It’s all in the twist of the wrist….

Posted on January 3, 2019 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Be and not seem.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

White’s Tavern, Belfast, Ireland, est. 1630….

As has been my habit of late, I’m late. Well, late getting this posted anyway. I just don’t feel the same strong impulse to spout off like formerly; apparently I’ve turned some corner in my mind, & now inhabit a separate universe, where I suffer no angst about such matters. I cannot say with any certainty whether it’s a good thing, or a bad thing, but, that may also be an evolutionary step; Buddha, and any number of other ancient sages speak often of learning to view both good and bad as equally significant, if for differing reasons. Nonetheless, it is as it is, and, so be it.

Since I’ve managed to cobble together a fairly decent Pearl, with an amazing set of pearls in the final section (you’ll see what I mean…. they possess a lovely degree of obscurity, yet manage to bring my mind to some rather telling points regarding the big picture, of which we are a small but cogent detail. Some fine new (to me) music, and the last full poem I wrote last year, all come together for a fine morning ride (or, afternoon, or evening, depending on where on the planet you read it…), which will hopefully help you start, or continue your day with a brighter, lighter view of things. If not, well, so be that, too….

As for me, I’m going to send y’all down the page, where you may enjoy today’s mess, or not, as you choose. Choosing is, after all, the most human thing we do in this complicated world. Hence, let us then be human, & get on with it….

Shall we Pearl?

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go….”

~~ Dr. Seuss ~~

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

The Corrs

Image from The Times via Google Images…

Here’s a band I discovered just a cou[le months ago. They’re an Irish family band, three sisters & a brother, who play their own style of Irish rock with a traditional flavor. So far, I’ve not heard a single song from them I haven’t enjoyed. I hope you enjoy it as well….

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

The Journey Becomes The Destination

We eat life, with every glance, every breath,
purposefully consumed to fill our amorphous need;
Every taste inebriates imagination, subtle as death,
waiting for us all, echoing life’s passionate greed.

Who wants to live forever?
Why do we think it matters?
We all live forever;
we always have.

Entropy becomes serendipity, grace made real;
intricately simple, infinitely complex instants are born,
passing review only until freed, fluid stainless steel
flowers, upon ancient crowns, never shorn.

All that is,
always was;
all that is,
shall always be.

Metaphor, and all its ilk, becomes lost in mystery’s lure,
until illumination consumes the capacity for truth.
Adversely, reaction sits in, replacing true rapture
with sad remnants of one old telephone booth.

Only in darkness
can we see the light.
Only in silence
can we hear the music.

An ancient muse seeks proper language, forever remote;
within the within, without entering without.
Improvising life works as if learned by rote,
the same as in dreams, no doubt.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/10/2018 to 4/9/2018

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

Naked Pearls

Me, and thee, to a T…

*******

“A mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone.”

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

********

“It is better to deserve honours and not have them
than to have them and not to deserve them.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

********

“A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world’s torrent.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

********

“That proves you are unusual,” returned the Scarecrow,
“and I am convinced the only people worthy of consideration
in this world are the unusual ones.
For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree,
and live and die unnoticed.”

~~ L. Frank Baum, “The Land of Oz” ~~

********

“A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.”

~~ Alexander Pope, “Essay on Criticism”, Part ii, Line 15 ~~

********

“Follow your bliss.”

~~ Joseph Campbell ~~

********

“Death is all in the mind.
Once you’re dead you forget all about it.”

~~ Jack Storey ~~

********

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

Having thus completed my self-appointed task for today, I shall now go forth, if only to another room, & get on with the business of the day, whatever that may be. If naught else, the search for purpose is always worthwhile. Y’ll be well, & happy, & keep your strange on…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Expecting anything is folly….

Posted on December 27, 2018 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery
than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.”

~~ Harry Emerson Fosdick ~~

Saturday’s Farmer’s Market…

Perhaps it is serendipity, or, more accurately, reality exposed to view, but, there are moments in our lives when we see more clearly than at other times. Who’s to say what circumstances create that moment’s clarity? More importantly, who would wish to say? It’s all a conundrum, ambiguity confirmed as a critically fundamental piece of the whole.That said, let us proceed.

Hmm… I forgot, (uncommon, to be sure, but, not unknown…); in order to proceed, one must choose a destination worthy of being proceeded to, and, yes, I know, that’s ending a sentence with a preposition. You’ll note, however, by adding the last confessional bit, it didn’t actually END the sentence, so much as presage the ending. I suppose, given the way things have begun thus far, I could continue to offer tricks of syntax, or, grammatical displays of dubious honesty, but, rather than waste everyone’s valuable time, I’ll just leave it all at that, & go post this puppy, before testing anyone’s mood, or ability to absorb nonsense so early in the day. I know I’ve already reached my personal limit, in two short paragraphs…. My inner critic has registered his disapproval with one short, “Hmph!”, to which I’ll add, “that’ll be quite enough thank you”….

Instead, we’ll do this….

Shall we Pearl?

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.
I said, “I don’t know.””

~~ Mark Twain ~~

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

Cream Farewell Concert

BBC Broadcast, January 5, 1969

If you’re older than 20 years or so, you know who these guys are; even most young ffolkes know of Cream. Here’s their farewell concert from way back in the day. When you’ve enjoyed it, I’m almost positive you will have the choice, on You Tube, of watching their reunion concert in 2005, played over four or five days at the Royal Albert Hall, just like the first concert…. Abondanza!….

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

Cognitive Abstinence

Ever affable, serendipity calls on random days
bringing gifts, wrapped in flesh and bone.
Tempting fate, color springs from intricate stone;
singing, laughing, poised to amaze.

In metaphoric haste, clues gather to confer;
graceless, with absently casual frivolity;
fraught with severely limited civility,
lead yet into realms where hope may infer.

Allegory has faded, past all disrepute;
indelible, entropy holds the field today.
Honorable, the children stand, resolute,
justice is spent, the old-fashioned way.

Temporary measures no longer apply
to foster dreams; endless nightmares parade.
Forlorn, empty, the unwashed masses cry,
while time slips away, sleeping in the shade.

Wondrous moments continue to accumulate
odd gestures of indignant fortitude.
Destiny embraces no desire to illuminate;
with such a cavalier attitude.

Pale, afraid, the joker sits to compose
a final ode to reason.
Such grandiose dreams, a dying rose,
dragged along from season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/1/2016

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

Naked Pearls

“Roll the bones…“

*******

“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous,
unpremeditated act without the benefit of experience.”

~~ Henry Miller ~~

********

“I don’t want to be a passenger in my own life.
I don’t want to get to the end of my life
and find that I just lived the length of it.
I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

~~ Diane Ackerman ~~

********

“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

~~ Irish Proverb ~~

********

“Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is boring without it.”

~~ Pearl S. Buck ~~

********

“To live only for some future goal is shallow.
It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.”

~~ Robert M. Pirzig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” ~~

********

“We’re all in this together — by ourselves.”

~~ Lily Tomlin ~~

********

“Why are we here? Because we are here. Roll the bones.”

~~ from a song by Rush (Neil Peart?) ~~

********

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

Well, it takes longer these days, apparently; I can’t seem to post more often than every other day…. SIGH. So be it. After all, it’s done, right? Right. So, until next time, I’ll let y’all be for the nonce, & merely issue the usual caveats, to wit: be well, be happy, act kindly, and stay strange. All good advice, wouldn’t you agree? No? Well, oh well…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

A pail of blue zitis….

Posted on December 23, 2018 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Be virtuous and you will be eccentric.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

Congress is in session….

For the first five-plus years I wrote this blog, I posted every day, almost without fail. I had found producing it each day offered me the best way to feel sane, and whole, a condition which, at the time, was difficult to attain, as I was in severe pain much of the day, a condition I found to be counter-productive, to say the least. After finally gaining some control over my health issues, & finding the proper eay to treat them, the ensuing better health had an unplanned effect, to wit: I felt less need to spew out my thoughts on the internet, and less need to maintain my relative sanity by that method alone. Exercise and human interaction became more entertaining, and more attractive than it had for many years.

I remained, and still remain, a curmudgeon at the core, but, there are now more frequent instances of breakthrough empathy, and I find it more pleasant to discuss philosophy face to face with others than to write about it, & use delayed discussion, via email or comments online, as a means of interaction. I also don’t seem to feel any emotional loss for having abandoned most of my online community, at least on the primary level it once enjoyed; face to face interaction, though less ordered, & less predictable, is nonetheless more emotionally satisfying. I suppose that fits in with being human; we humans NEED to experience community, & the more intimate, up-close & personal it is, the better we like it.

This change in my personal weather pattern has had the effect of slowing down my work online; I can’t seem to find the inner angst necessary to drive me to post each day. Nor do I feel much sense of loss, & what I do feel is mostly connected to the 20 or 30 ffolkes who have been my ‘mates’ of longest standing. The real world is, after all, more compelling than the digital world, perhaps because it connects to both mind AND body at once. I am unsure of exactly why I find such amiguity preferable; I just know I do. As I have been known to say, so be it…..

On that plaintive, yet somehow positive note, I’ll leave off this wandering introspection, & get on with posting what I’ve cobbled together for today. It’s a pretty good one, if perhaps, as it’s author, a bit ambiguous. As Gilda Radner noted, ambiguity, in terms of reality, is delicious….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is an open question whether any behavior
based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical
or should be regarded as merely cowardly.”

~~ Margaret Mead ~~

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

Jimi Hendrix

This artist needs no introduction, at least, not for anyone from my generation. Even older folks know of Jimi, and the newer generations seem to know him well, also; his music is timeless, in its way. But, then, genius usually has that effect on normal people…. This is an old video, but has great sound, so, enjoy!….

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

Gently Came a Wounded Child

But you shall not escape my iambics.

Soft, sinuous patterns of unearthly beauty
blithely commune with sinking stars,
as pale shadows of former virtue hover
near, ever clean, ever tolerant.
These unbidden habits are worn with age and care,
ready now for dissolution,
welcoming gladly the kiss of Death’s handmaiden.

Unknown to all, the child stands aside,
weeping for the lost days of youth,
days that now shall never be,
nor yearned for ever after.
Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape,
cold, hard, eternal.

Such then are the signs and portents
as we enter into the unknown future,
they are grave indeed.

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

~~ gigoid ~~

written 2/2/201

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

Naked Pearls

Oddly enough….

*******

“A short saying oft contains much wisdom.”

~~ Sophocles (496-406 BC), “Aletes”, Frag. 99

********

“You’re not the only one who’s made mistakes,
but they’re the only things that you can truly call your own.”

~~ Billy Joel, “You’re Only Human” (Second Wind) ~~

********

“I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

********

“Chaos is but unperceived order.”

~~ attributed to Fred Hoyle ~~

********

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether twenty or eighty.”

~~ Henry Ford ~~

********

“Happiness follows sorrow,
sorrow follows happiness,
but when one no longer discriminates
between happiness and sorrow,
a good deal and a bad deed,
one is able to realize freedom.”

~~ Buddha ~~

********

“Forget what you know and learn.”

~~ Roger von Oech ~~

********

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

Such as it is, here ’tis; I do hope you’ve enjoyed our little foray into uncertainty. I know I have, so much so I will, no doubt, do this again in the near future. As noted above, I probably won’t post every day, but, every second or third day seems as if it will work just fine. Until I do return, y’all be well, be happy, & stay strange, In the midst of the current capitalist frenzy involved in this “season of giving” (funny how giving to the poor got turned into what we now see…), being strange is one of your most effective defenses…. Works for me, anyway…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Pythagoreans, screaming in unison….

Posted on September 25, 2018 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“For neither men nor angel can discern hypocrisy
– the only evil that walks invisible.”

~~ Milton, “Paradise Lost”, iii:682-684 ~~

Sunrise near Greenock, Scotland….

I cannot seem to figure out why it’s taking me so long to achieve a daily rhythm on this blog; moreover, I can’t seem to work up much angst over it, either. I’m also not sure why I can’t figure out why, which brings me right back into the endless loop of silliness that’s been chasing around my head for a couple weeks now. I’m beginning to think trying to come back wasn’t in my best interests, as it all seems so pointless. But, for the nonce, I have committed to it, if only in my own fantasy, so, I’m left with little choice but to keep at it until it’s done, again….

Of course, that pre-supposes there will be something in my head worth writing down when the time comes, which, as is perfectly clear by now, is a supposition without corroborating evidence of possibility. I’m lucky I’ve found what you see, I think, because I don’t see much of anything more laying about; my head seems to be leaking faster than I can type, & I’m very close to the literary equivalent of “fainting in coils”, or some such other nonsense. To prevent any toxic build-up, that can lead to explosions of vitriol & bile, let’s go see what I have cobbled together, & try again some other day…. That, in & of itself is easy enough…. I just have to do this….

Shall we Pearl?

“Virtue is not hereditary.”

~~ Thomas Paine ~~

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

Today’s musical selection combines my two favorite types of music, to wit: classical guitar music. Also, if one wishes to listen to music at all, why not go for the best available? Hence this compilation of the works of Andres Segovia, acknowledged by many as the consummate master of the genre. I hope you enjoy it as much as do I….

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

I remember well the night I wrote this poem…. ‘Twas near the beginning of most of a year spent in & out of Hell, as I fought with the AMA, and Big Pharma, to rid myself of the opioid addiction to which they had so blithely subjected me to in their ignorance and greed. It speaks, in metaphor, both obscurely AND plainly, of the pain & misery which can be the ONLY result of trying to get free of it…. It got worse, and helped produce, in its own malignant fashion, further instances of poetry, as my tortured mind & body fought for survival…. I hope y’all enjoy it, non-pretty as it may be….

Dead Hands,Typing…

Puzzled anew by anomalous blocks of pain
caught, bemused, chained to routine, insane.
Stilled within breathless beauty
Engaging epiphany, insistent, called to duty.

Knees bent in lieu of a faithful rendition
suffuses, confuses, locked into stale perdition.
Clearing corrosion with hands encased in stone
Singular frozen follicles, masked by bone.

Partial focus brings unfiltered flavors to light
coloring each particle in simple delight.
Forlorn, novel conceptual artists singing in tune
nine notes in harmony, soft as the moon.

Honed blades of carbon steel flash in rhyme,
filling sensual receptors well past closing time.
Borrowed from neighbors in a week-old game
still bloody, without a proper name.

No flooded memories can justify such cost
no simple stationery, bilious, afraid, lost.
Ten times ten will never be enough
To fill so empty a stolen trough.

Bartering simplicity takes well into the night
solidly temporary pillars turned bright.
Unknown to all the pretty children who came
none were called, none had any remaining flame.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/25/2015

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

Naked Pearls

Many paths, one destination….

*******

“There are things that are known, and things unknown,
and in between are the doors of perception.”

~~ Aldous Huxley, “The Doors of Perception” ~~

*******

“Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.”

~~ Robert Heinlein ~~

*******

“Insofar as love expresses itself,
it is not expressing itself in terms of socially approved manners of life.
That’s why it is all so secret.
Love has nothing to do with social order.
It is a higher spiritual experience than that of socially organized marriage.”

~~ Joseph Campbell ~~

*******

“In any weather, at any hour of the day or night,
I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too;
to stand on the meeting of two eternity’s, the past and the future,
which is precisely the present moment; to toe at that line.”

~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~

*******

“There’s plenty of pain here – but it don’t kill.
There’s plenty of suffering here, but it don’t last.
You see, happiness ain’t a thing in itself
– it’s only a contrast with something that ain’t pleasant.”

~~ Mark Twain, “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven” ~~

*******

“If we are not stupid or insincere when we say
that the good or ill of man lies within his own will,
and that all beside is nothing to us,
why are we still troubled?”

~~ Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxv ~~

*******

“He said, “Dance for me” and he said,
“You are too beautiful for the wind
To pick at, or the sun to burn.” He said,
“I’m a poor tattered thing, but not unkind
To the sad dancer and the dancing dead.”

— Sidney Keyes, “Four Postures of Death”

*******

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

There you have it, ffolkes. I’ve done all the damage I can do in one sitting, so, I’ll just take my leave, with the usual caveat, to wit: I’ll be back to try this again, apparently in two days, if recent history is any indication. Whatever happens, y’all be well, happy as you may be, and keep to the strange….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Use the horse, Duke!

Posted on September 11, 2018 by gigoid

FFolkes,

“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.”

~~ Sartre ~~

Hybrid Red…

Good morrow… Though it’s good to be back on-line, I’m finding it problematic to accomplish all I’d originally intended to get done. The primary reason is my body’s newly-won physical capabilities and paradigms, which tend to push me out of my chair to go DO something outside, rather than here at the computer; so far, I’ve been unable to spend much time on other sites I wanted to catch up, as well as failing to get much writing done, on a personal level (no new poems, & the exposition’s stalled….),… SIGH…. It’s not really a complaint, more of a reluctantly honest observation…. I suppose the only thing to say on this is ‘c’est la vie’, with a resigned air; I won’t indulge in it any further, in the interests of efficiency.

Actually, some might say it’s all quite fortunate, at least for y’all, as it means I’ll be compelled, yet again, to skip any major nonsense here in the intro; doing so would only be indulgent, & I’m not certain I’m ready to take that on just yet. Instead, I’ll employ the very same method used thus far, which is the classic drop-off-the-cliff technique, & looks just like this….

Shall we Pearl?

“The value of life lies not in the length of days,
but in the use we make of them…
Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not
on your tale of years, but on your will.”

~~ Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592), 1580 ~~

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

Roy Orbison

Image from RollingStone.com via Google Images

No introduction should be necessary for today’s musical selection. The videos I’ve included are from the Black & White Night concert; his last live performance before passing on. Below this, I’ve also included a link to Roy Orbison.com, where you can find memorabilia & music for sale, as well as news of a tour coming up beginning October 1, 2018, wherein holographic technology will bring Roy to life with live orchestration of new versions of his classics…. I hope you enjoy this one; he was a pretty special artist….

https://royorbison.com/

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

Unheralded Sagacity…

To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.

Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.

Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.

No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

4/17/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Random Notes on Life @ Large,,,,

*******

45. “Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.”

~~ Instructions for life ~~

*******

“If you want to get the plain truth,
Be not concerned with right and wrong.
The conflict between right and wrong
Is the sickness of the mind.”

~~ Seng-Ts’an ~~

*******

Do only what only you can do.”

~~ Edsger Wybe Dijkstra, (1930-2002) ~~

*******

“If you cannot find happiness along the way,
you will not find it at the end of the trail.”

~~ Ancient Human Wisdom ~~

*******

“I used to wait for a sign, she said,
before I did anything.
Then one night I had a dream
and an angel in black tights came to me and said,
You can start any time now
& then I asked is this a sign?
& the angel started laughing and I woke up.
Now, I think the whole world is filled with signs,
but if there’s no laughter,
I know they’re not for me.”

~~ Brian Andreas, “Waiting for Signs” ~~

*******

“Fear is the lock and laughter the key to your heart.”
— Steven Stills

*******

“Anyone who has had a bull by the tail
knows five or six more things than someone who hasn’t.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*******

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

There you have it, such as it is. I’ll bet you didn’t think I could get this far, did you? Just goes to show how far in today’s world expectations will get you, doesn’t it? We all must learn to live with reality, just the way it is, & this is merely a graphic demonstration of that simple, yet basic life lesson? Pretty nifty, eh? Well, regardless of how any of us think about it, that’s just the way it is…. so, deal with it. At least until I can figure out how to do this again, whereupon we can all breathe a deep sigh of, if not joy, at least relief…. Ta, then, luvs. Stay strange….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Searching for sufficiency….

Posted on February 20, 2018 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Robert Heinlein ~~

Sonoma County Sunset On Fire….

Hajime…. R.D. Laing, a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on the experience of psychosis, once said, “Insanity — a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.” Considering my own experiences in living in today’s world, I can but agree, wholeheartedly. In fact, my recent extensive forays into the world at large have been little else than a continuing series of solid evidence supporting this idea. It also has been verification of my own decision to embrace and enjoy my own reaction to most of what occurs in my presence… In short, I no longer suffer from my tendencies to retreat into unreality; instead, I have embraced it, and learned to appreciate the irony that punctuates every insane act I see around me, as well as those I commit myself….

Oh, fear not, gentle reader; I haven’t gone completely off the rails; it only LOOKS that way. Mostly, I am using the unique perspective I find to be so useful for mitigating the angst that would otherwise build up to the point of explosion, leaking it out, instead, in tiny bursts of laughter (which, admittedly, can startle the natives, confusing them unmercifully….) and random acts of kindness and generosity, which few understand, but make me impervious to the ill effects of self-denigration. If that’s unclear, well, so be it. I find myself less concerned with what others think of me than has long been the case, and the sense of liberation is exquisite….

I suppose this is all a long-winded attempt to explain some of my absence, but, in looking back over what I’ve written thus far, I see it falls short of clarity. Since we’re already three paragraphs into this intro, it might be prudent to cease attempting to explain, or, even worse, justify my recent lack of production, & get on with what we have for today’s mess, if only to save a bit of time. Of course, saving time is merely another of our illusions; time is what we use to keep track of all that stuff that isn’t happening NOW, & cannot really be ‘saved’, or ‘lost’; those are merely distinctions important only to our human egos…. In truth, time just is; we only have a view of the present, with the past as immutable, and the future unborn. No wonder we’re confused.

Therefore, let us make an honest attempt to reduce our confusion, if only for a short time, by, moving on to the rest of today’s little mess, where you’ll find, if naught else, something different than this display of ill-conceived verbiage. Hell, you might even find something you enjoy; hope always springs eternal, even for those of us who have lost all hope. Well, lost all faith in hope, anyway, as happens with any failure of imagination. On that esoteric, if depressing, note, let us find our way down the page….

Shall we Pearl?….

“You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

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

The Lads from Dublin, 40 years later….

At some point in your life, you’ve heard these lads play their music, which they’ve been making together since the middle of the last century. Whether one is a fan of Irish/Celtic music, or not, watching one of their shows is an education in both Irish culture, and musicianship. I’ve been listening to them for almost my entire life, and still find their music to be a source of joy…. I hope you do as well…. Drink Life, and, slainté!….

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

The Dubliners
40th Year Reunion Concert

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

The new poem upon which I’ve been laboring is still not done; it’s dribbling more than actually leaking. To sublimate, here is a poem I wrote about 5.5 years ago, one of the first I wrote after a 40 year hiatus. I like it, and I hope you do, as well….

A Failure to Germinate

Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.

Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.

Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.

I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.

My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.

Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/27/2012

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

Naked Pearls

Did you know….?

*******

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

*******

“A man should be greater than some of his parts.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

*******

“When mind soars in pursuit of the things conceived in space,
it pursues emptiness.
But when the man dives deep within himself,
he experiences the fullness of existence.”

~~ Meher Baba ~~

*******

“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.”

~~ Mark Twain~~

*******

“How would you know you are alive, unless you had once been dead?”

~~ Subtle Bee, (with thanks to Carl Jung…) ~~

*******

“Who is more foolish:
the child afraid of the dark or
the man afraid of the light?”

~~ Maurice Treehill ~~

*******

“Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art of ending…”

~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~~

*******

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

I hope y’all will take note of the final pearl in the last section, which was placed there simply because of the appropriate nature of its message, in re: today’s offering. I find it both ironic, and satisfyingly smarmy. Y’all, of course, may make your own decisions; we are nothing if not tolerant in the face of absurdity. Since we have now used the one word most applicable to this entire process (from at least two perspectives….), I shall bid thee adieu, until I can manage to cobble together another fresh Pearl for your pleasure. Be well, be happy as you may, and, be just as strange as you can stand…. I guarantee, I will….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Not dead yet….

Posted on November 15, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

~~ Stephen Covey ~~

Fall colors on display….

Hajime…. As today’s title proclaims, I’m not dead yet. However. death’s presence in life touches us all, if only in a peripheral sense, every day, & I have been exploring some of the implications of that rather extensively in recent days, which may be construed as the primary reason for blowing off this blog for five straight days. For over six years, posting daily has been my habit; to forgo doing so for so long would, in the past, have created in me a very strong sense of angst-filled tension, for having repressed all I’ve been in the habit of expressing in these outbursts….

I find myself blithely unconcerned with such frailties, as I find, when I do come back into cyberspace, nothing has changed, other than the outer appearances of each site I visit, as determined by whatever fresh material I find. In short, it’s still there, still evolving, and not having any particularly REAL effect on what I know to be reality outside in the Big Blue Room. Yep. It’s all same same, just a different day….. Go figure. eh? Little did I know just how little my techniques for sanity-maintenance had any real effect on things, though I suppose the failure of my ranting to have any effect whatsoever might just have been a rather pertinent clue. But, it remains true, and I’m finding that to be rather a facer. It’s hard to acknowledge our own foolishness, especially when we pursue it so long….

All that said, to little constructive purpose, I’ll merely say this; I’m back, but, not for long. The real world is still providing me with more interesting stuff to deal with than is cyberspace; probably has something to do with my own ability to access the BBR, a pursuit precluded for the past six or seven years by my own physical ailments. Those physical restrictions imposed on me by the aging process have been mitigated, to some extent, and continue to make it easier for me to do more, for longer periods, without having to spend an inordinate time recovering enough to continue doing so. In short, I’m getting stronger, and it’s more fun in real-time and real space. What’s more fun, you ask? Everything.

My only regret is having lost contact with so many of the fine people I’ve met here in cyberspace, because I haven’t been visiting sites or commenting much, at all, mostly because I’m just not here. In the past five days, 99% of the time I spend on the computer is just turning on more music, or looking up a query on Google. Even a new, more interesting Facebook page hasn’t tempted me out of reality very much. But. then FB is, for the most part, a wasteland when it comes to rational thinking. Of course, that’s a direct manifestation of the lack of rationality in our society, I’d say, & is not amenable to change. The bell curve defines our culture, as it always has, and that isn’t subject to alteration without altering the nature of humanity…. Good luck with that….

I guess that’s all for now; I can’t think of anything more to add, except to note I won’t be posting daily any more. For any Gentle Readers who might wish to contact me in between posts (probably every three to five days, depending on the ‘whether’….. that’s whether or not I feel like it, or have something to say), my email is in the profile on the right side of my home page; anyone with a query or comment is welcome to use it…. For now, let’s get this mess posted. so I can go walkabout in the rain…. As a former resident of the state of Washington, I do love walking in the rain….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me,
why should you not speak to me?
And why should I not speak to you?”

~~ Walt Whitman, “Leaves of Grass” ~~

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

Grace Vanderwaal

Image from Austin City Limits, via Google Images

In 2016, at the age of 12, this young artist burst onto the music scene in the USA, by winning the America’s Got Talent contest, playing original songs she wrote, singing them in a clear, distinctive voice, and connecting to every person who listened by the insight displayed in her lyrics. She played all original songs during the show, and, since winning, has pursued her musical dreams with single-minded sheer talent. She recently released her first album, which, by what I’ve heard, will be well worth a listen, with all new, original material.

I’ve included her performances on AGT, in the first video embedded. I’ve also included a more recent live concert, at the Austin City Limits stage, in October of this year. What you need to remember is, she is now still only 13 years old; to hear her songs, her voice, and her stage presence one would believe she is much older, for her talent has continued to blossom & grow…. One of the judges predicted she would become the next Taylor Swift, and he may just be correct in that assessment…. Enjoy, ffolkes; you’ll be hearing this artist for many years to come….

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

Grace Vanderwaal

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

Augmentation: Inner Aye

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

3/2/2016

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

Naked Pearls

Reference points….

*******

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly.
I said, “I don’t know.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*******

“If you would attain to what you are not yet,
you must always be displeased by what you are.
For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained.
Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing.”

~~ Saint Augustine ~~

*******

“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair.”

~~ Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet” ~~

*******

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

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*******

“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?”

~~ Plato ~~

*******

“If you get confused, listen to the music play.”

~~ Robert Hunter ~~

*******

“I exist as I am, that is enough.”

~~ Walt Whitman ~~

*******

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

Well, I made it to the closing section; fancy that! I’ll forgo any further blather, & just wish you all a wonderful day. I’ll be back; when that will be isn’t clear. but, will happen soon enough. Y’all be well, & be strange. Both are choices, & I can attest, both are better than the alternatives. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Howling to the moon….

Posted on November 5, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“To arrive at the simple is difficult.”

~~ Rashid Elisha ~~

San Francisco Skyline….

Hajime…. I blew off another day, as y’all probably noticed; this time, it was to recover from the task completed while gone, to wit: babysitting my granddaughter for a day. In truth, taking a day to recover is mandatory for me after that, so, I feel no guilt or angst over having done so. How you feel about it is both another issue, and, your own problem. Not to say I am unsympathetic; I simply don’t care. Hah!

Well, maybe I do, a little. But, not enough to try to go back to fix anything, or try to change the way you feel about it; I have enough trouble with my own feelings…. and if that isn’t pretty typical for us humans, I can’t say what is. Nor, in my aged wisdom, will I bother to try, either to explain, nor to justify. I’ll just do as we humans are pretty adept at, which is to ignore the whole issue, & try to act as if it never happened. It never works, but, we like to think it does, & generally act accordingly, to our everlasting regret….

All that being said, to what purpose we’ll probably never know, why don’t I just forgo any further BS & get this posted, before I lose my nerve, or reality intrudes with some message from Murphy’s minions? I don’t know about y’all, but, that certainly seems like our best bet to get posted in a timely fashion, always soothing to my OCD need to get it done by a certain time, which my subconscious has decided is the most efficacious method. I’ve never bothered to figure out why that time is so damn early, but, that’s okay. Knowing wouldn’t help anything in particular, so, rather than beat a moribund soft-hoofed ungulate, we’ll get on with it, just as if that were our intention from the beginning. That, by the way, looks like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.”

~~ Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910) ~~

~ Inscription beneath his bust in the Hall of Fame ~

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

Though I have had, and still have, sufficient time to choose music for today, I’ve decided to go with one of our standard selections, primarily because I like it; if y’all don’t, well, that’s on you, & there’s little I can do about it. What I CAN do is to remind you this organization does really good work, and is a strong positive force for peace in a world gone mad for war. The embedded video will lead you to hundreds of examples of the work they do, so, spend some time to listen, then, loosen up those purse strings, & lend a hand…. Enjoy!….

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

Playing For Change
Get Up, Stand Up

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

Gently Came a Wounded Child

But you shall not escape my iambics.

Unknown to all, the child stands aside,
weeping for the lost days of youth,
days that now shall never be,
nor yearned for ever after.
Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape,
cold, hard, eternal.

Such then are the signs and portents
as we enter into the unknown future,
they are grave indeed.

~~ gigoid ~~

written 2/2/2012

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

Naked Pearls

Signs on the road less traveled….

*******

“How are things?
Just as they are.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

*******

“Life is the sum of all your choices.”

~~ Albert Camus ~~

*******

“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.”

~~ Sigmund Freud ~~

*******

“Happiness is like a kiss —
in order to get any good out of it
you have to give it to somebody else.”

~~ Zig Ziglar ~~

*******

“The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
The realist adjusts the sails.”

~~ William Arthur Ward ~~

*******

“Every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*******

“And all my days are trances,
And all my nightly dreams
Are where thy dark eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams
In what ethereal dances
By what eternal streams”

Edgar Allan Poe, “To One in Paradise”

*******

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

Gosh! Look at that! It’s done, & done rather well, I think. Well, that’s more of a guess than an actual opinion, but, ’twill do for the nonce. It will also do for a closing thought, even if it falls a bit short of our usual standards, of which we have spoken in the past. Not that it ever did us any particular good; it also hasn’t done us any particular harm, so, so be it. I’m done as I can be, so, let’s get the hell out of here, so we can either assimilate what we have learned, or, throw it all out with the bath water. Whichever method you choose, from this point, y’all are on your own, as always. Me, I’m outta here, to go walkabout…. See ya, ffolkes, soon enough….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Emulations of wonder….

Posted on October 26, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

Post-harvest wine country scenery….

Hajime…. As is sometimes the case, we begin today with an appropriate pearl of virtual wisdom; our selection is, in actuality, part of the composite pearl found in today’s final section, but, it fits in too well by itself in this locus to preclude using it twice….

“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon
in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.”

~~ Lin Yutang ~~

Those familiar with the way my mind works, (a challenge, for sure, but, not impossible, given enough exposure here on ECR….), will understand now why I use the word ‘appropriate’, as they will have noticed my complete absence from yesterday. Not a single word written, not a single email read, & only one blog visited, to leave a note for a friend in the hospital. In fact, the only time I spent on the computer yesterday was spent watching old movies, or listening to music. I am, as is also sometimes the case, unsure of just why I avoided all cyber contact, as it seemed an instinctual imperative more than anything else. I don’t feel even a smidgen of guilt, or even angst over not posting, and that, by itself, is a telling fact. To me, anyway…. It tells me blogging has assumed a lesser importance to my overall state of mind, replaced by the mere act of walking in the fresh air to be found out in the Big Blue Room….

So, my absence may have future repercussions for Exploring Consensual Reality. Not that my own explorations will cease; those words probably describe my life better than any others…. No, it merely bodes ill for consistent posting, or, for that matter, consistent writing, as my mind seems to prefer the more physically oriented rumination I find while walking in the wide world, seeking, and finding, moments of wonder wherever I go. As much as I enjoy the contact with others in the blogging world, (many of whom have become good friends, though never meeting in the flesh), it all seems less real than, well, the real world….

I have a problem with reality, I guess; the totality of what I perceive it to be often varies by a large degree from what others report, & I, like everyone else, tend to prefer my own perceptive ability’s take on it. This, as it does for us all, tends to create the potential for conflict, which, in my life, has been far too ubiquitous for my taste. I suppose that’s also the way everyone else feels about it, but, having dealt with what I consider to be more than my share of such issues, I am reluctant to enter into potentially contentious interactions, which is a long-winded way of saying I avoid people in general…. Go figure, eh?

I’m wandering, I know; it’s hard not to when wandering is what I have mostly been doing, in my head, for quite a long time. For now, I guess I’ll just stop, & go get this posted, as all the parts are in place…. I can’t say what will happen in the future, but, for us humans, that’s probably for the best, as our predictive abilities are no match for the vagaries of reality’s wondrous unpredictability…. Life is filled with ambiguity, so, for now, I’m going with the flow. I’ll let y’all know if I come up with any particularly valuable conclusions…. Until then….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Seeing death as the end of life
is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean”

.~~ David Searls ~~

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

Today’s music is a default selection, chosen to accompany your reading today for the simplest of reasons; I’m lazy. That’s it. I just didn’t feel like searching out anything else, for this always hits the mark, as far as I’m concerned…. I do hope you enjoy it….. Really, I do, so why shouldn’t you?…. Abondanza, ffolkes….

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

Classical Music

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

Meander….

Inimitable, grieving, garnering mere bargains, to taste;
naked apes, priapic by nature and choice,
filled up the only valid chalice, laid it to waste,
nobody asked, nor ever raised a single voice.

Formidable, dreams becoming so real;
clearly extraordinary, in a tawdry sense.
Deals to make, illusions to steal,
busy, busy, building fence after fence.

True nature’s existence, so to speak,
rests interiorly, as well as in your face.
Duality’s persistent insistence ain’t weak;
ignorance of reality leaves not a single trace.

Herds of commonality congregate before portals
shaking each other by the collar as they dance.
Chasing their illusionary dreams, as if they weren’t mortals,
born believing they ever had a chance.

Irony lives deep in the human soul, part, parcel, post;
holding four aces, betting a pair of jacks, or queens.
Expedience beckons toward mendacity, at most,
fox mocking grapes, while it dances and preens.

The wheel turns, inevitable, ponderously mundane,
grinding grain, chaff, and dust.
Bolstering connections aids those who may abstain
from the paltry tale of the bold, and just.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/5/2016

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

Naked Pearls

More notes on Life at Large….

*******

As for courage and will
– we cannot measure how much of each lies within us,
we can only trust there will be sufficient
to carry through trials which may lie ahead.”

~~ Andre Norton ~~

*******

“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon
in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.”

~~ Lin Yutang ~~

*******

It is ridiculous to lay the blame of our wrong actions upon external causes,
rather than on the facility with which we ourselves are caught by such causes.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

*******

“Anybody remotely interesting is mad, in some way or another.”

~~ Dr. Who ~~

*******

“The virtue of all achievement is the victory over oneself.
Those who know this can never know defeat.”

~~ A.J. Cronin ~~

*******

“There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle,
hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life:
“Know thyself”,
and “Nothing too much”;
and upon these all other precepts depend.”

~~ Plutarch — Consolation to Apollonius ~~

*******

“There is a great deal of human nature in people.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*******

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

Such as it is, so shall it be. On that rather final note, I bid thee adieu until the next time, which lies in the relatively distant future. Not really, in a cosmic sense; in fact, it could conceivably happen tomorrow, or even again today. Who the hell knows? Not me, but, when I do, y’all will be the first to know. See ya, ffolkes; I’m off on walkabout for another day…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Pugilistic dreams….

Posted on October 6, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“In every outthrust headland,
in every curving beach,
in every grain of sand
there is the story of the earth.”

~~ Rachel Carson ~~

Off for a sail on the Bay….

Hajime…. Without going into superfluous detail, I’ll say this: Balderdash! Having thus made the obligatory attempt to regain self-control, I’ll go on to say, there almost wasn’t/isn’t a fresh Pearl for today. The various elements are, if not in place, ready to be; I’ll go ahead and post today, & let it fly with the hope nobody notices the lack of coherence. Perhaps coherence isn’t the exact word for the sentiment I wish to convey, but, it will have to do, as it does supply the correct ambiance to describe the morning’s progression of nasty surprises followed by outbursts of frustrated angst. I’d blame it on Murphy, but, that would be self-indulgent, as Murphy is, in the final analysis, only an expression of our own tendency to try to find something other than karma to blame for how we feel….

And, I will add…. THAT is just about all the philosophy I’ve got today. It saved me from a full day of blowing off the world, so, I’ll take it, but, I won’t try to go any further with it, lest I fall back into the pit yawning in front of me. I only managed to keep from falling in by the grace of a moment’s reflection, so, I’m going to finish posting this, then get back to the reflection part; it’s the only bright note so far today, & I’d better hang on to it. Odd to act so mature, but, what the hell…. I AM 22 for the third time; some might say a bit of maturity wouldn’t be out of place. Go figure, eh? Ah, well, such is life in the big city….

Before the irony registers, let’s get on with it, shall we? I’m just faking this anyway, so, there is little point in continuing to waste electrons on nonsense like this. Rather than even think about any of what this all means, I’m using executive privilege to take us away, to what I hope will be a better place, if only because I’m not blathering at you…. Hang on, this one can get tricky…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“What does not destroy me, makes me strong.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

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

For anyone who hasn’t figured it out, today is a default day; use of default fillers for any section not fully sanctioned or certified as freshly created is not merely advantageous, but, de rigeur….. Again, I can say, go figure, eh?…. I do hope you enjoy it; it’s all good stuff….

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

Classical Music

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

Because, occasionally, it bears repetition….

“I have thought many times since that if poets
when they get discouraged would blow their brains out,
they could write very much better
when they got well.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

Random Exposure

If I only knew what I was doing here,
I could give others a clue.
Reality gets stranger every year,
and I’m not sure what I should do.

Singing happy old tunes, in an old, gravely voice,
gives me a lot of pleasure.
I’m only glad I can still make a choice,
to look at life, to take its measure.

Memorable moments keep passing by
gilded, framed in precious emotion.
I never have to ask anyone why,
no need for a stronger potion.

Everything in life is clear, to me
there is no doubt, no misunderstanding.
We’re all good, as you can see,
members of Life, in good standing.

Life can be hard, or it can be great fun;
the right path is there for each of us to take.
That choice is often a difficult one;
pay close attention to the choice you make.

~~ gigoid ~~

4/22/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Notes on Life at Large….

*******

“Life, as we know it, does not exist.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

*********

“A belief is not true because it is useful.”

~~ Henri Frederic Amiel ~~

*********

“It’s getting hard to be someone, but it all works out.”

~~ The Beatles ~~

*********

“If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.”

~~ Things We Can Learn From Dogs ~~

*********

“Intellect annuls fate.
So far as a man thinks, he is free.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*********

“Ever notice that what the hell is always the right decision?”

~~ Marilyn Monroe ~~

*********

“But groundless hope, like unconditional love,
is the only kind worth having.”

~~ John Perry Barlow, “Cynthia Horner’s Eulogy”, Apr. 1994 ~~

*********

“I wanted a perfect ending …
Now I’ve learned, the hard way,
that some poems don’t rhyme,
and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Life is about not knowing, having to change,
taking the moment and making the best of it,
without knowing what’s going to happen next.
Delicious ambiguity.”

~~ Gilda Radner ~~

*********

“Carpe Diem, lads. Sieze the day.
Make your lives extraordinary.”

~~ Robin Williams, “Dead Poet’s Society” ~~

*********

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

Rather than belabor a point already beaten to death, let’s just use this section as it was intended, as a closing. To do so with dispatch, all you need to to is watch, while I turn out the lights, and make my way to the door, where I wave, say, “See ya”, and trundle off into the sunrise I can see lightening the sky outside in the BBR. Y’all take care, & I’ll be back, eventually…. Here’s where the “See ya” comes, so, see ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

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

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