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 ~~

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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!….

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Muddy Waters

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https://youtu.be/ltLHsD_A9I4

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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….)
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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 ~~

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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!….

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Classical Music

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https://youtu.be/tAkHdB77u2c

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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 ~~

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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

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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 ~~

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“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 ~~

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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….

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

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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!..

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Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concertos

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https://youtu.be/NCPM8DEsvmc

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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

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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

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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”

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“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….

Bordering on rhubarb pie….

Posted on April 16, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“All virtue is summed up in dealing justly.”

~~ Aristotle ~~

White’s Tavern, Belfast, Ireland

Est. 1630 by Royal License

Hajime…. I slept, sort of. Since my lower back decided, right at bedtime last night, to go into sever spasming mode, I had to take a break, go to the local pub, and apply some C6H11O6 to the problem. It worked, naturally, even if I did have to walk home, due to no cabs being available. Not a problem when three sheets into the wind, I assure you. I then crashed, and actually slept for 6 solid hours, only to arise to the glory of the morning after….

SIGH…. Such is life in the big city, I guess. I haven’t got much today, so, other than the old-school pearl, we’ll be archive diving today. So be it. And, so be it, now. I am in such a state I don’t even have any tricks or traps I can use, so, we’ll just have to get on with the show without them. It’s a little ugly, but, that’s the deal…. Here’s how that looks….

Shall we Pearl?….

“My great mistake, the fault for which I can’t forgive myself,
is that one day I ceased my obstinate pursuit of my own individuality.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

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

Since we are in suppressed state, a bit of our default is in order. I hope you enjoy it; as usual, it was picked solely for the picture it showed….

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

Classical Music

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

https://youtu.be/nG4bUpPQZ60

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

Do not confuse ‘duty’ with what other people expect of you;
they are utterly different.
Duty is a debt you owe to yourself
to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily.
Paying that debt can entail anything
from years of patient work
to instant willingness to die.
Difficult it may be,
but the reward is self-respect.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

I had intended to write a discussion based on the above statement, which, if you’ve been here a lot, you have seen previously. But, upon reflection, this really needs no embellishment. According to what I was taught about being a Man, by my father, Sarge, this is exactly correct. He never said so, in so many words, but, this is how he lived, and my brothers and I knew, this was what he expected from us…. That’s enough for me.

So be it.

gigoid has spoken…..

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

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/10/2012

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

Oh, boy! Our final pearl today is my favorite kind. Strange, obscure, full of whimsy and ironic truths, it winds its way with unerring imprecision to the final pearl, which brings all of it together into a nice little package. The shape, size, and contents of that package are, to me, quite clear, but, then, all of what I said about the pearls fits me, too, so…. Enjoy!….

“If you’re going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance.” — Whimsical Bee

“Ask a toad what is beauty?…a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back.” — Voltaire

“Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul.” — Mark Twain

“Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Organic life, we are told, has developed gradually from the protozoan to the philosopher; and this development, we are assured, is indubitably an advance. Unfortunately, it is the philosopher, not the protozoan, who gives us this assurance.” — Bertrand Russell

“Smoke a little dope and walk out in the air: the stars are all connected to the brain.” — The Who

“How could the drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“All of a sudden, I want to THROW OVER my promising ACTING CAREER, grow a LONG BLACK BEARD and wear a BASEBALL HAT!!… Although I don’t know WHY!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” — Scott Beach’s grandfather

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

Let it never be said I faded under pressure. It’s done, though I can’t say at all how it turned out. Nor will I make any further attempt to be coherent, as it is becoming rather an onerous task. In fact, I think I’m going back to bed. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as I’m still upright and semi-conscious….

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….

Prunes provide a moveable feast….

Posted on April 4, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man is not aware of his virtues (if any).
Nevertheless, one hopes that they exist.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

Tower of London from the Thames

Hajime…. ‘Tisn’t often I’ll begin by apologizing, but, that doesn’t cause it to mean less, to me, at least. Today, I’m doing so to explain the Pearl you will see, as it is one I probably will try to forget, if only for the cost of getting it done. Without complaint or retreat into plaintive excuses, I’ll merely say I was unable to sleep again, until late this morning, thus making me late getting started, as well as beginning another day with fatigue rather than any particular enthusiasm. Oh, well.

That said, the Pearl should, after a fashion, speak for itself. Most of it won’t be too fresh, as I don’t have any fresh on hand, or, for that matter, in mind. In fact, with what I have in mind, I probably couldn’t pass a test to get into kindergarten. I am, nonetheless, rather determined to get it done, no matter how it turns out, if only to soothe my own disappointment. One must find one’s reasons to go on oneself, mustn’t one? One must, and one has done. So be it.

Since I don’t have much, what you see is, once more, what you get. I, for one, am going on; y’all can follow if you like….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see each other whole against the sky.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

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

Yep. Classical music, as the icon indicates so clearly. Well, it’s clear to me; listen up to the music, and it may do the same for y’all…. or, not. So be it.

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

Classical Music

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

https://youtu.be/k353I-9GgIM

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

Since I don’t have the wherewithal to produce a rant, here is a rather extensive discussion from early in 2013, on the subject of gun control…. a subject which is rather important to ALL of us, in the long run. Me, I’m of the same opinion as Clint Eastwood, an eminently sensible man, all in all, to wit: “Gun control means, if there’s a gun in the room, I want to be the one controlling it.” Y’ll can do as you like in the matter…. Enjoy!….

From 2/9/2013:

“Is this an out-take from the “BRADY BUNCH”?”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

I’m rather hoping it is, in sooth…. if not, we all are in serious trouble, up the proverbial creek without a hint of a paddle. Not that it should be anything new or unfamiliar, as most of our history has been spent thus occupied. Of course, previous centuries didn’t have the distinct advantage of having either the Brady’s, or Zippy, in all his insane wisdom, as cultural icons, as well as ethical touchstones….. They had to make do with Socrates, and Plato, and stuffy old guys like that….. Aristotle was practically a rock star in his day, and remains a pretty smart dude, by all evidence, but I still prefer Carlin, I think, for the most cogent philosophy for modern times….

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.” — The Constitution of the United States of America Amendment 6, 1791

For a moment, I wondered what my unconscious mind was thinking when it made me copy and paste this amendment into the pearl, as a pearl…. especially as it seems to be in conjunction with the Zippy quote…. Here I am, five minutes later, still wondering what the hell I was thinking…. It happens that way sometimes…. just give me a few moments here, and I’ll come up with it…. Aha! Got it! Naturally, I only needed to go back to basics…. The answer to the question of how the two quotes are related is…. Reality….

Aye, that’s right, reality. It’s what we do here, explore reality, and all its implications, ramifications, and delineations. Also, it’s temperature. Well, perhaps that isn’t the right word, but…. Reality, as is clear and obvious to the most casual observer, exists in varying degrees (hence: temperature…. see?). The degree of reality that is included in an out-take from the Brady Bunch is clearly not the same degree of reality that is implied in the Sixth Amendment. I’d say, the Amendment would hit around 8 or 9 on the real scale, with 10 being the Reality of Amber, where all roads lead. (See Roger Zelazny’s book, The Courts of Amber…..), whereas the highest the Brady’s could hope for would be a 2 or a 3 on that same scale. They’re too oppositional in nature to be rated otherwise, as well as being on opposite ends of the scale of Relative Importance to ME and YOU…..

Now we get to the meat of this matter…. Of late, there has been a lot of public discourse regarding gun control, as a result of the media’s steadfast love of gore and manipulation. Another school shooting took place a few weeks ago, wherein some crazy idiot got hold of some firearms and used them in an insane manner. This, of course, all morality aside, is still a reprehensible act, and, IMHO, most easily solved by just taking one of his own guns and using it on him, at the time of his crime. Bang, problem solved, and since he’s standing there over the bodies he has made, no question of guilt. In such cases, the why of his guilt should not matter; whatever it is, it is reason enough to put him down, in defense of humanity. The other questions can be answered after the children have been defended….

Sadly, there are two segments of humanity who don’t agree with this logical outcome. One segment is what I term the humanitarians, a misleading term, since it usually involves the denial of much of human nature. The other, of course, is our old nemesis, the BRC…. our Beloved Ruling Class…. Neither of these groups will agree that allowing people to have guns should be allowed, or that killing the killers is a proper solution for the issue. In both of these positions, they are dead wrong, and, more, they know they are. This serves to make their arguments more shrill, more emotionally based, and, in their eyes, more valid, in some strange form of weird logic….

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

~~ Frank Zappa ~~

One of the most edifying parts of this discussion, for me, is how it makes it so easy to identify those who are wearing the uniforms, and from what camp they are from, according to their colors and insignia. You can tell the humanitarians, they’re the ones wearing the faux-camouflage pants, in support of the troops, they’ll assure you; they want the police to be the only ones who carry guns, believing, for some unknown reason, that police are somehow more moral or ethical than other people. (Of course, they also would have trouble if you asked them to define the words, “moral”, or “ethical”, in any other terms than those used in a philosophy paper they memorized in college, or in seminary….)

The BRC are always easy to spot, as their sense of entitlement provides them with all the armor against opinion, or law, they ever need. They want guns to be only held by the militia, (which they control), or the police (whom they also control), because it makes them nervous as hell to know there are guns out in the land, in the hands of people who would use them, for certain, if they attempt to perform their illegal lying, cheating, and stealing anywhere in their presence. It also makes them nervous knowing that they would be in danger for real, if the truth about what they do is ever made public with enough evidence to convince the masses to act…. They don’t want to have to worry they will be over-matched in firepower when that day comes along….

SIGH…. I’ve opened a can of worms, again, I know it….. I’m not going to claim to have all the right answers to the situation we find ourselves in today. Though it is a different world, technologically and culturally, from the time when the Second Amendment was written, deciding to abandon its precepts on that basis is not, and should never be, enough to justify any change in a law that is so important to the common man, the very people for whom the laws were created, to protect them from the self-same usurpation that is now being attempted. Once the law is amended, and weakened, the term “slippery slope” becomes very real, and a valid fear for those people.

To put a cap on it for now, I’ll say this…. Quite simply, I do not trust those who would take the right to bear arms from the people. I have seen NO evidence, in history, or in recent current events, that ANY governing body, or ANY group, or ANY single person, of ANY persuasion can be trusted to have guns, and use them solely for the benefit of the people, without turning them to their own purposes, first. NONE. You can’t show me any, either…. Go ahead, I’m listening….

I have studied people every day of my life, and I know too much of human nature to ever believe what I’m told of another person’s intentions; even the best intentions can change in mid-stream, turning its back completely on any commitments made previously. People lie, they cheat, they break in their minds, and they can’t, as a whole, ever be trusted to act rationally on a consistent basis….. at least, not any more rationally than can I myself….

“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

Such being the case, I’d rather keep my guns, thanks. I’ll accept the risks that go with that freedom, which includes the risk of bad people getting their hands on guns, and doing bad things to others. Don’t worry, if they do it in front of me, I’ll help…. and not by running away and hiding…. Life is dangerous, ffolkes, and one either learns to get along with that idea, or one spends a lot of time worrying about shit that can’t be changed…. A very unhappy state of affairs, to my way of thinking, and not very realistic in the long run….

“When the panorama of human existence becomes chaotic and confused,
it is quite soothing to watch the sun rise in the East.”

~~ gigoid~~

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

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

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

Today’s final old-school pearl is the only fresh material I can provide today; in spite of its relative freshness, it’s a little strange. But, it works, as it is merely giving us some stuff about living we may have either forgotten, or, overlooked in our haste to be…. In any case, none of it will hurt you, and may even help… Go figure…..

Though man a thinking being is defined,
Few use the grand prerogative of mind.
How few think justly of the thinking few!
How many never think, who think they do!

~~ Jane Taylor ~~

~~ Essays in Rhyme, (On Morals and Manners, Prejudice, ) Essay i, Stanza 45 ~~

“The hard questions always have more than one right answer. The easy questions have no answers at all. That’s the universe’s way of keeping things balanced.” — Solomon Short

“It is better to know nothing than to know what ain’t so.” — Josh Billings

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” — Kahlil Gibran

“Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — Meditations, viii, 22

“A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.” — Hugh Downs

“Nobody ever died of laughter.”

~~ Max Beerbohm ~~

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

It’s done, and that’s the best I can say of it. Today is what we call REALLY trusting the process. So be it. I’ll try again tomorrow, if I can manage to rest/sleep enough to waken with a functioning neuron or two. In any case, see y’all tomorrow; personally, I don’t seem to have much choice, if I am to remain in the vicinity of sanity….

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….

Orgiastic impulses neatly excised….

Posted on March 29, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The supreme triumph of reason is to cast doubt upon its own validity.”

~~ Miguel de Unamuno ~~

The warrior rests….

Hajime…. There are times when the life changes we all go through as we age become habitual, or at the least, routinely present in such a way as to seem to be de rigeur. For me, this principle seems to apply heavily to my physical issues, complicated by my own lack of patience with my body’s steady decline in functions which have been, for most of my life, taken for granted as being a permanent characteristic, to wit; an ability to DO anything at all I wished my body to do, and, do it well. Now, I must think ahead, to account for the failures of strength or resilience that once were unknown to me. Quite frankly, it’s a pain in the ass, but, then, by this time, we also know it ain’t goin’ away….

I really didn’t mean to start off with a litany of the complaints of the aged, but, having again spent a restless night of trying to find a position comfortable enough to fall asleep, until about 0130 am, when I finally fell asleep until about 0430…. whereupon the cat insisted it was time to get up & feed her, and open a window for her to monitor the birds. Hence, here I am, old, tired, & grumpy, again, a state which seems to be turning into a rather more permanent condition than I really would like; it’s fun to be grumpy, after a life of holding in one’s angst, but, most of the time, one ends up dumping on the wrong person, so, it’s best to try to avoid such a state when possible, to keep from developing bad moral habits.

Gee, do ya think I’ve been too personal? Or, just too chatty? Well, I do, and I’m the one typing here, so, I think we’ll just get on with the rest of this mess, since much of it still needs to be either polished up for reading, or, simply put in the correct format. I do, in spite of not trying to become famous, take some pride in my work; just because nobody is paying me doesn’t mean I don’t have to do my best. And, that statement, by itself, is one we have heard from far too few people in the world for a long time, as the moral/ethical status of humanity has gone into the toilet as the oligarchy has become more entrenched, and the populace has become more, and more, stupid and venal. Not many folks these days care much about the quality of anything they produce, as long as they get what they want from doing it. Quality isn’t even on the job specs, at all….

Ah well, no need to start ranting in the intro; yesterday’s re-blog said all that much more clearly, and much more compellingly than what I just related. Since that’s so, I guess I’ll just employ one of the Tardis Toys, and be done with it. You might want to hang on to something; this one makes some sharp turns….

Shall we Pearl?

“You think the only people who are people,
Are the ones who look and think the way you do,
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger,
You’ll learn the things you never knew you never knew…

You can own the Earth and still,
All you’ll own is earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind.”

~~ Stephen Schwartz, Colors of the Wind ~~

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

Most days here at ECR, if you see the icon above, you’d think, “classical music”. Most days, you’d be right. Today, however, I’m indulging myself, and it just means we’re listening to the best guitar player I know of, all-around. There may be better musicians in some genres who can be considered his equal. But, for my taste, his work is the best of the best, for every kind of music he has attempted in his time. It might just be me, but, a lot of ffolkes seem to agree…. Enjoy, ffolkes; I intend to do so myself, so, y’all may as well join in…. Here’s Eric, with an acoustic guitar and a few friends….

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

Eric Clapton
Unplugged

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

https://youtu.be/xGavzOvTMjY

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

I’m late, I’m late, etc….. Since I am, here is a decent little rant from a few years ago to fill in this section. Enjoy!….

From 2/3/2013:

“People see what they have been conditioned to see;
they refuse to see what they don’t expect to see.”

~~ Merle P. Martin ~~

This statement is one that will find some strong agreement here, as it is as clear an indictment of the unwashed masses as I’ve ever seen; it places some of the blame on their oppressors, as it should, but still manages to show where people are responsible for their own ignorance, in spite of how they may be conditioned…. One may not be responsible for their conditioning, but they are still responsible for what they refuse to acknowledge as truth, and Mr. Martin has given them little room to wiggle out of that responsibility…..

In some ways, y’all might think that I tend to obsess about those who are manipulating society. and the impending global catastrophes that I see as inevitable. In a way, you could be right…. it COULD be called obsession, since I do take at least one shot a day at the BRC and the priestly hierarchies; if I don’t hit them regularly, I just feel empty, and incomplete….. But, I don’t lose any sleep over it, so I think my concerns are still in the rational stages of evolution. What can be challenging is finding new ways to approach the subject, that will show the assholes for what they are, and what they are doing to the rest of us, and still not bore the reader senseless…. it’s hard to motivate someone who has fallen asleep….

“The worth of the State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it, and a State which postpones the interest of their mental expansion and elevation to a little more of administrative skill, or of that semblance of it which practice gives in the details of business… will find that with small men no great thing can be accomplished.” — John Stuart Mill, ‘On Liberty’, 1859

The other day, someone asked me a question about a statement I had made, to the effect that I believed that the usurpation of the Constitution began within minutes of it being signed…. She asked me how I knew that, and at the time, I gave her the answer that occurred to me at the time, to wit: I know this because I know human nature, and the money lenders and bankers wouldn’t have wanted to wait even a minute to try to get their two cents into the process, in order to start turning it to their advantage….. And Mr. Mill has, with this statement, shown us how they went about that perversion….

During elections, and often in the time prior to the announcement of the candidates and their platforms, there is a loud lamentation that there are no GOOD candidates to be found, that the men and women who end up running for office are NOT the most qualified for the job, but merely those who WANT it for their own reasons (you can bet that altruism is NOT one of those reasons….). In fact, to my mind, the single most qualifying characteristic I would like to see in ANY candidate would be a lack of desire to get elected; in other words, in order to be well-qualified, they have to NOT want to get elected…. It’s the only way we can trust them not to steal so much….

“Intelligence has nothing to do with politics.”

~~ Londo Molari ~~

What we have in reality is that ALL of those who run for office are people who WANT POWER; the exceptions are too few to be statistically significant, so I use the word ALL with that caveat. Sure, occasionally, a person who really doesn’t want to be in office, but happens to be the most qualified, gets persuaded by friends that they can do some good, and they are popular enough, and intelligent enough, to get elected. Once in office, though, they generally discover that their opportunities to do good for others are severely limited by the efforts of their peers, who have no interest whatsoever in looking after the people, unless it serves their own purpose.

“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day;
wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.”

~~ Elbert Hubbard ~~

It’s hard to say whether writing pieces such as this one is a part of my five minutes, or whether it is part of the other side of the coin, which prevents me from reaching my limit…. Either way, I’m starting to understand that, since I’m shouting into the wind, pretty much, with these political and social diatribes, I need to keep them fairly short, and uncomplicated, or I will lose my audience to boredom with the repetitive nature of what I’m writing. Yes, we need to be aware that most of our Beloved Ruling Class are assholes, and need to be culled from the human herd….. but railing about it too much will only defeat my purpose, which is to educate and stimulate, hopefully to action that will serve to help the situation….

So rather than exceed my limit for the day, we’ll leave this here, and hope that what I’ve written will cause at least a touch of bleeding in the BRC, even if it’s only a scratch…. Better now to go look for some poetry, to soothe my fevered brow….

“I know everything about everything, except that.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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

Premises, premises….

Tricked, I stumble, and I fall
dreaming, through an abandoned palace.
Frightened and wary, unheard my call
fading into memory, no cup, no argent chalice.

The people, crushed, cry out to be freed
asking only to take part, or travel.
Nascent oaths spotlight such bursting need
fed by treachery, deep from our well.

Only the wicked shall find their way blocked
justice seeks them, snug in their hole.
Faint praises never touched, but naked, stalked
singing no gospel, no soul, no rock and roll.

Only the promised will remember the way
from unforgiven trails of sorrow.
To live life, and give death no sway,
saving grace for our only tomorrow.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/19/2014

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

In order to finish in good time, I must again go to the well, er, archives. Here is one from the day after the rant I used above. I hope you enjoy it….

From 2/4/2013:

Once again, fate has conspired to force my hand, to the point where I must prevaricate in order to stay on track…. which is to say, I’ve been stupid, and lost my way to wherever it was I’d planned to go…. As is my wont in such cases, we will go old school, with a group of pearls that all have something to say about something or other…. Today, we’ll address stupidity, and how all of us on the bus may fall prey to it at times…. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, the bear eats you, as they say…. Here are some thoughts on the matter from some pretty famous ffolkes, and a couple not so widely known, but respected for their wisdom in their own circle….

“The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.” — Albert Einstein

“There is no sin except stupidity.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Critic as Artist”, 1891

“There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “An outline of Intellectual Rubbish”

“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mrs. Gump, Forrest’s mama

“The only evidence against evolution are its opponents.” — Smart Bee

Boy, if that ain’t the Truth, in big, shiny letters ten feet tall!…. In contrast, below you will find one of my all time favorite aphorisms, from my all time favorite author, advising us of what we CAN be, if we choose….

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” — Robert A. Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

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

I have fulfilled my vow; this allows me to enter the remainder of the day with a clear conscience, if not complete serenity. Good enough. I’ll even forgo any further idiocy here, and merely say, see y’all tomorrow, when I will make yet another attempt at transforming my inner demons into intelligent discourse…. Sure I will….

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….

Adrift on The Sea of Ambiguity….

Posted on March 23, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Nature, whose sweet rains fall on just and unjust alike,
will have clefts in the rocks where I may hide,
and secret valleys in whose silence
I may weep undetected.
She will hang the night with stars
so that I may walk abroad in the darkness
without stumbling,
and send the wind over my footprints
so that none may track me to my hurt:
she will cleanse me in great waters,
and with bitter herbs make me whole.

~~ Oscar Wilde — “De Profundis” ~~

Main Street, Invergordon, Scotland

Hajime…. Well…. I cannot say with any real engagement I am happy with my night of attempting to sleep, as the epic battle into which it turned was fought to a draw. I spent four or so hours up, down, turned over, and groaning in pain, as one hip refused to accept the program, insisting every position I tried to assume was worthy of slipping a sharp knife into the hip, in order to indicate its refusal. Finally, around 2 AM, I found one position, approximating a half-twisted pretzel, in which no knife appeared, and I was able to drop off for about 3 hours or so…. Heaven, in comparison….

Now I’ve related the depths of futility in which I spent my night, let’s move on, before this becomes merely another litany of complaint. Perhaps the process of putting together a Pearl, while fending off the insistent demands of a feline familiar to play, will distract me from the fatigue and overall blah-ness under which I currently labor. It certainly isn’t doing much for my writing skills, or the creative urge, is it? Moreover, the more I type, the more my left arm and hand is trying to tell me this isn’t a great idea; the guitar playing yesterday seems to have annoyed it a bit….. SIGH…. this getting old business just sucks, big-time…..

Ah, well, it’s nothing anyone else isn’t going through, in their own way, so, I’ll quit complaining, and offering excuses, to go make the attempt at coherency which gives me a reason to act sane the rest of the day. Believe me, you don’t want me to skip this; the body count could get massive before the day is out, and, then, I’d have to kill more ignoramae, when the cops come to see what all the fuss is about. Probably best to stay off the streets today…. Y’know, maybe it’s time to…. No, better not. I need to stockpile more necessities first; I guess we’ll wait for that….

On that cryptic, yet hopeful note, I’ll take my leave, to go put this mess together for today. It will be late, and probably long, or, at least, thick, so, gird your grids for that. We’re using one of the Tardis Toys today, just to factor in a bit of random efficiency. It’s pretty cool; here’s how it works….

Shall we Pearl?

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” — Antoine de Saint Exupery

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

Rather than try to guess what music might go well today, we’ll go with our default, classical music, combined with my own preference for guitar music, giving us, naturally, classical guitar….. Enjoy!…..

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

Classical Guitar Music

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

https://youtu.be/V80EzF–UNk

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

In lieu of a rant today, I’m substituting a poem, written by a blogging friend, a man who lives in Tokyo, and whose haiku and poetry has been one of my favorites for the entire time I’ve been on WP. He is also my most faithful follower, having visited this blog very close to every day since I began posting it here on WordPress. He is a man of great, gentle spirit, with deep compassion, and a love of beauty. This is his poem in response to the official ceremony in Japan, at a memorial for their war dead, on the official first day of the Cherry Blossom Festival, their rite of Spring…. It is beautiful and a powerful message of peace, that I would ask all my followers to share with their own readers…. Thank you, and, enjoy!….

https://ashiakira.wordpress.com/story-poems-2/cherry-blossoms

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

After the odyssey….

Portraits of iconic symbols, crashing, singing, forgotten;
evolving into mature innovation, as yet pale, and rotten.
Still water justly breeds, impenetrable primal verses resound;
unholy moments tarry, emotion swirls in passion unbound

Spiritual ovulation precedes each pregnant pause;
gravid, time moves on, following destiny’s cause.
Cast adrift on waves of confusion, to a final, damp landing;
salvation beckons sweetly, fed well on understanding.

Dreams directly fall, in night’s grey bower, unbidden;
lingering flavors in simple taste, lovingly, cleverly hidden.
Childish laughter sounds, joyful, bright, and clear;
no need ever to hide, no more monsters to fear.

Temper most foul arrives under unregistered mail;
forgotten taunts live on, lashed by an ancient flail.
Plain dealing delivers such lasting specks of honest hate;
savage in retrospect, never hasty, always running late.

Forever, cries an ambient lover of the pending night;
his pale, weak issue forms its own failing light.
Still, fortune favors such as those who apprehend;
Sweet love of Gaia, let it never end.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/10/2013

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

I began this pearl yesterday, whereupon SB decided to have a snit. Let’s see if it’s ready to cooperate this morning…. Well, that wasn’t so bad; only took a half hour to find three pearls. Ah well, I think it came out pretty well, considering, with a nice twist at the end…. Enjoy!….

There is more to reality than meets the eye.” — Subtle Bee

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

“Hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. It is just like the roads across the earth. For actually there were no roads to begin with, but when many people pass one way a road is made.” — Lu Hsun

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are there.” — Yasutani Roshi

“Most people are on the world, not in it…” — John Muir

“I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there be any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” — William Penn

“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

I did it. That, in itself, is an achievement of grand craic, to be sure. Not only is it done, it’s done in a reasonable time, if we don’t count Daylight Savings Time, which I never do. Why, look! It’s the end of the page. I guess I’ll stop here; looks like it’s made for that. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; I’m determined to do this right, at least once before I kick the proverbial bucket…. Let’s hope that takes a while….

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….

Fill in with plastic adobe….

Posted on March 3, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is an absurd one.”

~~ Voltaire ~~

Winter Blooms

Hajime….. I’ll need to proceed with some caution this morning, I think; I feel a certain looseness, an instability, and could conceivably turn introspective at the slightest provocation. I’ll try to save it for the ranting section, but, sometimes, it just gets away from me, y’know? Since I managed to notice it before it hit me too hard, we do stand an even chance of getting through this without getting maudlin, or, fate forfend, sentimental. Makes me shiver to think of it… Brrr….

Of course, such an unstable portion of my soul can also lead to severe outbreaks of nonsense and/or blather, which, as you see, is showing signs of some leakage into this missive. Uh oh. Though I AM up a bit early, I don’t think we can afford to allow too much blather, or we’ll never get out of the intro. It’s already threatening to burgeon into more than bargained for, so, I should probably start to think about hitting the road for the oyster beds, soon. Better soon than never, right? Right…. Okay, let’s see what’s in this drawer over here….

Oh, look! I haven’t seen this one before…. I wonder what it does…. I know, I’ll just push this butt…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”

~~ Les Brown ~~

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

Norman Blake, Doc Watson, & Jerry Garcia, among many other famous bluegrass players of the day, performed at the Bluegrass Festival in Marin in the year 1974, turning in performances which became legendary…. I found it on YT, and have included here today for your listening pleasure…. Enjoy!….

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

Marin Bluegrass Festival
1974

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

https://youtu.be/dNAP8jP0pzA

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

The World Is Too Much With Us: Late And Soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune,
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

Y’all are, in some cases, probably scratching your head in puzzlement, wondering why a poem from Wordsworth would be, in the first instance, at the top of a section generally devoted to ranting, or, at minimum, examination of an idea of some sort. (That’s a clue, by the way….) In the second instance, you may wonder why it is used in conjunction with a picture of Plato and Aristotle, those prototypical philosophers. For those who are puzzled, relax, I’m gonna tell you. For those who have become used to our oddness, well, you’ve already girded your grid for a big one….

Let’s begin with the first lines, which, oddly enough, contain the words which prompted this treatise. “Getting and spending we lay waste our powers; little we see in Nature that is ours. We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” To my way of thinking, one need not be a poet, or a scholar, to feel the truth of these words, for they hold an indictment of the majority of humanity, for the crime of refusing to be human, denying their own nature in favor of living in fear and delusion. A bit sweeping in scope, but, pretty clearly true, to my mind…..

Wordsworth uses the brevity of poetic expression to put his finger very precisely on that part of human nature which we have abrogate, to wit: our connection to Life, and the rest of the natural world. By “getting and spending” we de of alter our own perceptions to suit our feelings, has made us both powerful, and, afraid of that power…. This leads to an inner confusion, which is reflected in how we choose to deal with reality. For thousands of years, most people have chosen, in the name of expediency, and, in deference to their own inner conflict based on their fears, to embrace three delusional ideas, which have been drummed into their consciousness by unscrupulous predators from birth….

By accepting what they are told is truth, these unfortunate slaves have been easily manipulated, until we are now seeing a world rapidly approaching complete totalitarianism in government, as the few take advantage of the ignorant many, to foster the completion of their own paranoid vision of the universe, which gives them control of others, so they can feel safe. A pathetic dream, to be sure, but, all too real for comfort….

I’m growing both angry, and pedantic; I can feel both getting stronger as I think of these matters. I see little hope for our species into the next century. There are already climatic issues occurring which could conceivably end ALL life on this planet, in the next FIVE years. This sounds unreal, and, perhaps, unduly speculative, but, I can assure you, as a scientist, it is NOT speculation. Physical processes of a chemical nature are occurring, as I type, and we humans have no knowledge of how to stop the chemical process taking place, since we don’t really understand our own planet all that well. But, we keep pumping particulate matter into the air, anyway, even though it has become abundantly clear that doing so will lead to disastrous consequences.

See, that is the other face of our fatal flaw; we humans have the ability to deny reality, to pretend it doesn’t matter to us what may happen in the future, as long as our desires of the moment are being met. Every human I know, myself included, has this power, and it is a power that will, in the end, be our undoing….

SIGH…. I intended to rant on this for a while, but, seem to have reached a point where it’s best to move on…. Look around you, ffolkes; see what is REALLY going on in the big picture, and, I think, if you can be honest with yourself, you will see just how badly we humans have fucked up our chance at life…. and, how little time left we have to try to mitigate some of our foolishness, before it kills us all….

So be it. gigoid has spoken….

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

“Emily Dickinson didn’t even publish books, she just wrote these demented little poems with a quill pen and hid them in her desk, but they still fought their way into the world, and lasted on and on and on. It’s damned hard to get rid of Emily Dickinson, she hangs on like a tick in a dog’s ear. And everybody who writes from then on in some sense has to measure up to this woman. In the art of book-writing the classics are still living competition, they tend to elevate the entire art-form by their persistent presence.” — Bruce Sterling

Augmentation: Inner Aye

Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patterr of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.

Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.

Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.

Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.

Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.

Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/2/2016

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

Naked Pearls

Random Gems

*******

“If you never assume importance you never lose it.”

~~ Lao-Tzu ~~

*******

“Courage is the ladder on which all other virtues mount.”

~~ Clare Booth Luce ~~

*******

“Set the cart before the horse.”

~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part ii, Chap. vii ~~

*******

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

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

*******

“Time destroys the speculations of man, but it confirms the judgment of nature.”

~~ Cicero ~~

*******

“Where there is much light there is also much shadow.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

*******

“Be and not seem.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

*******

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

Sorry ’bout the rapid removal up in the intro section, ffolkes. That was pretty radical, wasn’t it? I guess from now on I’ll test those devices out before employing them on a group; the insurance folks will like that. In the meantime, we have finished, and, not too shabbily, I’d say. Hey, it’s not every day you get a fresh poem, right? Since doing so rather fagged me out (the bleeding is copious until it gets down on paper/screen….), & I’ll need some time to recover…. 24 hours seems about right, so, I’ll see y’all right here tomorrow, if nobody aims straight….

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….

Instant gratification on sale tomorrow….

Posted on February 19, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“If a fish is the movement of water embodied, given shape,
then a cat is a diagram and pattern of subtle air”

~~ Doris Lessing~~

I deleted ALL your files….

Hajime….. If there were any method available to tell, I would tell you. Since, however, such a method has yet to be discovered, we’ll have to make do with the older version, where I just say it out straight and clean…. Okay, here goes….. Hang on…. Wait for it…. Alright, here you go….

It’s too late. I’m sorry, but, in spite of everything I was able to do, and, in direct opposition to every effort made by a number of compassionate volunteers, it’s just not going to happen…. The sign says we’d have it on sale tomorrow, but, the vendor just couldn’t get his shit together to ship it on time, so, it’s going to be late, again…. I guess that’s what we get for trying to obtain the instant gratification of desires everyone in this plane of existence seems to have to have; such a rare item is, as you can see, a bit hard to come by…. Ah well, maybe next week…

That, you might wish to note, is one of the very rare occasions in which you will ever see a reference to a title of a Pearl IN the actual Pearl it graces. I decided when I began this process, almost twenty years ago now, to never connect the title and the material in the piece. Don’t ask me why; I didn’t know then, and I care less now. Such is life with a self-defined curmudgeon of relatively advanced years, who has, through a lifetime of practice, become quite adept at doing exactly as he wishes, and reality be damned. It can get a bit crusty, but, it suits me.

I think that’s quite enough blather for one day. If I don’t stop here, this could get a bit top-heavy. Since I AM driving this bus, what I say must go, so, we’ll just pretend it’s the right thing to do, and do it. I would suggest, given the return of Luigi to the pilot’s chair today, you secure your personal safety restraints, and put your adult beverage down in the holder provided for that purpose. You might also wish to call your insurance guy, to make sure you’re up to date….. The rest of you…. look busy, the proctor’s on board today…. Hit it, Luigi!….

Shall we Pearl?….

“He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.”

~~ Elrond ~~

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

Tom Waits

One of my Gentle Readers mentioned their fondness for this artist. Let it never be said I ignore the wishes of my readers…. I do, but, let it never be said, for I didn’t do that today…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this one is another Original…. and, it’s an album I haven’t heard yet…. Yay!….

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

Tom Waits
Mule Variations

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

https://youtu.be/c_OkcVLBB9A

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

I’m working on a rant to end all rants (so to speak), but, it’s stalled for the moment. Here is a set of rules which I haven’t posted in a while, but, is worth a repeat every once in a while. It’s a list I try very hard to live by, as it was all stuff the Sarge embedded in my persona, to my endless gratitude… These rules, if followed by ALL men, would make the world a very different place than the one in which we actually live…. Read them, and, I think you would agree…

Last posted on 11/18/2013:

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

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

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

Today’s final old-school pearl is a bit esoteric, but, not so much it’s obscure…. Mostly, it’s just good stuff to know about Life, Reality, and All That Stuff…. Enjoy!….

“By letting go, it all gets done.”

~~ Tao Te Ching ~~

*********

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*********

“Silence speaks with eloquence.”

~~ R. Reiley ~~

*********

“Je me presse de rire de tout, de peur d’etre oblige de’en pleurer.”
(I make myself laugh at everything, in case I should have to weep.)

~~ Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais ~~

*********

“Unless you love someone, nothing else makes any sense”

~~ E. E. Cummings ~~

*********

“One of the sayings of Diogenes was that most men
were within a finger’s breadth of being mad;
for if a man walked with his middle finger pointing out,
folks would think him mad,
but not so if it were his forefinger.”

~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Diogenes, vi ~~

*********

“All authority is quite degrading.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

*********

“Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.”

~~ Clarence Darrow ~~

*********

“Life without learning is death.”

~~ Cicero ~~

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

At this point, undue confidence would be out of place; I’ll merely say, it’s done, and, I’m glad, for it looked a bit shaky there during the process. Since this ain’t go gift horse, we won’t peer too closely into its mouth, lest we see things we should regret. No regrets, ever….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless my insanity assumes a more significant role in reality before 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….

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 Wilde

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