Oddly enough, snakes HATE apples…

Posted on July 6, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Truth be told, getting up when I do to write these Pearls is becoming more of a chore than it ever has in the past….. While fighting the pre-coffee, pre-magic cream kick-in, and the lethargy that now dogs me each morning, I experienced a small epiphany…. and then lost it….. It’s really too bad, too, because I’m fairly sure it was important, and would have made my life, if not easier, at least more comfortable…. SIGH…. I know it’s going to be a tough day when my own mind fails to get on board with the program, in spite of the offerings made by reality to expiate the difficulty….

I suppose I’ll have to push on, though, as my sense of Duty is so entwined with this purpose, this process will plague me until my last breath…. and possibly beyond…. Isn’t THAT a scary thought? Oh well, it’s not as if I didn’t know all of this coming in; it’s just, as I said, one of those mornings, when it all seems more than I can bear…. Of course, I can bear a lot, but, that doesn’t mean I like it…. I may have, and be able to deal with, a lot of pain, but, in doing so, I tend to lose track of Mr. Nice Guy…. and don’t regret a moment of it when I do….

Since, however, I AM such a nice person, at the core, I always feel bad whenever I chew on someone, even if they deserve it (as is most often the case, I find…. stupid is as stupid does, after all….). I don’t know if that makes up for my grumpiness, karmically speaking, but, it does keep me from chewing all the way down to the bone…. most times….. I can’t help it if people keep doing stupid right in front of me, though, so, I’ve come to the conclusion the whole issue is one I can’t afford to ignore, at least from a legal standpoint….

Now, from analyzing that last paragraph, I see we have reached a point where reality no longer has any influence over my mind at all…. This can be a good thing, or not, depending on how I deal with this last portion of this intro…. If I can work this right, we’ll be okay, just a bit stiff and awkward, especially on the turns…. If not, well, I may as well just go into the archives now, and be done with it…. Either way, my thumb is screaming at me, so it will have to be a fast one, to get done before my right hand becomes useless for typing….

On looking back over what has transpired to this point, I’m afraid my prediction holds…. this could get ugly, or it could turn to shit, in a heartbeat….. or, it could be the best Pearl ever…. at this point, there’s no way to tell…. Well, actually, since this intro is such a hodge-podge of mixed ingredients, some good, some bad, that “best Pearl” category is probably out of the question…. How about we shoot for “coherent”?…. That, at least, sounds doable….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“I may not understand what you say, but I’ll defend to your death my right to deny it.” — Albert Alligator, in Pogo, 26 September 1951

“Ah! don’t say you agree with me. When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong.” — Oscar Wilde

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice, when they will not so much as take warning?” — Jonathan Swift

https://news.yahoo.com/germany-arrests-suspected-double-agent-spying-u-two-124028510.html

Don’t fret…. I’m not going to rant, even though I could….. This article is here to provide the latest development in the ongoing saga of the Snowden Effect…. The poor German spy they arrested was apparently subverted by the NSA, or some other agency in the US government, for what seems to be a pretty paltry sum…. If I’m reading it right, this terminally bozoid personality was paid a measly 2500 Euros to spy for our side…. It doesn’t seem like much, to me, for the risk of destroying one’s entire life, but, then, I’m not stupid, either, even if my nose IS red, and large, and makes a loud noise when squozen….. squuzzed…. squeezed….

Any who, such rampant dumbness doesn’t deserve my rant, though I wouldn’t object to putting it onto the NSA…. Instead, though, to foster a bit of tolerance in me, and avoid becoming even MORE angst-filled than I am already, I’ll go with an old-school pearl, targeted at those same federales who are making such a nuisance of themselves, by stealing not only the public’s money, while destroying its trust, but are also stealing our data, merely to justify their own deeply seated paranoia…. Yes, ffolkes, I give you, The Asininnies!….

“Life is a search after power.” — Emerson

(Well, it certainly is in Washington, D.C…..)

“Waco means the government can kill anyone it doesn’t like and get a 94% approval rating.” — Jeff Chan

(Especially if they can find someone else to blame it on….)

“I smell a rat.” — Patrick Henry, upon hearing about the Constitutional Convention, which eventually overthrew the first Federal Government of the United States

(Guess what, ffolkes…. the rat never left….)

“War loves to seek its victims in the young.” — Sophocles (496-406 BC) — Scyrii, Frag. 507

“CONGRESSIONAL ANTHEM: MOE MONEY, MOE MONEY, MOE MONEY.” — Smart Bee

“A man that should call everything by its right name would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a Common Enemy.” — Lord Halifax

(This one is still true….. People have always had a hard time swallowing the truth, and, human nature hasn’t changed a whit…..)

“It is as useless to argue with those that have renounced the use and authority of reason as to administer medication to the dead.” — Thomas Paine

(Gee, sounds like they’re talking about the recent GOP runoff election in Mississippi…. where the Tea Party had a number of candidates running….)

Okay, so, it’s not the best pearl ever, and it’s all littered with comments…. Deal with it…. At least I’m done, and we can go find a poem now….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe I have a poem percolating, somewhere in the hidden, far reaches of my mind; I can sort of feel the whirling vortex of burgeoning creative forces gaining speed, sucking in words, ideas, and perceptions to formulate some sort of outburst from my alter-ego, wherever it may be hiding…. That must be why I’ve been using so many of my older poems…. it sort of gives me a push in the right direction when I see the former results of this process in me…. Now, all I have to do is wait until it starts bleeding out, and try to get it on screen….

For now, I’ve been feeling a lot of wanderlust lately; I need to be out and gone, seeing some new part of the world where I’ve never been, or some part I’ve always wanted to explore…. Mostly, when I feel that, Ireland is the place that comes to mind…. I’ve wanted to explore the country, and get to know the people, for much of my adult life, and the day each in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast, while on my cruise last year, just isn’t enough to fulfill that desire…. Hence, I’ve decided that the Emerald Isle will be my next destination; I’ve already started saving up…. To celebrate the decision, here’s a poem I wrote a couple years ago, on that very subject….

Days and Nights of Eire

Comforting, a dream creeps oft into my mind
On the elven hills of Eire lives the vision I find.
Elegant, gracious, everlastingly draped in beauty
Just payment of simple homage lives as joyous duty.

Fairies and druids walk abroad in ghostly parade
Gracing each hearth with its own welcoming shade.
Castles and heroes yet live in tale and song
Proving love for the land in each heart strong.

From cold of winter into glorious young spring
Brown, and gray, to emerald green songs to sing
Soft rains always follow winter’s great tempest
Eire dons its emerald coat from east to west.

Old and strong, connections call out in dreams
Nothing that was known remains as it seems.
Immersion in ancient runes and battle hymns
Offering sanity in place of grievous whims.

Time and place can tell a much different tale
Judgment should never be a final sale.
Yet something solid and real calls me to go see
Where dreams of loving beauty may actually be….

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here I am again, lost in space, once again, sans any photos, or other means of producing anything worthwhile…. Having reached the third section, though, I am authorized to go with impulse, which, in this case, apparently bears a strong resemblance to laziness…. You know what that means…. another random, harlequin, old-school pearl, just because I can… Enjoy, ffolkes, this is all you get today…. Chalk it up to post-holiday depression, I guess… That always happens when I hear something like the first quote below, which I have no doubt is based on the truth….

“We have killed more people celebrating Independence Day than we lost fighting for it.” — Will Rogers

“Virtue is a kind of health, beauty and good habit of the soul.” — Plato (B.C. 427?-347?)

“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 11

“It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.” — The Vatican Sayings, Epicurus

“Things are not always what they seem.” — Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.) — Book iv, Fable 2, 5

“Ignorance plays the chief part among men, and the multitude of words;” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Cleobulus, iv

“Do you have change for a paradigm?” — Smart Bee

Ah, yes…. An excellent pearl, of its type….. I find it apropos, somehow, that the only inclusion that came from a time period AFTER the first century A.D.. was from Will Rogers….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not going to whine, but that turned on me, and became more of an ordeal even than I’d imagined it would be…. It’s done, though, which is probably for the best….. I could conceivably hurt more than just myself by continuing….. Besides, my brain is now empty, so, I’ll be on my way…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the universe see fit to give me a small break…..

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

Immersed in the cadence of a Treble Bob Major…..

Posted on July 5, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

SNAFU — Situation Normal, All Fucked Up

As I sat staring at the hideously all-white screen this morning, my mind remained blank for, oh, ever so long….. So long, I was afraid it was going to refuse to boot itself up at all, at all…. Not that such an occurrence is totally new; I’ve had some fairly blank days in my time, but, I’m usually a bit more ahead of the game than that when I sit down to write…. So, I retired to Smart Bee, to seek out a quote, or, as it turned out, two, to jump-start my mind…. I find if I throw something in there, the reaction to it will often stimulate activity that serves as a starting point for what passes as thinking at that time of the day….

I left one of the quotes there at the front, or top, to show what I found, and to give y’all an idea of how it is around here most of the time…. The acronym above is, no doubt, familiar to most of us…. I once read a word study of the term, giving its history, and found it was first used by the military, in WWII, I believe, as a radio call to give information on status without official approval, or in conversation, to describe a major clusterfuck, without actually USING vulgarity, as I did here…. I know, I’m shameless…

But, my idiosyncrasies aside, my kick-start technique seems to have worked rather well…. I can’t say I’m fully awake, or even mostly, but, I’ve had some coffee, and have already shown I’m able to touch on my sense of irony, with some minor humor thrown in for good measure…. Can’t ask for more than that from one small acronym, can we? I don’t see how….

The other quote I found is at the end of this opening narrative, as it is a perfect quote for this blog…. I won’t say it is one of my watch-word aphorisms, as I don’t totally agree with the old religious master, in this case…. or, at least, not in every instance where it might be applicable…. My feeling is that each case where the exercise of doubt is used must be judged on a case by case basis, with one’s own participation, or reaction, determined by the details of the issue…. There are times when abstention cannot be entertained as an option, as when one’s doubt leads to the knowledge of wrongdoing, in which case, it is our duty, as a human, to act against any such exercise of evil’s prerogatives….

Hmm…. That paragraph, it seems, sort of unbalanced this whole intro section with the weight of its concerns; it was much “heavier” than any of the rest of this…. I don’t know if I can save it from falling over, but, maybe with some further blather, I can “bring balance to the force”, and to this Pearl, by lightening things back up to where they began…. I was having fun, and all of sudden, there in that last paragraph, it all went sober and weighty on me…. I’m not even sure how, except the aphorism from the ancient Zoroaster was quite a bit more serious than the one at the top….

Ah well, I think it will all be okay; I can feel this getting more stable, the further I write…. Of course, that is most likely just a hallucination, to which I am prone at such moments…. It has to do with my PTSD, and the all-too-natural tendency to try to make reality fit my conception of it, rather than allowing that same reality to set the tone of what goes on in our lives…. It isn’t possible to force change on reality, nor is it necessary, as it will change, all on its own, and whether or not we wish it to do so…. (See Peruaosophy, Axiom #2….)

Besides, now that we’ve gone down the page this far, I’m allowed to just dump overboard anything I don’t want to take along any further, and there’s no penalty…. As if I would pay one, anyway…. All that nonsense aside, I think we’re done here, or, done with the intro, anyway…. In fact, here’s the end, right here….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“When you doubt, abstain.” — Zoroaster

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will change the pebbles of our puddly thought
To orient pearls.

— Du Bartas (1544-1590) — Divine Weekes and Workes, Second Week, Third Day, Part i

I awoke rather late, for me, so I don’t really have time to rant about any of the following material…. But, rather than say nothing, I’m including the links, and will follow the presentation of information of some of the latest chicanery that has come to light, all because of the courage and patriotism of Eric Snowden, with an old-school pearl, instead of a rant….

It is actually becoming rather obvious that our government is completely corrupted; the complete intransigence they have shown in refusing to acknowledge the rightness of what Mr. Snowden brought to light, to my mind, is their most egregious sign of guilt…. Well, that, and the FACT they are lying through their teeth in every statement they make on the subject of their illegal spying….. Here, read the articles, then enjoy the pearls that make some fun of all those who engage in the charade that we call “democracy”…..

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Report-NSA-targeted-German-privacy-activist-5598215.php#photo-6551181

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/nsa-surveillance-world-leaders-calls

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jul/03/british-soldier-david-mcintyre-mental-disorder-extradited-us

I know, I felt soiled after reading all of it, too…. Go wash up, then you can more easily enjoy and appreciate the following jabs to the governmental rib cage….

” — How many Reaganists does it take to change a light bulb? Ten: One to deny that the bulb is burned out, one to clarify the denial (“The bulb is really just dim”), one to blame the bulb burning out on the Carter administration, one to blame the bulb burning out on Congress, one to ask for a Constitutional amendment that will prohibit bulbs from burning out, one to replace the bulb with a kerosene lamp, one to borrow money from the Japanese to pay for the kerosene, one former Reaganist to lobby his old colleagues for a special favour for the kerosene importer, one to cash the cheque for investing in the kerosene importer, one to send the bill to the next generation.” — Smart Bee

“After I asked him what he meant, he replied that freedom consisted of the unimpeded right to get rich, to use his ability, no matter what the cost to others, to win advancement.” — Norman Thomas

(Wow! If this ISN’T an American business man talking, I’m a tea pot…. and, let me assure you, I am NOT a tea pot…. Hell, I don’t even LIKE tea very much….)

Sicilian: “Inconceivable!” Westley: “You use that word a lot. I don’t think it means what you think it does.” — The Princess Bride

(Picture this interaction with any Senator as the Sicilian, and just about any reporter as Westley…. then use, instead of “Inconceivable”, substitute the word, “Truth!”. The entire interaction will make perfect sense, and, has the advantage of being more factual than imaginary….)

“As we anarchists say: “There’s no government like no government.”” — D’Arcy J. M. Cain (darcy@druid)

“Do you call yourself free? I want to hear your ruling idea, and not that you have escaped from a yoke.” — Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”

“Attitudes adjusted, while you wait.” — L.A. Police Car Bumper Sticker

(The fact that this is TRUE is what makes this fit in….I’ve actually SEEN police cars with that sticker on them…. It is yet another example of how the government, and their myrmidons, are not even bothering to hide a lot of their asininity these days…. It’s a bit scary to realize the attitude expressed by that sticker is not just present, but is rampant amongst almost all the metropolitan police forces in this country…)

“Americans have different ways of saying things. They say `elevator’, we say `lift’…they say `President’, we say `stupid psychopathic git’….” — Alexi Sayle

There you go, ffolkes…. I’ll have a real rant for y’all soon…. I can feel the anger/angst building up; I’ll need to let it out soon…. Until then, let’s find a poem that seems appropriate….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again, I’m late, so, I have to go with one of my own poems, to save time…. Here is one that hits the right spot…. If you remember axiom #1 of Peruaosophy, which I have kindly and conveniently included below the poem, you’ll know why….

Relative Cynicism, with Caramel Sauce

Absolute stillness follows violent movement,
it can happen during a downhill race,
as an immovable piece of asphalt pavement
meets the once handsome racer’s face.

Yuk, yuk, yuk said that asshole Moe,
after poking both of Larry’s eyes,
bashing face, head, & crotch of Curly Joe
and only ever got hit with pies.

Lonely moments never really come along
when Murphy’s got us in his sights.
Not for money, love, or siren’s song
will he abrogate his natural rights.

All we can do is sigh, or laugh in pain,
as Life portions out our ration of shit.
Silver linings melt in the slightest rain,
so we may as well learn to live with it.

~~ gigoid ~~

Peruaosophy, Axiom #1 states: “I think I am. That’s close enough.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rather than cheat, by using an archived piece here, I’ll throw together a random, harlequin pearl, the fastest, most consistent kind….. Let’s see what SB can do for us today….

“You, shall I tell you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, say that you know it. When you do not know a thing, admit you do not know it. This is knowledge.” — Confucius

“Cats know how we feel. They don’t give a damn, but they know.” — Smart Bee

“I’m having BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS about the INSIPID WIVES of smug and wealthy CORPORATE LAWYERS..” — Zippy the Pinhead

“You know what it’s like to be dead. It’s just like it was before you were born. Remember what it was like before you were born?” — Evan

“Insanity, its not just a plea. Its a way of life.” — Smart Bee

“I have great faith in fools — self confidence my friends call it.” — Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

“I demand IMPUNITY!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Zowie! It’s been a long while since I made a pearl with two Zippy quotes; add in two entries from Smart Bee, and you’ve got something….. What that might be is a subject I wouldn’t touch with a FIFTY foot pole…. Actually, though, it came out pretty well…. in fact, I think we could go so far as to call it “special”….. Of course, that’s only because it’s all so damn relevant, in spite of not having tried to make it so…. Ah well, even after all this time, the process of Pearling can surprise me with some new facet I’ve never before encountered….. It must be love…..

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Well, whatever it is, it’s done, so we can all take a big breath of relief, if not sheer exuberant joy…. In spite of myself, I’ve managed to create a half-way decent morning Pearl, so, I’ll close the horse’s mouth, and be on my way into the day…. I hope y’all had a nice, quiet, peaceful Fourth of July, which, I know, is damned un-American of me, but, hey, it’s who I am….

Some of us patriots have actually READ the US Flag Code, y’know? Next time I see someone with the flag used as a piece of clothing, I’m going to perform a citizen’s arrest, and drag their ass off to court, just for the humiliation factor, when the judge reads the code to find that such behavior is strictly illegal…. So is writing on one, like the junior Shrub was fond of doing….

Whoops, almost fell into a late rant there…. Sorry…. But, if you get the chance, read the US Flag Code some time; you’ll see that just about nobody, outside the Marine Corps, knows diddly squat about how to treat or honor the flag…. ‘Nuff said, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

‘Twould be worse in reverse….

Posted on July 4, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Of conundrums, paradox, brouhahas, and over-priced coffee, I am particularly dubious. Being dubious, about everything, is what I do, of course, but, faced in the morning with the sort of stressful issues that such nouns can bring with them, I tend to become rather more certain, at least in terms of how to react…. which isn’t pretty, most of the time.

I’m thinking it’s probably a good idea I am a solitary person while writing early in the morning. Besides the attraction of the quiet and the lack of distracting issues, such as people, the odds are those people, and thus myself, are safer, as there’s no chance of them getting annoyed, injured, or even killed, and less chance of my subsequent arrest and incarceration, for having given in to my homicidal impulses…. especially so early in the day…..

Having thus issued the obligatory warning and disclaimer, I’m safe from prosecution…. unless I snap, and actually end up putting my hands on one of the Gentle Readers…. Hard to do through the Internet Cloud, but, better safe than sorry, I always say…. (Actually, I can honestly say that phrase, “better safe than, etc.”, has never passed my lips, for which I’m eternally grateful….

No worries, ffolkes, I’m just practicing my nonsensical hyperbole, so, none of this either matters, or has any real meaning beyond what it says in the dictionary…..) Also, I’m only being silly, as I’d never harm a Gentle Reader, for ANY reason…. Well, not intentionally; they do take a risk by reading all this, but, that’s part of the package, and covered by the insurance, so, no worries there, either…..

I’m not sure, though, at this point, just how to keep this from getting even stranger….. I seem to be following my fingers with my mind, more than the opposite…. Of course, I could always resort to one of the emergency methods for getting back on track, but, I don’t know, I’m kinda enjoying this sense of undisciplined freedom…. Who knew that complete blather could be so liberating? Not me…..

Of course, I’ll have to figure out, at some point, just how to bring it all back into line, at least enough to get us into the next section… We may not find my sanity waiting for me there, but, it will have the minimum effect of taking us out of this mode…. I hope…..

I’m thinking, given the strength of the WEIRD this intro has engendered so far, we could be in for a wild ride today….. I have been known to become fairly odd (a euphemism, to be sure….), so, if you have any doubts about your ability to cope with such…. feneric garicallery, (No, I know, not the right words, or, even ACTUAL words, but, they’ll do for now, until I can figure out what WILL work there….), don’t forget to fill out the emergency contact cards in the compartment on the seat back in front of you. We prefer knowing WHICH hospital to take you when the strangeness becomes too much to bear….

Of course, it IS always an option to just go ahead and BE strange, right along with me…. which has the added advantage of helping y’all to understand more of what I write, at least from a metaphorical standpoint….. It’s easier to recognize insanity, and/or, genius, from INSIDE an attitude, than it is to try to “get it” by observing from the outside…. Take my word for it, if you opt to NOT enter my world, it will never make as much sense to you…. It can get a bit scary, especially when taking responsibility for one’s own actions, but, trust me, it’s the only way to go…. and, the stranger, the better….

On that note, I need to point out that, once we get to a certain point of strangeness, I can take no further responsibility for any of what may occur…. and don’t tell me that’s not fair, because it’s right there on the contract you signed when you came in…. What do you mean, you didn’t sign anything? How did you get past Luigi, if not? He wouldn’t let anyone in who hadn’t signed…. What? He’s not at the door? Where the hell is he? What am I going to do now? Oh shit….

Well, ffolkes, as I said, things might get strange, and if Luigi isn’t at the door, “persuading” people to sign the contracts, and noting down excuses, we’re in serious trouble…. Nobody, apparently, is legally protected today, so, as we continue on, keep in mind, not only will you NOT be able to sue ME, or WP, but, you won’t even have the right to sue yourself any longer, as you’ll probably be confined to a locked ward, with no electronic devices allowed in your cage, er, room…. The rest of us, having had our inoculation against all forms of oddity, will go on to finish today’s effort…. with some extra effort, it can be done…

Shall we Pearl?….

“Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.” — Elbert Hubbard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wise Old Pine Cone has been putting me off for a full photo shoot, being busy with his new student…. but, he did allow me to get a few shots, along with some pictures of another Cone, whom I met while out walking the other day…. I’ll tell that story below… for now, though, here is a small group of pictures of the Wise Old Cone, his paduan, his girlfriend, and a random Cone on the street…. Enjoy!

Or, tolerate, anyway….
    This is Cicero, a somewhat bedraggled young Cone, whom I met at the bus stop down the street…. Actually, the meeting, it turns out, was NOT a chance encounter, as Cicero had been waiting for me to show up there, he tells me, for a couple of days….. He asked if he could accompany me on my trip that day, so I told him to come along…. We went to one store, where I picked up an item, then went to wait again at another bus stop….
    While there, he informed me he has been studying the Way of the Metaphorse for a couple of years, but, was having trouble getting any further along his path on his own…. He had seen my earlier photos of the Wise Old Cone, and hoped to persuade me to put in a word for him, to see if the Old One would take him on as a student…. He had a photo he’d had taken, of him in a most difficult stance, which you see below….
    We decided to have a bite to eat at a local cafe, during which time he related his background to me, and gave me his contact numbers…. Here we are, waiting for the waitron* to take our order….
    Since I could not commit to the young cone in place of the Master, I told him I’d take his information to him, and put in a good word…. He seemed happy at that, so I felt I’d done a good deed….

I did manage to get a few candid shots, of the Old One in his daily activities around the house, where he’s been staying, with me…. Below, you see the Wise Old Cone, watching a movie with his student, and his girlfriend….

    Next, a picture of the Old Cone and his paduan learner, watching a Harry Potter movie on the computer…. The shapes on the screen are an artist’s rendition of some Dementors, I believe….. Oh, and does anyone know how to keep the flash from reflecting, without moving to the side?….
    Next, here is the ONE photo I have, so far, of the Wise Old Pine Cone, teaching advanced meditation techniques, using a stone as focus…. Well, that’s what I think it is; it COULD be them practicing lifting the stone with their minds, but, I didn’t see it move, so, I’m guessing it’s the meditation lesson this time….
    Okay, so this is NOT the Wise Old Pine Cone, though there is some slight resemblance, around the eyes…. This is a terminally cute penguin, from a zoo somewhere in Europe… The picture was found in the Daily Pictures section of the UK Guardian, I’m pretty sure…. It was that, or the London Daily Telegraph picture section…. I forgot to write it down, but, having seen most of THEIR pictures elsewhere on the net, I’m pretty sure these are fairly public in their attribution…. Any who…. isn’t that the cutest face? I think so, and, it ends this pearl on a slightly less fictional note, that may just save the Pearl at large….. Time will tell, I suppose…. Onward, ffolkes….
“Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.” — Henry Miller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This poem is the latest of all I’ve written; it was first bled out on February 7 of this year…. I hope you enjoy it, in lieu of anything fresher…. It’s as fresh as I have just now…. and fits today’s theme, as well as anything would….

Blithely Untitled

A poem came to me today, willy, nilly,
along with a sharp blow to the head.
Since it left me feeling just a bit silly,
anything that rhymes should lessen the dread.

Manifesting destiny into a small, insidious group
we push on toward sanity, concentrating hard.
Full engaging moments spent navigating the loop
shall ever make a difference to victims found in the yard.

Still corpses of creatures, straight out of nightmare
fill up the corners of our tortured minds.
While ever saddened, the iconic male, most debonair,
gazes softly, ironically, at all the mutual interest he finds.

Moronic public statutes compel outbreaks of sanity,
responding to momentary impulses toward inducing peace.
Still, the motions get completed, in fertile stages of inanity
while the bulk of our inmates can find no surcease.

Reluctant motivation to continue is unbound,
striving to ascertain how far there yet remains to go.
No precognitive guesswork will make any less of a sound
to soften the final strains, to teach us to really know.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This pearl was composed yesterday, on 7/3/2014, inadvertently, that is to say, accidentally. In sooth, I should probably use the word ‘serendipitously’…. I was just sitting at the computer, taking a few moments to check the calendar about an event…. In opening my calendar, I, in my cute, but, annoyingly absent-minded way, displayed my bozoid tendency by hitting the button to shut down…. Doh!

When I booted back up a couple moments later, Smart Bee had the first quote, by Tacitus, already on screen, which, naturally prompted me to look at the next, and the next, until, all of a sudden, there it was, complete, staring at me, winking at me with a crooked grin. (Well, okay, maybe not, but, it SOUNDS neat, eh?….) With the slightest of editing, to put them in the correct order, according to their meaning, (which is not always clear at first…. but, you knew that….), I had a pearl worthy of the next Pearl, thus, saving me time tomorrow, morning…. which is now today….. And a damn good thing, too, as this seems to be taking FOREVER to finish….

Creating pearls the day before they are used does, I suppose, make it a bit less fresh, in the strictest sense, but, doing so is useful in making it a bit smoother in the morning…. and none of that makes any difference at all, to either of us…. Enjoy the pearl, which, I may add, is one that you could pay attention to…. it COULD be of benefit to you in dealing with REALITY…. just saying….

“A bitter jest, when the satire comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind.” — Tacitus

“Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto. [I am a human, and nothing human is alien to me] — Publius Terentius Afer, c.190-159 B.C. –Heautontimoroumenos, a. 1, sc. 1, v. 25

“It’s not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable.” — Moliere**(see below)

“Alcibiades had a very handsome dog, that cost him seven thousand drachmas; and he cut off his tail, “that,” said he, “the Athenians may have this story to tell of me, and may concern themselves no further with me.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Alcibiades

“Never do anything stupid.” — Ben Crenshaw

“Every animal knows more than you do.” — Native American Proverb (Nez Perce)

“A can of ASPARAGUS, 73 pigeons, some LIVE ammo, and a FROZEN DAQUIRI!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

** Have you ever seen a more complete, simple, yet accurate statement of the basic Principle of Karma? Only in, perhaps, the original discussion in Sanskrit, I think, about 5 or 6 thousand years ago; this is, by far, the best I’ve ever seen in English…. Not too shabby, for an Occidental mind….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I could spell hallelujah, I’d say it…. Oh, wait, I just did, didn’t I? Oh well, I suppose it’s too late to worry about how weird anything might sound, or look…… for today, anyway. I’m really glad I issued the disclaimer in the intro, otherwise, I’d doubtless be buried in litigation before I could think of a lawyer joke…. which, for me, isn’t hard at all….. I have a friend who USED to be a lawyer, so, I’ve had lots of practice…. What that has to do with anything neither matters, nor is it relevant to our discussion today…. It did, however, slow us down enough I can fully apply the brakes, and bring this behemoth to a full stop….

Thanks fer listenin’, ffolkes…. It may not have been ordinary, but, it’s been real…. See y’all tomorrow, unless I can come up with a good reason to take the day off… Oh, wait, that’s right, TODAY is the holiday! SIGH…. Some day, I’ll get it right…..

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

A cornucopia of digital abundance….

Posted on July 2, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Some days are tougher than others…. we all know this….. However, the knowledge of this doesn’t seem, somehow, to make it any less hard to get up on those tougher days. It’s supposed to do so, but, it doesn’t…. Also, I have to say, I am still somewhat disgruntled over being disabled; having been athletically active most of my life, up to the age of 45 or so, it’s tough to swallow having to maintain the policy of spending my time, virtually ALL of it, thinking of ways to AVOID making my pain worse than it always is…. It’s lowering, less than dignified, and, worst of all, makes me grumpy….

That being said, today may be classified as one of the tough ones…. As I type, my pain level is slowly rising from where it was when I awoke, at about 5 or 6 on the usual scale of 10….. I keep shifting, as I can, to relieve it, and get up every couple minutes to stretch a bit…. but, I don’t think it will matter much today; it’s just going to hurt. So, I’m going to try to concentrate long enough to do this, while consuming all the extra drugs I can tolerate without killing myself…. By the time I’m done with this, I should be fairly oblivious, or, even better, unconscious….

Ah well, such is life…. thankfully, axiom # 2 of Peruaosophy, (“The Nature of the Universe is Change, etc…..”), provides me with sufficient reason to keep from falling all the way into despair; this WILL change, as the Universe moves along its path to wherever it is going…. The pain, if I can keep from doing anything to make it worse, WILL get better after a while, and life will go on, perhaps with a bit more aplomb than I’m able to appreciate just now. All I have to do is hang on to that little fact, and all will be well, in the end…..

With that in mind, I’m ending this here, well before I usually do, so I can get on with the meat of the matter…. Also, I can’t think of anything else to say for this, other than, enjoy whatever comes today, ffolkes… it cost me a lot to post it….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I can read your mind, and you should be ashamed of yourself.” — Smart Bee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ranting today, while indubitably going on uninterrupted in my mind, as long as I am awake today, is pretty much out of the question; sitting long enough to type a thousand words in a row isn’t going to happen…. This means today you’ll have to settle for old-school pearls…. I’m going so far as to make them random, harlequin style, to make it faster yet….. Let’s see if Smart Bee is in a good mood today….

(I know, it’s software, but, like everything in this universe made by the hand of Man, software tends to display a number of humanity’s more obvious characteristics, such as random emotional outbursts, occasional serenity, unpredictable responses to given stimuli, and a whole lot of nonsense…. After all, the code is written by people who refer to the planet Earth as the Big Blue Room…. which is defined as everything on the other side of the door where their computer lives…..) Enjoy!

“Dionysius the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, he replied, “God forbid that it should ever befall me!”” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Dionysius

“Those who cling to the untrue doctrine that violence never settles anything would be advised to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.” — R.A. Heinlein

“Truth is a river that is always splitting up into arms that reunite. Islanded between the arms the inhabitants argue for a lifetime as to which is the main river.” — Cyril Connolly, “The Unquiet Grave” 1945

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.” — Peter Drucker, American business philosopher and author

“What would happen if the President, the Supreme Court, and all members of both houses of Congress were stoned out of their gourds twenty-four hours a day? The chilling truth is, it might be an improvement.” — Allan Sherman

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” — Fr. Alfred D’Souza

“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire

Well, it’s a bit choppy, but, it works…. Onward….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, you get one of my old poems, simply because I don’t have to go look for it anywhere else, so it’s faster…. I hope you enjoy it….

Making Room

Our souls, they say, are like shapeless, infinite bags
in which we put all our pain, all our joyous wonder.
Broken hearts and thrilling love, riches to rags,
endless perceptions of serenity, and thunder.

‘Tisn’t simple, this spiritual journey to peace
memory is fickle, easily led astray;
darkness, ever lurking, without surcease
turning innocence to harm, from simple play.

Balance is the key.

Timing is everything.

Good can change bad, bad can change good.

Pain makes room for more joy in our souls.

The only power we need is the power to change ourselves.

~~ gigoid ~~

That went so quickly, I’m going to be really egotistical, and do it again…. Here is another one of mine, that seemed appropriate, somehow…. Okay, full disclosure…. I couldn’t make up my mind between these two, and THAT is why you are being subjected to them both…. Hah! As if poetry is a burden to you, or anyone…. Enjoy, please….

When life calls, ready or not….

Memories are all we have sometimes
to keep our sanity intact,
with learned phrases and subtle rhymes
lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.

Presently all seems composed and intent
in stark contrast to hollow day,
forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,
fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.

Such vigorous and elevated temper
brings us rare moments to ponder,
filled with lessons all need to remember
lest base perception lose valued wonder.

Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast
leaving shameless anger in its wake.
Let bygones pass quietly into the past
reaping only what is left to take.

Final words of wise imagination
tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears
ever eluding choirs and congregations
finally finding home, never buried in tears.

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is another time saver, with the added message that I hope to be able to pin down the Wise Old Pine Cone today for a photo session; he did commit, but, has been a bit flaky of late…. funny how that works, eh? Any who, here is an article from the London Daily Telegraph you really should read, not to be informed about something wrong in the world, but, something right…. It’s a report about a man who, after a life of self-induced trouble and pain, found his way to an inner peace that is a beacon of hope for all of us….. In other words, in contrast to the usual fare here, and in most media venues, it’s a happy tale…. I’ll follow with the document I found on Facebook one time, that defines the parameters of the place this gentleman inhabits within himself….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10875975/The-train-dispatcher-who-defines-what-it-means-to-be-a-gentleman.html

To my mind, the most critical characteristic, and the one the gentleman in the article obviously knows, is number 5, to wit: “A Gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.” It is one I hope will be said of me when I’m gone…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the movie Robin Hood; Prince of Thieves, Morgan Fairchild, as the Moorish warrior Hasim, kills the evil witch during the final, climactic battle, by heaving his scimitar at her across a room, just in time to save Kevin Costner, playing Robin. His line, as he stands there, feeling much as I do, on his wounded, bleeding leg, is, “I have fulfilled my vow.” That is exactly how I feel at this moment…. I’m going to hurry now, to send and post this, as I want to go deal with my pain, with the application of hot, pulsating water beating on it for a time…. I’ll be back tomorrow, which is not intended so much as a threat, as it is an informational bulletin, of note only to those who have any interest…. On that note, which has a certain bureaucratic ‘look and feel’ to it, I take my leave….. See y’all around the campus, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Savory, succulent sausages slowly simmering…..

Posted on July 1, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Alliteration aside, this morning’s Pearl may get a bit chaotic…. My mind today is racing, driven by inner demons raised overnight by the specter of imminent events of a difficult nature. As a lifelong polymath, multitasking is no stranger, but, it’s never comfortable, or comforting, when the majority of what I perceive promises the necessity of painful resolution.

My sleep was delayed last night, by a late communication that disturbed my equilibrium enough to keep me up after eleven pip emma; hence, getting up at four ack emma, per my routine, was harder than I’d thought it would be…. That, of course, is not new, or unfamiliar, so I got up anyway, since the coffee was ready…. What the hell, today can’t be any worse than some of those I’ve had in my past, and already survived….

In defense against the looming depression that often accompanies events such as I’m currently experiencing, I’ll probably get a bit silly today; silliness, for me, is a very strong shield against feeling bad…. I suppose the lightheartedness required to be that way fills up all the available space in our hearts, and the less uplifting sort of emotions are unable to find a spot on which to place their ill-will.

Whatever the reason, it helps, when one is feeling sort of down, but not yet sunk, to find some silly, nonsensical activity to occupy one’s attention, until enough inner serenity has been garnered, and the peace of mind needed to effectively deal with the difficult emotional responses is present…. In essence, I squeeze my nose, until the loud honking has stimulated the inner clown, life assumes a more natural state, and I am able to once again “walk in beauty”….

Not everyone, I guess, has an inner Bozo on which they can depend, to lighten their spirit, and provide the emotional space necessary to be able to apply one’s mind and reason to whatever threatens our peace; I’m a lucky man, in that respect. Being a Bozo doesn’t always stimulate in others the highest regard for our demeanor, but, it’s better than pissing them off by taking advantage of them, as our government and churches so easily do with their sober, unsmiling outlook on life at large…. But, then, most of those involved in those two entities are more concerned with what they can get, than what they can give….

In trying to keep my own inner pain at bay, I see I’ve been pretty obscure in my introductory prose; I think I’ve gotten across how I’m doing, without providing more detail than would be prudent…. I see no need to share the more intimate details of my life…. I suppose I’m just trying to get across to y’all the message that whatever happens today is the result of a mind in turmoil, and will most likely reflect that inner chaos to some degree…. To WHAT degree, naturally, depends a lot on what I find to write about…. Perhaps if I were to try to think ahead about that sort of thing, I would have less of a chaotic time with this…. but, what fun would THAT be?….

Shall we Pearl?…. It seems Smart Bee is going to be cooperative today, so, to begin, let’s have a 3-fer…..

“Find time still to be learning somewhat good, and give up being desultory.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD)
— Meditations, ii, 7

“Only through time time is conquered.” — T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”

“Is this an out-take from the “BRADY BUNCH”?” — Zippy the Pinhead

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act on upon them?

— Buddha

Jimmy C. sez:

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/The-ancient-fun-tradition-of-all-out-war-5582571.php

Ah! curst ambition! to thy lures we owe, All the great ills that mortals bear below.” — Teckell

Brilliant! Jon Carroll has always been a favorite columnist of mine, but, with this particular essay, he achieves a new level of insight. Actually, he already possesses the insight, and has found a style of expression that brilliantly demonstrates that knowledge with utter clarity. He puts his finger on the precise spot in human nature that not only has led to the most shameful parts of human history, but, in essence, is the same part of that nature that is currently sending the entire species on a headlong rush toward self-inflicted extinction as a life form on this planet….

None of the majority of people in this world who influence the course of events have any interest at all in making the necessary changes in their persona, their world-view, or their actions to stop ANY of it…. War, both religious and political, sexual oppression of women, and children, the creation of an oligarchic society, where the rich get rich, and the poor starve…

All of what is wrong with our culture can be laid at the feet of MEN; there are very few women who lose their humanity so thoroughly as the male of our species, who have littered out history with their crimes… those women who do so are completely influenced by the same set of insane inner principles, or lack thereof, as the men with whom they share the wealth of the resources they have usurped for their own benefit….

The guilt of these men is so plain, it’s hardly necessary for me to expand further on what Mr. Carter, and Mr. Carroll have so eloquently expressed above… Instead, to save any further ranting, which may conceivably drive the less dedicated souls away, I’ll finish this with an old-school collection of pearls, all of which should give a clearer picture of the assholes with penises who have dumped their psychopathy on the rest of humanity, for too long….

I swear, I’m gonna buy a gun, or two, and use them for their intended purpose…. With my training and background, I should be able to take out a decent-sized percentage of them before I’m overcome by their always superior firepower, and resources…. But, I’d feel better, and significant number of THEM would no longer trouble anyone else….

SIGH, it’s a nice thought…. but, let’s see what SB can find for us, for now, to provide us with a bit of release from these depressive, yet never overstated discussions of the evil assholes who have taken mankind hostage for so long….

“There is nothing wrong with feminizts that reincarnation won’t solve.” — anonymous male

(This is a perfect example of how male so-called comedians propagate and spread the attitudes about women that are designed to keep them subjugated and oppressed…. Objectify them, classify them as neo-nazi-like fanatics by using the ‘z’, and imply they are better off dead…. very funny….. NOT!)

“After Mike walked out, she decided to give up Men and raise chickens. Chickens didn’t stay out all night, or come home drunk, or sleep with your best girlfriend… And if they did… you could cut off their heads and eat them…” — Stephanie Piro, in “Women’s Glibber”

(I couldn’t help it…. I laughed, really hard….)

“Coolidge is dead.” “How could they tell?” — Dorothy Parker

(Just a little word from the other side of the gender aisle….)

“She did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition.” — Austin

(Good for her!….)

“I have little doubt that when St. George had killed the dragon he was heartily afraid of the princess.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Victorian Age in Literature

(See? The brainwashing began a long time ago, and is made stronger by such platitudes, that promulgate and spread the misguided attitude of male superiority…. with which they protect their actual feelings of inferiority….)

“Show feminizts how you feel — give them half a “peace sign.” — another anonymous male, from the same school of null-thought as the idiot quoted above….

(Nice guy, eh? Such a lovely attitude…. Makes me want to puke, it does….)

“If it weren’t for marriage, men would spend their lives thinking they had no faults at all.” — another idiot male

The last line is yet another example of how the lies about women, and how the male half of our species spread the attitudes and false beliefs, that women are not to be trusted, and marriage is just another way that women try to control men…. which is pure bullshit, as marriage is a ‘male’ idea in the first place, to make official their ownership of their woman, classifying them as property….

Okay, I’m mad, and distracted enough to bite something…. It’s probably a good thing for now that I’m living by myself, as I wouldn’t be the best of company just now…. I suppose as long as I stay out of church, and try not to think about politics, I can get through the day without getting arrested for aggravated assault on an idiot…. It’s a good thing the stores I need the most will deliver…. I’ll leave you with this little thought, which is just about as true as humans ever come to absolute truth….. especially when it comes to men….

“Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes, and feel with their own hearts.” — Albert Einstein

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not certain as to why, but this poem of mine, written in prose format on Groundhog’s Day in 2012, seems to be appropriate for today…. It has the advantage of being mine; nobody else can be blamed for it, or for any of what I’ve created today…. It may seem egotistical, but, in truth, I do this to keep anyone else from blame…. I can be hurt, like anyone, at undue criticism, but, as an adult, I’m well able to take care of myself, and nurse my own internal wounds…. Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy it….

Gently Came a Wounded Child

But you shall not escape my iambics.

Soft, sinuous patterns of unearthly beauty
blithely commune with sinking stars,
as pale shadows of former virtue hover
near, ever clean, ever tolerant.
These unbidden habits are worn with age and care,
ready now for dissolution,
welcoming gladly the kiss of Death’s handmaiden.

Unknown to all, the child stands aside,
weeping for the lost days of youth,
days that now shall never be,
nor yearned for ever after.
Only darkness shall lay upon the landscape,
cold, hard, eternal.

Such then are the signs and portents
as we enter into the unknown future,
they are grave indeed.

Uncertainty will be our sole companion,
as the search for hope yields no result.
The lamentations of the gods
shall sound the elegy for Man,
who never learned to see the gift that was made,
so many echoes ago, in the hopeful past;
thus will we pass this plane of existence
as we came, baffled and afraid….

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This old-school pearl was created in a frenzy of multitasking, while searching out the group of difficult-to-find quotes for the first section…. Individual pearls can be hard to find when the parameters are so strictly defined as today, so it took a while…. but, in doing so, this superior group of ancient and modern wisdom kept popping up, thus providing me with sufficient material for both sections…. Bonus!…. Enjoy, this is a good one, ffolkes….

“It was a favourite expression of Theophrastus that time was the most valuable thing that a man could spend.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD)
— Theophrastus, x

“There’s an old saying that life begins at 40. That’s silly. Life begins every morning when you wake up. Open your mind to it; don’t just sit there, do things.” — George Burns (1896-1996)

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.” — D.H. Lawrence

“All science, even the divine science, is a sublime detective story. Only it is not set to detect why a man is dead; but the darker secret of why he is alive.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Thing. CW. III 191

“A pun is the lowest form of humour, when you don’t think of it first.” — Oscar Levant

“In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.” — Henry David Thoreau

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Gandhi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Completing this Pearl is not merely a moral victory; it is a triumph of mind over matter…. Well, sort of…. It’s definitely done, and done as well as I can do this…. which probably isn’t saying all that much, but, we all have our own little fantasies, don’t we? Any who, since it IS done, I’m outta here for now, with an eventful day, no doubt, waiting for me to jump in…. Hasta la mañana, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Waffles, drenched in butter, syrup, and love….

Posted on June 29, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Having failed, miserably, to wake up in a timely fashion, I sit now, pale and trembling, to make one last attempt to gain even a smidgen of rationality, or, if that isn’t possible, just a little portion of normalcy. If this attempt fails, we’re going to need to find some other way to make this happen; otherwise, it’s back to the choice between a re-blog, or hitting the archives, a recent habit of which I’m sure the Gentle Readers are getting tired….. Not me, though; it’s kind of fun to go through my older material; it’s been so long since I wrote some of it, it’s like reading something fresh and new….

Today’s instance of obstruction is brought to you by that iconic force of nature, Murphy, who asked me to also mention his myrmidons, who do most of the actual work involved in screwing with people…. In the last few years, Murphy got so busy trying to cover it all himself, he decided to hire on some apprentice assholes…. This gives him more time for planning his little strategies, and once they’ve learned most of the appropriate spells and methods of adjusting reality to suit Murphy’s plans, he is actually planning a vacation, his first in millennia…

I also have to report, with great reluctance, that the Wise Old Pine Cone blew me off for our photo session…. Oh, he called to cancel, but, I was counting on having those pix today, and now I won’t, so, it’s a bit bothersome. I know he couldn’t help it; it isn’t every day one’s favorite niece’s tree reaches their majority (however THAT gets figured; I’m not a pine tree, so, I’m not aware of how they decide that….). Plus, he promised to be back in time to re-do the shoot today; since it’s Sunday, I guess we’ll have time to get it done…..

As might be surmised, I’m wandering again, blathering and spewing nonsense and/or silliness, to fill up this space so we can get on with the rest of whatever this might turn out to be…. It’s certainly not going to be your normal Pearl; it’s already broken out of that mold. Hell, this intro, though resembling others from the past superficially, is far from normal, as is patently obvious, once one tries to look at it through normal eyes…. It is, no doubt, somewhat fuzzy-looking, confusing to read, and causing a vague uneasiness…. Well, that’s how it’s affecting ME, anyway….

I suppose I’ll have to use #4 again today; there doesn’t seem to be any other way to get this done, or even to bring some relevance to what otherwise would fall into the “totally useless” category. This, of course, could never be put directly into that box, as it DOES serve a purpose, even if that purpose is vague and generally undefinable. Everybody needs a hobby, right? So, I’m going to apply #4 now, so, stand back, or stand still….

Shall we Pearl?….

Listen to the MUSTN’TS child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVE’S
Then listen close to me-
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

— Shel Silverstein

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lust of power is the most flagrant of all the passions.” — Tacitus (55?-120?)

This particular pearl is an experiment…. I don’t know what else to do to try to save this, so, I’m picking out pearls, along with articles I’ve read in the last day or two that caught my eye, and either stimulated my ire, or gave me hope…. The part of that which annoys me the most is the fact that these articles are all about MY country, the USA, but, none of this stuff is being covered by any of the American papers or news outlets online that I look at…. and, I try to hit more than one, to get a spread of sources…. The UK Guardian, and the London Daily Telegraph, both publish far more articles than their American counterparts, about issues that concern Americans as well as British citizens.

I’ve noted this for some time now; the American media displays all the symptoms of being controlled by the government, because nothing in the news seems to ever really criticize the idiots who run things….. they merely parrot whatever the pundits say, and report their most ridiculous statements, which are demonstrably fabrications, as if they are gospel truth. I have to go to Europe, it seems, to find anyone willing to be critical of our government, at least to any REAL degree…. The stuff you see in the American press never actually condemns the actions they report; they don’t want to lose whatever sources within the halls of the bureaucrats that they have, so, they toe the party lines, just like good little reporters…

Here’s the experimental part…. I’m going to pick out some pearls, and put them around and between the articles, with the hope that the quotes will bring some clarity and/or open mindedness to the reader, thus enhancing the pearls, and the pearl. I know, it’s a bit confusing, but, hey, what else is new?….. Enjoy!….

“I believe that ideas such as absolute certitude, absolute exactness, final truth, etc. are figments of the imagination which should not be admissible in any field of science…This loosening of thinking seems to me to be the greatest blessing which modern science has given us. For the belief in a single truth and in being the possessor thereof is the root cause of all evil in the world.” — Max Born

There… keep that in the forefront of your mind as you read the articles below, and you’ll be much more comfortable with the resultant conclusions…. Each story is preceded by a pearl that seemed to fit its paradigm…. and the whole mess is closed perfectly by our old friend Pooh, in his evil-twin persona….

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,”

~~ Emily Dickinson

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/28/leg-government-spying-supreme-court-decision-cellphones

“The child is the father of the man.” — William Wordsworth

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/27/nsa-queries-phone-data-2013-report

“As far as the men who are running for President are concerned, they aren’t even people I would date.” — Nora Ephron

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/28/uk-rendition-flights-diego-garcia

“Ambition is in fact the avarice of power.” — Smart Bee

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/28/illegal-spying-below-blimp-flies-over-nsa-data-centre-in-surveillance-protest

There you go…. I’m pretty sure the experiment failed, though it’s hard to tell from the vantage point of the present time; only the future gives us that sort of value judgments…. But, in the final analysis, a pearl always depends on the final entry to make or break its value point…. and this one is a beaut!…..

” — Bother! said Pooh, as a woozle bit his bottom.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This poem of mine seems to fit the ambiance that we’ve stumbled into today, so, here it is….

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so, to make up for the failed experiment, and for the absence of the Wise Old Pine Cone, here are a group of pictures guaranteed to make you go “Awwww”, no matter how grumpily you woke up…. These pix might even be stronger than the need for coffee, so you might want to grab yours FIRST…. All of them were found at the London Daily Telegraph, in two of their photo features, called the Day in Animal Pictures, and Best Animal Photobombs…. all from June 27 or 28, I forget…. I guess that’s close enough for attribution….
There you have it, ffolkes, a plethora of cuteness to take with you wherever you go today….. I know, it pulls my curmudgeon covers, but, hey, I do what I must to make this a valuable experience for the Gentle Reader, even if it means resorting to pandering….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This has to be one of the weirdest, most fractured Pearls I’ve ever created…. It is, however, a testament to my dedication to this purpose, because, obviously, I wasn’t much into this today…. not from a creative standpoint, anyway….. Probably has a lot to do with my current mental state, which is somewhat muddled…. No worries, the good thing about this is, I get another chance tomorrow, to try to improve…. Given today’s results, that shouldn’t be too hard to do…. See ya, ffolkes…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Another day in Paradox….

Posted on June 28, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Shot to hell, it is…. bowed, bloody, completely in tatters…. Fortunately, we’re referring to my routine, and, perhaps, my mind, not my corpus; typing would be even more difficult, if that were the case. It’s complicated, and challenging enough already, what with the revolt being carried out by the physical side of my persona; it has taken me well over an hour, and more than a single cup of coffee, just to be able to get this simple paragraph onto the screen.

Without going into details that might curdle the milk you just poured over your oatmeal, let’s just say that getting this done will be an act of monumental courage and perseverance, to push through the haze veiling my mind, and put some clarity into what goes onto the page. Brilliance, or even moderate style may be out of the question; we’ll have to wait and see what happens. I could conceivably loosen up a bit, and find a pocket of energy, and/or sanity, (either will do….) that will carry me through to the end of this, but, I can’t count on it, and it’s not too likely at this point, anyway…. I’ll be lucky to get dressed all the way, much less display any real creativity in my prose….

I had no idea at the start of this blog how hard it is to write something fresh and creative every day; it gives me a bit more respect for those columnists who manage to do that for many years, maintaining a witty, accessible, and fun atmosphere in their work over periods of time far greater than what I’ve done here for the last three or so years….. Herb Caen, Walter Winchell, Grantland Rice, Jon Carroll, and a number of other daily columnists now have my complete admiration, as well as my burning curiosity, wondering how the hell they managed it for all that time…

But, long discussions of old time heroes won’t get me any further toward finishing this; it’s barely given me a start. I suppose it’s some sort of solution to the lack of freshly minted material, which, combined with my fuzzy head and overall schmeckiness, (a fine old word, that I just made up…. It sure SOUNDS like I feel…. Schmecky….), but, I don’t think it will do in the long run, except as filler, which has already shown itself to be an acceptable pathway for taking such side trips into tangential subject matter…. It may be fun, and take up time & space, but, it won’t last for more than a few paragraphs before becoming detrimental to the larger picture….

Nonesuch…. what a great word. I’m not entirely sure why it floated up to the surface of my mind, unless it’s trying to give me a hint, that it’s time to try to regain our foothold on sanity, or, at minimum, make the attempt to return to reality, before we get so far lost we can’t even find a GPS, much less our own behinds…. In fact, I’d say that y’all might do well to find your own way back to your seats, because I’m about to bail out of here, and fight my way back overland….. It’s hard to fly when weighted down by depression, as we all know, and I’m not going to sit here any longer, pretending I’m okay….

On that cryptic turn, we’ll head out into the wilds of the pearl beds, where I may be able to locate my sanity…. If not, well, I’ve been there before, so, it shouldn’t take too long to fight my way out…. In the meantime, since I’ve got nothing better to do this morning….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.’ — Elrond

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Panting and wheezing, I clamber to the next level, only to find another sheer rock face, the only way to proceed…. Having climbed this far, I’m not willing to go back down, and besides, I get vertigo thinking about it…. I’ll just have to go on…. I know, I’ll make an old school pearl, and that will bring me right back to earth, if I do it right….. Let’s see what we can do…

“Each man reaps on his own farm.” — Plautus (254-184 BC) — Mostellaria, Act iii, Sc. 2, 112, (799.)

“A Puritan is someone who is deathly afraid that someone, somewhere, is having fun.” — H. L. Mencken

“To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” — Benjamin Disraeli (Earl Beaconsfield) (1805-1881) — Sybil, Book i, Chap. v

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” — Gerald R. Ford

“A clown is a clown and will always be a clown.” — Babbaluche the cobbler

“I’m not a god, I was misquoted.” — Lister, Red Dwarf

“I only wish I may see your head stroked down with a slipper.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act v, Sc. 7, 4, (1028.)

Well…. I have to say this…. That’s the oddest pearl I think I’ve ever put together…. It is a bit esoteric, to be sure, but, I think the last quote, from Terence, just makes it all okay…. If you have any clues as to what he might have been referring to, or talking about, I’d love to hear them, because I don’t have one, at all….. But, I am not required to have one, legally, so, onward….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a poem I wrote to try to describe this process, of creating Pearls…. It’s not bad, and will hopefully expiate some of the potential ire that may be engendered by today’s apparent, no, today’s all-too-real fragility, of both purpose, and intelligence…. The poem describes what I go through each day pretty well, which is, after all, WHY I wrote it to begin with…. Better out than in, I always say….

How It Works….

Retreat, retreat, he cries in vain
we cannot stand such pain!
Another battle, another day’s fight
Eternally at war, both day and night.

Storms within, crashing and thrashing about,
filling each moment with fear and doubt.
Cries of anguish, hopes for a swift end
Denied with wounds that will not mend.

The crisis approaches, time will not wait.
It marches on, driven madly by fate.
We have no recourse, no other road to walk,
No great power to whom we may talk.

Morning arrives, seemingly mild and free
Until one considers all that must be
An intro, some pearls, a photo or two
Today’s magnificent Pearl, created just for you…..

~~gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Due to the lack of any sort of intelligent activity going on in my mind, and the time constraints involved in my being so late getting to this, here is a religirant from the archives, with some closing comments to freshen it up a bit…..

From 5/09/2012:

“It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book ii, Sect. 20

This has always been an issue in my mind, from the very earliest times I was exposed to religious instruction, in some Presbyterian Sunday School when I was a young lad. Even at the age of five or six, I had a hard time understanding two things about God, if what they were telling me about Him was true. First, I couldn’t believe that a God, supposedly able to create an entire universe, would take the time and/or energy to care whether or not I was paying attention to His rules (I also questioned why He would make rules in the first place….)

Secondly, the whole idea of worship made me uneasy…. it seemed a bit, hmm, needy, or vulnerable, to me. I knew that the admiration of others made me feel weird; uneasy and uncomfortable with their fawning (baby sisters & brothers, little kids, and others who show such feelings for their older, more accomplished siblings….). Even the admiration I held for my older siblings, and my heroes, made me a bit uncomfortable. So, I could never understand why an all-powerful being would want any part of such a thing.

So, even then, before I had any real defenses, I suppose my ability to reason made it hard for me to accept a lot of what I was told. It never made sense to me that the pictures I saw of God made him look just like some human patriarch (hmm… no Freudian comments?); I mean, if he was so far above us, how did we know what He looked like? I didn’t remember seeing any photos of Him, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, (another questionable entity to the mind of a five-year old….) playing in the Dead Sea surf, nor did I recall any such word from God Himself. There were a lot of folks saying that the Bible is the Word of God, but the only ones saying so were people, not Gods.

So, maybe I was a bit different than the average young bear cub, but much of what they tried to foist upon my unsuspecting mind never took hold, as I found it completely unbelievable. It just didn’t make any sense, even by the rules they claimed to be those by which reality operated. If I, a little kid, didn’t like to be worshiped, why would an omnipotent being have anything to do with it? Give me a reasonable, rational answer, and I will consider the concept. But, I think you’d best bring a new and different set of arguments, because the ones that have been in play for several thousand years just don’t cut it in my book….

“Everybody has the right to be stupid, but they’re abusing the privilege.” — Smart Bee
________________________

From the vantage point of two-plus years in the future, I’m compelled to expand upon what I wrote then…. which, advantageously, makes this a fresh rant, rather than one lazily pulled from the archives, and left to stand alone…. I can be nice, and diligent, when I want to be…. Of course, doing so only adds to my curmudgeonry when discussing the whole divinity scam, otherwise known as The Dogma Game….

In the above rant, in my attempts to make fun of the lack of logical structure which comprises, (or perhaps the word, infests, is better), the whole of the Christian credo, while not bad, fall short of hilarious…. I’m also aware that this current manifesto has assumed my pedantic, pontificating style, which is liable to put even me to sleep, should I insist on carrying it through to the arguments to follow…. or, that will presumably follow, once I get done deciding how to approach such a daunting task….

There, was that stiff and awkward enough for you? It was for me….. But, that’s okay, God won’t mind; from what I can tell, IF there is a God, even one remotely similar to the one the Christians, Muslims, et al envision in their holy writings, no matter what He/She/It wants to be called, I would guess His/Her/Its sense of humor would extend to include something like this essay will become, if it ever begins…. It (a divine sense of humor….), I would assume, by definition, would be infinite in scope, so, I’m pretty sure I’m covered….. If not, I should be….

Rather than bore y’all any further with all this, why don’t I find just the right pearl to close this off…. I’ll just leave you with this thought…. IF there is a GOD, and He is responsible for making us the way we are, then He MUST have a good sense of humor…. I mean, just LOOK at us! Ridiculously weak, physically fragile, and easily duped by our more aggressive, more unscrupulous peers; what was He thinking? Plus, we have noses, which grow red and make funny noises when squeezed…. If that isn’t funny, I’m a fire hydrant…. Not a funny fire hydrant, but, hey, what do you want from an inanimate object so early in the morning?….

And in your dreams you can see yourself
As a prophet saving the world
The words from your lips
I just can’t believe you are such
A fool.

— Frank Zappa, “Oh No”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y’all are now fully aware of how strange it can get around here, so it won’t surprise you to hear that the Wise Old Pine Cone is still busy with his student, but has agreed to a photo session today…. It’s a good thing, too, as I’m starting to get a lot of fan mail on him; I’ve even received several proposals for him, from a number of traffic and ice cream cones…. Tomorrow, I promise, we’ll have more pix of him, and his handsome young paduan learner…. Who knows? Maybe I’ll devote an entire Pearl to the Old Cone’s world; we’ll see how today’s shoot comes off….

But, for now, I’m done, and a damn good thing, too, as I’m about to scream, and you don’t want to know why….. Suffice it to say, I’ll be back tomorrow, if I’m still able, and the internet doesn’t crash…. See y’all then…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Oliver twisted reality until it screamed….

Posted on June 27, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

As I approach the creation of yet another day’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, I find myself, once again, torn completely into mental shreds, by my self-inflected, arguably insane adherence to this chosen duty…. I’ve been sitting here in front of the computer screen, staring blankly at the vast whiteness, hoping beyond hope to find some small bit of inspiration, or some fantastic, interesting direction to take that will possibly stimulate what little creative talent I possess, for close to 55 minutes now, and this bit of whiny confession is the best I’ve been able to come up with…. Pathetic….

It almost makes me want to go back to bed, and try again later…. That would probably be a mistake, though, as I find myself reluctant to get any further away from the routine I’ve established in the past three years or so; my experience is, if I don’t get this done as my first task of the day, the rest of it is all broken up, confused, and susceptible to all sorts of Murphyish intervention….. more so even than the customary number of pokes he takes at me. Since I don’t feel like dealing with any of his shenanigans just now, we’ll keep plugging away at this, and hope for the best…..

That being said, it might be best to jump into the rest of today’s effort right away; that might throw Murphy off, and certainly couldn’t hurt what is happening here, as there’s NOTHING happening in this section, at least, not so far. Other than a bit of minor whining, and some off-the-wall discussion of mundane matters of routine, with some, no doubt, shaky speculation about reality thrown in, we haven’t managed to create anything at all…. well, three paragraphs of inanity, but, that, I believe, won’t even register on any sensors, much less count toward any available prizes….

Thus, therefore, and hence, we’ll just abandon ship again, to head off into the hinterlands of the pearl beds with our usual panache; the pearl beds are to be found, of course, somewhere out there in the massive ocean of knowledge that is the world wide web…. which I’m trying to enjoy, as the deadline approaches for the takeover of the Net by corporate interests, who want to use it as their own cash cow….. Face it, ffolkes, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and the other communication giants aren’t going to rest until they have us all under the gun, with the internet as their hostage…. Have you called or emailed the FCC yet to register your opposition to that?…. If not, please do so…. and call your Congressman, too….

There, you’ve also been treated to an impromptu mini-rant; that makes this intro more than merely complete. It makes it legal, as you well know, freeing us to get on with the rest of this mess…. By mess, of course, I refer to the entire process, AND the end result, which, as always, remains somewhat amorphously unpredictable to either describe or contain in one small area…. That’s why we have three sections, after all…. Bet that one slipped by you, didn’t it? I knew it…. This isn’t as easy, or as disorganized as it may seem to the casual observer, so, take heed, and remember to stand back when I throw this switch, right here….

Shall we Pearl?….

“I drank WHAT???????” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“A group of the unwilling, composed of the unfit, to do the unnecessary for the unaware in an untidy manner at an untimely moment employing unseemly tactics for the uninformed. Ah, give me a chance at that committee and we can really go nowhere fast and get there before most people even know that we left. This is nothing more than the formula for good government, or it seems that way from what I have been able to observe so far in this life.” — Smart bee

I tried to find out who first said this, but, the one place Google found it listed it several times as a related quote to others, with no attribution given on any of those occasions…. so, Smart Bee gets the credit, for the time being…. It’s here, as you can probably guess, to act as a prelude to a rant….. a phrase which sounds like a fairly good title for a book, or an essay, or, I’ve got it!…. a movie…. ( See Ava Gardner and Cary Grant, starring in the classic epic, “Prelude to a Rant”….) Well, okay, maybe not…. but, it certainly works for one of our protracted discussions about our Beloved Ruling Class, and all they do to, er, for us….

However, I’m not in the mood for one of MY rants; what I’m in the mood for is a Carlinesque rant, a stand-up routine like the ones George used to go through on stage, when he would spend about five minutes straight, talking really fast, New York style, poking sharp, pointed concepts at the leaders of society, barbs so sharp, you could see the fat cats, politicians, preachers, and pundits of every variety, blushing, wincing and bleeding…. Now, if I only had his talent, I’d be set…. I can be funny, on occasion, when I stumble into it; sadly, my skill at that is still a bit underdeveloped for my standards. But, approaching Carlin’s level of genius is out of the question, at least, at this point….

So, we’ll go old-school, using parameters for choosing our pearls that show some teeth, and have the distinct possibility of causing blood loss…. Don’t fret, they can afford to bleed off some; they’re all vampires anyway, and don’t really NEED the blood…. Oh wait, that’s backwards, isn’t it? Okay, so fuck it, I don’t care anyway…. let ’em bleed out, I say, the assholes…. Let’s see if I can make my disgust with government, and those who engage in any form of it, any plainer than that….

“Artificial hearts are nothing new. Politicians have had them for years.” — Mack McGinnis

Voter’s Block: The attempt, however futile, to register dissent with the current political system by simply not voting. — Douglas Coupland, Generation X

“I feel like I am sharing a “CORN-DOG” with NIKITA KHRUSCHEV..” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey laws too well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), “Politics”

“What would this country be without this great land of ours?” — Ronald W. Reagan, philosopher

“If an ass goes traveling he will not come home a horse.” — Thomas Fuller

This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but with a whimper.

— T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

Okay, so, it’s a bit esoteric, if not completely abstract, but, I like the way it chortles, gleefully, in anticipation of causing offense to some poor sap in elected office….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a poem I wrote in September of 2012, when I was in the throes of depression, engendered in major part by the grinding of the wheels of bureaucracy…. I’m not entirely sure why, but, it seems to feel like the right poem for today…. I hope you enjoy it….

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
that reality has boasted of 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 ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Waste not the remnant of thy life in those imaginations touching other folk, whereby thou contributest not to the common weal.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 4

I end up using a lot of quotes from Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, all of which seem, to me, to be pretty well-reasoned, as well as insightful re: human nature, and ethical/moral behavior….. In fact, I find there are as many, or more, insightful, reasoned philosophers who lived before Christ was born, (not that I care that much, but, it’s the point in time our society has agreed upon to use as the basis for our calendar, thus making it the obvious, most convenient, and expedient, choice as a marker, in order to organize people into their time periods for reference and identification), as there are who have lived in the time since then…. Mathematics says there HAS to be more of them in modern society, because there are more people alive, but, somehow, the percentages don’t seem to fit that preconception….

Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, Plato, Plutarch, Aristotle, Cato, the Elder and the Younger, Gautama Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and a veritable host of others, from all cultures in the world, passed their wisdom to us throughout the ages, and have always seemed to me to be superior in their reasoning to any of the more modern philosophers to whom I’ve been exposed….. an opinion you will see reflected in the quotes you see here…. I have no apology for that, and don’t plan to change it, so, I hope y’all enjoy them, because they’re not going away…. In fact, I’m going to put together a pearl with parameters limiting it to quotes over 1500 years old…. I would suggest you enjoy it, but, it’s not necessary with such classical wisdom to offer….

“Before enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood. After enlightenment, one carries water and chops wood.” — Zen Proverb

“Whatever you can lose, you should reckon of no account.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 191

“…for the most part happiness consists in being willing to be what you are.” — Erasmus

“As surgeons keep their instruments and knives always at hand for cases requiring immediate treatment, so shouldst thou have thy thoughts ready to understand things divine and human, remembering in thy every act, even the smallest, how close is the bond that unites the two.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iii, 13

“Nothing made the horse so fat as the king’s eye.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of the Training of Children

“He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of Garrulity

“The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked… and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around: especially as President.” — Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939), journalist — The Great Shark Hunt, Jacket Copy for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1979)

(Oops! Sorry, that slipped in there due to appending to the clipboard, rather than overwriting…. but, it’s kinda cool, I think, so, it can stay…. just ignore it after reading, and go on to the final pearl, which you see in its designated place, right down there on the line below this….)

“It behooves a prudent person to make trial of everything before arms.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act iv, Sc. 7, 19, (789.)

Since we were so rudely interrupted by Hunter’s oh-so-poignant observation of reality, I’ll add one more, to show that the ancients possessed as subtle a sense of humor as any modern pundit, for sure and for certain….

“Anaximander used to assert that the primary cause of all things was the Infinite,–not defining exactly whether he meant air or water or anything else.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Anaximander, ii

Well, a bit disjointed, but, it works for me…. So be it…. gigoid has spoken

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I don’t know about y’all, but, I needed that…. or, more accurately, I needed to get that out of my head…. Since it is, I think it would be prudent of me to just take my leave now, to avoid any potential unpleasantness from Murphy, or folks out there who might take offense at one of my little shots at politics, or, more commonly, religion, such as it is…. Nevertheless, I will be back tomorrow, unless the Sun goes dark…. See ya, ffolkes…. Oh, and, I promise, the Wise Old Pine Cone will return soon….

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

Tip the scales, but, only if they give good service….

Posted on June 26, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

What we have here…. is a failure, to cogitate….. and, though it might further irritate the warden, I can’t see any such event taking place anywhere in the near future…. That, of of course, will make the creation of this Pearl just a trifle problematic, since virtually all I do, here, is based on at least a modicum of cogitation…. It may be MY cogitation, but, it’s there, and nobody can tell me it isn’t as valid, or as reasoned, as any other you might find…. presuming, of course, you are seeking any… So many of our peers on this planet make it a habit to “never touch the stuff”, which explains a lot about modern society….

Since that paragraph took almost 52 minutes to produce, you can see the difficulty to which I refer above…. or, maybe you can’t. Either way, my own head is in some sort of rebellion, or sit-down strike, or something…. I can’t seem to whip it into putting out anything more cogent than what you see before you now, and this, as is patently obvious, ISN’T going to cut it, not for an entire Pearl…. I’ve tried to use piffle, or blather, exclusively, to create Pearls in the past; it doesn’t work….. Nothing will make this kind of random BS acceptable for more than a few hundred words, despite my skill at creating it with little effort…. It just doesn’t hold up for long enough to get anywhere important, or even compelling….

Shoot, you’ve probably figured out by now that this intro section will be joining the ranks of many others, as being a marked departure from any real rationality, or even any cold, hard reasoning; it probably resembles a half-eaten peanut butter & banana sandwich more than anything else, though where that image came from I have no clue…. it just seemed to fit…. I may not have as much protein as peanut butter, but, I’m a good source of phosphorus, just like the banana…

So, how do you like my shoes?…. If I can’t impress anyone with my intelligence this morning, maybe I can charm them…. No, that won’t work, either, I’m thinking…. My charm won’t spread very far; it tends to get hijacked by my curmudgeon training, and the grump comes out, thus eradicating any good feelings the ostensible charm may have engendered…. besides which, I need new shoes, so they’re not going to charm anyone, except maybe an out of work shoemaker, or impress anyone but a mendicant…

Now that I’ve practiced my vocabulary usage, and literally babbled for four paragraphs now, I think we can wrap up this section, & try to get on with something that makes a bit more sense, and will possibly get us on our way…. I don’t believe I’ll even require the use of any emergency methods, as I seem to have wandered around to a point where we can easily jump off the wagon without getting in trouble…. Well, we can, if you follow directions, and jump NOW….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Since everything in life is but an experience perfect in being what it is, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter.” — Long Chen Pa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been a long while, too long, since I posted anything on the subject of human trafficking/sex slavery, one I consider to be truly evil, with its own category of posts that touch upon the issue…. To make up for that, below this paragraph you’ll find TWO rants on the subject, both from May of 2012, when I first began to write about it…. Please pay attention to these rants, ffolkes, and spread them around if you will, to spread this message to all who need to hear it, which is virtually everyone alive…. Men, especially gentlemen, have a big responsibility to uphold, and need to be made aware of how they are failing to do so….

Free our sisters, free ourselves…. take note, ffolkes, and pass it on….

From 5/2012:

O men with sisters dear,
O men with mothers and wives,
It is not linen you ‘re wearing out,
But human creatures’ lives!

— Thomas Hood (1798-1845) — The Song of the Shirt

Yesterday, I reblogged an article posted by rmott62, a very strong, inspiring young woman who writes about her experiences as a sex trade slave. I use the word “slave” deliberately, for no other word describes how the women, and children who are trapped, abducted, or even tricked into becoming prostitutes. I have reblogged her work, and the work of a couple others who have been fortunate enough to have exited the system in which they were entrapped, several times, and I will continue to do so as long as she, and I, still are publishing. I do this because I am ashamed….

Yes, ashamed…. I am ashamed at myself, and of all the other men in the world who turn their faces away from this issue, and pretend that there is nothing they can do about it. I am ashamed that this practice, of raping and abusing women and girls, just for their own pleasure (though I fail to see how it can be pleasurable to rape or abuse…), just because they can, not only has been present for thousands of years, but continues unabated in today’s supposedly enlightened culture. To my way of thinking, all of us men are responsible for this, and it is our DUTY to do whatever we can to put a stop to it.

Back in the days when mankind lived in caves, when a man in the tribe became dangerous to others in the tribe, for stealing, for abusing others, for whatever reason they had that went against what was good for the tribe, the other men in the tribe made it a point to discipline that man. It may have been merely a physical beating, or banishment from the tribe, or even death, but the other men took it upon themselves to see that the will of the tribe was upheld. Somehow, when culture grew, and started inhabiting cities, and there was more interchange between various tribes, the system broke down. The people of the society were now supposed to be protected from such depredations by law….

But, at about this time, the unscrupulous among us started to solidify their power over society; the richest among the tribes were those who made the laws; they were also the same ones who saw nothing wrong with raping and abusing women, assuming that was their privilege as one of the beloved ruling class. And so the laws were made to reflect that attitude, and the die was cast. This system has survived the centuries, and now the attitude that prostitution is an integral part of society is so ingrained that even those without any other kind of power over others can go to a brothel and act out their sick fantasies, at the expense of a woman or child who has no defense against the violence that occurs if they should object…. and if there is a discussion it is always about a “victimless crime”….

It disgusts me, right down to my core. It is perhaps the sickest part of our society, and very few people are even aware of it. There is certainly no discussion in the public at large of the issue; it is far too volatile for any politician to ever take the chance of siding with the women who are being abused. Hell, a good half of those assholes in office are trying to take away the few rights women have managed to get into law over the last 40 years; Roe vs. Wade has already been set aside, and the asshole men who can’t stand the thought of a woman having the right to choose anything, much less their own sexual nature, are trying to make sure it never gets revived.

I’m not sure what can be done, at least not on a society-wide scale. The attitudes, and laws, have been so set in stone for so many years that it may require surgical removal to make any progress. But, on a smaller scale, I can make noise about it, and try to shame any man who believes otherwise that he is not only a fool, but an asshole fool, and doesn’t deserve to call himself a man. When I was in college, the women’s rights movement was in its beginnings, and there was a phrase coined that says it all, to me…. Free our sisters, free ourselves….

None of us men will ever be truly and completely free until we have freed our sisters from such servitude. That is a fact. It is not just my opinion, it is a fact, and we would do well to pay heed…. and those who engage in this industry had best watch out, for if no one else does, I will be looking for them, and when I find them, I will do all I can to end them. And you can interpret that however you wish; I have no doubt in my mind as to what I mean, and I mean “end them”…..
______________________

From 5/2012:

“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round.” — John Lennon

Men are afraid of women… hence all the jokes about them taking over, over slyly ruling us without us knowing it. Men’s fears of just that thing are what cause him to hate women, because they do not understand them, and fear arises out of lack of understanding. Here are a few examples of such lies, the lies that perpetuate the war between the sexes…..

“My notion of a wife at 40 is that a man should be able to change her, like a bank note, for two twenties.” — Warren Beatty

A lady is one who only shows her underwear intentionally. — Smart Bee

— Yo momma……so fat she has to buy two airline tickets. — Smart Bee

“A beautiful woman is paradise for the eyes, hell for the soul, and purgatory for the purse.” — Smart Bee

“Passionate kiss like spider web, lead to undoing of fly.” — Confucius say (No, he didn’t, but liars don’t care….)

Really, really sexist and paranoid, yes? Yes….

The mere existence of these jokes, and others like them, indicates clearly what men are afraid of in women, and that is their sexuality. We… well, men, not necessarily we men, because not all of us hate them… No I don’t understand them, but that doesn’t make them any less fascinating or wonderfully different. I am aware of my own self, and my own powers, and they have naught to do with what women can do; I feel no need to compare the two, or to assume one is stronger or better. They are just different, and what is different about women is not to be feared, even if not understood. It is just to be learned, that’s all….and the learning is a totally awesome trip, I assure you….

But, back to the sexuality that men fear. It is because these men have never learned to understand themselves, or their place in the scheme of things, that makes them unable to understand women, and turns their ignorance to fear, from thence to hatred and abuse against them. Men cannot stand the thought that a woman might be more important than him, and that is a certain sign of lack of confidence, and of ignorance. Men who know their place in life, and who are confident of their own ability to cope with that place and its demands, have no need or desire to be more important than anyone; they are complete within themselves….

Too many men in this world don’t come anywhere close to this kind of self-knowledge; most go through life without exercising more than two neurons at once, and those tend to lose function whenever the blood goes elsewhere than the brain (such as during an erection). Most men are so afraid of women that they spend half their life telling jokes like the above, and spreading the nonsensical lies that perpetuate this atrocity.

Yes, atrocity, because it is this fear and loathing, of both themselves and women, that leads to issues such as domestic abuse, sex trafficking, prostitution, and abuse of children. The only women who are actively engaged in these activities are those who have been brainwashed to believe the crap they’ve heard all their lives, and who have given up their own humanity; they are very few in number. Otherwise, it is men who perpetrate these vile actions on women…. all because of their own fear and ignorance…. and I say, shame on them, for they are not men, in my world…. they are vicious, unredeemable beasts, and should be put down like the dangerous creatures they are…..

“In the dark colony of night, when I consider man’s magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.” — Leo Rosten

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This poetess needs no introduction; the world lost one of its shining lights when she passed away last week. Also, it kind of fits in with the above themed rants…

The Lesson

I keep on dying again.
Veins collapse, opening like the
Small fists of sleeping
Children.
Memory of old tombs,
Rotting flesh and worms do
Not convince me against
The challenge. The years
And cold defeat live deep in
Lines along my face.
They dull my eyes, yet
I keep on dying,
Because I love to live.

~~ Maya Angelou ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that I’ve completely screwed the pooch, (and, just what does that REALLY mean?….), I’ll try to balance out the scales a bit, with a random, old-school pearl to finish off…. Hey, it can’t get any stranger, can it? I hope not….

“We enter into life naked and howling, covered with blood. The fun doesn’t have to end there.” — The Book Of Madness

“A man learns to skate by staggering about making a fool of himself; indeed, he progresses in all things by making a fool of himself.” — George Bernard Shaw

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxvi

“Please help keep the world clean: others may wish to use it.” — Smart Bee

“One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people’s minds.” — Frank Zappa, 1979

“Where the map differs from the terrain, believe the terrain.” — Swedish Army Manual

“I’m not available for comment..” — Zippy the Pinhead

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zippy, though always good for a finishing line, got this one wrong; consider the quote to be ironic, okay? I answer ALL comments, as far as possible….. That said, I think I’m done; I’ve reached that point where the damage has been maximized, and leaving it all for the street crews to clean up is the most efficient method of dealing with the mess…. We’ve got a good crew here, so, it’s always ready for the next morning…. Now that reality has been insulted past all hope of redemption, I’m outta here…. See ya, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

Based, as always, on arbitrary parameters….

Posted on June 25, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

I know it’s going to be a long day when taking a nap tires me out….. Yesterday was one of those days, and though I’m not precisely bursting with energy, today does NOT feel the same…. thankfully. Though, being one who doesn’t buy into the whole pie-in-the-sky routine, I’m not sure what that means…. It’s not as if I believe there is actually some bearded, white-haired old Caucasian dude sitting up there in the sky, on a gilded throne (tacky….), waiting for me to acknowledge his divinity with worship, who, I am told, will display a tantrum of childish pique if I don’t do so…. At least, that hasn’t happened thus far, so, I’m not going to hold my breath over it….

I will, however, remark that it makes it hard to feel productive when one gets up, as I did yesterday, after dozing off for a good two hours, only to feel like the only possible, logical choice is a return trip to go another few rounds with the pillow. It also makes it a bit sticky the next morning, (that’s today, ffolkes…. let’s keep up….), as I try to salvage some of yesterday by speaking of it today…. I know it takes the chance of having the entire group get lost in time, as I tend to mix my time zones when writing, which often leads to losing track of which one I’m currently inhabiting…..

Life can be tough when one wishes to pursue the quest to create the perfect Pearl; it’s not the simple, stress-free activity it appears from the outside, let me tell you…. It CAN be fraught with all sorts of danger, and/or vicious beasts, all angry at being provoked…. those preachers and pundits get a bit testy when crossed, or, worse for them, exposed for their lies and chicanery….

However, I’m not a coward, and I’ve been at this for some time now; it’s merely the morning’s ambiance that has me nervous; it feels like Murphy is lurking, and I hate it when he holds off his surprises for later…. They’re always so much more complex, and, thus, harder to spot, when he takes the time to make them that way, the butthead…. I would try to fool him into thinking I’m not ready for them, so he lets whatever it is out of its cage early, but, I’m not sure I’ve got the chutzpah today…. Hell, I can barely keep my eyes open again, so, maybe today will be more like yesterday than I’d thought…. Hmm, how can I turn that to my advantage?….

I know, I’ll trick Murphy into thinking he’s already tricked me today; if I go back to bed, he’ll get all confused about the time, and think he’s losing it…. I don’t get the chance to fool with him like this very often, so, hey, we’re going for it…. I’ll come back later, ffolkes, to finish this intro, and bask in having bested that blasted asshole, who spends so much of his time fucking with me, or with my friends….. Plus, maybe if I sleep a bit more, I’ll come up with some sort of direction for this Pearl, which, thus far, is completely lost…. Brave, and unafraid, but lost….

I’ll be back….

I’m back… I think. Enough so that I know my tricking of Murphy worked, well enough, it seems, to have dodged whatever nasty bullet he had planned for today…. and, in celebration of a successful display of cowardice, we’ll close off this intro (you hadn’t noticed that, had you?….), and get on with the rest of today’s mess, such as it may be….. Method #4 should work nicely, I think….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Human life nearly resembles iron. When you use it, it wears out. When you don’t, rust consumes it.” — Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) — Carmen de moribus

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As noted, today has displayed a high probability of being slated for strangeness; to be frank, which is difficult, as I’m Ned, not frank…. but, if I were, I’d say we’ve already reached that stage…. I know I have, and if that’s true, it would be even more difficult to avoid having the strangeness bleed into this pearl…. Since we’re being frank, I have to say it’s too late….

To salvage what otherwise might turn on us, I’m putting in a headline here, one with some pretty good information….. Read this, if you would, please… then, we’ll talk…. That is, if I can think of anything worth saying about it…. Most all bets are off at this point, as to whether or not we can pull this off…. Myself, I think we can, though it may cost a couple of broken bones…. no big deal, as long as they’re MY bones, right?…. Okay, I’ll stop now, & let you read this….

http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2014/06/23/recap-heres-30-recent-studies-on-the-effects-of-marijuana/#24367101=0

Excellent summary of recent research, almost all positive re: the effects of long-term use of cannabis and/or cannabinoids in general. I’m encouraged, both by the positive nature of all of what is brought out here, but, also by the recent court decisions right here in California, making the process of legalizing medical cannabis that much more of a done deal…. Soon, between the latest advances in the LGBT arena, and this one, American culture might just start to look as if the people were ready to enter the 21st century, along with the rest of the world….

Of course, that is partially an illusion; there are still a LOT of people in this country with what I like to call the dead-brain syndrome, characterized by bigotry, racism, misogyny, and a general refusal to use more than one neuron at a time…. They all go to a Christian church, wear blue suits with red ties and a flag pin, and spend most of their time in the modern world either closing their eyes, or their ears, so they don’t have to see or hear anything that offends their sensibilities…. Murricans, I call them, in close resemblance to their butchering of the country’s name…. These are people who cannot speak their own language without making it sound ignorant….

Sorry, got off into a minor pocket of outrage…. Stupidity is rampant in this country, and it offends me constantly…. Worse than even this stupidity is the even more prevalent attitude of deliberate ignorance, which has to be a choice…. a choice that infuriates me. When I see one of these fat, racist bigots talking on TV, spewing their ignorant hatred over all they see, it makes my fingers itch, for a bow, or a gun, or some other way to put an end to the idiocy of their existence…. It’s a bit harsh, but, there is no other cure for deliberate ignorance…. As I’ve noted in the past, stupidity can’t be helped, and has a certain charm; deliberate ignorance is ugly, and deserves any harsh treatment it engenders from me, or anyone else with any honor in their veins…

I see that I’ve managed to spew now for quite a while, without ever settling in to one theme, other than a very general poking at white Christian bigoted misogynists… of which there are millions of unpleasant examples to witness, in this country alone…. and they breed like fricking rabbits! Oh well, what the hell, it makes for more targets, eh?….. I am not sure exactly how we got into all this, as we started this section relatively positively…. Somewhere along the line, it turned on me…. which is okay, as it got all that built-up vitriol out of my head, where it has obviously been festering for some time…. Better out than in, eh?….

I think what I’ll do now is drop y’all like a stone, off the edge of the precipice upon which we just poised ourselves…. but, we’ll pad the landing area with a group of pearls, which will close off this section with some dignity, or, if nothing else, a bit of pointed humor…. Well, we can hope, can’t we?…. I think a five-star pearl will do nicely….

“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

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom, in the pursuit of truth as in the endeavour after a worthy manner of life. — Bertrand Russell, “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish”

“Intelligence has nothing to do with politics.” — Londo Molari

“…this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no”religion in it.” — John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1816

“When asked what learning was the most necessary, he said, “Not to unlearn what you have learned.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Antisthenes, iv

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is one of mine that I haven’t reprinted in a while; it’s not bad, IMHO….

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art….

~~ gigoid ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve been cruising my archives again, and keep finding rants or discussions worth reprinting; this fits in perfectly with my lazy nature, as well as providing me with material I know is already proofed….. It’s not much, but, it helps….. Plus, I’m finding that much of what I wrote in this period has a certain sharp edge I have trouble matching these days…. I was, at the time, living a much less comfortable life, and it shows in what I wrote during that period…. For now, it fills my need for something to finish this Pearl with panache, or, the closest I come to it…. Enjoy!…..

From 5/7/2012:

I don’t have an attitude problem–it’s supposed to be like this. — Smart Bee

I like this. It’s what I’ve said in response to any number of folks who have challenged me regarding my intransigence in the face of ignorant behavior. I am always tempted to add, “I am an American citizen, and it is not only my right, but my duty to challenge authority,” mainly because I believe it to be absolutely true, thought not an attitude currently favored by most of society, more’s the pity…. We’d be a lot better off if more folks took their duties as citizens more seriously….

“I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.” — Thomas Paine

All of our founding fathers were convinced that only an educated populace had a chance of maintaining the freedoms they secured for us. They knew firsthand how unscrupulous churches and governments, working hand in hand, had oppressed and subjugated the people for centuries, and they were determined that it should NOT happen here. So they engineered a system whereby each citizen has the opportunity, and the right, to a complete grounding in basic knowledge, in order that they could make informed decisions regarding the laws with which they would be living….

“The Church hates a thinker like a criminal hates the police.” — Smart Bee (So do politicians…)

For over 200 years now, the beloved ruling class and their hidden supporters, the prelates of the churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues, have been repeatedly and subtly attempting to undermine the purpose behind educating people, trying to limit the amount spent on education, or luring people into believing the nonsensical alternatives that religion offers in lieu of independence of thought, thus minimizing the effects of the education received outside their influence. They (the politicians and priests/preachers….) continuously bombard the public with lie after lie, until the lies are accepted as truth, just because there is nothing else offered. They then use those lies to further confuse the public as to what is really happening, and go about their business of stealing and grabbing power wherever they find the opportunity….

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

So, my attitude is not the problem…. the problem is that not enough of us have this attitude, and the PTB have virtually no competition in their fight for our attention; there is nobody allowed on the political stage who is singing a different song than the one approved for public consumption by those who control such matters…. Hell, we’ll know we’re making progress if even one such person ever gets the chance to even speak…. In the meantime, all we can do is to have those of us who know our duty keep plugging away, calling them out for their lies, and making as much noise as we can, to try to draw some attention to those places where it isn’t appreciated, but is needed the most…..

“Every sensible man, every honest man, must hold the Christian sect in horror. But what shall we substitute in its place? you say. What? A ferocious animal has sucked the blood of my relatives. I tell you to rid yourselves of this beast and you ask me what you shall put in its place?” — Voltaire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This one kind of got away from me a little…. That’s what happens when I have too much energy; it comes into conflict with my bone-deep, inherent laziness, and we end up with an epic pearl, which will surely drive the easily intimidated elsewhere…. So be it…. It’s way too late to go back & do it over, and, besides, I like it…. such as it is…. It will do, and that is the essential ingredient…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid the dubious

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: politics

Oddly enough, snakes HATE apples…

Immersed in the cadence of a Treble Bob Major…..

‘Twould be worse in reverse….

A cornucopia of digital abundance….

Waffles, drenched in butter, syrup, and love….

Another day in Paradox….

Oliver twisted reality until it screamed….

Based, as always, on arbitrary parameters….

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