Tag Archives: Murphy’s Law

The only quest I know….

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
There is always a lot of stuff going on in my head, and, in spite of how it should, or could be otherwise, I’m pretty sure that not all of it is completely under my control. This, as might be deduced, is both blessing and curse, and causes me no end of moments of temporary confusion, moments that can stretch to what seems like eons….. Hell, sometimes, it seems like confusion is my most natural state, especially when reality is going through its contortions right in front of me like it does; reality does not always conform to what I think of it, either regarding expectations, or expedience. Hard to say which is more annoying, having my expectations dashed by reality, or having my time killed by it, used up dealing with mundane details rather than exotic dreams, or even hopeful ones….. (Whew! A four line sentence, desperately trying not to run on, and failing spectacularly!…. Oh well…. I just got up, give me a little slack, here, ‘kay?….Or, just call me Balzac….)

If this all sounds a bit vague, you are paying attention, as it is deliberately so. I’m trying to discuss a point that can easily slip over into whining about how Murphy always f___s with me, without crossing the line of demarcation for that state of asininity. Whining feels good, right up until it leaves the mouth, then it is just pathetic, and the shame and guilt set in…. I really don’t know why we even bother with it, as it has no effect at all on reality, and only makes us look and feel bad. Another of those delightful human characteristics that we are constantly working to eradicate from our personalities, if we have any sense. Of course, the possession of sense is another discussion entirely, and would take up far too much space right now, so let’s not go there, eh?

To get back to our original point of discussion, not being entirely in control of what is happening in my head is a deliberate state on my part. I’ve found that a lot of my artistic impetus comes from that area of my experience, so I’ve developed the habit of allowing part of my consciousness free rein to go wherever it may wish, without any oversight by the tapes and rules that govern most of the rest of my persona. This is my version of allowing my imagination to soar, and it seems to work for me, so I don’t fuss with it, or think about it much, as I don’t want to disturb whatever balance and tension that keeps it running smoothly.

Below you’ll find a poem, an original I composed last night, under non-normal circumstances. It’s okay…. not the best I’ve ever done, but honest, and real in its intent and style. Oh, and, of course, it rhymes…. to me, that is important in one of my own poems these days. I spent a lot of effort in my youth writing free verse, with no structure, and no deliberate rhyming. Most of what I wrote back then was pretty sappy…. emotional, at times powerfully so, but lacking in direction, or a whole lot of style.

S’okay, I’m good with it, because nobody will ever see it again but me, and maybe my kids, when they go through my things after I pass (Oh for goodness sake, I hope they don’t try to publish any of it posthumously, I’d die of shame….   🙂   ….) Any who, this poem was written on the edge, as I was about two sheets to the wind, an unusual state these days, especially on a mere half-pint over the course of an hour and a half…. not exactly the consumption of a lumberjack, or even myself three years ago….. But, it was enough for my payday splurge for the month, and gave me a full three hours of wonderful relief from back pain (I’d forgotten how alcohol can do that…. it’s just not something one can use regularly, for a lot of reasons, but, occasionally, it sure provides a kind, and depth, of relief that is very rare for those of us who suffer constant pain….)

Any who, let’s see what else we can come up with here on an early Sunday morning, with the rain and wind blowing and blustering outside, making me glad to have a warm, dry place to stay, with food, and things to occupy my mind, and time. I am indeed a rich man, for all that I don’t have, that is to say, the worry of those who have no such advantages as these. It’s almost enough to make me rant, but I’ll wait until I find a pearl to base it on…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“There is one God, but which one is He?”– Smart Bee

Now, this is the proper use of reason and inquiry! Such a small question, made gargantuan by the depth of its insight. Which one, indeed, is the real God? There are as many answers to this question as there are what I like to call “preachers”, for want of a better word (I should maybe try to pick a better one, I suppose….); “preachers” are men, or women, who have decided upon one particular system of beliefs on the subject of divinity as being the correct one, to the exclusion of all the others. In spite of the lack of hard evidence on hand for any of the different belief systems, these folks choose one, and stick to it like a barnacle…. which, come to think of it, is probably what it feels like, after a while….

Depending on to whom the question is put, the answer may vary from Odin the All Father of Norse mythology, to the God of Zoroaster, whose specific appellation escapes me just now. In between you will find God, also known as Yahweh/Jehovah to the those of the Tribe, Allah to the Muslims, and just plain old God to most of the Christian sects. There is the voodoo god, Jobu, in the Caribbean; Set, or Bal, or Mammon, or any of the other ancient earth gods;  Ra of the Egyptians; Krishna, and all his incarnations, i.e., Kali, Yama, Ganesha, Maya, and the others in the Hindu pantheon. The American Indians seemed to favor the Great Spirit. Ancient Druids and Wiccans follow the Goddess, with gods and goddesses from the Greeks and Romans thrown into the mix, just for fun. The list seems as endless as human imagination….. which it is, since all of them spring from that source.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” — Smart Bee (and, most likely, the Dalai Lama….)

As far as I know, Buddha never claimed to be a god, and was, to my mind, not particularly clear on the subject of divinity, as directly related to humanity. The same seems true of Taoism, though certain of its sages seem to hold some of the old Chinese mythology beliefs on Heaven, and the creatures who inhabit that domain, another concept for which there is only imaginary evidence to support its veracity, and its reality. In this way, I see these philosophies as superior to the religious doctrines that purport to worship a deity, as they rely on reason, personal responsibility, and compassion to direct action, rather than fear of reprisal, or hope for reward, as is the wont of religious dogma and doctrine.

This perception of mine may be because I have always thought that the entire concept of a deity is not capable of being described, or understood, if one is to assume that a god is what it claims to be. How can a mortal understand an immortal? There is no common ground, other than the assumption of existence, for which there can be any reason for one to be connected to the other, as we could not comprehend their existence. We, limited to our human perceptions, have no direct evidence of a deity that can be experienced by those perceptions.

Anyone who tells you they do is lying, even if they believe it to be true, unless they can share that experience with another human, directly, with evidence for the senses we possess, not merely for what we wish to be true. Feelings don’t count, nor visions only seen by them, or voices in the head, and neither do personal revelations, or religious fevers, or speaking in tongues…. See, hear, touch, smell, taste…. that’s what we have, along with the ability to reason, and our imagination. That is our tool kit, and unless one of the tools fits, it isn’t real, to our perceptive ability. Items purported to be evidence that come from imagination are just that…. imaginary, and cannot be considered proof of anything other than the naivete of the speaker, and of any who choose to believe them.

“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.” — George Santayana

SIGH…. People are people, though, and they will choose what to believe according to what they feel, most of the time, rather than according to what is the truth, which requires effort to find. It has even been said that humans have a tendency more often than not to make choices that are bad for them, just for that reason, that it is too much effort to think their way through to the truth that would ultimately help them. As long as this is true, then our species is in danger, from itself, and its own delusions…. Sad, in a species of such promise…..

And on the 8th day, God woke up and said “Whew! It was just a dream!” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” — Robert Frost

Placidly falling in amber waves: old friends

Whiskey, oh, whiskey, I’d forgotten thy balm,
thy loving spread of lassitude, and nature’s own calm.
Misery and pain flee in squalid disorganization,
leaving mirth, happily embraced, in just consolation.

James, old friend, thou has not abandoned me at all,
steadfast and loyal, ever ready to answer my softest call.
Ephemeral illusions of normality come at your instigation
blessed moments of peaceful joy, sans vilification.

Gasps of coherence pound at the door to conscious thought,
muffled explosive memories of battles already fought.
Malleable as the changeable airs of time and circumstance
plaintive calls to reason stand not a single, honest chance.

Sober again, reality’s cold reign brings a new day
ringing in old changes in a new-fashioned way.
To know true freedom’s release from our everyday pain
Is worth a bit of headache, even in the cold, pouring rain.

~~ gigoid, two sheets to the wind, and back

“You will find poetry nowhere, unless you bring some with you.” — Joseph Joubert
__________________________________

If birth is a miracle, is not death also a miracle? — Smart Bee

Smart Bee is living up to its name today…. Here is a question that most will avoid asking…. Well, perhaps not so much avoid as ignore, by preference. Which amounts to the same, little as they’d like to admit it. It’s okay, though, nobody is blaming them, or suggesting they do anything other than what is comfortable…. Karma exists, like it or not, as the proper and logical counterbalance to entropy, giving it meaning, and everyone gets out of life exactly what they deserve. This is not an arguable conclusion, it is mere fact of reality, and fighting against it is pointless, as well as tiring…..

“You live in a deranged age, more deranged than usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is, what he is doing, or where he is going.”– Smart Bee

Everyone gets what they deserve….. what a novel concept! Of course, many folks, of the sort who don’t like to accept merely what they deserve, try to manipulate reality, and end up accumulating much more than they deserve. What they don’t understand is that time is not on their side, and karma will eventually come to them for an accounting, and all will be brought into balance, at their expense. It’s not a pretty sight when it happens, and it is so unnecessary, considering the consequences that can be avoided by simple acts of honor and integrity. Sometimes, living is a worse punishment than dying, in such cases….

Another lesser-known part of karma is one that most folks have a hard time both understanding, and, once they do, accepting. This principle is stated simply as: Not only are you 100% responsible for what you DO, you are 100% responsible for what happens TO you. Yep…. completely. If the world has punched you in the face, well, all I can ask is, what was your face doing in front of that fist? There are no excuses in the eyes of karma, and we become truly ourselves when we learn to understand this, and to make it a part of how we make decisions in life, including those leading up to the second miracle of our existence, dying.

“When the ten thousand things are seen in their oneness, we return to the source to remain where we have always been.” — Seng Ts’un.

In the ultimate sense, this goes back to the discussion in section one above, tying all of it together in this way: “the ten thousand things” is the Chinese literary euphemism for reality, or Heaven, or the universe at large, depending on who one asks at what time of day….. By this statement, Ts’un shows his knowledge, and acceptance of his own divinity, and connection, according to the principles of karma and how we interact with reality, to everything that exists in the universe, including all gods, or ideas about gods, or God. Take your pick, they are ALL correct, in their own little way, or according their own little piece of the Truth. What is actually TRUE for everyone always makes itself obvious…. because that is what happens. What is, is….

“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle. Some things are within your control. And some things are not.” — Epictetus
__________________________________

I have to say, this one isn’t bad…. I’m not going to even question why it came out as well as it did, but will go with the flow of karma, and accept what is….. Unless I wish to wait until late this afternoon to post this, I will have to hike through the rain for a few blocks to get to the Wi-Fi spot at the coffee shop, which I believe will be the best way to go. I’m no tireless, invulnerable warrior like I used to be, but I think I can make it three blocks in the rain for this without suffering the tortures of hell. Unless, of course, pneumonia sets in…. Well, no point in tempting Murphy any more than that, so I’ll close this here, and hope for the best…. All I need is twenty minutes of cooperation from the rain gods, and all will be well…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Adequate portions will not be forthcoming….

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
It is unclear to me, even when I most try to understand, just how I’m supposed to cope with the different issues that keep arising. Without getting detailed or graphic, allow me to just say that I have three medical conditions that cause me either physical and/or emotional pain on a daily basis. Sometimes, only one is active, or giving me a problem. Sometimes, there are two of them working at once to drag me down. And some days, like yesterday, and, so far, today, all three of them bless me with their own particular demands for my attention, whether to merely acknowledge what cannot be changed, or to cope with symptoms that become extremely out of control or prominent. When all three are clamoring for my mind’s time, they each have their own little ways of grabbing the attention they want…..

One has to do with pain, of a muscular type, and is the most easily controlled; usually extra medication and time will fix it. Another, unfortunately, doesn’t respond to that kind of treatment, and requires a different approach to avoiding issues, essentially dietary boundaries that must be maintained. The last is the most insidious, and strikes in my mind, the depression and tears and guilt that swamps me at times, and only can be dissipated by spending a long time trying to do something positive, or other kinds of activities that distract me from the dark thoughts that come with the emotions…..

None of them are any fun, to speak of. And days like this, when all three are active, are massive challenges to get through. Today may be especially hard, for environmental reasons that I won’t go into right now…. If you can’t tell, I’m trying really hard to be discrete, and to not turn this into another litany of complaints, that only serves to worry those who care about me, and I don’t want to upset anyone for something that I have to do on a daily basis…. today, and yesterday, have just been a bit more difficult…. lots of back and abdominal pain, interspersed with tears, guilt, and adrenaline rushes, and aftereffects of adrenaline, which, in me, lasts for hours and hours…..

That part is over, so today becomes a challenge for two types of pain, which isn’t so hard to deal with, in one sense…. Once I’ve finished this morning’s Pearl, the only task I have for the day is to make it down to the library to post and check the yahoo email, and I’ve become accustomed enough to the walk that I think I can do it without any extra difficulty, as long as I rest up well first…. No worries, as the library is open until 9 tonight….. Easy money…. Now that I’ve bored y’all to tears with my problems, I think I should turn my head to the process of diving….  It should turn out to be a more positive activity, and work out as well as anything else….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I just had a mental breakdown. Got any jumper cables?” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

“The simple rights, the civil liberties from generations of struggle must not be just fine words for patriotic holidays, words we subvert on weekdays, but living, honored rules of conduct amongst us…I’m glad the American Civil Liberties Union gets indignant, and I hope this will always be so.” — Senator Adlai E. Stevenson

“It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support.  If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man’s shoulders.  I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too.” — Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

Okay, I give up. It’s been three hours now, almost, and these two pearls, excellent though they are, make up the entire results of those three hours…. That’s right, two. I keep refreshing Smart Bee, but it seems to want to keep offering up stuff I’ve been rejecting for years as not useful…. too short, too silly, too long and boring, or just boring. So far, every time I’ve rebooted SB, it seems to start showing me even older stuff than the time before….. Bah, I’m taking a break….

The remainder of today’s Pearl is hereby canceled. I can’t do it…. I’m in pain, and I can’t concentrate. I hate to waste the above two quotes, as they would make very good material. But, they’ll still be available…. I’ve been down for two hours, taking a break, and don’t feel much better. So, this will have to do. Think about the above quotes, when you have a moment; they’re good stuff. I’m going to get myself to the library, add a poem, post this, and try to get back here, where I can get back to what my body wants from me today, i.e., curled up in bed, trying to ignore it all…. see ya….

“I’d like some JUNK FOOD…  and then I want to be ALONE….” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.” — Maya Angelou

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

~~ Dylan Thomas
__________________________________

Here is the second part of the series begun yesterday, about a dark time in life for me…. this is some more background material about my skills and training, and a lead-in to tomorrow’s piece, wherein the hammer comes down…. or came down, right on my head….

Repercussions, Part II

In 1973, at the age of 23, I attended school to study to take the state examination for a license as a Psychiatric Technician (PT). The classes were subsidized by, and took place at, Atascadero State Hospital (ASH) in Central California. Junior college credits were given through the local J.C., Cuesta College in nearby San Luis Obispo. In conjunction with the classes, students were allowed, and encouraged, to work 20 hours per week in the hospital, as a supplement to the clinical hours required to complete the courses. So began my journey in the mental health industry, and unknown to me at the time, down the path to darkness…..

The hospital at Atascadero is a maximum security facility that houses up to 1200 individuals, committed to the bleak, prison-like hospital by the courts, as being either unable to stand trial due to being unable to understand the charges, or because they were unable to cooperate in their defense, due to mental illness. Some of these men (it is an all-male facility; women in the same legal categories were housed elsewhere, at Patton State Hospital, or PSH, in San Bernardino) were also committed by the courts as being Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, or were those who had manifested symptoms of mental illness after being convicted of crimes and sent to prison. A very few of them were not insane, but were master manipulators, career criminals with very good lawyers who had convinced the court to send them to the hospital rather than prison. These individuals caused a great many problems, as they would manipulate their less functional peers into giving up their property, or doing their will, or  incite them to violence, just to watch the results from a safe distance, for amusement.

Working in a maximum security facility as a therapist is possibly one of the most difficult jobs man has ever created; a prison-like environment makes it difficult to create the ambiance necessary to allow the men being treated to feel safe and comfortable enough to deal with their individual problems. The danger of housing so many people with mental illness is an ever-present and overriding concern, as one of the primary characteristics of those with these types of diagnoses is a lack, or even absence, of impulse control. As a result, managing assaultive behavior becomes a necessary adjunct to treatment.

The Department of Mental Health, working with employees from all the state hospitals, developed a policy for dealing with the issue, and training in Management of Assaultive Behavior (MAB) was given to every employee who came into contact with the committed individuals. Since the facility was classed as maximum security, the training was especially important for the Hospital Police, who were responsible for maintaining the security of the physical plant, and for the therapists (psychiatrists and psychologists, nurses, psychiatric technicians, and ancillary staff such as occupational and rehabilitation therapists) who were the primary care-givers for the individuals. These teams were taught specific techniques for recognizing the warning signs of impending violent behavior, re-direction when possible, and for physically controlling individuals who were acting out in a violent manner, without causing or sustaining injury.

Most of these principles and techniques, if not all, were very similar to the Judo and Ju-Jitsu that I had been taught, so my prior training and experience became valuable tools for me in being able to keep safe both the aggressors and victims involved in the violent episodes so frequently found in settings such as ASH. I became one of the people who specialized in MAB, which necessarily meant that whenever a violent incident broke out, I was one of the first to respond, as I was adept at controlling the situation without any of the participants sustaining injury, the primary goal in such instances.

Working in such a high stress environment as a maximum security hospital was both physically and emotionally draining, and after three years at ASH I had had enough, and moved north to work at Napa State Hospital in order to get back to being a therapist rather than a glorified cop. I obtained a position as a PT in a treatment program for adolescents. To me, it was  a wonderful change; the kids in the program, a co-educational environment, were smaller as a rule than the full-grown men I was used to, and there were far fewer individuals who resorted to violence than at ASH. It was also different for being co-ed, as I had previously not worked with any women, or girls, in a therapeutic setting. Because of my experience in MAB, violence on the unit where I worked became a non-viable behavior for the adolescents, and after a few months the number of incidents that took place were greatly reduced.

After a few years at NSH, I decided to take an extended sabbatical from working as a PT, and traveled around California for a few months, until not working became a bore; I was raised to be productive, and needed to get back to work. I applied to and was hired to work in another state hospital in Camarillo, a relatively small town near Ventura in Southern California. At CSH I once again worked with adolescents, as they had a similar program patterned after the one at NSH. My martial arts training, which I had continued all this time, once again proved to be a valuable tool, and I again became the first responder at any outbreaks of violence among the individuals under treatment.

I met my wife at Camarillo; she was another PT in the adolescent program. We worked together, began dating, fell in love, married and started our family. It was a challenging period for me; between work, parenting, maintaining my marriage, home maintenance, and the myriad of little things that are the activities of daily life in this country, I was a very busy, very stressed individual. But I loved it that way, and was happy and content for some years. The economy at that time changed for the worse; we were unable to keep up with our mortgage payments, and lost our house to foreclosure. We decided to move north, to the Sonoma Valley, to raise our children in a country setting, with very well-respected schools, and a much lower crime rate than the southern California area in which we had lived.

I eventually hired on back at NSH, but the adolescent program was no longer open, so I began working with adults, on an all-male unit with individuals with a wide variety of diagnoses. As the level of security at Napa was not maximum, and the degree of training was not up to the higher standards at ASH, the units in the program where I worked were very dangerous, a situation which ultimately led to my downfall. It was about this time when I calculated that in my career as a PT, I had worked in the most stressful environments in the entire world, outside of battlefields, constantly in danger, and my martial arts background had become not just useful, but absolutely critical. I estimated the number of violent incidents in which I had been involved, and found that over the years I had an average of one major incident (translation: a knock-down, drag-out fight) per week since I had started as a PT at ASH. My calculations came to a minimum of 728 incidents. I was appalled, but also somewhat proud of this figure; in all those incidents only one of the individuals had sustained a minor injury, and I had sustained one minor injury myself. Not a bad record all in all…2 failures and 726 successful outcomes.

However, the damage to my psyche that had accumulated through the years had by this time reached an unprecedented and dangerous level, and I was finding it extremely difficult to maintain the now uncertain equilibrium I had achieved. My experiences had left me burdened with an indelible yet hidden wound in my soul, in my very center. The experiences to which I’d been exposed culminated in an incident that brought all of my pent-up stress to the surface, and affected me so deeply that I still feel the effects today……I became, quite literally, one of the “walking wounded”, a condition with which my generation, due to the Vietnam War, had become all too familiar. It was a single incident, that happened one night in 1984, and to this day I have never fully recovered…..

To be continued…..
__________________________________

Naturally, Murphy felt he should make a contribution to today’s effort; I don’t know how I could have ignored the possibility. Ah well, blame my distractions…. but, regardless of his efforts, or my own, seemingly, it is done. It seems like a lot, considering how I feel, and I have to point out to myself, and y’all, that a lot was created way in the past, and a lot was faked, big time. Like I said, though, it’s done, and nothing will make me give it back…. I’ve tortured myself long enough, I”m done….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

After all, maybe it won’t explode….

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
“Delicious ambiguity”….. Gilda definitely had that one right. Allowing oneself to feel that vibrant, awake feeling that comes with each new day, or new event in our lives can be the very best part of it. Feeling a bit unsure of what the day may bring can be a bit scary, or a bit fun, or both, like watching Doctor Who, but the feeling of anticipation, if appreciated, is well worth whatever scary it may be. And sometimes what happens is good, and then we are alight with the fire of joy….. Not a bad way to start the day, I guess….

It’s a damn sight better than waking up in tears, or in pain. Of course, there is always pain, my constant companion, but most mornings it is not enough to make me cry, at least. And on mornings such as this, when it is not bad, the contrast is most welcome, for sure. Gosh, I should probably do something special in honor of such an auspicious beginning. Still, I’ve been up almost 10 minutes now, and Murphy hasn’t shown his face, so it might behoove me to wait, just to see if he has planned any of his own special activities for me. It can be a bit stressful, waiting for that other shoe to drop…. especially since I know he is watching, and waiting for just the right moment to spring his surprise, whatever it may be…. more of that delicious ambiguity to chew on…. and it did give me a chance to use “behoove” in a sentence….

It almost feels as if a poem is inside me, churning and simmering, but I never know about that until it’s ready to leak out, and I have no idea how to make it go faster, or on command. I hope there is, as it’s been a while since I wrote one, and I’d hate to think the impulse is all gone, back to wherever it hid for 35 years or more. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, and it’s one of the best ways I’ve found to clean out junk in my head that should have been thrown out years ago…. and all unconsciously, for the most part, so I don’t spend a lot of mental energy worrying about it, or about the process itself. It just happens…. I write the poems, and the crap inside disappears…. it’s a good deal, I think….

Well, now that I’ve knobbled, and wobbled, and meandered about, I guess I can go diving now, & get this show on the road. I’ve certainly pushed the envelope of what constitutes an introduction again, all the way to four meaningless paragraphs filled with very little beyond personal ambivalence. Not bad for having only been up less than a half hour….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

1. everything is a system
2. everything is part of a larger system
3. the universe is infinitely systematized both upward (larger systems) and downward (smaller systems)
4. all systems are infinitely complex. (the illusion of simplicity comes from focusing attention on one or a few variables).

— Smart Bee

I like this collection of assertions, though it’s hard to be sure why. It is, of course, complete and utter twaddle, in terms of its usefulness as a tool for dealing with everyday life, but it has a certain consistency of error that gives it a certain piquant charm. The error is one that is inherent in any generalized assertion, and that is the simple fact that generalizations are pretty useless when dealing with Reality, and can, in fact, lead to, shall we say, unwanted events? Okay, disasters……

Sure, one can look at anything as a system, using only a small piece of imagination, and a generous helping of metaphor. But, in Reality, calling a rock a system of interlocking atoms and molecules does not alter the fact that it is a rock, and no matter how complex, or upwardly and downwardly compatible it may be considered as a part of a larger system, it is just a rock…. If it is traveling rapidly on a line with your head, you’d better duck, and not worry about whether or not the systems involved are complex or simple, or how compatible they are with yours. I guess that would be what the author would call focusing on the wrong variables…. and what I’d call leading to an unwanted event. Unless, of course, you wanted to take a hit in the head from a rock…. In which case, well, more power to ya….

I suppose the real value of such assertions is in the learning possibilities, from the mental exercise it takes to ponder and evaluate the statements it makes, testing them in one’s mind against the parameters of Reality as they are understood. Strictly from that standpoint, these assertions hold up very well, if in no other way than channeling the thoughts into certain patterns, and causing (hopefully) the mind to question the results of whatever is produced. When predicting the weather, it is always a good idea to look out the window before saying anything….

That’s all…. just found the pearl, and it stimulated a bit of jumbled cogitation, so I thought I’d share it…. It isn’t a particularly deep set of ideas, but they reach deeper into real life than may be first apparent. I think it’s always a good thing to explore whatever comes into our perception, even if it doesn’t always appear all shiny and important at first. It may, after all, be nothing more than a discarded, broken piece of glass from an old bottle, but it could have been a diamond ring…. as John Prine has already said in an old song….

“Do you imagine that the universe is agitated? Go out into the desert at night and look up at the sky. This practice should answer the question” — Lao Tzu
__________________________________

Today is one of those days when I feel the need to retreat into the classics…. and for that, a little John Keats always hits the right spot…. Enjoy!…..

Dawlish Fair

Over the hill and over the dale,
And over the bourn to Dawlish–
Where gingerbread wives have a scanty sale
And gingerbread nuts are smallish.
————-
Rantipole Betty she ran down a hill
And kicked up her petticoats fairly;
Says I I’ll be Jack if you will be Gill–
So she sat on the grass debonairly.

Here’s somebody coming, here’s somebody coming!
Says I ’tis the wind at a parley;
So without any fuss any hawing and humming
She lay on the grass debonairly.

Here’s somebody here and here’s somebody there!
Says I hold your tongue you young Gipsey;
So she held her tongue and lay plump and fair
And dead as a Venus tipsy.

O who wouldn’t hie to Dawlish fair,
O who wouldn’t stop in a Meadow,
O who would not rumple the daisies there
And make the wild fern for a bed do!

John Keats
__________________________________

“Happy is he who dashes the heads of his enemy’s children against rocks.” — Psalms 137:9

I don’t know about you, but that kind of strikes me as a little harsh, don’t you think? I mean, talk about exploring the deepest depths of evil possible to the soul of man! And we thought that our modern rock and rap lyrics were funky?….. Rappers get pretty nasty, but I haven’t heard this degree of nasty from anyone on the radio…. yet…. Not that I haven’t heard some egregious BS, but nothing so graphic and personal as this little song from the priests of Judaism…. fine upstanding fellows that they are…. NOT!!

First, I have to say, I hope this is a sham, or at the very least, a misquote. If it is an accurate reprint from that Psalm, well, it indicates a number of things to me, some about the past, some about the present…. Mostly, though, when I read it, I get a horrible visual image in my mind’s eye of some grinning moron holding a baby by the ankle, and….. no, I’m not going there, even for the writing practice…. I guess I’m a coward, if that means I’d have to continue to make graphic a concept that should never ever have even occurred to anyone, much less been written down….

What was the purpose of this, I wonder? As a teaching song? As a victory hymn? From an Old Testament version of the 3 Stooges? I’m not even sure I want to know that much about it, come to think of it…. It kind of makes one wonder, what kind of culture would have such a concept as a part of its morality…. but, sadly, through most of human history, if I’m not mistaken, acts like this, and others just as egregiously violent and cruel, have occurred over and over, and continue to do so today in some parts of the world, where civilization is only a thin veneer over the native cultures.

Our own society shows signs of the kind of culture that would grow out of such concepts, a sort of casual attitude about violence when aimed at an objectified enemy. The less humanity we ascribe to those enemies, the easier it is to perform inhumane acts against them…. Just another of the charming traits of which our species may boast….. It fits right in with our tendency to react with anger to fear, and with our tendency to act violently to achieve our ends. Sometimes, it’s enough to make me wonder how we got as far as we have down the evolutionary path.

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau

This concept is probably what has saved us, at least to this point. We are indeed creatures of a dual nature, reflecting the duality of existence in which we live, and perceive in the universe. The light to our dark side, our saving grace, are these elements of compassion and empathy that we can also display, given the right circumstance and opportunity. The Dalai Lama, who has been known to show some rather deep wisdom, has said that compassion and kindness are his entire religion, and that mankind cannot survive without living according to the precepts of such characteristics. I happen to believe he is most likely correct.

The attitudes that that Old Testament culture created and sent crashing through Time are bound to lead us to extinction, for they completely  ignore the laws of nature. Our own greed and unwillingness to accept our own place in nature will remove us from this life, as surely as we are stripping the earth of its material resources in our search for wealth and power. None of the people involved in that effort to achieve power are either aware of, or willing to consider, their own complicity and guilt, and will fight to their own death to preserve their assumed right to oppress the rest of reality in their personal quest for domination.

The sad part is that they are taking the rest of us with them down that road…. and it is all because basically, deep down where it counts the most, a lot of people are, quite simply, assholes…..  Quite frankly, the universe will be better off without the great majority of them. It’s a shame all the good ffolkes have to pay the same price, isn’t it?…… Ah well…..

“May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead” — An Irish toast
__________________________________

It is most likely a mistake to mention it, but Murphy has yet to raise his head up high enough to take a shot, so I’m going to take my chances with this one, and let it fly. I’ll make a trip to the library, and get it posted as soon as I find an appropriate poem to include in the second section reserved for that element…. which often can make or break the day’s effort. Be that as it may, I’ll take my chances…. I’ve already paid the fee…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Prior to the arrival of thrills….

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
Vague. A very descriptive word, though what it describes is anything but precise in nature. It certainly fits my mind this morning, and looks as if it could slide right over into being the word of the day. It would be an easy choice, as no preparation is needed; I’m already there. I’m not sure it’s the kind of word I want to base a whole day on….. then, again, not picking it may annoy Murphy, who no doubt flung it up there into my head himself. It’s just his style……

As well, it’s not as if it is a condition that is unknown around here. I’ve been known to get vague, and stay that way, for days on end, actually. It’s kind of fun, teasing shop workers, confusing bus drivers, and if a chance to annoy a cop comes up, well, I’m all over it. I know, that can be dangerous here in Vallejo, but, I like to live dangerously sometimes, and if one can’t annoy a cop now and again, where is all the fun in life to come from, I ask you? Though not in the realm of CEO’s yet, the police are pretty well-paid these days, and are the obvious target for anyone who has a gripe against society; they have to know that going in. So, don’t get all righteous and prim on me; they’re supposed to be able to take that kind of harassment from the public, and if they can’t, they’ve no business wearing a badge. To my mind, a sense of humor is the single most important tool a police officer can have, and the ONLY one he/she can’t do without….

Now, how did we get from being vague and curmudgeonly to a discussion of societal mores? Sometimes I amaze even myself…. and I have no idea how it happened this time. Hmm…. must have been the mention of the salary of a CEO that set me off. THAT is certainly a subject well worth dissection, and a bit of people bashing. I can’t think of a single category of society that deserves it more than CEO’s, the assholes. Any one of them will do….. I don’t care how stupid and mean a person is, they have to know that NOBODY is worth the kind of money they are being paid…. NOBODY. NOBODY. NOBODY…… I don’t care how much they spout off, and quote figures, or anything else; they aren’t worth that much money, nor is whatever function they perform. It isn’t, period. And nothing can be produced to support that it is, so they may as well just shut it….

I can see from the last paragraph that a rant is coming on, or could be if I were to allow it…. not surprisingly, I guess. The salaries of those corporate assholes is one of my favorite peeves, and it doesn’t surprise me at all to go from 0 to rant in one half-paragraph. Again, I can’t think of a more deserving group of folks about which to rant, but, I’m not even out of the intro yet…. give me a break, will ya? Hah!…. I’ll bet this is all Murphy’s work…. leading me by the nose into a subject that he knows will cause me to blow up like a puffer fish, then standing back and laughing, as I try to write my way back into some semblance of normalcy (not that normal is ever our goal here….).  I’d call Murphy an asshole, too, but, he already knows he is, and delights in it too much….

Weird…. there’s another fine word, and one that fits well at this point. I guess you could say this was a better than average intro section, as it traversed the land between vague and weird, and never once fell into whining, or complaining about Reality, though goodness knows there is always enough of that to provide ample material for those activities. Not doing so is considered a win around here….. Since we’ve won so handily today, it would most likely be best to go for a dive before things start to fall apart…. which can happen in a heartbeat…..  So…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them so.” — Lord Chesterfield (to his son)

One might think that Lord Chesterfield was being somewhat devious, or ingenious, at least, when he said this to his son. But, I can attest, from personal experience, that he is right in every respect, and for anyone who is smarter than your average bear, necessary knowledge, if one wishes to survive. It is a hard truth, and one that many people will find distasteful, but, it is nonetheless true for all that….. That truth is this: some people in the world are smarter than others. If you are one of them, it is well to not advertise that fact too loudly, or try to assume a lot of prominence for one’s intelligence, for several reasons, the foremost of which is that other people, not as smart, will object, merely on the principle of ‘fairness’, or ‘democracy’…..

I’m not sure about why it is so hard for a lot of folks to understand the concept of ‘average’, but it is clear that it doesn’t seem to register with a lot of people that the very meaning of the word implies that at least half of the people alive are well under that average in intelligence. They HAVE to be, or it would not be the average, now, would it? The hard part for people to understand, I suppose, is that the odds are that THEY themselves are part of that lower half. Someone HAS to be, but, nobody wants to be labeled as “below average”, or to think of themselves that way. For anyone who is at all empathetic to inner turmoil, it is hard to watch, knowing controversy and denial is inevitable, yet wishing it weren’t…..

“Every person is an individual; we all have a set of designer genes.” — Smart Bee

Knowing this, and accepting it, is the key to solving the intelligence issue, if it exists for you. Whether smart or dumb, ugly or pretty, thick or thin, each of us is unique, and therein lies the key to living with serenity. Learning to use our abilities to their maximum, at whatever level they exist, is the only use of knowledge that will lead us to success; concentrating on the differences in life that exist is a time wasting proposition, and will lead only to more trouble and pain. Our salvation lies in our uniqueness, not in how we are the same. The knowledge that there are people smarter than us, and there are those who are less so, is knowledge that should give us hope, rather than take it away, for it implies unlimited opportunity. When there is no limit to the kind of people who exist, then there is no limit to what can be done by them when they interact…. That is common sense, not deep logic…. though it is deeply logical as well….

“The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men!
A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!” — Thomas Merton, “Seven Storey Mountain”

Sometimes, it seems as if it would be nice if there weren’t so much diversity of ability in the world; it might make things simpler. But, given human nature, probably not…. We’d still find some way to fuss and fight with each other…. If it isn’t about intelligence, it would be about looks, or money, or ancestors, or any of the other myriad of subjects man finds to fight about…. We are contentious creatures, at best…. and often, I am left, after writing such a treatise as this one, with a feeling much like Friedrich gives us here…. in fact, I’ve felt this way often…..

“It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
__________________________________

I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You

I do not love you except because I love you;
I go from loving to not loving you,
From waiting to not waiting for you
My heart moves from cold to fire.

I love you only because it’s you the one I love;
I hate you deeply, and hating you
Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.

Maybe January light will consume
My heart with its cruel
Ray, stealing my key to true calm.

In this part of the story I am the one who
Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,
Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.

Pablo Neruda
__________________________________

“No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.” — Taoist Proverb

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” — Buddha

Monk:   Where can I enter Zen?
Master Gensha:  Can you hear the babbling brook?
Monk:    Yes, I can hear it.
Master Gensha:  Then enter it there.

A bird can fly, but a fly can’t bird. — Tao of Pooh.
(Not as undeep as it seems…. think on it….)

“I wanted to change the world.  But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” — Aldous Huxley

Okay, so here is a bass-ackwards pearl, just because…. I started off collecting for a pearl on a point of Eastern philosophy, and how it differs from Western. That changed, into what seemed to be a collection of different ideas from separate philosophies, all of which were connected somehow. But, then it came to the final pearl, and it all fell into place…. What we have here is nothing more, and nothing less, than a complete philosophy of life, in five short lessons. Encompassed within the relatively non-existent confines of these principles, one from each of five different parts of the world, each from a different time in history, and from a different master of thought, is everything that one would need to live a life of complete rationality and peace. Sometimes, I just don’t know how I do it…..    🙂

‘Nuff said…. just meditate on the five truths, and you’ll get where you need to go….. and remember axiom 7 of Peruaosophy…. “Do your Duty. Honor the truth. Respect Life. Share your Love.”…. and all will be well….
__________________________________

Smart Bee was particularly cooperative today…. one of the best things it showed me was a new disclaimer. I am adding it below, because it mirrors my thoughts on this subject perfectly…… enjoy! Just replace the words “All software” with “Whatever gigoid wrote”, and it will all apply perfectly…..

NOTE: “No warranties, either express or implied, are hereby given. All software is supplied as is, without guarantee.  The user assumes all responsibility for damages resulting from the use of these features, including, but not limited to, frustration, disgust, system abends, disk head-crashes, general malfeasance, floods, fires, shark attack, nerve gas, locust infestation, cyclones, hurricanes, tsunamis, local electromagnetic disruptions, hydraulic brake system failure, invasion, hashing collisions, normal wear and tear of friction surfaces, comic radiation, inadvertent destruction of sensitive electronic components, windstorms, the Riders of Nazgul, infuriated chickens, malfunctioning mechanical or electrical sexual devices, premature activation of the
distant early warning system, peasant uprisings, halitosis, artillery bombardment, explosions, cave-ins, and/or frogs falling from the sky.” — Smart Bee

I think that should about cover it….. if not, well, I’m sure you’ll let me know what I’ve forgotten, won’t you?…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

When budgies sing, eagles sigh…..

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
“I know I’ve asked this before, but, tell me, what happens to the wide-eyed observer when the window between reality and unreality breaks and the glass begins to fly?” — Smart Bee

A little prophetic license is good for the soul, especially in the night ahead of the morning to come. Let us play no sad tunes, now, when we have so much about which to be happy. All is not lost, said the man with all his data backed up….. Too bad that isn’t me…. For the nonce, gute nacht….

Now it is morning for real…. It must be, because I’m confused and dismayed, a sure sign of the rising of the sun. Not that I live in a depressive world or anything like that…. It’s more like a cartoon world most of the time….. Just make sure when you draw the cartoon, you include some sort of representation of Murphy; he likes to be acknowledged for his work. And, right now, he’s working overtime on my account, to be sure…..

A few days ago, I dropped my laptop, at the coffee shop, and it took a hard fall to the tile floor, right out of my backpack, as I was taking it off prior to sitting down & booting up. It behaved okay then, booting right up & acting normal, but in the last three days, it has been playing fast and loose with normality, giving me fits. First, it doesn’t recognize my password, and boots up into a new user interface. So, I restart, and it hangs. Finally, on the third try yesterday, it booted up…. only to find that Smart Bee was corrupted again. Fine….. I uninstalled it, reloaded it, and it is now fine. Now this morning, it is acting strange again, changing the boot sequence, hanging, and generally acting as if its innards are scrambled…

Noooooooo! I can’t take it. Don’t take my computer away from me, not yet. I can’t afford a new one; hell, I haven’t finished paying for this one yet. Please, gods of computers, and Murphy, leave me the fuck alone for another few weeks, please…. Once I get my SS money, then I can afford to back this computer up with another one, but, if it goes out before then, I am up shit creek without the proverbial paddle, for sure and for certain…. THAT would not be a good thing, as it would put me at extreme risk of hurting someone, should they poke at me at the wrong moment….. Since Murphy is the Universe’s biggest coward (he never sticks around to help people clean up his messes, and he never takes responsibility for his actions…. QED….), and won’t face his victims, somebody else would be in jeopardy of answering for his doing this to me…..

I have no choice but to go on as if nothing is amiss….. the Pearls must go out….. I will be crossing fingers, toes, and eyes to make sure the damn thing keeps working, but, if you don’t see me for a day or two, know that I am down, offline, kaput, and won’t be posting every day as I have been. I can post, but it will require some time on the library’s computers, which can be hard to book when busy. Ah well, wish me luck, ffolkes, as I try to keep my world from falling apart, infrastructurally….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

As I suspected, the news has become a desert….. Since the election settled so many questions that had been paramount, there has been virtually nothing going on that is worth any outrage, and certainly nothing that would stimulate enough angst to produce a rant. The Republicans are all walking around shaking their heads, and wondering where they went wrong, or trying to fool the public into believing they are going to cooperate with the administration (a load of crap if I ever heard one….), and the Democrats can’t stop grinning long enough to get anything done yet…. It’s like watching a video of a particularly exciting Sunday School class….. pretty enough, but boring as hell….

A few items worth discussion have come up…. There is more noise being bandied about regarding gun control again, as I see some folks posting statistics about guns and people getting killed…. What, did they think that all of a sudden, after the election, human nature was going to change? It always amazes me how much outrage, and surprise, people seem to exhibit when another atrocity killing is brought out by a news outlet. People are going to lose their cool, and their control…. that is a fact of life, and a law of nature. It isn’t ever going to change, and wishing otherwise is a fool’s game. In addition to this fact is another…. guns are real. When they are used to kill, it is not as if the gun is responsible, yet people seem to think that allowing the government to regulate who can have guns, and who can’t, will somehow stop all that from happening. It won’t, and thinking it will is the worst sort of self-delusion….

“Gun Control – the belief that government, with its great wisdom and moral superiority, can be trusted with a monopoly on deadly force.”– Smart Bee

Smart Bee has hit upon the main argument against gun control as desired by the idiots who think it will help. Sorry, don’t mean to be derogatory, but it is undeniable, inarguable idiocy to think that the government is capable of controlling itself any more than individuals can; what evidence is there to even hint as much? None, none that can be seen, because there is none that can be produced. If you think that the government has even the slightest intention of using such a monopoly with restraint and integrity, well, then, you are in some serious deep shit in your mind, and seriously need to consider therapy.

Hell, just take a look at recent statistics as to how many civilians have been gunned down by corrupt cops…. it may surprise you to see that the numbers are at least equal to, if not greater than those attributed to civilian citizens. In the town I live in alone, there have been at least seven civilian deaths at the hands of police with guns, just this year, and this is not a particularly large town, nor a particularly violent one.

“Most people seem to think that trampling individual rights is OK if it is “for the good of society as a whole.”  However, society is but a large number of individuals, and how can harming the individual parts better the whole?” — Andrew Ford, forda@agcs.com

Hearing a government official claim that by restricting a right it is good for society as a whole is, to me, the very same as hearing someone wearing robes and a conical, comical hat, claim they are looking out for ‘my’ interests over their own…. I’m not gonna buy it, not now, not ever. There is NO TIME when it is acceptable to restrict an individual’s rights, unless their exercise of that right is denying the rights of another. Doing so is entering the slippery slope that leads to the loss of that right. The good of society does not lie in that direction, but rather in a direction that protects that right, and all of the others we were left as our legacy.

Hearing someone say they are acting “for the good of society” reminds me of the thief saying he is taking my things “for my own good”….. it doesn’t compute. Nor would I trust it if it did…. I may be a cynic, but in this case, I’m right…. The beloved ruling class is NOT going to look out for your best interests, or mine…. No matter how often they say they are, or how often they try to convince you, they are NOT going to do that. They are trying to control you, and screw you, and unless you hold on to your rights, and protect them with your own gun, then they will continue to try to take them away…. Sad, but true….

“Sure, understanding today’s complex world of the future is a little like having bees live in your head.  But there they are . . .” — The Firesign Theater, “I Think We’re All Bozos on this Bus!”

I have made friends with the bees in my head, and they know that I am armed and dangerous, to anyone who tries to convince me that our beloved ruling class has my best interests at heart. They don’t, and I know it, and continued attempts to try to convince me otherwise are not only doomed to failure, but are likely to prompt a response they wont’ be expecting, and one they will regret…. If so, well, all I can say is “just desserts”….
__________________________________

What If

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I’m dumb in school?
Whatif they’ve closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there’s poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don’t grow taller?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won’t bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don’t grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

~~ Shel Silverstein
__________________________________

I’m feeling curmudgeonly this morning, but also quite lazy. Therefore, old school pearl…. Here is another one that jabs a pointed stick in the eye of religion, as is fairly common ’round these parts….. All of these historical figures, and modern authors, had something to say on the subject, but all in a slightly different way…. which is what makes life interesting, right? Right…. Enjoy, and pay heed, because otherwise those preachers, they’ll getcha…. and they won’t let go…..

“Human, do you know how interesting it is, this thing you describe? Avata does not have a god. How is it that you have a god? Avata has Self, has the universe. But you have a god. Where did you find this god?” — Frank Herbert

“Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane — like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell — mouths mercy and invented hell — mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!” — Mark Twain, _The Mysterious Stranger_

“In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain.” — Pliny the Elder

“History records no more gallant struggle than that of humanity against the truth.” — whoever Google says it was, if not Smart Bee…

“I believe that ideas such as absolute certitude, absolute exactness, final truth, etc. are figments of the imagination which should not be admissible in any field of science…This loosening of thinking seems to me to be the greatest blessing which modern science has given us. For the belief in a single truth and in being the possessor thereof is the root cause of all evil in the world.” — Max Born

(As perfect proof of this particular assertion, I offer the following unattributed piece of nonsense, that nevertheless is probably one of the most revered items of dogma in many Christian cults…..)

God didn’t call them the 10 suggestions! — Unknown fundie

(If you can’t see how WRONG this statement is, in so many different ways, I have a great deal of pity for you…. Reality is going to really work you over…..)

Under Alabama law, the wearer of a false mustache in church who causes unseemly laughter is subject to arrest.– Smart Bee

Well, there you go…. It all will make sense….. maybe if you just play it backwards….
__________________________________

Now, this is a Pearl of unusual construction, and more unusual format. Oh, not much is changed, but, enough that I felt the difference as I was trying to put it together. But, it is not really worth discussion, so we’ll ignore it altogether, and get on with the day…. Some might say I’ve held it up long enough as it is…. Not that I care what folks say, much…. only certain folks, which is as it should be, for all of us….. Since I don’t have any idea how to proceed from here, I’m going to have to bring this to a close, as is…..   Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Boxloads of bastards for sale or rent….

Posted on by
Reply

Ffolkes,
The veils that billow and fold between dreams and reality may sometimes part, showing the visions of one to the other, blending, bleeding as one, only to bring us up short, closely jammed against immovable fate. Still, we keep our watch, seeking to find the vision that brings with it the mark of reality’s regard, a humble mind, and a compassionate heart. Events of broad impact draw us away again, distracting with shiny glitter and tinny music, leaving our feelings raw and bruised, the victim of universal disregard. Now, in the twilight of years, the music is fading, and the glitter has all gone…. yet the memory of visions remains sharp and clear, melancholy reminders of reality’s promises, unkept…..

Hmm…. silly me. Words sometimes don’t flow from my head, through my fingers, and on to the screen…. they leak. Kind of like a small cut on the hand, that won’t quite close for a while because it keeps getting re-opened by movement. You think it’s closed, then a few minutes later, a small drop of intense red appears on whatever is in your view, and you know that Murphy has been hanging about somewhere, just waiting for you to pick up whatever important document you just bled on…. Any who, that’s kind of what it’s like to wake up with paragraphs like the above, waiting to get out of the way before any other, possibly intelligent, words can break past them into the light of day….. It’s not necessarily painful, but it is inconvenient, especially given that it is a personal problem, one that only I could conceivably fix…. Being too lazy to do so DOES have its advantages….

Of course, if I stop letting stuff like the first paragraph out before I write something more appropriate, there is no telling what it might do, just sitting around in my head, rotting and decomposing, until it makes everything else in there reek just as badly. Or, it will join forces with more trifling drivel of its own ilk, and force me to try to post it sometime, knowing full well that I’d have to commit hara-kiri immediately, should that ever happen. It would be the only honorable thing to do, in that sad case.

Since, however, I’m unwilling to carry out such an extreme measure at this point, I’m just as glad that it got out, and onto the screen at the beginning of a Pearl, where the damage it can cause is minimal. I mean, who reads that part with any expectations, right? I think I’ve given ample proof that when it comes to the opening of a Pearl, there is no telling what may pop up, so most ffolkes are prepared to that extent…. That should keep the injuries down today…. If anyone does incur any wear and tear, trying to get past today’s introductory words, well, you know where the first-aid kit is located, right?…. Just over there behind the archives…. Plenty of duct tape in there….

Now that we’ve established the proper tone of nonsense and whimsy, I think it would be best if we went for the morning dive, which, to some degree, took place last night…. Whether it survives in that state remains to be seen…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“If you can see a thing whole… it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives…But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful the earth is, is to see it as the moon. The way to see how beautiful a life is, is to see it from the vantage point of death.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, Dispossessed

Whenever I come across a quote from Ursula Le Guin, for some strange reason, I am always taken by surprise at how deep a chord she strikes in me with her insight, into people, into writing, into beauty, and life. The surprise is because I already knew how good she is, yet her words show up here far too infrequently to entirely please me….. and I don’t know why I never remember to look for her when I’m searching, or need something specific….

It may be the depth of what she writes, and the skill with which she illuminates those depths…. The pieces that can be used for reasonably short discussions are rare, due to the very complex nature of her plots. The questions of life, and how we humans deal with it, that she raises in her stories, are more than just complex, they are also subtle, and often quite revolutionary in scope. The very nature of the worlds she creates can shock the most flexible of minds, yet the power of her imagery and vision is such that it makes the fantastic real, engendering understanding by showing how someone so completely different than normal, still remains their deepest humanity, through the power of love. The depths of the human spirit come to life in her books, with great power, and great beauty, and her artistry with words shows how that spirit can shine brightly from even the darkest depths, in the hands of a master.

As I approach death more closely in my own life, I find myself thinking more about it in ways such as suggested above by Ms. Le Guin. We all tend to get worn down by life, because we MUST view it close up; we spend our days right up against the skin of reality, having to peer at its pores, seeing, and feeling, every wrinkle that time carves into our faces with the unfelt knives of seconds, hours, and days. It is only when one stops, and stands next to death, that the beauty of the pattern of our lives is visible to our perception, and we can see just how much the trip has been worth the effort we’ve made.

It is easy, unfortunately, to lose that perceptive viewpoint, to fail to remember how it feels to know the contrast between what we feel and what we hope. The weight of everyday is mighty, indeed. But, we always have the choice, to take a moment, to take a step back, and look at the bigger picture, to gain the perspective, and the vision of hope for the future that lives inside us, if we only know where to look…. and know that we have such a choice available to us in need….

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.” — George Bernard Shaw
__________________________________

Ancient Air

I climb up high and look on the four seas,
Heaven and earth spreading out so far.
Frost blankets all the stuff of autumn,
The wind blows with the great desert’s cold.
The eastward-flowing water is immense,
All the ten thousand things billow.
The white sun’s passing brightness fades,
Floating clouds seem to have no end.
Swallows and sparrows nest in the wutong tree,
Yuan and luan birds perch among jujube thorns.
Now it’s time to head on back again,
I flick my sword and sing Taking the Hard Road.

Li Po.
__________________________________

“In ecology, as in economics, TANSTAAFL (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free  Lunch) is intended to warn that every gain is won at some cost. Failure to  recognize the no free lunch law causes the buffalo-hunter mentality  syndrome — the unthinking assumption that there will always be plenty because there always has been plenty.” — Dr. Robert W. Prehoda

See? Now, this is what really ticks me off….. There it is, all laid out so an idiot can understand it, and nobody pays any damn attention. It is a statement that is self-fulfilling…. in which I mean that it has already come to pass, and our society has decided to act on the buffalo-hunter syndrome basis, and the ecological decisions being made are NOT in favor of the buffalo…. I defy anyone to tell me otherwise. Go ahead. Show me one piece of evidence that shows that we are, in any way, acting as if we are expecting a bill for lunch. I guarantee, the bill is for enough that we don’t have enough cash, or enough credit, to even come close to paying it….

“Humanity prefers comfort over truth.” ~~ Smart Bee

Since this is also true, nobody is paying any attention to this little conundrum. Ever notice how well the mocking campaign worked against Al Gore? Does anybody listen to his message anymore? Nope. Yet he is right. He spoke nothing but well-documented truths, yet the unwarranted lies that were spread about what he said, and the smear campaign over his unfortunate delivery style, turned what is the most important question facing our species in this century, and the last, into a joke, just so the people who are profiting from the sale of the buffalo meat can continue to live their fantasies at the expense of our reality….. As long as the cable reception isn’t interrupted, most folks won’t care one way or the other, sadly…

A monk said to Joshu, “Your stone bridge is widely renowned, but coming here I find only a heap of rocks.”  Joshu said, “You see only the stones and not the bridge.”  The monk said, “What is the bridge?”  Joshu said, “What do you think we are walking on?” — Smart Bee

What the majority of people today don’t understand is that they are walking on the bridge, and do not realize that the bridge is being washed away, as they are walking, and will no longer be there to cross, once they have passed it (and IF they make it to the other side). There will be no turning back to the right path, because we will be paying our lunch bill….. and since we don’t have enough to pay for it, we will be removed from the field of play…. If you are not worried, and scared of how things are going, well, folks, you just aren’t paying attention….  Ah, the hell with it…. I’m gonna go take a nap….

On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree. — Things We Can Learn From Dogs
__________________________________

Well, for a standard Pearl, it’s a bit foreshortened today, by an unforeseeable complication presented by my oh-so-creative petty side, to wit: fractured fairy-tales. Yes, they’ve been floating in and out of my head all morning, distracting me from following a train of thought, or even a local bus of thought. I call them fractured fairy tales, but all they are, are silly little epigrams and phrases that pop up into my head, never on subject, and always intended to send my mind down some heretofore unnoticed hallway in the dusty corners of the back towers of consciousness. Quite annoying, and, as can be seen, somewhat disruptive to routine.

They were bigger than me, Ma, but I beat ’em! It may not be Art, but it’s done, and nobody’s gonna make me put it all back; that’s like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube once it’s out…. not terribly productive. Y’all will just have to take it the way it is…. not that you haven’t had to do that before…. but, I do like to give warning. I guess a warning isn’t too effective, is it, coming here at the end? Probably not…. ah well, all I can do is all I can do, you know…..   Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Fabled moments of placid acceptance….

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
Halloween has always been my favorite, as far as any holiday can be said to be so, given my opinion of most of them as corporate/government  manipulations of the economy. However, Halloween has two things going for it that most holidays don’t…. One, it is patterned after real cultural celebrations from history, giving it the veneer of authenticity, and, two, it is the day before my birthday, which is the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos in Mexico (And, if you don’t think THAT was a point of pride as a child, you don’t know jack….).

As a kid, this gave it the advantage over other holidays, hands down, and that preference has carried over through my adult years, for much the same reasons…. Costumes are fun, too, but, a bit undignified to fit in with my self-image as a curmudgeon; I haven’t indulged in a costume since my kids still were enthusiastic about holidays…. I just dress as always, and tell people I’m a serial killer…. they look just like everybody else….  🙂

This year, Halloween finds me up early, for unknown reasons. Actually, my recent schedule, of sleep, write, read, lather, rinse, repeat, etc. has been all over the map; probably has to do with the stress levels that go up and down, depending on how long I’ve been in the dark re: SS and their machinations and contortions. I’m hoping this early up means something in there is clamoring to get out, rather than waiting for me to persuasively seduce it onto the screen. We shall see shortly….

It could get ugly this morning, as I’ve no real material stashed, and I never know how Smart Bee will be about providing proper quotes in a timely manner…. it tends to listen to Murphy a lot when I’m not around. In fact, now that I think about it, I’m scaring myself, and I think I should go see how it is going to be…..

While I’m doing that, y’all can take a breather for a moment…..

There, feel better?…. Hmm… I don’t know about Smart Bee…. this is what I came up with right away….

“Be pleasant until ten o’clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself.” — Elbert Hubbard

Which isn’t bad, all things considered, but, it isn’t going to make much of a pearl. It’s too finished; there isn’t any more to be said on the subject…. Well, it’s not encouraging, but it was something, which is better than nothing, I suppose. I’ll just have to take my chances…. Since there seems to be no further excuse for heading on out, I’ll bid thee adieu, until the final lines, and wish you a pleasant dive today…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

And here, poor fool, with all my lore
I stand no wiser than before.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

“This instant is thine; the next is in the womb of futurity, and thou knowest not what it may bring forth; maturity of the unborn is in the keeping of the Law. Each future state is that thou has created in the present.” — Akhenaton? (c. B.C. 1375)

“The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.” — Joan Borysenko

Living life well is a subjective goal, and, as such, whether or not it we are successful in reaching the goal is purely a subjective judgment. This kind of judgment requires introspection, which makes it somewhat of a conundrum for many people, as their skills at that particular activity are severely limited from disuse. Very few people today spend much time in self-examination, from what I can see. If they did, they sure wouldn’t act the way the do, or dress the way they are, or carry on such a foolish, self-destructive course of living….

“The study of the errors into which great minds have fallen in the pursuit of truth can never be uninstructive. . . No man is so wise but that he may learn some wisdom from his past errors, either of thought or action, and no society has made such advances as to be capable of no improvement from the retrospect of its past folly and credulity.” — Charles Mackay

Introspection, however, requires both honesty and ruthlessness, in being able to recognize those things within us that are not of value, and to remove them from our persona. As such, it is what most folks would term as “hard” or “difficult”, and they will avoid it at all cost, laziness being a rather common human trait. It is much simpler, and easier, to just take what all the powers that be, (otherwise known as either the beloved ruling class, or those most heinous of criminal manipulators, preachers/priests), are selling as moral standards, and use them, regardless of whether or not they are truly moral or not…. and I assure you, mostly, they are not….

“Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

I often feel like Goethe, in what he stated above, as I believe myself to be one of the few who actually do use introspection on a regular basis. I believe this because, if other folks were using this process, the world would look a lot different. Women would feel safe walking the streets; old folks would feel cared for; gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals would not suffer discrimination for their orientation; racism would be dead, and religion would join mythology as a piece of mankind’s past, rather than its current status as our jailer/executioner…..

“Being good at being stupid doesn’t count.” — Smart Bee

All of these societal problems (bigotry, racism, discrimination, slavery, entitlement, misogyny, etc. )arise from the attitude of elitism held by those individuals among us who never look within, to see just how ugly their inner selves have become, from using the sick, twisted elitism as preached by the modern religious and political leaders. We, as a species, cannot afford to listen any more to the Judeo-Christian ethic as propounded by the beloved ruling class; this kind of entitlement and aggrandizement has led us to the very brink of extinction, as we continue to treat the planet as our toy, instead of as our home. We cannot keep pouring millions of tons of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and expect nothing to happen, because what will happen is already happening…. our weather is changing, and not in a good way…. the planet is warming up, and when it is warm enough, the ice at the poles will melt, and everything on Earth will feel the effects….

“The faith in which I was brought up assured me that I was better than other people: I was saved, they were damned … Our hymns were loaded with arrogance–self-congratulation on how cozy we were with the Almighty and what a high opinion he had of us, what hell everybody else would catch come judgment day.” — Robert A. Heinlein

As Akhenaton pointed out over 3000 years ago, what we do in the present will determine how the future will be. What our species is doing now will guarantee that most of us won’t be around to see what happens in that future, because we will be dead within a hundred years, or less, if things don’t begin to change TODAY…. Since it is unlikely that will happen, well, we may as well take the advice given to many school children in the 50’s, in learning to deal with an atomic blast…. to wit: bend over and kiss your ass goodbye….  I hate to be so cynical, but, introspection requires honesty, so….

“You were s’posed to laugh!” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

A Brave and Startling Truth

We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
Traveling through casual space
Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns
To a destination where all signs tell us
It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth

And when we come to it
To the day of peacemaking
When we release our fingers
From fists of hostility
And allow the pure air to cool our palms

When we come to it
When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate
And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean
When battlefields and coliseum
No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters
Up with the bruised and bloody grass
To lie in identical plots in foreign soil

When the rapacious storming of the churches
The screaming racket in the temples have ceased
When the pennants are waving gaily
When the banners of the world tremble
Stoutly in the good, clean breeze

When we come to it
When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders
And children dress their dolls in flags of truce
When land mines of death have been removed
And the aged can walk into evenings of peace
When religious ritual is not perfumed
By the incense of burning flesh
And childhood dreams are not kicked awake
By nightmares of abuse

When we come to it
Then we will confess that not the Pyramids
With their stones set in mysterious perfection
Nor the Gardens of Babylon
Hanging as eternal beauty
In our collective memory
Not the Grand Canyon
Kindled into delicious color
By Western sunsets

Nor the Danube, flowing its blue soul into Europe
Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji
Stretching to the Rising Sun
Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor,
Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores
These are not the only wonders of the world

When we come to it
We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe
Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger
Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace
We, this people on this mote of matter
In whose mouths abide cankerous words
Which challenge our very existence
Yet out of those same mouths
Come songs of such exquisite sweetness
That the heart falters in its labor
And the body is quieted into awe

We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines

When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear

When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.

Maya Angelou
__________________________________

“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, utters another.” — Homer (c. 700 B.C.)

I’ve gotta say, I’m with Homer on this one…. In looking back over my lifetime, in fact, just about every time in that lifetime that I’ve been subjected to emotional pain has been the result of this very thing, i.e., dishonesty, or betrayal of trust. My most recent example of such treatment at the hands of others took place about two and a half years ago, when I received a double whammy, from my boss at work, and from the woman with whom I had been in a relationship for nine years. My boss, without ever once indicating in any way she was unhappy with my work, had me bureaucratically removed from my job as “unfit for duty” as a result of my back injury and pain. In the same week, the woman I lived with went from telling me she loved me on Tuesday, to asking me to not call her for a couple months on Thursday, as she wanted some “space”…. a euphemism for “goodbye forever”….. Both of them stuck a knife straight into my heart, metaphorically speaking, and I bled pretty profusely from that trusting organ….

Emotionally, I’m pretty much over these two incidents, though I’m still dealing with the physical reality of the first one, but, whenever I think about either one, there is still residual pain, and the tears still flow freely with the pain…. What helps is to realize that a) I’m better off being out of each situation, even if I don’t know why either one happened, other than by speculation, and b) they won’t be able to do it again, at least not from that quarter of the compass…. It also helps being the age I am, as I’ve now been through this kind of pain more than once, and I know that I am not alone with that experience, and I only have to remain alone if I wish…. There are other people out there in the world who are worthy of my trust; the trick is to learn somehow to recognize them, and to learn how to judge the strength of their commitment to honor, and truth. Like Tom Robbins said in “Skinny Legs and All”, the question that needs to be answered is, “How do you make love stay?”…..

The tricky part, it seems, is how to keep on trusting, when so often it leads to betrayal. Society teaches dishonesty and cheating as skills to use against each other; witness our entire political scene, and then tell me otherwise. But, learning to trust is essential to being trusted, so it becomes a balancing act, with one’s fear of being hurt on one side, and the need for human contact on the other.  Somewhere in the middle lies the answer, and that is when love can show its face, even if only for a time. One just has to learn patience, for the search for an honest man, or woman, has been going on for a very long time, and as far as I’ve seen and heard, there has not been a great deal of success at finding one….

“…and I get on my knees and pray we don’t get fooled again.” — Pete Townshend
__________________________________

Well, that certainly turned maudlin on me…. I could barely write my way out of that one. Ah well, at least, if nothing else, it is honest…. perhaps, some might say, shamefully so, but I gave that up years ago, so, hey…. In any case, it’s done, which is something, given how things have gone this morning. Not to complain, but it has been tough to grind this one out…. I did start a poem, but, only got two lines in before stalling; it’s just not ready yet. The first two lines are good, though, so I’ll stick with it….

Any who, I can’t think of how to cause any more damage than I already have, so I’m going to consign this one to the place where I can’t get it back, and publish it…. Don’t hate me for it, I beg you…. And, if so, well, sorry ’bout that, but, that’s the way it goes around here….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

A good deal in a truck school….

Posted on by
2

Ffolkes,

“I’m confused – more than usual, that is.” — Smart Bee

I am considering using this as the opening line for this blog every day, much like the sig file I use at the end (“Sometimes I sits and….”)…. It certainly fits my usual state of mind when I sit down to write in the mornings. In fact, it occurs so often, it could be considered a ritualistic behavior, designed to mitigate the overall impact of having to wake up and get moving. I have learned enough in my years to make sure that I own a programmable coffee maker, that has my coffee ready for me when I get up. But, I still have to get up, stir in the condiments I use, then go stare at the computer while it boots up…. by the time I’ve sipped a few ounces down, and I’m beginning to be able to focus my vision on the screen, well, that is when the confusion becomes a factor…. right when, of course, it is of the least use to me…. See what I mean about Murphy?…..

I promised y’all, however, that I wouldn’t whine, so I won’t. I will merely note the state of confusion, and let it go at that, allowing you to snicker behind your hankies and roll your eyes at your discretion…. Let it never be said that I tried to limit your choices here, loud as I do tend to get sometimes in my enthusiasm for what I’m saying…. just chalk it up to the passion that goes along with being a triple Scorpio, and it will suffice, even if it doesn’t make any more sense. Remember, reality has no provisions listed that require ANYTHING to make sense, much less me….

You may be glad to know that most of the confusion has cleared, and been replaced by anger, or more accurately, frustration with my own body. Just when I had thought that things might start moving in a better direction, my lack of dietary balance rises up to cause other problems. I swear I don’t know whether to spit or whistle, not that either would help much, nor, in this case, make me feel much better….. not much will do so, in this instance. But, damn it, I’m not going to let this get me…… I am repeating that phrase to myself, over and over, in the hopes that my body will be persuaded to stop what it has begun…. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t….

Silly creatures, aren’t we? Apply a bit of pressure, and we retreat back to childhood in our reactions. I’m an adult, of this there is no further doubt…. whether I want to be or not. Responding to physical discomfort by chanting the mantra of all two-year olds is, as the years have impressed on me, not the most effective way of dealing with reality. Just because it fulfills some inner tape we run as part of our behavioral repertoire is no good reason to let it disturb our serenity, such as it exists. You know what, though? Our bodies don’t care how old we are, they just want the pain/discomfort to stop, and they don’t care if it takes a two-year old’s mentality and behavior to get it done…. in other words, maturity goes right into the toilet in the face of undue, or apparently unwarranted pain….

It seems as if the condition is backing off somewhat…. perhaps my inner appeal to reason has struck a chord, and persuaded whatever it is to mellow out for a while…. whatever, I’ll take it…. I started both the pearls below last night, getting a jump, as it were, so, I ‘ll do my best now to finish them off, then all we’ll need to do is either write, or find, an appropriate piece of poetry to fill in the central portion of today’s effort. I’m not sure how this will work out, but, we’ll see…. All you can do is all you can do, and no more….. so, let’s do what we can….. Shall we Pearl?….
__________________________________

“It is a misconception that spirituality brings everlasting happiness. There is no such thing. Sadness still comes to the wise, but, unlike most people, their clarity of mind allows them to see beyond the temporal emotionalism of the moment. They are farseeing, and so happiness and sorrow become the same to them.” — Deng Ming-Dao

This is a very subtle and difficult concept for anyone, of Western or Eastern orientation to reality, to fully understand, and even harder to put into action in everyday life…. It is also an idea I’m not sure I can completely hold to be true, in one sense at least. I can see how learning to accept both happiness and sorrow as being equal in value, in terms of how reality is structured is important to understanding. The very fact that we perceive them as opposites reflects our way of seeing the universe, as a dichotomy, with each characteristic balanced by its spiritual opposite, its mirror image, as it were; it follows that being able to recognize this without experiencing any discomfort or imbalance would be a valuable approach.

But, I cannot say that they are the same to me, for as a human, it is part of my nature to “like” the happiness, and “dislike” the sorrow; as people, we are going to have an emotional reaction to what we perceive, regardless of any other factors. It seems to me that the lesson to be learned, then, is to not allow our emotional preferences to  influence our inner state, beyond the state of acknowledging it. Our task then becomes to learn to accept it, and appreciate it for its place in reality, without letting our feelings about that place bring us to imbalance within our own spirit….  As I said, subtle and difficult, and more easily said than done, to be sure…..

The events surrounding this morning’s Pearl, as outlined in the intro, serve well to demonstrate how this principle can be useful to us in a very real sense….. I am unbalanced this morning, with my physical being complaining in no uncertain terms that it is displeased with the current state of my diet. This imbalance takes the form of severe discomfort, with some pain located in specific areas of concern. In addressing how I would deal with the feelings it generates, in the above section, it could be said that I was attempting to see past the event itself, into the meaning of it. This encourages some distance between the mind, and the actual events, and consequently, some distance from the feelings. With the sense of panic that accompanies such feelings abated, it is possible to adjust one’s attention to other places in the mind, and the imbalance of the negative feelings is brought back into proper  alignment….

As with most types of pain, the feelings we have in reaction make the pain worse, if only by forcing our attention onto it. By creating some inner distance from those feelings, we take control of our attention, and by doing so, reduce the amount of pain/discomfort by a significant factor…. The pain doesn’t go away, but it is reduced enough so we can deal with it in a more productive fashion. It is by no means easy; the pain/discomfort doesn’t like giving up its position in the forefront of the mind’s attention. But, as can be seen by this very pearl, it can free us from the tyranny that our own bodies may try to impose upon us…. In a very real sense, learning this lesson, and how to apply it to the real world, can free our minds completely, to exist in a place where good and bad do not affect our inner balance….

“If you regard discomfort as a normal condition you are not likely to be troubled by want.” — Ieyasu’s maxims

This maxim points to one of the important attitudes one must cultivate, in order for this principle to work properly. It reminds me of the old story about the colonist and the Indian, walking through the forest in winter, sometime in the late 1600’s. The colonist is fully dressed against the cold in leathers, sweaters, jackets, furs, boots, and full beard; the Indian is in moccasins, breech cloth, and skin, despite the snow all around. The colonist says to the Indian, “Aren’t you cold?” The Indian asks in return, “Is your face cold?” “Well, yeah, but I’m used to that,” is the reply….. The Indian just smiles, and says, “Me all face….”

Put most simply, it’s all in what you are used to…. So, get used to learning to adjust your own mind, teaching it to control its reaction to events of all types, rather than letting the world, and its unwelcome events, adjust it for you….. Me, I’d hate to have the words “willy nilly” apply to me in ANY respect….. I prefer having some say in the matter…. and I’ll tell you, it has been an invaluable tool this morning, else there would be no Pearl today…..

And if I laugh at any mortal thing,
‘T is that I may not weep.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Don Juan, Canto iv, Stanza 4
__________________________________

Ogden Nash, I think….

Common Cold

Go hang yourself, you old M.D.!
You shall not sneer at me.
Pick up your hat and stethoscope,
Go wash your mouth with laundry soap;
I contemplate a joy exquisite
I’m not paying you for your visit.
I did not call you to be told
My malady is a common cold.

By pounding brow and swollen lip;
By fever’s hot and scaly grip;
By those two red redundant eyes
That weep like woeful April skies;
By racking snuffle, snort, and sniff;
By handkerchief after handkerchief;
This cold you wave away as naught
Is the damnedest cold man ever caught!

Give ear, you scientific fossil!
Here is the genuine Cold Colossal;
The Cold of which researchers dream,
The Perfect Cold, the Cold Supreme.
This honored system humbly holds
The Super-cold to end all colds;
The Cold Crusading for Democracy;
The Führer of the Streptococcracy.

Bacilli swarm within my portals
Such as were ne’er conceived by mortals,
But bred by scientists wise and hoary
In some Olympic laboratory;
Bacteria as large as mice,
With feet of fire and heads of ice
Who never interrupt for slumber
Their stamping elephantine rumba.

A common cold, gadzooks, forsooth!
Ah, yes. And Lincoln was jostled by Booth;
Don Juan was a budding gallant,
And Shakespeare’s plays show signs of talent;
The Arctic winter is fairly coolish,
And your diagnosis is fairly foolish.
Oh what a derision history holds
For the man who belittled the Cold of Colds!

Ogden Nash
__________________________________

“Abolition of a woman’s right to abortion, when and if she wants it, amounts to compulsory maternity: a form of rape by the State.” — Edward Abbey

This is a difficult pearl to write, as it turns out….. I’ve been cutting and pasting it ahead now for a week or two, trying to get past the anger I feel whenever I think about the number of asshole men who actively perpetrate the oppression of women in our society, a number far too large for my taste, and one I hope to make smaller before I leave this world…. one way or another. I’d prefer to have them listen to me, and consider what I say to them, and subsequently change their ways…. but, if it takes more than that, say, the judicious application of brute force upon their person, well, I hope to be able to oblige them…. because, in my world, any man who is cowardly enough to try to assume his delusional superiority over women deserves whatever they get from other men, as well as from women strong enough to fight back….

“You’re a very strong woman… Though this would be a traumatic experience that you would never forget, I think that you would be very successful in
life.” — Senator Dan Quayle telling an 11-year-old girl — why he would want her to have the baby if she were raped by her father, 10/18/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)

Note, please that this quote from the Quail was made 20 years ago…. yet, the Republican party includes this very atrocity as a part of its platform…. disguised of course, and never directly addressed, or even obliquely alluded to, but, these attitudes are just the same now as they were then; perhaps even worse. A very similar statement, just one of several in the same vein, was made in the last couple of weeks by a currently running candidate for the Senate, and the R/R ticket has steadfastly refused to speak out against what the man said…. or about any of the other statements by the low-class misogynists now inhabiting the entire Republican party. In fact, Lyin’ Ryan is already on record as having made the same assertion as Mr. Quayle did in 1988, earlier in this year’s campaign.

“The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life — the children; those who are in the twilight of life — the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life — the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” — Hubert Humphrey

These asinine fools would have us believe that their entire concern in this issue is for the fetus…. when in reality it is their own sexual insecurities that they are protecting, by taking the decision about any such matters, involving women’s health, out of the hands of the women involved, and putting it in the hands of men, who are deathly afraid of the women’s sexuality, because they automatically feel inferior…. This creates the reaction of rage, or anger, which always covers our fears, and these cowards in men’s clothing cover it all by spouting their lies and insanity even more….

I find at this point that I must bring this to a (temporary) end…. I am not paying attention to the lesson of today’s first section, and my anger at these assholes is getting to the point where I want to put away the computer and pick up my stick, to go looking for a few of them to bludgeon until some of my anger is released. That, while satisfying in the short run, would no doubt lead to complications I’m not prepared to accept, so….. but, I’ll be back to this subject, be sure…. I need to ask all those women out there who are supporting Romney and Ryan just when it was they lost their minds….
__________________________________

Boy, if it ain’t one thing, it’s another! Due to unforeseen but amicable changes in scheduling, this Pearl has been truncated a trifle, but apparently without harm…. at least on first pass. Since it is done, we’re going to let if fly without any further checks, other than to see what spell-checker has freaked about…. Tomorrow promises to be, well, different, which, I guess, is all we can really hope for…..Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Night birds sing their own songs….

Posted on by
1

Ffolkes,
Birthdays often lead to self-examination, as we are forced to acknowledge the passage of time with yet another celebration of an event that may or may not warrant such…. not that celebrating birth is bad, necessarily….. I’m just pointing out that not everyone feels as if their life is currently something worth celebrating….. Plus, there is the whole aging issue here; after 62 of these days over the course of my life, they lose a some of their “special” feeling, ya know? It’s hard to get excited over a day that mostly signifies the advent of further medical issues…..

I always kind of liked the way Hobbits dealt with birthdays in the Shire. On their birthday each year, they would throw a party, inviting all of their friends, and give each one of them a present to celebrate the day…. This, as J.R.R. Tolkien pointed out, meant that during a common year, hobbits only had to remember their own birthday, and buy a present for everyone then, one time a year. During the remainder of the year, they would be invited to many parties, getting a present each time, as their friends celebrated their special days. It always seemed a much more logical way to approach the whole subject than what we humans use….. less remembering of dates to accomplish, and presents and parties all year long…..

Ah well, one of the advantages of reaching an age like 62, (which is up next for me, this coming week….) is the foresight one is now accustomed to using. In this case, I’ll be using it to do my self-examination ahead of time, to get it out of the way, so to speak, so I can concentrate on enjoying that day without the angst thinking about it is sure to develop, given the current state of affairs around here. In fact, I’ll plan to do that introspective self-test tonight, just before bed, and it will be done, out of the way, and out of my mind….. Who knows? My mind might even buy it, and let it go that way…. if not, well, there’s nobody around anyway, to notice the difference, except for me, and I’m not going to tell…. hell, maybe I’ll get lucky, and won’t end up having to do it at all…. I could use the emotional break, for sure….

Of course, I’m saving up all that angst anyway, to dump on the poor psychiatrist who was unlucky enough to be assigned to examine me on November 8th; I intend that he/she will see EXACTLY how much my PTSD is affecting my life every day, complete with tears, rage, fear, regret, and thoroughly general malaise…. I only hope I can refrain from physical expression; I don’t wish to hurt them, just give them a good fright, which they deserve for involving themselves in the SS process….

I see that sort of service by doctors as sort of “copping in” to the establishment, sacrificing independence and insecurity for the security of consultations for the federal government…. It’s sort of the same impulse that those who seek public office have, to raid the public treasury with impunity…. and thus, I don’t have a lot of respect for them, as a rule. Besides, thanks to my lifelong habit of reading a book a day, I find I’m usually better educated than most of the doctors I meet, and they don’t much like that, as it tends to undermine the slavish obedience from their patients to which they are accustomed…. and will NEVER see from me, as I tend to question EVERYTHING they say….

I see that I am wandering, and threatening to fall into a rant, without ever picking a subject…. which means this intro section has gone on long enough…. If I don’t try to assume some control at this point, it can get away from me in a heartbeat…. so, Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“The incestuous relationship between government and big business thrives in the dark.” — Jack Anderson

“Have you noticed that many people who laugh at kids who believe in Santa Claus are the same people who believe in campaign promises?” — Smart Bee

My mind is in a very abstruse state this morning; I am seeing all kinds of tenuous meaning in different quotes, meaning that is certainly not obvious, and may even be illusion. Nonetheless, the meaning it implies is quite illuminating, so I’ll put these two quotes together, and see what happens…..

It may help in understanding to what I’m referring to know that the meaning I’m glimpsing has to do with the current election for POTUS here in this land we call, occasionally, home sweet home…. Each quote, of course, addresses a separate entity involved in the election process, and I will be scrupulously fair by not delineating my own guess as to who those entities might be…. hopefully, it is obvious, and I won’t have to beat around TOO many bushes to illustrate my points.

One of those points has to do with the first quote, and the quite obvious melding of the two entities in question, government and big business, that is so apparent in one of the candidates. This man is the perfect example of one who believes that he is entitled to be the POTUS because he is rich, and wants to have that power to solidify his status, along with the rest of his cronies. His disdain for the common man is written plainly in every one of his statements, even the lies, which are at least 50% of what comes out of his mouth. The opposition candidate isn’t completely innocent of such catering to the 1%, but he is at least attempting to equalize the playing field to some degree….

The most astounding thing I find in this election is the number of women who have, for whatever insane reasons they find, come out in support of the candidate who is on the right, merely because he is not the incumbent, whom they fear because of their own bigotry. Here is a man who has made it clear that he is a misogynist and a coward when it comes to women, and women’s rights, with almost every public statement he has made on the subject…..

He and his running mate, a mad dog if I’ve ever seen one, have both publicly stated they would support laws to make it illegal to have an abortion, even in cases of rape; moreover, they believe the rapist should have the rights of any father…. Yet these women won’t set aside their racism and brain-washing long enough to acknowledge these men’s campaign to have women’s rights totally controlled by men…. It is just plain incomprehensible to me, that any woman in her right mind would be able to stomach such a man, at all, much less allowing them to control their rights…. I’m not a woman, and it makes me want to slap them, repeatedly….

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” — H.L. Mencken

This election campaign will, I believe, go down in the history books as one that provides absolutely incontrovertible evidence that Mr. Mencken had this idea nailed perfectly. That it would be so, is no end a frustration to me, as I believe the average American to be more ethical than that, and much more self-aware. But, I suppose that is merely the part of me that subscribes to groundless hope, because I also know that one can never afford to underestimate the power of human stupidity….. especially when it comes to politics…..

“Politics…. is poopadoodle….” ~~ Fred, the Bird, from “Odds Bodkins”, an iconic comic strip from the 60’s and early 70’s
__________________________________

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” — D.H. Lawrence

Alone And Drinking Under The Moon

Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.

Li Po

“No poems can please nor live long which are written by water-drinkers.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)
__________________________________

“I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word I am saying.” — Oscar Wilde

AOL!….. LOL…. “AOL!” is hacker slang for “me, too!”, patterned after the typical AOL user’s response to a witty statement in a chat room…. In this case, I can honestly say that Oscar and I have this in common, especially the part about not understanding a word I’m saying….. I would say that puts me in some pretty good company, what?….

“The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson.” — Smart Bee

Oscar once made a statement that ran parallel to this one, as well. It is a hard lesson for all of us to learn, but, it is one of those common pieces of natural law that affect all of us at one time or another in our lives. Life, like the physical universe, just doesn’t care whether or not we are ready for an experience, it just happens. It is our own reaction to that which determines whether or not we are able to cope with the experience, and learn from it, or whether it buries us…. an all-too-common fate. It’s a tough room, as the comedian said….

“If you’re smoking after sex then you’re going *WAY* too fast!” — Smart Bee

This is not a perfect segue into the next item for discussion, since I’m a) not sure what that was, and b) this wasn’t it, but it does exemplify what I like to call the “silly factor”, an offshoot effect of the natural bozoid tendencies that all of us humans possess as members of this silly species…. Murphy’s Law is merely an observation, but is one that could only be made by our species (even though I’ve noted that other species, that associate with us, can sometimes be pulled into Murphy’s influence, to do his bidding, and occasionally, to act as co-victims….), because he takes full advantage of our tendencies toward bozoid behavior, to set traps for us; traps that cannot, and never do, fail to catch us unawares.

“I sometimes think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Even if one considers that God did not exceed his capabilities when making Man, he certainly made a rush job of it, and left certain design characteristics out of the final production, facets that would have gone a long way toward making this world a lot more pleasant a place than it has turned out to be, with Man in his current foolish state. Ah well, it just goes to show that one shouldn’t depend on a notion like creationism to provide us with excuses for our behavior….. accepting that kind of indulgence, or even assuming it, has obviously led us to the state of affairs we now face in the world, as the great majority of people continue to behave just as if they had the right to use the universe as they choose, rather than as they should do as moral creatures….

“Instead of being born again, why not just grow up?” — Smart Bee

That about says it all, don’t you think? Mankind would be far better off if we all decided to act as grown-ups, rather than clinging to the ages-old fantasies that have put us in this position. Only a child acts without regard to consequences; our species has been refusing to grow beyond that avaricious stage for millennia now, and the world is showing the deleterious effects of that sense of entitlement. We cannot continue to treat this planet as our toy, to be used and discarded like it was some piece of manufactured plastic, or we will most certainly suffer the very real consequences of that foolish attitude.

“Morals today are corrupted by our worship of riches.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

In spite of all the massive quantities of evidence that it is harmful, we continue to pump millions of tons of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere every minute of every day…. the effect of that on the balanced ecology of the planet is reaching a critical flash point, and may already be at a point from which there is no turning back…. This is FACT, not supposition….. but, the world carries on, certain that we may depend on the same old idea, that we are invulnerable, and not subject to the laws of nature…. a sincerely stupid idea at best…. It is almost enough to make one want to tear hair out and start shooting…. but, unfortunately, there isn’t enough ammunition to shoot all the folks who need to be shot, and it’s probably too late now, anyway….. Besides, who wants to be the one who has to decide who to shoot first? (I do! I do!…. which just proves that we humans can’t handle that sort of godly decisiveness….)

“All the secrets we may be able to keep from any and every god and human being do not in the least absolve us from the obligation to refrain from whatever actions are greedy, unjust, sensual, or otherwise immoderate.” — Cicero, On Duties

It’s really too bad that this idea never caught on…. Oh, many folks learned to use it, to lie to the rest of us, but, in reality, nobody ever really does this, they just say they do….. It kind of makes one wonder whether we deserve to keep living, doesn’t it?  Well, it makes ME wonder…. with not a little bit of sadness, for our species holds such promise…. a promise we have never learned to keep….

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

Well, it took me about three hours, but it all came together eventually. Once again, it has reached that all-important stage…. it’s done. See, now I can use that as an excuse to stop, which can often be a problem here…. As you may have noted, I suffer from massive inertia when I write… once I’ve started the whole process of getting it to move, it becomes hard to bring it to a halt, due to the tendency of objects in motion to remain in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force…. (thank you Isaac Newton, and your Second Law of Motion….)  I herewith activate said outside force…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Penny has yet to dance the lambada….

Posted on by
Reply

Ffolkes,
Yesterday, I corrected Time, so we are all caught up in that respect; the missing day has been banished, and no longer exists, for our purposes. This has, unfortunately, allowed Murphy a whole new 24 hour period in which to plan his persecutory activities, and I’m a bit timorous about diving right into a day where he’s had so much leeway for setting up potential chaos. I don’t even have a clue as to where he might strike…. my head seems fairly clear, but I have yet to examine or test out Smart Bee. He could have messed with the program somehow, as I don’t think geeking is beyond his skill set; I’ve been hit too often with little glitches that only could have come from him….. Ya never know, with Murphy….

I suppose one of the reasons I make such a good target for him, and his minions, is that I really, really hate his guts. I don’t care how often he claims it’s his job; I don’t care that the universe HAS to have someone like him, to maintain balances. He’s an asshole, plain and simple, and I don’t care how important he is to the universe. He could figure out ways to fuck with people less than he does; it is obvious to the most casual, and causal, observer that he goes above and beyond the call of his job to create special pain for people. To me, this is unacceptable, and unforgivable…. to have the choice, to make pain for innocent folks, or to mess with them, just because you can, is completely the work of an asshole, and is deserving of the disrespect of every honorable man alive….

If you can’t tell, I’m still angry at Murphy from his actions on Friday morning…. Having the Social Security case worker call me at 0801, to suggest I might wish to WAIT LONGER to get my benefits, was a  brilliant stroke on his part, if one considers such acts dispassionately. Nothing could have ruined my day, and my month, any better than that simple call. I did make the analyst pay, after a fashion…. Since his question had to do with my PTSD, I treated him to a full-on episode of emotional breakdown, at flash speed, complete with blubbering, shouting, and pressured speech, with the particular added bonus of my erudition at full out attack mode…. the man definitely got an earful in a short time….

I don’t know if that will help or hinder, and since the lawyer has yet to return my call (they’re a bit lax about that…. we’ll have to have another word or two on the subject, I can see…..), I am not sure how to think about it. I’m hoping I made it clear to the analyst that any further delays in awarding my benefits would only have a bad effect on me, and that their intransigent dallying is causing me no end of problems, both physical and emotional. Not that they care, particularly, that I can see, but at least I’ve made my position clear to them…. I can only hope the lawyer agrees…. and if not, well, they are the ones who are supposed to be guiding and controlling this process; they should start doing that, to my way of looking at it…. As may be apparent, my patience with the entire process is getting a bit thin…. and if something doesn’t break soon, I’m going to start looking for targets for my angst, which, I can assure you, is building up to a nice, big explosion….

Since I’m up and writing, and it’s only 0710 (bounced up at 0635 for some reason…. might have been the falling asleep at 2100 that did it…. but, hey, how ’bout them Giants, eh?…..) I suppose I’d best get started on today’s Pearl. Once again, I’m starting with zero material…. no quotes yet, and no incipient poetry, at least not at this juncture. Ah well, it’s been worse, for sure…. Shall we Pearl?……
__________________________________

“Why does this magnificent applied science, which saves work and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness?  The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended, civilizations are built up, excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top, and then it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down.” — C. S. Lewis

Sometimes it takes two to make the correct point….. Between these two quotes, we are given a glimpse of both the problem that mankind suffers from most, and the solution to that problem. Of course, the solution is one that, so far, has been unpalatable to most people, but, it is at least visible for discussion…. Most simply put, the whole problem that our species confronts can be ascribed to our spiritual deficits, as they pertain to both our treatment of each other, and our treatment of the world in which we live…..

In the first case, there are still too many people who think it is acceptable to seek power over others; in the second case, that spiritual flaw translates into a sense of entitlement that extends to how we utilize the resources of the planet, to wit: without proper or even minimal restraint. In the sphere of interactions between people, this deficit leads to misunderstandings, cruelty, slavery, and war…. in the case of planetary resources, it leads to strip-mining and unsustainable industry, unchecked pollution, and ecological suicide…..

I could spend a long time detailing just how far along the path to extinction our species has come; in fact, I’ve done so many times in the past. Such detailing is to little effect, however, so today we will assume it is already done, and we have established the fact that we are further along the road to perdition than most folks want to admit. At the same time, it is necessary to admit that we are also no closer to finding an answer to the question of how we are going to persuade the majority of mankind to make major internal changes, to their beliefs, their spiritual compass, and indeed, the very foundations of their entire existence, if they wish to live, and to give their children an even chance of the same….. This is a difficult proposition, as most folks won’t even admit to the necessity for change, much less what they themselves need to do…..

The depth of ignorance, you see, is not the only problem. For many, that ignorance will keep them from ever realizing just how bad things are, right up until the Grim Reaper comes knocking on their door. But, there are many, many people out there who know exactly what they do that is wrong, and they don’t care, because they believe it will have no ultimate effect on them, only on others…. To be so uncaring as to the fates of others, it is required that one be disconnected from reality, including the reality of one’s own motivation. These folks, who live for power, will not even examine their own motives, because they already know that they are flawed; they chose to be flawed deliberately, because it serves their own self-interests, and they are incapable of understanding that they will be as affected by the end game that is coming as everyone else…. and, in this case, one can see how deliberate ignorance becomes its own justice, eventually….

I wish I had an answer…. I wish I knew a way to convince those who need to know that what they, and the fools they allow to control the world through their own inability to see clearly, their own choice to remain ignorant, cannot continue to expect to live if they do not learn to open up their minds to a new way of seeing life. These fools are rushing into oblivion with their eyes closed, believing they are blessed and protected from harm by their faith in a mirage, when in reality, their faith, and their ignorance is guaranteeing their extinction…. and unfortunately, mine along with it… So, yes, I wish I had an answer…. but, I don’t, so I’ll have to make do with my plans to wreak severe havoc amongst the philistines when the time is ripe…. If we are all marked for extermination by the universe, I’m making sure some of the guilty are going down with me…. Trust me….

“In the dark colony of night, when I consider man’s magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.” — Leo Rosten

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice, hell will freeze over, and eventually, things will get really interesting…” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

I’ve looked inside, and nothing is turning up in any of the dark corners where they hide, mumbling to themselves until I rip them out into the open air…. so we will have to make do, and settle for something from a proven source…. which shall remain nameless, until I find out who it is today…. Be patient, you will know soon enough…..

Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man

It is common knowledge to every schoolboy and even every Bachelor of Arts,
That all sin is divided into two parts.
One kind of sin is called a sin of commission, and that is very important,
And it is what you are doing when you are doing something you ortant,
And the other kind of sin is just the opposite and is called a sin of omission
and is equally bad in the eyes of all right-thinking people, from
Billy Sunday to Buddha,
And it consists of not having done something you shuddha.
I might as well give you my opinion of these two kinds of sin as long as,
in a way, against each other we are pitting them,
And that is, don’t bother your head about the sins of commission because
however sinful, they must at least be fun or else you wouldn’t be
committing them.
It is the sin of omission, the second kind of sin,
That lays eggs under your skin.
The way you really get painfully bitten
Is by the insurance you haven’t taken out and the checks you haven’t added up
the stubs of and the appointments you haven’t kept and the bills you
haven’t paid and the letters you haven’t written.
Also, about sins of omission there is one particularly painful lack of beauty,
Namely, it isn’t as though it had been a riotous red-letter day or night every
time you neglected to do your duty;
You didn’t get a wicked forbidden thrill
Every time you let a policy lapse or forget to pay a bill;
You didn’t slap the lads in the tavern on the back and loudly cry Whee,
Let’s all fail to write just one more letter before we go home, and this round
of unwritten letters is on me.
No, you never get any fun
Out of things you haven’t done,
But they are the things that I do not like to be amid,
Because the suitable things you didn’t do give you a lot more trouble than the
unsuitable things you did.
The moral is that it is probably better not to sin at all, but if some kind of
sin you must be pursuing,
Well, remember to do it by doing rather than by not doing.

Ogden Nash
__________________________________

“Don’t ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun — and neither can stop the march of events.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love

As with many important truths, this one does not comfort one to know it; a common attribute of remarks by Lazarus, who has a tendency to voice the truth regardless of its potential, or even certain, effect on the audience. And, damn it, it is just so much simpler to let all the bad stuff hold sway on our attention, and give in to the depressive urge to berate and chastise the universe for its lack of tact and consideration for human sensibilities. It never listens, anyway….

My semi-rant in section one today is a perfect example of this principle at work; I do try to maintain some optimism in the face of reality; I even have learned to try to explain away all the weird stuff as being outside the statistical universe being considered. It’s a lie, but it’s my lie, so I usually can buy into it, long enough to allow denial to set in, and thus preventing the otherwise inevitable depression over how bad things have gotten…..

Actually, right now, it is fairly simple to stay completely distracted, as we always have the election, and all the shenanigans taking place on that stage, to draw our attention away from the imminent demise we face as a species, or even, more importantly, our personal concerns of everyday living. It’s easy to deny the inevitability of carbon monoxide pollution when we have Mitt the Twitt’s lies to chase down, or Biden’s latest zinger to admire, or Lyin’ Ryan’s latest example of elitism to watch with dropped jaw….. it’s a veritable circus, and the clowns are in full swing….

It’s not just the candidates providing the entertainment, either…. every Tom, Dickwad, and Mary is chiming in with their two cents, on TV, radio, and, most prodigiously, on the Internet, all trying to get SOMEONE to listen to them during the run-up to the election. Those two cents can get very, very strange, as each commenter tries to make the most outrageous statements and/or claims/accusations about all the actors on stage, and is a whole new package of entertainment for us to have on hand, each one vying for our attention at the top of their lungs, figuratively speaking…..

This is where the metaphor of the circus gains its credibility, although, more accurately, I am reminded by this, most emphatically, of just about any carnival at the County Fairs I’ve been to….. Disheveled, sinister-looking barkers, complete with suspenders and a cigar in their mouth, yelling out the prizes they promise, each one grander than the next, and easy as pie to win: exotic visions that promise endless satisfaction of desires, enormously valuable jewels and objet’s d’art for virtually nothing, and endless illusions to draw the eye away from the seediness and underlying, almost frenetic despair permeating the air….

Yes, indeed, the political scene here in America has always reminded me of a carnival, and the events and activities that prompt my impression of the election as an illusionary device, designed to fool the public into thinking that things will change if they vote, has never been stronger than it is now. I have hope that by voting against the obviously evil side of the campaign, the overall effect on the immediate future will be mitigated to some degree. But, I can find within me very little hope that the eventual outcome is in doubt, and that outcome is not one that anyone is going to like…. at all.

My optimism is fairly natural to me; I’ve always been a hopeful kind of person, and I continue to hold hope that mankind’s future will extend beyond this century, groundless as it may be. My pessimism, unfortunately, has the advantage of having the most evidence in it’s favor right now, even if Obama wins the election, as I expect he will. He is only one man, and the course of human events is very difficult to change once it is headed in a particular direction. My hope is based on the wish that more than just he will learn to make the inner changes needed for us all to survive the storms that are coming…. a slim hope, yes, but hey, it happens to be all we’ve got…..
__________________________________

I seem to have gotten stuck today, harping on the same general issue in both of the prose sections. This is no doubt the result of the intense mind-control I have now assumed, in order to keep from going stark raving mad….. That severe control is causing some stilted thought patterns, falling into short, but seemingly endless loops…. I suppose I will have to sacrifice a standard or two today, in order to clear the internal censors…. but, that is simple enough. I’m human, and temporarily setting aside standards is pretty simple for us, as a rule….

Besides, I have to decide on whether to write a poem, or find one, and that can be a decision of some magnitude, depending on, well, stuff…. stuff that isn’t always clear, to me, or for me… so the decision is made more tedious, as it were…. and I’m babbling now, so I’m going to put a stop to this, with some ruthless use of the power of will…. just watch me, I’m going to stop typing any moment now, and you’ll see…. keep a sharp eye out, or you’ll miss it….  Oops, there you see, all done…. did you catch it?….. I’m just happy there’s no blood…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!