Tag Archives: Lily Tomlin

Professional bibliographers needed for fiesta….

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Ffolkes,
Forgetting, even for a moment, that I am “blessed”, is a dangerous pastime. I realize there is, ostensibly, a certain panache attached to someone who is singled out by natural icons for special attention and celebrity, but I’d give my right arm and three toes to have been passed over by Murphy for this particular honor. The fuckface just won’t leave me alone, and I’m getting damn sick of it, let me tell you…. and, no, I don’t think ‘fuckface’  is too harsh, or too vulgar, in this instance….. the asshole……

Okay, okay, I’ll calm down, and stop the vulgarity, at least for the nonce….. (I love those old-fashioned words…) It’s just so bloody frustrating to try to accomplish anything with him hanging about, sticking out his foot, or just pointing and laughing, to distract and annoy me. You’d think that he’d been hired by the corporate masters to slow me down in my ranting, but, with my pitiful following, I can’t see why they’d waste the money on hiring the best, when they could probably fuss with me much more cheaply…. Hell, all they’d have to do is continue to have SS dance and delay my case even more than they already have done; it would piss me off royally, more than I already am, and certainly affect my ability to write….

Of course, they’ll never stop me entirely, not as long as I have a breath, and connection to the internet; no way I’m going to shut up now. As I’ve said previously, I spent about 60 years keeping my mouth shut about all this stuff, to avoid controversy, and I’m done with that now. In fact, the more controversy, the better, to my mind, as it can only lead to more people hearing about what I’m saying, and more people becoming disenchanted with the PTB, and the BRC…. which is my ultimate goal…..

It will be an interesting matter, actually, to see what will happen…. Should I gain enough followers for my blog to become influential in society, how much would be allowed before they came to shut me down?….. I guarantee, my words will be dangerous enough to them to prompt a response; the question is how much danger they’re willing to endure….

Ah well, I can only hope for that kind of influence; it isn’t going to happen tonight, nor will it happen tomorrow…. But, I’ll keep on keepin’ on, and I’ll keep on taking shots at the entrenched assholes who are killing us, until it either does some good, or I am unable, for whatever reason, to keep writing…. Any such reason would be most likely provided by the BRC and PTB, as I can’t think of anything I might do that would be able to do that, at least, not without enemy action….

It’s all moot at this point, but, hey, once again, just blathering about it has filled up the intro section… It sort of happened on the sly today, as I didn’t even notice until just now that we were approaching enough bulk to consider it a wrap…. I guess I’ll take it…. It isn’t the most thrilling, or the most gripping introduction I’ve seen, or written, for that matter, but, like the Pearls themselves, it grows more attractive as it approaches completion…. I’m a sucker for something that is “done”….. Besides, I’m getting a bit bored with this one, so…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“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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Getting There

How far is it?
How far is it now?
The gigantic gorilla interior
Of the wheels move, they appall me —-
The terrible brains
Of Krupp, black muzzles
Revolving, the sound
Punching out Absence! Like cannon.
It is Russia I have to get across, it is some was or other.
I am dragging my body
Quietly through the straw of the boxcars.
Now is the time for bribery.
What do wheels eat, these wheels
Fixed to their arcs like gods,
The silver leash of the will ——
Inexorable. And their pride!
All the gods know destinations.
I am a letter in this slot!
I fly to a name, two eyes.
Will there be fire, will there be bread?
Here there is such mud.
It is a trainstop, the nurses
Undergoing the faucet water, its veils, veils in a nunnery,
Touching their wounded,
The men the blood still pumps forward,
Legs, arms piled outside
The tent of unending cries ——
A hospital of dolls.
And the men, what is left of the men
Pumped ahead by these pistons, this blood
Into the next mile,
The next hour ——
Dynasty of broken arrows!

How far is it?
There is mud on my feet,
Thick, red and slipping. It is Adam’s side,
This earth I rise from, and I in agony.
I cannot undo myself, and the train is steaming.
Steaming and breathing, its teeth
Ready to roll, like a devil’s.
There is a minute at the end of it
A minute, a dewdrop.
How far is it?
It is so small
The place I am getting to, why are there these obstacles ——
The body of this woman,
Charred skirts and deathmask
Mourned by religious figures, by garlanded children.
And now detonations ——
Thunder and guns.
The fire’s between us.
Is there no place
Turning and turning in the middle air,
Untouchable and untouchable.
The train is dragging itself, it is screaming ——
An animal
Insane for the destination,
The bloodspot,
The face at the end of the flare.
I shall bury the wounded like pupas,
I shall count and bury the dead.
Let their souls writhe in like dew,
Incense in my track.
The carriages rock, they are cradles.
And I, stepping from this skin
Of old bandages, boredoms, old faces

Step up to you from the black car of Lethe,
Pure as a baby.

~~ Sylvia Plath
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“Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane  every night of our lives.” — Charles William Dement

I used this a few days ago, and have since had some thoughts on the subject that fit right in with the sentiment this expresses. It begins with my own experience with dreams, which, I believe, is not typical, at least in some respects….. I’d get something to nibble on, if I were you, this could take a while to explore, in order to give it the treatment it deserves as one of our (our=humans..) least understood characteristics….

In high school, for a paper I was required to write for English class, I chose the subject of Telepathy, Dreaming, and Paranormal Activity in Humans…. which turned out to be far too massive a subject for one college-style, 20-page research paper, as I found literally thousands of pages of documented material on each of those sub-categories. So, I trimmed it down to a paper on Dreams and Dreaming, and became familiar with the latest research and information available on the subject in 1966.

Though trimmed down, there was still a great deal of information on dreaming to be found, and it was all quite fascinating, especially as dreams had been a subject I had always avoided, for reasons I wasn’t aware of until later, when I learned more about how to look inside myself at things I didn’t wish to see….. BRRRTP! EHHH! BEEP! BEEP!….. Shut that off!….. Side issue, side issue! Warning! Too much extraneous information ….. Sorry, that isn’t relevant, and my interior editing function went off…. Okay, where was I?…. Ah….

What I discovered in my research led me to the conclusion that dreams are one of our most powerful defenses against the real world, and are instrumental in mitigating the deleterious effects dealing with all of its demands can cause, in spite of our best effort and intent. As stated above, we immerse ourselves in the random, undisciplined maelstrom of insanity that is dreaming, every night, in order to resolve the feelings we have engendered in ourselves about what we’ve seen and done. This immersion allows us to process all the unresolved issues our minds have created, and face each new day with a fresh outlook, as sanely as we can….

When we don’t dream, or our sleep is disrupted, by physical or environmental intercession, we become less sane. Nervous, easily distracted, with senses alert for any danger, the world we see around us assumes a fearful aspect, and we fall even deeper in the clutches of our own despair. This has been demonstrated time and again, both in laboratory experiments, and in real life. I think everyone can relate to the feeling of waking up after a night of disturbed sleep, and understand, at least a bit, how difficult it can be to face the day when one is already tired and depressed. It is a completely different experience than awaking full of energy, and a sunny outlook, one that nobody wishes to repeat…..

I’ve been working at completing this pearl for days now, and can’t seem to find the thread that will bring it to a close, or even to a more productive line of reasoning…. When I first started it, I had a good idea of how it should go, but, in trying to get things done, it got lost in the shuffle… But, I have this…. In our dreams, our imagination is at its finest, and we are treated to the sheer joyous power of it nightly, when it fills our sleeping minds with image after image that seemingly makes no sense, but has an underlying piece of reality in it that connects to our spirit, and allows us to accept what in the real world we would never even see….

That power is so great that, without any conscious effort on our part, our daily stress and angst is processed, and resolved, at least to the point where it will not trouble our conscious mind the following day. Instead, we start the day fresh, and are better equipped, mentally and emotionally, to deal with whatever new issues the universe presents for our entertainment. Without being able to dream, we start the day on edge, nervous, and filled with unspecified dread of what may happen, all with no identifiable reason.

Another day, I’ll go into another aspect of dreaming, one that ties into our creativity…. It is safe to say that dreaming is an integral part of what I do each morning when I sit down to write these Pearls, both in its value in giving my mind the surcease from care it requires, and in the very process of creation itself, when I attempt to connect to that part of the imagination that dreaming uses naturally, to send us into the realms of madness each night…. Bringing that into the real light of day is truly a wondrous event, and one I seek continuously…..

“I found the answer . . . but forgot the question.” — Smart Bee
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As this Pearl evolved, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out…. After going back over it, however, after a couple of tune-ups, I think it came out rather well, all things considered. Well enough to let it fly, at the very least…. I’m not going to even think about how it might go over, as that always turns out to be a waste of time, as is most speculation on the future… Before I start to babble again, I’ll let y’all get back to whatever you were up to until now, hopefully with a smile on your face, and a song in your heart….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Milling around the foyer in fabulous shoes….

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Ffolkes,
Morning insinuated itself into my awareness slyly today, sliding past the pillars of sleep’s palace, to poke me in the proverbial ribs. Even before getting out of bed, there were signs that might have given me a clue about how things would be, such as when the lamp went flying away from my grasp as if I were trying to tickle it, not switch it on, taking itself and most of the nearby chess pieces to the floor. Spoons jumping out of cups, toilet seats taking a vicious swipe at exposed flesh, shirts that try to strangle one to get them on….. It seems the inanimate world had a conference last night, and decided to declare war on me, starting today at sunrise.

I can deal with it….. This isn’t a new battle in this house; I’m constantly negotiating compromises and truces with the kitchen appliances, or spending the day fixing or repairing old junk, just to stay on the microwave’s good side. Every one of my appliances, knick knacks, and decorative posters has, at one time or another, been the subject of a pitched conflict over whether or not I have the right to use them as I deem fit.

I admit there are times when I’ve lost my cool, and done harm to innocent spoons. I’ve been unconsciously cruel to various pieces of clothing in the past, it’s true, though it wasn’t intentional, merely unconsciously inconsiderate. And the floor is always complaining that I never sweep or mop…. hey, what does it want? I’m a bachelor!….. The world is lucky if I shower often enough to keep from curling the paint….

Ah well, such is life in the hours before dawn…. one can never predict exactly what will happen on the cusp of the day. Possibility is everywhere, and the choices we make can make or break the entire day, depending on how well we approach the task of waking up.

Me, I’m an old hand at getting it done, no matter what it takes. Why, I’ve been known to spew out five or six paragraphs of absolute bilge water at the slightest provocation, just to get a Pearl started….. Oh, right, that’s what I just did, isn’t it? Oops….. I’d better salvage what I can, while I can…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“..  I think I’d better go back to my DESK and toy with a few common MISAPPREHENSIONS…” — Zippy the Pinhead
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I found the Heinlein quote below, an old one, with great potential for a rant. Some time in the last day or so, however, my outrage seems to have boarded a train, or a bus, and gone on vacation. No note, no phone call, just gone…. What a pisser! Any who, I decided to just let the old sub-conscious mind have its head, and pick some other pearls to go along with it. I can’t say it is the most obvious, or the most powerful, pearl ever put together, but, it has its points….. Those points, of course, are left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader, with no promise of recompense, but assurances of value…. enjoy!….

“When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.” — Robert A Heinlein, “If this goes on –”

“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” — Thomas Paine

“Still one more thing, fellow citizens:  a wise and frugal government, which shall refrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.  This is the sum of good government.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), inaugural address, 1801

“Yes, evil comes in many forms, whether it be a man-eating cow or Joseph Stalin, but you can’t let the package hide the pudding! Evil is just plain bad! You don’t cotton to it. You gotta smack it in the nose with the rolled-up newspaper of goodness! Bad dog. Bad dog.” — The Tick

(Oops, how did this slip in here?…. Ah well, it kind of fits in, so, we’ll show a little literary compassion, and let it stay….) (Just think of how satisfying, and entertaining, it would be to use that rolled up paper on a Congressman…. Republican, or Democrat, it would be hilarious, as well as potentially lucrative….)

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

“And that’s the Truth! THPPPPT!” — Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin)
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After that, I’m feeling a bit serious…. hence, Dylan Thomas, a serious poet, and a serious subject….

And Death Shall Have No Dominion

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead man naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan’t crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

Dylan Thomas
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“Nothing unreal exists.” — Kiri-Kin-Tha’s Law of Metaphysics

For the uninitiated, this is from Star Trek, a line from the fourth movie, The Voyage Home. It is the answer, and question, posed to Spock by the computer, near the beginning of the movie, just before it asks him, “How do you feel?” Though the quote, and its author, are part of a fictional story, and do not, as far as I know, exist in real life, the idea is nonetheless a potent philosophical assertion, and deserving of some meditation upon its implications, and ramifications. I like it, as it creates a series of doorways, one after another opening for welcome, inviting me to come in and examine its furnishings for their value…. A bit fanciful, perhaps, but then, it IS from Star Trek….

“Trekkies” have always taken the concept behind the show and movies much more seriously than most of us, and have created an entire panorama of alternate universe stories, legends, and characters as an adjunct to the original tales. I am certain that some fan, somewhere in the world, has put together a book that lays out Kiri-Kin-Tha’s philosophy for study, complete with Laws, Axioms, and Arguments. They probably even included material from other fictional works from the ST venue, weaving them into a coherent treatise, all of which is completely fabricated….. People can be pretty amazing when they are obsessed, indeed…..

“Nothing unreal exists.”….. fascinating, as Spock would say. It is reminiscent, in a backwards fashion, of the question posed by the door to Ravenclaw Tower, in the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, when Professor McGonagall is queried, “Where do Vanished objects go?” by the door, in order to gain entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. “Into nonbeing, which is to say, everything.”, she answers immediately. “Nicely phrased”, replied the door….. I say backwards only because the ST movie came first in real time, by about 25 years or so…. As can be seen, however, the concepts involved in the two similar episodes are more than mere ideological throw-aways, but have some valid basis for their existence…

This is the power of Imagination at its finest, in my mind. People will take a good idea, and run with it into landscapes where it has never before been conceived, turning it into passionate variations on the original theme whose quality rivals that of it progenitor. At the height of the frenzy over the Harry Potter movies, a few years ago, I visited a site called MuggleNet.com, curious as to what the fans of the movie and stories were doing.

I was completely astounded by the prolific writings by fans, who wrote entire novels, short stories, and alternative plots by the dozens, all populated by the characters from the books by J.K. Rowling. Romances between the various characters abounded in the imagination of the fans, as well as the creation of new characters, and inventive new kinds of magical spells, objects, and creatures. The variety and depth of talent displayed is incredible, and goes to show how powerful is the influence of obsession on our imagination.

And hence one master-passion in the breast,
Like Aaron’s serpent, swallows up the rest.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 131

Of course, obsession has the unfortunate tendency to go beyond the bounds of reasonable action in pursuit of its object of attention. It can easily consume all of the mind’s available store of common sense, submerging it in the raging river of passionate belief in whatever idea has emerged as the passion of choice. Pope was speaking no more than simple truth when he wrote these lines, which point again to the same fatal flaw that exists in other areas of human nature, the weakness of will that makes us choose paths that are self-destructive in their intensity, or in their ultimate logical end. Too many of us tend to make our choices in life without using even the most basic of mental tools we have, including imagination; the use of those tools can be hard, in the sense that it is harder to think than it is to allow others to think for you…..

Thus, we come to another point where the subject under discussion can be expanded, and further explored. Or, we can leave it here, with the ideas already discussed as a springboard for private consideration. I have a feeling it could get a bit esoteric from this juncture, and I’d lose a lot of ffolkes to the fatigue factor. I am feeling that a bit meself, having now been sparring with this Pearl for a bit over three hours. I should have eaten some philosophical oatmeal, to increase the fiber content of my output, I guess….

Rather than go any further down that road, we’ll bring this pearl to a close….. Perhaps you can take a bit of what we discussed with you, and chew on it later…. it doesn’t seem to get any less crunchy over time, so it can’t hurt…. Fewer calories than jerky, and it won’t require flossing afterward…..

“You can get anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant (‘ceptin’ Alice).” — Arlo Guthrie
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Okay, I’ve gone over this not-so-little effort, and can only be glad it took a long time, because it certainly did. Nearly four hours this morning, long enough to bring on some stiffness from sitting too long. I’ll have to go out & spend a bit of quality time with my body out in the Big Blue Room today, I guess, or I’ll start to calcify into one of those petrified old statues you see in public parks everywhere…. “Old Fart with Stick”….. that’s me all over. Ah well, enough incoherent rambling for one day……  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Live sessions of prancing can be messy….

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Ffolkes,
Sometimes, the tears that come to me are not unwelcome…. even if they are attached to a small bit of painful awareness. Yesterday, I got to visit for a time with my two-year old grandson, Zackary. He is becoming a delightful child, sweet-natured and affectionate, and not yet fully engaged in being  two, so no tantrums. Any who, the tears are because he recognized me this time, and called  me “grandpa”, the first time he’s made that connection. THAT is definitely worth a few tears of joy…..

Since I don’t wish to spend the entire morning in tears, though, I’ll leave it at that; it is a complicated situation, and one I can do nothing about, so I let it go a lot. I know if I can live long enough, Zack and I will have our chance to get to know each other when he is older….. For now, though, it’s best if we just get on with normal business, so I don’t get all maudlin on you….. Too much salty water and the pearls get soggy and hard to manage…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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With the Presidential election coming up tomorrow, it seems appropriate to indicate some of my thoughts on the process. Here is an old school pearl, with a group of quotes that show various points about the candidates, or the choice to be made, or just thoughts on how the entire scene is merely a sham, a cover-up of what is actually happening in the world…. see any of George Carlin’s work from the last five years before his death for some of the finer points that I may miss…. He issued several precise condemnations of the beloved ruling class that spoke to the depth of corruption present…. but, maybe these will aid you in making a rational choice tomorrow, so…. here they are…..

“All riches come from iniquity, and unless one has lost, another cannot gain.  Hence that common opinion seems to be very true, “the rich man is unjust, or the heir to an unjust one.” Opulence is always the result of theft, if not committed by the actual possessor, than by his predecessor.” — St. Jerome (340?-420)

“Pessimism is not in being tired of evil but in being tired of good. Despair does not lie in being weary of suffering, but in being weary of joy. It is when for some reason or other the good things in a society no longer work that the society begins to decline; when its food does not feed, when its cures do not cure, when its blessings refuse to bless.” — G.K. Chesterton

“He was so crooked, you could have used his spine for a safety-pin.” — Dorothy L. Sayers, from “The Nine Tailors”
(Guess who THAT might fit; a clue: it rhymes with twit….)

“Government, today, is growing too strong to be safe. There are no longer any citizens in the world; there are only subjects.  They work day in and day out for their masters; they are bound to die for their masters at call.  Out of this working and dying they tend to get less and less.” — H.L. Mencken

“The people came to realize that wealth is not the fruit of labour but the result of organized protected robbery.” — Frantz Fanon

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man.  In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken
(Mr. Mencken was smart, but he was an ass about some things, including his thoughts on women. This, to me, is accurate, regarding politicians, but is an insult to women, especially one trapped into a life as a streetwalker….. Being smart doesn’t preclude being an asshole, obviously….)

“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” — Lily Tomlin
(Trust Lily to get right to the heart of the matter….)

‘When the legislature decides the rules of buying and selling, the first thing to be bought will be the legislators.” — P. J. O’Rourke

That is probably more than enough…. I don’t want to make you depressed, and unable to make a reasonable choice at the polls…. or make you too despondent to care…. just vote, ffolkes, this one will make a difference if it goes the wrong way…..
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No introduction needed for this lady’s work….

I had been hungry all the years-
My noon had come, to dine-
I, trembling, drew the table near
And touched the curious wine.

‘T was this on tables I had seen
When turning, hungry, lone,
I looked in windows, for the wealth
I could not hope to own.

I did not know the ample bread,
‘T was so unlike the crumb
The birds and I had often shared
In Nature’s dining-room.

The plenty hurt me, ‘t was so new,–
Myself felt ill and odd,
As berry of a mountain bush
Transplanted to the road.

Nor was I hungry; so I found
That hunger was a way
Of persons outside windows,
The entering takes away.

~~ Emily Dickinson
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I have been searching Smart Bee literally all day, and can’t seem to find an appropriate third section inspiration…. so I’m going with Art again…. this time we have three photos, any one of which serves me as a touchstone for the concept of sheer beauty. The pictures come from the web site of a friend, whose beauty of spirit rivals the pictures she takes of her flowers. These three are some of my favorites, so much so that when I am depressed, or need a fix of beauty, these are what I bring up on screen…. honestly. A couple of minutes of taking in the details of their sheer perfection of form and color, and my soul is much closer to serenity…. Her name is Carol, and her website address is….  http://carolwelsh.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!
    See? Proof positive that perfection exists…..
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Well, with a bit of creative cheating, it all got done, and none too soon. I’m going to leave this alone now, and trust to my instincts to let it fly…. I spent much of the day doing laundry, then recovering from that, as it is no longer a simple chore for me. Ah well, life goes on…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Evolution is charged prix fixe….

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Ffolkes,
It’s a long road to Tipperary, so it is said…. It is certainly taking me long enough to get there. Of course, I’ve been somewhere near there every night, it seems, in dreams, but it just isn’t the same. I’m guessing that the fact that traveling to Ireland is so much on my mind has to do with wanting so badly to be able to do so, or, for that matter, to be able to travel ANYWHERE!….. I’m going stir crazy sitting here in one place for so long. I’ve traveled enough in my life to know that it is perhaps my greatest joy, if one doesn’t count my children, or love. Take those out of the calculation, and it wins, hands down, as my absolute favorite thing to do…. and don’t even go there…. I know what you’re thinking, but this is a family blog, and children will read it (hopefully….)….. So, pull your mind out of the gutter, and we’ll go on….  🙂

No doubt, this is related to the fact that I love to learn, and travel is by far the best way to do that, right in front of, or perhaps next to, a good book. Meeting new people, seeing new lands, experiencing new cultures, all are sheer ambrosia to my mind, and I can barely contain my desire to be off whenever I think of it….. But, until Social Security decides to get off their collective ass and award me the money I have in their bank, that I’ve been pouring in there for damn near 50 years, I’m stuck here in Vallejo, scraping for food each month, and not enough to even go to the City, much less to Oregon to see my friend, or even Sonoma to see my kids, a half-hour away… it is indeed a pisser, to borrow a mild word from the darker side of today’s street culture…..

End of whine for one day…. even I get tired of it….. Plus, I can always tell when I’m short on material, as I start writing about personal stuff…. it’s the egotist in me, I suppose, or an outgrowth of the blog state of mind. Whatever it may be, it is a bit embarrassing, so I’ll take myself off into a different subject area, and leave the personal behind for now. I’m sure there must be SOMETHING to write about…. A dive for pearls should take care of things….. Shall we Pearl?….

(Even if I don’t agree with Henry David about traveling, and I don’t….. what he says here is true, but only as far as he takes it…. I’ve always thought that he would have been a lot better philosopher, and a happier guy, if he had just gotten away from home now and then, and compared his own thoughts to what he saw in the world…. But, his own ego either could not stand the comparison, or was delusional in believing itself to be superior, just because he held it apart like he did….. He sure did have a way with words, though…..)

“Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.”  – Henry David Thoreau, “Walden, Ch. 18 Conclusion”
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Naturally, the first pearl in this morning’s dive that I come across stimulates a cascade of memories, all personal…. let’s see where it takes us…..

the average person is average
the common people is common
the straight people is straight
you gone be the crooked weird
rare intelligent bird creep type
that what you gone be, honey
— A. R. Ammons

I’ve never heard or seen this before, but it perfectly describes how I felt a lot of the time when I was a kid, from my first year in school. I guess I wasn’t supposed to learn to read before I started…. But, I had, so they were stuck with me. Besides, there I was, and there all those books were, and there was no way they were going to get me away from the library, once I had discovered it. I distinctly remember the thrill when I checked out a book for the first time….

Any who, that little idiosyncrasy sort of set the tone for the rest of my life, in many ways, so I’ve learned to be pretty flexible when dealing with people, as there are so many different reactions I encounter to my oddities (I won’t bore you with an extensive list; trust me, there are enough to cause talk….). I am somewhat aided in that I really do like people, in general, and individually. It is mostly when they are acting as a group that my issues with standards of behavior arise, so as long as I don’t get into crowds too often, nobody suffers…..    🙂 

Of course, it must be understood, when I say I like people as a rule, we are not talking here at all about either politicians, or preachers; as you know, to me, they belong to an entirely different segment of humanity, separate from the rest of us, and subject to separate standards of behavioral expectations…. the assholes…. but, I digress….

I’m strange, I admit it. I also admit that I enjoy it, and actively pursue ways to augment that strangeness, making it, hopefully, as much of an attraction as it is a shield, or barrier, to others. Being an odd duck doesn’t preclude having the same need as other folks, and ffolkes…. i.e., the need for approval from our society’s other members…. it just makes that need a bit harder to fulfill at times. But, one can cultivate and express eccentricity without engendering fear, and that is my goal…. I don’t want to scare babies, I just don’t want to be a clone of anyone else….. thus becoming predictable, God forbid!

(Is it legal for me to say that? I don’t know for sure, maybe it is, maybe not…. I know Church and State are still theoretically separate, but there may be areas of overlap, as occur so frequently when the idiots in Washington, and/or Sacramento, decide they want to take another shot at legislating morality…. I am merely unsure whether it is currently allowed by statute for us atheistic, agnostic, doubting Thomas types to use such epithets, as used by the devout…. I know it creates an issue of irony, or perhaps, sardonicism, or even, GASP!, unintentionally congruent plagiarism, but to my knowledge, there are still no laws against those. But, you never know, in these days leading up to the world’s demise, anything can happen…..)

Now that I’ve most likely lost everyone, or at least confused them…. including myself….. I just wanted to say a few things about being ‘the crooked weird rare intelligent bird creep type’ (I’m not sure I like the ‘creep’ part; the rest is very cool….)…. because it is a role I’ve always embraced with enthusiasm. I’ve never seen any point in being Normal; the further one gets from Normal, the more odd Normal becomes, as it is dragged, willy-nilly, in the direction of each extreme, by each person who goes there…. that is what makes it ‘Normal’, you see? So, I’m just doing all I can to make sure ‘Normal’ is constantly in flux, and doesn’t, in and of, and all by itself, become too predictable….. This is not to imply that Reality really needs my help, but, I try to go with the flow, know what I mean?…..

“Normativity (sic… but I like it…) is like a brown paper bag — you never know what’s inside.  It could be apple pie or a ticking time bomb. Give me a world with colorful packaging so I can glimpse the contents inside.” — Callan Williams
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For two or three days now, I’ve felt a poem percolating somewhere in the dark regions of my head, but it doesn’t seem to be ready yet for me to open up a vein and let it out, and nothing else is floating up to the surface that I have been able to put into anything that passes my crap detector…. So, you’ll have to settle for someone else…. since I’m sitting at home, I don’t yet know who that might be, as it could change by the time I get access to Google and the Net. Whoever it is, I’ll try to keep it within the parameters of today’s apparent theme of the Strange, and avoiding the Normal….. maybe some Ogden Nash, he’s the prototype for that….  Enjoy!…..

A Caution To Everybody

Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

Ogden Nash

Perfect!
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In keeping with today’s theme, as it evolved, I offer these pearls…. each is, of course, a stand-alone thought, but I let my whimsy dictate which would go well together to further demonstrate my devotion to illogic and it’s concomitant companion, crooked reasoning…. which, crooked though it may be, still has a direct link to Reality…. especially in today’s society, which goes much further than I have ever gone down the path to Strange….

“No matter how much cynicism you have, it is never enough to keep up.” — Lily Tomlin

“But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State.” — Thomas Jefferson, [letter?] To S. Kercheval, 1810

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

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think it should have done.  Calculate that one rebellion in 13 states in the course of 11 years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), in letter to James Madison, 20 December 1787

‘But he hasn’t got any clothes on,’ a little boy said. — from The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen

“Remember that man’s life lies all within this present, as ‘t were but a hair’s-breadth of time; as for the rest, the past is gone, the future yet unseen. Short, therefore, is man’s life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 10

Well, there you go…. If you can’t make heads or tails of it, don’t sweat it. None of it will be on the Quiz….. But, if you let your mind drift as you consider the parts of the pearl as a whole concept, you just might find that you’ve hit upon a very deep, very ancient, immensely valuable insight into not only the nature of Man, but your own nature as well…. and if not, well, have some chocolate, and you can at least feel the same way…..
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All things considered, this Pearl achieved a certain degree of salvation…. Perhaps because the subject matter morphed into one of my favorite areas of discourse, i.e. the world’s propensity to encourage odd ducks, as a balancing factor in the overall Reality of human nature. Or, perhaps because the coffee kicked in, and my brain caught up to…. well, never mind, it wasn’t that, obviously……  I discover, as I type, that I’m still a bit behind…. That’s okay, I’m used to being out of step, so all is well. It must be, because I’m done…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Nights lost at the behest of Morpheus….

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Ffolkes,
Turning, tossing, chasing pertinent dreams down echoing hallways in my mind. Finding, time over time, a new vision, drawing me close with promises of passionate engagement, and warm, welcoming eyes. Such longing for intimacy cannot be denied, nor lost to inner sight, yet knowing it all a dream, the pain of never meeting flesh to flesh is mellowed and set aside. Feelings burgeon into deeply held belief, carnivals and lights, and moments of quiet smiles, then turn to fear of loss. As the visions fade, in the harsher light of day, melancholy regrets set forth, scattering thoughts into disarray. All that remains to treasure is the memories grasped so tight, and hope to meet again, waiting in dreams again tonight….

Now I know…. poetry is the way for me to go these days, when I’m gripped with a vision…. I kept trying for prose in the above paragraph, and you can see that no matter where I took it, it kept falling into rhymes, without apparent volition on my part; I didn’t notice until I was almost done with it. This one is perhaps a bit sappy to warrant re-doing as a poem, and it seems a bit silly anyway….. Writing down one’s dreams may have worked for Coleridge, but I’ve never found my dreams to be particularly compelling when I look at them in the light of day…. Oh, they’re nice at times, I admit, but the unconscious mind is NOT discriminating, and often lacks smoothness, or elegance, other than as a vague promise, to my way of thinking. As the unconscious, it doesn’t get a lot of practice dealing directly with the real world, and tends to be a bit naive in that respect…. It makes the women I meet in my dreams quite beautiful, but not terribly realistic in other ways…..

Plus, I’m a bit disappointed, as the dream was not compelling enough, quite, to keep me asleep. Here ’tis, six o’clock in the morning, and I’m wide awake, after a night of particularly light sleep, haunted by this dream, and now up early, with gritty eyes, a stiff, sore back, and a lingering sense of melancholic  regret that the girl I dreamed of is not real…. at least, not that I know of, yet. One is allowed to be hopeful, after all…. But, once again, here I am, filling in the intro section with blabbering nonsense about nothing much at all….

I suppose this means that, since I’m not going back to bed just now, I should probably go diving for pearls…. I didn’t write at all last night ( I got busy reading, and listening to the Cardinals pound on the Giants, whose offense has gone South. I thought it might, as they clinched their Division way too early, and had time to lose their momentum, and their fighting edge. Now they will have to really want it bad, in order to take three games in a row in Cincinnati, a feat which I’m not sure has been done in the playoffs as yet. SIGH…. there go the dreams of a Bay Bridge Series this year…..)

On that sad note…..  Shall we Pearl?…..
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“You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.” — Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 14, 1991

So, I count at least three major flaws in this guy’s reasoning, not to mention the most obvious piece of asininity, there at the end. I always knew that the TV evangelists were stupid and greedy, but I never took the time to really look at what they said very much…. It generally caused a severe case of mental indigestion if I listened to it for more than a few seconds. This was short enough for me to get down in one quick bite….. and it just went to prove what I had previously believed about them….

These are the men who give Christianity a bad name, the most avaricious, lying, cheating, dishonest, and woman-hating men I have ever seen. Every one of them is the same, as far as I can see; it takes a special kind of asshole to get involved in evangelism…. You’ve got to be not merely greedy, but frankly and clearly so. You’ve got to have a sense of entitlement and conviction of your own rightness as to make Jesus himself blush. You have to hate women, and mistrust men. And, you have to have enough chutzpah to take your act on TV, for all to see….

“I see little divinity about them or you.  You talk to me of Christianity when you are in the act of hanging your enemies.  Was there ever such blasphemous nonsense!” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), The Devil’s Disciple

Oh, and I forgot, you have to have a good sense of the odds of human nature, which, unfortunately, most of them have….. What I mean by this is, they know that, yes, 90% or so of the public will mock them, or ignore them, or some combination of the two. But, the other 10% are stupid enough to fall for the crap they are handing out, which includes sending them money.

Let’s do the math…. If only 50,000,000 people form the statistical universe in question, then 10% is 50,000 of them. If each of them is persuaded to send in $10, the take is $500,000. If the average donation goes up to $25, or the base number of donors goes over 50,000, then that number rises significantly. Do that 200 days a year, and we’re talking about some serious money, ffolkes…..

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” — Romans 12:1 (One of Pat’s favorite scriptures, as it is easily twisted to support his story…..)

Personally, I’ve always been leery of sending my money off to anybody in the mail; even paying bills that way seems risky to me. How do I know the mail-person is trustworthy? How do I know if the mail system is really sending things where they are supposed to go. One seldom actually receives verification, unless asked for, and even then, are they telling the truth? And, if so, how do you know? In my experience, people lie for their own benefit just as often as they act with honesty and integrity; perhaps the odds are worse than that…..

Then, to send it off to someone who tells me that by doing so I am both enabling and promoting their work (which is making money….. though they will tell you different….) and ensuring my own place in Heaven, at God’s right hand…. it just doesn’t sit right. We are supposed to swallow all that, without sugar, and without any guarantees, other than their word….. And, if you have a mind that can believe that, I have a wonderful opportunity for you in a bridge…. cash only, no checks…..

IDIOT, n.  A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling.  The Idiot’s activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but “pervades and regulates the whole.”  He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable.  He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

These worst type of preachers are not even liked or respected by other preachers…. for much the same reasons as demonstrated above in Mr. Robertson’s egregious claim. He, and most of the other televangelists, commonly say things such as this, implying that all other religions are works of the Devil, or the Antichrist, and should be crucified for their beliefs. So, not only do they steal from their constituents, but from other religions as well, trying to lure away their congregations in favor of their own.

This serves to create even more schisms between Christian sects, or cults, as I call them…. as well as being divisive to the entire public arena, as they typically include not just other Christians in their portrayals of others as enemies of their sect, but also any other religion, atheists, politicians who try to regulate them, judges who rule against them, and anyone else who has the temerity to challenge their sense of entitlement…..

“Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Yet, people watch them on TV, and send them money, just as if they could actually buy their way into Heaven…. which again serves to act as proof of Robert Heinlein’s observational admonition, “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”  These assholes take advantage of the vulnerable, and the stupid, and the weak-willed among us, and they do so legally, since they make enough to buy good lawyers to protect them from litigation, and enough to buy honest politicians (who STAY bought once paid for….)….

To my mind, I think this is taking religious freedom just a little too far, and I wouldn’t mind a return to older days, when shooting them wasn’t viewed as a crime, but rather as public trash removal….. But, that’s me…. I’m a bit of a curmudgeon, but with compassion, and I don’t like to see the stupid taken advantage of like that….

“Every day, people are straying away from the church and going back to God.” — Lenny Bruce
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Our share of night to bear,
Our share of morning,
Our blank in bliss to fill,
Our blank in scorning.

Here a star, and there a star,
Some lose their way.
Here a mist, and there a mist,
Afterwards – day!

~~ Emily Dickinson
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Sometimes, inspiration can be elusive…. in such dark moments, I generally turn to Art, with a bit of wily text thrown in (both of these pix were found on either WordPress, or Facebook, forgot to write down which from where)…. Here are three pearls, two a combination of visual and textual wisdom, and one quote from Kwang-tzu, a Taoist scholar…. Together they make a fine pearl, with wit, and wisdom, solid and true, and worthy of consideration…. enjoy!….A selection from the Taoist Writings: Lao-Tan asked Confucius: `What do you mean by benevolence and righteousness?’ Confucius said:  `To be in one’s inmost heart in kindly sympathy with all things; to love all men and allow no selfish thoughts: this is the nature of benevolence and righteousness.’ — Kwang-tzu

    “And that’s the Truth…. Thpppt!” — Lily Tomlin
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As you may have guessed, today’s Pearl is the result of lack of sleep, lack of inspiration, and lack of compensatory drugs…. take that as you will. I try to make it worthwhile on these types of days, by including a poem known to history as a good one, so if nothing else, you have a small portion of palatable material on which to chew. Nevertheless, I always feel compelled to apologize for being lazy, even though, as a retiree, it is allowed. Or, if not allowed, at least tolerated….. As a practicing curmudgeon, I don’t really give a shit; it’s done, and that will have to do….. Not really, ffolkes, that’s a joke… a cheap one, I admit, but that is the theme today, so, deal with it…. Not that the material provided is cheap… it’s all certifiably genuine virtual wisdom…. Ah, hell, just go with the flow…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

These statistical triumphs are fabulous!….

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Ffolkes,
What we have here…. is a failure… to germinate. So sad….. Actually, it’s germinating just fine. Seeds are like that; a bit of dirt, a little water, some sunshine, and voilá, germination! Now, if only there were some seeds germinating in my head, I’d be set for good. Alas, we should be so lucky…..

Sans germinating ideas, this intro section can turn on me at the drop of a simile, and apparently, has already done so. At this point, I have absolutely no idea what is going to come out next…. It could be a BEM (Bug Eyed Monster, to those of you not up on SF slang…). It could be another poem. (No, no, anything but that!….just shoot me now, please…..) It could be a fictional opening to a story. (If any were there to write down….) Or, it could be a series of paragraphs, each just a bit stranger than the last, all leading up to the usual point, where I give up, and we get started…..

I suppose strange is a relative term, and I ought not to consider it as an insult. In fact, given the rest of my life up to this point in time, I should probably consider it as encouragement, or perhaps, justification. For what, I don’t know, but, hey, it’s my party, and I can be ignorant if I want to be, so there…. Okay, now we’ve devolved into childish insults…. it must be time for the throwing up of the hands in disgust…. hold on, I need to step away from the computer to do this….. There, it’s done. I’ve washed my hands of this intro, and shall henceforth consider it as a part of the past, and no longer under my aegis…..

See? I told ya…. it worked out just the way I said it would, and here we are, finally arrived at the point where I look up with all innocence, and say, “Shall we Pearl?”….. you just nod your head, and move on to the next section…. well, go on…. you’d best go now, you’ll be alone if you stay here, and I won’t take responsibility if you get in trouble here on your own….. GO!!!!
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If God didn’t make homosexuals, there wouldn’t be any. ~~ Very Smart Bee

Aha! At last! I have found the answer to all those bigoted, so-called Christians, with their strident complaints about gay marriage being a threat to society, and the whole ridiculous skein of unfounded fears rooted in their own ignorance. Just mention the above to them, and watch them turn purple, as they try, over and over, to find some logical way to refute this…. which they can’t.

If they are going to insist on having an omnipotent God, then they can’t be telling him what He should and shouldn’t do, because He’s already done it…. This is a perfectly sound piece of doctrine, which I’m sure any Jesuit would tell you is so obvious, it could be considered dogma. They can’t have it both ways…. either there is a God, and homosexuals are part of the plan he has in place…. or there isn’t, and they need to find a whole new theory of the universe to follow, because this one won’t fly…..

“Do you think God gets stoned?  I think so…look at the Platypus.” — Robin Williams

I think it’s a lot more likely that what Robin says here is true; if there is a God, why wouldn’t he get stoned? Of course, those who have experienced the state of being stoned can make an informed judgment on that issue. Anyone who has never done so really has no right to an opinion, do they?

Aside from the simple, irrefutable fact that they, being mortal, cannot fathom God, or anything about Him/Her, how could they possibly have an opinion on something they’ve never experienced? I ask that question rhetorically, of course; they believe they have the right to sound off on anything they don’t understand, since, as they believe, they are the Lords of Creation…. what a crock!

“Faith means intense, usually confident, belief that is not based on evidence sufficient to command assent from every reasonable person.” — Walter Kaufmann

This pearl comes from the old school… it makes a point that logically becomes the next step in this little piece of satire… the point being this: The folks who spend their time fiddling with religion are pursuing a dream, one that has no basis in reality, according to all the evidence.

This kind of blind faith has a name these days, and that name is “delusional”, defined as holding on to a belief after being presented with absolute proof of its falsehood. Couple this delusional frame of mind with a strong sense of denial, and you have an entire segment of the population that is immune to change…. and we all know what the Universe does to any part of it that refuses to change, don’t we?…..

“I guess the rule is, if something’s too good to be true, then it’s probably too good to be true.” — Marshall, The ATM Machine, Eerie Indiana

And that’s the Truth! So, there! Thpppht! ~~ The little girl in the chair… (Lily Tomlin)
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Since the last pearl touched on the old school, I think I’ll make this pearl completely old school…. Here are some pearls that together form an idea, one that is always handy to have in one’s arsenal in the fight to hold our place in reality….. or at least to reluctantly accept it as it is…..

“A man who carries a cat by the tail is getting experience that will always be helpful.  He isn’t likely to grow dim or doubtful.  Chances are, he isn’t likely to carry the cat that way again, either.  But if he wants to, I say let him!” — Mark Twain

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never in extremity
It asked a crumb of me.

— Emily Dickinson

“Hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. It is just like the roads across the earth. For actually there were no roads to begin with, but when many people pass one way a road is made.” — Lu Hsun

“We live only to discover beauty. All else is a form of waiting.” — Kahlil Gibran

“America!!  I saw it all!!  Vomiting!  Waving!  JERRY FALWELLING into your void tube of UHF oblivion!!  SAFEWAY of the mind –” — Zippy the Pinhead

Lastly, we turn once again to that philosophical genius, Lily T, to bring us home in style……

“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” — Lily Tomlin
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“A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.” — Calvin

Ah, politics! Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes, I believe….) has accurately stated the operating techniques of both parties in this election. I was amazed the other day when the Republican candidates started to harp on how mean and unfair the other side was being. Talk about two kettles calling the pots black!

I also had to laugh when the Democrats got called out for demanding to see the taxes that Romney continues to withhold; he really thinks he is going to get away with not showing them, and doesn’t seem to have a clue as to how much damage it causes his campaign every time he refuses to show them…. I don’t know why, because he reads the polls, and every time he puts it off again, he drops points; it’s a direct correlation, but he doesn’t seem to know, or care….. idiot….

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.” — Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), Collected Essays

Romney and Ryan keep accusing Obama of stealing money from Social Security, when the Congressional Report on the plan shows this to be completely false.  John Sunnunu, governor of something or other, a life-time political hack, got his sails trimmed by a CNN reporter, on air, who kept throwing this falsehood back in his face…. he ended up resorting to name-calling, and continued to try to blame the POTUS for everything. Even when it was pointed out to him that the Ryan Plan and the Romney Plan were the same, and both contained tax cuts for the rich, he tried to say they were different…. another idiot….

“I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends…that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we  will stop telling the truth about them.” — Adlai Stevenson

Or was it Joe Biden who said that? Well, he could have…. What Mr. Stevenson says here is all too true, even today, though he doesn’t quite make it all the way to honesty, as he implies that only the Democrats tell the truth. In fact, BOTH parties are more comfortable telling us lies than they are with the truth; it is fortunate for us that the WWW has provided us with a way to keep the truth at the forefront of any issue, no matter how many times one of the pundits, right or left, tries to convince us that the lies they are telling are truth. For those libertarians to whom truth is more important than personal comfort, the web has been a true gift of the gods…..

“The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is  a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt

These are perfect words to bring this to a close…. We, the citizens of this democracy, have the responsibility of making ourselves aware of the truth, and to insist on that truth being acknowledged by the government, whichever party may be incumbent. If we do not take the time to investigate what they tell us, and accept what they say as truth, without checking, then we deserve whatever kind of government we get.

I can’t stress enough that people need to be aware that politicians, of both varieties, DO NOT HAVE OUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART….. Elected officials only have their own interests at heart; this has been proven over and over, and really isn’t arguable. But, as long as people continue to act as if the pundits care about them, then they will continue to get the shaft…. and deservedly so…..

“TAPPING?  You POLITICIANS!  Don’t you realize that the END of the “Wash Cycle” is a TREASURED MOMENT for most people?!” — Zippy the Pinhead
___________________________________

I was right in the intro…. it kind of got away from me…. But, I think I managed to pull it all together, with only moderate use of duct tape…. It’s going to have to do, because, well, because it will….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

 

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Coping skills for bald penguins…..

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Ffolkes,
Nature will always tell us, in her inimitable style, when we are getting too weird. I’ve had this proven to me on numerous occasions, as I have a tendency toward weird, a genetic gift from my grandfather, who made his living as “a performance artiste” around the turn of the 20th century. She (Nature, of course…) generally lets us know we have strayed beyond the boundaries of propriety in some grand, publicly embarrassing fashion, such as slyly convincing us that, “Yes! Everyone at the soirée really WANTS to see me dancing on a table with a lamp shade on my head!” Of course, she lied, but that doesn’t come out until later, when one is already in the doghouse……

What, you might ask, does this have to do with the morning Pearl? Not a damn thing that I know of…. when I sat down to type, this is what came out….. Oh, it’s all true, though I believe it might have been a colander rather than a lamp shade…. I’m pretty sure I remember thinking (if what I do when deeply influenced by the Beast can be called such….) that the colander had a cool, spaceman look to it, which is why I wore it. But there is nothing from that night (a night whose memory, blurred as it is, I keep in the category of ~I-hoped-it-had-been-forgotten~….) that has anything to do with getting this Pearl finished. Or, rather, started….

I suppose it’s just another of the odd little mind-games I play with myself during this introductory section. Though it doesn’t have anything to do with creating a Pearl, one could say that it helped in the process, by giving me something to do for a beginning, even though it has absolutely no relation to anything remotely interesting. Of course, if you are the kind of reader who enjoys thinking of the author in embarrassing situations, well, then, I guess this is right up your alley…. Boy, and they call ME weird!

Regardless of why, or how, or even if, this intro section evolved into its present state, here it is, four paragraphs later, still trying to find the doorway into the diving area, so we can go find some pearls. Oh, wait, I see it now!…. Okay, we can now stop discussing this abysmal foray into weirdness, and get on with the day’s business…. Shall we Pearl?…..
___________________________________

“Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent,  hard-working, honest Americans.  It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity.  But then–we elected them.” — Lily Tomlin

During the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, the true financial picture of humanity was drawn, with the ratio being 99% to 1%. It seems that Lily had noted this phenomenon somewhat earlier in time, using slightly different, but no less valid, figures of 98% to 2%. I think it would be safe to say that these two statements are equal, and pretty much describe accurately how society is structured, financially, and, as it turns out, morally….

That simple fact is what makes it so hard for me to accept what takes place in the public arena, without having to resort to ranting. Not that I mind ranting, far from it….. but it’s hard to accept the truth of the situation, because that truth is that people have actually CHOSEN to put themselves in the situation we have today. Actually, it is more accurate to say, it is due to the inaction of those who disagree with the politicians and corporate pirates; they get disgusted and don’t vote, so all the idiots who fall for the BS being flung around end up voting the thieves back into office, every time……

I mean, it’s not as if the truth isn’t out there to be found. Every day, people like me, and Jueseppi B., and 3hickspolitico, and a lot of other web sites, write the truth about what is being said in the public arena. We rant, and show, by way of incontrovertible recorded audio and video proof, that the talking heads are lying their butts off, and people just nod their heads and ignore it, preferring to bury their heads in the sand rather than accept the truth.

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

It is disheartening to say the least, when so many folks choose ignorance over truth; it is almost enough for me to wash my hands of it, and let them enjoy the fruits of their ignorant choices. Unfortunately, that means that I, too, must put up with the thieves who suck from the public tit, and that is not acceptable to me. I’m tired of having to look away, or ignore the latest outrage from that quarter, just to stay sane. SIGH….

Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
— Thomas Gray (1716-1771) — Elegy in a Country Churchyard, Stanza 19

But, so be it. Hating it, and complaining about it won’t make it go away…. all I can do is this. I write, time and time again, warning people of the crap they are putting up with, and show them how they are being used and abused by the beloved ruling classes. It’s probably just shouting into the wind, but since it is all I can do, I’ll keep doing it. After all, all you can do is all you can do….

“A police state is great, so long as you’re the police.” — Smart Bee
___________________________________

Okay, here is another “old-school” Pearl…. and yes, it makes a specific point. Read all of them, in order, and the message will be crystal clear…..

“The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is not only opposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all other attempts at rational thinking. Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of knowledge a serpent- slimy, sneaking and abominable. Since the earliest days the church as an organization has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.” — H. L. Mencken

BIBLE : A bible is a book which one or more religions consider to be holy, and to be something that they should follow. It is of course generally rather impractical to follow books, not just because they  don’t often go anywhere, but also because they are not very good at public speaking, decision making, problem solving, or any of the other qualities recognized as being an advantage for leadership. A religion based around the teachings of any compilation of Toxic Custard would be very strange indeed. To subscribe to this new cult following, send $15 now. — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA

“Angels, I read, belong to nine different orders. Seraphs are the highest; they are aflame with love for God; cherubs, who are second, possess perfect knowledge of him. So love is greater than knowledge; how could I have forgotten? The seraphs are born of a stream of fire issuing from under God’s throne… Moving perpetually toward God, they perpetually praise him, crying Holy, Holy, Holy… But, they can sing only the first ‘Holy’ before the intensity of their love ignites them again and dissolves them again, perpetually into flames. ‘Abandon everything,’ Dionysius the Areopagite told his disciple. ‘God despises ideas.’ — Annie Dillard, “Holy the Firm”

“Man has a single basic choice:  to think or not, and that is the measure of his virtue.  Moral perfection is an unbreached rationality — not the degree of your intelligence, but the full and relentless use of your mind, not the extent of your knowledge, but the acceptance of reason as an absolute.” — John Galt

“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.” — H. L. Mencken

“The sagacious reader who is capable of reading between these lines what does not stand written in them, but is nevertheless implied, will be able to form some conception.” — Goethe (1749-1832)  — Autobiography, Book xviii, Truth and Beauty

There you go…. I can’t make it any plainer than that…..
___________________________________

A Party Of Lovers

Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes,
Nibble their toast, and cool their tea with sighs,
Or else forget the purpose of the night,
Forget their tea — forget their appetite.
See with cross’d arms they sit — ah! happy crew,
The fire is going out and no one rings
For coals, and therefore no coals Betty brings.
A fly is in the milk-pot — must he die
By a humane society?
No, no; there Mr. Werter takes his spoon,
Inserts it, dips the handle, and lo! soon
The little straggler, sav’d from perils dark,
Across the teaboard draws a long wet mark.
Arise! take snuffers by the handle,
There’s a large cauliflower in each candle.
A winding-sheet, ah me! I must away
To No. 7, just beyond the circus gay.
‘Alas, my friend! your coat sits very well;
Where may your tailor live?’ ‘I may not tell.
O pardon me — I’m absent now and then.
Where might my tailor live? I say again
I cannot tell, let me no more be teaz’d —
He lives in Wapping, might live where he pleas’d.’

John Keats

Hmm…. it seems that young Mr. Keats also had issues with society…. but he sure could make it sound important! I like the ending especially, with its tongue firmly entrenched in his cheek….. Enjoy!
___________________________________

Often, reaching the end of a day’s work is a surprise, at least from a time-centered view. Nonetheless, I have done so again, and feel it would be best not to fuss with it any further. Knowing when to walk away is the most important skill we have, in a lot of ways…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

A fight for four pies….

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Ffolkes,
Blood poured down my face from the gash above the eye, annoying but not yet blinding. I slapped a surgiskin patch on it to keep it clean, and keep the blood out of my visor, and wondered how I would live down giving myself the only injury in a live engagement…. I spied a helmet peeking over the fence across the courtyard of the abandoned building, and squeezed off a couple of quick rounds in the general area to let them know I wasn’t asleep.

Now I’m really mad; listening to the DI dress me down for banging my own head on the lander door wasn’t what I had anticipated for my return to quarters after the exercise. I had hoped to catch some extra Z’s, as I’d been boning for the psych strategy test tomorrow, but my clumsiness had ensured a visit to a smarmy, sarcastic medic, followed by the opportunity to hear the dulcet tones of Sergeant O’Brien in full chewing mode……

Enough…. I’m tired of O’Brien, and he hasn’t opened his mouth yet…. Goes to show I shouldn’t let myself write before going to bed…. it always comes out strange when I look at it in the morning…. Either that, or I need to finish one of these little stories when I write it. Oh, I hate when I get all logical on myself….. I’ve had fun before. This isn’t it.

This is getting me nowhere, so I’m going to just get on with this morning’s dive…. Pearling sounds safer than anything else I can think of right now, so…. off we go, then…..
___________________________________

“Evolution is as much a fact as the earth turning on its axis and going around the sun.  At one time this was called the Copernican theory; but, when evidence for a theory becomes so overwhelming that no informed person can doubt it, it is customary for scientists to call it a fact.  That all present life descended from earlier forms, over vast stretches of geologic time, is as firmly established as Copernican cosmology.  Biologists differ only with respect to theories about how the process operates.” — Martin Gardner, “Irving Kristol and the Facts of Life”, — The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 128-131

Although this is a very clear, concise statement of facts, it fails to account for one piece of evidence that, while seemingly contradictory, actually is proof of its overall relevance. This is the mathematical certainty that the average intelligence of the species is declining over time; I’ve presented this proof previously, and so will not go over it in its entirety now. But, like with the evidence of the Copernican theory, it has been firmly established, so we must, as a species, find some way to overcome our own intransigence.

Our own competence at killing other life forms has propelled our species to the top of the food chain, at least by all appearances. In doing so, we have removed many of the challenges to our survival that had been a check on how fast we increased our numbers. The removal of these limiting factors has allowed us to breed without restraint, which is why we have negated the normal laws, and applied the special laws of peripheral relevance that are dumbing us down.

We breed so fast that reality can’t kill us fast enough for us to get smarter; the number of lower intelligence members of the species has grown to the point where the number of births far outstrips the number of deaths, and the process continues to spiral down, down, down, toward the bottom of the gene pool….

So, if it seems to you that things are getting crazier, and that more stupid stuff keeps happening all the time, don’t panic…. you are right. It IS much crazier than before, and stupid stuff will continue to happen, right up until our species’ name gets called to board the train for extinction… the same train we have sent thousands of other species on to their demise…. SIGH…..

“No matter how cynical you get, it’s impossible to keep up.” — Lily Tomlin
___________________________________

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. — Mark Twain

One of Mark Twain’s most attractive features as a writer was his grasp of common sense. Here is an idea that all of us know instinctively is true; all of us have observed, at one time or another in our lives, just how powerful laughter can be when used against evil.

This is knowledge so ubiquitous that it has been overlooked in today’s political world, and is not used nearly enough to suit me. I think we should, instead of criticizing and degrading folks like Mitt, and Newt, and others of their political ilk, we should just greet everything they say with a burst of sheer delighted laughter, and just point a finger while howling and holding our stomach. I think it would do wonders….

Imagine, if you would, a large room full of average American folks, in their everyday dress, sitting quietly in their chairs,waiting for their hero to come smile and talk to them, just as if they mattered. Instead of hecklers, placed throughout the crowd at strategic points, are people with a well-developed sense of humor, who will proceed to laugh uproariously whenever the candidate makes some outrageous statement, which usually doesn’t take long….

I think, with good timing and the right lines, we could eliminate quite a few of these bozos, embarrassing them so heavily they’ll never show their face in public again…. Well, we can hope, can’t we?  And if nothing else, laughter is good for the soul, so they say…. Let’s see if it can’t be useful in creating a new political landscape, shall we? Personally, I look forward to applying this technique in the coming months leading up to November…..
__________________________________

Inner State

Bereft, mind empty
none remains real or true
The page is alone.

gigoid

___________________________________
The text above is from “Dune” by Frank Herbert; the image was found on Facebook. If you try repeating this to yourself when afraid, you will find that it is quite effective, not in reducing fear, but in getting past the fear. I speak from experience in this, having first read this when I was in my teens, and then used it innumerable times in my work with the mentally ill…. Most simply put, it works….
___________________________________

If you are not the poet, perhaps you can be the poem. — Smart Bee

It has happened…. I couldn’t find a suitable pearl, in just under two hours of searching. I was thorough, I think. I visited two different websites, and checked out a number of categories at each, all to no avail. I’ve developed a callous on my index finger from hitting the “next” button on my database of quotes, and keep seeing the ones I’ve used in the last few days. Naturally, since I used Shakespeare as a subject just yesterday, a good 40% of what I was forced to go through was more crap from his quill…. Murphy at work….

So, we have an unprecedented event today… I’m giving up until tomorrow…. What I have already done will have to do….. Disgusted I am, but resigned as well….
___________________________________

So be it. I’m not going to consider this a loss; I’m going to think of it as an evolution. That way it will be a challenge, and I can approach it just like any other logical problem. Of course, that’s no guarantee of success, but will serve for the nonce to get on with the day. Considering how the first four hours have gone, it promises to be interesting, in all the senses of the word…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Drizzled with mere seconds to spare….

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Ffolkes,
Far be it from me to ever put a roadblock up in front of my creative process; with the emotional pressure I put on myself to write, I’d be a basket case in hours if I did something so foolish. In me, the process is not a well-defined, step-by-step process, though I do have my rituals. Instead of being a walk with a dog on a leash, that politely stays on the path, and doesn’t chase cars, it is more of a romp with a dog in a dog park, off the leash, with both of us free to run and play. For me, it has always been more productive that way. So, it makes no sense at all for me to obstruct the process in myself, as it is a key element in my continued sanity…..

Once again, here I am, sitting here wondering who wrote that shit…. oh, it was me, and it’s all true, more or less. But, it isn’t anything like what I envisioned writing when I sat down to begin. As a matter of fact, the first five words were meant to push me off into one of my fantasy story openings, complete with witches, goats, three chandeliers, a devil, an angel, and a Peking Duck without sauce. Instead, I find myself at the end of a tidy little discussion that would most likely bore an accountant in tax season to desperate tears. (Aha, that reminds me…. do taxes!)  I can’t imagine what came over me; I seem to have misplaced my sense of whimsy, and can already see the ill effects of its absence…..

Ah well, the workaround for this particular problem is pretty straightforward…. ignore it and move on. That part of me that writes the boring stuff is easily miffed by such inattention, and will promptly stomp off in high dudgeon to find a quiet corner in which to sulk. So, we will now embark on our morning search for Pearls…. shall we begin?…. Aha, a fine specimen, practically jumped into the bag… we’ll give it primary billing, with no needed discussion….

“I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English — it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them — then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.” — Mark Twain

Good advice… let’s see how close we can come to following it….. Kowabunga!
___________________________________

:Shub-Internet: /shuhb’ in’t*r-net/ n.  [MUD: from H. P. Lovecraft’s evil fictional deity Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat with a Thousand Young] The harsh personification of the Internet: Beast of a Thousand Processes, Eater of Characters, Avatar of Line Noise, and Imp of Call Waiting; the hideous multi-tendriled entity formed of all the manifold connections of the net.  A sect of MUDders worships Shub-Internet, sacrificing objects and praying for good connections. To no avail — its purpose is malign and evil, and is the cause of all network slowdown.  Often heard as in “Freela casts a tac nuke at Shub-Internet for slowing her down.”  (A forged response often follows along the lines of: “Shub-Internet gulps down the tac nuke and burps happily.”)  Also cursed by users of the Web, {FTP} and {TELNET} when the system slows down. The dread name of Shub-Internet is seldom spoken aloud, as it is said that repeating it three times will cause the being
to wake, deep within its lair beneath the Pentagon.  Compare {Random Number God}. — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423

Every culture, and every sub-culture within that body, of which hacker culture is not an exception, spawns its own myths. These myths and legends are consistent with the principles of morality and beliefs that infuse the various elements in the group, composed of that culture’s deepest fears of the true unknown nature of the technology they employ. In hacker culture, their gods and demons take the shape and character of the antithesis of the wizards and demi-gods they admire, for their mastery of the nuances of the field of knowledge in which they all play and live; these unfortunate deities generally resemble the CEO of the company where they toil for pay.

I find hacker culture and mythology fascinating, as it is often based on concepts and ideas from science- and speculative-fiction, and fantasy, all blended together into such creatively conceived entities as Shub-Internet…. a creature both terrifying and playful….. Kind of like Lord Voldemort on laughing gas, but uglier, if you can picture that…. The highest form of humor to a hacker would be for Curly Joe to catch the Wolfman or Dracula with the old exploding cigar gag, in a movie where Curly is a programmer and Dracula is a management suit….. all after an elegant hack that saved the world, and the company, from evil bureaucrats from the Fast Food Dimension…..
___________________________________

“Even for a wizard there will often come times when someone close to you, perhaps even your spouse, criticizes your habits by comparing them to those of animals. This is distinctly unfair to the animals, who have far better habits than we in many areas. When, for example, have you seen a frog collecting taxes or a squirrel running for electoral office? Present arguments like these to those people who criticize you. If they still do not see the wisdom of your ways, you may then feel free to bite them.” — The Teachings of Ebenezum, Vol. IX

Now, this is a philosophical attitude I can really get behind. I cannot begin to count how many conversations just like this I have had over the course of my life, with those who don’t like, or more often, and more accurately, don’t understand me or what I say and do.  While I’ve been either fortunate enough, or nice enough to not have run across a great many folks who are actively upset by my admittedly unusual mannerisms and expressions, there have been many who, because of their own dissatisfaction with their own lives, find it hard to keep their noses out of mine, or anyone else’s for that matter….. A lot of them wear badges, or work in government bureaucracies, and are just smart enough to realize how badly they have screwed up their own lives, so they try to make themselves feel better by criticizing whatever other folks are up to….. it’s pathetic, really…. and well worth the hullabaloo that ensues after administering the evidence of our displeasure….
___________________________________

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
Rich with the spoils of time, did ne’er unroll;
Chill penury repress’d their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.
— Thomas Gray (1716-1771) — Elegy in a Country Churchyard, Stanza 13

It isn’t often that ignorance is made so plain, nor the exact feel of it so well portrayed as in this little gem……

To each his suff’rings; all are men,
Condemn’d alike to groan,–
The tender for another’s pain,
Th’ unfeeling for his own.
Yet ah! why should they know their fate,
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies?
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
‘T is folly to be wise.
— Thomas Gray (1716-1771) — On a Distant Prospect of Eton College, Stanza 10

Life is so simple when you don’t know what you’re talking about. — Smart Bee  (Isn’t that what Bush Jr., the Shrub, had printed around the edges of the national seal while he was in office? I think it was….or should have been…. I know it was printed on his cards….)
___________________________________

What can I say? I’m a sucker for puppies…. found this on Facebook a few days ago, and just love it!….

___________________________________

No man is an island, but then no man is a potato salad, either. — Smart Bee

I haven’t lost my mind, I know exactly where I left it. — Smart Bee

Since it is obvious by now that trying to be serious today just isn’t going to happen without a struggle, I am bowing to the forces at work, and giving up on any discussion of any compelling issues.  We’ll just fill in with some pertinent observations, such as exemplified by those little gems above this blurb…..

“Reality is a crutch for people who can’t cope with drugs.” — Lily Tomlin

I wasn’t picking my nose…I was scratching.

iT’s HArD tO tYPe WHilE HolDiNG a cAT…

Puns are bad, but poetry is verse.

“You can’t help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn’t spell it right; but spelling isn’t everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn’t count.” — A.A. Milne

A billion seconds ago Harry Truman was president.
A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on earth.
A billion dollars ago was late yesterday at the U.S. Treasury…
— According to a recent government publication … (I know, not funny… sad and pathetically true…. but interesting….)

“How often we recall, with regret, that Napoleon once shot at a magazine editor and missed him and killed a publisher. But we remember with charity, that his intentions were good.” — Mark Twain

Okay, okay, settle down! I can hear you whimpering in pain, no need to shout…. I’m done now, so you can take a moment to go lick your wounds in private….. see you below in a few minutes…..
___________________________________

A long, strange trip indeed….. I’m kind of glad it’s over, and we can get on with the rest of the day. The chances of it being better than it has thus far been willing to allow will no doubt increase the further from Now we get…. well, I AM and optimist at heart…. perhaps it would be best to just stick to the usual approach, expecting nothing, and enjoying the actual results, whatever they may be….. what with the rather capricious events that have thus far been our lot, that is probably for the best….. Y’all take care out there….

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!


The Plight of the Stumble Bee…..

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Ffolkes,
Unable, or unwilling, to enter the door, the clumsy-looking, shabbily dressed man, in a grimy overcoat that had seen better days, stared hungrily through the window toward the lights inside, a look of quiet determination crossing his face for an instant. I watched, then, as he straightened his shoulders, drew himself up to his maximum height of about 5’3″, and strode purposefully to the door, yanking it open with a fierce pull, banging it against the porch railing, hard. The ensuing deafening crash had the noise of the diner falling silent, as everyone crowding in the booths, and lining the counter, turned to look, startled, toward the noise.

The small man, now trembling with the force of whatever deep emotion held him in thrall, stood quivering in the doorway, moving his eyes from face to face, starting on his left, and working rapidly around the room. As his eyes came to rest upon a party about half-way down the aisle between the counter and booths, just being served at a table by the window, his expression hardened, and he started toward the object of his search, now appearing to glare at the people at the table with the sheer intensity of hatred and loathing.

I, along with the rest of the diner watched in rapt fascination as he came to the table, where he stopped, gazing down at the four well-dressed men who sat there, looking up at him with expressions of polite disinterest, somewhat incongruous, considering the drama of the small man’s approach, and the threatening, hateful visage that he now presented. For a long moment, he stared at each face in turn, then, in a surprisingly soft, lilting voice, he spoke, “Zo! You would send your assassins to the house of Giaccomo, eh? Your trained killers, zo dangerous, no? I will show you dangerous!”

On the last words, he reached into the pocket of his grimy coat, and pulled out a small, indistinct object. “Here….I give you back your assassins, both of them!” With that, he threw down what he held onto the table in front of the four silent, now grim-faced men. They looked down, shocked eyes wide, to where lay two human ears, covered in dried blood, looking a bit worse for wear. “Next time, send more! You will need them, and my garden can use the fertilizer!” Before they could move, the man swept the flatware, dishes, and glasses into the laps of the seated men, who reacted not at all, but merely watched, silent and still, as the small figure turned, and walked out the door, into the night. Inside the diner, silence held reign……

Once more, my manic-depressive Muse has taken over my fingers, to lay out the preceding paragraphs for your reading pleasure, or confusion, as the case may be; I’m tending toward the latter. I hope it does give pleasure, though… because it’s a little weird, having to sit here while words go down on screen that have never passed through my creative filter…. an odd feeling to have one’s subconscious mind playing tricks like that so early. I barely got a sip of coffee down before the Muse just took over, so I’m going to take a short break to soothe my nerves…. be back shortly…. I wonder who Giaccomo is?…

Okay, all better now…. I sure wish I could get my subconscious to quit doing that; it’s a bit disconcerting to have one’s volition so rudely usurped in such a cavalier fashion. It’s not like I wouldn’t share screen time….. ah well, I guess it will all come out in the wash. Let’s Pearl, shall we?……
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“The ideal life is in our blood and never will be still. Sad will be the day for any man when he becomes contented with the thoughts he is thinking and the deeds he is doing — where there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger, which he knows that he was meant and made to do.” — Phillips Brooks

I’ve been pushing this quote forward every day for a week, since I found it and copied it here for discussion. I keep putting it off. I haven’t figured out why that is, but I’m sick of dealing with it, and it’s too good to throw out, so…. deal with it, Ned…

I think the problem here is that I agree with this, and really couldn’t say it much better. And, it’s such a great little piece of insight disguised as a homily, it doesn’t need any expansion to increase or enhance its positive direction. So, I’m going to use a bit of cosmic Judo, and go with the flow… just enjoy it, and its message, which is, essentially, “Carpe diem, as soon as you recognize which diem you’re in!”…..
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“[The artist] speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty, and pain; to the latent feeling of fellowship with all creation — and to the subtle but invincible conviction of solidarity in dreams, in joy, in sorrow, in aspirations, in illusions, in hope, in fear which binds together all humanity — the dead to the living and the living to the unborn.”     — Joseph Conrad

I can state, with some confidence, my belief that this is what most of us are shooting for as artists. Few of us can express how we approach our Art, or why, or easily answer any such pertinent questions, but all of us can feel what we wish to share, impatiently waiting for our keyboard/camera/computer program/clay/other artistic medium to be applied to the task at hand, giving to the Universe a small piece of our Soul, pieces that cry out for release, eager to be off to be consumed by other ears, other eyes, other minds.

For some of us, it is therapy. For others, it is the creative impulse. For still others, it is ambition, or outrage, or pride of accomplishment, or the desire to be understood. For a million and more reasons, our Art forces its way past our fears and denials, to find the light it must seek in other’s eyes. It is, to me, more proof of humanity, for the impulse to create Art is proof of our innate need for each other, and our need to be acknowledged, and loved. This is why we place our hearts, and souls, firmly in our work, and then give it away, gratis……
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“I wanted a perfect ending … Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.” — Gilda Radner

Why do the best of us have to die so young? “Delicious ambiguity.” What a brilliant summation of a wonderfully wise statement! One wouldn’t normally expect a woman known for her comedy to have such insight into Life, but then, there certainly are precedents for it. Will Rogers, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, Dick Gregory, even Steve Allen, all were best known as comedians, and justly so. But all of them are also some of the most lucid, intelligent, and erudite social critics that ever lived, and they were certainly the most accurate, and important voices of that genre in the last century.

It makes one wonder, what our world would be like, if the love of humanity, the brilliant political and social conscience, and the acerbic wit, shown by these few masters of innuendo and sarcasm were to be set as the rules governing society at large. I know one thing for sure…. there would be more smiles seen everywhere, on the faces of children, adults, and elders, and it would be considered a social faux pas to darken another person’s attitude with sobriety…. much healthier for all of us, don’t you think?……

How he lies in his rights of a man!
Death has done all death can.
And absorbed in the new life he leads,
He recks not, he heeds
Nor his wrong nor my vengeance; both strike
On his senses alike,
And are lost in the solemn and strange
Surprise of the change.
— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — After
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…I’ll sulk for the rest of your days and make your life a living hell. So there.

Wait a minute! Who let my ex- in here without telling me?….. ah, okay, it’s only a random memory stim….whew! I thought for sure I’d gone back to Hell on Earth, where I resided for several years prior to her dramatic departure….. I never did get what I did to her that pissed her off so much, but I guess if I had a clue as to that, things would be different….no sense in living backwards, is there?….

But it does bring up a subject not often discussed, or even considered, due to its volatile nature; the impulse to hurt others, for perceived injuries of whatever nature, revenge, at its most petty. I suppose it is mostly a natural response, arising from the basic instinct to preserve life, but it seems to me it gets carried a lot further than necessary; the responses are usually much more powerful than the initial events that cause the perceived injuries.

For some reason, an attack on personal beliefs or self-image is less easily dismissed as are less personal affronts, and there seems to be no limit on the degree of intensity one may use in these instances. For example, it seems a bit harsh to me to throw silverware at someone’s head as a response to being asked “How are you this morning?”, or to scream uncontrollably at someone for being tardy for a meal by less than a minute, because of having paused to pick a flower for the screamer (both of which I have been treated to on more than one occasion….) But, maybe it’s just me….

“We need to talk.” — The scariest words known to man…. as engraved on the Tomb of the Unknown Husband….anonymously, of course….

SIGH… I guess it just goes to show, that everyone has their own idea of what love is, and finding someone who feels exactly the same is still a matter of chance. I’ve always preferred to approach it from the direction implied by the following little piece of common sense…. (well, it’s common in my world…..) It is a sentiment that naturally predisposes one to avoid those sorts of things that one would potentially need to be sorry about….

“There is never anything to feel sorry about with love. Never.” — Robert Heinlein

Curse on all laws but those which love has made!
Love, free as air at sight of human ties,
Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Eloisa to Abelard, Line 74

Weird….sometimes after I finish a discussion, a number of good pearls on that jump out at me in the search for the next… hmph! Good thing I’m easygoing…. wait, no I’m not!….. oh well, screw it….
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Boop Boop Bee Boop – Betty Boop

I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s; his hair was perfect.–from “Werewolves of London”

Some things are just perfect the way you find them…. and serendipity is real!

“I just can’t help myself!” — Standard disclaimer — Babs Bunny
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Well, I’ve probably done enough damage for one morning, and I’m running out of hit points, so I’ll bring this to an end here…. timing, as we know, is everything…. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!