Not only do I have nothing floating around in my head, nothing is done from yesterday, another tough one, wherein I spent much of the day slathering magic cream on those parts of me I can still reach, interspersed with the occasional self-induced pity party, and a number of episodes of TD…. Since we refuse to countenance the former, and would just as soon forget the latter, as far as we are able, neither is a suitable subject for our needs just now…. In point of fact, nothing seems to be suitable for that, as A) we don’t have any idea as to what we need, and, B) there’s that word “nothing” again…

See? In my world, and on this occasion, nothing isn’t merely a small amount, it’s NOTHING….. Hell, I’ve got that down, so far as it goes. It’s only natural, since I end up in its embrace so frequently; even an old dog finds a new bone now and again. (I THINK that’s how that aphorism goes; I could be wrong…. Even if I’m right, though, I still don’t know what the hell it means…. or, how it applies to this…. But, it LOOKS good up there, doesn’t it?….) I don’t believe I’ve ever, in all my vast experience with nothing, seen this much nothing all in one place and time…. Usually, even Murphy is a nice enough guy to spread it around a bit…. This, though, is a pile of nothing such as the world has never seen….

I’m not sure just how to use it, even with all my experience with it. Usually I’m trying to ignore it, or shove it in a closet, or dump it somewhere. With this much of it, I should be able to figure out how to use at least the fringes of it for something, or, at the minimum, find a buyer who hasn’t seen such a big one before, and sell it before they wake up…. Of course, that assumes I can find anyone that stupid; even stupidity may not be that stupid, I’m guessing….

I think, upon looking back over the last paragraph, we’d better use one of the old emergency endings for these opening sections; if we continue trying to milk water out of this stone statue, I think I’ll hurt myself…. and, that’s if nobody catches on. If anyone should notice just what I’ve been doing here this morning, I could be open to all sorts of litigation, not to mention what it would do to the sales of my non-existent books….

Okay, I’ve got it…. here’s what we’ll do….

Nothing….

Shall we Pearl?

“Y’know, every once in a while, when you look off into the distance, you can see a shimmering in the atmosphere’s coefficient of refraction, as someone, someone small and slow on the horizon, gets a clue.” — Blair Houghton, who’s yet to get one

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Since the theme for today’s Pearl is such an amorphous entity, we’ll simply provide some traveling music, and be done with this section for today…. Here is an artist, a singer/songwriter, whose work never reached the level of popularity I think it deserves….  Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Ah, here is a good one. It’s a bit long, but, it won’t tax anyone’s already over-burdened head to any large degree…. It does, however, fulfill my need to proselytize in favor of reason, versus living life by rules that make no sense to me…. Whatever…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s not bad…. and, remember what it cost you to get in….

From 2/2/2013:

“I can handle reality in small doses, but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.” — Lily Tomlin

This is one of many statements of its type, some from Miss Lily, some from other comedians and social philosophers, all of whom are special to me…. They are special because they poke fun at society in the mildest way, but with clarity that is belied by their apparent simplicity and obvious humor. It is easy for a lot of folks to dismiss little gems like this, as being unimportant, or less than serious, just because it speaks with tongue in cheek… Nothing could be further from the truth, as this statement is absolute gospel to a large percentage of the adult population of this country….

“Reality is for those people who can’t handle drugs.” — George Carlin

(My attribution here might be incorrect, but, George inspired the line, if he didn’t write it himself….)

Here is another line from the revolution that happened back in the 60’s and 70’s, and it points up a very definitive difference between those folks who spend their time in the mainstream of society, and those who exist at the extremes, in this case, in what is generally conceived to be on the Left end of the scale…. Those who inhabit the other end of the political spectrum tend to rely on alcohol to blunt the effects of Reality on the brain, rather than what are dismissed by them as recreational drugs, such as marijuana, psilocybin, mescaline, etc.  In some ways, you can get a good idea of the philosophies themselves by looking at how they approach the subject of drugs and alcohol, and by the differing methods of enhancing life with them….

Those who rely on alcohol are those who prefer to NOT know the truth, about anything. It seems to me that the physical effects of alcohol parallel exactly the way these folks look at life…. When under the influence of alcohol, one’s senses are depressed, and it is much harder to see the truth than at other times…. and that is the way they like it…. With consumption of alcohol, the hearing decreases, judgment is impaired, vision blurs, sense of touch is lessened, and fine muscle control is compromised, pretty much in that order of occurrence. It is the same each time, but with continued regular consumption, a certain tolerance is developed, a tolerance that slightly mitigates the effects, but certainly does not keep them from happening.

Those who use drugs to enhance or adjust their view don’t deny the truth, but they want it to be all prettied up for them in some way, so it isn’t so harsh and ugly…. Most of the effects of the drugs are in the mind, with some notable exceptions;  the perceptions of all the senses are not depressed, but altered in some way, usually personal to the user, in physical response to the chemical in the drug that causes the cognitive alterations.  Either way, whether with drugs, or with alcohol, perception of the truth is what ultimately suffers, which is what the proponents of both ends of the spectrum tend to forget, or deny….

“Have you ever wondered if taxation without representation was cheaper?” — Smart Bee

I have…. It is and it isn’t, and we are witnessing that phenomenon right now….. This may be why many people have such a hard time with reality; when one becomes aware of just how screwed up things are, and how much lying, cheating, and stealing is going on right before our eyes, it is rather daunting to take in all at once, so people do as they’ve always done, and slip into massive denial of the truth, preferring to just ignore the evidence that is slapping them upside the head…. One time, I actually sat down to do the math on the above question, and what I found was surprising…. Neither way works…. There just isn’t any logical way to govern people, and make it either profitable, or even reasonably cheap…. Well, not as long as the lying, cheating, and stealing is part of the equation, anyway….

“The word “dog” does not bite,” — William James

Boy, if that isn’t the truth…. but, try to convince the general public of that….. It is one of the basic issues to be considered when speaking to the public, one that the BRC and PTB members all know very well, as it is their chief weapon in controlling the populace…. Most folks don’t think…. when they do, it causes them pain, so they tend to let someone else do it for them, and just go along in blissful ignorance, accepting whatever they’re told without a clue. They never consider that the word itself is not the thing it describes; even worse, they don’t care to know….. It is the simplest thing in the world for the Beloved Ruling Class to fool the public, because they actively participate, with apparent glee, in their own debasement….

“As a matter of cold fact, a lot of people have no use for you because they can’t use you.”  — Smart Bee

Sometimes, I’m not sure which disgusts me more…. the callous disregard for others that is the defining characteristic of all politicians and preachers, or the deliberately blind, fawning ignorance of those who refuse to become fully human, use their minds, and take responsibility for their own life…. To my way of thinking, both are deserving of every bit of trouble that reality can give them, just for their intransigence…. otherwise known as rampant stubbornness, or more simply, massive stupidity….

I’m being deliberately offensive this morning, as I’m sick and tired of how the general public refuses to wake up and smell the gunpowder, and I don’t really care if it hurts someone’s feelings. Anyone who disagrees with my assessment is free to offer up their own take on the matter, and I’ll give it equal time for discussion…. but, if what I’ve said hurts feelings, then apparently what I’ve said strikes just a little too close to the truth for comfort, and I would suggest that the person take a look at that before setting themselves up for embarrassment, by trying to argue without a leg upon which to stand….

In the past year and a half, I’ve written thousands and thousands of words trying to wake people up to how much they are giving away by refusing to think. It is my greatest hope that what I have to say may have some small effect on the world, an effect that might in some way contribute to our chances of surviving our own foolishness. I’m afraid my hope is, sadly, rather slim, but, I am not ready to quit my campaign, nor to change tactics. I’ll keep on poking at the BRC, and the priestly hierarchies, and every other enemy of mankind (for that is how I see them….) for as long as I can, and hope for the best….

“One of the greatest advantages in the world is enjoyed by the person who says and insists that they are telling the truth, when in fact, they are telling the truth.” — Smart Bee

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A new poem is almost ready to leak, but, not today…. To sublimate, I’ll use one from the archives, so nobody else gets any of the blame for this post…. I’m afraid, the way it is progressing at this point, I could conceivably find it necessary to call a lawyer before the end of the day…. Ah, well, I won’t worry about that now…. which is, I know, a typically human, mundane sort of reaction to anything we don’t want to face….

Finally he released the young man, and waded back to dry land. Then Socrates questioned the man. `What did you most want just now?’ The young man replied, `Air.’ `When you want knowledge as much as you just wanted air, you shall have it.’

I don’t remember how old I was when I first heard this short piece of history. It is a scene so often related in human experience, I’m sure nobody even knows when it first appeared, though obviously it came shortly AFTER the death of Socrates. I do know I was younger than 10; I remember, too, the effect the story had on me when I heard it, which was a feeling of dejá vu, in a way, a feeling I had just heard something I’d always known….

I took the aphorism to heart, letting it guide my thoughts in everything I did, at least in terms of the training of my mind…. Throughout the remainder of my life, I have collected many such short statements, each of which gives us a condensed lesson, in how to life a life one may be proud to have lived…. Each of these pearls you’ll see is a lesson I’ve learned, at one point or another, with varying degrees of reluctance, like all humans….

Here, then, for your kind consideration, is a pearl composed of as many of them as I could find this morning in the allotted space of time; the natural number one would expect, of course, is exactly what I found, to wit, as grokked by the Old Ones of Mars, 3 filled, or, as you see…. a nine-star pearl…. As is appropriate, we start with some wisdom as old as humanity, as interpreted by our old friend, Smart Bee…..Enjoy!….

“Whenever doubt can be called into question, do so.” — Smart Bee

“A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” — Paul Simon

“Cease to be ruled by dogmas and authorities; look at the world!” — H.G. Wells paraphrase of Roger Bacon’s works

“You don’t learn anything the second time you’re kicked by a mule.” — Smart Bee

“The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.” — George Eliot

“The wisest men follow their own directions.” — Euripides

“To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.” — Cervantes

“Always do right.  This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

That just about says it all, doesn’t it? Don’t wobble, ffolkes….

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Well, damn! I did it! It was touch and go there for a while, but, I managed, somehow, to do this, almost as if I had something, rather than the nothing I know is the case. Well, whatever it is, it’s got long legs, a glossy coat, a mane, and a fondness for alfalfa, so, it must be a gift horse…. we’ll leave its mouth alone, and be on our way to bigger and better things, which I’m sure I’ll find somewhere out there in the Big Blue Room, where I hope to be up to spending some time today…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….