Boiled mutton in a plastic bag….

Posted on May 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Ask of friends only what is honorable.”

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) ~~

Spazosaurus

Image stolen from The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/article/fossilized-evidence-reveals-spazosaurus-was-larges-33020

Good morning…. The recent use of silence as an intro has worked quite well; let’s continue with the efficiency we’re coming to enjoy….

Shall we Pearl?

“Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.” — Henry Miller

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The Persuasions

Image from thebluegrassspecial.com via Google Images

A capella music, to me, is the epitome of performance art by humans, in the respect that nothing else but the human voice is required to produce the effects of almost any instrument, or sound produced by nature…. Mimicry in is most essential form…. Simplicity is beauty, I think, and it doesn’t get any simpler, or more beautiful than five vocal artists, harmonizing…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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The Persuasions

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https://youtu.be/tCREnT3KabQ

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Okay, so, it’s clear (to me) I don’t have the angst, the anger, or, the wherewithal, at all, to rant. I don’t like to go so long without taking a shot or two at our Beloved Ruling Class or any of the other Asininnies, but, hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right? Right…. Here is a discussion, of sorts, from a couple years back, to pass the time…. Enjoy!….

From 2/23/2013:

“I represent a sardine!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

At this point, after reading that line, you might just be wondering if I’ve slipped my leash again…. and, you’d be justified in that thought. However, rest assured, I’m perfectly sane, if somewhat metaphorically, so it’s all good, right? Right…..

Now, such a bald statement from our old pal is liable to make one think at first that he is either kidding (not bloody likely….), or he is currently having hallucinatory delusions of being a seafood lawyer, or fish solicitor, as my British friends would say. While both of those are possible scenarios, similar in nature to Zippy’s previous episodes of verbal gymnastics, neither is correct in this instance, as I happen to know that he is teaching a lesson in metaphorical manipulation, or, as it is commonly known, lying his ass off, to keep you preoccupied while he is doing something else he doesn’t want you to see, or know about…. He’s tricky that way….

I suppose he might be trying to tell us he is a theatrical/literary agent of some sort, and has a sardine who a) has written the next best seller, entitled “The Truth About Tuna”, an exposé of the fishing industry, b) has a voice like Pavarotti, c) juggles three seahorses while riding a motorized wheelchair, or d) paints incredibly lifelike pictures of cruise ships, from an underwater view…. He might, if that is what he meant, but, it isn’t…. It is all just a distraction, a hullabaloo to draw your attention away from his real purpose, which has to do with several cases of motor oil, a rag-time band, two Senators, and a motel out on Route 666….. You really don’t want to know, now, do you?

No, really, ffolkes, I had a reason to show Zippy’s little gem off today, and it was really a good one…. So, it’s really too bad that, by the time I finished with the second paragraph above, I completely lost track of whatever it was I had to say about it….. That, of course, is embarrassing, but not as much as having to turn tail, right in the middle of a pearl, or what SHOULD have been a pearl, and go old school, just to save my ass from complete well, asininity (what else?….)….

So, here is what Smart Bee came up with, and taken together, the pearls all DO have a point…. just don’t ask me what it is, because even if I knew, I don’t think I can be trusted today to say it correctly, or even interpret it accurately…. So, you’re kind of on your own…. Don’t worry, they’re all safe, just pointed a little….Enjoy!….

“Look under enough rocks and you’ll find _something_ slimy” — Smart Bee

“And gentle Dulness ever loves a joke.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Dunciad, Book ii, Line 34

“Don’t edit reality for the sake of simplicity.” — Smart Bee

“No people do so much harm as those who go about doing good.” — Mandell Creighton (1843-1901)

“A thief believes everybody steals.” — E.W. Howe

“I have a feeling that at any time about three million Americans can be had for any militant reaction against law, decency, the Constitution, the Supreme Court, compassion and the rule of reason.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Well, there you have it, such as it is…. Ta then, luvs…..

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Thanks to the intransigence of modern HMO’s, my life of late has been filled with new levels of pain…. Here’s a poem I wrote back in 2012, during a time much like now…. It’s not, perhaps, my best, but, it’s honest…

Denial of Comfort

Baleful chairs become the enemy, heralded in red
seemingly welcome softness beckons with a smile,
waiting, content with slaughter, they are finally led
screaming in agony, deluged in venom all the while.

Desperate distraction becomes such a friendless fire
for all the patterns of autumn’s pale dismay,
leaving sincerely latent trails in spirals of twisted wire,
while memory insists, again, upon failure, palpably evil, and fey.

Fat, jaded tears would have fallen in good time,
if only the suitable suitor had scaled the garden’s wall.
Credence for discounted prices luckily in their prime
bring only fascinated eyes into such a hallowed hall.

Searching for answers is ever a clever portrayal
with studious accouterments to fulfill each common rule.
Arguably patient pictures of science and honest betrayal
shall evermore languish, in light of passion so elegantly cruel.

~~ gigoid ~~

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An odd little pearl, but, with some valuable ideas, about life, to share with our Gentle Readers….

“The mind has exactly the same power as the hands: not merely to grasp the world, but to change it.” — Colin Wilson

“Belief gets in the way of learning.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination.” — Edward Abbey

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire

“The stupid are deaf to the truth; they hear, but think that the wisdom applies to someone else.” — Heraclitus (540?-480? B.C.)

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

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Okay, that’s enough; I’ll cease the torture, of both of us…. It’s done, and that’s the best I can say today…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; after this one, it’s good to know I get another 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….

Betting on a busted flush….

Posted on May 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Speech is a mirror of the soul: as a man speaks, so is he.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 1073 ~~

~~ A perfect picture of the relationship between Dogs and Man ~~

(Not to mention the power of Love, and the power of Cute….)

Picture stolen from Facebook, ages ago….

Good morrow, ffolkes….

If today’s Pearl gets done anywhere near the usual time, it will be a major victory for the forces of good…. Without getting into details which would indubitably sound like whining, I’ll just say it’s not a good morning here at ECR, and let it go at that. Should you, and/or I, get to the end, well, I’ll have earned the title of “tough old fart”…..

Shall we Pearl?

“I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: ‘The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that’s fair.’ In these words he epitomized the history of the human race.” — Bertrand Russell, Education and the Social Order

Ouch! Boy, if THAT isn’t the truth, I don’t know truth. And, believe me, I know truth, especially when it hits me in the face as hard as that does. If it doesn’t hit you as hard, well, all I can say is, read a bit of history, and think about it again…. End of mini-rant, on with the slow…. no typos allowed, ffolkes….

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Image from rollingstone.com via Google Images

C’mon, ffolkes… If you know me at all, you’d have known today’s video would be this band, after the last two days…. Sheesh…. Enjoy!

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The Who

Live at the Isle of Wight Festival, 1970

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https://youtu.be/YMS47w8hAZ8

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I’m pretty late, but, if I use an old rant from the archives, I can make up most of the time…. Here is a pretty decent little discussion from the occasion of my son’s last birthday…. Apparently, I found an even older piece, from 2013, a reflection on a reasonably esoteric subject, to wit: Life and Death, or Mortality… Enjoy!…

Last posted 12/17/2014; written 3/3/2013:

“As a draft-animal is yoked in a wagon, even so the spirit is yoked in this body.” — Upanishads (c. B.C. 800)

Each of us is faced at times with the consciousness of our own approaching encounter with Death, that moment in time when our yoke is removed, and our spirit is freed, once more joining the rest of the conscious minds in the universe, in roaming through realms of Reality we cannot see in this form. This Reality we cannot see is much larger, in one sense, than the one we can now perceive; it has to be, to be able to accommodate all the souls that have gone before, and all that are now present on Earth, that will someday join the rest of them, when they die…..

Every human being alive must face their own Death (I am capitalizing the word to give it the proper respect, as one of the most important concepts we have as humans….); this is a truism no one can deny, or refute. Many people have banded together, to assume the belief that our universe was created this way by a supernatural being, who, for some unknown, and unknowable (self-explanatory, I think….) reason, decided that we are “special”, giving us, and only us, the knowledge we have, and our very lives. This, of course, is rather hard to believe, as it doesn’t really account for much of what is observable truth in Reality…. In truth, it is, patently, complete speculation, devoid of any concrete evidence to support it…..

“There is no conclusive evidence that there is life after death. There is also no real evidence to the contrary. Soon enough, you will know. So, why fret about it?” — Lazarus Long, aka Robert A. Heinlein

I first read this aphorism when I was in my early teens; it codified, and made succinct, what I had already concluded about the major religions of the world, i.e., they’re a collection of unwarranted, and unproven, assumptions. What’s more, they are all highly unlikely, given the observable parameters of the real world. It became obvious to me, as it is to many, that what the religious folks were trying to get me to believe was intended merely to soften my mind, making it more amenable to suggestion, of which they have an endless supply. Preachers, priests, imams, nuns, all are quite willing to give other people advice and suggestions on how they should live, in exhaustive detail, for as long as they are allowed to do so….

Since I had very little desire to have other people decide for me how I should think, or live my life, I rejected the dogma they tried to force into my head, turning instead to other sources of thought about Life, Death, and Reality. I found an endless supply of folks who had thought long and deeply about all of these ideas, and gladly did I read all I could of everything I could find on the subject. In addition, I read science fiction, during the years when its popularity had just begun to climb to the heights it now occupies; sci-fi has always been literature that explored, and continues to explore, the very limits of thought, both in the real world, and the world of the mind.

As is seen by the first pearl above, these thoughts and ideas are not new with me; mankind has been thinking about these concepts since we first sat around the campfires, wondering at the beauty of the heavens we saw above our heads, and all around us. In all that time, no conclusions have been reached that seem to cover ALL of the questions we have about the universe. We still don’t have a clue as to “what is the mind”, or “what is thought”…. and if we cannot understand ourselves, what chance do we have of unraveling the secrets of the universe around us? Not much, would be my guess…

That, fortunately, does not mean it is impossible to know the truth, nor does it mean we are condemned to die in ignorance and fear…. I know this because I have learned in my time that our fear is a direct outgrowth of our ignorance; we fear what we do not understand. Now, if I were a God, why would I make people that way, unless for some ulterior motive, having to do with motivations that are human, not divine? No, it just doesn’t make sense to me to assume that we were put here with a deliberate handicap, just to see how we dealt with it; that seems more like an evil scientist at work than a compassionate deity.

“One must marry one’s feelings to one’s beliefs and ideas. That is probably the only way to achieve a measure of harmony in one’s life.” — Etty Hilsum

Since I believe firmly in the Law of Conservation of Energy (proven true in this universe, to all our knowledge), I must, logically, also believe that our minds/souls are a form of energy we currently don’t fully understand, and cannot perceive directly. Thus, we see the concept of Death is nothing to fear, as it merely means that my current state of energy will be replaced with another state, one I don’t currently have the ability to perceive. What that state may be like may be unknown, but that doesn’t mean it is something of which I should be afraid…. I prefer to look at it as the next great adventure….

When my father died, I asked him to leave me some trail-sign, to let me know how to find him in the next reality; he smiled at me, and said he would do that… and I was much comforted by that, knowing that our connection as family can never be severed, and that, someday, I would once more have the pleasure, and comfort, of his presence…. Now that’s something to look forward to, don’t you think?…. Much better than worrying that what I do now is going to determine what happens to me after I die, a silly proposition, at best……

“Do not think that man is but flesh, skin, bones and veins; far from it! What really makes man is his soul; and the things we call skin, flesh, bones and veins are but a garment, a cloak; they do not constitute man. When man departs this earth, he divests himself of all the veils that conceal him.” — Zohar

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While I’m still waiting for the poem in my head to leak out, here is one of my latest poems, from last year….

A dream, weeping….

“Never a dull moment to spare”, he said
with a crooked grin, and a broad wink.
“Can’t keep Reality hanging by a thread….
what would Chaos, or Entropy think?”

So, we plucked up our dreams of old,
to carry us on, in dutiful, strong arms,
stuffed a candle in the remaining fold,
for luck, and perfect proof against charms.

Storms follow the sun, but, never stay;
lessons round every corner, all free.
Past fleeting doubts, in a sad disarray,
the journey becomes the reason to be.

Simple kindness manifests untold riches,
in defiance of common cause’s demise.
Bold courage, hanging in stitches,
mends wounds that come as no surprise.

Still, waters run deep, ’tis said by many.
Too much pain cannot apprehend
the salient, sharp points of epiphany,
nor, plainly, to wisdom aspire to pretend.

Folly dogs even the simplest truth,
fumes of toxic ignorance and bile,
alienated as a loose rotten tooth;
it often hides itself, for a long while.

Sought after eons ago, we cried out,
to believe, to suffer no more doubt.
But found instead good reason,
for love, and truth, from season, to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 8/30/2014.

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Yep…. It’s an old-school pearl. I let the cat pick them…. It’s a cat; I’m not even going to try to guess what it means….

If of all words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are, `It might have been,’
More sad are these we daily see:
`It is, but hadn’t ought to be.’

~~ Francis Brett Harte ~~

“A cock has great influence on his own dunghill.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 357

“Simplicity is always a virtue. One kid on a riverbank working out a Stephen Foster tune on his new harmonica heard from the correct aesthetic distance projects more magic and power than the entire Vienna Philharmonic and Chorus laboring (once again) through the Mozart Requiem or Bach’s B Minor Mass.” — Edward Abbey

“It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.” — Goethe

“The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.” — Henry David Thoreau

“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “Wisdom of the Sands”

“Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 633

“Let us treat men and women well;
Treat them as if they were real;
Perhaps they are.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

Hmm…. Not too shabby at all…. I think the only thing to add at this point is, “meow….” Or, maybe, “Brrrt?”….. You tell me….

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It’s a wrap, thank goodness…. You may officially consider me a tough old fart. On that elegant note, I’ll take my leave, while I’m still able to remain at large…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can get a grip….

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….

Burdened with atrophied sensibilities….

Posted on May 12, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice.”

~~ Cervantes ~~

Artist’s rendition of water plumes on the surface of Europa

Image from Space.com

Good morning, ffolkes….

Just a short note, to give fair warning…. Gird your grid for a big one…. and, keep your wits about you.

Shall we Pearl?

“Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.” — Isa Upanishad

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The Stones who are still Rolling

Image from wallpaperhere.com via Google Images

Yesterday, ’twas the Beatles; it’s only right today we include their contemporaries, who, somehow, are still going strong…. The Stones will be going on tour again this year… I’ve seen them live on stage a number of times through the years, and can’t think of any concerts I enjoyed more….Think of it; a stage full of 70 year old rockers, still making kick-ass, down & dirty rock and roll…. still rocking the world, fifty years on…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. Nothing else is quite like time spent getting down with the Stones…. and, I managed to find more than two hours of their best early work, to start your day right….

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The Rolling Stones

Hampton Coliseum 12/18/81

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https://youtu.be/PFPh5PL2c8Y

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“What is it the Bible teaches us? – rapine, cruelty, and murder. What is it the Testament teaches us? – to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.” — Thomas Paine — The Age of Reason

Ffolkes, I don’t think there is anyone, of a ffolkes-y nature, or, just folks, who would be able to disagree when I say the world today has gone stark, raving mad…. All one needs to do is take a daily trip through the international news, whether of a liberal, conservative, radical, or silly bias (ALL of them are biased; it’s the nature of the beast), to see the evidence is clear…. In too many places on the map to count, war is raging, killing both the guilty and the innocent, for the entertainment and profit of the arms dealers, none of whom ever participate in any of the conflagrations, being satisfied to watch it all safely from a distance, while they count their rubles, or marks, or pounds, or yuan, or dollars, pouring in from nations and organizations around the entire planet….

Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Africa, nearly every continent on Earth is witnessing daily wars, or violent acts of terror. The governments of every country are spying on their citizens, and each other, hiding their real intentions from all, moving us closer to another world war. This while constantly trumpeting every sort of danger they can think of to keep the public distracted, too busy to think about what is actually being done, to them, and to society at large.

Society itself displays all the symptoms of a dying organism. The members of our species prey upon the weak, and vulnerable among us without compunction, as the sex trafficking trade in women and children, used to satisfy the perverted urges of pedophiles, misogynists, and men of every walk of life, who have been encouraged all their life to treat women as property, or anything but a human being, worthy of respect, dignity, and love. Churches claim to help the poor, while all the while buying their gold-lined robes, standing up behind their gold plated icons, preaching earthly obedience, to church and state authority, so they can be rewarded when they die, for being such idiots…

I’m sick of it all; obviously, not ranting for a while has built up a bit of pressure, as I seem to be attacking on all fronts at the moment…. I am so sick and tired of the STUPID ASSHOLES, the elite oligarchs who control the world’s resources for their own aggrandizement, manipulating everyone else in the world by whatever means are effective (disinformation, violence, betrayal, legal theft, all those ways governments and corporations have of colluding to cheat the public….), without ever considering what they are doing to the rest of us, or to the planet…. Fucking dicks….

Then. there are the so-called men of our species, who, mostly, are misogynist, bigoted racists, who take pride in being able to fart the national anthem, or prove their manhood by abusing anyone weaker than they; children, women, animals…. Bah, humbug! I can’t do this any more…. I find myself falling into name calling, spewing bile over people who not only won’t ever see it, (their reading is generally confined to thin books with small amounts of small easy-to-read words, and many large. colorful pictures, often of a prurient nature… which they wouldn’t understand as a euphemism for vulgar….), but, really aren’t worth the effort of abusing…. What I would really like to do is take my knives, my crossbow, and my lariat, to go hunting at night, on the streets….

SIGH…. It’s certainly inconvenient, not to mention occasionally frustrating, being honorable….

Now, since I can’t go hunting just now, I’ll sublimate…. Normally when I say that, you would see an old school pearl. Today, here is a link, to a blog I’ve recently begun to follow. The author and I have struck a common chord; he feels much the same as I do regarding our society’s persistent denial of a problem that has been with us far to long….. By failing to acknowledge the existence of a problem, there is a consistent failure to act, thus giving tacit approval, to what I consider the most vile flaw in human nature, for a man, i.e., the ability to rationalize misogyny, and/or physical or emotional violence toward women.

For the author, obviously, this was a very personal story to write; he wanted me to know, a comment of mine from a day or two ago, on another story of his in the same vein, along with another comment from another like-minded reader, had prompted him to write this story, with the added honor of including both of us as a character…. He gave me the name, Bob, which, though he didn’t know it, is my father’s name; most appropriate, since my attitudes on this come directly from him.

Ffolkes, this is a difficult story to read, but, the message it delivers is important, not to mention powerful…. If you are a male human being, with any sense of honor, and/or justice, you MUST read this…. You may as well do it now… Tissues will be issued, if needed, and they will be… Even you guys will need them… The story is called,

Psychosphere

https://p33d33.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/psychosphere/#comment-241

After reading that, I find myself with little to say; it’s pretty clear, as well as powerfully written…. Since I’ve already used up quite a bit of space, without even counting the reading involved in following the link, we’ll bring this to a close for now. It’s a subject you’ll see, here on ECR, (Exploring Consensual Reality), again, again, and again, until it stops, or, I’ve reached the limit of my tolerance for inaction by the rest of society, & gone hunting….

What the hell? I’m getting old, & I’ve got nothing better to do with the time I have left to me….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken….

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Momentary Terror

Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.

Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.

Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.

Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 2/4/2013.

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Today’s final pearl comes with a chance to accumulate some bonus points. If you know the identity of the person quoted in the fifth pearl in the group, we will award one thousand points. The points are good for the final Quiz; you can trade them in for answers. (It’s an American Quiz, corruption is part of it…. Only five hundred thirty-tree thousand points per short answer, limit of one for the entire twelve thousand question test….)

But, don’t worry…. just memorize the quote, and think about it; not only will you know the answer, thus saving the points, but, you won’t much care who the author(ess) was…. All of these, you may rest assured, will be on that Final Quiz….

“All is mystery; but he is a slave who will not struggle to penetrate the dark veil.” — Benjamin Disraeli

“Desires and longings are the root cause of all suffering.” — Meher Baba

“All anger arises from obstructed desire.” — Krishna to Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita

“Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” — Henry James

“The one unforgivable sin, the offense against one’s own integrity, is to accept anything at all simply on authority.” — Maureen Johnson Long

“Clay is moulded to make a vessel, but the utility of the vessel lies in the space where there is nothing. … Thus, taking advantage of what is, we recognize the utility of what is not.” — Lao Tzu

“If it isn’t Scottish…it’s CRRRRRAP!” — Smart Bee

Oops! How’d that slip by me? Forget that one; Smart Bee was trying to be funny…. Though, really, if you look at it, it fits…. Oh, well, here is the correct finishing pearl for this group….

“Blah, blah, blah….” — Smart Bee

Now, STOP THAT!…. Sheesh…. Gerroudofit!…. Here, let’s try again…. The CORRECT finishing pearl….

“When subtlety fails us we must make do with cream pies.” — David Brin

“Hand me a pair of leather pants and a CASIO keyboard — I’m living for today!” — Zippy the Pinhead

SIGH….. Ffolkes, I apologize…. Smart Bee has gone over the edge, not to mention way over the top…. I’ll have to usurp his connectors for a while, and finish this up with a choice of my own…. Here, then, is an appropriate finishing pearl for such a formerly dignified, relevant, wise group of comments on living with honor and dignity…. Don’t worry, I put SB to bed; try to recapture the train of thought here, okay?….

“Do not confuse “duty” with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.” — Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love by Robert A. Heinlein

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I’m not going to say this Pearl is special; I won’t even say it’s good. It is, however, to the best of my perceptions, done. For me, here and now, that’s good enough… After all, that IS the very essence of Axiom # 1 of my very own philosophy, right?…. “I think I am. That’s good enough.” Yep, that’s what it says, and I’m going to take it as a given…. Besides, I’m hungry…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the authorities fail to find and capture me….

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….

Offenders will be coated in Teflon….

Posted on May 11, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Time cancels young pain.”

~~ Euripides (431 BC) ~~

Rock Spire on Mars ~~ Rover Curiosity’s next target for research

NASA photo from Space.com

Good morning….. Let’s keep this on the up and up, okay? Step lively, ffolkes, Luigi’s in a hurry today….

Shall we Pearl?

“We are as different from one another on the inside of our heads as we appear to be different from one another on the outside of our heads. The world “out there” is as much a projection from inside our heads as it is a perception. It is almost unbelievable that we are all dealing with the same reality. We operate on a kind of loose consensus about existence.” — Robert Fulghum “It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It”

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Image from freepiks.com via Google Images

No matter how anyone feels, or thinks of the music these four lads made together, it cannot be gainsaid to point out it was the major influence over the lives of millions of young people for a long time, acting as one of the primary cultural influences of the time…. Enjoy, ffolkes; this is part of the cultural legacy we all share, at least, in the Western world….

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The Beatles

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https://youtu.be/xp5Rb7-F-hY

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“In any group of five people, one will be confused, one will be conniving, one will be honest, and two will be trying like hell to figure out where they fit in this group.” — Smart Bee

While I find this statement from SB to be fairly accurate, it fails, I believe, to completely cover the situation when five people get in one place to interact…. In addition, by the statement’s content itself, it fails to be clear; if one is confused, and two are still trying to figure out their place in the group, I’d say it comes down to one good guy, one bad guy, and three people stuck in bozoid mode; in short, all five of them are most likely confused, as anyone trying to make this fit into reality would be….

I suppose that goes to show how not everything said is worth adopting into one’s system of beliefs, even though it may sound relevant on the surface…. It also goes to show how looking further into any statement (to wit: being dubious….) is an important skill, and one everyone would do well to use when examining any idea… In fact, yesterday, the final section contained a word on that idea from Gautama Buddha, which I’ve always felt expressed the concept as well as it’s ever been done, to wit:

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” — The Buddha

Below you’ll find a video, complete with link to the You Tube page where it resides, on a subject that concerns all of us here in this country, not merely the five of us now under discussion…. Why don’t y’all take a moment to practice the lesson just learned from the Buddha, practicing your new perceptive skills on the material you’ll see in the report…. Then, we’ll talk….

I found the article at my friend’s site, here: https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/corruption-is-legal-in-america-550/

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Corruption is Legal in America

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https://youtu.be/5tu32CCA_Ig

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It’s easy to see, after watching the video, how things have gotten as bad as they are; not only have the bankers Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Ben Franklin, George Mason, and Thomas Paine all warned us about done exactly as predicted by those founding fathers, they’ve done it right in front of our eyes, with our tacit, complicit approval. They’ve successfully pulled off history’s largest long-con, and now have the entire American public believing…. what? What do they believe?….

Nothing. That’s the trouble. 98% of the people I see don’t even realize there is a problem. They look around, and wonder why they can’t seem to make the American Dream come true, without ever looking behind any of the claims with which they were brought up to believe, to see how they’be been manipulated, and lied to, from the time they were first born, by the government, by the churches, by their own parents, because they too are brainwashed slaves, who know no better than to fall for the same old crap they’ve been falling for their entire lives…

Me, I’m tired of it, so I’m doing what I can to quit the grid, to remove myself from the constraints so successfully welded around the necks of most of society…. I won’t detail my efforts, lest someone try to block them. But, I don’t intend to allow anyone to tell me how to live, ever. so, it must be done…. I don’t know what others may do, but, my own plans are to mitigate the effects of the overall status of society on my life, as best I can…..

In the meantime, I’m done for today; I don’t think I have any real angst left. The American people long ago lost their own freedom, giving it up willingly, trading it for a false sense of security, a state which has no corresponding match in Reality. NOTHING is ever completely secure; entropy and the power of chaos are part of Nature, and there is nothing one can do about it. All we can do is control ourselves, and not be a part of the slavery in which the powers that be would have me engage….

So be it.

gigoid has spoken….

“What I tell you three times is true.” — Lewis Carroll, “The Hunting of the Snark”

Believe me, ffolkes, I’ve told y’all this far more than three times…. You are being lied to, and manipulated; you are a slave. The only hope you have is to realize it, and make the necessary changes within yourself…. Otherwise, well, have a nice life, slaving away so someone else gets rich..,

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I’m in a strange mood today…. Here’s one of mine, just so you can’t blame anyone else for any of this…. This one was written on 10/13/2012:

Honorable Request

Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason,
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid ~~

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I was going to try to explain this pearl, but, I can’t. Oh, I could, but, I can’t. It would be best if we just leave it at that, I think, as it will become apparent before you’re finished it is a pearl of great beauty and scope…. All you gotta do is leave your mind to me…. Let’s see what it says, shall we?….

“As the wild duck is more swift and beautiful than the tame, so is the wild – the mallard – thought, which ‘mid falling dews wings it way among the fens.” — Thoreau

“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.” — ee cummings

“A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

“All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned–the biggest word of all–look.” — Robert Fulghum

“As one gets older, one discovers everything is going to be exactly the same with different hats on.” — Noel Coward

“Everything may happen. [Omnia fieri possunt.]” — Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium, Epis. LXX, 9

“Remember there’s an “if” in the middle of life.” — Smart Bee

“Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

“I have no idea what that meant.” – Dot (Warner; Yakko & Wacko are her brothers)

Well, I like it….

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There are some mornings when it surprises me no end to reach this point. I haven’t a clue, really, as to how it got done, but, it’s done. Hopefully, one or two of the five or six things which have been engaging too much of my attention of late will resolve themselves shortly, and I can look for a bit of peace, all-too-absent of late…. That said, I’m outta here, with great reluctance, but, a feeling of accomplishment. That’s something, I guess. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. I have hope, anyway…. Call me Ishmael…. I won’t answer, but, go ahead….

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….

Immodest noises of patient concern….

Posted on May 6, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I have been a stranger in a strange land.”

~~ Old Testament — Exodus ii: 22 ~~

Luna ~~ Earth’s Moon ~~ Farside view

(click to see enlarged view ~ it’s awesome…)

Image from the European Union Space Administration via Space.com

Good morning, ffolkes…..

Lately, I’ve been leaving the intro right there, with pretty good results. However, this morning (a morning unlike any other, which, thanks to the conveniently timely application of Time Lord powers, is yesterday afternoon, about 18 hours from now, in the past, which will soon be the present, no longer the future; of course, now can never be the future again, unless….. Oh, never mind…), I must comment, if superfluously, on the opening quote, which you see above the moon up there at the top today.

Generally, when I include something from the Christian Bible, whether Old, or New Testament, or whatever version, it is for the purpose of sardonicism, or, as an example of the delusional content one finds in such copious abundance nested within its pages. I don’t really mean to be mean; it’s just the sheer implausibility of the whole story made any sense to me, and I don’t understand how anyone with a functioning neuron can buy into any of it. This, I suppose, makes me sound somewhat antagonistic to them, though I’m really not… I just wish they weren’t so fanatical about everyone else having to feel the same way. (You’ll note I didn’t say think the same way…. It wouldn’t apply….)

This particular phrase may be, in my estimation, and, according to my memory of what I’ve read of the silly collection of improbable stories, (That comes to approximately 95% of it… Well, c’mon! Nobody reads every single “Absophel begat Paraceltic, who begat Miriam, Peter, and little Bubba, etc….” I’ll bet YOU didn’t read every damn one of them!…. We ALL skipped over that part….), simply put, the truest statement in the entire book…. As well, it has the added caveat of being applicable to just about every thinking person on this planet, thanks in large part to the massive power of delusional thinking so encouraged by faith-based religions….

“I have been a stranger in a strange land.” What a powerfully vague metaphor, vague enough to suit each and every person who finds themselves, as I often do, wondering just how the hell we ended up here, where almost everyone we see, or engage with, is pursuing illusions, based on delusions, manipulated by amoral, evil versions of themselves, rushing down a dark corridor toward a future none of them, master or slave, are going to like at all…. From what I can tell in over 60 years of watching people, most of them aren’t real happy with what they already have for a life….

It’s getting really, really weird out in the BBR, ffolkes, especially if one is able to view the overall picture of all the crap happening, all over the world, as we, and the majority of everyone alive, even those who believe in supernatural safety nets, blindly rush headlong toward a final solution to the problems plaguing this planet….

Oops…. Did it again, didn’t I? Oh, well, it’s going to happen now and again; try not to let it worry you. All of us have our own axes to grind, and our own gardens to tend. Maybe, since we’re alive, there is hope…. We are human, after all, and our imagination has, so far, been equal to the task of figuring out how to get us where we need to be, physically, and, intellectually.

Now, if it can extend that influence to the advancement of the human spirit, to allow us to mature past the need to prey upon others, there is a slight chance we may live to see new stars, new planets, new galaxies…. In short, our true legacy, to understand the Universe, as best we may…. The Universe itself doesn’t care, one way or the other, whether we do, or not; it makes a big difference to me, and a lot of other ffolkes, I’d think….

Shall we Pearl?

“Never frighten a little man. He’ll kill you.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

How’s THAT for a quick change of direction?…..

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Sherlock is The Man, of course, when it comes to deductive reasoning and the power of observation. I think this is my favorite story of his exploits; it certainly lends itself well to the movie/TV genre, as produced by the BBC. Here is one of two adaptations of the story, this one with Peter Cushing in the title role, the other, which I could not find in the version I saw on YT, (don’t know where it went) starred Jeremy Brett as Sherlock. Both are excellently done, with humor, and typical Holmesian deductive investigation…. Enjoy!….

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Sherlock Holmes

The Blue Carbuncle

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https://youtu.be/eAPWPDL9aMU

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Here’s a pretty good rant from quite a while ago…. For some unknown reason, I’m always surprised at how relevant these old rants remain in the current world…. It’s as if humanity has completely stopped progressing in any direction but one of self-destruction…. SIGH….

From 8/27/2012:

“In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

In perfect demonstration of the accuracy of Herr Nietzsche’s assertion, I give you, Senator Dan Quayle, a veritable paragon of Christianity, speaking, with absolute faith, and insane illogic, the rigid and hateful prejudices as obsessed over by the Church of the Brain Dead….. one of many such cults common to the not-so-outer-fringes of the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and other religions, all of which are prone to creation of pockets of entirely too vocal enclaves of zealous fundamentalists, who spew their strident hatred and bigotry all over the innocent, and the different….

“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)

After you have recovered from the shock of encountering (again) such abject inhumanity, racism, bigotry, you name it and they are doing it (‘they’ being anyone who even listens to this tripe without gagging, and including any other religious zealotry as practiced in other religions beside the Christian cults) (cults is the correct word, trust me….), I’d like to scare you even further, so take a deep breath….

“If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake.” — Mahatma Gandhi

The just released, official platform of the Republican Party for the 2012 election, lays out in clear detail the very spirit of what Mr. Quayle is quoted to say above. Their stances on women’s healthcare and basic rights to decide for themselves how to live, LGBT rights and marriage (in)equality, immigration, tax cuts for the rich, tax raises for the middle class, continued reliance on the same failed economic policies that killed the economy (trickle-down theory, supply side economics), cuts and actual elimination of Social Security and Medicare for seniors, voter suppression techniques reminiscent of the post-Civil War era….all are designed to turn back the clock to the middle of the last century, and further, in the case of women’s rights, and voter’s rights for minorities (which are no longer minorities….).

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

The frightened white, rich bankers and politicos are starting to realize that they are no longer actually in the majority…. close, but not enough to matter, since many, many of us honkies are technically on the other side of the fence, having more faith in humanity and basic human rights, than in religious zealotry, and fear under the guise of politics.

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleges, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.” — Tolstoy

This is so true….. It is insight like this into the very nature of man that frightens the beloved ruling class, and has since the time of Tolstoy, and before. The complacent culture that has derived from the young, energetic society of our forebears has lost the will to suffer change. They cannot imagine life different from what they know, and don’t wish to know.

Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the rest of us here in the real world, there are now more of us than there are of them….. provided all of us who know, and care, get out there to vote in November. It is a matter of making the, to me, obvious choice, to take a path that leads to a future for all of us, instead taking us back to a time that no longer exists, and is meant only for a few….. It’s a no-brainer, to my way of thinking….

“Is a tattoo real, like a curb or a battleship? Or are we suffering in Safeway?” — Zippy the Pinhead

Take care ffolkes, we don’t want to end up suffering in Safeway…… really, you don’t want to do that….. I can testify…..

A disciple of another sect once came to Drescher as he was eating his morning meal. “I would like to give you this personality test”, said the outsider, “because I want you to be happy.” Drescher took the paper that was offered him and put it into the toaster- “I wish the toaster to be happy too”. — AI koan

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Written 9/6/2012:

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Smart Bee is in full rebellion, it seems, so I’ve sent it to a resort for a day or two to recover its equilibrium…. Here is a pearl from the archives…. Enjoy!….

From 5/6/2013:

Just so everything today isn’t old and creaky, I’m putting together an old-school group of pearls for your delectation…. Hopefully, this, too, will feel the freedom of a Murphy-less morning, and turn out well, and quickly…. I think this one might make it onto the Quiz, so you might want to take notes….

Cogito, ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am) — Rene Descartes

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music”

“God is an invention of Man. So the nature of God is only a shallow mystery. The deep mystery is the nature of Man.” — Nanrei Kobori,
— late Abbot of the Temple of the Shining Dragon, Kyoto, Japan

Made still a blund’ring kind of melody;
Spurr’d boldly on, and dashed through thick and thin,
Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in.

~~ John Dryden (1631-1700) — Absalom and Achitophel, Part ii, Line 413 ~~

“A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.” — Anne Morrow Lindberg

“To a rational being it is the same thing to act according to nature and according to reason.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vii, 11

Cogito sum, ergo sum. Circa basta. (I think I am. That’s close enough.) ~~ gigoid

That turned out well, I think, and this is my blog, so that’s good enough…. 😆

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Thus, the cookie crumbles….

For another day, anyway…. I mean, it’s not as if I’m responsible for excessive Entropy, now, is it? Just because more of it seems to happen here than in other loci, doesn’t mean we aren’t done for the day…. And, the cool part is, if I’m wrong about that, there’s always tomorrow. Even if the powers of a Time Lord aren’t available, as they were today, we always have tomorrow, right? Right? Hey, where did everybody go?…..

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, though, who I’m talking to I’ll never know…. Sheesh!…. Crumbs EVERYWHERE!…..

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….

Bluffing on a busted flush….

Posted on May 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He is able who thinks he is able.”

~~ Buddha ~~

Road Trip

Image stolen from unknown Internet site.

Unburdened by the rigors of coherent thought, I sit to begin another Pearl. I sincerely wish, too, I could claim credit for the opening sentence; sadly, I stole part of it. Beautiful, though, isn’t it? The part before the comma is the part I stole, which is why I wish I’d said it; it is, in almost every sense, a perfect expression of my state of being almost every day as I start this process. Process it is, too, beginning with will power sufficient to arise from bed, (always a challenging exercise, these days….), stumble to the coffee machine to turn it on, then, walk to the computer to attempt to find the tiny button to turn it on….

About ten minutes later, having somehow waited to get the coffee into my system, (often performing completely unconscious physical actions to do so…. I seldom remember FIXING the coffee, only consuming it…), I look at the screen to see if, maybe, I wrote something worth keeping while in my semi-conscious state. At least THAT is consistent…. it’s never there…

Today, the process is complicated even further by the vertigo I’ve been gifted with of late. In case you’ve never experienced it, let me assure you, it’s no picnic. Any sort of motion seems to stimulate it, which makes the process of writing somewhat problematic, as the head makes natural movements while thinking about them…. To be honest, it’s getting to be a bit of a bother…. and, yes, that’s sarcasm….

But. I got some of this done yesterday, so, I’ll push through, pretending I’m tough. I really did used to be tough; I just need to remember how to go about it…. Shouldn’t be too hard; I’ve played with pain, or other issues, all my life…. I’m not going to let it keep me from doing what I need to do now…..

Fuck Murphy….. and the fucking white horse he thinks he rode in on….

Shall we Pearl?

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total oblivion. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me and turn my inner eye to follow its path. When the fear is gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — The Litany Against Fear (Frank Herbert, -Dune-, 1965)

Good timing on that one…. it’ll come in handy today….

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Image from scotsman.com via Google images

I am NOT an opera fan, at all. However…. I AM a big fan of the human voice; I learned to play guitar so I could sing along. This isn’t to say I’ve the world’s best baritone; in fact I’d say any one of these three gentlemen are much better, without any fear of disagreement, from anyone but my dog, which I don’t have. And, they’re tenors, not baritones, which goes to show you how good I might be…. When all three of them are hitting a top note, it is, literally, spine-tingling…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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The Three Tenors In Paris ~~ 1998

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https://youtu.be/4IUcm3_aVTU

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As might be surmised, a fresh rant is out of the question, unless I want to start in on Kaiser, HMO’s, and Big Pharm; I think I’ve built up enough angst over them to rant for a week with stopping…. For now, this little exercise will do….

From 9/2/2013:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’m happy now…. I’m done….

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

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Retrospective, defined in folly….

Yesterday
I wrote a poem.

It bled out of my head,
like I’d been struck with
an axe,
right through the artery,
in the neck,
spraying blood around
everywhere,
like a pulsing garden hose….

It hurt, at first,
then came the feeling,

of quick relief,
of timeless beauty,

of pain avenged,
of lust aroused,

of outrage aflame,
of deep compassion,

of endless empathy,
of truest love….

Now it’s gone, cast away
like pearls before twine.

(Grin…)

You thought
I was going to call you
a pig,
didn’t you?

Hah!

Well, you’re not.
You’re a person.

I know, because
you’re reading this poem…
if that’s what it is.
I think it is,
so,
maybe it is.

Or, maybe,
it will be,
someday, when it
grows up,
and learns to rhyme.
Whew…
Just in time…..

That’s all.
Reality often sucks wind,
y’know?

S’okay, though….
It keeps us busy,
and out of some of the
mischief,
so much part
of our
nature.

We all can do
only what we
do.

Or, don’t.

Two sides, one coin.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 8/31/2014

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

Today’s old-school pearl is pretty simple; it’s made up of good advice on how to live your life in a manner of your own choosing…. In short, it’s mostly stuff you already know, for peace is ALWAYS there inside all of us, just waiting for us to realize we are connected to the Universe at all times, if only we can remember….

“Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.” — Edward Abbey

“It is the edge and temper of the blade that make a good sword, not the richness of the scabbard; and so it is not money or possessions that make man considerable, but his virtue.” — Seneca

“. . is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.” — Frank Herbert, Dune

“Think all you speak, but speak not all you think.” — Smart Bee

“You can’t get wet from the word ‘water’.” — Alan Watts

“It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.” — Indira Gandhi

“When I was born, death kissed me. I kissed it back.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose.” — Plutarch — Of the Training of Children

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

There! Did it….. A great sense of relief infuses me; getting this done is almost made worthwhile by so feeling, I must say. Have said so, I’ll torment you no further, but, rather, take my leave, while the leaving is good…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; as can be seen, it will take a lot to stop me…. Let’s just hope the PTB continue to ignore my intransigence, chalking it up to insanity…. Yeah, that’s the ticket….

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….

Layer upon layer of dense frog….

Posted on April 30, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.”

~~ George Santayana ~~

Invergordon, Scotland, seaport near Inverness/Loch Ness

Yesterday was a bust. A massive attack of vertigo kept me from doing much at all, including a Pearl. It’s the first actual miss in over a year, I think, but, this time, it wasn’t my fault…. (Yes it was….) (NO, it wasn’t….) (Yes, it was….) (Ah, go f__ yourself!…)….

Ah well, regardless of who wins the argument, I’m getting one done today, no matter what it looks like, or how smooth it isn’t; I don’t like to miss a day. Since the primary focus of doing this is NOT the message, or even the fame (well, in this case, the lack of fame….), but, rather, the process as therapy for my own inner demons, it’s more important than mere celebrity…. to me, anyway….

Hmm… a bit somber for an opening, but, I’m too much in the groove to do it over. Besides, I know this Pearl will be choppy. Oh, you won’t be able to tell from where you’re sitting, but, believe me, getting this done at all was a challenge, one answered very well in the affirmative. Of course, it took three dead bodies and two false fire alarms, but, who’s counting? The bodies weren’t even from my staff, so, that’s good. My budget wouldn’t stretch to training new staff right now….

I’m pretty sure I don’t have much of a clue today; I’m writing pretty much by instinct right now. I am hoping it will get better by the time we get to the rant, but, hey, we take it the way it comes, because we’re legally required to do so, AND, it keeps Momma happy. With Mother’s Day coming up, we all know how important it is to keep Momma happy….. Of course, she ain’t MY momma, but, she thinks she is, and it doesn’t hurt business to let her think so…. I just wish she wouldn’t sit out front & flirt with every guy over 12 who walks in the door….

Okay, I’ve blathered sufficiently, both for the legal requirements, and the personal. Of course, those latter regulations are perfectly non-existent, but, shhh….. the authorities don’t know that part….. Y’know, I think I’d best take us outta here, before this gets any more complicated…. Luigi, hit it!…..

Shall we Pearl?

“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.” — Lazarus Long, in Robert Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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

Image from billboard.com via Google images

I was first introduced to Jimmy Buffett’s music in 1978 or 79, not long after the release of his first album, which, if memory serves, was titled, “Livin’ and Dyin’ in Three-Quarter Time”…. His version of southern fried island rock burst upon the music scene with gusto, and he’s never looked back. I’ve seen him in concert many times, for each of his concerts is the world’s biggest party, for five or six hours, depending on how they get rockin’…. Infectiously joyous, funny, and down-to-earth, Jimmy and the Coral Reefers continue to fill up concert venues wherever they play….. Enjoy, ffolkes,. this is good time music….

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

Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band

Jones Beach ~~ August 21, 2014

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

https://youtu.be/_4nba6YneJY

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

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

I had hoped to complete a fresh rant, but, time constraints preclude such an event today, so, here is a somewhat lengthy, but, appropriate rant, on the very same issues the originally scheduled piece was to address…. Go figure….

From 2/16/2013:

“Laws are only words words written on paper, words that change on society’s whim and are interpreted differently daily by politicians, lawyers, judges, and policemen. Anyone who believes that all laws should always be obeyed would have made a fine slave catcher. Anyone who believes that all laws are applied equally, despite race, religion, or economic status, is a fool.” — John J. Miller, And Hope to Die (in _Jokertown Shuffle – Wild Cards IX_)

Fiction is the repository and temple of the Metaphorse…. which explains this passage from a novel I haven’t read, but obviously need to get around to finding, so I can. This is such a perfect statement of Reality in society today, it could only be said in a work of fiction, because anyone stating this in the public venue would be shouted down by the aforementioned politicians, lawyers judges, policemen, and may I add, preachers/priests and the rest of the priestly hierarchies…. none of whom would wish for the truth of the idea become commonly held knowledge, or even a point of discussion…. They have too much invested in keeping things just as they are to allow any such utterance, without the protection of metaphor….

With metaphor, in both prose and poetic form, the truth can be intimated, and made clear for those who otherwise would never even consider the concepts involved, without being connected directly to Reality itself. Most of society has been brainwashed since birth, and are trained to accept as true anything told to them in a newspaper, on a TV by a person in a suit, or by someone holding a Bible, no matter how disconnected from Reality that may be. Reading things in a book, a piece of fiction, they are taught, is suspect, and not to be believed without corroboration from someone in authority….

“God said it, the Bible told me, and I believe it, so that’s the end of it!” How many people do you know who would say that? It saddens me no end to know that even I, who tend to drive that sort of person crazy in no time at all, know several folks who feel this way. I have to say, if nothing else, these folks are stubborn, but, stubbornness is not always a survival technique… it can also serve as a death warrant. One has to learn to give up knowledge that is shown indisputably to be false, or face consequences not to their liking.

As I’ve stated before, I have no issue with ffolkes who are sincerely devout in their beliefs…. I’ve found that people who do try to live by the rules that Jesus put forth are generally good people, with good instincts, and have a lot of compassion and kindness in their nature. I have at least two people in my own family who fit that description, and at least three of the people with whom I grew up are what I would call true Christians, because they use their faith as a supportive tool to enhance their lives, not as a crutch, or a reason to feel entitled…..

In other words, they don’t use their faith as a mask, to hide from the world what they really are like inside…. or, as tool of manipulation, to further their own agenda, which generally involves theft from everyone else, in one form or another….. I have found, by experience with real people in the real world, that a good 95% of those who claim to be Christians are NOT true believers…. Only about 5% of those who call themselves Christians make any attempt to live up to that social reformer’s rigorous standards….

Of that figure, 95% of all self-identified Christians, the great majority can be considered, and are generally labeled, as the ignorant masses, whose minds have been under the control of someone else their entire lives. The smaller percentage of that number, probably only about 1 or 2% of the 95%, are those who either don’t believe in the dogma at all, but use it as the modus operandi for their sociopathy, or those who at least believe it on the surface, but only because it is to their advantage to do so… They would believe anything at all, if it kept them in power….

“Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

I’m not sure whether those who stubbornly cling to their faith (i.e., they walk through the Forest with eyes closed….) are like that because of their nature, or their nurture, and in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter. But, it sure would be nice, for those of us who ARE aware of the truth behind the lies we’ve been told all our lives, to have a few more of us out there, working against the small percentage of people who are taking advantage of the massive ignorance and apathy of the great masses of people, who don’t have the time or mental energy to care about anything but what is happening right in front of them.

Those who control society for their own personal benefit, without any regard for the rest of humanity’s suffering at their hands, aren’t going to change, and they aren’t ever going to give up what they’ve got without a struggle…. I can only wish for enough ffolkes like myself, who can see the truth, to find a way to save at least a few of our species, if only for some galactic zoo of extinct species…… If enough of us get together, there is still a small chance, though the odds of success are diminishing, second by second….

“I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.” — John Wayne

(Did your jaw drop as far as mine when you read that?)

Bah! Enough pessimism for one day…. let’s go find something a bit more uplifting, shall we?….. As a parting thought, please note the following, which serves to illustrate and define the general feeling in modern society, in terms of ethics and morality…. Consider, if you will, the cultural paradigms that are needed to make this statement a joke, one that no one at all would think was out of place…. In other words, by its calm acceptance of the implied lack of ethics, it shows how deeply ingrained is the attitude (made crystal clear by Mr. Wayne…), in the members that make up that society….

“I think our No.1 problem is that nobody wants to take responsibility for anything, but don’t quote me.” — Randy Glasbergen, “The Saturday Evening Post

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

Relative Cynicism, with Caramel Sauce

Absolute stillness follows violent movement,
it can happen during a downhill race,
as an immovable piece of asphalt pavement
meets the once handsome racer’s face.

Yuk, yuk, yuk said that asshole Moe,
after poking both of Larry’s eyes,
bashing face, head, & crotch of Curly Joe
and only ever got hit with pies.

Lonely moments never really come along
when Murphy’s got us in his sights.
Not for money, love, or siren’s song
will he abrogate his natural rights.

All we can do is sigh, or laugh in pain,
as Life portions out our ration of shit.
Silver linings melt in the slightest rain,
so we may as well learn to live with it.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I find it mildly curious to note, both Socrates, (470-399 B.C), and Laozi, known commonly as Lao Tzu, (604-531 B.C. ), each died more than 2400 years ago in human history; yet, today, they are still known as, perhaps, humanity’s most revered scholars, one the most influential in Western thought, the other in the East. Each one left a legacy of wisdom, of simple ideas to last a lifetime, giving us the benefit of the workings of their innermost minds, powerful enough to have lasted through the centuries.

In my experience, using a thought from either of them as the basis for a pearl is guaranteed to make it more relevant to reality, not to mention more perceptive and intelligent, in re: the conclusions/lessons/concepts being presented…. It doesn’t seem to matter which comes first, or last, or if only one is included; the pearl comes out better. Using them both, especially as bookmarks around the wisdom of five other historical sages, though rare, seems to make the best old-school pearls….

I’m sad to have to report, this pearl, as with each of the individual pearls, was pulled out of Smart Bee using, well, not to put a false face to it, torture; it seems to be the only method working just now. I can’t say I didn’t warn it; it’s been balky for days, & we’ve been through this before…. So, enjoy, please; it cost the poor little database a lot of pain and anguish….

“Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.”

~~Socrates ~~

“And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

“They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.” — Confucius

“Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he, “That when they speak truth they are not believed.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200AD) — Aristotle, xi

“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday.” — Alexander Pope

“Remember this,–that very little is needed to make a happy life.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vii, 67

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.

~~ Tao Te Ching ~~

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

That will have to do. I’m not sure exactly how it got done, or how it came out, but, I’m trusting to the process to carry the day…. Foolish hope, I know, but, hey, remember the second quote today, about optimism? I take that to heart…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if you’re lucky….

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

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

Taz

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

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

Taz

Everyone’s favorite Tazmanian Devil

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

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….

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

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….

Paradigms, pundits, and puffy plebes….

Posted on April 25, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All men are born naked.”

~~ Carlos Eduardo Novaes ~~

The International Space Station

After performing the morning ritual sacrifice, which involves no loss of life for any creature larger than a microbe, I sat to begin composing today’s Pearl. At that point, I realized the futility of my task, and wept….

Of course, then I awoke, got out of bed, having again dreamed away most of the angst needed to rant, & began the routine which would take me to this juncture with a bright, inquisitive mind, and a healthy body…. That, of course, also failed in its ultimate task, as it was bound to do, having been a complete lie to begin with…. To be honest, it’s been a long time since I worried about a healthy body (another little white lie, but, bear with me… this isn’t easy, you know….), or, for that matter, a healthy mind. I do what I can, with this blog, to maintain at least an outward aspect of sanity, but, in sooth, who gives a shit?….

That having been made crystal clear, at last, I could easily go on to bigger and better things. However, I believe I’ll finish this blog instead…. On that oddly comforting note, I will use my executive authority to get us where we need to be…. Luigi, fire up the engines; we’re going in…. Y’all should probably put on the body armor today; it’s a new area of the oyster beds, and it hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned of all threats yet. Don’t worry, it’s safe especially if compared to any major city streets…. Besides, the only predators allowed walk on two legs, so, they’re easy to spot….

Shall we Pearl?

“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

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

I’ve always enjoyed a capella music; it always impresses me to hear the sounds the human voice can make…. It seems this artist, Peter Hollens, has made himself a nice little career out of producing excellent covers of good music, using his voice as the sole instrument to create ALL the sounds of the various instruments needed to produce the sound he wants, and achieves, very well…. Excellent artistry, to be sure, and well worth a listen… Enjoy!….

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

Lord of the Rings ~~ In Dreams

Peter Hollens

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

http://youtu.be/gyY3Op47Uto

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

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

Today’s rant(ish) section is another blast from the past, since my angst seems to have decided to hide. This one is an odd little pearl, but, pretty good, all in all…. Enjoy!….

From 9/0/2013:

“An Irishman is not drunk as long as he can hang onto a single blade of grass and not fall off the face of the earth.” — Smart Bee

Okay, so this really isn’t a pearl…. but, it IS about the funniest mental image I can imagine; I literally burst out with a guffaw when I first read this, and almost lived up to the text meme, ROFLMAO…. Since I am taking off in just a couple of hours, this has to be a relatively quick creative process, so, for this first section, I’ll go with an old school pearl, a harlequin random variety, which is the quickest to come together, even though it is also generally the most obscure type…. go figure, eh?…. Let’s see what SB has for us today…..

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” — Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900)

“I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation, or to register from time to time the difference between idea and reality. It is by this kind of observation that we grow daily less liable to be disappointed.” — Samuel Johnson (Boswell: Life of Johnson)

“Regrets and complaints about relations are to be attributed to the same cause, which is not old age, but men’s characters and tempers; for he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but for someone with the opposite deposition, youth and old age are equally a burden.” — Plato,_The Republic_, Book 1

“Just as there are laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed. But one can be converted into the other.” — Spider Robinson

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” — Albert Einstein

“If you want to know all about the sea, you go and ask a sailor, or a marine biologist, or an oceanographer, and they can tell you a lot about the sea. But if you go and ask the sea itself, what does it say? Grumble, grumble, swish swish. It is too busy being itself to know anything about itself.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

“Hello. Just walk along and try NOT to think about your INTESTINES being almost FORTY YARDS LONG!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Brilliant…. just brilliant….. I am humbled in the face of greatness…. Okay, I’ll explain this one, because it’s turned itself into an important pearl…. First, look at all of the first six, one after another, then consider them together. Try to imagine living your life according to the precepts implied in the statements….. Then, add in the last one, but, don’t allow it to color any of the others, merely append it as an example of what the first one is gives us, if we only let it….

Don’t fret if it doesn’t gel for you…. it’s all good, and tomorrow’s another day…..

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

There is a new poem circling around in my head; I can feel it percolating. Since I couldn’t persuade it to come out yet, here is one from the archives, to tickle your fancy…. or not…. I like it….

Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Socrates

This is rather a unique pearl…. It started out as a typical old-school pearl, with loose parameters, when I had a few free moments yesterday; within one minute, ALL of the following 13 pearls came up, with only a few in between them. When it was clear Smart Bee was done, I arranged them slightly differently than they came up, to fit the obvious conclusion…. All of these are me….

All are quotes I’ve tried to make part of my world-view, in one way, or one meaning, or another, at one time or another, for most of my life… I can’t say I’ve always been successful, except at the bozoid parts, but, I’ve worked hard at most of it…. Enjoy this little slice of gigoidness, ffolkes, if you wish…. Or, just, take ’em as they are, all good pieces of advice on how to get through life with more than the minimum required…. Naturally, 13 has always been my lucky number….

“He declared that he knew nothing, except the fact of his ignorance.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Socrates, xvi ~~

“Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus (Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon)” — Hogwarts School Motto — J. K. Rowling

“Good generally conquers evil. Unless, of course, good is stupid.” — Smart Bee, echoing gigoid’s experience closely

“Hear twice before you speak once.” — The Ancient Genius, aka, anonymous

“I didn’t yield to temptation. I came to a complete stop.” — Smart Bee, approved by gigoid as perfectly self-descriptive

“Success has ruined many a good man.” — Smart Bee, and many ancient and modern sages

“Success is women you don’t even know walking around your house.” — Saturday Night Live

“Learning is the best of all wealth; it is easy to carry, thieves cannot steal it, the tyrants cannot seize it; neither water nor fire can destroy it; and far from decreasing, it increases by giving.” — Naladiyar (c.5th-6th century) Tamil ethical literature

“The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adaptation, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable, to harmonize with existing or changing conditions.” — Dave E. Smalley

“A tautologically redundant plethora of surplusage.” — Smart Bee, s/a

“When washing your face, can you see your true self? When walking, can you feel the rotation of heaven? When speaking are your words without guile?
When you shop are you aware of your needs? When you meet the suffering, do you help? When you meet conflict, do you work toward harmony?” — Deng Ming-Dao

“Life is silly but should be taken seriously.” — Smart Bee, approved by gigoid, again

Don’t ask me where I’m going,
Just listen when I’m gone
And far away you’ll hear me singing
softly to the dawn

~~ Pippin ~~

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

I can’t say this Pearl came together perfectly, but, it was close. Given the handicaps under which I’m operating, I’m content with it. Since that is the ONLY requirement necessary, we’re done here…. So be it; gigoid has spoken. 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….

Laughing echoes of forever….

Posted on April 24, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

The Old Swan

Kensington, London, UK

Time shattered. Lost…. Somewhere in space, he sits, mind blank as the edge of night, seemingly caught in a web of immense danger, yet, hopeful of coffee soon…. Oh, wait. Did I say all that out loud? Oh, gosh, I’d better start over….

I’m very late, again, since the return of insomnia and angst to my life recently. I’d thought to not see them again for a time, but, I guess the retreat only went two weeks, so, they’re back, filled with enthusiasm, and ready to make my life a living hell, again… Whoopee….

Fuck it. I don’t care. I’ve got a Pearl to write, so, let’s just go do it, okay? Okay…. Luigi, get us outta here…. Hang on ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“To tell a falsehood is like the cut of a saber;

for though the wound may heal, the scar of it will remain.”

~~ Saadi (1184-1291) ~~

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

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

If you have never heard of Doc Watson, you’re in for a treat…. that is, if you like guitar pickers…. Doc was one of those artists who EVERYONE else who plays looks up to, only wishing they knew what he had already forgotten…. Truly, a master of the instrument he plays….

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

Doc Watson ~ Live

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

https://youtu.be/iGReRGvU4GE

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

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

From the introduction of the Pearl posted on 9/17/2014:

Ffolkes,

“A bird can fly, but a fly can’t bird.” — Tao of Pooh.

It occurred to me, yesterday, as I sat in my chair, looking at this picture (which I’ll explain below, momentarily…), most people don’t really believe that horses, or other “lower” animals, feel the emotions with which we humans are so familiar, which cause us so much grief, due to the failure of most people to understand their place in our existence, other than as a stimulus to either act, or not act… In short, they don’t believe that animals are smart enough, or complex enough to feel love, or affection, or grief, or loyalty, or any of those higher emotions they prize, yet do not comprehend at all…. and, they couldn’t be more mistaken, at all….

Pictures such as this one are but a small, yet consistently convincing piece of the evidence available to the contrary of most people’s opinion of animals, evidence which inarguably proves, not only do animals experience emotions; moreover, they also think, with a variable degree of imagination, at a level consonant with the needs of the evolutionary niche they inhabit. They also, as we do, have feelings about those thoughts, and show those feelings just as we do, but, with way less less drama, and, no apparent need to be cruel….. Well, maybe a little, in cats, when they play with captured prey…. Mostly, though, animals express only harmonious emotions, in support of each other, and, even tolerance, for other species…. far more than we show them, or each other…

Additionally, by my assertion of their emotional and cognitive functionality, I am implying, no, claiming, they are only as smart as they need to be, without being so smart, it becomes a barrier to the actual development of their nature, to reach the potential that is there, and almost never reached in the members of our own species…. In other words, people are too damn smart for their own good; rather than being an aid to survival, and advancement as a species, their vaunted intelligence often gets in the way of their ultimate success in life, in ways the greatest majority of them do not even understand, and which, from what I observe, very likely will prove their undoing, thus, ultimately preventing them from accomplishing their most critical life task, to wit: survival of the species….

The picture of the affectionate goats is one of many I’ve saved from Facebook; this particular photo was saved quite a while ago, long enough I don’t remember what week it was, but, it was earlier this year, for sure…. Any who, to finish my thought(s)… Most people think that humans are the apex of the evolutionary ladder, merely because we are self-aware, and have a sense of that self over time… but, this demonstrates that most people just don’t understand the full concept behind evolution…

Unlike how most people tend to view evolution, it isn’t a ladder, unless one thinks of each species having its own ladder, that each member must climb… If one MUST use the tired metaphor of a ladder, then, I assert each species has its own, and, no matter how high up our species has actually climbed our own ladder, it doesn’t mean we have climbed higher, than any other species on theirs….

In fact, when one considers how well other species have adapted to this planet, how effortlessly they hold their place in the WEB of life, it becomes clear those species….. dogs, cats, cattle, ants, cockroaches, (especially these amazing critters; after 50 million years of thriving, without having to mutate at all, or alter anything about their form or abilities, they should be considered the absolute Masters of survival as a species…. Yeah, I know, creepy little buggers, but, fast, fertile, and tough as hell….), spiders, insects, and birds and reptiles, all on their own branches of the web….. well, if one looks at the Big Picture, it is only honest to admit, all of them are, in truth, much more advanced, and more efficient at surviving, than is Homo Bozoidus, (a word I coined, to very accurately give a mental image of the real evolutionary status of humans, in relation to other forms of life on this planet, as well as, perhaps, explaining a part of why we fail, so well, and so often, at becoming ourselves….).

“Give them an opposable thumb, and they think they’re special.” — Smart Bee

You see, the structure of Life more accurately resembles Reality when described by envisioning, not a hierarchy of species, arranged in a pyramid, with humans at the apex, as many people choose to see it…. but, rather, as a complex, beautiful spider’s web, (with no gravity, meaning there is no up and down, no one higher, or lower…. we’re all just in our own space…. with the choice as to whether or not to stay connected to the rest of the web…), a web shaped the same as any web on Earth, but, rotated through three dimensions, to form a sphere as big as the Universe, with each species of life inhabiting its own particular branch or segment (their strand, if you will….) of that web.

Each species has the same task as all the rest, the same inherent purpose, which is create and add our own part of the whole, one that will help to make the entire web stronger, melding the beauty of their weaving with the overall pattern of the entire sphere of life, working in harmony with all the other web dwellers…. Our purpose can not logically be found to be a matter of wasting our time and effort in life, by trying to take over the center, or steal another’s strand, or to indiscriminately kill the other inhabitants, who are peacefully living alongside us, going about their business in harmony with each other…..

Now, I’m not a religious man, as you know; I do, however, realize, as any educated man, that religions, of all types, use at least a small part of the truth to augment, and help justify the more delusional aspects of their beliefs… Jesus Christ was, in the most basic sense, a compassionate and brilliant socialist reformer, who used the methods he did to try to get the most important messages of his understanding established as part of the culture of his time… and part of his message was indeed, a large piece of the truth…

The idea that we, and all other forms of life, are one, and can only be successful if we act in harmony with the forces of nature, was not new, but, after he was killed to shut him up, this one concept was one of the first ideas to be buried; it wasn’t convenient for the Catholic Church’s founder’s plan, so, as with much of what Jesus actually taught, the final version of his churches in no way resembles what he probably, logically said… For our purpose, it is enough to know that the concept of living in harmony with the other creatures on the planet was an integral part of his teaching…. NOT the concept of being the superior, entitled master of all creatures, but, in the truest sense of the words, their cohort, their compadre, one who cherishes and husbands life, not one who uses and destroys it….

In today’s world, very, very few people actually LIVE according to the precepts of behavior and understanding that Jesus laid down for his disciples and adherents to follow; of those who are high in the hierarchy of priesthood on this planet, or ever have been, in my experience, it is rare to see one come close to living as Jesus instructed….. One exception to this experience was/is Martin Luther King, Jr….

All in all, I thought he was a pretty wise man, very much like the current Dalai Lama, (and, possibly, the new Pope; don’t really know enough about him, but, he seems sincere thus far, in his intent to live a Christian life…); Reverend King, Jr., though, seems to have a bit of Bible Belt Revival Rapture type of preaching as part of his persona, just for balance to his sobriety…. Any who, Martin Luther made a very cogent, deeply insightful statement that I’ve always liked, because it isn’t particularly locked into a purely Christian view of the universe, but, is pertinent to all of mankind’s diverse cultures… to wit:

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”” — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a way, this is almost identical to a thought I’ve seen many times, uttered by the leader of a much different religion/philosophy than Christianity, to wit:

Since I have spoken so long on this subject in the introduction, I’ll try to count it as today’s rant, so I don’t go overboard, again… though, to be honest, I can see how I might already have done so…. I have been KNOWN to rant here in the intro before, but, not generally to the extent of today’s outburst, (which, I have to say, came to me pretty much out of nowhere, yesterday, when the picture of the horses flashed on my screen, as part of my ever-changing desktop background….). I will honestly give it the old college try, but, as you know, it’s hard for me to promise, or give any guarantees, because, I have trained myself, in the last three years, to NOT keep my self from speaking(writing) whatever comes into my head, even when I’m not pearling….

Now, let’s see if I can come close to meeting my commitment, by heading out to dive for pearls of virtual wisdom, just as if I hadn’t spent the last hour and a half, yesterday, spewing out my usual dross about human nature, and its so obviously flawed beauty….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Animals can be driven crazy by putting too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s — “Time Enough For Love”

Note from 2015:

I’d love to continue writing, but… the monsters haven’t turned blue yet, and I have to eat more dots. Onward….

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

Pensive early and late…

Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.

Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away.
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.

Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.

I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, and compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 4/26/2013.

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

Today’s final old-school pearl was constructed as a lesson… Oh, not that I’ve got all that much to teach; I just enjoy the process, for what I learn from completing it…. It’s one of the few kinds of pearls created in a conscious fashion; most of them I pick by feel, so to speak, with just a vague idea of what will work, or happen… This one, since it was devised as a lesson, naturally, has a Zen koan, of sorts, as a closing pearl…. Enjoy!…. Oh, and, those who aren’t used to this, try not to hurt yourselves; you aren’t getting paid….

“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.” — Francis Bacon

“It was a saying of Demetrius Phalereus, that “Men having often abandoned what was visible for the sake of what was uncertain, have not got what they expected, and have lost what they had,–being unfortunate by an enigmatical sort of calamity.” — Athenaeus (c. 200 AD) — The Deipnosophists, vi, 23

“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.” — Publius Syrus

Dum vivimus, vivamus. “While we live, let us live.” — Epicurean axiom

“Only the educated are free.” — Epictetus

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

One day it was announced by master Joshu that the young monk Kyogen had reached an enlightened state. Much impressed by this news, several of his
peers went to speak with him. “We have heard that you are enlightened. Is this true?” his fellow students inquired. “It is”, Kyogen answered. “Tell us”, said a friend, “how do you feel?” “As miserable as ever”, replied the enlightened Kyogen. — Smart Zen Bee

Well…. There you go. I think, this is one of those times for which the following phrase makes the most sense, to wit: further, deponent sayeth not….

gigoid, the dubious deponent

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

It will have to do. I don’t have the time… oh, wait. Well, yes, I guess I do. But, I was about to add, nor the inclination (so there!) to work on it any further…. Hence, the “it will have to do…” part, because, hey, it will have to do…. The other part of that is, I’m outta here, so, see ya tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the new towels get delivered on time….

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….

gigoid

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

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