Ffolkes,

“Always do what you are afraid to do.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

Fish? Where?….

(Photo by Lady P….)

Hajime…. I spent yesterday geeking with my computer, but, found it still confused this morning. I managed to get it up & running, and am only here long enough to get this posted. I will be infrequently present for the next few days, & don’t know if or when I’ll have time to write, or post. I will try to at least re-blog each day, but, can’t promise anything, as I have some critical business to deal with out in the BBR, that cannot wait.

Since I will be busy most of today, dealing with all of it, I’ll forgo any trickery here in the intro; even today’s old-school pearl is truncated to five entries, as I don’t have time to find another pair to fill it out. So be it. There IS a new poem, which I hope you enjoy, &, as always, some rather fine music, to go with the first section’s journey into a past Pearl to share some personal views on living…. That’s it, though, and all you’ll get for a while. I’ll be traveling, to see a friend who went into hospice, so, I won’t be worrying much about anything else, until I’ve seen him, & made contact before he travels on to the next world….

For now, that’s all I’ve got, ffolkes. I’ll see you in a day or two, or, whenever I can get back to relative normality…. Onward….

Shall we Pearl?

“A human being should be able to change a diaper,
plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building,
write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying,
take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations,
analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer,
cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.”

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

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From 6/9/2012:

My life, described in six words….

“Looked for love, found it everywhere.” — gigoid, to KDFC DJ Hoyt Smith, 2009….

While listening to the radio one day, the DJ was talking about a meme activity he had been told about via an email earlier that day from a listener. The challenge was to describe your life in exactly six words; he gave several examples of those who had already responded, and asked the listening audience to call in with their own. After a couple of moments the above six words floated to the surface of my mind, almost unbidden, so I called in, and, to my surprise, my call was taken, and my quote was put out over the air.

For life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o’ the prize of learning love,–
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.

~~ Robert Browning ~~

(1812-1890) — A Death in the Desert

Considering that what I said to Hoyt in the above six words, upon reflection, is something I can, and still do, say is as true as the day, it felt kind of good to have it shared over the air…. Fortunately, it didn’t lead to any more than 15 seconds of fame, the time it took to say my name, and my contribution…. It isn’t as if I was hoping it would lead to an appearance on Letterman or anything, but it did feel pretty good, as I am proud of the quote…. (Still am, in fact, and it still rings true…. gigoid, from the future, which is now the present, but used to be the… Oh, never mind….)

Of course, though finding love has never been difficult, I’ve never found the rest of the secret, the other part, about getting love to stay, other than that love between friends that is so important. Our culture, so tenuous in its support of monogamy, provides people with so many ways to leave a relationship without penalty, no one seems interested in making them last an entire lifetime any more. It’s like, “Oh well, that didn’t work… there’s lots of fish in the sea….”, and off they go into the dating world again…. Frankly, it makes me dizzy….

I can’t say I know what the problem is in society that dooms relationships these days; if I did, then it wouldn’t be a problem, as I’d know what to avoid…. What I do know is that on (at least) five occasions in my life, I’ve given my heart to a woman, and spent all my energy giving my all to that relationship, faithfully and fully. On all of those occasions, the woman eventually decided, for their own personal reasons, that they didn’t want to continue, and left. I guess they like Will Shakespeare more than I do… as they seemed to take on his attitude…..

“I dote on his very absence.” — William Shakespeare ( Though I hold most of his work to be crap and nonsense, even he came up with something coherent occasionally….)

I’ve been fortunate, I guess, in that, of those five times, only three were painful in their intensity, leaving my heart shattered, my life in tatters; two of them were relatively amicable breakups. (Sure they were; that’s what I keep telling myself….) But, I’ve just gotta say, it hurts when a woman I’ve loved for 23 years, and intended to die with, decides she’d rather pursue other options; it hurts, and it hurts a lot…. I can testify, from the evidence of a more recent nature, it also hurts when a woman has said she loved me for ten years, and has been lying the whole time…. That kind of betrayal brings a very lasting pain, and is slow to pass…

I hear you reproach, “But delay was best,
For their end was a crime.” Oh, a crime will do
As well, I reply, to serve for a test
As a virtue golden through and through,
Sufficient to vindicate itself
And prove its worth at a moment’s view!
. . . . . .
Let a man contend to the uttermost
For his life’s set prize, be it what it will!
The counter our lovers staked was lost
As surely as if it were lawful coin;
And the sin I impute to each frustrate ghost
Is–the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin,
Though the end in sight was a vice, I say.

~~ Robert Browning ~~

(1812-1890) — The Statue and the Bust

Pain is an old friend of mine, though, in all its various guises, and I know it always passes in time. Now I am looking for love again, in my own time, still trying to find that one woman who can be both loving and honest. The ones I’ve known so far have all had a problem with that last part…. it’s not something our society teaches well. But, until I find her, I’ll have to make do with the pain…. But, I know she is out there, somewhere….. There’s got to be some woman who would enjoy being worshiped by an old, fading, but faithful, romantic curmudgeon with a soft spot for dogs, cats, kids, & a good laugh, along with a severe case of wanderlust to complicate the issue….

In the desert a fountain is springing,
In the wide waste there still is a tree,
And a bird in the solitude singing,
Which speaks to my spirit of thee.

~~ Lord Byron ~~

(1788-1824) — Stanzas to Augusta

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This was found along with the above discussion; it’s too good to NOT include, so, you get it today, as a bonus pearl…. It’s pretty much a stand-alone anyway, requiring nothing to make it whole and complete….

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.

~~ The Buddha ~~

I can’t think of a single thing that needs to be added here, so I won’t….. As Nike says, “Just do it….”

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I’m in a hurry, as noted, so, here is one of our default music selections to help move us along the necessary path…. Enjoy!

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Playing For Change

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Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave.
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know.
But I do not approve.
And I am not resigned.

— Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Dirge Without Music”

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Motif en passant…

Death becomes me, I shouldn’t wonder;
or, perhaps, she merely beckons?
Ah, well, perhaps ’tis both, or, neither;
knowing how, now, might give pause,
or rise to such crescendo
exposing the crack in reality’s mask.

Such a burden to bear only comes
to those who wear the dark’s mark;
murder, slain by Cain’s evil twin,
on a Tuesday, of course;
Mondays have always been reserved
for expedience, the blessing of the coin.

Allegory chases metaphor around the parlor table
as eternity scoffs at such paltry buffoonery;
for those waiting upon the latest schedules
intricate mazes with traces of sincere regret
forgive the sins of all who travel, bereft
of any claim to legitimacy.

Patterns in simple fabrics wear better,
whenever reality intrudes.
Fabulous notions simply will not make the grade
until fashion completes a viable task.
All the petty reasons devised in haste
fall gently into place, softly saving grace.

~~ gigoid ~~

3/5/2027

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Naked Pearls

Five notes on Life at Large….

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“He that will not reason is a bigot.
He that cannot reason is a fool.
He that dares not reason is a slave.”

~~ William Drummond, “Academical Questions” ~~

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“I wonder why. I wonder why.
I wonder why I wonder.
I wonder _why_ I wonder why
I wonder why I wonder!”

~~ Richard P. Feynman ~~

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“Patience serves as a protection against wrongs
as clothes do against cold.
For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases,
it will have no power to hurt you.
So in like manner you must grow in patience
when you meet with great wrongs,
and they will be powerless to vex your mind.”

~~ Leonardo da Vinci ~~

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“It is easier to pull down than to build up.”

~~ Latin Proverb ~~

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“A hug is a heart to heart talk.”

~~ Bobby Matherne ~~

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Not only am I in a hurry, I’m in a big hurry. So, I’ll merely say, see y’all later, & leave it at that. Be well, be as happy as you may, and, be cool. There’s no sense go out without some dignity, & that is about all we humans have left….

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….