Tag Archives: Life

The purple onion is more compassionate…..

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Ffolkes,
Here is further demonstration of what I shoot for when composing the daily titles for this otherwise inexplicable activity….

“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”  — Prof. Noam Chomsky, “Syntactic Structures” — An example of a sentence which, though — grammatically acceptable, is without meaning

See? It’s that simple! And nutritious, too! Kinda high in satiric cholesterol, though, so maybe we should just go on to something a bit more constructive and illuminating, ever hopeful of finding something, anything, that makes some sort of sense….
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“Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.  But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it.  Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.” — Shunryu Suzuki

As mentioned here before, earlier in my life, I wrote down my own philosophy; I figure if it’s good enough for Descartes, it’s good enough for me. Thus was born Peruaosophy, the Philosophy of Pearls. In that definitive work, Axiom #2 addresses the above statement by Mr. Suzuki; it reads thus: “The Nature of the Universe is Change;  unpredictable, innovative transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you are in for a rough ride.” It is, I believe, a fairly accurate statement of what is real, and through years of serious research and testing against the real model, it holds up as being true. A lot of folks don’t like it, but that is only natural; nobody likes being told things can’t always be the way they want them to be.

But Mr. Suzuki makes a good point here, too. He is merely more direct, and a bit less tactful than the Axiom. People know they suffer, and often don’t know why, and this explains that in a very clear, but uncompromising manner. Preparing people for changes is never easy, due mostly to humanity’s unfortunate tendency to fall into laziness; most folks are looking for an easy road through life, and don’t like to make waves or deal with changes on a daily basis, preferring the secure feeling of knowing exactly what will happen next, and never realizing that, with just a little bit of effort, change can be turned to our advantage, instead of always causing us to feel put-upon. It’s well worth the effort, too, as it carries with it the feeling of pride that accomplishing something on our own always brings. All we have to do is convince everyone that it’s worth their effort, and that means appealing to their self-interest, rather than their better nature; they may not have one…..
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A man, a plan, a canoe, pasta, heros, rajahs, a coloratura, maps, snipe, percale, macaroni, a gag, a banana bag, a tan, a tag, a banana bag again, (or a camel), a crepe, pins, Spam, a rut, a Rolo, cash, a jar, sore hats, a peon, a canal – Panama! — Guy L. Steele.

Absolutely astounding! I have nothing to add, except “we are not worthy!”…… I checked it, did you?….. such a wonderful waste of time and mental acuity! Occasionally you have to let out the Bozoid side we all have, and just let it fool around…..

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.”– Willie Wonka
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Everyone has a photographic memory. Not everyone has developer.

Memory is almost entirely volitional. Remember above where it was noted that people are motivated primarily by self-interest? Well, memory is almost entirely based on that; we remember what is important TO US. If it isn’t important to us in some way or another, the mind will just delete it, or file it away somewhere hard to find. But, if it is important, we will remember the necessary elements. It is a little hard to believe, I admit, but it is nonetheless true.

What it means is that to improve one’s memory, all that is needed is to make EVERYTHING important to you. It is an attitude adjustment, and requires a bit of effort, but it’s not so hard to train oneself; much easier than training someone else. And the results can be astounding, to say the least.

As a polymath, my interests are almost unlimited; there isn’t much in this world that isn’t interesting to me in some way, and as a result, I’ve always had a good memory, which I might point out, is very useful in places like schools, jobs, and relationships. Never missed an anniversary yet, and can’t tell you how that little item has improved my life! I do tend to forget birthdays, especially for women, but that is, again, volitional. I’ve found that after a certain age (different for each one) women stop acknowledging such events, and it’s best for us men to support that idea; it makes life much simpler.

Mostly, though, it is helpful in life to pay attention, and tell yourself that everything you see, and hear, and perceive by any sense is important data, and should be filed where it can be found easily. It doesn’t take long for it to become a habit, and can make life much more pleasant in the long run….which we all hope to have….
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Don’t give someone a piece of your mind unless you can afford it.

Immediately, one thinks, “Can I?” What is your answer? Is there enough in your mind that giving some of it away won’t cause a feeling of hollowness, and loss? My own answer is, “I must have, because there’s always more ready to fly out…” Whether this is a good thing, or not so much, has yet to be determined, nor will it be, if I have anything to say about it. And, I always do, don’t I?…. stop him, stop him, before it’s too late!…..
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It is the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It is the dream afraid of waking
that never takes a chance.
It is the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live.
— Bette Midler, The Rose

I’m not sure if Bette wrote this song, but she sings it very well.  The poetry that constitutes the lyrics of the song remains a favorite of mine. It is good enough that it requires nothing more to be included today….just enjoy, and take it to heart……
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Silly me, I thought I was done….. I’ll be posting again a little later today, due to a very nice email notice in my Inbox this morning. In the meantime, y’all take care out there…..

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

Kowabunga!

Candle Lighter Award

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This morning, I found this award in my email Inbox; it was awarded to me by the blogger Dolly, whose home site is here….. http://allaboutlemon/  Her work has garnered several blog awards, and she brings a lot of creativity and compassion to her posts. She also has an Art Game that just about anyone can enjoy, as well as take part in, should they desire…..the award notice can be found on her blog, at http://allaboutlemon.com/2012/02/07/candle-lighter-award-2/

Many thanks, Dolly! This is my first award of any kind, and it is greatly appreciated! Y’all take care out there…..

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.

gigoid

Just Dozer

Kowabunga!

Even tough guys call him ‘Sir’….

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Ffolkes,
I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but mornings are,for me, an important time of the day. A lot depends on what takes place in that first few minutes, and colors what may happen the rest of the day. Today has been relatively normal, though I stayed up later than usual, and thus am up a bit later. All within normal parameters, so things are looking fairly routine. Whether or not this kind of serenity will help what goes onto the screen remains to be determined….we may as well just jump on in……
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“I’m trying to think, but nothing happens.” — Curly

I’m not sure why I wanted to include this one, except that when I read it, an image popped into my mind’s eye, and it aroused my outrage again. I could see the Junior Shrub (my own little term of affection for The asshole president Who Stole Two Terms, and yes I know the title should be capitalized; he didn’t earn enough respect to deserve it) in the now-famous video tape of GW Jr. sitting in front of that class in Florida when he was informed that the attacks had occurred on the Pentagon and World Trade Center Towers, on 9/11/01.

For seven agonizing minutes, the whole nation was able to observe firsthand how unqualified he was for the position of President. It was completely obvious that the quote above was playing in his head like an endlessly repeated loop for the entire time, and the parade of emotions across his face was painful to watch, as he obviously became more and more fearful with each passing moment.

But then, I’ve always believed that his father could conceivably had a hand in that whole mess anyway, and that the news that morning was not a surprise to Junior; it struck me right away how the attacks were very conveniently timed to draw attention from the news of the preceding day, which was focusing on the voting irregularities of the last election, the second time the results of the election were disputable.

After having read The Cocaine Papers, and personally observing his time in office, the whole scenario just stunk of the senior Bush’s talents; folks seem to forget he headed up the CIA during the time when that organization was busy interfering in governments all over the world, and was almost completely responsible for setting up the cocaine trade to the US from South America, aided by the work of CIA operatives in the area. Yes, it was an incredibly fortunate thing for GWB Jr. that we were attacked just at that time, or we just might have seen our second president go down in the glaring light of public sight, for having been found guilty of voting fraud in at least two elections, and forced to resign due to public outrage over his shenanigans….

But, as I say, he’s a lucky guy, isn’t he?……. it only cost us around 4000 American lives, give or take a few, and gave us the opportunity to hare off after the nasty terrorists, to exact our revenge from the civilian populations of Afghanistan and Iraq, to the tune of several HUNDRED THOUSAND civilian deaths. All things considered, we took more than we were entitled to, but then, it is the habit of our society to over-consume on every level, so it’s not particularly surprising. And, all things considered, I regard the period from 9/11/01 to now to be one of the most shameful periods of American history, and nothing to be proud of…….
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“One of the saddest lessons of history is this:  If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle.  We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth.  The bamboozle has captured us.  it is simply too painful to acknowledge — even to ourselves — that we’ve been so credulous.  (So the old bamboozles tend to persist as the new bamboozles rise.)” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987

What is beginning to depress me about the state of modern society is how often I find myself in a state of outrage over the latest antics of the beloved ruling class. The above quote is absolute truth, (the telling of which is a habit of Carl Sagan’s….), and is probably the direct result of the continuous reduction taking place in the average IQ of the average human, when viewed on a society-wide basis.

We have discussed this proposition in this space previously, and have presented the scientific proof of this phenomenon, including its intrinsic inevitability; as time goes on, the species grows dumber, and there is no way to prevent it, other than population control, and humans won’t ever let that happen. The quotation below grows ever more applicable and as time goes on, approaches absolute truth; perhaps the only question remaining to be asked is “How much time do we really have to turn it all around, before it’s too late?” I don’t know about you, but I am very afraid of the answer……

“Yes, this is an age of moral crisis.  Yes, you are bearing punishment for your evil. But it is not man who is now on trial and it is not human nature that will take the blame.It is your moral code that’s through, this time.  Your moral code has reached its climax, the blind alley at the end of its course.  And if you wish to go on living, what you now need is not to return to morality — you who have never known any — but to discover it.”” — John Galt
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— How many roads must a man walk down before he finds a damn good pub?


— Let us define n to be the number of roads a man must travel before he finds the pub defined above.  We may thus define n+1 to be the first road which a man need not travel in order to reach a good pub.  Now the traversal of road n+1 is not a necessary condition, but rather a sufficient one; thus it is sufficient for n+2 as well.  Thus the statement is true for x roads where x is >= n.  Therefore, by induction, it is true for any finite number x greater than n.  We may conclude that the statement is true for sufficiently large x, or alternatively that as x approaches infinity, the number of roads that have been traveled become sufficient to have found a good pub.

Ya gotta love math! Especially as it is taught at English public schools…. Well, maybe not, but it might have been, right? Sounds just loony enough for schools that have to have a “headmaster”, presumably to lead their charges into their own mastery over the thick, nearly impenetrable British head. (Get it? mastery, British head? No?….ah, well….) And, as the above shows, the system works, sort of, so even the ones who didn’t get the math found a pub, and grew up to write for Monty Python…. those who took in the math went on to further glory in obscure positions in research on numbers theory as it applies to counting sheep….or money…..or the proper number of pints of stout for quoting from documentation manuals out of memory…..
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“Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than minority of them – never become conscious of them all.  How much of total reality can such an apparatus let through?” — C. S. Lewis

Brilliant! This is the type of question that only occurs to someone who can be called a genius. Most folks never even consider any of these concepts; it is all they can do to keep track of their own preconceptions and assumptions, much less have the imagination to wonder what they would be able to do if they could see more clearly, clearly enough that meaning is absorbed with perception. There are many ffolkes (this is called a contextual clue) who do think about this kind of thing, but only the truly exceptional mind has the depth of perception, and understanding, to not only see the light, but to describe it to their brethren……
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Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled
About the center of the silent Word.
— T.S. Eliot

What is the silent Word?  The Word Is……Not not, Is…..We may be, or not, but what is, is, and needs no word, but the Word remains….at the center, where it was seen and not heard by T.S…. Sometimes, powerful truth can be found in apparent nonsense, and T.S. was a master at creating very lean, very clean poetry whose very simplicity drove straight into the heart of Truth. I always feel more serene afterward, and find that reading his work brings me illumination, if not enlightenment…..
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The results are in, and we find that much of what is included today doesn’t bring much serenity, but is sufficient unto the day for its mere expression. It’s often that way; I often don’t know I needed to get something out, until it is staring at me from the screen. If nothing else, this has kept me off the streets for a time, which is always a good thing…..I tend to attract craziness out there, and it gets to be wearing at times. Probably why I live alone…..I’m old enough now to enjoy not having to worry about adjusting my self to anyone else’s standards, and have found that I’m pretty good company…… Y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Rare memories of lucidity, squared….

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Ffolkes,
Perhaps my favorite way to start the day is like today…..oblivious. Waking up all the way doesn’t seem to be in the cards this morning; I’m well into the second cuppa, and my eyes still feel grainy & heavy, and my brain is threatening severe consequences if I continue to flog it in this fashion. But it will just have to learn how to deal, because it’s too late now; I’m on a roll. Fingers flying, thoughts racing, passion unleashed, check, check, check. Let’s boogie!….

Oh, by the way….the doctors were finally able to pinpoint what was wrong with me. I have been diagnosed with  “witzelsucht” (vit’sel-zoocht) [Ger.] “A mental condition characteristic of frontal lobe lesions and marked by the making of poor jokes and puns and the telling of pointless stories, at which the patient himself is intensely amused.” That explains it……
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“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin; the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Robert A. Heinlein — Lazarus Long

T’is sad, is it not, that this natural law has been rescinded in our case? Modern technology and medicine have made it possible for those born stupid to have the protection and nurturing of society, allowing them to live long enough to breed, thus ensuring that mankind will never run out of them. (More’s the pity….) Society has taken this so far as to print warning labels on the most innocuous of presumably dangerous items, like, for example, a warning on shampoo to not drink it. Seems a bit over the top to me, but for some reason, society seems to feel that people shouldn’t have to experience the results of their own stupidity; instead they attempt to legislate certain types of stupidity out of existence, and assume that will solve the problem.

But this is the type of problem that builds up over time; as more and more really dumb folks continue to live and breed more of their ilk, society is slowly “dumbed down”. Soon, the number of people who have difficulty remembering how to tie their shoes on Thursdays will have  increased to the point where they become a majority group, and stupidity will become even more fashionable, and more difficult to keep from preventing all progress. In fact, in looking over the latest news out there, it may already be too late……
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“I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.” — Dr. Albert Hoffman

I find it to be a saddening thought that, as mildly and innocuously as this statement is constructed, it would nonetheless serve no purpose as an introduction to the subject for anyone who actually needed to make the described changes. (See above)  In other words, this is preaching to the choir, and nobody who is not in the choir is going to pay any attention to it, regardless of the truth it speaks, just because it isn’t written passionately, or in a way that will appeal to their self-interest (it’s too complex; most folks won’t follow it easily, and will give up after a few words).

Personally,  I think it is a perfect statement of what is necessary if humanity is to survive the next hundred years, or less; though scientifically certain, it depends on several factors, any of which could have an effect on the time we have left, plus or minus. Kind of like stopping smoking will affect one’s chances of cancer or other cardio-pulmonary disease, and just as final, only species-wide. Unfortunately, as soon as one of the misguided reads the words “spiritual crisis”, they will turn their attention off, for sure and certain. Their personality’s primary concern is meeting their own wants, which they regard as needs, and that process doesn’t include the consideration of changing anything but their underwear…..and they would just scratch their heads and shuffle off in confusion at how Chief Seattle, quoted below, states the underlying reason they will never comprehend…..

“[T]he earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.  This we know.  All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.  All things are connected.  Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.  Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” — Chief Seattle, 1854 (c.1786-1866)
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Yar: “Captain Jean-Luc Picard, I wish I could say you’ve been like a father to me, but I’ve never had one so I don’t know what it feels like.  But if there
was one person in this universe who I would choose to be like, someone who I would want to make proud of me, it’s you.  You who have the heart of an
explorer and the soul of a poet.  So you’ll understand when I say, ‘Death is  that state in which one exists only in the memory of others’, which is why it
is not an end.  No goodbyes, just good memories.  Hailing frequencies closed, sir.” — “Skin Of Evil”, Stardate 41601.3.

I’m not sure why, though I have my guesses, but, when I first read this, it brought tears to my eyes; and as I sit here writing this, they continue to flow….. I didn’t see this episode, as I’d already given up on TV, for the most part, by the time it aired. But, I understand the relationship between Yar and Picard, having seen a few of the previous shows, which gave some of the back story. But that’s not why I cried; I’m pretty sure it was the phrase “if there was one person in this universe who I would choose to be like, someone who I would want to make proud of me, it’s you.”

That says it all to me, perfectly.  It is how I have always looked at my father, and can only hope that my son feels the same of me, if he doesn’t already. That sentiment is why we live, it is our purpose, to instill in our children the desire to emulate what we acted out for them. No other purpose is needed to make a life worthwhile, to make it complete. There is no greater reward, either, than to watch your children face their lives with dignity and courage. To my mind, my father excelled at his purpose, and if I did half as well as him, then I will know I have done well, indeed…..
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“[There is] a duty in refusing to cooperate in any undertaking that violates the Constitutional rights of the individual. This holds in particular for all inquisitions that are concerned with the private life and the political affiliations of the citizens…” — Albert Einstein

Funny, how a very fundamentally American sentiment should be so aptly put by a man who grew up speaking German. I suppose it is time for me to discontinue using so many of Albert’s documented pearls, until I go learn a few more details of his life. I just now realized, as I pondered this quote, that I have very little actual knowledge of the events that led him to be the man he was by the time of his death in the latter half of the twentieth century. Most of what I know consists of stories about his scientific activities, and his philosophical utterances. Oh Boy! Something new to look up & study! Frabjous joy! (and in the words of Nora Roberts, “yes, I capitalize the “N” in “Nerd”). I’ll be back after I’ve assuaged my curiosity and fed the elephant’s child a nourishing diet of information, and stimulated the fountain of unrepentant data mastication…. and, no, I have no more idea of what that means than you do. Hopefully, I’ll be all better when I return to this…..

Mmm….that was tasty. Wikipedia provided a nice little repast of Albert’s early years, which were surprising in certain respects. He was literally a man of the world, having traveled with his family at an early age, only living in Austria later in life, just prior to World War II. He was nationalized as an American citizen in 1940. In retrospect, I must say that we, as Americans, can only be glad that he came here and espoused our philosophy of government, which he evidently did much more thoroughly than most native born citizens.

Actually, I’ve found that to be true of most immigrants that I have known; those who become citizens have a deeper understanding, and appreciation, of the intentions of the founding fathers when they created this Union. We are also very fortunate that one of history’s true genius’s, on a par with Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates, has seen fit to grace us with his elegant thoughts, which are characterized by his compassion, his genius, and his clarity of vision. He makes a great ‘funny face’ too, when somebody asks him the meaning of life…….
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A doctor, an architect, and a computer scientist were arguing about whose profession was the oldest.  In the course of their  arguments, they got all the way back to the Garden of Eden, whereupon  the doctor said, “The medical profession is clearly the oldest, because Eve was made from Adam’s rib, as the story goes, and that was a simply incredible surgical feat.”
The architect did not agree.  He said, “But if you look at the  Garden itself, in the beginning there was chaos and void, and out of that, the Garden and the world were created.  So God must have been an architect.”
The computer scientist, who had listened to all of this said,  “Yes, but where do you think the chaos came from?”

I find that, in general, a lot of folks don’t think about how they perceive the universe. I don’t mean in a physical sense; anyone who’s had an earache or toothache knows exactly how those tools function, on a very basic level. No, I’m referring to the very essence of what we perceive, the nature of how our minds are constructed to function. Every one of our senses depends on the concept of duality in nature; life, and everything life perceives is dark or light, light or heavy, sweet or sour, savory or bland, hot or cold, air or vacuum, loud or soft, melodious or discordant, etc., ad infinitum. Even life itself mirrors this duality, for how would we know we were alive, if we had not once been dead?

Every one of our senses is based on the sense of touch, in one form or another. Eyes require light to strike the retina, as differentiated from lack of light. Ears require vibrations in the molecules of the air to differentiate noise from silence. Smell, taste, both require the presence or absence of certain molecules to comprehend the data they receive. And nerve endings in the skin require pressure or another form of energy such as kinetic, gravitational, or electromagnetic (heat from a fire, cold from the snow, UV rays from the Sun, sharp or dull objects, soft or hard, etc.)

And how do we think? We think the same way, understanding our perceptions according to value judgments we make, and labeling them for use in the future. Our sight is clear, or limited, what we hear is also clear, or limited, or blocked. And our thoughts themselves are judged, as logical or illogical, as valuable or ineffective, as profound or simple. It is our nature to perceive, and to imagine new patterns in what we perceive, subtle, and complex, or astutely simple. It may be the only ability we possess as humans that will eventually save us from our own folly…..
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It’s been an interesting morning so far….. tough going in spots, smooth in others. It all came together fairly well, though I had to rely just a bit on some work done prior to today; s’okay, though, the nice thing about today is that there is always another one tomorrow. So far, anyway….. y’all take care out there…..

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

In the eye of the storm, laughing….

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Ffolkes,
The Muse is near, whispering softly in my ear, sweet phrases to warm the heart and mind. Caught up, time creeps in tiny shoes to a new garden, where, ahh, magnolia, lavender, honeysuckle, and roses reside! Breathing in each essence fills another sense, and another, and another, until, breathless, powerful, bright images in my inner eye crash from side to side, too many to take in all at once; just flashes here, of cunning birds and fiery hair, of passionate lovers; and more images there, of sad-eyed minstrels and passive bears. Kings, and queens, and little tailors, too, parading past like wraiths, gossiping of society in the underworlds. Elegant women, and fashionable men, always guarded carefully, never to see the pain/despair of their own making, never learning to laugh, never learning to live. As the Muse slips away, the calliope winds down to silence, and I am released from thrall, empty now, yet more whole…..
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Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Brahma

And what was it the Brahmin sang? A song of life. THE song of life. The song we all sing, every day, every minute, every second of every hour, our life sings us along with time. Do we sing, or  are we the song? We may never know, and it will never matter; the song still sounds, and while it sings, we may dance. When we dance, poems conceived come to life. When we live, we are the music, and the poem is how we dance our life. It may not make sense, but it makes sense anyway, doesn’t it?……Music is life, and life is the song we sing; as long as we live, the music will play, the song will be sung, and the dance, oh, the dance, it will go on……

Living Dead
the path is
chosen, to live forever is to die
forever.

To not know when you’ll
die
is to find
life
wherever you are.
— Alagad

More proof, or at least evidence, that life is where you find it…..you just gotta keep your eyes and mind open, so it doesn’t slap you upside the head….
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“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

Good attitude, dude! This is true humility, and the mark of true wisdom lies handsomely upon Edward’s brow. This is not your normal Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, it goes beyond that, into the realm of real wisdom, the kind you can use every day, only to find it never grows old, or untrue. This is the kind of attitude toward life that could get you into the Christian Heaven, even if one had been born and died a pagan, because if there is a God up there who really cares about this sort of thing, She/He would recognize when someone had gotten the message, even if it wasn’t the message that was sent. This is the sort of humility that one sees from a saint, or a sadhi, or a master yogi, or a master of Tao. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first…….
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“The problem … is that we have run out of dinosaurs to form oil with. Scientists working for the Department of Energy have tried to form oil using other animals; they’ve piled thousands of tons of sand and Middle Eastern countries on top of cows, raccoons, haddock, laboratory rats, etc., but so far all they have managed to do is run up an enormous bulldozer-rental bill and anger a lot of Middle Eastern persons.  None of the animals turned into oil, although most of the laboratory rats developed cancer.” — Dave Barry, Postpetroleum Guzzler

Wickedly funny!…wonderful twist of the psyche to describe real events as scathing satire…..Dave forgot to mention that one of the reasons these attempts to make oil were so widely condemned by the Middle Easterners, was because they included using dead Middle Eastern people along with the other carbon based life forms they were bombing. Hell, it’d piss me off, too….it already does, and I wasn’t there. Actually, I’m pissed mostly because the government blokes figured they would be better off if they lied to us about why we were interfering in the Middle East; they didn’t HAVE to tell us it was all about the dictator, and saving all the poor Muslims from their own mullahs. They could have just come out and said, “hey, our oil supplies are looking a bit chancy here; we need to go over and secure some more oil producing countries as our protectorates or something, so you all don’t have to worry about filling up your gas-guzzling SUV’s for Memorial Day weekend. You will however, have to pay four dollars or more a gallon, to help pay for the war, but, hey, what are a few sacrifices in the all-important obsessive pursuit of leisure, and the joy of consuming more than you produce? And it only cost 150,000, more or less, civilian Iraqi’s their lives……there’s plenty more where they came from, right?…..

“The history of the race, and each individual’s experience, are thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.” — Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) — Advice to Youth (published 1923)
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Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman;
Though they may gang a kennin’ wrang,
To step aside is human.
— Robert Burns (1759-1796) — Address to the Unco Guid

Nice…. no comment needed. Just read, ponder, & enjoy……and it’s good advice, as well……
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Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before the fight, while the ignorant fight to win.

Here is a very subtle, yet powerful observation, one whose veracity I can personally affirm. I figured out at a fairly young age that people couldn’t always be trusted to act honorably, or even sensibly, on a consistent basis. I also noted that on the occasions when two people ended up in a dispute, it was generally for that reason, that one or both of them was being irrational. As a final conclusion, I observed that in situations where physical force is threatened, or more simply, in a fight, the longer it went on, the higher the chance that I would suffer injury, or worse. This was unacceptable to me, so I began my education in the martial arts with that purpose in mind, to remove fighting as a means of settling a dispute from my existence.

I found that what is stated above is absolute truth; when one is confident of their ability to deal with violence without coming to harm, fear is removed as a factor in the outcome, instead serving as motivation and ally in the quest for a successful result. Without fear, the mind remains clear, and the correct strategy for success is more easily seen. The absence of fear, besides enhancing our mental state, also improves physical performance; the concept of “freezing”, or of reactions being slowed down from the paralyzing effect of fear, is prevented from being a factor. In short, you get faster, and smarter.

This simple fact, that fear is eliminated, is the strongest ally a person can have in such situations, and greatly improves one’s chances of avoiding injury, and defeat. Even defeat is more palatable, for having done all one can do, and for the lessons there to be learned that can help the next time someone gives in to their bozoid tendencies, at a time and place that makes it impossible to ignore, ridicule, or redirect……

“In a philosophical dispute, he gains most who is defeated, since he learns most.” — Epicurus
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Some days it just goes easier than others. As I’m yet unsure as to which sort of day this is (there has been evidence of more than one possible path today could take), I will count my blessings, and declare this one “finis!” As far as I intend to take it anyway…..I do have SOME compassion for others! At any rate, y’all take care out there….it’s getting pretty weird…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

That’s not a real basilisk, is it?….

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Ffolkes,
It’s morning, and I mean that in a good way…..of course, I could be lying. Or, alternately, I could be telling the truth. There’s no way to really know, is there? All human communication revolves around that one little question, to wit: Is this idiot telling the truth, or is he living up to the poor expectations of the world around him, and lying his little butt off?  I never thought about it before, but it turns out that when we sit down to read something, we are expecting the truth.

We just naturally assume (or perhaps not so naturally at all….) that the person of whom we have requested information, or are merely conversing with, is going to deal fairly, and tell the truth. But, you know something? The person to whom we are speaking has given no guarantees of the that, not usually. We don’t walk up and begin by saying, “Where is the men’s room, and please don’t lie to me….?”, now, do we? No we don’t. We just assume we’re getting the real deal, when in fact, we could be wandering around in a daze, looking as confused as we really are….
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“Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.” — G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 9/11/09

Here is a line you probably won’t see in the letters to the editor section these days, though I see it did at least get published. It’s a pretty good example of how the beloved ruling class runs things; they tell the public what they should be afraid of, and shroud their lies in partial truths. They make demons out of the regular folks who live in another country, telling the public how they want to kill us and take away our freedoms, of which they are supposedly jealous.

I’ll tell you what, I don’t think they’re jealous any more; I think they’re afraid of us, because we keep coming over and dropping bombs on them when they won’t sell us enough oil, or try to jack up the price too much. I think this country has no moral justification for the way we treat other nations; there can be none when the primary motivating factor is so obviously the money. Where’s the money? Just ask that question and watch them scurry around like the little parasites that they are…..
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As I learn to trust the Universe, I no longer need to carry a big stick, semiautomatic pistol, and bowie knife.

This process is running backward for me. The more I experience, and the more I observe in the world around me, the stronger becomes my urge to arm myself in more than merely a figurative sense. And if one intends to obtain arms for use, there’s no sense in them being of second rate or smaller caliber.

I figure a 16 gauge pump action over & under, a good rifle or two, two or three different range handguns, and assorted peripheral weapons of a sharp nature, for both hand-to-hand (daggers, stilettos, bayonets, swords) and at-a-distance fighting (shuriken, throwing knives, blowguns; maybe a slingshot with explosive pellets, or a crossbow with explosive bolts, just in case). That list ought to allow the flexibility for me deal with most situations. If not, well, it won’t be for lack of planning, or fire power, on my part…..
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“Virtue is its own reward.  There’s a pleasure in doing good which sufficiently pays itself.” — Sir John Vanbrugh, The Relapse

….A few days ago, we (that’s the royal ‘we’, meaning me, or I, or both of us in here…) discussed the reverse of this proposition, to wit: “Stupidity, like Virtue, is its own reward.”–David E. Williamson. It was the contemplation of this subject from which the inspiration for axiom #4 of Peruaosophy sprang. That axiom reads, “Excellence is its own reward”, and remains as one of the lynch-pins of my personal beliefs.

I discovered the truth of this proposition at a young age, and the attitude served me well enough over the years that I was adjudged as valedictorian of my high school graduating class. Mind you, that’s not a guarantor of success in life; there aren’t any guarantees issued to any of us for that. But, it sure is a good way to give what one actually does the greatest possibility of succeeding. It is certainly more effective than just doing the minimum required, with the bonus of feeling a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that never accompanies a half-hearted effort……
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“The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. But once the niche is emptied of the wrong idea that has been filling it – once you can honestly say, “I don’t know,” then it becomes possible to get at the truth.” — Robert A. Heinlein

Bob obviously sees this in a clear light. But the way he said this seems to imply that emptying out a false belief is not extremely difficult to do, and can even be useful in assisting others to see the light. That just isn’t so. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more difficult than getting someone to give up on a false belief, especially if it has been held since childhood. People treat these types of beliefs as if they were carved into stone, sent down from heaven on a tablet carved by the hand of God, because they were led to believe in its truth at an age when they had no preconceptions, or any defense against them, and accepted everything they were told by their parents as valid information, with no need for verification.

As social creatures, we need to be able to make that assumption, that what others tell us is true. But reality often differs from our assumptions, because a lot of humans don’t abide by the same rules as everyone else does. A significant proportion of people, knowing that others tend to believe what they’re told, will use that characteristic to take advantage, lying their little hearts out to achieve the goals on their agenda, not caring at all whether they have used the other person selfishly.

It is therefore in our best interests to submit any information from others to our own personal crap detector, to determine whether the data can be trusted…. everyone has one, everyone is issued one at birth. Most folks tend to forget it is there, so it gets rusty from disuse; it’s there, though. One merely needs to learn to use it on a daily, or even hourly basis….. and don’t be afraid to use the delete button with joyful abandon……
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A rabbi spoke with God about heaven and hell. “I will show you hell,” God said, and they went into a room which had a large pot of stew in the middle. The smell was delicious, but around the pot sat people who were famished and desperate. All were holding spoons with very long handles which reached to the pot, but, because the handles were longer than their arms, it was impossible to get the stew back into their mouths.

“Now I will show you heaven”, God said, and they went into an identical room. There was a similar pot of stew, the smell was delicious, and the people had identical spoons, but they were well-nourished and happy. “It’s simple,’ God said. “You see, they have learned to feed one another”. — Medieval Jewish story

Now, see, isn’t that a fine little parable? Another piece of evidence, in my mind, that all of the major forms of religious belief have their roots in the truth, even if the reality of life they observe and pursue is based on unjustifiable faith. When one stops to think about it, that is actually a pretty good description of how most, if not all, of the major religions operate. The basic truths they espouse are the same, for the most part, (humility, honor, compassion, justice, charity), but the method of expressing those virtues varies widely, according to cultural habits that dictate the specific form it takes.

In simpler terms, people invariably distort the basic premises upon which religions were founded, turning the articles of faith into a tool for manipulating other people, for their own personal gain. It has happened time after time throughout mankind’s short but eventful history, and continues to this very day. It’s also the primary reason that I avoid most churches and religions as I go about my business; the interactions invariably turn into dangerous neighborhoods of discussion, often ending in clashes of discordant argument, and mutual resentment. Better all around that I just leave them to their own devices…..which I tend to do, religiously….
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Not a bad morning’s work, if I do say so…. it’s certainly more than good enough for government work, a beast with which I am all-too-familiar. Brr, makes me shiver, just remembering….. well, another day out there to explore. Let’s see what trouble we can stir up today….. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Unless the Hottentot objects, we’ll have the nachos….

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Ffolkes,
FATAL LOGIC ERROR – Engage Brain and (R)etry  Click….ah, there we go. Okay, back online. Sorry, got caught in an early morning endless loop, and almost couldn’t find the kill switch. But all is well now. Well, all is as well as its gonna get, what with global warming, overpopulation, growing famine and drought, conservative reactionism, and this year’s version of the swine flu. At least the ozone layer is okay….oh, wait, that’s almost gone too. Hmmm, okay, so maybe things aren’t all that great right now. But, at least you still have your health, yes?…..
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“Winston Churchill, the present would-be British Fuhrer, is a person with a range of ideas limited to the adventures and opportunities of British political life.  He has never given evidence of thinking extensively, or of any scientific or literary capacity…  His ideology, picked up in the garrison life of India, on the reefs of South Africa, the maternal home and the conversation of wealthy Conservative households, is a pitiful jumble of incoherent nonsense.  A boy scout is better equipped.  He has served his purpose and it is high time he retired upon his laurels before we forget the debt we owe him…” — H. G. Wells, Tribune article, December 15, 1944

History is written by the winners….and Winnie had way more than his 15 minutes in the spotlight at center stage….. which is perhaps why it seems to mean more when such a damning criticism comes from such an unimpeachable source. H.G. Wells can certainly be considered one of the most erudite and realistic of modern philosophers; certainly his imagination of the possibilities inherent in new technology certifies him as more than merely intelligent, even somewhat spookily prophetic.

As time goes on, our society continues to advance very tidily along the same pathway into the future that Mr. Wells envisioned when gripped in the powerful and creative fist of his inspiration. His condemnation of Churchill’s curmudgeonly manners and persona are perhaps justified in the main; however, how can one not appreciate the attitude needed to carry on this famous conversation by the PM at his finest: “Mr. Prime Minister!” said the outraged Duchess of Whatever, “you are a drunken boor!” “Churchill merely responded with, “Certainly, madame, but tomorrow morning I won’t be drunk, and you will still be ugly.”…. If it’s a true anecdote, (I haven’t personally tried to verify its provenance…), it’s well worth an occasional re-telling, if only to remind us of proper protocol when consorting with those who wear sable and ermine to dinner…..
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“I may not understand what you say, but I’ll defend to your death my right to deny it.” — Albert Alligator, in Pogo, 26 September 1951

It’s an election year, and the circus has started early. Six of the eight supposed candidates for the Republican nominee who will be offered up as a sacrifice at the altar of Obama next November have already talked themselves out of the contest (such as it is…), and now we are sentenced to at least six or eight more months of only three brands of ignorance, any one of which would be a disaster in the making as President.

If any one of the three currently leading candidates should, through some form of dark magic, happen to be elected, I’d wager serious money that we would be on the brink of World War III within a matter of weeks….it’s pretty scary. Especially when one of the front runners admits to being committed to passing a law that would make it illegal to operate the government of this country using any standards but those of the conservative right.

Yes, folks, the fanatical right-wing dingbats are coming out of the closet, and we had best remember that they too are heavily armed citizens. Only our own right to bear arms has kept them under control this long; if we aren’t careful, we’ll be living under strictly religious precepts, whether we like it or not…..

“Here’s to the New Boss, same as the Old Boss…and I get on my knees and pray we don’t get fooled again.” — Pete Townshend
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If on my theme I rightly think,
There are five reasons why men drink,–
Good wine, a friend, because I ‘m dry,
Or lest I should be by and by,
Or any other reason why.
— John Sirmond (c. 1589-1649) — Causae Bibendi

Beautifully stated! This is the type of poetry one wants on hand when some busybody asks why one is taking a drink, any time they consider it inappropriate. There’s just something about seeing a man having a drink that arouses the outrage of women (mostly of Mrs. Grundy’s ilk), preachers, reformers, and Second Lieutenants, every time. It’s getting so a man can’t sit down to a bottle of beer without some blathering idiot telling him he’s gonna get fat, or trying to make him feel like a heel for not spending that money on some charity of their choosing.

Don’t stop me now, I’m on a roll….. no, not really. I just think it’s weird that so many people feel like everyone should live by their rules, and are not shy about telling everyone they meet that they are the best judge of what (they think) should be considered acceptable behavior. Nine times out of nine, you’ll find that these moralists (a more polite way of saying bigoted, hypocritical assholes)  are guilty of every act they ascribe to others, or, if not, sure wish deep down that they could be…..
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But you shall not escape my iambics.

Soft, sinuous patterns of unearthly beauty blithely commune with sinking stars, as pale shadows of former virtue hover near, ever clean, ever tolerant. These unbidden habits are worn with age and care, ready now for dissolution, welcoming gladly the kiss of death’s handmaiden. Unknown to all, the child stands aside, and weeps for the lost days of youth, days that now shall never be, nor yearned for ever after. Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape, cold, hard, and eternal.

Such then are the signs and portents as we enter into the unknown future, and they are grave indeed. Uncertainty will be our sole companion, as the search for hope yields no result. The lamentations of the gods shall sound the elegy for Man, who never learned to see the gift that was made, so many echoes ago, in the hopeful past; thus will we pass this plane of existence as we came, baffled and afraid…..

Well, sorry….this was supposed to be a poem, but it just ran away with me there for a few minutes. I’ll have to come back later and look at it with fresh eyes….. Okay, so it’s not bad, as a not-poem goes. I’ve certainly created worse…..I’ll just have to put it out there, and let it fly or not, as it chooses… (I do tend to anthropomorphize fairly often; its a gift…..)
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Teach me to feel another’s woe,
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
— The Universal Prayer, Stanza 10

Perfect poem! The Golden Rule never smelled sweeter, and could rightly be called a rose in this guise, but by no other name would it smell as sweet. Who knows what I really mean by that? I certainly don’t; it sounds good, though, eh? I’ll settle for that…
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Having thus discharged another morning’s duty (remember, duty is a choice!), I shall now release your attention from my control, and send you on your way into the day, hopefully infused with good karma and positive attitude, our best weapons against the minions of evil that cross our paths each day. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid –The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Parsing algorithms at the Sign of the Four….

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Ffolkes,
Often times the words flow freely, tripping out lightly to rest momentarily before someone’s eye, then fluttering away to tease and please the children playing nearby. The flow grows, and the the pace increases, the words assume more urgency, more passion, more, more, more, until they are practically exploding onto the page, assaulting the eyes demanding meaning, scaring the children as they rush by, intent on mayhem. The flow then slows, reassumes the passive, lazy feeling of a late summer day, long lemonade in hand, with the only purpose of killing time, killing it so well, no charges are brought. But then, for some reason, the flow stops…… and I take another sip of coffee…..let’s dive in, shall we?…..
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Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;
While all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
— Joseph Addison (1672-1719) — Ode

I don’t have any comment here, not of any great profundity. I just like this poem, for several reasons that are too personal to go into just now; it would take too much time, trying to explain something that I don’t fully understand within myself in a way that would be understandable to others. This actually happens a lot to me when I am judging art; I  don’t know much of anything about painting, or sculpting, or the finer points of writing poetry, only what I’ve read. But I do know what I like, and what I don’t, so I just go by that, and let the rest take care of itself as best it can….and I know I like this poem…….you enjoy it too, so this won’t be a complete waste of our time together, what?….
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“I, for one, do not think homosexuality is the latest advance over heterosexuality in the scale of human evolution. Homosexuality is a sickness, just as are baby-rape or wanting to become head of General Motors.” — Eldridge Cleaver

While I can in no way agree with Eldridge’s opinion on homosexuality, I do agree with his definition of sickness, one that goes beyond the usual defined parameters of the concept of sickness, past the physical into the behavioral. Pedophilia can, I think, be placed in the category of something that everyone recognizes, as an abnormality that produces behavior that is extreme, to put it decorously. Unfortunately, we also have another subset of humanity that engages in avarice and power-seeking in the extreme, who have somehow convinced most of the rest of humanity that they are not only not sick or broken, but are just the type of folks that anyone could want in a position of responsibility.

Now, obviously, that’s a crock of BS. No rational person would ever consider taking the reins of power over others without serious doubts as to their ability to do the job well; such jobs preclude any but the most serendipitous results by their very nature. But, to those folks who want that power, it is their ticket to ride the gravy train of public service, and they will lie, cheat, and steal to whatever degree is necessary to secure their desired place atop the heap.

For the most part, we let them do it, if only because we don’t have the ruthlessness and disregard for human rights that are the hallmark characteristics of those who would be king. But then, if we did, we would be them, and that is just as unacceptable. We just need to find a way to keep them as poorly funded and poorly supported as possible, so they don’t do as much harm in their thrashing about…..
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“Look at these three words written larger than all the rest, and with special pride never written before or since — tall words, proudly saying “We the people” .. these words and the words that follow … must apply to everyone or they mean nothing.” — Kirk, “The Omega Glory,” stardate unknown.

“No one need think that the world can be ruled without blood. The civil sword shall and must be red and bloody.” — Martin Luther

The American Dream isn’t as shiny as it used to be; the fact of its existence only contributes to the feeling that it is an unattainable dream, a lie promulgated to keep the ignorant going each day to their little job, eyes focused on the big bright picture of SUCCESS! that hovers ever out of reach. Each successive generation who is disappointed once again, who sees no fundamental changes in the way things are run in the world, soon understands that it is mostly futile to fight the status quo. Thus, the soil of American thought grows to be ever more fertile ground to nurture change, more ready to accept the fact that it is probably a good time to hold the next American Revolution, wherein the forces of reason will battle the forces of ignorance, hopefully to settle the matter, once and for all………. now that we’ve had our serious political discussion for the morning, here are a few thoughts in a lighter vein, if no less sarcastic….

“He who knows nothing, loves nothing. He who can do nothing understands nothing. He who understands nothing is worthless.” — Paracelsus
(But he can still run for President! This is like a job want-ad for a Republican POTUS, and all the current candidates fit right in there….)

“Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.” — Elbert Hubbard

What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.

“Congressional terms should be … ten to twenty with no possibility of parole.” — Walt Handelsman

A little sweet, a little tart, a little savory, and you’ve got a flavorful stew…..
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“Marjoe and Doshen were meditating in a field when Doshen just went and smacked Marjoe upside the head.  “What the hell did you do that for?” asked Marjoe.  “Nyuck nyuck nyuck,” replied Doshen. At that moment, Marjoe ordered pizza.

Hackish humor can be pretty subtle. This isn’t particularly surprising, as working in abstruse fields of mathematics can cause some interesting changes to the mind, leaving it open to new vistas of previously little-known parts of reality. This koan is a clear indicator of this kind of vision; it is true to the principles of Zen thought, while immersing itself completely into modern hacker culture, with an almost calculated  irreverence thrown in for decorative purposes. The funniest part of it, to me, is that I can see myself having this interchange with some of my friends; and, yes, we are all considered a bit strange by the Mundanes. At least it keeps me off the streets….

“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
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If reality wants to get in touch, it knows where I am.

Am I a dreamer, dreaming that I write? Or am I a writer, writing my dream? Reality is always a slippery slope, if only because taking one’s attention away from dealing with it can be either help or hindrance. And only in retrospect can one tell which took place….. I always liked the way Philip K. Dick defined reality, as “…what is left when you stop believing in it.” This viewpoint shows both insight and experience, in a man who should know; he spent much of his life struggling with a form of Schizophrenia that makes any perception suspect, even those we hold to be most familiar.

It is no picnic trying to get along in life when one’s sense of what is real is constantly being challenged by what is perceived. It can’t be easy to be in a crowd when one believes they can hear what others are thinking; we who do not suffer from this sort of delusion or hallucination cannot really understand how terrifying it is to live with this every day.

I’ve had some struggles of my own in this respect; reality takes on a very dark, foreboding aspect when one is suffering clinical depression, and the climb back into the light can be an exhausting effort. So, one learns to adjust feelings in ourselves, to make changes to the only part of reality over which we have any power to do so. We can change ourselves, if we wish, but we cannot change anything in reality, beyond exercising our means of perceiving it. In my younger days, when I knew so much more than I know now, I once wrote, “true power is control over the routes of perception.” I didn’t know then that I was closer to the mark than I thought……
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As the words flow gently toward the final destination,let us bid adieu to another trip through the nether portions of my mind. I’m happy that I could still find my way out; we could have been stuck there for days!….. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Tickets to Oz aren’t cheap…

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Ffolkes,
Man, oh man! Sometimes that first sip of good coffee in the morning is almost like a small orgasm. As its warmth and flavor permeates my mouth and throat, every tight nerve and muscle seems to smooth out and relax, my eyes clear like the fog is burning off, and every part of me feels at one with the universe, if only for a split second. Or maybe that’s just me….. but it sure makes the task of flogging this old body to get up and move somewhat less of a challenge. Now, if I could only fall asleep easily, all would be well. Seems like my brain doesn’t want to shut down at night, unless I bludgeon my consciousness with 3 or 4 adult beverages. And who wants to do that every night? Not me….ah well, no sense in whining about it now; I’m up. So I guess I may as well get on with it…..

“I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass…..and I’m all out of bubble gum.” — From THEY LIVE!
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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 (1688-1744)
— Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289

Mssr. Pope’s poetry may be regarded as one of the indications that mankind has gotten as far as we have toward being truly civilized (current idiocy not being counted; the world’s in a mess, ffolkes…). And such a poem as this one hardly needs my praise or discussion; how can one argue with the last line? Soon after finding it in the database, I found the one below by Emily, one of my all-time favorite poems. So, this section requires nothing but your kind attention. The lessons to be learned here today are in the words of the poets themselves…..

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you- Nobody- Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise-you know!
How dreary-to be- Somebody!
How public-like a Frog-
To tell one’s name-the livelong June-
To an admiring Bog!
— Emily Dickinson
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“Faith is one of those words that connotes, however irrationally, some kind of virtue in itself.” — Louis J. Halle

This is a very subtle point, and highly insightful. How many times have we heard some religious fanatic use scripture to argue against what is real, or more often, against what is possible? And by using scripture, that person assumes that they are right, and stand on higher moral ground than the other person, merely by quoting the text they believe to be true according to their faith. The insight here involves the word ‘rational’, for that is where most fanatics tend to veer away from the truth, and charge off into faith-based assumption.

Myself, I’ve never understood it; I never saw ‘faith’ as virtuous; it always seemed more ‘put on’ or shallow to me. It seemed to me that most of the people who I saw that claimed to be faithful Christians only made that claim at times they were preparing to act in an un-Christian manner, or when their beliefs were challenged somehow. They didn’t wear the Jesus suit all the time, but instead, put it on when it is convenient, or when needed to keep from having to think. In my entire life, I don’t think I’ve met more than 3 real, actual Christians; people who lived by the same precepts as Jesus did, without trying to foist it on anyone else.

Instead of proselytizing, which the fanatics tend to do when confronted, these ffolkes ask themselves what Jesus would have done, and then do it. They don’t quote scripture, they provide an example of what is in the scripture by the way they live. Much more honest, and they make better neighbors than the ones who are always making the assumption that having faith is all they need to do to make it to heaven, never realizing that they’re actually on a different road, one paved with good intentions……and we all know where that road leads!
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“In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves — to that part of us which is conscious of a higher consciousness, by means of which we make final judgments and put everything together. The independence of this consciousness, which has the strength to be immune to the noise of history and the distractions of our immediate surroundings, is what the life struggle is all about. The soul has to find and hold its ground against hostile forces, sometimes embodied in ideas which frequently deny its very existence, and which indeed often seem to be trying to annul it altogether.” — Saul Bellow

This is why I love diving for pearls. Every once in a while one comes across a pearl that so closely parallels one’s own thoughts, it’s spooky.  The only words I would take issue with here (“higher consciousness”) can be considered as the single exception, which solidifies the evidence of the truth of the theorem, that each of us is unique, no matter how dissimilar we may appear to be. Other than that, I would tend to agree with every point of his statement, without any further qualifications. Naturally, there are points of discussion that are apparent; I’d be surprised if any statement on this subject didn’t present some anomaly to at least one other person with a different POV. But taken as a whole, with a gestalt viewpoint, it is a clear marker of the road that leads to higher consciousness, and right action…..and that is a pretty cool place to hang out, exploring our uniqueness in the playgrounds of the universe……
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Under the old format of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, several individual pearls would be given, one after another, to make a certain philosophical point, or underline some particular concept suggested by the quotes, using differing and often contradictory elements to reach the objective. This is such a quiz, with the conclusion, as always, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader, to wit: you….. oh, and just ask yourselves, “Which of these is not like the others?”….

“The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be _tremendous and irresistible_. Who are the militia? _are they not ourselves?_. Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms _each man against his own bosom?_. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are _the birth-right of an American_…the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the _federal or state governments_, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain,_in the hands of the people_.” — Tench Coxe 20 Feb. 1788

“Government is about coercion. Limiting government is the single most important instrument for guaranteeing liberty. We’re working on a third generation which has little in the way of education about what our Constitution means and why it was written. Thus, we’ve fallen easy prey to charlatans, quacks, and hustlers.” — Dr. Walter Williams

“”If we are to survive, this nation must end its love affair with guns.”  — U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

“If we are to survive, this nation must end its love affair with big brother government and individuals must relearn what it means to be free.” — Jeff Chan, chan@shell.portal.com

“No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), June 1

Where do you keep your gun?…..I keep mine at an undisclosed location, close and instantly accessible (note, I did not say how many I keep)…. Never thought I’d need one, until the Bill of Rights was ignominiously and stealthily terminated, whereupon it became obvious that in the future, one of our first concerns if we wish to continue living, is that we will need to have adequate ammunition, of a caliber appropriate to the weapons stored with our water, food, and books….the other necessities for survival in a world gone mad…..
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“I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there be any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” — William Penn

Even if one believes that we come back to life multiple times, this suggests an excellent way to approach life in the Now. Who knows what our time is like when we are not here? Could be worse, could be better, and no direct evidence to tell us which, only speculation. So, we may as well optimize our chances of improving our lot; acting otherwise is for fools….and I do try so hard NOT to be a fool. Nature seems to have provided us with an ample supply of them, without otherwise adept people displaying their Bozoid Tendencies for all to see…. besides, I don’t know about y’all, but I sure feel better when I do something for someone else, especially if I don’t expect any reward; better than if I look away, and pretend I didn’t see the homeless vagrant begging for food, thinking to myself, “I can’t help Everyone.” My response to that idea is, “well, no, perhaps not, but you might be able to help one at a time…..” And the beat goes on….
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Well, ’twas a bit of a struggle, but it has a chance to fly; I’ll go ahead and throw it up there and hope it manages to miss the ground for a time… 🙂 At any rate, it fits right in with the rest of the dross and drivel on this blog; I’m nothing if not cruelly honest, at least with my self. S’okay, I have thick skin, and a dull scalpel….. y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

In the shelter of the 39th Parallel….

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2

Part IV….

Reality Considered As A Slippery Slope

“Yes! Living in today’s complex world of the future IS much like having a hive of bees live  in your head. But…..there they are!” – Firesign Theater. Sometimes, in my more lucid moments of reflection, I wonder if everyone else ever feels like that. If they did, then maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much when I do, because a burden shared is a burden eased.

In the immediate aftermath of the events described in detail in Part III, I continued to work, and for some strange reason, not a single psychiatrist or psychologist, nor any other therapist or administrative staff, suggested that perhaps the staff members who were involved might wish to talk about those events. It didn’t occur to me that maybe I should take some time off; I thought keeping busy was best, and when staff take time off, the ones who remain have to cover the time one would be off, thus making the job even harder. So I came to work, but I had changed, both my attitude, and my approach to the job.

Holding group therapy, and other normal, mundane functions of the job became low priority in my sphere of perceptions, while being alert to the possibility of small situations that could conceivably worsen became my focus. In retrospect, I firmly believe that my adrenal gland was regularly and periodically giving me doses of our natural defense system’s ‘pick-me-up’ in response to how I perceived the events around me. My hearing became extremely acute; I distinctly remember, on more than one occasion, hearing a small noise while standing in an office doorway, and when I had tracked it to its’ source, I found that I had to go around three concrete walls, and through two metal doors to find what turned out to be two young men arguing, but not in particularly loud voices. No one else had heard anything.

Instead of a mental health therapist, I became a ‘brain cop’, ever alert to the slightest quirk in even the most delusional of individuals, often being able to intuit what they would do before they acted, magically appearing just as they would start to move. Even these agitated individuals can be fairly easily redirected, or at least distracted from their initial violent impulses, with the correct timing. And if the timing wasn’t quite right, well, I became even faster at assuming physical control, with the intent of entirely removing violence as one of their behavioral options, no matter what the situation.

As became obvious later, I was becoming somewhat grandiose myself, trying to assume the sole responsibility for the safety of ‘everyone’ in my space. I had forgotten, or refused to remember, a very old saying in the field of mental health, which cautions, “You will know that a nervous breakdown is imminent when you begin to believe that what you are doing is very important.” In my narrowed field of perceptions, what I was doing assumed a HUGE importance.

After a year of this, I wish I could say that I’d had enough, and asked for help. Perhaps my feet would have found the path I needed to follow sooner than I did. But, I didn’t; another friend at work finally worked up the nerve to point out to me some of the things I was doing, and how they weren’t in my best interests, or in the best interests of the folks I was there to help. She was very compassionate and supportive, and despite what I wanted to believe, I’m not deliberately stupid, and had to admit the veracity of what she was telling me. I was broken inside, and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t going to be able to fix what was broken by myself…..fortunately for me, I didn’t have to.

I asked to see the on-duty physician the night my friend spoke to me, and after some discussion, often somewhat heated on my part, I decided to leave work, due to a temporary disability caused by repeated exposure to extreme stress. In the next days, I began seeing a psychiatrist, at the suggestion of a lawyer I had been advised to see, who would ensure that my claim for disability got me the help I needed.

For the next two years, I saw the good Doctor K, and my time with him became a weekly hour of calm in the midst of the intermittent storms in my mind. My last year of work had been marked by sleeping problems, periods of anxiety & depression, and the advent of the beginning symptoms of a physical disorder that wouldn’t fully manifest for another five years, but caused, in the present, a constant feeling of lethargy and general malaise.

With time away from work, and compassionate care from my psychiatrist, my anxiety and depression became less pronounced, and eventually I processed my feelings about what had occurred to the point where I was no longer troubled by daytime flashbacks and nightly dreams of the horrible events. I found my way back to my center, but as a changed person. I am much more in touch now with my emotions, and have learned not to block them out as much when they are too strong. It has taught me that it is okay to break down, and even to cry, as long as you remember to believe that you can always get back up…..but, it’s a struggle that continues each day, and won’t ever be completely gone…..

Well, there you have it. I don’t know if this is interesting to others or not, nor do I wish to concern myself with that. I wrote this as a form of  therapy, and re-reading it continues that process; I’m still somewhat emotionally fragile, compared to my former self, but life goes on, and we all do the best we can. All you can do is all you can do…..

Tomorrow, this space will once again hold a Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom…..y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid