Tag Archives: Philosophy

Cross pollination of adverbs remains publicly undervalued….

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Ffolkes,

I won’t rant, I won’t rant, I won’t rant….. I find myself in need of some restraint, in order to keep from subjecting both of my readers (  😆  ) to a full-out, angry, vituperative tirade against the complete idiots currently inhabiting the Congressional buildings in Washington D.C…. Fortunately, for me, and for y’all, I’ve found a perfect quote to begin such a missive, so we’ll wait until section one, or three, to jump into the rant I know is there, anxiously waiting it’s chance to strike out at what may be the most widespread act of treason in our nation’s history….

Until I can begin, though, let’s talk about something else….. How ’bout the weather? No, no, that will merely get me started on global warming, an eminently rantable concept, given the state of the atmosphere, and the intransigent unwillingness of most everyone to PULL THEIR HEAD OUT OF THEIR ASSES….. Gee, I must be just a tad upset about that one; better not go there….

Hmm…. how about gun control? Well, there WAS a recent mass shooting…. Of course, this one was perpetrated by an obvious nut case, who, in spite of a long period of providing authorities with clues and hints of his inner conflict, managed to stockpile a shit-load of guns and ammo, then was adept enough to get around all the security measures at a major armed services facility to start shooting at his imaginary enemies, using real people as stand-ins for his hallucinations…..

I can see the events of 9/11 made a huge impression on the security at armed services facilities, didn’t it? It obviously caused them to review and tighten up their security measures…. NOT!….. I suppose they figured they were safe, because nobody would EVER think of shooting at a bunch of people making weapons for the war-making machine….. Nah, I think we’ll pass on this one, too…. there’s too much implied insanity, on both sides of the issue, to get into this one right now…

Well, let’s see, what else is going on in the world that we could talk about, without getting into how screwed up the world has become, one way or another…. It’s getting to be a hard task these days, to find ONE area of our lives that hasn’t been screwed over one way or another by what our beloved ruling class has been up to….. It seems like every time I turn around, some dipshit politico is bringing up some new asinine idea, or some old asinine idea, that serves to cause divisions between people, and create more problems than are ever solved…. They can’t seem to keep their greedy little hands out of everyone else’s business, whatever it may be, and their insane twisting of reality to suit their own purposes is getting really old….

It does make it relatively easy to come up with something to rant about, that much is certain; but, that isn’t necessarily to be considered a boon, is it? The more there is to rant about, the more screwed up things are…. It would be nice to get up one day to find the news empty of ANY new idiocy from those who seem unable to keep from screwing others, but, since I don’t believe I have EVER seen a day like that, I’m not particularly hopeful of that one ever coming true….

Oddly enough, I did manage to meander around sufficiently to reach legal intro level, which, after all, was the intent…. Does that mean we’ve succeeded today? No, I’m afraid not… but, it does mean we can go on to something a bit more compelling, and, theoretically, more interesting….

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

‘Tis written: ‘In the beginning was the word.’
Already I stick, and who shall help afford?
The ‘word’ at such high rate I may not tender;
The passage I must elsewhere render,
If rightly by the Spirit I am taught,
‘Tis written: ‘In the beginning was the Thought.’

By the first line a moment tarry,
Let not thine eager pen itself o’er-hurry!
Does ‘thought’ work all and fashion outright?
It should stand: ‘In the beginning was the Might.’
Yet even as my pen the sentence traces,
A warning hint the half-writ word effaces.

The Spirit helps me – from all doubting freed,
Thus write I: ‘In the beginning was the Deed.’

— Dr. Faustus, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Faust”

I made a statement above, using a very significant word of accusation, that I should explain, and I will…. but, first, consider Dr. Faustus’ words a moment….. The last line is the key, in my mind, the basic truth that the poetic train of thought leads us to, after a very pleasant rational exercise, couched in very elegant verse. But, the power of what is implied is what concerns me today…..

“In the beginning was the Deed.”….. A group of politicians who, by grace of some election chicanery, such as  manipulation of election districts, voting regulation changes to block certain voters, massive infusion of money into spreading lies to ignorant voters, and any other underhanded method they could legally or marginally-legally get away with, were able to elect a slight majority of Tea Party supported Republicans to a number of House seats, during the last national elections in 2012….

This group is characterized by certain common traits, such as disbelief in global warming, deliberate opposition to birth control fueled by disbelief in world overpopulation, along with a mistrust of  science in general, faith-based beliefs regarding gays, women, people of color, immigration, or anyone not a white Christian male, and most critically, a stubborn belief that they have the right to force their own out-dated beliefs on a society in which they are no longer a majority.

Since I must find a word to indicate the group when I am talking about them, a word that describes the group of them specifically, it’s hard not to just use the word, “assholes”, because that is exactly how they act most of the time…. However, today, I’d like to use the word that I believe is indicated in this situation, given their actions of the last few weeks regarding the budget, and Obamacare, and in truth, any reforms that would be of benefit to anyone other than, as mentioned, white Christian males…. Oh, yes, remember to add this word to the other descriptive adjectives I used, to wit: “millionaires”… because ALL of them are…. which just makes them that much further removed from, and out of touch with, the reality that most Americans live in…..

The new word I’ll use today to describe this group of Congressional Tea Party supported Republicans is, simply, traitors…. Yep, traitors, because that is exactly what they are….. These people, because of their sense of entitlement, completely unearned or deserved, and their deliberate isolation from reality, has led them to believe that they have the right to force their beliefs on the rest of this country, IN SPITE of their complete knowledge of the simple FACT that the majority of Americans do not believe the same way as they do anymore, and never will again…. They don’t CARE that others may suffer, or that they are completely out of touch with what is going on in the actual mainstream of society; they believe they ARE the mainstream, and by god, that’s the way it should be, to them…

But, they’ve lost touch with the real world, because the great mass of Americans no longer believe what they believe, and outside this country, there are not many at all who would agree at all with their position…. Most of what they purport to believe is just old news to much of the rest of the world, and makes them look all that much less sane, to hold on to what is so obviously not true in the face of so much evidence to the contrary….. If it wasn’t so dangerous, it would be rather pathetically sad…. But, it IS dangerous, to the rest of us, because, unfortunately, a lot of them are still in positions where they can cause damage beyond their actual influence… such as now, with this whole budget crisis idiocy….

“I wish Conservatives would be less liberal with their whining.” — Smart Bee

It sure would be nicer for the rest of us if they were, wouldn’t it? I get so tired of hearing stuff from these idiots, but, for that I blame the media, who are just as stupid in the way they pick and choose what to write about…. All the worst stuff, the least important, but most easily sold, is what ends up in the light, while all the stuff that NEEDS to be illuminated is passed over, or ignored, or made to be less important than it is…. Ah me, let’s not go too far into that subject, we’re still ranting against the traitorous congressional assholes….

They are traitors because they defaulted on their oaths of office, an oath which enjoins them, in intent, if not actual word, to uphold the law, and TO SERVE THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE…. They have failed miserably in that respect, and there is NO ONE who can tell me that they haven’t…. None of these assholes even considered that what they are doing will harm more people than it could possibly help…. If they did, they didn’t care, and did it anyway, out of their sense of entitlement, which just makes it more traitorous, and well as more immoral and more unethical (both are correct…. these people have none of EITHER one….).

“The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect is already in the cause.” — Henri Louis Bergson (1859-1941)

Knowing this only makes it hurt worse, for me, because it means that nobody in history has ever been able to cast off the shackles that the BRC and the shadowy masters of society have managed to place upon all of us….. They’ve had their way in the world for thousands of years, and the flaws in their control over the mass of humanity are few, not anywhere nearly large enough, or well-known enough, to cause the rest of humanity to protest, and throw them out…. Believe me, there is nothing the master class doesn’t know about how to control people in masses; just look at what they’ve accomplished in this country, in only two hundred years …..

“America will tolerate the taking of a human life without giving it a second thought. But don’t misuse a household pet.” — Dick Gregory, The Shadow that Scares Me, 1968

I’ve wandered around enough for one morning, and haven’t really taken more than a few shots at my intended targets…. But, they will manage to make themselves look foolish enough in the coming days, as this whole idiotic scenario plays itself out, so, I think I can let it go now, and not feel the worse for it…. I feel a bit better, having vented at least some of what built up over the last few days of watching it all unfold; it can be hard on us curmudgeons, having to hold stuff in like that…. Oh well, such is life…. thanks for listening….

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls must dive below.

— John Dryden (1631-1700) — All for Love, Prologue
_____________________________

Ranting often leave me somewhat down, so, to bring myself up a bit, I’m going to use one of my own poems, one that, oddly enough, rings with some rather positive notes….

Tuesday’s Child, from an Oblique Angle
When I really stop to think, it isn’t too much to expect
a warm bed, a bite of food, a loving smile to reflect.
We all need such comfort and supportive attention,
so basic to our soul, there is no real need to mention.Life often offers opportunities disguised very well,
illusions are rampant, what’s real can be hard to tell.
To honor old ties may seem like the only thing one can do,
but evidence is real, despite one’s wish it were untrue.

Those who love us truly, without thought of any gain,
hate for us to experience life’s portions of pain.
They also know we each must follow our own chosen way,
for the lessons we learn, we all have our own price to pay.

Still, wishing and hoping can’t do any true harm
and wishing good things to friends feels welcome, and warm.
The pageant of society will pass on to the next day
what new sights and sounds it brings me, thankfully, I can’t say.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

I’ve ranted, twice, technically, if you count the intro, which COULD be considered a rant, as it’s long, makes little sense, and insults politicians at strategic moments…. So, any who, y’all can’t make me do it again, not legally, and not in reality, because I just won’t do it, so there…. I will, however, construct an old-school pearl, which, once again, you cannot prevent or delay…. Well, not without explosives… It’ll be okay, though, I’ll instruct SB to be really nice to everybody, and throw in some kind of incentive…. maybe, if we’re lucky, we won’t have to use the fire hoses….

“The promotion of “self-esteem” in our schools has been so successful that people feel free to spout off about all sorts of things — and see no reason why their opinions should not be taken as seriously as the views of people who actually know what they are talking about.” — Thomas Sowell

“Now, that the sovereign power and deity, whatsoever it is, should have regard of mankind, is a toy and vanity worthy to be laughed at.” — Pliny The Elder

“Till then we shall be content to admit openly, what you (religionists) whisper under your breath or hide in technical jargon, that the ancient secret is a secret still; that man knows nothing of the Infinite and Absolute; and that, knowing nothing, he had better not be dogmatic about his ignorance. And, meanwhile, we will endeavour to be as charitable as possible, and whilst you trumpet forth officially your contempt for our skepticism, we will at least try to believe that you are imposed upon by your own bluster.” — Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), “An agnostic’s Apology”, — Fortnightly Review, 1876

“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” — Lao Tzu

IMMORTALITY, n.
A toy which people cry for,
And on their knees apply for,
Dispute, contend and lie for,
And if allowed
Would be right proud
Eternally to die for.
G.J.
— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“BEWARE!  People acting under the influence of human nature.” — Smart Bee

“I love those who yearn for the impossible.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust
_____________________________

I love being able to end a piece with the same author, and work, as I started with; even if this turns out to be a pile of crap, it still makes the grade for being artistically balanced, if not intellectually so…. Let’s see what happened here…..

Whew! Longer, and tougher than I’d thought…. Not too bad, though, all in all, and certainly good enough for this venue…. Hell, a little bit of fluff, wax, and polish, I could probably post the rant in section one on another site, as an essay on current events, but, I’m lazy, and by the time I work up the wherewithal, energy-wise, to do that, it won’t be so current anymore…. C’est la vie! At least this one’s done, and I can go give my back, my fingers, and your credibility, a well-earned rest….. See ya….

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

dozer3

Initial ethical alignments are in progress….

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    Ffolkes,

I made a small tactical error this morning…. Before I started to write this, I read an email, and took a few moments to consider what it had to say….. It was yet another unwelcome begging letter from Organizing for Action, the grassroots fund raising organization formed after Obama’s second election victory… This organization sends me at least two emails every day, each with another call to action, based on whatever political dust-up is currently on tap, followed by a request for money. The calls to action lately relate mostly to the news of what is happening in Congress regarding the current budget mess….. Each email tells me how critical it is that I send them money, or the big, bad Republicans, who have already raised more money than we have (“we” being the good guys, the White House myrmidons as opposed to the Republican myrmidons….), will shut down the government…

I’m torn at the prospect of seeing the massive bureaucracy we call our government grind to a halt; if nothing else the NOISE that is generated is offensive, consisting as it does of the cries of innocent victims, the cacophony of outraged citizens, the outlandish accusations and blame-throwing by both political parties, and the wails of frustration from ffolkes like you and me, who cannot comprehend the depths of ignorance that are being displayed on a daily basis in Washington D.C….. However, on the other hand, as Will Rogers said, the people never suffer so much as when Congress is in session, so, having the whole ball of wax inactive could conceivably do some extensive good, just by not doing anything….

My mistake, as you can see, was allowing the email’s content to get under my skin…. Here we are, government shut down, everything in society at sixes and sevens, and the best they can come up with is, send us $5, so we can fight back?…. What a crock! How stupid do they think people are? Obviously, pretty stupid, as they just continue with their begging, no matter what is going on, or how much they’ve collected…. I guess, for every million emails they send out, they probably have a couple thousand assholes who would send money to Mars, if the politicians asked them to, so they just keep sending them out, relying on the power of statistical percentages to keep the money flowing into their coffers…..

This whole situation is one that brings me to a point where my only reaction is “So? They’re screwing us again? So, what else is new?” I am not only outraged, frustrated, and sad at the ignorance and sheer idiocy currently on display in Washington, I am becoming bored with it…. The same old bullshit, not even dressed in new clothes, keeps falling at our feet, disgorged on a daily basis by people who seem to be congenital liars, thieves, and just plain assholes, ‘scuse my French, which I’m allowed to say because their actions indicate nothing else…. As I said…. BOORRRING…..

We are hearing the same old story, told at the same old stand, by the same old shameless people, insulting us with the same old lies…. I’d be angry, but, it’s more depressing than it is enraging, because of the simple fact that most people in this country not only don’t know they’re being lied to, but, when it is pointed out to them, they try to rationalize, rather than reject…. Rather than admit they have been in error, they’d rather try to justify being wrong, and refuse to change….

It’s saddening, and maddening, to see the LACK of intelligence and independence of spirit that once characterized this country and its people… The American public has turned into a massive crowd of willing slaves to their corporate masters, proud of their ignorance, filled with a false sense of both their own worth, and their entitlement to rights and privileges not earned.

Hmm… I see that I’ve again usurped the intro section to vent… If I have any hope of completing this Pearl by the usual time, I’d better get on with it…. Just consider this your starting point, and I’ll dive in here to begin the search for some outsourced wisdom for us to consider this morning….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If you are beginning to doubt what I am saying, you are probably hallucinating.” — The Firesign Theater, _Everything you know is Wrong_
_____________________________

“It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn’t in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.” — Charles Kuralt

Mr. Kuralt, while correct in his statement, mostly, forgets to include one stupidly large, important group connected to the groups he mentions above, to wit: the huge number of IDIOTS among the unwashed masses who support the politicians, admire the celebrities, and regard the criminals as just another form of entertainment, unless it touches on them directly. It is a disturbing thought to realize the number of people who believe that politicians are honest, who think celebrities are role models, and who regard TV as the closest approach to reality they intend to tolerate…..

In part, he IS right, though…. There ARE people who don’t hurt others as their basic modus operandi…. There are people who don’t vote for thieving assholes (Though that’s a tough one to avoid, given that practically everyone who runs for office falls into that category…. I guess I mean that a lot of people vote for someone on the ballot, without fully realizing they are being lied to…. Mostly, I think they have suspicions, but vote anyway, because they can’t imagine any alternatives….)

Society does not consist solely of those who monopolize the news every day; it is simply the case that those people don’t fit into one of those categories that make compelling news stories, so they aren’t ever written up like those who lie, cheat, and steal, whether that criminality is expressed in Washington D.C. in an office building, in a sound studio, or on the mean streets… Actors end up in this group because they show the unwashed masses what the politicians and criminals are up to in stories and films….

“You could drop a leaflet or a Hubbard squash on the head of a person in any land, and you would almost certainly hit a brain that was whirling in small, conventional circles.” — E. B. White

Hence, due to what sells the best, those three groups end up on the news, in theaters, and on our TV’s, phones, and computers, all day and night, with all the bells and whistles they can figure out how to hang on them…. Since that is all there is to see, it is easy to start to believe that these are all there is, and the world is nothing more than one big illusionary collection of people and events that has no direction, other than straight to Hell in a Hummer….

Yes, there ARE other people in this country other than those three groups…. but, they aren’t making the news, are they? They’re watching it, and, sadly, mostly keeping their mouths shut…. which is pretty much why Hell is only a few miles away now…..

“Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one  man. How’s that again?  I missed something.” — Robert A. Heinlein

This will be a short rant, since I count it as merely a continuation of the first section; it’s a slight change of subject, but, not much, if one looks closely…. Besides the entertainment value of ranting, for me, it’s also my indictment of the very people who are dominating today’s headlines, so, I’m good with however it comes out, to be honest…. I’m disgusted, and disappointed, and a large number of other adjectives that indicate similar feelings, directed at the ‘assholes on parade’ we’re forced to watch… So disgusted, I am going to stop here, because it’s just making me crazy, and want to break things….

“In a cruel and evil world, being cynical can allow you to get some entertainment out of it.” — Daniel Waters, screenwriter of HEATHERS
_____________________________

For me, poetry has as much, or more, power to take my mind away as does the best prose, or the best films, and runs a parallel course with the words of someone I love, in how strongly I can be affected in my emotions….. In that light, my favorite poets are favored, not because of how popular or famous they are, but because of how I feel when I read them… From this poet, I always find both the power of elegance and beauty, and hope for the spirit we entail as humans….

As Once the Winged Energy of Delight

As once the winged energy of delight
carried you over childhood’s dark abysses,
now beyond your own life build the great
arch of unimagined bridges.

Wonders happen if we can succeed
in passing through the harshest danger;
but only in a bright and purely granted
achievement can we realize the wonder.

To work with Things in the indescribable
relationship is not too hard for us;
the pattern grows more intricate and subtle,
and being swept along is not enough.

Take your practiced powers and stretch them out
until they span the chasm between two
contradictions…For the god
wants to know himself in you.

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

_____________________________

What you will find below is a Classic pearl… It chose itself, which is the primary characteristic that sets this type apart; when I furnish the parameters for inclusion, the outcome is of a different nature. For some reason, probably having to do with magic, or something, this kind always comes out stronger, and stranger, and more beautiful in execution of the humorous parts, if not always more elegantly attractive due to the identifiable sources involved….

If any of that is comprehensible to you, I think you could consider yourself to be a regular…. It’s clear that you have a “different” sort of mind, for which logic and compassion dictate that one suggest, it possibly would be smart to make an appointment with your psychiatrist, should you have one…. If you don’t, I’m bound to remind y’all, the law requires you to engage one, if you spend more than the recommended amount of time pearling; you can get around that requirement by keeping your certificate of sanity at hand, as provided to you at birth, and again at your graduation from high school….. That IS what they gave us, right?…. I lost the one I got at birth, but, I just thought they gave me a new on at the commencement exercises in 1968…. Oh, well, no es importante, si?…

Just so it’s all clear… If it doesn’t say who said it, I found it in Smart Bee without any attribution….. and Google didn’t know either…. or possibly, it didn’t care…..

“It’s so clean. It’s certainly uncontaminated by cheese.”

“My main reason for adopting literature as a profession was that, as the author is never seen by his clients, he need not dress respectably.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

“Some professors asked a monk to lecture to them on  spiritual matters. The monk ascended a podium, struck it once  with his stick, and descended. The academics were dumbfounded.  The monk asked them, “Do you understand what I have told you?”  One professor said, “I do not understand.” The monk said, “I have concluded my lecture.”

“A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.” — Thomas Paine [Author of the Declaration of Independence and even more, but no politician.]

“Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.” — Brendan Gill

“I hope I never get so old I get religious.” — Ingmar Bergman

NLTDB  🙂  🙂  :-):   Nothin’ Left To Do But Smile, Smile, Smile.
_____________________________

“Okay,” he said, self-consciously, “not bad.” Small cough…. “Not bad at all….” Larger cough…. “I wonder if anyone will read it?”, was his next plaintive question, so I kicked him out of my head…. But, after I caught my breath from coughing, I realized that, yes, it wasn’t bad at all, so, I can quit now, which is probably for the best, for all of us…. See ya tomorrow, ffolkes…

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

dozer3

Give us a piteous whimper, Number Six….

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Ffolkes,

    Today, like any other day, has yet to show its true potential, though even now, the feeling of pregnant possibility is almost palpable. It’s hard to describe, actually, this feeling of electric, buzzing anticipation of…. what?  The very unknown qualities of the future, far-distant or immediate, add a certain tingle of both fear, and burgeoning joy, to the mix of emotions that swirl as we ponder the day’s dawning….

    For some, this jittery, bouncy feeling is too much of a morning, so, they bury their nose in a paper, sip their coffee, and try not to think about what might happen… But, for others, such as meself…. well, let’s just say that there’s no better start to the day than to feel as if it will be filled with challenges, with problems, with solutions, and with both joy, and pain…. Not a bad day, for a human… It’s like Lazarus used to say….

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

    I can do all of the above, except program a computer (I can learn, though, and am in the process of doing so, slowly….), and balance my checking account…. Well, actually, not true… I have had it balanced, once or twice in the dim, dark past; now, I just let the bank do it, and keep track of it online… So, this means I can consider myself a human, by these standards, which I consider to be an accurate summation, and much the same as the conclusions I had already come to in my life. Of course, reading Heinlein’s work since the age of 11 hasn’t hurt a bit in developing those beliefs and standards….

    Nor did it hurt to be raised by a Master Sergeant…. I always call my dad that, but, I wouldn’t want to give the impression that was ALL he was… He lived for 72 years, but spent only 20 of that in the army, so, there was more to him than that…. But, in my mind, the fact that, after those 20 years of service, he ended up at that rank as his permanent billet, (though he was promoted after retiring; that is standard. By the time of his death, he had been promoted to major….), is an indication of what kind of man he was…. It is a well-known, and accepted, fact that in the army, Master Sergeants are the ones who actually run things…. smart officers leave the bulk of their duty to the sergeants, merely giving good orders, and staying out of their way….

    But, my father was more than merely a Master Sergeant; it’s just a convenient handle to describe him, and to give an idea of what sort of guy he was…. Any who, I’ve wandered around again, without much purpose, and seem to have ended up in a place where I can’t find an easy way out, and into the Pearl… Not unusual, I suppose, merely bothersome…. Oh well, I think I’ll use emergency procedure # 1, which is in its place at the head of the entire group of techniques for saving my ass because it always works… It’s called the Bail-Out, for good reason: it just stops, and…..
_____________________________

    And, you never hear from me again on whatever subject was at hand…. Pretty cool, eh? It ALWAYS works…. So, having been dumped here in the first section, clueless as to something to write (No, nothing new in that, I know, but a PITA, nonetheless….). I guess I’ll go old-school, like I had any intention of doing anything else….  😆

“An older student came to Otis and said, “I have been to see a great number of teachers and I have given up a great number of pleasures. I have fasted, been celibate and stayed awake nights seeking enlightenment. I have given up everything I was asked to give up and I have suffered, but I have not been enlightened. What should I do?” Otis replied, “Give up suffering.” — Camden Benares, “Zen Without Zen Masters”

“When the rich make war it’s the poor that die.” — Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), “Le Diable et le bon Dieu”, 1951

“His seat back is not in the full upright and locked position.” — Smart Bee

“Food, sleep, fear, propagation; each is the common property of men with brutes. Virtue is really their additional distinction; devoid of virtue, they are equal with brutes.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)

“All but the hard hearted man must be torn with pity for this pathetic dilemma of the rich man, who has to keep the poor man just stout enough to do the work and just thin enough to have to do it.” — G. K. Chesterton, Utopia of Usurers, 1917

“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.” — Maya Angelou

“Never commit yourself to a cheese without having first examined it.” — T. S. Eliot
_____________________________

    Poetry such as this needs no adornment from me…..

Love Is A Parallax

‘Perspective betrays with its dichotomy:
train tracks always meet, not here, but only
   in the impossible mind’s eye;
horizons beat a retreat as we embark
on sophist seas to overtake that mark
   where wave pretends to drench real sky.’

‘Well then, if we agree, it is not odd
that one man’s devil is another’s god
   or that the solar spectrum is
a multitude of shaded grays; suspense
on the quicksands of ambivalence
   is our life’s whole nemesis.

So we could rave on, darling, you and I,
until the stars tick out a lullaby
   about each cosmic pro and con;
nothing changes, for all the blazing of
our drastic jargon, but clock hands that move
   implacably from twelve to one.

We raise our arguments like sitting ducks
to knock them down with logic or with luck
   and contradict ourselves for fun;
the waitress holds our coats and we put on
the raw wind like a scarf; love is a faun
   who insists his playmates run.

Now you, my intellectual leprechaun,
would have me swallow the entire sun
   like an enormous oyster, down
the ocean in one gulp: you say a mark
of comet hara-kiri through the dark
   should inflame the sleeping town.

So kiss: the drunks upon the curb and dames
in dubious doorways forget their monday names,
   caper with candles in their heads;
the leaves applaud, and santa claus flies in
scattering candy from a zeppelin,
   playing his prodigal charades.

The moon leans down to took; the tilting fish
in the rare river wink and laugh; we lavish
   blessings right and left and cry
hello, and then hello again in deaf
churchyard ears until the starlit stiff
   graves all carol in reply.

Now kiss again: till our strict father leans
to call for curtain on our thousand scenes;
   brazen actors mock at him,
multiply pink harlequins and sing
in gay ventriloquy from wing to wing
   while footlights flare and houselights dim.

Tell now, we taunt where black or white begins
and separate the flutes from violins:
   the algebra of absolutes
explodes in a kaleidoscope of shapes
that jar, while each polemic jackanapes
   joins his enemies’ recruits.

The paradox is that ‘the play’s the thing’:
though prima donna pouts and critic stings,
   there burns throughout the line of words,
the cultivated act, a fierce brief fusion
which dreamers call real, and realists, illusion:
   an insight like the flight of birds:

Arrows that lacerate the sky, while knowing
the secret of their ecstasy’s in going;
   some day, moving, one will drop,
and, dropping, die, to trace a wound that heals
only to reopen as flesh congeals:
   cycling phoenix never stops.

So we shall walk barefoot on walnut shells
of withered worlds, and stamp out puny hells
   and heavens till the spirits squeak
surrender: to build our bed as high as jack’s
bold beanstalk; lie and love till sharp scythe hacks
   away our rationed days and weeks.

Then jet the blue tent topple, stars rain down,
and god or void appall us till we drown
   in our own tears: today we start
to pay the piper with each breath, yet love
knows not of death nor calculus above
   the simple sum of heart plus heart.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

_____________________________

    I haven’t ranted today, and I rather think I’ll not do so at all, being, as I am, in a state of mind NOT conducive to the proper critical assault of some deserving asshole in the public venue…. although, I’m certain, there is SOMEONE in the news today who deserves an insult or two as payback for their asininity…… Hell, I could easily take two or three minutes, peruse the news headlines, and come up with the name of one or two appropriate candidates…. I’m just too lazy this morning to do so….

    I’m gonna go for another old-school pearl, as you probably knew I would, once you saw the word ‘lazy’…. Let’s see what The Notebooks of Lazarus Long have for us along the lines of some ironic, or possibly sardonic, observations on that historically ubiquitous obstacle to the progress of mankind, Religion, or as we like to call it here, the Priestly Hierarchies…. All of these are from Robert Heinlein, via Lazarus, with just a bit of help from Smart Bee….

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.”

“One man’s theology is another man’s belly laugh.  “

“Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.”

“The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.”

“God split himself into a myriad parts that he might have friends.” This may not be true, but it sounds good — and is no sillier than any other theology.”

“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent — it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash and in small bills.”

“Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.” — Smart Bee

    Well, there you have it, ffolkes…. My own personal invitation to Hell, if the Christians have their way….   😉
_____________________________

    Okay, so, they can’t all be brilliant…. Now, if only I could get ONE of them to approach that, I’d be happy…. Let’s see where on the scale this one falls….

    Okay, well, I’m impressed… I was barely paying attention, and this came out pretty good…. I’ll have to try this more often, if I can figure out whatever the hell it is that I did differently…. See ya, ffolkes…..

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

dozer3

Surveys are calling for juicier burgers….

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Ffolkes,

It’s entirely possible that I’m drying up….. I’ve written so much in the last two years, it’s all starting to sound the same; if there is one thing I refuse to consider, it is repeating my self to no purpose. I’ve repeated myself here, of course, many times, as I have continued my campaign to show as many ffolkes as I can just how badly they are being disrespected by the BRC, the PH’s, their CM’s, and the blind, vicious masses of myrmidons who loyally, if immorally, support them all, hoping beyond hope enough people would hear the truths I’m shouting out, and begin to work toward stopping them from killing us all….

In that campaign, and to pursue the stated end,I HAVE repeated my assertions, any number of times, which is why I think I may not have much left. It all is beginning to seem futile, at the least, and completely pointless, at the worst; I cannot see much evidence that all I’ve been saying is getting us very far toward salvation as a society. Oh, don’t worry, I’m not a complete idiot (presumably); I don’t believe that I am the world’s savior, or that I have the only message worth hearing, and I certainly don’t claim to be the world’s most compelling writer, even if I do use a lot of big words…. 7 billion people who have NOT ever read what I write can’t be ALL wrong, can they?….

No, I can’t claim to be the most important, or the best, or even the most committed writer of what could be called “calls to action” (though, perhaps, the most prolific in word-count); a lot of people, who are (maybe) better writers, and who certainly have more readers, also write about this stuff, every day, in a lot of news outlets. There are organizations with web sites who have been formed solely for the purpose of counting all the lies that politicians tell us (fact checkers, they call themselves….), checking the claims made in their speeches against reality, to ascertain the level of truth being told….. At last check, the claims I’ve made, about ALL of them, that they are ALL lying, have been proven, beyond a doubt, to be absolutely correct…..

However, truthful as I may be, I’m getting a bit tired of continually promoting a message that, even though annoyingly and humiliatingly true, as well as bitterly ugly, does not seem to outrage others as much as it does me…. I don’t understand how the press can constantly print the crap they do, allowing the lies that are put out to be distributed beyond all hope of counteraction…. It is as if the entire society has accepted the lies as their only truth; even the media will breathlessly repeat anything said by a major politician, without ever checking the statements for truth, in full awareness that what they are repeating may not be the truth…. They know what they’re doing, but, because it makes a profit, or in some other way meets their need for expediency, they refuse to stop reporting what they KNOW, or, at least, suspect, to be false….

Actually, I don’t know if profit is the ONLY motive of those who report the news…. I do know it is the sole motive of those who own and control the media; their primary concern has always been one of control of information, not the undisciplined spread of it. But, it really doesn’t matter what their motive may be, as the end result is the same; a society controlled by shadowy masters who have no compunction about lying, cheating, or stealing their way into power, then using that power to consolidate their positions, making it damn near impossible to either remove them…. most of the time, they don’t allow the media, or anyone, to even identify them….

Those who have the real power in this world tend to stick to the shadows and back alleys, (which, oddly enough, look strangely like penthouses and country mansions….), never showing their faces to a public that would revolt and tear them limb from limb, had they any clue as to their real part in how reality is ordered….. They don’t like to be photographed, and they never walk in public venues without security at close hand, to protect them from the “mean streets”, filled with the mostly ignorant inhabitants, of the world they have created to suit themselves.

I would imagine that even the most powerful politicians in the world haven’t a clue that they are really puppets, controlled by people who will never give up their clandestine power. If the world’s political leaders were ever made aware of the degree to which they are no more than marionettes for their invisible masters, just like the unwashed masses they lord it over, it could conceivably cause problems for those who have the real power, which they aren’t going to allow…. The real rulers of this planet have had many thousands of years of practice at directing human culture into the channels they desire, wherein the great mass of humanity believes their leaders are good people, trying to make their lives better, when in reality, we are all headed straight to a Dante-esque version of Hell, of our own making….

On that positive note, I think I should go on to the rest of today’s outburst, before I rant myself into a coma…. As pleasant as that prospect may sound to some, I’ll pass, thank you….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Sex! Lies! Drugs! Money! Power! Corruption! Man, I love Congress!” — Smart Bee
_____________________________

I’ve waited a long time, and spent a lot of time very diligently searching the Net for an article such as this one…. It is a very even-handed, and more importantly, realistic take on all the stuff that the politicians use to whip the public into a frenzy of fear, whenever there is a new mass shooting, or another terrorist attack somewhere. Such reports of terrorist activity doesn’t even have to be happening here, in this country, for some of the media pundits and politicians to use it as a method of creating panic and outrage in the public arena.

The author acknowledges a little known, and certainly under-appreciated fact, which can be stated thus: when the number of shootings are actually COUNTED, there are actually no more of them happening now than at any other time since statistics on the matter have been collected. In fact, several earlier periods of our history, especially in the last century, experienced significantly more terrorist bombings, and more mass shootings, than have occurred in the first 13 years of this century. These are numerical FACTS, ffolkes, not speculation, or guesses…. The pundits WANT the people in fear, so they promote that agenda, with no shame at all…

Because the political pundits would rather keep the public in a state of suppressed panic than tell them the truth, they flood the media with emotional diatribes against unseen, sometimes even non-existent dangers, in order to manipulate the great unwashed masses into accepting new limits on their freedom, in the form of “temporary” laws they tell us are only there to protect us, but, in reality, will be used to spy on their own people, operate clandestine prisons and courts with no oversight, and arrest even law-abiding citizens who fit their profiles of a possible terrorist….

Did you know that the right to publicly assemble to address the government with grievances has been done away with?…. Yep, look it up, ffolkes, the Patriot Act makes it a crime to gather a certain number of people without a permit…. which they are NOT giving out…. They — “They” being police authorities and/or military troops, or even agents of government bureaus, such as Homeland Security, the FBI, or the NSA, or ‘special agents’ of some other acronym we haven’t even been made aware of, acting blindly, but with full cooperation and agreement, under the orders of politicians — they no longer need to give it out, anyway, as it is now legal for them to arrest anyone at such an event, under suspicion of terrorist actions, and they don’t have to explain it to ANYONE!…. Truth, y’all…. Capisce?

Read the article ffolkes, it’s an eye-opener, and gives a good take on a subject most are afraid to even discuss….

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Terror-mass-shootings-don-t-mean-more-danger-4852423.php

“Although a wise man might urge that one should suffer fools gladly, this should not be construed as license for any fool to demand that one do so.” — Frederic William Kantor
_____________________________

Today’s Pearl has, so far, come from within the confines of my own mind, such as it is, and, as far as it goes, so, for the poetry selection, we’ll go with one of mine, as well, to maintain balance, and to ensure that no one else can be blamed for any of what has transpired here today….

Unheralded Sagacity…

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

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

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

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

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Thus far today, I’ve ranted, twice, if one cares to be technical, and used one of my own poems as ballast; that order of events dictates that this section will be an old-school pearl, and who am I to fuck with tradition, eh?….. I have no idea what direction it will take, but, I’m hoping for a good grouping, to finish off what feels like a good effort…. Let’s see what we can persuade Smart Bee to let loose….

— Bother! said Pooh, as the Borg assimilated him.

“There are many who consider as an injury to themselves any conduct which they have a distaste for, and resent it as an outrage to their feelings; as a religious bigot, when charged with disregarding the religious feelings of others, has been known to retort that they disregard his feelings, by persisting in their abominable worship or creed. But there is no parity between the feeling of a person for his own opinion, and the feeling of another who is offended at his holding it; no more than between the desire of a thief to take a purse, and the desire of the right owner to keep it.  And a person’s taste is as much his own peculiar concern as his opinion or his purse. It is easy for any one to imagine an ideal public, which leaves the freedom and choice of individuals in all uncertain matters undisturbed, and only requires them to abstain from modes of conduct which universal experience has condemned. But where has there been seen a public which set any such limit to its censorship? or when does the public trouble itself about universal experience? In its interferences with personal conduct it is seldom thinking of anything but the enormity of acting or feeling differently from itself; and this standard of judgment, thinly disguised, is held up to mankind as the dictate of religion and philosophy, by nine-tenths of all moralists and speculative writers.” — John Stuart Mill, _On Liberty_, Chapter IV

“A time to mourn, and a time to dance.” — Ecclesiastes 3:4

“Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically–for our mutual good. The lie is the basic building block of good manners. That may seem mildly shocking to a moralist–but then what isn’t?” — Quentin Crisp, 1984

“I’m going to live forever, or die trying!” — Spider Robinson

“All generalizations are dangerous, perhaps even this one. There are exceptions to the rule, but this does not appear to be one of them.” — Smart Bee

— You may be redneck… If the Borg refuse to assimilate you.

Okay, well, hmm….. I am speechless…. moreover, I’m in awe, of SB’s sheer genius at what Dorothy L. Sayers called piffle, what the world-at-large calls insane nonsense, and what I call damn fine irony…. I hope you enjoy this one…. I did…..
_____________________________

“Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Yes! Yes! Now, THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about!!! Of course, once I read it through from start to finish, it could fall apart, but, for now, it feels like a good one…. Let’s go see….

For once, I was right, even though I’m a man, and I’m standing in a forest, by myself, talking…. I have it on good authority that in such cases, I am always wrong… Nonetheless, this is a good one, and I’m not going to listen to anything to the contrary… Well, wrong, I’ll listen, but, I won’t agree…. Not only that, but, it’s done! So, see ya…..

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

dozer3

Bolstered by the innuendo, he preened….

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Ffolkes,

Since the fear of the blank page that formerly caused me so much frustration is no longer a problem, I seem to have evolved a different type of issue in the introduction, to wit: long-winded ranting, before I’m even awake, or have had sufficient coffee to allow me to organize my thoughts with some elegance, rather than just emotionally-driven indictments of the BRC, the Priestly Hierarchies, and their myrmidons, the military/police wannabees….

I call them wannabees because the ones to whom I refer have a tendency to be those men and/or women who enter those groups in order to feel powerful, to exercise authority over others, which is a sublimation of their own feelings of inadequacy; becoming policemen, they believe,  allows them to let out their inner bully with societal approval. As a general rule, the self-image these folks have is poor, and they need the job to feel like they are a real tough guy, never realizing that real tough guys don’t NEED a position to feel self-confident…

The ranting I’ve been letting myself perform in the intros of late has been somewhat general, purposely. When I’m just railing away at the idiocy that I see being acted out in the public arena, I don’t usually try to bring in a lot of detailed evidence, relying on the evidence that is shown each day in the news, and can be easily found by anyone willing to keep an open mind. In that sense, what I see in the news is available for all to see, so I don’t feel I need to provide anything else to support my claims…. and I get very few challenges (I don’t know if that’s because everyone agrees, or nobody is seeing it, and it doesn’t matter, ultimately…. same result…).

Where this is going is not clear; I’m merely trying to get a handle on what has been happening in the mornings, so I can at least TRY to put some elegance, or a bit of pizazz into it….. (Wow… “pizazz” didn’t trip the spell checker!….). I don’t mind the ranting; it does give me a chance to go more old school in the three sections, which is good from my standpoint…. There is much less effort involved for me to put together a good random, harlequin pearl, than there is in using my reasoning powers to create a ranting pearl…. In the former case, Smart Bee does the hard part, and I just have to keep a sharp eye on the choices made; in the latter case, I must actually activate neurons, use deduction and intuition, and generally work a lot harder for the same net result….

Maybe that is why I’ve been ranting here, in the intro, to get the hard part out of the way first, allowing me to cruise downhill for the remainder of the day’s effort…. To believe that, however, I would have to attribute a greater degree of intelligence to my subconscious than it has heretofore shown; its usual efforts to manipulate my conscious mind aren’t very subtle, or complex, nor particularly effective, as a rule.

The sub-, or unconscious part of our minds is not fully understood, but, I’ve found mine to be stubborn, a bit selfish, and overly opinionated, but, with strong virtues that determine a lot of what it wants me to do…. Sadly, it doesn’t have a good grasp of reality, and will often make demands that cannot be met in the real world, causing a lot of angst if it doesn’t get its way….

Or, this all could be a trick that my conscious mind has developed, to distract y’all from what actually transpires here in the beginning of these missives….. Nah! No way….. I wouldn’t do that to anyone I respect…. And, if I did, I wouldn’t tell you, so, you can be sure, this time at least, we’re still dealing with the real world on this, not my inner fantasies and/or delusions… I’m pretty sure, anyway…. I mean, my unconscious COULD be screwing with me, and, therefore, you, but, that would indicate even less control over this process than even I had imagined, bringing this entire process into the realm of Entropy, or, as it is more commonly known, Chaos, devourer of minds….

Or, as is most likely, I’m just short of coffee, and it will all be better in a little while…. I’d say, of those I’ve seen fit to bring forth, this is the most likely scenario , so we’ll go with it, and count ourselves as lucky to have found our way…. somewhere….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“The day is committed to error and floundering; success and achievement are matters of long range.” — Goethe
_____________________________

I receive an email each week from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, or,  EFF, as it is known, an organization that is dedicated to keeping the Internet free… free of influence or control by the government, or anyone else who would try to limit the way that people can use its unlimited possibilities…. This, of course, fits in perfectly with my own view of the world, so I appreciate the job they are doing (which is excellent, BTW). In the latest email from them, a number of interesting articles were shown, each addressing a different issue, or another attempt by the PTB (Powers That Be) to shut down one or more of the ways people can find out just what our leaders are up to….

The article I’ve included below is a good one; it provides a clear picture of just how egregiously the NSA has abused its powers, and how far PAST the limits that were placed on its activities it has repeatedly gone, right from the first….. I could easily rant about this one, for days, but, it has ticked me off so much, I am incoherent with rage…. That much is obvious…. I only provide euphemisms for vulgarity (‘ticked’ instead of ‘pissed’…) when I am so mad, I have to deliberately tone down my language, or I become downright viciously vituperative…. It’s too early in the day for that much emotional output, so, I control it with severe pomposity….

I will point out, however, one part of the article, which seems, to me, to give a pretty good idea of just how little the people who get into office respect the public…. The NSA began EXCEEDING the limits placed on them by the Patriot Act on the very first day it was passed; that much is clear from the records they have released. Their own court, which supposedly oversees the actions they are taking, has stated that the agency cannot be trusted to observe the limits they are given, as they have repeatedly ignored those limitations, and continue doing so to this day…. Even the fact that the court TOLD them not to perform certain actions, they went ahead and did them anyway, just because they wanted to, and had the technology to do it….
See for yourself…

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/gems-mined-nsa-docs-released-today

“The United States has entered an anti-intellectual phase in its history, perhaps most clearly seen in our virtually thought-free political life.” — David Baltimore

I’ll be nice, and leave this here…. I AM trying to cut down on my ranting a bit; I was getting a bit overboard with it…. But, the damn fools just keep doing things that are outrageous, and I can’t help but react…. I’ve about given up hope of ever seeing enough change to save our collective asses from extinction, but, I continue to watch the show, and comment on the more obvious stuff going on right in front of us…. Not with any hope of seeing it change, but in hope of sharing the misery, since it loves company….

Ah, well…. I saw another article yesterday that confirmed that the unnatural levels of CO2 in the air have been conclusively found to be the result of the insane actions of our species, wherein we have been pumping, literally,  millions of TONS of CO2 into the atmosphere, EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY FOR THE LAST 60 YEARS!   This is not new news, but rather a confirmation of an idea that has been around for some time, one that is continuously challenged by the ignorant, when it isn’t being denied outright. This is merely the latest in a long series of reports in this vein, but, it takes away weight from an argument that should have had no basis in reality in the first place; only the stubborn denial of those ignorant fools who don’t WANT to believe it has kept it from being acknowledged as fact before now….

SIGH…. Face it, ffolkes, the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and nobody is giving us any viable alternatives to killing ourselves…. and the only real hope of staying alive would entail becoming as ignorant and violent as those who brought us to this point, in order to eliminate them from the picture…. As Nietzsche said, if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze long into you…..

“All mimsy were the borogoves.” — Lewis Carroll
_____________________________

We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

 — T. S. Eliot

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

Yay! I’ve finally reached the third section of today’s Pearl, and, having completed all the required regulatory entries, (a rant, one of my poems to avoid accusations of piracy, all with some sarcasm woven in), it is now legal for me to proceed to put together an old-school pearl for your delectation, and mine…. Without further ado….

“In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.” — Coleridge

“Welcome to the Democratic Party, here’s your blindfold.” — Smart Bee

“Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“Welcome to the Republican Party, here’s your cattle-prod.” — gigoid

“I deserve respect for the things I did not do.” — Vice President Dan Quayle

“Beautify America – Deport Congress!” — Smart Bee

“The basic delusion that men may be governed and yet be free.” — H.L. Mencken
_____________________________

I hadn’t intended to go political in that last section, but Smart Bee kept throwing those quotes at me, so, I went with the flow…. which turned out quite well, I think…. It does have the elegance and chic that comes from being DONE, so, I’m letting it fly, as is…. Now, let’s see if it all hangs together, or if we’ll need some caulking…

Not bad… a couple of tweaks, and we’re good to go…. For once, I’ll accept that without any further blathering, and just say…. See ya!….

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

dozer3

Avoiding those odd “Elvis” moments….

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Ffolkes,

It is not without a certain degree of trepidation that I come to this decision; no one at all could ever consider taking such a step without thinking about what might happen, if things do not go as planned. If things don’t work out as hoped, the carnage will be extensive, and the world, as we know it, will never be the same…. Contrarily, if what I am contemplating works as it should, no one will ever know they were mere seconds from annihilation, destined to exit this plane of existence, not with a bang, but with the poet’s whimper….

On the other hand, I could quit fooling around, and tell you that all of the above is just another silly collection of words, put together in such a way as to draw your attention, and engage your mind in some sort of fictional scenario, with no real connection to reality…. How’d I do? I don’t know about y’all, but I was completely fooled….. and I was the one writing it! Now, THAT’S some powerful writing!….. Just kidding, ffolkes….. I’m fully aware of how my pomposity, my arrogance, my regular and harsh criticism of religion and its icons, and my so-far-left-I’m-right political positions, have a tendency, no doubt, to make people uncomfortable, or, at the very least, leave them with feelings of guilt, which nobody cares for at all….

The guilt, if I’ve done my job correctly, comes from knowing that we, the American people at large, are responsible for the mess we are in, due to our long-term habit of putting our head in the sand every four years, and voting for yet another batch of lying, cheating, immoral assholes, establishing them in their elected positions, where they will proceed, like every other politician in the last 100 years, to fuck things up beyond all belief….. Sometimes, I think that what they studied in college was not law, but bozoid technology….. how to make best use of those tools we all employ at one time or another to make fools of ourselves…..

What is THIS all about? Good question…. Over the last couple of days, I’ve been looking back at all I’ve written in the last couple of years, since beginning this blog, and I realized that I’ve been beating a horse so dead, it’s petrified, and has been erected as a statue in the local park…. I’ve ranted and railed against the machine, belittling the churches and their deliberately delusional perpetrators, and accused ALL politicians of psychopathic greed, not to mention congenital prevarication….

I’ve pointed out the lies that the politicians tell us, either by omission, or by commission, and bemoaned the entitlement and arrogance of the para-military police forces that most of our towns and cities have espoused…. All to little purpose, and littler effect, as it turns out, as the same people keep on screwing us over in the same old ways…. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m getting a bit tired of putting out so much effort to such small effect; I’m accustomed to my work having some kind of positive outcome, but, it’s hard to call the response I’ve had as being overwhelmingly so….

While it’s true that most of the ffolkes who do comment here tend to agree with my take on matters, it is also true that, even given the 315 followers I reportedly have, the number of people who SEE it isn’t exactly what can be called a huge audience…. Now, that’s okay, in one respect, which is, I don’t care about the numbers, very much…. I write to get this stuff out of my head before it rots, not for the usual purpose of stimulating action in the public; it’s always been more about saving my sanity than it has about saving society….

BUT…. and it’s a big BUT…. saving society wouldn’t be such a bad thing, now, would it? It would be nice if I could tell myself that what I say here has some positive effect in that direction, even if I wasn’t telling the entire truth…. SIGH…. As a curmudgeon, though, and as a self-made, self-taught, self-reliant philosopher, no matter how much better it would make me feel, I can’t do that, because it just isn’t true….. If we don’t stick to the truth, it’s all just an exercise in futility, and we may as well just go lay down in our graves now….

So, anyway, I see now that this has turned into not merely a rant in the intro, but has become what seems to be a series of personal revelations about the relevance of what I’m doing here…. Though I don’t really care about how many ffolkes read this, as it is written for another purpose altogether, there is another part of me that would like to have the world pay attention to what I’m saying, for their own benefit…. It’s a bit frustrating, and that frustration may prompt some radical changes around here, in how I approach the entire subject of ranting….

If I can make it more effective, I’d be willing to put more effort into publicizing it, to get more ffolkes to read and spread it around…. I’d even be willing to take more meds, so I could spend more time reading and commenting on other blogs (which I would LOVE to be able to do, but for the pain it causes me physically…), so that my readership would continue to grow, to a level that had some real power of distribution….. Ah well, it’s all just speculation, at this point, so, we’ll just have to see how it goes…. but, expect SOME changes, for sure…. I’m just not certain what form they’ll take, or how it may affect the rest of what I write, but, I HAVE to do SOMETHING, or I’ll drive myself crazy…. which, I admit, is not a long drive…

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Don’t take the bull by the horns, take him by the tail; then you can let go when you want to.” — Josh Billings

(Trivia note: This statement is a more effective method of animal husbandry than is first apparent, which only strengthens its metaphorical nature…. As any farm boy knows, you can’t persuade a large animal to go anywhere by putting a  rope around its neck, and yanking on it, especially large animals such as cattle, or mules, or donkeys, of either gender; they’re all quite stubborn, and stupid, to boot. However, any and all of these animals will go wherever you wish them to go, if you will merely grab them by the tail, with a good strong grip, and give it a firm twist…. Guaranteed, the animal will move IMMEDIATELY, and briskly, in whatever direction they were pointed at the time the tail was twisted….   🙂    )
_____________________________

“Ignorance is temporary. Stupidity lasts forever!!!” — Smart Bee

A few days ago, in the news, one of the Republican Senators, John McCain, took some heavy shots at a freshman Republican Senator, some guy named Cruz, a desperately confused young Latino, for his useless, and even harmful, use of a filibuster-like speech to delay a vote that was going to happen anyway…. It was actually kind of cute, the way they bickered over the issue, and provides a perfect example of how, even amongst themselves, these psychopathic idiots cannot figure out how removed they are from real life, or how little all their contortions have any positive effect on the public… They all just look like little kids, running around getting mad over trivial stuff, and never getting anything done that would benefit anyone other than themselves….

“He probably just wants to take over my CELLS and then EXPLODE  inside me like a BARREL of runny CHOPPED LIVER!  Or maybe he’d like to PSYCHOLOGICALLY TERRORIZE ME until I have no objection to a RIGHT-WING MILITARY TAKEOVER of my apartment!!  I guess I should call AL PACINO!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I don’t think even Al could help in today’s political world…. Any who, what McCain objected to in Cruz’s speech were some comments he made comparing certain people with a certain view to Nazis… I’m not sure to whom he referred, but, it definitely offended McCain, and he made some comments of his own…. over which I had to laugh, heartily, as I could think of nothing other than “the pot calling the kettle black”….. If there is ANY political group that has shown characteristics shared by the Nazi Party in the last 50 years, it is the Republican Party, which can barely figure out how to phrase the planks of their platform without resorting to racist epithets….

Not only the Republicans, but the entire government machine, by its very bureaucratic nature, at times will naturally fall into postures which remind one of the fascists who once ran Germany, but are now confined mostly to chat rooms, and a few conclaves in Minneapolis (I hope…)…. As a perfect example of what I’m saying here, I offer the following article, from yesterday’s SF Chronicle, which describes the latest events in the housing market in SF, wherein nobody cares when the elderly and the disabled are abused, all in the name of BUSINESS….

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tech-boom-forcing-longtime-S-F-family-out-of-home-4843955.php

“Our eviction-assistance team has been there several times and left notice for the family to contact us, but the family has chosen not to do so,” said Fahey. “We certainly don’t want anybody going without a place to live, but we have our orders.”

“I feel bad for the old people being evicted, and I can see why there is so much controversy,” said Allie Crocco, 25, who works in finance and moved into an apartment a few blocks away this summer. “But on the other hand, there’s a lot of money to be made in these buildings.”

There you have it, ffolkes…. Rampant Nazi-like behavior, with quotes…. The first of the two highlighted phrases, both of which came from the above article, was uttered by one of the people responsible for evicting people, under the law that was specifically passed for that purpose, to make it easier for businesses to get around the existing laws that protect the tenants…. Please note how it echoes the statements of more than one Nazi prison guard convicted during the Nuremberg Trials after WWII…. The other quote is from a person who lives nearby the house where the old couple is being evicted, and clearly demonstrates the lack of empathy in those who are not involved in the issue…. To the average joe in our society, if there is money to be made, it justifies ANYTHING, no matter how egregiously immoral it may be….

IMHO, no further rant is needed to make my point, so, I’ll trust in the intelligence of my Gentle Readers to fill in the rest of what might have been said, and, mercifully, was not….

“Coming up: our definitive answer to the JFK assassination, the Iran contra coverup, the cure for the common cold, and our hidden videotape of Madonna’s torrid affair…” — Anchorman, “Zombies in PJs”, Eerie Indiana
____________________________

I’m hopeful for the quality of today’s Pearl, so the poem needs to be just right…. Let’s see what I can find….. Ah, this will do nicely….

Personal Helicon

for Michael Longley

As a child, they could not keep me from wells
And old pumps with buckets and windlasses.
I loved the dark drop, the trapped sky, the smells
Of waterweed, fungus and dank moss.

One, in a brickyard, with a rotted board top.
I savoured the rich crash when a bucket
Plummeted down at the end of a rope.
So deep you saw no reflection in it.

A shallow one under a dry stone ditch
Fructified like any aquarium.
When you dragged out long roots from the soft mulch
A white face hovered over the bottom.

Others had echoes, gave back your own call
With a clean new music in it. And one
Was scaresome, for there, out of ferns and tall
Foxgloves, a rat slapped across my reflection.

Now, to pry into roots, to finger slime,
To stare, big-eyed Narcissus, into some spring
Is beneath all adult dignity. I rhyme
To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.

~~ Seamus Heaney ~~

_____________________________

“It is quite untrue that British people don’t appreciate music. They may not understand it but they absolutely love the noise it makes.”–Sir Thomas Beecham

“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, Utters another.” — Homer (c. 700 B.C.)

As you can see, for this final section, Smart Bee has presented me with two directions to go… The two don’t stretch, in any way I can think of, to work together to make a point, at least, not one I’d care to make, so I’ll have to either make a decision, or trust to fate, an uncertain proposition at any time…. I’m feeling lucky, though, so let’s see what happens if I just dive in, like this… Oooh!, that’s cold!…. Okay, take a deep breath, and follow me…. Don’t worry, any sharks you see are just metaphors….

“Don’t take life too serious. It ain’t no ways permanent.” — Pogo, by Walt Kelly

“Here, let me show you.” — Famous Last Words

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Every society needs someone whose job it is to tell the Emperor he’s naked.” — Smart Bee
(Me! Me! Pick me! I’ll do it for free!…. Oh, wait, I already do that…. okay, well…. to continue…)

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” — Albert Einstein

“At any price that I can pay, let me own myself. And the price is worth  paying if you keep what you have bought… A man may apply his independence to what is called worldly advantage, and discover too late that he  laboriously has made himself dependent on a mass of external conditions for the maintenance of which he has sacrificed himself. So he may be  festooned with the whole haberdashery of success, and go to his grave a castaway. Some men hold that the risk is worth taking. Others do not. It is to those that I have spoken.” — Rudyard Kipling, speech at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 1923, — quoted in _Kipling’s Science Fiction_ edited by John Brunner

“Small change can often be found under seat cushions.” — Lazarus Long
_____________________________

“Within the oyster’s shell uncouth
The purest pearl may hide,
Trust me you’ll find a heart of truth
Within that rough inside.”

— Mrs. Osgood

And aren’t we all glad that is so!… Well, I’m glad…. You’ll have to make your own decision as to how you feel about it…. What I’ve done here today, well, it’s the same, but different, sort of…. which is exactly what I need to think about…. See y’all tomorrow, perhaps with a new gestalt….. No new physique, no altered proportions, of anatomy or build, perhaps, but, just maybe, a bit of a change in the silhouette, some contrast to the shadows that haunt the edges of my perception….

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

dozer3

Free speech, with a side order of lies….

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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
_____________________________

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…..
_____________________________

“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 ~~

_____________________________

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…..)
_____________________________

“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

dozer3

Salvation lay in perfecting a peony in fuchsia….

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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
_____________________________

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
_____________________________

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 ~~

_____________________________

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
_____________________________

“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

dozer3

Braided sable wigs stimulate abnormally well…

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Ffolkes,

I’m uncertain as to what possessed me to get up even earlier than usual today, but, here I am, at 0457, coffee already in hand, ready to sit down to assault another piece of paper…. No, that isn’t quite accurate, is it? We’re going to have to come up with a whole raft of new clichés to use, since very few of us are using paper anymore, until we are ready to print whatever we have written. It’s kind of sad, really, as I had a very close relationship with pen & paper, for many years. But, life goes on, and we must learn to adjust to whatever the future brings, even if we don’t always like the changes we see….

As I’ve proven already, I can blather with the best of ’em; I don’t think I even need to demonstrate my expertise, other than to point out any of the entries here for the last two-plus years. Just in case you don’t believe me, hang around a little while, you’ll see it again….. I could, of course, jump right into a rant, but, the last few days of that seems to have exhausted what I have to say, if only for the moment; I’m not currently feeling much outrage….. I have yet to look at the headlines this morning, which may explain that lack of curmudgeonly affection (or is it affliction?…. ah well, who knows, or cares?…..), but, for now, I’m clear of any intent to throw insults or epithets, deserved or not…..

What do I intend? Well, that’s classified….I have decided that it is a matter of national security, and needs to be protected from casual use or divulgence.  What? You object? So what? Object away, I don’t care…..  If the government can refuse to tell us something we believe we have the right to know, and justify it with a “classified” claim, then I can do the same….. I don’t care, any more than they do, if y’all don’t like it; you’ll just have to accept it, because, like the BRC, I’m not giving y’all any choice in the matter…..

The only difference is that I’m not elected, so that isn’t hanging over my head…. but, then, it doesn’t seem to bother them all that much, either, as they know that the fools who put them in office will buy the same old story every time, and put them BACK in office, no matter how many times they lie, or cheat, or even how many times they get caught lying or cheating… It actually drives me nuts, watching the American public keep re-electing the same dishonest assholes every time they vote….. The voting public is like sharks, with absolutely no recent memory at all to keep them from acting on impulse….

I note here that once again, I have begun to rant, before I even get started…. SIGH…. It’s a gift, I guess…. What the hell…. I think we had better get on with it, before things get wonkier than they already are….

Shall we Pearl?…
____________________________

“I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.” — George Carlin

One can always count on George to cut straight to the heart of a matter. His particular genius gave him the vision to see society, and people, in such a way that he was able to express what the common man felt, fearlessly. No subject was verboten, and no public figure escaped his regard; his target was ignorance, and arrogance, and entitlement, and bigotry, and racism, and power-mongering, and every other human vice….If he saw it, no matter who displayed it, it became a target, irrespective of who might become the victim of his scorn…. You’ve gotta love a man who tells the truth, no matter what, especially when he makes it palatable through humor….

As I noted in the intro, sort of, I’m not up to ranting effectively today; the reason for this is not readily apparent, but, since I don’t really care, either, it’s all moot. Like it or not, I’m going old school again, shooting this time for a Carlinesque group of pearls, that will fill the bill in place of a well-deserved, but absent, rant from me…. Let’s see what SB can do for us, shall we?….

“Amazing how mad some people get when someone makes them think.” — Smart Bee

“You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.” — Eldridge Cleaver, 1968

“You really have to be careful of politicians who have no further ambitions: they may run for the presidency.” — Harry S. Truman

” 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

In the beginning, God created the Earth and he said, “Let there be mud.” And there was mud.
And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what we have done.”
And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man.
Mud-as-man alone could speak.
“What is the purpose of all this?” man asked politely.
“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all of this,” said God.
And He went away.

— Kurt Vonnegut, Between Time and Timbuktu”

“I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of.” — Clarence Darrow

“Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.” — Smart Bee

Okay, it’s a little choppy, but, it got to shore without sinking…. and, it’s all tax-free!…. Unless, of course, one allows it to tax their patience….
____________________________

When I’m feeling as I do today, which involves a lot of confusion, I always turn to a certain poetess…. which Shawna will just have to deal with….  🙂
A Dying Tiger — moaned for Drink —
I hunted all the Sand —
I caught the Dripping of a Rock
And bore it in my Hand —

His Mighty Balls — in death were thick —
But searching — I could see
A Vision on the Retina
Of Water — and of me —

‘Twas not my blame — who sped too slow —
‘Twas not his blame — who died
While I was reaching him —
But ’twas — the fact that He was dead —

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~
____________________________

As it turns out, not ranting is a good thing, today…. I just spent a bit of time perusing the headlines for this morning, where I found the most controversial article to be one registering a complaint by Jack Klugman’s son, stating his belief that the Emmy’s award program was bad/evil, or at least misguided and shallow, for choosing to have a tribute to Cory Monteith (whoever he was…I mean, I know he was a young actor who committed suicide, but, that’s all I know of him…. He had no major films or TV shows, though he did have a few kudos; moreover, he had no Emmy awards in his lifetime…) rather than for his dad, (who won several Emmy’s over his 50 year career in TV and movies….). This is the story with the highest degree of emotional content that was posted today, as far as I could tell….

See what I mean, though, about NOT ranting?…. We are witnessing a singular dearth of heavy news, which, like not getting mail in envelopes with windows, is preferable to the alternative…. a front page full of controversy and danger for the world, in this case…. No matter, though, as we have a default position to which we can retreat, and suffer no loss of quality of life…. Well, no loss capable of measurement,  anyway…. Any who, all that aside, here is a random, harlequin pearl, picked by SB, with no parameters to speak of… It’s just the way it is, such as it is….

“Money is the god of our time.” — Heine (1797-1856)

“If you wish to make a man your enemy, tell him simply, You are wrong. This method works every time.” — Henry C. Link

“Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.” — Kin Hubbard

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

“Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.” — Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) — Don Quixote

“Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.” — Hippocrates (460-359 BC) — Aphorism i

“Although war is cruel and brutal, it is also dangerous and stupid.” — Yakko Warner

There are times, such as this, when I think I would do well to let ALL of the groups of pearls I post be picked by this method…. Every time I leave out the parameters, I end up with the finest pearls that can be found; they do shine, don’t they?…. Maybe I won’t commit suicide, as my sense of honor demands now and again….
____________________________

Don’t worry, ffolkes, nobody, myself included, really has a good grip on my sense of humor; I only know it’s there, and it saves me, daily, from the horrible alternative life I’d lead without it…. Let’s see what it’s been up to today….

Okay, well, somehow, it got done. As noted above, it’s choppy in places, but, hangs together over the course of time, so, it will do for now…. I’m using my newer, travel comp today, so it may take a while before it gets mailed to the email group (data needs to be transferred from one file to another, but, one is on my computer, and one is in the Internet Cloud, and I haven’t been able to figure out an easy way to do it… Later, I will do it the hard way, just to get it done, but, for now, it will be online, at my domain address, gigoid.me….)…

TMI, probably, but, hey, housekeeping must be done before the dust bunnies get too big for the vacuum…. See y’all mañana…..

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

dozer3

All the artichokes were bronzed in individual sterile containers….

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Ffolkes,

‘Tis a sad and fearful thing, when I see nothing more than a vast plain of blankness upon first gazing into my mind in the morning….. Since it matches the blankness on the screen at which I’m gazing, it doesn’t bode well for the day’s Pearl when I do….. But, being the tough son of a bitch I am, I persevere, blindly blundering ahead, pushing aside the fear and loathing that accompanies such inauspicious beginnings, to make yet another attempt at breaking through the boundaries of reality, into the ethereal realms of reason, and hopefully, enlightenment…. or, at minimum, illumination…. Hell, I’ll settle for getting my eyes all the way open….

Or, we can just have some oatmeal, and get on with it…. That sounds a lot more attractive than the first paragraph, especially since we can add brown sugar and milk to the oatmeal to sweeten it…. The only thing I can add to the first paragraph would be hope, which is in short supply these days in this reality….. Of course, the oatmeal doesn’t get the Pearl done, but it increases the chances of it reaching at least a modicum of coherence, whereas, given the parameters implied in the first few lines, we couldn’t hold out much hope for that to happen….. If you manage to decipher all of that, well, I think you’ll see what I mean…

I admit it, I’m lost already…. Three short paragraphs in, and I’m toast…. I’m seriously considering reprinting an old Pearl, from a couple of years ago, just so I can be done with this, but, that would be cowardly, a quality I refuse to countenance in myself. I’ll end up going old school, if I’m smart… but, knowing myself as I do, I also could conceivably fall into another rant, since the BRC and the Priestly Hierarchies continue their policy of taking advantage of everyone else’s good nature, and have no intention of stopping. I can’t help it, they just do this stuff right out there in public, so what is a curmudgeon to do, but point at it, and laugh, as long and hard as I can?….

The laughter, it helps, though it really isn’t funny, is it? But concentrating on the futility and hopelessness won’t make anyone feel any better, either, and I DO try to keep from bumming people out deliberately…. It isn’t my fault the world’s news is what it is; I just look at it, and write about what I see, which, for the most part, astounds me on a regular basis… How else to describe my reaction to the depths of ignorance, and height of arrogance & entitlement that I observe in so many of the world’s so-called leaders? Astonishment is the only possible adjective to give the strength of my outrage at their sheer avarice, and their shameless absence of virtue….

There, I’ve ranted…. short, and not too detailed, but, I think it works…. And, I did remember to include the religious hierarchies today, which, for the last few days, I’ve neglected to do…. The churches and their delusional leaders are the most important of the supporters of the BRC, for they too know all the tricks of mind-control of the unwary, having practiced those techniques for many thousands of years now, to manipulate and control the masses of the faithful, who are the source of their great wealth, as well as their labor pool.

In these modern times, I’m sure the churches are ever so thankful for the newest way to tap the masses for their spare change, to wit: crowd-funding…. It fits right in with car washes and bake sales, as a way to get the ignorant to give away their spare money, to causes they believe will be fruitful in some way, but, actually will end up the same place as their tithes, and their taxes, and most of the rest of what they earn…. in the pockets of politicians and priests, as payment from their corporate masters for their continued support of the thievery happening at every level of society, except the top…..

If you think of the idea of trickle-down economics, but reverse it, you’ll get the picture of how our society ACTUALLY works, in a financial sense…. Everything trickles up, ffolkes…. just follow the money, and you’ll be…. well, perhaps not surprised, but, at the least, chagrined, to find where ALL of it ends up…. But, hey, who am I but one of the schmucks who lets them get away with it?….. I suppose it’s probably a good thing I’ve never owned a gun…. I’d be awfully tempted to use it…..

My dad taught me about guns…. He considered it as his duty to teach us (his children…) how to use them correctly and safely, and how to respect them for the tool they are (One part of which taught us that’s ALL they are, too, by the way…. just a tool, a big hammer; one that throws a lot of nails a long way, quickly…. but, still, just a hammer….). If I owned one, or more of them, however,  I would most likely feel duty bound to use them for personal purposes, which, while I would see any such actions as being beneficial to society, those same actions might be viewed differently by that society itself, especially given the control over the news media that the BRC has…. Plus, I can count, and there are more of them with guns than there is/are(?) of me; strategic planning would seem to dictate a different approach, as that one is pretty much doomed to failure in the long run…. I just don’t have, and can’t get, as many bullets as they already have….

S’okay, I don’t mind…. guns have never been my preferred weapon of choice, anyway…. What I have between my ears is a much more versatile tool, and much more powerful in the long run… After all, I have based my life, in many ways, upon the following aphorism, which, if you examine it closely, and think on it a while, will show you who, and what I am… or, at least, who I try to be…. Of course, there IS no try, is there… Do or do not…. I do, mostly….

“Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage amongst his books. For to you the Kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned by the flicking of a finger.”  — Gordon R. Dickson, The Tactics of Mistake
_____________________________

Well, I ranted in the intro again, so, we’ll go old-school here, to bring a wee bit of balance to things…. Hope springs eternal, it seems…. Any who, I’m not going to set any parameters, but, it seems of late Smart Bee has had its own agenda in that respect, anyway, so, we’ll just see what comes up, and where it goes…. Enjoy!

“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.” — George Bernard Shaw

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,–
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Iliad of Homer, Book vi, Line 181

“Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace.” — Eugene O’Neill

“Under the most carefully controlled conditions of temperature, density, and pressure, the organism will do what it damn well pleases.” — Harward’s Law

“There are no winners in life; only survivors.” — Smart Bee

“I wish they would only take me as I am.” — Vincent Van Gogh

“Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?  That no one should exalt himself over the other.” — Baha’u’llah

Onward, as they say in the movies; fear not, mes amis, all will be well…. I just took my medications…
_____________________________

In the interests of not letting anyone else take the blame for any of what has occurred here today, I will use one of my own poems, one which clearly states who and what I am…. well, sort of clearly….

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
no idea from where Ah came.

Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.

If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.

‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n had lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.

He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.

Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.

Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.

Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

See, now we’re in the third section, and I get to do whatever I want; it’s in my contract….. So, since I don’t feel like ranting any more today, or maybe ever, I’m going back to the same old taxi stand where I leave from when I’m in a hurry, in a figurative sense…. Who knows what will come out of this one? I certainly don’t….

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice, hell will freeze over, and eventually, things will get really interesting…” — Smart Bee

“Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion.  Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, Aug. 10, 1787

“The world will never have lasting peace so long as men reserve for war the finest human qualities.  Peace, no less than war, requires idealism and self- sacrifice and a righteous and dynamic faith.” — John Foster Dulles

“If a rock falls on your head it does positive harm, but shame, disgrace, reproaches, and insults are damaging only in so far as you’re conscious of them.” — Erasmus

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” — Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) — Churchill’s Commentary on Man

“Is consciousness just a special form of hallucination?” — Frank Herbert

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act v, Sc. 1

I don’t often use Willy’s stuff, but, he was so prolific a writer, even HE got some of it right…..   🙂    I didn’t know where it would go, but, it sure ended up there, didn’t it? I like it, so, I guess that makes me stranger than even usual…. Oh, well….
_____________________________

Yes, and no, I suppose, is the best response I can come up with, at least until I can go over this with a clear head…. and that could take days. I guess I’ll have to do that now, instead….

I reiterate, I have no idea how that happened, officer…. I’ll be going now, to look for my peace of mind, which I somehow dropped somewhere…. I’ll find it around here somewhere, I know it…..

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

dozer3