Tag Archives: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pushing back on all fronts….

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Ffolkes,

“To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable.

The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.”

~~ Sun Tzu, The Art of War ~~

12-23-2013 003

“My greatest fear in life is that no-one will remember me after I’m dead.” — Anonymous

Too often, this blog begins with the word “I”…. Well, in sooth, I say, “too often”, when what I actually mean is, “too often for my comfort.” This, of course, is the natural result of a person who wishes to write, but, really doesn’t wish to indulge in much of the ego-driven parts of writing that are necessary to achieve any sort of prominence….

Ambition is required, if one wishes to become popular, whether in the blogosphere, or in the mainstream media venues, such as newspapers, radio, & TV; ambition; this is unfortunate, at least, for those of us who’d rather remain on a path with oh, let’s just say, a higher degree of spiritualism, or perhaps just less ego-driven….

But, then one must consider two things…. One, it’s MY blog, and we are often dealing with MY issues, so, using “I” becomes nearly impossible to avoid…. Second, being a pretty smart guy, with a fairly accurate sense of how smart I am compared to the average joe, I try to avoid either shoving that in people’s faces, or dwelling upon it, as I don’t view it as necessarily anything to be proud about….

All it does, actually, is saddle me with more perceptions than most, to my way of seeing it, and, that particular ability, for certain, is both a blessing, AND a curse. Factor in the simple FACT that smartness, or intelligence, has NO PROVEN SURVIVAL VALUE, and you can begin to see why I try to avoid overt egotism…. It really isn’t very nice, not to mention self-defeating….

In the past five or six days, since right before Christmas, I’ve been climbing out of a deep hole, which my mind seems to have fallen into without me even noticing I was off balance; that’s what comes from depending on vertigo to do that…. it’s unreliable, as is now patently clear…. SIGH….

Whatever the failure in my early warning system happens to be, I found myself in a position where I was bursting into tears rather frequently, due to some stressful issues I’m dealing with, which seem to have triggered some unknown, and certainly unwanted, unresolved feelings of sadness and emotional pain, left over from one of the many instances in my life where I experienced far more of them than I ever thought possible, and, apparently, stored up for later use…. Go figure…

I’m finally starting to see some light, and, I’m hoping this morning’s events will help, as I get to go do something that SHOULD shore up some of my feelings of inner conflict…. Of course, I have another appointment tomorrow morning, wherein I expect to have to fire the opening salvo of what promises to be a quite bloody battle with my HMO, and the modern medical society they manipulate and corrupt at every turn…. That, however will be, I’m sure, food for a future rant, not for now….

Ha! Thought I’d fall into that one, didn’t you?…. Nope. In fact, it would be a good idea for y’all to hold on, because, I’ve blathered and bitched enough for one morning…. We’re goin’ in, and goin’ in hard!…. Not only that, but, we’re doin’ it NOW!….

Shall we Pearl?

“Avoid making irrevocable decisions while tired or hungry (NB: Circumstances can force your hand. So think ahead!)” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

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I am all about quickness today, so what you get is another day of chill-out music, from the classical music genre…. This kind is nice to play while reading, and can provide a bit of armor against splashing, after a fashion…. The page to which I am linking is one with 112 selections of various pieces by various artists, and looks like a beautiful group to pass the time with…. enjoy…..

Classical Music Playlist

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To fill in the space quickly, here is a short rant with an attached old-school pearl as augmentation…. It is from a period when I was apparently writing better than other times; I’ve found some excellent stuff in the period’s archives…. including this one, one of several from this month… If nothing else, you can enjoy its brevity….

From 9/18/2012:

Religion has never attracted me as a pastime that led to any particularly desirable activities. From the very first, even as a small child, I always thought the people at church were trying to get me to believe something that was not only hard to believe, but they wanted me to believe it, just on their word that it was true….. What they were saying wasn’t anything like what I perceived to be true about the world at large; none of it sounded like common sense, if you get my drift…. Plus, the more I resisted what they said, and asked questions that they couldn’t answer, the more insistent they became….. Most kids have a pretty good crap detector, and the whole church thing seemed based on fluff and wishes to me…..

Any who, it seems a lot of my saved up oysters have been on that very subject, i.e., religious dogma, and alternative ways of looking at the universe, and how it works, and what it means…. (you know, all the good stuff….), so I thought an old-school grouping would perhaps help ffolkes get a clue about what I do believe….. which can, I have to admit, change from one day to the next….. gotta keep room for new data, y’know…… shall we Pearl a bit?…..

“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the bible is filled, it would seem more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.” — Thomas Paine — The Age of Reason

“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love (1972)

“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings.” — Albert Einstein

God:  What one human uses to persecute another. — Anonymous

The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.– Robert Heinlein, “Job”, 1984

“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.  Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my own constitution; the only wrong what is against it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

“If the lord had meant us to have faith, he’d have given us lobotomies.” — Zlatko

“A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good works followed by one outburst of taking the name of the Lord in vain, then have a heart attack at that moment and be damned for eternity. Is that the system?” — Robert A. Heinlein

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

“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” — Buddha

Well, there you go…. a complete mish-mash of different philosophies and outlooks, each with its own little piece to contribute to the whole, all ended perfectly with a piece of profoundly simple wisdom… not the virtual kind that is common around here, but real wisdom, that you can put in your pocket, take away with you, and use as needed…..

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I’m using mine, only because it’s quicker, and I’m lazier than the average joe…. goes along with the smarter part…. Yep, I am aware that intelligence is merely a FACTOR of laziness in humans; one of the primary motivating factors for using our imagination is to find an easier, or quicker route to achieving our ends, whatever they are…. Think about it, ffolkes, you’ll see what I mean…. Meanwhile…. Here is one of my personal favorite poems…

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 ~~


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Smart Bee seems to have gotten over its snit, this pearl came together in jig time, with a nice little group of pears all pointing in one direction…. Well, close enough for pearls, anyway; my Gentle Readers have seen enough of them to see what point we’re trying to make without undue difficulty. Any newbies will find it reasonably clear, as well, I think, for it’s a simple idea being promoted today…. See if you don’t agree….

“Each man is the smith of his own fortune.” — Appius Claudius Caecus

“It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past.  Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.” — Jim Bishop

“All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.” — Jane Wagner, _The Search For Intelligent Life In The Universe_  — [Performed by Lily Tomlin]

“Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.” — William Saroyan

“All time in all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all bugs in amber.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Slaughter-House 5

“Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it: men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts, we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we come to be brave.” — Aristotle

“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: “I’m with you kid. Let’s go.”” — Maya Angelou

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“This tagline is dedicated to my bird friend- Fred” — gigoid

Well…. considering that I’m currently in a state of mind I wouldn’t wish on an enemy, this didn’t come out too badly…. It’s also nice to have a little space from pain, which, thanks to the rain stopping for a few days, has been relatively manageable for two days now…. But, then, all is relative, is it not? I’m outta here, ffolkes… I’m gonna go see my grandson, and, for the first time in his life, be allowed to give him a Christmas present…. Now, THAT should make me feel better…. In fact, I’m counting on it…. See y’all later, ffolkes…. maybe even tomorrow….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Maybe. Maybe not….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, 


but they’ve always worked for me.” 


~~ Hunter S. Thompson ~~


potd-panda-1_3134810k


     When Hunter S. Thompson’s most famous quote adorns the opening, you know it’s going to be a day in the trenches…. so be it…. We’ll open with a bit of legerdemain, then go on to find some sort of reason to continue, whether we wish it, or not…. Here, let’s go the obvious route, shall we?….


Isn’t that a great face? I sure wish I knew what the little bear is looking at; whatever it is, he’s not sure he wants to know about it at all…. Well, that, or, he’s in a psycho-cub state, much akin to the one cats display at times, usually at 3 AM, by running around the house at full speed, knocking into walls and jumping off furniture from great heights, just because…. The picture, btw, is of one of the three triplet panda cubs born in China a couple of months ago, a very rare occurrence, especially to pandas in captivity…. They’ve been the subject of close scrutiny by the entire world, as most such sets of triplets have not survived long…. This one looks spunky enough to make it, for sure….


He sure looks spunkier than I’m feeling, but, nothing new there…. The only new item I see today is the new deep ache in my left arm, between the elbow and shoulder; sleeping appears to have annoyed it somehow…. Oh, joy…. It must be time for a ritual slathering of the magic cream…. I’ll take a few minutes to go take care of that, & maybe when I come back to this, I’ll have a bit of inspiration at hand…. Hope springs eternal….


Well…. all I can say is, that stuff is magic…. Sadly, it doesn’t come with inspiration included, and the clock is still ticking…. I suppose I could do some nonsense… Let’s see… Nope…. Nothing resembling that anywhere in there…. How ’bout a quick rant? No, too early, and, no angst currently available, unless we count that which hangs about with the pain…. The poem I’ve been cultivating somewhere in the back of my mind isn’t ripe yet, either; I can tell by the craw stuck in my throat…. Damn! I bet y’all know what THIS means, don’t you?


Yep. It’s another failure of imagination, classically displayed right out here where all may see…. Chalk it up to my Bozoid Tendencies, and we’ll call it an intro… We have to at this point…. we’ve already used up any other alternative methods, so, ruthless dumping is all we have left to get us out of this mess, which my blathering has landed us in, again…. Some day, I’ll find an intro, but, by then, I won’t know what to do with it anyway…. SIGH….. It’s a good thing for all of us I used Hunter S. Thompson to bracket the intro; with such brutal honesty at play, nothing can harm us on our way to immortality, or a reasonable facsimile….


Huh?…. Ah, fuck it, let’s be on our way…. Coherency is a lost cause, at this point….


Shall we Pearl?


“The time has come to kick ass.” — Hunter S. Thompson


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


Time is a function of human perception; in reality, all there is, is NOW.  We have no control over the past, and the future is only under control according to what we choose to do NOW…. Right NOW, I am not sure this will ever get posted….


Early morning ambivalence is the order of the day, apparently; combined with the dysfunctional body with which I am now saddled, there is some doubt as to future events ever taking place according to my wishes…. SIGH… Oh well, for the nonce, we’ll pretend we do have some sort of choice, and pick out a video…. How ’bout some Blues?….







Chicago Blues, Live Vol. 1

































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Yep, you guessed it…. another rant from the archives…. If you are a regular, you’ve seen this before. If not, have no fear, it’s a good read…. well, I think so, anyway….


From 4/9/2013:


Here’s the deal…. I still don’t have a rant ready, but I feel like ranting…. so, I’ll sublimate…. This is an article that I posted on Triond, another web site where I’ve published some of my work, in the latter part of 2012, near the election that took place in November….. All of it is still pretty valid, discounting the date-related issues…. all the rest, I stand by…..




Absence of Honor: The Untimely Death of The US Constitution




“Ignorance can be compounded, made denser, until the light of our spirits is smothered.” — Deng Ming-Dao


As I read this pearl, my immediate thought was that it is a very clear, very accurate take on the 2012 election process that is currently unfolding before us in the daily news. The end of the political scale that is represented so raggedly by what is left of the Republican Party, and the mislabeled liberal end of the scale who claim to be Democrats, are both engaging in ongoing battles to see who can display the deepest ignorance.


The leading candidate for the “loyal opposition” to the party in power, Mr. Romney, seems to have a proclivity for alienating the very people from whom he is trying to win votes; women, immigrants and Hispanics, animal lovers, seniors, teachers and students, all have been told, in no uncertain terms, that they matter not at all to him. His plan? We’ll stop taxing the rich altogether, and that will fix everything…. Sometimes I wonder if he is getting all of his information on voter wants and issues of importance from old newspapers from the 1980’s, because he certainly hasn’t a clue as to what is happening out in America in this decade….


The other party, led by our first Black President, is busy hiding what the left hand is doing by distracting everyone with the tax and healthcare issues, to keep them unaware of how few of the Bill of Rights are left to us. “Executive Orders” signed by the POTUS this year, beginning on New Year’s Eve, while the voters were all busy celebrating the advent of the new year, include provisions that allow police to stop, search, and arrest any citizen of this country whom they suspect of any form of terrorism, or even of protest against the provisions of those orders.


These same police who are arresting their ostensible fellow-citizens are not required to tell ANYONE that they have arrested and imprisoned a citizen, nor are they ever required to provide any evidence of their suspicions in a court of law. Even though there may be no evidence, they can subject these CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY to torture to obtain a confession, or whatever it is they are after. There is no oversight to these orders; they don’t go before Congress to be approved, nor are they reviewed by the courts. Both of those particular checks on the power of the Executive Branch are completely out of the loop on this…. and they aren’t even complaining about it!


Does it physically hurt to be that stupid? — Smart Bee


My guess at the answer to this is, No. It can’t hurt very much to be that stupid, as we continue to go out each time there is an election and vote these same lying, cheating, avaricious assholes back into the same positions from which they have been oppressing the American people for oh, a hundred or so years now. I’d say that around the time of the Depression was when the first real strangle-hold on the national throat was first achieved…. the pure bullshit the government was spewing back then can be seen to have been the first real time that the government’s outrageous lies were swallowed whole by a reluctant public, who had nothing else to eat, and thus nothing else to risk…


“He was born stupid, and greatly increased his birthright.” — Samuel Butler


So, how does it feel? Does it physically hurt to be so stupid, as to be part of the crowd that continues to buy into all the bullshit lies that our own government heaps upon us every day? To keep going to the polls, just as if it really matters who gets elected? Get real, folks. You will not find a name on the ballot that belongs to someone who is not a willing tool of the powers of oppression, the money-changers who are the power behind the scenes of every government in the world. Not going to happen; they’ve been the real power in the world for centuries, and they’re not about to give up all they have, just to be nice, or because they’ve, all of a sudden, grown a heart.


I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty fucking tired of being lied to, and cheated, and looked at as just another idiot for them to shit on….. and I’m not going to put up with it for much longer, without some kind of return fire….. Believe it…. I don’t think I am alone in this, either…. No way to tell for sure, but I find it hard to believe that EVERYONE is falling for all of it…. but, even if I’m alone in this, I refuse to knuckle under any further, and can only say that I will do all I can to see things turn in a direction that will return my Rights, and those of the rest of the American people…. or at least those not stupid enough to hand them over without a fight….


“He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.


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Since I’ve shamelessly raided the archives already, here is another of mine, just because…




Savory 



Blown across steppes of imagination, a spore

   finds a niche, takes root,

tries to live longer than now, before

   chaos/peace descends, and desire is moot.


Feathered into fecundity, another possibility

   builds a nest, hatches kin,

aims at immortality, sans responsibility,

   chance manifests, as it does, again.


Leading toward peril, entropy saves creativity,

   making tools, and lazy time;

solid signs imply such simple nativity,

   as another snitch drops his dime.


Subtle compassion billows, passion to unfold,

   covering hearts bloodied by time,

burning flesh made valid, unwaveringly bold,

   turning love to brilliant rhyme.


Years weigh lightly, supported by youth,

   gaining weight with each year,

only the old men know the actual truth,

   peace comes only when we lose our fear.


~~ gigoid ~~




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Smart Bee seems to be on strike, so, we’ll have to go with an old-school pearl from the archives today…. Here’s a pretty good one, from 2013….


From 4/4/2013:


Well, it seems clear that my fresh material isn’t up to snuff today…. it seems so to me, anyway, and I’m the one who has to stomach it first….. Which means I’m going into the past yet again, but with fresh material…. This will be a random chosen old-school Pearl, the best I can do on short notice…… The point may or may not be apparent, but, what else is new?….


“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave…” — Ernest Hemingway, “A Farewell to Arms”


“When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.” — William Arthur Ward


“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.” — Akiro Kurosawa


“A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


“Man’s many desires are like the small metal coins he carries about in his pocket. The more he has the more they weigh him down.” — Satya Sai Baba


“Whoever has even once become notorious by base fraud, even if he speaks the truth, gains no belief.” — Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.) — Book i, Fable 10, 1




    I feel like one

    Who treads alone

Some banquet-hall deserted,

    Whose lights are fled,

    Whose garlands dead,

And all but he departed.


 ~~ Thomas Moore (1779-1852) — Oft in the Stilly Night ~~




“And thereby hangs a tale.” — Francis Rabelais (1495-1553) — Works, Book v, Chap. iv


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Bah! Humbug!…. There, y’all don’t have to say it; I said it for you…. and, I don’t blame you, either…. But, in spite of how any of us may feel about it, it’s done, and I’m not going to look a gift horse, etc….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. maybe, maybe not….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….







		
	
					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Twistin’ the night away….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.” 


~~ J.R.R. Tolkien ~~


andromeda-meteor-james


     Today’s picture is from Space.com, one of their Astronomy Picture of the Day features, a gorgeous shot of the Milky Way, meteors, and the Andromeda Galaxy (small but clear in the upper right quadrant…), all in one huge photo, taken as a panorama, I believe. All I know is it was so big, it took about eight adjustments to get it small enough to fit onto the screen…. At the larger size, it’s pretty incredible in detail, almost like being outside, looking at it directly…. The photographer was, no doubt, a photographic wizard, along the lines of the quote from Tolkien….


Or, maybe he/she just got lucky, timing it so perfectly by chance…. Unlikely, with a panoramic photo, but, one never knows, nor would one ever speculate, not so early in the morning, before the second sip of coffee has been taken…. On sip only ensures no one will die; the second sip provides a certain degree of coherency, which doesn’t extend to the keyboard, sadly…. Nor does it preclude the hands from screaming at me for typing, which, unfortunately, they seem to want to do today…. Bogus, really, and it sure makes this part difficult…. Break time, ffolkes…


Now that the tenor of today’s post has been set, and, just as quickly destroyed, by the not-totally-unexpected display of bozoid candor, perhaps we can get on with this with no more detours. That would be a nice change, wouldn’t it? Sure it would…. but, as you may have guessed, it ain’t gonna happen here. I believe we may have reached a point that would otherwise be called a nexus, or, just as accurately, a bloody mess; some sort of decision must be made as to where we are going today, if anywhere at all…. Wait!….


That’s the best idea I’ve had yet…. I’m going to end this right here, right now, and get on with it, just as if it were made that way…. Perhaps, if we pretend it’s supposed to work like that, we can slip past the censors, and get this done in some sort of timely fashion…. Or, alternately, some sort of approximation of timely would be acceptable, whatever that may mean in such a situation…. Your guess is as good as mine, in this case… So….


Shall we Pearl?


“The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.” — Henry L. Mencken


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An old Grateful Dead tune has been running around my mind all morning, ever since I first booted up…. It’s from their song, “Sugar Magnolia”, and goes, “Head’s all empty, and I don’t care….” However, rather than the Dead, let’s go with a live concert by Jerry, and his old friend, David Grisman, his mandolin-playin’ genius buddy, from 12/8/1991….  Enjoy!…. No video on this one, but, great music….




Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – San Francisco 12 8 91



































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I’m still saving my hands for other stuff, so, here is an archived rant, of fairly typical size and content….


From 2/25/2013:


“I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair.  Then I thought, wouldn’t it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them?  So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.”– Marcus, Babylon 5


Marcus brings up an interesting point here, when he talks of the general hostility of the universe. I don’t think he quite has a handle on the actual shape of Reality, though, and in his desire to avoid responsibility for his own cupidity, he assigns the universe as villain in his play. Our universe isn’t hostile to us, as he would like to think. Unfair? Yes. Hostile? No…. The universe really doesn’t give a crap about us, one way or another. Things seem unfair, not because they are stacked against us, but rather because they are not stacked in our favor, a slight but distinct difference…..


Reality plays no favorites, beyond a tendency to allow itself to be adjusted by those who have an understanding of how it works, without granting them any dispensation, but rather rewarding their cleverness and wit. Those who believe the universe is out to get them are defenseless against the trials and tribulations that are a natural part of living, because they begin from an attitude of helplessness. Those who at least have the confidence to act in their own behalf are much more able to achieve their goals, than anyone who allows Reality to push them wherever they end up, without any direction made by choice…..


Thus, we can see that courage, as well as knowledge, is necessary to being able to confront Reality on its own terms. Not only is it necessary to pay attention to the way the universe works, and how it interacts among all its parts, but necessary to have the courage to act on what is known, and what the person believes to be right, in a moral sense. Of course, the universe doesn’t care one way or another if we are moral; it rewards those who act out of immorality as well, if they are bold enough to act. We just feel better about ourselves if we act from right thought, and we make it easier for others to do the same. Acting immorally only benefits the one who is doing the acting…..


But, cowardice is also rewarded by the universe; it just isn’t a very palatable reward, to have our every wish denied, and our every act dismissed, as incompetent, illegal, or just plain dumb….. Lack of courage, and lack of knowledge thus become their own rewards, and the person’s misguided views about reality lead them into issue after issue of conflict with the rest of reality. In this way, they continually reinforce their own misapprehensions, and will only more firmly believe that the universe is out to get them, and everyone else…. This, in spite of the fact that they are looking at, and dealing with, the same Reality as everyone else, who don’t all seem to have the same problem…. Instead of giving them a clue that maybe they should do things differently, they merely assume that the other people have cheated them somehow…. because that is what they would do….


It’s really too bad in some ways, that so large a percentage of humanity is so lacking in courage and wit as to find the view stated above to be congruent with their own view of the way the universe operates; it’s part of what makes it so easy for those in the BRC and the 1% to control them, and to pull the wool over their eyes. These folks are so convinced of their own helplessness in the face of all they don’t understand, they will latch onto almost anything someone tells them, if it soothes their fears, and gives them someone or something other than themselves to blame for their misfortunes…. Sad, but true, and a perfect description of what has transpired in society for several thousand years now, as the BRC keeps the majority of humanity in the proverbial dark about what is true, and what is real….. They’ve had a lot of practice, and they’re very good at it….


But, then, it isn’t hard to control someone who is brainwashed to believe that it is the way reality is, so I can’t say it is due to any particularly large degree of wit or talent that allows them to do so…. It is more that the folks who they control are so stupid, they ask to be controlled, because they can’t, and more importantly, won’t, trust themselves to do it….. Sad, but true….


At his point in this narrative, I am becoming a bit enraged, a not uncommon reaction to a rant about the BRC and the 1%…. Heck, this time, I didn’t even have to mention the papists or preachers who are their shock troops, on the front lines of the brainwashing process, in order to get upset and angry over their machinations…. until now. My rage is growing, as it always tends to do when I start to rant on this subject, and I’m not ready to deal with the consequences of letting it get any bigger right now…. too much other stuff to get to today. But, just let me say this…..


Those in our society who deliberately control others for their own benefit are my enemies. I believe them to be responsible for virtually ALL of the social ills we have, as well as the global and environmental issues that are threatening our very survival as a species. They are, for their own personal benefit, hoarding the resources of the planet, and refusing to share them with the remainder of humanity, all because they can, and they want to. The welfare of others is of no concern to them, so they automatically become my foes, in my battle to try to make a world my children, and grandchild, can have the opportunity to live a full and complete life of their own, without being oppressed and controlled by assholes who don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves….. As my old martial arts instructor used to say…. “Fuck ’em….. hard.”…..


— “Bother!”, said Pooh, as he dropped his bombs.


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


Today’s poem is another I found in the archives, which hadn’t been brought into the Poetry folder…. bonus! Enjoy!


From 8/21/2012:




Unwrapped Morning


A jewel of deepest green, sparkles by firelight

Held fast by time, and space

Leaves only passive passion, pale and bright

Naught but grief, yet but a trace.


In morning’s bright parlor, burning for hate

Unspent moments fall, seeking pain

Spilling blood forlornly, cowed by fate

Left with nothing, life in vain.


Pallid purpose calls, to that fallow ground

In bold fashions, aflame

Conscience falls aside, value unbound

Death calls, forever lost, the game……


~~ gigoid ~~




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


Today’s final pearl was constructed in spite of some rather stiff resistance from SB…. I swear, it’s been a complete butthead of late, making me go through several hundred useless phrases and quotes, just to find a couple of mediocre pearls…. Ah well, at least we squeezed one last batch out for today…. It was looking a bit grim there for a while, but it came out just fine… a real old-school pearl, with a nice little twist to make it palatable for even the neuronically challenged reader…. Just don’t grit your teeth, or your dentist won’t like it….


“For water continually dropping will wear hard rocks hollow.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of the Training of Children


“The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.” — Chuang Tzu


“The young know the rules, the old know the exceptions.” — Smart Bee


“The important thing is not to stop questioning.  Curiosity has its own reason for existing.  One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.  It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.” — Albert Einstein


“A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)


“Don’t take life too seriously; you won’t get out of it alive.” — Hubbard’s Law


“Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable.” — H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)


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


If all things in the world were equal, this would be considered as not eligible for judgment. I’m not entirely certain just how it got done, but, there it sits, with all the correct categories covered, and each section filled with (relatively) appropriate material…. As we are fond of saying, in the back rooms, where nobody can hear us, “It’s done”…. We say that with a reverent air, closing our eyes in respect, while genuflecting vaguely in the direction of Patagonia….


The appearance at this point of such nonsense is a clear indication it’s time to stop for the day, lest we splash…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should the Universe still be here….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
“Yes” said the dragon. “I prefer virgins”….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




And here, poor fool, with all my lore


I stand no wiser than before.


~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~


Alaska Grand Adventure 087


     Today’s picture is one of my own, taken at a beautiful park in Victoria, B.C., while stopping there as part of a cruise to Alaska. ‘Twas a wonderful park, wide-open, with lots of small wildlife, unafraid of the few humans walking about the grounds, going about their business on the fine, if cold, morning we rode through on a tricycle, powered by our guide, a local lad with strong legs and excellent wind. On a three to four hour trip, he hauled two of us around the city, up a few decent hills, covering about five or six miles altogether, and still looked fresh…. Ah, youth!….


Having thus explored today’s opening photo, we’ll go on to the rest of today’s mess without further delay…. What’s the hurry? Oh, well, nothing much…. Typing is painful today, and my “head’s all empty, & I don’t care”… So, I’ll be archive diving for most of this one, without any guilt at all…. Hey, it’s the holiday season, and I can take a day off if I want to…. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it….


In fact, I’m going to do it without any of the usual angst or discussion around the emptiness and sheer drudgery of making the intro, and head right off into the archives… Well, after picking an appropriately fresh video for your viewing enjoyment, anyway…. I’m hoping y’all won’t get used to this, though, as I can’t guarantee it will be like this again…. For now, just hang on, because this one will be short, but rough….


Shall we Pearl?


“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.” — Plato, Laws


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


Here is another of my favorite TV shows from my youth…. The hero in this Western was a true Knight, and, along with my father, provided much of the role modeling I took in as a boy…. Paladin WROTE the Rules….







 


Have Gun Will Travel Season 1 Full Episodes



































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


Here is a relatively short discussion of Self Reliance, Emerson-style, from the archives…. This is pretty good, ffolkes, so, pay attention, if you please….


From 8/23/2012:


“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.  Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my own constitution; the only wrong what is against it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)


I was about 15 or 16 years old when we first read this in English class, and I remember distinctly when it hit home. I was at home, studying the Essay on Self Reliance as homework. I remember how difficult it was to plow through Emerson’s style of writing, which is thick and convoluted; one must read slowly, and think about what has just been read, to fully ascertain the point he is making at the time. When I came across this line, and thought about it, I experienced an epiphany of understanding, and a lot of what he said in the essay became clear. Most simply put, he admonishes all to “Trust Yourself”…….


“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself.  Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter To Francis Hopkinson, Paris Mar. 13, 1789


Tom Jefferson lived prior to Emerson, but had a similar approach to life, and to thinking. Individualism could be said to be Jefferson’s God; to him, each man was responsible for making himself into what he wished to be, and the self-reliance so ably encouraged by Emerson came to him naturally. Though a Christian by choice, Jefferson constantly challenged the church authorities in his writing, accusing the priestly hierarchies of the same crimes for which I chastise them today, to wit: twisting the word of Jesus Christ, manipulation of the teachings, and power-seeking behaviors more suited to barbarian chieftains than priests. Tom saw clearly the need for the continued separation of church and state, as he firmly believed that combining the two would inevitably lead to the loss of liberty he feared, and for which he fought so hard.


As we can see today, he was right. He feared both the church leaders, and he feared the bankers and corporations. He wrote on numerous occasions of his lack of trust in those entities, as he clearly saw they were inimical to individual freedom, enemies who would eventually try to subvert the liberties we enjoy by slow encroachment. Guess what, ffolkes….. he was dead right. Between the “corporate personhood” enjoyed by the elite fat cats, and the brainwashing carried out on a daily basis by the churches, the public has been manipulated into willingly giving up most of their rights, for the sake of feeling safe. And why do they fear for their safety? Why, because the politicians, supported by the preachers, have convinced them that the rest of the world is out to get them, and take away what they have; for God’s sake, they’re heathens!…..


Much of the nonsense that is foisted upon the unsuspecting public would be less believable if more people believed as Emerson does, and made up their minds on their own. Instead, most folks give in to their laziness, and, unwilling to think for themselves, allow the preachers and pundits to fill their heads with lies and manipulations. This lack of personal responsibility is what is killing this country; only those who are unwary can be fooled, and one who takes responsibility for themselves cannot be fooled in that manner, for they are aware of the machinations that others will attempt, and react accordingly….. One can only hope that Emerson’s essay on Self Reliance becomes a best seller again, and people awaken from their self-induced state of somnolence…..


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


As threatened, here is another poem of mine from the archives…. Hey, I gave fair warning!…..






Funny Bones


Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,

from the dance, where

he felt so free, and clean.

Sorrow couldn’t find him there.


Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,

some connection can be found

keeping busy as bees, coping.

Love creeps in, without a sound.


Fat days, skinny nights, passionate

visions of semi-conscious entities,

cannot seem to fully illuminate

or hide our innermost frailties.


Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify

simple rules with every breath

never waiting, anxious to modify.

fear nothing in life, not even Death.


~~ gigoid ~~




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


The following pearl is a nine-star comment on Life at Large, with a tilt toward how to do so with some dignity, or, at minimum, a degree of aplomb…. Really, that’s what it says…. Honest….


“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 17


“Virtue knowing no base repulse, shines with untarnished honour; nor does she assume or resign her emblems of honour by the will of some popular breeze.” — Horace (B.C. 65-8)


“A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 540


“The mightiest rivers lose their force  when split up into several streams.” — Ovid


“Tell the truth, and run.” — Yugoslav proverb


“He knows not when to be silent who knows not when to speak.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 930


“Life is too short to be taken seriously.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)


“There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.” — Pilpay (or Bidpai) — The Two Travellers, Chap. ii, Fable vi


“Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet, you can’t win.” — Lazarus Long


See? I’ve been telling y’all for years…. it’s all in the wrist….


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


It is probably a good thing I don’t do this for anyone but myself; if I did, I would, no doubt, be liable for any damage I may have caused, whether inadvertently, or intentionally…. My own rules dictate I take responsibility, but, I do so with the known caveat, to wit: it’s a joke, damn it! Just because it isn’t always funny, doesn’t mean it’s not a joke…. believe me. I know. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless someone talks me out of it….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Supplicants in front, mendicants to the rear….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free.” 


~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~


chandra-nasa-ngc2207_0

Colliding Galaxies, picture taken by NASA’s Chandra Deep Space Telescope




It’s no use. Nothing is going to help this morning; that much is already clear. Not the opening quote, nor the most excellent photo, illustrating the sheer size of our Universe, nor any of the weird, silly, and/or just plain odd thoughts running around in my head will serve to open up today’s post…. None of it is stimulating anything in my head other than reluctance, both to start, and to make a decision about WHERE to start…. It can make a huge difference in where we end up, obviously, so I do like to at least have some input….


Today, however. it isn’t going to work, not the way it usually works, anyway. Since I have no alternative opening ready to use, we may end up wandering around, listening to me panic, until we’ve managed to fill in enough to satisfy the monitors (whoever they are….). We could also try something new, and dangerous…. what do you think? Want to try it? The danger isn’t as much as we face any other day; it’s just more specific to the section than is normal, due to the strange laws concerning such matters, none of which are on the books, or even published…. They’re the unwritten laws that control all writers, which, if they knew of them, would doubtless drive them even crazier than they are….


Of course, that, too, is merely another figment, drawn from the depths of my insecurity, just so I could fill in a few more lines, thus, getting us further down the page…. Did they work? No? Ah, shit….


“I find myself beside a stream of empty thought.” — Smart Bee


Well, that sinks it…. Now, of course, I’m gonna have to step in, and settle this for once and all, or we could be stuck here for days…. Since the usual methods haven’t worked at all, I’m going to apply the ruthlessness which has saved us so many times already…. It’s amazing what tossing out the bullshit can do for one’s decision making abilities…. It sure is easy to make a decision when one only considers ONE set of expectations, i.e., one’s own…. It’s amazing how much more gets done…. Here, watch, it works like this….


Shall we Pearl?


“He that respects himself if safe from others; He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.” — Henry Wordsworth Longfellow


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


For some reason, when I went to find a video, I thought of this show, from my childhood; it was one of my favorites… How could it not be? Space flight, magic, and Barbara Eden, a young man’s fantasy woman…. all hit my interests right on the money…. When I went to look for episodes to watch, I was delighted to find an entire page with several seasons’ worth of shows to watch…. Yay! I know where I’ll be wasting my time for a few days….




I Dream of Jeannie Season 2 Episode 1-2





































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


Here is one from the archives, which fits in with some of our recent discussions quite nicely…. (I’m still saving my hands, a very good excuse to be lazy, I find…)….


From 12/12/12:


“He who proselytizes in the cause of unbelief is basically a man in need of belief.” — Eric Hoffer


This is true…. you never see an atheist going door to door, trying to convert the pious to their unbeliefs. However, I would go further on this train of thought, and add that, “He who proselytizes, in any cause, in basically a man in need of a life.” I’m sure it occurred to Mr. Hoffer, but he was too busy trying to explain this statement to somebody who didn’t understand the word ‘proselytize’…..


For my own case, I have never, ever understood why people feel compelled to go door to door to try to get other people to believe what they believe; it’s one of the most persistent delusional systems I’ve ever witnessed, to believe that anyone wants to hear what they have to say, much less they will find their beliefs palatable to others, or find anyone who believes them to be superior to their own…..


“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying they made them.” — Smart Bee


Humans seem to have an immense blind spot when it comes to their own actions and beliefs. Most of them never seem to question the things they are told, even when those things are presented with no evidence other than faith. Of course, the people who are invested in the religious system, to wit: the preachers, begin their indoctrination when their constituents are very young, when they are still prone to accept whatever an adult says as truth.


This ensures a life-long predilection for being simple to control…. or, in short, mental slavery, if you will. Unless there is some sort of rebellion of spirit, where new knowledge is injected, these poor saps will spend their entire lives believing that what they have been told is real, when, in fact, they are fitting themselves with shackles, that will forever imprison their minds, and their imagination…..


“To defend one’s self against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” — James Baldwin


In my life-long quest for the truth, I’ve come to believe that religions, while originally intended to benefit people, (by their iconic progenitors, anyway…. I’m sure Jesus was a quite nice man, and wanted the best for those to whom he preached his own philosophy of compassion….), have historically been taken over by the predators who live to control others.


To be fair, some of those who become priests, or any of the other varieties of religious fanatic that prevail in our society, may indeed believe that their beliefs are true, and act accordingly, but the majority are, as far as I can tell, only concerned with maintaining status quo, thereby benefiting themselves, while never actually allowing any REAL progress in the development of the human condition. They would have society behave as if we were still living in caves, in essence, still cowering in our meager shelter while the storms and lightning are raging outside, terrified of the power of what we do not understand, and, therefore, allow ourselves to fear….




“A universe of death, which God by curse 

Created evil, for evil only good; 

Where all life dies, death lives, 

and Nature breeds Perverse, 

all monstrous, all prodigious things, 

Abominable, unutterable and worse 

Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived, 

Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.” 


~~ Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II ~~




(Side note: I’ll bet Milton had a hard time sleeping….)


The Universe is a big place, and there is a lot to learn. Fearing that knowledge, or fearing what changes that knowing will always bring, is the act of a coward, to my mind, and should not be encouraged. Supernatural beings of unlimited power are not a required component to the understanding of Nature and the Universe; we need not fear that our lack of knowledge of how things work is unattainable. Just because we do not understand a part of reality does not mean that whatever it is, is beyond our understanding.


It is not necessary to ask for exemptions, or intervention by our own personal gods, for us to achieve happiness, or even contentment; that is completely within our own power, if we but acknowledge that part of us that is free, and connected to everything else we can perceive. The connections may not be fully understood, but they are there, and if we can only learn to recognize it, the power to change reality lies within us, all the time…. As Epictetus said, “Happiness lies in learning to accept a simple truth. There are some things you can change. And there are some things you cannot.” It’s really quite that easy, you know, once one learns to accept this fact of life…. No dogma required…..


“If brains were outlawed, nothing would change.” — Smart Bee


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


Today, you are getting one of my poems, simply because I’m too lazy to go find someone else’s…. So be it…. Here is one I haven’t used for a while, first created on a Friday in 2013…




A Dubiously Soft Morning


Idiosyncratic images, clamoring for regard,

fill up the white, white screen on which I view

my life, never seeing, nor invited to sup

ambrosial remnants of anything new.


Still, yet almost in motion, allegory sails away

bobbing gently, quick and easy to find,

signs of one happy child, seriously at play,

blissfully immersed, focused joy in mind.


Formidable cries of outraged simple justice

echo plaintive relevance, in half the time.

Maladaptive infants, destined for hospice

salvage an only child, daring to sing in rhyme.


Creativity equals unquestioning farce, 

often reaching for absurdity, brazenly afire.

Instead, a blow is felt that no joy will soften,

accepting the price, added to the cost of desire.


~~ gigoid ~~




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


Whew! It’s a good thing I got up early today; today’s final pearl may be in the top five, on the list of pearls that took the longest time to complete…. Smart Bee appears to be in a mood… Ah well, all’s well that ends well, as we all know…. quite well… This one SEEMS abstruse, but, once you’ve finished it, you’ll see it really isn’t…. In fact, it’s quite transparent, in many respects…. Enjoy!….


“Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xii


“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.” — Voltaire


“Everywhere the human soul stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness; on the confines of two everlasting hostile empires, Necessity and Freewill.” — Carlyle (1795-1881)


“The miser is as much in want of that which he has, as of that which he has not.” — Publius Syrus


“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.” — Publius Syrus


“Cato requested old men not to add the disgrace of wickedness to old age, which was accompanied with many other evils.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Roman Apophthegms, Cato the Elder




From ignorance our comfort flows.

The only wretched are the wise.


~~ Matthew Prior (1664-1721) ~~


~~ To the Hon. Charles Montague ~~




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


I know, already, without having gone back over this yet, it will be okay…. It may not ever be considered as one of the best Pearls ever, but, it will definitely do for our purposes today…. Hell, a lot of it is even fresh…. or, what passes for fresh these days…. Regardless of all my rationalizations and/or excuses, it’s done…. As I’ve been reduced to saying already today…. So be it…. gigoid has spoken…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. most likely….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Patagonian cricket league posters on sale….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Don’t get hit.” 


~~ First rule of fighting ~~


A-laughing-girl-and-her-camel


     There is no doubt the world in which we live is in a sorry state; there is too much evidence of that to deny, even for one of my dubious nature…. Yet, we each go on, blithely behaving as if tomorrow never comes, just as we have for our entire history, without any acknowledgment, or even awareness, of our own impending doom as a species. In spite of the mountains of evidence to indicate how serious is the situation we find ourselves in today, no governing body, no major world leaders, and nobody of any societal significance is doing anything about it, other than some little noise-making in the news now and again, and a constant parade of lesser personages, such as yours truly, who keep trying to get everyone else to FUCKING PAY ATTENTION!


Alas, our noise, true and attractive as it may be, is drowned out, in the cacophony of complaints and bullshit that the political pundits keep laying out; they have the control of the media, having trained them to react just the way they planned to every new piece of insanity, to wit, with hyperbole, outrage, focus on the negative and/or insignificant, and misdirection, always trumpeting who is to blame, rather than calling for real answers….


Instead, they are trained to focus on completely irrelevant issues, having little to do with the core of the problems, which are never discussed, at all…. Any actual discussion of problems is discouraged, as being counter-productive…. What is never stated is this; all that information we are not hearing IS counterproductive, but, not to us, but, to those who are in positions of leadership… If the news was actually reported correctly, the pundits would be running for the border, trying to escape the mobs….


But, that would be an ideal world, and the one in which we spend our time is NOT one of those, by any stretch of the imagination…. Ah well, we’ve made our bed, we must now lie in it…. Sadly, the house, in which the bed might be found, is right in the path of flowing lava…..


I see now that the metaphorical structure I’ve built up with such enthusiasm just fell apart, into small pieces…. I can see it lying there, on the ground at my feet, mocking me with bitter laughter…. Silly things…. But, having it all fall apart like that does make it clear, at least to me, that I’ve gone completely off the rails here this morning, haring off down a rantable path, without ever checking to see if my brain was on…. which, I’m pretty sure, it wasn’t…. At least, I can’t find any evidence anywhere in any of the above paragraphs that would indicate power to the lobes…. Hell, I’m almost positive I wasn’t even awake yet when I started; I’m barely awake now….


Ah well, it’s done what, apparently, it was designed to do, which is get me to this point, far enough down the page to feel as if we’ve actually done something worthwhile…. We HAVE gone far enough to make this legal, which, as y’all know, is all we really care about…. As it now meets all state and federal regulations, nonexistent though they may be, we can use the opportunity that presents itself to make our escape…. Besides, I believe I may have just used up ALL of my ability to type for the day, just getting this done…. Oh, well…. I’m taking us down, ffolkes, so, you’d best hang on…..


Shall we Pearl?


“A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” — Oscar Wilde


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


One of the saving graces of humankind is our ability to make music…. classical, blues, jazz, it all expresses our nature, in one facet or another…. Here is the an example of the best of the blues, the one musical genre most likely to be of use to us in the coming years, as we learn how our own nature has been our undoing….




This Is The Blues – Volume 1



































 


 




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


As noted, my hands are done typing for the day, so, here is a discussion from the past, with all our favorite targets in attendance….


From 9/19/2013:


“A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt as dangerous.” — Alfred Alder


So, I was going to forgo a rant today, giving my back, and your brains, a bit of a break, but, when I went to peruse the news, I saw the latest discussion of what is happening in the House of Idiots in Washington, D.C., regarding the budget resolutions being discussed, wherein the possibility of a shutdown is threatened, if the Retardicans and Demobutts can’t come to some kind of compromise.


It seems the Retardicans are still upset about Obamacare, and the notion of helping the middle class, as well as the lower classes (gasp!), to obtain medical insurance coverage at a reasonable cost. This idea, of being fair and ethical, seems to have struck them in the wrong place, and they have been whining and complaining ever since it became law, frantically searching for ways to undermine the whole program, with the ultimate goal being to stop it altogether….


The entire issue, of course, is just smoke, to cover up the simple racism that these assholes won’t cop to…. It is STILL stuck in their craw that they somehow allowed a BLACK MAN to get elected to the highest public office. They have looked for, and desperately latched onto, every possible way they could find to block every piece of legislation the White House has espoused, no matter how much such legislation would help the public, ever since Obama was first elected.


The publicly stated goal of the Retardican Party in 2008, right after the election, was to make Obama a one-term President; having failed at that, their new goal became the eradication of ANY laws, or any beneficial reforms, that were accomplished during his administration…. Hence, the campaign against healthcare reform, which, ultimately, is not in their best interests, but, hey, who needs common sense?….


I’m almost too disgusted with the entire bunch of them, Retardicans and Demobutts both, to even continue this rant….The right wing continues to shoot itself, and the public, in the foot with their intransigent inflexibility, and their unreasoning paranoia about the POTUS, while the left side continues to wander around letting whatever the administration says or does go without question or review, as if somehow a man who was politician enough to get elected to the Senate, then the Presidency, all of a sudden became the world’s most truthful man…. Sorry, folks, it just doesn’t follow….. such trust in ANYONE who is an elected official in this country is plain silly, and doesn’t show much real common sense….


I see NO ONE in the public venue whom I would trust to make decisions for me, on ANY subject, much less those that can affect my life, and the quality of same…. Sorry, I just don’t see ANYONE who seems to be honestly interested in anything beyond their own agenda, and those agendas have nothing to do with mine, or what I see as beneficial for everyone…. They just don’t…..


I also, unfortunately, don’t have any viable solutions, which is why my rants often are short…. I mean, I do know what would help, and that is for everyone in the world who does have common sense to get together, join forces, and tell the assholes to stop…. But, they have guns, which they are practiced in using to get their way, whereas, most of US aren’t willing to contest matters on that level, so, that probably isn’t ever going to happen…. Not until more of our side are willing to use force to get our way, just as they have always done….


Since I don’t see it happening, we may as well just kiss our asses goodbye, because the eventual outcome of such idiocy is death, and I don’t mean individually, but rather, as a species…. Stupid is as stupid does, as somebody once said, and when I look around the world these days, stupid is pretty much all I see…..




Hell is the place of those who have denied;

They find there what they planted and what dug,

A Lake of Spaces, and a Wood of Nothing,

And wander there and drift, and never cease

Wailing for substance.


~~ William Butler Yeats ~~


~~ Responsibilities and Other Poems (1916).The Hour-Glass ~~




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


It has been said that intelligence is both a blessing, and a curse…. I’m here to testify….




Intelligent Crimes


The value of wit is often said to cause harm,

for those who think, such is its greatest charm.

The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled

if innovation and change is left unwilled.


Society behaves at its base as a mob

conformity and submission its primary job.

Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule

is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.


Intellect and talent are looked at askance,

expressing artistry stands nary a chance.

To stand out from the rest of mankind

is fraught with danger, for body and mind.


Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay

as beauty and joy are left by the way,

ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses

who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.


With shouts of derision the normals make known

their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.

They hope to stop all semblance of progress;

for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.


The world struggles on in spite of all opposition, 

managing to maintain its advanced position.

Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,

helping each to learn the survival dance.


Hard though it may be to keep up with the future

genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.

In the final analysis, those who live by reason

enjoy life the most, season to season.


~~ gigoid ~~




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


Thankfully, I had a few moments yesterday, (very few, in retrospect, but, enough….) when the pain was in abeyance sufficiently for me to spend some time perusing Smart Bee for some appropriate pearls…. Here is what we were able to come up with…. It’s all pretty good advice, or, at minimum, viewpoints worthy of examining as helpful; taken together, they all show us how to live as well as we can, from an ethical/moral standpoint….


“There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are unavoidably related in our minds with the state of things around us. Hence it is that people with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to preserve it as it is, while the  frustrated favor radical change. The tendency to look for all causes outside ourselves persists even when it is clear that our state of being is the product of personal qualities such as ability, character, appearance, health and so on.” — Eric Hoffer


“Let us treat men and women well; Treat them as if they were real; Perhaps they are.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)


CALLOUS, adj.  Gifted with great fortitude to bear the evils afflicting another. “When Zeno was told that one of his enemies was no more he was observed to be deeply moved.  “What!” said one of his disciples, “you weep at the death of an enemy?”  “Ah, ’tis true,” replied the great Stoic, “but you should see me smile at the death of a friend.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”


“A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” — Oscar Wilde


“It is impossible for a man to love his wife whole-heartedly without loving all women somewhat. I suppose that the converse must be true of women.” — Lazarus Long


“Loneliness is the poverty of the self.  Solitude is the richness of the self.” — May Sarton


“He preferred an honest man that wooed his daughter, before a rich man. “I would rather,” said Themistocles, “have a man that wants money than money that wants a man.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Themistocles


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


My normal (hah!) routine is shot to shit…. It is now 0330 in the AM, and this Pearl is done…. I’ve been up too long already, and may just go back to bed, in the forlorn hope of actually getting comfortable enough to sleep, with my hips, hands and shoulders all singing to me, a song of misery played on the strings of my nervous system…. Ah well, so much for another day in Hell…. No worries, I’ve got my ticket to Oblivion, right here in my pipe…. See y’all later, ffolkes…. maybe even tomorrow…..




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Visions of twisted shorts….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.”


~~ Montaigne ~~


pluto-new-horizons-art


     In the past two weeks, or a bit more, I’ve been experiencing an entirely new kind of pain, to add to the already ample amount I have each day from my back, and hips…. The weather seems to aggravate the arthritis, so, during the times when the barometer is reflecting the conditions which bring us precipitation, my hands, shoulders, and skeleton at large have begun to ache, severely, for long periods of time, ultimately reaching what seems to be a crescendo of pain, where my entire skeleton sings to me of its agony, in no uncertain terms…..


This pain is quite rude, too, in that it pretty much ignores anything I take for it…. The only help seems to come from edible cannabinoids, which is problematic, in that the dose needed to deter some of the effects of the aching joints is sufficient to make me very drowsy, and ready to sleep…. That might be okay, but, it happens in the middle of the day just as often as at night, and I can only sleep so much before even THAT causes more pain, from lying down too long….


Getting these Pearls done has been a nightmare of some proportion, much of the time…. I work on them a day ahead, doing as much as I can before the morning, so I don’t have to do much but write a few lines of introduction, then cut & paste the rest into the right formats for email, and for WordPress…. It seems to me to be a choppy way to compose, but, it’s been working, mostly, so, and, since I don’t have any choice, I’m good with it, as long as my readers are…. Not that there are so many of them it would cause a huge reaction, should I cease to write altogether…. my reason for writing isn’t for them, anyway…. I still don’t know where I’d be if not for this blog; getting a lot of this stuff out of my head has kept me sane for some time now….


So, why am I relating all this, which is probably TMI, anyway? I’m not sure, unless it’s to warn y’all I may not post every day from now on…. If I don’t, it will be because I am unable to write, not unwilling; I just wanted to make that clear…. It isn’t anything anyone should worry about; my pain is here to stay, so, it’s just something I must learn to deal with, no matter how bad it gets….. There is no cure for what ails me, as it goes along with aging…. and there’s no turning back the clock…. I don’t intend to let it keep me from doing what I want to do, so, I’m the one who must learn to cope with its effects….


That said, anyone out there who feels I should do things differently is welcome to say how; I probably won’t listen, but, you’re welcome to chime in with any suggestions you may have…. I’m of an age, and curmudgeon enough, I’ll most likely ignore anything that doesn’t fit in with what I already am doing, but, I’m compassionate enough to know it is well-intended, and will try not to make fun, or be derogatory in my responses…. It’s hard to be nice right now, much of the time, so, I do try to mitigate my responses to reflect less of my mood….


This much typing has taken me almost an hour, in short spurts, and I see I could keep going for almost ever…. but, I won’t…. I’ll mention that the picture, from Space.com, is an artist’s rendition of the Pluto research satellite, which NASA launched years ago; the craft has just been awakened from its hibernation to begin its research, as it is approaching the fly-by range of its cameras, coming ever closer to Pluto, and its companion moon/satellite, Charon after a long voyage from Earth orbit, through the entire solar system…. We humans are on the verge of real space travel, with the only question remaining the question of whether or not we will be extinct before we can get there….


For now, though, I’ve got a Pearl to finish, though it be made much of older, archived material…. which is all my hands will allow today….


Shall we Pearl?


“Slight not what’s near through aiming at what’s far.” — Euripides


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


Just a bit of easy listening to get me through the morning….







50 Golden Moments of Classical Music – The Best of Baroque – Klassische Musik 


































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




Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat,

Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe

That all was lost.


~~ John Milton (1608-1674) — Paradise Lost, Book ix, Line 782~~




http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/09/us-usa-cia-torture-idUSKBN0JM24I20141209?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews


http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/09/truth-guantanamo-torture-abu-wael-dhiab


Due to my inability to write enough to rant today, here is a shortened rant/old-school pearl from the archives, to highlight the idiocy/insanity implied in the above two articles, just two of hundreds on the subject in the news yesterday…. SIGH…. Same shit, different day….


From 8/9/2012:


Since I have already ranted, I’ll save you from another right away by giving this old school pearl…. These quotations all point in the same direction, and will lead eventually to yet another fine reason to mistrust the beloved ruling class…..




Then came the churches,

 then came the schools,

 then came the lawyers,

 then came the rules.


~~ Mark Knopfler ~~




“A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Picture of Dorian Grey”, 1891


“People are always talking about tradition, but they forget we have a tradition of a few hundred years of nonsense and stupidity, that there is a tradition of idiocy, incompetence and crudity.” — Hugo Demartini, in “Contemporary Artists”, 1977


“People are very open-minded about new things  — as long as they’re exactly like the old ones.” — Charles F. Kettering


The Government is my shepherd, I shall not work. It maketh me to lie down on good jobs. It leadeth me beside the still factories. It destroyeth my initiative;  It leadeth me in the paths of the parasite for politics sake; Yea, though I walk in the valley of Deficit Spending, I will fear no evil, For the Government is with me; its doles and its vote-getters they comfort me.  It prepareth an Economic Utopia for me by appropriating the earnings of my grandchildren.  It filleth my head with baloney, my inefficiency runneth over;  Surely the Government shall care for me all the days of my life And I shall live in a Fool’s Paradise forever. — The Government’s 23rd Psalm


“By definition, a government has no conscience. Sometimes it has a policy, but nothing more.” — Albert Camus


No matter how you vote, a government still gets elected. — Smart Bee


That should about do it, I think….. if nothing else, one may get a clear picture of how I feel about government…..


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


To go along with the above (not a) rant, and today’s apparent theme(s), here is another fine poem from Ogden Nash, telling it like it is….




À Bas Ben Adhem


My fellow man I do not care for.

I often ask me, What’s he there for?

The only answer I can find

Is, Reproduction of his kind.

If I’m supposed to swallow that,

Winnetka is my habitat.

Isn’t it time to carve Hic Jacet

Above that Reproduction racket?


To make the matter more succinct:

Suppose my fellow man extinct.

Why, who would not approve the plan

Save possibly my fellow man?

Yet with a politician’s voice

He names himself as Nature’s choice.


The finest of the human race

Are bad in figure, worse in face.

Yet just because they have two legs

And come from storks instead of eggs

They count the spacious firmament

As something to be charged and sent.


Though man created cross-town traffic,

The Daily Mirror, News and Graphic,

The pastoral fight and fighting pastor,

And Queen Marie and Lady Astor,

He hails himself with drum and fife

And bullies lower forms of life.


Not that I think much depends

On how we treat our feathered friends,

Or hold the wrinkled elephant

A nobler creature than my aunt.

It’s simply that I’m sure I can

Get on without my fellow man. 


~~ Ogden Nash ~~




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


This is the only fresh pearl today; even this was picked out in that haphazard fashion necessitated by dealing with unrelenting pain…. It didn’t come out too badly for all that, I think…. but, you can make your own judgment on that, can’t you?….


“Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.” — G. K. Chesterton, The Speaker, 12/15/00


“Our virtues and vices spring from one root.” — Goethe (1749-1832)


“The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.” — Shirley Maclaine


“It is not the one with many possessions who is rich, but the one who has no needs.” — Philoxenos


“It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


“A noble spirit disdaineth the malice of fortune; his greatness of Soul is not to be cast down.” — Akhenaton? (c. B.C. 1375)


“Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.” — Seneca


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


I suppose I should finish this…. By the time I finished that last pearl, I had to take a long break, to feel my hands again…. Never mind…. I’m done, and I can’t, at this point, say whether or not I’ll be back tomorrow…. I hope so, but, I’m not going to get my hopes up…. if you know what I mean…. See ya, ffolkes, some time or another…. maybe….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Sweating the small stuff is a big mistake….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“Beware lest clamor be taken for counsel.”


~~ Desiderius Erasmus ~~


10-1-2014 029


         Floundering, half-asleep, he gazes with incomprehension at the blank screen in front of him, sipping vacantly at the coffee in his hand. As he magic of the caffeine begins to smooth out his system, deep in early morning shock, it occurs to him he is retired…. so, why is he flogging himself each day to get up at 4-5 AM, to begin the process of opening a vein, preferably in a spot that won’t drip on the keyboard, and allowing some of the dross and drivel that has built up in his system to slowly leak out, hopefully with some degree of literary expertise, if not brilliance?…. In sooth, though, he often shoots for acceptable, or even tolerable, with varyiable degree of success….


There that’s enough of THAT nonsense…. Y’all might get the impression we were going to stay in the third, (or maybe the fourth…) person view, with its concomitant difficulty to maintain proper perspective, since the view isn’t personal…. Removing one’s view to another place than right there behind your eyes is a habit we are encouraged to use when writing, though I’m not exactly sure why it’s considered any more valuable than the first, second, or fifteenth person view…. There IS something to be said for the community view, though how one is to write it, I haven’t a clue, nor do I want one, thank you very much….


First, and second person view is quite complex enough for me, ffolkes…. Hell, it’s all I can do sometimes to BE the second person; I have a tendency to feel the first person view is the most valuable, as it is the ONLY one controlled fully by OUR ego, and our will…. Those don’t have a handy an effect on other ffolkes, or folks, whichever the case may be…. Plus, I find it’s easier to ran when in first-person mode, and, since the ranting section is the one most important for the purposes of this blog, and blogger, that has to take precedence of any misguided (i.e., someone else’s idea….) concept of what is considered stylish, or even good….


I mean, this isn’t Ibsen, or Bach, or even Hemingway…. it’s just gigoid, the dubious, spewing his doubts all over the place, and laughing at the threat of insanity…. for around here, we don’t suffer from insanity, we revel in it…. We do this because, a) we want to, b) it’s legally binding, c) it’s cheaper than professional therapy, and d) we can…. What other reasons do we need? None, nor are any forthcoming, though we are getting close to bailing out…. In fact, I’m assuming command, now, and making a command decision to remove us from this section, at once…. There’s the opening…. Pilot, do your duty…. and, y’all, well…. y’all had best hold on to something….


Shall we Pearl?


“Everything has got a moral if you can only find it.” — Lewis Carroll


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


I’ve been mostly in love with this artist since I first saw her perform live, in 1969, on my first trip to Winterland in San Francisco, during its heyday. She was the second act, behind Alice Cooper, who was a megastar then, while Tina was still struggling to make the grade, and still being held back, by Ike, her abusive asshole of a husband, and agent, until she finally got the strength to kick him to the curb, where he proceeded to complete his cycle of self-destruction, while she went on to become one of the biggest stars ever to grace the musical stage…. with good reason….. Nobody gives a show like Tina Turner; she gives every ounce of her soul to the audience…. Enjoy, ffolkes….




Tina Turner – Live in Barcelona 1990




































 




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


“You have to realize that the government, any government, is insane.  You have  to treat it the way pagans treated their gods:  As an irrational, capricious, and powerful entity which will mete out total destruction if not sacrificed to or otherwise placated.” — Mike Long (future Libertarian revolutionary)


About all I can think of to say to that is, yep…. Since that is ALL I can think of to say, here is a rant from early last year, but, on a subject currently on our list of rantable subjects…. It will, naturally, take the place of today’s scheduled rant, which is not happening…. Your guess is as good as mine, but, I’m going with “I’m lazy”, just so there is no argument from the critics, should this ever reach the public eye to any significant degree….


From April 21, 2013:


“A good indignation brings out all one’s powers.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


Ah, yes, it does indeed….. This is the principle of human nature I exploit when I rant…. Well, I try, anyway…. It seems as if Ralph Waldo had the inclination to rant strike him on occasion, and, competent observer that he was, he examined how it made him feel, and act when he was in ranting mode. When in full flight, ranting makes one feel ten feet tall, able to leap arguments with a single quote, impervious to sarcasm or belittling remarks, and capable of chewing up the toughest pundit and spitting him out, before breakfast….. Whether or not one could actually do so doesn’t matter in the slightest, for it is what we THINK we can do that determines what we CAN do…. Like the dragons of Pern, who could lift any weight when flying, as long as they thought they could….


“Whenever you eliminate the inedible, whatever remains, however unpalatable, must be food.” — Smart Bee


Now, this is a truism; much as it seems like levity, it is quite serious, being a disguised version of a truth uttered by Sherlock Holmes, about Truth, to wit: “As I have previously stated, Watson, when one has eliminated the impossible, what remains, however unlikely, must be the truth.” (God, I hope I quoted it right… I’m lazy, and used the version in my head, rather than googling it to make sure…. but, I’m 100% positive that my paraphrase, if it be such, is completely accurate, in terms of meaning…..) Ranting is an area where this principle is key; it really doesn’t make sense to rant about something that isn’t true, unless the falsity is the actual subject of the rant…. as the following aphorism implies….


“It is a substantial advantage for any philosophy to be based on the truth.” — George Santayana


Of course, this doesn’t mean that being right will make reality conform to how we wish it to be. Much of the world, if not all, is controlled by a group of people who lie, constantly, without shame, completely indifferent to how it affects others, as long as their own needs are met first. But, they only do so because most of the public believes their lies, for the simple reason that it is too hard to believe otherwise. If they begin to see the truth of how they are controlled, they become frightened, often to the point of violence, because they don’t want to know the truth…. unless it comes from a suit on TV…..


“Given a sufficient number of people and an adequate amount of time, you can create insurmountable opposition to the most inconsequential idea.” — Devyver’s law


This is truth, too, sad as it may seem…. The general public will believe just about anything they are told, usually without any sort of critical thought applied to testing its veracity, if it is presented in a manner to which they are accustomed to being told what to do…. If the guy on the six o’clock news says it will rain money, most folks in this country would start looking for a barrel to catch it in, and wonder if it would rain in bills, or in coins… I kid you not…..


This may seem as if I have a poor opinion of the average intelligence of the average American, and in that estimation you would be absolutely correct…. I can say this with complete confidence, as it is a proven fact that the average American’s IQ is below the average for the human race at large….. fact, ffolkes, not supposition…. Of course, I could be lying, but, if so, you can just chalk it up to their bad influence…. If they can use untrue ‘facts’ to prove their assertions, I can, too….


Besides, I can show you almost 50 MILLION pieces of proof of my assertion, without having to look further than the Presidential election last year…. In that election, almost fifty million people voted for Mitt Romney, proof positive that they would believe ANYTHING…. How else could they decide to vote for a man who was PROVEN to have lied during the campaign (independent fact checking organizations showed that he lied just about 50% of the time, or, put more simply, every other time he spoke, he lied…), and indicated, on tape, his complete disdain for over half the people in the country?


It is such an incredibly huge number, it just isn’t possible to understand how gullible people can be, when one sees this statistic, (50 million votes for an asshole….). It is equally hard to believe that so many of our peers are this incredibly dumb, but, truth will out, as it always does….. It also speaks to the number of truly bigoted, racist people that are still in this country, hiding behind their cowardice, and their misguided, ignorant patriotism…. but, that’s a subject for another rant….. (All stupid people aren’t bigots and racists, but ALL bigots and racists are stupid people…..)


“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” — Lazarus Long


You won’t get a better, more clear warning than that; on that note, I proclaim this rant, such as it was, to be complete…..


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


As it always seems with Charles’ poetry, it is almost TOO real to be comfortable…. He had a very strong knack for describing life in no uncertain terms, none of which were comfortable, in spite of their close fit to reality….. Enjoy, if you can….




True Story


they found him walking along the freeway

all red in

front

he had taken a rusty tin can

and cut off his sexual

machinery

as if to say —

see what you’ve done to

me? you might as well have the

rest.


and he put part of him

in one pocket and

part of him in

another

and that’s how they found him,

walking

along.


they gave him over to the

doctors

who tried to sew the parts

back

on

but the parts were

quite contented

the way they

were.


I think sometimes of all of the good

ass

turned over to the

monsters of the

world.


maybe it was his protest against

this or

his protest

against

everything.


a one man

Freedom March

that never squeezed in

between

the concert reviews and the

baseball

scores.


God, or somebody,

bless

him. 


~~ Charles Bukowski ~~




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


Today’s final section will be as fresh as it’s going to get today; all but three of these pearls were picked fresh from Smart Bee’s database, just for y’all…. Well, getting done had a little to do with it, but, really, mostly, it’s for y’all….. Honest… Come on, now, I’m no bloody politician…. I tell the truth well over half the time…. Besides, if this works out the way I’m intending, it’s all good advice, from one viewpoint, or another….


“Be cheerful while you are alive.” — Phathotep (24th Century B.C.)


“Beware lest clamor be taken for counsel.” — Desiderius Erasmus


“You are all depending for your spirituality on someone else, for your happiness on someone else, for your enlightenment on someone else…. You have been accustomed to being told how far you have advanced, what is your spiritual status. How childish! Who but yourself can tell you if you are incorruptible?… I desire those, who seek to understand me, to be free … from the fear of religion, from the fear of salvation, from the fear of spirituality, from the fear of love, from the fear of death, from the fear of life itself…. You can form other organizations and expect someone else. With that I am not concerned, nor with creating new cages, new decorations for those cages. My only concern is to set men absolutely, unconditionally free.” — Krishnamurti (1895-1986) From his last speech to the Theosophical Society


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


“Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” — Sigmund Freud


“Fool! said my muse to me, look in thy heart, and write.” — Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) — Astrophel and Stella, i


“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.” — Francis Bacon


With the final words of Francis Bacon ringing in my ears, justifying all I do here, I shall take my leave….


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


I am still half-asleep, it seems, yet, I have completed this Pearl, in good time, no less. Go figure….. I am, as can be seen, clueless as to how that came to be, so, I think it’d be best for me to just fade quietly into the background, and let y’all get on with your day…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, probably with a bit more oomph available for use…. I still have Emily’s feathers….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Nuke those gum drops before they’re served, please….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“No falsehood lingers into old age.”


~~ Sophocles (406 BC) ~~


rosetta-spacecraft-comet-landing-release


     In response to the quote, from Sophocles, I would say, “except, perhaps, those we tell to ourselves.” That simple fact may be part of the problem, wouldn’t you think?….. Ah well….


In coming centuries, should we survive to see them, the Philae lander, (which you see above in an artist’s rendering of its descent to the comet on which it tried to land, taken from Space.com’s coverage of the event), may become the subject of a number of jokes, described as “Philae, the Bouncing Bot”, or other such inane nicknames, a result of the comical way it managed to complete its landing sequence…. Thanks to the unknown physical demands of the landing, onto a comet moving at great speed, the silly thing managed to bounce three times before coming to a complete rest on the surface, a sequence of events not realized until the pictures from the mother-ship had been analyzed….


What a ride, eh? Zooming along through space, trying to land on a rock, only to find itself on a make-shift carnival ride…. Too bad it didn’t have any human riders to give us a play-by-play description of how it felt to be bouncing over the surface of a speeding rock through the depths of space… As it was, we were barely able to find the poor wee ‘bot where it ended up on the surface, finally spotting it shortly before its batteries gave out. The information it was able to transmit to the scientists at the EU Space Center, of the single drilling sample it was able to perform, was sent to the center just before it said “Nighty night”, and went to sleep, perhaps never to wake again….


Since there is only a small chance of it ever doing so, we’ll leave our species’ latest technological wonder to rest in peace, and hope it passes through enough sunlight on its trip around the Sun to be able to wake up & reestablish contact with Earth. Until then, we’ll just tell it, “Well done, little ‘bot!”, and get on with today’s Pearl…. Hey, we’ve got to get started some time, right? Right…. Now seems like a good time….


Since we’ve already come down the page a ways, I think we’ll take what we’ve been given, and run to the bank to deposit what may be left by the time we get there…. Not that we’re going to sweat much over an imaginary deposit in an imaginary bank, but, it deserves a mention, if only to fill in just a few more lines…. Pretty cool the way I slipped those in there, isn’t it? I’m getting fairly adept at this, I think…. Other times, I’m sure I’m deluding myself, and, since I haven’t a clue as to how to figure out which is true, we’ll pretend I never said anything about it, and take the opening into the rest of the Pearl that is looming just ahead….  In fact, DUCK!….


Whew, almost hit the overhead lights on that pass…. Oh well, we made it, and we’re here, so, lets’ get on with it…..


Shall we Pearl?


“In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong.” — John Kenneth Galbraith, Guardian (London, 28 July 1989)


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


I don’t know about y’all, but, I love Van Morrison’s music, always have…. Here’s a bunch of it…. Enjoy this little trip through the past, ffolkes, or else….




Van Morrison- BBC Four Sessions 2008







































 


 




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


I’m not late, but, the news is currently pretty boring, and, more importantly, I AM quite lazy…. Hence, another blast from the past…. This one isn’t a rant, per se, though it shows some rant-like qualities…. I think we’ll label this one a ‘discussion’….


From 10/22/2012:


“Don’t ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun — and neither can stop the march of events.” — Lazarus Long, from Time Enough For Love, by Robert Heinlein


As with many important truths, this one does not comfort one to know it; a common attribute of remarks by Lazarus, who has a tendency to voice the truth regardless of its potential, or even certain, effect on the audience. And, damn it, it is just so much simpler to let all the bad stuff hold sway on our attention, and give in to the depressive urge to berate and chastise the universe for its lack of tact and consideration for human sensibilities. It never listens, anyway….


My semi-rant in section one today is a perfect example of this principle at work; I do try to maintain some optimism in the face of reality; I even have learned to try to explain away all the weird stuff, as being outside the statistical universe under consideration. It’s a lie, but it’s my lie, so I usually can buy into it, long enough to allow denial to set in, and thus preventing the otherwise inevitable depression over how bad things have gotten…..


Actually, right now, it’s fairly simple to stay completely distracted, as we always have the election, and all the shenanigans taking place on that stage, to draw our attention away from the imminent demise we face as a species, or even, more importantly, our personal concerns of everyday living. It’s easy to deny the inevitability of carbon monoxide pollution when we have Mitt the Twitt’s lies to chase down, or Biden’s latest zinger to admire, or Lyin’ Ryan’s latest example of elitism to watch with dropped jaw….. It’s a veritable circus, and the clowns are in full swing….


(Note from 2014: This was written during the 2012 campaign leading to the national election, with Mitt, the Twit, Romney, cluelessly running against Barry the Obama, who was seeking his second term at the helm….)


It’s not just the candidates providing the entertainment, either…. every Tom, Dickwad, and Mary is chiming in with their two cents, on TV, radio, and, most prodigiously, on the Internet, all trying to get SOMEONE to listen to them during the run-up to the election. Those two cents can get very, very strange, as each commenter tries to make the most outrageous statements and/or claims/accusations about all the actors on stage, providing a whole new package of entertainment for us, each one vying for our attention at the top of their lungs, figuratively speaking…..


This is where the metaphor of the circus gains its credibility, although, more accurately, I am reminded by this, most emphatically, of just about any carnival at the County Fairs I’ve been to….. Disheveled, sinister-looking barkers, complete with suspenders and a cigar in their mouth, yelling out the prizes they promise, each one grander than the next, and easy as pie to win: exotic visions that promise endless satisfaction of desires, enormously valuable jewels and objet’s d’art for virtually nothing, and endless illusions to draw the eye away from the seediness and underlying, almost frenetic despair permeating the air….


Yes, indeed, the political scene here in America has always reminded me of a carnival, and the events and activities that prompt my impression of the election as an illusionary device, designed to fool the public into thinking that things will change if they vote, has never been stronger than it is now. I have hope that by voting against the obviously evil side of the campaign, the overall effect on the immediate future will be mitigated to some degree. But, I can find within me very little hope that the eventual outcome is in doubt, and that outcome is not one that anyone is going to like…. at all.


My optimism is fairly natural to me; I’ve always been a hopeful kind of person, and I continue to hold hope that mankind’s future will extend beyond this century, groundless as it may be. My pessimism, unfortunately, has the advantage of having the most evidence in it’s favor right now, even if Obama wins the election, as I expect he will. He is only one man, and the course of human events is very difficult to change once it is headed in a particular direction. My hope is based on the wish that more than just he will learn to make the inner changes needed for us all to survive the storms that are coming…. A slim hope, yes, but hey, it happens to be all we’ve got…..


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


Here is a piece of my own poetry, written during a period of contemplation of current events, (of that time, of course….), of the most personal kind, in which I managed to include much of my own philosophy, truncated into verse, right in the very last stanza…. Go figure….




Raging at Aging


As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,

custom assures such vision will carry us far.

Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold

it’s really quite painful, and very, very cold.


The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth

desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.

Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth

as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.


As physical powers fade from this fragile shell, 

we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.

The strength that once filled our bones and hearts

is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.


Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice

no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.

Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,

failing to do so, our only way to lose.


Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,

always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.

One must accept reality, for it’s true at the core,

all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.


~~ gigoid ~~




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


As I begin to write this section, I have no clue as to what I’ll find today in SB…. In fact, that may be the way to go…. Right, we’ll do it…. This pearl will be ALL Smart Bee’s choices, on any subject it cares to pick, as long as it makes a point of some kind…. Let’s see what happens with such a loose set of parameters….


“In everything one must consider the end.” — J. de La Fontaine (1621-1695) — The Fox and the Gnat, Book iii, Fable 5


“A multiple personality is in a certain sense normal.” — George H. Mead


“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


“Better be ignorant of a matter than half know it.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 865


“It is not love of self, but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict the world.” — Eric Hoffer


“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” — G. K. Chesterton, TREMENDOUS TRIFLES


A soldier told Pelopidas, “We are fallen among the enemies.” Said he, “How are we fallen among them more than they among us?” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Pelopidas


“Even while a thing is in the act of coming into existence, some part of it has already ceased to be.” — Marcus Aurelius


“This and a great deal more like it I have had to put up with.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act iv, Sc. 6, 8, (746.)


Hmm…. Well, I’m not entirely sure what it means, but, I like it. It’s done, too, making it perfect….


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


Whew! That went fairly well, all things considered…. Today’s Pearl has been brought to you by the number 2, by the letter J, and by those generous folks three houses down whose internet service I’ve been stealing for weeks…. Just kidding, but. hey, it isn’t unusual for me to be a bit giddy when I’m finished…. Perhaps this would be a good time to make my break for freedom…. Say goodnight, Gracie….


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


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
We never thought of corn flakes….

			
						

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Ffolkes,




“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.”


~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~


11-15-2014 001 (2)


     The tree you see above is a gorgeous old black pepper tree a few blocks from where I live…. Its massive trunk is of a width that indicates it MUST be over a hundred years old, yet it still drips with the small red colored peppercorns that furnish us with such a basic element of quality to our food…. I for one would NOT like to think of a world without black pepper, to bring perfect balance to the salt our bodies need, and crave, an essential ingredient to make our food taste so much better, there is literally no comparison to food without such enhancement…


Looking at such a beautiful old tree makes me sad, to think about how long it has graced that corner, and its coming death from climate change issues…. which is a perfect lead-in statement for a rant, but, doesn’t promise good things for this introduction. Shoot, I’d been hoping to avoid any such ranting in this section; I’m not dressed for it, for one thing, and for another, I’m still half-bloody-asleep…. the coffee doesn’t seem to be quite doing the trick this morning…. It must be the shoes…


Well, perhaps not…. More likely, it’s just the way it is, on these mornings when my blood sugar is a bit slow to level out…. Hmm, I wonder if that has anything to do with the new diabetic control medicine I’m taking; sometimes it can take a while to see all the effects from a new medication. I doubt it, though… it’s supposed to help regulate the way my body processes sugar, so, it shouldn’t make it take that process too far…. What would be the point of that, when the whole purpose is to stabilize, not send it careening up and down like a roller coaster? None, as far as I can see….


Not that the American medical society would pay much heed to that, if the stats could be manipulated to show the pills work the way they want it to; how many times have we seen the pharmacy companies rush a new drug into production, only to find it has bad side effects? I’m not sure of the exact number, but, let me assure you, they don’t much care if a medicine is dangerous, as long as they can make a nice profit from it before they have to pull it from the shelves…. SIGH…. There I go again, don’t I?….


Perhaps it would be best to just get out of the intro, and get on with the rest of today’s mess, before this turns yet again toward one of the groups of assholes who plague us in our daily lives, and are slowly, steadily, killing us all with their intransigent avarice, greed, and lust for power…. They’re just such a good target, it’s hard to resist…. Well, that, plus their all-too-regular acts of idiocy, and their massively stupid proclamations of intent, have a tendency to bury us, daily, if not more often, in a flood of bullshit, lies, and manipulations, designed to keep us distracted, and too busy being afraid to look too closely at what they are actually doing….


For now, though, my hands are getting numb, and my shoulder is killing me…. so, I’m going to take a short break, while the necessary elements of style, and requisite degree of angst and passion are cultivated, stoked, and harvested, all of which takes some time, as well as concentration…. In short, I’m taking us outta here, now…. Hang on, we’re goin’ in!….


Shall we Pearl?


“When you have secured an area, don’t forget to tell the enemy.” — Murphy’s Military Laws, #19


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


I’ve always enjoyed Rod Stewart’s music, ever since first hearing his breakout hit, Maggie Mae, sometime back in the late sixties or early seventies….. So, here is a concert of his for today’s video entertainment…. I like to go to the You Tube pages for the shows I find, to see what other groups or artists they have in the suggested videos on the side of the pages…. It’s like an endless list of artists from my past, and I never know who I might see over there…. For example, just on this page, you will find other shows by artists such as Do Wop groups from the sixties, seventies, and beyond, Cher, Adele, Lionel Ritchie, Elton John, and a number of others…. Any who, y’all enjoy the show….







Rod Stewart One Night Only full concert Live at Royal Albert Hall 2004


































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


Ooh, ooh! I found a perfect opening quote for a rant on politics, especially if either our beloved Barry the Obama, or, even better, if the most visible member of the evil empire, the senator from that bastion of ignorance, Kentucky’s own Mitch the Clueless, last of the Dickless Ones, whose last name forever escapes me, (oh, right, it’s McConnell, I think… something like that….) have been living up to their usual level of asininity….


“This ASEXUAL PIG really BOILS my BLOOD…  He’s so..so…..URGENT!!” — Zippy the Pinhead


Isn’t that just deliciously vicious? And, so vaguely insulting, the pig to whom one might apply it might not, at first, even realize they’ve been insulted…. I can see it now, with some chic reporter from an overseas bureau commenting on some idiotic statement, by asking them why they must be so ‘urgent’ in all their acts of stupidity…. to which either of them may or may not reply…


Right after finding Zippy’s cogent exclamation, I found this great lead-in quote for a nice little rant against those hypocritical manipulators of the public’s fears, our old friends, the dogma dogs….


You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.


— Rev. John William Henry Boetcker


Have you ever seen a more egregiously sycophantic statement as this?… It very nearly stumbles over into pandering, and, if truth be told, serves to remind me of nothing so much as a mental image I’ve had before…. I envision a priest, or preacher, or, as I like to call them, a dogma dog, kneeling in front of a pundit/talking head (or, alternately, kneeling under the desk in front of the talking head), mouth firmly clamped around their private member, head bobbing, with an adoring look in their eyes, chanting “use me, hurt me, make me eat dirt!”….  Meanwhile, the talking head smiles at a camera, & waves politely to the unwashed masses looking on in horror….


To my mind, it’s a perfect representation of the reality our culture presents, with the BRC, owned and manipulated by the corporate snakeheads, blindly propped up in power by fawning religious sycophants, who preach salvation to the great unwashed masses, in solemn trade for obedience to temporal authority, augmented in their efforts by their myrmidons, the police and military, who are ever ready to supply any amount of violence needed to keep the animals in their pens, slaving away at their masters’ behest….


“Power, like the diamond, dazzles the beholder, and also the wearer; it dignifies meanness; to what is contemptible, it gives authority; to what is low, exaltation.” — Smart Bee


Bah, humbug! My urge to rant is strong, and my anger is great….  Unfortunately for me, (though probably good for y’all….), my hands are giving out rapidly again, making the composition of an adequately large number of epithets and specific curses somewhat problematic, from a physical standpoint…. This is, perhaps, lucky for y’all, as I felt a really BIG rant in there…. Instead, I’ll sublimate the urge into putting together an old school indictment of the assholes under discussion….


Here then are the best Smart Bee can find today, all intended to draw metaphorical blood from talking heads, dogma dogs, and/or faceless myrmidons, as they exist in the wilds of Washington D.C., and the larger urban centers in Amurrica….


“Stupidity is not a handicap … ask a Conservative!” — Smart Bee


“Delay is the deadliest form of denial.” — Parkinson’s Law of Delay


“The Founding Fathers warned us about this!” — Smart Bee


“The Texas Legislature, God forbid, will be with us again shortly, thus depriving many a village of its idiot.” — Molly Ivins


“Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness *positively*, by uniting our affections, the latter *negatively*, by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last is a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one….” — Thomas Paine, opening lines of _Common Sense_ 1776 — *asterisks denote Paine’s use of italics*


“1) Don’t cheat.   2) If you do cheat, don’t get caught.” — Opening lines, US Senate Orientation Manual


“CONGRATULATIONS!  Now should I make thinly veiled comments about  DIGNITY, self-esteem, and finding TRUE FUN in your RIGHT VENTRICLE??”

— Zippy the Pinhead


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


For two days now, my hands and shoulders have been informing me of their disapproval of the recent temperature and weather changes; in spite of all the medications I take, which includes magic cream, they tend to ache, and ache, and ache some more, much of the day…. This, as you may guess, makes typing somewhat of a challenge…. This, in turn, makes me use my archived material more often, a habit which, while convenient, does little to relieve the pressure inside my head…. It also makes what happens here less than amenable to outside influences… In short, I don’t want to place any of the blame for all of this on anyone else…. Today’s blast is from the relatively recent past,  a poem that describes well how this works for me…. or not, depending on how one listens to its message…. It seems long, but, it really isn’t; it’s just long….




Retrospective, defined in folly….


Yesterday

I wrote a poem.


It bled out of my head,

like I’d been struck with

an axe,

right through the artery, 

in the neck,

spraying blood around

everywhere,

like a pulsing garden hose….


It hurt, at first,

then came the feeling,


of quick relief,

of timeless beauty,

 

of pain avenged,

of lust aroused,


of outrage aflame,

of deep compassion,


of endless empathy,

of truest love….


Now it’s gone, cast away

like pearls before twine.


(Grin…)


You thought

I was going to call you

a pig,

didn’t you?


Hah!


Well, you’re not.

You’re a person.


I know, because

you’re reading this poem…

if that’s what it is.

I think it is, 

so,

maybe it is. 


Or, maybe,

it will be,

someday, when it

grows up, 

and learns to rhyme.

Whew…

Just in time…..


That’s all.

Reality often sucks wind,

y’know?


S’okay, though….

It keeps us busy,

and out of some of the

mischief,

so much part

of our 

nature.


We all can do

only what we

do.


Or, don’t.


Two sides, one coin.


~~ gigoid ~~




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


Today’s old school pearl will be random, harlequin style, with parameters picked out by Smart Bee…. Honest, I had very little to do with this, so, you can’t blame me for it…. Well, not entirely, anyway…..


FOOL, n.  A person who pervades the domain of intellectual speculation and diffuses himself through the channels of moral activity.  He is omnific, omniform, omnipercipient, omniscient, omnipotent.  He it was who invented letters, printing, the railroad, the steamboat, the telegraph, the platitude and the circle of the sciences.  He created patriotism and taught the nations war — founded theology, philosophy, law, medicine and Chicago.  He established monarchical and republican government.  He is from everlasting to everlasting — such as creation’s dawn beheld he fooleth now.  In the morning of time he sang upon primitive hills, and in the noonday of existence headed the procession of being.  His grandmotherly hand was warmly tucked-in the set sun of civilization, and in the twilight he prepares Man’s evening meal of milk-and-morality and turns down the covers of the universal grave.  And after the rest of us shall have retired for the night of eternal oblivion he will sit up to write a history of human civilization.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”


“If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” — Lin Yutang


“Who does not trust enough will not be trusted.” — Lao Tzu


“I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature.  They are all alike founded on fables and mythology.” — Thomas Jefferson


“George Washington, as a boy, was ignorant of the commonest accomplishments of youth.  He could not even lie.” — Mark Twain


“To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question.” — Edward Abbey


“You can lead a yak to water but you can’t teach an old dog to make a silk purse out of a pig in a poke.” — Opus


Hmm…. It seems Smart Bee had a few comments to make on Life at Large….. Not bad, all in all…. it can stay….


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


It seems a trifle strange to consider, given our opening status today, but, I do believe we’ve done it again…. It certainly LOOKS done; I’ll do a quick proof, and get back to you on that, okay?…. I love it when I’m right; since it happens so seldom in any significant arena of existence, I’ll take it. Not only that, but, I’ll take it, and run with it…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless somebody talks me out of it….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….