Tag Archives: Philosophy

Trial by margarine….

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Ffolkes,
Not wobbling is harder than it seems it would be; it takes a lot of concentration. And Murphy is certainly no help. My primary regret is that Life doesn’t come with a handy User’s Manual. It seems to me that something important like this would come with a few instructions, but nooooo, you have to guess. How to tie a shoe? Figure it out. How to eat? If you’re hungry, you’ll eat; but be careful not to eat the wrong stuff. You have to already know the wrong stuff. Get married? Good luck, because you are on your own. Raise kids? Actually, there are a lot of books on this, but each one advises different techniques, and they’re all useless. Even if you choose the right one, there’s still no guarantee that your kids won’t end up with their picture on the post office wall.
We don’t get a manual, and we sure could use one. If we had one, everyone could be given their manual on the first day of school, and we could all learn something more useful than Dick’s inane conversations with Jane. Of course, even if we had a manual, many folks would just ignore it, or use it to gain some kind of advantage over others. That’s the part that even the manuals don’t understand or explain; human nature defies classification. No matter how good a system is, no matter how high the ideals striven for, no matter how noble are some people, there will always be someone who perverts and twists things to suit their own purposes. There is always some idiot who believes they are ‘mo bettah’ than other folks, and who will try to arrange matters so they have power. This is why we have global warming, and impending financial ruin, and constant wars. As long as there are people who desire power, we will continue to have these issues, and we will most certainly join the dodo, the brontosaurus, and every other species that has become extinct. The difference between all of them and us is that we will become extinct by our own hands. There, now don’t you feel better?….

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

“I am ignorant of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance, and therein lies my honor and my reward.” — Kahlil Gibran

There is no ornament like virtue,
There is no misery like worry,
There is no protection like patience,
There is no friend equal to generosity.
— Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.)

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” — Dalai Lama

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m a little worried about the future….I sure hope there is one…….y’all take care out there….

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer at play..

Kowabunga!

The taste of ambition is bitter and cold….

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Ffolkes,
Morgan Templeton watched with interest as the sun rose majestically above the western hills, ablaze with the promise of the new day. As the light spread, he pushed away from the tree against which he leaned, and strode purposefully down to his waiting horse. Swinging lightly into the saddle, he urged the horse into a canter, away from the rising sun, toward the towering trees of the forest that lay across the horizon to the west. Slowing the horse to a walk as he entered the trees, Morgan passed within the vale, following a slight path that wound through the trees, leading ever further into the woods. His eyes never stopped moving, side to side, up and down, back again. He knew it was relatively safe in this part of the forest, but long years of living in danger had taught him never to lose track of his surroundings, lest death become too familiar. Safety lay in remaining alert, and Morgan had good reason to want to remain alive, good reason indeed.


So, I was talking to a friend yesterday, and he says to me, “I just got a new computer for my wife.” I told him, “good trade, dude.” A little humor is always a good way to start the day, don’t you think? I know it always helps me to approach the day with a lighter heart. What’s that? What happened to Morgan in the forest? Hell, your guess is as good as mine; I just write the damn stuff, I don’t pay any attention to it beyond the spell check. It got me this far, didn’t it? Some days that kind of drivel just leaps onto the screen; some days it leads somewhere, some days not so much. So today was a not so much. Remember what you are paying for this, and be content….it’s worth every penny…..

“In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.” — Yun-Men

‘You govern a kingdom by normal rules;
You fight a war by exceptional moves;
But you win the world by letting alone,
How do I know that this is so?
By what is within me!
The more taboo and inhibitions there are in the world,
The poorer the people become.
The sharper the weapons the people posses,
The greater confusion reigns in the realm.
The more clever and crafty the men,
The oftener strange things happen.
The more articulate the laws and ordinances,
The more robbers and thieves arise.’
— Tao Teh Ching #57, Lao Tzu

Be the master of your will and the slave of your conscience. — Hasidic saying

In bed we laugh, in bed we cry;
And, born in bed, in bed we die.
The near approach a bed may show
Of human bliss to human woe.
— Isaac de Benserade (1612-1691)

“I can remember the first time I had to go to sleep.  Mom said, “Steven, time to  go to sleep.”  I said, “But I don’t know how.”  She said, “It’s real easy.  Just go down to the end of tired and hang a left.”  So I went down to the end of tired, and just out of curiosity I hung a right.  My mother was there, and she said “I thought I told you to go to sleep.” — Steven Wright

I love this one…”above all, don’t wobble.” Priceless! Perfect advice for leading the good life; don’t wobble. Good stuff…..y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Connotations of rainbows….

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Ffolkes,
I think it’s safe to say we all get pretty tired of the political circus as played out here in the USA; it all seems so pointless, until you realize it is directly affecting your own life, then it just gets irritating. Everyone I know has beliefs and convictions, with their own methods of dealing with the world, and their own methods of how to treat other people. Mostly they all get along just fine. Then I look at what is being said in the arena of public discourse, and there doesn’t seem to be any correlation, no connection with what I know is real for most folks. The avaricious ones, the ones who seek public office, have an entirely different view of reality than most of the Americans I know. Even the conservatives I talk to think differently than the politicians, except for those few who allow the politicians to do their thinking for them, and merely parrot those talking points currently in fashion. It’s unfortunate that there are a LOT of the last category, which is part of the reason why the talking heads are able to maintain their death-grip on the almighty profit margin.


Since the whole point of the above is how sick I am of hearing the nonsense in the news, I won’t rant any further today on that subject. Don’t really feel like ranting anyway; it’s already been a tough morning, and I’d rather turn in a more positive direction. It took over 25 minutes on the phone, but I was able to complete a necessary task this A.M., and I’m using that to act as the driver for the rest of today’s tasks. All of this is just a long, convoluted and obfuscatory way to say, enjoy!……

“Confront them with annihilation, and they will survive; plunge them in a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory.” — Sun Tzu

Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance;
My head is bloody but unbowed.
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll;
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
— Henley

I know you think that you understood what you thought I said, but I am not  all that sure that you understand that I seldom say what I think and even less often do I mean what I say.

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.

If you think women are moody and bossy – get a cat.

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.
— William Butler Yeats, “The Stolen Child”

There you go; a little whimsy is good for the soul…..so is epiphany. Y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

By any other name, the same….

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Ffolkes,
As humans, we seem to have a need for meaning; without purpose, we lose our way every time. What other creature do we know that can stand before the burgeoning day, watching the panorama of daybreak, and feel a need to know why? With oblivious dignity and sheer beauty, the sun rises each morning, casting its life-giving rays without prejudice or seeming cause; we watch, and wonder, why? Are all the creatures on this world doing the same? I would hope so, but I fear not. I suppose it is just as well; having imagination hasn’t seemed to lift us above our baser selves, or shown any strong evidence of possessing any evolutionary advantage. Quite the contrary, in truth; much in today’s society that can be called evil is a direct result of our imagination, and its perversion. Ah well……life goes on….

Well, there you have it, ffolkes. I’ve busted the bank. Emptied out the cupboards. Sent off the notices. I am intellectually bankrupt. My mind of late finds itself all too often engaged in sheer catatonia, bereft of thought, forsaken in my moment of need. I can only see one hopeful sign…..okay, make that none. I have no idea where my mind has gone, but I’d best stop here, as I can’t be sure of what will come out of my head just now…it could be dangerous, to my health, and ultimately, yours. So, just dive in to today’s offerings, and hold out some hope that tomorrow, things will have returned to a more normal level of insanity. It could work……maybe….

To sorrow
I bade good-morrow,
And thought to leave her far away behind;
But cheerly, cheerly,
She loves me dearly;
She is so constant to me, and so kind.
— John Keats (1795-1821)
— Endymion, Book iv

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

“I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.” — Pogo, character in “Pogo,” comic strip by Walt Kelly
(I always wondered who came up with that line….)

“Society produces rogues, and education makes one rogue cleverer than another.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“Ignorance of death is destroying us. Death is the dark backing a mirror needs if we are to see anything.” — Saul Bellow

“In morals, what begins in fear usually ends in wickedness; in religion, what begins in fear usually ends in fanaticism. Fear, either as a principle or a motive, is the beginning of all evil.” — Mrs. Jameson (Amen sister!)

So much for ingenuity…… y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Contemplating whirled peas…

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Ffolkes,
Of late, coming up with a fresh idea has been, shall we say, problematic at best. I sit and stare at the screen, while various scenarios play out in my head, but none of them clamor to get into print. And they (ideas) can’t be forced into service, willy-nilly; they turn ugly and nasty to deal with. So I try to think of nonsense, and of course, all that comes to mind is politics, which we are all sick of, and wish the pundits would all just SHUT IT for a day or two. I swear, it’s several times a day we have to hear about the latest batch of BS coming out of their cavernous mouths, and each statement is more outrageously stupid than the one before. By election-day, we’ll all be so crazy, it won’t matter who we elect because we’ll all be stone catatonic.


But, there is hope. At least the ffolkes who receive these will be inoculated against the contagious ignorance so prevalent today. Didn’t you know? These Pearls are far and away the best medicine that can be found in the fight against rampant stupidity, against which the gods themselves contend in vain.  Heck, you can even use them for the entertainment factor. Take any two of the Pearls, and use them when speaking with someone whose opinions are primarily faith-based. You will note the glazing-over of the eyes, the hunching of shoulders, the withdrawal into cliche, and the stark fear of the unknown which will manifest in the light of evidence-based fact. It’s almost gratifying, until one thinks of how many of these piteous folk there are in the world, how great is the challenge to bring them into the light; getting them to open their eyes to see will remain a problem even then. You can lead a man to knowledge, but you can’t make him think. Which is really too bad, n’est pas? Enjoy……..

“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new.”– Ursula K. LeGuin, The Lathe of Heaven

In just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.
— The Buddha

Cats, no less liquid than their shadows, offer no angles to the wind.

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time,
the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…” — Jack Kerouac, “On the Road”

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” — Joe Louis

And so begins another day…..y’all take care out there…..

 

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

Just Dozer

Kowabunga!

Some of the shine has rubbed off….

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Ffolkes,
Many are the times in the past when the construction of this daily missive sent me into the realm of nonsense, looking for material to keep that freshness so necessary to an undertaking of this nature. There always must be the hook, yes? The initial images or phrases create a tone for what comes after, pulling the gentle reader along into the frame of mind I seek to create, a fallow field, as it were, in which to sow my seeds of thought, hoping they will grow into a small but complete revelation.  Needless to say, I probably don’t always hit the mark, but for the most part, I think I do pretty well. If nothing else, I’ve always been able to segue into the next phase without much fuss, so it must work, at least some of the time.
It is days like today that usually put me into the nonsense mode; cognition didn’t start until just a few minutes ago. I slept late, & realized when I got up that there was no coffee in the house (unfortunately, running out of food items is getting to be a daily issue). So, I had to drag my sorry butt to my landlord’s store, where he graciously allows me to charge food until the first of the month. This meant, however, that I had to dress enough to stay out of jail, to then actually drive at a legal speed, talk to people without scaring them (always a chore, but without coffee? Nearly impossible…), and then wait for it to finish brewing without putting any holes in the wall. It was touch’n go there for a few minutes as to whether my bills this month included new plaster. Finally, with caffeine working its magic, I sat down to begin, and found the all-too-familiar empty head syndrome in full possession of my mind. Hence, this rambling, chatty yet superficial, conversation with myself. Just so we all can get on with the day, I now give you a quite eclectic group of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom……enjoy!

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

He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend.
Eternity mourns that. ‘T is an ill cure
For life’s worst ills, to have no time to feel them.
Where sorrow ‘s held intrusive and turned out,
There wisdom will not enter, nor true power,
Nor aught that dignifies humanity.
— Sir Henry Taylor (1800-?)
— Philip Van Artevelde, Part i, Act i, Sc. 5

Knives and scissors, fork and candle, little children should not handle.

“Whatever necessity lays upon thee, endure; whatever she commands, do.” — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832)

“Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.” — Beckett

The Master doesn’t talk, he acts, when his work is done, the people” say, “Amazing: We did it all by ourselves!” — Tao Te Ching

Okay, so much for the uplifting part of the day. I suppose it would be good to keep that trend moving, so I’ll actually go do something constructive today. Meanwhile, y’all take care out there…..

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

gigoid

Just Dozer

Kowabunga!

Wicked barbarian hairstyles with peach highlights….

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Ffolkes,
Back in dark ages, during the hippie era in Berkeley, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend an exhibition of art at the San Francisco Museum of Art in Golden Gate Park. The showing I attended was highlighted by a collection of the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh.  During my walk through his visions in oil, I stopped to look at one of his self-portraits, and received a revelation, or perhaps epiphany. In any case…as I stood looking at this small painting, covered with the extremely thick, bold strokes common to his works, I thought at first that it was a good piece of work, but I didn’t see what all the fuss was about his paintings, which were often simple and without pretension, scenes of everyday life. Then, for some reason, I stepped back from the portrait I was observing, to a distance of about 12 feet from the painting. When I reached a certain spot away from the painting, his eyes came to life. Literally. Alive. The entire portrait no longer had brush strokes that described a face; it WAS a face, and his eyes looked right into my soul. I could feel all of his feelings through his eyes; the anguish, the pain, the genius, all of it came through as if I was looking at his reflection in a mirror. In that moment, I was given a gift, for which I will always be grateful. I had seen beauty in its most basic form; with bold strokes Van Gogh made his vision of life come to life, and it was then I first came to understand genius, and how it can show Reality to those of us who cannot always see what people like Van Gogh see through their unique vision.


Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen many things that are beautiful, both in the works of man, and in nature itself. It was a grand awakening, of a side of my own soul that previously I had not known, and I have always been grateful for the impulse that took me to SF that day. Seeing true beauty, as seen through the eyes of a genius (I know, three times, but its the best word I have on that subject), has shown me how to find it in other places, and has enriched my life in uncountable ways. So if you ever get the chance to see his work, or the sculpture of Renoir, or hear the music of Mozart and Bach, take the chance. You won’t regret it…..


All this leads me to today’s Pearls, many of which were created by men of genius, and bear the unmistakable sign of beauty that only a few people can show us……beauty is as necessary for life as is oxygen. A soul that cannot appreciate it is a stunted soul, and not fully human. These were all chosen because they touch Reality, and show it back to us, and bring us to beauty….

“There are worlds out there where the sky is burning and the sea’s asleep and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, somewhere else the tea’s getting cold. Come on Ace, we’ve got work to do…”
— The Doctor, Survival [Last lines of last episode]

‘Friendship should be more than biting time can sever.’ — T. S. Eliot

I see the lights of the village
gleam through the rain and the mist.
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me,
that my soul cannot resist.
A feeling of sadness and longing
that is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
as the mist resembles rain.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), The Day is done

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.
To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.” — Buddha (B.C. 568-488)

Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
— Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), The Ballad of Reading Gaol

It is alleged that when Einstein and his wife visited the Mount Wilson Observatory in California, Mrs. Einstein pointed to a particularly
complex piece of equipment and asked its purpose. Their guide said that it was used to determine the shape of the universe. “Oh,” she
said, not at all impressed, “my husband uses the back of an old envelope to work that out.”

That is probably enough for one day; don’t want to consume too much in one sitting. Today, I’m going to hunt beauty…y’all take care out there…

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Walking in Jezebel’s gardens….

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Ffolkes,


Picking out today’s Pearls turned out to be a marathon. Just couldn’t find the right stuff to lead off a lazy Saturday. So, we’ll have to wing it…. Hmmm…..nothing is rising to the surface. Even stirring the contents briskly has nothing sticking to the spoon. I suppose we could take a few moments here for an advertisement disclaimer, but, it being Saturday, I don’t much feel like diving back in to the oyster beds to find where I left it. I could go nonsensical; that’s always fun. But Lewis Carroll did that already, and I don’t much feel like trying to out-Jabberwock a dead author. I suppose I should find a newsworthy event to share, or comment on the current political scene, but I also don’t feel like putting on the necessary high-top boots for wading around in that filthy pool. It stinks, also, and I’m out of nasal plugs. Well, this means we will be going to last resort tactics, and saying just this; today’s Pearls are being brought to you by your generous donations, and by a grant from the Idiosyncratic Corporation, makers of fine eccentric philosophies, which come complete with a full line of optional accessories……

I stared into the abyss. The abyss stared into me. Neither of us liked what we saw.

“Adulthood, one could say, is when it begins to occur to you that you may not be leading a charmed life.” — Adam Phillips

And Katerfelto, with his hair on end
At his own wonders, wondering for his bread.
‘T is pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat,
To peep at such a world,–to see the stir
Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd.

~~ William Cowper ~~

~~ The Task, Book iv, The Winter Evening, Line 86 ~~

“Beware the man of one book.” — St. Thomas Aquinas

“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin; the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Robert A. Heinlein — Lazarus Long

WARNING:  The Meaning Of Life Is Subject To Change Without Notice.

Whoa, there big fella! Whew! Almost couldn’t get it to stop…..’tis a fine day for nonsense, don’t you think? Have fun with it, and y’all take care out there….

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

Pockets full of mint jelly….

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Ffolkes,
The young man’s adventure will have percolate for awhile; my creative juices are a bit dried up just now…. I once read an article that discussed the effects of stress, and how certain seminal events can put one’s level of stress through the roof. Events that were named in this category included major job stress (nasty boss, gossipy co-workers, not having a job, getting fired, etc.), death of a relative or close friend, divorce or other relationship stresses, moving, economic stress (poverty, etc.), medical issues (cancer, etc.), and a couple others I don’t recall. The author assigned a numerical value to each type of event, and a high score in a short period of time was, he contended, a short road to depression, or other mental disorder if not recognized and treated. It was a well-thought-out premise, with plenty of statistical support for his argument. I can only say that I found it convincing, but not totally accurate in its predictive function, i.e., he really had no idea what the stress did to people in a realistic sense, and seemed to not really have a feel for how much people can really take before they break. Nonetheless, it was a good yardstick to determine how much stress one has in one’s own life.


So, I went ahead and marked down how many of the events mentioned I had experienced in the last year. It turns out that I have had EVERY ONE of the above listed events to deal with in the last year. I got forced out of my job, and make half of what I made while at work. At the same time as that was happening, the woman I had loved and lived with for 10 years decided she no longer wanted me around. For six months I fought with the State bureaucracy over my retirement. Then, just as my income dropped by 50%, my Mom got sick, and I spent 6 weeks performing 24 hour nursing care, and spent my entire savings to purchase the materials needed. I missed going on a cruise I’d looked forward to for months in order to nurse her. Then she left, and I was left to deal with my geriatric dog, and barely enough money to eat with for the next few months. Then my dog died. My Mom had a stroke, and went into the hospital and died there without ever really waking up. This whole time, my own medical issues continue to dog me, sucking out my energy, and alternating bouts of severe pain in my back with bowel problems that leave me feeling like I am wading through molasses.


Now let’s be clear here….I’m not laying this out to garner sympathy; I know there are many people out there suffering the same kinds of issues every day, and there are still others who are worse off than I am (like having all this to deal with, and NO retirement check to count on coming in every month. Small as it is, my check is more than a lot of folks in this country have, thanks to our beloved ruling class). What I am going through is, of course, a result of my own karmic burden, and there is scant blame that can be placed elsewhere than right here inside my own head. But, as I read the news each day, I am struck again and again with how badly our society here in America has fallen into disarray. The absolutely outrageous crap being spouted of late by the Republicans who wanna be Prez has been not merely ignorant, but actively stupid. I shudder to think about how things will go if any one of them manages to pull the wool over enough eyes to get elected. I am of the firm opinion that anyone who wants the job of President of this country is literally insane. Not figuratively, literally. The desire for that much power is insane, period, and anyone who wants it should never, ever be elected. Mean-spirited, spiteful, and deliberately ignorant, the zealots of the world have grown to such numbers that reason, truth and compassion are being buried under cries of hatred and fear.


Today’s Pearls each contain a piece of wisdom about society, at least if examined from around a corner. But each one of them is something I believe firmly, and will, I hope, help to understand and deal with the insanity currently serving in place of society…..enjoy!….

“No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.” — Aristotle

“Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.” — Oscar Wilde

“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion — i.e., none to speak of.” — Lazarus Long

“But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who
professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and
State.” — Thomas Jefferson, [letter?] To S. Kercheval, 1810

Existing order thrives upon ignorance and lies.
Objective truth and individual reason are feared above all.

“Humanity has in the course of time had to endure from the hands of science two great outrages upon its naive self-love.  The first was when it realized that our earth was not the center of the universe, but only a speck in a world-system of a magnitude hardly conceivable…  The second was when biological research robbed man of his particular privilege of having been specially created, and relegated him to a descent from the animal world.” — Sigmund Freud

I find your faith in reality rather amusing.

Actually, I had trouble limiting myself to only seven today; history has a lot of examples of men and women who observed the world through clear eyes, and all of them were distrustful of zealotry, with good cause….I could go on in this vein for a long time, but y’all probably have stuff to do, so I’ll leave this here….wherever here is…….y’all take care out there, and beware the ignorant and zealous….

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Dancing the tortellini tango….

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1

Ffolkes,
With a loud ‘POP’! a running young man appeared out of thin air on a round platform, which sat in solitary silence upon the top of a moderately large hill. The young man stopped running as soon as his feet hit the platform, and he came to a halt near the edge. From his vantage point on the platform, he could see across the small valley below to the sheer-sided, massive mountains on the far side. A small, intensely white orb was setting behind the mountain, and the lengthening shadows spoke of the approaching night in silent harmony. As he watched, lights began to appear down in the valley, lighting the windows of what appeared to be a small village of perhaps eight or ten buildings. More yellow than white, the lights blinked and danced in the still cooling air, and gave promise of welcome. The young man stood for a moment, gazing down, then turned and walked rapidly to his right, where a small vehicle sat waiting. Inside he could see the profile of a young woman with long, flowing hair, black as the oncoming night. She turned to face him, and offered a brilliant smile, which lit her whole face, changing her appearance from merely attractive to blinding beauty. “Welcome home, Ari,”, she said, “I’m glad you’re here. You’re just in time to help us celebrate.” The young man, whose face had remained grim, gave a small smile, and breaking his silence, said, “Thanks, Lina, it’s good to be home. Has everyone else arrived?” “Yes,” she replied, “you’re the last, as usual.” His smile returned, and he settled back into the seat as the car began to move, following the road which seemed to appear before them magically as it moved. (to be continued….)


Hmm….interesting. It seems our young man has fallen into an adventure of some kind. I suppose further episodes will tell us the rest of the story….I’m as befuddled as you are, as this is just coming out by itself, without any kind of plot line or plan. Kinda fun, actually! We’ll see where it goes from here….. Well, brain freeze…..since nothing else even remotely entertaining is coming to mind, I guess we will proceed to the meat of the program. Today’s offerings are my favorite type of aphorisms; succinct, pithy, and deep as a 1000 year-old well. It takes a good grasp of language to persuade so much truth to reveal itself in one line, and these folks demonstrate their mastery well. A couple of them, specifically the poem  (or part of one) and the last line were included just because of the picturesque structure and brilliant use of words to build strong images in the mind. Even if one doesn’t know exactly the point they are trying to make, it feels good just to read them. Or maybe that’s just me….well, anyway, enjoy!…..

“Although a cloth be washed a hundred times, how can it be rendered clean and pure if it be washed in water which is dirty?” — Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.)

“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.)

Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
— Dylan Thomas

“The only problem with seeing too much is that it makes you insane.” — Phaedrus

“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” — Eric Hoffer

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

“tickling the death clowns of normality.”  Absolutely brilliant! Brain on, and engaged; proceed with the day….and y’all take care out there…..

 

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

Dozer

Kowabunga!