A slight limp is more noticeable….

Posted on May 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“With virtue you cannot be entirely poor…

Without it you cannot be really rich.”

~~ Chinese Proverb ~~

Solar Array on the International Space Station

Image from NASA.com

Good morning…. One is allowed to hope, anyway, since it’s a new day. I’m late, again, but, we’ll forgo any discussion of the reasons, as it would only depress us all…. Instead, we’ll just head on down the page, where we might find a solution, or, at worst, a change of scenery…. You could do worse, on a Tuesday in May….

Shall we Pearl?

“It has long been known that one horse can run faster than another – but which one? Differences are crucial.” — Lazarus Long

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Aristotle_Bust_White_Background_Transparent

Some of my Gentle Readers, who aren’t as familiar with my mind as some others, who have been here longer, won’t quite get why the following video is here today, given the general run of stuff you will see. That’s okay, I’m willing to explain this time, if briefly…. The picture is of Aristotle, arguably Mankind’s most influential teacher/polymath/scientist/philosopher, considered by many to be the founder of Western civilization, with only a couple other candidates (Plato, possibly Homer…). Aristotle, a true polymath, was, nonetheless, a man who frequently admitted his ignorance, in order to demonstrate to his students the proper frame of mind with which to approach any new knowledge.

Today’s very short video demonstrates a very simple idea, which merely takes the very old, simple principles involved in lacing one’s shoes, the traditional way, then, performing an even simpler reversal of the idea, in space, and in thinking, to produce a technique for securing footwear securely, more quickly, more cleanly, and more safely than the old method…. Bloody brilliant in its simplicity is what it is, and I commend the person who came up with it…. I can’t wait to change all my shoes with laces….

See, I’m not such an old dog, am I?….

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Ukrainian Lacing

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https://youtu.be/EaT6FqmKjaM

Original article found at Lifehacker.com:

http://lifehacker.com/tie-shoes-smarter-with-the-ukrainian-lacing-technique-1705179518

Instructions found here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Ukrainian-Lacing/

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And the wind shall say,

Here were decent, godless people
their only monument the asphalt road
and a thousand lost golf balls.

~~ T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) ~~

Yesterday evening, while waiting for the pain to recede far enough to go to bed, I was struck by an irresistible urge to rant. This is what happened….

My passion has become subsumed in anger; I spend, it seems, the major part of my days battling with physical issues, almost every one of which can be attributed to one medical clusterfuck…. This, I think is why I haven’t been able to collect enough angst built up against the machineries of evil as a whole, other than one specific part of it, to provide enough emotional drive to rant effectively, or, at all, mostly.

That simple fact, the simple inability to fire back at my tormentors, pisses me off, especially, as I can ascribe all of it to the lack of courage, and slavish ignorance of two young people with degrees in medical science, an M.D. and a D.O., both of whom have been brainwashed to believe they are physicians, when they are merely practicing what they’ve been taught to believe is medicine. In reality, it’s a pretty narrow picture of all the medical knowledge available in the world, especially now, in these days when we all have access to the medical information of every culture, in every country in the world.

Losing my passion as a side effect of their clumsy manipulation, apparently, is a tough nut for me to swallow, (not to mention the mixing of metaphors it makes me commit…); I can’t seem to get past the sheer cruelty they have both unwittingly, (mostly… I have to assume that, or I’d have to kill them…), put me through, by their insistence on enforcing a policy of the HMO, which they both know to be ill-advised, due to a) having NO medical justification; b) necessitating a breach of medical ethics; c) ignoring patient rights; and, most egregiously, d) directly causing aggravation of existing conditions, including pain, stress, and, a serious loss of quality of life.

If I were a doctor, or wanted to pretend to be one, I don’t think I’d be able to sleep at night, even if I only had to do this to ONE person; I know for a fact I am NOT the only person to whom this is happening. I’ve talked to them. I’ve talked to their lawyers, and the people who have submitted their complaints, all of which are ignored, completely, by the HMO, which has paid many legislators over the course of many years to pass laws ensuring they cannot be stopped from doing what they do, whatever it is, to ensure their bottom line profits…. This includes making the process of even filing a complaint difficult, complicated, and ultimately, completely useless, as, strangely enough, they NEVER find they’ve ever done anything wrong, in any investigated complaint…

Nor have they ever been found to have done anything wrong by any of the agencies who are supposed to oversee them, and protect the rights of patients…. I can tell you, from personal experience, having talked to all of those agencies, the system is rigged to favor the powers that be, and even IF a private citizen had the time, the money, and the energy (remember. these are sick people, who AREN’T getting the treatments they need….) to be able to follow through on the several levels of appeal, each of them is more complicated, and harder to begin, much less finish, than the one before…. In short, it is impossible, and it’s meant to be that way.

(Gee… y’know? This situation all sounds a bit familiar in its general outline, I think…. Does it remind anyone else of the current situation with the misdeeds police are guilty of committing? I seem to recall hearing a recent federal court deciding a case that indicates that no police officer can be held legally responsible for the death of ANYONE while on duty, and probably when not…. Same, same, all same, same, sounds like to me….)

To protect the rights of the patients? I may be skeptical enough to deserve the sobriquet of ‘the dubious one’, but, even the most trusting soul in the world must be able to see what is happening here; the only entity the laws are made to protect is the corporations, who pay the lobbyists, who bribe the politicians…

Of course, now, thanks to having bribed the Supreme Court many years ago, and finally getting a majority of assholes, er, honestly insane judges on the bench, the corporate powers who influence the making of laws can contribute directly to the politicians, cutting out the lobbyist contingent altogether…. Guess whose money gets saved there…. Yep… Not mine, or yours, that’s for sure…. Nope, now the corporate entities can pool their money, and give it directly to whomever will vote their agenda… Sweet, eh?…

So, what does all that mean? Well, who the hell knows… I sure know how I feel about it, and that is most easily, and succinctly stated as consistently enraged. But, rage is pretty useless, as emotions go; the only time it really works for us is to save our asses in the middle of a fight, to wake us up to do whatever we need to do to survive…. channeling the berserker, I call it… Or, in my case, that would be the bozoid berserker…. Basically, though, any other time we feel rage, it is difficult to keep the consequences from being regretful…. dead bodies are SO inconvenient, and so is having to move to another country…. again….

Just kidding…. I hope you knew that, right? Well, if not, that’s okay. I like to keep folks guessing, because all the ffolkes I know would get it without being reminded, or having it pointed out…. I haven’t had to move to another country in many, many years, and, to be honest, have yet to leave any dead bodies behind me, that I know of…. Left a few in a bit less than pristine condition, but, no dead ones, I’m pretty certain….

So, how ’bout them Giants, eh? What, I can’t change the subject? I was done with that one anyway…. That, you know, was NOT a rant…. It was more what I’d call a vent. Having thus removed at least a portion of the bilious crap that collects so quickly, along with all that other noxious shit in my head, (better out than in, I always say….), I suppose I should stop teasing/torturing y’all and get on with whatever comes next…. It can’t be any worse than this, and there is a distinct possibility it could be better…

SIGH…. Okay…. Who am I kidding? We all know it will be…. Ah, well, I’m nothing if not tough…. tough, stubborn, who cares? We all made it this far, didn’t we? What’s to complain about?….

“A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.” — Lazarus Long, The Notebooks

SHHHH! Please, don’t say anything, okay?….. I owe the lawyers enough….

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Miss Maggie Mae (maggiemaeijustsaythis.com, aka, mmijst.com) has graced these pages a number of times over the last almost four years; she’s one of my favorite modern poets, whom I found on WordPress many moons ago…. I think she was one of my first ten ‘follows’ after signing up here.

Her poetry is, quite simply, incredible…. Sharp, incisive, powerful, filled with metaphor, exploring the darkest feelings a human can experience…. and, by the power of her words, implying the presence and power of light, that she just can’t keep from shining out from within her….Enjoy!….

To That

inch of time spent over the sea,

dragging your dead body back
from the sharks I fed you to.

There should be enough salt
to drown in. Now that is something
you don’t hear of!
But, I have heard of Buddha,
and Gandhi,
and what great advice for the
blonde girls in white dresses,
not scratched by hands of
light drinking, or hard gunfire;
the girls untouched by
living a dead life, waking under floorboards
built by their mothers.

Your heavy photograph burns to
my tongue. I spit. I curse you out
of your newly dried grave.
I am ecstatic for your corpse,
it grows on me like tough leather.

Now for her.
I carry a monsoon to her driveway.
She is lit up. A bright pumpkin
ripened for plummet.
She dresses in honeysuckle,
and flickers like whiskey.
I haven’t thought of her name,
she is black as a canvas; a new galaxy
before energy matters.
If her heart happens to
do that, I will carve it out.

I will take it back to July in my teeth
where the desert is waiting for me,
it’s Queen.

~~ Maggie Mae ~~

http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/17/to-that/

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I’d call these “lesser known” pearls of wisdom; they all give some really strong advice on living life as we choose, but, in ways, and about seemingly small factors, that aren’t common…. Works for me….

“Nature is not benign. Natural laws have no pity.” — Lazarus Long

“It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated… it is finished when it surrenders.” — Ben Stein

“A hug is a heart to heart talk.” — Bobby Matherne (American writer, 1940-)

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” — Marcus Aurelius

“Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity.” — William Hazlitt

“The little girl expects no declaration of tenderness from her doll. She loves it – and that’s all. It is thus that we should love.” — DeGourmont

“How you do anything is how you do everything.” — Zen proverb

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Okay, well…. I can see I’m going to have to think very hard about this…. But, we’re done, so, that’s for another day…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as nobody comes up with a good enough reason not to do so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Yield not to base impulse….

Posted on April 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them.”

~~ Titus Livius ~~

Hubble Space Telescope 25th Anniversary Image

NASA

Long shadows fell across the courtyard, as the setting sun fell down behind the roofs of the city, spread out below the house on the hill. As she watched the shadows lend mystery to the peaceful scene, a small shape appeared at her side. “Are you crying, again, Mummy?” “No, dear, just enjoying the sunset.” “Is there news of my father? Did you hear from….?” Worry tinged the small voice, so she put some confidence into her reply, “No, we’ve heard nothing, but, it’s still early. There is still time.” I’m worried, mummy.” “All will be well, my child; you father is wise, and will come home soon….” As darkness, fell, they stood, watching the sun disappear behind the far off hills….

We’ll leave the two waiting there, while we take this opportunity to say, “Good morrow to you”, and let you know that’s all you get today. I’m not in the correct place for ANY type of creativity, so, we’ll have to make to with nonsense and fictional wisdom. Not that any of that is new, but, hey, it’s now legal, at least. I didn’t have time to secure all the proper permits, so, the intro has to be short today. So short, the above fictional opening, and this explanatory paragraph (or, is that exculpatory?…. you tell me…) is the last you will see today in this section…. I’ve been ordered to end it here, by the duly constituted authorities, no less, so, I guess I will….

Shall we Pearl?

“Why explore the Universe? It is almost ironic that we should have to ask this question because it is almost as though we have to apologize for our highest attributes… we went to Mars, not because of our technology, but because of our imagination.” — Norman Cousins

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Taz

Okay, I’m busted. Taz is my favorite cartoon character, simply because he is who he is, and he is nobody else…. Enjoy!….

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Taz

Everyone’s favorite Tazmanian Devil

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https://youtu.be/FOTlNOZB4Zo?list=PLv33yrwnty7r3-8fDtKYu1at7Bnxnne_y

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As might be surmised, no fresh rant today. Instead, I’ll sublimate, with this somewhat lengthy diatribe fro 2013….

From 3/9/2013:

“Though I have said above that all men by nature are equal, I cannot be supposed to understand all sorts of equality. Age or virtue may give man a just precedence. Excellency of parts and merit may place others above the common level … And yet all this consists with the equality which all men are in, in respect of jurisdiction or dominion, one over another.” — John Locke

Whew! As an explanation of the opening of the Declaration of Independence, this hits the top of the pomposity scale, but, all in all, is quite clear, and correct in its conclusions. It’s merely a long-winded way of saying that all men are not created with equal abilities or resources, but, they all are created with equal rights under the law…. hopefully. (That last qualifier is my contribution to the idea, prompted by my opinion of most of those involved in the justice system as, shall we say, less than completely honest, and less than completely impartial?) (I mean, really, ffolkes…. we choose our judges from the ranks of LAWYERS!…. How many honest, impartial candidates are we liable to find?…. Not many, I assure you…. it just doesn’t go with the territory….)

“Once I belonged to a group that really had THE WORD. I fought like hell for them. But another group came along and exposed the word of my group as shallow and degenerate. They had a better word. So I quit the first group and lost all the friends I had made and I joined up with this new group. I fought like hell for them. But another group came around. They exposed the word of my group as false and materialistic. Their word was very much better. So I quit the second group and lost all the friends I had made. And I joined up with this new group. I fought like hell for them. Till this one guy came along and proved that there wasn’t any word at all. That I should go off as an individual and grow! So I quit the last group and lost all the friends I had made. And now I sit home alone all day and all I do is grow. It would be nice to join up with some others who feel the way I do.” — J. Feiffer

One of the reasons we humans have such a hard time with the concept of equality lies in our own level of ignorance regarding ourselves. There is a delicate balance between what a person thinks of themselves, and what the world knows about them to be true…. If the two are not at least within shouting distance of each other, that person’s life will be filled with pain and controversy, as his own self-image is repeatedly destroyed by reality…. And, our self-image can be a very difficult thing to maintain because, as humans, we need the company and approval of other humans. The paragraph above by Mssr. Feiffer describes very well the philosophical journey that many take while learning to assess their own place in the world…. it’s kind of pathetic, in a way, but typical for all that….

“In my day, we didn’t have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned.” — Jane Haddam

This lack of understanding of self is what allows most humans to be controlled by others. The others, by whom I mean the BRC, the priestly hierarchies, and all those with no compunctions about how they go about achieving their own ends, find those who have no self-knowledge quite easy to fool, to convince, and to control. They merely tell them what they wish to hear, no matter how outrageously false it may be, and the blindness of the ignorant will supply all the belief required, because it is what they WANT to hear…..

A man, or a woman, who knows themselves cannot be fooled into that kind of acceptance of anything without compelling evidence; their self-image allows them the confidence to make their own decisions, rather than relying on someone else to do it for them. Because they are honest themselves, they are able to differentiate truth from fiction, and thus cannot be fooled into accepting what they know to be false.

Their own self-honesty acts as a protection of sorts against that sort of manipulation, while at the same time giving them the freedom to exercise the right to make their own choices. Those who do not believe they are strong, are not….. This is why people are not equal, not in abilities; it is also why it is important that the law ensures that they at least are granted equal rights with everyone else… This at least makes an attempt at leveling the playing field, while acknowledging that a great many of the players are going to cheat…..

“For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.” — Ivan Panin

Whenever I look at humanity as a whole, I am often filled with a sadness that comes from my own knowledge of science, sociology, psychology, and extensive experience in Reality. The sadness is because I know how much promise humanity holds, such promise as to make the gods weep in envy of the beauty we are able to create with our imagination…. and I know that our own foolishness is very close to shutting off that promise forever, or at least, for this period of the history of the universe…. I suspect we will have another opportunity to interact with reality, though it may not be this particular version of it….

But, there are just too many of the selfish, unfeeling, manipulative, power-hungry assholes mixed in with all of us relatively nice ffolkes, intent on grabbing all the power and money, which they equate with happiness, that they can during their short stay here. They are, unknowingly, rushing us all to an early death, seemingly, without caring, as they do not believe they are vulnerable to the same dangers as the rest of us…. Ignorance is firmly tied to belief, and even strong evidence does not convince those who will not see it…. All I can say is, it’s a damn shame…..

“The improver of knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, skepticism is the highest of duties, blind faith the one unpardonable sin.” — Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)

Luckily, there are still a few of us out there who don’t buy into the BS that most of society goes along with…. and a great many of us are blogging…. It gives me a bit of hope, though not much; there is a LOT of historical momentum to overcome for anything to change, and I am not aware of it happening, try as I might to see it. But, every time I read more blogs, I see more ffolkes who have a clue, so, I guess I’ll go so far as to cling to that one little hopeful sign, and keep on preaching to the choir…. It’s about all I can do these days to try to help the situation, and little as it may be, I’ll keep on truckin’ down that lonesome road…..

“The disappointment of manhood succeeds to the delusion of youth: let us hope that the heritage of old age is not despair.” — Benjamin Disraeli (Earl Beaconsfield) (1805-1881) — Vivian Grey, Book viii, Chap. iv

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On a nonsense day, who else?….

I’ll Get One Tomorrow

Barber, barber, come and get me;
Hairy torrents irk and fret me.
Hair and hair again appears;
And climbs like ivy round my ears.
Hair across my collar gambols;
Down my neck it wayward ambles.
Ever down it trip it tickles;
Yes, where it trips it tickles.
Barber dear I wish I knew;
Why i do not visit you.
Why I grudge the minutes ten;
In your smiling den.
Why I choose to choke on hair;
Rather than to mount your chair.
Men no busier than I;
Weekly to your office hie.
Men no busier than myself;
Confront the armory on your shelf;
Men no wealthier than me;
Gladly meet your modest fee.
And for a fraction of a dollar;
Keep the jungle off their collar.
I alone am shy and flustered;
Solitary, cowardly custard.
Shaggy as a prize angore;
Overrun with the creeping flora.
Barber, barber, you’re in luck;
The bell has rung, the hour has struck.
Sloth strong, the hair is strong;
I cannot stand it any long.
Barber, barber here I come;
Shake up the odorous bay rum.
Bring on your shears your scythes, your snippers;
Bring on your crisp electric driers.
Employ a dozen extra sweepers;
Bring giant harvesters and reapers.
I warn you a bumper crop;
Waits to overwhelm your shop.
Barber, barber, be verbose;
Be anything but clip me close.
Leave me razored, leave me scissored
Leave me hairless, as a lizard;
Barber, barber, single and scald;
Barber can’t you make me bald?
I will be the happiest of men;
And never think of you again

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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“Be both a speaker of words and a doer of deeds.”

~~ Homer ~~

Smart Bee is, apparently, on strike; the above from Homer was found two days ago, and that’s all I’ve been able to persuade out of it…. Rather than fuss with it, here is a pearl from the archives….

From 5/5/2013:

Today has turned into a traditional Pearl… though the intro is shorter than usual, the rest of it follows format perfectly, with a rant in section one, a classic poet, and poem, in section two, and a third section, which obviously is supposed to be an old-school grouping of pearls…. I confess that I keep a stash of quotes from Smart be, to the tune of about eighty-seven pages of a document, so I’m not as short of quotes as I’d thought to be. I’m going to use it for a couple days, & let the real Smart Bee have a vacation, to see if that will fix the corruption in the file….

I know, wishful thinking, but, it’s worth a shot… If it works, it will piss Murphy off, so I’d do it that way anyway, for just that reason…. Any who, today’s group will be VERY random, so bear with me…. Buckle up, please, we can’t proceed until all seat-belts are fastened securely…. insurance rules…

“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” — Robert Heinlein

“Life is a long lesson in humility.” — James M. Barrie

“Ridicule is the best test of truth. — Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773)

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” — Hermann Hesse, _Damian_, 1919

But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.

— Charles Mackay (1814-1889) — Eternal Justice, Stanza 4

“There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: “Know thyself”, and “Nothing too much”; and upon these all other precepts depend.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Consolation to Apollonius

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” — Smart Bee

Now, that’s not bad at all…. a very cogent grouping, I think…. Let yourself flow with it, and you’ll end up in a place you will like, I guarantee… If not, well, that’s okay too…. some of us need to let things stir around a while before consuming it… or something…. Ah hell, just listen to the last one, and all will be well….

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I wasn’t sure, given my state of mind, whether I’d get done; stubbornness has SOME value, I guess. Since it’s done, I’ll shove the guilt into a dark hole, and post it anyway. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I can’t find a reason not to do so….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Slick Willie’s sick sailboat…

Posted on April 26, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there

Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare

And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair

Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there”

~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~

Curiosity Rover trundling across Mars

Photo by NASA orbiter via Space.com

Aw, fuck.

Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say that out loud? My bad…. I guess I should either explain, or start over. Hmm…

Good morning, ffolkes! Yes, yes I did bail on the first beginning…. No explanations for you. “Too bad, so sad, try again next time,” he said, with a nasty smirk. That’s because he woke up in the weirdest fucking mood he’s ever experienced; in fact, ‘weird’ just doesn’t make the grade at all… He has no clue what person to write in, first, second, third, or weird; the latter seems the most achievable, at this point. In fact, we’re going to admit defeat, so we can get on with the rest of today’s mess, a process y’all realize just became even more volatile than usual…..

Why is that? Well, last time I had this issue, the stock market crashed. No, not really, but, I did feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if a million voices had all… wait, no, that’s Obi-wan’s line. Sorry, wrong page.

Okay, I’m busted, I guess. Since I didn’t, and won’t, have a clue as to how to find, or create, yet another exciting, passionate, obviously brilliant opening section, I figured this would serve to fill in. How’d I do? I know, it’s kinda sappy, but, hey, it’s better than most of them, I’d say. Of course, I’m pretty biased, as we all know, especially in THIS instance; I certainly have a vested interest in finding some way to make it work every day. It’s really too bad Reality is never going to cooperate in that goal, since it has absolutely no investment, or interest, in helping me out…. Asshole.

Oops. No swearing at Reality. It’s easily offended, and the payback is, quite simply, a…. you thought I was going to be vulgar, didn’t you? Hah!

Iconoclasm as a way of life… yeah, that’s the ticket!….

Okay, that’s plenty, I’d say. If we, or I, or y’all, or somebody doesn’t assume control here, we’ll be stuck here forever, listening to me try to achieve enough coherence to bring this to a conclusion (at this rate, that would be sometime in the next millennium….). I think it’s time for the application of another colorful metaphor, so to speak….

Fuck it. I’m through being nice…. Luigi, take us in!…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Insanity in individuals is something rare – but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Beyond Good and Evil

I’m not sure how I should take that…. I AM an individual!…. I guess that makes me rare… or, perhaps, merely sane in an insane world….

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Google Free Images

This young lady needs no introduction; her fame is intact. The cartoons I’ve included below are a collection of those banned from TV and theaters for their adult/controversial content…. Certainly a cultural icon, she was the first fantasy girl for many a young American lad….

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Betty Boop

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https://youtu.be/VkG9c1yy2lg

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“The more laws, the less justice.”

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) — De Officiis (44 B.C.) ~~

Here is an epic rant from the archives. It first appeared in 2012, and shows up about once a year, it seems, so, it must be okay…. Enjoy, such as you may….

Last posted 4/26/2014:

One of the hardest parts of blogging on a daily basis, I’ve found, is keeping the chosen material fresh, especially when I tend to rely on a small set of subjects upon which to rant on a regular schedule…. As you know, if you’ve been here previously, I do like to take my shots at the BRC, which consists primarily of the men who prey upon the rest of humanity for their own benefit; most especially, I like to take my best shots at those assholes who prey on women and children, enslaving them as sexual objects for their own profit and sick indulgence….

However, as I tried to explain in the last post in which I spoke of this, it is extremely hard for me to write about, as it tends to kick in my PTSD symptoms…. I get a large jolt of adrenalin when I start to think about this, and my mind turns immediately to buying weapons, ammunition, and starting the planning process to go hunting, for pimps, snakeheads, and any other assholes involved in the sex trafficking trade….

Bleeding hearts may proclaim all the sad stories they know, or speculate, stories that might explain why these assholes are the way they are, but, I don’t really give a shit how they got the way they are; to do what they do, a conscious choice must be made, and, to my mind, that is enough to warrant removing them from the society of decent people, permanently…. If that means I’m playing God, well, so be it…. I am liable to be as good at it as any of the delusional versions; I have the advantage of actually having a physical form that can be touched, so there’s no question of my involvement, or my reality….

Just writing those last two paragraphs has me so worked up, my breath is speeding, my heart rate has jumped over a hundred, & my musculature is loosening up, relaxing and stretching…. I’m starting to breathe more deeply, too, as the adrenalin widens all of my blood and air passages in preparation for fight, or flight…. Having spent eleven years living with random adrenalin attacks, while working at Atascadero and Napa State Hospitals, frequently wrestling with the violently insane to save their life, or my own, I am all-too-familiar with those symptoms…. which include the necessity for waiting for up to three or four HOURS for them to wear off completely…. It’s a pain, to be honest, and I don’t like it at all…

Which is why I am going to cheat…. I’m going to reprint a rant from the archives, one of several I wrote during the year it was first posted, when I first began to write about this issue regularly…. This is one of my better rants, so I hope you enjoy it…. I have added, here at the beginning, a perfect pearl that I found as an appetizer to what follows…. Here then, our rant for today…..

“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.” — Frank Leahy

From 12/4/12:

“Free enterprise ended in the United States a good many years ago. Big oil, big steel, big agriculture avoid the open marketplace. Big corporations fix prices among themselves and drive out the small entrepreneur. In their conglomerate forms, the huge corporations have begun to challenge the legitimacy of the state.” — Gore Vidal

In his book, “Friday”, Robert Heinlein details a society of humanity’s possible future, one in which corporations have continued to grow beyond the boundaries of mere countries, until their interests become paramount even over that of the state, as observed by Mr. Vidal. We, of the society here on Earth in the early 21st century are witnessing that growth, as I write, and as you read…..

The small enterprise markets still exist, but only on the fringes of the economy, the major portion of which is busy manipulating the population into serving the economic trends that the corporations control, in the essential markets that cover everyone… In other words, the corporations monopolize most of the economy, allowing the fringe markets to exist to provide exotic, alternative toys and entertainments for the working classes.

Mr. Heinlein’s character, a young woman with designer genes, genius IQ, and Heinlein’s innate sardonicism, as part of an assignment, is required to perform a research and analysis of how the large multinational corporations affected the political and economic scenes of their society, obliquely referring, of course, to the one we have now. It is a very interesting part of a very good book, and well worth a read, not only for its perspicacity in explaining the piracy we are seeing today, but because Heinlein was a master storyteller, who created fascinating characters in fantastic situations, making it all seem perfectly normal and real.

“The phenomenality of organic, conscious existence should, could have made impossible the sadism, the unending hurt of our ways. The impotent fury, the guilt that master and surpass my identity carry with them the working hypothesis, the ‘working metaphor’, if you will, of ‘original sin’. To this expression, I am unable to attach any reasoned, let alone historical substance. On the pragmatic-narratological plane, stories of some initial crime and inherited culpability are universal fables — uncannily profound and lasting. Nothing more. Yet in the presence of the beaten, raped child, of the horse or mule flogged across its eyes, I am possessed, as by a midnight clarity, by the intuition of the Fall.” — Rudolf Steiner, Errata: An examined life, Phoenix — (a division of Orion Books), London, 1998), p. 169

At first, this quote may not seem to be related to the first. However, it is this “original sin” of which he speaks that is the root cause of the problems with corporations in society. Those humans who reject commonality with the rest of humanity are the villains, in this play that passes for modern culture, for they do not accept their debt to the rest of the species, and have determined that they will use whatever means they need to become ascendant over the rest of us. Greed is only the most obvious of the ills that this group has subjected our culture to, with cruelty, dishonesty, and lack of compassion as side attractions. Through the actions of their corporate entities, they work to maintain their power and control of others, all for the sake of their own aggrandizement….

These are the men who run the trade in human trafficking, abducting and abusing children and women, for sex and slavery. These are the men who run the brothels, and the underground casinos, and the money-lending, and the protection rackets, and the drug dealing rings. What many folks don’t realize is that they are also the men who run for political office, or become preachers/priests, and the bankers, and the CEO’s, and other corporate officers, who make their decisions based on self-interest, never on altruism. They seem, and act like, they are the leaders of society, when, in fact, they are the very reason our society is headed for extinction….

Unfortunately, these men (and they are almost ALL men….) will not give up their power and control without a fight. They will not respond to reason, giving up all their wealth and perceived power, to benefit the rest of mankind. They will not suddenly see the light, and give it all back. They will have to be rooted out like weeds, tough, hardy weeds, and destroyed, if we are to have any chance of survival…. It is unfortunate, but no other method will work, and it brings with it the danger of falling into the same kind of behavior by which they operate. But, I can see no other way to solve the issue, since they will not cooperate with the rest of us for the benefit of all….

1. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.

2. What you settle for is what you end up with.

3. If you think that worrying about a problem is the same thing as solving it, then you must live in some other universe where different laws pertain.

–Smart Bee

Note from 2014: To finish this, here is one last pearl, with a perfect description of the assholes who prey on their fellow men, or worse, women and children…. Pearls like this are good channel markers, for helping to identify the dickheads….

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” — Epicurus

Note from 2015: Thank goodness for the Tardis! I’ll leave you with another appropriate closing for THIS year….

“Sometimes I think the world has gone completely mad. And then I think, “Aw, who cares?” And then I think, “Hey, what’s for supper?” — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

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Written December, 2012, last posted October, 2014:

A Failure to Germinate

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s old-school is bifunctional. It’s no surprise Spell Checker doesn’t like that word; I did just make it up, as far as I know. But, that’s true of the pearl, as well, so, hey, symmetry, right? Works for me…. Ask me sometime, & maybe I’ll remember what I meant by that….

“Grasp the whole world of reason, life and sense
In one close system of benevolence.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

“He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; and one only evil, namely, ignorance.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Socrates, xiv

“In the midst of winder I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.” — Carl Sagan

“I have found power in the mysteries of thought.” Euripides

“Depend on no man, on no friend, but him who can depend on himself. He only who acts conscientiously towards himself will act so towards others, and vice versa.” — Lavater

Euripides says,– Who knows but that this life is really death, and whether death is not what men call life?” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pyrrho, viii

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction, ice
Is also great
And would suffice

~~ Robert Frost ~~

~~ Fire and Ice ~~

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“Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained.” — John Powell

Bwahahahahahaha!….

However, let me assure you, I mean that only in the best of ways….. And, yes. I am endlessly entertained by my own antics, in making my way through this beautiful, ugly, puzzling, simple, wonderful journey called life…. But, that’s probably just me; what do I know?…. With a bit of luck, I’ll see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Deep cracks in the Wall of Reality….

Posted on April 3, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

~~ Epictetus ~~

The International Space Station

I’m so late getting up, this will never be posted on time; this you already know, if you’ve hung around here much. That, of course, is a dual-edged sword…. It means the material will be a bit more organized, possibly even more competently written. It also means, and this is the good thing, I don’t have time to worry over this intro, or it will never get done….

Therefore, today, you get a REAL intro section, merely here to brings us down the page far enough to stumble into the next section. We’ll even refund today’s fee for the pilot and vehicle, as we didn’t use them…. What could be fairer than that? Now, though, we must get on with the show, so….

Shall we Pearl?

Do everything with a mind that lets go.
If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom.
Your struggles with the world will have come to an end.

~~ Achaan Chah ~~

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

Image from logos.com via Google images

Leo Kottke is a legendary guitarist, not among the mainstream, but, definitely among other musicians, and his many, yet, eclectic group of fans…. A master of the twelve-string guitar, he has amazed audiences around the world for a long time. Here, he sits down with a younger, modern star, the guitar player from “Phish”, to carry on the tradition of music…. The You Tube page where the link leads also has him playing with a great many other legendary musicians, so, take a look around…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Mike Gordon (Phish) and Leo Kottke LIVE – 09/16/05 – Complete

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https://youtu.be/fTh7DHIeJCM

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Image stolen from Talesfromtheconspiratum.com

Thanks, Tales!…

Today, rather than ranting, I decided to just provide y’all with some of what CAUSES me to rant…. Below you’ll find five links to different news stories I picked out from the news reader I use, which collates the news from a large number of outlets for me to peruse at my leisure…. This group of links will give the latest from the mainstream news on what’s going on out there in the BBR that could conceivably affect us all…. It’s all pretty crazy ffolkes, so, you may want to pop a Xanax or something beforehand…

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/02/pat_robertson_on_indiana_law_gay_wedding_cakes_are_a_gateway_to_bestiality/#rssowlmlink

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/02/gop_sen_mark_kirk_comes_unhinged_over_iran_agreement_name_checks_hitler/#rssowlmlink

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/02/john_oliver_cannot_believe_his_eyes_adorable_4th_graders%e2%80%99_adorable_school_project_gets_brutally_shot_down_by_lawmakers/#rssowlmlink

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/03/idaho-police-shootings-jeanetta-riley-justice-for-arfee#rssowlmlink

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/03/3642329/pipeline-company-sues-west-virginians/#rssowlmlink

Now, I think you can understand why I get so worked up…. Let’s go on, shall we?….

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Here is one of my most recent poems, written in February of 2014….

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, or teach us to truly know.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Kokopelli, Navajo Trickster Spirit

Smart Bee is, apparently, on strike. I’m giving it one more chance today to come up with some good pearls, usable for a last section old-school entry; it’s had four chances so far, coming up with ZIP!…. If it doesn’t happen, you’ll see one from the archives…. Either way, try to enjoy it, whichever variety/flavor we end up with; they’re all pretty tasty with mustard….

Still on strike, so…

From 2/7/2014:

Well, it came out… such as it is…. I think it may get some editing done on it, some day… for now, it’s fresh poetry, so treat it nicely, ‘kay?…. In the meantime, my ranting ability for today is rather limited, I think, since I can’t sit very long before having to get up to take a break… makes it hard to follow a close line of reasoning, necessary for a good rant…. So, we’re going back to an old-school variety pearl, just because I can, and I want to…. Besides, I think today, it’s for the best….

On previous occasions when I’ve tried to rant after writing a poem, or, in the mood I’m in, terrible things have happened, and regardless as to whether or not it may or may not happen again, I don’t care to take that risk today…. mostly because I’d be tempted to just leave the dead bodies where they laid, giving them no respect or burial…. Then, two days from now, I’ll regret it because of the irrevocable odoriferous nature of dead bodies after two days…. With THAT lovely image in your head, allow me to just move out of the way, as y’all stampede the bathroom, to give it up at the throne….

All back? All serene? Good, sorry ’bout that, won’t happen again…. Just enjoy the pearls, ffolkes, it’s the best way to get this done so you can get out of this mess….

“A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.” — Henry Ward Beecher

“For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. Our friends seldom profit us but they make us feel safe… Marriage is a scheme to accomplish exactly that same end.” — H. L. Mencken (1928)

“Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.” — Pythagoras (BC 582-507)

“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“One should always be a little improbable.” — Oscar Wilde

“A life directed chiefly toward the fulfillment of personal desires sooner or later always leads to bitter disappointment.” — Albert Einstein

“It’s a lot of fun being alive… I wonder if my bed is made?!?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay, well, I like it…. so, it stays….

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Such as it is, it is done, and can now be posted, thank goodness…. I’ll even shorten this final part of the show to this…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

But, it’s so STUDIOUS! Quick, let’s polish it!….

Posted on March 31, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“If ever you had to kill someone, could you do it?”

~~ Turlough, TERMINUS ~~

The Pillars of Creation

NASA Hubble Deep Space Telescope Image

I’m so late today, I had intended to NOT post. But, I got done what needed to be done, and still have some time before my inner timekeeping function begins to panic, so, I’ll be ruthless, in what I cut from the usual amount of dross and drivel, to get us down the line….

That being said, look! It’s a way out of the intro!. I’m taking it, and I don’t care how anyone feels about it…. Hang, ffolkes, it will definitely get bumpy today…. You might want to take a few test tugs on your security belts, to make sure they’re not old & corroded…. Here we go….

Shall we Pearl?

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” — Norman Cousins

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Very simply put, this one will get you going…. It’s my favorite character from the classic children’s show, Sesame Street…. I believe this character was once voted the most popular character on Children’s television, but, if not, he should have been…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Oscar The Grouch

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https://youtu.be/q8IHMctrKCg

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Image stolen from Talesfromtheconspiratum.com

Obviously, there’s no time for a rant, but, I had some classic shots saved up to throw at the Asininnies; I’ll use them now….. It’s pretty clear what the message here is, ffolkes. I shouldn’t have to tell you…..

“Truth is always the enemy of power. And power the enemy of truth.” — Edward Abbey

“To understand political power aright … we must consider what state all men are naturally in, and that is a state of perfect freedom to order their actions … within the bonds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man.” — John Locke

“Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others.” — Edward Abbey

“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.” — John Maynard Keynes

“The price of liberty is, always has been, and always will be blood: the person who is not willing to die for his liberty has already lost it to the first scoundrel who is willing to risk dying to violate that person’s liberty. Are you free?” — Andrew Ford

“It cannot be called ingenuity to kill one’s fellow citizens, to betray friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; by these means one can acquire power but not glory.” — Machiavelli

“The best way to lose freedom is not to do anything.” — Smart Bee

“Sometimes when I look at my children I say to myself, ‘Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin.'” — Lillian Carter

“Vice President Quayle is a leading candidate for an award, as best actor in a still photograph.” — Smart Bee

Sorry about that last one, ffolkes, really. I couldn’t help myself…. Onward, he said, with an evil smirk….

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Only because there isn’t time to search…. Hey, it’s not THAT bad!….

Is It Alive?

Fighting into the light, words push hard to exist
each step closer to real brings another unique twist.
Shedding meaning for meaning, until bright, alone, and right
sculpting useless shapes, yet undefined, in pale morning’s light.

Never knowing the face is part of the lasting charm
bringing elegant focus, before sounding the alarm.
Advantageous time sends out messages, fears finding voice,
mulling options for flexibility, virtually without choice.

Fortunate man, who embraces the power of change;
’tis magical knowledge, bonding common to strange.
Weaving words of wonder, made strong by love and duty,
into a tapestry of life, and everlasting beauty.

~~ gigoid ~~

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“Much may be known of a man’s character by what excites his laughter.”

~~ Goethe ~~

I hate to say this, but, there is a point to this 11-star pearl; I just forgot what it was. I’m pretty sure it’s one of those points that wouldn’t make you bleed, so, it’s probably just as well. Besides, if you just let your mind coast, and it doesn’t come to you, well, I’ll bet you still smiled at least once. I wouldn’t be surprised if you even groaned a time or two…. No matter what you may think, the last pearl is the correct answer to any comments that might be engendered, for sure and for certain….

“Silliness is the last refuge of the doomed.” — Opus

“Bite off, dirtball.” — Richard Sexton, richard@gryphon.COM

“Always store beer in a dark place.” — Lazarus Long

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

“I’m the one who’s got to die when its time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” — Jimi Hendrix

“Given a conflict, Murphy’s law supersedes Newton’s.” — Smart Bee

“Do you ever think about the end of the world as we know it?” — Calvin

“It can’t work.” — Wolfgang’s Third Law

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

“Insanity — a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.” — R. D. Lang

“Aw, gee, Wally ….” — Beaver Cleaver

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I apologize in advance for this Pearl, should it need it. It is probably the most scattered I’ve ever created…. Ah, well, such is life, as we say on the streets…. Plus, it’s done, so, to save myself any further build-up of angst, or embarrassment, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, with a bit of luck….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Probably impossible? Or, possibly probable? You decide….

Posted on March 7, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I am deeply CONCERNED and I want something GOOD for BREAKFAST!:

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

Artist’s rendition of Mars One Colony’s first landing. Picture from Space.com

We all must, at one time in our lives, or another, learn to deal with disappointment. Today is one of those times…..

You see, there is no time to complete this Pearl today; I have urgent business to take care of today, and this blog isn’t QUITE important enough to take precedence over Reality. Of course, that has not always been the case, but, today we have to pay attention, if we hope for any kind of successful resolution to the issue…. All that being said, what this means is another day of cheats….

I feel compelled to point out, however, we could have said nothing about it, letting y’all believe we were being fresh and creative today, instead of merely dutiful. So, if y’all want a less honest blog, well, you’re out of luck there, as well…. Of course, such honesty has no actual effect on the issue, but, it does make me feel better about all of it, so….

That’s all, ffolkes. We’re bailing early again, using #4 method like it was candy….. I’m kind of digging it; how about y’all? Well, either way, we’re outta here for today, so, grab the closest handhold, and we’ll go directly to our destination, where we can begin today’s dive…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge.” — Cicero

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Spacecraft Dawn approaching Dwarf Planet Ceres Orbit, Space.com

The exploration of our own solar system seems to be progressing nicely, in spite of all the crap going on back here on Earth, in most other areas of human endeavor, such as politics, culture, and, our mad rush toward extinction via environmental disaster, created by our own hand…. It is projects like this in which our salvation as a species exists, in my humble opinion…. We are destined for space, if we can live long enough to get there….

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Dawn Probe Orbits Dwarf Planet Ceres: Full Coverage

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http://www.space.com/28736-dawn-spacecraft-ceres-arrival-full-coverage.html?cmpid=559175#ooid=tzYWFwczo6m5bujUhVXnZSQufeSZ3kQJ

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As promised, here is one from the archives…..

From 3/2/2013:

“He who imitates evil always goes beyond the limits of the example, whereas he who imitates what is good, always falls short.” — Confucius

Perfect! If ever a quote could be applied to fit one group of people, this one would; it fits the folks who occupy elected office in this country like the proverbial glove. Ooh! Ooh! Here’s another one…

“Ignorance: When you don’t know something and somebody finds it out.” — Jethro Burns

Okay, that’s a good start…. Now, we all know that politicians lie to us…. It’s what we’ve taught them to do, by our calm acceptance of all the other lies they’ve told, from the very beginning. We expect them to lie… then, when we catch them at it, there is this huge public outcry, as if it had never happened before. Sometimes, the behavior of the American public toward the political beast reminds me of a shark…. to wit: no memory of the past to slow down their willingness to rush into dangerous situations….. For millions of years, sharks and dolphins have lived together in the oceans. For just about all that time, whenever a shark attacks a dolphin, it gets killed, unless the dolphin is injured in some way, or, it is a baby inadvertently left alone. Always, if things are even, the shark dies, because the dolphins are smarter, and faster swimmers.

After millions of years, you would think the sharks might learn to let them alone, but, they don’t, which is evidence of their lack of ability to learn. The American voting public has the same problem…. they never learn to expect to be lied to, and always seem surprised to learn that their elected officials are, shall we say, less than perfectly honest? It, quite frankly, drives me nuts…. What is it about people that does that to them? Why are they so unwilling to use the mind that sits between their ears, rather than just carrying it around from toilet to toilet, which is all most folks seem to do with it? (Almost forgot it was a question….) I wish I knew….

“There is one way to find out if a man is honest–ask him. If he says yes, you know he is crooked.” — Groucho Marx

I’m starting to feel a bit of anger, actually, and I have a hard time not letting it out on the voting public, the idiots. But, it really isn’t all their fault, as the people who run for office are the ones who are actively imitating evil, and, obviously, exceeding the limits of their example. And the voting public can’t help never being able to quite reach the good for which they reach. This is why I get angry about it…. The folks who run for office tell the public they are going to work for the people when they are elected; we all know they are lying, but we elect them anyway. Now, how stupid is that? Pretty stupid, in my book…..

On the one hand, the stupidity displayed by the politicians is deliberate, in its adherence to principles of theft and prevarication; on the other hand, the stupidity displayed by the voting public is, perhaps, not deliberate, but at minimum, misguided, and, ultimately, just as evil, in placing its trust in evil people. In the dispassionate view held by the universe, stupid is as stupid does, and the sentence of death is the same for both types of stupidity, deliberate and unconscious. It doesn’t care about why, it only looks at results….

What can be done about this? Not a damn thing…. Not only do I find that most people are unconsciously stupid, but they are stubborn about it, even when it is clear how being stupid is hurting them. Rather than use their minds to find a new way of dealing with these issues, they retreat into platitudes and dogma, and run right back out to vote for another idiot who promises them manna from heaven, or, more accurately, from Washington D.C. If confronted with their idiocy, they become even more stubborn, as they are unwilling to accept they might be wrong, and refuse to either examine any evidence of being wrong, or, will deny its existence altogether.

The politicians, who choose to live in stupidity, by lying and cheating and stealing from their own people, don’t even WANT to choose otherwise. Why should they? They’ve got it easy, with a ready supply of host bodies on which to practice their symbiotic parasitism, a body that not only accepts all their lies, but encourages them to even further depredations with their complete acquiescence with whatever the politicos want. All the politicians have to say is that the public is in danger, from this, that, or the other, and the public will allow them to do whatever they choose, as long as they feel safe from whatever fictional fantasy they have been told is dangerous…..

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift; the rational mind is faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein

It’s an interesting spectacle to observe from the sidelines, but it arouses in me a strong feeling of sadness, with the anger underlying, as I watch, day after day, as so many millions of foolish people get taken advantage of by a few assholes. It definitely makes me want to buy a gun, even though I would only use it if pressed; I have a feeling I may get pressed some day, if I continue to make noise about all this.

I’m fairly well protected thus far by a lack of notoriety; the BRC and the PTB aren’t going to worry about me until I have an audience a lot larger than a couple of hundred folks, of which perhaps fifty regularly read my work. If what I am saying began to gain popularity, and was being read by millions, I’d be in danger; until then, I’m as safe as I can make myself with the tools at hand… which, if I say so myself, are not entirely inconsequential…. If I said any more, I’d be giving away my precautions, and that wouldn’t do, so, just rest assured… I am ready to deal with anything short of assault weapons, with what I have on hand…..

“Many, if not all, of my presidential opponents are certifiable idiots.” — Miriam Defensor Santiago — The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1993

See? I’m not completely alone! Actually, if you pay close attention, you will note this was uttered by a politician, about their peers, so it really doesn’t count as support of what I’m saying here. What, exactly am I saying here? Hmm, okay, since I’ve already written about 1200 words or so on this, it’s a good place to wind it up…. so, here goes…

Ffolkes, you are being lied to, daily, and hourly, by those who have been elected to office to look out for your interests. I hate to tell you, but those folks never intended to do anything of the sort. So, it would be a good thing if everybody in this country would OPEN THEIR FUCKING EYES AND GET A DAMN CLUE!!!!!….. I don’t think I can say it any clearer than that….. That’s all, for now…..

“Ignorance kills daily. “– Smart Bee

So be it.

gigoid has spoken

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I measure every grief I meet
With analytic eyes;
I wonder if it weighs like mine,
Or has an easier size.

I wonder if they bore it long,
Or did it just begin?
I could not tell the date of mine,
It feels so old a pain.

I wonder if it hurts to live,
And if they have to try,
And whether, could they choose between,
They would not rather die.

I wonder if when years have piled–
Some thousands–on the cause
Of early hurt, if such a lapse
Could give them any pause;

Or would they go on aching still
Through centuries above,
Enlightened to a larger pain
By contrast with the love.

The grieved are many, I am told;
The reason deeper lies,–
Death is but one and comes but once
And only nails the eyes.

There’s grief of want, and grief of cold,–
A sort they call ‘despair,’
There’s banishment from native eyes,
In sight of native air.

And though I may not guess the kind
Correctly yet to me
A piercing comfort it affords
In passing Calvary,

To note the fashions of the cross
Of those that stand alone
Still fascinated to presume
That some are like my own.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Here’s a cute little pearl, a seven-star gem, which seems to be talking about Life at Large….

“There’s always a bigger fish.” — Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars Episode I

“The crash of the whole solar and stellar systems could only kill you once.” — Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

“Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Apothegms, No, 247

“If a rock falls on your head it does positive harm, but shame, disgrace, reproaches, and insults are damaging only in so far as you’re conscious of them.” — Erasmus

“For some, reality is an illusion.” — Smart Bee, talking behind gigoid’s back, again…

“He that feareth is a slave, were he never so rich, were he never so powerful. But he that is without fear is king of all the world.” — E. R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros

“I feel better about world problems now!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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‘Tis done. Nothing else matters, though attempts are made which cannot be dismissed. Rather than do so, we will take our leave, without any sort of explanation as to why we are stuck in the royal “we”…. We will try to lose it by tomorrow…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if we get the chance….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

First the socks, THEN the shoes….`

Posted on March 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ~~

Terry Virts, US Astronaut, in tribute to Spock, from the International Space Station

NASA picture, above Leonard Nimoy’s home, Boston, Massachusetts

Yes, thank you, I do know I’m late. Yes, there are things I can do to mitigate that. The question remains, should I? The next question, naturally, brings with it more responsibility, and, more inner conflict, arising out of the state of concrete, the substance my brain resembles the most at this moment in time, to wit: does this mean there won’t be any toast points?

Now, many of you, seeing such a demanding philosophical euphemism, will think I’ve slipped right round the bend for good. In that, you may be correct, but, it doesn’t preclude the need to find some sort of order, if we are ever to make it out of the intro section. If nothing else, we’ll need to find all the VR helmets, to provide the alternative reality you are entitled to, according to the small print on the back of your ticket…. If we can’t find them, I don’t think we’ll be able to float this boat today…. not that the Universe gives a good fuck….

If it did, it wouldn’t make me sleep so long, or feel so confused upon arising from the almost five hours I managed to put in pounding my pillow. Since it doesn’t, we’re going to fight fire with fire, and get pissed of right back….. Oh, wait. That’s probably not a good idea; we never did find that last group, from the last time this happened…. I almost forgot about that. Well, the insurance won’t cover another lost group, so, I suppose we’ll have to figure out something else today….

I know…. I’ll just give up. I haven’t tried that yet, so, it’s worth a shot….

Hmm…. I don’t know if I actually know how to do that; I can’t recall ever doing so previously. Okay, we’ll just play it safe, and use our ever-faithful emergency method #4 again…. Y’all know how this goes, right? Right. Hang on….

Shall we Pearl?

“Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it: men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts, we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we come to be brave.” — Aristotle

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The Red Priest ~ Antonio Vivaldi

Google Images

Today, we will go for soothing…. This piece is, without any doubt, the concerto I consider my favorite of all the classical music I’ve heard…. This is the literal truth; I can spend hours listening to it, over, and over….. It’s one of those pieces of music one never gets tired of hearing…. Enjoy!….

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Four Seasons ~ Vivaldi

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http://youtu.be/GRxofEmo3HA

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I am so late, cheating is allowed; it’s all part of the mitigation process, ffolkes…. No worries, this one isn’t too long, and is perfectly appropriate for this time of year, coming up on April 15, the date that lives in infamy…. Well, in this country, anyway….

From 12/22/2014:

“It seems a little silly now, but this country was founded as a protest against taxation.” — Smart Bee

This rant has been percolating for some time; the quotes you will see scattered throughout the text were collected over the course of several days, during Smart Bee sessions looking for other material to support different sections. These all had some connection to the same politireligirant, the same one I’ve been working on so long, my spell checker doesn’t even blink at the word any more….

The pertinence of the opening quote struck me with considerable force, as it coincided with receiving a bill from one of the huge corporate entities so familiar to us all today; the logo of this particular fake person closely resembles the Death Star, strangely enough, which is probably enough for you to identify it…. In this bill, I noted that the figures quoted to me, as pertaining to a service I ordered, had been inflated in the final tally by a number of taxes, from local, state, and federal agencies, none of which had been mentioned as part of the price…. This didn’t count the “surcharges”, or the mandatory “monthly equipment rental fee”, also added on to the price without mention.

I once read a blog post by another person which tallied up all the different taxes to which we, as American citizens, are required to pay at one time or another during our lives…. There were well over a HUNDRED taxes listed, such as Death taxes, (we get taxed for dying?….), Inheritance taxes, (a tax on the survivors of those who have died….), Sales taxes, Use taxes, from every level of government, and a host of others, some of which I’d never heard of, but, are on the books…. It’s astounding to see how we Americans have BECOME the very people our ancestors warned us against becoming, to wit: slaves of the corporations and churches….

“… men say the gods have a king because they themselves either are or were in ancient times under the rule of a king, For they imagine not only the form of the gods, but their ways of life to be like their own.” — Aristotle, Politics

Here we see, perhaps, part of the reason for the apathy most Americans display regarding the responsibility for governing their own lives; it is easier for them to just accept all the lies. Finding truth can be a difficult task, which most people learn to avoid early in life, thus giving control of those lives into the hands of any who will manipulate them…. Plus, there is a large percentage of our species who not only don’t like to think, but, spend a large portion of their time on this planet ensuring that nobody else does so, either….

“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer

For the most part, though, people just don’t care, because they don’t have the time or energy to spare for anything other than the bare essentials of living; finding shelter, food, and companionship takes up 99% of their minds and attention, leaving little time to wonder about whether or not any of what they do is helpful, or will actually do anything to make their lives better…. So, they listen to anyone who will tell them what they want to hear, who will fulfill that need to have someone else do the worrying about the future…. This, of course, only gives the predators more control….

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 — U.S. 479 (1928)

I’ve been pounding this point for a couple years now, with little effect, beyond the release I feel for getting it out of my head. That’s a big help to me, but, it isn’t having much of an effect on the overall picture, nor will it, until human nature itself undergoes some radical changes…. If I weren’t such a realist, I’d hold out some hope for that, but, quite frankly, I don’t see it happening….

I’ve run out of steam; the combination of futility plus pain plus dying hope makes any further comments I might relate completely superfluous…. not that they were ever critical in any sense…. other than in their essential truthfulness. But, this is already long enough, so, I’ll just dump y’all right here, and finish off the rant with a short set of pearls to drive the point home…. IF it strikes y’all, feel free to spread the point around… It can’t hurt, and it just might help. One never knows, do one?….

“Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, so don’t kid yourself…’ — Frank Zappa

“A statesman is what politicians call themselves.” — Smart Bee

“No matter how often a lie is shown to be false, there will remain a percentage of people who believe it is true.” — Law of the Lie

“Will Rogers never met Rush Limbaugh.”– Smart Bee

“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” — Max Lerner

So be it.

gigoid has spoken

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The following is not a poem, technically; however, it’s still poetry, in my book…. And, yes, I know the picture is Buddhist, and the quote is Taoist…. I don’t think either Lao Tzu, or Gautama Buddha will mind…..

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

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

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The following pearl is of a very special sort…. it chose itself. I have nothing to do with it, other than functioning as a pair of hands for my subconscious mind, working in close conjunction with Smart Bee, to produce a pearl of great obscurity, and great power, I suspect…. This is one of those pearls which will work on us unconsciously, in the dark corners of our minds, hiding the conclusions until the proper moment comes, then bursting into our awareness like a meteor across the sky….. Well, maybe that’s just me…. I think y’all will enjoy it, though, as long as you don’t try to fight it….

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

~~ Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” ~~

“Tighten ’til it cracks, then back off half a turn.” — Mechanics’ Rule

“There’s something you don’t see every day.” — Ghostbusters

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

“I am not a number. I am an unbound variable.” — Smart Bee, speaking for gigoid

“When the wind blows, worship its roar.” — Pythagoras

“You cannot teach a crab to walk straight.” — Aristophanes

“In the jingle-jangle morning I’ll come followin’ you.” — Bob Dylan

And through the spaces of the dark
Midnight shakes the memory
As a madman shakes a dead geranium

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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All things considered, today’s Pearl can be considered a victory. Now, all we need to do is find a place to hide the bodies….. While I do that, y’all can get on with your day, knowing we’ll meet here again tomorrow, as long as the authorities don’t catch on to what we’re up to….. See ya, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Perilous dreams of safety….

Posted on March 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Never take a stone to break an egg when you can use the back of your knife.”

~~ Scottish Proverb ~~

They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere!

Picture by Hubble Orbital Deep Space Telescope ~ NASA

As is my unfortunately consistent habit, at the sight of this terrifyingly white, empty screen, I find my mind to be completely blank; not only blank, but, seemingly unwilling to even move away even a step from its chosen posture of resistance, to allow even the slightest glimmer of inspiration to shine. Alas, woe is me!….

Whoops! We’ll have none of that, young man!…. Okay, that will be quite enough, I believe; I’m not so cruel, or idiotic, to think I could get away with such a massively mundane expression of angst, even here, at the very beginning, where it could be buried in the general confusion of getting started…. I don’t know what I was thinking, except, perhaps, to say, I wasn’t…. thinking, that is. It may have seemed like thinking, but, let me assure you, no such process was going on in THIS head, not yet….

That being the case, I shall, once again, endeavor to get us out of here before it gets to the point we are trapped in a meandering, ultimately useless pile of blather, searching for some kind of sensible, dignified way out, without ever realizing such are only given to those who remain clear-headed. Naturally, this means y’all will be losing out on the post-intro refreshments, but, I’m sure you won’t mind, since we’ll be back in time for the buffet…. For now, allow me to use good, old #4, which, as you all know, works like this…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.” — Henry Ward Beecher

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When I was a kid, Dragnet was the only crime show on TV; if there were others, I don’t remember them…. Even then, as far as I could see, Jack Webb had a stick further up his butt than anyone I ever saw, knew, or heard of…. no shit. But, the show was great fun, especially for those of us who looked on it as unintentionally funny; I’m sorry, NOBODY could be that stupid, or, refuse to allow ANY emotion to show, as Jack Webb played Joe Friday…. I don’t know what police detective he was trying to emulate, but, if it was a real one, I’m betting the cop was playing Webb for a fool, seeing him for the uptight dick he seemed to be, by all accounts…. No matter, it’s all in good fun, now…. Enjoy this blast from the past, ffolkes, then we can go on to bigger things…. Well, we’re hoping….

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DRAGNET: “The Hammer”

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http://youtu.be/nhFA3mnlYGE

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I try to post this once a year, as a minor tribute to Noah, one of the best dogs I’ve ever known….. It looks as if I missed last year, so, here ’tis, early in this year, to compensate…..

Last posted on 8/26/2013:

R.I.P. Old Friend

Ode to Noah

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

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

As we drew near the last cage in the aisle, we saw a slender, medium-sized, black and white dog, not barking, not jumping, just sitting down, leaning against the wall by the gate. He was looking me right in the eyes with an expression that arrowed straight into our hearts…. sad, sad eyes, with a long, mournful face cried out silently, “get me out of here, please!”. What could we do? He was obviously our dog; he realized it too, but, seemed afraid to hope. We told him we’d be right back, heading back to the desk in the front to announce our choice, and complete the paperwork.

The attendant brought Noah in to us just as I was handed the receipt. As he was led in by a standard choke-chain leash, he looked a bit nervous, but composed & curiously calm. That is, he was calm until I clasped his new collar around his neck, then snapped on his brand new leash. All of a sudden, when we stepped outside, he realized he wasn’t going back into the kennel; he immediately became a different dog, wagging his tail furiously, looking at us with his eyes shining, almost dancing and vibrating in his eagerness to go. As we walked back to the van, he walked proudly in front of us, tail and ears up at attention, almost prancing, looking back every few steps to make sure we were still there, a very happy dog…..

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

If he felt he was not sufficiently hidden from sight, he would assume a very embarrassed expression, turning away as if he felt guilty. A very private, discreet individual, to say the least. On those rare occasions he had been overlong between walks, so much in a hurry he made a mistake on the sidewalk, he would act just like a cat, walking away with head averted, pretending it had never happened. “What mess? Who me? I don’t know what you’re talking about….. C’mon, let’s go!”

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

Actually, he had a little trouble with the whole concept of ‘stay’; he didn’t like being left alone, and would often follow us after a minute or two; it was as if he just didn’t want to believe we really MEANT for him to stay. He figured he should be with us so he could do his job, to guard and act as scout. As long as he could see us, he’d stay where he was; if he couldn’t, he believed it was his place to find us….. We never came to terms over the matter; on this particular point he was firm.

We also never had to teach Noah any tricks, as he seemed to have figured stuff out on his own, and his way was definitely cool….The first time I ever gave him a treat (a milk bone), I showed it to him and told him to sit. He sat. I told him to speak, and he gave one quick howl. I held out my hand, & he offered his own to shake. I straightened up, then, tossed the treat a couple feet above his head, in the air….

He didn’t just catch it; he made a jump, making the in-air snag like a professional left-fielder. As he touched the rug, he immediately tossed it back up into the air. He timed his move perfectly; as the treat hit the floor, he dove on top of it, rolled over, & started doing a happy dance, by twisting his back and hips as if scratching his back on the floor. I swear, he looked just like Snoopy doing the Dance of Joy.

When he was done celebrating, he rolled over, snatched up his milk bone, to begin chomping with a big twinkle in his eye. I always wanted to video the move for posterity, or, to submit it for Stupid Pet Tricks on the Letterman Show. Sadly, he lived before the age of cell phone cameras, & I never seemed to have a camera handy when he performed his feat, so, Noah missed his chance for stardom.

Noah’s gotten old now; we just observed his 17th birthday in February of this year; as they say, in dog years, he’s going on 120 or so. He can’t hear anything but very loud noises, & can’t see more than a few feet, which I suspect is confined mostly to shadows and moving light. I’m afraid he will be passing on soon, as he can no longer get up without assistance, and, is having trouble controlling his bodily functions.

I sometimes feel like I should have him put down, to ease his pains, but he doesn’t act as if he is hurting, and I can tell he enjoys just lying around and sleeping, as long as he knows I am near. For his entire life with us, over 16 and a half years, he has been a true and loyal companion. He has observed with honor the pact made between Man and Dog many thousands of generations ago; taking care of him in his declining years is both a privilege, and, an honor. In my entire life, I have never known anyone more loyal, more compassionate, or more courageous in standing up to life. He was, and is, by far, the best friend that any man could hope for, and, also by far, the best person I’ve ever known……

Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
I’ve read that things inanimate have moved,
And as with living souls have been inform’d
By magic numbers and persuasive sound.

~~ William Congreve (1670-1729) ~~

~~ The Mourning Bride, Act i, Sc. 1 ~~