Significant signs of sincere drivel….

Posted on June 1, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The truth you speak has no past and no future.
It is, and that’s all it needs to be.”

~~ Richard Bach, “Illusions” ~~

Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC

Hajime…. In retrospect, there was nothing to be done; if there had, I’d have done it. Instead, here I sit, again searching for some small inspiration to get us to our desired destination. In the ineffable, incomparable way of life at large, nothing doing, at least, not so far. Since waiting around for it to show would be rather presumptuous (for it may never show at all), I suppose I’ll need to find some other source for material to put here. That, of course, is also a hit or miss issue, but, given the circumstances, it could be worse. How, I am not sure, but, I know Murphy, and, believe me, if given half a chance, it WILL get worse.

In order to avoid any such conundrum this morning, I’ll use the new degree of ruthlessness I seem to have found, and cut this intro without mercy. It won’t take long, and actually is quite fun, if one doesn’t fight it. All you need to do is put down your adult beverage, take a deep breath, and read on. As for my part, it works pretty well, all things considered. How does it work? Easy, I push this button, and we’re gone…. Watch….

Shall we Pearl?….

Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens.

[Against stupidity the very gods fight in vain.]

~~ Friedrich Schiller ~~

~~ The Maid of Orleans, Act iii, Sc. 6 ~~

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Leonard Cohen

Image from http://www.pinterest.come via Google Images

One of yesterday’s commenters mentioned today’s featured artist; it’s been a while since we’ve included his work, so, here is a pretty thorough collection of many of his most popular pieces, all in one place. Enjoy!….

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The Best of Leonard Cohen

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https://youtu.be/L9WDRGxp0vA

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Originally, I had a quote picked out for today, to lead into a discussion of the ubiquitous corporate oligarchy as it now exists in our world. However, reality intervened, to prevent any such fresh ranting today. Instead here is a more light-hearted discussion from early in 2014 to fill in for today. It’s a fun one, so, have fun…..

From 1/30/2014:

“We’re not into science fiction because it’s _good literature_, we’re into it because it’s _weird_. Follow your weird, ladies and gentlemen. Forget trying to pass for normal. Follow your geekdom. Embrace your nerditude. In the immortal words of Lafcadio Hearn, a geek of incredible obscurity whose work is still in print after a hundred years, “woo the muse of the odd”.” — Bruce Sterling, addressing a convention of SF writers

A few days ago, I experienced an epiphany regarding the solutions we need to find to the issues of global warming and climate change…. This statement is one that, though not exactly what I’m talking about, is in the right ballpark…. Finding answers to what is happening in the real world has been part of what science fiction writers have done, peripherally, for many years, in the sense that the stories they write explore the concepts involved in ways that demonstrate the questions, and can, hopefully, point the way to finding the answers we now need…

There have been many, many stories…. full length novels, novellas, short stories… all written over the last two hundred years or so, that talk about the most critical issue we now face, to wit: the climate changes produced by our insane pollution of the atmosphere. There has also been a lot of speculation and talk among the people who do the writing, and those who write about them, all discussing possible scenarios for possible futures….. Somewhere among all that talk and discussion, there MUST be an idea that we can use to turn the tide that we have so foolishly turned against us…..

In other words, in a metaphorical sense, we need to go out into the realms of fantasy and imagination, to find the elves, so we can benefit from the wisdom of their counsel…. Even though I already know what they will tell us…. The elves always give the same counsel…. we will need to find a Hero, who can step forward to assume the Quest to save mankind from the folly of his own greed and ambition…. Metaphorically, this is absolutely correct…. what it will translate to in real terms is yet to be seen, but, something needs to be done to find an answer, and soon, for the time we have to accomplish anything that will work is growing smaller rapidly….

“There is something inside all of us that yearns not for reason but for mystery… not for penetrating clear thought but for the whisperings of the irrational… not for science but for wizardry disguised as science.. not for rationally founded influence but for magic.” — Karl Jaspers

In the meantime, rather than ranting at you to get out there and try to find an elf, who can then lead us to his where his people have gone, far over the Western Sea,…. I’ll put together an old-school pearl, with some good advice and/or some snarky comments about the assholes who got us to this point in the first place….

“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis

“You shouldn’t think about *how* we’re doing this. You should ask yourself, ‘why?'” — Penn Jillette

“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie

“A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.” — Michael de Montaigne — Book iii, Chap. ix

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde

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

See? There is a perfect example of why I seldom make precognitive assumptions about a particular pearl, especially BEFORE it is constructed…. This is a grand pearl, but, no snarky comments to be seen…. ‘S’okay, it doesn’t need them….

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Blithely Untitled

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

2/7/2014

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Naked Pearls

The best wisdom at affordable prices….

*******

“A wise man first determines what is within his control;
all else is then irrelevant.”

~~ Epictetus ~~

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“Between the vision and the act lies the shadow.”

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

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“Joy is wealth and love is the legal tender of the soul.”

~~ Robert Green Ingersoll ~~

*******

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

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

*******

“we can never be born enough.
We are human beings;
for whom birth is a supremely welcome mystery,
the mystery of growing:
the mystery that happens only and whenever
we are faithful to ourselves.”

~~ e. e. cummings. ~~

*******

“…and remember you’re a Man, not just god,
and for you there aren’t and never will be any easy answers,
only questions, and no reasons,
only causes, and no meaning,
only intelligence, and no destination
and no kindly magic smiling down from above,
and no fires to goad you from below,
only Yourself and the Universe
and what you make out of the interface between the two equals.”

~~ Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_ ~~

*******

“On SECOND thought,
maybe I’ll heat up some BAKED BEANS
and watch REGIS PHILBIN..
It’s GREAT to be ALIVE!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

*******

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Since Zippy finished off that most excellent old-school pearl with such panache, I don’t think I’ll need to get too fancy here at the close. Rather than make any such faux pas, we’ll just note, it’s done, and we’re done for today. We will, with great anticipation, see y’all again tomorrow, as long as the Universe holds together. It’s got a solid record of doing so; most likely, we’ll see y’all then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Mundane notions of propriety, at cost….

Posted on May 31, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact
that each moment of life is a miracle and a mystery.”

~~ H.G. Wells ~~

Super Moon 9/8/2014

Hajime…. It is now a bit after 5 AM here in California, which means I’ve been up for at least two hours, trying to find the words to begin. As you see, the words found are, shall we say, less than compelling? Yes, we shall. Yet, even though there isn’t anything particularly elegant or inspiring laying about my mind, there is enough material already in place to make up a dandy little Pearl. Therefore, we went with the realistic confession of our inability to create, which, though less than riveting, gets us down the page….

How far it will get us remains to be seen, as I am unsure, given my current mental status, just how long I can keep up this inane patter. Why, just a moment ago, as I wrote the previous sentence, I had to stop, play with Leelu, and find my way back to this sentence, while keeping up the illusion we actually planned all this. Not bad, I’d say, for someone currently without a clue. Still, even if I’m lacking in clues, I do have my chutzpah, which generally serves me well to carry off any such maneuvers; needless to say, I keep it close at hand on such mornings.

I think it’s all used up now, though, so, perhaps this would be the right time to take this slow on the toad. Sure, that’s the ticket. In fact, I’m going to employ our long-neglected, formerly most-used technique for getting us out of the intro. We call it, simply, old #4, and it works quite quickly when we remember it. In fact, so quickly, I’d best stop here, before it cuts me off before…..

Shall we Pearl?….

Eternity has nothing to do with the hereafter… This is it… If you don’t get it here, you won’t get it anywhere. The experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life. Heaven is not the place to have the experience; here’s the place to have the experience.” — Joseph Campbell

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That’s right; when you see this icon above this section, it means you’ll be hearing a collection of classical music. Go figure…. Oh, and, enjoy!….

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Classical Music

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https://youtu.be/ad3qQ5mTU40

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Y’all may be wondering why, since I arose at 3 AM to begin this Pearl, I have no fresh rant. The simple answer is I’m fresh out of angst. Of course, that would be stretching the truth, but, it will work for today. Here’s one from 2013 to soothe my fevered brow…. and, get us down the page….

From 4/20/13:

Quis custodiet ipsos Custodes? [Who guards the Guardians?] — Juvenal

This is the perfect opening for a discussion of gun control, for me, as I believe strongly that this is the bottom line issue for that particular subject…… Sure, taking guns out of the hands of people who are insane is a good thing; nobody, I think, can argue that. The problem lies in figuring out WHO gets to decide what sanity is, the same issue that comes up in discussing getting rid of firearms altogether.

You see, I’m sorry, but, I just can’t bring myself to trust the Beloved Ruling Class to decide who is sane, and who isn’t. Part of this stems from the fact that I don’t consider anyone in public office to have a very tight grip on sanity to begin with…. How effective can it be to have insane people making the rules for deciding who is insane? Not very, I suspect….

Yet, I read many articles that profess the belief that the police, and the army, who naturally would have to have guns (Why? If nobody is supposed to have them, why would they need them?), are more trustworthy than the common citizen. I’m sorry, but, just what planet did you say you came from?

It certainly isn’t Earth, because, last time I looked, all the police, all the folks in the army, and all the folks who tell them what to do, are all PEOPLE, just like anyone else, suffering the same fears, the same delusions or preconceptions, and the same lack of morality, as does the average Joe on the streets. In fact, due to my experience at observing and identifying psychiatric symptoms common to the insane, I can honestly state that I see a higher percentage of police and military personnel who have a demonstrable lack of moral compass than I do in the general public.

Part of the problem is that the police and military end up as being attractive to the type of person who enjoys having power over others, whose self-image requires them to be in positions of authority, to be able to view themselves in a positive light, as successful. They equate money and power with success, and so gravitate to those sectors of society that deal in those commodities.

Normal, stable personality types seldom need to exercise power over others, and so avoid such pastimes, but to the selfish, and the sociopathic, the police and the army are seen as a path to what they term as success. If you see a flaw in this logic, please, enlighten me…. Until I see some evidence to the contrary, though, I find this to be a valuable, and accurate summation of the situation, thereby affording myself the opportunity to avoid the majority of their machinations, at least in a directly personal sense….

We all have to deal with them eventually though, so it’s good, I think, to be aware of the above arguments, as it will forewarn anyone who absorbs it, and takes it to heart, allowing them to defend themselves from the worst of the BRC’s attempts at repression, or oppression, if not all. Maintain a high level of doubt when considering announcements and decrees, stay alert to the news, and the meaning behind what you see there, and be ready to jump when the balloon goes up.

Things out in the Big Blue Room are getting a bit serious in spots, with potentially disastrous possibilities being threatened, so it would be a good thing to be ready for whatever may take place, no matter how insane…. And remember, guard yourself, against the Guardians themselves, if need be…..

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

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Rejection

“Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so…”
I’d be crying a river, I thought
if ever such crap I bought.

Sorry if it hurts your sense of style,
but, hypocrisy always gives me bile.
Being lied to accidentally is okay,
but, deliberate lies make me angry, and fey.

Oh, God, hear what I pray!
Keep me from your followers today.
Having to listen to so much that is wrong
makes me puke, before it makes me strong.

I don’t know why it isn’t clear to other folks,
which is alright, you know, different strokes.
But, why should that mean that they must
force me to believe, or fail in trust?

Spare me the lies, and the make-believe,
fairy tales are easier to hear, and to weave.
They give us a lesson which we can feel
but don’t pretend at all to be real.

Reality can scare us, that’s a given fact,
still, met with care it will leave us mostly intact.
Met without fear, standing tall and alone
Life will allow us to make it our own.

Folly beckons, and so many follow
mass delusions seem to me most hollow.
I’ll have to stick to my own chosen way
while so many go so sadly astray.

It’s lonely at times, it may seem sad,
but really isn’t, and I’m quite glad,
that knowledge is always stronger than fear,
year after year, tear after tear…..

~~ gigoid ~~

3/18/2013

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Naked Pearls

Aristotle & friends…

*******

“… as sight is in the body, so is reason in the soul…”

~~ Aristotle ~~
~~ Nicomachean Ethics, Bl. I, Ch. 6, 10966, lines 29-30 ~~

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I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know:
the only ones among you who will be really happy
are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

~~ Albert Schweitzer ~~

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“Always question Authority;
oft venal and wrong.”

~~ Wise Bee ~~

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“The chief good is the suspension of the judgment,
which tranquility of mind follows like its shadow.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius — Pyrrho, xi ~~

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

~~ Epictetus — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxv ~~

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“He knew that insofar as one denies what is,
one is possessed by what is not,
the compulsions, the fantasies,
the terrors that flock to fill the void.”

~~ Ursula K. LeGuin, _The Lathe of Heaven_ ~~

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Life is doing things, not making things.

~~ Aristotle ~~

*******

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Well, it’s done. I had high hopes for this one, which, clearly, had to be adjusted to account for reality. Since those adjustments took extra time, and space, I’ll forgo the usual blather here, and merely say, see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. Perhaps, if all goes well, it will even be something special; you never know. We’ll see what we can do to make it so…. For now, to echo a pig, that’s all, ffolkes! See ya on the flip side….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Such dignified phlegmatism is gratifying….

Posted on May 28, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.”

~~ J.R.R Tolkien ~~

Tianenmen Square, 2004

Hajime…. Today’s Pearl is late. Again. Chalk it up to the return of our old friend, insomnia, whose presence over the past four days has NOT been appreciated, nor celebrated. It has, however, been a pain in the proverbial ass. Naturally, y’all will realize that means a bit more archive diving today, but, hey, the archives are deep, and wide, so, we’ll see if we can’t find something worth reading. Our old-school pearl is fresh, as is the music, just released by Playing For Change, the organization which plays music for peace…. It’s a great cut, with some outstanding artists and celebrities joining in with the kids and street artists.

Lack of sleep has cleared out my head of any useful material, as is its habit. This means you get lucky, since I’ll have to truncate this intro again, so as to maintain any sort of schedule. As I am already damn near an hour past my usual time to post, I will delay no further, & get us the hell out of here post haste. I will say this; I’m tired of having to make excuses for these Pearls, so, tomorrow’s effort will be better, come hell, or high water. On that relatively positive note, let’s get this slow on the toad for today….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

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Here is the latest cut from Playing For Change…. It’s an organization well worth your support; stop by their website after listening, and consider joining me as an Ambassador…. You won’t regret it, for you will be notified of every new song they make…. Enjoy!….

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Playing For Change
Everyday People

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https://youtu.be/-g4UWvcZn5U

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I’m late again, thanks to the return of insomnia to my life. SIGH…. Oh, well. Y’all know what that means, right? Right…. Enjoy!

From 2/1/2013:

“The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly deceived.” — Oscar Wilde

Oscar’s speech, and his grasp of the art of conversation, were legendary for showing wit along with intelligent insight. Often, with aphorisms like this one, that depth of insight became quite shiny….. It doesn’t seem like much, at first glance, but is actually quite good advice, though given with tongue firmly planted in cheek. In one simple sentence, he condemns modern society for its lack of integrity, and offers to mankind the only true way to be content with our lot…..

In this society, we, the people, are deceived on what is essentially an hourly basis, by our leaders, by our priests, by businesses, by the police, by each other for the sake of expedience; almost every minute of our lives we are being lied to by someone, especially if one watches a lot of TV. We have, culturally, become so inured to being lied to that we have come to assume it is not just okay, but is the only way to get ahead in life…. Sadly, this may be true…. The presence of honesty in human interaction has become so rare that most people just expect the lies, and learn to live with them per Oscar’s suggestion.

In its simplicity, and in its Zen-like attitude, what Oscar shared is very much Eastern in its outlook. It isn’t a common idea in Western culture to “go with the flow”, but rather to “fight on”; the concept of acceptance to deal with challenge is foreign to most of us raised under Christian standards. But, regardless of where one is raised, the lies are still out there, being used by those in power to confuse, distract, and manipulate the voting public, and I think we can count on them to continue in that vein for as long as it continues to work for them….

So, maybe it is time to look at what Oscar said as a challenge, rather than advice. Perhaps, if the public began to NOT accept the lies, but began to question those in authority, to demand that the truth be told, then maybe there is a chance for us to survive the coming collapse….. Maybe…. it may already be too late….

I read an interesting article the other day, and I use the word ‘interesting’ in its most dangerous sense, as is common in Eastern culture, where being wished an “interesting life” is a curse…. The article made this statement, to wit: the climate is not changing. It has changed…… In other words, the moment that the environmentalists have been fearing for years has arrived, and we have reached a point of no return.

The millions of tons of particulate matter (“pollution”) we have been pumping into the air for the last 100 years has reached a point where irreversible changes in the balance of the planetary ecosystem have been made, and the climate, which has just begun to alter its centuries-old patterns, will now continue to grow more unpredictable, and more violently destructive than has ever been seen before in history. These changes are not going to stop, and in fact, will worsen over time…. and, I am unhappy to report, this is not fear-mongering, this is not speculation, this is not a lie…. this is demonstrable fact. See for yourself, here:

http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks/worldclock/

I am so pissed off about this that I am going to have to stop this pearl right here; I’m already trembling from the jolt of adrenaline the anger stimulated in me. Those in power over society have ignored the warnings that scientists and environmentalists have issued for decades, and their intransigence is now going to kill all of us, slowly and with great pain for many, as life on this planet becomes more and more of a challenge, to live, nay, just to survive. There is only one reason this is happening, and that is the FACT that the Beloved Ruling Class has, for centuries, lied and cheated the rest of humanity, and have arranged matters so that they are the only ones who are truly comfortable… most of humanity has to struggle to obtain just enough of the resources being hoarded to live in hunger, barely able to survive.

Bah! I am incensed, and can hardly contain my rage…. It makes me want to go out and start….. well, I started to say “killing”, referring to the members of the BRC, but, on second thought, killing is too good for them. I think I’d rather keep them alive, but make them suffer, just as much as they have made others suffer their entire lives….. It’s time, ffolkes, for humanity to step up, and boot the assholes out…. They are killing us, and I think it is about time we did something to return the favor, don’t you?….. Think about, but don’t take long, because it’s already too late…..

“If I had a Q-TIP, I could prevent th’collapse of NEGOTIATIONS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Rare gift! but oh what gift to fools avails!”

~~ Alexander Pope — The Odyssey of Homer, Book x, Line 29 ~~

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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 ~~

10/23/2012

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Naked Pearls

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste….”

*******

“So as this only point among the rest remaineth sure and certain,
namely, that nothing is certain. . .”

~~ Pliny The Elder ~~

*******

“It is one of the commonest of mistakes
to consider that the limit of our power of perception
is also the limit of all there is to perceive.”

~~ C. W. Leadbeater ~~

*******

“‘Truth’ never set anyone free.
It is only *doubt* which will bring mental emancipation.”

~~ Anton LaVey ~~

*******

“As knowledge increases, wonder deepens.”

~~ Wise Bee ~~

*******

“Things are not always what they seem.”

~~ Phaedrus — Book iv, Fable 2, 5 ~~

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“Trouble not the sage at his books, for to him,
whole armies are but ideas,
to be destroyed with the turning of a page.”

~~ Ancient Human Proverb ~~

*******

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

~~ Carl Sagan ~~

*******

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I wasn’t completely sure I could do it, but, it’s done. Rather than take a chance it doesn’t make it at all, I’ll go post it, and be done for the day. As noted above, I’ll be back tomorrow with a better effort. Well, another effort; I guess the decision as to ‘better’ or ‘worse’ will remain to be seen. Until then, I love y’all, and that has to count for something….. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Born to be mild….

Posted on May 26, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“What men really want is not knowledge but certainty.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

gigoid leaving his mark in Beijing, 2004….

Hajime…. To answer any untoward remarks before they occur, yes, my hair was short. In fact, this picture shows how I looked about a week after the very last haircut I got; I haven’t cut it since. The picture was taken during a short trip to China, where I tried, without notable success, to secure a job teaching English in their schools for a year, under contract. However, I mis-prepared, and was unable to secure a position before my savings got too small to stay….

I did spend 10 days in the capitol of China, where I met, and made some great friends, a couple of whom still communicate occasionally. This photo was taken by one of the other teachers seeking jobs, with whom I stayed, in a bar in some random alley, called hutongs, in which much of the street and night life takes place. This particular hutong was lined with about 20 or 30 bars, all with different themes of music and/or decor, to attract tourists and their Chinese fans, all of whom want to practice their English. There is a rather extensive community of expatriates and traveling young people who also tend to gather there, to mingle and find someone with whom to speak their own language

A bit of history is always good, right? So we are told, anyway. Good morrow, ffolkes. I am up, tired and late, again, but, have a Pearl to post, so, all will eventually be well. Well, it will be, if Leelu and I can come to terms today. She’s being a bit rude this morning; can’t say why. She’ll get over it, as will I, if I can get this done. To help with that, I’ll use the old red-tape scissors on the intro, & get us on our way without any further BS, or nonsense, or, well, anything at all…. It’s actually pretty easy, and works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I bid him look into the lives of men as though into a mirror, and
from others to take an example for himself.”

~~ Terence — Adelphoe, Act iii, Sc. 3, 61, (415.) ~~

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

Today I felt like hearing a ‘voice’. This lady’s voice is, quite simply, the best of my generation….. This is her 75th birthday celebration, which, naturally, she celebrated on stage, in New York. Enjoy, ffolkes; she’s the best…..

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

Joan Baez Live 2016
75th Birthday Celebration

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

https://youtu.be/4b0XeJNK-Sk

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

I’m still recovering from my trip, thanks to my advanced years, all of which seem to continually catch me unawares…. Here is a discussion from the archives, to sublimate today’s angst….. Enjoy!….

From 1/27/2013:

“Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way.” — Native American Proverb (Blackfoot)

Right! What a wonderful pearl! Not only is it short and sweet, it’s just packed with insight and implied wisdom…. In my mind, when I read it, I get a vision of a fireworks fountain, spewing light and beauty into the air, in blazing, colorful sparks…. A bit fanciful, but that’s the impression I got upon seeing it the first time…. You see, I’ve been thinking a lot of late, about Death vs. Life, due most likely to the fact that my own time to face that specter is approaching, seemingly ever more rapidly, as it tends to do later in our lives. When we look back over the time we’ve had on this Earth, the time left seems so short….

But, it isn’t really any shorter, nor, I’ve come to believe, is there anything to fear from Death’s approach. We all get to live just one day at a time…. Nay, not even so much…. we live one moment at a time, and we can’t make it go faster, or slow it down. So, worrying about what might happen in the future is a waste of the moment, and not worth the effort of doing so. In addition, I’ve come to the conclusion that what happens after Death comes for us isn’t anything to fret over, either, because, logically, death is merely a transition phase, from one level of perception to another, with the other being a reality for which we do not possess the ability to perceive, lacking some organ, or some mental awareness that is needed to do so…..

There is no evidence at all that consciousness, as we understand it, persists on this level of reality after the body has died. On the other hand, there is also no evidence at all that it does not continue to exist, on some other level that we are not aware of; add to this the simple fact that in our universe, according to physical laws, energy, in ALL of its forms, cannot be destroyed, only changed in form. The Law of the Conservation of Energy has been proven many times, and is not a matter for dispute. When one considers consciousness, i.e., the MIND, as a form of energy, it makes perfect sense to assume that it changes forms when we die, but is not destroyed. It is the only logical answer, as far as I can see….

The wise women and men of the Blackfoot tribe apparently were aware of this, as well as being aware that the universe exists as a duality, with each characteristic of reality having its opposite complement, that defines and proves its very existence. We see the world in these opposites, so it is very easy to be fooled into thinking that what we see is the true nature of that reality…. but, it isn’t, because those two opposites are all part of the same grand scheme of things, and cannot be separated, not in reality…. only in our minds, where we separate them in order to comprehend them….

“Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.” — Murphy, courtesy of Smart Bee

Why does he do that? Why wait until I’ve spouted off for almost a thousand words before dropping these little bombs? Ah well, fuck him, and his bloody white horse! Everything I said above is the absolute truth, in my mind, so Murphy can just go f__k himself. Even though this aphorism is also true as the day is long, I don’t think I’ve gone so far astray that it applies… so, in spite of the Irish asshole, we’ll push on….

I have yet to discern any reason that can logically, or even speculatively, answer the question of why we don’t remember any of the time we’ve spent dead, or whatever it’s called when we’re busy not living on this plane of existence. You know, before you were born? And after we die? All of that is a long time, and since it is logical to assume the energy that makes up our consciousness is still in existence when we aren’t alive, in the classic sense, then it is also logical to assume that our minds are busy doing….. something else.

What that may be, well, your guess is as good as mine…. But, some folks’ guesses aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on…. I doubt seriously that the typical version of Heaven is a likely scenario, nor is Hell…. I regard those as just the unscrupulous concepts created by the BRC and/or priestly hierarchies to try to control the populace, not having any basis, or evidence to support them, in reality. In fact, there is ample evidence that shows otherwise, if one is open to perceiving it….. I figure what Robert Heinlein said once is the best way to look at it, “There’s no evidence that says we live after death; there is also no evidence saying we don’t. Soon enough, you will know, so why worry about it now?” (That may be slightly paraphrased, but the idea is precisely accurate….)

Ah well, this subject, due to its nature, is one that we, or I, could ramble on about all day, and, from the looks of things, almost have done so. Life and Death are popular subjects, understandably enough, and since we all are experts, there’s no lack of stuff to read about it; everybody’s talking, as Glenn Campbell said. But, since we have the rest of this Pearl to finish, I guess I’ll let this go for now….. Just keep in mind, ffolkes, Death isn’t anything to fear, because, if nothing else, Life itself is proof of our continued existence after it is gone…. Think about it….

“The adventure is over. Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you.” — E. L. Konigsburg

“One never realizes how much and how little he knows until he starts talking.” — Louis L’Amour

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

Confidentially Paranoid

Only when the bright sunlight of dreams draws nigh
can the dark glass of reality factor true value..
Destiny’s horses run in fear as time goes dry,
for grappling with fate in such traitorous venue.

In pallid costumes made of graven cast-off tales,
fallen angels and demons show the measure of faith.
No sad transactions should escape these well-marked trails,
no angry relatives cast insults to a sedentary wraith.

Meaning can always hide in literal cold intent,
yet show mere facets of honor to perishable youth.
Sincere contentions leave with sorrowful bent,
while bastardly arguments fill in poorly for the truth.

Gone are moments filled with florid blasts of rhyme
left to moulder on the shoulders of unreasonable hope.
Only courage can save these measures of unspoken time
to gather new issues, powerfully broad, painful in scope.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/25/2015

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

Our final pearl today requires a bit of explanation. Well, more of an apology, really, but, we’ll go with the former, for dignity’s sake. These pearls all picked themselves; I had nothing to do with the choices. I found myself in an old, familiar state, wherein I cruise through the database, and let my hand on the mouse have free rein, connected only to my unconscious mind. The results are generally fairly subtle, but, this one reaches for new heights of obscurity. That’s fine with me; that always makes it a challenge to figure out the final conclusion, especially given the simple fact there isn’t always one to figure out. Sometimes, the mountain is just a mountain…. Enjoy, ffolkes; this one’s quite a ride….

Serendipity is where you find it….

*********

“The cold wind that blows before and after time.”

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

*********

“If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd,
take a look back every now and then
to make sure it’s still there.”

~~ The Cowboy’s Guide to Life ~~

*********

The head thinks,
the hands labor, but it’s
the heart that laughs.

~~ Liz Curtis Higgs ~~

*********

I postpone death
by living,
by suffering,
by error,
by risking,
by giving,
by losing.

~~ Anais Nin ~~

*********

“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another;
it is one damn thing over and over.”

~~ Edna St. Vincent Millay ~~

*********

“Dharma: What is the greatest mystery of all?
Yudishthira: That each day, death walks the earth,
and we continue to live as though we were immortal.”

~~ The Bhagvad Gita ~~

*********

“Forward goes the vanguard of the lunatic fringe,
tickling the death clowns of normality.”

~~ HealNorm ~~

*********

“Change is disruptive–that’s the point!”

~~ Karen Bredfeldt ~~

*********

“Toes, knees, NIPPLES.
Toes, knees, nipples, KNUCKLES…
Nipples, dimples, knuckles, NICKLES,
wrinkles, pimples!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

*********

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

I did it. I wasn’t entirely confident it would get done, but, after a short conversation with a friend in Europe, and some minor scuffles with Leelu, it’s finished, at least to the point I’m done with trying to get it to look any better. Once again, we’ll trust the process, and go post what we have. I will try again, as is my wont. Moreover, I’ll do that, and be back tomorrow; habits die hard. See y’all in the morning, ffolkes; I seem to have little choice in the matter….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

An even number of beatific platitudes….

Posted on May 14, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Who well lives, long lives; for this age of ours
Should not be numbered by years, daies, and hours.”

~~ Du Bartas (1544-1590) ~~

~~ Divine Weekes and Workes, Second Week, Fourth Day, Book ii ~~

Gorse overlooking Glasgow/Greenock Bay, Scotland

Hajime…. Full of jitters, but, game, he sits to write once more, bereft of all peace, mired in darkness and pain. Little does it matter, yet, the demons gnawing at his vital organs allow no rest, no break from the anxiety, diffuse and intangible. The hours of the night just passed, sleeping, only to awaken confused, and afraid, to escape the amorphous dreams, veiled by the dense fog of fear, unnamed, join hands with the day, promising endless, pointless forays into anger, or pain. Thus begins another day, insane….

Good morrow, ffolkes…. I feel better now, having purged, to a small degree, some of the crap I’m fighting to get the hell out of my head. The PTSD which continues to occasionally grace my life with its unwelcome presence, is rather insidious at times, slowly building, without giving advance notice, until it strikes, with full force, usually by filling me with a strong, diffuse anxiety, which, though I know it to be false, is nonetheless disconcerting to experience….

This is generally followed by a period of flashbacks, to some of the more violent incidents in which I was involved over an 11+ year period in my twenties and thirties, culminating in a full-blown rage, the result of the final memory to be brought up, wherein I stepped over the body of a friend to control the asshole who killed him. The rage is from knowing I acted professionally, and did not give in to the desire to throttle the man myself, more’s the pity. If I had, I might be in jail, but, I wouldn’t feel so bad about it…. maybe.

I’m relating all this because it might help to explain my recent absences, and, give y’all notice there may be more to come; I seem to be winning the battle to regain my balance, but, it’s taking longer than usual…. While this is going on, the Pearls tend to suffer; thankfully, I’ve done so many of them, there’s plenty of stuff to recycle, most of which is decent enough to fly by my standards…. But, it also means I don’t get out & interact as much as I prefer, or, as much as I think is deserved. So, please bear with me; it won’t be long, and I’ll be as full of blarney and chutzpah as ever, and things will get back to, well, not normal, cuz we don’t go there, but, more predictable, anyway….

All that said, to our usual little purpose, other than sheer honesty, we’ll get on with the rest of today’s mess, without further blather. In fact, I’ve got a new trick. Watch this…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.
Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for.”

~~ Louis L’Amour, Ride the Dark Trail ~~

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

Linda Ronstadt

Image from http://www.rhapsody.com via Google Images

Today, I feel like listening to a great voice, to provide a beacon for me to follow, back to sanity….. This woman’s voice has always had the quality of a siren’s call, for me, so, it will do nicely….. It’s sad she can no longer sing, due to Parkinson’s Disease; fortunately, she has a large body of work as a legacy….. Enjoy, ffolkes; Linda is/was an iconic figure in my youth, and remains a favorite….

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

Linda Ronstadt Live

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

https://youtu.be/rnCbhcHcWHw

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

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”

~~ The Beatles ~~

Although the lads from Liverpool provided me with a perfect opening for a rant, I just don’t have it in me today. While searching for an appropriate filler, I came across the following, which is the intro section from a Pearl I posted in early 2014. I copied it, then shut the program, before remembering to find out exactly which day it came from, but, it’s pretty general, anyway, so, it really doesn’t matter. Here then is the intro of which I speak, which is more of a rant, anyway….. I’ve followed it with one excellent pearl which seems to fit, right after Zippy’s comment…. Enjoy!

From the archives in 2014:

Finding just the right words for an opening statement, after repeated attempts to do just that, for what is now getting close to 3 years, can frequently become, not merely a conundrum, but a chronic pain in the ass, at least until Reality steps in to lend a hand…. which it did today….

Just as I sat down to begin, I noted a light playing on the wall of the house across the street, a spot-light moving along, until it found and highlighted a tall, hooded figure skulking on the porch…. The light, which was coming from a police squad car at the corner, pinned the hooded figure, and apparently issued instructions I couldn’t hear, as the figure froze, put up its hands, and walked slowly out to the street, where two police officers met him, frisked, him, handcuffed him, and took him away in their car….

The entire scenario took about one and a half minutes to take place, start to finish, though, afterward, they sat in the car for quite a while, probably running the Unsub for priors, and starting the paperwork for whatever charges they were arresting him, obviously to include trespassing…. It wasn’t overly dramatic, or a particularly gripping scene, but, it isn’t every morning I get to witness crime being fought, and defeated, right here on my street…. It almost makes me feel safe….. Well, that would probably be stretching the truth farther than is good for it, so, I’ll take it back, and just say it was interesting to watch….

At least it didn’t turn into another Rodney King episode…. I’m not sure I can figure out yet how to work the video capture on my new smart phone, so, that’s probably a good thing, as I didn’t have the expertise to be able to film it, whereupon it would have become another in a long series of acts of egregious violence from police upon relatively undeserving victims that DIDN’T slide through the public’s awareness…. Oh yes, it happens…. In fact, NOT hearing about bad things happens, I would wager, far many more times than ever get reported, or captured on film, or digitally, on somebody’s phone, in the modern world….. It has always been so, it’s just not something people like to talk about, or admit…

That, by the way, is something I’ve never understood…. the reluctance of many people to report unethical actions by public servants like police, or firemen…. It’s as if people accept the sense of entitlement that often goes with such service, and automatically, and unquestioningly, give the privileges and perks that so many officers take as their due, without any real justification, other than their own power of authority…. which, in my mind, should produce the exact opposite effect…. It should make the person who holds any such position humble, and grateful, not make them feel powerful, and special, and deserving of all honor, merely for holding a certain kind of job….

However, if I start going into all that, I’ll get all worked up, as I already am, and begin to rant….. Since we’re just getting to the end of the intro, it wouldn’t be appropriate to start one now, so I’ll let that go, for discussion at another time…. or not, who cares? There’s always a new example to pick from, with the police…. The institution, as it exists now in our society, attracts the very worst sort of asshole to its ranks, men, and women, who are only there because it gives them the wherewithal, and the excuse, to be bullies, to assert their authority over others at every opportunity…. THAT type of personality is drawn irresistibly to police work, as it offers them the perfect outlet for their aggressive natures….

Ah well, I guess it’s only natural, but, that doesn’t make it right, or acceptable, in my book…. It does, however, make it enough material written to form the nucleus of an intro, which, after all, is what we were up to….. In fact, I’m going to go ahead, and just drop you here, so I can get on with stuff…. I think you can find the next section without my help…. I’m gonna go dive…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.” — Dr. Albert Hoffman

(I am forced to comment on this: While I am in complete agreement with the good Doctor on this matter, I fail to see how his uplifting, accurate, totally cool expression of what is needed for us to survive will convince a single person to take it up as truth, or how it will get people to make the necessary changes in human nature…. Telling people that they need to “feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.” is going to lose everyone who hears it…. In fact, it is such an off-putting, airhead kind of statement, I’d wager that, in spite of the fact that this is absolute truth, and will help people to save themselves from a certain death, nobody is going to hear it, because they automatically turned off their ears as soon as they heard the words “spiritual crisis”, followed by “spheres of Western industrial society”, and “world view”…. That kind of New Age babble-speak will shut off most folk’s heads in a New York minute….. Too bad, ‘cuz its’ totally true….)

“FUN is never having to say you’re SUSHI!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

” When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago,
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow?”

~~ Rush, A Farewell to Kings ~~

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

I know I’m in the now, if only…..

Oh, there it is again, fiddle faddle;
Begone, I said, vamoose, skedaddle!
It looked at me as if I were insane:
Scoffed, it did, filled me with pain.

Where does it come from?
Where does it live?
I’d stick out my thumb,
if I had more to give.

If only, should, would, could it be?
It went away again, this time free.
It will be back again, this I know;
or I’m wrong, and it won’t show.

Who cares?
Who hears?
Such goings on wobble the sphere,
I wish it wouldn’t do that here.

I’ve been wrong before…..

~~ gigoid ~~

4/19/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Perspicacity

*******

“I love to doubt as well as know.”

~~ Dante ~~

*******

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

~~ Aldous Huxley ~~

*******

“Furious activity is no substitute for understanding.”

~~ H. H. Williams ~~

*******

“Ignorance is not bliss — it’s oblivion.”

~~ Phillip Wylie ~~

*******

” I can believe anything, provided it is incredible.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

*******

“Only the half-mad are wholly alive.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

*******

“It isn’t easy being green.”

~~ Kermit ~~

*******

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

I did it, though I really can’t say exactly how it got done. That’s fine with me, as I’ve learned to trust the process, even with the recent change in my routine, when the upgrade to my email browser forced me to remove one complete step of the process, moving it to another time slot. Since to say more on that would only devolved into geek-speak, we’ll let it go, in favor of a hearty, if somewhat insane farewell. I’ll be back, tomorrow, ffolkes, should I find the proper coordinates for the island of sanity….. or, not. Ta, then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Unbaked pies as currency….

Posted on May 9, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The wisest mind has something yet to learn.”

~~ George Santayana ~~

Entrance to Portobello Road, London

Hajime…. A week from tomorrow, I’ll be taking a trip, which is the activity I most enjoy in life. This may be a result of being raised as an Army brat, moving from base to place to base for much of my first ten years. We lived in Fort Ord, Fort Lewis, Japan, and Southern California in those times we visited relatives, all by my tenth birthday, when my father retired from the Army. Since leaving home, I’ve traveled as often as possible, for I feel I am fulfilling all my own dreams when I do. I enjoy having a base from which to go, but, for me, the journey is the thing, not the destination, or the beginning point.

In this case, I’ll be traveling for only about six days, to go see a friend get married. I have volunteered my services as a caterer for the reception, which is my usual gift to the bride and groom, as it takes a large burden from them during the time leading to the ceremony. It should be an interesting challenge, as it will be my first event since reaching an age where I cannot count on being able to do much of the actual work myself. Instead, I’ll be coordinating everyone else’s efforts, to make sure the event come off without a hitch. I’m looking forward to all of it, with great anticipation, and a small degree of fear, which will serve to keep me sharp, focused on working smart, instead of hard.

All that said, I’ll add there seems to be some lingering effect on my creativity, or, my angst, which drives it. In any case, these Pearls, for the first time in ages, will be a secondary concern; this means I’m going to fake it, a lot. We’ll begin that today, with a rant from the archives, instead of anything fresh in that section, as it takes the most focus and time to create a worthwhile rant. So be it. I’ll try to keep the rest fresh, but, no promises, as my head is already in Texas, organizing a work crew and space. In twelve days, I’ll be back home, probably ready to collapse for a few days, but, also, ready to write….. I hope.

At any rate, speaking of it gave us a grand opening for today, if naught else, so, we’ll take it, and run. In fact, we’ll break into a sprint, by using one of our standard tricks, to keep y’all fooled , er, occupied while I push this hidden button over here…. See how that works?…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Even a fool knows that you can’t touch the stars,
but it doesn’t stop a wise man from trying.

~~ Judge Harry T. Stone ~~

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

Image from redmp3.su via Google Images

I feel like the blues today, so, here is the King of the Electric Blues, himself…. Live in Dortmund, Germany in 1976, he does his thing, and does it in style…. Abondanza!….

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

Muddy Waters

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

https://youtu.be/ltLHsD_A9I4

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

As promised, here is one from the archives…. Not to worry, it’s short, and not at all serious-minded…. Enjoy!

From 10/21/2012:

Okay, so there I was, cruising through Smart Bee, and these little gems popped up. Each one tempted me to begin a rant, or a discussion, but, none of them completely grabbed my attention enough to do the trick. They are all much too valuable to throw out, so I had this idea to include them as a “new-school” pearl….. Y’all can take the ideas herein described, and formulate them into your own pearl of virtual wisdom…. there is plenty here to work with; I’ve used many similar pearls myself to create unforgettable rants, or brilliantly funny forays into nonsense. (Sure I have….. trust me….)

“The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: “Of course it is none of my business, but –” is to place a period after the word “but.” Don’t use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer.” — Mark Twain

“In regard to disagreeable and formidable things, prudence does not consist in evasion, or in flight, but in courage. He who wishes to walk in the most peaceful parts of life with any serenity must screw himself up to resolution. Let him front the object of his worst apprehension, and his stoutness will commonly make his fear groundless” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays_, Prudence

“I figure that if God actually does exist, He’s big enough to understand an honest difference of opinion.” – Isaac Asimov

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat, but there ain’t no way to make the cat enjoy it.” — Jed Clampett

“Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xii, Apology for Raimond Sebond

“Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes with plaid is easy.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

So, you should find it reasonably simple to do the same yourselves (creating a pearl, that is, not wearing plaid…) …. and if not, well, they are all fairly strong stand-alone dribbles of good advice/good observations, so you aren’t completely without recourse…. No refunds, though, we’re not completely without shame…. Remember, you get what you pay for in this world, right? TANSTAAFL….. (for the uninitiated, that is, There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch….)
********************************

Vague Glimpses of a Rainbow

All the sad notions of propriety had fled,
Screaming their anger for pausing in song,
Until late came the rabid fog, colored in red,
As serenity cried, unafraid to live so strong.

Fallow fields in faithful patience set free,
Dragged from birth, by their own nature cast
Saving each moment against fear yet to be,
Carved into silence, by ignorance held fast.

Historical forces plod slowly ’tis often said
Anxieties streaming stiffly, one epoch to the next.
Cultural mania stands nonchalant in its stead
No sadder epitaph has such bittersweet context.

Patterned bags of forgotten virtue lie in wait
Blessed by reminders whose souls value affinity
Frozen webs surround the fields in gravid state
Grasping passionately within obvious opportunity.

Passage to future realities isn’t guaranteed
Small favors for deities was left off the menu
No roses, nor manna, nor gallant aerial steed
Left traces of fatal, yet originally gracious venue.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/6/2012

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

Naked Pearls

Rare Thoughts

*********

“God, to me, it seems
is a verb
not a noun
proper or improper.”

~~ R. Buckminster Fuller ~~

*********

“One should always be a little improbable.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

*********

“We do not walk on our legs, but on our Will.”

~~ Sufi proverb ~~

*********

“Time is but the stream I go a-fishin in.
I drink at it, but while I drink
I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is.
It’s thin current slides away, but eternity remains.”

~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~

*********

“We have art that we do not die of the truth.”

~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~

*********

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

~~ Anais Nin ~~

*********

“To teach is to learn.”

~~ Japanese Proverb ~~

*********

“What is the first business of one who studies philosophy?
To part with self-conceit.
For it is impossible for any one to begin to learn
what he thinks that he already knows.”

~~ Epictetus ~~

*********

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

Well, it’s done. Again. Today, I can only thank my sense of duty; without it, this doesn’t get done. Since it is, I’ll forgo any further torture, or, for that matter, possible entertainment value, and merely say, see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. There doesn’t seem to be any way to get out of it….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Got a post-mortem, buddy?….

Posted on May 3, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Be a hero! Teach your children to think for THEMSELVES!”

~~ Truly Wise Bee ~~

Ketchikan, early morning, pre-invasion

Hajime…. It’s Tuesday, I believe. I know that’s accurate, because I checked off-screen before going on to this next sentence. Rather studious of me, but, then studying is part of what I do, and, am. In order to begin today’s Pearl in the proper mindset, I’ve managed to complete the silly thing before starting this intro. Not that switching stuff around has ever worked wonders, but, sometimes, it’s matter of going with the flow, which may, or may not be present, at all. If, by this point in the narrative, you are NOT confused, I’m doing this wrong.

Distraction, obfuscation, it’s all par for the course here in Amurrica when one speaks of communication. Nobody out there in the real world is telling all the truth, ffolkes. Lying, or, in some cases, pure fabrication of factoids, has become our major means of transferring information from one to another; there is nothing on TV, and very little on the internet, which can be trusted to be truthful at all times. The pastime, or skill, however one views it, of lying has become an accepted means of obtaining one’s desires; at this point, I don’t see how it can be entirely eradicated as part of human interaction. Everybody lies, ffolkes. Even you, even me. We all do it, for we have been trained since birth to use the truth as a means of manipulation, rather than a means of education, or, of meaningful interaction.

Hmph. I see I’ve fallen into rant mode. Must have something to do with having used an older rant for that section below. Ah well, having caught myself up, I shall throttle the impulse, and, with some attempt at grace, bring this intro to a close, well before it gets out of what control we still possess. Since that will mean a rapid extraction, I’ll just use this little box right here. Watch what happens when I push this button….

Shall we Pearl?….

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

~~ Aristotle ~~

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

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

I’m running a bit late, and don’t feel like fussing with finding “just” the right music for today. Instead, we’ll go with what I know to be music that will grace any situation, providing soothing, relaxing music to read by. Enjoy!….

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

Classical Music

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

https://youtu.be/tAkHdB77u2c

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

And the crowd was stilled.
One elderly man, wondering at the sudden silence,
turned to the Child and asked him to repeat what he had said.
Wide-eyed, the Child raised his voice and said once again,
“Why, the Emperor has no clothes! He is naked!”

~~ The Emperor’s New Clothes ~~

Today’s pearl for this section is a favorite of mine, for, in today’s world, we have many emperors, all of whom are naked. I’m late, & not particularly in the mood to rant, so, here is one I’ve reproduced previously, meaning I thought it was pretty good. Hence, here ’tis, again. Enjoy!…

From 1/1/13:

“If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else.” — Thomas Jefferson

Oh well, so much for THAT hope! From all I can see in today’s society, what Tommy was afraid of has come to pass. If one takes almost any of the articles in the news that talk about the activities of government, religion, or society at large, it is obvious that bigotry and priestcraft have corrupted every level of those entities, and influence just about every human interaction that we see. Common sense is nowhere present, in any of those same activities under discussion. Of course, he forgot, in this instance, to include the bankers, but perhaps that is where a portion of the bigotry comes in…..

By its precise meaning, bigotry doesn’t include the idea of cheating, lying, and stealing from whomever one encounters; those activities, for a bigot, are only appropriate when done to those outside the personal group, to “foreigners, niggers, and chinks,” or some likely other group they’ve chosen to bless with their ignorant regard…… But, in a sense, bankers can be said to be universally bigoted, for they have no qualms about lying, cheating, or stealing from anyone, in any group, even their own. I guess that would qualify them as Ultimate Bigots…..

“As an ox goeth to the slaughter.” — Old Testament — Proverbs vii, 22; Jeremiah xi, 19

I would imagine this is how the bankers and preachers (either of which is capable of turning into a politician, at the drop of a hint….) view the masses of humanity who do not subscribe to their venality. In this view, they may be at least partially justified, by the apparent willingness of those masses to submit to whatever is done to them. Why should the politicians stop lying, when their lies secure for them the keys to the treasury? Why should the preachers not spread their delusions, when the masses are so willing to accept them, because it saves them the effort of either thinking about morality, or even better, saving them from having to BE moral?….. The bankers, of course, need no excuses to carry on their despicable acts of calumny upon the remainder of society; their sole motivation is based on profit for them, and nothing else concerns them at all…

“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” — Thomas Jefferson

Back to Tom…. He was a bit over the top sometimes, in the force of his expression, but never, to my mind, in his sincere commitment to Truth, and his sincere love for Mankind. I would like to think I join him in this sentiment, especially today, when we are so besieged by attempts to tyrannize our minds by our own beloved ruling classes. The war against immorality continues unabated, and too many folks in the world have withdrawn from the battle, accepting the lies and delusions that are foisted upon them.

It is important, in my opinion, that the rest of us, who can see the depredations assaulting the common man every day, keep on shouting from the rooftops to the rest of our compatriots, if only to save our own sanity….. and, before the strain of the conflict brings us to our knees, and we enter Zippy’s domain, doomed to extinction…..

“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

Choosing a Theme

Powerful words playing hide and seek in my mind,
teasing with subtle cruelty, pretending to be kind.
Grand visions and flowery verses of beauty and truth
evaded my inner eye all through the days of my youth.

Affable interludes interspersed with allegorical wit
softened the crimes, against all reason, to finally acquit.
Time became at once an enemy, and an ally
Never once compelled to provide an answer why.

Giving gifts of simple kindness are their own pay,
spreading ripples of compassion are felt far and away.
Love given freely is precious, we are ever told,
increasing love received, more than a hundred fold.

Living long and with passion has centered my soul,
allowing me room, and time, to choose my own goal.
Now that I’ve gone past any need to pretend
I love everything in life, even knowing it will end.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/21/2012

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

Naked Pearls

Notes on Life

*******

“A word is dead
When it is said
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.”

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

*******

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

*******

“We live in the kind of world where courage is the most essential of virtues;
without courage, the other virtues are useless.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

*******

“Keep looking. What’s lost will be found.”

~~ Fleer’s Double Bubble Fortune ~~

*******

“If what Proust says is true,
that happiness is the absence of fever,
then I will never know happiness.
For I am possessed by a fever
for knowledge, experience, and creation.”

~~ Anais Nin ~~

*******

“Life is full of infinite absurdities,
which, strangely enough, do not even need to appear plausible,
because they are true.”

~~ Pirandello ~~

*******

“.. I wonder if I ought to tell them about my PREVIOUS LIFE as a COMPLETE STRANGER?”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

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

Done, and done well enough. I’m not even going to fuss around at all here in the closing section. It may come as a surprise, but, I do know how to exit gracefully. You doubt my word? Okay, then, here you go. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. Neither of us can stop it….. Who would wish to do so? Not 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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Melting Jell-O in a small black pot….

Posted on April 28, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I can’t be late–I just got here.”

~~ gigoid ~~

Sitka Slim at the Fish House, Ketchikan

Hajime…. The first quote you see today is more relevant than I’d thought it to be when I picked it yesterday. This morning, the real world, you know, the Big Blue Room outside this room where my computer lives, has dropped some rather urgent issues in my lap, which must be dealt with forthwith, before they grow larger. So, today, all you’re getting is what you see before you. I’m taking a day off, completely, once this is done, to deal with reality’s demands. So be it. I’ll do my best to complete a Pearl for tomorrow, and am hopeful of success in that. Time, who can’t seem to keep quiet, will tell whether that is a reasonable hope, or, not.

All that said, hopefully to some good purpose, I’ll take my leave for today, with wishes for y’all to experience a peaceful, joyous day. If reality has other plans, well, I wish you strength and serenity in the face of it. I’ve included one small set of pearls, just for luck. Otherwise, this is it, and, more than I’d planned. Since this is the intro, I’ll just say, see ya at the end….

Shall we Pearl?….

“The real in us is silent; the acquired is talkative.”

~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~

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

*******

“Not every soil can bear all things.”

~~ Virgil ~~

*******

“It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.”

~~ Mentat Prayer ~~

*******

“If one would know the truth, look to the beginning.”

~~ Dubious Bee ~~

*******

“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.”

~~ Frank Herbert ~~

*******

Because I could not stop for Death —
He kindly stopped for me —
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality.

~~ Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop For Death ~~

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

Okay, that’s it; it’s all I’ve got, in time, or effort, to spare today. I will, as noted, be back tomorrow, as long as their marksmanship continues to be poor…. Ha! See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Deploy the ducks, Desmond….

Posted on April 24, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Heresy is another word for freedom of thought.”

~~ Graham Greene ~~

Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC

Hajime…. Our Pearl today is a bit of a poser for me, but, I decided that won’t stop us, not today. I’m going to visit my grandson, and I am determined nothing will get in the way of that. I am so focused on that, I’m going to give y’all an unprecedented opening, as short as I can make it. Today, literally, what you see is what you get, because I’m flipping the switch on our most radically efficient Tardis toy, right now. I’d hold on if I were you….

Shall we Pearl?….

“At the root of human responsibility is the concept of perfection, the urge to achieve it, the intelligence to find a path toward it, and the will to follow that path, if not to the end at least the distance needed to rise above individual limitations and environmental impediments.” — Aung San Suu Kyi

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

Johann Sebastian Bach

Image from openculture.com via Google Images

I decided yesterday I wanted something inspiring, classical, and new to this venue. I don’t believe I’ve used these, but, if I have, I shall expect y’all to respect my privacy, and say nothing about that. I’ll return the favor in the foreseeable future…. Right. Regardless of all that, I think you’ll enjoy these; a lot of people think they’re pretty special, myself included…. Enjoy!..

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

Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concertos

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

https://youtu.be/NCPM8DEsvmc

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

The fresh rant upon which I’ve been working continues to morph on me, so, we go once again to the archives, this time for another in our long series of indictments of the Dogma Dogs and their millennia-long deception, for which they will forever be damned, according to their own morality, what little of it exists… Deluded assholes, insisting on sharing their delusion with others, to our mutual denigration…. Enjoy!…. Or, not, up to you, as always….

From 11/24/2012:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fatal Supplication

But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.

Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.

Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.

Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/20/2012

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

Our final pearl for today is a collection of nine most excellent gems of brilliant luster, all speaking in a general way of Life at Large, with an ample portion of Things We All Should Know, But Often Forget. There’s also a bit of Things You May Never Have Considered, which provide just the proper bit of spice to liven it up. All in all, it’s a damn good pearl, so, pay attention. There might just be something you need….

“We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.” — Bumper Sticker

“We’re not talking about the same thing,” he said. “For you the world is weird because if you’re not bored with it you’re at odds with it. For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must accept responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous desert, in this marvelous time. I wanted to convince you that you must learn to make every act count, since you are going to be here for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.” — Don Juan

“At ebb tide I wrote a line upon the sand, and gave it all my heart and all my soul. At flood tide I returned to read what I had inscribed and found my ignorance upon the shore.” — Kahlil Gibran

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” — Oscar Wilde

“Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.” — Voltaire

“Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, it hopes for the future, and it does not brood over the past. It’s the day-in and day-out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things that are missing. If you don’t have love in your life, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough.” — Ann Landers

“I say love, it is a flower; and you, it’s only seed.” — (Bette Midler) The Rose

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” — Muir’s Law– John Muir, American Naturalist — My First Summer in the Sierra , 1911, page 110.

“You thought, as a boy, that a mage is one who can do anything. So I thought, once. So did we all. And the truth is that as a man’s real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower: until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he _must_ do.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, “A Wizard of Earthsea”

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

“Heaven doesn’t want me and Hell’s afraid I’ll take over….”

~~ gigoid ~~

How do you like the latest incarnation of our newest innovation, to wit: a final, closing pearl upon which to set loose my final creative urges, whatever they may be? I have yet to make a final judgment on whether to continue, but, today’s version is one I like. I found the above statement without attribution; not surprising, as I’ve heard it many times for most of my life. Since it fits my persona so well, I thought I’d just claim it for today, without any intent to harm, with merely the desire to be silly, and, perhaps, eke out one final chuckle from the Gentle Reader…. Without knowing how it will work, I’ll make my escape, with the usual caveat; I’ll be back tomorrow to try again…. See ya….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Effortless dreams, in colorful shoes….

Posted on April 19, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Our quarrel with the world is an echo
of the endless quarrel proceeding within us.”

~~ Eric Hoffer ~~

Not in the mood for love….

Hajime…. Considering the state of the world, as we often do around these parts, it can be difficult to maintain any real hope for the future. However, regardless of how my own intellect sees little chance of surviving through another century for our species, one’s hope for change somehow remains strong. Groundless hope, after all, is the only kind there really is for us humans; we tend to put ourselves frequently into situations for which little hope for success is possible, given our less than perfect hold on reality. But, what the hell? It keeps us busy, so, I suppose its all worth it; if nothing else, it keeps us busy NOT killing things, which seems to be our primary talent…..

Now, relax. Though it sounds ominous, the above is not leading into a rant in the intro; I told y’all we wouldn’t do that any more, and, I’m trying to live up to that. No, such statements are a new technique, wherein I make a short reference to such matters, without falling into full ranting mode, thus saving me, and y’all, the effort of extricating ourselves from such a sticky engagement too early in the Pearl. It also provides some new ways to wander around here, just chatting about stuff that matters not at all, a pastime which, if you’ve been here before, you’ll know we enjoy frequently. We do love our blather, even if it makes extra laundry.

Okay, that’s probably enough. Any more & we’d start dropping readers like dead skin cells. Ooh, that’s an ugly image, isn’t it? I think, maybe, we’d best be on our way down the page, before I get actively gross. I can feel the elegance and grace dropping off our demeanor rapidly, so, it’s just as well we planned to use one of the Tardis toys today. Here, let’s see what this one does, shall we?…. I’ll just push this little green button, and….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, poor heart, unceasingly;
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A truth and noonday light to thee.”

~~ Ellen Sturgis Hooper — Life a Duty ~~

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

“Life without music would be an intolerable insult.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

I found the quote you see before picking today’s music, which brings us back to the classical genre we enjoyed yesterday. The quote is one I hold to be completely true, so, here is my all-time favorite piece. It also happens to be the piece of music considered by many to be the best single composition ever written, which, though not necessarily a recommendation, does add to its cache. In any case, I hope you enjoy it; it’s actually pretty damn good…

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

W. A. Mozart
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

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

https://youtu.be/o1FSN8_pp_o

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

I’m still working on a fresh piece for this section, which, frankly, is stalled. No worries, it will unjam itself eventually, when the proper sequence of ideas strikes me. To sublimate for today, here is a fairly short discussion of religion, and such relevant nonsense as may apply to that particular delusional state of being…. Enjoy!….

From 9/7/2012:

“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is NOT a sin–just stupid.)” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

It would be foolish to try to claim that there is NOT a part of me that wishes there was a God as described by most of the Christian sects, or the Islamic, or Jewish, or any other of the major and/or minor religions in the history of Man. Who wouldn’t want to have all the responsibility for thinking, or for acting within reason, taken out of their hands? It would be wonderful, but as it’s pretty unlikely, to all appearances, that part of me will have to remain unfulfilled….. I’d rather adopt and set the above moral standard as my own, as I happen to agree with it wholeheartedly. It forms the root, the base, the touchstone of all of my morality, the basic raison d’etre for my every decision of whether or not to act, and how to react, from an ethical standpoint of my own choice, without thinking about whether or not it is according to dogma.

I first came across this particular quote from Lazarus when I was about 15 or 16 years old, right when I was taking classes at my parent’s church to fulfill the requirements for admission as an official, saved member of the church (Presbyterian, if it matters….), and wondering how I was going to break it to all of them that I couldn’t do it…. It was a hard decision, but, since the teachers couldn’t answer my questions about Bible incidents that puzzled me (not part of what we studied, but from different chapters I had read…), I stopped attending any services, because I didn’t want to be a hypocrite…. I could even rationalize my decision, as having been made out of concern for the safety of my family and friends, since now the church would conceivably fall down on them if they were with me when I came in…..

“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned — I support your right to enjoy it. However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to share your dogma, rapture or necrodestination.” — Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book”

I also happen to agree with Frank on this one. What I do believe about religion, and the concept of God, or god, or Dog, is my own business, and begins with not pressing it on others, unless they ask; in such cases I will discuss the subject superficially, without expressing any preferences one way or another….. Unless, of course, they begin to proselytize. In THOSE cases, I will use every bit of shock value pop psychology I know of to lead them down some primrose path, messing with their heads until I get bored with them…. which usually doesn’t take long; they’re generally fairly uninteresting people. I tend to prefer people who have a bit of salt to their personality, just a touch of insanity somewhere in their blood…. Such ffolkes are much more fun to be around than folks who spend their time feeling bad about wanting to feel good….. and they annoy me far less often, as a rule…..

If God is omnipotent, why does he need my money? — Smart Bee

“The human condition is such that pain and effort are not just symptoms which can be removed without changing life itself; they are rather the modes in which life itself, together with the necessity to which it is bound, makes itself felt. For mortals, the ‘easy life of the gods’ would be a lifeless life.” — Hannah Arendt

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

Unheralded Sagacity…

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

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

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

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

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

4/17/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Words to live by….

*******

“To believe with certainty, we must begin with doubting.”

~~ King Stanislaus of Poland ~~

*******

“Virtue is sufficient of herself for happiness.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 250 A.D.) ~~

*******

“Enter freely and leave some of the happiness you bring behind.”

~~ The Insidious Wu Han ~~

*******

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

~~ Oscar Wilde, “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, 1892 ~~

*******

“Death is every man’s final critic. To die well you must live bravely.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

*******

“The most important questions in life
can never be answered by anyone except oneself.”

~~ John Fowles, The Magus ~~

*******

“Be excellent to each other. Party on, dude.”

~~- Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure `~~

*******

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

I made it. I had my doubts (go figure….), but, all’s well that ends. (We use a slightly more realistic version of that particular phrase around here, as you see….) For the record, it’s Tuesday, and I’m awake. For the balance required, I’ll just say, Whoopee…. No, don’t ask. Just be glad I’m done. I will, as always, issue our standard disclaimer, also known as legally fair warning, I will return tomorrow to do this again. Please don’t ask why, or the auto-defense lasers will start firing. Just wave nicely, and know I’ll be back. It’s pre-ordained….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

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

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Oscar The Grouch

Melting Jell-O in a small black pot….

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