Free speech, with a side order of lies….

Posted on September 26, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Today’s title is a bit more relevant than usual; it’s kind of a mini-rant, in it’s own little way, complete with sarcasm, and outrage, right there for all to perceive, should they so choose. The title was a reaction, in essence, to an email I got yesterday from the White House…. Yes, that’s right, the White House…. There’s no need to be impressed, or to think I’ve got a good line into the administration, or anything like that….. Like millions of other folks, I once clicked on some link that offered me a chance to give my opinion to them, back in the beginning of Barry’s reign….. I sent what was supposed to be a comment on some of what I’d seen, knowing full well I what I was letting myself in for, to wit: spam with a side of grits….

I don’t mean to be racist by that statement; I was being literal, actually. Ever since sending that one email, I have been inundated with multiple daily blurbs from Michelle Obama, from Stephanie Cutter, and a host of other names I don’t recognize, all of whom are perky, enthusiastic, and want me to send them money…. Occasionally, like today, a personal note from the First Lady herself, asking me to send in a comment for them to parade as part of their claim to grassroots connections…. I’m so thrilled to have been personally addressed by the FLOTUS, and will immediately rush out to complete the task she asked of me, to furnish my version of “the number one issue I care about”, so they can use that information to guide them to doing the best thing for me and all the other poor saps out there believing this crap…

What annoys me the most, aside from having to delete several emails a day from these idiots, (and, yes, I include the FLOTUS in that group…. Sorry, I just can’t bring myself to get too enthused about anyone who buys into the whole scene she endorses….). Just because I sent ONE email to them, an email they obviously did NOT read, they assume I am behind them 100%, and address me daily as if I am one of their trusted minions…. This is actually the reason I have not opted out of the email group; it gives me some idea of what they are up to, which is a good thing for my strategic plans. I’m just following the old saw about keeping my friends close, and my enemies closer….

You may wonder how I can call myself a patriot, when I am so dead-set against BOTH sides of the political scene we see today…. Well, it’s simple…. I am patriotic only about the vision of our country, of what I believe framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights had in mind when they wrote them. They had a vision of a country where men of good virtue and character could pursue their own personal view of what is good and right, in the atmosphere of freedom of thought, and of action, that the laws provide to us. The founders of our nation saw very clearly that what they sought was a fragile state, and would always be in danger from those who envy the freedoms we enjoy, and from those who would take it away, for their own profit and power….

Those people, the ones who have no virtue, save that of self-interest, are now in control of this country, and have been since the mid-19th century, when a corrupt federal judge made a landmark decision that gutted the Constitution, making it relatively useless for the purpose it was created. One legal judgment, deliberately made by a judge who made no secret of his loyalty to those who paid him, took the most basic rights away from the common man, and put them into the hands of corporate entities that don’t exist anywhere but on paper…..The corporate interests that actually control the events of history thus secured their position as the shadowy puppet masters of society, and they did so right in front of the public eye….

SIGH…. I see that once again I’ve ranted before I was really ready to do so…. I just get so outraged when I start to think about what ASSHOLES these people are…. They don’t give a SHIT about anyone but themselves, and could care less that what they do is detrimental to the well-being of others; it’s not something that even crosses their awareness, other than as it affects their travel plans…. It’s tough to have to decide whether to jet off to Chamonix for winter sports, or to Bali for water sports…. I suppose it’s marginally better than having to decide whether to stretch the chicken to one more pot of soup, or break down and buy some beef, which they can’t afford…..

Okay, I’m done for now….. I never really got started strongly, and only used vague references to real events, rather than factual accounts of actual happenings in the world, to make my points…. But, that is only because the urge to rant caught me unaware, again, and I didn’t want to take the time to go research so early…. Besides, I figure once I go look at some news headlines, I’ll find plenty to bring back the outrage, with plenty of evidence, as it is right out there for all to see, every day….. which, actually, is kind of scary, when one stops to think about that…. They don’t even really try very hard anymore to hide what they’re doing from us, which means they know there isn’t anything we can do to stop them, or to make a difference in what they wish to do….

I’m so discouraged, I’m going to end this introductory section here, after a healthy sized rant, and go on with the rest of today’s Pearl… even though my discouragement is preventing me from enjoying it very much…. I just get so angry at what I see in the world, because I know there are solutions…. solutions that will never be tried, because the assholes who run things don’t WANT any changes in the world, not until they have ALL they want from the rest of us…. and their avarice knows no boundaries….

Ah, the hell with it…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“We, the people, are not free. Our democracy is but a name. We vote? What does that mean? We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.” — Helen Keller
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Having lost my way completely, by giving in so far as to spit out the above seriousness, I want some funny…. Smart Bee, give me…. humor…..

“Is this where I’m supposed to insert the funny lines?” — Smart Bee

Yes, yes, it is…..

“All I kin say is when you finds yo’self wanderin’ in a peach orchard, ya don’t go lookin’ for rutabagas.” — Kingfish

(Good start!…. Humor and wisdom all rolled into one bubblegum cigar! Hopefully, it’s the exploding kind; a good explosion always raises the ratings….)

“Here I am in the POSTERIOR OLFACTORY LOBULE but I don’t see CARL SAGAN anywhere!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

(Zippy goes over the top much of the time, I know, but, it’s always amazing to me to look at the things he says, filtered through the light of metaphor; in that light, they take on deeper meaning, every time, and always in a way that can be traced back to reality, sort of….. As we all know, “sort of” is as close to real reality as we can tolerate around here, especially when I’m in a mood like this one…. the risk of explosion right now is, as they are fond of saying in the newspapers, significant…. Zippy is like cold water on a hot fire, in that sense…. )

“Without recognizing the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man. Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established. Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know men.” — Confucius, _Analects_, Book 20

(Well, it was funny when I read it….. A worthy group of statements, though….)

“The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.” — George Bernard Shaw

(Doesn’t seem to have worked very well, though, does it?…. I mean, look at them… Now, they are touting this poor new lad born to the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge as their symbol of continuity and tradition…. Poor baby, can barely even drool yet, and already an icon, destined to live a life well-insulated from reality…..)

“Well, Darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable,
And Lightness has a call that’s hard to hear.”

— Indigo Girls

(Okay, busted…. not funny, but, it’s powerful, and it’s beautiful, so it stays….)

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” — Dalai Lama

(Actually, it might have been someone else who said this…. but, it’s something he would have said, had he thought of it…)

If on my theme I rightly think,
There are five reasons why men drink,–
Good wine, a friend, because I ‘m dry,
Or lest I should be by and by,
Or any other reason why.

— John Sirmond (c. 1589-1649) — Causae Bibendi

Well, I’m retired, what do you expect?….. It doesn’t HAVE to make sense any more, now, does it? Nope…. so, as is obvious at this point, most days, I don’t even bother trying to police that particular concept…. You get what you pay for, every time, right?….. Of course, I’m not counting the cost to me, but, that’s just the kind of guy I am…..
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“What a lumbering poor vehicle prose is for the conveying of a great thought! … Prose wanders around with a lantern & laboriously schedules & verifies the details & particulars of a valley & its frame of crags & peaks, then Poetry comes, & lays bare the whole landscape with a single splendid flash.” — Mark Twain

A drop fell on the apple tree
Another on the roof;
A half a dozen kissed the eaves,
And made the gables laugh.

A few went out to help the brook,
That went to help the sea.
Myself conjectured, Were they pearls,
What necklaces could be!

The dust replaced in hoisted roa
The birds jocoser sung;
The sunshine threw his hat away,
The orchards spangles hung.

The breezes brought dejected
And bathed them in the glee;
The East put out a single flag,
And signed the fete away.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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I’m not sure what my mind is doing…. Some days I keep track, and others, it’s just too much work, so, I don’t…. Today is one of the latter type of days, and it’s probably showing in the structure of this Pearl…. So be it…. I’m not one to argue with what is, and I’m too short on meds to risk getting all bent out of shape about it….

Whenever I fight against reality, it wins, and I hurt for a while… So, I’m going to hearken back to the days of yore, when I was learning Judo, from Sensei Uchida, at UC Berkeley, and let the force of my opponent do the work for me…. a little cosmic judo, don’t y’know?…. Hope you enjoy it…. just relax, and spread the shock of contact with the floor over as much area of your body as you can… It will hurt less, and you can get right back up, where I’ll show you how it was done….. or, give you a couple of aspirin & some water, if you prefer….

“There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you please unless it causes others harm. With it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.” — P.J. O’Rourke

“Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

A drill is a tool. A hole is a solution. — Smart Bee

All who joy would win
Must share it, –happiness was born a twin.

— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Don Juan, Canto ii, Stanza 172

“To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.” — Plutarch (46 AD-120 AD)

A Scholar asked his Master, “Could you advise me of a proper vocation, Master?” The Master replied, “Some men can earn their keep with the power of their minds. Others must use their strong backs, legs and hands. This is the same in nature as it is with man. Some animals acquire their food easily, such as rabbits, hogs & goats. Other animals must struggle for their food, like beavers, moles & ants. So you see, the nature of the vocation must fit the individual.” “But I have no abilities, desires, or imagination, Master,” the scholar sobbed. “Have you ever thought of becoming a salesman?”. . . the Master queried.– Smart Bee

“In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.” — Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-78)

(The last one is included as contrast to the other six pearls in this group, just because it popped up at a propitious moment…… Mr. Humphrey’s statement, while almost true, is actually a good example of why politicians in this country find it so simple to lie to the public…. This is related with all seriousness, as if it is great wisdom, when, in truth, it is simply not true, unless the person in question wishes it to be true…. Things are only what they seem to be in our perceptions, not in reality, and refusing to acknowledge that distinction is the same as learning to lie about it…. and believing the lie, rather than the truth….. Insidious, isn’t it?….. They get people to buy into the very lies they tell, by making it sound as if it should be true…..)
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“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.” — Terry Pratchett.

That’s for damn sure, and exactly how I’m feeling today…. But, I’m okay with it, too, so, no big deal… I wouldn’t go back for anything…. Let’s see what the last three hours of struggle and pain has come up with today….

Well, it’s certainly more than I bargained for when I started…. I do have a tendency to ramble, don’t I? Ah well, so be it… I was up early, this took forever, and I’m too tired to make it all better, if such is possible at this point….. In fact, bye, now, y’all be real, I’ll see you tomorrow, I hope….

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

Salvation lay in perfecting a peony in fuchsia….

Posted on September 25, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Of late, the ranting in which I’ve engaged has become somewhat strident, to my ears…. Some unkind persons might take it upon themselves to say I’ve gone all the way over, into shrill cacophony, but, as yet, I don’t think I’ve quite achieved that particularly annoying attribute, so painful to the inner ear, though not for lack of effort, I’m sure….. The reason for this is merely my own sense of diffuse anxiety and imminent disaster, probably due to my PTSD…. which tends to mark ALL crises as personal, y’know? It doesn’t matter whether the crisis is right here, in my house, or out there, in the Big Blue Room, in Washington D.C., or some other place where history is happening…. Any crisis situation, to which I become attuned, brings out the worst of my all-too-familiar left-over fears and anxieties, forcing me to experience the full onslaught of emotion that accompanies them, whenever they show up…

This is why I’ve fallen into ranting in the intro section; when the rants are fueled by the emotional morass inside me, they pop up in the most inconvenient places they can find, pushing their way into the conversation, no matter where it started….. Kind of like the people they are generally talking about, actually….. Convinced of their own correctness, the usual targets of my ire are those feel no compunction against letting out their innermost thoughts, regardless of what else may be called for by the conversation, by the demands of reality, or by intent of the author, to wit: me…. In other words, I’ve lost control of this blog, completely…. That, or I’ve slipped back into the pit of insanity, and it’s all gone to shit….

Nope, I can’t claim that one… I’m still here, and fairly lucid, most of the time….. Well, lucid by MY standards, which probably aren’t the same as those of normal reality…… Mine are most likely much more stringent, as I have very high standards when it comes to how my own brain works….. It may not appear that way, but, it is true, nonetheless….. Normal Reality is a much less logical, and less highly organized, place to be, compared to being in my head, most of the time…. I can probably never actually convince anyone of the truth of that assertion, but, it is the absolute truth, regardless of how things may appear from the other side….

In fact, a lot of what is visible is illusion, just like out there in the real world….. I don’t show ALL my cards at once, not until the last bet is called, as my daddy taught me so long ago….. Okay, now I’ve really done it….. Here I am, talking about my daddy, and what he taught me, before I even wake up enough to realize I’m even writing…. How did I get here? What in the hell am I talking about? Is there any hope for this Pearl? I’d better take a step back, and look at this from a new viewpoint… Be right back, ffolkes…

Ah, okay, found the primary contributing issue…. I forgot this….

“Avoid running at all times.” — Satchel Paige

Satchel gave what is no doubt the best advice for living that I’ve seen, especially given his lack of education….. But, sometimes, as is obvious here, too much education can be an issue, as well, causing as much trouble for its possessors as it does to solve those troubles…. In my case, it only leads to verbal indigestion, but, that can be uncomfortable enough, believe me…. I also found, during my inner troubleshooting episode, that I had been forgetting the following aphorism, to wit: Hanlon’s Razor…. It becomes clear that I’ve been a bit harsh to the BRC, as well as to the priestly hierarchies, and the fools who inhabit them….

“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” — Hanlon’s Razor

In other words, ffolkes, they can’t help being the way they are, so shouting at the top of my lungs to make them change their ways is NOT going to be an effective technique for instituting, or encouraging, any such changes…. But, then, I’ve always known, to some extent, that what I do here is shouting into the wind; I’m just one unknown, inconspicuous guy, with no societal props, or creds, as they say on the street, to make people pay attention to what I have to say….

As noted above, I seem to have lost all sense of direction, if not my sanity as well, so we may as well just get on with this, and try to put this one out of its misery…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” — Henry David Thoreau
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It is now the middle of the week, a segment of time that has little meaning to those of us who no longer work…. One of the more interesting issues I’ve noticed since retiring is how flexible time becomes….. The various little segments of time we use to describe different periods, such as “week”, “day”, “month”, “hour”, etc. have meaning to me only for keeping track of specific events that will occur at specific times… Otherwise, there is no strong reason to pay any attention to those distinctions, as one day, or one hour, is much the same in importance as the next, with little to tell one from another, (especially for those of us to whom Reality is a slippery concept, hard to grasp and/or hold for long, before it morphs into something else entirely…..).

The best part about this new scenario is, one assumes a great deal of control over each of those categories of time, by possessing the right and power to decide whether or not to acknowledge them at all; when we do, what we do with that time, too, is ours to choose, rather than being manipulated and/or controlled by the want and needs of other people….. Our time, after so long, is our own, to do with as we please, and it is a heady experience….

What does this have to do with creating a Pearl, or searching for pearls?….. Well, obviously, nothing much, but, then, it also has EVERYTHING to do with that process…. as it is entirely MY choice as to where we go from here… and, I say, let’s go find some GOOD STUFF…. Of course, I’ll leave the definition of GOOD STUFF up to random chance, but, hey, it sounds good, right?… Well, I think so, and it’s my blog, so there…. Sorry, don’t mean to get silly, or huffy, just having too much fun here…. Let’s go see what SB has today for us to find…..

“Growing old is not for sissies or the faint of heart.” — Smart Bee

“Let us not say, every man is the architect of his own fortune; but let us say, every man is the architect of his own character.” — George Dana Boardman

“A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.” — Chinese Proverb

“I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“For when I was a babe and wept and slept, Time crept. When I was a boy and laughed and talked, Time walked. Then when the years saw me a man, Time ran. But as I older grew, Time flew.” — Guy Pentreath

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” — Mark Twain

When speaking of aging, and time, who better to finish with?….. I like how this turned out, but, it needs two addenda, making this a nine-star pearl, in order to have the absolutely correct feel….

“Is not old wine wholesomest, old pippins toothsomest, old wood burns brightest, old linen wash whitest? Old soldiers, sweetheart, are surest, and old lovers are soundest.” — John Webster (c. 1580-1625) — Westward Ho, Act ii, Sc. 2

“We all have a face that we hide away forever,
And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone.
Some are satin, some are steel, some are silk and some are leather.
They’re the faces of the stranger and we love to try them on.”

— Billy Joel, The Stranger
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Some days, this process is rather a revelation, in terms of what the presence of entropy in the universe can do to how we view reality….. I went to find a poem for the rather odd mood I’m in today, and found a perfect candidate on the first try….. Here is a poem, which I find to be quite complex and intricate in its very simplicity… and quite powerful for all that…. It’s from a poet new to me, who sadly died recently, though not without recognition for his work… His name is Seamus Heaney, an Irish Poet Laureate….

Follower

My father worked with a horse-plough,
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung
Between the shafts and the furrow.
The horse strained at his clicking tongue.

An expert. He would set the wing
And fit the bright steel-pointed sock.
The sod rolled over without breaking.
At the headrig, with a single pluck

Of reins, the sweating team turned round
And back into the land. His eye
Narrowed and angled at the ground,
Mapping the furrow exactly.

I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,
Fell sometimes on the polished sod;
Sometimes he rode me on his back
Dipping and rising to his plod.

I wanted to grow up and plough,
To close one eye, stiffen my arm.
All I ever did was follow
In his broad shadow round the farm.

I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,
Yapping always. But today
It is my father who keeps stumbling
Behind me, and will not go away.

~~ Seamus Heaney ~~

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This is what I call a left-over pearl; these kept popping up for consideration while I was looking for the pearls in section one. Since they all were connected, obviously, by subject matter and/or intent, it seemed wasteful not to use them…. so, here is another randomly chosen pearl, but with more of a point to it, critically speaking…. Seven stars should be enough….. Works for me…

“In America, anyone can become president. That’s one of the risks you take.” — Adlai E. Stevenson

“The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next.” — Helen Keller

“Reason transformed into prejudice is the worst form of prejudice, because reason is the only instrument for liberation from prejudice.” — Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

“Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy.” — George Bernard Shaw

CABBAGE, n. “A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man’s head. The cabbage is so called from Cabagius, a prince who on ascending the throne issued a decree appointing a High Council of Empire consisting of the members of his predecessor’s Ministry and the cabbages in the royal garden. When any of his Majesty’s measures of state policy miscarried conspicuously it was gravely announced that several members of the High Council had been beheaded, and his murmuring subjects were appeased.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“As you know, I planned a trip out there for some time, so it fits in very nicely.” — President George Bush, on his trip to LA after the riots

“Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” — P.J. O’Rourke
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“I don’t have a weird sense of humor. Your reality is just weird.” — Smart Bee, speaking for gigoid again…..

As I suspected after writing the intro section, this turned on me, into an epic effort; I haven’t taken this long to put out a Pearl for quite a while…. Let’s see if it was worth all the perseverance and dedication…..

As I noted above, today’s effort has been somewhat of a revelation…. With a few minor tweaks and/or edits, it turned out pretty well, all things considered, so I’ll once again consider myself fortunate, and will post and be done with it, until tomorrow….

Hmm…. maybe, someday, someone will see one of these Pearls, even a strange one like this, and think it worthwhile to bring to the attention of the world at large…. Nah, that’s too much like a fantasy, or a sitcom scenario…. which would, given the nature of this beast, probably result in lasting harm to the space-time continuum, and a huge alteration of history…. Never mind, probably not a good idea….. Until tomorrow, then….

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

Don’t fret, it’s only a faux-artichoke impression…..

Posted on September 11, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Today is, of course, a day of infamy in this country, and though I’ve never really explored the events of that day in depth, I have expressed my thoughts to a small degree in previous posts on this blog. I suppose one could say that my view of the events is rather different than the normal run of reactions, since I firmly believe that, though it may or may not have been ordered by one of the shrubs (probably the senior, in defense of the junior, who was in serious trouble at the time of the attack, belabored by accusations of election fixing and general political malfeasance), was certainly used by them and their cronies to not only cement junior’s position, but to fan the flames of paranoid fear among the populace, in order to continue the assault on the Bill or Rights that has been raging for years….

I realize the intro section is not the place to rant, on ANY subject, but, the day’s significance to the public cannot be denied, and who am I to refrain from using it just like any other journalist or writer, to fuel my own production with emotionally charged material, taking advantage of the hullabaloo to add my voice to the cacophony that will assail our ears today? No, indeed, I’m as unprincipled as the best of them when it comes to using whatever is at hand to write about; I’m not so sanguine as to think what I have to say will sway any opinions, or cause any new conniptions amongst the elite, but, it does keep me off the streets, for the most part….

However, I have to say this…. Most folks, and even ffolkes, in this country, see the attacks that took place on 9/11/11 as military, or at minimum, terrorist attacks on the US, aimed at the people who live here, and seen as a battle in a war that is going on between us and much of the Muslim world….. I, however, see it as merely another example of the extremity of the human spirit, wherein insane, religious fanatics were manipulated by members of the BRC, (specifically one who was formerly head of the world’s most infamous spy agency), into performing what was actually a brilliant tactical maneuver (when viewed dispassionately, the attacks MUST be considered brilliant strategy, as the military objectives were reached with minimal expenditure of effort on the part of the executing team, utilizing materials at hand to cause major property damage, and significant casualties, even if those casualties were civilian, and not military….), all of which was carried out on the world’s stage for maximum effect.

Most of the people who reacted so strongly in the wake of the events of 9/11 did so without ever considering the larger picture. They only looked at what happened from the standpoint of being victimized, and, in the final analysis, are even more ignorant, and more easily manipulated now, than they were on that day. I am speaking of the public’s reaction; I don’t think that much of what we heard from the BRC has any real meaning, as any surprise they showed was pure method acting, and all of their rote responses were straight from the script they were provided when they became working members of the cultural elite.

Yes, ffolkes, I believe the whole thing was a conspiracy, and though I cannot point any fingers at specific culprits, I can certainly identify the main group of them…. Since everything I write here is being scrutinized by the myrmidons employed by the NSA to protect the BRC’s investment in political and societal manipulation, I hesitate to actually name names; once I do that, they have ample reason to come and take me away, to see whether I am holding any real, solid, on-paper evidence, or if I am only relating the ideas my intelligence and reasoning have deduced from the visible evidence. If the latter, I’m no real danger to them; they pretty much have complete control of the routes of perception for most of society, and can shut me down anytime, should they wish to do so.

If, however, I have real evidence, such as that made public by Eric Snowden, the first patriotic martyr of the twenty-first century, who has essentially given up on ever having a life, for telling the truth about the NSA, and providing solid, provable evidence for the public to see, then I am, as he is, a real danger to them, and they WILL do all they can to shut me down, as they have attempted to do to him…. He MAY still be alive (I have no evidence of that one way or another, and don’t exactly trust the news to tell the whole tale….), but, his life is all-but-over, for the political beast never forgets, and never forgives, especially when guilty of what they are accused of doing.

So, if the Pearls of Daily Wisdom ever fail to get posted, and there is no word from me as to why not, y’all will know they’ve come to “discuss” my theories with me, with the full intent of convincing me to shut the hell up…. If they continue to ignore me, you will continue to hear my ideas about the Beloved Ruling Class, and their campaign to take away all the liberties, to which we are presumably entitled, by the sacrifices made by the founders of this country.

Now that I’ve completely screwed up the order of events here, we’ll go on to the rest of today’s effort, little as it may turn out to be…. Shall we Pearl?….

Be what you is, ’cause if you is what you ain’t, then you ain’t what you is.” — Satchel Paige

“We would like to apologize for the way in which politicians are represented in this programme. It was never our intention to imply that politicians are weak-kneed, political time-servers who are more concerned with their personal vendettas and private power struggles than the problems of government, nor to suggest at any point that they sacrifice their credibility by denying free debate on vital matters in the mistaken impression that party unity comes before the well-being of the people they supposedly represent, nor to imply at any stage that they are squabbling little toadies without an ounce of concern for the vital social problems of today. Nor indeed do we intend that viewers should consider them as crabby ulcerous little self-seeking vermin with furry legs and an excessive addiction to a alcohol and certain explicit sexual practices which some people might find offensive. We are sorry if this impression has come across.” — Monty Python
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When I began to gather the pearls for this old-school version, I intended for it to point out more about the subjects discussed in the introductory rant…. During that process, it turned on me, into the shape and style you see below…. Though it doesn’t exactly match what I’ve said above, it does have a lot to say about the society in which we live, and some of the ideas that can help us to better understand it, and our own position within that structure….. I think….

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

“He who has a WHY to live for can bear with almost any HOW.” — F. Nietzsche

“You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence;you were expected to make peace with mediocrity. Wherever you have turned, you have been told where you could go and what you could do ( and _how_ you could do it) and where you could live and whom you could marry. I know your countrymen do not agree with me about this, and I hear them saying, “You exaggerate.” — James Baldwin,_The Fire Next Time_, 1964

“For himself doth a man work evil in working evils for another.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 265

“All history shows that every man who has authority is led to abuse it; he does not stop until he comes up against limitations…Things must be so arranged that one authority checks another.” — Montesquieu

“Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history, mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. They will submit to any indignity, perform any vile act, do anything to achieve power. The worst off-sloughings of the planet are the ingredients of sovereignty. Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us.” — P.J. O’Rourke, _Parliament of Whores_

“Muddy water let stand becomes clear.” — Lao Tzu
____________________________

For most of us, this poem needs no introduction…. It also fits in very nicely with today’s apparent theme….

The Hollow Men

Mistah Kurtz-he dead
A penny for the Old Guy

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom
Remember us-if at all-not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death’s dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind’s singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death’s dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat’s coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer-

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death’s other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death’s twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o’clock in the morning.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~
____________________________

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

Ursula LeGuin is indubitably one of the world’s greatest living writers, of ANY kind of literature…. That may be my opinion, but, it is shared by many in the Science Fiction genre, and anyone else who has read her work. This is such a beautiful sentiment that I’m not going to degrade it with any of my own thoughts on the same subject…. There is nothing I could possibly write to make this better, or to enhance it in any way…. it stands alone….
____________________________

Well, it’s certainly a Pearl, so let’s see if it holds up to initial scrutiny….. Wow…. It’s nothing, if not epic, to be sure…. Hopefully, it isn’t so much it will drive ffolkes away when they see what they’re getting into….. Hope springs eternal, does it not? In any case, it’s done, and it ain’t bad, so, it will now suffer the fate of each of the last 810+ Pearls, and get posted forthwith…. See ya tomorrow….. Well, if I’m still free and able to type, anyway…. Ta then…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole,
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

It only performs when titillated…..

Posted on August 15, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

In the interests of public safety, and by local statute, I am required to make the following announcement: Caution! Operator carries no caffeine! Do not put your hands in the cage. Do not speak to the operator while writing. Do not look at the operator while writing. In fact, just go away….

Okay, so the last one isn’t really in there, and, you don’t have to go away…. But, the rest is true, and good advice at this point, if a bit frantic, due to a late afternoon attack by one of Murphy’s minions yesterday, one with results much more far reaching than his usual shenanigans….. It was a real pisser, and I’m lucky I didn’t bite myself, it was so infuriating….

After a day of agonizing pain in my neck, which kept me down and out most of the day, I was dutifully, and, manfully, considering the still-present pita (pain in the neck, see? pita…. c’mon, keep up!….) cleaning up the kitchen, when I opened the coffee maker to prepare my coffee for this morning (the coffee maker is one that can be programmed to start at a set time…. heavenly!….). The machine’s getting a bit old, and Murphy decided the moment was the perfect time to have it break, in such a way as it is not repairable….. the bloody arsehole…

The plastic neck that delivers the hot water to the brew basket, to drip, cracked clean through; if used in this state, the hot water would proceed to cover the entire sink and counter where the coffee machine lives…. I’m actually lucky I noticed it break; if I hadn’t, the disaster would have been of major proportion, as it would have actually kept me from getting ANY coffee, and would no doubt have sent me into a towering rage, and subsequent riot, wherein the coffee maker would have most likely gotten tossed through the nearest window, thus requiring embarrassing explanations to the neighbors….

Though I’m pretty sure y’all don’t much give a shit about my hassles to obtain coffee, society knows better, and requires the above disclaimer if I am deprived of the necessary dose of it within a few moments of arising. It’s the law, which was enacted the last time it happened, in 1989…. you might have seen the news reports, though my lawyer tried to have them played down, and did manage to not have the law bear my name, like it does when some sex offender gets a law passed because of their actions, or named after a victim of some kind…

In my own case, there were no deaths, and only minor injuries, mostly to me, and my property…. But, it required a strong police and fire department presence to control the resultant events, and a number of officers got frightened so badly, they’re still in therapy…. The upshot is, I am required to have my first cup of very strong coffee, complete with accouterments, defined as sugar and cream, within two minutes of arising, and I am not allowed to associate with anything more complex than a toilet until that is accomplished. It’s better that way for everyone, so I don’t really have a problem with it, until stuff like this happens….

Murphy KNOWS that coffee is a legal requirement around here, and he delights in making it harder for me to stay on the right side of that legal line in the sand…. Hence, I now have to make a trip to a store today, to get a new machine, just for starters….. This morning, just to add insult to injury, it was necessary for me to heat up water on the stove, in a pan, and pour it through the coffee basket, with the machine off, in order to get any coffee at all, which, as you may guess, did NOT make me a happy camper…. I swear, if that Irish assbite ever manifests himself in front of me in such a way as to allow me to lay hands on him, he will not forget the pain for a very long time….

Now that the morning paean to coffee, and the habitual, almost required discussion complaint about Murphy’s latest version of humorous rudeness, has been composed, we can go on to other stuff…. I would say, given what I’ve seen so far, that is probably a good thing…. Quite frankly, this intro sucks big time….. but, like a wart, there it sits, so what are we to do? Well, I know what I’m gonna do….

Shall we Pearl….
_____________________________

This is the coolest thing! If you are a fan of Doctor Who, you will appreciate this, and may already know about it…. In my short stint of surfing yesterday (pain kept me off the computer a LOT yesterday….), I found the link below…. Following it will bring you to a Google map, which is of Earl Road, in London, England….

The map soon dissolves to show a picture of the street, with a blue Police telephone box in the center of the picture. If one clicks on the two white arrows that appear in the street in front of the box, the scene switches to a virtual view of the inside of the box, which happens to be the TARDIS, the Doctor’s sentient space-time travel machine….

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=51.492159,-0.19092&spn=0.005291,0.013937&sll=51.492140,-0.193028&layer=c&cid=12502927659667388442&panoid=c9UMhWP_MWm9U0L48xEjYw&cbp=13,291.8,,0,18.86&gl=US&t=m&cbll=51.492132,-0.192862&z=17

The scene shown inside the box is a virtual tour of the entire TARDIS interior, and the user can scroll around to view all the parts, though there is no Doctor present to guide the tour….. Regardless, it’s a great little easter egg from Google, and fun to play with for a while…. And, it serves as a way to keep me from subjecting y’all to a rant here in the first section…. Instead, I offer this little bit of fun, and hope you enjoy the time spent checking it out.

“I taught I taw a puddy tat.” — Tweety
_____________________________

It may not be clear from what has gone before, but, my head today is in a very, very strange place. I’m not sure why, or what has brought it on, but, strange it is…. It’s one of those days when I am unsure of just how I will react to any stimulus from others, so, I generally try to stay to myself on such days…. It also gives me a strange, if not altogether weird, impulse toward complex poetry, to match the feeling in my head (which, I understand, is a contradiction in terms…. feelings belong elsewhere than in the head….)…. For this, I almost always turn to this poet to furnish an appropriate verse or two….

Magi

The abstracts hover like dull angels:
Nothing so vulgar as a nose or an eye
Bossing the ethereal blanks of their face-ovals.

Their whiteness bears no relation to laundry,
Snow, chalk or suchlike. They’re
The real thing, all right: the Good, the True . . .

Salutary and pure as boiled water,
Loveless as the multiplication table.
While the child smiles into thin air.

Six months in the world, and she is able
To rock on all fours like a padded hammock.
For her, the heavy notion of Evil

Attending her cost less than a bellyache,
And Love the mother of milk, no theory.
They mistake their star, these papery godfolk.

They want the crib of some lamp-headed Plato.
Let them astound his heart with their merit.
What girl ever flourished in such company?

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

_____________________________

Subjects suitable for a rant have presented themselves to my attention several times in the last few days….

The BRC continues its thrashing around in the throes of embarrassment, trying to repair the damage to their credibility that the clandestine spying they’ve been up to has caused in the public, as well as the exposure threatened to all the other attempts to distract us from what they are doing behind the scenes…..

The Catholic bishops are scurrying around trying to figure out “What were we thinking, when we elected this idiot as Pope?!”, while the new Pope himself is busily meeting with the people on the streets, telling them, if only by example, he is going to clean out the corrupt bishops who elected him… Well, he hasn’t actually SAID that, but, his actions thus far seem to indicate that he isn’t going to go along with the agenda they had prepared for him, and may actually be trying to bring the church into the new millennium…. Not that it makes any great difference to me, but, a LOT of people regard his words as their own guide to reality, so what he says and does can directly affect society at large….

There have been other, just as juicy articles that spelled out some new outrageous government policy, or some new outrage on the public by a police officer, or some new instance of prosecution of an elected official for stealing money from the public coffers…. Stuff like this happens every day, and, in truth, has gotten to the point where it is hard to decide which one to address….

Now, me, I’m lazy, that’s been demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt in the past…. Therefore, even the process of decision making gets streamlined in terms of effort by my brain, which is extremely adroit at figuring out the path of least resistance (long practice helps there….). Hence, this random, harlequin, old-school pearl, with only the most meager of constraints placed on Smart Bee in regards choosing appropriate pearls… As long as fun is being poked, I’m good with it, and so should you be….

“I already know I’m paranoid. The question is, am I paranoid enough?” — Smart Bee

“I like a bit of a mongrel myself, whether it’s a man or a dog; they’re the best for every day.” — George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950, Misalliance [1910], episode I

“The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper” — Thomas Jefferson

IDIOT, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot’s activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but “pervades and regulates the whole.” He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hopes for the human condition is a fool.” — Albert Camus

“I realize that I’m generalizing here, but as is often the case when I generalize, I don’t care.” — Dave Barry

Well, that came out better than I had hoped, or imagined…. well done, SB…. or, should that be, well, done, SB…. ?….. Either way, it seems…..
_____________________________

Given the handicaps under which I’ve struggled in order to complete this morning’s effort, I consider it a job well done, no matter how it came out… How did it come out? Let’s see…..

Okay, well, that’s way better than I’d hoped, or expected; I can easily attribute it to serendipity, which, in my life, is generally accompanied by a gleeful expression of joyful feeling, such as “Look what I found!”, or “Whoopee, I struck gold!”, or other such heartfelt exposition. Consider it said, and we’ll call it square, okay?….

I know it’s good, or at least, okay, because there weren’t any typos I could find…. at least, not in the first pass; however, it still has to cross Murphy’s desk, and the WP new-post editor, either of which could make their own, unapproved and unwanted, changes, usually without my knowledge…. Just remember, when it left my desk, it was pristine…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Hip-deep in tuning forks….

Posted on July 23, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Almost very morning, for the last two or so years, I have arisen from my bed relatively early in the day, anywhere from 4 AM to 6 or 7 AM, and set myself to write. Every time I do, without fail, I suffer a pang of fear, that what I have to say will come out badly, or be boring, or most often, I”m afraid I won’t be able to think of anything worthwhile to write about. This morning, that fear has reached major proportions, because a) not only have I once again broken routine by staying up late, and arising late, so, I’m feeling rushed, and, b) not only can I not think of anything about which I feel like writing, but, worst of all, c) I don’t feel like writing at all….

Now, THAT is a huge change! I’ve depended on this process for quite a while now to maintain my sanity, and NOT having any urge to produce is a completely new feeling for me…. This process has all become habitual, often running by itself, without any conscious direction from me. I haven’t even bothered to consider whether or not I wanted to write; I just wrote. This morning I’m suffering from a lack of motivation as much as my usual lack of palatable, or at least acceptable, material, and I don’t know how to deal with it….

In at least one sense, this feeling, or lack of feeling, is a positive note in my existence, as it implies that those things in my life that cause me to feel depressed are either not presently active, or, are not bad enough to trigger any of my more destructive symptoms, such as labile emotionalism, angst, diffuse anxiety, and unreasoned fear. This leads me to feel competent, able to deal with any other difficulties with a higher degree of success, which, happily, leads to a further reduction of overall stress….

In addition, I seem to be getting the hang of living with my back and hips in this condition, (that is to say, weak, and constantly threatening a higher pain level), by not making mistakes about physical activities that cause me to tweak it, sending me into crescendos of spasms and severe pain; I haven’t had that problem in some time… My use of meds is not necessarily reduced, as I still get breakthrough pain at times, but it seems much more consistent in the average number per day….

All this means I don’t fear for my sanity as much as previously… This is, no doubt, probably not a wise course of action, as sanity can be a pretty slippery slope, and Murphy is always lurking around somewhere, just waiting to fuck with me for no good reason. But, it also means a period of time when it will be a struggle to find the motivation to write, perhaps even a bigger struggle than the daily one I have now in looking for something to write about…. Motivation is much harder to create than prose, I’ve found, especially within ourselves. I find it uplifting, and easier, to help others find motivation than I do finding it for myself; that’s probably very human of me, but, hey, you can’t pick your parents, or your species….

I do seem to be getting pretty good at this intro business, from an output standpoint, anyway. I can’t speak to the quality of what comes after, but I’d say the intro is fairly consistent these days, starting each day’s post with a four-to-six-or-seven-paragraph discussion of pretty much nothing at all, confusingly, but, firmly, leading the Gentle Reader deeper into the morass, until they have to go on to the end just to find their way back to reality…..

Hopefully, the poetry, and some of the virtual wisdom that is presented, makes the trip worthwhile… because, now, it’s no longer all about keeping me sane, which implies that I will spend less time in that state… or, not, which may or may nt completely destroy all my creative urges, and I’ll just fade away into blog limbo, never to be heard from again…. Sadly, I am unable to judge whether or not that is a comforting thought, or a scary one…. and I don’t think I want y’all to decide, either…. which means I’d best get on with this….

Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

Since my own level of creativity is in the dumps, I’ll be depending on Smart Bee heavily today…. Let’s see what it has for us today…. What happens now is as much of a surprise for me as it is for you, as this is my favorite kind of old-school pearl, one that I have started my search by typing in “star dot star”, or *.*, a search parameter that tells the search engine to look for anything, everywhere, which means one never knows what will be found…..

“How’s the wife? Is she at home enjoying capitalism?” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Since my cat learned to type, there is no guarantee whose thoughts these are…” — Smart Bee

“One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people’s minds.” — Frank Zappa, 1979

“The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.” — Alden Nowlan

“Fools! they know not how much half exceeds the whole.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 40

Hmm… okay, I admit, it’s a bit obscure…. Let’s see if two more will fix it….

“Think of doubt as an invitation to think.” — Smart Bee

“One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty in finding someone to blame your troubles on. And when you do find someone, it’s remarkable how often their picture turns up on your driver’s license.” — P. J. O’Rourke

Yep, perfect…. Enjoy!…..
_____________________________

“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

This is quite true, but, it’s like that hive of bees…. Eventually, you just have to say to yourself, “Well, yes, having this urge to write poems IS much like having a hive of bees live in my head….. But, there they are!” Acceptance is hard, but in Emily’s case, not quite as hard for me as for some folks, as I KNOW I’ll never reach her level of genius when it comes to poetic expression, so I don’t bother to fret over it…. Here is an example of what I mean….

Safe in their alabaster chambers,
Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,
Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,
Rafter of satin, and roof of stone.

Light laughs the breeze in her castle of sunshine;
Babbles the bee in a stolid ear;
Pipe the sweet birds in ignorant cadences, —
Ah, what sagacity perished here!

Grand go the years in the crescent above them;
Worlds scoop their arcs, and firmaments row,
Diadems drop and Doges surrender,
Soundless as dots on a disk of snow.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

_____________________________

As I iterated above, and shall now reiterate, I’m lacking in inspiration, and motivation, which means I’m lazy, and I don’t care…. Not so lazy as to go to the archives, but, lazy enough to go with another old-school pearl in place of a rant, which, though I believe there is one in there, just primed to come out to play, it’s not quite the right moment for it…. Another rationalization, but, then, rationalization has always been one of my better skills. It’s particularly handy when trying to decide whether to indulge my own whims, such as this one, to pearl….. The first four of these presented themselves as a group when I was searching for the material in section one of today’s post, and seemed to have something to say…. Who am I to keep words from expressing themselves?….

“When an idea is wanting a word can always be found to take its place.” — J.W. von Goethe

“Let’s not be too tough on our own ignorance. It’s the thing that makes America great. If America weren’t incomparably ignorant, how could we have tolerated the last eight years?” — Frank Zappa, Feb 1, 1989

“…this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.” — John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1816

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

“Pardon him, Theodotus, he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.” — George Bernard Shaw

“A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth.” — George Prentice

“He may look like an idiot and talk like and idiot but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.” — Groucho Marx

See, even when I’m being lazy, I can still take shots at pundits…. Gotta keep in practice, y’know?…..
_____________________________

3.141592653589793238462643383279502883197116939937.. I forget the rest….

A friend is one who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Both of the above quotes came from Smart Bee, which is often the only one who knows where it originated… They are both there just because I like them, and they seem to be appropriate for both the mood of today’s Pearl, and for my own mood…. I would say I just like them, but, since I did that already, I’ll just get on with the proofing…. It shouldn’t take long, as there isn’t that much that I composed fresh, which cuts down on editing…. Didn’t seem to cut down much today… that took almost as long as the intro…. But, it’s done, you’ll be thankful to know, and we can all get on with the rest of the day….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

With piteous disregard for the weak of mind….

Posted on November 16, 2012 by gigoid

Special note: To all my Facebook, Yahoo, WordPress, and Internet friends….. I feel this Pearl is an important one to share…. I don’t usually try to promote my work this hard, but today’s message is one of importance for all Americans, if only for the links I’ve added to my comments. Those links need to be seen by millions of our countrymen, whereby we have a real opportunity to fix a big part of the problems faced by our Society at large, in light of the results of our recent election…. Please read these ideas, and spread them around for discussion, as far as you can, by Sharing on Facebook, by Pressing on WordPress, and wherever else on the Web they may get to…. thanks….

Ffolkes,
Several days ago, I spoke here about the embittered asses who have been spouting off in Facebook, and other places, regarding seceding from the Union, since their bigoted racism was struck down by the majority of right-thinking people in this country on election day. I spoke fairly eloquently to express my chagrin, and my anger at their intransigence, but yesterday, I read a response to those people that was not just better than mine, but was, in my mind, perfect. The author had researched his law well, and was forthright in outlining the very illegality of their so-called “right to secede”, as well as being quite forthcoming in his anger at them for their treason. That article can be found here: http://90degrees2theleft.com/2012/11/15/when-a-comment-is-better-than-the-article/#comment-333

Yes, treason, the same word I used previously. You see, the South LOST the Civil War, though they don’t seem to realize it, just the same as they lost this election. When they did, they lost the right to secede from the Union, forever; that is clearly stated in the articles of government that were set in place during the Reconstruction after the War. I was fairly lenient, saying they should just be allowed to leave, if they wish; this man is more righteous in that sense, and would have these traitors prosecuted and jailed, and not merely allowed to leave, but EXILED in shame, for their treasonous statements and actions. And you know what? I wouldn’t stand in the way of that at all…. Stupidity should have SOME consequences attached to it, especially when it is deliberate….

Apparently, these ffolkes aren’t leaving it there, at just expressing their displeasure at this treason, but are following up their words with action…. They’re submitting a petition to the White House, suggesting that these secessionists be arrested for their treason, have their citizenship stripped from them, and be sent into exile. Their position as citizens would then be offered to resident immigrants in this country, who all WANT to be Americans, with educational assistance given to complete the naturalization process. I think this is a GRAND idea, and will be signing that petition as soon as I can get online again. That petition is easy to find, too, here: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/revoke-citizenship-those-who-petition-secession-our-union-and-grant-their-citizenship-working/LQ9sXmmh?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Once again, the intro section has been usurped into political ranting mode, but, that’s one of the risks around here; political or religious ranting fervor may strike at any time. Apparently, right after I wake up is one of the times when that is likely; my outrage is set to kick in at a moment’s notice at this time of the day, I guess, which is, all in all, a good thing, I think….. Whether y’all agree with that may not be immaterial, but it is moot, since we’re about done with it for today, anyway…. But, lest one think that I’m not serious about this, let me reiterate….

Reason prevailed at the polls on November 6, and the MAJORITY has spoken. These, sad, white, racists cannot stand having their delusions shattered, and are deathly afraid, knowing their prejudices are no longer in control of society, and they are now exposed as the bigots they really are. This talk of secession is just one more piece of evidence that shows their complete ignorance, of history, of reality, and of the laws of their own country.

Fuck them…. fuck them all. Arrest them for treason, strip them of their citizenship, and send them off to Africa, or wherever in the world there is a haven for such assholes (Now, there’s a thought…. Who will take them? I don’t know that any country will want them, as they’ve already proven their inability to live with others, and shown just how bigoted and racist they are…. There might not be anywhere for them to go…. Oh, well…. too bad, so sad…. I guess we’ll just have to dump them on some island that nobody else wants…..).

Give their rights as citizens to working immigrants, who have already shown their commitment to be good Americans by their actions in support of this country. Maybe then, we can see the last of the Southern fried idiots who have been keeping this country from joining the rest of the human race in the struggle to survive…. and the Civil War will finally be over….

Well, now that my political/religious* rant for this morning is done, I may have a hard time finding something else to discuss…. time will tell, I suppose, as it always does (how does the Doctor always know?….) At any rate, I can do no more damage here, so we’ll get on with today’s dive for pearls…. Shall we Pearl?…..

*I say religious, as well as political, because I hold religion, or more accurately, preachers/priests, to be equally responsible for the attitudes these secessionists hold; it is the combination of the bigotry and elitism promulgated by the Christian religions (and others, they’re not alone….) with the ignorant political and historical throwbacks to the Old South who have usurped the GOP, that has created this group of hard-core fundamentalist fanatics, who cannot, and will not, learn to get along with anyone who isn’t in their chosen group…. If there is a group of people on this planet worthy of my hatred and complete disgust, it is these religious politicians, and political preachers, who preach their litanies of hate to their congregations just as if it was some kind of truth, while simultaneously claiming their own innocence and God-given mission, and calling it Peace and Love…. Despicable, sad excuses for human beings, which is why I try to pity them, because they are not even worth the mental energy it takes to hate….
__________________________________

Having ranted enough for the time being, here is an old school pearl. This one is a bit different, as it doesn’t lead to one central concept, as such, but rather a number of related ideas. All of it is good food for thought, and are things I believe in….. as if that matters….. Nonetheless, it is all good stuff, and one can never have too much good stuff….

“He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“He was a wise man who invented God.” — Plato
(You’ve got to think about this one, and go a bit deeper than the first level or two….)

“All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers … Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born.” — Francois Fenelon

“I don’t know but I’ve been told
the streets of heaven are lined with gold
I ask you how things could get much worse
if the Russians happened to get up there first
wowee, pretty scary”

— Robert Zimmerman
(Bonus points if you know his stage name…..)

“I just didn’t say it.” — Ronald Reagan –Associated Press, 10/5/66
(When asked to explain a “recorded” statement…. i.e., it was on tape….)

As a final note, here is a fitting finish to this subtle, yet pointed group of sharp sticks to the eye of ignorance…..

“As for courage and will – we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead.” — Andre Norton

I love it…. yet another proof of what I’ve said before… “All you can do, is all you can do…..” Having done so, we will pass on to another pearl…. a poetic one….
__________________________________

Shui Tiao Ko Tou

Will a moon so bright ever arise again?
Drink a cupful of wine and ask of the sky.
I don’t know where the palace gate of heaven is,
Or even the year in which tonight slips by.
I want to return riding the whirl-wind! But I
Feel afraid that this heaven of jasper and jade
Lets in the cold, its palaces rear so high.
I shall get up and dance with my own shadow.
From life endured among men how far a cry!

Round the red pavilion
Slanting through the lattices
Onto every wakeful eye,
Moon, why should you bear a grudge, O why
Insist in time of separation so th fill the sky?
Men know joy and sorow, parting and reunion;
The moon lacks lustre, brightly shines; is al, is less.
Perfection was never easily come by.
Though miles apart, could men but live for ever
Dreaming they shared this moonlight endlessly!

Su Tung-po
__________________________________

Here is what may properly be called a minimalist pearl…. at least, that’s what I’m calling it, and I’m the one in charge, so…. any who, below you will find two statements, one purely textual, and one with some attached art (well, a facial photo of Jimmy Carter may not exactly be art, but, it IS a picture….). Both statements cut to the heart of one of the modern world’s most basic root problems, in my mind, which is the disparity of purpose and unity between males and females of the human species. I regard this “battle” to be the most destructive element of what is wrong with our culture, and believe very strongly that it needs to change…. I’m not so narcissistic or egotistical to believe that I have all the answers as to how that might be accomplished, but, a clear examination of the truth is generally a pretty good place to start….

“In the early twelfth century century the Virgin had been the supreme protectress of civilisation. She had taught a race of tough and ruthless barbarians the virtues of tenderness and compassion. The great cathedrals of the Middle Ages were her dwelling places upon earth. In the Renaissance, while remaining the Queen of Heaven, she became also the human mother in whom everyone could recognise qualities of warmth and love and approachability… The stabilising, comprehensive religions of the world, the religions which penetrate to every part of a man’s being– in Egypt, India or China– gave the female principle of creation at least as much importance as the male, and wouldn’t have taken seriously a philosophy that failed to include them both… It’s a curious fact that the all-male religions have produced no religious imagery– in most cases have positively forbidden it. The great religious art of the world is deeply involved with the female principle.” — Kenneth Clark, 1969

Now that Mr. Clark has thrown some light on some of the historical elements, one of this country’s former Presidents (whom history will judge much more fairly, and admirably, than current society…..) has some words about how the political, and religious leaders of the world have conspired to keep things the way the are for so long, just because they are assholes (Sorry, my phrase, not his…. But, they are, though…. assholes, that is….)…..

I could go on in this vein for a very long time, and promise to do so again at a later date…. Suffice it to say here that we all need to think about this sort of stuff, every day…. That is the only way to sustain the outrage long enough to stimulate us to act. Action will be necessary for changes to be made, as is always true…. True, is what every word above is…..
__________________________________

“All right, then, Harry?” “All right, Hagrid….” I have to say, this one came out worthy of an NTS rating (Not Too Shabby). I can’t say it’s exactly inspired, or even inspirational, but it sure came down heavy on the side of Reason and Truth, eh? For a day when there is so much more happening, I feel a fair sense of accomplishment, merely for completing it. And, since that is an award I give myself, nobody can take it away from me, without much more effort than it would ever be worth…. If you are now confused, my work here is done….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

Any Use of This Product, in Any Manner Whatsoever, Will Increase the Amount of Disorder in the Universe. Although No Liability Is Implied Herein, the Consumer Is Warned That This Process Will Ultimately Lead to the Heat Death of the Universe. — PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Unable to pass, naturally, he punts….

Posted on November 10, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Damn, damn, damn…. Murphy strikes again, it seems. What with my recent stresses building up to a climax on Thursday at the Disability psyche exam, I believe I may have exhausted myself. Yesterday, I managed to get the Pearl out, and even went out in the rain to post it at the coffee shop. In that process, I found that my newly acquired advanced age has taken away some of my resistance to the weather, and I got really cold before getting home to warm up. Then, last night, I got really tired, and went to bed at 8 PM, only to awaken at 3:30 AM, wide awake, of course, and ready to write…..

As I booted up the ol’ laptop, I poured coffee, and prepared to sit down and get serious. But, upon looking at the screen, Smart Bee was missing. This, I believe, is where Murphy stepped in again. The program icon was there, on the task bar, but wouldn’t come up on the screen. Well, this had occurred previously, and only got fixed after a week of panic and contortions, by reinstalling a newly downloaded version that I had to go get from the website. That version has acted fine, until this morning, when it once again went back into wherever it is software goes when it’s messing with you….

So, here I am, once again, without my trusted source of stimulating material. For today, I have some stuff I had previously collected, but, it looks like I’ll have to do another download of Smart Bee to get it back, which won’t happen until later. SIGH….. Murphy is indeed an asshole, and I don’t care if he hears me…. he couldn’t f….k with me any worse than he already does…. (I know, tempting for him, but, you know what, f….k him, and the white horse he didn’t ride in on…..)

There are, of course, probably other sources for quotes I could use, but I’m stubborn. Stubborn, but not stupid, so I WILL look for another program similar to SB that may work for me, once I get to where Google will work for me. In the meantime, I’m stuck with what I have on hand, and that means so are you…. Hopefully, it won’t cause any great difficulties, and also hopefully, will not result in a lessening of the quality of pearls.

Having thus gotten my morning whine out of the way, I should get on with the rest of the day’s work, such as it is. The first section should be no problem; it’s a diatribe on an old familiar target. After that, well, the results will be a matter of chance…. and if anyone says that will be some kind of improvement, well, that will just be cruel…. accurate, perhaps, but cruel….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“In my travels I have found that those who keep Heaven in view remain serene and cheerful in the darkest day. If the glories of Heaven were more real to us, if we lived less for material things and more for things eternal and spiritual, we would be less easily disturbed by this present life.” — Billy Graham, from Hope for the Troubled Heart Traveling Through

Ah, yes, more pseudo- faux wisdom from Mr. Delusional himself. Billy (what is it with these evangelical preachers and their names?…. Why would a 60 plus year-old man want to be called “Billy”? Makes me suspect some pederasty, myself, but I’m the suspicious type….) has hit upon a very valuable point here, without even being aware of the point he is making…. which is pretty typical for him. I’ve had to listen to his crap all my life, as my mother went through a period of time in my childhood where she enjoyed watching his TV revivals, and made us watch as well. For me, it worked out okay, as it gave me all the more reason to mistrust whatever the preachers were spouting off about, and there were some pretty hot Christian babes to look at, even if they couldn’t sing for shit; must have been from having no rhythm, as they danced even worse….. Hell, maybe it wasn’t dancing at all, but choreographed speaking in tongues while writhing on the stage….

Sorry, didn’t mean to wander…. any who, Billy’s assertion here, though it calls upon people to use their heads in a new way, unfortunately points the way to go that leads straight to the delusions he wishes to share. He is right that when we concentrate on our spiritual manifestation, we are less susceptible to the vagaries of reality, but, he uses the concept of Heaven as the goal, which, as we all know, is somewhat hard to prove exists. In order to accept Heaven as a reality, one must assume the belief in the other unprovable assertions made by these evangelistic (another word for “manipulative”) busybodies. Besides, what’s wrong with being disturbed by life? I’d rather be disturbed than lied to, which is what they are doing…..

“Some foolish men declare that a Creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected. If God created the world, where was He before creation? How could God have made the world without any raw material? If you say He made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression … Know that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning and end.” — The Mahapurana, Jinasena

You see, this makes as much sense to me as any of the stuff that the preachers and deacons tried to tell us as kids, and that Billy tries to force down the unwilling throats of adults. This philosophy at least takes reality into account in its provisions, even if it does make its own unprovable assertions…. But, most of the assertions it makes are much more logical and justifiable by evidence than are any of those made by the Christian sects. These assertions are at least verifiable according to reason, and fit in better with the observable universe. In a choice between logic and fantasy, I’ll go with logic, every time….

Fanatic: Someone who, having lost sight of his goal, redoubles his efforts. — Smart Bee (This is the last one found there, for the time being….SIGH….)

Sadly, the people who accept Billy’s nonsense are often of this ilk. No matter how much one defies their assertions by presenting logical alternatives, the believers just clutch their cherished delusions more tightly to their breast, and raise their voices in anger and angst, in order to drown out any opposing views by the din of their fervor. Actually, I, being the cruel curmudgeon I am, will often challenge these folks just to watch them explode, as it is quite an entertaining way to pass the time. Some might say that it is immoral to pick on them (it IS dishonorable to engage in a battle wits with unarmed persons, I suppose….), but, I can’t help myself. I’ve spent much of my life having to listen to these people, politely, and giving in to the admonitions to not argue with them; I’m done with that, and if I want to tease them, I damn well will….

“When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.” — Robert A Heinlein, “If this goes on….”

One of the most annoying aspects of the folks like Billy, who proselytize their beliefs, dumping them on others, is the way they will do everything in their power to keep their constituents ignorant of any other views but their own. They cannot abide competition, and attempt to subvert it by brainwashing their acolytes to accept what they say, without ever trying to find out whether or not it has any validity according to any other knowledge possessed by Man. They are the people of whom St. Thomas Aquinas warned, when he said, “Beware the man of one book.” If Billy had his way, the Bible, King James version, would be the only book in the library, unless there were some approved treatises that discussed appropriately the contents of that Bible (thereby making it the same book, in essence).

This is the kind of discussion that could carry on for days, but, I’m tired of it, so we’ll bring it to a close. Billy is, all things considered, a pretty easy target, since he fits into so many of the categories that I like to make fun of…. preacher, fanatic, delusional, believes his own hype, hypocritical, sanctimonious, pompous, and sure of his own (non-existent) omniscience. It’s fun, but grows old as fast as his ideas…. I pick on him because it is obvious that he possesses a modicum of native intelligence; he just refuses to use it, and that, to me, is a crime against nature. He is smart enough to see that what he says is nonsense, but, is too cowardly, or too dishonest, to admit it. For this I hold him accountable, and thus use him as a target frequently…. because he deserves every bit of opposition we can give him…. He targets, and solicits money from, the weak-minded and the ignorant, and that, to me, is unforgivable……

If you wish to know
Why there are disasters
Of Armies and Weapons in the world
Listen to the piteous cries
From the slaughterhouse at midnight

— Old Chinese Saying
__________________________________

A Question

A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.

Robert Frost

Well said!…..
__________________________________

In lieu of Smart Bee, I went back into the archives to find an old Pearl to use here. Serendipity struck, and I found this one, which is rather appropriate. I wrote this one four years ago, almost to the day…. these were my comments regarding the outcome of the 2008 election, and the remarks, minus one, are all still very apropos…. Just ignore the one about the lame duck, as there isn’t one this time around…. the rest of it remains valid, so, to reiterate….

Ffolkes,
Though it is my gut feeling that we can all breathe a big sigh of relief that the nightmare of the last eight years is almost over, I must caution thee against complacence. It’s now a matter of keeping an eye on both the lame duck guy and the newbie, for a while at least. It’s best not to leave them unattended for long as they tend to get into mischief if not firmly leashed. With this in mind, I offer the following….

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

“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.” — P.J. O’Rourke

“I have never been hurt by anything I didn’t say.” — Calvin Coolidge (Let’s hope Obama can live up to that!)

And lets not forget the Wisdom of Who….

“Here’s to the new boss,
The same as the old boss….
….
So I get on my knees an pray,
we don’t get fooled again”– Pete Townshend

Y’all take care out there….

Almost eerie, isn’t it? I have to say, this country dodged a BIG bullet this election; if R&R, the consummate liars, had bought the White House, we would have been in for a very disturbing episode of history, with the outbreak of the Second American Revolution not out of the realm of possibility. I know I would have been ready to assume arms in a heartbeat….

But, reason prevailed, giving me some hope for the people of this nation, even those who have the heads firmly inserted into their bums…. I think Zippy is right on the money with this closing thought on the subject, and with that thought, we can bring the subject to a welcome close… for about 3 years, until the next group of power-hungry Republicans step up to try to steal the election….. Pay heed to Zippy’s wisdom!……..

“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

Well, it may not be Art, but it is Frank and Earnest….. and, sadly, it’s the best I’ve got today. Since I’m now looking at 0615 AM from the wrong side, I think I might try to go back to bed for a while, and let this all slough off my conscience. Besides, I can look at it later with a fresh eye, and see if it is worth posting, or if my early morning adventures are affecting the Pearls adversely. If that is the case, well, gosh, I just don’t know what I’ll do…. I guess I’ll find out later….. More to come…..

Well, it’s better than I had anticipated; good enough the let fly….. I’m considering it lucky, and being thankful….. Onward into another day, ffolkes…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Live sessions of prancing can be messy….

Posted on November 5, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Sometimes, the tears that come to me are not unwelcome…. even if they are attached to a small bit of painful awareness. Yesterday, I got to visit for a time with my two-year old grandson, Zackary. He is becoming a delightful child, sweet-natured and affectionate, and not yet fully engaged in being two, so no tantrums. Any who, the tears are because he recognized me this time, and called me “grandpa”, the first time he’s made that connection. THAT is definitely worth a few tears of joy…..

Since I don’t wish to spend the entire morning in tears, though, I’ll leave it at that; it is a complicated situation, and one I can do nothing about, so I let it go a lot. I know if I can live long enough, Zack and I will have our chance to get to know each other when he is older….. For now, though, it’s best if we just get on with normal business, so I don’t get all maudlin on you….. Too much salty water and the pearls get soggy and hard to manage…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

With the Presidential election coming up tomorrow, it seems appropriate to indicate some of my thoughts on the process. Here is an old school pearl, with a group of quotes that show various points about the candidates, or the choice to be made, or just thoughts on how the entire scene is merely a sham, a cover-up of what is actually happening in the world…. see any of George Carlin’s work from the last five years before his death for some of the finer points that I may miss…. He issued several precise condemnations of the beloved ruling class that spoke to the depth of corruption present…. but, maybe these will aid you in making a rational choice tomorrow, so…. here they are…..

“All riches come from iniquity, and unless one has lost, another cannot gain. Hence that common opinion seems to be very true, “the rich man is unjust, or the heir to an unjust one.” Opulence is always the result of theft, if not committed by the actual possessor, than by his predecessor.” — St. Jerome (340?-420)

“Pessimism is not in being tired of evil but in being tired of good. Despair does not lie in being weary of suffering, but in being weary of joy. It is when for some reason or other the good things in a society no longer work that the society begins to decline; when its food does not feed, when its cures do not cure, when its blessings refuse to bless.” — G.K. Chesterton

“He was so crooked, you could have used his spine for a safety-pin.” — Dorothy L. Sayers, from “The Nine Tailors”
(Guess who THAT might fit; a clue: it rhymes with twit….)

“Government, today, is growing too strong to be safe. There are no longer any citizens in the world; there are only subjects. They work day in and day out for their masters; they are bound to die for their masters at call. Out of this working and dying they tend to get less and less.” — H.L. Mencken

“The people came to realize that wealth is not the fruit of labour but the result of organized protected robbery.” — Frantz Fanon

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken
(Mr. Mencken was smart, but he was an ass about some things, including his thoughts on women. This, to me, is accurate, regarding politicians, but is an insult to women, especially one trapped into a life as a streetwalker….. Being smart doesn’t preclude being an asshole, obviously….)

“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” — Lily Tomlin
(Trust Lily to get right to the heart of the matter….)

‘When the legislature decides the rules of buying and selling, the first thing to be bought will be the legislators.” — P. J. O’Rourke

That is probably more than enough…. I don’t want to make you depressed, and unable to make a reasonable choice at the polls…. or make you too despondent to care…. just vote, ffolkes, this one will make a difference if it goes the wrong way…..
__________________________________

No introduction needed for this lady’s work….

I had been hungry all the years-
My noon had come, to dine-
I, trembling, drew the table near
And touched the curious wine.

‘T was this on tables I had seen
When turning, hungry, lone,
I looked in windows, for the wealth
I could not hope to own.

I did not know the ample bread,
‘T was so unlike the crumb
The birds and I had often shared
In Nature’s dining-room.

The plenty hurt me, ‘t was so new,–
Myself felt ill and odd,
As berry of a mountain bush
Transplanted to the road.

Nor was I hungry; so I found
That hunger was a way
Of persons outside windows,
The entering takes away.

~~ Emily Dickinson
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I have been searching Smart Bee literally all day, and can’t seem to find an appropriate third section inspiration…. so I’m going with Art again…. this time we have three photos, any one of which serves me as a touchstone for the concept of sheer beauty. The pictures come from the web site of a friend, whose beauty of spirit rivals the pictures she takes of her flowers. These three are some of my favorites, so much so that when I am depressed, or need a fix of beauty, these are what I bring up on screen…. honestly. A couple of minutes of taking in the details of their sheer perfection of form and color, and my soul is much closer to serenity…. Her name is Carol, and her website address is…. http://carolwelsh.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!
See? Proof positive that perfection exists…..
__________________________________

Well, with a bit of creative cheating, it all got done, and none too soon. I’m going to leave this alone now, and trust to my instincts to let it fly…. I spent much of the day doing laundry, then recovering from that, as it is no longer a simple chore for me. Ah well, life goes on…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

In defense of inconvenient innuendo….

Posted on October 21, 2012 by gigoid

10/20/12, aka 10/21/12 ~~ Time, or the labeling of same, is mine to dictate, so, today is tomorrow…. the missing day is banished from memory. So Be It….

Ffolkes,
It seems my unconscious mind has taken a hand in directing my conscious life as well…. but, in this case, it seems to work fairly well, all in all, so I’m going to leave it alone for the time being. I know that sound mysterious, but saying this precisely this way is merely withholding details that would be unenlightening, and at the same time, counter-productive to discussion. Suffice it to say that I am here now, sitting down to write, with more than average clarity, and a degree of unusual comfort…. Thank goodness for coffee, eh?……

I know, I know, that was a less than illuminating paragraph, but, believe me, you really don’t want any more details, so let’s just get on with our regular business, shall we? Suffice it to say that this is a case where you need to trust me, you don’t want to know any more than you do now…. So, you may as well give it up, because I ain’t talking…. Well, I wouldn’t be, but this IS the intro section, and I have to say SOMETHING….

I could point out that, here at Exploring Consensual Reality, you do get more respect…. I could have skipped the above two paragraphs entirely, and not even mentioned the new schedule changes, thus avoiding inadvertently letting out TMI, but figured that my readers are too smart, and might notice something…. so, I figure it’s better to just mention it in passing, rather than try to fool you all into a false sense of complacency. Such a condition is anathema to me, and I refuse to create it in others, if at all possible…. I’d rather create a small bit of confusion, than a great deal of it….

With all that being said, and so cheerfully, we should probably get on with the search for pearls; it promises to be somewhat of a hard line search, as I am starting off with zero to work with (as might have been surmised by this intro, and it’s obvious stretching of ingredients…). This will be posted from the library again, as it is that time of the month when my available cash is scarce…. Until we can get to that point, though, we need to find some pearls…. so, shall we Pearl?…..

“It’s OKAY — I’m an INTELLECTUAL, too.” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

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….)
__________________________________

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
__________________________________

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

— Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) — Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child”

I first read the phrase “feeding the Elephant’s Child” in a Robert Heinlein novel, many years ago, and enjoyed it as a metaphor for reading/learning, before I knew from whence it originally came. Once I did know (a moment of illumination whose exact placement in time is hazy….), I liked it even more, from an aesthetic standpoint. The above little ditty is brilliant doggerel, astute observation, and deep insight, all presented in a simple, straightforward style, with a powerful, basic lesson for any would-be philosopher, or any one who wishes to encompass reason as their modus operandi, so to speak. Besides which, I find that another piece of Bob’s advice fits well with this one, to wit: “Life tastes better in big bites….”

“Never wear anything that panics the cat.” — P. J. O’Rourke

I like this, a lot. It summarizes perhaps one of the most elemental rules of getting along in the Universe, in essence saying, “You can learn a lot by watching what happens around you…” It is the perfect companion to the concept of learning as presented above, as it contrives to speak to both sides of Reality, i.e., how you approach reality (the clothing you choose to show to the cat….) and how reality will change to react to your approach (the cat’s opinion of your clothing….) It also gives one a subtle warning about how the wrong clothing can produce unwanted consequences, and we all know how an offended cat is likely to respond…. as Mark Twain once remarked…. “A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning valuable things. He will never again be dim or doubtful. Chances are he’ll not carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!” You can’t say fairer than that….

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” — Buddha

One can always trust the Buddha to state the most profound thoughts in the simplest way…. I often wonder how he came to such a complete understanding of Murphy, whose presence is acknowledged in all of what the Buddha stated, but whose ministrations seem to have passed by the Buddha’s existence…. either that, or Murphy shows him a lot more respect than he does anyone else alive. At times, it seems that what the Buddha states, such as in this statement, is, in at least one respect, an answer to a question that is raised when Murphy intervenes in our lives…. in simpler words, he explains why Murphy is able to affect us as he does, by cutting through the bullshite we perceive to the truth of what is real….. SIGH…. one of these days, enlightenment will slap me upside the head, and I’ll be able to see Murphy coming…. I hope…

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

Often I feel as if not only is life a joke, but it is our duty and purpose on this plane of existence to codify that joke, to put it down on paper, or on screen/disc, to free ourselves from the prison of sobriety, achieving an understanding that everything in this silly universe is here for our amusement, and we have been taking it, and ourselves, seriously for entirely too long….. So seriously, we have begun to offend those parts of the universe that just want us to relax and enjoy ourselves, and the time is growing nearer when we will have to admit that the joke is on us, for not being able to change our inner selves enough to be able to handle the humor of our situation…. See, the universe thinks death is funny…. not because it is cruel, but because death is just another part of life, and it doesn’t care about one more than the other…. See, now, isn’t it funny how you never noticed that?…..

I once read a science fiction novel, whose title and author escape me completely; in all it was very poorly written, with prose that did not live up to the good ideas contained in the plot line. However, it was a great plot line, in all….Specifically, there was one chapter I liked, which had a super-genius taking on the task of finding the solution to a mathematical treatise, an equation so complex and advanced that no civilization in the galaxy had ever been able to completely solve it.

The genius/hero of the book shut himself up in his room for three weeks, working on the problem. At the end, he was thinking so hard he entered a trance-like state, computing while nearly dead…. after a week of this, he suddenly opened his eyes, gave a look of astonishment, and burst into uncontrollable laughter for approximately 25 minutes. When he could finally control himself, he simply said, “It’s a joke….” and would never discuss it again….

In a pearl such as this one has grown to be, there comes a time when I have to decide whether to continue on, to try to reach the conclusion that was nebulously hovering somewhere in my mind as I began, or to admit that I have once again wandered into uncharted territory, and might find it a bit tricky to find my way back to clarity. This is that time…. and I’m leaving it up to Smart Bee, as always…. If I don’t find a proper pearl to carry on the tenuous chain of thought I’ve created, then we’ll take the first one that will appropriately wrap it up as a lost cause….. all within a specified number of attempts…. so, here we go… You’ll know in a moment what will happen….

“In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap xi

There, see?…. That didn’t take long at all…. and I managed to find the perfect pearl to cover both bases…. In this case, we will use it as an ending quote, since it sort of summarizes a lot of the discussion, after a fashion. It could conceivably also be used as a springboard for further discussion, but this has gone on long enough, and I wouldn’t want to lose anybody due to an injudicious application of excess verbiage, culminating in tedium…. Of course, we may have reached that point some time ago, but, hey, who’s counting?…. Any who, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into not very much…. 🙂
__________________________________

Well, there you have it…. Yesterday, or recently, I said, in a poem, “All you can do, is all you can do… and nothing more.” I’ve done all I can do today…. A couple thousand words, mostly all original, an old-school pearl, a new-school pearl, a poem…. it’s going to take me some time to close all the veins I’ve had to open up this morning…. but, it was worth it. It kept me from considering Reality for quite some time, other than as an objective subject for thought, so, that is a good thing…. and, it has the added positive characteristic of being DONE…. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing this one….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

A surfeit of hand-blown candlesticks…..

Posted on September 17, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
What is the world coming to? Smart Bee has crashed on me. I am bereft of my dB, and woe is me! What, oh what shall I do now? If I could run around in a circle and scream without hurting myself, I would do. Since I don’t want to spend the next two days recovering from such an ill-conceived idea, were I to carry it out, I’ll not do that. Instead, until I can find or obtain another zipped install file for it on the ‘net, or find one on my computer somewhere, I’ll have to make do with what is in my head, and what is in my old pearl files, which are chock full of oysters with pearls that never made the grade….

This whole process is becoming somewhat problematic; between the loss of Smart Bee, and no ISP at home, getting the Pearl sent out is turning into an ordeal of no small proportion. Not to mention, of course, my new physical challenge, which is a bit scary, so I’ll leave it out for now…. Nevertheless, it’s getting tough to do this, from a tactical standpoint. So far, major strategic alterations have sufficed to solve the tactical difficulties, but those tactical challenges seem to be still growing, and my strategy once again needs to be re-examined and adjusted to deal with the issues. Always a pain in the proverbial ass….

So be it, he said, with grim determination. If that’s the way it is, so be it. And…. deal….. Okay, so I will. Deal, that is…. for now. Any who, it’s another good reason to get on with the show, so….. shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

An undertaker calls a son-in-law: “About your mother-in-law, should we embalm her, cremate her, or bury her?” He says, “Do all three. Don’t take chances.” — Myron Cohen

I’m not sure why, but I find the above joke to be extremely funny. It may be because of the relationship I had with my ex’s father. I often had the same thoughts about him, though he is still alive, last I heard. He is one of those ignorant, bare-faced hypocrites who got into a line of work that fed right into his own sense of entitlement and bigotry, i.e., a county sheriff.

As a member of the San Bernardino County cadre of paramilitary wannabes, his racism and natural belligerence found a supportive home; his favorite jokes were about the “beaners”, and he was proud to have thought up a line for when he had to confront any Hispanics when on duty, to wit: “Comprende pistola?….. When he would laugh after delivering that line, it made my skin crawl….

He was psychologically, and probably physically abusive to his children, and probably to his wife as well, though she escaped him by dying at age 51, so it’s hard to tell…. Any who, when he does pass, I’d prefer they use the above method for parking his remains….. call me Ishmael, if you must…. or call me harsh….. I don’t care either way, he’s an Asshole, with a capital A, and to my mind, the world will be a better place without his particular brand of narcissistic, ignorant selfishness……

I’m not sure where this mini-rant has been hiding, but I’m glad it got out of my head, so I can replace those memories with some more amenable to my persona……

In contrast to my former father-in-law’s somewhat skewed and colored view of life, here are some more positive thoughts on how to achieve longevity, along with some pretty good karma….

Eat less and chew well.
Ride less and walk often.
Have fewer clothes and launder often.
Worry less and work harder.
Waste less time, and continue to learn.
Talk less and listen more.
Frown less and laugh often.
Speak less and act more.
Blame less and praise others.
Take less and give a hundred times over.

— Kenzo Futagil, describing the secrets of life. — He lived well over a hundred years.

Since we managed to discuss two completely opposite poles of human nature in one pearl, does that make this educational, or just moderately interesting? Or was it a complete waste of time and energy? That last one is my call, I think, for this side of the coin, and I say that no, it is not a waste, because, if nothing else, one can take away Mr. Futagil’s advice, which is purely good……
__________________________________

Painful candor

I sit, and ponder, then try to write…
seeking always to avoid sounding trite.
My record so far is less than grand;
we’ll not be striking up the hometown band.

Poems come to me, with cadence and rhyme,
that’s the easy part, every time.
Finding words of wisdom herein to include,
makes short shrift, however, of my attitude.

Still the words keep floating up in my head,
harbingers of danger, of wisdom, of dread.
Challenge is issued. in the weight of persuasion
Fey shadows of intent for any bright occasion.

Following along becomes habit and routine,
which naturally tells us where we have been.
New vistas beckon just out of sight
Pulling me forward, from day into night……

~~ gigoid
__________________________________

Old-school professor speaking here…. just follow the dancing idea to the ending, where you’ll find the perfect finishing pearl, to tie it all up in a bow…. and if not, well, okay…. I tried….

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country…. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” — Former US President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 — letter to Col. William F. Elkins — printed in “The Lincoln Encyclopedia”, — ed. Archer H. Shaw, Macmillan, 1950, NY

“Despite its suffix, skepticism is not an “ism” in the sense of a belief or dogma. It is simply an approach to the problem of telling what is counterfeit and what is genuine. And a recognition of how costly it may be to fail to do so. To be a skeptic is to cultivate “street smarts” in the battle for control of one’s own mind, one’s own money, one’s own allegiances. To be a skeptic, in short, is to refuse to be a victim.” — Robert S. DeBear, “An Agenda for Reason, Realism, and Responsibility,” — New York Skeptic — (newsletter of the New York Area Skeptics, Inc.), Spring 1988

“A reverence for life does not require one to respect nature’s obvious mistakes.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.” — P. J. O’Rourke, Parliament of Whores

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

“Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them!” — Albert Einstein

Okay, so it meandered a bit further afield than I intended…. a direct result of not having my normal resources at hand…. but, it still manages to make a pretty coherent statement….. and if it isn’t clear, well, that never hurt anybody, did it?…… Confusion is good for the soul, they tell me….. 🙂
__________________________________

They were bigger than me, Ma, but I didn’t give up!….. And, you should see the other guy…..

Due to circumstances well beyond my control, and even further beyond my desire for control, this Pearl is complete. It’s not “Gone With The Wind”, but it’s probably better than “Debbie Does Dallas”, at least from a morality standpoint….. I’ll see what I can do about providing some video…. in the meantime, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

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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