Intrepid persistence….

Posted on September 4, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The greatest happiness you can have
is knowing that
you do not necessarily require happiness.”

~~ William Saroyan ~~

Irish Buskers in the Spanish Arch, Galway…

Hajime…. In the recent past, I’ve been unable to write, thanks, mostly, to the debilitating heat we’ve been stifled by for the last week, beaten down into semi-conscious, lethargic creatures, able only to sweat and pant. It finally broke last night, & the next week promises to be some nice weather, relatively speaking. One can only heave a sigh of relief, & get on with life, trying to catch up to all we’ve left undone in our stupor.

For today’s offering, I’ve managed to piece together some decent material, with some fine old music to read by, and a most excellent group of pearls to finish things off. All in all, despite the continuing lack of ranting (which still strikes me as too futile to spend any time on….), it’s not bad, offering, like cats, no corners to the winds of fate. Given my recent dearth of creativity, I can only applaud the fact it got done, without any foolish forays into predicting its quality. In fact, I’ll say, simply, what you see is what you get, & leave it at that, as one cannot be any more precise without the risk of uttering falsehoods. Wouldn’t want any of that, now, would we? No, of course we wouldn’t….

What I can do is show a bit of sense, as well as courtesy, by bringing this ‘sort of an intro’ to a rapid close, so we can get on with the task at hand. I’ll use one of my oldest techniques, which I used to call ‘old number four’, but, now, I just call it Harold. Don’t ask, just take it & run for the border. That’s what I’m gonna do; watch….

Shall we Pearl?….

“In the beginning, God created the Earth
and he said, “Let there be mud.”
And there was mud.
And God said, “Let Us make living creatures out of mud,
so the mud can see what we have done.”
And God created every living creature that now moveth,
and one was man.
Mud-as-man alone could speak.
“What is the purpose of all this?” man asked politely.
“Everything must have a purpose?” asked God.
“Certainly,” said man.
“Then I leave it to you to think of one for all of this,” said God.
And He went away.”

~~ Kurt Vonnegut, Between Time and Timbuktu” ~~

***************************************

Jackson Browne

Image from the HoustonPress.com via Google Images

While cruising You Tube for music, I found some videos & audio files from this artist, one I’ve enjoyed for more years than I can count. Well, not really; it’s been close to fifty years, as he became prominent when I was in college, in 1968. I, among others, consider him one of the most underrated songwriters in the business, and a great live performer. Yes, it’s another blast from the past; when it’s this good, who cares?…. Enjoy!….

***************************************

Jackson Brown
Running on Empty

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Augmentation: Inner Aye

Distant, peals of thunder, vividly.
Closer, a patter of rain, falling gravidly.
Between the light and the darkness of fear
find merely the remnants of one lonely tear.

Do not hate us, though we have not sinned;
eager for courage, upon whom all hope is pinned.
Tales of insolence, hatred, or fallen virtue
fill us up, not down, in such pristine foreign venue.

Capable hands severed, able hands tied;
the future is angry, all but now denied.
Multiple times, warnings sounded across the pale
nobody heard, nobody came to tell the tale.

Gifted by time, salience fails in epic rhyme;
watchmakers watching, each a separate crime.
Logical solutions refuse to emulsify
forever pretending to cruelly crucify.

Blood will fly alongside pertinent composure,
never seeking, never finding tea, or closure.
Falsely laid trails on mountains of gold
imply no happy endings, no fortunes told.

Ages past have no time for repetition;
further chances only lead to perdition.
Destiny feels a shameful portion of guilt,
for a thousand sand castles, never built.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/2/2016

***************************************

Naked Pearls

True keys to success in Life….

*******

“Do not eat your heart.”

~~ Pythagoras ~~

*******

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.”

~~ William Arthur Ward ~~

*******

“If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

~~ Thumper (1942) ~~

*******

“Let him that would move the world, first move himself.”

~~ Socrates ~~

*******

“Practice random beauty and senseless acts of love.”

~~ Ancient Hippie proverb ~~

*******

“If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.”

~~ Lucy Larcom ~~

*******

“Here is the test
to find whether your mission on Earth is finished:
if you’re alive, it isn’t.”

~~ Richard Bach ~~

*******

***************************************

Though I can’t say it’s the best Pearl ever, I can say, it’s done, which relegates it to the category we love the most, to wit, ‘ready to post’…. Let’s do that, before I lose my nerve, or, regain my senses. I’m off to see the lizard; y’all are, as usual, on your own from this point. Y’all stay strange out there; we does our best to provide y’all with an example, and then hope for the best. See ya, probably sooner than you think….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Emergent elucidation….

Posted on August 3, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Do you imagine that the universe is agitated?
Go out into the desert at night and look up at the sky.
This practice should answer the question.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

Yet another iconic view of SF from the Bay….

Hajime…. A few days ago, I posted a fresh Pearl, followed by a couple days of re-blogs, as I recovered from the physical exertion of babysitting my granddaughter for a full day. Lovely time, but, exhausting…. Now, I’m finding it difficult to explain why, for the past two days, and very nearly this morning, I have completely blown off writing, or posting, at all, in favor of seeking my bliss, so to speak.

My search brought me to the realization I am craving life. Not any life, but, the life that exists when one engages fully in the world outside one’s own sphere…. walking, interacting with people, singing, dancing, playing my guitar, cooking for someone…. all those human activities that reinforce our own humanity by being with other humans. I’m even making plans to attend a local Shakespeare festival, where I hope to reconnect with another part of me I’ve neglected over time…. There is something about live theater that speaks to some part of my soul, even when I don’t particularly care for the play (as I’ve noted, Will was overrated, as a writer, to some degree…brilliant, in spots, but, balanced by a LOT of just plain crap).

I’ve spent a lot of time immersing myself in music, particularly listening to new artists, which I have been exploring on You Tube… I would add, that is the ONLY computer time I’ve been pursuing, ignoring all inner prompts to write; what I found has astounded me, as well as providing some hope, ill-advised as such may be, for humanity’s future, should we be able to survive the consequences of attempting to assert our nature on the rest of reality. If only we could place the same energy and passion we put into music into being rational in our dealings with each other, our chances of surviving into the next century would be greatly enhanced.

The problem I now face is deciding whether I want to continue blogging, at all. For years now, I’ve depended on this process to furnish a large portion of rationality with which I try to face Life at Large; it’s kept me relatively sane now for over six years, and well over a thousand posts, & more than a million original words. (Killed at least one keyboard too; even the new one is now missing letters, as I continue to pound away at this poor old machine….). I’ve met a lot of great people, & made some friends I know I’ll have the rest of my life. But, the satisfaction I get from posting a good one seems less important now; making contact with reality, rather than cyber-reality, seems more attractive to my soul/spirit.

What this means for the future of Exploring Consensual Reality remains to be decided; I am unable to completely stop writing. I’d as soon stop breathing, for writing is now as necessary to my peace of mind as the drawing of a clear breath. But, I’m thinking I may post less often, for I intend to make some rather sweeping changes to my daily routine, as I become more physically able to meet the challenges of interacting fully with Life. Walking, playing music, interacting with people, all will assume a greater significance as part of each day, which will, naturally, reduce the number of hours spent hunched over my keyboard, releasing my angst.

So, for those who may wish to converse more often than I may be posting, I’ll point out my email address is in my profile, and I love to write letters; always have, & email makes it even easier than the USPS ever did to stay in touch with those we love…. I’ll be posting, but, perhaps, not so frequently as in the past… I’ll also be spending less time surfing the Net, & more time walking in the real world. As Edward Abbey, one of my favorite modern philosophers, has said, when you walk, the world gets bigger… I’ve still got a LOT of the world to see, so, I guess I’d better get to hoofin’ it, before I can’t walk at all.

For now, let’s go see what I managed to put together while in the midst of all the rest of this; if naught else, you might be happy to know the poem I’ve been slowly leaking is finally done, so, that’s something, eh?….

Shall we Pearl?….

“What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea.
It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience,
something that never has been
and never could have been experienced by anyone else.”

~~ Joseph Campbell ~~

***************************************

Louisa Johnson

~ Image from You Tube via Google Images ~

Below, you’ll find a compilation of the performances this young woman gave during her journey to winning the X-Factor talent competition in 2015. Her initial performance, at the televised audition for the show, will, I predict, completely blow you away, right from the very first note she sings. As the performances follow, you will witness the emergence of a star-to-be, as she blooms into herself. The last few numbers, as with all of them, show her growth as a vocal artist, as well as her growing self-confidence.

It is, to me, a delightful journey, with some of the most compelling, completely mesmerizing vocal performances I’ve EVER seen, from ANY artist. I hope you enjoy her music as much as I have; you’ll be hearing it for many years to come, I am sure….

***************************************

Louisa Johnson
X-Factor Journey 2015

***************************************

Satisfaction guaranteed….

Dreaming, we awaken the dawn;
singing, dancing, composing a rhyme
to greet each new moment, to spawn,
negotiating unreality, seeking the sublime.

Down deep, deeper, daring to clamber
where unconscious dreams haunt relentlessly,
past reason, into the sleeper’s dark chamber
the siren calls, yearning endlessly….

Answers we seek so assiduously hover quietly
around the nearest relevant scenery,
alert to any pertinent intent, inherently
absorbed in metaphor, soberly sedentary.

Proportionate allegory, even the plainly mundane,
though among our most powerful tools,
must remember, the map is not the terrain;
first among Nature’s most basic Rules.

Awakened, craving Life in every fiber of being,
seeking to find the grace of the muses,
reaching back into primitive emotion, seeing
at last, Life never, ever refuses.

~~ gigoid ~~

8/3/2017

***************************************

Naked Pearls

The fruit of the vine….

*******

“Sometimes it takes great effort to discover
that life was meant to be effortless.”

~~ Anonymous ~~

*******

“The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.”

~~ Albert Schweitzer ~~

*******

“Failure is instructive.
The person who really thinks
learns quite as much from his failures
as from his successes.”

~~ John Dewey ~~

*******

“Be careless in your dress if you will, but keep a tidy soul.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

*******

“It is by not always thinking of yourself,
if you can manage it,
that you might somehow be happy.
Until you make room in your life
for someone as important to you as yourself,
you will always be searching and lost …”

~~ Richard Bach, Spoken by Leslie Parrish, “The Bridge Across Forever” ~~

*******

“Warned you have been.”

~~ Yoda ~~

*******

“Therefore search and see if there is not some place
where you may invest your humanity.”

~~ Albert Schweitzer ~~

*******

***************************************

Part of this process has always been on a deadline, but, I find myself unwilling to acknowledge the angst that accrues when the deadline goes whooshing by, or, to allow it to influence the results. It’s done, and this moment in time, to wit: now, is sufficiently within parameters to fulfill my chosen duty. Even if all that is sheer bullshit, I find myself without remorse. So be it. It’s done, it’s got great music, a new poem, such as it may be, and a rather elegant old-school pearl…. & if it ain’t enough, well, so be it. For now, suffice to say, I’ll be back in a day or three, when I’ve filled up on life, & feel the need to get it out… Until then, be well, & be true to your own spirit….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Order has no meaning without entropy….

Posted on February 9, 2017 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.”

~~ Thomas Gray — Elegy in a Country Churchyard, Stanza 19 ~~

Simple pleasures….

Hajime…. The picture you see adorning the top of today’s post is one of my own, as can be deduced by the simple fact there is no attribution; if it isn’t mine, I always try to say whose it is. It’s a good one for today, & the comment below describes the feeling I had when taking it, as well as my reaction every time I look at it. I chose it for today because it seems to represent my current life, and what I seek to find in life, every day. To some, it may seem boring; others may find it charming, or even hopeful. However one sees it, I think, says more about the viewer than it does about the picture or its contents, which is, in my mind, exactly what a good picture does….

Today’s Pearl of Virtual Wisdom is fresh, if somewhat esoteric in nature; I suppose, in at least one respect, that’s a good description of my own nature. It came together fairly well over the past two days, as I continue to battle physical and mental demons, both of which, while progressing toward an improved status, are taking their own sweet time getting there. Life is funny, isn’t it? We live it forward, understanding it backward, while seldom taking the time to even consider which direction we take. I guess that’s a fair description of Life at Large, eh? Since that is the case, it’s probably best for our purpose here to acknowledge the truth of it, and get on with the rest of it, before it reaches its expiration date prematurely.

All that really means is I’m clueless as to how to get out of this intro; I seem to have written myself into a rather obscure corner, & finding my way back to rationality isn’t the most attractive option I see. Instead, I’ll take what we’ve already created, and run for the border, or, in this case, on to the next section, with the intention of making it to the end before it all falls down. To assist us in our quest, filled with folly though it may be, we’ll stop, right here, and right now, & head on down the page… That, in case you have forgotten, looks suspiciously like this….

Shall we Pearl?

“He who endeavors to serve, to benefit, and improve the world,
is like a swimmer, who struggles against a rapid current,
in a river lashed into angry waves by the winds.
Often they roar over his head,
often they beat him back and baffle him.
Most men yield to the stress of the current…
Only here and there the stout, strong heart
and vigorous arms struggle on toward ultimate success.”

~~ Albert Pike (1809-1891) ~~

********************************

It’s a default day, but, we’ll go with classical, instead. Go figure, eh?…. I hope you enjoy this collection, chosen at random on You Tube….

*************************************

Classical Music

*************************************

********************************

Manifesto, sotto voce

In retrospect, I’ve gotta say,
it’s all been rather a muddle.
Life is tough, so ‘they’all say,
Lots of misery, not much cuddle.

Me, I’ve found life a bit different
than ‘they’ seem to have done.
It’s all been rather excellent;
I’ve had loads & loads of fun.

Sure, there’s been some bad shit.
Who can’t say that?
All of that pales, all of it
when one hugs a dog, a child, or a cat.

I’ve seen, fought, and felt, more than my share,
the presence of evil in life.
The pain that remains often seems unfair;
I ask why I chose to deal with such strife.

I can always find the answer in the same place,
right where it has ever resided.
All we need to do is embrace
the joy we’ve given, and been provided.

Simple is good.
Balance is good.

Life can be both.

~~ gigoid ~~

12/19/2015

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Naked Pearls

Notes on the Human Condition

*******

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue;
but moderation in principle is always a vice.”

~~ Thomas Paine ~~

*******

“Boys become men by watching men, by standing close to men.
Manhood is a ritual passed from generation to generation
with precious few spoken instructions.
Passing the torch of manhood is a fragile, tedious task.
If the rite of passage is successfully completed,
the boy-become-man is like an oak of hardwood character.
His shade and influence will bless all those
who are fortunate enough to lean on him
and rest under his canopy.”

~~ Preston Gilham ~~

*******

“Do not speak of what men deserve.
For we each of us deserve everything,
every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings,
and we each of us deserve nothing,
not a mouthful of bread in hunger.
Have we not eaten while another starved?
Will you punish us for that?
Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate?
No man earns punishment, no man earns reward.
Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*,
and you will begin to be able to think.”

~~ Odo, The Prison Letters~~

~~Ursula LeGuin, “The Dispossessed” ~~

*******

“The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life.
I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy
– I mean that if you are happy you will be good.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

*******

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute.
We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.
And the human race is filled with passion.
And medicine, law, business, engineering,
these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life.
But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
To quote from Whitman,
‘O me! O life!…
of the questions of these recurring;
of the endless trains of the faithless
–of cities filled with the foolish;
what good amid these,
O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here
– that life exists, and identity;
that the powerful play goes on
and you may contribute a verse.’
That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
What will your verse be?”

~~ John Keating, Dead Poet’s Society ~~

*******

“It is a terrible thing
for a man to find out suddenly
that all his life he has been
speaking nothing but the truth.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

*******

“The truth you speak has no past and no future.
It is, and that’s all it needs to be.”

~~ Richard Bach, “Illusions” ~~

*******

********************************

I made it. It’s unclear to me, exactly, how that came to be, but, then, I’m used to a fairly extensive degree of ambiguity, so, no big deal, right? Right. In fact, it offers me the opportunity to continue the ruthless efficiency I applied so well in ending the intro, by cutting this off before it becomes unwieldy. To make sure of it, I’ll bid thee adieu without further delay, with the concomitant wish your day goes well. Mine, such as it is, has made a decent start, so, our goal thus becomes clear…. to maintain that direction throughout the day. I’ll even forgo any analysis of the efficacy of such a wish, & merely say, see y’all next time, which, given the progress made, may be sooner than any of us believe. Stay strange, ffolkes; it’s cool out there….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí…

Significant signs of sincere drivel….

Posted on June 1, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The truth you speak has no past and no future.
It is, and that’s all it needs to be.”

~~ Richard Bach, “Illusions” ~~

Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, BC

Hajime…. In retrospect, there was nothing to be done; if there had, I’d have done it. Instead, here I sit, again searching for some small inspiration to get us to our desired destination. In the ineffable, incomparable way of life at large, nothing doing, at least, not so far. Since waiting around for it to show would be rather presumptuous (for it may never show at all), I suppose I’ll need to find some other source for material to put here. That, of course, is also a hit or miss issue, but, given the circumstances, it could be worse. How, I am not sure, but, I know Murphy, and, believe me, if given half a chance, it WILL get worse.

In order to avoid any such conundrum this morning, I’ll use the new degree of ruthlessness I seem to have found, and cut this intro without mercy. It won’t take long, and actually is quite fun, if one doesn’t fight it. All you need to do is put down your adult beverage, take a deep breath, and read on. As for my part, it works pretty well, all things considered. How does it work? Easy, I push this button, and we’re gone…. Watch….

Shall we Pearl?….

Mit der Dummheit kaempfen Goetter selbst vergebens.

[Against stupidity the very gods fight in vain.]

~~ Friedrich Schiller ~~

~~ The Maid of Orleans, Act iii, Sc. 6 ~~

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Leonard Cohen

Image from http://www.pinterest.come via Google Images

One of yesterday’s commenters mentioned today’s featured artist; it’s been a while since we’ve included his work, so, here is a pretty thorough collection of many of his most popular pieces, all in one place. Enjoy!….

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The Best of Leonard Cohen

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https://youtu.be/L9WDRGxp0vA

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Originally, I had a quote picked out for today, to lead into a discussion of the ubiquitous corporate oligarchy as it now exists in our world. However, reality intervened, to prevent any such fresh ranting today. Instead here is a more light-hearted discussion from early in 2014 to fill in for today. It’s a fun one, so, have fun…..

From 1/30/2014:

“We’re not into science fiction because it’s _good literature_, we’re into it because it’s _weird_. Follow your weird, ladies and gentlemen. Forget trying to pass for normal. Follow your geekdom. Embrace your nerditude. In the immortal words of Lafcadio Hearn, a geek of incredible obscurity whose work is still in print after a hundred years, “woo the muse of the odd”.” — Bruce Sterling, addressing a convention of SF writers

A few days ago, I experienced an epiphany regarding the solutions we need to find to the issues of global warming and climate change…. This statement is one that, though not exactly what I’m talking about, is in the right ballpark…. Finding answers to what is happening in the real world has been part of what science fiction writers have done, peripherally, for many years, in the sense that the stories they write explore the concepts involved in ways that demonstrate the questions, and can, hopefully, point the way to finding the answers we now need…

There have been many, many stories…. full length novels, novellas, short stories… all written over the last two hundred years or so, that talk about the most critical issue we now face, to wit: the climate changes produced by our insane pollution of the atmosphere. There has also been a lot of speculation and talk among the people who do the writing, and those who write about them, all discussing possible scenarios for possible futures….. Somewhere among all that talk and discussion, there MUST be an idea that we can use to turn the tide that we have so foolishly turned against us…..

In other words, in a metaphorical sense, we need to go out into the realms of fantasy and imagination, to find the elves, so we can benefit from the wisdom of their counsel…. Even though I already know what they will tell us…. The elves always give the same counsel…. we will need to find a Hero, who can step forward to assume the Quest to save mankind from the folly of his own greed and ambition…. Metaphorically, this is absolutely correct…. what it will translate to in real terms is yet to be seen, but, something needs to be done to find an answer, and soon, for the time we have to accomplish anything that will work is growing smaller rapidly….

“There is something inside all of us that yearns not for reason but for mystery… not for penetrating clear thought but for the whisperings of the irrational… not for science but for wizardry disguised as science.. not for rationally founded influence but for magic.” — Karl Jaspers

In the meantime, rather than ranting at you to get out there and try to find an elf, who can then lead us to his where his people have gone, far over the Western Sea,…. I’ll put together an old-school pearl, with some good advice and/or some snarky comments about the assholes who got us to this point in the first place….

“For me, all I can do is spit in the eye of my fears by living each day with as much passion and commitment as possible to what truly counts, such as love and justice. To give the into the fear and hopelessness would be to declare defeat, something I am not ready to do while there is still the will to struggle.” — Lawrence Paradis

“You shouldn’t think about *how* we’re doing this. You should ask yourself, ‘why?'” — Penn Jillette

“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

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

“A little folly is desirable in him that will not be guilty of stupidity.” — Michael de Montaigne — Book iii, Chap. ix

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde

“Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?” — Plato

See? There is a perfect example of why I seldom make precognitive assumptions about a particular pearl, especially BEFORE it is constructed…. This is a grand pearl, but, no snarky comments to be seen…. ‘S’okay, it doesn’t need them….

********************************

Blithely Untitled

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

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

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

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

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

~~ gigoid ~~

2/7/2014

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Naked Pearls

The best wisdom at affordable prices….

*******

“A wise man first determines what is within his control;
all else is then irrelevant.”

~~ Epictetus ~~

*******

“Between the vision and the act lies the shadow.”

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

*******

“Joy is wealth and love is the legal tender of the soul.”

~~ Robert Green Ingersoll ~~

*******

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

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

*******

“we can never be born enough.
We are human beings;
for whom birth is a supremely welcome mystery,
the mystery of growing:
the mystery that happens only and whenever
we are faithful to ourselves.”

~~ e. e. cummings. ~~

*******

“…and remember you’re a Man, not just god,
and for you there aren’t and never will be any easy answers,
only questions, and no reasons,
only causes, and no meaning,
only intelligence, and no destination
and no kindly magic smiling down from above,
and no fires to goad you from below,
only Yourself and the Universe
and what you make out of the interface between the two equals.”

~~ Keith Laumer, _Night of Delusions_ ~~

*******

“On SECOND thought,
maybe I’ll heat up some BAKED BEANS
and watch REGIS PHILBIN..
It’s GREAT to be ALIVE!!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

*******

********************************

Since Zippy finished off that most excellent old-school pearl with such panache, I don’t think I’ll need to get too fancy here at the close. Rather than make any such faux pas, we’ll just note, it’s done, and we’re done for today. We will, with great anticipation, see y’all again tomorrow, as long as the Universe holds together. It’s got a solid record of doing so; most likely, we’ll see y’all then….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Pike staffs with curlicues….

Posted on January 4, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.”

~~ Franklin P. Jones ~~

Luna, 12/25/2015

Image found at https://europasicewolf.wordpress.com/author/europasicewolf/

Hajime…. I’m unsure as to why eight hours sleep results in awakening if a foul mood; it’s foul enough I don’t give a shit. Everybody ELSE in the world, today, will just have to deal with it, because, I don’t intend to. For some reason, I woke up with absolutely no patience; not for foolishness, not for rudeness, not even for cat nonsense. Moreover, this time, I am NOT going to be the one making any fucking adjustments. Whoever crosses my path will act with perfect rationality, or they WILL pay a price for not doing so in my presence….

That out of the way, I’ll note today’s effort won’t be much of one, anyway…. I spent much of yesterday working on the no-doubt excessively wordy rant you’ll see today, but, it’s a pretty important one, to me, so, read it anyway, ‘kay? I worked on it pretty hard, even so far as to re-blog another bloggers most excellent piece as part of the lead-in to our subject matter today…. I guess the theme ended up being “how to fix things, or not” which is about as murky and unclear as I can make it… Sorry, not in a mood to be anything but straight-line. In fact, I’m done here; let’s get to it….

Shall we Pearl?….

Cat: Ethereal music wreathed in mystery.

~~ Bastet Bee ~~

********************************

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I’m in a rotten space, as I’ve noted. One of the few pieces of music tolerable at all are these two symphonies, by the man I consider the most talented musical genius mankind has produced, thus far. Don’t care if anyone feels otherwise; in this mood, this is the only thing that can bring me any peace, so, if you don’t appreciate classical music, you may move on to the ranting section, where you will be encouraged to use the mind you possess for its intended purpose…. See you there, if I can manage not to get arrested before I get there….

********************************

Mozart
Symphonies 40 & 41

********************************

https://youtu.be/X5ZS8jCrnh4

********************************

Le Penseur ~ The Thinker

August Rodin

“Never frighten a little man.
He’ll kill you.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

~~ from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love” ~~

At first look, this short, pithy assertion about human nature by The Eldest may not seem particularly apt, nor deep enough to warrant a picture of Le Penseur to begin an examination of such a complex subject…. No worries, mates; it’s much, much deeper than it appears, and, I’m about to explain why…. (For those readers who don’t know why I call Lazarus by that title, ask in a comment, & I’ll explain)

Since the first of our species, long ago, before any modern human can even comprehend, first picked up a rock or stick, to defend itself against an attack by a predator, or, even, another of its own relatively peaceful species when not aroused to violence, (all of which, after all, is a natural function of life on Earth before technology…,), and, by virtue of possessing a weapon, killed his/her antagonist, the human imagination has turned its power to the improvement of the stick, and/or the rock, as a weapon, and, to the various methods of killing other creatures, whether predator or prey, upon which it fastened, as our primary means of fulfilling its natural function, of creation…

We have spent the intervening millenia in creation, mostly along those lines, improving both our weapons of death, and, the use of our imagination, to give free rein to the most vicious side of our animal nature… We became the planet’s most efficient predator, so much more of a killing machine than any other, almost NONE of our competitors are left, but for the power of Nature itself, which our imagination continues to attempt to control, to turn the very nature of Reality to its own vicious purposes, to the detriment of not only all the other animals and other life forms here, but, to the entire ecosystem, of which we are only a part… In short, we are so intent on the achievement of our own foolish desires, we are killing ourselves…. Stupid is as stupid does, it seems, is a truer representation of Reality than we knew….

If we are capable of viewing our species’ history in this light, the above statement takes on new meaning; the most dangerous human is one who fears…. There have been many sages throughout our history who, in contrast to those who pursue predation as their means of survival, have pointed out the folly of such avarice based upon ignorance and fear, and, of the necessity of learning about the universe, rather than fearing it, as we do…. Most people, because of the fear they feel, are given little chance to ever USE the mind with which we are equipped; from birth, they are taught to fear… to fear God, to fear other people, to fear reprisal of any kind….

The other side of that counterfeit coin is the promise of reward (i.e., the removal of fear), as well as the promise of ‘immortality’, which is, as is eminently clear, merely the province of the Universe as a whole… All of the individual PARTS of that Universe, in Reality, die, and change form into something else…. They, and everything that exists in Reality, ‘die’, and are ‘born’ again, as a different type of energy/matter…. Matter becomes energy, energy becomes matter, in a duet, a dance of Life and Death, through all of Eternity. Or, as much as we can perceive in this form.

That much is plainly visible to the simplest mind, as the proof is visible, in plain sight, in everything we witness in this consciousness we call Life…. This means, of course, the reward promised is fake, for each and every person is already immortal, as a part of the Eternal NOW, in motion through time, moving without cease, until it is destroyed, thus changing form….

One of the worst factors of this approach to Life the majority of our species has chosen, whether consciously, or not, is the sense of false entitlement, and, assumption of superiority which is characteristic of those who ascribe to any such philosophy…. It is particularly egregious, as well as culturally embedded, in the male members of humanity, who have, for all the time since we first became a species of killer apes, have abused their naturally greater physical strength to abuse and intimidate the female of the species, believing ‘might makes right’, no matter the resulting pain, or death, it may cause to others…. Only the wishes and desires of the strong, in their minds, have any validity….

I’ve often used the following meme, from ex-President Carter, to illustrate one of the ways this attitude has manifested throughout history, and, in truth, before we started keeping it in written form. It is a very clear summary of the issue, from the point of view of an intelligent, well-educated man, who was NOT one of those men who feel as most others do….

Before finishing this post, I had decided to re-blog the piece of work located at the link you see just below…. I’d like my Gentle Readers here today to take a few moments to read it, if they haven’t already, before resuming this narrative…. In my opinion, the story this woman has conceived is, absolutely, the most powerful, and, the most logically likely scenario for the familiar tale to have occurred, in true Reality, as opposed to what everyone today has been taught to believe…. In my mind, this is, most probably, the actual way Mary became known as the Mother of God…..

Be warned; it is a powerful tale, and not to be taken lightly; if you cannot disengage from your feelings while reading, you WILL weep before you are done…..

http://bellejar.ca/2015/12/29/blessed-art-thou/

Ffolkes, this has to stop. The men of the human race are killing each other, and all of us; raping women, and children; and, are, in general, strutting around the planet acting as if they are the only ones who matter at all…. They are not only dead wrong, but, they, in their extreme ignorance, blinded by the lust for power, and control over others, (which exists only to assuage their own fears of inadequacy), are in the process of killing us all; a species which does not act in concert to survive, will never do so… That particular rule of existence is written right in the basic roots of Universal Reality in this plane of existence….

Kindness, compassion, love, and honor are what characterizes my view of a Man; I see very few of our species living up to that standard…. The most painful irony, and, most painful truth is, most of the men alive on this planet are too ignorant, too weak, too afraid, and too wrapped in themselves to ever realize it….. The man of honor is no longer the majority, in this country, or, in the entire world, I’m afraid. Instead, they exist, only, as a rarity….

Pathetic is what they are; I guess it’s almost time for me to go hunting….

gigoid has spoken.

So be it.

It seems gigoid has more to say….

Yesterday, after writing the above, I read a blog, written by a Palestinian woman I regard as one of the most intelligent humans on the planet; she is burdened by not being free to use her full intelligence, simply by being born in a place that places little regard in women, at all, and, are actively repressive to any who display such power of mind, in public, and mostly, in private….

Moreover, she is trapped in a country which is occupied by another, and must survive, protect her family, and keep herself safe in what is, essentially, a war zone, called Palestine, in Gaza, next to the zone occupied by the Israelis, at whose bloody hands the city has become a festering cauldron of murder, repression, and, quite simply, inhuman atrocity, against an entire culture…. all in the Name of God.

She wrote a long piece in her native language, which Google could only HOPE to come close to translating. However, it was clear enough to me she had written her usual brilliant analysis, with her own reactions, of a recent meeting with a man and woman she considers as mentors in rational Islamic thought. While trying to make sense of the translation, it occurred to me, she was also trapped by the same trap as every other woman, man, and child on Earth, to wit: she has been labeled…..

All of us bear labels; it is human nature to assign a word to another, in order to place them into the proper slot in their mind’s world view… We get so wrapped up in labels, we confuse our real selves with what we have been labeled as being, though it may not have any real relevance to what is in our hearts and minds….

Names, places, religions, skin colors, genders, hair/clothing/body/life styles; we all receive them, and, usually, accept them as true without thinking about it, since it fits into our preconceived notions of self, or others….

And, it’s all another fucking illusion, ffolkes…. To comment on her post, I wrote a more prosaic, somewhat shorter version of the following, which I have decided to entitle….

Manifesto

I was born in the USA;
it is a place on the Earth.

I am not an American.

I am a human.

If I MUST be labeled an American,
then,
I must also consider myself
to be :

Palestinian,
Egyptian,
Israeli,
Chinese,
Russian,
Irish,
Belgian,
Kenyan,
Tibetan,
Afghani,
AND,
every other country
in the world.

If I am anything,
I am a citizen of Earth,
of Terra,
our Home.

As long as humans regard themselves any other way,
as citizens of different countries,
as proponents of different religions,
as possessors of different colored skins,
or different genders,
or,
as ANYTHING other than a human being,
FIRST and LAST,
we will never learn to make peace with each other.

Applying a label, of any sort, to a human,
is to place limits
on what they can be, or think, or do….

Accepting such labels
as truth
leads only
to death,
without honor,
without hope,
without peace.

Freedom,
true freedom,
has no limits;
there are no labels
among the free.

Humans don’t need
a creator,
money,
fear,
or,
violence.

Humans need
compassion,
kindness,
love,
honor,
and,
each other.

Simple logic,
and absolute truth
about human nature.

You won’t find it
in any version of a Bible,
or of the Quran,
or any other book.

You can only find
this absolute truth
in your own
heart and mind.

~~ gigoid ~~

1/3/2016

********************************

Future Shocked:

Weeping, I wake;
waking, I weep, I weep.
I weep for the ages to be lost,
for the children never to be born.

Time comes calling, strident and spare,
nudging us toward the future with bony hands.
No pausing, no waiting, always away,
Frantic hearts unseen, unheard.

Spirits are dark, afraid.
And the Beast hunts, hungry and cruel,
seeking out the weak, and the foolish.

We all weep now…..

~~ gigoid ~~

7/22/2013

********************************

Naked Pearls

Life at Large, Redux

*************

“It’s amazing how much one person can do,
little by little,
over time.”

~~ Worker Bee ~~

*************

“There are no mistakes.
The events we bring upon ourselves,
no matter how unpleasant,
are necessary
in order to learn what we need to learn;
whatever steps we take,
they’re necessary
to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.”

~~ Richard Bach, The Bridge Across Forever ~~

*************

“The chief cause of human error
is to be found in prejudices picked up in childhood.”

~~ René Descartes ~~

*************

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

~~ Flannery O’Connor ~~

*************

“A lotta cats copy the Mona Lisa,
but people still line up to see the original.”

~~ Louis Armstrong ~~

*************

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

~~ Thomas Paine ~~

*************

“Children are remarkable
for their intelligence and ardour,
for their curiosity,
their intolerance of shams,
the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.”

~~ Aldous Huxley ~~

*************

“If I were to wish for anything,
I should not wish for wealth and power,
but for the passionate sense of potential;
for the eye which,
ever young and ardent, sees the possible.
Pleasure disappoints; possibility never.”

~~ Soren Kierkegaard ~~

*************

“Fortune rarely accompanies anyone to the door.”

~~ Balthasar Gracian ~~

********************************

It’s done, & I’m still in a foul mood…. I’m gonna go play with Leelu, & see if I can find a bit of peace inside…. See y’all tomorrow; I’m pretty sure, if I can keep myself from going out into the BBR, I’ll still be here to do so…. Time will tell, the tattletale….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Tidy bonuses on a tiny table….

Posted on December 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It is useless to close the gates against ideas; they overleap them.”

~~ Metternich ~~

Avenue of the American Dream

Note the two signs….

Hajime…. No, don’t worry; I’m not going to start off with a rant. In fact, I looked below, & there’s already a good long one down there, so, no worries… the intro is safe…. I remember this one; it leaked out a few days ago, & I’ve been waiting to the right chance to use it…. It’a relatively long, but, it’s on a subject on which I feel strongly, so, I don’t care. Y’all, as always, have the choice to read or not, but, I hope you do, because it’s all stuff that needs to be heard, by more than just y’all…. so, spread it around…. Just the subject is fine; I became a bit phantasmagorical at the end of this one; I got so worked up over the subject, I indulged myself with some dreams, so to speak….

We all have dreams; mine, like all else I do, are pretty strange, I’d guess, in comparison to many others; these are probably fever dreams, but, nonetheless enjoyable, on a private, personal level, for all that…. Now I’ve successfully told you nothing, about nothing, in more words than are, not merely necessary, but, desirable, by any stretch of the imagination. Nothing new there, right?

Hmm…. not much else to cover…. I did have a great time, yesterday, with my kids and grandson; I’m feeling the price today, physically, but, every minute is worth anything I must go through later, so, no complaints….. Can’t share pix, naturally; too many weird people trolling the Net for photos of children, especially good looking kids, to share with other perverts…. I may not LOOK cynical, but, believe me, I’ve seen the worst of human nature (I’ll speak of that below….) and it’s victims are NOT going to be from my family, if I can help it….

Enough blather, I think. I’ve wandered around, saying little to nothing, to little purpose other than to bring us here. We’re here, so, my work here is done…. Damn good thing, too, as I’m now fresh out of any ideas for what to do next…. I think Id best go find a video for today…. See y’all at the oyster beds; you’re on your own today for getting there…. You can just follow me if you like…..

Shall we Pearl?….

“If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago.If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” — Edward O. Wilson

********************************

Image from guitarplayer.com via Google Images

I feel like rocking out today…. Nobody can help with that better than this performer…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

********************************

Stevie Ray Vaughan
Live at Montreux ~ 1985

********************************

https://youtu.be/dIhVJnYaRX4

********************************

This rant, a long one, didn’t just leak out; actually, it was all I could do to keep it this short, as I tend to get a bit worked up about this…. It’s fresh in the last week, and probably could use some punching up…. But, what you see, today, is what you get…. If you become uncomfortable when asked to think, or feel about injustice, well, better skip to the poem….

Plague of Evil

In this blog, I speak of a number of issues which are a part of human society/culture, most of which are discussions of how poor a record in embracing human rights, and/or, living up to the twin concepts of kindness and compassion, our species has exhibited throughout history…. One subject, which often gets neglected, for reasons we will discuss, is the abuse of women, and children, and, even some men; in short, the continued presence in our society of the abhorrent practice of human slavery, generally for the purposes of the sex-for-sale business, but, often enough, just plain slavery.

I refer, of course, to a huge number of corporately sponsored factories, farms, or other businesses, in various places around the world, who force children, women, and men, to work for pennies a day, to provide shoes, clothing, and/or luxury items, none of which any of them earn enough to afford… Hell, they don’t make enough to pay for much of anything on what they are paid for working 12 to 20 hours a day…. This, believe it or not, is the sole purpose of “Free Trade Law”….. That, however, is a rant for another day…

To my mind, the abuse of women and children in the sex trade is, perhaps, the most significant, as well as the least apparent, (certainly the least ‘admitted issue) of all the forms of slavery practiced by that portion of humankind. In my mind, these people are subhuman, without any trace of any of the higher ideals, or evidence of ethical/moral beliefs of any kind, which are embraced by most of humanity…. In essence, these human predators, who have a completely false sense of their own importance in the universe, are without any morals, or ethics, and have given up their souls for the sake of an illusion of adequacy, unfounded, yet, enforced with violence which is never admitted, or, held up for approbation by society…. Pond scum is the nicest thing to call them, in my estimation.

These men (though there are women who subscribe to these sick, illusory beliefs as well…), believe women, or any other human they can intimidate and place under control, are property, less-than-human, and not worth any guilt or any sort of disapproval from a conscience; they have none. In my mind, this places them in MY category of those humans whose death, at the hands of another human, is NOT an unethical event, in any fashion…. If they die, screaming in pain and terror, so much the better, for they are completely without any redeeming value, as a human, or as a member of human society…. In fact, death is, in truth, too good for them; to give them a taste of how they treat others would be as satisfying for me, as long as that taste ended up poisoning them, slowly, so I could watch them go through the agony they deserve, in this life, or any other….

I’ve been writing about this subject for some time, after coming across a couple of blogs, written by women who had miraculously freed themselves from a life of such slavery…. Both had been abducted, or forced into prostitution at a young age, not being able to break free before the age of at least 30, spending more than half their lives as slaves to a series of evil men and women, forced to debase themselves on a daily basis for years, and years, and years….

For some time after coming across their stories, I felt so much rage, at the misogyny coating every level of or society, I began to plot ways to start removing the ‘snakeheads’ (the commonest term for those at the top of the chain in that trade….) from this plane of existence, one by one, personally…. In short, I began to dream of killing men who spend their lives abusing the rest of humanity, especially women and children, both of whom are their prey…. Using all the weapons at my disposal, I would stalk the streets of the cities, removing them from life, until it became an underground certainty that pursuing such a course of business was a sure path to death….

Of course, to fulfill such a vengeful dream, I’d have to become like them, and give up certain of my ethical standards, in order to complete my chosen duty…. Y’know what? It took me a very long time, and is still not a settled question in my mind/heart; the urge to kill pimps and snakeheads is just as strong today as it was four years ago, when the depth and breadth of the problem, (which covers the entire world; every city, every country is guilty of NOT doing ANYTHING significant to address this issue….) first came to my knowledge, and understanding. I still argue with myself often; I must, as there are times I feel so strongly, it’s all I can do, to NOT tuck away my five knives, three ropes, my bow, and staff, then, toddle off to Oakland, or San Francisco, to go hunting men…

Believe me, I really, really want to… I have two sisters, and if either of them had been taken in such a way, I’d still be out there, killing. As it is, all I can do is write about it, to help vent enough of the rage so I can keep from losing control…. But, I have to say, I often wonder why I DO stop myself; nobody else even THINKS about it, as far as I can see……

At this point, even writing isn’t reducing the anger; I’m THIS close (holds up thumb and index finger, touching…) to just saying, ‘fuck it’… I’m 65 and NOTHING IS BEING DONE to either stop the trade, or, rescue its victims…. which is a part of how our misogynist society works, and has, for 10,000 years, and more, back to when the first asshole with a dick bigger than his brain, raped a woman, and nobody cared, or looked away, or watched in approval…. Even the stupidest idiot in the world cannot deny the evidence of this issue, yet, no one ever does anything but talk…. as I am limited by age to doing….

Moreover, not only does government, composed primarily of, and for, men, NOT act on this, or even acknowledge it unless confronted, but, even the churches, the so-called proctors of morals in society do less than the government. In fact, they are worse, for they pretend to care for their constituents equally, especially for the weaker and more vulnerable, such as children, women, and the elderly…. Here is what a former US President, who was, without doubt, the most devoutly Christian of all our elected leaders, ever, had to say on the subject…. I figure he ought to know, having studied Scripture, deeply, through his entire life….

Nor is the hypocrisy of these Dogma Dogs (as I like to call them) limited to women; what group in society, by clear evidence, as reported in the news for all my life, as well as by my own observations, and conversations with many of those who teach the delusions held by most of humanity, has made a consistent, centuries-long practice of abusing children, as well as women, to a degree no other organization, or entity of any kind, has ever approached… not even within shouting distance?

I am willing wager anyone at all, any amount, or deed, or, third-born child, if they wish, (Just kidding, ffolkes… only had 2; no more coming, ever….)(maybe I’m calming a bit; that was almost funny), they care to bet, if they can prove, or even suggest any evidence that can be confirmed, that the clergy, especially that of the perverted “celibates”, (What a ridiculous idea! How can anyone, with more than 3 neurons to use, even THINK such an act/habit/intentional lie, is either natural, or, healthy for any creature, much less one claiming humanity?), who claim the title of Priest, is NOT guilty of crimes against their own flocks, more than any other entity you can name…. It’s not only children who are abused by the church in such fashion, either….

It disgusts me; all of them. Pimps, snakeheads, priests who molest or break their vows (which they usually treat as ‘suggestions’….), politicians who lie so often it has to be a congenital issue, and is certainly a mental issue, known as sociopathy…. They’re all assholes, they’re all shitheads, or, any other vulgar name you care to suggest; scum of the earth is nearly right, but, doesn’t give an adequate feel for just how evil these wastes of DNA actually are, in reality…..

I’m not done, but, I’m through for now….. In closing, I will merely say, if you start seeing headlines, of a mysterious number of deaths associated with people, primarily male, who are known to be active in the sex trade, or, a strange number of men who had been convicted or accused of rape, or other abuse of women, but, walked free…. Well, it’s entirely possible that, shortly before the reports began, I stopped writing, and disappeared from sight…. & you’ll know I lost control….

It will be either that, or, the NSA, or some other fascist, paranoid group of assholes, caught me off-guard, & disappeared me…. Or, more likely, came looking for me, and found me already gone….

It makes for a good dream, anyway…. and, if it happens, I may lose my ethical standards in one area, but, in another, I will be completely content with my karmic account…. Duty is as we choose it to be; I choose honor, which is rooted in compassion, and, when carried out with the proper attitude, as confirmed by reason, and experience, in kindness.

So be it…..

********************************

Today’s poem is one written not long after ending my 35 year hiatus from trying to write ANY poetry…. It’s not bad; I was in a rather tough state at that point in time, with lots of pain & anguish due to living on the edge of poverty, for the first time in MANY years…. so, it get a bit fusty & hopeless…. No worries, it all passed, & ends on a good note…..

A Seasonal Approach

Absolute stillness grips a frozen field,
anticipating dawn with such patient yield
morning burgeoning in dark winter’s hold
brings promise of tales yet to be told.

Lengthening days of pale sun unto night
slowly tell of time’s subversive flight
bringing such original songs of natural fire
with melodies complex in casual attire.

The months are certain they will always win
it is just the way it has always been.
None may argue, nor yet slow life down
Nor dim the eternal beauty of nature’s gown.

Winter evolves from fall into spring,
sending flocks and hearts ever awing.
Summer follows suit, t’other way ’round
Spring into fall, often without a sound.

Life is meant to be lived, beginning to end
choices abound, and change can be a friend.
Yielding with grace to reality’s compelling ploy
fills our plain existence with clean, honest joy.

~~ gigoid ~~

10/2/2012

********************************

Naked Pearls

Observations on Life at Large

***********

“To try may be to die, but not to care is never to be born.”

~~ William Redfield ~~

***********

“I haven’t a clue as to how my story will end.
But that’s all right.
When you set out on a journey and night covers the road,
you don’t conclude that the road has vanished.
And how else could we discover the stars?”

~~ Unknown Bee ~~

***********

“YES… LOVE IS A CONTACT SPORT…”

~~ il NOEGO ~~

***********

“Euripides was wont to say, “Silence is an answer to a wise man.””

~~ Plutarch — Of Bashfulness ~~

***********

“It isn’t so astonishing the number of things I can remember,
as the number of things I can remember that aren’t so.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

***********

“In the fight between you and the world, back the world.”

~~ Frank Zappa ~~

***********

“Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear.
Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together.
Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated
deplore these formalities as “empty,” “meaningless,” or “dishonest,” and scorn to use them.
No matter how “pure” their motives,
they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.”

~~ Robert A. Heinlein, “The Notebooks of Lazarus Long” ~~

***********

“Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished:
if you’re alive, it isn’t.”

~~ Richard Bach ~~

***********

“When learned men begin to use their reason,
then I generally discover that they haven’t got any.”

~~ G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, 11-7-1908 ~~

***********

“A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility”

~~ Aristotle ~~

***********

“There will come a time when you will discover a thing called loneliness.
But remember life’s cruelest irony:
The time you feel most lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself.”

~~ Douglas Coupland ~~

********************************

It’s done. Today, that’s the best I can say about it, as I haven’t gone back over it to look at how it hangs together…. As they say, in some places across the big pond to the East, c’est la fucking vie…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, most likely with a bit more pizazz…. whatever that is….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Borne to be filed….

Posted on April 16, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“You could not step twice into the same rivers;

for other waters are ever flowing on to you.”

~~ Heraclitus ~~

January Spring in California

Pale, shaking, I sit to type, knowing full well I’ll never finish this one…. I’m not up to this, ffolkes, not today… I got most of it done yesterday, so, that’s what you’re getting, without any polish or stain…. In fact, this is it…. If it gets posted, I’ll consider it a victory over Reality….

I win…. which is good, if unrealistic….

Shall we Pearl?

“It is by not always thinking of yourself, if you can manage it, that you might somehow be happy. Until you make room in your life for someone as important to you as yourself, you will always be searching and lost …” — Richard Bach, Spoken by Leslie Parrish, The Bridge Across Forever

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

Image from http://www.notrecinema.net via Google images

I’m STILL in love…. SIGH…. fantasies are all we have some days….

***********************

Marianne Faithfull

***********************

https://youtu.be/j8JJ6du3Vio?list=RDj8JJ6du3Vio

***********************

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

First posted online, via Triond, in June of 2012:

Shouting into the Wind

Exploring extinction from a non-rhetorical view….

“We shall never understand the natural environment until we see it as a living organism. Land can be healthy or sick, fertile or barren, rich or poor, lovingly nurtured or bled white. Our present attitudes and laws governing the ownership and use of land represent an abuse of the concept of private property…. Today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see and nobody calls the cops.” — Paul Brooks, The Pursuit of Wilderness (1971)

This statement is now over 50 years old, according to the attribution. From what I can see in the real world, it remains as true today as it was when uttered. We are killing our planet, or rather, we are killing ourselves, and making the planet suffer in the process. No matter how God-like we believe our powers to be, I don’t believe we can quite destroy a whole planet. But, we can sure make it a tough place to survive, and we are doing that rapidly….

Why are we doing this to ourselves? I’m not the only citizen who is asking this question; there are actually millions of people like me who are aware of how bad things have gotten, and I’ve seen a lot of printed material on the subject. The problem is that nobody with any power to make changes to society at large is at all concerned with the problem, because A) They tend to deny it, as it doesn’t match their delusional view of reality, and B) They don’t care…..

The first reason, denial, is rooted in the avarice and selfishness of those who seek political and/or religious power. Their purpose in life is to “get” as much as they can, gathering resources, money, and power over others to their bosoms like a mother cradles her babe. This purpose keeps them focused on their own goals, and denial is the simplest way to deal with any ideas that are contrary to those goals. There is a popular saying these days, that I’ve heard many, many times, most often with a smile and a wink, to show that the person wants us to believe they are kidding, when they really are not…. that saying goes, “He who dies with the most toys, wins….” That’s America, all over….

The second reason, indifference, was taught to these folks by the Christian religion. That’s right, religion is responsible, fully and completely, for most of what is wrong in today’s society. This statement will no doubt cause some consternation among those believers who are still buying into that shell game, but it is nonetheless true. It is difficult to build a rational institution when one’s beliefs are based on a basic untruth. More simply, false conclusions are the only possible result of beginning with a false assumption….

“The common dogma [of fundamentalists] is fear of modern knowledge, inability to cope with the fast change in a scientific-technological society, and the real breakdown in apparent moral order in recent years That is why hate is the major fuel, fear is the cement of the movement, and superstitious ignorance is the best defence against the dangerous new knowledge. When you bring up arguments that cast serious doubts on their cherished beliefs you are not simply making a rhetorical point, you are threatening their whole Universe and their immortality. That provokes anger and quite frequently violence.” — G. Gaia

What, you ask, is this false assumption? Well, I hate to be the one to break it to them, but hey, Mankind is NOT the top of the food chain. Mankind is NOT superior to the other animals, and plants, that live here with us. Mankind is NOT the “owner”, or the “steward”, or the “ruler” of this world. We are not the “Lords of Creation”, nor do we either deserve or actually possess the entitlement so many of our beloved ruling class feels, or claims. We are nothing more than a fortunate (for us) accident of Nature, no less than any other creature, but no more, for certain….

Here the free spirit of mankind, at length,
Throws its last fetters off; and who shall place
A limit to the giant’s unchained strength,
Or curb his swiftness in the forward race?

~~ William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) — The Ages, xxxiii ~~

It is unfortunate in the extreme that so many people believe this prideful boast! Being able to reason hasn’t improved our morality. Being able to imagine has not increased our empathy, or our compassion, though it should. As a species, looked at from an outside viewpoint, we are much less efficient as an animal than are almost any of the other animals we know of; dogs and cats are far superior morally, ethically, and operationally than are humans; I would add they are more intelligent as well, but the humans out there won’t believe that, even though it is obvious to me. I mean, who is feeding who here? Although still subject to the cruelty to which humans so often resort, dogs and cats control their humans pretty well, as a rule…..

“Dogs are animals that poop in public and you’re supposed to pick it up. After a week of doing this, you’ve got to ask yourself: Who’s the real master in this relationship?” — Anthony Griffin

All this goes back to the same old message that I’ve been sending out for years. If this species, Australopithecus modernus, does not make a change in it’s mental viewpoint, in our morality and how that makes us deal with the world, we’ll all be dead within 200 years. The planet will recover; all the poisons we’ve pumped into the environment will be neutralized, and the damage we’ve done will heal over time. But, we will be gone, if we don’t figure out how to change the whole way we deal with reality, from the top of society down…. I hate to be a cynic, but I don’t see it happening, and that is just sad…..

“Time destroys the speculations of man, but it confirms the judgment of nature.” — Cicero (B.C. 106-43)

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

Unheralded Sagacity…

To many, who will not see beyond their nose
the world becomes a dangerous place,
a bullet in every gun, a thorn with every rose,
no magic comes to save us, reality leaves no trace.

Minds closed, wrapped tight in manufactured fears,
men become clay, easily molded into complacent form.
No chains needed, held in thrall for years,
lies become gospel, when dishonesty is the norm.

Shed the chains you wear in durance, in kind;
Oh, ye of little faith, and much doubt
Strength is found in an unfettered mind,
Cry “freedom” with a great shout.

No help from any gods can hinder so much
as our own lack of confidence;
finding the light within, knowing it as such
confirms us, becoming consequence.

Illumination…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

“Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.” — Socrates

“Every one is bound to bear patiently the results of his own example.” — Phaedrus (c. 8 A.D.) — Book i, Fable 26, 12

“Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.” — Frank Herbert

“The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather to what he does not say.” — Kahlil Gibran

You know you’ve achieved perfection in design,
Not when you have nothing more to add,
But when you have nothing more to take away.

~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~~

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

As noted, that’s all you get…. See ya, ffolkes, should I recover in time…..

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Damn! The rabbit didn’t die, it ran away!…

Posted on April 1, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“He bids fair to grow wise who has discovered that he is not so.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 598 ~~

Four-day old calf with Mama

Image by Fabrice Guerin – Barcroft Media

National Geographic Award Winner

It seems my new routine includes more sleep; this is certainly welcome, but, complicates the routine, to fit it into a schedule two hours later than previously used. Ah, well, so much for consistency; it isn’t good to maintain TOO much of it, lest one become hidebound, and lose the flexibility of mind which leads to a more successful approach to living, than confining oneself to a single frame of reference…

There, is that esoteric enough for y’all? I thought I’d try something a bit different, but, I’m not sure it’ll work more than once. Oh, well, such is life in the blogging world. Events in the BBR kept me busy yesterday, right up to this morning’s late starting time, so, I didn’t get much of this done ahead of time. That’s okay, I’m getting pretty good at cheating, sad to say. It certainly is handy, though. I wonder why I never thought of it before? Probably something to do with how my dad would fry my butt if I made a habit of it. He’d allow such abrogation of duty once, for good reason, but, twice, to him, indicated a burgeoning pattern, and he’d soon inform us of the error of our ways….

Nonetheless, it will get us to where we want to be, and leave me with clean hands, for the most part. You may want to tighten your shoelaces, and your safety belts. The new, ruthless methods I’ve decided to adopt here in the intro have been causing a bit of consternation amongst the guests, so I’m giving fair warning…. In fact, y’all should do it NOW, because we going in, NOW….

Shall we Pearl?

“The high-spirited man may indeed die, but he will not stoop to meanness. Fire, though it may be quenched, will not become cool.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)

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

For this morning, a little blues, I think…. Here is a joint studio session with two of the very best blues guitarists who ever lived. Stevie is gone, but, Albert remains…. Enjoy, ffolkes…..

***********************

Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan — In Session 2010 1983

***********************

https://youtu.be/gZB57b3lPQE

***********************

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

Image stolen from Talesfromtheconspiratum.com

He won’t mind…

“Nothing’s ever really changed. What difference does it make whether it’s the Corporate state or the Nation state? In our struggle for freedom we still find ourselves fighting the state.” — Jay Terpstra

I think this is a great pearl upon which to base a rant. Unfortunately, I have neither the time, nor, currently, the inclination to create a fresh one. So, here’s one that should fit from the archives…. Enjoy!….

From 3/12/2012, amended 3/28/2013:

“I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” — Will Rogers

I was going to use this as a springboard for another rant on our beloved ruling class….. But, the more I thought about it, the longer it percolated in my brain, the sadder I grew….

I used to feel a lot of love for my country, if for nothing else, because of the dream of liberty and human empowerment that our system of government was envisioned, and intended, to create, and maintain. The founding fathers had a vision, of a country where every man and woman had the same opportunities, to live their lives as they chose, as every other person, without censure, and without the fear of being persecuted for their beliefs, no matter how different they were from everyone else’s. A dream of a place where children could grow up without the fear of hunger, or abuse, or death from the skies. A place where a man, or a woman, was respected for just being human, without having to prove their worth to some ignorant asshole who is afraid of any color skin but their own.

Instead, we live in a society whose diverse segments have an extreme, and sadly justified, mistrust of each other, where the rich and powerful, instead of uplifting their fellow man, use their influence and wealth to divide and discriminate, always with the intention of keeping the less fortunate in a powerless state, too downtrodden to even hope for better.

We live in a society that ignores its elderly, and abuses its children; a society where people are starving amidst mountains of food. We have a produced a culture that glorifies war, and sees peaceful coexistence as weakness; a culture where it is a crime for a man to kill another for honor, but is praised for being part of an army of professional killers. This country has reached the sad point in its history where the twin concepts of honor and duty have been supplanted as the basis of our national character, replaced by the glaring presence of avarice, false entitlement, and expediency.

Yes, I am saddened by Will’s joke, because it cuts far too close to reality, and home…..

From today, 3/28/2014:

“They scream into my ears,
But what they say will only make me deaf.”

— Claus Larsen
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“It’s hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” — Calvin, Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes

Jimmy Swaggert, and the other 5 or 6 televangelists who regularly get caught literally with their pants down come immediately to mind for a list of potential recipients of divine extermination intervention…….

Newt Gingrich, along with a large number of his cohorts in Congress, obviously, for congenital lying, and excessive sliminess….

Rick Santorum, because I can’t imagine an entity as smart as God is reputed to be to let this ….. person…. (I believe using the word “person” is being kind, but, we’ll give the benefit of doubt for the time being, for expedience… See, even I fall prey to that failure of ethics…), well, I don’t think He will let him speak in his Name for long, not without exacting some price….. (I’ve heard that divine price-tag can be a bit heavy….)….

Twitt Romney, that elitist asshole…..

…. and, finally, as Yul Brynner stated so beautifully in his only attempt to sing on film: “Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…..” to which I would add, “and a cast of thousands, ad nauseam infinitum…..”

I suppose it also says something less than admirable about the media to note, much, even MOST of the crap to which we are exposed, by the members of the (supposed) fifth column, consists, in the main, of reports on the activities of the LEAST admirable examples of our species, who, unfortunately, are the ones who make for salable news…. These newsworthy individuals provide the material that will pay for the advertising costs, so the shadowy corporate masters are satisfied that we will hear about the latest, greatest new products, each of which fills some previously unknown manufactured need.

The most lucrative subject matter, the stories that sell the most papers, or comprises the material for the most successful TV shows, as it turns out, is an endless variety of dramatic fantasy, describing in intimate detail, all of the stupidest, most egregious examples of the insane antics of a seemingly limitless number of the WORST of humanity…. Loud, perverted, fanatic religious zealots (aka preachers….), unprosecuted criminals wearing power suits and ties, (aka politicians….), and a parade of sports and entertainment figures with an average IQ of 77 (actors, actresses, ball players, and police myrmidons)…. These are the current examples of “famous celebrities” we are supposed to fawn over, to use as our idols for emulation…. at least, if we are to believe what we see on the TV (total vacuum)….

I often feel a sense of despair after reading the news…. fortunately, I have WordPress to alleviate any dangerous build-up of bile….. but, all-too-often, it sure makes me wish for a few well-placed bolts of lightning to provide some comic relief, at least…..

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From today, 3/28/2014:

“Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

Well, that was certainly confusing, eh? Maybe, just maybe, evolution is a good thing…. ya think?….

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From today, 4/1/2015: Well, that was fun. I think. Let’s go on, shall we?….

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

I’ve taken the time, late as I am, to find a poem by someone else, appropriate to the day, just cuz I’m a nice guy….

A Caution To Everybody

Consider the auk;

Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.

Consider man, who may well become extinct

Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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

Lao Tzu

Today’s old-school pearl is one I like to call an advice pearl. It speaks in general ways about how we can live, if we wish to live in peace, in connection to the world, and others, and, how to look at the world with eyes that see clearly…. In short, how to live a life well-lived…. by anyone’s standards….

“It is by not always thinking of yourself, if you can manage it, that you might somehow be happy. Until you make room in your life for someone as important to you as yourself, you will always be searching and lost …” — Spoken by Leslie Parrish, The Bridge Across Forever, by Richard Bach

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” — Mark Twain

“If you can see a thing whole… it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives…But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful the earth is, is to see it as the moon. The way to see how beautiful a life is, is to see it from the vantage point of death.” — Ursula K. Le Guin, Dispossessed

“Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward.” — William E. Davidsen

“And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.” — Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet”

“Nobody can have the soul of me. My mother has had if, and nobody can have it again. Nobody can come into my very self again, and breathe me like an atmosphere.” — D. H. Lawrence

“Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make upon you, for their censures are not in your power, and consequently should not be any part of your concern.” — Epictetus

“Go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows.” — Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters to a Young Poet

“As for courage and will – we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead.” — Andre Norton

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

You may see me tonight with an illegal smile.
It don’t cost very much, but it lasts a long while.
Won’t you please tell the man I didn’t hurt anyone.
No, I’m just trying to have me some fun.

~~ John Prine ~~

Well, there you have it. Another fine Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, brought to you today by the number 61, and the letter Q. Don’t ask. Now that I’ve fulfilled the regulations set upon us by the gods of blogging, such as they are, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, as long as nobody catches me…

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy
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.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Twice around the neck should do nicely….

Posted on May 3, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“And then I woke up.” — Smart Bee

That, I think, is better….. I’ve searched and struggled, and tried a hundred different ways to open up these Pearls, and nothing works more than once. But, I’ve decided. if I use an ending for my beginning, it could work as a template…. I just write that first line, and follow it up with some of my favorite nonsense, or maybe a poetic quatrain…. or just some oatmeal, figuratively speaking. I may never speak in the literal sense again; things always seem to get serious when I do, so why should I put myself through that? And figurative oatmeal is a piece o’cake, so to speak, without frosting, so that works, too…. Let the Metaphorse be with us!….

I would be very appreciative if anyone can tell me what I said above, literally….. I don’t think it can be done, but I wanted to check with the experts. I wrote it with as few contact points with reality as I could, without it starting to look fake, or as if I was just putting in the time, without any real effort. If there isn’t anyone who knows what I meant by the above, I’ve accomplished my task; if it makes any sense, I’ve screwed it up, again, and we’ll have to start over….. You don’t really want me to have to do that, do you? I didn’t think so…. once through is plenty, when it comes to my intro sections, so it seems…..

Perhaps I should do this more often…. ‘this’ being a very early up, call and jump into cab, zip to hospital lab, and back again, all before starting in on this Pearl. The intro section is sort of writing itself, even though all my eyes want to do is close up shop, & go back to bed….. which could yet happen. In fact, I think that’s a good idea, and goodness knows it won’t hurt anything, as nobody is currently reading my blog anyway…. got a total of five “Likes” yesterday, matching the previous 24 hours, and making it three days now with virtually no visits from anyone, not just regulars…. Is there a WordPress vacation going on, or something?…. Ah well, since I write for me, not for anyone else, it doesn’t matter anyway…. Therefore….. NAP TIME!…. I’ll be back….

“Life eludes logic.” — Smart Bee

Aha! That explains all of it! Now we can get on with the normally scheduled activities of the day, since Smart Bee has taken over the creative process completely. I suppose I could chalk all of it up to getting up so early, but, that’s never been acceptable before, and I doubt it would fly now. Though I’m a firm believer that the worm should have stayed in bed, being the bird is usually a better bet, at least for breakfast. And, yes, we are already lost again, somewhere in the vast fields of illogic…. which, as we all know, is right next door to chaos. Rather than fall over into that realm, I think we should just rip off our clothes, and dive in….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

It turns out that my inclination to rant is connected to my overall feeling of security….. For over two years, I took shot after shot at the BRC, organized religion, the sex slavery trade, global warming, overpopulation, and whatever else came under my scrutiny that caused even the slightest degree of outrage.

During all that time, I was struggling mightily to survive in the real world, living on a small fixed income, “depending on the kindness of strangers”, and more importantly, friends, to help me get through each month. The outrage at the issues that concern me seem to have been driven, emotionally, by my economic status, and my anger at the slowness of the federal bureaucracy…..

Now that I’ve been awarded my Social Security benefits, I am no longer in danger of starving, and can look forward to retirement with a bit more positive outlook, since I’ve doubled my monthly income, into a bracket that, while I can’t be labeled as affluent, it does give me the wherewithal to be comfortable. Since that happened, my outrage is harder to find, and I am having a hard time getting worked up too much over the stuff that was bothering me for so long…. I’d hate to think that I’m so shallow as to lose my radical position to bribery…. Money, while it won’t buy happiness, certainly keeps one more comfortable while looking for it…. and, since I was relatively happy when I didn’t have it, there is no reason not to be happy now.

Since I’m not inclined to rant, Smart Bee has been quite cooperative in pulling out acceptable groups of pearls, including the seven-star harlequin variety below…. This one has a message, but, the message is more non-verbal than spoken wisdom…. You’ve got to just close your eyes, (AFTER reading them, of course….), and let them percolate in your mind…. the message will float to the surface after a moment or two…. if not, well, you’ve had a nice little nap, and we can go on….. Enjoy!….

“Remember what the dormouse said… FEED YOUR HEAD…” — Grace Slick

“I don’t ask questions, I just have fun!” — Bugs Bunny

“He can’t be a man cause he does not smoke the same cigarettes as me.” — Mick Jagger

“As you believe, so it is for you.” — Richard Bach

“The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from custom.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book i, Chap. xxii, Of Custom

“And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon Gods they’d made.” — Paul Simon

“His philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools: the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans – and summed up all three of them in his famous phrase, ‘You can’t trust any bugger further than you can throw him, and there’s nothing you can do about it, so let’s have a drink.'” — Terry Pratchett, ‘Small Gods’

I keep telling you, it’s all in the wrist, see?…..
__________________________________

A poem leaked out this morning, so, here ’tis, such as it is…. I hope you like it…..

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 ~~

__________________________________

Since I don’t have a rant in me today, I’m going to cheat, and go with a really old Pearl, from October of 2011, before changing to the format we see today…. I like it, and so will you…. (that’s a pre-hypnotic suggestion of a subliminal nature, so you may as well just go with the flow, and enjoy it…. Resistance is futile…..)

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

In case you couldn’t tell, I woke up with crankypants already on, and I’ve been looking for something or somebody to let it out on for the last hour or so. Feeling this way, and not having an acceptable outlet, is extremely frustrating, and as a former psych tech, I know it’s not good for me to keep all this bottled up inside. I suppose I could go out and find some unarmed idiot to get into an argument with, so I can let it all out on them.

But that isn’t kosher, (kosher means anything not touched by pig blood), nor is it a good policy for improving one’s karmic burden. But then I’d feel like dirt, because one of my own pet peeves is when someone dumps crap on me that I don’t deserve. In the final analysis, that is a lose-lose situation, with both parties walking away feeling worse than when they started.

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

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

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

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

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

“And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains.” — Paul Simon

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

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

All things considered, this went well…. It certainly stood up to the proofing, only needing on letter change, and one line of the poem that needed to be smoother. If I were still working for the government, I could say it was good enough for that, but, since I don’t work for them anymore, standards have to be a bit higher…. Fortunately, it does meet those standards, insofar as they exist around here at all, so…. I think if you use some oxygenated cleaning solution on that, it will come out okay….. 😀 Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Congruent with unpopular opinion….

Posted on November 18, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
“Man the pumps! Run around in circles, yelling, “fire, earthquake, flood, pestilence!” Send the women and children overboard! Throw some fire on that pail of water! Kick the cat! And above all, DON’T PANIC!”….. Or, if you’d rather, you could just pass me the sugar there, in that bowl….. thanks. Now, where were we?…. Oh, yeah….

Buenos dias, amigos…. how’s it goin’? Or, in the vernacular, whassup? Hmm? Oh, that? No worries, it isn’t connected to anything real, so no need to pay any further attention to it. I was just practicing my alarm system…. You know, settling on the final version of what the alarm will do…. Like most ffolkes, I don’t like those beepy, loud, stridently obnoxious noises they use for most alarms. Very annoying, and no class at all…. So, I like to use other sounds…

I used to use some nice comforting musical reminder, but found it didn’t create the right sort of panic to get people moving, like when I had a soft voice, with a nice soft jazzy piano in accompaniment, saying, in the sultry tones and style of Miss Peggy Lee, “Watch out, it’s getting hot, big boy!” So, I’m having the recording changed…. This time, I’m having the above lines set as the message, in a silly, screechy Monty Python voice, I think…. That should get ffolkes going when it needs to!….

I don’t know, though…. What about a nice loud rendition of say, Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”…. that will certainly get the blood moving, although people may think it’s the start of a movie, and not an emergency…. Ah well, I’ll go with the new Monty Python jobber, that will be a good one…. and it will certainly be different than your average alarm, yessirree…..

Awwww, Spell Checker doesn’t like my word, yessirree…. I don’t know why, I used it all the time when I was a kid, so it’s not like the word hasn’t been around a long time. It’s kind of like that line from “Sleepless in Seattle”, when Tom Hank’s character is talking about geography with his son, and says to him, “I don’t even want to think about what they’re NOT teaching you in school!” How could such an old word, even slangish, not be in there? Makes me feel even older than I am…. S’okay, though, I trust my own head more than I do Spell Checker…. I’m constantly having to add new words to it, that it doesn’t know, and I do…. I know, a bit arrogant, but, hey, it’s true, so….. They (whoever programmed it) should have fed it a bigger dictionary….

Well, I’ve managed to meander all over the place this morning, and have gotten exactly nowhere, in a literal sense, as well as figurative. I mean, that’s okay and all, right? I’m not getting paid for this, other than by the kind attention and regard of the Gentle Readers, so it’s not like there is any strict qualitative standard I’m held to, right? Right. At least, that’s what my copy of the contract says….. If yours is different, well, sorry, I can’t do anything about that, and you’ll just have to deal with the authorities as best you may to achieve satisfaction. That particular item (satisfaction on your part…..) is not my responsibility either, at least from a legal standpoint…. Thank goodness for small favors, eh?….

Now that I’ve completed the process of removing all sense of normalcy from the proceedings, we are officially cleared to dive. The waters look inviting, and I’m sure we’ll find something your uncle will just adore….. oops, wrong group. Sorry….. I’m sure we’ll find something YOU will enjoy…. or die trying…. Well, nobody’s ever died, but we’ll try hard to prevent any serious injury….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“I wanted a perfect ending … Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.” — Gilda Radner

What a lovely phrase! “Delicious ambiguity.” Such perfect contrast in the words, that together create an entirely new springboard for imagination. Such insight is also very useful in dealing with Reality, with all its innovative transformations seemingly designed to catch us unprepared. In one respect, at least, it reminds me of being a boy in Washington state, where we lived before my father mustered out of the Army.

We lived in that watery, constantly dripping paradise for four years, and one either learned to appreciate and deal with the incessant weather changes, from rain, to not-rain, to rain, or one went quietly mad (the rain drowns out any loud noises….). Aside from the rain, it is incredibly beautiful country, with the rich and varied forests providing endless landscapes of high adventure for young boys, so I got to like it…. but, not all can learn to do so, just like in many other aspects of life…..

I guess this is destined to be a short pearl, because the only other thing that occurs to me to say about this is this: Life and Reality do not always match our expectations, and it is easier to learn how to appreciate the differences in those, and accept that we can change our expectations, than it is to try to change either life or reality. We can only change ourselves, and getting uptight about having to do so only makes us feel worse…. it sure doesn’t change anything…..

“The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” — Richard Bach
__________________________________

For some months now, this center section of the three part Pearls has been reserved for poetry. This was a purely personal decision, made simply because I needed it. For much of my life as a “Man” here in Amurrica, it was not considered a manly trait to be overly fond of poetry. Even when I had grown beyond the false and ignorant reasoning that prompted such a custom, it was, by then, habitual to separate myself from frequent acquaintance with those parts of the human emotional scale that is touched by such things. Habitual as well as defensive; I couldn’t afford to be too soft hearted in many of the situations in which I found myself, without courting disaster.

For many years now, though, I’ve been able to present a more realistic face to the world, in the manner of a Samurai of old Japan, or one of the Knights of Templar, whose skills and knowledge are traditionally not restricted to merely those of war, but include Haiku, calligraphy, and an appreciation of the beauty in Life. So, here in Exploring Consensual Reality, beauty, and the magic of poetry, will ever hold a place of honor, and central meaning, whether it comes from a poem of mine (hopefully….), or of one such as this one, that I found floating around Smart Bee. It isn’t, perhaps, the most romantic or strictly beautiful pieces I’ve seen, but, the scansion and rhyme is perfect, and the language simple and clear, so the beauty comes from the structure as much as the content, for me…… Enjoy!

On a lone barren isle, where the wild roaring billows
Assail the stern rock, and the loud tempests rave,
The hero lies still, while the dew-drooping willows,
Like fond weeping mourners, lean over his grave.
The lightnings may flash and the loud thunders rattle;
He heeds not, he hears not, he ‘s free from all pain;
He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle;
No sound can awake him to glory again!

— Leonard Heath — The Grave of Bonaparte

As a treat, a little extra, a bonus for your patience and tolerance of an old fool’s foibles….

A Drink With Something In It

There is something about a Martini,
A tingle remarkably pleasant;
A yellow, a mellow Martini;
I wish I had one at present.
There is something about a Martini,
Ere the dining and dancing begin,
And to tell you the truth,
It is not the vermouth–
I think that perhaps it’s the gin.

Ogden Nash
__________________________________

One of the most elemental pieces of insight I have come to understand about men has to do with our need to have a sense of purpose, a chosen duty, or set of duties, that we must fulfill to keep our self respect. The same principle is operative for women, as well, I am sure, but, not being one, I cannot say to what degree, other than what I may surmise from observation; let us say only that I see it as different, in some respects, and let it go at that…..

Men who don’t feel a sense of purpose are lost, and will find all sorts of ways to give themselves, and an objecting world, a lot of trouble. Of course, the chosen purpose can also have deleterious effects on both the man, and society, especially when the so-chosen purpose is self-serving, or deliberately cruel and ignorant. But, with a chosen duty to act upon, one that serves society as well as the individual, most men become creatures of honor, and can be trusted to do the right thing…..

One of the duties I try to serve is to think, as often and as deeply as I can, and to share what I think with others, while comparing what other historical figures and men of honor and intelligence have left for us to consider. This set of pearls is one that expresses several of my views on thought, emotion, imagination, and purpose, and inspire me to share it with others, if only for what they may find in those historical pearls of wisdom…. Virtual or real, this batch is of some note…. Enjoy!…. Oh, and no quiz today…..

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” — Patanjali (Second century B.C.)

“Any man can work when every stroke of his hand brings down the fruit rattling from the tree to the ground; but to labor in season and out of season, under every discouragement, by the power of truth — that requires a heroism which is transcendent.” — Henry Ward Beecher

“Everyone knows that dragons don’t exist. But while this simplistic formulation may satisfy the layman, it does not suffice for the scientific mind. The School of Higher Neantical Nillity is in fact wholly unconcerned with what does exist. Indeed, the banality of existence has been so amply demonstrated, there is no need for us to discuss it any further here. The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the problem analytically, discovered three distinct kinds of dragon: the mythical, the chimerical, and the purely hypothetical. They were all, one might say, nonexistent, but each nonexisted in an entirely different way …” — Stanislaw Lem, Cyberiad

“Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.” — J.K. Rowling, The Beginning, — Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, — spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

“If little else, the brain is an educational toy.” — Tom Robbins

“Yow! Maybe I should have asked for my Neutron Bomb in PAISLEY–” — Zippy the Pinhead
(Think about it!…. Neutron bombs kill people without destroying property…. Paisley markings would double the number of tourists who came to see it, thus doubling the kill rate inside a five-mile radius….. elementary psychology!….)

On that note, I rest my case….. Q.E.D., as Mr. Malthus might have said……
__________________________________

Odd, isn’t it, that Sunday would be a day when a deadline becomes more critical than on a weekday? But, it’s a hive of bees, so it must be faced…. Fortunately, I think I’ve done it. If nothing else, it’s done, so it will have to do…. I guess I’ve done worse…. At least it’s inconsistent…… Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Kowabunga!

gigoid

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

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