“Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~
Subtle Urban Beauty….
Hajime…. In the past here on ECR, when searching for inspiration, I have often faced a vast, frightening expanse of featureless nothing, promising naught but dismay for all my efforts. Some days, I will retreat into introspection, speaking of personal issues, or rumination on past events. Other times, depending on mood, I’ll hare off into nonsense, or, blather incessantly about whatever comes to mind, as long as it makes little sense. Still other days, I’ll make an attempt at writing something new & fictional, just to practice the skills involved in producing something readable, if not compellingly so. Today, however, I’m trying something else….
I can hear the groaning, so just stop it. All I’m going to do is be honest, and forthright about my lack of inspiration. I got nothin’, ffolkes. It’s a miracle a Pearl got done at all; I am surprised enough to not even examine any of the ‘how’ that may have been involved; it would just turn out to have been illegal, or, immoral, at the very least. But, it did, so, I’m going to post it. I’m just not going to say anything relevant beforehand, to preserve any potential intellectual value that may have accrued by accident. This is not only necessary for our purpose, it’s the only compassionate thing to do.
See? Even a surly old curmudgeon can be nice, as long as it isn’t expected. I’ll just use the accumulated expertise I found here on the desk to help us get to the proper configuration to augment the purpose, in what will probably be the most coherent part of all you’ve seen thus far. That looks, suspiciously, like this….
Shall we Pearl?
“Reality is useful: It occupies time between fantasies.”
~~ Heyoka Bee ~~
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Since I’ve got nothing, here’s someone who had it on a regular, consistent basis, & said it well…. I doubt he needs any more introduction than that, so, all that’s necessary now is for me to say, enjoy!….
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George Carlin Live
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Early Observations
Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.
All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.
But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.
Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.
‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.
Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.
Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.
Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.
Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.
~~ gigoid ~~
4/12/2013
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Naked Pearls
A small paradox….
*******
“I’m not a teacher
only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way.
I pointed ahead
– ahead of myself as well as of you.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw, “Getting Married,” 1908 ~~
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“As I look at your image,
I see only the light which was not absorbed.”
~~ Mark Middleton ~~
*******
“He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder.”
~~ M C Escher ~~
*******
“Are you trying to somehow deal with the snake?”
~~ Curiously Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“… and she’s buying a stairway to Heaven.”
~~ Led Zeppelin ~~
*******
“And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there”
~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~
*******
“All this happened, more or less..”
~~ Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, 1968 ~~
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There you go, ffolkes. That’s all I’ve got, & it’s probably more than is wise to share. Oh, well. The good news is, it’s done. The other good news is, we get to try again, another day, maybe even tomorrow. The odds are getting a bit hard to figure, but, that’s okay, because the game is rigged, anyway. See ya, ffolkes…. Just try to stop me….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Hajime…. First, I must apologize to those blogs I follow, where I’ve been mostly absent for a day or two. Yesterday, an old physical demon paid a visit, which has extended into today. I’m doing the right thing to move it along, but, it’s an insidious thing, embedding itself with cold claws that grip, and takes some time to convince to leave. The upshot was, I missed commenting on ANY blogs I’d planned to visit, for which I offer my regrets. I’ll see what happens, but, it could take a day or two to get normal. Let’s hope for efficient methodology results, eh?
All that said, obscurely as possible, to preclude relating details which might just flip switches, I’m going to go directly on, to keep from becoming overly sentimental, or even maudlin. Had enough of that over the birthday celebration, so, I’m cutting down on such indulgences. However I seem to cut it, nothing seems to feel comfortable, so, what the hell, I’m gonna go post this, and be done for today. I may, or may not, be here tomorrow…. I guess that’s another one time will have to tell. It always does.
Meantime, I’m out of ideas for any extensions here, so, I figure we’ll just go do what there is to do, and be off into the day…. On days like today, that looks like this….
Shall we Pearl?….
“All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.”
~~ Alexander Pope ~~
~~ Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289 ~~
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I’m in a hurry to get this posted, with no music chosen; hence, our default choice. Try to enjoy it anyway, ffolkes; can’t hurt….
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Classical Music
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Fatal Supplication
But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.
Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.
Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.
Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/20/2012
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Naked Pearls
Observations….
*******
“Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul when hot for certainties in this our life!”
~~ George Meredith ~~
*******
“Waiting is.”
~~ Robert A. Heinlein, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ ~~
*******
“Make no judgments where you have no compassion.”
~~ Anne Mc Caffrey ~~
*******
“If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree
or the wings of a vulture – that is immortality enough for me.
And as much as anyone deserves.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
*******
“Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it.”
~~ Seneca ~~
*******
“And though the course may change sometimes,
Rivers always reach the sea.”
~~ Led Zeppelin, Ten Years Gone ~~
*******
“Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing.”
~~ Robert Benchley ~~
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That’s all I’ve got, so, that’s all you get. I’ll see what I can do to find something fresh in there to put here, tomorrow. In the meantime, stay alert, ffolkes. It’s getting pretty weird out in the BBR…. I’ll be back, but, no promises on exact times or dates…. Probably tomorrow, if all goes well…. See ya….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Hajime…. While the funk in which my mind has spent the last days dwelling is lessened, I’m still not in the best of moods. There are signs I’m on a productive path, so, patience is the order of the day. Yesterday’s Pearl proved, once again, how critical the completion of this chosen duty has become to my state of mind; it literally saved me from a full day of bullshit. Since today’s Pearl will serve the same purpose, I’d best get started putting it together, before I lose either my impetus, or my fragile hold on reality….
My introspection seems finally to be approaching a degree of resolution, in the sense I am now convinced of where I’ve been going wrong in my agenda, and how to proceed. If one wishes to get somewhere, it’s a good thing to know where one wishes to go; what I’ve discovered in myself the last few days (hours) will help me keep that in focus. I cannot say, at this point, whether my chances are good, or not so much, but, at this point, I don’t care, & it won’t matter anyway. Saying isn’t doing, is it? Nope. At this point, all I’m doing is typing….
I’m getting a bit silly, as well as losing the thread, so, we’ll just give up trying to bring any real coherence into this intro, & get on with the rest of what needs to be done. I’m pretty sure coherence isn’t in the picture, anyway, so there’s no point going overboard trying to find any; I don’t feel like swimming. Instead, we’ll just go on, as if we actually had a plan, and were working on the list to get it done. Go figure, eh? Let’s pretend we are, and do this…
Shall we pearl?….
“When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago,
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow?”
I’m in the mood for some old style rock & roll, so here’s a classic rock band, whose members still perform together, and whose music helped define rock and roll. Enjoy, ffolkes; these guys keep getting better….
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Hot Tuna Live in 2015
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Naked Pearls
Thoughts on modern living….
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“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”
~~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~~
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“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent-
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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“No people do so much harm as those who go about doing good.”
~~ Mandell Creighton (1843-1901) ~~
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“The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology,
is not only opposed to the scientific spirit;
it is also opposed to all other attempts at rational thinking.
Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of knowledge a serpent
– slimy, sneaking and abominable.
Since the earliest days the church as an organization
has thrown itself violently against every effort
to liberate the body and mind of man.
It has been, at all times and everywhere,
the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments,
bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions.
It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery,
as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.”
~~ H. L. Mencken ~~
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“In our society, sometimes you have to penalize (innocent) people
for the good of everybody else.”
~~ A Pittsburgh Cop 10/16/93 ~~
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“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned
— I support your right to enjoy it.
However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect
for the rights of those people who do not wish to share
your dogma, rapture or necrodestination.
~~ Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book” ~~
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“Every man’s life, liberty, and property are in danger
when the Legislature is in session.”
~~ Gideon J. Tucker ~~
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Dreaming of Calliope
La belle dame sans merci speaks aloud through endless night,
torturing dreams, with powerful words and stentorian phrases.
Manifest visions bathed in unbearable grace and light,
destroying all direction, standing lost, in unfathomable mazes.
Fate plays a part, one that will never face denial,
as fear and courage eternally vie for ascendancy.
Conflict becomes valid, gifting strength in open trial,
but honest emotion wears no costume so fancy.
Blood, sweat, and tears stroll on avenues of gold,
unlikely heroines heralding as in ancient lore;
Sharp, competent knives cut through tales untold,
eternally shifting reality past the naked shore.
Drifting toward origin, bereft of mandate or cause,
finished, nay, abandoned, tied with a figurative bow.
No simple gift from muses to give comfort or pause,
save that all we need to know, we already know…..
~~ gigoid ~~
12/13/12
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Five Naked Pearls
The Path taken is irrelevant…
*****
“Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.
After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.”
~~ Zen Proverb ~~
*****
“A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears:”
~~ Montaigne ~~
*****
“And though the course may change sometimes,
Rivers always reach the sea.”
~~ Led Zeppelin, Ten Years Gone ~~
*****
“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”
~~ Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra ~~
*****
“May you live all the days of your life.”
Jonathan Swift — Polite Conversation, Dialogue ii ~~
*****
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Damn! That was rather a surprisingly difficult Pearl to create. SB decided to go on strike when I was nearly finished, which added a lot of time; so much so, I ended up with a five-star pearl at the end, rather than our customary seven to nine stars…. Oh, well. It’s done, so, regardless of anything else, we’ll take it, and run. I hear the starting/stopping gun now, so, let’s do that. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; on that you may depend….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“And though the course may change sometimes,
Rivers always reach the sea.”
~~ Led Zeppelin, Ten Years Gone ~~
A portrait of focused intent….
Hajime…. I gave up on my deadline, which is probably obvious for those who come here at a regular time. It’s now an hour after my self-imposed time to be done, yet, here I am, just beginning. I’ll be trying to ignore my inner voices, who are already clamoring for panic mode, to see if it will help me keep this reasonably coherent (not that’s ever kept us from posting before…). Should I meet with any success, it’ll be a first, so, you may offer congratulations any time. Hah!
That’s right, ffolkes, I’m teetering on the edge again. If there was a god, he might know why, but, since we don’t cater to such nonsense, I’ll just have to assume I have a good reason, so I can get on with enduring its depredations, in whatever form they may take this time out. Thanks to the nearly limitless abundance of material with which my imagination can formulate new nightmares, day or night, well, that form is pretty, well, formless, so I never know quite what to expect in the way of new, depressing thought patterns. Lots of crap in there with the good stuff to work with, so, it can get a little weird….
How ’bout that picture, eh? It’s the latest I have of Leelu, showing off her developing calico coloration, as well as her magnetic personality. Notice how sharp and clear the picture is, behind and around her; she, in contrast, is a bit fuzzy. I think that’s due to her magnetic nature, which complicates taking digital pictures; she always appears as if she is moving, even when sitting still. Probably has something to do with the cat characteristic of being capable of inter-dimensional travel; alternately, it could be my old, shaky hands…. It’s still a nice picture of her, at nearly a year old….
I’ve blathered sufficiently to meet our everyday standards, so, I guess I’ll go try to throw the rest of this together. Hell, if I’m lucky, it might even get done before noon. I’ll see what I can do about that…..
Shall we pearl?….
“Is is not true that we have only one life to live;
if we can read, we can live as many lives
and as many kinds of lives as we wish.”
~~ S.I. Hayakawa ~~
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Y’all knew this was coming, right? If you didn’t, you should have; there have been more than enough clues, for anyone who’s been coming here for any length of time. No worries; it’s all good. I hope you enjoy today’s selection, chosen, as always, for the picture that grabbed my attention….
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Classical Music
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Since I’m in White Rabbit mode (I’m late, I’m late, etc…), here’s one from the archives…. Enjoy!…
From 3/26/2014:
“If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, he should see how bad it is WITH representation.” — Smart Bee
If I’m to believe this article’s headline, Barry says he wants the NSA to stop being bad boys, and play nice with the rest of us….. I believe I’ll wait to see if any of this really happens before I break out the champagne…. This president, I’m sorry to say, has developed a particularly nasty habit, over the course of his time in office, of playing fast and loose with the truth, a tendency which, when observed in the past, in EVERY other psychopathic resident of his position, only becomes worse the longer the perpetrators believe they’re getting away with it…. When action is overdue, talk is cheap….
Due to my intense disappointment in his actions thus far during his administration, I’ll save my trust for later, when… no, IF I see ANY of his statements come to pass, in truth…. If, as I suspect, all goes according to historical example, we’ll see some superficial posturing by the White House pundits, that might eventually get around to SUGGESTING some changes that should be made….. But, none will actually occur in reality, and any real discussion will get bogged down in committee…. Meantime, the media will find some other outrageous issue to distract them from ever following up to see if anything happens along the lines of actual reform….
Now I’ll finish reading the article, & see how my prediction fared…. Ah, I see now…. Upon reading it through to the end, I came across the key phrase, the one indicating the real strategy behind the White House announcement…. to wit: “The president’s plan, however, relies on Congress to pass legislation — something that has so far seemed unlikely.”
Immediately upon reading this, my crap detector went off, with a loud “AHA!”, (inadvertently sending the cat flying across the room to hide in the plants, thinking I was about to come after her for something she did, no doubt…. she has a guilty conscience, I’m sure…. Right….. I’d believe that…. if I believed she had one at all….), when I realized I knew, now, just WHY Barry is adopting this stance, at least, if you believe what he says here…. which, understandably, I’m now having a hard time doing….
If he just leaves it up to Congress, it’s a foregone conclusion nothing will be done ….. Not by THIS one…. The current Congress has been, for the last three years, at least, the absolute worst one, EVER, for getting anything actually DONE…. This includes ALL of the past elections of congress we’ve seen in our history… I shit you not, this Congress has passed fewer laws, and had fewer bills presented at all, than ANY previous sitting of that august body, by a factor of about 8….. They’re determined to be known as the newest holder of the title of “Do-Nothing Congress”, formerly held by one in the early, or late, 20th century, I believe….
(Side note: This, of course, can be attributed to the Republican majority in the House of Representatives…. The party’s pundits, all older, white, Christian conservatives, determined, and stated in public, soon after Obama was elected, that their entire focus for the time he is in office would be to ensure that NONE of his legislative reforms ever took place, or made it into law…. It didn’t matter to them whether or not any of his programs would actually HELP the citizenry they represent; they were determined to undermine every reform he attempted….
For the most part, they’ve been successful in allowing NOTHING, or, nothing much, anyway, to get done…. all because of their unstated, but obvious, bigoted fear of the black man in the White House, an affront to their sense of Caucasian entitlement, not to mention the severe blow to their sense of reality…. They hadn’t even noticed when they ceased to be the majority in the real world….)
After reading the entire article, I find my opinion confirmed…. This announcement is just another stall tactic, one designed to give the impression to the public that something is happening, when nothing actually IS happening, or GOING to happen, other than business as usual for the spy agencies, who have continued ALL of the activities of espionage they are accused of carrying out…. The government has absolutely no intention of giving up their new toys, and they will continue to lie their little faces off to keep that from becoming public knowledge….
The NSA is STILL spying on the citizens of every nation of the whole world, including their own citizens, without ever having actually slowed down, or ceased ANY of the programs they’ve begun…. If you actually believe it when they tell you they have, well, then, you deserve to have them in your face…. Sorry, ffolkes, but, it’s just plain STUPID to believe these people are going to tell us ANYTHING they don’t WANT us to know….
Oh, every once in a while, we’ll see in the news they’ve sent one of their lackeys chiefs to Congress to discuss issues, or make statements, none of which actually address anything relevant…. they’re just making more smoke….. In the process, nothing is actually being done to stop them at all, not by Congress, not by the Courts, and certainly not by the White House…. No, it’s all just smoke, ffolkes, sent up to get in your eyes, trying to make you think they’re listening to your concerns…..
Right…. sure they are….. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but, to these myrmidons of the shadowy corporate masters, your concerns are something to be used against you, to fan your fears of the “unknown other”, while simultaneously listening to your every spoken word over the airwaves…. Whatever they tell you they aren’t doing, or can’t do…. well, ffolkes, the smart money says they are not only capable of everything we suspect of them, but are already beyond that level, and are capable of far worse…. Count on it…. Not only are they lying about what they are doing, they are lying about what they CAN do…. which we will ONLY find out when we find the police at our door…..
Think about it, ffolkes!….. When you break down the walls between yourself and the truth, and really THINK about their purpose, the bottom line concept of their given task as spies, LYING, especially about what they are doing in the dark, away from the public eye, is an important part of their JOB!…. And, guess what? They’re good at it….
I hate to be such a curmudgeon about all of this, but, the evidence just keeps pushing me back into that mode, pissed off and ready to start picking off real targets, instead of merely suggesting them…. If you couldn’t tell, I think I pissed myself off…. I’d better go now, before I get REALLY worked up, and can’t find my way out of this rant…..
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” — Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address January 20, 1953
“I don’t mind being in touch with reality, as long as I don’t have to live there.” — Smart Bee, channeling gigoid again
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Honorable Request
Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit;
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.
Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason;
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.
Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown;
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.
Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found;
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/13/2012
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It’s too late to try to persuade SB to be nice, so, here’s an old, old-school pearl from the archives, billed as a damn good one…
From 6/7/2014:
I am compelled, at this point, to confess…. I still am not completely at my ease, physically. To be brief, there remains a small knife embedded in my right hip…. Well, that’s how it feels, anyway. With the meds, and rest, it’s doable; within an hour or two, it begins to get sharper, though, and by noon, it’s enough to make me want to hurt somebody, preferably someone else…. But, it is NOT going to keep me from finishing this Pearl…. This does mean I’ll be going old school though, as I was not able to get out yesterday to take any new pictures for this….. I’ll try to get back to that, as soon as I can get out of the house to a place where there are some reasonable subjects to shoot…. with my camera…. For now, let’s dive, shall we, & finish out this mess?….
“Ignorance plays the chief part among men, and the multitude of words;” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Cleobulus, iv
“Common sense is the least common of all senses.” — Hobson’s Homily
“We’re not talking about the same thing,” he said. “For you the world is weird because if you’re not bored with it you’re at odds with it. For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious,unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must accept responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous desert, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since you are going to be here for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.” — Don Juan
“All passions that suffer themselves to be relished and digested are but moderate.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book i, Chap. ii, Of Sorrow
“Rules make the learner’s path long, examples make it short and successful.” — Seneca
“Of all mankind, each loves himself the best.’ — Terence
“The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair.” — Jean Baptiste Moliere (1622-1673) — L’Ecole des Femmes, Act ii, Sc. 6
Now THAT is a pearl, ffolkes…. and a damn good one, too….
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Having cobbled this one together in a rush, it probably ended up as a good metaphorical representation of my state of mind today; like ice, on the verge of melting…. However it came out, it is, as we are fond of noting, done. So be it. I’ll try again tomorrow, if I can find my routine around here somewhere; it seems to be hiding a lot of late. See ya, ffolkes; I’m determined, if not sanguine….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Ffolkes,
Breaching the surface of reality, I swim into consciousness slowly, my mind already set on the first sip of coffee, which I can smell brewing in the kitchen. Daring Murphy to fuck with me before I have any of that which gives me reason to live, I sit up, groan, stiffly rise to press the power switch on the laptop, then walk over to switch on the lights. As soon as my eyes clear up a tad, I type in the password, and go pour that first, life-saving cup of auxiliary blood. Adjusting it to my preferred level of sweet & light, I listen as the computer goes through its boot sequence of whirs and beeps, sitting down in front of the monitor to take the first, life-giving sip.
As focus and power flow through my bloodstream, I realize that Murphy has once again respected my need for quiet and privacy, long enough to get that first sip into me…. Since this is the ONLY time he does that, I take a moment to silently thank his spirit, not that the asshole ever acknowledges it, or gives anyone a break for it….. I don’t care if he does come back at me for saying so, but, he’s really an asshole, you betcha. I’ve been trying for years to come to some sort of truce, or at least a sense of common respect, but the dickhead just keeps stepping in it, and doesn’t seem to care how it makes him appear to others…..
I suppose that is all one can expect from spiritual iconic forces of nature. They tend to pick up a sense of entitlement about their invulnerability, and lose all sense of tact and proportion. In short, he is a full-grown asshole, stuck with the attitude of a 13 year old prick (Picture the elitist son of some rich politician… that’s Murphy all over….. Vicious temper, lack of impulse control, no compassion, sick, perverted sense of humor, and acne, which explains why he’s uglier than the average bear….. I know, picture in your mind any of the Romney boys, add in some acne scars, and you’ve nailed that asshole perfectly…..)
Ah, well, sorry ’bout that…. didn’t mean to get all vicious myself, but I get carried away when talking about Murphy, and his ubiquitous presence in my Reality. I should no doubt just be thankful that I am grumpy enough to make him keep his distance in the morning before I’ve had my coffee; I can assure you, and him, that is a wise decision. There are several secret places in the world where the remains of those who didn’t observe that precaution are located, and I’d just LOVE to have him join those foolish people in eternity. Sometimes, I actively wish he WOULD bother me just then; it would be pretty satisfying to get back some of what he has taken from me over the years…..
Now that y’all are firmly convinced of my complete break down, it’s probably a good time to go for a dive. In looking back over this intro, it is clear that nothing further can be done to salvage the moment, so….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Not only does God play dice with the Universe he sometimes casts them where they can’t be seen.” — Stephen Hawking
Yesterday, I was standing outside where I live, enjoying a bit of winter sun, and for some reason started to think about Stephen Hawking, and his latest project, the search for a Unified Field Theory, a theory that will tie together and explain all of the various branches of science that we explore as humans in a strange and beautiful universe. I began to ponder just how he would go about it, and spent almost 10 minutes standing in one position, following the train of thought to its end. (I’m not sure how I was physically able to do so, and I was quite stiff when I emerged from my trance & realized I hadn’t moved for so long….)
It was the most amazing inner journey I’ve taken in a long time, ranging from the sub-atomic level of the building blocks of all matter, neutrons, protons, and electrons, to the composition of the galaxies farthest from our own position among the stars….. a truly epic journey. Alas, my own skill at mathematics is not deep enough to have suggested a possible path to the UFT equations, but, I felt a revelation nonetheless, as I realized something about the structure of the Universe, something that might just point to the solution, in a simplistic fashion.
I don’t think Mssr. Hawking, brilliant as he is, needs my assistance in his quest; he IS the most intelligent man alive, perhaps the most intelligent who ever lived. The rest of humanity is not even capable of understanding how his mind perceives the universe, as it obviously does so much more rapidly, more deeply, and with greater understanding, than any of the rest of us. But, all of us have something he doesn’t have, too, and that is our own unique perspective on what we perceive…. I think he is smart enough to know this, and has always been aware of not only the differences between him and those of lesser ability, but of the similarities, and the connection we all possess, with each other, and with the universe.
As I stood there yesterday and cogitated, it occurred to me that the structure of atoms that we have developed by observations and deductions, verified by experiment, is almost exactly the same as the structure of solar systems. The analogy goes even further, as one can assume the different size and colored stars, with their differing types of planets, could be likened to the way atoms of different numbers of elements form different types of matter. The way the solar systems come together to form galaxies, clouds, and globular clusters can be likened to the way different types of matter join to form biological systems of infinite variety. Though not exact, the similarities are startlingly alike in the way they can be combined in an infinite array of dissimilar objects and substances…..
So, I think that, when Mssr. Hawking is successful (and I truly hope he is…. a Unified Field Theory would mean an entirely new chance at life for our species, as it promises, by its very nature, to give us the key to unlimited energy, and unlimited possibilities that were never before even considered, as being out of the scope of our capabilities. Anti-gravity, telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, faster-than-light ( FTL) travel to other stars, safe, reliable atomic energy, in the form of atomic fusion, all are just the beginning of what UFT can give to us…..) he will find there are a very large number of clues left lying around in the way that the universe is constructed, and that looking at one level can increase our understanding of another…. It works at a human level, and I think it will hold true for all levels of perception…..
And though the course may change sometimes,
Rivers always reach the sea.
— Led Zeppelin, Ten Years Gone
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I’ve been thinking a lot lately of Noah, my compatriot and best friend, who died a while back… I’m pretty sure I’ve shared this one previously, but I don’t mind repeating good stuff, and this poem is perfect for my current state of mind…..
A Dog Has Died
My dog has died.
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine.
Some day I’ll join him right there,
but now he’s gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose,
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I’ll never enter.
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.
Ai, I’ll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange,
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex.
No, my dog used to gaze at me,
paying me the attention I need,
the attention required
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time,
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he’d keep on gazing at me
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.
Ai, how many times have I envied his tail
as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about
full of the voltage of the sea’s movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean’s spray.
Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit.
There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don’t now and never did lie to each other.
So now he’s gone and I buried him,
and that’s all there is to it.
Pablo Neruda
Translated, from the Spanish, by Alfred Yankauer
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All things being equal, I would normally (hah!) put another pearl here that stimulated my outrage, in order to rant; a news article headline, a quote from one of the Ignoramusi, or the latest lies from the political arena. All things, however, are not equal, nor do we ever approach normalcy here without first obtaining all the appropriate licenses and permits, which I consider a complete waste of my time. So, I’ve fallen back to my default position in such instances, and gathered together a string of pearls, in this case a grouping of random thoughts and comments on religion, philosophy, and/or spirituality. Each of these has the added distinction of my complete agreement with the sentiments expressed…. Enjoy!…. As a treat, the Quiz for this week is canceled…..
“We may not be able to persuade Hindus that Jesus and not Vishnu should govern their spiritual horizon, nor Muslims that Lord Buddha is at the center of their spiritual universe, nor Hebrews that Mohammed is a major prophet, nor Christians that Shinto best expresses their spiritual concerns, to say nothing of the fact that we may not be able to get Christians to agree among themselves about their relationship to God. But all will agree on a proposition that they possess profound spiritual resources. If, in addition, we can get them to accept the further proposition that whatever form the Deity may have in their own theology, the Deity is not only external, but internal and acts through them, and they themselves give proof or disproof of the Deity in what they do and think; if this further proposition can be accepted, then we come that much closer to a truly religious situation on earth.” — Norman Cousins, from his book “Human Options”
“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety …” — Robert Heinlein
A man fell off a mountain and, as he fell, saw a branch and grabbed for it. By superhuman effort he was able to get a precarious grip on it. As he was hanging there for dear life, he looked up and cried out, “Is anybody there?” A deep majestic voice answered, “Yes my son, I am here. What do you need?” “Help me!!” cried the man. “I will help you”, said the voice, “just let go of the branch and you’ll be safe. All you have to do is trust.” The man thought for a moment and cried out, “Anybody ELSE up there?” — Smart Bee
“Things go better with Buddha.” — Smart Bee
“I am the Supreme Being, you know. I’m not entirely dim.” — Sir Ralph Richardson (as God) in TIME BANDITS
Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum — “I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
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In the past two years or so, since I began blogging full time (i.e., posting daily, somewhere…), I’ve used a lot of quotes and material more than once, when it is appropriate. So much so, it is getting hard to remember whether I’ve used some things before, or not. I don’t help myself by not giving clues to the content in the title, but, that is too much a habit now to change; if I want to know what is in one of my posts, I have to find it and read it, just like everyone else.
My memory, however, is pretty good, and I can mostly keep from repeating myself too much without having to go back and find out for sure. Unfortunately, as happens all too frequently on days like today, I can also get so lost in my memory that I not only cannot figure out whether a pearl is old or new, but I forget entirely why I wanted to know. We have reached that point here, and now. When I started to write this closing section, I had a whole series of ideas and thoughts all ready to get down…. Well, they’re all gone now, and I’m stuck here wondering what the hell I had in mind…. if I wasn’t already done with the rest of the Pearl, it would be a pisser, for sure…
I did go back and proof it, for what that is worth, and can only say, well, it’s done. I like it, mostly, and it isn’t overly consistent, or too sane; with those characteristics, it could be considered one of the best. I will refrain from even guessing, however, as it isn’t my place to do so….. That is why I keep y’all around, so to speak…. and now I am truly rambling. Okay, I’m done…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..
—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid 