Your majesty’s attire smacks of deliberate irrelevance….

Posted on March 23, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

There are times when a good round of really gross, anatomically incorrect, yet innovative, viciously antagonistic cursing does one more good than anything less vulgar can possibly accomplish, partially because of that selfsame vulgarity….. And, of course, when one breaks down completely, morals-training-wise, stooping to the forceful, heartfelt use of that crowd favorite, the time-tested, universally applicable Anglo-Saxon euphemism for the act of physical love, otherwise known as the F-word, is our only viable recourse…. We all know how much better the mere voicing of this honorable incantation can make us feel, don’t we? Well, those among us who refuse to be hypocrites do, anyway….

So, what happened today that prompted such a long-winded way to say I feel like saying “FUCK”, at the top of my lungs? Well, let me tell you…. Here on Earth, some of us have agreed to live with other species, domiciling together in a form of mutual support and honorable relationship, for no other reason than our own compatibility and liking for each other’s company….

There are several species with whom we have made such an agreement over time, a group that includes some rather exotic creatures, such as snakes, rodents, spiders, and fish of all varieties, including dangerous ones, such as sharks and/or piranha, along with the more mundane mammalian choices such as dogs, horses, etc….. Myself, I’m not sure how I’d enjoy cuddling with a piranha, or petting a python, but, to each his own..

Then, of course, we have cats….. I’m not at all certain that the relationship we have with them is completely agreeable to either party at times; there are too many instances where our purposes and/or desires come into conflict for us to ever be fully at ease in each other’s company…. I spend as much time chasing the damn cat with a squirt bottle of water as I do petting her, and that is mostly at HER insistence…. She seems to enjoy pissing me off & having me chase here around the house, spraying her with the water bottle…. Well, until I catch her anyway…. then, she tends to learn VERY quickly, whatever it was we were tussling about…. funny how that works….

So, this morning, this 4 lb. furry black menace decided that 2 AM was just the right time for me to be up….. the fucking asshole. She probably heard me making plans to go see my grandson today, & figured she could help out the most by making sure I was up in plenty of time….. Sure she did…. I mean, seven fucking hours should be enough for me to get ready, don’t you think? Apparently, she thinks that’s about right….. bloody nuisance is what she is….. Plus, she KNOWS I’m a softy at heart, and won’t actually HURT her, even if getting her wet isn’t one of her favorite things….. Like most of us do when dealing with our fuzzy companions, I bluster at her a lot, but she knows it’s all bark, and no real bite….

I suppose in her own way, she thought she was being nice, so it’s hard to get too upset…. especially given the weird hours I’ve been putting in of late. Three in the AM isn’t particularly unfamiliar to me these days, so two o’clock is hardly a handicap, or much of a change, for that matter….. So, I guess I’ll let her live…. She DID not only get me up, but provided the material for this intro, such as it is, so, I suppose I should thank her…..

I will…. after I finish being pissed off about being up at this hour, and having so much of the day to fill up, on so little rest…. At least I have good stuff to fill it with; a visit with Zack is always a bonus for me…. I only have the one grandson, so far, so I tend to savor our time together…. and, since I only get to see him a couple of times a year, they’re marked as special days on my calendar…. But, that’s not until way later, so…..

Shall we Pearl?

Cat: “A small, furry beast resembling a meatloaf…” — Smart Bee (honest, it wasn’t me!….)
_____________________________

“The gods too are fond of a joke.” — Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

One only need look at the platypus to understand this sentiment…. or look at our current crop of legislators…. If you’re anything like me, when you think of one of them, you automatically imagine them wearing their natural coats, which either consists of a big, loudly colored ruffed collar, a harlequin suit, and huge red shoes, or will closely resemble the fur of a polecat, aka, a skunk…. Oh, I know, those are both ancient, cheap shots, but, generally, I’m so direct and insulting, I thought I’d try to slip by y’all with a bit of style and elegance…. No such luck, eh?….

Actually, when I planned out the above paragraph in my mind, it seemed a lot more….. everything…. more funny, more relevant, more gripping….. just…… more. Having failed in that…. miserably, I might add…. we should go on to something more lucrative, or at least, potentially more interesting…. But, damn it, I don’t like to give up on a good pearl…. I know…. I’ll find some others, that match the tone and direction of this one from Ari…. Maybe, just maybe, if I can find enough of them, I can turn this into an adequate old-school pearl, thus saving this Pearl from an immediate disaster…..

Not that there is much that can save it, at this point, but, we’ve got to try, Mr. President!…. It’s too young and innocent to go down like this!…. Let’s see if SB has what it takes to save the day…. again….

“Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.’ — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“True artists scorn nothing.” — Albert Camus (1913-1960) — Nobel Prize speech (1957)

“For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.’ — Voltaire

“A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth.” — George Prentice

“Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, viii, 22

I suppose this just goes to show that sometimes you just have to dig deeper to find the jewels…. or, in this case, dive deeper to find the pearls…. Here they are, and they’re all from the deepest part of the ocean….. which may explain their relative elusiveness, as well as their esotericism….. Nonetheless, it does have a point, even if that point isn’t exactly scalpel-grade….
_____________________________

I have a feeling today is one of those days I’d best use something of my own here, so as not to bring harm to the reputation of anyone else by negative association…. So, here you go, with the first poem of mine that caught my eye, and my fancy, when I went to look for it…. It’s also one of the first I wrote in 2012, when I started writing poetry again, after a forty-some year hiatus…. This was written on 9/10/2012…..

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

“We ought never to do wrong when people are looking.” — Mark Twain

For a long time now, I’ve been immersed in the study of modern society, locking myself in to the close observation of what transpires in the public arena, using, for the most part, the same criteria to pick my subject matter as do the major news organizations…. Small wonder, they’re people, and so am I…. it only figures we’d do things in a similar way…. Unfortunately, as it turns out, this includes a strong preference for morbidity, seemingly, as 99% or more of what gets published in the major newspapers and online outlets is rather negative in terms of its subject matter….. Blood sells, as they say in the game….

When I have used articles from the news as the springboard for a rant, they generally fall into that same negative pattern; this, of course, is a natural hazard in ranting, and not entirely unexpected, or unwanted…. But, it does get old, as does any kind of negativity after a while, and it’s a good idea to occasionally give oneself a break from such anti-frivolity….

All of these contrary sort of thoughts occurred to me today as I went to look for something to rant about in the daily news…. I was pleasantly surprised to find the following article on what would be considered the front page of one of the news sites I frequent, SFGATE.com, run by the same folks who run the SF Chronicle newspaper…. It’s a charming little piece, not for its style or power of writing, but for the subject matter…. I cried, but, then, I’m a softy, with all my emotions right up near the surface, susceptible to babies, animals, & kids, and very partial to romantic interludes…. It’s such a heartwarming post, I defy anyone to read it and NOT feel at least a twinge of “Awwww”….

It also fits in with my own view on animals vs. humans as compassionate creatures….. I believe most animals on the planet to be far superior to any human, when it comes to essential morality…. Sure, they’ll obey their instinctual survival imperatives, to protect their territory, and to survive as either prey or predator, but, they’ll never do so out of of spite, or greed, or, ignorance, or sheer cussedness. (Okay, full disclosure… I HAVE known a couple of horses that were pretty fractious when it came to cooperating with people… but, they were anomalies for their species, I’m sure….I also knew this one blue jay that REALLY didn’t like people, too, but, hey, he probably had a reason…. We humans have a reputation for being assholes to other creatures….)

I have collected more than 2000 pictures from the internet over time, just for my own viewing pleasure…. A great many of them are examples of animals interacting between species, showing how the two, or more, species can get along with each other…. Also, I’ve observed animals all my life, and can state without hesitation that Man is the LEAST compassionate of ALL the mammalian species, and, really, hasn’t shown me any evidence that very many of them can be much much nicer than most reptiles, avians, or insects, in my experience (I THINK that covers the major phyla, doesn’t it?….) I haven’t studied the fish very deeply, in terms of interactive or relational skills, but, I know for sure and for certain that the sea-going mammals are ALL more intelligent, and more compassionate to other species, than is our own …..

So, I thought, for a change, I’d show a bit of compassion myself, and just give you the link to this uplifting post, then, follow it with some simple, easy-going pearls, with the only parameter being “nice”…. See? No rant, one of my poems, two old-schools, both light-hearted, and a “nice” link…. See how I can make nice when I try?…. At least as nice as a legislator, I think, and much more honest…. Plus, I don’t want anything from y’all, except your kind attention… Enjoy!…..

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Giraffe-licks-dying-zoo-worker-5340478.php

“Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

‘He was once asked what a friend is, and his answer was, “One soul abiding in two bodies.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.

— The Buddha

“By the accident of fortune a man may rule the world for a time, but by virtue of love he may rule the world forever.” — Lao Tzu

“At the touch of Love every one becomes a poet.” — Plato

‘How pleasant then to be insane.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

“…just when I had you wriggling in the crushing grip of reason, too…” — Calvin & Hobbes
_____________________________

I’m not sure how to feel about this one…. It has taken somewhat over three hours to complete all of the necessary operations to get this done, interspersed with frequent breaks, and it still, as far as I can tell, could use some work, or something….. more…. But, since it’s already longer than intended (which is NOT unusual, I assure you….), I’m going to continue to demonstrate my compassionate side, and let it go the way it is….. Lucky you, eh?….

See you tomorrow, and, yes, I know I threaten you like that every day…. Y’all should be used to it by now…. I know I’m getting pretty calloused in that respect, so, maybe I’ll think about doing something about it, some day…. Sure I will…. Well, as they are fond of saying downtown, so be it…. Ta, then….

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

They want that oil FULLY hydrogenated….

Posted on March 21, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Thanks to the Word Press bot monkeys, who blithely collect and display all of our site stats, posting them where we can see them, if we are brave enough, I know that there were a total of four views of my blog yesterday…. That’s pathetic, even though the people who DID come by are not …. I know them both… the other two visits were from me, as I checked the site during the day…..

People, not even folks, much less ffolkes, but, people at large, are, as I’ve heard said so elegantly, “staying away in droves”, and I’m pretty sure I know why…. It’s the subject matter, and the ranting, that is making it hard for people to get into my writing, I think…. I tend to rant a lot, and my subject matter, while sometimes of interest to all, more often probably just gets old…..

Since it’s been around forever, I can’t see the poetry I include as the most likely cause for the absence of readers…. and, the old-school pearls, while perhaps obscure at times, generally have enough good quotes in them to make them worthwhile to read…. as well as more often containing a modicum of humor…. Levity always plays better than angst…. They’re shorter, too, as a rule…

That leaves the ranting as the major reason people might avoid reading this material…. It’s generally longer than most folks want to read, and I do tend to get a bit vitriolic, I know, in describing some of the public figures that many people admire…. This may tend to cause some ire, as well, because, as I’m aware of, people don’t like to have their icons attacked, especially in ways that show them to be less than admirable people, thus taking away some of the shine that goes with being one of their admirers…..

To this handicap, add also that I tend to repeat my subject matter frequently, according to whatever articles in the news have arisen to stimulate one of my outbursts of outrage…. Considering these factors, one can see why many people might get tired of reading about the same old stuff, even if the insults are fresh, and my complaints are, at minimum, justifiable only in my own eyes… In addition, the mere fact of the truth of what I may say doesn’t seem to matter to some folks, as they don’t want to hear it anyway…. Them, I don’t really give much of a shit about, since they’re already dead, in regards their ability to reason….

But, the people who do come by who NEED to see what I write aren’t going to stay long, once they’ve been exposed to my style of expressing my outrage, as I tend to be rather forceful in my insults of a number of conservative, and liberal, iconic heroes, who, to me, are all the more villainous for their apparent harmlessness…. Their image as smart, caring individuals, with the interests of the common man at the forefront of their concerns, (which is what they WANT folks to believe about them….), gets punctured rather quickly around here, and their avaricious, self-serving, dishonest NASTINESS is exposed, by unassailable evidence (often out of their own mouths….), to show them as the selfish assholes they really are, behind the smarmy smiles, and mouths full of lies….

Ah well…. As I’ve said before, I write this mostly for my own benefit…. If I leave all this angst-filled frustration inside my head, it rots, or percolates into a mishmash of thoughts and ideas that would make anyone ill….. Instead, I write, & get all of it off my chest, into the public marketplace of ideas, the human cloud of common experience, if you will, where there is at least a small chance that someone will see it, & be thereby inspired to think…. It’s a bit frustrating at times, to know that so few are seeing it, especially since I KNOW FOR A FACT there are MILLIONS of ignorant fools out there who NEED to see the information I share every day….

But, I can live with the frustration, because I know that getting this OUT of my head is doing me more good than I could ever get from psychotherapy, or from trying to live the lie so many people fall for…. I know THAT for a FACT….. So, if folks want to keep ignoring what I write, that’s okay…. Maybe a few more of the over 440 ffolkes who signed up to follow my blog will stop in to read, be inspired, and share it around the web…. If even a few people see my words, it could conceivably make a small difference…. and, in the final analysis, isn’t that what we all want?….

Shall we Pearl?

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” — Max Planck, 1858-1947

“And waste their music on the savage race.” — Edward Young (1684-1765) — Love of Fame, Satire v, Line 228
_____________________________

As is often the case, you’ll need to at least skim these articles to get the full effect of the following material…. Don’t worry, I’ll wait….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/Arkansas-court-tosses-1-2B-judgment-against-J-J-5334330.php

http://www.sfgate.com/raiders/article/Feds-end-Raiderette-wage-probe-with-no-action-5332287.php

P. What riches give us let us then inquire: Meat, fire, and clothes.
B. What more?
P. Meat, fine clothes, and fire.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Moral Essays, Epistle iii, Line 79

Is there any doubt left, in anyone’s mind, that in this country, if not the entire world, the courts, and the federal government in general, are completely under the control and influence of corporate entities? There is none left in mine, let me assure you, not a dram, nor even a drop….. The links above lead to articles of note on the subject, both of which are merely the reports of two more instances of corporate influence on legislation, just a small piece of a long list of occasions throughout history, where the corporate interests of a large company were protected by a court decision, or, as in the second case, by federal lawyers (?….!!!) from the Attorney General’s office of investigation…. What a crock!

In the case of the Raiders cheerleaders vs. the NFL bullies, what do you want to wager that the law, regarding “seasonal” businesses being “exempt” from the laws the rest of us must follow, was already very familiar to the company before drawing up the contracts for anyone they might hire, such as the cheerleaders, thus saving themselves, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars in operating expenses, from not having to pay for such operational items as oh, say, a living wage for the people who work for the company? (By a living wage, I refer to an amount of money earned that one could actually LIVE on, not what some shark of a CEO thinks is “reasonable”, an amount that is generally minuscule, compared to even the minimum wage now in place; thus, it becomes a figure which protects the bottom line….)

Not only was the company probably aware of the law, I would also wager serious money the lobbyists for the NFL in Congress were instrumental in setting the regulations that are part of the law, when the law was first written…. There is no safer way to protect one’s interests than to be able to say what goes into a law that one’s company will have to obey…. Why not write the law the way they want it in the first place?…. It’s a simple matter of paying ONE, or perhaps a few corrupt politicians in the present, thus saving millions of dollars of future costs….. This, of course, enables the corporation to pocket those millions, since all that money won’t be going to the cheerleaders, or back to the consumers…

As for the J&J decision, well, I guess that one got fixed way back in the mid-eighteen hundreds, when corporations were awarded their “personhood”…. In this case, that protects them from being confused with a “medical facility”, you see, thus making them, once again, “exempt” from any of the laws pertaining to what they actually do as a business…. They are free to do pretty much whatever they want, as long as they remember to set aside enough of what they’ve stolen to pay their lawyers, and the occasional congress person, or judge…. Easy money, from where they’re sitting, wouldn’t you say?…..

(Note: after finishing, a thought…. How many of the lawyers involved in all of the cases in the two articles went to the same law school? Bet it’s more than just a couple…. Between the judges, & their lackeys, lawyers on both sides of the issues, and the politicians, who are what lawyers become after they leave the larval stage, I’d bet one could find a LOT of collusive interactions from past involvements by the players…. but, who’s going to notice, or question that sort of thing, besides ffolkes like me?….)

I began this rant yesterday, when I first read the two articles…. Actually, it only took the first one to piss me off; the second article just made the rant imperative, while adding more fuel to my outrage…. The NFL corporation(s) (along with other massive conglomerates of assholes who exploit games theory, such as the NCAA, the NBA, the NHL, the NTA, and MLB, WBF, WWF, just to name some of those in THIS country…. In the rest of the world, think Rugby, Cricket, Soccer/Futbol, tennis, etc…. Oh, right, and some for the richest gamesmen, sailing races…. Think, literally (look it up…. I did….) billions upon billions of dollars of income from EACH sport, for EACH of those corporations, EACH year….. not counting TV income….) has to be one of the most egregious examples in modern society of how corrupt our government has become, and how that corruption extends into all reaches of Society At Large….

Here is a corporation whose sole purpose is to provide the public with a whole range of time- and money-consuming activities/pastimes that involve the participation and, more importantly, the focus, attention, and MONEY, of literally hundreds of millions of fools, who are thus kept from using a large part of their brain for thinking…. Of course, these are the brains occupying the middle and lower end of the human bell curve of intelligence, but, hey, there are a LOT of these people out there, who provide the massive inertia that makes society so hard to change…. Why? Because everyone is busy watching a GAME, or betting on a game, or waiting for a game to start…..

In addition, and perhaps more significantly, it encourages those millions of people to spend a large part of their income (and thus, the time and energy spent to obtain that money….) in paying for the ‘privilege’ of watching these GAMES, and to buy any number of otherwise USELESS articles that show how engaged they are in supporting their vicarious heroic icons…. Add to this all the other sports leagues in the world, each one controlled by some VERY RICH assholes with no concern for anyone who can’t do something for them, and we see just one of the numerous ways in which the shadowy corporate masters of society have asserted their control over the ignorant, and the greedy….

Billions and billions of dollars are spent each year by the public, to watch their icons bang into each other, or toss around a ball, or in some way compete in such a way as to arouse the same vicarious feelings in the watchers that they felt when personally engaging in those activities, when they were young…. In short, it’s a drug, which soothes the public mind by allowing them to repeat good feelings as many times as they wish, thereby giving up all their individuality, their time, their money, and all of their self-respect (in my mind….), just so they can be part of a crowd of others, all with the same goal of wasting precious time watching other people PLAY A FUCKING GAME!….

I think, if I was asked to do so, I could come up with at least a dozen other ways to spend all that time and money, any one of which would help the world find its way to a better place than we are in now…. and so could you. Almost anyone could…. But, it will never happen, because the Powers That Be like things just as they are, where they have the control over society to do exactly as they wish, and the major portion of humanity will never even know they are being enslaved…. not as long as the Forty-Niners play on Sunday, or the Giants are in the World Series….

Basta…. Everything I’ve said here is true…. y’all KNOW it is…. All the evidence for all these assertions I’ve made is right there in the headlines of the news, every day, if one is alert enough, and clever enough to see it…. The masters of society have enslaved mankind for over five thousand years now, from shortly after the time they convinced everyone else that money was a better thing to use than barter, (It’s not, for a number of reasons, but, that’s a talk for another time….), while the rest of us have the choice to ignore our enslavement, go along with it, with or without ill-grace, or, to know about it, hate it, & complain, loudly, even eloquently, but, to little or no effect (I’m doubtless guilty of the latter….) (…. guilty of complaining to little effect, not of doing so with eloquence….)

At this point, unless there are enough concerned people to band together to expose this issue, which would doubtlessly prompt everyone else to DO something to stop them (they WON’T stop on their own, count on that…), then, by golly, ffolkes, we’re all going to pay the price for THEIR ignorance, when the planet steps in to cleanse itself of all the crap we’ve thrown around during our short tenancy….. Won’t THAT be fun?…. Well, you’re probably right, it won’t be….

“The truth cannot be tidied up.” — Hugh Prather
_____________________________

It’s a long rant today, I know…. Sorry, but, that had all been building up a while, & needed to be lanced before it got infected, or festered, as we like to say on colloquial side of the street…. Besides, it’s all true, and needs to be told, so, I’m not going to apologize for doing what I consider to be my duty as a citizen of this country, one who is free, educated, and patriotic, without being blinded by sentiment, or faith-based nonsense.

That being said, I would normally use one of my own poems here, so all of this doesn’t sully the name of some other poet by people’s unfortunate tendency to form associations that aren’t real, merely due to circumstantial presence, rather than any similarity of thought…. But, I decided that I wasn’t going to give in to that sort of ignorance today, because I WANT something good here, and my own stuff can’t necessarily be judged so, not without giving up all objectivity….

So, in order to indulge myself, I’m going with a classic poet, whose reputation is such that mere association with MY work could never adversely affect HIS reputation…. It’s been too long in place, and is too accurate, to ever change…. Society will always admire this man, in spite of himself…. In a race of creatures whose one major claim to fame is that each is a unique individual, this man stands out, and always has…. Enjoy! I intend to do so….

My Voice

Within this restless, hurried, modern world
We took our hearts’ full pleasure–You and I,
And now the white sails of our ship are furled,
And spent the lading of our argosy.

Wherefore my cheeks before their time are wan,
For very weeping is my gladness fled,
Sorrow hath paled my lip’s vermilion,
And Ruin draws the curtains of my bed.

But all this crowded life has been to thee
No more than lyre, or lute, or subtle spell
Of viols, or the music of the sea
That sleeps, a mimic echo, in the shell.

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

_____________________________

Oh boy…. I can relax now, and have a bit of fun…. I’ve been so focused this morning, on getting the rant just right, as well as, I admit, making a complete mess of the intro, that I lost track of the fun button, so my blood level is running a bit low….. Since I’m so sober, I’ll try to bring a bit of balance to the Metaphorse, and use a simple, single parameter for the following pearl, to wit: the following quotes have all been determined to display the essence of bozoid tendencies in some fashion, to be determined at the time of consumption…. Enjoy them, please…. if you don’t, I’ve failed, again….

😳

“I think a good gift for the president would be a chocolate revolver. And since he’s so busy, you’d probably have to run up to him and hand it to him.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

“Ignorance is never out of style. It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today, and it will set the pace tomorrow.” — Franklin K. Dane

Born Again Christian = “I guess I myth’d again.” — Smart Bee

“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing, right in your ear.” — Dave Barry

— How many Canadians does it take to change a light bulb? Twelve. Four to form a Parliamentary study committee to decide how to solve the problem, one Francophone to complain that I didn’t translate this joke into French, one Native Canadian to protest that the interests of Native Canadians have been overlooked, one woman from the National Action Committee On the Status Of Women to say that women have been underrepresented in the process, one to go over the border to the Niagara Falls Factory Outlet Mall and buy a new bulb and not pay duty on it on the way back, one to actually screw it in, one to collect taxes on the whole procedure so the government can afford it, one to buy a case of Molson for everybody to drink, and one to drop the puck.” — Smart Bee, eh?

“If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.” — Wittgenstein

“Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 50

Oops! Sorry…. it took a kind of radical turn at the end there, didn’t it? Oh well, it kind of works, and I have a special contract with Marcus Aurelius…. his quotes ALWAYS stay, no matter what the parameters, just because, for being over 1800 years old, they are consistently the most correct, insightful, and relevant statements that can be found…. Seriously, he never seemed to miss, not if it got written down…. and, if you do stop to think about it a little, it even fits into the group it is part of, as a sort of closing, summarization sort of thing…. sort of…. Hey, even if not, it’s still a brilliant thought, right? How can you lose?…. Right…. you can’t…. Even the darkest cloud can have a silver lining…..
_____________________________

Well, that took forever, it seems….. a feeling the clock confirms, as I’m two entire hours later than usual getting this done…. That might have something to do with not getting up until almost 0500, which has to do with consuming massive quantities of sleep aids in various manifestations, so it isn’t necessarily surprising, or alarming….. just different, I suppose one could say, and be correct….

There, a quick hundred words or so to say a bit more NOTHING, and we can bring this mess to a close….. I tried several new techniques today, behind the scenes, & I’ll let y’all know how they worked another time…. For now, I suppose I’ve held you captive to my whim long enough, and should let y’all be on your way into the day…. SIGH…. Okay, but, this power over others stuff is addictive, y’know….. See ya tomorrow….

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

We’re inspecting hot beef sandwiches…

Posted on March 15, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Howdy… Come on in, & look closely at this paragraph…. Please note the obligatory placement, here at the front of this article, where one expects to find it, in all its introductory glory. If it were another kind of paragraph, we wouldn’t be able to abuse it like we do here at ECR…. The others are all too vocal in their complaints. This one seems to just lie there and take whatever I throw its way, never complaining. Of course, it never does much to help, either…. it just sits there, allowing me to force practically ANYTHING down its gullet, to see if we can come up with something new and fresh for ffolkes to enjoy. I suppose it would be nice if it had a bit more pizazz, but, hey, what do you want in an actual intro?…. Style? Hah! Interest? Bah!…. A bold faced LIE! That’s what we need!…. It always works for Barack….

Sorry, couldn’t help myself….. I get carried away by my enthusiasm at times, as you may have noted…. or not. Regardless, I do tend to go a bit overboard in certain literary instances; it’s habitual, you see, from my misspent youth, the major portion of which I spent as a captive journalist in an unnamed Third World country….

I was on safari with my family when I was very young, when I was taken by slave hunters, and sold to a business man in China…. He forced me to slave away my tender years in his newspaper office, chained to a desk in the Features section, writing fluff pieces for the insert magazines in the weekend edition…. It was a torturous way to grow up, and I don’t miss it, except, occasionally, I’ll feel a pang of nostalgia for the fond memories I have of removing my master’s head from his shoulders with a nice, sharp katana….

Now that we’ve had our little sojourn into the land of fantasy, and a short break or two, (I’m a bit stiff this morning…. and not in a good way….), I think I’ve figured out how to extricate myself from this intro section with a bit less pain than usually is the case…. we’ll use some WD-40!…. It’s amazing how many things can be unstuck by a little bit of this technological magic…. Just a bit of it, right on the keyboard, and there’s no typing on it for hours, until it has all ‘penetrated’ to its required depth….. I know, it SOUNDS perverted, but it really isn’t any big deal, and for all its a tool, AND a household tip, it’s actually pretty clean in its habits…. Doesn’t whine much, either…

Of course, now that we’ve adopted this somewhat odd method of introductory shenanigans, there is a distinct possibility of becoming hidebound, or, alternately, completely deranged….. Both have been seen in clinical trials of this product, so, we’ll have to wait and see on those…. In the meantime, I’m looking back over what’s been done so far, and it’s not bad…. I don’t see any blood anywhere, and nobody has asked for any bandages; this makes for a nice, quiet morning, don’t you think? I do, sort of…. think, that is…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“It is only the superficial qualities that last. Man’s deeper nature is soon found out.” — Oscar Wilde
_____________________________

This pearl will be what I call an odd duck…. well, I guess one could say it already is, and I’m just pot/kettling, or, prognosticating without a license…. Any who, in the normal course of events in our mornings around here, a rant would be the order of the day for this point in time…. A rant, however, requires from me a certain state of mind, fueled by outrage, supported by angst-filled emotional turmoil left over from my days as a certified, full-on crazy dude, before I tore up my certificate, and went natural….

As is patently obvious by this time, that state of mind is in a different state, probably Minnesota by this time. (I don’t KNOW why it would, or should be Minnesota…. that’s just what was in the note…), so a rant won’t be forthcoming, despite having beau coups material to choose from out in the BBR…..

What I DO have for you is a very, very good article by one of my favorite columnists, on one of the subjects about which I tend to rant, to wit: recent events in the central arena of the political circus, wherein we have DiFi (Her Gargantuan Majesty, Senator Dianne Feinstein….), and her current feud with the CIA, over the continuing cover-up of their involvement in torture during the Shrub’s reign, a cover-up they have been (clumsily) trying to extend to include her precious Senate Committee on Intelligence, by refusing to show documents, or hacking into Congressional computers to try to steal back documents they didn’t want seen…. She is now pissed off at them, big time, and the following article discusses that issue with great clarity and insight….

After you read the article, like a good little Gentle Reader, I have included a nice little seven-star pearl for your reading pleasure, and, hopefully, your eventual enlightenment…..

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/DiFi-bites-the-hand-that-fed-her-5315594.php

(The parameter for this pearl is: “Politics, schmolitics…. Back off! We’re talkin’ business here!”…. Joe Lobbyist…)

CUI BONO? [Latin] What good would that do _me_? — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary

(You will find this engraved over the doorway to every law school in America….though, in many cases, the translation reads, “What’s in it for ME?”)

“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 (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 17

“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won’t tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.” — Gaiman and Pratchett, Good Omens

“There’s no problem so awful that you can’t add some guilt to it and make it even worse.” — Calvin and Hobbes

“It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.” — Joseph Joubert

“All the world’s a Schrödinger Box, and we are merely kitties.” — Smart Bee

“We read of a certain Roman emperor who built a magnificent palace. In digging the foundation, the workmen discovered a golden sarcophagus ornamented with three circlets, on which were inscribed, “I have expended; I have given; I have kept; I have possessed; I do possess; I have lost; I am punished. What I formerly expended, I have; what I gave away, I have.” — Gesta Romanorum — Tale xvi

No, I don’t know, so, please, stop asking me why it turned like that…. It just did, and wouldn’t let me turn it back…. Oh well, there must be a lesson in there we need to learn…. I’ve found that to often be the case when I don’t get a pearl’s subconscious point at first look… It can take a few readings, and some percolation of ideas before it becomes clear just what my inner sage was trying to get us to see…. I think, though, given the pearls I see here, you can trust that this lesson is one worth meeting the challenge to figure it out….
_____________________________

There are days when finding the right poem becomes problematic…. Usually, it’s because I can’t make up my mind, not for any esoteric, intelligent reason, so there’s no need for sympathy…. I’m just telling it like it is…. Any who, in many of those cases, as in today’s instance, I turn to the person whom I most admire as a poet…. If you asked me “why”, my only response would be “because”…. because of poems like this….

Death sets a thing significant
The eye had hurried by,
Except a perished creature
Entreat us tenderly

To ponder little workmanships
In crayon or in wool,
With “This was last her fingers did,”
Industrious until

The thimble weighed too heavy,
The stitches stopped themselves,
And then ‘t was put among the dust
Upon the closet shelves.

A book I have, a friend gave,
Whose pencil, here and there,
Had notched the place that pleased him,–
At rest his fingers are.

Now, when I read, I read not,
For interrupting tears
Obliterate the etchings
Too costly for repairs.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

_____________________________

I don’t know if it is obvious to y’all, but I’m suffering today from severe burn-out; my creative juices are dried up, to the point of choking me on dust when I try to compose anything more complex than whining, as is patently the case today. Rather than subject y’all to any more of my less-than-dignified complaining, we’ll go for another old-school pearl, with the only parameter being that the each included pearl should say something “nice”…. Let’s see how realistic THAT is….

“For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive.” — David H. Lawrence

(It took me four readings of this before I finally figured out what other name David H. Lawrence is known by…. think, “D.H…”) (Yeah, me too…. Doh!)

“There is no difference between a wise man and a fool when they fall in love.” — Murphy’s laws on sex

“It sometimes happens, even in the best of families, that a baby is born. This is not necessarily cause for alarm. The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money.” — Elinor Goulding Smith

“Sir? She’s giving “Reality” as a *previous* address!” — Smart Bee

“Do not do unto others as you would they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.” — George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903), Maxims for — Revolutionists: The Golden Rule

“I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?” — The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

“Consider the daffodil. And while you’re doing that, I’ll be over here, looking through your stuff.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

I don’t care what anyone says…. I like it. Since it, surprisingly, measures 8 on a scale of 10 for whimsy, it may be one of the better pearls we’ve found in some time…. I hope reading it is as much fun for you, as putting it together was for me….
_____________________________

Having thus completed the required number of sections, without calculating the cost, or the consequences, I shall now proceed to perform the last act of defiance…. meaning I’ll go post it, regardless of how insane that may seem to anyone else…. I stopped worrying about that a long time ago, thank goodness…. Fair warning: see you tomorrow….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
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 magical life of Welsh budgies….

Posted on December 25, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Any mental functions attempted in this area must be re-evaluated during a subsequent period. It has been discovered that standard logic works sideways in this area due to the influence of the occupant.” — Smart Bee, describing a sign reportedly seen on the White House lawn in 1983…. (Fairly early in the Reagan Years, for those with sympathetic memory loss issues….)

For some reason, SB left this sitting here on the screen for me to find…. go figure….

Most mornings here at ECR find me staring with trepidation at a blank screen, worried that inspiration will fail me at last, and no Pearl will be forthcoming. So far, I’ve managed to avoid that, most days, missing only about a dozen or so over the last two and a bit more of years; many of those were due to technical glitches, with about a half-dozen due to illness…. such as the first four days of this month, when I came down with bronchitis while on a cruise….. Such fun that was! One of my most compelling memories will always center around being trundled through the hallways of the ship, in a wheelchair, miserable, (a euphemism for tossing my cookies….), and wondering how many thousands of dollars it was going to run me for this….

I lived through that, so I guess it taught me a lesson….The problem is, I can’t figure out what the lesson is, that it is trying to teach me…. Don’t get sick? Don’t go on cruises? It’s a bit of a facer when I can’t even decipher my own subconscious’ little tricks designed to get me to live more…. what? Safely? Healthy? What? I don’t get what it’s trying to tell me with this…. It’s not as if I spend all my time pursuing unhealthy behaviors…. Hell, the way I move these days, there’s no danger of any speed-related illness or injury, that’s for certain…. I feel like a snail much of the time, and walking over two blocks is getting to be a real challenge…. I stay warm, I don’t hang out in crowds, and I eat a well balanced diet, mostly….

So, what’s the deal here? Did I lose all my marbles last night? Have I forgotten what I was going to write about today? What’s with all these questions, anyway? Have I lost it completely? Maybe I should wait for one of these to be answered before starting to write the next….. But, if I started answering any of these, how will I get to where I want to go? And just where is it I want to go, anyway?….. Maybe I should just start to think about that one…. But, since I haven’t known the answer to that question for many, many years, other than where it might be in relation to a cruise itinerary, it would arguably be a waste of time…..

Of course, we’ve already done that for, oh, twenty minutes or so already, so that isn’t going to fly as motivation, or as defense, at least, not a viable one….. I suppose I’ll have to just pull out method #9 for ending intro sections, which involves a lot of noise and party favors, while the noises from outside the house continue to sound as if the Twilight Zone has settled into the neighborhood for good…. No wind, but nice wind-chimes happening, and the lights keep flickering at odd moments out on the street….. I think I’ll just leave the doors and windows locked up for the moment…. Oh, wait, look at that!

It’s a nocturnally oriented, black faced, cattus domesticus, sleepily winding across the floor to demand morning libations…. Loudly demanding her morning food and water attention, she graciously accepts the morning attentions of one of her personal slaves…. There, one high-maintenance cat taken care of…. Since I’ve managed to meander far enough to satisfy even the most stringent of bureaucrats, even the one with the dual pocket protectors, method #9 isn’t going to be needed today…. That’s always good news, as it is one of the more expensive to use in terms of physical resources that need to be replaced each time…. That damn caviar is getting expensive!…. I suppose I could use non-Beluga, but, what would the point of that be?….

Okay, so, not bad…. Five full paragraphs of completely useless bullshit, none of which had A) any real meaning beyond its existence as fodder, or piffle, B) any connection to Reality at large, either Consensual, or Privately Held Beliefs, and, most importantly, C) more dignity than necessary to keep from breaking formation….. For less than a full cup of coffee, that’s not bad at all…. Hell, it might just be a record, but, we’re not going to measure today…. The necessary tools are all put away in their winter stations, and I’m not up for it…. Besides, I just realized, it’s a holiday, isn’t it? So, legally, I can take the day off from tasks like that….. I have reached my limit of nonsense, and shall now go find another way to annoy myself…..

Shall we Pearl?…. In fact, for openers, let’s do it twice, because that’s twice as nice…..

“I don’t understand why everybody’s in disguise.” — Lemmy Kilmister

“Integrity has no need for rules.” — Albert Camus
_____________________________

So, it’s Christmas…. This is a tough holiday for me, since I don’t believe in the Christian hierarchies of thought, or buy into its particular set of delusional material…. In fact, I’m pretty pissed off right now at the Christians, as I hold their attitudes to be a significant factor in the events that have led to the current world environmental crisis; you know, the End-of-Days scenario, that is forming as we speak, or, more accurately, as I regale y’all with my outrage…. The Christian attitude, of “we’re special, because we are the ONLY religion that is right….” has caused more damage over time than any other single idea, especially since it is so egregiously FALSE….. but, I digress….

Any who, since I don’t believe in the BS, it’s hard for me to engage in the more likable parts of the season, like the gift giving, because I find it so hard to justify the rampant consumerism that goes along with that…. The ads, commercials, the billboards, the deals being screamed at us from every venue, get so annoying, it makes me want to go out, buy a gun, and start carrying it around, not necessarily to USE it on the idiots, but to show it now and again, to at least get them to SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR FIVE DAMN MINUTES….. How many times does it take before “Silent Night” becomes a legitimate call to take up arms?….

So, for this first section, we’ll go with an old-school variety of pearl, and hope we can find some way to poke some fun at the culture we all inhabit…. Hey, it’s a tough job, but, somebody’s got to do it, right?…..

“We have nothing to fear but the atmosphere itself.” — Smart Bee

(Okay, so it’s not funny…. it’s TRUE though, and that should count for something…..) (Okay, I’ll stop with the comments now, and let the rest of this pearl proceed apace….)

“Space is not the final frontier. The final frontier is the human soul. Space is merely the place where we are most likely to meet the challenge. The victory will occur in the continual process of challenging and testing our limits — both as individuals and as a species — and not in the amount of territory conquered.” — Solomon Short

“Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, viii, 51

Conservative: The mix of megalomania and stupidity. — Smart Bee, in a VERY insightful moment

“There are many things worth living for, few things worth dying for, nothing worth killing for.” — from Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”

Memorial Day In The United States; “A day when almost every community holds memorial parades. The man who enjoys marching in line and file to the strains of music falls below my contempt; he received his great brain by mistake.” — Albert Einstein

“To be wise, the only thing you really need to know is when to say “I don’t know.” — Smart Bee

As I’ve said before, I know it will be okay when Smart Bee has the brackets covered….. Perfect, if a bit eclectic in nature…. good embedded cynicism, I think, if a bit light on incipient sardonicism…
_____________________________

Hmm…. let’s see now…. for whom am I in the mood today? Ah, I know…. This will do nicely….

Old Men

People expect old men to die,
They do not really mourn old men.
Old men are different. People look
At them with eyes that wonder when…
People watch with unshocked eyes;
But the old men know when an old man dies.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

_____________________________

I had some trouble figuring out what to put in here, but managed to find an archived rant, one that should fit in quite well…. It’s fairly long, but quite cogent, so, we’ll just get to it…. This is from June 22, 2013….. not so long ago, was it?…. A mere six months…. which, as the rant indicates, another six months when NOTHING changed in the world at large….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The rights of one are as sacred as the rights of a million.” — Eugene V. Debs, US labor leader.

(Note: Debs received one million votes in 1920 as candidate for US President, while serving a 10-year jail sentence for having said in June 1918: “Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder… the master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.”) — Smart Bee

This has been sitting around for a couple of days, since I found it in SB. It’s the perfect beginning for a politirant, and the news of late has provided a number of interesting side notes to this idea, so I find myself in the position of being compelled to rant, which is the best attitude to start with….

The recent news has shown a number of items concerned with the revelations just released a few weeks ago, when a former NSA contractor spilled the beans about how the US government has been spying on its own people, collecting personal data from phone records, mercantile records, and from review of emails and other data mined from the internet…. The revelations, of course, are in the process of being denied and/or devalued by that government, who are trying to convince the public that the spying is “transparent”, and that the information is NOT being collected to investigate American citizens…. This, of course, is a bald faced lie, and anyone who believes it deserves anything that happens to them….

The government of this country is in the hands of people who are controlled by the corporate masters of society, sometimes willfully, most times without their complete knowledge. They (the corporate masters…) don’t give a SHIT about the rights of anyone else, so the above statement that got Mr. Debs in trouble is shown to be perfectly true. The people who control society don’t believe in the sacred nature of rights, for anyone who isn’t them, so it can be said that the rights of one are as sacred as the rights of a million, because to the 1% (a number that is actually far larger than the number of real masters of society…. that’s probably closer to .001%…..), neither one is sacred at all….

What disturbs me a lot of the time is that there are still a lot of people who believe that, of the choices available in the political spectrum, one side or another is better, and showing support for one of them will direct matters to a more favorable (for the people) resolution…. The fact is, neither the Republicans, nor the Democrats, nor any of the Independents who are in office, or trying to get into office, have any interest at all in doing anything other than establishing their own agenda as the one used by society. Those agendas have nothing to do with helping the general public; they are designed to benefit only those who ascribe to the correct philosophy. No matter which political party or entity you choose, you’re going to get screwed, in the final analysis.

“The art of government is the organization of idolatry.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

If you still think that Barack Obama is going to help the common man, well, I suggest you listen to the crap he is putting out right now about this surveillance. Remember, too, that he signed the law that killed the Bill of Rights, on New Year’s Eve of 2012, the infamous National Defense Authorization Act, which makes it legal for the government to arrest citizens without a warrant, to hold them in an unknown place, without any oversight or review of rights, and try them in a secret court, without legal representation. It authorized the use of drones in a domestic fashion (which they continue to lie about, and say they aren’t using them…. when reports from all over the country provide relatively incontrovertible PROOF that they ARE using them….), and, most assuredly, authorized the illegal wiretapping and internet data mining that is currently going on, even though it has been exposed.

We may as well begin referring to the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution as the Bill of Former Rights, because, face it, ffolkes, you don’t have them anymore. I’ve heard it said that they are not rights, anyway, as a right is something nobody can take away from you…. More accurately, you have no rights that you are unable to defend…. and the government has slyly convinced most people that they don’t want those rights anyway….

Look how many formerly intelligent people are jumping on the bandwagon about gun control, forgetting all that our forefathers cautioned us about, when they warned about the possible encroachment of big business and the churches into the workings of government…. Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Mason, Franklin, all of them mistrusted the corporate interests and the preachers, having suffered much at their hands, and they tried to warn us against listening to them….

But, what happened to Eugene Debs back in 1919, when he was sent to prison (in direct violation of the right to free speech….) was not the first indicator that things had regressed, and the trend toward government takeover of the rights of US citizenry has continued right up to today. The recent revelations about spying, you will see, will be quashed, and ignored by those in power, as there is now nothing we can do to stop them from doing whatever they want…. According to the laws we let them slip by us, it’s all legal ffolkes…. We are screwed, and the only good thing I can see about it, is that, due to global warming, climate change, and the imminent destruction of the human species by our own pollution, we won’t have long to put up with it….

Books are burning
In the main square, and I saw there
The fire eating the text.
Books are burning
In the still air
And you know where they burn books
People are next.

– “Books Are Burning”, XTC
_____________________________

To some degree, I am procrastinating the finish of this Pearl…. It is now but 0635 in the AM of Christmas Day, and I can foresee a long, boring day ahead, filled with many hours for which some sort of entertainment must be found that won’t stultify my brain completely…. The current choices offered by the mainstream media just aren’t going to provide me with anything remotely amusing, and the library is closed today…. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to go back to bed, and sleep until tomorrow….

First, though, let’s see how this came out….. Hmm… not too shabby for a non-government contractor working for free…. It will pass muster for a holiday, at least…. Gosh, I suppose this means I can delay no longer, but, must find a way to end this, hopefully with some grace and dignity…. Ah, the hell with that….. I’m outta here, ffolkes…. See ya….

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

Another in a long line of wretched laundry confessions….

Posted on September 2, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Since it’s already six of one, I’m going to assume that it’s also half dozen of another, and, in spite of how it may seem, or whether or not it is ethical, or moral, or not, that’s the way it will stay. There isn’t a damn thing a single one of us can do about it, so any reluctance to acknowledge this state of affairs can only lead to difficulties for you, and, more critically, for your immediate family…. Sorry, but, natural law is natural law, and there is nothing any of us can do about it, is there? Try to capitulate with some grace, and be a credit to your family, eh?

Nonsense and snide innuendo aside, how y’all doin’? It’s been an interesting two or three days, what with moving, landlord bullying, and internet epiphanies, so I’ll try to correlate some of the more outré information into a palatable format, thus turning shit into jewelry (crap –> pearls). Or not, I’m not sure, and I definitely don’t care HOW it happens, as long as it happens, and does so without bloodshed. I’m running out of bandaging material, or I wouldn’t even care about the blood, so, since I’m strewing BS all over the place at an alarming rate already, we’ll go on, to save resources…

Where, you may ask? Where, indeed…. we are off into the wilds of gigoid’s brain, where there is no telling just what we may find in the nature of biting criticism of humanity’s most dishonorable, shady behaviors (especially as perpetrated by those who would be seen as our leaders…), elegant verse (well, I DO post other poets!….), gut-busting humor, and crunchy, healthful, and flavorful snacks….

Okay, so I’m a bit delusional this morning; it’s a natural defense against getting up so early, which, having failed to keep me asleep, inevitably turns to the bag of tricks furnished by a long history of insane thought patterns, along with years and years of exposure to the most virulently insane folks on the planet, when I worked as a psychotherapist…..

But, I digress…. I think…. Is it possible to digress, when one is already lost in space, and time? Hmm, I’ll have to think about that one, one of these days…. In the meantime, I should probably think about getting started with today’s Pearl…. We are fairly well settled in to the new place, and the cat is now a happy camper, with three more rooms in which to practice her psycho-kitty skills, and an extra person to bedevil…. There are only four more boxes of stuff to put away, and a bed to buy….. otherwise, we are good to go, and much more content to be in a building with only one quiet neighbor, instead of 16, comprised of people displaying diverse levels of ignorance, as well as a significant number with unfortunate taste in music . It’s a good thing, yes, it is….

It is now 0540, and I have the entire day ahead of me…. which, I just realized, is one of my favorite things, because these moments are filled with potential…. nothing is yet determined, and the day is mine to do with as I please…. It’s nice to start it with a kiss from a beautiful blonde, too… Since the day is starting so well, and I have wandered sufficiently around my head for the intro section to reach the legal limit, I’m going to make like a tree, and leave…. Ouch, sorry, didn’t mean to get so old and corny…. it just sort of sounded right, but, next time, I’ll go more modern, and save the corn to cook with…. (Sorry again…. couldn’t help it…)

Shall we Pearl?

“A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness; happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one’s life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted.” — George Santayana
_____________________________

“The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this very afternoon.” — John F. Kennedy

What a great little anecdote! I love to see a great life lesson told in a few short words…. Here is a perfect description of the attitude one requires to achieve happiness…. Yes, happiness, an old word, one bandied about much by the uninformed, and the unhappy…. Happy people never need to use the word itself, as they are just…. there. There is little need to think about being happy, when you are, and in fact, not thinking about it is one of the keys to holding it, once found…. Sadly, it is a rare person in today’s world who can sustain long periods where they feel happy the entire time; the world intrudes too much into our lives to give us leave to be happy, unless we know the secret…..

Yes, there’s a secret….. Of course, it’s the kind of secret that is hidden right in plain sight, like Poe’s Purloined Letter. It only requires that one be willing to accept it, and to allow it to enter into one’s spirit, suffusing the world in the less harsh light of contentment, rather than the cold, hard light of resentment. People tend to be like the gardener, blocking their own happiness by finding all kinds of reasons to NOT allow it entry into their world. As humans, we are taught at young age to view reality with stoicism, and mute, unquestioning acceptance of our lot; we are shown all the ways to look ahead, to see the worst of what can happen, in order to be prepared….

But, there is another way to approach the matter, one little known, and therefore little taught…Reality is a tough go, for sure, but, with a little bit of mental effort, much easier than the alternative, one can be in control of how it (Reality) affects one’s life. In short, Life treats us all like shit; what determines how much of it gets in our sandwich depends solely on us, and how we react to that shit…. We can slap the shit between two slices of bread, and choke it down…. or, we can use it as fertilizer, to grow some rather nice weed…. potent, and good for you….

Whatever one decides, the choice remains, as long as one is aware of the options. The problem with most folks is, they don’t see the options, or they don’t believe they will work, as their attitudes keep them from even trying a lot of new ways to do things. I won’t say it is this way for all people, but the greatest majority of people I see in the world are unhappy, without ever realizing that a) they don’t have to be unhappy, and b) being happy is within their power to choose…. It’s too bad, really, because that unhappiness is part of what makes people go wonky, losing integrity, honor, and any sense of morality, in order to reach for an illusion, an illusion of happiness that, even if grasped, will drift away and vanish, like smoke in a breeze….

This little mini-diatribe was intended to be more…. more clear, more inspiring, more helpful in getting people to think in different ways…. However, I seem to have lost that thread, and it’s getting a bit obscure, and thick…. So, I’m going to switch to old-school, and politely ask Smart Bee to give me the right words to accomplish that intent, without having to subject y’all to another thousand words of pedantic persuasion…. Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work, anyway…. If not, at least it will have been more palatable, with more chocolate chips….

“Going to bed with a woman never hurt a ballplayer. It’s staying up all night looking for them that does you in.” — Casey Stengel

“Pizza is a lot like sex. When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” — Smart Bee

“Beware of the “Black Swan” fallacy. Deductive logic is tautological; there is no way to get a new truth out of it, and it manipulates false statements as readily as true ones. If you fail to remember this, it can trip you – with perfect logic. The designers of the earliest computers called this the “Gigo Law”, i.e. “garbage in, garbage out”. Inductive logic is MUCH more difficult – but can produce new truths.” — Lazarus Long

“Man errs as long as he strives.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

“‘T is but a part we see, and not a whole.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 60

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” — Mark Twain

“Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.” — Hermann Hesse

Okay, so, that works, sort of….. My apologies…. It’s not as clear as I’d hoped, though it’s quite good, in its own small way…. Not bad directions, if one is accustomed to pearls…. I’ve got it! Here is an example of how happiness works, and is available for use by anyone who wishes to use it….

I’m happy now…. I’m done….

(That’s it…. that’s the secret….. No? Not clear yet? Ah, well…. Well, we’ll try again later, ffolkes…. just remember, you CAN be happy, any time you wish…. It’s all a matter of choice…. Bonus? Nobody can take the choice away from you….)
_____________________________

While searching for today’s pearls, I saw one by Pablo Neruda, so I thought I’d find, and use, one of his poems for this section; that decision is always a good one, as there are an awful lot of good poems in his work from which to choose…. Abondanza!….

Lost in the forest…

Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart.

Something from far off it seemed
deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
a shout muffled by huge autumns,
by the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.

Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig
sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance
climbed up through my conscious mind

as if suddenly the roots I had left behind
cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood—
and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent.

~~ Pablo Neruda ~~

_____________________________

In section 1 today, I spoke about happiness, and how to find it (i.e., stop looking, it’s right there inside you….)…. While I was searching for the proper pearls to use in the old-school portion, the following group of pearls kept popping up…. Together, they all form another fine pearl, pointing in a general way to a picture of just exactly what a person who is happy and whole looks like, or, at least, the kinds of things they do, or say, or just think they say….

“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” — Professor Bernardo de la Paz

“When the need arises — and it does — you must be able to shoot your own dog. Don’t farm it out — that doesn’t make it nicer, it makes it worse.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“It is the ability to choose which makes us human.” — Madeleine L’Engle (Walking on Water)

“How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 18

“I think a man ought to get drunk at least twice a year just on principle, so he won’t let himself get snotty about it.” — Raymond Chandler

“A person will be just about as happy as they make up their mind to be.” — Abraham Lincoln

“Sometimes, you just gotta say “What the fuck.”” — Risky Business

Wow…. perfect…. If y’all don’t like that one, well, there’s just no more hope….
_____________________________

“All’s well that ends well.”….. There are days, such as today, when this is appropriate, with a slight change in punctuation… Let us say this…. “All’s well that ends, well….”, and leave it at that, shall we? Some days this process goes better than others; given the handicaps, this is better…. Now, let’s see what it looks like from the outside, shall we?….

Hmm…. That took a while…. but, I think it’s all going to be okay. Considering the content of today’s effort, I can only say that I’m good with all of it, as it not only gives me something I can be happy about, it gives me both the means to keep being happy, and a reason to do so… What more can a man ask for from life, eh? Well, winning the lottery wouldn’t hurt, and, I like to follow the example of all cats, who feel that it is always alright to ask for what you want; you won’t get it at all if you never ask…

What this means in the long view isn’t exactly clear to me right now, but, it seemed to fit, so, we’ll just show another cat-like quality, and ignore it…. I’m done, stick a fork in me…. Wait, try again, bozo…. Stick a fork in me, I’m done….. See ya, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole…
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

But, Mom, Papal edicts only show the retail cost….

Posted on August 26, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Nervy bastards, aren’t they? Even when it’s counterproductive, or, for that matter, illegal, the congress of holiday droids brought in for this morning’s show insist on keeping their motors idling; it must be admitted, they look wonderful while they’re doing it. Of course, it always seems more like winter when they’re trundling about, showing off their latest chrome package, or some new style of working appendage.

Clyde and Em like to put out special feeders for them, but, if you do that, then use the wrong brand of oil, boy, do they get weirded out; I’ve seen them attack a guy who put one in his blog, and forgot to fill it; the only positive outcome was that the remains fit all in one box….. Maybe this year, we could ask the town council to have them stay over after the holidays, so we can have a better look at them when they’re not so involved in their dances and rituals…..

I give up…. I can’t make this any more obscure, or meaningless, so, I’m on the mark there, but, somehow, it’s just not coming out the way I’d envisioned. I think I’m using the right tone, but, I can’t seem to find just the right level of strangeness…. very essential to this type of outburst…. Maybe if I….. No, that won’t work. Never mind. I suppose this means another morning of blather…. I’d hoped my oh-so-creative-mind could come up with something more fascinating than the recent previous intros have been, but, once again, it seems we’re destined to just wander the corridors of my mind, lost and afraid…

Well, I suppose we don’t HAVE to be afraid, though, at this point, lost is a foregone conclusion…. You may as well as throw “confused” into the mix for today, too, because I can feel it gathering around the edges, and, once it settles in for the day, all bets are off…. We may as well go back to bed, if that is the best we can hope for…. That won’t get this Pearl done, though, and was never really considered as a viable option…. I just like to blather, as we know…. No, that’s not right…. I DON’T like to blather, but, I mostly don’t get a chance to do much else…..

Since we’re destined to experience another metaphor for the rest of our lives here today, I’m going to go with the flow, and use some of my dissatisfaction with the opening to fuel even more blather. It’s the only option, now that we’re this far into the process…. In the past, I’ve made other attempts to place a limit of some kind on the amount of blather that gets spread around, but, the only time it seems to have an effect is in the closing section, where it’s already a part of the task to be done there….. Otherwise, the crap just keeps on flowing out, getting all over the screen, and, no doubt, on your clothing…..

Once again, I’ve gone from fantasy, to folly, sidetracked over into severely stunted sincerity, stepped in some small piles of crap, and, now, come back around to fantasy…. We’ll end this here, as we’ve reached the legal minimum required by law, and can now make a serious attempt to get back into the creative portion of this…. whatever it is…..

Whatever it is, I can see it’s going to be a struggle to get it done today….. It’s never a good sign when I have to use a cudgel to beat stuff out of my brain, which is as close as I can come to an accurate description of how this is going so far…. Damn it, I’d hoped to get out of the intro without having to break into the first aid kit!….. As they are fond of saying downtown…. Oh, well….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“How many, once lauded in song, are given over to the forgotten; and how many who sung their praises are clean gone long ago!” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vii, 6
_____________________________

I’m a dog lover, having had one in my family since I was born. One of them taught my younger sister and I to walk, by standing next to us, letting us stand & grab their fur, and then walking slowly away, pulling us with them….. Her name was Butch…. 😆

All my life I remember one dog or another being there, providing me and my siblings with the perfect example of how to get by in the world, and how to do that cheerfully; they show by example how to live with honor, joy, and compassion for all creatures. I consider the species to be the most morally and ethically advanced of all those on this planet, and if there were a God, then one could only assume that He put dogs here to be our mentors in that respect…..

My last dog, Noah, was an Aussie Heeler mix, very smart, and very loyal and loving. He lived with us for close to 17 years, passing on in November of 2011. At that time, I wrote a tribute to him, and to his spirit, which, in a way, was a tribute to the spirit of all dogs, who have lived as mankind’s best friend, and teacher, for untold thousands of generations, and years….. I am re-posting it here today, because I miss him….

An Ode to Noah

Noah came to live with us when he was about 10 months old; we rescued him from taking the long walk at the Humane Society kennel in Santa Rosa. It was my son’s fifteenth birthday, and he wanted a dog, swearing up & down that he would take responsibility for its’ care. Pets were always part of family life when I grew up, and our last dog had been gone for a bit over a year, so it was time to expand the family once again.

As Cory and I walked down the aisle between cages at the kennel, a large variety of dogs started a welcoming cacophony of different barks; shrill tiny ones, deep booming ones, polite yips, all blended together in an almost desperate frenzy, as each animal, many of them almost frantic, tried to get our attention. Some pawed at the gate, some jumped up, some looked nervous, others looked friendly, and all of them, it seemed, were making noise.

As we drew near the last cage in the aisle, we saw a medium-sized black and white dog, not barking, not jumping, just sitting down, leaning against the wall by the gate. He was looking me right in the eyes with an expression on his face that just said, “get me out of here, please!”. What could we do? He was obviously our dog, and he realized it too. We told him we’d be right back, and went back to announce our choice, and complete the paperwork.

The attendant brought Noah in to us just as I finished. He still looked a bit nervous, but calm. That is, he was calm until I clasped his new collar around his neck and hooked on his leash. All of a sudden, when he realized he wasn’t going back into the kennel, he was immediately a new dog, wagging his tail furiously, looking at us with his eyes shining, almost dancing and vibrating in his eagerness to go. As we walked back to the van, he walked proudly in front of us, tail and ears up at attention, almost prancing, looking back every few steps to make sure we were still there, a very happy dog…..

Noah settled into the family immediately. He proved to be very well-mannered, both with people, and in his habits. When on walks, he would stop to sniff, and lift his leg, on every interesting bush and tree, just like any other male dog. But when he had to do his secondary business, he made it clear he preferred to go behind a bush, or somewhere out of the way, and preferably out of sight.

He would assume a very embarrassed expression when not sufficiently hidden from sight, and would turn away, as if he felt guilty. A very private, discreet individual, to say the least. If he had been overlong between walks, and was so much in a hurry that he made a mistake on the sidewalk, he would act just like a cat, and pretend that it had not happened. What mess? Who me? I don’t know what you’re talking about…..

Noah was an extremely intelligent dog; I’ve known a great many animals in my time on this old planet, and he’s one of the smartest I’ve ever been around. When he came to live with us, at about 10 months of age, he already knew how to sit on command (both voice and hand), to lie down, and to stay.

Truth be told, he had a little trouble with the whole concept of stay; he didn’t like being left alone, and would often follow after a minute or two; it’s like he just didn’t want to believe we really MEANT for him to stay. He figured he should be with us so he could do his job. As long as he could see us, he’d stay where he was; if he couldn’t, he believed it was his place to find us, and we just couldn’t come to terms; on this point he was firm.

We also never had to teach Noah any tricks, as he seemed to have figured stuff out on his own, and his way was definitely cool….The first time I ever gave him a treat (a milk bone), I showed it to him and told him to sit. He sat. I told him to speak, and he gave one quick howl. I held out my hand, & he offered his own to shake. I straightened up, tossed the treat in the air, and watched him not just catch it, but after making the in-air snag like a professional left-fielder, he tossed it back up into the air. He watched it hit the floor, whereupon he dove on top of it, rolled over, and did a happy dance, by twisting his back and hips as if scratching his back on the floor.

I swear, he looked just like Snoopy doing the Dance of Joy. When he was done dancing on his back, he rolled over and proceeded to enjoy his milk bone, with a big twinkle in his eye. I always wanted to video the move to submit it for Stupid Pet Tricks on the Letterman Show, but never had a camera handy when he performed his feat, so Noah missed his chance for stardom.

Noah’s gotten old now; we just observed his 17th birthday in February of this year, so in dog years, he’s going on 120 or so. He can’t hear anything but very loud noises, and can’t see more than a few feet, and I suspect that is mostly shadows and moving light. I’m afraid he will be passing on soon, as he can no longer get up without assistance, and cannot control his bodily functions. I sometimes feel like I should have him put down, to ease his pains, but he doesn’t act as if he is hurting, and I can tell he enjoys just lying around and sleeping, as long as he knows I am near.

For his entire life with us, over 16 and a half years, he has been a true and loyal companion. He has observed with honor the pact that was made between man and dog many thousands of generations ago, and taking care of him in his declining years is both a privilege, and an honor. In my entire life, I have never known anyone more loyal, more compassionate, and more courageous in standing up to life. He is by far the best friend that any man could hope for, and by far the best person I’ve ever known……

R.I.P. Old Friend

_____________________________

This poet needs no introduction; he is, without a doubt, one of history’s finest…. I love this poem, and gladly re-post it today, in deference to my nostalgia jag…..

A Dog Has Died

My dog has died.
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine.

Some day I’ll join him right there,
but now he’s gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose,
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I’ll never enter.
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.

Ai, I’ll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange,
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex.

No, my dog used to gaze at me,
paying me the attention I need,
the attention required
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time,
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he’d keep on gazing at me
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.

Ai, how many times have I envied his tail
as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about
full of the voltage of the sea’s movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean’s spray.

Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit.

There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don’t now and never did lie to each other.

So now he’s gone and I buried him,
and that’s all there is to it.

~~ Pablo Neruda ~~

Translated, from the Spanish, by Alfred Yankauer
_____________________________

Okay, I’m done being maudlin…. I’m in the mood now for some real, honest-to-goodness nonsense…. Smart Bee is generally pretty liberal in handing out samples of same, so I’m going to see what there is today, to bring us a smile, or a belly laugh, or just a chuckle or two….. Any entries you may note that do not have attribution were found that way in Smart Bee…. It contributed several pearls, and I didn’t feel like typing it so many times….

“Ah… memories, memories. Where is that brain damage they promised us?” — Hunter S. Thompson.

“Two men jump from an airplane. The first pulls the cord–and the chute works perfectly. The second pulls the cord–and nothing happens. He keeps falling straight down. As he passes his friend, the guy gets mad, unbuckles the harness, and shouts, “So, you wanna race, eh?” — Charlie Callas

“This passion, and the death of a dear friend, would go near to make a man look sad.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), A Midsummer Night’s Dream — Act v, Sc. 1
(I know, not too funny, but it seemed to fit with the joke….)

Fundamentalism: an effective form of mirth control.

He that would not when he might,
He shall not when he wolda.

— Thomas Percy (1728-1811) — The Friar of Orders Gray

Ignorance can be cured. Stupid is forever.

— Bother! said Pooh, when he realized he wasn’t wearing any pants.

Couldn’t be better if I’d done it myself…. Good to go….
_____________________________

Today’s post is a perfect example of how fear of failure can be a motivator…. Since we are in the closing section, I’m not required to explain that, so I won’t…. Let’s see how badly I’ve screwed the pooch…. Okay, unfortunate phraseology aside, not too badly, I think… It will pass the legal requirements, which is good enough for me….. Not that legal is my primary goal, but, it does fit in with my policy of not attracting undue attention in that respect…. and if that isn’t pompous enough for you, I can try again….

Nah, the hell with it…. I’m done for the day…. See ya….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole…
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

Brains for breakfast….

Posted on July 20, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I been yuckified! Well, not really, but, it was all I could come up with on short notice…. In any case, it gave me a chance to use the word, ‘yuckified’, a word of my own creation, (I think it’s mine, and, in truth, sincerely hope it is ….. ), meaning exactly what it sounds like…. Having thus gotten a quantity of both awkward adolescent humor, and, barely comedic, left-over silliness from childhood, out of my system, right off the bat, I can, presumably, proceed to a somewhat more adult, certainly more adroit, use of the written word to communicate, whatever it is I’m trying to get out of my head today….

The title of these missives very seldom has anything concrete to do with what I write each day; the two processes, of picking the title, and of picking a subject for the day’s effort, are completely separate, in time and intent. I boot up, type in the password, and, once all is ready, bring up the programs I use to compose with, with the picking of the title the last step in that process…. I then do other stuff until I’m ready to write (drink coffee, take pills, yawn, stretch, scratch, worship, etc….). Today, however, I must have had a precognitive episode, when the given title swam into my conscious mind, apparently looking ahead to what would follow…. brains for breakfast.

Now, as a former chef, the word brains implies a different thing than to what may come into the mind’s eye for the average, non-food industry, citizen; I see the dish I’ve only seen prepared, (no, I didn’t have the courage to actually taste it….), brains de veau aux buerre blanc, (sorry, forgot the French word for ‘brains’) whereas most other folks would probably get a replay of a zombie movie running through their head. I’m not sure who would be considered the less fortunate….

Therefore, and whereas, if you catch my drift, we’ll go on, to bigger and better things…. Sorry if I seem stuck in cliche-land, but, my use of such is actually a form of self-therapy, suggested to me by my doctor, as a ready-made form of rebellion that causes no harm, beyond the normal loss of brain cells caused by hearing anything of so ancient and mundane… without even giving a moment’s notice to the very subtle, yet destructive, attitude-shaping that is implied by the use of such simple phrases….

Take the phrase “bigger and better things”… this is presented in such a way as to imply that bigger and better is always a good thing, whereas we know the opposite is more often true in reality, or, at the very least, half the time, an assertion which is implied, and verified, by the inherently balanced, symmetrical nature of that reality…. To assume that making anything bigger is to make it better is to deny half of reality, and such attitudes have a way of coming back to haunt us…. Reality has a very powerful tendency to assert itself, especially if our attitudes are in opposition to its nature….

Some folks seem to like getting slapped by reality, though, and who am I to keep people from having fun? Besides, I’ve got other fish to fry, as I now have to turn my mind to putting together something coherent, and a bit more practical, in terms of literature, or I’ll never get done with this today…. Though I hear the muttering in the back of the audience, about “so, what’s wrong with that?”, I’ll ignore it, long enough to bring this mess to a close, and get on with today’s dive into the ocean of knowledge, searching for those gems that point the way to virtual wisdom, which, some days, is all we can hope for….

Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

Okay, well, that came out okay…. let’s see what kind of damage I can do here…. I think the operative word I’ll use today is one that came to me as I began this section, one I used above to describe how I’d like what I write to be, to wit: coherent. For me, it’s quite a stretch sometimes, to maintain any sort of connection to that word, given the complexity of both what I write about, and the complexity of the way I write, and express myself…. Both of these, one might say with accuracy, assume TOO much complexity in my hands, but, it’s my blog, and I don’t HAVE to be simple if I don’t want to… Call me a curmudgeon, if you wish…. actually, PLEASE call me a curmudgeon, it’s one of my life’s ambition to be seen as one….

Okay, I’m now officially babbling, having once again gotten too involved in the writing, and forgetting what I was writing about… Coherence, that is, which I’ve obviously lost all chance at achieving in this particular section….. Probably all for the best, as it’s a tough one for me at any time, much less on demand…. Fortunately, I have a way out of this conundrum…. it’s called dropping back five yards and punting the ball, or as we call it around here, “Let’s feed it to Mikey!”…. In other words, we’ll see if Smart Bee has any aphorisms to contribute, that might point the way to finding at least a modicum of coherent thought, and if not, well, at least it will be amusing, for a short time…. we can always hope, can’t we?…..

“Love the little trade which thou hast learned, and be content therewith.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 31

“A mighty hunter, and his prey was man.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Windsor Forest, Line 61

“Spintharus, speaking in commendation of Epaminondas, says he scarce ever met with any man who knew more and spoke less.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD)
— Of Hearing, 6

A word is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

— Emily Dickinson

“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

“What happens to the wide-eyed observer when the window between reality and unreality breaks and the glass begins to fly?” — Stephen King

Hush little bright line, don’t you cry
You’ll be a cliche by and by.

— Fred Allen

Sometimes, it works better than others…. this is one of those times….. This is a great pearl, so I hope you were paying attention, ffolkes….
_____________________________

It’s really okay if you didn’t pay attention…. though it’s a pretty coherent thought. At any rate, I feel like a bit more of Emily, just to keep things from becoming too normal…. Even if it’s a bit obscure, even for her, it’s a soothing poem, to my mind, and well worth the immersion…..

The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.

The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.

A vastness, as a neighbor, came,–
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,–
And so the night became.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

_____________________________

“…when all government… in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1821

The framers of the Constitution knew what they were doing when they tried to build in safeguards in the system of government they chose after the revolution against England. They structured it with checks to the balance of power in each section, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, and reserving several rights to the people that had historically been reserved for the governments themselves, including the right to bear arms, one that every government in history has tried to restrict for its own use. The right to bear arms, the right to vote, the right to gather to protest, to speak freely, all these have, at one time or another through the last four or five millennia, been restricted, until men like Jefferson, Mason, and Washington took those rights for themselves, and offered the same opportunity to their descendants.

In fact, I regard it as proof of this assertion to find that the government, not only of this country, but all of them, is STILL trying to restrict the rights of the populace to bear arms. To my way of thinking, the most recent attempts by the government to curtail the public’s ability to obtain the means to protect themselves adequately merely serve to point out how accurate are statements such as the above, showing how little human nature has evolved, or advanced in the intervening years…. I’d be hard pressed to call the changes we’ve seen anything other than a retreat from achieving a more civilized society, as the populace continues to live in fear, most of which is manufactured by that very same government, to distract them from what is going on behind the scenes; for example, observe the data mining and illegal surveillance being carried on by Saint Obama and the current administration….

Sorry to apply the sarcastic epithet to the POTUS, but, his recent actions have revealed a lot of stuff that indicates that, yes, he IS a politician, and, as such, has been lying to the public on a regular basis since entering office, a habit much practiced by all those who enter those hallowed doors, as it turns out.

Historically, it seems, ever since I’ve been alive, for the last 62 years, each and every man who has been in the White House, with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter, has lied to the public on a regular basis, without qualms, and without apology…. This isn’t news, or new news, at all…. just go back over the headlines and op-ed pages over that period, and the evidence of what I have asserted is plain to see….

That is why I won’t ever consider any alterations to the second Amendment, or the First, or to any of them…. I still regard them as law, and see any attempts to restrict them as being acts of treason against the principles by which they were conceived and enacted. I DON’T trust ANY politician, not one who spends millions to get elected, even if, or especially if, the money isn’t theirs… The mere act of WANTING to be an elected official implies insanity to me, either of a sociopathic nature, or an evangelical one, either of which is dangerous to allow into any position of authority over others, as they will ALWAYS act to serve their own self-interests first….

’nuff said…. gigoid has spoken, and has no more to say on this subject, except…. Leave my Bill of Rights alone, or pay the consequences….

“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
_____________________________

Well, that’s a mellow little rant, quite polite in tone and length…. not sure what prompted it, other than what is obvious in the quote, but it’s apparently been in there a while, as it flowed out quite smoothly, for a change…. Let’s see how the whole thing holds up….. Well, it’s definitely a Pearl of Virtual Wisdom… so, off it goes, and so be it…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

It isn’t dead, it’s contemplating cat hairs….

Posted on July 17, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

The squad of the Emperor’s storm troopers, ant-like in their unnatural precision, moved past the entrance to the alley, where I gripped the handle of my military-grade blaster, concealed behind a beat-up dumpster about twenty yards down the alley from the street. As the sound of their jack-boots echoed in the early morning fog, I sincerely hoped they would keep on walking, as I had only 10 minutes to make my way another two blocks to my assigned station, and didn’t need to fight a running battle all the way there.

With eyes glued to the mouth of the alley, I held my breath, watching gratefully as the last trooper slid past the wall, on their way to wherever they’d been ordered to harass the citizenry today. I wouldn’t have minded blasting them into oblivion; they deserved whatever we gave them…. Today, though, I had bigger fish to fry, and a much more important target…. Today, if my mission succeeds, the Emperor of Earth himself will die, and the no longer clandestine war to take back our world will begin, now in the harsh light of day….

“Reality is a crutch for those who can’t handle science fiction.” — Smart Bee

Okay, well, it’s not exactly Robert Heinlein, or Philip K. Dick, or even Ben Bova, but, it will do for the opening lines of a Pearl… I’ve done worse, as you well know. It’s been a while since I started with a fictional scenario, so I thought I’d try my hand at it this morning; it felt good, but didn’t come out quite as well as I’d hoped…. I guess I’m a bit rusty in that respect. It takes practice to come up with good stuff so early in the day, and I’ve been busy with other stuff… That’s my story, anyway, and I’m sticking to it….

Also, I keep waking up later and later in the mornings of late; now, when I turn over to try to go back to sleep, I actually do so, instead of my overactive brain getting me up at ungodly hours, such as three, or four in the AM. Today, it was 0610 before I was able to rouse myself to get up, and get going….. It’s a good thing, I suppose, for my overall health, but takes some getting used to, as any change in procedure is wont to do. It’s hell getting old, let me tell ya….

No complaints, though…. The perks of being retired are, so far, outweighing the disadvantages quite handily, so I consider it tacky to complain, when there are so many other folks out there who have it much harder than I do. I’ve a roof over my head, enough food to get by, and enough left over to keep me from getting bored, or sinking into despair and depression; many, many of my peers, and/or fellow citizens, are not as fortunate. I can’t say it is the result of good planning on my part, but, I did manage to come out pretty well with my retirement, so, as I say, I can’t complain….

Besides, that leaves me free to rant about the foolishness that I see going on all around me, in the public venue. I am not only free to observe the Evil Emperor and his minions, but am, thus far, free enough to enjoy the opportunity to poke at the BRC to my heart’s content, and that freedom can’t be overstated in importance, to me, or to society.

If I didn’t have this platform for all my angst and outrage, I would probably be underground, organizing the troops for revolution. Rather than slinging words of vituperative criticism at the pundits and preachers, I would probably be in hiding, somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, training fighters for the upcoming battles with the forces of evil that are loose upon the face of the earth…..

So, it’s probably a good thing, for now, at least, that I have this opportunity to blog…. it’s safer for me, safer for society, and for the time being, safer for the world…. Of course, that could change at a moment’s notice, couldn’t it?…. Yep, it could…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” — H. L. Mencken
_____________________________

The first pearl of the day is always a bit of a question, in terms of both type, and direction. The very first quote or aphorism that Smart Bee shows me is often what determines how the day will go; just as often, though, it takes quite a bit of persuasion to get Smart Bee to give up even ONE quote worth using. Times like that are when I’m compelled to go to the archives for some older pieces. Today, it seems to be working fairly well, so this first section will be good to go with either a five-, or seven-star pearl, as long as SB continues to cooperate. Let’s see what it has for us, ‘kay?…..

“All cruelty springs from weakness.” — Seneca

“Thousands of days of civilians … have produced a… feeling for the aesthetic modules –” — Zippy the Pinhead

“He who has never hoped can never despair.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), “Caesar and Cleopatra”, Act IV

“Do not do what you would undo if caught.” — Leah Arendt

“Never rise to speak till you have something to say; and when you have said it, cease.” — Witherspoon

Wow…. Okay, I get it now…. Smart Bee, and my unconscious mind, is messing with me/us. Although I confess to actually understanding the point made here, I also confess it has little to do with anything terribly important, other than on a personal level for each of us. But, then, I suppose, in some ways, that could be seen as another metaphor for Life…. Let’s see what a couple more will do for, or to, the overall gestalt of meaning that has been created with such alacrity by the above esotericism….. (Sorry, couldn’t resist….)

“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” — Albert Einstein

“If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vi, 21

Well, if those two can’t fix it, nothing can, that’s for sure and for certain…. These two quotes could possibly fix society, should they ever become common practice, I think…. Timing is everything, right? Right…..
_____________________________

Even for those of us who can suffer from the experience, watching the open sea as it streams by a ship as it moves through the water is an endless fascination, a constantly changing panorama of colors and shades of light, never exactly the same from one moment to the next. There are occasional instances of heart-stopping beauty, or stunning surprise, as one of the denizens of that vast underwater universe leaps into the upper world, to unknown purpose, bringing us a glimpse of another reality, dangerously beautiful as our own, living as we do on this drier side of the interface….. Here is a classicist’s view of that which I speak…..

On the Sea

It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, and with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand Caverns, till the spell
Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound.
Often ’tis in such gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be moved for days from where it sometime fell.
When last the winds of Heaven were unbound.
Oh, ye! who have your eyeballs vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Or fed too much with cloying melody—
Sit ye near some old Cavern’s Mouth and brood,
Until ye start, as if the sea nymphs quired!

~~ John Keats ~~

_____________________________

Back in 2004, for several months, I wrote a column for a small local newspaper, both print and online versions. It was titled Gigoid’s Folly, and was intended as a platform for encouraging public discussion of computer issues, and the effects of those relatively new issues on everyday life in America…. This was one of the articles posted….

Gigoid’s Folly—Episode VII

Reality, in its’ inimitable way, has somewhat less-than-politely smacked me (and you as well, if you hadn’t noticed) smartly about the head and shoulders, bringing inevitably to mind the following truism, inspired by Samuel R. Delaney, to wit: “True power in the real world consists of control of the routes of perception.” It is also too bad cupidity isn’t always immediately painful… or, in the words of Fred, the philosophical penguin from Odd’s Bodkins, “Politics is poopadoodle.” And that’s the last you’ll hear from me about that subject. Well, maybe not the very last, but enough for this decade…..

“The nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative transformation of reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you’re in for a rough ride in Life.” (Some of you may have heard this previously.) The opposite possible reaction is also true, that is, flexibility in the face of change tends to smooth out even the most turbulent situations. Consider this also: each of us differs in our reaction to changes in the world around us, giving rise to even more variables, (often called the “spice of life”).

Fortunately, or in some cases, unfortunately, each new situation also creates new choices for us to make. Choices create opportunities, both good and bad, each of which may perhaps necessitate even more changes. This “hall of mirrors” effect can make reality a slippery concept, and can obviously produce a great deal of confusion. Very frequently we are left feeling as if we were going through life without any real control over what happens to us, internally or externally.

As may be surmised by the above, I’ve felt this way myself at times. There is soooo much information out there, and so little time to comprehend even a significant portion of what is available . The rapid advancements in computer technology over the last quarter century have certainly aided in narrowing the gap, by providing the means to manipulate more and more data, faster and faster. Far from easing our sense of lack of control, however, this increased capacity for data manipulation can bring about further feelings of being out of touch, as our own ability to process the data we perceive is outstripped by the seemingly endless parade of information made accessible by new and faster machines.

Since there is more information than we can possibly utilize, how then can we make the best use of what we are able to absorb? To be brutally honest, I don’t know of any sure-fire answers. I know that I spend at least four hours a day just trying to stay abreast of the latest news that interests me (i.e., sports, computers & technology, food & dining, community & culture, business, etc.), and I constantly have the feeling that I’m missing a lot, even though I consider myself to be pretty efficient at processing information.

Modern software offers a multitude of ways of condensing many different information sources into one easily accessed program, such as web portals/directories, email newsletters, RSS feeds, news services, bulletin boards, forums, and many other formats. This is where the choices I mentioned become critical. Each person has to decide how they prefer to receive and process information, and choose the means appropriate to their personal learning style. I use the word ‘critical’ in the sense that it’s important to make good choices, as it is extremely easy to waste a lot of time & energy sifting through a multitude of less than optimal sources for information. The World Wide Web is HUGE, and believe me, there are more crappy sites than good ones!

In today’s frenetic world, as it takes progressively greater efforts to keep up with daily life, it becomes attractive to many to just give up, to pay little or no attention to the integrity of one’s sources of information. It’s easier by far to not read the news (from numerous different sources, for purposes of verification and corroboration), but to sit down, stop thinking, and listen to it on radio, or more often these days, watch it on TV. After a hard day of work, where the need to be mentally alert is paramount, most folks don’t want to expend the energy required for reading and/or critical thought, and make little effort to ascertain the validity of what they see or hear. Only a small percentage of people regard thinking as relaxation.

Aha! At last we come to the key! The mind is not separate from the body, though we tend to speak of them as such. They are one organism, and the requirements for keeping one’s consciousness in optimal operating condition are the same as those for keeping physically healthy, to wit: adequate nourishment (accurate data), adequate rest (time for dreaming), and lots of exercise (cogitate, ponder, cerebrate, deduce, infer, reflect, reason, imagine, ruminate, invent, deliberate, meditate, consider, speculate, think!).

The last activity in the above paragraph, exercise, is indubitably the most important factor, though a balance of all three is, of course, essential to optimal health. The mind is just like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. If you don’t use it, it becomes atrophied, flaccid and weak, good for little beyond deciding whether to pop the next beer before or after the commercial with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders in it.

Thus, once again we see that the choices we make in life are critical indicators of our direction, or lack of it, and provide proof for the assumption that personal responsibility is the ultimate deciding factor in determining the course of our lives. Choose ignorance and sloth, and life becomes an unending succession of making choices based on lowered expectations, and a lifetime of limited opportunity. Choose to exercise the will, strive to evolve, and life becomes a wondrous landscape of enrichment and enlightenment, where everything perceived is interesting, and serves as the springboard for the exploration of unimaginable vistas.

Of course, there is a great deal of middle ground between these two ideals, as with any subject involving people. It’s difficult to fit all human beans into the same jar…. we don’t always fit. I suppose it’s part of our charm to be unpredictable, (rather like a pale imitation of reality itself)….. it remains to be seen if we have sufficiently charmed the Universe into allowing us to proceed unmolested along the path to our destiny. Such situations seem to be self-correcting anyway, as we continue to do a pretty good job of molesting ourselves! 🙂

~~ gigoid~~

11/08/2004
First modified for blog use, on GoodBlogs.com, 7/12/2011
_____________________________

I have a feeling this is a pretty good Pearl…. let’s see how it hangs together on reading…. Well, as I said above, it ain’t Bob Heinlein, but it works for me…. and will have to do for y’all, because it’s the best I’ve got today….. Hope you enjoyed today’s ride, even without the seat belts I promised…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Put the stray curator in the parlor for now….

Posted on June 15, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Rational thought, being skittish, and reluctant to come out to play at this time of the morning, has easily escaped my feeble effort to pin it down, in spite of the reservation I made. While the foregone conclusion may well be obvious, that doesn’t alleviate the frustration. Having, however, given a solemn promise, this won’t stop me, but may, due to circumstances completely within my control, adversely affect the quality of the content of today’s Pearl. I’ve a pile of stuff to take care of today out in the BBR, so this missive must needs be done smartly; I only hope I can do so with some style…..

Legal requirements for blog intro material require me to notify any potential readers of the above, little as it has to do with anything at all. Regulations are like that, especially when they only exist in my imagination, but, I prefer to cover all the bases, having experienced the wrath of bureaucrats previously. Not that imaginary bureaucrats have anywhere near the power as actual, live zombies, but, one must do what one believes to be correct, even if not entirely sure of what that may be…. In spite of what you might have heard, the Universe does give points for effort; you just can’t use those points for any of the prizes….

Right…. now that we have conjured up a sufficient quantity of absolute twaddle, it is imperative we not lose momentum, lest we lose track of what has been done, and what remains to do. Of course, I can’t honestly say that I ever actually KEEP track of any of that, but, it sounds good, and does fill in more space. Moreover, we have honorably adhered to my determination to avoid anything resembling cheese, thereby keeping under control one’s consumption of cheese’s favorite beverage companion, dry, white whine…. Hey, it can’t be any other color; I’m Caucasian, and haven’t been out in the sun without a shirt for years…..

Now that I have completely gone ’round the bend, we’ll get on with today’s conflagration (I don’t know what else to call it at this point…..). I will point out that, despite any such rumors to the contrary, none of what is included in this blog has any nutritional value…. intrinsic philosophical value, yes, but, don’t bother trying to live on it, as you’ll end up with a severe case of scurvy to go along with the hair loss….

“It is human nature to think wisely & act foolishly.” — Anatole France
__________________________________

As mentioned above, I have a lot to do today out in the real world, so fresh material will have to wait until tomorrow…. Here is a relatively short rant, sort of a combined political and religious rant, from the first day of the year we are currently surviving…. It came out pretty good, and is still quite valid today, so…. enjoy!….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else.” — Thomas Jefferson

Oh well, so much for THAT hope! From all I can see in today’s society, what Tom J was afraid of has come to pass. If one takes almost any of the articles in the news that talk about the activities of government, religion, or society at large, it is obvious that bigotry and priestcraft have corrupted every level of those entities, and influence just about every human interaction that we see. Common sense is nowhere present, in any of those same activities under discussion. Of course, he forgot, in this instance, to include the bankers, but perhaps that is where the bigotry comes in…..

By its precise meaning, bigotry doesn’t include the idea of cheating, lying, and stealing from whomever one encounters; those activities, for a bigot, are only appropriate when done to those outside the personal group, to “foreigners, niggers, and chinks,” or some likely other group they’ve chosen to bless with their ignorance…… But, in a sense, bankers can be said to be universally bigoted, for they have no qualms about lying, cheating, or stealing from anyone, in any group, even their own. I guess that would qualify them as Ultimate Bigots…..

“As an ox goeth to the slaughter.” — Old Testament — Proverbs vii, 22; Jeremiah xi, 19

I would imagine this is how the bankers and preachers (either of which is capable of turning into a politician, at the drop of a hint….) view the masses of humanity who do not subscribe to their venality. In this view, they may be at least partially justified, by the apparent willingness of those masses to submit to whatever is done to them. Why should the politicians stop lying, when their lies secure for them the keys to the treasury? Why should the preachers not spread their delusions, when the masses are so willing to accept them, because it saves them the effort of either thinking about morality, or even better, saving them from having to BE moral….. The bankers, of course, need no excuses to carry on their despicable acts of calumny upon the remainder of society; their sole motivation is based on profit for them, and nothing else concerns them at all…

“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” — Thomas Jefferson

Back to Tom…. He was a bit over the top sometimes, in the force of his expression, but never, to my mind, in his sincere commitment to Truth, and his sincere love for Mankind. I would like to think I join him in this sentiment, especially today, when we are so besieged by attempts to tyrannize our minds by our own beloved ruling classes. The war against immorality continues unabated, and too many folks in the world have withdrawn from the battle, accepting the lies and delusions that are foisted upon them.

It is important, in my opinion, that the rest of us, who can see the depredations assaulting the common man every day, keep on shouting from the rooftops to the rest of our compatriots, if only to save our own sanity….. and, before the strain of the conflict brings us to our knees, and we enter Zippy’s domain, doomed to extinction…..

“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

Here is another piece from the archives, to save time, our most precious commodity, after the contents of our bag o’love….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been awhile since I read the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam, and a small piece of it in Smart Bee gave me a hankering to run through it again. It’s a long piece, though, and can take a while to get through. In addition, it takes up a lot of space…. so, to avoid both those problems, today I’m providing a simple link to the poem, on PoemHunter.com, where I find a lot of what goes into this section…. A very large amount of the world’s best poetry and poets are to be found there, and I enjoy the simplicity of their interface… Any who, here, for your reading pleasure….

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/

Enjoy!…..
__________________________________

Well, I’ve gone and done it…. I’m going for the hat trick today, with all three sections pulled from the archives…. I decided that, if there are over a million words of material in the archives, why should I not utilize a bit of it to my own advantage? It IS my own material, after all…. Any who, here is another rant, this one fairly straightforward, again taking aim at organized religion, which I consider to bear a large degree of responsibility for the state of society….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.” — Vladimir Nabokov, quoted in “Time”, 1981

Well, Vladimir certainly nailed it in one! This fits right in with what I believe, which, though it has little if anything in common with popular religious views of the afterlife, is nonetheless just as optimistic in outlook as any of those rather exceedingly ornate, highly unlikely scenarios. In my world view, the mind, and consciousness, whatever it may be, is equivalent to energy in our universe, and as such, should logically have the same characteristic as all other forms of energy we have thus far discovered, to wit: it cannot be destroyed, only changed in form.

Each of the world’s religions has their own version of what happens after we die, and all of them are made with the assumption of the presence of their idea of God as the underlying reason for all that occurs. This, while logical, to a small degree (one has to accept some rather specious assumptions in order to follow a logical path to the concept of a God….), mostly reminds me of a small boy walking past a graveyard, whistling loudly to scare off his own fears…. It’s mostly wishful thinking, as far as I can see, according to all the physical evidence available. The proponents of these religious philosophies all make the same basic error in their logical constructs, one that is so basic, they can’t even see it….

That error lies in assuming that Man, or a man, being a mortal being, limited in perception and understanding by their own physical envelope, is capable of either understanding, or describing, what is a God. If one assumes that an entity is capable of creating an entire universe, I don’t think it is logical to assume that we, as part of that creation, would have the capability of comprehending either the process involved, or the being that carried it out. The mere fact that, in order to try to comprehend God at all, we need to try to give him first, a sex, then a visual identity, is the first and most telling clue that we are wrong, right from the start…..

The next clue as to our inability to know God is the behaviors that Man ascribes to Him. In just about every religious book I’ve read, the actions of most of the Gods therein reminded me more of a surly, selfish teenager than of a God. I don’t know, it just seems a bit illogical to have the creator of the entire universe behave worse than a cranky two year old that needs a nap, if He doesn’t get the fawning worship he so desperately needs. It sounds more like Benito Mussolini, or Madonna, to me, than it does like God….

This doesn’t mean, though, that there is no hope of redemption (though I’m not sure from what I’m being redeemed… the idea of original sin is pretty much a hoax, you know, put in the Christian dogma to help manipulate and control people….), or of life after death. The universe is actually a quite beautiful place without the concept of God hanging about, getting in the way…. And this viewpoint allows one to appreciate life much more fully, knowing that we bear sole responsibility for making our lives worth living…

Everybody dies, and everyone lives after death, as far as I can see from a logical standpoint. I think that what Vladimir says is a good way to look at things, as it acknowledges that responsibility for our own happiness, and does so without implying the existence of a need to do so in hope of a reward for good behavior, as is the case in those religious institutions who wish to control people here in this life, using the threat of punishment or reward in the next. We can assume control of our own lives, including our own happiness, or, we can allow others to think for us, and accept the chains and limitations of living according to someone else’s ideas of what is real….

The saddest part of all this? Most folks never even realize they have a choice in the matter. From infancy, they’ve been brainwashed to believe what they’re told, and all-too-few of us manage to escape the bonds of slavery that are placed on our minds early in life. Most folks just accept what they are told by anyone in authority, and get very comfortable in their chains, since they don’t have to think for themselves at all….. They never realize just how large and beautiful the universe really is, because they’ve accepted the blinders they wear, and refuse to even acknowledge that they wear them at all….

It sure makes me glad for whatever happened to keep me from falling for that whole scam; I can’t say exactly what first clued me in to the facts, but, I’m very, very happy that it did. I can’t see going through my life filled with fear of what might happen afterward; it’s too much fun enjoying all the beauty and grandeur that exists on our planet to spend more than a second considering such nonsense…… 🙂 Thank God for small favors, eh? 🙂 Sorry, couldn’t resist….

‘Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 50
__________________________________

Mission accomplished, and with some style, by all appearances…. Let’s take a look…. Well, it all worked once, why not again? Plus, all of it remains valid, so, it works for me….. As a bonus, I’m still on schedule for the day’s activities, so I’ll take it, and run….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Afterward, we’ll dance a merry jig….

Posted on June 13, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Once more, I find myself caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, in more than a merely metaphorical sense. In this particular case, as it presents itself each morning, the Devil is represented by the blank page staring me in the face, and the Deep Blue Sea is a metaphor for well… something.

I guess the metaphor breaks down there a bit, thanks to the rather pathetic lack of any rational thought going through my head at this hour. I really don’t see how one can be expected to shine so early in the day, but, then, I’m the one who set the original paradigm, of posting a fresh Pearl every day, so I have no one else available to blame….

Naturally, I COULD blame Murphy; he certainly puts in his bid for attention and acknowledgment on a daily basis. I am, however, honest enough, and resigned enough, to realize I’m not his only target, and cannot lay ALL of the fault at his feet, no matter how tempting it may seem. I could blame it on the hour, but, I’ve been getting up this early for years, so I should be accustomed to the process. I might even be able to persuade at least a few of y’all to believe it has to do with how hard it is to stay fresh when posting each day, but, once again, that isn’t something that is unique to me, so it won’t wash either….

No, my claim to a metaphorical dilemma is more, or less, accurate than I’d hoped, or counted on, leaving the blame for this mess squarely planted in my own lap, with the responsibility for cleaning it up attached…. SIGH…. It might be time to reexamine this determination of mine to maintain a daily presence on the ‘net, in light of the increasing time I’m spending in the BBR, and in light of the increased time happily spent with milady Patricia. Though it seems not to keep me from producing this blog each day, I’m not certain at this point just how much continuing to do so may, or may not, be contributing to my overall level of satisfaction….

For almost two full years now, I’ve managed to post virtually every day; in that time, I believe I’ve only missed a total of five or six days, mostly due to travel and/or internet connection issues. This has been done for the simple purpose of saving my sanity, or what there is of it. I’ve never cared how many people read it, or “Like” it, as the whole point of the exercise has been to get out of my head all the stuff that otherwise would sit in there and cause trouble for me. In that respect, it has been entirely successful; I am as sane as I’ve ever been (though that may not be saying much….). Now, however, things have changed, mostly for the better, and the necessity to protect my sanity is not as critical as it has been for a while….. Happy days, eh?….

I suppose it really doesn’t matter at all, to any of y’all, anyway, just why, or even how, I do this every day…. It only matters to me, and only as much as I care to think about it. Mostly, I just tell myself to forget about all that crap, and get on with it, and, since this little meandering blurb has reached the legal limit for an intro, I believe I’ll do just that…. It isn’t often I get such a smooth segue into the next section, so I’m going to take the money and run….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I can do a score of things that can’t be done. I can find a thing I cannot see, and see a thing I cannot find. The first is time, and the second is spots before my eyes. I can touch a thing I cannot feel, and feel a thing I cannot touch. The first is your heart, and the second is sad and sorry.”” — James Thurber (1894-1961), “The Thirteen Clocks”
__________________________________

Sometimes, the process of collecting pearls, and grouping them according to concepts, becomes a rather mystical event, or, at worst, metaphysical, as the pearls will almost throw themselves at me, clamoring for inclusion, with no obvious connection to any that have gone before…. Then, when I reach one of the key numbers, such as five, or seven, it all becomes clear why they have been vying for attention, and the reason for the group becomes clear…. Or, more accurately, becomes perceivable, if not exactly clear…. In fact, clarity has little to do with it; if it did, I’d never get a group together. This one, for some strange reason, picked itself out in about five minutes; even more strangely, it works….

“Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 7

“It gets you nowhere if the other person’s tail is only just in sight for the second half of the conversation.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last.” — Joseph F. Newton

“I’m going to happydance among the stars and wear my stripes anyway I want to.” — Stripes the Tiger

“And die with decency.” — Thomas Otway (1651-1685) — Venice Preserved, Act v, Sc. 3

See what I meant? No? Oh….. Hmm. Well, think about it, I guess….. It will come to you…. If not, you can find aspirin in the first-aid kit under your seat….. We’ll go on now….
__________________________________

Two months ago, almost to the day, I apparently wrote a poem, of sorts, during, and for, the National Poetry Month Writing Challenge. I had forgotten about it, dismissing it, I think, because it doesn’t rhyme throughout most of it…. However, I read it again today, and it isn’t bad, for a free verse attempt…. It is actually quite a good statement of my personal religious evolution, so, in lieu of a religirant today, I humbly, if egotistically, offer this instead….

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

__________________________________

“Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance the shimmy, and you’ve got an audience.” — Diogenes

Once again, as I have found innumerable times in the past, one of the ancient scholars has given voice to an observation about human nature that convinces me that, not only did they know, even more so than we do now, just how humanity is flawed, but were aware, as well, of how people are wired for failure by their own lack of courage, and/or integrity. To make such a statement as this, Diogenes seems to have tapped into the modern human mind, and recognized it, as it sits around, watching the pretty lights on the idiot box, where the news anchors, pundits, and talking heads all whistle and dance the shimmy….

“On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are created jerks.” — H. Allen Smith, “Let the Crabgrass Grow”

Sadly, I think we can expand this to include the rest of the days of the week, because, as far as I can tell, TV is available 24/7, and, having sampled something from each time period throughout the day and night, at one point or another in my life, I can assure you, the assault on your sensibilities, and the “dumbing down” process that is entailed by watching it, continues through every one of those hours…. Even the shows that are purported to enter the realm of intellectual endeavor are written for people who have a sixth-grade vocabulary, with charts, graphs, and lots of pretty pictures to help in the understanding of simple ideas

There is NO LIMIT to the amount, or the degree, of stupidity that is displayed every minute of every one of those hours….. Hell, one of mankind’s favorite kind of TV shows to watch are “sitcoms”, which, typically, are half-hour plays with plots designed to make fun of the human condition, making it all okay to be stupid, because, hey, that’s what they do on TV, right?…. According to TV, all married women are smarter than their husbands, children are smarter than parents, and government officials all tell the truth…. on alternate leap years…..

The most valued shows are the ones that display the most stupidity; hence the popularity of The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthea, and previously, shows such as All in the Family, Father Knows Best, Happy Days, or Petticoat Junction, for shit’s sake!

Of course, there was also The Munsters, and The Addams Family, too, so there is some balance, but, mostly, American sitcoms show Americans at their worst, and make them ridiculous, not to mention cheap, grasping, greedy, and, often, obese…. all of which, unfortunately, paints an accurate picture of American culture

“I just heard the SEVENTIES were over!! And I was just getting in touch with my LEISURE SUIT!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I pat myself on the back often these days, for not having watched any TV at all for over three years now, aside from the random baseball game during the playoff season, and the World Series (some traditions MUST remain, even for us curmudgeons….), so, I’m unaware to any great degree, exactly what current shows are like…. But, from what I read on the ‘net, and what I hear from people, TV hasn’t undergone any philosophical evolution in the meantime, and, in fact, continues to do just about as badly as ever, in terms of living up to its potential as a medium of communication and/or education….

This is a policy, not a mistake, or an evolution, but a deliberate policy, which the BRC (who are the ones who control that particular medium…. who else?…) will continue to employ as long as selfish, unprincipled people own the rights to it, and continue to use it as a means of controlling the information available to the general public, to suit their own ends, just as it has always been utilized…..

I wouldn’t count on TV shows getting any better until it is no longer under ANY sort of regulation; the only regulation really necessary to control TV’s effect on the user is to realize the fact that people always have the ultimate power over a TV set, due to the simple little switch on the side, which turns it on, and off, at the will of that user….. Now all we have to do is teach people to use it to turn it OFF, instead of ON…..

“He who searches for truth must not appease his urge by giving himself up to the narcotic of belief.” — Hans Reichenbach, quoted in _ The Philosophy of Matter in the Atomic Age

TV? TV? Oh, yeah, I remember TV….. This is a phrase I would love to hear more often…..
__________________________________

“Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck.” — Immanuel Kant

Without even looking, I know that today’s is a special Pearl…. But, I’m going to look, anyway… besides, gotta proof it, y’know?…. Well, it IS special, but, no doubt, this too will pass relatively unnoticed, given the flood of data that streams across the world’s notice every day…. Ah well, at least I know, and that, ultimately, is all that really matters…. We may not be an island in the currents of Time, but we must all face it alone in the final analysis, to sink or swim as our nature dictates….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

View Full Profile →

	katiemiafrederick on Are those Foster Grants to blo…
	katiemiafrederick on Funk-o-matic accessories are o…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on Dodge those taxes with dignity…
	katiemiafrederick on But…. but…. what a…

gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Your majesty’s attire smacks of deliberate irrelevance….

They want that oil FULLY hydrogenated….

We’re inspecting hot beef sandwiches…

The magical life of Welsh budgies….

Another in a long line of wretched laundry confessions….

But, Mom, Papal edicts only show the retail cost….

Brains for breakfast….

It isn’t dead, it’s contemplating cat hairs….

Put the stray curator in the parlor for now….

Afterward, we’ll dance a merry jig….

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: