Ffolkes,
The asking of the question is already enough.”
~~ Deng Ming-Dao ~~
This image shows a small section of the Veil Nebula, as it was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This section of the outer shell of the famous supernova remnant is in a region known as NGC 6960 or — more colloquially — the Witch’s Broom Nebula.
Veil Nebula ~ The Witches Broom
Image by NASA/ESA Hubble Deep Space Telescope via Space.com
Good morning…. Such greeting might have more cachet, were it actually morning. It is, however, not. It’s 11:13 PM, and I am up, in moderately severe pain, (if you MUST know, everywhere but for my eyebrows….), complete with twitching in every muscle in my body, for the second time since trying to go to sleep tonight, an ambition obviously not in the cards. Had I known this would be happening earlier today, I would have probably just shot myself then, and been done with it…..
Ah, well, such is Life; ’tis the lot of Man to suffer, and die. Too bad, really, it has to be in that order, isn’t it? It would be a lot easier the other way around…. or, hey, couldn’t we just skip the suffering part? Seems like an idea, to me. But, then, I guess you could say I have a vested interest, having experienced what I tend to feel (like everyone) is more than my fair share of it…. Should that matter? I don’t know, and, currently, don’t give a rat’s ass…. Gee, is that a little too over the top? I repeat, ah, well….
I think it was Plato, or possibly Aristotle, who once remarked, “If everyone were to bring their troubles, and throw them all together in a pile, most everyone would be content to just pick up their own, and go away home.” That makes a lot of sense, and shows a deep understanding of human nature…. Another ancient sage said this on that subject, to wit: “Every horse believes his own burden to be the heaviest.” That one makes a lot of good sense, as well. Of course, neither one of them, though perfectly appropriate, make me feel one little bit better, but, hey, it distracted me long enough to get another paragraph done, so, bonus!
Why, look, ffolkes! We’ve lost our way again! Fancy that…. I don’t suppose any of y’all know which way might lead us back a bit closer to Reality? No? So be it. We’ll spend the day searching the way back, instead of diving for pearls. Good thing I’ve been working on this for a while, isn’t it? Maybe I’ll hop in the Tardis, and take a spin into the future. Oh, wait, that’s right. It’s temporarily restricted, as it may not exist at all much longer; they’re waiting to see what happens in the next couple years. If things don’t work out for us humans, the Tardis will have to go to another species somewhere else in Space and Time…. can’t let it sit idle, it’s too valuable.
See? Told ya we were lost. The hell with it. Let’s go do something else now….
Shall we Pearl?….
“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.” — Maya Angelou
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ Publius Syrus — Maxim 143 ~~
I thought (relatively) long and hard about what to put in this section today. Today’s Pearl, as it turned out, is, in the current sense, an anomaly, as it is completely composed of (relatively) fresh material. By fresh, I mean it is all newly written material, just for this Pearl, though it took three days to complete, as I wend my way through the latter days of my recovery from medical abuse. (Long story, for another time….)….
, I picked Wolfie’s two last symphonies (I am pretty sure there’s no # 42…. I did look.) because they are, perhaps, the best representation of the kind of music that turned me on to the classical genre, about thirty years ago, when I became tired of the state of modern music being played on the airwaves, and, well before the advent of internet streaming…. As far as I’m concerned, this is about as good as music gets. Period. I also think it goes well with the rest of the stuff you’ll find below…
Oh, and, by the way. If you enjoyed this, on the You Tube page where you will be taken by clicking the link below, you’ll find a link to a video recording of eight of Mozart’s best symphonies, over three hours worth, all conducted by Leonard Bernstein… I haven’t checked it out, but, I have a feeling it will be my next download, for music to keep on my computer, for those times I need it…. which come fairly often these days….
Enjoy!….
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony 40 & 41
***********************
***********************
***********************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the government would be overthrown the next day.”
~~ Polly Sigh Bee ~~
As I walk the streets of the city in which I live, I see the truth of the above proposition all too clearly. Yet, the urge to rant about it seems to be in abeyance for the nonce; chalk it up to the selfishness brought to the fore when we suffer from physical issues. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t take some shots at our Beloved Ruling Class, or spend some time being ironic regarding modern society… I think the following nine-star pearl falls right into that category, so, we’ll go with that today, rather than forcing the issue with a rant…. This is better, trust me…. It’s all about the old Reader’s Digest, with yet another version of Life in these United States….
“Deal,” said the devil. “Don’t you want to cut first?” the imp asked, shoving the cards across the table. “Why bother? We’re all going to cheat, anyway.” — Ester M. Friesner, “Bargaining Chip”
“Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then–we elected them.” — Lily Tomlin
“One can imagine a sane, healthy, cheerful human society based on no more than the principles of common sense, as validated each day by work, play, and living experience. But this remains the most Utopian and fantastic of ideals.” — Edward Abbey
“If we were to promise people nothing better than only revolution, they would scratch their heads and say: “Is it not better to have good goulash?” — Nikita Khruschev, quoted 1971
“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the rights of the people by the gradual & silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” — James Madison, Virginia Conv. 1788
“The only guarantee of the Bill of Rights which continues to have any force and effect is the one prohibiting quartering troops on citizens in time of peace.” — H. L. Mencken, 1951
“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs…” — Epicurus
“The majority, compose them how you will, are a herd, and not a nice one.” — William Hazlitt
There’s just one thing I’d like to know:
Who won?
~~ David Crosby ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
sits upon my shoulder today
leaving traces of fey reflection
with a smattering of true dismay.
Resistance may be futile, many have said,
belief didn’t necessarily follow.
Abnegation of fear marks all bills paid,
leaving such empty threats hollow.
Symbolic courage never sleeps so deeply
as when delusion holds sway.
Bartered virtue, sold far too cheaply,
stands in shame, until honor fades away.
Too many culprits exist to count just one;
all of us bear obvious blame.
Evil is as evil does, only, when it’s done,
it begins again, all same-same.
Nobody seems to care enough to deny the lies.
Ignorant fear rules humanity’s masses.
When evil passes unremarked, innocence dies;
silence equals guilt, leaving only hope’s ashes.
Reality screams; tales of terror unfold,
flames fanned with purposeful malice,
insidious dangers hide beneath atrocity untold
as Gaia weeps into an empty chalice.
Written 10/2/2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This one is for Tom, who stimulated/inspired it by the simple act of asking two questions…..
Life, as we know it, can be a tricky proposition; I think we can all agree on that. This is especially true for us humans, given our gift/curse, to wit: endless imagination. Both help and hindrance, it makes us, if naught else, the strangest creatures on the planet, duck-billed platypi notwithstanding.
Today’s final old-school pearl is a a celebration/lamentation of that particular facet of our existence. Each of these pearls, if I’ve done this correctly, should give you both a little thrill of understanding, and a little chill of foreboding…. Enjoy!….
“Is this going to involve RAW human ecstasy?” — Zippy the Pinhead
“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around — nobody big, I mean — except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff — I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye. I know it; I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be. I know it’s crazy.” — J. D. Salinger, “Catcher in the Rye”
“No one is as weird as they think they are. Everyone is weirder than others think they are.” — Byron Elbows’ two rules of human nature
“Dragons fly because they *think* they can.” — Anne McCaffrey.
“If there are twelve clowns in a ring, you can jump in the middle and start reciting Shakespeare, but to the audience, you’ll just be the thirteenth clown.” — Adam Walinsky
“A man who carries a cat by the tail is gaining helpful experience. He will never be dim or doubtful. Chances are he will never carry a cat by the tail again. But I say, if he wants to, let him!” — Mark Twain
“Forward goes the vanguard of the lunatic fringe, tickling the death clowns of normality.” — HealNorm
“I go through the house in the middle of the night, and hear the ticking of the clocks. I can’t stop them; I can’t turn them back.” — the Marschallin, in Der Rosenkavalier
‘T is that I may not weep.
~~ Lord Byron — Don Juan, Canto iv, Stanza 4 ~~
Whew! I don’t know about y’all, but, all I can say is, what a ride!…. Good thing we’re done for today, isn’t it?….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Done. And, if not, tough stuff, as they say. Well, somebody said it. Plus, it’s done, so there. I’ll take the credit, and/or the blame, whichever seems most appropriate. Meanwhile, I’m outta here, to try to find some of the sleep I lost. See y’all next time, whenever that may be….
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 