later prosecution.

Hours later, sans beast, the above wasn’t bad; only two small edits required. To continue…. the politicians, and many celebrities, if what is written in the news is accurate, have no interest whatsoever in doing anything in the interests of the public at large. All their proclamations and assertions are either attacks on the character of their opponents, or evidence of the immense depths of their ignorance. In the case of celebrities, most are acting out their own childhood fantasies about what a celebrity should like, so they put on a mask, rather than just being natural and sincere. It’s pretty sad in my view, and if it weren’t so dangerous, it would be laughable. But, because such ignorance feeds into the cultural miasma already rising from society’s depths to assault our senses, it loses some of the humorous charm, shows itself in true colors to be cowardice, and ultimately strengthens the influence that evil has over our society.

Thus it becomes our obvious duty to fight back against evil, and the best way to do that is to ensure that one’s own life and actions conform to what is known to be honorable and decent. If each of us takes the time and effort to so order our own lives, that sense of order will spread to the outer reaches of society. It can’t hurt, and may provide the only hope we have left of reversing the direction we are taking toward extinction and death, and returning to a path toward life and peace……
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“I’ve got no deeds to do, no promises to keep. I’m dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.”– Paul Simon

I’m a self-convicted, unapologetic hedonist. In this space I had originally placed a Zen Koan, which I intended to use as a springboard for discussion of some subtle philosophical point about Reality. However, the reality is that my psyche is not always in complete agreement with my will, and can be pretty stubborn in its campaign toward personal comfort, and toward obeying the urge to nap. I let the koan percolate in my mind, and it sat there going round and round, like an old vinyl record stuck in the groove before the song begins, just, “…sssssssclick….ssssssclick” forever and evermore. I would have gone to sleep, but I fell out of the chair first.  I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to be subtle today isn’t going to work, so we’ll leave eastern philosophy for another day…. onward….
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Feed your faith and starve your doubts to death.

Now, THIS is a contemptible lie! What a terrible thing to wish upon someone! Here, share this big slice of ignorance, and have no interest in ever changing. Truth in Life can only be found when faith and doubt are balanced; denying either dooms any attempt at right action to failure. I’m sorry folks, but I’m just not buying the story about the kindly old bearded gentleman sitting on a throne of gold, spending his days worrying about whether or not we will acknowledge his godhood. If he was so worried about it, why didn’t he make us that way? Why give us the power of imagination, and then set limits on what may be imagined? It sounds to me like a set-up for failure. If you know a person can’t control their eating habits, you don’t put them to work in a bakery, then tell them to keep their hands off the products. According to that model, free will becomes something much less than a facet of reality. It’s not free will if certain subjects are taboo; the entire concept of taboo is contrary to the nature of free will, which by definition has no limits. One can’t have it both ways; the two concepts are mutually exclusive by their very nature…..

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-benevolent- it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash, and in small bills.” — Lazarus Long
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She was a form of life and light
That seen, became a part of sight,
And rose, where’er I turn’d mine eye,
The morning-star of memory!
Yes, love indeed is light from heaven;
A spark of that immortal fire
With angels shared, by Allah given,
To lift from earth our low desire.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824)
— The Giaour, Line 1127

SIGH….I feel better now. Finding a final Pearl this morning became problematic, until I came across this gem from Lord Byron. I should probably have added him to my list above of favorite poets from the past; he never fails to please. As it turns out, I needed this. My spirit had somehow gotten blocked up, perhaps due to the conflict mentioned between will and psyche. Nonetheless, whatever the cause, this was the cure. My entire spirit gave a big sigh, and tension flowed out of my shoulders and out of perception. Good poetry can do that, in my experience, and here is some positive proof…..even if it uses an alternate name for Yaweh….
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Well, that was fun….coming to the end is once more a surprise, but welcome in this case. All this talk about a nap has me sitting here nodding in drowsiness, typing as fast as my sluggish brain will allow. If you hadn’t guessed, I’m going back to bed now, to wallow in hedonistic fulfillment. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

General malaise is no picnic…..

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Ffolkes,
Today’s effort will be a short one, but only for what I consider an acceptable reason for slacking. Sometime during the night, I started to get extremely dizzy, almost nauseous, whenever I rolled over; the dizziness continued until I opened my eyes and fixed on a still object. The way it progressed, and noting that I had consumed nothing before bed liable to bring this on,  it seems obvious that I am having some sort of disturbance in my middle ear, the seat of our sense of balance, and I’m reacting very strongly to even slight head movements, unless I move very slowly. It’s rather uncomfortable, so I suppose I’ll have to break down and go see a doctor today, so he or she can figure out what is up. Not my preferred way to spend a Sunday, but what’re yagonnado? Hey, maybe they’ll keep me in hospital for a day to observe; I’ll get to watch TV for a while, something I can’t do here at home, being unAmerican and not owning one. Maybe even get to see a football game; here it is week nine of the season, and I haven’t caught a single game. So much for vicarious living!
Anywho, what with the nausea and dizziness, typing is getting a bit problematic, so I’ll just end this here, and count on a very strong group of Pearls to carry the day….. enjoy!…..

“All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.” — John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.” Albert Einstein

Ill fares the land
To hastening ills a prey
When wealth accumulates
But men decay.
— Goldsmith (1728-1774)

“You live and learn. Or you don’t live long.” — Lazarus Long

Oh stay! oh stay!
Joy so seldom weaves a chain
Like this to-night, that oh ‘t is pain
To break its links so soon.
— Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
— Fly not yet

“Bow to no patron’s insolence. Rely on no frail hopes; in freedom live and die.” — Seneca

When you want to test the depths of a stream, don’t use both feet. — Chinese Proverb

“Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on “I am not too sure.” — H.L. Mencken

Doubting Thomas strikes again! All hail the dubious among us, for they have the right of it, and suffer less. And if not, they know how to shuffle and dance until sanity returns…… y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Banjo music and french toast….

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11/8/11
Ffolkes,
We begin anew, night into day; we are fresh, we are alive. We are…..

To whom the mornings are like nights,
What must the midnights be!
— Emily Dickinson

One of my favorite parts of life is experiencing serendipity. There is something very fulfilling, very soothing about getting more than expected from Reality; like a free sno-cone, or finding a forgotten dollar bill in your pocket. And every time I come across another poem by Emily D., I get that thrilling feeling, of having looked for dirt, and found diamonds instead. How fascinating it would be, to be able to hold a conversation with someone whose mind possessed such a unique vision of the world, and found within herself the language to describe those visions with clarity, and beauty. This one is typical of her ability to show a side of Reality that most folks never consider, and put that piece of Reality into a form that brings the reader to a deep understanding of what they heretofore had never known. And in two miserly, but meaningful verses, at that!


The appeal of Ms. D’s poetry is as strong today as it was during her life, and its timelessness is borne out by the fact that even today, her verses have lessons for us to learn that are as important as they were a hundred years ago. The program I use to generate a lot of my Pearls, and where I found this little nugget, suggests that this poem could easily be descriptive of the hackish culture, (from hackers, aka rogue, or independent computer programmers) members of which are frequently to be found working through the night, and whose world-view could be described as being as unique as hers. To my way of thinking, poetry that is timeless, and as deeply insightful as this, is the pinnacle, the ultimate, most important use of language, for it makes us more human for having read it…..

— How many
Zen masters
— does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Two: one to change the bulb and one not to change it.

The writings and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, or Enlightened One, were created during his life in India, in the time before Jesus of Nazareth was born. His words have inspired humankind for well over two millenia, bringing peace of mind and hope for the future to all who would follow its precepts. An integral part of Buddhist practice is meditation, using the clarity of mind  brought about by introspection to lead one along the path to pure enlightenment. A Zen Buddhist will sit and contemplate, for example, the duality of perception, examining Reality from both sides, and how the nature of being human is grounded in our method of perceiving the duality present in every object, and concept, in this universe. We see due to the presence or absence of light; we hear because each word is surrounded by silence. Coming to an understanding of how we relate to the events of our life as another expression of the dual nature of the universe is a valuable tool, useful in coming to terms with events that would otherwise be troubling. A deep-seated knowledge of how Reality works can only be helpful in a world that constantly challenges us to meet demanding standards, and won’t even tell us what those standards entail. In other words, it’s a good tool for slowing down Entropy, or at least painting it a nice lively color…….

“Animals can be driven crazy by putting too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s — “Time Enough For Love”

Regular readers of this…..I never know just what this is, so we’ll call it an ongoing exploration of reality….will be aware that a common subject of discussion is the power of human stupidity, and how deliberate ignorance plays a big part in the sad state of affairs of society at large. The reason I end up writing about this so often is pretty obvious; the news every day is chock full of examples of how another bonehead move, deliberately aggressive behavior, or ignorant remark has caused some kind of problem, problems that may or may not involve death, destruction, injury, or even, heaven forbid, halitosis (gasp!!!). People are people, and they are constantly finding new ways to abuse this sorry old planet, believing in their own false immortality, and worst of all, believing they have the right to act any way they wish, regardless of how it affects others or the outside world.

     This sense of entitlement, encouraged shamefully by organized religions that tout Mankind as the inheritors of the Earth, chosen by their (G)od to “have dominion” over the rest of the life forms, is the underlying false premise behind most of society’s ills. When a premise is false, the conclusion can only be false, as well, and this idea of the superiority of our species, can be seen as the critical factor in human nature that allows us to make decisions that are only in OUR interests, and the rest of Reality matters not at all. As long as I’ve got my milkshake, who cares about the rest?……selfish creatures, are we not?…….

Hmmm….a little less positive than I like to be, but truth nonetheless….. y’all take care out there…..

—

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

gigoid

Dozer at play..

Kowabunga!

….with potential for ambiguity and a hearty laugh…

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Ffolkes,
The Sun, life-giving orb of light and warmth, which dies each night, is born again each morning, gloriously aflame with potential. As the world turns in slow majesty, a scene of aching beauty is revealed; small plants and trees stretching their leaves toward the source of warmth, creatures great and small moving over the land, greeting the day with energy and purpose, colorful birds arcing and swooping through the warming air. With a look at each other, the two young boys grinned, and with a cry of pure joy, took off running toward a nearby stand of trees. Legs pounding as hard and fast as their hearts, evenly matched, they ran with abandon, startling birds and small creatures, laughing in sheer exuberance. When they came to the edge of the trees, they stopped by mutual accord. Breathing hard, they gazed into the shadows, thinking about why they had come, why they were here, filling their souls with beauty at the beginning of the day……


I’m told that constant practice makes for constant improvement, and if this is so, then I should be getting damn close to competence, if not perfection. The paragraph above is the start of yet another story that will most likely never be told. I write them principally to keep dross from building up in my psyche, and as a sort of contrast to the reality of the rest of the piece. An introductory bridge, as it were, carrying the reader into the realms of thought, where I can then provide you with an upgrade to the DABSDS (Defense Against B___S___ Delivery System) that comes installed in your brain. It gives me a chance to limber up my typing finger, and loosen the mental muscle, which, as we all know, is an essential precursor to the use of these peripherals without sustaining injury.


Today’s group of Pearls is an eclectic one, with a diverse, compelling batch of authors. Cultural values from all over the world, and from many different ages of history are represented here, and I think the variety is part of its strength; it goes to show that wisdom is not limited to one book. Indeed, I believe that the admixture that came together today is greatly enhanced by the contrast of ideas, creating a more powerful effect upon the reasoning mind…..hope you enjoy!….

“If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.” — James Thurber

The only real failure in life is the failure to try.

“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

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go,
the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know.
But I do not approve.
And I am not resigned.
— Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music”

“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of–but do it in private and wash you hands afterwards.” — Lazarus Long

“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” — Emily Dickinson

Trust yourselves, my friends, that ye may trust one another…..y’all take care out there…..

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

Kowabunga!

The Naming of the Shrew…

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Ffolkes,
In some ways, retirement has been good for me, while in others I tend to struggle with the lack of urgency that generally accompanies most of those things we do for work.  I don’t think I ever realized it, but for my entire work career I worked with the constant background hum of tension. In retrospect, it is clear that the emotional state one must cultivate in order to go do those tasks we’ve chosen as our means of acquiring gelt is one of mild, constant fear, a legacy of our past, of living in a world of constant danger. This fear, a very base emotion, is present merely to provide us with motivation to act against our better instincts, and instead bow to societal and cultural pressure to channel those instincts into some sort of civilized form of hunting for sustenance, like, say, as a graphic artist working for an ad agency, or as a secretary, or almost any damn thing we as a species have evolved as sublimated replacements for the hunting arts we no longer need. 

Some of us, such as yours truly, develop the art of making long, complicated, run-on sentences to give the impression that language and letters are my weapons of choice in the battle for survival in today’s complex world of the future. Whether this weapon serves me well, or not, I suppose it is less challenging than learning to survive in the wild.


Now that I’ve reached that point in life where I’m supposed to “rest on laurels”, I find myself instead to be restless. After 46 years or so of working at one job or another, I got used to that little bit of fear that was always there to give me the back-story, the motivating factor that got me up and out the door every day to go do…whatever I was doing at the time. Cooking, serving, writing, wrestling, therapizing (I made it up), or any of the other hats I wore, all had that basic, clinging fear of failure that went along with them, giving me that little squirt of adrenaline to get me going.


I’ve found that in retirement, one has to re-learn the skill of providing impetus out of our own store of rationales. Without prior knowledge of this (yes, another thing that got left out of the manual), it can turn into a harrowing experience, fraught with possibilities for failure in totally new areas of endeavor, and exasperating in its elusiveness. 

I would guess that in at least one respect I have a slight advantage over many folks, rooted in my life-long love of reading and learning. Change, in and of itself, is not fearful to me; it can be frustrating, and sudden, and totally bizarre, but it doesn’t make me afraid, just tired.  I’m learning, slower perhaps than I might otherwise prefer, but learning nonetheless, how to maintain my equilibrium living under a completely new set of rules. I may be an old dog, but I ain’t dead yet……


Well, there you have it…..another flight through fancy, holding court with a congress of ravens, all of whom look at me with dark, beady eyes, and all in harmony, squawk out, “Nevermore!”……now I know why Edgar Allen was so flipped; they’re scary little buggers……hope y’all enjoy today’s Pearls as much as I enjoyed the process of finding them…..

“$100 invested at 7% interest for 100 years will become $100,000, at which time it will be worth absolutely nothing.” — Lazarus Long, “Time Enough for Love”

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” — Buddha

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
— Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 15

“The function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it invites a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger.” — former US Supreme Court Justice William Douglas

The value of knowledge lies not in its accumulation, but in its utilization.

“A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.” — James Joyce, “Ulysses”

I thought for a bit that today’s group would be a good message, but I couldn’t quite find a thread that tied them all together into a package with a nice little bow. Ah well, another time….you get away lucky today…… y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!