Ffolkes,
“What pretty lights!”
~~ Any deer, any highway, late at night ~~
Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Hmph…. Okay…. I suppose y’all would like me to make some comment, or acknowledgment of the day…. Well, if I must….
BOO!….
There…. No one can say I didn’t acknowledge the holiday. And, just so it’s done, the picture came from the Animal Pictures of the Week in the London Daily Telegraph, last week. I am seriously hoping I don’t see any kids in costumes tonight, as my inner curmudgeon isn’t in the mood for frivolity just now…. An episode of SS/b (Screaming skeleton/bones…. severe arthritic pain in my hips shoulders, joints, and neck…. i.e., everywhere there is a bone, it hurts….), which built up yesterday, near the end of the day, stimulated the inner curmudgeon sufficiently, he was able to take over the wheel of this bus…
In fact, it was a miserable night, and the day promises to be a long one. The pain is better, but, still above normal, so, I’ll be spending the day doing all I can to avoid making it worse, and, essentially, trying to drug meself into oblivion…. the only place to hide. There are times when it gets harder than usual, and, in spite of reconnecting yesterday with a friend I hadn’t heard from in a while, gives today’s hope for some peace a grim visage….
Ah well, I can’t spend the entire day whining, so, I may as well get on with the rest of this, which promises to be a relatively short Pearl…. Aren’t you lucky?…. Yep…. Oh, look, it’s a way out…. We’re taking it; hold on tight….
Shall we Pearl?….
“Think of doubt as an invitation to think.” — Genius Bee
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s been a long time since I even THOUGHT about Chicago…. the city OR the band…. I found this a week or two ago, but, I’ve waited to listen to this, so I could use it sort of as a birthday present to myself, but, I’m gonna listen to it today, a day early…. I can’t wait…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. this band was a part of many people’s youth, a big part, mine included, because they had, and have, a unique style of music, all their own….
Chicago – Live at Tanglewood (07/21/1970) [Full Concert]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“But the greatest of all reformers of the depraved religion of his own country was Jesus of Nazareth. Abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried, easily distinguished by its lustre from the dross of his biographers, and as separable as the diamond from the dunghill, we have the outlines of a system of the most sublime morality which has ever fallen from the lips of man; outlines which it is lamentable he did not live to fill up… The establishment of the innocent and genuine character of this benevolent moralist, and the rescuing it from the imputation of imposture, which has resulted from artificial systems*, invented by ultra-Christian sects, unauthorized by a single word ever uttered by him, is a most desirable object… *eg. The immaculate conception of Jesus, his deification, the creation of the world by him, his miraculous powers, his resurrection and visible ascension, his corporeal presence in the Eucharist, the Trinity; original sin, atonement, regeneration, election, orders of Hierarchy, etc.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Short, October 31 (Halloween), 1819
Note the date on the quoted letter, and you’ll understand its presence here in the ranting section today…. As indicated, I’m not in much of a place to write well just now, so, I’m going with something I had done for tomorrow, a birthday present designed for this section of tomorrow’s Pearl…. It goes along with what I started here, as it pokes fun at the Asininnies, of which the clergy are card-carrying members…. I’ll even leave in the introductory remarks, which relates the original, intended publication date…. It’s a good pearl, so, enjoy, and please excuse my disorganization today….
From tomorrow’s Pearl…..
Since today IS my birthday, I’ll give y’all a present, as is the custom of Hobbits…. Not to say I’m a Hobbit; I just like their customs regarding birthdays…. Here is an old-school pearl, in lieu of a rant, just for y’all….
I have sublimated the urge to rant by setting the parameters for SB, or any searches, at a flexible level designed to scoop up any, and/or all comments I can find, to either stimulate thought in my Gentle Readers, or cause actual bleeding to any Asininny who happens to read it…. If nothing else, such a search is fun for me… All I have to do is click the button, and make a decision about how vulgar, or pointed, or downright cruel we should allow ourselves to be…. which, in the case of the latter, is pretty cruel, given the chosen field of targets…. Have fun, ffolkes, I intend to….
SIGH…. Since it’s my day, I may make a comment or two between pearls, if I think it’s warranted…. I’m allowed to indulge my whimsy today, without fear of penalty…. It’s in the rule book, I’ve seen it….
“The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if the people are in ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson
(It seems the intention was good, but the application was flawed… The American public is woefully ignorant….)
“If the King’s English was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!” — Ma Ferguson, Governor of Texas (circa 1920)
(It’s like Mama Gump says… Stupid is as stupid does…..)
“Gun Control – the belief that government, with its great wisdom and moral superiority, can be trusted with a monopoly on deadly force.” — Smart Bee, as pointed out by gigoid
“The treacherous are ever distrustful.” — Gandalf
(Which explains the NSA, FBI, CIA, etc….)
“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.” — The Beatles
“As war and government prove, insanity is the most contagious of diseases.” — Edward Abbey
“Demosthenes told Phocion, “The Athenians will kill you some day when they once are in a rage.” “And you,” said he, “if they are once in their senses.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Phocion
I could do this forever, but, I’m being nice today…. I even refrained from adding TOO many of my thoughts to the above group, comprised of an elegantly balanced collection of not-too-shabby darts, which we have dutifully thrown in the direction of the top of the societal heap…..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wrote this poem in 2011, I believe, after retiring, but before I had even applied for my Social Security…. My head was in a deep funk those days, which is reflected, if a bit murkily, in this poem….
A Failure to Germinate
Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.
Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.
Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.
I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.
My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.
Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted, proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.
~~ gigoid ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am writing this at the point in time at which I found two of the quotes included in the pearl you see below, several days prior to writing this Pearl…. Those two quotes, the first and the last, consist of two of our society’s most well-known ideas, in the actual prose/poetry structure they were first expressed; if not first, then, the best, for sure…. How the middle will come out has yet to be determined, but, if it continues in this vein, it will end up as one of the all-time best ever pearls of virtual wisdom…. Let’s see what we can come up with to make that happen…. with some help from SB, of course….
The subject upon which we are expounding, is one of my personal favorite subjects for a pearl, to wit: A Life Well-Lived…..
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Essays: First Series (1841) “Self-Reliance”
“People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.” — Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin
“Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.” — Chuang Tzu
“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.” — Margaret Mead
“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no
way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.” — Lao-Tzu
“Hmph! Seriousness. Hmph! Sobriety. A Jedi craves them not.” — Yoda
For forms of government let fools contest;
Whate’er is best administer’d is best.
For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight;
His can’t be wrong whose life is in the right.
In faith and hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind’s concern is charity.
~~ Alexander Pope (1688-1744)~~
~~ Essay on Man, Epistle iii, Line 303 ~~
Perfect!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that went fairly well, and it’s a damn good thing; that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter. In fact, given my handicap today, and my status, I have nothing more to say on any matter…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully in a bit better state of mind….
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, the dubious
PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.
À bientôt, mon cherí….
Like this:
Like Loading...
gigoid 