“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.”
~~ Maori proverb ~~
Nice day to ride a ferry….
Hajime…. I had intended to post this yesterday, but, an outbreak of demonic possession took place, distracting me from even entering cyberspace at all. I suppose it’s not entirely unexpected; one gets accustomed to such diversions after the first century of such wars. And, yes, time is completely distorted during such battles, whereupon seconds become minutes, minutes become hours, and days become a century of pain and/or misery. Now, if I could discover how to change the spelling of the latter, if only in my own head, then life would be full of mystery, rather than misery. SIGH…. I know. Pipe dreams…. from an empty pipe….
Today, the wars continue, though it may be, given the advantage of a holiday such as this one, the end result will be more of a skirmish than a pitched battle. One is allowed to hope, even if that hope is, well, hopeless. At least, if it looks like I’m losing, I can retreat into my Irish, (translation, a snootfull of Jameson’s finest…..), & postpone any outcome until tomorrow. Happy days!….
Upon checking back, I find this to be only the second fresh Pearl I’ve completed this entire month. Sad as that may be, it does compel me to finish off this rather awkward beginning quickly, & get on with this before I lose my nerve, which is already on the cusp of explosion. How about I use this old #4 I found sitting around; it’s still one of our most effective techniques to pull us out of any potentially disastrous holes, one of which I see approaching now. It’s kinda cool, and works like this….
Shall we Pearl?….
“True love in this differs from gold and clay,
That to divide is not to take away.”
~~ Shelley, “Epipsychidion” ~~
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Yep, It’s a default day. Go figure, eh? Ah well, at least we know it’s good music; it has, after all been popular for several hundred years. Not a bad recommendation, to my way of thinking…. Enjoy!….
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Classical Music for Winter
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A Seasonal Approach
Absolute stillness grips a frozen field,
anticipating dawn with such patient yield
morning burgeoning in dark winter’s hold
brings promise of tales yet to be told.
Lengthening days of pale sun unto night
slowly tell of time’s subversive flight
bringing such original songs of natural fire
with melodies complex in casual attire.
The months are certain they will always win
it is just the way it has always been.
None may argue, nor yet slow life down
Nor dim the eternal beauty of nature’s gown.
Winter evolves from fall into spring,
sending flocks and hearts ever awing.
Summer follows suit, t’other way ’round
Spring into fall, often without a sound.
Life is meant to be lived, beginning to end
choices abound, and change can be a friend.
Yielding with grace to reality’s compelling ploy
fills our plain existence with clean, honest joy.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/2/012
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Naked Pearls
Points to ponder….
*******
“It is a great advantage for a system of philosophy to be substantially true.”
~~ George Santayana ~~
*******
“You can’t think your way into a new way of living:
you live your way into a new way of thinking.”
~~ Henry Nouwen ~~
*******
“Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced,
not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious,
but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.”
~~ Tom Robbins ~~
*******
“There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man.
The true nobility is in being superior to you previous self.”
~~ Samuel Johnson ~~
*******
“You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
*******
“Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay.
Love isn’t love ’til you give it away.”
~~ Oscar Hammerstein II ~~
*******
“Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled,–
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world.”
~~ Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 13 ~~
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There you have it, such as it is. I’m a mess. mostly, so, I can’t say for sure how long it might be for the next fresh Pearl. Time, that blabbermouth, will tell, as it always does. While I’m gone, whether walkabout or at war, y’all be well, be happy as you may be, and keep on keepin’ on, best you can. See ya, ffolkes….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Love withers under constraint:
its very essence is liberty:
it is compatible neither with obedience, jealousy, nor fear.
~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley ~~
Bursting with summer color….
Hajime…. The area of the world in which I reside, northern California, is currently experiencing an intense wave of heat. Yesterday, it reached 97ºF (36ºC) in the little seaside town where I hang, which put both Leelu and I into a state much akin to comatose. At 9 PM it was still 90º, so, sleeping was somewhat problematic. We survived, though, if uncomfortably. Since the coming week is predicted to be even hotter (Wow! But, climate change is a myth, right?), I’m considering spending it sitting in a tub of cool water….
If I were less empathetic, I’d turn on the fan for Leelu, & go find an air-conditioned place to hang for a while. But, that would be rather rude, making my familiar go through that alone. She’d live; her species evolved in the desert, & she’s well adapted, instinctively knowing how to deal with such temperatures, by, mostly, not moving. But, I’d feel guilty the whole time, knowing I was being selfish….If she liked to swim, I’d have her join me in the tub, but, though water fascinates her, it isn’t enough to make her want to immerse herself in it; she shares the usual cat philosophy, which prompts them to mostly refrain from having much to do with it, unless thirsty, or watching it run….
There, I think that should be enough chatty conversation for one day. I’m glad I got it all out at once; it’ll save time later, not having to meet the quota. Since I reached this plateau rather quickly, showing an unprecedented degree of efficiency for 5 AM, I’ll use the empathy I possess, what little of it there may be, to issue an order to cease & desist, with the additional hope my fingers get the message, before haring off into another tangential paragraph. To ensure compliance, I’ll resort to trickery. Look! Over there! Isn’t that Elvis?….. Okay, so, it’s just Leelu. It got us here, didn’t it? Sheesh… So much for trying something new….
Shall we Pearl?….
If six turned out to be nine, I don’t mind.
~~ Jimi Hendrix ~~
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Though not, technically, late, yet, I’m feeling the pressure of deadline; probably it’s just my own, (well, not probably; ’tis undoubtedly mine…). In such cases, when I’m feeling a bit washed out, or, just lazy, this is our default choice. As is the usual case, as well, the one chosen had the picture that caught my eye…. Enjoy, if you will….
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Classical Music
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Sublimation
In the deepest, darkest hours of the night,
horror drapes the shadow of fear on a tortured mind.
Endless, hopeless, wave after wave of fright
weave a tapestry shroud, stifling, brutally unkind.
Fear, then pain, trade off in durance vile,
offering only blackness as a temporal guide.
No moments of clarity, no comfort, no guile
with no respite, nor any safe place to hide.
Hour after hour, time stops dead in its tracks,
the path back to sanity ends, no big surprise.
Every passing second becomes new hope, dashed,
while our remaining strength fades and dies.
God shall never be forgiven, nor ever praised.
No such pale, sad illusion can explain such reality.
Any reasonable chance for joy to be raised,
requires more than mere ghostly personality.
Hope isn’t needed if one finds the center of the soul;
all the answers we ever need are there.
Killing fear, creating joy in life, for these there’s no toll.
Love, friendship, laughter, are ever the healthiest fare.
~~ gigoid ~~
12/1/2015
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Naked Pearls
Notes on Life at Large….
*******
“Read nature; nature is a friend to truth.”
~~ Edward Young ~~
*******
‘
The real questions are the ones that obtrude upon your consciousness
whether you like it or not,
the ones that make your mind start vibrating
like a jackhammer,
the ones that you “come to terms with”
only to discover that they are still there.
The real questions refuse to be placated.
They barge into your life at the times
when it seems most important for them to stay away.
They are the questions asked most frequently
and answered most inadequately,
the ones that reveal their true natures
slowly, reluctantly,
most often against your will.”
~~ Ingrid Bengis ~~
*******
“In order to be, never try to seem.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“The world is so constructed,
that if you wish to enjoy its pleasures,
you must also endure its pains.
Whether you like it or not,
you cannot have one without the other.”
~~ Swami Brahmananda ~~
*******
“When the situation is desperate,
it is too late to be serious.
Be playful.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
*******
“The truth knocks on the door and you say,
Go away, I’m looking for the truth,
and so it goes away.
Puzzling.”
~~ Robert Pirsig (quoted in “Zen To Go”, Jon Winokur) ~~
*******
“You are on a well traveled path.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
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A quick perusal of what happened above shows a relatively iconic Pearl; all the correct elements have been included, & the quality level is acceptable. Since it has the added attractive feature of being done, I suppose the best idea is to end it here. The closing section, after all, exists solely for that purpose; who am I to challenge destiny? Well, I guess, like any human, that’s not really relevant, since that particular habit seems ingrained in our species. Rather than explore such a deep well now, I’ll merely say, see y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should that destiny come to be. And, that’s a wrap….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Hajime…. A foul wind blew, bringing the temptation of nausea; forgotten, the pale shadows of burgeoning night stole softly past time’s patient milieu. Sultry, the hours pass, until the ripeness of entropic salvation assumes precedence over preference. Still, there is no pattern exclusive to such mundane proliferation, save that which strikes fancy. The silly simians have held their sway, only to find a more attractive degree of oblivion. So be it….
Good morning…. Hmm? Oh, that. Nothing much; merely some random thoughts to warm up the somnolent grey cells, in the interest of aiding the caffeine I’ve already taken aboard. Didn’t seem to work as well as I’d hoped, but, since I’m rather late getting this done, it will have to do. I do have all the elements for a Pearl in place; that isn’t to say it’s good, or even great. It merely means it’s ready for consumption, if not appreciation. I guess, all things considered, that’s about as good as I can expect on such a morning as this one promises to be. No, I’m not being obscure (not deliberately, anyway), I’m being overly honest. And, given the implications, I think I’ll just leave that right there….
I could, if I felt so inclined, wander around my head a little longer, trying to find something worthwhile to put into this intro; that, however, would be mere indulgence on my part, so, instead, I’ll break out yet another literary trick, & dazzle y’all with the brilliance it reveals, in all its tawdry glory. I’ll even go so far as to neglect any attempt to explain, or justify such an assumptive attitude, & show you how it works, first-hand. That hand, if you will, or, if you won’t, is quick, too…. How quick? This quick….
Shall we Pearl?
“I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read.
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias” (1819) ~~
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I’ve managed to make myself late getting posted, so, we will go with one of our default music selections. This collection of Nocturnes by F. Chopin is touted as excellent for reading or studying, so, let’s see it it’s true, shall we? Enjoy!….
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Frédéric Chopin Nocturnes
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A Failure to Germinate
Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.
Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.
Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.
I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.
My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.
Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.
~~ gigoid ~~
9/27/2012
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Naked Pearls
Curves ahead; watch your step….
********
“All things are to be examined and called into question.
There are no limits set on thought.”
~~ Edith Hamilton ~~
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“You did then what you knew how to do.
When you knew better, you did better.
You are spirit who did what you had to do,
but you are not that thing.”
~~ Maya Angelou ~~
********
“Eternity has nothing to do with the hereafter… This is it…
If you don’t get it here, you won’t get it anywhere.
The experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life.
Heaven is not the place to have the experience;
here’s the place to have the experience.”
~~ Joseph Campbell ~~
********
“It is never too early or too late to care for the well-being of the soul.”
~~ Epicurus ~~
********
“Keep the juices going by jangling around gently as you move.”
~~ Satchel Paige ~~
********
“I don’t pretend to have all the answers.
I don’t pretend to even know what the questions are.
Hey, where am I?”
~~ Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey ~~
********
“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
********
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I shall offer no apology for today’s Pearl; I won’t even offer sympathy. I will, however, leave you to nurse your wounded psyche in peace, as I probably should have done at the beginning. Let’s try again, tomorrow, shall we? Well, I will; I can only hope you’ll show some forgetfulness, and forgiveness, enough to send you back tomorrow, to see if we can do any better. Until then, be well, and happy as you may; I’m going back to bed, I think. That promises to be the safest bet I can make…. See ya….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Life, like a dome of many-colored glass, stains the white radiance of eternity.”
~~ Percy Bysshe Shelly ~~
Late blooming rose…
Hajime…. It has been well over a week since I posted a fresh Pearl; my psyche is feeling the buildup of angst quite frequently. Physically, I am still unable to sit for more than a few minutes before the conditions I’m working to improve tell me it’s time to get up again. There is some slow improvement, and a strong hope/plan to see more. For now, it’s all I’m able to do to spend five minutes at the computer before I’m compelled to go do something less sedentary, in a different gravitational configuration than the one sitting places us automatically. It makes writing, as might be guessed, a bit problematic; reading & surfing are also relatively hard to accomplish standing up for any length of time, so, I’m necessarily finding other things to do, all of which are healthier for me, though not as mentally soothing, in the sense of the release it gives my fractured psyche.
As this is being written in short spurts of sitting, I’m hoping to manage to keep this intro smooth, without exhibiting too much of the the broken timing so obviously a part of such a routine. To promote that hope, I’ll quickly issue an apology for missing so many of the posts of those I follow; I hope to be able to get back to it eventually. But, if I wish to live, with any degree of independence, re-establishing my health is of primary importance; I’ve still much to do before my time here is up, & I’d best be getting to it, before that time runs out. I hope to publish a bit more often, but, if not, I hope y’all can forgive me for being selfish to this degree….
I can’t think of any tricks, and I need to get up & move, so, I’ll end this here, & go close it off so I can get it posted. I’ll try to get by some other blogs today, if my time here in the chair doesn’t become too onerous. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the mess I’ve thrown together for your perusal… For the nonce, we’ll do this….
Shall we Pearl?
“Truckin’, like the do-dah man
Once told me “Gotta play your hand.
Sometimes your cards ain’t worth a dime
If you don’t lay’em down.”
Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it’s been.”
~~ Truckin’ by Garcia, Weir, Lesh, Hunter ~~
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I believe this organization is doing as much as anyone in the world to promote peace and goodwill among men. I support them with a monthly donation, and feel I get my money’s worth every time I listen to a new tune…. Nothing better than live music ffolkes, and no better way to spend your time, or money than to hear/buy this music…. Enjoy!….
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Playing For Change
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To fill in this space without resorting to the work of others, thus avoiding any embarrassment for them, here is a poem I wrote exactly five years ago yesterday. Since it’s been raining here for about two weeks straight, it fits right in…. I hope you enjoy it….
An Old Man, Snoring….
Winter arrives with gusts of wind and rain,
clover spreads green amongst the hedges.
Urban gardens quiver, and dream of spring again,
gargoyles stoically crouch on corniced ledges.
Umbrellas sprout over heads shrouded and hatted,
dotting the sidewalks in colorful profusion.
Urban denizens pose sketches, framed and matted,
adding casual beauty to fill the illusion.
Hissing tires, swishing along with the wipers
join nature’s orchestra smoothly, as percussion.
Dripping gutters sound gong tones, true pipers,
a sudden roar of wind hushes all discussion.
Dreams of summer heat form the crux of desire
as winter chills our souls from without.
Sitting in warmth, gazing into an imaginary fire;
content to know spring will come, no doubt.
~~ gigoid ~~
12/21/2012
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This pearl came together over several days, managing to maintain its original shape and purpose the entire time. Here then, for your reading pleasure, is a rather classic old-school pearl, with a fine message…. Enjoy….
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“A life without cause is a life without effect”
~~ Barbarella ~~
*******
You can be happy or you can be miserable – the choice is yours.
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.”
~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
*******
“Fear is the lock and laughter the key to your heart.”
~~ Steven Stills~~
*******
“For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow.”
~~ Plutarch — Of the Training of Children~~
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“If you cannot find it in yourself, where will you go for it?”
~~ Confucius ~~
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“Death is every man’s final critic. To die well you must live bravely.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
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Having completed my task, I shall bid thee adieu, until next time, which, hopefully, will be relatively soon. Compared to recent times, that’s a pretty good bet. See ya when I am able, ffolkes…. Stay strange; it’s cool out there….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“How often I found where I should be going
only by setting out for somewhere else.”
~~ R. Buckminster Fuller ~~
Cork, Ireland, looking Northwest
Hajime…. Yes, let it begin…. There are some of those reading this today who may not understand much of the following; there are others who may. All of y’all will need to bear with me, as I attempt to impart my meaning without getting overly pedantic, and, without giving away any information I cannot afford, at this time, to part with at all. This will stretch even my prodigious writing skills to the maximum, (hah! for the irony…), as well as most likely sounding relatively obscure. So be it….
As you may have noted, I was entirely absent yesterday; not only did I not post at all, I made no visits elsewhere to comment, and, other than a couple responses to a Twitter feed, spent very little time online at all. I’m busy dealing with the real world, as many more of us really should be doing. Trust me on this; the common human ability to deny reality will, sooner than anyone knows, or realizes, soon become more than merely an annoying characteristic, as it assumes its actual importance, to wit: our own intransigence is going to kill a very great number of us, sooner than any of us think. That’s a sweeping statement, I know, one many will reject out of hand; but, that’s my point, ffolkes.
You, and me, and every one of humanity’s members, have all been ignoring what is important in reality for a long time, and, the price is about to come due…. You might think I’m being overly worried about stuff that can’t be helped, but, that isn’t the case at all. What I am is pissed off, and sad, and very NOT amused any more. A small percentage of mankind has been misusing their own control of the planet’s resources, which they’ve spent millennia hoarding to assuage their own fears of inadequacy, to the point where they’ve, unilaterally, decided most of the planet’s life forms must die, as they’re just too much bother. Sounds odd when stated out loud, but, no odder than the simple fact they’ve actually managed to do it, right in front of the rest of the idiots who refused to pay attention to what is going on around them….
All that said, without ever coming to enough of a point, I’ll just say, my own absence here is due to my own feeble efforts to come to terms with, not just this, but, my own reaction to the knowledge I have accepted as the current new paradigm, which, like any paradigm, will cause much strife and pain when first changing; change, remember, starts with destruction of the old ways…. The world, like it or not, is going to change, drastically, over the next very short period of time; anyone not able to see, or understand this, is simply not paying attention to the things happening right in your own block. For goodness sake, ffolkes; wherever you are, just look outside; you’ll see the changes happening, as the weather goes madder with each passing month.
That’s enough for now. I don’t know if the time I will need to spend away from doing this will be of any help for anyone, but, I must do so to keep my own head up enough to meet my own eyes in the mirror. I may or may not be posting every day, and the contents will be rather random. But, I’ll be around, if only to continue to use this time, and space, to keep my own level of sanity at a point where it is, at least, my own, & not under the aegis of any other soul or group…. I know, obscure, but, trust me, accurate.
All I have today is what you see below. I’ll be back, when I can pull it together enough to do so…. For now, we’ll do this….
Shall we Pearl?
“Better clean death than dirty life.”
~~ Frank Herbert ~~
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Pearls of Virtual Wisdom
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“Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.”
~~ Seneca ~~
*******
“The more we study the more we discover our ignorance.”
~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley ~~
*******
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play
than in a year of conversation.”
~~ Plato ~~
*******
“What we know is not as important as who we are.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
*******
“Courage is not the absence of fear,
but rather the judgment that something else
is more important than fear.”
~~ Ambrose Redmoon ~~
*******
“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 — Discourses, Book i, Chap xi ~~
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“No human thing is of serious importance.”
~~ Plato ~~
*******
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I’m done for today. I have much to do out in the BBR, so, I’ll get to that. Y’all take care out there. My next post will, perhaps, explain a bit more than this obscure little ditty; we can hope for clarity, yes? Yes. Meantime, stay loose, stay alert, and keep your weapons close at hand…. You’re going to want them soon…..
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist.”
~~ Rabindranath Tagore ~~
Laocoön and His Sons
Image from Wikipedia via Google Images
Hajime…. Putting this Pearl together has taken me about two weeks, mostly waiting for parts of me to heal sufficiently to type. During much of this period, it seems my life was ‘farmed out’ by Murphy, to Eris, that ancient nemesis of the Greeks. Who is Eris? Ah, you know her, even if you don’t…. Allow me to elucidate….
“:Eris: /e’ris/ n. The Greek goddess of Chaos, Discord, Confusion, and Things You Know Not Of; her name was latinized to Discordia and she was worshiped by that name in Rome. Not a very friendly deity in the Classical original, she was reinvented as a more benign personification of creative anarchy starting in 1959 by the adherents of {Discordianism} and has since been a semi-serious subject of veneration in several `fringe’ cultures, including hackerdom. See {Discordianism}, {Church of the SubGenius}. — from The on-line Hacker Jargon File V423
As may be surmised, it’s been different around here. Enough so it’s given me some new epiphanies to assimilate into my personal files, some of which are quite penetrating in their effects. Of course, they’re only of value if I take them in, so, we’ll see how that goes, eh? In the meantime, I have for you today a complete five part Pearl, with old-school galore, some great music/entertainment, a relevant exploration of modern times, and, a pretty decent poem…. I’m happy with it, so, y’all, in spite of any possible trepidation, will be happy with it, too, should you make it all the way to the rather distant end. To save us all a bit ot time, we’ll get right to that, okay? Okay….
Shall we pearl?….
“A wise man,
recognizing that the world is but an illusion,
does not act as if it is real,
so he escapes the suffering.”
~~ Buddha ~~
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Pearl
We lost Pearl in 1970. Though with us for only a short while, her spirit shone bright. A friend’s blog acknowledged her passing, which showed some synchronicity, as I had already decided she was just right for this Pearl. Here is a live performance, one of only a few we have to see on You Tube. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do….
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As this Pearl evolved, it grew. Go figure. In the process, I decided to make it epic enough to be able to stop ranting altogether. It’s a manifesto, so to speak, of all I think is real, and true for today’s world. I don’t need to keep beating a horse that’s not coming back alive, so, this may be the very last one. It’s pretty complete, I think. You tell me….
“As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.”
~~ Josh Billings ~~
I suppose it is fortunate, for me, writing requires enough focus of attention to distract me from a lot of perceptive stimuli from external, or even internal sources. In short, I can concentrate sufficiently I don’t mind the 96º heat, as long as I’m perched within five feet of my only fan. I also can keep from thinking about pain, in my shoulders, hips, and back, or my hunger, from dieting, or any of the other silly little things we use to keep from actually thinking about stuff we don’t want to face, or deal with, or are painfully uncomfortable. That makes this act one of survival, as well as one requiring some rather merciless honesty, self- and, otherwise; without it, I don’t believe it will be worth it.
I am exceedingly weary of living in a culture/society which is based on deception, exemplifying what I believe to be the worst part of human nature, i.e. the ability to put our humanity aside to pursue our personal gain or agenda. To a small extent, we do it naturally, as a survival tool. However, in a larger sense, most of us don’t always base life on our own agenda; we feel connected to, and responsible to the rest of humanity. But, those who do choose self over species, as their primary focus of living, throughout history, have been allowed to order our society, based on false information and deception.
At this point, I feel I should explain my assertions, which are, in essence, three. My observations and study have led me to realize these three concepts, held to be true by the great majority of humanity, are all false in their basic assumptions of reality. This allows a distance between what is real, and what is seen to be real. This basic disconnection from true perception, in my mind, is what has caused most of the trouble and misery our species’ history has experienced for more than ten thousand years. The three concepts to which I refer are religion, money, and government.
Intermezzo:
At this point in this exploration, it becomes clear I have bitten off quite a bit more than can be adequately addressed in a single attempt, no matter how clear, or solid the connection between the three relevant elements. In truth, nobody will much care, anyway, but, that is irrelevant, as well. What remains relevant, to me, in essence, is to relate just how I think these three ideas/concepts/delusions have kept humanity from achieving our potential, and, in the process, the potential of our entire world. Together, given the nature of the human beast, the potential godhead, these three ideas have provided the means for our complete undoing, as a species, and, as a viable form of life.
I guess that’s a bit depressing, isn’t it? Okay, I’ll stop for now. I was going to stop ranting altogether, but, perhaps such an assertion would be premature. For now, let us go on, to this…..
During the research period while composing this, the following extensive collection of old-school pearls was amassed. Let this suffice for any further indictment of the three villains of human history. Besides, this just shows, I’m not the only one who has had second thoughts about all the bullshit we’ve been fed from the cradle. I’ve put them into three categories, for simple clarity…. Enjoy, ffolkes.
And, please. Think about it all, will you? Thanks….
*****
“In the beginning Man created God; and in the image of Man created he him.”
~~ Ian Anderson ~~
~~ Jethro Tull, Aqualung ~~
“The mistake began when God was created in a male image. Of course, women would see Him that way, but men should have been gentlemen enough, remembering their mothers, to make God a woman! But the God of Gods–the Boss–has always been a man. That makes life so perverted, and death so unnatural. We should have imagined life as created in the birth-pain of God the Mother. Then we would understand why we, Her children, have inherited pain, for we would know that our life’s rhythm beats from Her great heart, torn with the agony of love and birth. And we would feel that death meant reunion with Her, a passing back into Her substance, blood of Her blood again, peace of Her peace! Now wouldn’t that be more logical and satisfying than having God a male whose chest thunders with egotism and is too hard for tired heads and thoroughly comfortless?” — Eugene O’Neill, “Strange Interlude” [1928], Act II
“So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.” — Bertrand Russell
“Any system of religion which has anything in it which offends the mind of a child cannot be a true system.” — Thomas Paine
“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
“God is an invention of Man.
So the nature of God is only a shallow mystery.
The deep mystery is the nature of Man.”
~~ Nanrei Kobori, — late Abbot of the Temple of the Shining Dragon, Kyoto, Japan ~~
*****
“All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.”
~~ Aristotle ~~
“The value of money has an objective regulator only when it is linked to a real commodity, like gold, itself requiring the cost of human labor to be produced. By comparison, the value of inconvertible paper money has no objective regulator, its marginal cost of production being nearly zero.” — Lewis E. Lehrman (See? Nothing real… Only what we agree to hold so….)
“As far as I’m concerned, if something is so complicated that you can’t explain it in 10 seconds, then it’s probably not worth knowing anyway.” — Calvin
“I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly. Tuna-fish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock.” — Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
“What do they call a comedian who doesn’t get any laughs? A philosopher.” — Phil Proctor
*****
“Power, like a desolating pestilence,
Pollutes whate’er it touches…”
~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley ~~
“It’s said that ‘power corrupts’, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.” — David Brin, The Postman
“Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.” — Arthur Schopenhauer
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.” — Giordano Bruno (1548- burned at the stake, 1600)
“As formerly we suffered from crimes, so now we suffer from laws.” — Tacitus
“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
“In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying.” — Bertrand Russell
********************************
I am working on a poem, which seems to be leaking out in a chaotic fashion; it looks good, though, so we’ll let it play out as it pleases. Here’s one that fits, today, and often. Especially when it is followed by an old-school pearl that carries its title…. Keep reading….
Notes of process and program…
Poems, alas, don’t chase through my head,
bumping and pushing each other like brothers at dinner.
They’re more ripped out of my innards, instead.
Time and circumstance reveal no ultimate winner.
Simmering and bubbling near my unconscious mind
these maddening rhymes blind me sans glimmer.
Building until bursting as if to be dined and wined,
the remaining denizens appear much slimmer.
Fiery visions retain such glorious fatal dimension,
in retrospect, yet fail to leave a permanent scar,
until blessed, or cursed, with focused attention,
singing, crying, bleeding, fast as a movie star.
Pretty soon can’t be soon enough, she said
to a chameleon colored thief bathed in moonlight.
Fancy candles in stripes of blue, gold, and red
foster honest dreams in shades of white.
Passage to daylight is problematic, at best:
beastly ghosts of insomniacs cast no shadow.
Even judges with robes can pass the wrong test
while the rest of us go with what we know.
~~ gigoid ~~
1/3/2013
********************************
Naked Pearls
“Notes Of Process And Program…”
*********
“It seems like once people grow up, they have no idea what’s cool.”
~~ Calvin & Hobbes ~~
*********
“We must beware of whatever insights we have into ourselves.
Our self-knowledge annoys and paralyzes our daimon
– this is where we should look for the reason Socrates wrote nothing.”
~~ E.M. Cioran ~~
*********
“”Human beings are perhaps never more frightening
than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.”
~~ Laurens Van der Post, The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958) ~~
*********
“Be prepared to go mad with fixed rule and method.”
~~ Horace (65-8 B.C.) ~~
*********
“Honor isn’t about making the right choices.
It’s about dealing with the consequences.”
~~ Midori Koto~~
*********
“Reality is in the eye of the beholder.”
~~ The Keeper, from Stargate ~~
*********
“When I was a lark, I sang;
when I was a worm, I devoured.”
~~ Theodore Roethke ~~
*********
“I’m pretty tired. Think I’ll go home now.”
~~ Forrest Gump ~~
*********
********************************
Well, ffolkes. There you have it. Not only do you have it, but, you’ve got ALL of it. I don’t believe I can do this any better, but, what the hell? I’ll be back again to try. Could take a bit of time, but, it seems the wait might be worth the effort. See y’all tomorrow, as long as the sun comes up….. Pretty good odds, I’d say….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery;
none but ourselves can free our minds.”
~~ Bob Marley ~~
Random Building, Liverpool, England
Hajime…. I’d thought to begin today’s effort with a fictional opening. The resulting morass of insanity created in my mind was too much, even for me. Rivers of blood, fires raging, world’s colliding, dogs & cats mating; not going there so early in the morning. Besides, I figured, given the explosion of Gentle Readers who came by yesterday, I’d best come up with something a bit more, shall we say, attractively intellectual, if I hope to see any of them again. Of course, finding anything resembling intellectual in this head may be asking a bit much of reality, but, hey, it was a thought…. Not all of them can be good ones….
Since any elegance has been shot down so effectively, maybe I should wander off into nonsense for a while. It’s one of my best things, especially on a day like today, when Murphy hovers over my shoulder, tapping random fingers to create typos, and the forces of chaos are standing ready to bury anything resembling coherence. Trying for ANY directed thinking is probably not going to work; entropy rules apply on all levels during such a storm of inanity. I suppose I could shoot for sheer insanity, but, that always makes it hard to get back to even a semblance of normalcy. Maybe today isn’t the best time for that.
Oh, well. So much for thinking my way out of this. Leelu isn’t helping either; her only answer to my queries is, “Aren’t you going to throw that paper?” She’s kinda focused on routine at this time of day. Damn! It sure can be a pisser, ffolkes. Trying to come up with a compelling intro every day is NOT as simple as it may seem, especially for someone with my proclivity for self-abnegation, combined with an extreme talent for waffling. Hey! Wait! There’s the ticket! Yeah, that’s it; we’ll smother the whole thing in syrup! Then, nobody will be able to even tell how awful it was…. I knew I could figure it out….
On that odd little note, I think we’ll go on, before this becomes any more impenetrably obscure. I think, if we go on right now, we may be able to save this. It’s worth a try. We’ll just use this ruthless little number right here, which will get us out of here practically before I can fini….
Shall we Pearl?….
All of us who are worth anything,
spend our manhood in unlearning the follies,
or expiating the mistakes of our youth.”
~~ Shelley ~~
********************************
Yep. You guessed it. Today is a default music day. How do I know this? Well, it may come as something of a shock, but, I just know. So be it. Give yourself half a chance, & you’ll enjoy it. A whole chance could lead to even bigger things, but, I don’t want to spoil any surprises, so, just listen up, & pay attention. All will be well….
In the past five years or so, while writing this blog, I’ve discussed this concept any number of times. In doing so, I have progressed in my thinking from a tentative agnosticism to a firm atheism regarding the idea of a God. All my explorations and research into the subject have confirmed my initial unease at accepting the generally accepted view, to wit: I find absolutely no convincing evidence in reality to support the idea there is some supernatural being sitting up in the sky, who created all we perceive, and actively gives a crap about what happens to us. Sorry, but, that’s the truth; there just isn’t anything to be found to make that true; this makes believing in it a delusion, as far as I am concerned.
Once that is accepted, it becomes easy to see just how bad the whole idea has been for humanity. The difficulty arises from the simple fact that those who choose to believe such nonsense make a couple assumptions, neither of which is true, but, if held as such, cause the believer to act completely contrarily to all common decency, because they have made themselves separate from the rest of humanity, by choice. One false assumption made is to believe the idea that only they possess the actual truth about such matters. This gives them a false sense of entitlement, while simultaneously giving them permission to cease all rational thought, both of which are disastrous for society at large.
I could, and probably should, continue in this vein for some time…. However, to keep from overdoing it, I’ll retreat into the archives to finish this small indictment…. Here is a relatively short, but sweet, treatise on this subject, from a slightly different starting point, though nonetheless cogent for that. It will do until I build up enough new angst to finish this off properly. Plus, it will move us along, so we aren’t stuck here in today, forever…. Enjoy!
From 12/5/2012:
One day a gate breaks down between heaven and hell. So St. Peter arrives on the scene and calls out for the devil.
And the devil saunters over and says, “What do you want?”
And St. Peter says, “Satan, it’s your turn to fix it this time.”
And the devil says, “I’m sorry. But my men are too busy to worry about fixing a mere gate.”
And St. Peter says, “Well, then, I’ll have to sue you for breaking our agreement.”
And the devil says, “Oh yeah? Where are you going to get a lawyer?”
— Soupy Sales
It occurs to me, Soupy’s next line from St. Peter would have to be…. “I don’t need one, I’ve got a fix in with the judge….” That would give not only balance to the argument, but would accurately reflect the actual level of corruption implied in the picture of the universe painted by the Judeo-Christian model of religion. It would also probably more closely reflect Soupy’s sense of humor, which was much more pointed than he got credit for…. People just thought he was a little strange sometimes, not recognizing lines that were making active fun of the establishment (as we old hippies were wont to call the mainstream of American society…..).
In reality, this joke is another example of the bad press that the Devil always gets; it isn’t often you’ll see a joke that ends up with Satan coming out on top. No, he is always given the role of the asshole, the manipulator, the one who wants to drag us down into Hell for eternal torment. Everyone seems to forget that they have ascribed omnipotence, and omniscience to God, and that He is the one who a) made the Devil the way he is, and b) could change it if he wished…. which seems to indicate that he DOESN’T wish to rid us of Satan, but prefers he be around to tempt and distract us…. That sounds to me like just a bit of manipulation in itself; how ’bout y’all?….
The preachers would have us believe that God allows Satan to exist out of his sheer benevolence, forgetting this is the same God who, in the Old Testament, sent forty bears to a town to kill all the children, just because a few small boys made fun of one of His prophets. He is also the one who threw Satan out of Heaven for objecting to some of what He had done on Earth, then turned around and allowed him free access to us humans, just so He would have a ready-made way to test us at His convenience. Just a little self-serving, don’t you think? This God, to my way of thinking, acts more like a spoiled little kid than a deity capable of creating universes…..
Okay, I’ll quit now. It’s really too easy to shoot at dogma; it never tries to hide, and just stands there, looking dumb, as you sight in on its forehead. But, hey, it’s a necessary job, and somebody’s got to do it…. Boy, it sure would be nice, though, to see humanity grow up, and learn to face reality without crutches, and without having to invent a supernatural being to explain away the stuff that isn’t clearly understood…. But, I guess it is job security, in that sense, because it means I’ll always have something about which to write….
“I’m RELIGIOUS!! I love a man with a HAIRPIECE!! Equip me with MISSILES!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
********************************
Momentary Terror
Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.
Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.
Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.
Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..
~~ gigoid ~~
2/4/2013
********************************
Naked Pearls
Truth in advertising…
*********
“A man that should call everything by its right name
would hardly pass the streets
without being knocked down as a Common Enemy.”
~~ Lord Halifax ~~
*********
“Driven by the force of love
the fragments of the world seek each other
that the world may come into being.”
~~ Teilhard de Chardin ~~
*********
“Everything that I understand,
I understand only because I love”
~~ Leo Tolstoy ~~
*********
“A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are for.”
~~ John A. Shedd ~~
*********
“For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
It is never too late to start doing what is right.
Never.”
~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~~
*********
“Nowhere is now here.”
~~Nakagawa Soen Roshi ~~
*********
“Around existence twine,
(Oh, bridge that hangs across the gorge!)
ropes of twisted vine.”
~~ Basho ~~
*********
“An it harm none,
Do what ye will.”
~~ Wiccan Credo ~~
*********
“Do you love it do you hate it
There it is the way you made it”
~~ Frank Zappa, “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” ~~
*********
********************************
Okay, ffolkes. It’s done. Not only is it done, but, upon reading it, I have to say…. Now, THAT’S a Pearl! Full of smarm, nonsense, sense, and some pointed sarcasm, too. Not bad for an old fart with flat feet, flatulence, and a funny red nose. Since I don’t think I can possibly do any more damage than I’ve already done, I’ll leave you here, sans any further torment. I will, however, issue the usual caveat and disclaimer, to wit: it’s not my fault! If you can believe that, my work here is done. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; just try to stop me….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Hajime…. Late again, dammit! Ah well, such is life in the big city, I suppose. Since there is little to say without going into issues not appropriate for a family blog…. Wait a minute! Who said this was a family blog? Fuck that! I don’t intend to alter my language for anyone’s false sense of propriety, thank you very much…. But, then, I gave up on making the front page of WP long ago; one ‘fuck’ and that was history. So be it, he said, with a smarmy grin….
The smile fades, though, as he realizes he is, once more, lost in the intro…. Nowhere to go from here but down, it seems, so, we may as well bail early again. How about it, ffolkes? Let’s do this…. we’ll just pretend none of it happened, at all, and get on with the rest of today’s mess, just as if we intended it to go this way…. That looks like this….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Inside myself is a place where I live all alone,
and that’s where you renew your springs
that never dry up.”
~~ Pearl S. Buck ~~
********************************
The Four Seasons
Today’s musical selection is one I listen to regularly, for it is one of the most delightful pieces ever written. It also gave me a chance to use the fine picture you see, which I stole from another blogger, who just laughed when I asked permission…. ‘S okay, she was joking, right? At any rate, it’s worth listening to, if only for how it makes you feel…. Enjoy!….
The discussion upon which I’m working isn’t done yet, so, we’ll go back about two years for a strange little discussion of life at large in today’s world, such as it is…..
From 1/23/2014:
I am bound and determined (what a clunky, awkward phrase! How did it ever survive in the English language for so long?….)… any who, I am firmly invested in having a laugh or two now, even if I have to resort to picking on my own bozoid tendencies…. There are certainly enough of those to go around, which any of my exes would be happy to tell you…. Bozoid tendencies? What are those? Well, really, ffolkes, do you need for me to explain that? The very words are pretty self-explanatory…. but, I guess it’s been awhile since I expounded on my version** of this theory, so, to answer, quickly….
Bozoid tendencies are those human characteristics that are embedded in our species’ persona, hard-wired, as it were, into our psyches, that can only be described as being “clownish”, and cannot be suppressed, no matter how dignified or stuffy one tries to be…. It can be best expressed vocally by the phrase, “I came, I saw, I screwed up.”…..
At some point in life, each and every one of us will do something really stupid, right in front of the most embarrassing group of people possible, such as family, or an entire stadium of excitable fans, or a restaurant full of strangers…. Often it is something as simple as forgetting a wife’s birthday, or forgetting to close a zipper, ensuring a wardrobe failure at the wrong time, or it could be as compelling a moment as running the wrong direction in a Super Bowl…. but, we all do it at one time in our lives, without exception…. Hence, the theory of Bozoid Tendencies….
** Inspired by the metaphoric brilliance of the Firesign Theater’s audio improvisational album, “I Think We’re All Bozo’s On This Bus!”, the Theory of Bozoid Tendencies was first discussed and codified in Berkeley in 1969…. This is the period when gigoid (that’s me….) spent a lot of time in such discussions with other burgeoning social philosophers, all UCB students of various vintages, in various dark, smoky venues, in various stages of mindfulness due to either extreme use of sober imagination and logic, to the often brilliant scintillation of drug induced excitement of the imagination, whether the drug was wine, beer, MJ, or something more exotic, if infrequent. Having obviously survived the experiences intact, the Theory has been shown to be valid in many, many instances over the years, in myself, and in the world at large…. with most of such proof provided in the daily news…. when not in the mirror….
With all of that in mind, we’ll now search for some pearls that can make me laugh…. you’re on your own, this one will be according to MY sense of what is funny, and what isn’t…. So there…. I TOLD you we all have a sense of entitlement, didn’t I?….. Besides, if nothing else, YOU can laugh at MY sense of entitlement, or my humorous standards, if you so desire, and I can laugh at myself (I’m easily amused….)…. just for making the effort, which goes to the evidence folder for the theory’s validity….
“A guinea pig is not from Guinea but a rodent from South America. A firefly is not a fly, but a beetle. A giant panda bear is really a member of the raccoon family. A black panther is really a leopard that has a solid black coat rather then a spotted one. Peanuts are not really nuts. The majority of nuts grow on trees while peanuts grow underground. They are classified as a legume-part of the pea family. A cucumber is not a vegetable but a fruit. — Smart Bee
(Just a few of the reasons I love the English language…. and the English mind, which is completely twisted…..)
“I think you ought to know I’m feeling terribly depressed.” — Douglas Adams — The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Marvin
(And I think I have very good reason to be depressed, don’t you?….. So much so, I have to laugh, so I don’t cry….)
“The education of a man is never completed until he dies.” — Robert E. Lee
(Don’t know exactly why, but this, to me, is funny…. perhaps more funny, strange, because of the irony, than funny ha ha, but, funny….)
“Life isn’t fair.” — L.J. Smith
(This reminds me of my favorite line to try to gently remind someone they are whining for no reason; simply ask, “Who was the one who lied to you?” “Who was who?” “The one who told you life would be fair.”…. First heard from my father, at a young age….)
(Okay, so, I’m not funny today…. I’ll quit with the comments, and find a solid final threesome of pearls for ya….)
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read.
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias” (1819) ~~
“Everything that goes up must come down. But there comes a time when not everything that’s down can come up.” — George Burns (1896-1996)
You know it’s going to be a bad day, when you find a note on your door that says, “Knocked, you weren’t in. — Opportunity” — Smart Bee
You may well ask yourself why I felt compelled to include the excerpt by Shelley in there, but, I, being the curmudgeon that I am, will only say that I know that my Gentle Readers will be able to look at that, in juxtaposition with everything else I wrote today, and see why I fell over laughing when I saw it come up on the screen, and why it’s a particularly funny joke right now…. The others, well, as I said, you’re on your own…. I laughed….
😆
********************************
“Poetry–even bad poetry–may be our final hope.”
~~Edward Abbey ~~
Rhyming is better than lying….
It’s all too, too much, he cried
I can take no more!
It’s all crazy, my brain is fried,
battered, bloody, and sore.
Talking heads shout out hatred and fear
jam for my morning toast.
Pointing fingers far, middle, and near
enemies everywhere, almost.
Women, gays, and seniors fall prey,
easy targets, slow and weak.
Convenient fools, wanting only to play,
used, and abused, even as we speak.
It enough to drive me floridly insane,
or want to buy a gun.
I may end up in jail, or in massive pain,
but, oh, it would be fun….
~~ gigoid ~~
4/1/2013
********************************
Today’s final section is comprised of a seven-star classic, with a subtle message for those who enjoy life as it is…. Trust me….
Living Dead
the path is chosen,
to live forever
is to die forever.
To not know
when you’ll die
is to find life
wherever you are.
~~ Alagad ~~
“You see things, and you say “WHY?” But I dream things that never were, and I say “WHY NOT?” — George Bernard Shaw, “Back to Methuselah”
“All life is based on death. Nothing exists except by feeding on something else. Even photosynthesis depends on the heat-death of the sun. Humanity is not
exempt. Embalming doesn’t cheat the worms, it cheats the system. But only temporarily.” — Solomon Short
“Because you’re not what I would have you be, I blind myself to who, in truth, you are.” — Madeleine L’Engle
“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” — Abraham Lincoln
“Do not eat your heart.” — Pythagoras
“A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind…” — Kahlil Gibran
********************************
It’s done. That is all you’ll ever hear me say of it, as it was slapped together with great rush, and, I won’t be held responsible for the results, not without a warrant. Since it IS done, I’m going to do the expedient thing, so highly prized in today’s world, and bail. See y’all tomorrow, with the usual caveats in play….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
Ye Olde Man & Scythe, est. AD 1251 Image from the UK Telegraph, article on the oldest pubs in England, July 2015
Good morning…. I wasn’t entirely sure it would be…. Yesterday morning, I fell into a very Murphy-like trap, no doubt of my own making in some way; most of his work is usually connected somehow to a moment of inattention on our part…. Just because I complain about Murphy’s Law doesn’t mean I don’t also understand karma…. It’s all on me, ultimately. Like most ffolkes, and, for that matter, all folks, we need to vent the frustration of our own stupidity now and again…. Thankfully, my whining never lasts long; then, I can get on with fixing whatever I’ve broken, metaphorically, or literally…
Yesterday’s troublesome issue fell into the latter category. Firefox has been my browser of choice for many years, but, the latest version doesn’t seem to agree with one or more of the security programs I choose to use; essentially, every time I opened it up, it froze up on me, big time…. I was unable to successfully troubleshoot it, so, I had to figure out a workaround, which meant I didn’t get posted until about 0715, much later than usual. The mere fact yesterday’s mess got posted at all should earn me a ‘geek of the week’ award. for finding a quick workaround, that promises to be a better fix than planned…. Essentially, I switched to Opera, as my default browser, and all seems to be well… That works for me, for the nonce, which is way better than not, anachronism or no….
Right. I’ve done it again, haven’t I? I’ve blathered to open up the day’s adventure in folly, thus guaranteeing a certain degree of peretroinyeka, which is an obscure, not to mention non-existent Ukrainian word meaning “nothing at all”. See, my lawyer told me to stop making guarantees, so, well, we have to resort to little tricks like that to keep from breaking any rules that could lead to litigation…. The budget won’t stand it any more….
Okay, we’re lost good and proper now, aren’t we? I may as well just throw my hands up, and be done with it. Nothing else seems likely to get us anywhere at this point…. So, imagine, if you will, me, rolling my eyes, throwing up my hands, and cursing the gods of blogging, whom we know as Norm and Nancy the Nifty…. Okay, okay, I’ll stop. You don’t have to get all weirded out…. Shoot, go back above, & have a pint in the pub, then we’ll get started… Go ahead, we’ll wait…. Ah hell, no we won’t…. Luigi, let’s go; we’ll give them a refund when we get back….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Sigh… Every day I thank my statuette of Wilma Flintstone that I was born normal.” — Zippy the pinhead
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Image from bbc.co.uk via Google Images
Jack Bruce is one of my favorite old time rockers; he’s remained true to his music, and way of life, since I first heard/saw him, way back in his days with Cream, in the 60’s, of which time I have many good memories….. Contrary to popular belief, not ALL of us were so stoned we don’t remember it…. I will confess to partaking of my share, and possibly more, but, hey, we were all young once, right? Here is a documentary on Jack’s life and work which I think y’all will enjoy…. Besides, it get us down the page with some really good music…. Enjoy….
“Men rattle their chains to show that they are free.”
~~ Smart Bee ~~
“…and so castles made of sand slip into the sea eventually.”
~~ Jimi Hendrix ~~
Though I’m up in plenty of time, I’m not in a ranting mood; I feel better than usual, which causes less angst to accumulate…. It did give me time to find a good rant for today, though. This one is, sort of, a summary of indictments of our Beloved Ruling Class, may their skin itch unbearably…. It’s fairly short, and, I think it’s one of my best…. but, then, I’m biased…. You tell me what you think, if you should feel the urge…. Otherwise, just read, and think about it; I’ll be happy with that….
Written June, 2012; last posted November, 2013:
“….when all government…. in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1821
The framers of the Constitution knew what they were doing when they tried to build in safeguards into the system of government they chose after the revolution against England. They structured it with checks to the balance of power in each section, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, reserving, as well, several rights to the people that had historically been reserved for the governments themselves, including the right to bear arms, one every government in history has tried to restrict for its own use. The right to bear arms, the right to vote, the right to gather to protest, to speak freely, all these have, at one time or another through the last four or five millennia, been restricted by governments, until men like Jefferson, Mason, and Washington took those rights for themselves, supposedly securing the same opportunity to their descendants.
In fact, I regard it as proof of this assertion, to find that the government, not only of this country, but all of them, is STILL trying to restrict the rights of the populace to bear arms. To my way of thinking, the most recent attempts by the government to curtail the public’s ability to obtain the means to protect themselves adequately merely serve to point out how accurate are statements such as the above, showing how little human nature has evolved, or advanced in the intervening years…. I’d be hard pressed to call the changes we’ve seen anything other than a retreat, from achieving a more civilized society. The populace continues to live in fear, most of which is manufactured by that very same government, to distract them from what is going on behind the scenes; for example, observe the data mining and illegal surveillance being carried on by Saint Obama and the current administration….
Sorry to apply the sarcastic epithet to the POTUS, (no, I’m not, but, I AM polite….), but, his recent actions have revealed a lot of stuff that indicates, yes, he IS a politician, and, as such, has been lying to the public on a regular basis since entering office, a habit much practiced by all those who enter those hallowed doors, as it turns out.
Historically, it seems, ever since I’ve been alive, for the last 64 years, each and every man who has been in the White House, with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter, has lied to the public on a regular basis, without qualms, and without apology…. This isn’t news, or new news, at all…. just go back over the headlines and op-ed pages over that period, and the evidence of what I have asserted is plain to see….
This is why I won’t ever consider any alterations to the second Amendment, or the First, or to any of them…. I still regard them as law, and see any attempts to restrict them as being acts of treason against the principles by which they were conceived and enacted. I DON’T trust ANY politician, not one who spends millions to get elected, even if, or especially if, the money isn’t theirs…. The mere act of WANTING to be an elected official implies insanity to me, either of a sociopathic nature, or an evangelical one, either of which is dangerous to allow into any position of authority over others, as they will ALWAYS act to serve their own self-interests first…..
’Nuff said….. gigoid has spoken, and has no more to say on this subject, except….. Leave my Bill of Rights alone, or pay the consequences…..
“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde
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Note from 2015:
I’d been working on an old-school pearl for this section, when I found the above & decided to re-use it. As it turns out, what I’d been working on was right in the same vein, so, I just left the needle where it was, and here they are, to finish this section with a bang…. sort of…..
And Katerfelto, with his hair on end
At his own wonders, wondering for his bread.
‘T is pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat,
To peep at such a world,–to see the stir
Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd.
~~ William Cowper ~~
~~ The Task, Book iv, The Winter Evening, Line 86 ~~
“It’s possible to fight intolerance, stupidity, and fanaticism when they come separately. When you get all three together it’s probably wiser to get out, if only to preserve one’s sanity.” — Adam Dalgliesh, in Devices and Desires, by P.D. James.
“All governments need enemies. How else to justify their existence?” — Edward Abbey
“We must never forget that if the war in Vietnam is lost… the right of free speech will be extinguished throughout the world.” — Richard Milhouse Nixon, 10/27/65
(Yes, he actually said that, in public…. No, I have no idea what he was thinking….)
How sharper than a hound’s tooth it is to have a thankless serpent.” — Smart Bee
“And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness. But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement. They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer. Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
(No, I don’t always understand myself…. but, it fits, doesn’t it?….)
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A new poem has been leaking out, a few verses at a time, for several days; it has apparently stalled after two stanzas, & I don’t want to force it, or it could simply disappear altogether…. Here’s a two-fer sublimation, with a couple of my older poems, along the same lines as today’s overall theme, whatever that may be…. Enjoy, please….
Momentary Terror
Absently casual, memories pester endlessly
leaving only bleeding remnants, amiable and loving.
Coming awake, I cry to still the pain, shamelessly.
Elsewhen, time gives surcease, if only to live,
shoring broken pilings, worn and gray.
Passing on, I laugh at the pain, accept all it will give.
Time will build a shelter, warm and ever safe
save for Fate’s busy hands.
Enduring, I follow the pain, knowing it will chafe.
Fixed against a darkened sky of starry black
such beauty brings us to our knees.
Entranced, I welcome the pain, ’tis all I lack…..
~~ gigoid ~~
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Making Room
Our souls, they say, are like shapeless, infinite bags
in which we put all our pain, all our joyous wonder.
Broken hearts and thrilling love, riches to rags,
endless perceptions of serenity, and thunder.
‘Tisn’t simple, this spiritual journey to peace
memory is fickle, easily led astray;
darkness, ever lurking, without surcease
turning innocence to harm, from simple play.
Balance is the key.
Timing is everything.
Good can change bad, bad can change good.
Pain makes room for more joy in our souls.
The only power we need is the power to change ourselves.
~~ gigoid ~~
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When y’all see Aristotle at the top of this section, it should be clear it’s time to put on your thinking caps. Although this nine-star collection of gems has only one entry by one of Mankind’s earliest polymaths, the point(s) being presented are all well within the sphere of influence of his ideas. One of his sayings was, (not the one included here), in fact, the inspiration for axiom #4 of Peruaosophy, which, as you all know, states, “Excellence is its own reward.” Each of these, then, is a reward to its author, and a gift to all of us…. Enjoy….
Als das Kind noch Kind war, gab es diese Fragen:
Warum bin ich mich, und warum nicht dich?
Warum bin ich hier, und warum nicht dort?
“When the child was a child, there were these questions:
Why am I me, and why not you?
Why am I here, and why not there?”
~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
“Know, first, who you are; then adorn yourself accordingly.” — Epictetus
“The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.” — Mignon McLaughlin
“Belief is the death of intelligence.” — Robert Anton Wilson
“… as sight is in the body, so is reason in the soul…” — Aristotle — Nicomachean Ethics, Bl. I, Ch. 6, 10966, lines 29-30
“All I know of love is that Love is all there is.” — Emily Dickinson
“Love withers under constraint: its very essence is liberty: it is compatible neither with obedience, jealousy, nor fear.” — Percy Bysshe Shelley
“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.” — James Stephens
And if I laugh at any mortal thing,
‘T is that I may not weep.
~~ Lord Byron ~~
~~ Don Juan, Canto iv, Stanza 4 ~~
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It can be a challenge to actually determine the quality of each day’s mess around here; it’s all a bit close to home for accurate judgment with an objective eye…. Nonetheless, I’ve spent enough time on this one to ensure a pretty high degree of, if nothing else, relative coherency, if not outright clarity…. both of which would be, no doubt, a refreshing change for y’all…. I do love my obscurity. But, it’s enough; my sanity is intact for another day, so, I’ll take it out into the BBR and give it a test run up against the real deal…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless one of you tracks me down, & shoots me… Oh, with a camera, of course…. Bye!….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
“I know who I am. Sometimes you go away, but I’m still here.”
~~ Everyone ~~
(Think about it….)
Artist’s rendition of The Planetary Society Light Sail Ship in flight.
Image stolen from Space.com
Good morning…. I’ve been trying to avoid getting weird or going long here in the intro, so, I won’t comment (much) on the recent weather we’ve been having here in Northern California; at least, not about WHY it’s happening. I’ve said THAT a lot, so, we won’t go into it…. But, I’ve gotta say this; the weather is officially, incontrovertibly, fucking crazy…. It’s JUNE, and we’re having weather that changes 20 degrees from one day to the next, TWICE in one week…. You would think it was springtime in Northern Europe, or the British Isles, the weather’s been so chancy….
Okay, mini-rant finished…. I’m just getting tired of never knowing what to wear to go outside; either I end up sweating under too many layers, or,freezing because I don’t have enough layers to cut the wind… SIGH…. Get used to it, ffolkes; it’s gonna get even stranger in times to come…
Basta! I said I was finished, so, I’m finished. Let’s do this, instead…..
Shall we Pearl?
“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee
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The Lads from Liverpool
Image from freepik.com via Google Images
I intended to bring y’all this movie today, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let some stupid copyright crap get in my way…. Here is the full movie version, but, in Spanish; it was either that, or, in Italian, which, as is patently obvious, is six of one & a half dozen of the other…. I figure my Gentle Readers are cosmopolitan enough to deal with the translation…. If not, well, the music remains just as originally recorded, so, if nothing else, there is that to enjoy…. Up the revolution! Or, at least, kick ’em in the ass every chance you get…..
Today’s ranting section is a bit long, but, don’t worry, it won’t actually hurt you to do a bit extra reading…. I found an old intro section with a relatively short rant that will be perfect as an opening for the seven-star pearl I’ve put together in lieu of a fresh rant…. The old-school pearl is set on parameters to comment on today’s political scene in this country, such as it is; the archived rant speaks to the seemingly ingrained stupidity shown by the general public these days, as well as the cupidity of those who take advantage of their ignorance…. I think it works, but. maybe that’s just me….
From 9/17/2013:
Now that the crisis has passed in the Middle East, if only for the moment, the news seems to be singularly free of rantable material. Oh, there’s been another shooting, this time in a place where it raises even more questions than it does outrage…. The victims weren’t children, they were Naval workers, both those in the service, or civilians working for the Navy, and the shooter was a disgruntled Navy Reservist (though, in reality, even without firm information, I think we can safely say he was a bit beyond mere disgruntlement….) (Is that a word? Disgruntlement? I guess it is, Spell Checker didn’t even blink….), so it’s a little harder to feel the same degree of chagrin when it isn’t some crazy adolescent shooting back at the bullies….
Not that the victims deserved to be shot; that isn’t my point. It’s just harder to create controversy when the participants were all consenting adults, already engaged in activities that are, in at least one way, bound to bring some danger to one’s existence. I don’t know why this idiot nutted up, or what he was trying to accomplish, but a place where their entire purpose for existing is to create articles of war, is one that might conceivably be used as a logical target for anyone wanting to express their outrage, or in this case, probably anger, based on delusions.
It’s rather like someone who wears a gun on their hip, such as the police…. eventually, someone is going to shoot AT them, just because they are carrying…. Anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that truth is begging to get their head blown off for no good reason (I guess it has to be said…. IS there a good reason?…. The jury is still out on that one, ffolkes….).
I don’t carry guns, as I believe in using weapons that aren’t so obvious, or so limited in usefulness, but, I was raised around them, and taught how to treat them with the respectful alertness that any dangerous part of life should be given. To ignore the realities of using weapons, of any kind, guns, knives, brains, explosives, whatever, is to invite one’s own demise by those self-same articles, and that is the simple truth.
But, Americans, for some reason, seem to think passing a law will remove this truth from reality. Every time there is a new shooting, especially when children are involved as victims, or even as perpetrators, there is a huge outcry, and those who want to be protected from reality put out plaintive demands for more restrictive laws to control guns. This, in turn, prompts the survivalists and right-wing paranoids to believe the “guvviment” is going to “take away my guns”, so they too create a huge outcry, of resentment that anyone would challenge their entitlement, and their abject fear of facing life unarmed….
In truth, ANY kind of attempted change in morality in society is bound to fail in its purpose, because, like it or not, society’s morals are not subject to adjustment by the passage of laws. Trying to make society more moral by creating new laws, to control guns, or to reach ANY moral objective, is doomed to failure from the start.
Strange, isn’t it, how lately I seem to be confining my ranting to the intro section? It’s as if whatever I have to say is pushing its way out before I even get any coffee down… This does provide some rather intense emotional pressure to the ranting, I admit, giving it a good, sharp edge, but, I’m not sure the subjects I choose while still groggy are always going to be the best choice. Oh well, it’s unproductive to worry about stuff like that before it happens, so, I’ll just take this as a good thing, and roll with it…. Besides, it’s a pretty good rant, even if I don’t offer any solutions…. I’m also not offering any judgments, other than those prompted by observation of facts, so, it all balances out…. If nothing else, it got us this far, right? Right….
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“Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt.” — Graham Greene, The Human Factor (1978)
“I was born and I shall die, that is all that should concern the general public.” — Smart Bee
“Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men. … There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” — Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dahlberg, 1st Baron Acton), (1834-1902) — letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, April 3, 1887, — reprinted in Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton (1904), vol. 1, ch. 13
“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” — Seneca
“In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile-and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. We owe that to ourselves and our crippled self-image as something better than a nation of panicked sheep.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist — The Great Shark Hunt, Jacket Copy for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1979)
“If you have a weak candidate and a weak platform, wrap yourself up in the American flag and talk about the Constitution.” — Matthew S. Quay
“We live in the kind of world where courage is the most essential of virtues;
without courage, the other virtues are useless.
~~ Edward Abbey~~
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Pensive early and late…
Endings aren’t always a new beginning
I’m sad to say.
Sometimes it’s just an ending
there’s always a price to pay.
Still, it’s only money, he said
watching it piss away
Did everything ‘cept meet Fred
‘n had a good time the whole way.
Even the bad stuff turned out well,
life lessons are just that way.
Knowing what’s right, you can’t always tell,
we don’t always know the right things to say.
I’ll take all the hard times, without complaint,
learning isn’t always easy to take.
Kindness, patience, and compassion without restraint,
are still the best decisions we can make.
~~ gigoid ~~
Written 4/26/2013.
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Today’s final pearl built itself over three separate sessions of space/time in the last couple days… It seems to be a group of lesser-known truths about Life at Large, which, though not of obvious importance, are all rather deeply embedded in those parts of Life leading to happiness, and freedom…. Perhaps, to each of y’all, it says something different?….. In any case, a sharp, odd, yet compelling nine-star pearl, for your edification and amusement…. with, I think, a PERFECT closing pearl, to summarize…. Sort of….
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read.
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias” (1819) ~~
“The highest result of education is tolerance.” — Helen Keller
“There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.” — Pilpay (or Bidpai) — The Two Travellers, Chap. ii, Fable vi
“But some emotions don’t make a lot of noise. It’s hard to hear pride. Caring is real faint – like a heartbeat. And pure love – why, some days it’s so quiet, you don’t even know it’s there.” — Erma Bombeck
“Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf.” — Native American Proverb
“Where there is no shame, there is no honor.” — Smart Bee
“Something is either done or it is not done.” — Dwarvish Proverb
“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, “Virginibus Puerisque”, 1881
“It don’t mean a THING if you ain’t got that SWING!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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All of us tend to take the easy way when possible; it’s a characteristic we share with most other living creatures, though, the others aren’t quite as obsessed about it as we humans…. I’ve been guilty of it my own self, patently. In fact, watch closely, and you’ll see it happen right about NOW…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; that isn’t a promise, it’s a threat…. Well, I like to think so, anyway….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.
gigoid 