Tag Archives: Plutarch

The remainder may go free…..

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Ffolkes,
In re: motivation…. let’s be honest. The motivation that prompts each of us to write, and then to post what we write, may be simple, or it may be complex; humans have a tendency toward both at times, depending on their predilections, and preferences in life. In my own case, since I tend to complicate matters naturally, it is somewhat complex; I suppose I enjoy the feeling of chaos at work that comes with maintaining an active mental life. In short, I’m crazy as a bed bug, and I like it…..

As the old saying goes, I don’t suffer from insanity, I revel in it…..  😆   In fact, I encourage insanity in others, often, in an attempt to give life a little spice when it falls into one of those routines, that threatens to become a rut….. There is nothing like some general insanity to liven up a party, now, is there? Who’s more popular on the dance floor than the guy with the lampshade on his head?….. Nobody, that’s who!

There are so many aphorisms floating around in my head, I often can’t remember who said what, but, I believe it might have been Voltaire, or another social philosopher of the modern age, who said, “Insanity is a sane reaction to an insane world.”….. Oh, hell, Google will know… Yep, I was right in my being wrong…. it was the psychiatrist and philosopher R.D. Laing who is credited most often with that particular phrase… though other authors seem to lay claim to it without any regard for that information…

Now that we have that out of the way, and we know for a fact that, a) I’m crazy as a loon, and b) it doesn’t matter at all for our purposes here, we can get down to business, and stop with the fluff (Whew! Tough word to type…. took me five tries…. that fluff stuff is tougher than it sounds….). I have some crow to eat, and I’ll thank you to let me chew and swallow quickly, to avoid some of the unpleasant flavor…. It still leaves a bitter after taste, no matter how quick one is in spitting it out, or downing it, whatever….

Yesterday, I ranted for quite a while about missionaries, such as those generally found in remote places lording it over the natives, and specifically targeted the most famous of that breed, Mother Teresa. I knew when I chose the subject that I risked some controversy, but, I happen to believe all I that I write, and still do.

But, a friend, one of the email recipients of the Pearls, happens to live in my building, and we got to discussing the piece in the afternoon, during which discussion, she most excellently, and correctly, scolded me, putting me back into my correct place, for having targeted whom I did. She did so without ever falling into trying to make me feel bad, but, rather, explaining, or, reminding me, mostly, of a piece of the picture I had forgotten to acknowledge….

Essentially, that piece is this: I’ve never met Teresa, and, in the eyes of a great many people, she is considered to be one of the most compassionate, truly loving examples of a follower of Christ that has ever lived, achieving relative sainthood during her lifetime for the charity work she does with the poor.

According to legend (which, right now, I am merely listing, and not questioning for veracity….), she is a perfect example of how a real Christian should live, in the sense that she eschews all worldly material goods in favor of giving herself and all she has to help those less fortunate than herself…. In light of her unswerving dedication to this life-style, and her absolute defiance of typical Church procedures, she is truly one of the heroines of the common man….

I have observed much of Teresa’s life in the public eye, as she, and her books (five of them) all came into the light of public scrutiny when I was a child, so I have known OF her for many years. When I googled her name, the first page of results showed about 15 results, of which five were informational, such as Wikipedia, or sites where images were shown, seven were positive stories about her life, (she died in 1997), and three were articles like mine, that explored the darker side of the missionary activities she perpetrated for the Catholic Church in her lifetime. One was entitled, “The Darker Side of Mother Teresa”, while another headline in the Huffington Post proclaimed, ” Mother Teresa Humanitarian Image A ‘Myth,’ New Study Says”. I’ve included below the Google links to the three articles that challenge the usual image we have of the good sister….

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=mother%20teresa&source=web&cd=9&sqi=2&ved=0CGgQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2013%2F03%2F04%2Fmother-teresa-myth_n_2805697.html&ei=eW5IUYTBJoeo2wW00YHQDA&usg=AFQjCNH-3mFJygRAnYL9dRgfh_YWT0FNtA&bvm=bv.43828540,d.b2U&cad=rja

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=mother%20teresa&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CG4QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slate.com%2Farticles%2Fnews_and_politics%2Ffighting_words%2F2003%2F10%2Fmommie_dearest.html&ei=eW5IUYTBJoeo2wW00YHQDA&usg=AFQjCNGxL857ajNJxrzHQLKqkkYT-Swbmg&bvm=bv.43828540,d.b2U

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=mother%20teresa&source=web&cd=12&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CHoQqQIwCw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fideas.foreignpolicy.com%2Fposts%2F2013%2F03%2F18%2Fthe_dark_side_of_mother_teresa&ei=eW5IUYTBJoeo2wW00YHQDA&usg=AFQjCNHf4kcbwQD3W8Xf9PEcF0tyqopJ0w&bvm=bv.43828540,d.b2U

After speaking with my friend, I went back to read over what I’d written yesterday, and I will confess to a degree of vituperation that may have been overdone. I don’t know the woman personally, so all I have to go on is her public persona, what I know about people and their psyches, and the depths to which they will sink to achieve their ends, regardless of whether or not those ends are either moral, ethical, or even helpful at all. So, I apologize for anything I said about her being an evil person…. she may indeed be a very compassionate, truly Christian woman, so I will acknowledge that portion of the legend that has grown up around her…..

However, I stand by what I said about her missionary work, and that entire ilk of religious fanaticism, or for how observing how it is demeaning for those it purports to help.  In truth, it seems clear to me the practice is motivated by the desire of the priesthood to claim more souls, not out of any particular concern for those souls themselves. The Church doesn’t send out missionaries to save the people, it wants the souls, which translates into power over others, and a lifelong bivouac of luxury and pomp for the clergy….

Nuns are a bit different, as many of them are actually out there in the world, dealing with people, so, they tend to ignore or modify what the church itself might do or say to fit the local circumstances; otherwise they would never get anything done to help people. But, their motivation remains murky, even to them, as almost every nun, or priest I’ve ever known, if they were at all honest people, suffered from crises of faith, where they doubted their vocation… Perfectly natural, and a shame they always seem to talk themselves out of listening to that little voice in their head….

Well, I’ve started to ramble, and it is threatening to turn into another rant, (actually, in looking back, it already did that….), so I guess I’d better get on with this, or I’ll never get done today…. I’ll have to depend on Smart Bee to come up with something different to talk about, but, it never seems to have much trouble with that….

Any who, I’m sorry for picking on Mother Teresa… like the Beatle’s song said about the Queen, “I imagine she’s a pretty nice girl, but she doesn’t have a lot to say….”  She may or may not be as bad as I made her out to be; to my mind, even if she is not a bad person, she is still operating under a set of very strong delusions, but, that is not at all unusual in this world, so I can’t hold that against her…. So, sorry, Terry… I hope your compassion can extend to forgiving me for my brashness and the crime of inelegance, if nothing else….

In the meantime, shall we Pearl?…..
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“Enough is enough.” ~~ gigoid

I’ve re-read the intro section, as it seemed a bit like it was too long…. It was, indeed, but, I can’t in good conscience take much of it out, or it will fall apart from its own inner weight imbalances (it’s a very weighty discussion, difficult to keep in balance, as each word and phrase changes the moment of vector…. trust me, the math is tricky, but clear….). So, I’ve resorted to one of my own aphorisms, above, one I mutter to myself often, as an incantation against breaking free of the habit of moderation in all that I do…. Moderation is the key to long life, I believe, but, even moderation itself needs to be practiced in moderation; it’s a good thing now and again to just let go, and give one’s wild side free rein…. just long enough to release all the built up angst, but not long enough to land in jail….  😉

So, naturally, I shall default into the normal procedure for following a rant, even if it is an intro, and submit for your reading pleasure a harlequin pearl, freshly chosen this morning, complete with potential hilarity and possible clarity…. enjoy!  Oh, and, no point to this one, it’s all as random as I can make it…. so, don’t hurt yourself trying to figure out if it has one…. Of course, if it should end up with an obvious sharp point, let us know, so nobody hurts themselves on it, okay? Thanks…..

“If Mother Nature doesn’t make mistakes then why does dessert taste better than dinner?” — Smart Bee

Shifu: “If the instrument is broken, the music will be sour.”
Daniel: “The music does not play the musician.”
Shifu: “Normally there is truth in that.”
Daniel: “Really? Good. Because I really didn’t have any idea what I was talking about.”
— from Stargate

“Call on God, but row away from the rocks.” — Indian proverb

“My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

” — You know it’s going to be a rotten day when you wake up face down on the pavement.” — Smart Bee (?)

Hmm… for a five-star, it’s not bad, if a bit strange… I think two more ought to bring the Force, if not the Metaphorse, back into balance for now…. let’s see what comes up….

“A life lived in fear is only half lived.” — Spanish proverb

“By the time this message gets back on topic, WE’LL ALL BE DEAD!” — Smart Bee
(Doh!   😳   Sorry, this one doesn’t count… Smart Bee isn’t supposed to do that…. bad Smart Bee, bad dB!…. One more, for good measure….)

“Good generally conquers evil. Unless, of course, good is stupid.” — Smart Bee

And there you have it… Smart Bee came through in the end with the perfect closer…. Okay, onward, or we’ll never get done….
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In the interests of brevity, along with elegance and depth, where else would I go, but to Emily?…..

Rouge et Noir

Soul, wilt thou toss again?
By just such a hazard
Hundreds have lost, indeed,
But tens have won an all.

Angels’ breathless ballot
Lingers to record thee;
Imps in eager caucus
Raffle for my soul.

~~ Emily Dickinson

Her poems are small enough that two is not crowding….

Rouge Gagne

‘Tis so much joy! ‘Tis so much joy!
If I should fail, what poverty!
And yet, as poor as I
Have ventured all upon a throw;
Have gained! Yes! Hesitated so
This side the victory!

Life is but death, and death but death!
Bliss is but bliss, and breath but breath!
And if, indeed, I fail,
At least too know the worst is sweet.
Defeat means nothing but defeat,
No drearier can prevail.

And if I gain – oh, gun at sea,
Oh, bells that in the steeples be,
At first repeat it slow!
For heaven is a different thing
Conjectured, and waked sudden in,
And might o’erwhelm me so!

~~ Emily Dickinson
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Faith, n: “That quality which enables us to believe what we know to be untrue.” — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

Calm down! And sit down, and relax…. I am well aware that, upon first seeing the above aphorism where it is, you immediately figured I was going to start in on another rant of major proportion, again heaping scorn upon the priestly hierarchies, and the myriad of folks who fall for their rather unbelievable fantasies…. Even I, however, have my limits….

I wrote around a thousand words above, in a general way, about religion, or, at least, religious figures, and I’m not going to burden you with another…. No, this was chosen just to get your blood moving, and to relax you for a final, short group of simple pearls, all on a particular subject, or as near as I can make them…. What that subject might be is for you to guess, should you wish to exercise your imagination in that way…. Otherwise, just enjoy them for their, well, whatever they are….

“When Eudaemonidas heard a philosopher arguing that only a wise man can be a good general, “This is a wonderful speech,” said he; “but he that saith it never heard the sound of trumpets.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Eudaemonidas

‘When they tell you to grow up, they mean to stop growing.” — Tom Robbins

“I have known noble ones who lost their highest hope, and then they disparaged all high hopes. They lived shamelessly in temporary pleasures, and hardly had an aim beyond the day. “Spirit is also voluptuousness,” they said. Then they broke the wings of their spirit; it now creeps about, and defiles whatever it gnaws at. Once they thought of becoming heroes, but they have become sensualists. A trouble and a terror is the hero to them. By my love and hope, I implore you: do not cast away the hero in your soul. Maintain holy your highest hope. Thus spoke Zarathustra.” — Friedrich Nietzsche, _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_

“All religions issue Bibles against Satan, and say the most injurious things against him, but we never hear his side.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

(Well, actually, Robert Heinlein did write a book called, “Job, A Comedy of Justice”, in which the main character happens to meet up with the Devil, when he was picked up hitchhiking, is taken to His home, and hears His side of the whole story… It’s a great read, if one can suspend belief, and exist purely in imagination for a time…. It’s also funny enough in spots I’ll warn you to be seated when you read it…. I will note, in Twain’s defense, that the book was written well after he died, so he can be forgiven for not knowing of it….   😆    )

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: (1) not going all the way; and (2) not starting.” — Buddha

Well, I don’t think I could have picked a better closing pearl if I had it specifically in mind…. good job, and good recovery, Smart Bee! Well done….
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I am almost afraid to go back over this to proof… but, here goes…..  I’m really not sure how it happened, but, this is a good one…. I like it, and since that is all that counts, ultimately, it can go out as is, with my blessing, if not my hopes…. Those have already been realized today, when my first tax refund hit the bank electronically…. I’m considering dinner out tonight, as a start….

It’s nice to not have to think about how that might run me short at the end of the month, as it is already almost that time…. More proof that patience, while not an absolutely essential quality to possess, is surely of some value in preserving our dignity, if not our comfort….. And THAT is surely an example of “Enough is enough”….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

dozer3

Such scintillating sartorial services seem simply swell….

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Ffolkes,
Blast and damn! Waking up to such ill-favored language isn’t my idea of paradise, to say the least. Not that I’m offended by vulgarity or profanity; far from it, I’ve been known to curse the air blue a time or two myself. But. to have to overhear other folks’ domestic arguments first thing, before even having the small protection that coffee affords in such situations, is not on my list of favorite morning activities….. nor do I expect it ever will be. I suppose this is the problem with living in an apartment rather than a house; the neighbors are practically in your lap….

Ah well, soon enough, I’ll be able to move into a better place, once my benefits have actually begun, and I can find a place to move into that fits my needs for space and quiet…. Hopefully, I’ll be able to persuade a certain someone to come with me, but, if nothing else, I need to find a place where there isn’t someone living in my pocket… It’s an inherently dangerous situation, in that one of my neighbors is clueless, and places himself in severe danger at times due to his ignorance….. Not that it is my responsibility to protect him from his idiocy, but, when it spills over into my life, I have a tendency to react unfavorably; hence, he’s come close to dying three times now, and never even knew it…. Probably better all around, I’d think….

S’okay, though, the issue seems to have been resolved, at least to the point where he is only ragging on his wife, and not his neighbors…. I just wish he wouldn’t do it so early in the morning…. She could show some sense, too, and kick his ass occasionally, if only verbally, but, hey, to each their own, right? I have no interest in their issues, and just wish they didn’t spill over into their neighbor’s hearing….

Well, my little discussion of societal issues on a small scale has taken up the intro section, mostly. There isn’t enough room left to start anything poetic or fictional without getting all mixed up, and it’s too late to fall back into nonsense. Ranting is out, unless I want to lose everyone even more rapidly…. Hell, now what am I going to do? I haven’t a clue as to where this should either go, or do, or even if it should be continued…. it may be unsalvageable at this point…. hard to say, what with all the blood leaking out now…. Kinda makes it hard to see what’s what….

I’m going to resort to Emergency Procedure #1, which is the oldest, and simplest of the procedures I keep to fix things around here…. it merely involves a big dose of denial…. I declare the above to be a full and complete introductory section of a Pearl, and proclaim it “done”, as far as modern literary science can determine. No further attempts at levity, or rationality, will be needed, or allowed. Please move along to the next section, and thank you for your patience, and your patronage….. Or, more simply put…..  Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Mother Theresa epitomizes for me the blinkered charitableness upon which we pride ourselves and for which we expect reward in this world and the next. There is very little on earth that I hate more than that.” — Feminist Germaine Greer

I’ve been saving this one up for a few days, letting my outrage and angst build up, so that I can rant on this subject with the proper degree of vitriol and meanness…. This woman (Mother Teresa, that is…. Germaine’s an ass, mostly, but she is honest, at least….) deserves every bit of hard language and disdain that I, or anyone else, can summon, as I consider her to be one of the most delusional, most obsessively crazed, and most viciously hypocritical women who ever walked this planet. I kid you not…. The picture that everyone paints of her shows her as a modern day saint, full of sweetness and light, and filled with the grace of God’s love…. and I say, bullshit!….

From all I can tell, this woman has spent her entire life pushing her beliefs on everyone around her, in places all over the world that have no desire for her to be there (I’ve always wondered why the Vatican allowed her to travel around so many places like they do, but figured out they wanted her out of Italy, mostly, and didn’t care what she did anywhere else….as long as she wasn’t bothering them, they don’t care…), and who would just as soon she took her bleating, sheep-like religion somewhere else. She purports to spend her time helping the poor, sick, downtrodden victims of the world, but in reality spends all her time lording it over those weaker than herself, and making sure they are kept in the poverty where she finds them, fulfilling their enforced image as victims….

From all reports, this woman is both tireless and relentless in her fight against poverty, but, in truth, what she is, is totally invested in the vision of her own rightness, and, in my view, she spends a great deal of her time making sure that she is seen as a saint, pointing up the differences between herself, and those she purports to help. Then she will make some off-the-wall platitude, or sappy statement, about love for one’s fellow man, but will never, ever issue any statement against those who keep so many of their fellow man in the state of being victims, or against any of the priests in her own church, who prey on the weak and vulnerable of their own flocks…. She is NOT interested in anything that does not serve her own interests, much like another group of self-centered individuals I know of….

Of course, the BRC loves people like Mother Teresa; she does a lot to keep them in power, without them ever having to pay her at all…. Her constant harping at the middle class to help out, by giving to charities that support her work, provides them with consistent, effective advertising for the maintenance of the system that creates the poor in the first place, without them ever having to address the issue at all. She does it all for them, by her complicit acceptance of their right to rule; it’s a common practice among the religious institutions to encourage their constituents to obey worldly authority, or temporal rule, or whatever words one uses to describe the Beloved Ruling Class.

Without the complicity shown by the priestly hierarchies to the true corporate rulers of society, their place at the top of the heap would be much more difficult to maintain…. Without the priests and preachers constantly telling their followers to obey the rule of law, it would be much more difficult for those who are victimizing the rest of us to carry out their deceptive practices. It would seem to me to be the place of religion to PROTECT their flocks from the degradations of the ruling class, but the fact is that they are in collusion with that same group, with the unspoken but strong agreement on both parts to keep the rest of society in a state of confused fear, making them manipulable, and easily controlled….

Mother Teresa is one of the worst of the lot, in my mind, for the very reason that Ms. Greer points out in the initial pearl, as well as for her blatant hypocrisy, and her evil spirit, which KNOWS exactly what she is doing. She is obviously an intelligent woman; one couldn’t be so successful at anything without some basic mental advantages…. To me, that is her worst crime. She knows what she does is wrong; she knows just how hypocritical it is for her to speak of compassion for the weak, when her entire persona uses that same vulnerability to promote her own agenda. She is the worst sort of predator on the planet, preying on the weak and helpless of her own species, and demanding respect for doing so….

“Be one heart full of love in the hearth of Jesus through Mary. God bless you.” — Mother Teresa, Apr. 17, 1984

See? Is this delusional, or what? I’d bet the tone of voice used in these would be a dead giveaway; “God bless you” probably comes out sounding more like “God damn you!”, I’d wager…..  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Sister Act”, think of the scene near the end, when the police are hauling away the criminal, who shouts at Whoopi Goldberg’s character, Sister Mary Clarence, “You’re nothing!”, whereupon she replies, “Vince…. Bless you!”, with the emphasis on the ‘bless’, giving it the exact same emotional tone of “fuck you”…. brilliant! I would dearly love the opportunity to say that to Terry….

If I ever get a chance to meet her face to face, (and I hope like hell I do….) I WILL tell her what I think of her hypocrisy, right to her face, and see how well she can refute my arguments…. I would expect her to fall back on her supporters, though, and to pretend to ignore what I say, as I doubt seriously she would have the courage to try to refute what I say to my face….  If she did, it would be her only hope of convincing me that what I’ve related here is not correct. I might be persuaded to listen to what she has to say, if she would say it to my face…. but, since she will probably never hear of me, I doubt it will ever happen….

And that’s okay with me, too, because, I don’t really enjoy confrontations any more…. Too much chance of random squirts of adrenaline, and it’s so often a futile undertaking, as the general run of opponents for such battles of wit aren’t very well armed, as a rule. I think I’d enjoy going a round or two with Terry, myself; if nothing else, it would be a memorable opportunity to take a saint down a few pegs…. I’d enjoy that, a lot…. Nothing much worse than a mealy-mouthed hypocrite to put a bad taste in your mouth….

“Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proven innocent.” — George Orwell

Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, “Strike, if you will; but hear. — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Themistocles
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Occasionally, ranting will stimulate poetry, and today is one of those occasions, apparently…. I wrote the following in about 20 minutes flat, within moments of finishing the above religirant, so I would have to assume that the two are connected in some way. Any other assumption, I believe, would be mistaken…. Since I’m too close to it, maybe y’all could let me know how you like it…. or not…. I do like the last stanza, particularly, so, it’s worth it, if only for that…. I hope you enjoy it, controversial as it may be in content…. It’s all quite real, and immediate, to me…..

Rejection

“Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so…”
I’d be crying a river, I thought
if ever such crap I bought.

Sorry if it hurts your sense of style,
but, hypocrisy always gives me bile.
Being lied to accidentally is okay,
but, deliberate lies make me angry, and fey.

Oh, God, hear what I pray!
Keep me from your followers today.
Having to listen to so much that is wrong
makes me puke, before it makes me strong.

I don’t know why it isn’t clear to other folks,
which is alright, you know, different strokes.
But, why should that mean that they must
force me to believe, or fail in trust?

Spare me the lies, and the make-believe,
fairy tales are easier to hear, and to weave.
They give us a lesson which we can feel
but don’t pretend at all to be real.

Reality can scare us, that’s a given fact,
still, met with care it will leave us mostly intact.
Met without fear, standing tall and alone
Life will allow us to make it our own.

Folly beckons, and so many follow
mass delusions seem to me most hollow.
I’ll have to stick to my own chosen way
while so many go so sadly astray.

It’s lonely at times, it may seem sad,
but really isn’t, and I’m quite glad,
that knowledge is always stronger than fear,
year after year, tear after tear…..

~~ gigoid
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There is no other choice but to go old-school here…. another rant seems like overkill. So, here is another harlequin pearl for your perusal, and intended pleasure…. Abondanza!

“A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”– James Madison

“If you can’t elucidate, obfuscate.” — Smart Bee

“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth.  When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.” — Tacitus

“Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.” — Eric Hoffer

“In the handbook, it says that most people ignore the strange and unusual; while I myself *am*… strange and unusual.” — BEETLEJUICE (aka, gigoid… You hadn’t guessed I was the inspiration for this character?…..)

Me, too! Me, too!….. Oh, sorry, got carried away with enthusiasm there for a second… let’s see what Smart Bee has for a couple of closers for today…. to finish the too-obvious point we’ve got going here….

“Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Perfect!…. For extra credit, you may leave the conclusion in the comment section for others to laugh at, er, admire….. Or, you may just go on, like the rest of us….  😆
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Well, that went smoothly enough; let’s see how it flows…. or, if….. Well, I’m not certain that the word, “flow” is the right one, but, we’ll go with it for now…. I like it. But, then, I DID write it, so that’s probably a good thing, all in all. Whether or not y’all feel the same, well, I hope so, but, I’m not gonna hold my breath…. I’m too much aware of my own shortcomings, and my own relative importance…. fortunately. If nothing else, I hope it gives y’all a chuckle or two, or maybe causes a moment of outrage or other real emotion…. I’ll settle for that…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

dozer3

If only zucchini was more charitable…..

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Ffolkes,
In today’s world, it can become hard to maintain a positive outlook, especially about the future. The Beloved Ruling Class is so intransigent, and so self-centered, I can see little hope that the changes needed for us to survive as a species will ever happen. This is, of course, tragic, to say the least, and is possibly NOT the best subject with which to start the day’s effort. A bit dark, don’t y’know?. But, I got an email last night while I was asleep that was extremely touching, and have to deal with the issue before I think too hard about it…..

As a matter of policy, I’ve never given in to chain letters, of any kind, whether, as in olden days, they had stamps, or the more modern email variety. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe in the idea that an email, or a letter, that I don’t forward to many people, will cause me to have bad luck, or that doing so will bring me good luck. Life, and Murphy, don’t work that way; this I know for a fact. But, occasionally, one will come along that has something else going for it, and for these I will break my policy about sending it on…..

I’ll be forwarding the email to my Pearl Drops on this occasion, and I’ll tell you why….. The letter, though full of all kinds of examples of the assumptions and faith-based beliefs about which I often rant, has something that the other chain letters don’t have, and that is a compassionate reason for sending it. The person who sent this to me did so because of their own compassion, for me, and for others, in spite of, or maybe because of, the fact  she has cancer herself, and is currently fighting the battle to stay alive we all will face one day. Yet she has the strength of spirit to want to give to her friends, and to feel that she is helping in some way……

Now, I’m not going to tell you that I’ve changed my mind about the healing power of faith, because it is actually one of the few parts of religious activity that I do believe is real. I fully believe the human mind has the power to heal through its own power of suggestion and belief; in history there are numerous examples of healings that cannot be explained any other way. I won’t allow that the power comes from God; I believe that power already resides within us. We all have the power to heal ourselves, and others, by dint of believing it strongly enough; we may not be able to see, or describe how it works, much less explain it, but, there are too many examples to deny the evidence…..

So, I believe in the power of the human mind, and in some unknown way, letters like these can distribute that power to where it needs to be, and can help people heal themselves….. So, I’ll be sending it along, with my own wishes for good fortune to those of my friends and acquaintances who struggle with physical issues, in hope that all comes out well in the end…. And, it’s like my friend said when she sent it…. it can’t hurt……

I’ve used up my intro section for this, and will double up its usefulness by copying it into the letter I’m forwarding. If anyone would like to see the letter, please leave your email in a comment, and I’ll send it to you; I don’t really want to paste it here, as it might shock some of my regulars out of their socks to see it on my site…. It’s a nice letter, all in all, and I really do appreciate that my friend sent it to me, even though I don’t buy into their faith… it is the impulse of compassion from them that is my concern, and I really feel loved for having them in my life….. Thank you, C….

I believe I’ve managed to accomplish my purpose without falling into either sappiness, or melancholy, so that makes this a GOOD intro, right? Well, whatever it is, it will have to do, as I don’t have the energy to go back and do another one. Time, I have, energy requires a bit more regulation, to ensure I can get as far as I can with what there is to use…. an amount much smaller than in previous periods of my life, to be sure. Before I figure out some way to screw this up, I think we should begin our dive for today….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I hope something GOOD came in the mail today so I have a REASON to live!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank

Statements such as this are the saving grace of mankind, to my mind. It always astounds me how people who have been subjected to evil can react to that treatment by becoming the antithesis of evil, i.e., they simply become more good, in response to the evil perpetrated upon them. Anyone who can deny that Ms. Frank was witness to, and subject to, some of the most evil events in history is a fool; no, they’re an idiot. Probably both…. Yet, in spite of all that she saw happen to her family, her friends, and all she endured to survive in the face of the evil she experienced, her writing is filled with optimism and hope, and faith in the human spirit. It is almost enough to convince me of her insanity, but, I know that, even if considered insane, this kind of goodness is real….

The problem is that this kind of good is nowhere near as plentiful in human culture as are the more evil aspects of personality that we humans display. The kind of activities that took place in Anne Frank’s world are all too common in human history, and indicate the overwhelming majority of those who follow those precepts, of ignorance, hatred, and bigotry, rather than subscribing to more positive rules of conduct. In essence, what I’m saying is, there are more assholes out there than there are nice guys, no matter how we would like it to be otherwise, and no matter how strong our faith in human nature. It is the ugliest part of the dichotomy we experience as part of the universe that is based on opposites, to know that the evil in us, so far throughout history, is stronger than the good.

“As a man can drink water from any side of a full tank, so the skilled theologian can wrest from any scripture that which will serve his purpose.” — Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita was written a long time before the birth of Christ, so we know that the human proclivity to turn ideas to their advantage, no matter the original intent of the concepts, has been an issue for society for a long time. This is the difference between those who subscribe to improving human nature, and our understanding of life and our place in it, and those who use their talents to obtain power over others. While the former works toward the betterment of all people with whom they come in contact, the latter spend their effort to manipulate and control everyone they meet. In the real world, these deliberately self-oriented assholes (sorry, gotta let it out now and again….) are the ones who seek elected office, or go to seminary, or study law, or business, or become police officers…. not to help others, but to find every way they can to take advantage of the naive nature of their peers…..

SIGH…. (That’s a sigh as commonly sighed in County Clare, Ireland, indeed, in all the west counties of Eire; long, drawn out, slowly exhaled, complete with mournful expression, shrugging of shoulders, and shaking of head….) I don’t know the answer, though I have some ideas that might work, should they ever be considered. But, they all involve a certain degree of “giving in” to the more violent side of our nature. Though it is a soothing thought to think of all those assholes getting what they deserve, it is, to some extent, assuming the same characteristics that define them in their state of anti-humanity.

To get rid of them, we would have to become them, if only for a short time, and would thereby lose part of what makes us different in the first place…. So far, I haven’t been willing to give in to that extent. I don’t know if that shows that I have integrity, or if it means I am afraid to change to that degree, even if temporary. How to get back to the same ethical standing seems to me to be the issue, and I just don’t know the answer…. My karmic balance is no doubt too delicately perched on the cusp to risk any unreasonable violence without just cause….

But, if it gave the rest of us a chance to make some changes to society that would be of help to all of us, rather than just a few, well, I think I’d be willing to pick up a weapon and join the fray. Maybe having honorable motivation would be enough to get the job done, and still maintain some integrity…. If nothing else, it might give us a bit of breathing space, in order to come up with a more permanent, and more humane, solution to the issue…. Hard to say, as things have been the way they are for a long time, and rooting out the Beloved Ruling Class from their well-fortified position is not going to be a simple task…. As we all can see, human nature is what it is, and it doesn’t WANT to change….. None of us do…. unless, of course, we want to keep on living…..

“Either you think — or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
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“A picture is a poem without words.” — Horace (65-8 B.C.)

And a poem is a picture of Life, with words as colors….. Here is what I think is possibly the best poem ever written by an American poet…. No other poem I’ve seen or heard of comes close to matching the depth of its simplicity…. and that phrase is precisely what I mean to imply…. Enjoy!…..

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost
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Okay, so there I was this morning, cruising along through Smart Bee, and all these pearls kept popping up in front of me, demanding inclusion without telling me why. Being the patsy I am in re: my muse, I did so…. and this is the group that ended up as the end result of my indulgence. It makes a good point, or two, actually, and I really like the way it ends, with the pointy finger and all…. The points it makes, of course, are left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader, with bonus points for knowing which parts to chuckle at, and which to guffaw….. (a thinly disguised manipulation on my part to get the word “guffaw” into a pearl…. I love it when a plan comes together…..)…..

“Love of money is the root of all politics.” — Smart Bee

“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire

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

“The vultures are circling…they have the faces of presidential candidates and carry bowling balls in their buttered claws….” — Smart Bee

“Cato used to assert that wise men profited more by fools than fools by wise men; for that wise men avoided the faults of fools, but that fools would not imitate the good examples of wise men.  — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Marcus Cato

‘And if you’ve just tuned in, we’re talking about the red-hot,  tight-buttocked, hairy host of Hell.’  — The Church Lady

And there you have it, all wrapped up in a nice big bow….. Ta ta, then, luvs….
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I’ve gone over it thrice, and proof-reading aside, it ain’t too bad….. Not too bad at all…. and, it’s done. So, I’m going to now indulge  myself again, and spend the next five minutes leisurely getting this copied, pasted, emailed, and posted to WordPress…. which is all the time it takes, now that I am once again blessed with home internet service.

Strange how things work out sometimes, eh? A state of existence that didn’t exist at all 20 years ago, now becomes an essential ingredient to a comfortable lifestyle….. It isn’t a surprise, so much, to those of us who grew up reading Science Fiction, as it is a gleeful sense of fulfillment that imagination and reality merged into such a powerful societal manifestation. Or, is that infestation?  🙂   Nah, it’s a good thing…. and it sure makes my day a lot more enjoyable, without a doubt…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Uncertain signs of capitulation….

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Ffolkes,
Well, I’ll tell ya…. there is nothing quite like being shot from sleep into instant wakefulness by a leg cramp. It’s not too pleasant, either, to spend the first couple moments of that wakefulness screaming in pain while trying to ease off the cramp. Fortunately, it was in the calf, rather than the thigh. I don’t know if I could stand a thigh cramp…. how do you get it to stop? With the calf, you can grab the toes and pull up hard… this will usually stretch the cramping muscle enough to cause it to stop. But, a thigh? How are you going to remember how to stretch it while screaming in pain?  Gotta be worse ways to wake up, but, I’m not aware of them….. thankfully….

Well, now that I’m up, and while I’m waiting for coffee to brew, whom should I assassinate, character-wise? The curmudgeon in me is on full alert, actually a bit disappointed that Murphy wasn’t around to attack and rend into small pieces…. and fortunately for my apartment neighbors, my screams didn’t last long…. Ah, coffee is ready…. I’ll be back…..

Blessed blood of all programmers and geeks! Composers, too, from what I’ve heard; Bach composed an entire set of musical paeans to coffee, complete with lyrics, in one case. There is another unique sensation for you…. that moment when the first sip of coffee brings the entire universe into focus…. Like a leg cramp at night, there is nothing quite like it. And, to be honest, I’ll take the coffee over the cramp any day…..

If you couldn’t tell by now, waking up this way has thrown me off kilter a bit; I don’t know what to do with myself yet. Certain parts of the morning’s routine are out of order, and it’s really messing with my mind. I don’t want to attempt diving if I’m not fully alert…. it may not be under water, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous….. there be some strangeness out there on the web, folks, and it’s a good policy to have one’s wits on hand and fully engaged before diving in…. and, no, don’t ask why I know this…. it’s too hard to talk about…..

I suppose I can only stall so long, though…. I’ll have to give in and just get on with it eventually, so we may as well do it now, since there are good reasons to get done early today. I’m not sure what they are, but there are always reasons, for anything….. sort of like statistics, they can be made to explain almost anything at all….. any who, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Two-thirds of help is to give courage.” — Irish proverb

To me, this is the very best kind of pearl of virtual wisdom. Nine words, if you count all the short ones, that tell a story that is a lesson, an insight, a truth, and, in the best sense, an admonition, all packaged in a short phrase that burns itself into memory. This can also act as help itself, as just the statement itself gives the courage of which it speaks, to any who doubt as to whether or not help is to be found.

Often, merely the offer of help is enough to aid the one who asks to reach a point where the help is no longer needed; just the knowledge that it is available can give one the strength needed to finish the task alone. We humans are very social creatures, whether we admit it or not, and we are all aware that when two or more people get together to perform any task, the work is lessened thereby, by more than the mere factor of how many are involved in helping. I am constantly amazed at what people can do when they act in concert; often, the very people who join together for a task are surprised by how much they can accomplish together……

I’m not going to say much more about this one; it is what I like to call a stand-alone pearl, that needs no adornment beyond its own contained self. But, I will add one more idea to our understanding of this concept, and that is this…. I say it is an admonition, and it is, because not only does it speak to the effect on the person who has requested the help, it also supplies good reason to offer help to others, by acknowledging the importance of the support, rather than the actual help. Just the fact that the help is forthcoming supplies most of the emotional strength to the act, thus acting as a spur to those who might hesitate to jump in otherwise….. I love it, and hereby name it a classic pearl of virtual wisdom…..
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“Simonides calls painting silent poetry, and poetry speaking painting.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Whether the Athenians were more Warlike or Learned, 3

I like this one….. it is, just by itself, a wonderful little word painting, is it not? And it gives a clear statement of how poetry affects me, and how it always has…. For many years, during my junior high and high school years, I tended to keep my taste for poetry to myself; boys growing up can be a bit sensitive about being sensitive, and it would have been a crushing social blow to have that particular liking brought to light. Only in certain circumstances could it be admitted, and those were few and far between….

Once I left for Berkeley, it became the other way around, as being an artist of any type became a more acceptable goal, and one could, back then, assume the pose of a manly poet (see Ginsburg, Silverstein, etc….) But, at the time, my own poetry was really bad stuff, and I’m glad that very little of it has survived to embarrass me.

For many years, I continued my life-long habit of reading an average of a book a day, and I worked at a couple of jobs where writing ability was prized, so I tried to develop my writing chops using prose. I suppose I did pretty well, but it hardly seemed challenging to become a good writer of nursing notes. The fun and education of it came when I started writing yearly reports, using numerous disciplinary reports, from social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, MD’s, recreation therapists, etc.,  to combine into a complete planning document for treatment. It also provided a solid self-education in desktop publishing techniques, using printers, copiers, and computers to produce detailed reports and documents in the psychiatric field….

A month or so ago, after over a year of copious prose writing, (over 1000 pages of material) I decided to try my hand at a poem, something I’d avoided for almost 40 years; it didn’t come out too badly, and was a vast improvement over what I wrote in my teens. So, I tried another, and another, and now they keep popping out of my head every couple of days, seeming to get a bit better with each one….

I guess the point I’m trying to express here is that it seems that others also are enjoying what I’ve written, so I will continue to write poetry whenever the whim strikes me…. and I can only hope that what I write is as well-accepted as what has been done in the last few weeks…. I hope you all enjoy them, they are little pieces of my soul, and I’m proud and happy to share them…..

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” — Benjamin Franklin

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

I often stand and watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, from season to season.

~~ gigoid

Idiot (id-ee-it) n.- One who disagrees with you. — Smart Bee
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Yesterday I wrote about a thousand words or more discussing a wide range of philosophy and the human experience, taking a shot here and there at my two favorite targets, politicians and preachers. It was fun, but exhausting, from a mental standpoint; my mind seems reluctant today to go too deeply into much of anything…. so, we’ll resort to an old-school pearl, of sorts…. here is a group of quotes from various sources, for which,  all in all, a case could be made that it is a summary of what was written yesterday in section three…. of course, you don’t have the advantage of my prose to pick at, or to blame for the content, but, in general, this should take you down some similar paths…… and with less verbiage to wade through….

“I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth.  I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.” —  Albert Einstein

“For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ii, 14

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

“I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.” — Dr. Albert Hoffman

Always we hope
Someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better
Some other time it will all work out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer
No other place will be better
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
You have the answer;
You know who you are and what you want.
There is no need to turn outside
For better seeing.
Rather abide at the center of your being
For the more you leave it
The less you learn.
Search your own heart and see
the way to do is to be.
— Lao Tzu

“I’m sitting on my SPEED QUEEN..  To me, it’s ENJOYABLE..  I’m WARM..  I’m VIBRATORY..” — Zippy the Pinhead

And after such a powerful quote from Zippy, what more could possibly be necessary to add?….. Enjoy!
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Okay, so things got a bit strange today, at least at the ending…. that’s what happens when I spend too much time in my own head. Maybe by tomorrow, I can have a bit of social interaction with someone, and get a firmer grip on what is real, and what is not….. Right now, that is a bit of a chancy choice for me…. but, I’ve been in worse straits, so…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Murky morals create messes….

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Ffolkes,
Balderdash! Poppycock! And other such fine expressions!  Aren’t those great words? I love English, which is more than I can say for SOME people. Some folks submit our language to daily torture, some merely mangle it out of any recognizable shape. A lot of people use it, but never figure out how to make it shine. These are the folks who need to use words such as the two at the head of the paragraph, to muscle up their vocabulary, and make it more like Mr. Universe than the skinny nerd we used to see on the back of comics…..

Even I forget to use the vocabulary I have at times; the Thesaurus sits right next to me while I type, but I seldom break it out, a habit I need to break. I do pretty well at not using the same words over and over in the same piece of work, but I think that the more variety one uses, the larger the pool of available alternatives grows. All of us here at WordPress are trying, in our own ways, to become better writers (I hope that’s the case….), and using a larger vocabulary is a sure way to do that……

After such an auspicious opening, one would think that today’s Pearl is a doozie (another fine word…), but only time will tell us whether or not that is the case. Let us now leave this pompousness behind, and wash ourselves clean in the ocean of knowledge….. Shall we Pearl?……
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Happiness follows sorrow, sorrow follows happiness, but when one no longer discriminates between happiness and sorrow, a good deed and a bad deed, one is able to realize freedom.” — Buddha

I was married for 23 years. If I had my druthers, I’d still be married; I took vows, which I kept.  Still do, for that matter….. I promised to love her more every day than I did the day before, and in spite of her absence, that hasn’t changed a whit…. and that hurts.  It is only the lessons I’ve learned over the years from Buddhism and Taoism that have helped me to move beyond that pain. The lesson above is one of the most powerful of those lessons…..

In reality, this is pretty hard to accomplish; our western minds tend to take pain and make ourselves almost dependent upon it, using it as fuel for action. This is wrong action, however, and almost always leads to more pain. It is hard for most people, me included, to learn how to put aside pain by changing the way we look at reality. Difficult, but well worth the effort, as it is a sure-fire method of learning self-control.

In a relative sense, it is easy to see what needs to be done, but in reality, reaching this state of equilibrium is not quite so simple. It is also something that each person needs to learn to do all alone; no one can teach you how to change yourself, or your own desires. It can help to hold the duality of reality in mind when considering this; pain is merely one side of the coin that is reality. On the other side is joy.

Neither can be understood, or even felt without the other. This shows that if we can learn to feel both with equal equanimity, to realize that neither one is either permanent or harmful, then they both assume less importance, and can be more easily allowed to pass away, the fate of all transient emotion. Once we have learned to let them go, it is amazing to realize that such pain will no longer control us, and we now have the ability to approach life with the ability to choose our own reaction to events…. This is indeed a powerful tool, and one that can help us to achieve the life we desire….A life free of emotional strife and pain, which is true freedom….

“Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Sertorius
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The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
‘T is mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s,
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice — Act iv, Sc. 1

I like to consider myself to be a fair-minded person, and try to admit mistakes when I make them. My opinion of Will Shakespeare has been well-documented, so I won’t go into that….

I have to admit, though, that this soliloquy from the Merchant of Venice, is very well done, and stands in stark contrast to great gobs of his other works. It has logic, it has rhyme, and reason. It is consistent, and most importantly, it is relatively clear, not all jumbled up with obscure phrases whose context was lost centuries past.  I like it….

It’s not enough to make me change my overall judgment of his body of work, or make me sit through one of his plays…. but, it’s pretty good…. There, see, I can be nice…..
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A Lover’s Quarrel Among the Fairies

A moonlight moor. Fairies leading a child.

Male Fairies: Do not fear us, earthly maid!
We will lead you hand in hand
By the willows in the glade,
By the gorse on the high land,

By the pasture where the lambs
Shall awake with lonely bleat,
Shivering closer to their dams
From the rustling of our feet.

You will with the banshee chat,
And will find her good at heart,
Sitting on a warm smooth mat
In the green hill’s inmost part.

We will bring a crown of gold
Bending humbly every knee,
Now thy great white doll to hold —
Oh, so happy would we be!

Ah it is so very big,
And we are so very small!
So we dance a fairy jig
To the fiddle’s rise and fall.

Yonder see the fairy girls
All their jealousy display,
Lift their chins and toss their curls,
Lift their chins and turn away.

See you, brother, Cranberry Fruit —
He! ho! ho! the merry blade! —
Hugs and pets and pats yon newt,
Teasing every willful maid.

Girl Fairies: Lead they one with foolish care,
Deafening us with idle sound —
One whose breathing shakes the air,
One whose footfall shakes the ground.

Come you, Coltsfoot, Mousetail, come!
Come I know where, far away,
Owls there be whom age makes numb;
Come and tease them till the day.

Puffed like puff-balls on a tree,
Scoff they at the modern earth —
Ah! how large mice used to be
In their days of youthful mirth!

Come, beside a sandy lake,
Feed a fire with stems of grass;
Roasting berries steam and shake —
Talking hours swiftly pass!

Long before the morning fire
Wake the larks upon the green.
Yonder foolish ones will tire
Of their tall, new-fangled queen.

They will lead her home again
To the orchard-circled farm;
At the house of weary men
Raise the door-pin with alarm,

And come kneeling on one knee,
While we shake our heads and scold
This their wanton treachery,
And our slaves be as of old.

William Butler Yeats

Of late, I have been leaning more and more on poetry to soothe my fevered brow…. and I don’t regret a moment of that. Here is another from W.B. Yeats, that takes us on a short, wondrous journey into Irish myth….
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I’ve relied heavily on the work of others for this Pearl, as a direct result of a massive attack of lazy bones this morning…. Ah well, at least I picked stuff that will be interesting to a wide group of ffolkes…. Lazy can be okay, if properly moderated…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Today only: Tofu Doll Houses….

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Ffolkes,
Curious….. my mind this morning as I sit down to begin is empty again. I could have sworn when I woke up that there were lots of things going around in there, clamoring and pushing to be first to get out. But now that I’m faced with an empty screen, I find a matching empty screen in my mind’s eye, sitting there, staring at me like I’ve got something to put on there…. which, needless to say at this point, I don’t. I can’t say where all the stuff that was around earlier went to; if I did, I’d just go there, and cajole a few random thoughts to come on back with me, or maybe fool one of the weaker thoughts into turning into a comedy routine of some sort.

Since I haven’t a clue where they might be, I’m not sure now just what I should do. I can’t sit here typing stream of consciousness for too long; my stream is looking a bit thin at present. If only there were some way to magically call my thoughts back, like in a Harry Potter movie…. “Accio Inspiration!”  With my luck, Inspiration would be a big rock, which would proceed to smack me upside the head, thus inspiring me to curse mightily before heaving the rock out the window (hopefully, AFTER remembering to open said window….. the landlord gets so testy when I forget….). Like that’ll work….

Well, I suppose it’s back to Plan C…. pick up the axe, start chopping, and let the chips fall where they may. Not necessarily the most scientific or artistic solution, or even the most efficient, but brute force has always served me well…. so I’m going for it. If you’d care to tag along, please feel free, after donning the provided hard hats and goggles, both of which are required by law for all visitors to this site….. Thank you for you cooperation with these regulations…. they are filming us to ensure compliance. (See? Just over there, from that fourth story window across the way….) We hope you enjoy today’s tour through the WWW Ocean of Knowledge, and our search for Pearls of Daily Wisdom…..
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Tho’ lost to sight, to mem’ry dear        / Thou ever wilt remain;
One only hope my heart can cheer,–       / The hope to meet again.
Oh fondly on the past I dwell,            / And oft recall those hours
When, wand’ring down the shady dell,      / We gathered the wild-flowers.
Yes, life then seem’d one pure delight,   / Tho’ now each spot looks drear;
Yet tho’ thy smile be lost to sight,      / To mem’ry thou art dear.
Oft in the tranquil hour of night,        / When stars illume the sky,
I gaze upon each orb of light,            / And wish that thou wert by.
I think upon that happy time,             / That time so fondly lov’d,
When last we heard the sweet bells chime, / As thro’ the fields we rov’d.
Yes, life then seem’d one pure delight,   / Tho’ now each spot looks drear;
Yet tho’ thy smile be lost to sight,      / To mem’ry thou art dear.
— George Linley (1798-1865) — Song

I love these poems! I’ve seen several now, though at least two are probably this one seen twice. I’ve seen another in techspeak, written by some hacker. I know I’ve used this before, but it’s been quite a while, so, the hell with it, I’m using it again. I am just so impressed by the creativity, and perseverance, it must have taken to create these three poems in one, I am compelled to include it again today, in spite of my regular policy against repetition of source material for discussions. To keep the left column consistent as a complete work, then the right column, then the poem created by the two together; this to me is poetic genius, or at minimum, a complete refusal to give up on something until it is right….. fantastic!  Enjoy!…..
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“I don’t think we should punish the criminal [a rapist] by killing his child.” — Dr. John Wilke, President, National Right to Life Committee, — Search for Common Ground, taped for television 4/89, as quoted in “The Far Right, Speaking For Themselves”, a Planned Parenthood pamphlet

When I first read this, I could not believe that this is something that could pass the lips of anyone, anyone at all, without choking the speaker. There are so many wrong things about it, it is difficult to choose a starting point.  My next thought was to wonder how such an ignoramus could remember to breathe without someone there to remind them.  I certainly have serious doubts that this “Doctor” was awarded his degree by any accredited educational institution, in ANY field of scientific inquiry,  though I suppose it could be a Piled High and Deep Doctorate in Divinity, or some such faux degree. Such an example of extreme, deliberate ignorance is certainly not something that anyone with a) any compassion at all, or b) an IQ that exceeds 90, would ever contemplate allowing to come out of their mouth, at least, not without a grin and and a wink to assure the listeners that they were not serious.

After I got past the disbelief, (after all, there is no defined limit to just how stupid people can be… the bar keeps getting raised…..), I had a reaction not dissimilar to the one I get when I contemplate those who traffic in human flesh, i.e., pimps, brothel managers, and other WOS assholes of that ilk. (No, not preachers and priests, though they are certainly to be included in that category, for their active encouragement of the trade)

It is almost comforting to envision myself putting a double tap from a Glock 9mm right between their eyes, thus serving the sentence that Mother Nature herself would set if she were to judge such ignorance…. which she does, but leaves the execution of the sentence to other forces of Nature, such as the righteous anger of the brothers, uncles, and fathers of the abused victims…..
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“It is no great wonder if in long process of time, while fortune takes her course hither and thither, numerous coincidences should spontaneously occur. If the number and variety of subjects to be wrought upon be infinite, it is all the more easy for fortune, with such an abundance of material, to effect this similarity of results.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Sertorius

Infinite monkeys, pecking at typewriters over infinite time, would produce all the works of Shakespeare….. It now seems clear from whom the man who wrote that line obtained the obviously plagiarized concept he employed in its composition. If such it may be called, in light of this thought from Plutarch, a man whose reputation has stood through millennia.

With my complete faith in the power of Google, after writing the above little query into Plutarch’s statement, and in the interests of accuracy (and scratching the itch of curiosity it gave me), I typed the essential phrases into the search box, hit enter, and sat back to await the results, trying to find the current author to whom it is attributed.

Sure thing, the first link was to a comprehensive article on Wikipedia on what is known as the Infinite Monkey Theorem. Little did I know when I first took up this subject that I had blundered into a field of intense and continuous scientific and philosophical inquiry that has been raging among the academic and public sectors of society since the time of Aristotle, who is credited in the article as having been one of the first to propose the basic concept in writing.

In scrolling down the Wikipedia page in a quick scan, I realized what I saw there would be equivalent to 30 or more pages of a book, in a tiny font, mentioning discussions by most of the philosophers of the last two thousand years, including many examples of historical and cultural explorations of the concept. This first glance I took only covered the basic elements of the discussion, which was organized into what seemed to be endless divisions of academic, mathematical, and cultural aspects.

There are several other articles listed as well, some even longer and more detailed, that explore the idea’s mathematics, and the implications of that math. There are entire articles on the cultural aspects of the question, and each article is filled with links to more information, literally thousands of web pages of data. It is, in short, a subject worthy of weeks, or even years of study before any discussion to be held would cover any ground that hasn’t likely been covered previously.

It would take a few weeks of eight hour days just to check if any ideas I had for discussion had occurred already somewhere, or some when, not leaving much time to develop the any possibly new arguments in a fresh way, or even much time to organize any, since their relative newness was as yet undetermined. A challenge of a lifetime, or at least one worthy of a doctoral dissertation…. hmmm, I wonder if some university would accept such an article for a doctorate?

Hell, somebody probably thought of that already, too….. I guess I’ll find another subject for discussion here. This one seems to be a dead end….in spite of the 300 or so words I’ve already spewed.

Damn monkeys anyway! Who asked them to write Shakespeare? Though, as I’ve said before, there is some of his stuff that could use a bit of work….. just sayin’…..

“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you hear it.” — Laurence Peter, “Peter’s Quotations”, 1977
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“Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.”– Goya

Master Goya knows whereof he speaks. If you believe it not, just view his body of work, and we will discuss it again.  Here is one of the marvels of which he speaks… I had forgotten how excellent a poet Keats could be. This is obviously a “toss off” poem, a spur of the moment reaction, yet effortlessly gives the reader a taste of the grandeur of what he had read in Chapman, and felt about what he read.  Enjoy!….

Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow’d Homer ruled as his demesne,
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific, and all his men
Look’d at each other with a wild surmise,
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
— John Keats (1795-1821) — On first looking into Chapman’s Homer

Gorgeous! If you can believe it, I am speechless in admiration….. watch me….. See? Nothing more to say…. well, maybe one thing….

“True eloquence consists in saying all that should be said, not all that could be.” — Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld
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No, ‘t is slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath
Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie
All corners of the world.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Cymbeline
— Act iii, Sc. 4

Not to belabor my point, but see? Shakespeare. Really bad verse. At least 10 too many words, way more than needed, and still so obscure the point has to be shaken out like a peach from a tree. Not unusual for him, in my mind….. I rest my case…..

Kirk: “Spock, comment.”
Spock: “Very bad poetry.”
— “Catspaw”, Stardate 3018.2.
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Well…. I’d feel strange about the lineup today, but, in truth, it’s not an unusual grouping to find here. Since I never plan what to write ahead of time, I suppose that isn’t particularly surprising. It keeps me busy….. a bit of housekeeping, if you would spare me a moment of your attention….

*Smart Bee — Smart Bee is the database program in which a lot of the quotes I use as pearls are found. More of them than I would like are not attributed, as might be expected in a database of 111, 111 quotes amassed by a collection of geeks and programmers (i.e., hackers) in their spare time, and distributed for free.

In the past I have attributed all such orphaned statements to Anonymous, Unknown, and occasionally, no one at all (I feel plagiaristic every time, but whaddyagonnado,  when it’s perfect and you’re in a hurry to get done?) So, in the future, just for the sake of my sanity, such as it is, I’ll be attributing all such taglines found with no one to blame to Smart Bee itself. That way, I don’t have to try to figure out which to use each time, and can just get on with it… thanks for your patience with this little condom for my mental health.

And on that note, classy and elegant guy that I am, I shall bid thee adieu… be warned, please, that I intend to try to post to my blog site again later today…. but it won’t hurt, I assure you, especially if I don’t get to it….. Y’all take care out there…..

 

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

Kowabunga!

Wayward minstrels and sleepy cats….

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Ffolkes,
It’s really too bad that we can’t just shoot somebody when the deserve it; I’ve got a long list of folks who do, as do all of you, I’m sure. But the cops get real upset about it, and then the neighbors will talk behind your back, even the dog probably won’t like you anymore. Plus, later on, when you’re feeling all regretful and stuff, it’s just a pain, and all in all, not worth the bother. Insulting them to their face, or sending them into financial ruin, will just have to satisfy that urge for blood; hell, make it good and nasty, & maybe they’ll go shoot themselves! That’s the ticket…..

In case you couldn’t tell, I woke up with crankypants already on, and I’ve been looking for something or somebody to let it out on for the last hour or so. Feeling this way, and not having an acceptable outlet, is extremely frustrating, and as a former psych tech, I know it’s not good for me to keep all this bottled up inside. I suppose I could go out and find some unarmed idiot to get into an argument with, so I can let it all out on them. But that isn’t kosher, (kosher means anything not touched by pig blood), nor is it a good policy for improving one’s karmic burden. But then I’d feel like dirt, because one of my own pet peeves is when someone dumps crap on me that I don’t deserve. In the final analysis, that is a lose-lose situation, with both parties walking away feeling worse than when they started.

Ah, the hell with it. I’m just going to go out the way I am, and the world can just deal with me the best it can. I’m outnumbered, so at least it’s a level playing field to start…..I guarantee it won’t end that way……let you know tomorrow how it went……if I survive. The world at large has some pretty good crankypants, too…..

Euripides was wont to say, “Silence is an answer to a wise man.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Bashfulness

“He is the best of men who dislikes power.” — Mohammed

“As long as there have been humans we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Where are we?  Who are we? We find that we live on an
insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe.  We make our world significant by
the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.” — Carl Sagan

Life must go on;
I forget just why.
— Edna St. Vincent Millay, ‘Lament’, Second April (1921)

And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains.

So ends the bloody business of the day.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
— The Odyssey of Homer, Book xxii, Line 516

A fitting end to another gem….. y’all take care out there…..

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

Kowabunga!