Use the lug nuts we softened yesterday….

Posted on June 6, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Celebration is called for, if not demanded…. I woke up, again (an event that becomes more significant each day….), but this time, I looked over at the clock to find that I had actually slept longer than I had thought, not less. It was actually past five in the morning, by a goodly number of minutes, and even my making it past 9:30 pm last night for the first time in ages doesn’t account for it…. But, I don’t care why, it just feels good, so I’m going to spend the day celebrating my return to near-normalcy, and try to figure out how it happened, so I can make it happen again tonight, and from now on….

Probably wishful thinking, but everyone needs a goal, right? For the nonce, it will have to do, as it also presents me with a blank page again, and no idea what to do about it, other than my usual blather. That seems to be working just fine, but, I can’t depend on it to produce an entire pearl, not if I still want any readers at the end of it. Of course, the number of readers I’m attracting is again on the decline, so I’m not sure if anything will work, other than sheer nonsense and/or sheer brilliance…. This morning, I’m pretty certain the former is within reach; the latter may be too much to expect right now….

Not that I’d necessarily even recognize brilliance, even if it walked up and slapped me, but it would be nice to see some of it around here now and again, just to give me a reason to come back and do it again. Writing this way seems to be a bit like the game of golf…. It’s harder than it looks, it takes more time than one would expect to learn how to do it right, and the payoff isn’t very exciting. Still, like golf, one good poem, or one good rant, or one great group of pearls is enough to get me back out here again each day, just like one good fairway drive, or, one long putt that drops in for a birdie, will bring us back out to the links next week….. It doesn’t take much….

There is an old piece of wisdom somewhere that talks about how the longest journey begins with one step (it’s actually from the Tao Teh Ching, by Lao Tzu….), and it applies about as universally as anything can…. so, naturally, it applies here. This Pearl isn’t going to get done until I quit screwing around, and start writing, or at least cruising for pearls to include, or to stimulate, so I once again have to put aside my fantasies and get down to the actual work involved with creating a Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, such as it is….. which isn’t going to happen, until now….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that all the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” — William Henry Harrison

Well, duh….. As I get older, this principle, or, this observation of a principle, becomes more obvious, and less surprising. I first began to question government back around 1957 or so, the first time I ever got a look at Dicky Nixon, when he was running for VP behind Eisenhower. Even at that tender age, I couldn’t figure out why this man was so famous and admired; he looked like he wore too much Brylcream (a brand name hair grease in 1957…) in his hair, and he smiled way too much…. Any kid under 10 is leery of adults who smile like that; they know it’s false bonhomie (though generally without knowing the word ‘bonhomie’ itself….), and generally avoid such adults at any cost, even to the point of speaking out, to say something like “Don’t touch me with that!”, when asked to shake their hand….. because we saw them run it over their slicked back hair, and didn’t want the grease all over our own hands….

It’s been a while since I wrote a politirant… This isn’t because the politicians have been idle, far from it. They are busily carrying on the agendas of their corporate masters and the BRC, weakening social programs, giving money to the rich and powerful, distracting the public with miscellaneous bullshit while they transfer more money to their own pockets, and go about their true business of making money off the rest of humanity. No, I’ve just been too satisfied with my own lot to work up sufficient outrage, since my own actions right now are feeding into that whole trained consumer scenario, while I make up for the poverty of my existence over the last three years….

I know, it’s a little hypocritical of me, but, I don’t really care much what others think about it. All my life I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today, even if I’m a bit less capable, physically, than I had planned to be at this stage, and I don’t really give a shit if other folks don’t approve of how I’m living my life. I’m doing just exactly what I want to do, much as I always have done, and will continue to do so as long as I can. Some of what I want to do requires that I engage in dealings with the BRC, politicians, and corporate slaves, and do so without biting off their appendages, because they are such gits….. Sociopathic gits, but gits nonetheless….

“Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage. But if we don’t practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us — and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987

In another sense, I’ve about given up…. Over the last three years or so, or just over two years of writing daily in this blog, I’ve ranted and raged against the machine on a regular basis, sometimes with a lot of vitriol and energy, which is completely justified, when one considers just how much the ruling classes act like vicious animals more than people…..

But, no matter how often, or how much, or how well I write, none of it makes a dent in the facade of respectability that cloaks those in positions of elected authority in this country. These politicians have been getting away with criminal acts for so long, by the old “make the laws ourselves” method, which makes their thievery legal, that they now believe it is their God-given right to plunder the public treasury, looking upon the structure of income in government like their own bank….

I’ve managed to acquire a comfortable retirement income, between my almost 30 years working for the State of California, and putting money into their retirement system, and by putting money into Social Security for over 50 years. Together, it gives me enough room to breathe, financially, for one of the first times in my life, and to be honest, I’m enjoying it, little as I like money, or its demands on our psyches.

Or, I guess it would be more accurate to say, I’m enjoying what money can do, when one has enough of it to be able to think beyond necessity. Unfortunately for my angst, or perhaps, fortunately, this leaves me without the depth of feeling needed to rant successfully… It’s like Voldemort told Harry, in HP 5:TOOTP, “You’ve got to MEAN it, Harry!”, referring to using the Cruciatus Curse correctly…..

So, I’ll just say this…. Politics is poopadoodle, and politicians are all assholes…. I can’t put it more simply, or more effectively than that. Anyone who WANTS to be in an elected position of authority in this world is, in my mind, insane, by definition. It takes a strong degree of insanity to WANT that kind of power over others, and it takes a sociopathic, rationalizing sort of mind to be able to steal from the rest of mankind without suffering a single pang of conscience… The same goes for the bankers, and the preachers, and the police, mostly, and for anyone else who makes a habit of fucking over other people….

Sadly, that’s a large percentage of mankind that preys on the rest, and they’ve been practicing for oh, about twenty-thousand years now, ever since people started to hang together in groups, and came up with the concept of barter, and/or money…. Ever since then, people have been trying to figure out new and improved methods of getting an advantage over their peers, using these concepts….. the rest we call History…..

“You have the right to remain an idiot.” — Smart Bee
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I suppose that a mild rant such as the above is sufficient reason to feel as befuddled and bemused as I do…. Enough so I am picking today’s poem from that position, going with what appeals to that sense of bemusement….. and this is perfect for that…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did….

I dreaded that first robin so,
But he is mastered now,
And I’m accustomed to him grown,–
He hurts a little, though.

I thought if I could only live
Till that first shout got by,
Not all pianos in the woods
Had power to mangle me.

I dared not meet the daffodils,
For fear their yellow gown
Would pierce me with a fashion
So foreign to my own.

I wished the grass would hurry,
So when ‘t was time to see,
He’d be too tall, the tallest one
Could stretch to look at me.

I could not bear the bees should come,
I wished they’d stay away
In those dim countries where they go:
What word had they for me?

They’re here, though; not a creature failed,
No blossom stayed away
In gentle deference to me,
The Queen of Calvary.

Each one salutes me as he goes,
And I my childish plumes
Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment
Of their unthinking drums.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Well, here’s the deal…. One last old-school pearl to finish out the day, and we’ll call it a draw, okay? I know I’ve been a bit scattered and discombobulated, but, just getting to use that word is enough of a reward for me, so, back off…. I’m kidding, of course….. But, not about this group…. They picked themselves again, so the underlying message, whatever it may be, can be blamed on my subconscious…. I’m pretty sure there is a message, which, of course, is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. besides, I’m on a deadline here, so, again, back off….. 😉

“Death tugs at my ear and says: “Live, I am coming.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up–that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.” — Blaise Pascal

“Ask a toad what is beauty?…a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back.” — Voltaire (1694-1778)

“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.” — Buddha

He ‘s gone, and who knows how he may report
Thy words by adding fuel to the flame?

— John Milton (1608-1674) — Samson Agonistes, Line 1350

“Do I have a lifestyle yet?” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“That he is mad, ‘t is true: ‘t is true ‘t is pity; And pity ‘t is ‘t is true.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act ii, Sc. 2

Hmm… even Will gets one right now and then…. and this shoe sure fits well! Let’s see if it floats….. Okay, it will have to do…. It’s really not too shabby, all in all, so, since I’ve posted worse, we’ll fly with it…… 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

Such fabulous shoes require spanking….

Posted on April 18, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
I should probably know better, by now, than to put fingers to keyboard during that period before the coffee is done. In spite of my advanced years, though, here I am, typing away, with nothing to say, just passing time until my brain decides to function…. Perhaps I should go first to perform my morning ablutions; yes, that is the right idea…. I go now, to worship at the porcelain throne, and contemplate my sins, myriad though they be….. according to the local preachers, anyway….. But, we don’t pay them any mind, as they are just jealous of my shirts…. I’ll be back, as Arnie is wont to say when in Terminator format….

Sorry ’bout that, ffolkes…. as I said, I should know better….. Well, here we are again, in a dangerous place. Why dangerous, you ask? It’s difficult to explain, but I’ll try…. It’s dangerous, for me, and consequently for you, because it’s too soon….. Too soon, you ask? Why, yes, I reply, too soon…. Well, what if we just waited a while? Hmm… not a bad suggestion, I think, but, probably destined to fail, as are almost any attempts to correct the situation, since I detect the hand of Murphy at work in this matter. As with almost everything he touches, waiting will only make things worse, as it gives him more time to turn his creativity to the punishment phase of his operation….

What now? Good question…. maybe I should look for a pearl for a moment or two, to see if there are any instructions or tips from my subconscious, or from the SB hackers….. be right back….

“The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib.” — Old Testament — Isaiah i, 3

Well, that’s an interesting find….. I generally try to stay away from the Old Testament; the pressure of life back then was such that the people who wrote the books in that tome tend to be more than a little touched by the sun, or Son, as you desire….. So, their advice is often a bit out of date, like when it counsels one on proper care of their ass (donkey variety, not human _ _ _ hole types…. Not too useful in changing the oil on your Toyota…. This one seems a bit more useful than most, though I’m really not absolutely certain what kind of metaphor they are trying to make…. maybe something to do with ownership rights; they were sticklers for the laws back then…. Let’s try again, since that one wasn’t quite sufficient….

“A good old man, sir; he will be talking: as they say, When the age is in the wit is out.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Much Ado about Nothing
— Act iii, Sc. 5

As you may have noted in past Pearls, I’m not overly impressed with Shakespeare, either, but have always admitted that he did write some fairly coherent, and majestically beautiful, prose, a category into which this one falls. It’s right on the money, in terms of its accurate take on human nature, in general, though it is a bit harsh on seniors, and does further the stereotype of seniors as being senile, a characteristic not all of us share.

I think this particular play, Much Ado About Nothing, is probably my favorite of all of his works, with the best cache of witty quotes and jokes, including a number of puns, and plays on words….. With Will, it’s kind of like Pearls…. there is a LOT of stuff written, but the gems are often buried in the crap surrounding it…..

And, on THAT note, one not completely inspiring, but true, I see we have reached that tenuous barrier that marks the boundaries of acceptable introductory sections…. In fact, it blew right past acceptable, and is now chasing after totally overboard…. Before it catches up to that, and the ensuing struggle tries to throw us all out of our seats, I think we’ll go for a dive…. now….. Shall we Pearl?
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MORAL, adj. Conforming to a local and mutable standard of right. Having the quality of general expediency.

“It is sayd there be a raunge of mountaynes in the Easte, on one syde of the which certayn conducts are immorall, yet on the other syde they are holden in good esteeme; wherebye the mountayneer is much conveenyenced, for it is given to him to goe downe eyther way and act as it shall suite his moode, withouten offence. _Gooke’s Meditations_

— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

A reader commented to me recently that my rants have gone soft; she enjoys it when I rake someone over the coals, figuratively speaking, and asked me when I was going to get back on my white horse, or my soapbox, as the cliché may be…. I told her it is most likely a result of having some of the pressure of living removed, by the acquisition of my SS benefits, so much so that I’m finding it hard to summon up the outrage needed to rant effectively…. Like Voldemort told Harry, when he tried to use the Cruciatus Curse against Bellatrix Lestrange, in HP5-The Order of the Phoenix, “You’ve got to MEAN it, Harry!” Funny how not worrying about where the next meal is coming from takes some stress out of one’s life, isn’t it?….. Ha Ha…..

So, anyway, then I saw the above entry from the Devil’s Dictionary, and thought to myself, “AHA!” (I do that a lot…), “Now, here’s a subject worthy of a rant!”…. This is absolutely true, even though morality is sort of like reality…. there are as many versions of what it means as there are people…. of which, each and every one believes that what they perceive is the only correct version, obviously…. Right….

So, you can see the problem right away…. As a society, we have an unfortunate tendency to try to legislate morality, so that everyone is compelled to behave according to a commonly accepted pattern of behavior…. Supposedly, this legislation is supposed act as some sort of magic bullet, that will stop all the bad things from happening, like stealing, killing, and general misbehavior that is upsetting to the rest of society…. It never works, at all, but, we keep on passing laws designed to enforce a common morality anyway….

Such a drama is now being played out on the national stage, as the Senate just defeated the new gun control reforms that 90% of the populace wants in place. Out of a hundred Senators, it only took 45 Republicans to bring the proposed law down, meaning that once again, a very small percentage of people have forced their views on the rest of the public, to suit their own morality, and, more importantly, to suit their own special interests, who paid good money for their votes, dammit!…. I am somewhat piqued about this, but see little in the way of anything to be done that will make any difference, in the big picture…. No matter how stringent the laws, people who want guns will get them, and use them on other people…. The new laws would have made that a bit more time-consuming, but no less possible, or even less probable….

Since I can’t thing of anything positive to suggest, other than to stay alert to what may end up as a critical issue, I will fill out what should normally be a rant, with a number of cogent pearls, to try to jab the stick into the appropriate eyes…. and my friend will have to wait a bit longer for a good, old-fashioned brouhaha, as I get nasty and vicious in my denouncement of the BRC, the churches, and the corporate masters….. I will say this to her….. have no fear, my outrage isn’t gone, just temporarily dormant, and I WILL be back to rant….. meanwhile, enjoy these tasty gems…..

“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” — Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Linear Model: An assumption concerning the nature of reality applied unquestioningly to every relationship as though God had determined that truth must always run in straight lines. — Smart Bee

“The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I will cut anyone who argues further into dogmeat.” — Sir Geoffery de Tourneville (ca. 1350)

“Has history ever recorded a time when the majority was right?” — Lazarus Long

“He would be the finer gentleman that should leave the world without having tasted of lying or pretense of any sort, or of wantonness or conceit.” –Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 2

“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.” — Saul Bellow

“If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other.” — Carl Schurz (1829-1906)
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I suppose, in a way, I’ve failed at the poetry challenge for the month, as I haven’t been creating one per day (except haiku, which I produce whenever I wish….. like today’s, which is fresh and clean….), and again today will need to use one from my archives, which, fortunately, have enough to choose from for all the days I’ve missed…. This one speaks to, and about, the friends who helped keep my hope alive when I was struggling, just to get enough to eat….. As every day this month, these are being included as part of the April National Poetry Writing Month Challenge, with the updates to be found here: http://www.napowrimo.net/ I hope you enjoy them…..

Haiku VII

Making it all up
I go merrily along;
waters of Lethe.

~~ gigoid ~~

“But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having.” — EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow, “Cynthia Horner’s Eulogy”, Apr. 1994

Unsolicited Gratitude

Fear becomes familiar when reality bodes us ill
pain assumes first position, no matter our will.
Powerless, we founder, no strength to prevail
anguished and afraid, against unwanted Fate we rail.

Still, a grain of hope deep inside, hidden well against need
gives us reason to survive, our starving souls to feed.
Failure of courage burdens time, of being bested,
until our souls, in submission, become foully infested.

Bitter tears wash through us each day, with little care,
no thought, no feeling, no wish, or need to be fair.
Rendered clueless, confusion falls upon us, as prey,
we surrender a piece of our soul, little as we may.

Yet, always, a bright beam of hope is seen from afar,
no matter how dreary, or dark, it may seem where we are.
None knows, nor would consent to tell, it seems
from whence it hails, or why it so brightly gleams.

Saving our sanity, absolving our unwanted fears,
dispelling the myths and lies that come with the years.
Each man has known the precious gift that hope may give
And gives glad thanks, as long as he may live.

~~ gigoid

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To attempt to soothe the ruffled feathers of my friend who wants me to rant, I give you now a rant from 2012, post-election category…. It kind of fits in with the morality play above…. sort of, maybe…. any who, enjoy…..
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“Integrity is when what you say, what you do, what you think, and who you ARE all come from the same place.” — Madelyn Griffith-Haynie

Okay, I know we are all probably sick to death of politics, and the election, and everyone would like to have a break from talking and thinking about it….. I know I am. So, I’ll try to make this fairly short, and make it the last political diatribe for at least a day or two. It may be possible, if nothing in the news jumps up to stimulate my outrage (which may be on a short vacation itself….. I hope. I could do with the emotional space….).

Any who…. here is what I was thinking when I came across this little gem…. What if we devised a test, that in some way would enable us, as voters, to determine the relative status of each of the candidates according to this rule? A way, as it were, to measure their degree of integrity, which is something I think we can all agree would be a good thing to see in a politician, unlikely as it may be. If we could, say, set up a scale of integrity, and make it law that a person had to score in the top 5% of the scale in order to merely be eligible for office, I think we might see a whole new set of politicians, who had never before been seen in public.

In fact, in thinking about the current crop of those in office, it is entirely possible that ALL of those in office now might not be eligible…. I am not excluding the President, out of fairness, though I personally believe he might score in the top 10%…. I still have questions about some of the stuff he has signed that didn’t seem to be very well publicized, as they didn’t exactly fit with his image….. The newest version of the Patriot Act, the NDAA, that he signed last New Year’s Day comes immediately to mind….

I don’t care if he did try to mitigate some of the deleterious effects of the law, he still signed the damn thing, thereby seriously endangering a number of the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Plus, the method he used to keep it from the public awareness was rather suspect, in my mind, and reminiscent of the old days under Nixon, Johnson, Reagan, and the two Shrubs, may they all rot in whatever level of Hell they are destined to occupy….. (I know, I know…. not being a Christian, that curse has little weight, but, hey, it’s a pretty clear indicator of my opinion of all of them….)

As I suspect it might, this grew to be somewhat more than I intended it to be, so I’ll cut it short here. But, my suggestion above, about the test for integrity that should be a given for political aspirants, is completely serious, and I wanted to get that out. Maybe by the next election, we can get the rest of the country to buy into it…. which should be interesting, and fun. I’ll be looking forward to the expressions on the faces of all the supporters of those now in office, when their people gloriously fail to pass the test…. and to the results it will have on society, should it ever be adopted…. I don’t see any way at all that it could do anything that wouldn’t improve the situation…..

And so I penned
It down, until at last it came to be,
For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.
— John Bunyan (1628-1688) — Pilgrim’s Progress, Apology for his Book
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Well, that went fairly well, if somewhat less than totally creatively…. I’m still looking for that magic bullet, unfortunately; old habits die hard. Nonetheless, I’m done, so that has to count for something, doesn’t it?…. Let’s see how it flows….. Okay, again, not too bad, all in all, so, it’s going out, as is…. gigoid has spoken. Also, gigoid is tired now, and wants to go back to sleep…. Say bye, bye, gigoid…. 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

Scintillating displays of lug nut fasteners….

Posted on February 23, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Have you ever seen one of those silly little toy poodles, or a cockapoo, for heaven’s sake, trying to mate with a big dog? No? Hmm, me neither. Oh well, I was going to ask you a question, but, since you’ve never seen it,… Never mind….

Don’t ask, you DEFINITELY don’t want to know…. In fact, forget the above paragraph even exists…. I beg of you. If word of stuff like that gets out, I could lose my writer’s hack license….. then how would I eat? Oh, wait, it doesn’t pay me anything to write….. Well, never mind that, too….

Let’s hope third time is a charm…. We’ll try this…. Good morning! It looks to be another nice day here in California, and we’re all looking forward to the local flea and farmer’s market (or is that farmer’s flea market?…) at the center of the downtown area later today. There’s word there may be clowns…. so, keep the children and women at home, come on down, and take a few shots yourself! They allow the use of live ammo, and no penalties for collateral damages to local business, even if a clown crashes through their display window while trying to get away….

You don’t mean to tell me your town doesn’t have clown shoots? Hell, we’ve been holding them here every week for years, and the state government hasn’t ever bothered us about permits or anything. We have a direct line to the Barnum & Bailey winter HQ, where they’re happy to provide us with a number of their most nimble specimens each week, as they tend to breed like, well, clowns, when they’re in winter quarters, and they always have more lying around than they need themselves. It works out well for everyone, even the clowns, as they are fed & kept warm right up until they’re released for the shooting events….. Why, they even provide them lazy suckers with free noses!…..

Okay, my whimsy button got stuck, sorry…. I couldn’t seem to come up with anything remotely interesting to start with, so I just let my whimsy out, intending to allow it a few moments to play…. but it got stuck on some dried up Peanut Butter, and threatened to go on for quite a few paragraphs…. which COULD have been disastrous, given the tendency clowns have of getting into EVERYTHING while looking for spare jokes or hand-shake buzzers. It’s all good now, though; I think I’ve got them back in the bottle. I was afraid there for a moment, but, it worked out okay…. Nobody got squirted, did they? Good, there were more lapel flowers in that herd than was safe….

Now that I am thoroughly ashamed of myself, I will try to find the proper attitude of atonement, so the rest of this Pearl doesn’t crash and burn…. I’ve obviously pissed of the gods of literature, and must be punished. I’ll go abase myself at the altar of Smart Bee, and see if that doesn’t appease them at least a little…. I don’t know, they’re a tough room…. Oh well, little choice now…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Smart Bee is a very interesting piece of software… a database of over a hundred thousand quotes, poems, excerpts from historical documents, entries from the Devil’s Dictionary, and numerous other fascinating bits of information. In addition to the quotes, aphorisms, and proverbs that provide me with subject matter for rants and/or discussions, it also provides me with items such as the following useful paragraph. I offer it here, to my fellow authors, as a resource for a phrase that all of us tend to use on occasion, especially those of us who write about politics or religion in modern society, or in history….. it’s quite valuable in that regard, as it gives us a large group of words from which to draw what we need for our purpose…. To wit:

“This “brain-damaged” epithet is getting sorely overworked. When we can speak of someone or something being flawed, impaired, marred, spoiled; batty, bedlamite, bonkers, buggy, cracked, crazed, cuckoo, daft, demented, deranged, loco, lunatic, mad, maniac, mindless, non compos mentis, nuts, Reaganite, screwy, teched, unbalanced, unsound, witless, wrong; senseless, spastic, spasmodic, convulsive; doped, spaced-out, stoned, zonked; {beef, beetle,block,dung,thick}headed, dense, doltish, dull, duncical, numbskulled, pinhead; asinine, fatuous, foolish, silly, simple; brute, lumbering, oafish; half-assed, incompetent; backward, retarded, imbecilic, moronic; when we have a whole precisely nuanced vocabulary of intellectual abuse to draw upon, individually and in combination, isn’t it a little <fill in the blank> to be limited to a single, now quite trite, adjective?” — Smart Bee

See? Now, isn’t that just perfect? Now, when you’re looking for just the right adjective to apply to some random Congressman, or Senator, or Popish sort, and you’re tired of all the ones you’ve been used to using, here is a list that will thrill the heart of any true curmudgeon. I mean, look at it! Complete, creative, and chock full of straight talk about the folks we love to hate.

What isn’t readily apparent is the versatility of this list….. Grab yourself a thesaurus (Roget’s will do….) and you’ve got an even larger universe of words from which to choose, as you can take each of those above, and plug them into the book of synonyms for an expanded list for your use. Handy, eh? And so affordable….

So, in the spirit of public giving, I hope you enjoy this little gift from gigoid, and Smart Bee, and find it to be as useful as I do…. It’s just about as good as using Shakespeare’s insults, which have been compiled in a document worthy of reproducing here…. I found this recently, though I first saw it many years ago, on a WordPress site… THE LITERARY MAN ( http://literaryman.com ), one of the blogs I follow, and had to save it for my own use…. It’s also a valuable resource for anyone who wishes to put someone down in a classic, erudite fashion…. Use it as you will….

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À Bas Ben Adhem

My fellow man I do not care for.
I often ask me, What’s he there for?
The only answer I can find
Is, Reproduction of his kind.
If I’m supposed to swallow that,
Winnetka is my habitat.
Isn’t it time to carve Hic Jacet
Above that Reproduction racket?

To make the matter more succinct:
Suppose my fellow man extinct.
Why, who would not approve the plan
Save possibly my fellow man?
Yet with a politician’s voice
He names himself as Nature’s choice.

The finest of the human race
Are bad in figure, worse in face.
Yet just because they have two legs
And come from storks instead of eggs
They count the spacious firmament
As something to be charged and sent.

Though man created cross-town traffic,
The Daily Mirror, News and Graphic,
The pastoral fight and fighting pastor,
And Queen Marie and Lady Astor,
He hails himself with drum and fife
And bullies lower forms of life.

Not that I think much depends
On how we treat our feathered friends,
Or hold the wrinkled elephant
A nobler creature than my aunt.
It’s simply that I’m sure I can
Get on without my fellow man.

~~ Ogden Nash
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“I represent a sardine!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

At this point, after reading that line, you might just be wondering if I’ve slipped my leash again…. and, you’d be justified in that thought. However, rest assured, I’m perfectly sane, if somewhat metaphorically, so it’s all good, right? Right…..

Now, such a bald statement from our old pal is liable to make one think at first that he is either kidding (not bloody likely….), or he is currently having hallucinatory delusions of being a seafood lawyer, or fish solicitor, as my British friends would say. While both of those are possible scenarios, similar in nature to Zippy’s previous episodes of verbal gymnastics, neither is correct in this instance, as I happen to know that he is teaching a lesson in metaphorical manipulation, or, as it is commonly known, lying his ass off, to keep you preoccupied while he is doing something else he doesn’t want you to see, or know about…. He’s tricky that way….

I suppose he might be trying to tell us he is a theatrical/literary agent of some sort, and has a sardine who a) has written the next best seller, entitled “The Truth About Tuna”, an exposé of the fishing industry, b) has a voice like Pavarotti, c) juggles three seahorses while riding a motorized wheelchair, or d) paints incredibly lifelike pictures of cruise ships, from an underwater view…. He might, if that is what he meant, but, it isn’t…. It is all just a distraction, a hullabaloo to draw your attention away from his real purpose, which has to do with several cases of motor oil, a rag-time band, two Senators, and a motel out on Route 666….. You really don’t want to know, now, do you?

No, really, ffolkes, I had a reason to show Zippy’s little gem off today, and it was really a good one…. So, it’s really too bad that, by the time I finished with the second paragraph above, I completely lost track of whatever it was I had to say about it….. That, of course, is embarrassing, but not as much as having to turn tail, right in the middle of a pearl, or what SHOULD have been a pearl, and go old school, just to save my ass from complete well, asininity (what else?….)….

So, here is what Smart Bee came up with, and taken together, the pearls all DO have a point…. just don’t ask me what it is, because even if I knew, I don’t think I can be trusted today to say it correctly, or even interpret it accurately…. So, you’re kind of on your own…. Don’t worry, they’re all safe, just pointed a little….Enjoy!….

“Look under enough rocks and you’ll find _something_ slimy” — Smart Bee

“And gentle Dulness ever loves a joke.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Dunciad, Book ii, Line 34

“Don’t edit reality for the sake of simplicity.” — Smart Bee

“No people do so much harm as those who go about doing good.” — Mandell Creighton (1843-1901)

“A thief believes everybody steals.” — E.W. Howe

“I have a feeling that at any time about three million Americans can be had for any militant reaction against law, decency, the Constitution, the Supreme Court, compassion and the rule of reason.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

“My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Well, there you have it, such as it is…. Ta then, luvs…..
__________________________________

I’m a bit hesitant to go back over this, but, here goes….. Well…. I seem to have been determined to keep things light today; it’s all covered with a thin coating of insane hilarity, that never quite breaks through into genuine hysteria, but indubitably hovers on the edge of falling over into pathetic silliness. I guess I had to shrug off the heaviness picked up over the last couple of days of processing stress….. Ain’t Life Grand!…..

If nothing else, it might provide y’all with a smile or two, or maybe even a chuckle…. I don’t think you need to worry, though…. I didn’t see anything that should make you blow milk or tea out through your nose from guffawing…. We always have a medical professional on call; they can be here in mere seconds, so no worries, mates…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Isn’t he just the bee’s knees?….

Posted on February 13, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
What we have here, is a failure…. to cogitate. A scary one, too, since I can’t seem to get a handle on how to fire up the ol’ neurons this morning…. Dendrite, schmendrite, send me your nerve impulses…. Nope, not working, and the mojo I found yesterday has rolled into a corner again…. Okay, hang on, I’ll see if one of the fuses went out…. Oh, yeah, I don’t have the upgrade installed yet; I’m still on the old tube and knob wiring, so, no fuses….

Damn! Now I’m going to have to resort to emergency procedure # 4, which I haven’t employed since setting it up…. Since at least three of the stages it passes through on the way to getting my brain functioning are only marginally legal, please stand back, and put on the blindfolds that are conveniently located in your seat’s pocket, on the left side there…. got them? Okay, let ‘er rip, Biff!…. Oooh! That’s impressive!…..

Good morning….. Emergency procedure # 4 was apparently successful, though I will have to rely on you all to supply me with any evidence of that…. From this side of the procedure, there is a degree of amnesia produced, that lasts a few days, then passes away, leaving no scars or memories of the less than pleasant process involved in using #4…. Rather handy, all in all, as it gets things moving, but doesn’t waste any time on congratulations or other extraneous activities, but allows me to get right to work…. Of course, it can take several weeks to get all my memory back, but, hey, I don’t use it all at once anyway…. Some sacrifices must be made to pursue one’s art, you know…

Now that I have once again provided y’all with ample proof of my insanity, or at least enough to make it worth wagering on, I should, no doubt, move on to the main portion of today’s virtual circus. It’s getting more and more chancy here in the intro section, what with the weird hours I’ve been keeping in the mornings…. Again, today, I was up at 0430; it is now 0522, and all I’ve been able to come up with is this detritus, even WITH coffee on board….. Hence my use of the word ‘scary’ above….. The fertile fields of my mind are becoming a trifle depleted, methinks, which, given my output, shouldn’t be a surprise….

Well, no matter how scary it is, the rest of today’s effort calls to me, so I suppose I’d best start diving. In the interests of full disclosure, shut your eyes…. I had to use my old dive suit today, and the pattern has been known to cause seizures if one gazes at it too long…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

“The essence of Christianity is told us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the tree of knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just keep your fucking mouth shut and hadn’t asked any questions.” — Frank Zappa Playboy Interview, April 1993

Hmm…. Frank’s take on matters are such that I generally find myself in complete agreement with what he says. Here, he has again put his finger on one of the more obvious facets of Christianity, one that defies all logical explanation in lieu of subservient belief, to wit: faith vs. knowledge, and the Christian’s unfortunate tendency to embrace the former, without any appeal to the latter….. To my way of thinking, that is not only foolish, but cowardly….. but, perhaps, that’s just me….

The fruit of the tree of knowledge gives mankind the go-ahead, to use the brain with which we were furnished at birth; the preachers would have us abrogate that use, having us, instead, give over all our power of belief into the hands of the faithful, who, naturally, have only our best interests at heart….. Sure they do…. NOT….. I’m sorry, but, no matter how many times these folks say so, I am not going to accept that they know better than I what is best for me…. Nope, not even if there were twenty Bibles out there, all proclaiming how true they are…. Oh wait, there are twenty of them, aren’t there?…. Oh, well, you know what I meant….

Why do people fall for this? I cannot understand how people, who are normally reasonably intelligent, will, by conscious choice, bury their heads in the sand to buy into this, without ever taking even one moment to examine any of it for truth, or even logical assumption. Is there some kind of mind-control drug in that incense? Maybe in the sacramental wine…. Whatever it is, it turns normally competent, intelligent people into mindless slaves, and does so with their complete agreement and approval….. To my mind, it is one of history’s saddest, most incomprehensible features, when I look at just how easily people fall for such egregious, and so obviously self-serving propaganda, as most of the dogmatic proclamations of the major religions tend to offer up.

“I hope I never get so old I get religious.” — Ingmar Bergman

I am compelled to add, “Me, too!” to this sentiment…. In the recent past, I’ve been taking a lot of shots at religions, and need to make clear that I do not hate Christians, or Buddhists, or Muslims, or the followers of any religion. I think they are being silly, deliberately and evilly so, at worst, or at best, misguided, but I don’t hate, or fear them, as is the case on their part whenever they consider me, or my criticisms of their beliefs. I don’t hold that against them, either, as it is logically consistent for them to do so, given the limitations of their dogmatic position. Since, however, the fervor with which they will often defend their position can reach a rather fevered pitch, I tend to treat many of them like a stinging insect; I move, and speak, slowly and carefully, so as not to frighten them more than they already are….

Ethical and moral behavior is not confined to those who follow the precepts of one religion or another, despite what any of the proponents of those religions will try to tell you. In fact, if you look closely, the number of folks who are believers have a much higher percentage of failure in that area than do the non-believers, which only makes sense…. The believers all have a sense of entitlement that gives them the idea that the rules of behavior don’t always apply to them, in terms of how they treat people who are not of the same faith, so, to those who are not of their own sect, they don’t bother being truthful, or honest, or ethical, as those people don’t count, in their eyes. People who make their own moral codes tend to follow them, and are much more tolerant of those who do not share their beliefs.

Basic human nature dictates these responses in people, so one can see how dangerous it is to remain ignorant, in the Biblical sense. Those who choose to buy into the myth of the Garden of Eden, giving up all their personal independence of mind for the comfort and safety of dogma, will fail to act according to their own morality much of the time, out of their sense of entitlement, and the belief that all of their sins will be forgiven, merely by the act of confessing them. Only those who consciously choose their moral code have the courage to act it out, it seems, except for those few people who actually try to live according to the morality that is espoused, but seldom embraced, by their less ethical peers.

Having the strength of mind to make one’s own moral code implies the courage to act it out…. This is why I choose to deny the dogma I’ve been exposed to all my life, as being illogical, and, ultimately, immoral…. It makes more sense to me to make my own decisions on such matters, and tell the busybodies who assume they know best for all to go jump in a lake…. Even better, just shut the hell up, and get out of the way, so the rest of us can get something relevant done, without having to put up with all the nonsense from that quarter….

“What is a church? Our honest sexton tells, ‘Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.” — Crabbe
__________________________________

Sometimes, I just gotta go with a classic…. if only for the patina of age that gives it such a shine…. Even reflected beauty is better than none, yes?….

Bright Star

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art–
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors–
No–yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever–or else swoon to death.

John Keats
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The following is a piece that I wrote just before the recent Presidential election, as section 1 of a Pearl I cannot find without more effort than I care to spend right now, even though it is still only 0633…. Tracking it down would mean scrolling through at least a month’s worth of old Pearls, from last year, and I’m not ready for that today…. However, I’ve re-read it, and consider it worth a second posting, as it covers a lot of things that remain relevant after the election, in spite of the fortunate outcome we saw…. Any who, without further ado, here is a pearl I entitled, “Considering the Etiquette of Ignorance”…….

SIGH…. the only reason I did not write this in 1988 is that I did not see it until today….. it is never a good policy to suffer a fool gladly, so my code of honor demands a response…. This begins the tale, but by no means ends it….. be warned, and be nervous, if not afraid…..

“I don’t know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.” — George Bush in Free Inquiry magazine, Fall 1988

Actually, George, the Pledge of Allegiance has no legal standing, in relation to the Constitution of this country, or for that matter, in relation to what our forefathers were thinking when they founded the nation. In fact, what was said here by such an upstanding Constitutional scholarly type, is, in reality, completely contrary to everything that makes a true patriot, or an American citizen.

The part in the pledge, (which no one at all is legally required to take, or state…), that says “under God” was only added in the middle of the twentieth century, by the same Congressional idiots who perpetrated McCarthyism, and the Red Scare, on the American public. It has nothing to do with the Constitution, and in fact, could be construed as a Constitutionally illegal statement, considering the intended separation of church and state that is the backbone of what our forefathers wished us to have as our legacy…. True freedom, not Christian usurpation of freedom….. A person’s religious belief, or lack thereof, is protected by the Constitution, and a patriot is one who supports the Constitution, not a church, or a corporation…..

And if his name be George, I ‘ll call him Peter;
For new-made honour doth forget men’s names.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King John — Act i, Sc. 1

This kind of thinking from the Shrub, whichever one it was, Junior or Senior, is the same kind of narrow-minded fundamentalism that the colonists were escaping from in England back in the 16-1700’s when they came to the New World. The churches and corporations, both of which were singled out as dangerous to the republic by Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, Adams, Hamilton, and many of the other founding fathers, have tried to usurp the Constitution ever since it was ratified. Their writings, to each other, and in public venues, were filled with precautionary admonitions about allowing corporations and preachers to have access to, or influence over, members of government.

Ultimately, their fears were justified, as we now are facing just the situations they predicted….. corporations are manipulating our “professional thieves”, otherwise known as politicians, to vote for laws that favor them (really, “corporations are people?”… I don’t think so…), and the ranks of our leaders are rife with fundamentalists and religious nuts of all varieties.

“Men tend to have the beliefs that suit their passions. Cruel men believe in a cruel God and use their belief to excuse their cruelty. Only kindly men believe in a kindly God, and they would be kindly in any case.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967)

It’s difficult sometimes to tell which ones are more dangerous, or more disgusting: the corporations who buy votes from those who fit the definition of “good politicians” (…. a good politician is one who stays bought…..), or the religious demagogues who want to oppress everyone who doesn’t believe the same set of dogmatic constraints as they do. Neither one is particularly hard to spot, but they are protected by their tame dogs in Congress, who will do and say anything to make sure the cash keeps flowing…. right into their pockets.

As may be extrapolated, if one is exceedingly clairvoyant, one may infer from the above that the 2012 Republican Romney/Ryan ticket disturbs me; I have no problem ranting without end right off the top of my head about the lies and distortions of reality that continuously fall from their lips. As I mentioned in a separate post, a lot of people are catching on to this, as Ryan was roundly booed offstage at the AARP meeting he attended to try to sell their admitted intention to rape Social Security and Medicare (Smart? No. Arrogant? Completely.).

In retrospect, even this negative reception is disturbing to me, as it shows just how little they care, that they are showing themselves to be only interested in lining their own pockets, and the pockets of those who own them, without apparent shame or embarrassment. They aren’t even trying to hide their lies anymore; they just keep repeating them, even after having been shown to be false, believing that if they repeat the lies enough, people will buy them….

“Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book iii, Chap. xi

Unfortunately, they are right, to a large extent. Millions of people in this country, who have hung on to their prejudices and bigotry with desperation as the minorities have become majorities, are supporting these assholes, merely because they are white. They don’t realize, or seemingly care, that these are the same assholes who will be screwing them over completely as soon as they get sworn in, preferring to trust in the lies, because it soothes their fears of having a black President.

Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half. — Smart Bee

This is why I have been repeatedly reiterating that this election is bringing this country to a crossroads. The outcome will show whether we intend, as a nation, to continue to fight all attempts to curtail the freedoms that were bought and paid for by our forefathers, with blood, sweat, and tears, or will become just another religious, corporate-controlled entity, in a nation consisting of slaves and their masters.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’ll be at the polls as soon as they open, and will urge everyone I know to do the same…. vote early, and vote often (just joking…), but vote. We need to send a message to these fools, that there are still patriots and citizens of this country who believe in the vision embraced and established by the men and women who began this noble experiment in self-government…..

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” — Aldous Huxley

As I said above, the election came out okay…. but, the rest of what is said here remains relevant, and always in need of being heard….
__________________________________

Well…. Getting up early seems to be working for me, Pearl-wise….. Even though part of this was already written, it all holds together well, and will stand in the future as one of my most complete Pearls, if nothing else…. A bit of nonsense to begin, some pointed sticks thrown around at demagoguery, a bit of classicism in the center, for balance, and a long dissertation haranguing the BRC and PTB, as well as most of the religious institutions in the world…. I’m a happy camper, you betcha….

Not just that, but, it’s DONE! Yay!….. I think…… Hmm… it’s now 0650…… Now what the hell am I going to do? Ah, perfect!…… I’m going back to bed now, ffolkes, & see if I can fall back asleep…. I’ll be back later to see how many people I’ve managed to offend, or better yet, how many found a good laugh…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Rapid fluctuation in the power grid….

Posted on January 29, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
At the age I’ve reached, one of the best lessons I learned, long ago, is/was the value of routine. Developing a routine of efficient activities to organize the start of the day is one of the most important tools one can find and use in the work-a-day world. It allows one to get to work on time, with everything in hand that is necessary to the day, and with mind and body prepared for the tasks ahead, without undue stress or worry. When this routine is disrupted, it can affect the tenor of the rest of the day, like ripples in a pond, or a mathematical error that grows bigger with each new computation….

I’m starting to believe that even Murphy is not immune to the power of schedules and routines. When I was younger, and still going to work daily, if I observed the details of my routine, he seemed to stand back and not bother with me, waiting for other times to step in with his decidedly infantile sense of humor. If he was very, very clever, he sometimes could affect a small part of the routine, and cause a bit of uproar, but generally, I’d get so focused on carrying it out that he couldn’t get me to pay any attention to him, so he’d go off to find someone more vulnerable….. All of which means that there is a power to the act of routine behaviors, carried out time after time until they are ingrained, a power that resists the oppositional power of chaos that Murphy so adeptly subjects us to whenever he can….

What does this mean, in a philosophical, cosmic sense? Well, not much, I’d guess…. Actually, all of the above is pretty much just a type of mental diarrhea, which, though descriptive (perhaps too much so….), is not an image I particularly wish to saddle y’all with so early in the day. Of course, by the time you read this, it won’t be so early, either, a consideration that only adds to the absolute uselessness of the entire discussion…..

Yeah, we’ve got our routines, and they help keep entropy under control, but, so what? It doesn’t mean diddly in the large picture, and really isn’t particularly gripping as a subject for discussion, here, or anywhere….. But, it was sort of like that hive of bees that lives in my head…. there they were, and what else was I going to do with them, except share them with y’all?…. Exactly……

SIGH…. one of these days, I’m going to write a generic introductory section, and just use it as a template, the same every day… Then I wouldn’t be trying to come up with something every day to pull folks in and grab their interest….. Even my nearly unlimited store of nonsense and sheer flights of fantasy are getting a bit sparse, and ranting in the intro just seems like overkill. Maybe I’ll start ranting about myself…… I’ll have to do something soon, as I’m stretching my imagination to its limits, and beyond, to come up with these on a daily basis….

Most likely, however, I’ll just ignore the issue again, and keep on keepin’ on, as long as it works…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

In difficult ground, press on;
In encircled ground, devise stratagems;
In death ground, fight.

— Sun Tzu, The Art of War (circa 400 B.C.)

The Art of War is still considered by military experts to be one of the definitive books on warfare and strategy, after more than 2000 years. I’m not certain, but would certainly be surprised if it is not still used as a reference at West Point, Annapolis, The Citadel, and the Air Force Academy in classes on tactics and strategy in battle, and in peace time. In the book, which is actually quite short, Sun Tzu gives the basic tenets for success in war, and was so perfectly correct and complete, that it remains valid today, even though the landscape of war has grown much larger, and more complex. The issues that can decide victory or defeat remain the same……

One of the most surprising features of the book is the idea that Sun Tzu presents regarding the perfect warrior. In his mind, warriors came in a number of types, each of which required a different method of leadership. The surprise lies in his choice of the type of warrior that he considers to be the most valuable; oddly enough, at least, on the surface, he chose… the Spy…..

Not the weapons master, not the brilliant tactician, not the engineer… the spy. According to Sun Tzu, a properly trained and experienced agent provocateur was, by far, the most valuable type of warrior, for, with the proper application of truth and lies, and the correct timing, battles might be won without loss of life or property, or with a minimum of effort, due to the efforts before the battle by the spy. This choice indicates that Sun Tzu recognized the true battle that is waging at all times when people interact with each other…. the battle between truth and lies…..

We see this battle raging in our own society every day, as the politicians vie with each other to see which one can get the furthest from the truth and still convince people they aren’t full of shit. When we have priests telling us that we aren’t the masters of our own bodies or minds, expecting us to not even ask why, we are witnessing the constant struggle for control of our minds… and our pocketbooks…. Control of the former, of course, will always lead to control of the latter, and you can bet your booties that it is the pocketbooks that the preachers and politicians are concerned with, not just our minds, or our souls….. You betcha, compadre…

She was a wight, if ever such wight were,–
Des. To do what?
Iago. To suckle fools and chronicle small beer.
Des. O most lame and impotent conclusion!

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello — Act ii, Sc. 1

Normally, or as close as we get to normally, I wouldn’t use a Shakespeare quote, and this one shows why very well… I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell any of it means, but the last line struck home for this discussion… Before what I am saying reaches the point where the last line might apply, I will refer you to the book itself….. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu; copies of it are available at any bookstore, and probably online in a number of places.

It is a fairly quick read, (though there are points that do require some thought and pondering), being less than a hundred pages in most of the versions I’ve seen. As I said above, it’s pretty simply written, but covers all that is needed to get his point across, which has to do with winning, not just at war, but in life. As with many things in Chinese culture, there is more to the subject than may be apparent on first view, and it is worth the time to look more deeply into what Sun Tzu has told us….

But war ‘s a game which were their subjects wise
Kings would not play at.

— William Cowper (1731-1800) — The Task, Book v, The Winter Morning Walk, Line 187
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Bankers Are Just Like Anybody Else, Except Richer

This is a song to celebrate banks,
Because they are full of money and you go into them and all you hear is clinks and clanks,
Or maybe a sound like the wind in the trees on the hills,
Which is the rustling of the thousand dollar bills.
Most bankers dwell in marble halls,
Which they get to dwell in because they encourage deposits and discourage withdrawals,
And particularly because they all observe one rule which woe betides the banker who fails to heed it,
Which is you must never lend any money to anybody unless they don’t need it.
I know you, you cautious conservative banks!
If people are worried about their rent it is your duty to deny them the loan of one nickel,
yes, even one copper engraving of the martyred son of the late Nancy Hanks;
Yes, if they request fifty dollars to pay for a baby you must
look at them like Tarzan looking at an uppity ape in the jungle,
And tell them what do they think a bank is, anyhow, they had better go get the money from their wife’s aunt or ungle.
But suppose people come in and they have a million and they want another million to pile on top of it,
Why, you brim with the milk of human kindness and you urge them to accept every drop of it,
And you lend them the million so then they have two million
and this gives them the idea that they would be better off with four,
So they already have two million as security so you have no hesitation in lending them two more,
And all the vice-presidents nod their heads in rhythm,
And the only question asked is do the borrowers want the money sent or do they want to take it withm.
Because I think they deserve our appreciation and thanks,
the jackasses who go around saying that health and happiness are everything and money isn’t essential,
Because as soon as they have to borrow some unimportant money to maintain their health and happiness they starve
to death so they can’t go around any more sneering at good old money, which is nothing short of providential.

Ogden Nash
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Delusional material, very dangerous…. Read carefully…

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I may learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health, that I may do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I may be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

— unattributed, even by Smart Bee
(I don’t blame them for not wanting to take credit for this….)

From the time we are small, our minds are programmed with the ideas and beliefs our parents and families held as truth, regardless of whether or not there is any actual truth to be found in them. We have little, or no, defense against these ideas, as we are naturally inclined to believe what our care givers tell us.

While I can understand the way it works, it seems to me to be a shame, that we don’t come with a built in truth detector, to protect us before we are able to reason for ourselves. Until our minds have been trained, we tend to accept whatever someone in a position of authority tells us, which may keep us safe in a physical sense when we are small and vulnerable, but is a dangerous habit to develop when grown.

The above is an example of how churches and the priestly hierarchies attempt to befuddle people into obedience and acceptance of their credos, aimed at those adults who have carried over their trust in authority into their adult views. On the surface, the statements seem to imply a certain morality, one of patience, compassion, and beneficence; but, underneath, they are merely designed to reinforce the ideas they wish to espouse, of obedience, humility, and subservience to authority.

If one is to believe the priestly hierarchies, we humans don’t really stand a chance against the universe…. In their minds, God has it all worked out, and it isn’t our place to question any of His prerogatives; we are here only to do His (translates as: their….) will, and to sing His praises (keeps us busy NOT thinking….). We are weak, bumbling, foolish creatures whose only claim to fame is that God loves us… according to dogma. It occurs to me to ask, “So, which one of y’all is the one to whom God spoke, when he laid down all this specious crap? When y’all talked with God, how long had it been since you last took your medication?”

I know, I know, not very friendly approach, but, sheesh, give me a break…. I mean, these people are responsible for a great deal of the suffering and trouble mankind has endured over the last 2000 years or so, and don’t even have the courtesy to take credit, or apologize. In their minds, all that stuff they do to maintain their status quo is justified by their holiness, or whatever it is they claim makes them special. And, all the time, in reality, everything they do is designed, ultimately, to bring coins to their purses, and food to their tables, at the expense of the ignorant mass of believers…..

I feel a nasty rant coming on…. Sometimes, when I write one of these rips at religion, I just get SO ANGRY…. I’m mad at the preachers and priests, and those who support them, for their willingness to prey on the public, using the pretension of religious fervor and worship to justify their narcissism, and for the thousands of years of suffering that mankind has endured by their hand. I am also angry at those people who buy into their bullshit, for not having the courage to use their minds, to blithely accept anything told to them by an authority figure, and never even considering that there might be more to life than they are seeing….. It is all such a waste, and my anger knows no bounds….

“Civilization is fun! Anyway, it keeps me busy!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, it would keep me busy if I could find any….. I had to include this little side-trip from Zippy in order to bring my anger level down. I was feeling the urge to let out ALL of the vulgar curses I could think of, to express how I feel about all the assholes who perpetrate this entire fallacy on the rest of humanity, knowing how gullible they are, and how little effort it takes to fool them into believing the most incredible bullshit.

I mean, how hard can it be to fool someone who would believe that the recent spate of cold weather means that global warming is a myth? How hard is it to fool someone who will gladly trade their freedom in this life for the promised reward in the next life? It’s so damn easy that the fools actually come asking for it, to be made into puppets, just so they can believe they are beloved of God, and guaranteed a spot in Heaven…. I often wonder just how fit to survive our species really is, when we can’t even come to terms with our own sense of self, or learn to accept the responsibility for our own actions….

Most folks are so scared to think for themselves that they gladly surrender that chore to the priests and politicians, apparently not even caring how often they lie to them. Even when the lies are exposed, and even proved, people will hang on to their prejudices, and to the belief in supernatural beings that control our every move; they are quite unwilling to let go of what they’ve bought into all their lives, even when it’s clear that none of it is true. Most of the time, they are unwilling to even look at any arguments against what they hold to be true, preferring the solid comfort of their ignorance. Makes me want to puke, it does…. on THEIR shoes…

Ah well, I’ve spilled enough bile and venom for one morning. It would probably be best to move on, and let this one die a natural death. If nothing else, I got some angst and pressure relieved, for the time being. It is almost a comfort to know that the politicians and preachers will be providing more ammunition in the coming days, as they continue their campaign of oppression against the people of the Earth; that means I’ll always have plenty about which to rant…. Happy Days!….

“Those who won’t think will have it done for them.” — Smart Bee
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Okay, so I went a bit overboard today…. I got a little carried away there, firing away at the preachers, and lost track. So sue me… wait, that’s probably not a good thing to say these days….. You never know when one of the folks at whom I’m poking will take overt offense, and try to make trouble of a legal nature… Good thing I am careful never to name names, or imply any specific targets, beyond those identifiable by their very ubiquitousness. Since I figure they deserve all the abuse they get, in payment for all they’ve abused mankind over the centuries, they’re just going to have to deal with it…. I could care less….. 🙂

There, all venom and bile has been expelled from my head, and I can now go face the day with a relatively stable sense of equanimity. It’s got to be better than any of the alternatives, I’d say…. I guess I’m done….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Saving the pieces for posterity…..

Posted on January 7, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
For the first time since starting this blog, I’ve missed posting for two days, which one or two of y’all might have noted. On Saturday, I woke up with a raging head cold, spewing fluids from one chamber in my head to another with every cough and sneeze, and aggravating all my incipient pain. It has been, to be brief, a miserable two days, to be sure. I did write…. enough material, in fact, that today’s post won’t suffer for originality, at minimum. In fact, I’m adding an extra section today, just so I don’t have to sit on this stuff for too long….

Having done virtually nothing in the past two days but sleep, to the tune of about 19 hours a day, I’m feeling fairly rested, if still a bit congested. I’ve decided to acknowledge my age, and not test my limits by trying to act normal yet, so, I’ll get to the library later, to post this, but I’ll probably nap first, and afterward, to make up for the effort I know it will entail….. Another point for foresight, eh?…. It’s times like this I kind of wish I could have afforded to keep my car; it would be nice not to have to try to depend on bus schedules, especially with the cold, wet weather we’ve been having. Makes it hard on us poor folk, don’t ya know?….

I wrote an intro section on Saturday, but, most of it has turned irrelevant in the ensuing time, so it is being done over. I hate to throw out anything already composed, but, it really was whiny, anyway, and isn’t any loss. It’s not as if I ever run out of stuff to write, is it? I can’t seem to shut it off, not that I’d wish to, but, some overt control would be welcome at this late date….

Strangely enough, my head is relatively empty this morning, at least of material I want to put down. It is most likely a good thing I already have enough done for today; last time I wrote too much ahead of real time, I got all lost and confused, if only in my own head, and it was a mess, figuratively speaking. Today, instead, you’re getting everything I did while not posting, just to get it out of my way….. Don’t worry, it’s not bad, and not TOO long….relatively….. Without further ado, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its one sure defense.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910), Notebook, 1888

I’m positive I’ve used this in the past; it’s too good, and too familiar an idea for me to have passed it up. Since I have no idea when I did use it, it’s okay to use it again, according to the loose rules I go by around here…. This idea is one I embraced many years ago, even before the Beatles used the Blue Meanies vs. Laughter & Love as a metaphor for life, in their movie, Yellow Submarine. It seems I’ve always known that things that live and thrive in the dark, things that exist only to cause pain and misery in the world, cannot stand up to the light of laughter, or the power of love. It is almost a sad sight to watch a bully deflate and slink off when laughed at, rather than accommodated….. It might be sad, if it weren’t so satisfying….

In the twentieth century, George Carlin was probably the best defender of liberty, one of the most adept at using irreverence, and original critical thought, to poke fun at the ruling cadre. He was merciless at exposing the true motives held by those rulers, making it plain for all how the crap that people put up with in life is deliberate on the part of the ruling classes. His biting wit was graphic, clear, and undeniably true, for he never made statements that weren’t drawn from real life experience, with vivid evidence of chicanery on the part of the elite, in support of his assertion of their evil intent. He did all this, and made us laugh about it, and at them, and, most importantly, at ourselves….. Only the very best can do that…..

He took his vorpal sword in hand
Long time the manxom foe he sought
Till rested he by the tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought

— _Jabberwocky_, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)

In today’s world, manxom foes are much easier to find, so thoughtful moments by the tumtum tree aren’t required as often. By this bit of nonsensical reality, I’m trying to make a point, one that escapes me completely, now that I’ve started the process. I really did have a thought that made this verse appropriate, or at least comprehensible from an odd viewpoint, but, for the life of me, I can’t find it anywhere in my head.

It had to do with bullies, and the Beloved Ruling Class (two interchangeable entities, to be sure….), and was actually, according to my memory, quite elegantly powerful in its indictment of the BRC as assholes….. It’s too bad I can’t remember it…. Just go look at a picture of a politician, or the Pope, or somebody of that ilk, and spit at the image…. you’ll get the idea, and feel better, too…..

“The last Christian died on the cross.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Now you’re talking! That’s the way, Friedrich, you tell ’em! I happen to agree with this statement quite strongly, and couldn’t have said it better. Tom Jefferson was of the same opinion, in fact, ….

“But a short time elapsed after the death of the great reformer of the Jewish religion, before his principles were departed from by those who professed to be his special servants, and perverted into an engine for enslaving mankind, and aggrandizing their oppressors in Church and State.” — Thomas Jefferson, [letter?] To S. Kercheval, 1810

Tom was quite outspoken in his indictment of the entire class of those who lie to others, for power and personal gain…..

“They [preachers] dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subversions of the duperies on which they live.” — Thomas Jefferson

Ah me, such rants as these can go on forever, if we let them. There is always more ammunition to fire off, so we don’t have to condemn all of them at once, I guess. We’ll leave some for a later date….. For now, let me leave you with more timeless wisdom from our favorite insane person…..

“I know things about TROY DONAHUE that can’t even be PRINTED!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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” I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear friend, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

This statement, to me, is the modern version of a literary Holy Grail….. Not merely the beauty of the ideas expressed herein, but the elegance of the expression is of such power it is almost magical. “…you will… live along some distant day into the answer.” Even though presented in prose form, this is poetry at its finest. I say it is the Holy Grail because I can only hope to seek such power and grandeur, such obvious compassion, and love for life, in my writing, and wish with all my being that I find it….. Here is a poem from Rainer….. for balance….

Black Cat

A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place
your sight can knock on, echoing; but here
within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze
will be absorbed and utterly disappear:

just as a raving madman, when nothing else
can ease him, charges into his dark night
howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels
the rage being taken in and pacified.

She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen
into her, so that, like an audience,
she can look them over, menacing and sullen,
and curl to sleep with them. But all at once

as if awakened, she turns her face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of her eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.

Rainer Maria Rilke
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“Reality is the flaw in the perfection of nothingness.” — Nyarlathotep, Reed College, Portland, OR –

“So sure are you! Tried have you? Always with you it can’t be done. Hear you nothing that I say? Try not. Do! Do! Or do not. There is no try.” — Yoda [The Empire Strikes Back]

“And I said to myself be still, wait without hope. For hope would be hope of the wrong thing. Wait without love. For love would be love of the wrong thing. Wait without faith. For the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.” — T.S. Eliot

“Food, sleep, fear, propagation; each is the common property of men with brutes. Virtue is really their additional distinction; devoid of virtue, they are equal with brutes.” — The Hitopadesa (600?-1100? A.D.)

O love, could thou and I with fate conspire
To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,
Might we not smash it to bits
And mould it closer to our hearts’ desire?

— Omar Khayyam [tr. FitzGerald]

So, there I was, still in relatively massive discomfort, cruising through Smart Bee, and letting my unconscious mind pick out pearls to make a pearl. (Or are those oysters?…. Never mind….) Once again, I am unsure of exactly what my unconscious is trying to say, but, damn, it sure said it well, didn’t it? In reality, or as close as we ever approach that state on this blog, it makes a very cogent statement about the structure of human nature, if not exactly claiming to be a complete explanation, or even representation, of that nature. Given my current mental condition, I think it’s the best for which we can hope….. It’s just been one of THOSE days, y’know?….. But, really, this isn’t a BAD pearl, it’s just obscure… so it should fit right in, right? Right?….. Well, maybe not….. Ah, the hell with it…..
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(This is an extra pearl, brought to you by the cold virus, rhinus virusii, and by the word, “plonk”……)

“When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.” — John F. Kennedy

For a long time now, I’ve been ranting periodically, about a certain flaw in human nature I have observed, a flaw that all of us possess to some degree. This flaw is the tendency to manipulate other people for personal gain, rather than mutual benefit. We all manipulate; if we didn’t, we’d starve. This is a lesson we learn in our first days on Earth, as we find out that our cries will bring attention, food, and comfort. To varying degrees, our lessons in this sort of manipulation of other people continue on to adulthood…. The difference in degree we learn arises from several factors, both environmental and genetic, and is the crux of the problem our species faces now…..

You see, after a certain point, most folks don’t wish to make others do for them what they can do for themselves; it is more satisfying to accomplish something when one knows exactly what one has done to achieve it. But, a certain number of people decide, at an early age, usually, that they enjoy the power of getting others to follow their suggestions, and start finding ways to make their manipulations acceptable to others, even though those ways are immoral and unethical. These folks learn how to lie with a straight face, convincing the naive to allow them to act or think for them, because it is to their advantage. In reality, the entire manipulation is designed to benefit only the perpetrator of the lies…..

So, time passes, and these trained liars become preachers, and politicians, and lawyers, and anyone else in society who learns they can have far more than they ever need, or deserve, by hoarding resources for their own use, by writing laws, by manipulating society in ways that are advantageous to them, rather than being a boon to society. They lie, they cheat, they steal, and they tell everyone they are doing it “for YOU!” Most insulting of all, they use the pretense of “morality” to disguise their true intentions.

“Morality is the best device of all for leading mankind by the nose.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

These foul flibbertigibbets have their flunkies to make the laws for them in Congress, they have the hawks in the military to protect them from the “heathens”, they have their judges in their pockets to rule in favor of business rather than people. And, they have the preachers proselytizing the great, unwashed masses of humanity to control them, masses who never question anything they do, but continue to put their heads down and slog away, trying to win a game that was fixed from the start…..

When looking at JFK’s statement above, one might believe that he had the public in mind when he said this, and that he was indeed a champion of the people. Myself, I have a hard time seeing anyone worth over a billion dollars as a champion of the people, no matter how sincere they might sound. More likely, what he says above is merely a sop to public opinion, stated as a means of convincing the common man that he has something in common with them…. a tough sell for a boy who grew up in the biggest compound in Hyannisport, the bastion of the truly rich.

He would, by this assertion, have us believe that exposure to poetry will moderate the impulse to cruelty among the powerful, a statement which, if examined critically, is seen to be completely untrue. I haven’t seen ANYTHING in particular that has that effect, not in this world…. Technically, the statement may be true, regarding art as the touchstone of judgment, but asking me to believe that a Kennedy, a person who has never had to suffer any such judgments, actually AGREES with it, well, that’s asking too much….

“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.” — William Shakespeare, “King Lear”

To my mind, politicians, and anyone else who lives by the insane dictates which they do, are like these gods to whom Will refers; they do what they do to us, just because they feel they can, and don’t give a rat’s ass for what anyone else believes. That may sound like a strong indictment, which, hopefully, it is…. In my own defense, I defy anyone at all to disprove the statement. Show me the evidence, if you have any, of how the government, or the churches, or the corporations, or the police, or the courts are acting in a way that is beneficial to the public. I’m willing to look at whatever anyone may have to show me, though I am quite convinced that nobody will be able to do so, as I don’t believe there is any such evidence……

“Perhaps we are wiser, less selfish and more far-seeing than we were two hundred years ago. But we are still imperfectly all these good things, and since the turn of the century it has been remarked that neither wisdom nor virtue have increased as rapidly as the need for both.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

This is a statement you may confidently place in the “fer shure” column, and forgeddaboutit. All the wisdom we need is already present in the world, I think, but the amount of virtue, or rather, the amount of influence that virtue commands, is severely limited; it is that lack that our nature shows when put to the test of Reality.

It is unfortunate in the extreme that, in this world, there are those who exhibit the flaw, those who don’t, and literally, billions of folks who don’t know, and don’t have time or energy to care, what we’re talking about. The most unfortunate part of this, is that the former group comprises the Beloved Ruling Class, and will, in all their insane glory, bring the rest of us with them down the path to our inglorious demise, unless we can bestir ourselves to wake up and throw them all out on their asses…..

“Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes, and feel with their own hearts.” — Albert Einstein
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“We have standards and expect you not to exceed them.” — Smart Bee

Plainly, I have succeeded in not exceeding any standards whatsoever…. I am just content that I was able to piece together this Pearl; I wasn’t certain I was going to have the strength of will to push through all the residual pain hanging about. It’s done, though; that’s enough for me….. If all this stuff stays in my head too long, it can cause serious issues, and not just for me…. The rest of the world tends to have to put up with it, too…. Hopefully, it isn’t too whiny, or too self-serving; Yoda’s advice about not trying, but, instead, doing, is always timely, isn’t it?….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Rooms full of attenuated pilgrims….

Posted on December 31, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Most blogs you’ll visit today will be talking about the day, since it is New Year’s Eve. There will be all sorts of lists, of course, of the most significant events, pictures, ideas, stories, etc. of the past year, as well as speculation and predictions about the upcoming one. Some folks will share their New Year’s resolutions with us, while some will give their reasons for not making them…. All quite predictable, ultimately, and typical of the human need to acknowledge the passage of time with celebratory festivities, and relatively useless discussion of things that can no longer be changed, because they are now in the past . Here at ECR, though, we laugh at such folly….. It’s just another day to us, and another opportunity for Murphy to show his ugly face….

Exploring consensual reality means more than just talking about what people see as real; it means being real, and learning to accept the reality of others, while at the same time rejecting all those realities that are harmful in some way. It means speaking up against all the cruelty and evil that we see, refusing to join the masses who try to ignore what they cannot understand, and therefore, fear. It means exposing those who live their lives without regard for anyone else. It means taking responsibility for one’s own actions, and insisting that others do the same. It means, to me, that even though there is little hope of changing human nature at this late date, a small chance exists that we can survive, provided we learn to embrace ALL of life with honest regard, and can find a way to bring out the best in human nature, rather than allowing the worst to run rampant…..

And that, pompous as it is, is ALL we will say about the future, or the past year, for the time being. Everyone else will, I’m sure, cover that adequately, and it would be a waste of my time to add to what is already a massive outpouring of material to read. I’d much rather provide something a bit different, and shall endeavor to do so, post haste….. Sorry, once pomposity sets in, it’s hard to put down…..

Today’s first pearl is a pretty big one, and fairly deep, in some respects; it’s been growing now for a couple of days, actually, since the first part occurred to me. It’s certainly not a typical article or subject, in that it is somewhat less than tolerant of moral weakness than some might say is warranted; no matter, I’m my own harshest critic, now that I’m not married anymore. If I start being easy on myself in this, it would just spread to other areas of my experience, and that’s not going to happen. Even though I don’t always agree with the logic of societal mores, there is something to be said about the old saw, about how taking the first step toward evil deeds can lead to more of the same, until one has lost the way back to decency. One has to draw the line somewhere….

Enough meandering…. I had intended to be much more artistic this morning…. Alas, though Frank and Earnest remain present, Art seems to have taken a leave of absence…. Ah well, such is life in paradise on a foggy, cold, final day of the year. It seems our only alternative is to begin the Beguine, in a manner of speaking…. Shall we Pearl?……
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Forgiveness. How does a person without faith in a higher power obtain this boon? Certainly not from themselves…. I know, if I have done something for which I feel the need, or desire, to be forgiven, then I most likely don’t deserve it, and refuse to give in to self-indulgence. According to the preachers, God forgives all, but damn me if I can see any reason to do so, no matter how ‘merciful’ he/she/it might be. How can anyone expect moral behavior, if even our most grievous sins are forgiven? Because of the promise of reward for compliance, or threat of punishment for refusal to conform? I agree with Albert Einstein, that any such philosophy is not realistic, and certainly not moral…..

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

All of us, without exception, have things we hide inside ourselves, secrets that nobody else will ever be told. Whether it is a memory of an act one is not proud of, or a bit of severe foolishness, or something so shameful that to share it would be to become a pariah, all of us humans have secrets. I would guess that almost all of them are akin to what is described in the first paragraph, to wit: acts that need forgiveness, but do not deserve it. I believe that this may be a method by which one can tell another person’s outlook on religion, for almost all religions are based on this principle, of divine forgiveness. Even though we may do things in life that are unforgivable, the gods, or God, for the monotheistic among us, are so merciful, that they will do so, if you but acknowledge their divinity, and admit they are your higher power…..

It’s a good deal, all in all, if one buys it. Myself, I’m a bit sanguine about it, since I only have the word of the preachers that it is so; there is no real evidence to be found that supports the theory, and the scientist in me wants at least a little bit of proof before accepting something as truth. I’m not going to buy anything just on someone else’s word, or assertion of truth; I’ve been alive long enough to know that doing things like that can only lead to losing something, if only the advantage of self-respect.

“His ignorance covers the world like a blanket, and there’s scarcely a hole in it anywhere.” — Mark Twain

Wait, I thought we were talking about religion, not the last Republican President….. Sorry, couldn’t resist…. Any who, it all comes back to the basic idea of how we view reality, in terms of the concept of God, or a power greater than ourselves, that is responsible somehow for everything that exists, and thus, for us. By giving away that responsibility, I think, we are showing our own cowardice; I’m not willing to do that, not without more compelling evidence than hearsay.

I’m not blind to the other evidence that many religionists claim as being proof of God and his will; I’ve burst into tears myself at the sight of a particularly vivid sunrise, without knowing why, other than the beauty of it was so arrestingly powerful. I’ve seen good things happen everywhere, in human interaction, and in Nature. I’ve witnessed what priests like to call “grace”, and will admit that such events are not explainable by ordinary means. I’ve also witnessed the other side of existence, where human nature turns dark and cruel, while Nature reveals its own complete indifference for human suffering, and cannot accept that the same entity would dare to assume, or want responsibility for such a wicked universe, even if the balance of good and evil is maintained by the presence of the other.

That assumption is purely human, and thus does not qualify, in my mind, as evidence of divinity in the form of God, by any of the visions held by any of the churches of Mankind. Unless, of course, one goes beyond doctrine, into philosophy, where the above contradictions do not apply, or can be explained by one further assumption. That assumption is a hard one for most humans, as it involves taking responsibility for EVERYTHING that they do, and for everything that happens to them. (Yep, that’s a paraphrase of the basic principle of Karma…) In other words, as Robert Heinlein put it so aptly in Stranger In a Strange Land, “Thou art God.” I know, it’s blasphemous, but, hey, been there, done that, let’s get past it…. It is the only explanation that fits ALL the facts in evidence, and even if a bit grandiose, really isn’t, because we are, after all, just a bunch of bozos on the bus.

Being God, though, would be a really boring job, the way the job descriptions in all the churches read, and I don’t think I want to take that on, particularly. It may be the only way I can find any forgiveness for those things I’ve done in my long life of which I am not proud, but, since I don’t feel that I SHOULD be forgiven for them, I think I’ll just accept the responsibility, along with the consequence, a certain lessening of my self-esteem, and try to act in the future in ways that won’t make me feel that way…. It really isn’t hard to be good, in reality, as long as you care…. The problem is, not enough people care, or even think about stuff like this….. Me, I can’t help myself…… Caring, to me, is what being human is about; those who don’t care aren’t fully human, and won’t be until they do…..

“I am covered with pure vegetable oil and I am writing a best seller!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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A Mountain Revelry

To wash and rinse our souls of their age-old sorrows,
We drained a hundred jugs of wine.
A splendid night it was . . . .
In the clear moonlight we were loath to go to bed,
But at last drunkenness overtook us;
And we laid ourselves down on the empty mountain,
The earth for pillow, and the great heaven for coverlet.

Li Po
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“William Shakespeare: Never did any author precipitate himself from such heights of thought to so low expressions, as he often does. He is the very Janus of poets; he wears, almost everywhere, two faces: and you have scarce begun to admire the one, e’er you despise the other.” — John Dryden

At last…. corroboration from an historical figure, one with quite a reputation for intelligence and clarity of thought and expression. It is heartening, and satisfying, to know that there are others in the world who share my opinion of the great majority of Shakespeare’s work. If you’ve been coming to this blog for long, you’ll have seen previous entries detailing how little enthusiasm I have for Will’s writing. He was damn prolific, for sure, and did write some nice stuff. Most of it, however, quite frankly should be shit-piled, as barely comprehensible nonsense, written by a man with an excellent advertising manager, and mediocre talent.

Since I insist on proof of any assertion, I give you the following quotes from various works by Will…. if you can make heads or tails of them, please let me know…. I have about four or five pages of quotes like these of his, all of which stretch the meaning of the word “obscure”….

I were better to be eaten to death with a rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpetual motion. — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act i, Sc. 2

“To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast
Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iv, Sc. 2

“My fate cries out,
And makes each petty artery in this body
As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve.”

— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 4

“Thou troublest me; I am not in the vein.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Richard III — Act iv, Sc. 2

“Much is the force of heaven-bred poesy.” — William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act III, scene ii

Even taking into account the Middle English, it’s all a crock, as far as I can see…. If y’all fell differently, feel free to comment…. My opinions are flexible, and able to be influenced by rational debate…. I hope…..
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It will have to do…. It’s got a lot of work in it, or, at least, a lot of effort and thought, but, somehow, it seems incomplete. I have yet to pick a poem, but that isn’t it. I can’t quite focus on the reason why it feels like that…. Ah well, c’est la vie, n’est pas? I guess if that is all he can do, Murphy will settle for a bit of feeling unsettled for no good reason….. gotta love that ol’ unspecified diffuse anxiety, otherwise known as general malaise, and so familiar to all of us with PTSD. It seems to always be hovering, just out of sight, ready to slide in without us noticing, until we find ourselves looking through glasses that are not rose colored, but rather, lenses through which the world looks grey and dispirited…. I hope the sun comes out later….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

What’s a few platitudes among enemies?….

Posted on November 28, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
It’s been said, with good reason, that true freedom is the release from pain, and I am ready to go on record as willing to testify to that in a heart beat. Not all gone, of course, some degree of it is bound to be my constant, boon companion for the rest of my days, and I can live with that, albeit reluctantly. But, for the greatest part, my recent overload seems to have eased off enough to make life worth living again. SIGH, now if I can score a bowl of oatmeal, and my check hits the bank today, I’ll be a happy camper…..

Yay, me….. and enough about me. The last few days of pain and angst have been too self-oriented for me, too involved in personal drama for my spartan tastes in that department. Yet the pain grabs hold, and occupies the major part of one’s attention, until it fills the world, so it seems. Finding any objectivity becomes a struggle, and the perceptive world shrinks to include only the pain, and the struggle to get past it. When the fever breaks, so to speak, and the struggle lessens, the sense of relief is so great, it is actually greater than the pain, and the world almost seems to be in balance for the time being…..

“Pain is just nature’s way of telling you you’re alive.” — Smart Bee

So, I’ll take advantage, and use the time to try to write something more than just an intro, or an old-school pearl, with mostly quotes and a few comments. Who knows, maybe there’s a poem in there, waiting to come out…. We’ll see I guess…. I think I should get to it before my body decides I’ve had enough of a break, and gives me more BS to deal with….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Perhaps one of the only positive pieces of advice that I was ever given was that supplied by an old courtier who observed: “Only two rules really count: never miss an opportunity to relieve yourself; never miss a chance to rest your feet.” — Duke of Windsor

I would say the Duke was going for the cheap laugh here, and missed, slightly, but the old courtier knew something of life, for sure. Both rules are quite important to a life lived well, as they both offer techniques to keep one prepared for whatever life may present…. as well as offering advantages in life over those who do not use them….

First, think about NOT taking care of business when you can, and later having to deal with say, a bus ride over a road under construction; the pain would be excruciating, although the dancing one would be forced to exhibit would be, I’m sure, quite entertaining to others on the bus. Or, perhaps you find yourself meeting the Queen, who wants to discuss your latest book, for the next hour, while you stand there and dance in place, growing redder in the face by the moment… It’s a good rule…. Always take the time to be prepared, is what it can be boiled down to, and it isn’t just for Boy Scouts….

The second line is similar in its proactive nature, and in being prepared for action. Jim Brown was considered one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, setting records for almost every category of statistics for his position during his relatively short career (He played nine years, getting out without ever suffering a major injury…. an unusual accomplishment for NFL retirees…..). He claimed that one of the secrets for the consistent bruising power in his running style, and his apparent tirelessness at the end of games, had to do with his habit on the field, of resting completely between plays…. When he carried the ball, and was tackled, he did not spring up and run back to the huddle… He would lay on the ground for a couple of breaths, then slowly roll over onto his hands and knees, taking another breath or two in that position. Only then would he push up onto his feet, whereupon he would WALK slowly back to the huddle, always getting there in plenty of time, but with his breath already under control, and his muscles relaxed, ready to run again.

Using ideas such as these to give oneself the advantage in a game is the same as in life. Foresight and preparation are as important as skill and dedication, and the intelligent use of available resources for maximum benefit is far more effective than merely reacting to perceived need. These are skills that, it seems, are more apparent to older ffolkes, as it is the kind of thing one learns over time, rather than as one illuminating lesson, sent down in a flash of thunder by the gods. Old folks know how to save energy, as we only have so much, and it wouldn’t do to run out right in the middle of a tango, now would it? No, it wouldn’t…. in fact, that would be quite embarrassing, and none of us old farts would ever be caught flubbing a tango….

“Whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and purpose, and whose actions have been burnt by fire-of-knowledge, him the wise call a sage.” — Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 19.
__________________________________

I sat here, and opened up a couple veins, but, nothing has flowed out but random globules of greasy, grimy, gopher guts…. sorry, just a bit of adolescence left over…. No poem is forthcoming from my head, though, so we’ll have to go classic, or perhaps, exotic…. we’ll see what comes up when I get to Google…. Ah, perfect….

A Dog Has Died

My dog has died.
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine.

Some day I’ll join him right there,
but now he’s gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose,
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I’ll never enter.
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.

Ai, I’ll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange,
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex.

No, my dog used to gaze at me,
paying me the attention I need,
the attention required
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time,
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he’d keep on gazing at me
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.

Ai, how many times have I envied his tail
as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about
full of the voltage of the sea’s movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean’s spray.

Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit.

There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don’t now and never did lie to each other.

So now he’s gone and I buried him,
and that’s all there is to it.

— Pablo Neruda

Translated, from the Spanish, by Alfred Yankauer
__________________________________

“I’m having an emotional outburst!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“It’s the last one, I promise!” — gigoid

Repercussions, Part IV

Reality Considered As A Slippery Slope

“Yes! Living in today’s complex world of the future IS much like having a hive of bees live in your head. But…..there they are!” – Firesign Theater.

Sometimes, in my more lucid moments of reflection, I wonder if everyone else ever feels like that. If they did, then maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much when I do, because a burden shared is a burden eased…. To this, I can personally attest…..

In the immediate aftermath of the events described in detail yesterday in Part III, I continued to work at NSH, on the adult units, and for some strange reason, not a single psychiatrist or psychologist, nor any other therapist or administrative staff, suggested that perhaps the staff members who were involved might wish to talk about those events. It didn’t occur to me that maybe I should take some time off; I thought keeping busy was best, and when staff take time off, the ones who remain have to cover the time one would be off, thus making the job even harder. So I came to work, but I had changed, both my attitude, and my approach to the job.

Holding group therapy, and other normal, mundane functions of the job became low priority in my sphere of perceptions, while being alert to the possibility of small situations that could conceivably worsen became my focus. In retrospect, I firmly believe that my adrenal gland was regularly and periodically giving me doses of our natural defense system’s ‘pick-me-up’ in response to how I perceived the events around me. My hearing became extremely acute; I distinctly remember hearing a small noise one evening while standing in an office doorway, one night a few months after the incident with Al, and when I had tracked it to its’ source, I found that I had to go around three concrete walls, and through two metal doors to find what turned out to be two young men arguing, but not in particularly loud voices. No one else had heard anything.

Instead of a mental health therapist, I became a ‘brain cop’, ever alert to the slightest quirk in even the most delusional of individuals, often being able to intuit what they would do before they acted, magically appearing just as they would start to move. Even these agitated individuals can be fairly easily redirected, or at least distracted from their initial violent impulses, with the correct timing. And if the timing wasn’t quite right, well, I became even faster at assuming physical control, with the intent of entirely removing violence as one of their behavioral options, no matter what the situation.

As became obvious later, I was becoming somewhat grandiose myself, trying to assume the sole responsibility for the safety of ‘everyone’ in my space. I had forgotten, or refused to remember, a very old saying in the field of mental health, which cautions, “You will know that a nervous breakdown is imminent when you begin to believe that what you are doing is very important.” In my narrowed field of perceptions, what I was doing assumed a HUGE importance.

After a year of this, I wish I could say that I’d had enough, and asked for help. Perhaps my feet would have found the path I needed to follow sooner. But, I didn’t; another friend at work finally worked up the nerve to point out to me some of the things I was doing, and how they weren’t in my best interests, or in the best interests of the folks I was there to help. She was very compassionate and supportive, and despite what I wanted to believe, I’m not deliberately stupid, and had to admit the veracity of what she was telling me. I was broken inside, and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t going to be able to fix what was broken by myself…..good thing for me, I didn’t have to do that all alone. In that, I was a fortunate one….

I asked to see the on-duty physician the night my friend spoke to me, and after some discussion, often somewhat heated on my part, I decided to leave work, due to a temporary disability caused by repeated exposure to extreme stress. In the next days, I began seeing a psychiatrist, at the suggestion of a lawyer I had been advised to see, who would ensure that my claim for disability got me the help I needed. For the next two years, I saw the good Doctor K, and my time with him became a weekly hour of calm in the midst of the intermittent storms in my mind. My last year of work had been marked by sleeping problems, periods of anxiety & depression, and the advent of the beginning symptoms of a physical disorder that wouldn’t fully manifest for another five years, but caused a constant feeling of lethargy and general malaise.

With time away from work, and compassionate care from my psychiatrist, and the presence of my family, my anxiety and depression became less pronounced, and eventually I processed my feelings about what had occurred to the point where I was no longer troubled by daytime flashbacks and nightly dreams of the horrible events. I found my way back to my center, but as a changed person. I am much more in touch now with my emotions, and have learned not to block them out as much when they are too strong. It has taught me that it is okay to break down, and even to cry, as long as you remember to believe that you can always get back up…..

Hopefully, The End….

P.S. I can’t leave it there, being who I am now…. Tomorrow, or, if not by then, in the near future, I’ll finish this story, as far as it has gotten since last explored. I got back up, yes, and am still up, but, there remains not only a lot of pain and anguish in my soul about those events, but echoes of that pain that I still hear today, in spite of my nearly constant struggle to mitigate anything that will bring me this kind of emotional turmoil. Reality does intrude, though, and life still must go on…. Any who, enough of being mysterious and obscure….. More later….

The picture is an image of a Celtic Knot from the MS Clip Art collection.

P.P.S. Above the title of this last section, I made a promise…. and it seems now like a good one to fulfill. I’ve read over this again, and felt again all the anguish I felt then… but with a hopeful sign. The aftereffects have not lasted as long, and I’m achieving some emotional stability earlier in the process… That’s a good thing…. But, I’m tired of all this re-hashing of old business, and hereby resolve to put it away for a time…. It’s certainly taken up enough of my life’s portion of time spent on negative events and issues, and it’s time I try to spend some time elsewhere in my reality…. So be it… gigoid has spoken….
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Now that the delusional third party nonsense is over, I think I’ll get on with life. I have high hopes…. for what I’m not sure, but, in the wake of the last few days, I’ll take whatever comes up, gladly. Hmm… as I look outside, I see that Murphy has turned his attention to the outer world, and it is raining significantly, which will complicate my trip to the library…. Ah well, c’est la vie, as they say in Nice, and probably Lyon, too…. 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!

Insert non-standard cliche here…..

Posted on October 19, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

The following is the post that was intended for posting yesterday, October 18th; it was written in time, but Reality intruded to prevent me from getting to an internet access point before the end of the day…. ah well, twice in a year and a half isn’t bad…. Enjoy, and I’ll do my best to see that I get posted tomorrow as well…
Wild horses, I swore, are not getting me up early again…. but, that was before the silly beasts started in with their neighing at scream volume, and pounding hoof beats. And what is with the ropes and shit, dragging my butt onto the floor?….. Any way you look at it, I lose, it seems…. At least today, I made it to 0700 before having to give up and get up, once more in the grip of sleeplessness, and more going on in the head than I care for this early…. Ah well, I’ve had it thoroughly drilled into my awareness that Murphy gives not a sh__, er, whit for what I care for, or about…. So, off I’ll go, into Pearl land, seeking, as always, excellence and enlightenment….

Yesterday, I read a pearl, in passing, that said something like, “You know you’re getting old when…. reading the obituaries is like reading a high school yearbook….” A bit grim, I know…. but, it reminded me that such events are catching up to me, as more of my peers, from high school, and beyond, are starting to bite the dust with alarming regularity….. And, in today’s day and age, other calamities can strike without warning, bringing sorrow and fear with them….

One of my friends, the wife of my oldest friend (we’ve known each other 52 years now, since grade school, and they’ve been married for over 23 years….), was very recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and will be having a double mastectomy on Friday, I believe…. My friend, of course, is very upset and afraid, though he is holding up well; he is an honorable man, and intends to be strong for his mate….. The prognosis for the surgery is good, as they caught it early-on, and have found no traces of spreading into the lymph system yet; this type of cancer has a very good survival rate, when caught at this stage, so we are all hopeful those statistics hold true….

So, any who, I only mention this so I can ask for you to send out good thoughts and, if you are so inclined, prayers for her good deliverance during surgery, and for many more years of sparkling (she’s good at that….). I’m not sure where the surgery is being done, so if you would just send them toward Northern California, I’ll make sure they get to the right vicinity…. thanks very much, she deserves, and needs, all the help she can get…. as can my friend….

Well, there’s a way to get the old juices flowing….. bring on a spate of tears, and the old metabolism just jumps right up into work mode… a bit harsh, though, I think, to have to put one’s self through that to find a muse…. But, then, when have we ever done things normally around here? That’s correct, that answer would be…. never…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

Herein you will find a recipe for Life Well-Lived….. the first ingredient is illustrated here:

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

— Tao Te Ching

The second ingredient needed to add to the first is here:

Hug O’ War

I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

— Shel Silverstein

When these two parts are smoothly integrated into a malleable state, add this:

“I was standing in the kitchen one day, fixing a sandwich or something, when suddenly I heard a very distinct “sneeze” emanate from the fridge. Naturally curious, I opened the door and scrutinized the various food items. Suddenly, the mayonnaise began to scream, “The ketchup did it! The ketchup!” Of course, I was stunned. This, after all, was an inanimate object. And, truthfully, to this very day, I’ve never been able to coax the ketchup to say or do anything and have concluded the sneeze was my own imagination.” — Smart Bee

At this point, nearly uncontrollable giggles should emanate from either the substance being mixed, or from the mixer; both are a good omen for the success of the dish…. Now we can add the fourth ingredient, as below:

“The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adaptation, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable, to harmonize with existing or changing conditions.” — Dave E. Smalley

As any good chef or artiste knows, harmony comes, strangely enough, in odd numbers…. and thus with this final ingredient, blended well with what has gone before, you will find yourself in the presence of true beauty and grace…. This is a two-medium ingredient, textual/conceptual and visual….. (picture by Carol Welsh, from her blog at WordPress, here: http://carolwelsh.wordpress.com/ )

“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living…. and above all, those who live without Love.” — Albus Dumbledore, from J.K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows”
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I had no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love, but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought,
Was large enough for me.

~~ Emily Dickinson
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Here are some examples of the astounding depths of Stupid that can manifest in humans……

“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” — Pat Robertson, Man of God and serious Republican presidential aspirant, in a letter to supporters
(My calculator broke when I tried to count how many wrong things there are in this statement…..)

“Trees cause more pollution than cars ever did.” — Ronald Reagan
(I had a hard time believing he actually said this in 1982, or thereabouts, but, there it was, right there in the newspaper…. and, in the annals of history, as it remains as the record for the stupidest thing ever said by a US President…. though Ronnie’s VP, Gerry Ford, later made some valiant attempts to break it, during his own stint in the Oval Office….)

Where Mind and each believing mind are not divided,
And undivided are each believing mind and Mind,
This is where words fail;
For it is not for the past, present, and future.

— Seng-T’San (540?-606 A.D.)
(Actually, this may not be stupid…. but I can’t tell for sure, because it is so opaque, and hides its meaning so deeply in complexity, it sounds stupid…..and is therefore subject to the Duck Test…. i.e., if it quacks, etc……)

“Facts can be used to prove anything that’s even remotely true. Facts, shmacts!” — Homer Simpson
(Come to think of it, ANYTHING Homer says could be included here…. I regard Homer to be the absolute incarnation of Human Stupidity, and thoroughly regret his popularity, though it doesn’t surprise me at all….)

Kinsey: “Oh, please. Given the chance, half of all American citizens won’t even vote, and the half that do vote are too stupid to know what they’re doing.” — from Stargate
(I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that, if you heard it on TV, it must be true…. or, in this case, be a pretty clear reflection of society….)

This kind of search, for pearls of real stupidity, as opposed to their opposites, is a slow one… Not that there are fewer examples of this kind of thing available, but, Smart Bee tends to lean toward the other end of the spectrum, keeping and displaying the most valuable and elegant aphorisms uttered through the ages, rather than these demonstrations of humanity’s other talents. So, here is a last example, which will, no doubt, be welcomed with open arms…. Just remember not to use these as Pearls Of Virtual Wisdom, or for goodness’ sake, real wisdom…. I won’t be responsible for the outcome….

I met a fool i’ the forest,
A motley fool.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act ii, Sc. 7
(In this case, what we see is a double dose of stupid…. one, what is written…. and two, all the fools who fall all over themselves to say that Shakespeare was so wonderful…. when what he was, was the best hack of his time, with a good PR man…. People still fall for this crap!…..)
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You may have noted a certain lack of original material in today’s Pearl…. which is not surprising, given my current state of mind….. It was all I could do to come up with commentary for this morning’s efforts, as I’m still a bit groggy from the hour, and quite empty of anything but the barest skepticism, my constant companion…. On days like these, I depend on Smart Bee, and the wisdom of others to carry me through this process, trusting that routine, of sorts, will produce an acceptable group of pearls. All in all, I don’t think I did too badly, and, as is the standard rule here, it’s done, and it’s not getting done over…. So be it…. 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!

Celebratory moments on parade…..

Posted on September 24, 2012 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Being a geek never felt better…. yesterday, in frustration, I uninstalled Smart Bee again from my computer, then re-installed it, and gloryoski, Skeeter, it worked! It’s back, and looking grand, I must say….. SIGH…. I feel much better now……

So much better, I slept well, and woke early, just to get a good start on this Pearl…. it’s really good to have material to work with. I’ve grown dependent, I guess, on having sufficient quotes from other smart ffolkes to stimulate my thought processes, and not having them was taking its toll. Now I feel so good, another poem dripped out last night while I was basking in the glow of a successful install. Not great, but pretty good, I think…. and all original, so that has to count for something, right?…. It all rhymes, too, so Mrs. Lowe and Mr. Olsen would be proud…..

Without further ado, let us get on with today’s process….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“OVER the underpass! UNDER the overpass! Around the FUTURE and BEYOND REPAIR!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

In celebration of the return of SB, I offer this brilliant aphorism from Zippy as thanks, and as a tribute to the power of nonsense in Life. If it weren’t for the concept of ridiculousness, I’d be just another bozo on the bus, rather than a sharp, progressive purveyor of reason and honor…. and Pearls of Virtual wisdom might never have been liberated from their shells….

In the Harry Potter books, and movies, I was particularly impressed with Ms. Rowling after reading the part about Boggarts in the second novel, and finding out the spell that banished them, to wit: Ridikulous! shouted in stentorian tones while thinking of what you fear in a comical venue. Such sharp insight! It was a perfect, perfect piece of story-telling, and gave me a whole new perspective on the depth of the whole Hogwarts experience…. “Never tickle a sleeping dragon” indeed!….. With that in mind, and in recognition of the return of plenty to a world in dearth, here is an old school pearl, with a message about how to live well, and happily….

“Don’t try to have the last word. You might get it.” — Lazarus Long

“Ignorance is not bliss — it’s oblivion.” — Phillip Wylie

“Stereotypes are like a supermarket. They are convenient, economical, and useful. They do our thinking for us. We don’t have to waste time trying to make sense of our ignorance. Stereotypes slice through the niceties of language, tide us over the loose ends we don’t understand and wrap up into a comfortable package our narrow – mindedness about everything and everybody except ourselves” — Chuck Stone (Washington Post 6/3/96)

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln

“A man who carries a cat by the tail is getting experience that will always be helpful. He isn’t likely to grow dim or doubtful. Chances are, he isn’t likely to carry the cat that way again, either. But if he wants to, I say let him!” — Mark Twain

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live. It is asking other people to live as one wishes to live.” — Oscar Wilde

“As God is my witness – I am that fool!” — Gomez Addams

And, on that note, we shall forge onward with renewed vigor, and a carefree heart!……
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Confidentially Paranoid

Only when the bright sunlight of dreams draws nigh
can the dark glass of reality factor true value..
Destiny’s horses run in fear as time goes dry,
for grappling with fate in such traitorous venue.

In pallid costumes made of graven cast-off tales,
fallen angels and demons show the measure of faith.
No sad transactions should escape these well-marked trails,
no angry relatives cast insults to a sedentary wraith.

Meaning can always hide in literal cold intent,
yet show mere facets of honor to perishable youth.
Sincere contentions leave with sorrowful bent,
while bastardly arguments fill in poorly for the truth.

Gone are moments filled with florid blasts of rhyme
left to moulder on the shoulders of unreasonable hope.
Only courage can save these measures of unspoken time
to gather new issues of powerfully broad and painful scope.

~~ gigoid
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It is time, the Walrus said, to speak of many things…… or at least one…..

“Shakespeare was an intellectual ocean, whose waves touched all the shores of thought; within which were all the tides and waves of destiny and will; over which swept all the storms of fate, ambition and revenge; upon which fell the gloom and darkness of despair and death and all the sunlight of content and love, and within which was the inverted sky lit with the eternal stars — an intellectual ocean — toward which all rivers ran, and from which now the isles and continents of thought receive their dew and rain.” — Robert G. Ingersoll (American lawyer and orator)

Now, to look at this, one might think that this Ingersoll person was a smart fella, having obviously read a lot of Shakespeare. I am forced to point out, however, that being able to read does not necessarily mean one can think, or that one is entitled to an opinion. There are clues within this statement that reveal its weaknesses, the foremost of which is that it is a large load of bullshit…… I, too, have read a lot of Shakespeare, though not by choice. At first, I read him because it was assigned in school by some ignorant English teacher who had fallen under the normal delusion taught in most schools about Will, i.e., his stuff was good…. when in reality, most of what he wrote is just a pile of shit piled really high….. Afterward, I read him to find further examples of his failings to show people in proof of my assertion, to wit: he is the most over-rated, and most egregiously pandered to author of all time….

Oh, he was prolific, and wrote a lot of stuff that is fairly good, by any standards…. but, given the massive amount of stuff he wrote, that is merely proof of the law of averages. For the most part, what he wrote is too wordy by half, obscure in meaning that clouds the story, or has no connection to the story at all, and tends to a flowery saccharine flavor by the choice of his words. He did achieve a large popularity in his own time, either due to good press, or the normal bad taste of the public; I don’t really care. In today’s world, his story lines are trite, and tend to stick to common themes that every author treats; in addition, his use of slang went completely overboard, and has turned what may have been decent rap in his day, into such tripe that it just sounds like random noise, similar to the common run of rap today…. it amazes me how many bad musicians there are in the world…. but that is another story….

In order to demonstrate for you the absolute nonsense that flowed from his pen, I’ve included some samples of his work below…. they pretty much speak for themselves….. badly…… so I’ve added my comments in parentheses…..

O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t,
A brother’s murder.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 3
(Ooooh, such tension and horror….. NOT…. merely mundane, as far as I can tell…..)

“The venom clamors of a jealous woman poison more deadly than a mad dog’s tooth.” — William Shakespeare
(I’ll bet Will was real popular with the women of his time….. NOT)

Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip’s bell I lie.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Tempest — Act v, Sc. 1
(Huh? What? Is this part of the play?…..Which part?…. Which play?)

O, that he were here to write me down an ass!
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Much Ado about Nothing — Act iv, Sc. 2
(Don’t worry, Will, I’m here…..)

A plague of sighing and grief! It blows a man up like a bladder.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act ii, Sc. 4
(I suppose if your society doesn’t yet have rubber, or balloons, a bladder is the best you have…..)

Most forcible Feeble.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act iii, Sc. 2
(Oh, aye, what a handy turn of phrase…. NOT… What does this mean?….)

They fool me to the top of my bent.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 2
(Uh, to where? I think more likely, he’s the one trying to fool…. the audience….)

O, never say hereafter
But I am truest speaker. You call’d me brother
When I was but your sister.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Cymbeline — Act v, Sc. 5
(Honestly, this sounds like something I’d write when really, really drunk, and think it was hilarious…..)

Okay, that’s probably enough for one day…. I’ve got well over four pages full of stuff of his like these, so there is a lot to choose from…. Just doing what I can to spread the truth, as I see it…… and this truth needs telling, to get society away from this ridiculous celebrity worship when it comes to him, and to artists like him, who rely on public opinion more than Art to determine the value of their material…. Call me Ishmael, if you must…. just don’t forget to call me…..
__________________________________

Boy, that was great fun! Lots of material, old friends to pick on, and a new poem, which is always better out than in…. can’t beat that with a stick. I’m going to sign off here, so as not to tempt Fate into retribution so early in the day….. 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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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Shakespeare

Use the lug nuts we softened yesterday….

Such fabulous shoes require spanking….

Scintillating displays of lug nut fasteners….

Isn’t he just the bee’s knees?….

Rapid fluctuation in the power grid….

Saving the pieces for posterity…..

Rooms full of attenuated pilgrims….

What’s a few platitudes among enemies?….

Insert non-standard cliche here…..

Celebratory moments on parade…..

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