Following twisty passages….

Ffolkes,

“If possible, try to find a way to come downstairs
that doesn’t involve going bump, bump, bump, on the back of your head. -“

~~ Pooh in Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne ~~

Day 5 023

The bar at Shelbourne Public House, Cork, Ireland…

I missed posting again for another day, but, it (mostly) wasn’t my fault. Smart Bee, my database of quotes, was acting a bit fractious, & it took until late in the afternoon before I assembled sufficient pearls to make up the final section. As they say across the pond, c’est la vie, amis; or, as they say downtown, too bad, so sad. Or, more aptly, as I have been known to say, so be it. At this juncture, I’m just happy it’s done, even if I still have yet to write anything resembling a rant, or discussion of anything more than the immediate needs of the moment. And, right there, it’s another ‘so be it’…..

In fact, I’m going to continue in the current vein, & just get on with the posting process, before I lose either my nerve, or the prevailing wind. ‘Tis simple enough to accomplish, as you may or may not know. All I have to do is this….

Shall we Pearl?

“For a man can lose neither the past nor the future;
for how can one take from him that which is not his?
So remember these two points:
first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting
and comes round again in its cycle,
and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things
for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time;
second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man,
when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations, ii, 14 ~~

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celtic design

Celtic Symbol

This is one of my default musical choices, to which I generally retreat two or three times per week, to listen to while puttering, or working at something constructive (a rare occasion, admittedly… SIGH). It always serves to give me the best chance to think…. well, I think it does. I hope you enjoy it as well…

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Comedy_Tragedy

Illusory Time

Viewed from askance, the river is long;
deep, uncompromisingly intent, swift and strong.
In duality, perception creates our only reality;
such faux metaphoric paradox enforces mutability.

By two we perceive, both zero, and one;
digital, binary, on or off, such fun.
Separate, melded, we exist, knowing not what we know
ego, striving to be solitary, looking above, seeing below.

Furiously asleep, cultural anomaly claims a victim of choice;
validly unconscious, nobody speaks, nary a voice.
Potential escapees stir in dreams, fighting to wake,
until taking the wheel, for their own bloody sake.

Pots boil in due time, when the fire’s hot,
time exists to our advantage; or, not.
The solitary warrior, head bent in pain,
fights on, with, or without gain.

Night fell, day after day it persisted;
of those who knew, none showed any care, or resisted
Angels, ministers, none had any defense, nor grace;
all that remains is a face.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/22/2016

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Ponderous points….

*******

“Any idiot can face a crisis.
It’s this day-to-day living that wears you out.”

~~ Anton Checkov ~~

********

“All our decisions are made
in a state of mind
that is not going to last.”

~~ Marcel Proust ~~

********

“If you think you’re free, there’s no escape possible.”

~~ Baba Ram Dass ~~

********

“We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

********

“In comparison with heaven and earth, man is like a mayfly.
But compared to the great Way,
heaven and earth, too, are like a bubble and a shadow.
Only the primal spirit and the true nature overcome time and space.”

~~ Lu Yen (fl. 800 A.D.) ~~

********

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision
for the limits of the world.”

~~ Arthur Schopenhauer ~~

********

“Around existence twine,
(Oh, bridge that hangs across the gorge!)
ropes of twisted vine.”

~~ Basho ~~

********

*************************************

See? That didn’t hurt at all, did it? What’s more, it may have even been beneficial, in some abstruse fashion. Rather than dwell upon what cannot be altered, or even fully defined, let us move on to the rest of this fairly fine morning, just as if we had some silly reason to do so. I shall try to post again soon; I may even write something more than the usual drivel. As it always does, time will tell, the blabbermouth…. Y’all be well, happy as you may be, and, for goodness sake, be as strange as you can be; it really is your best defense against the world’s own version of strange,…. See ya, ffolkes..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 8118

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Advertisement

It’s ALL a coin with two sides….

Ffolkes,

“If the doors of perception were cleansed
every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up,
till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”

~~ William Blake, English poet, artist, and mystic ~~

dock

Possibilities abound….

Hajime…. Though I never achieved much in the way of balance yesterday, I did manage to stay out of gaol, which wasn’t as simple as it may seem, given the one social encounter of my day was with a cabbie firmly in the ranks of the ignorati. Suffice it to say, I left him (mostly) alive, but, ’twas a close thing…. I stayed in after that, to reduce my chances of failing in my chosen duty,  thus keeping myself from the attention of the local myrmidons…. Good thing, there, too; I wasn’t in the mood for dealing with the general run of entitlement seen in many too many officers of the ‘law’ in today’s world; it’s getting rather ubiquitous, & I’m often tempted to abrogate duty in favor of justice.

All in all, though, I digress. I don’t have much time, as I’ve been co-opted again to babysit today; Zoe’s coming, & the adventure begins anew. I did manage to get mostly done with the Pearl for today, though the poem still hasn’t quite come completely clear yet. But, that’s easily remedied with an older poem, so, we’re good to go, and, since we are, we’re going. Moreover, we’re going now, before I lose my chutzpah, or my window of opportunity. See ya down the page, ffolkes. Hang on, we’re going down hot….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes,
and feel with their own hearts.”

~~ Albert Einstein ~~

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Dont keep calm

In an attempt to keep relatively current with the world at large, (for the purposes of overall security; it’s wise to know WHEN to jump, as well as in what direction, if & when the time comes….), despite my deliberate hiatus from watching any TV, or other kinds of news cruising, I watched this video, which seemed a good way to hear/see a summarization of all I’d missed. I was so engaged by both the speaker and the content, I am including it here today; I think every American citizen would do well to pay attention to what he says….. not for their own good, directly, but, for the good of the country itself….

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Hasan Minhaj
2017 White House
Correspondents Dinner

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Comedy_Tragedy

Illusory Time

Viewed from askance, the river is long;
deep, uncompromisingly intent, swift and strong.
In duality, perception creates our only reality;
such faux metaphoric paradox enforces mutability.

By two we perceive, both zero, and one;
digital, binary, on or off, such fun.
Separate, melded, we exist, knowing not what we know
ego, striving to be solitary, looking above, seeing below.

Furiously asleep, cultural anomaly claims a victim of choice;
validly unconscious, nobody speaks, nary a voice.
Potential escapees stir in dreams, fighting to wake,
until taking the wheel, for their own bloody sake.

Pots boil in due time, when the fire’s hot,
time exists to our advantage; or, not.
The solitary warrior, head bent in pain,
fights on, with, or without gain.

Night fell, day after day it persisted;
of those who knew, none showed any care, or resisted
Angels, ministers, none had any defense, nor grace;
all that remains is a face.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/22/2016

***************************************

pearls_3

Naked Pearls

If you think about it….

*******

“All of the animals excepting man know
that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.”

~~ Samuel Butler ~~

*******

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”

~~ John Wesley ~~

*******

“We don’t receive wisdom;
we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey
that no one can take for us
or spare us.”

~~ Marcel Proust ~~

*******

“Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

*******

“Once you can accept the universe as being
something expanding  into an infinite nothing which is something,
wearing stripes  with plaid is easy.”

~~ Albert Einstein ~~

*******

“The only thing I know for sure
is that I know nothing at all, for sure.”

~~ Socrates ~~

*******

“All this happened, more or less..”

~~ Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, 1968 ~~

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“In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away
— for the Snark *was* a Boojum, you see.”

~~ Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark ~~

Neither Snark, nor Boojum here; however, I AM in a hurry now, lest I get stopped in the midst of getting this done. Wish me luck today; she’s a pistol…. See y’all, maybe even soon…. Be well, & alert; it’s the least you can do….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 14041

À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Dangerous yearnings….

Ffolkes,

“Murder is always a mistake….
One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

profuse color

Midsummer colors….

Hajime…. Though I know ‘hope’ to be, in general, a denial of reality, I still allowed myself to entertain some, investing it in my wish to write a most excellent Pearl, including a bright, catchy, and compelling intro section. As usual, ‘hope’ fails the test of time, & while all the elements of a decent piece of work are present, the bright, compelling part has shown  itself to be rather problematic. This, of course, is a natural function of my brain, to find even the simplest of tasks problematic; I can’t be positive, but, it’s a pretty sure bet it’s my own fault…. I mean, given my history, (I AM a human…), and my  inclinations, (curmudgeon-in-training….), whom else can I blame?….

Still, I guess I can be content with having completed it, at all; my recent lack of consistency, while unsurprising after so much time, still manages to cause me a bit of unwanted and unfamiliar guilt, which, having completed today’s task in a relatively timely, if uncomfortably rushed fashion, can be dismissed as misguided, for today, anyway. As for tomorrow, well, I AM old enough to know better than to place much faith or hope in THAT; after all, as we all know, tomorrow may never come, right? Right. So, we’ll regard that as a fait accompli, which if you think about it, is a pretty neat trick….

What? That last reference is unclear? SIGH…. It must be the extra scoop of coffee I put in the basket this morning; got me typing nearly as fast as I’m thinking. That’s always a confusing thing when one starts discussing matters of time; past, present, future are all rather uniquely related, in a very real way, & our imagination, while a powerful tool, usually isn’t up to the task of keeping them all in their appropriate places, actually believing it has the power to do so in reality, as well as in the mind…. Silly humans. Ah, well, don’t fret; it’ll all be clear eventually, & if not, well, it will give you something to chew over in those quiet moments….

As for me/us, & today’s Pearl, well, we’ll practice what we preach, & get on with it, any time now. In fact, isn’t that our signal? Yes, yes it is, and, look! We’ve already been cleared for landing, or, take-off…. It’s our choice, & I promise, we’ll make it as random as we can….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”

~~ Henrik Ibsen, “An Enemy of the People”, 1882 ~~

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Yield_Logo

Today’s music is one of our default selections, used when I can’t think of anything else, & time is short. Go figure, eh? It’s well worth a listen, and even more worth donating a small bit of gelt, to an organization that works for peace through music…. Enjoy!….

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Playing For Change
Ripple

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Comedy_Tragedy

Augmentation: Inner Aye

Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.

Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.

Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.

Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.

Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.

Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/2/2016

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pearls_3

Naked Pearls

Um… Isn’t it obvious?….

*******

“When we look at a rock
what we are seeing is not the rock,
but the effect of the rock upon us.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

*******

“When it’s dark enough you can see the stars.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*******

“Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth:
the only way to help yourself is to help others.”

~~ Elbert Hubbard ~~

*******

“How many cares one loses
when one decides not to be something
but to be someone.”

~~ Coco Chanel ~~

*******

“Big, undreamed-of things.
The people on the edge see them first.”

~~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr ~~

*******

“The real voyage of discovery
consists not in seeking new lands,
but in seeing with new eyes.”

~~ Marcel Proust ~~

*******

“It is something to be able to paint a particular picture,
or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful;
but it is far more glorious to carve and paint
the very atmosphere and medium through which we look,
which morally we can do.
To affect the quality of the day,
that is the highest of arts.”

~~ Henry David Thoreau, “Where I Live”

*******

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I’m fairly certain there are any number of appropriate techniques for ending today’s outburst, but, since I can’t think of any of them, how about I just say, see ya, ffolkes? Hey, it’s always good to try something new, especially when it offers the possibility of getting out of this intact. In that spirit, y’all stay stay alert, & I’ll see ya on the flip side….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

Featured Image -- 13906

À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

Perspective ALWAYS matters….

Ffolkes,

“According to the proverb, the best things are the most difficult.”

~~ Plutarch (46-120 AD) ~~

~~ Of the Training of Children ~~

Galway garden path

A Garden Path in Galway


Hajime….  We take drugs very seriously at my house… Now, before anyone goes off on some weird tangent, I’ll say this: first, I found the statement in Smart Bee, and it fit so well, I had to steal it…. Second, it’s perfectly true, but, not in the way most folks would think it might be construed. What I mean by such a statement is exactly what it says; we take them, and very seriously.

That being said, we may now proceed on to more important things, such as getting this fucking Pearl done, as it didn’t get done yesterday, thanks to some levels of pain I haven’t experienced in over a decade…. What great fun we had, remembering back to those days of yesteryear, when life was shit, with no cherry, on top or anywhere else….. ‘Twas indeed a day to remember to forget…..

Fortunately for us all, pain, like any memory, fades in time, and, though this morning bodes ill for another such day, I have my plans to deal with it, involving yet more drugs…. But, don’t worry, they’re legal in this state. I mean, OF COURSE, they’re legal, if reluctantly. I’m quite sure, if the Big Pharma companies had their way, it wouldn’t be, for the use of these “drugs”, which have been used my mankind since the time we lived in trees and caves, promises, in time, to put them out of their very lucrative business, which involves keeping everyone sick, so they can sell them more poisons.

End of mini-rant. Let’s go on to the rest of today’s mess, shall we? It promises to be a little more pleasant, at least in tone, if not quality. But, then, if you wanted quality, you’d be somewhere else, now, wouldn’t you? Yep. Don’t worry, I know exactly how good all this is, compared to the general run of things online, so, don’t worry you’ll hurt my feelings. Besides, me and pain, we’re old friends…. For now…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend.  If not, you can kill him without hate -and quickly.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

    Yep, you know what that picture means, don’t you? Yep. Classical music, which is all I can think of to play right now…. might have something to do with the Grateful Dead jam I’m listening to, which sounds much like a long classical, bohemian piece….. until now, as they begin to break into a jauntier tune, (I Know You Rider), in a famous jam from 1979 or so….. Ah well, you can’t hear it, anyway, unless you’re a Deadhead, and go download it yourself…. But, you can enjoy this collection of great older stuff…. Your choice, as always…..

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Classical Music

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Albert E & true sin

    I don’t have it in me to rant, but, given the above statement from Albert, I think we can put together an old-school pearl to show just how the world has been put into the position we now find ourselves, as well as who is to blame, and, how we can make the necessary changes…. Quite a lot for a few quotes, isn’t it? Well, you’ll see…. Enjoy….

“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde

“The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true.  It is the chief occupation of mankind.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

“You cannot conquer a free man, the most you can do is kill him.” — Lazarus Long

“Forbid a man to think for himself or to act for himself and you may add the joy of piracy and the zest of smuggling to his life.” — Elbert Hubbard

“As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy.” — Christopher Dawson, “The Judgement of the Nations”

“It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.” — H. L. Mencken

“For every disease that doctors cure with medicine, they produce ten in healthy people by inoculating them with that virus which is a thousand times more powerful than any microbe: the idea that one is ill.” — Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

“The highest treason, the meanest treason, is to deny the holiness of this little blue planet on which we journey through the cold void of space.” — Edward Abbey

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Comedy_Tragedy

    Since yesterday was one of my worst days ever, I thought a poem written on a very similar day might work. You tell me….

Gauges of Pain

Consciousness devolves in pools of gripping fears
holding hostage any hope of serenity,
sharp stabbing motions and greedy tears
nary a moment passes without common calamity.

Always a surprise, nothing soothing ever found,
leaving only breathless clinging pain,
salvation seemingly absent, it muffles all sound,
bringing ever more sadness and rain.

Solitude is ever present to claim my time,
lonely hours and relentlessly long days,
no radio plays such music in secular rhyme
happy, vibrant voices belong to elder ways.

Life can be justified it seems to say,
by hopeful favored moments of pleasure,
seemingly friendly, pointing out the only way,
to bring back happiness in minimal measure.

Days of horror and embarrassing tears
serve ever to drive wretched hours to withhold
promising naught but sorrow in coming years,
black, bitter memories that never grow old.

Cold, cold the days fly by,
can it really be our only token?
Never to say, or know just why
the pain never stops, even when spoken…

~~ gigoid ~~

(Yes, yesterday was NOT a good day…. why do you ask?…..)

Griefe brought to numbers cannot be so fierce,
For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse.

~~ John Donne ~~


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About Hopi Indian Symbols

    I’m somewhat surprised at how this pearl turned out; it was mostly serendipity at work, I believe, which dictated the icon you see adorning the top of this final section. It’s a long pearl, with 13 gems shining out with some brilliance. The opening from Keats, and the close by Bryant may, at first seem out of place with the rest of the pearls, but, in truth, the form the perfect bookends to the ideas between, marking a section with some of the more off the beaten track when it comes to advice on living life with some style to go along with the virtue we all seek…. (Sure we do..) Enjoy!

In a drear-nighted December,
  Too happy, happy tree,
Thy branches ne’er remember
  Their green felicity.

~~- John Keats ~~

~~ Stanzas ~~


“A priest advised Voltaire on his death bed to renounce the devil. Voltaire said, “This is no time to make new enemies” — Attribution unclear

“A gift of flowers will soon be made to you. Don’t eat them this time.” — Cute Bee

“First, learn to love yourself, and then you will learn to love others.” — Chen-It Ong

“Waiting is.” — R.A. Heinlein, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’

“Think it more satisfactory to live richly than die rich.” — Sir Thomas Browne

“Smile, but sharpen your knives.” — Found without attribution; probably a Fremen proverb (the original would have said “chyrsknife”)

“None but a fool is always right.” — Hare

“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one  damn thing over and over.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus  — Meditations, iv, 17

“Character is a victory, not a gift.” — Our old friend, Anonymous

“Courage conquers all things.” — Ovid

The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds and naked woods and meadows brown and sear.

~~ William Cullen Bryant ~~

~~ The Death of the Flowers ~~


********************************

It’s done. In the final analysis, that is all that can be said of it, as it should be. Having fulfilled my self-imposed duty for the day, (while making no claims of quality, lest we find ourselves in court), I’ll take my leave, post-haste, to go begin the process of consuming sufficient herbal oils and essences to mitigate my agony…. Wish me luck, ffolkes, I’ll need it…. See y’all tomorrow, come Hell, or High Water…. I’ve been through both of late, so, that’s no empty promise….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….