Tag Archives: Shakespeare

Platitudes are shown in red, not plaid….

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Ffolkes,
I am speaking to you now from deep within the moving mode…. The move is going swimmingly, aside from that one incident with the car alarm…. and I still say it wasn’t my fault….. As might be guessed, I’m a little pressed for time, so this Pearl will probably suck…. If not, well, we can chalk it up to some good luck, which is generally in short supply around here…. But, we do know what it looks like, theoretically, so that’s something…. Well, I gotta get going, so I’ll cut this short, as I had originally intended, before I got off into whatever tangent this is…. Shall we Pearl?…..

Age doesn’t always bring wisdom.  Sometimes age comes alone. — Smart Bee
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“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin, more even than death….Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “Selected Papers”

Mr. Russell has touched on one of my most firmly held beliefs, and shared some valuable insight into the common human experience. A great many issues that currently are causing mankind to continue to suffer can be directly attributed to this failure of human nature. People in general are lazy, and would rather choose to believe an obvious lie than to use their own mental acuity to examine an issue.

I see examples of this every day in the news, items that tell of women who are so afraid of themselves and their own sexuality, that they parrot the vile, misogynistic views espoused by the new Republican platform for the 2012 election. I have a hard time rationalizing how these women can even consider supporting men who obviously hate and fear women, as is plainly the case with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan……

O Lord, grant that we may always be right, for Thou knowest we will never change our minds. — Old Scottish Prayer

This is a pretty accurate take on the two Republican candidates; they’re official now, having received the benediction at the Republican National Convention, after some initial delays due to Hurricane Isaac, which is currently pounding the Gulf Coast with high winds and torrential rains. Those Gulf states should be getting used to this by now, and if nothing else, it will prepare them for a life under a Republican administration, should that particular nightmare of mine come true.

I can’t see how it would, as long as all the people out there who ARE aware of how much these two lie bother to go vote. If they do, it should be a landslide, which is what I see as necessary, so as to show all the fundies supporting the congenital liars on the political right that there are more people in this country who think than there are that don’t…..

At my age, I should be accustomed to the extent to which human stupidity permeates society. But, I am continually amazed at the crap that normally intelligent folks will buy into, just to soothe their own unrealistic fears. As I perused Facebook for a few minutes yesterday, I was struck by how many posts there were from this one particular “Friend”, ALL of which were based on lies told by Romney or Ryan.

About 75% were criticisms aimed at the current President, each of which has been a talking point for the right for weeks now; each and every one of those criticisms were based on a lie told by the Republicans, lies that are readily shown to be untrue, by the very statistics they think they are quoting. They never do any fact checking, it seems, as one minute taken to check the truth reveals the lies…. But, they don’t seem to care….. as long as the black man gets defeated, they don’t care at all how many lies they have to tell to get it done…..

Ah well, hopefully there are enough of us on the other side of the issues to keep these two from ever getting within shouting distance to the Oval Office…. if not, well, the civil war that judge from Texas is afraid of might not be such a far-fetched idea after all…. though it wouldn’t be the United Nations invading Texas, it would the Oregonians…. along with the Californians, the Idahoans, and the residents of several other states that are not caught up in the web of lies that constitutes the Republican platform…. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it remains an option, even if only one of last resort…..

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

Here is my verse….. one of them, at least….

Destiny’s Vote

It was a special day, written on tablets of stone
with fanfare, and crepe paper, a symphony of lies,
played with verve, but discordant, and alone,
never more the grand parade, no more apple pies.

Heated dialog full of prejudice, hatred, and fears,
fills up the airwaves, a cacophony of callow untruth,
playing up to ignorance, bringing anguish, and fearful tears,
while Nero’s fiddler sits down, in the only open booth.

Watchful and afraid, I see the coming conflict
clouds of ignorance and intellect, preparing to fight,
one to fight with darkness, and abject fear to depict
opposed at the base, banishing fear with truth, and light.

Seeds of anger and bigotry are planted very deep,
growing best in darkness, hiding in shame and fear,
waiting for moments of trouble, its destiny to keep,
looking for weakness, seeking to draw its victim near.

Sing not yet a funeral dirge for tolerance,
that particular die is not yet cast,
there still remains a very good and honest chance,
our common dream of freedom may yet hold fast…..

~~ gigoid

History usually clarifies stupidity. — Smart Bee
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So, the boxes are calling me, and I am out of time…. gotta go get started moving. I am out of material, as such, so below I have put several of Will Shakespeare’s most obscure little sayings, that so many idiots use to sound like they are educated…. When I hear stuff like this, educated is not the term that comes to mind…. I’ll be nice, and not tell you what does come to mind…. Besides, these pretty much speak for themselves, and what they say is  “NOTHING!”…

A joint of mutton, and any pretty little tiny kick-shaws, tell William cook.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act v, Sc. 1

Except I be by Sylvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Two Gentlemen of Verona — Act iii, Sc. 1

Thank me no thanks, nor proud me no prouds.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet — Act iii, Sc. 5

I am all the daughters of my father’s house,
And all the brothers too.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Twelfth Night — Act ii, Sc. 4

I had rather have a fool to make me merry than experience to make me sad.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act iv, Sc.1

The very staff of my age, my very prop.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice — Act ii, Sc. 2

I think that should get the point across…. if anyone can tell me just what was meant by any of this, please do. Otherwise, you can do like I tend to do, and try your best to ignore it when it comes up….. SIGH…. people are so strange sometimes….. and Will proves that very well….
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Such as it is, it is done…. I kinna do no more! 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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Platitudes, coated in platinum…..

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Ffolkes,
Dark, worrisome thoughts chase each other around my brain. My heart trips and stutters, echoing the panic felt in every piece of bone and gristle. Shadowy forms fill the edges of perception, fleeing when I whip my head to see them. My tears flow, unrelieved, filling my head with fluids, and my soul with pain….

Yes, it’s yet another visit from my PTSD, in all its glory. It is now 0150, and I’ve been up, sobbing, for an hour now…. there are times when I come very close to regret, something I swore to never feel, for all my past activities that contributed to how I feel now. Like Albert Einstein said once, “if I had known, I would have become a watchmaker.” Anything would be better than this….

Ah well, since I’m up, and sleep looks like a distant memory for tonight, I may as well go diving for pearls…. When I’m under water, the tears don’t seem like such a big deal…. and who knows? I might find something to help myself feel better…. it wouldn’t take much, believe me, as I feel just about as bad as I can….. Shall we Pearl?….. I think we’d better….
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True is suffering; this is true cause;
this is true cessation; this is the true path.

Know the sufferings; give up they causes;
attain the cessation of the suffering; follow the true paths.

Know the sufferings although there is nothing to know;
relinquish the causes of misery although there is nothing to relinquish;
be earnest in cessation although there is nothing to cease;
practice the means of cessation although there is nothing to practice.
— Buddha, The Four Noble Truths

To look at this, one would think that it would be helpful in my current state…. but, y’know what? I could give a shit…. the way my mind is working just now, I look at this, and all I can say is… “BULLSHIT!” 

None of this sits lightly on my mind, and would normally sink deep for contemplation. In my current state of mind, though, all I can see is the BS factor; it’s just way too convoluted, and makes the assumption that one is capable of making these types of adjustments to thought patterns.
Well, guess what? I ain’t capable of anything remotely emotionless when I’m in this state… I defy the most advanced yogini or Buddhist to maintain equilibrium under these conditions. Let them face a few days of unrelenting pain, and the mean streets of life when one is poor in money, and see how they do at being serene under those conditions….

I can see now that today’s Pearl is going to end up a bit dark…. I think it’s time for a little poetry…..
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A door just opened on a street–
I, lost, was passing by–
An instant’s width of warmth disclosed
And wealth, and company.

The door as sudden shut, and I,
I, lost, was passing by,–
Lost doubly, but by contrast most,
Enlightening misery.

~~ Emily Dickinson

Hmm…. I like it, but it doesn’t do much to relieve the darkness, does it? Ah well, c’est la vie…. we’ll just go on, and do the best we can….

Time passes…..

And our best was just good enough to crawl back into bed at 0345. The PTSD attack seems to be done, but now I am awake again, there is some lingering depression; I can feel it, hanging in the background, just waiting to pounce at the first sign of weakness… In this state,  it is much like a predator, hiding in the tall grass, just waiting for me to walk in the wrong direction, and into its waiting jaws. This calls for drastic measures….. Hmm, which shall I use? Bourbon for breakfast? Or a massive injection of humor? Let’s leave it up to Smart Bee, and the first relevant quote I can find will tell me which will work better….
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O father, what a hell of witchcraft lies
In the small orb of one particular tear.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Sonnets & other Poetry — A Lover’s Complaint, Line 288

I knew it! I knew if I kept at it long enough, I would find something written by Will Shakespeare that actually makes some sense. And I was right! The above couplet actually does make sense…. not only some sense, but written in an attractive, cohesive manner, in words that all fit together, and point in the same direction. For Will, that is indeed a rare occurrence.

This even has layers of meaning in it, which I’m sure Will didn’t plan; it just came out that way. It does cheer me up a smidgen, though, so it also has that in its favor…. enjoy this little bit of actual writing from mein herr Shakespeare, you won’t see too many like it, no matter how long you search….. I guarantee! (To enjoy the full effect, that last word should be said very loudly, in an Acadian (Cajun) accent…..)

An hour before the worshipp’d sun
Peered forth the golden window of the east.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet — Act i, Sc. 1

Look! Look! It’s another one! And just when I thought I was done, this pops up….. I am impressed. Two in one day…. but, then, Romeo and Juliet IS the best work he ever did, so it makes sense that a couplet from its interior would fare better than one from, say, Troilus and Cressida, one of the most impenetrable pieces I ever saw…. Any who, enjoy these while you can, because I already have almost another dozen examples of his normal, terrible stuff saved up for use in the future, when I’m feeling cranky….

“Action is eloquence.” — William Shakespeare

Damn if Smart Bee wasn’t hiding another one…. this one actually could be described as “good”, as well as “deep”….. I’m impressed. But, I must remind you, this is merely three examples of good stuff from Will. I’ve already given at least 10 times as many examples of his normal, terrible stuff, and, at this very moment, have nine examples ready for publication…. the odds aren’t improving much, if these three are the best I can find….
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“Here I am in the POSTERIOR OLFACTORY LOBULE but I don’t see CARL SAGAN anywhere!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Ah, Zippy! The true master of language! I genuflect in awe at his many proclamations of intense feeling, and insane, yet haunting, exclamations of joy, nonsensical as they may be. The fact that none of those feelings have anything to do with reality just makes them more charming, to my eye. No matter what he says, it is the kind of statement that makes one think, “Wow. I’ll bet there is a good back story on that!”  Well, either that, or, “You lost me again, Zip…..”  But, no matter what he says, one must admire him, and his creator, Bill Griffiths, for the unrelenting dedication to absolute chaos and the power of entropy in reality…. Zippy’s adventures are ALWAYS obtuse, and filled with lack of meaning, a real treat to us who are stuck in the real thing….

    For those of you out there who would like to enjoy Zippy and his adventures in reality, you might find the following web site to be helpful… it tells how to understand Zippy in Six Easy Lessons….  http://www.zippythepinhead.com/pages/aaaunderstanding.html

I had intended this to be a bonus pearl, having somewhat chopped up the first part due to incipient semi-psychotic behavior, and from a certain viewpoint, it is a bonus. (Remember in Star Wars, when Ben Kenobi tells Luke about his father, he says, “from a certain viewpoint”, to justify his lies to Luke….) Whether the bonus is appreciated, or merely tolerated, is entirely up to you, as always… But, I must ask, before you make your decision, consider the difficulty factor of today’s dive for pearls, hindered and manipulated as it was by my somewhat bedraggled, middle of the night panic attack. Hopefully, that will add a charitable factor to the judging process, and keep the score respectable.

If not, well, then, piss on it…. I’m done here, anyway….
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For a treatise that took about seven or eight hours to complete, this has a somewhat unkempt feeling to it, like I didn’t brush my hair, or my teeth, or something. But, it does not matter a whit, as I am NOT going back and starting over. I’ve lost enough sleep today already, and editing would most likely put me right over the edge…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Curmudgeons are people, too….

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Ffolkes,
In a break from routine, today’s title actually fits in with today’s material. Or with the author’s mood, if nothing else…. I awoke, again very late, for me, and my first thought was stimulated by the dream that had just finished. It was, “Well, shit, here we go again….” Perfect….

The dream was some nonsensical series of unlikely events that I won’t try to explain, as my dreaming mind is MUCH weirder than anything I’ve written here. One of the dream’s other participants in these events was my older brother, Tim…. for a long time, I held a lot of anger inside me re: my brother. In my humble opinion, for most of the 17 years I spent with him in the house, he was one of the world’s biggest assholes…. he was totally self-centered, and seemed to have never gotten over being 14, the most obnoxious age for males.

I was still pissed at him when I was 40, and he was 43, as I discovered one day, when he tripped the switch on the anger I had been holding in for all those years. He did something very selfish, which was his habit, left over from his teen years, and caused my little boy a good dose of disappointment, for no reason other than his own sheer narcissism. So I took the lid off, and blew him away with about 40 years of built up anger at his antics. He was totally flabbergasted, and has since made some effort to change that part of him, with some moderate success…. he’s still an asshole, but he is nicer than he used to be…. that’s just not saying much….

Any who, I woke up this morning having just dealt with those feelings again, and it made my first view of the day somewhat cranky… and it still is…. only now I’m cranky about real stuff that is picking at me today in reality….. My only hope, I think, for a day that doesn’t end up with me alienating someone or other, is to put this crank into some pearls…. There are certainly enough targets out there in reality, giving me a veritable buffet of choices to target with my vitriol….. That part will be fun, and will hopefully get it all out, for once again, the situation calls for using the adage, “better out than in”….. or it will eat me up from the inside out…. Shall we Pearl?…..
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Yesterday, while searching for pearls, more of Will Shakespeare’s crap kept popping up, getting in the way & wasting my time with BS couplets that have no meaning in modern times, and thus are truly inscrutable, even more so than in his own time….. Now, this morning, when I am NOT in the mood for him or his nonsense, this was the third pearl to surface, so I figured, “Hey, there is a suitable, and convenient, target for all this angst I’ve built up….” So, here are the quotes from Will that got in the way today, as further proof of how much he deserves all the crankiness I can dump on him….

“How still the evening is as hush’d on purpose to grace harmony!” — William Shakespeare

(Huh? Mama nature is throwing up in the bushes over this one…..)

“Palsied eld.”  — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act iii, Sc. 1

(I reiterate, huh?…..)

“I will kill thee a hundred and fifty ways.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act v, Sc. 1

(For him, this is so good, I think he must have plagiarized it from somewhere…..)

“You two are book-men.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Love’s Labour ‘s Lost — Act iv, Sc. 2

(This is just about the weakest insult I think I’ve ever seen…..whomever he said it to must be either quaking in their boots, mockingly, or choking because they’re laughing so hard….)

“Damnable, both sides rogue.” — William Shakespeare

(Once more, with feeling…. Huh?….)

“And let me wring your heart; for so I shall, if it be made of penetrable stuff.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 4

Okay, I’ll show some mercy, and make this the last for today…. I hadn’t really intended to take shots at Will today, but his crap kept getting all over my boots…. so…. To comment on the last one, from Hamlet…. I wonder how long it took him to come up with the word “stuff” to use in that particular place…. I hope not a long time, because it stinks, quite simply. A heart made of “penetrable stuff”?  Pathetic, pitiful, and any other demeaning word of your choice…. there are so many that would be appropriate, I can’t decide which to use…..
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All Is Vanity, Saieth the Preacher

I.
Fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine,
And health and youth possess’d me;
My goblets blush’d from every vine,
And lovely forms caress’d me;
I sunn’d my heart in beauty’s eyes,
And felt my soul grow tender:
All earth can give, or mortal prize,
Was mine of regal splendour.

II.
I strive to number o’er what days
Remembrance can discover,
Which all that life or earth displays
Would lure me to live over.
There rose no day, there roll’d no hour
Of pleasure unembitter’d;
And not a trapping deck’d my power
That gall’d not while it glitter’d.

III.
The serpent of the field, by art
And spells, is won from harming;
But that which coils around the heart,
Oh! who hath power of charming?
It will not list to wisdom’s lore,
Nor music’s voice can lure it;
But there it stings for evermore
The soul that must endure it.

George Gordon Lord Byron

In keeping with today’s theme of political and literary relevance and chicanery (you may combine the two nouns with the two descriptive adjectives as you choose…), I offer this from Lord Byron…. it seems to fit rather well with the rant below…. Enjoy!
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TUESDAY’S WEATHER – FOR HELL:  Hell will be hot during tonight, boiling over to boiling early Tuesday morning. Towards the middle of the day it will be sweltering, with a heat-wave later in the day.  Wednesday: Hot  Thursday: Hot   Friday: Hot  Saturday (the day that peace is predicted to be declared in the Middle East, the national economy will recover, pigs will fly, and a brain scan on Dan Quayle Mitt the Twitt will be positive): Cold, with snow and ice, possible blizzards. — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA.

You could add to the list of impossible things to happen on Saturday “Mitt the Twitt will quote something that is absolutely true…” I have been reading about his latest gaffes over the last few days, since he has been back from his disastrous trip to Europe. He has managed, on two consecutive days, to pull one lie after another out of his commodious hat regarding his opponent, inadvertently strengthening the President’s position and weakening his own even more, if that is possible. The man is his own worst enemy.

He continues to refuse to show his tax returns, even though he is now aware that each time he refuses, he loses more and more support. Eventually, unless he shows them, he will have no remaining supporters, and the Republicans will have to concede the election before it even gets to the polls…. I read an interesting take yesterday on why he won’t release them…. the author of this particular piece made the observation that Mitt has calculated just how much his refusal is costing him in support, and weighed that cost against what is in the returns. He obviously feels that whatever is in there will be worse than not releasing them, no matter how bad it gets. That implies that there are some pretty damning facts in there, that he cannot afford to release into the public eye, knowing that it would ring the death knell for his campaign….

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleges, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives. ” — Tolstoy

Actually, I think that if he were forced to drop out of the race, it would produce a situation that is very reflective of current American society. We would have a sitting President who is liberal, with a liberal Senate, and a conservative House of Representatives, just like now. But, we would also have a Republican party in complete chaos, having to come to terms with the fact that they are so out of touch with the MAJORITY of Americans that there is no one at all they can put in the field who would serve as competition for the President.

No one. None. All the other would-be candidates have already proven they cannot engender the needed public support to successfully challenge the incumbent, so it seems to me that they will either have to pick someone they don’t like themselves, but who is liberal enough to pose a threat to the other side, or they will have to admit that they no longer represent a significant portion of the public, and split into about five pieces, ranging from moderate, middle-of-the-road to the skinheads on the far right. All of those splinter parties would be pretty much guaranteed to fail, as their support bases will be in the minority….

I have yet to check out the news from yesterday, but I know for certain there will be more instances of Mitt’s puerile inability to tell the truth…. he can’t help himself; it is congenital, a maladaptive behavior that has been reinforced throughout much of his adult life. He simply can’t seem to open his mouth without saying something that isn’t true; this is so obvious, I can’t understand how seemingly bright, intelligent people continue to support these lies, and the liar who tells them. It seems to me that a lot of his supporters are losing some of the strength of their commitment to him…. they still speak up in his defense, but fall silent quickly when the proof of his untruths are made clear (The man has no sense at all! He lies about stuff that is documented, or on video, like he forgot he said it, or something….. it’s pathetic!).

I guess that will be enough of picking on the Twitt for one day. I’m still a bit cranky, but this certainly helped. It’s always good when I can rip someone like him to shreds by using his own words against him; less guilt involved that way, since he proves with every other breath just how much he deserves the jabs and pokes the media gives him. I’m just one of the crowd when it comes to cataloging his lies….. May he continue down the path to self-destruction upon which he now treads, and may he reach the end quickly…… 🙂
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Not too shabby, if I do say so myself….. I’m going to take my chances, and let it go as is; I kinna do no more! Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Not only the penitent are forgiven….

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Ffolkes,
Pinched, grim faces peer through the windows as I wash the dirty feet of the Tupperware solicitors. Leering, jeering, they make their obscene gestures in vain, rather pathetically cheering each other’s futility. Parcels of latent importance linger on the threshold, waiting for delivery, independent and proud of their clean lines and ruler-straight packing tape. In the midst of all the chaotic motion, a small, silver dreidle spins hypnotically, focused and free of the detritus so common to such games as played today. Not for nothing did they salvage their given names, to show to the inspectors, in direct opposition to the rising sun, hopeful of another hour, another day to find Reality…..

Which, apparently, has retreated to the background, not wanting any part of the previous paragraph, a sentiment I can completely understand. That there paragraph is even weirder than usual, even for this space. But, I kind of like it, sort of, maybe…. it does have a certain charm to it, even if it doesn’t make any sense. And it did give me the opportunity to use the word “dreidle”, as well as “detritus”, two words that seldom see the light of day. I do enjoy getting these seldom-used words out for a workout; they’re always so appreciative…..

As you might be able to tell, my relationship with the English language is one of mutual admiration and support. We get along pretty well most of the time, and that is completely due to the fact that we are always formally polite with each other, and never ask the other to perform tricks that are embarrassing or immoral. It is a somewhat tentative and careful relationship, because we both understand each other’s needs and desires, and want to be careful to preserve the good relations we enjoy. After all, where would either of us be, without the other?  Nowhere, that’s where….

With that ringing endorsement, let us now wend our way down to the edge of the water, and begin today’s search for pearls….. shall we Pearl?…..
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If they make you not then the better answer, you may say they are
not the men you took them for.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Much Ado about Nothing — Act iii, Sc. 3

A man whose blood
Is very snow-broth; one who never feels
The wanton stings and motions of the sense.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act i, Sc. 4

The eftest way.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Much Ado about Nothing — Act iv, Sc. 2

Like Niobe, all tears.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act i, Sc. 2

So, there I am, cruising along in my database, searching for pearls, and what keeps popping up in front of me, getting in the way and wasting my time? You guessed it…. more drivel from our old friend and charlatan, Will Shakespeare. These four pieces of nonsense popped up one after the other, within two minutes of each other.

Taking this as a sign from the gods of literature to carry on my campaign to educate the public regarding the relative value of his works, I am reproducing them here, as a reminder to everyone to be careful with Will’s stuff. It can be dangerous to those who don’t understand the power of human idiocy.

I mean, just look at those four quotes. I consider myself to be pretty smart; if not smart, I am at least over-educated, for sure. But, for the life of me, I can’t figure out what the hell he is talking about in ANY of these quotes. Sure, they’re missing some context, but good literature should be able to provide its own context…. These only provide an excuse for scratching one’s forehead in confusion….. and don’t even do that well….

Just as a test, for the rest of today, while searching for stuff about which to write, I’ll save and put in here all the little pieces of dung from Will’s pen that get in the way…. You will begin to see why I think he needs to be downgraded as an icon, to reduce the amount of his work to which we are forced to be exposed in the normal pursuit of our life’s objectives…..

Some griefs are medicinable.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Cymbeline — Act iii, Sc. 2

Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth — Act i, Sc. 3

Come not within the measure of my wrath.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Two Gentlemen of Verona — Act v, Sc. 4

Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Sonnets & other Poetry — Venus and Adonis, Line 145

Okay, so the last one isn’t so bad…. I guess 7 out of 8 gives a pretty clear indicator of how he SHOULD be graded…. Enjoy, so to speak…..
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Immediately after writing the above section, I went back to my search. I felt a bit disappointed, in that the first section was teaching by poor example. This is a legitimate technique, but is less satisfying than making the same point by a good example. As I thought of this, an excerpt from one of Alexander Pope’s poems flashed up, which led me to go search out his page at Poemhunter.com, to see what else could be used…. and there it was…..

His Essay on Criticism is the perfect next act in this circus I call my blog…. It is, however, about 20 pages long, an epic poem, with several parts, each with its own introduction by the author. That is a bit much to expect you to take in in a morning read with your coffee (or, looking at the clock, as a lunch-time dessert….), so I picked out the most relevant stanza I could find on short notice, and offer it here, as a contrast to the above pile of dung from Shakespeare….

From Part II of “Essay on Criticism”

The vulgar thus thro’ imitation err,
As oft the learn’d by being singular;
So much they scorn the crowd, that if the throng
By chance go right, they purposely go wrong.
So schismatics the plain believers quit,
And are but damn’d for having too much wit.
Some praise at morning what they blame at night,
But always think the last opinion right.
A Muse by these is like a mistress used,
This hour she’s idolized, the next abused;
While their weak heads, like towns unfortified,
‘Twixt sense and nonsense daily change their side.
Ask them the cause; they’re wiser still they say;
And still to-morrow’s wiser than to-day.
We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons no doubt will think us so.
Once shool-divines this zealous isle o’erspread;
Who knew most sentences was deepest read.
Faith, Gospel, all seem’d made to be disputed,
And none has sense enough to be confuted.
Scotists and Thomists now in peace remain
Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Ducklane.
If Faith itself has diff’rent dresses worn,
What wonder modes in Wit should take their turn?
Oft, leaving what is natural and fit,
The current Folly proves the ready Wit;
And authors think their reputation safe,
Which lives as long as fools are pleas’d to laugh.

Alexander Pope

There you have it…. If you have the time, head on over to Poemhunter.com to read the entire piece. It’s well worth the time taken, in my not so humble opinion…. the address for the rest of the above poem is   http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-essay-on-criticism/

Enjoy!
___________________________________

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 Teh Ching

Often in life, we find ourselves at a point where we feel frustrated with how reality is unfolding, and allow the weight of the world to sit on our shoulders. We grasp to our breasts the complaints and insults we have heard or expressed, holding on to all the wrong things that have happened, to justify our own irritability.

It is at these times that the Tao Teh Ching can be most helpful, especially to us Westerners. Our culture looks at stress differently, at least in terms of how to deal with it. In this case, I find the Eastern way of approaching this issue works much better, allowing one to overcome the stress that builds up, offering release from the headaches and tension that can come with such feelings….

The solution is extremely simple, once learned…. just let go…. No, not just say no…. Just let go…. Don’t hang on to those feelings of urgency because your work isn’t done…. just finish the work, and be done with it….. Don’t let money determine your feelings. Don’t let your worries fill your mind so you obsess and worry; allow them to pass through you, as all feelings eventually do, if we don’t hang on to them….

Just let go…. and find yourself already serene….
___________________________________

Well, that works, I think…. It will have to do, because I’m NOT doing it over…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Murky morals create messes….

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Ffolkes,
Balderdash! Poppycock! And other such fine expressions!  Aren’t those great words? I love English, which is more than I can say for SOME people. Some folks submit our language to daily torture, some merely mangle it out of any recognizable shape. A lot of people use it, but never figure out how to make it shine. These are the folks who need to use words such as the two at the head of the paragraph, to muscle up their vocabulary, and make it more like Mr. Universe than the skinny nerd we used to see on the back of comics…..

Even I forget to use the vocabulary I have at times; the Thesaurus sits right next to me while I type, but I seldom break it out, a habit I need to break. I do pretty well at not using the same words over and over in the same piece of work, but I think that the more variety one uses, the larger the pool of available alternatives grows. All of us here at WordPress are trying, in our own ways, to become better writers (I hope that’s the case….), and using a larger vocabulary is a sure way to do that……

After such an auspicious opening, one would think that today’s Pearl is a doozie (another fine word…), but only time will tell us whether or not that is the case. Let us now leave this pompousness behind, and wash ourselves clean in the ocean of knowledge….. Shall we Pearl?……
___________________________________

Happiness follows sorrow, sorrow follows happiness, but when one no longer discriminates between happiness and sorrow, a good deed and a bad deed, one is able to realize freedom.” — Buddha

I was married for 23 years. If I had my druthers, I’d still be married; I took vows, which I kept.  Still do, for that matter….. I promised to love her more every day than I did the day before, and in spite of her absence, that hasn’t changed a whit…. and that hurts.  It is only the lessons I’ve learned over the years from Buddhism and Taoism that have helped me to move beyond that pain. The lesson above is one of the most powerful of those lessons…..

In reality, this is pretty hard to accomplish; our western minds tend to take pain and make ourselves almost dependent upon it, using it as fuel for action. This is wrong action, however, and almost always leads to more pain. It is hard for most people, me included, to learn how to put aside pain by changing the way we look at reality. Difficult, but well worth the effort, as it is a sure-fire method of learning self-control.

In a relative sense, it is easy to see what needs to be done, but in reality, reaching this state of equilibrium is not quite so simple. It is also something that each person needs to learn to do all alone; no one can teach you how to change yourself, or your own desires. It can help to hold the duality of reality in mind when considering this; pain is merely one side of the coin that is reality. On the other side is joy.

Neither can be understood, or even felt without the other. This shows that if we can learn to feel both with equal equanimity, to realize that neither one is either permanent or harmful, then they both assume less importance, and can be more easily allowed to pass away, the fate of all transient emotion. Once we have learned to let them go, it is amazing to realize that such pain will no longer control us, and we now have the ability to approach life with the ability to choose our own reaction to events…. This is indeed a powerful tool, and one that can help us to achieve the life we desire….A life free of emotional strife and pain, which is true freedom….

“Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Sertorius
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The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
‘T is mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s,
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice — Act iv, Sc. 1

I like to consider myself to be a fair-minded person, and try to admit mistakes when I make them. My opinion of Will Shakespeare has been well-documented, so I won’t go into that….

I have to admit, though, that this soliloquy from the Merchant of Venice, is very well done, and stands in stark contrast to great gobs of his other works. It has logic, it has rhyme, and reason. It is consistent, and most importantly, it is relatively clear, not all jumbled up with obscure phrases whose context was lost centuries past.  I like it….

It’s not enough to make me change my overall judgment of his body of work, or make me sit through one of his plays…. but, it’s pretty good…. There, see, I can be nice…..
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A Lover’s Quarrel Among the Fairies

A moonlight moor. Fairies leading a child.

Male Fairies: Do not fear us, earthly maid!
We will lead you hand in hand
By the willows in the glade,
By the gorse on the high land,

By the pasture where the lambs
Shall awake with lonely bleat,
Shivering closer to their dams
From the rustling of our feet.

You will with the banshee chat,
And will find her good at heart,
Sitting on a warm smooth mat
In the green hill’s inmost part.

We will bring a crown of gold
Bending humbly every knee,
Now thy great white doll to hold —
Oh, so happy would we be!

Ah it is so very big,
And we are so very small!
So we dance a fairy jig
To the fiddle’s rise and fall.

Yonder see the fairy girls
All their jealousy display,
Lift their chins and toss their curls,
Lift their chins and turn away.

See you, brother, Cranberry Fruit —
He! ho! ho! the merry blade! —
Hugs and pets and pats yon newt,
Teasing every willful maid.

Girl Fairies: Lead they one with foolish care,
Deafening us with idle sound —
One whose breathing shakes the air,
One whose footfall shakes the ground.

Come you, Coltsfoot, Mousetail, come!
Come I know where, far away,
Owls there be whom age makes numb;
Come and tease them till the day.

Puffed like puff-balls on a tree,
Scoff they at the modern earth —
Ah! how large mice used to be
In their days of youthful mirth!

Come, beside a sandy lake,
Feed a fire with stems of grass;
Roasting berries steam and shake —
Talking hours swiftly pass!

Long before the morning fire
Wake the larks upon the green.
Yonder foolish ones will tire
Of their tall, new-fangled queen.

They will lead her home again
To the orchard-circled farm;
At the house of weary men
Raise the door-pin with alarm,

And come kneeling on one knee,
While we shake our heads and scold
This their wanton treachery,
And our slaves be as of old.

William Butler Yeats

Of late, I have been leaning more and more on poetry to soothe my fevered brow…. and I don’t regret a moment of that. Here is another from W.B. Yeats, that takes us on a short, wondrous journey into Irish myth….
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I’ve relied heavily on the work of others for this Pearl, as a direct result of a massive attack of lazy bones this morning…. Ah well, at least I picked stuff that will be interesting to a wide group of ffolkes…. Lazy can be okay, if properly moderated…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Has anyone felt my milquetoast?

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Ffolkes,
I’m not sure why, but I woke up in a foul, fragile mood, which makes me want to bite something, or preferably somebody.  I actually do have an idea why, but only the final event really matters; it is one that is not for publication. I’m finding myself enjoying (if that is the word) some newish side benefits, perks, if you will, of being the proud possessor of PTSD, in all its ugly glory…..

The last few weeks have been a bit rough, in terms of physical pain and financial stress. I’m getting really, really fed up with trying to subsist on the amount of money I was making when I was 22.  Add that stress to the pain I’ve been fighting, and you get the diffuse anxiety, depressive thoughts, and emotional fragility that causes me to burst into tears without any warning…. like right now….. S’cuse me a minute…..

Sorry ’bout that…. any who….. The latest news that has me stressed out is that my landlord is having a problem refinancing the property, and may lose it. So, as of the first of this month, I might have to move, if his refinance isn’t approved. I really don’t want to move…. I’ve grown to hate the process severely. I can no longer do most of it myself, because of my back, so I must find someone to help me. Since I live like a hermit, that will be problematic, and just adds to the stress.

“It’s exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness; it can also be confusing, disorienting, and painful.” — Adrienne Rich

That’s enough self pity, I think…. I hate to indulge in it, and don’t really want to put my problems out there for all to see. But, today, I don’t care what people think about it, I just need to vent, and this is my only source for that service….. I’ll try to keep it lighter from this point, ‘kay?….

Shall we Pearl? That is, after all, what I am here for……

Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?
All fear, none aid you, and few understand.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)– Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 261
___________________________________

Better stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.
— Tao Te Ching

In discussing religions, I have always avoided showing a preference for one over another. It may seem like I pick on Christianity a lot, but that, I believe, merely reflects the fact that I was raised as one, so I am more familiar with its intransigences. All of them are based on false assumptions, so, to my mind, they are all delusional at their base.

Taoism, on the other hand, is NOT a religion, as it does not promote any particular concept of a dyslexic Dog, and speaks of Heaven only as a reflection of the Tao, an ideal, as it were, without supposing the presence of a supernatural policeman enforcing delusional behavior.

REPENTANCE, n.  The faithful attendant and follower of Punishment.  It is usually manifest in a degree of reformation that is not inconsistent with continuity of sin.

Desirous to avoid the pains of Hell,
You will repent and join the Church, Parnell?
How needless! — Nick will keep you off the coals
And add you to the woes of other souls.
Jomater Abemy
— Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Instead of attempting to get people to behave acceptably by offering rewards and punishments, Taoism provides suggestions and observations regarding the way to approach reality to achieve a desired result. There is no promise of everlasting life for following the rules set down, nor any threat of a fiery Hell if those rules are broached. There is only the author’s wisdom regarding his approach to life, with suggestions for behavior that lead to desirous results in reality. It is an appeal to reason, rather than treating adults as children with a mad, capricious parent, inconsistent from one moment to the next…..

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

All of the above suggestions are very good advice, and all obviously based on experience. They have been tested by reality, and found to be accurate in every case. If you have ever filled a glass with liquid to the brim, then tried to carry it somewhere, the first line is one you will agree with right away; it is actually a technique taught in food service to waitrons, to always leave some room at the top of the glass, so that it becomes easy to carry, rather than stressful, and messy. The others are equally relevant, as I can attest, and, as can be seen by reading history books, and the daily news, evidence is ubiquitous in both.

On a personal level, I find Taoism to be incredibly useful in dealing with everyday events. It requires the development of new ways of thinking, and getting rid of habitual patterns of behavior based on dysfunctional concepts and institutions, but I can attest that it is entirely worth the effort.

Using these precepts as the basis for all one’s actions is actually a soothing, uplifting process; I find today that merely discussing the differences has improved my emotional state. This can theoretically be extended into every corner of our lives, and provide us with a source of serenity and peace in a world full of strife and confusion…..

“To YOU I’m an atheist; to God, I’m the Loyal Opposition.” — Woody Allen (Well, sort of….)
___________________________________

Yesterday, I wrote one of several pieces on Will Shakespeare…. Murphy has apparently decided to be helpful, in his own way, and keeps shoving into my face more and more examples that demonstrate the extent of the crap he produced.

Rather that piss him off, I’ll put some more in today’s Pearl, to further my campaign to remove him from the pantheon of literary gods, and return him to where he belongs, somewhere in the middle of the pack of writers in the world, a worthy compatriot of Jacqueline Suzanne and the author of “Twilight”……

He arrests him on it;
And follows close the rigour of the statute,
To make him an example.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act i, Sc. 4

“Convey,” the wise it call. “Steal!” foh! a fico for the phrase!
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merry Wives of Windsor — Act i, Sc. 3

I hold you as a thing ensky’d and sainted.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Measure for Measure — Act i, Sc. 4

Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer’s cloud,
Without our special wonder?
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Macbeth — Act iii, Sc. 4

Ap. My poverty, but not my will, consents.
Rom. I pay thy poverty, and not thy will.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet — Act v, Sc. 1

That is probably enough…. these five all strike me as nonsense. Perhaps they show more meaning if put into the context of the plays, but, are still far more obscure than they need to be…. I’ll stop now because Will has taken quite a few hits here the last two days, and is starting to look a bit bedraggled and bloody. Of course, he has a reputation that can probably stand up to that….. Ah well, my suggestion is, if you want to see a good play, go see something that Tennessee Williams wrote, or better yet, Neil Simon….
___________________________________

A Last Confession

What lively lad most pleasured me
Of all that with me lay?
I answer that I gave my soul
And loved in misery,
But had great pleasure with a lad
That I loved bodily.

Flinging from his arms I laughed
To think his passion such
He fancied that I gave a soul
Did but our bodies touch,
And laughed upon his breast to think
Beast gave beast as much.

I gave what other women gave
That stepped out of their clothes.
But when this soul, its body off,
Naked to naked goes,
He it has found shall find therein
What none other knows,

And give his own and take his own
And rule in his own right;
And though it loved in misery
Close and cling so tight,
There’s not a bird of day that dare
Extinguish that delight.

William Butler Yeats

And now the emotional repair job is complete. A bit of light, happy making poetry from Mssr. Yeats, and all is well….. Enjoy!
___________________________________

So be it…. today’s effort was mostly therapeutic, for me, at least by intent. Hopefully, it will bring some light into your life as well…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Pure wrought iron with filigree….

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2

Ffolkes,
Sober faces, and worn-out traces of unrequited love mark the passage of unwanted time. Beelzebub and Albert continue their arguments over the nature of space/time, filling napkin after napkin with inscrutable symbols of rarefied math. A mastiff the size of a small pony snuffles around the floor, cleaning up all the scraps he can find, while the maestro gets busy pandering to the owner’s wife. Sodden reflections are all that remain of the rest of the band, but the bartender will polish his glasses all night long. All of the matrons, and all of the meritorious crew still danced to the music that no longer played. And the tick tock, tick tock of the grandfather clock marked the approach of dawn….

At that point, I woke up, with my head still whirling with the images of my dreams, blending with reality at first, until the sound of coffee brewing breaks through with a scented siren’s call. A bit clearer, albeit a bit fuzzy, I got up, used the facilities, and allowed my nose to lead me to the coffee pot, to stand impatiently while it finished its work….. Then, sheer bliss, as the first sip of black blood brings me completely into focus, if a bit confused as to exactly which reality I am inhabiting this morning. Gotta love that caffeine!

Since it also woke me enough to type out the surreal scene with which we opened today, I will celebrate the day by taking a moment to think back and reflect on how much I have for which to be thankful. (Using correct grammar sometimes comes out looking and sounding not right…. hmm, a puzzle….) It’s not much, to be sure, but it is a lot more than much of the world can count on. (See, put the preposition at the end of the sentence, and it sounds better, even though incorrect…..) Having not been given the opportunity to provide input on where I was born, I can’t correctly say that I am proud to be American, but I can certainly say that I’m thankful; in this country, our bottom line is still at a level that can be described as “it could be worse”.

Having thus straightened out my karmic burden, allowing me to shoulder it comfortably, I suggest we go on to our morning dive for pearls forthwith…. Shall we Pearl?….. C’mon, the oysters are waiting!…..

To continue, smash forehead on keyboard…..
___________________________________

A Considerable Speck

(Microscopic)

A speck that would have been beneath my sight
On any but a paper sheet so white
Set off across what I had written there.
And I had idly poised my pen in air
To stop it with a period of ink
When something strange about it made me think,
This was no dust speck by my breathing blown,
But unmistakably a living mite
With inclinations it could call its own.
It paused as with suspicion of my pen,
And then came racing wildly on again
To where my manuscript was not yet dry;
Then paused again and either drank or smelt–
With loathing, for again it turned to fly.
Plainly with an intelligence I dealt.
It seemed too tiny to have room for feet,
Yet must have had a set of them complete
To express how much it didn’t want to die.
It ran with terror and with cunning crept.
It faltered: I could see it hesitate;
Then in the middle of the open sheet
Cower down in desperation to accept
Whatever I accorded it of fate.
I have none of the tenderer-than-thou
Collectivistic regimenting love
With which the modern world is being swept.
But this poor microscopic item now!
Since it was nothing I knew evil of
I let it lie there till I hope it slept.

I have a mind myself and recognize
Mind when I meet with it in any guise
No one can know how glad I am to find
On any sheet the least display of mind.

Robert Frost

I thought it would be good to start off with something classic, and for that, Robert Frost can never do you wrong….. Enjoy!
___________________________________

INFIDEL, n.  In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does.  (See GIAOUR.)  A kind of scoundrel imperfectly reverent of, and niggardly contributory to, divines, ecclesiastics, popes, parsons, canons, monks, mollahs, voodoos, presbyters, hierophants, prelates, obeah-men, abbes, nuns, missionaries, exhorters, deacons, friars, hadjis, high-priests, muezzins, brahmins, medicine-men, confessors, eminences, elders, primates, prebendaries, pilgrims, prophets, imaums, beneficiaries, clerks, vicars-choral, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, preachers, padres, abbotesses, caloyers, palmers, curates, patriarchs, bonezs, santons, beadsmen, canonesses, residentiaries, diocesans, deans, subdeans, rural deans, abdals, charm-sellers, archdeacons, hierarchs, class-leaders, incumbents, capitulars, sheiks, talapoins, postulants, scribes, gooroos, precentors, beadles, fakeers, sextons, reverences, revivalists, cenobites, perpetual curates, chaplains, mudjoes, readers, novices, vicars, pastors, rabbis, ulemas, lamas, sacristans, vergers, dervises, lectors, church wardens, cardinals, prioresses, suffragans, acolytes, rectors, cures, sophis, mutifs and pumpums. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

Boy, if there is any tagline I’ve found that needs no adornment, this is it! Ambrose spent some time on this one, making sure he didn’t miss any of the priestly hierarchies’ titles for their acolytes, and came up with a very impressive list. I spent a few minutes poring over it, and couldn’t think of a single title to add, so, here it is to enjoy in all its original glory……  Enjoy!
___________________________________

Here are a few of the unpleasant’st words that ever blotted paper! — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice — Act iii, Sc. 2

Huh! It seems that Willie had an inkling of my birth, since he wrote my thoughts down like this so perfectly. I’ve stated my opinion previously, that Herr Shakespeare is the most over-rated writer that ever trod the planet. I find his work to be pretentious, over-bearing, and completely inscrutable. He admittedly had a pretty way with words, and he wrote so damn much that some of it was bound to come out okay. After all, he is not a room full of an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters, so a good piece of writing had to occur on occasion.

But, for the most part  I find his work is far too ornate, and far too full of itself for me to consider it anything other than sheer drivel. Even the line of his above expresses what I feel about his work with far more pompousness than it required. It would have been better reading, better literature, and better writing to just have said “Who wrote this? It’s pure crap!”…..

Here are a few other examples of his work, that serve to prove my point….

No man’s pie is freed
From his ambitious finger.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry VIII — Act i, Sc. 1
(All I can say is, “Eewwww! Don’t touch me!”)

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together! — (The Beatles) I Am The Walrus
(Sorry, couldn’t resist….) (But, note, please, the simple obscurity, mimicking Willie, as it were…. John was a true cynic…..)

I understand a fury in your words,
But not the words.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Othello — Act iv, Sc. 2
(Could he make such a simple concept any more obscure? It sounds almost like the therapeutic technique of “active listening”, of which one part is mirroring, e.g., “I hear you are angry? Can you tell me a different way?” or some such nonsense delivered in a soothing voice….)

We burn daylight.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merry Wives of Windsor — Act ii, Sc. 1
(WTFDTM?)*

I think we do know the sweet Roman hand.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Twelfth Night — Act iii, Sc. 4
(Again, WTFDTM?)*

A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Winter’s Tale — Act iv, Sc. 3
(See? Adding a letter to a word, just to make it rhyme…. can he be any tackier?)

No profit grows where is no pleasure ta’en;
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.
— William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Taming of the Shrew — Act i, Sc. 1
(I got a headache just trying to decipher a meaning for this… any meaning at all would do, but alas, as far as I can tell, there is none….. or, to put it more succinctly, as above, WTFDTM?)*

That’s probably enough to get the point across…. Next time someone quotes Shakespeare to you, remember this, and you will be able to thoroughly embarrass the poor fool with nonsense from the same source….Don’t be intimidated by all those folks who fall for his hype, and stick with writers who aren’t so impressed with their own supposed talent…..

“He hasn’t a single redeeming vice.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

*It’s short for What The Fuck Does That Mean?…..
___________________________________

I had intended to add a pearl today since I didn’t actually write very much, choosing to limit myself to commenting. But, I’m feeling a bit lazy, and Smart Bee doesn’t seem to want to cough up anything interesting to write about…. I’ll give it 20 more tries, and if nothing comes out, we’ll call it a day…. be back soon….

Okay, so I found a pearl at number fourteen, but it’s not one that needs any discussion, since its author says it so well…. Instead of above, I’ll just add it in here…

Take Idaho’s license plates – they say ‘Famous Potatoes.’ Then there’s New Hampshire – their license plates say ‘Live Free … or DIE!!’  I don’t know, I  think that somewhere between ‘Famous Potatoes’ and ‘Live Free or Die’ the  truth lies.  And I think it’s closer to ‘Famous Potatoes.’ — George Carlin

See? It’s perfect, just as it is…. and on that note we will bring today’s effort to a screeching halt…. Just in time, too, I think, as it is starting to get away from me. So, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Plastic flowers never grow….

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8

Ffolkes,
Great…. I’ve just discovered that there is a species of spider small enough to live in a laptop computer. As I sat here, gazing at the screen with my usual (for this time in the morning) vacuous stare, a tiny spider-shadow began to lower itself down in front of the screen. I followed its progress, and, lo, it disappeared! The only place for it to have gone is inside the computer…. so now, I have an entirely new universe of things to worry about…..

Like how many of them are in there? Or, are they poisonous to humans? Or, just what are they finding in there to eat? And that thought itself brought in a whole new set of visions, of tiny hordes of livestock infesting my computer, dodging the keys as they get pressed, but otherwise enjoying free reign to wander around in there…. Yikes!

Actually, when I look at the images that my mind provides when I consider this scenario, it reminds me of some of the animated movies that have come out recently. Take some weird, micro-sized, cute, witty, cheerful creatures, put them in some magnificently odd and beautiful landscapes; throw in a good screenwriter, and you’ve got a summer hit on your hands. The Adventures of Laptop Louise you could call it…. or not. But, it’s just odd enough to make some money for somebody….

Also interesting it is to note that once again, Life adapts to reality. I’ve always liked and admired spiders; any creature that reduces the number of flies in the world is my kind of creature…. also, having cut my literary teeth on Spider Man and his ilk, I know there is a lot about them to admire, from a physical standpoint.

Fast, strong, often poisonous, and with the ability to make web, a thoroughly competent hunter, with the tools to capture and subdue any prey within its size parameters. Once humans are gone from this plane of existence, I would vote for them as one of the most logical replacements at the top of the food chain….. they have the added bonus of not having too large a brain for their own good…. which has obviously been our problem all along….

Ah well, this kind of meandering will never get me to the end of this Pearl, interesting though it may be. That’s the trouble with being a polymath… it is ALL so damned interesting, I can’t keep from going for it…. So be it. Shall we Pearl?….
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Today we will begin with an old school pearl…. here are a series of pearls, each with its own point. Together, they make a statement of belief, or at least of agreement. That belief is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…..

Government is the only known enemy of intelligent life. — Smart Bee

“The only way to combat criminals is by not voting for them.”– Dayton Allen

“To preserve liberty, it is necessary that the whole body of the people possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.” — Richard Henry Lee
    Okay, so it isn’t completely old school… the old school wouldn’t have had art…. but the message is the same. I’m going to be indulgent, and just state it for you, so you can give it away as needed….. There is NOBODY in the government you can trust. Nobody. They are all just clones of Herr Goerring, though most are not as arrogantly honest about it.

It would behoove all of us to keep a close eye on them, and keep our powder dry….. because, no matter how many times, or how eloquently they tell you, they are NOT interested at all in serving YOUR best interests. The only interests they have are their own, and nothing will change that, no matter how many times they say it…. so fuck ’em, and keep your weapons handy…. unless, of course, you enjoy your slavery…..
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OPERA:  For centuries now, Opera has been the foremost method of humiliation available to the security forces. It began in the late 1600s, when peasant rebels were made to dress up as ridiculously fat people and get up on wooden planks in front of hundreds of their peers and shout the same things over and over and over, to a musical accompaniment.  By the time the French Revolution came rolling along, it was the aristocrats who were forced to the stage to sing, gesticulate wildly and loudly perform plays devised to spread Revolutionary propaganda. Nowadays, Opera has been driven underground, but is still carried out by the perverse, the deviant, and those with very big tits (both men and women), their audiences made up almost exclusively of establishment figures. — Daniel Bowen’s TOXIC CUSTARPEDIA

To my way of looking at stuff, opera falls into the same category as William Shakespeare, i.e., that of the world’s most over-rated entities. Many, many people will gush and spew in praise of opera, proclaiming its beauty, its relevance, its influence on Art, and all sorts of nonsensical claims, none of which are either apparent to me, or believable by any means.

Why should I buy into a centuries old delusion? I don’t care who you are, you can sit there all damn day and night, and tell me that an operatic solo is an expression of beauty and power, and it will still sound as if someone has stepped on a cat’s tail. My ear has near-perfect pitch, and I’ve never heard an opera singer, other than maybe Pavarotti, who could hold a note well. (Pavarotti, it must be noted, does not limit himself to strictly operatic performances….)

The whole idea of it makes me uncomfortable, as the ones who claim to enjoy it seem to accept entire rooms full of people spontaneously bursting into song. In fucking Italian, no less, or German! What is the damn point of that? To make it less understandable? It most certainly does that part well…..

I’ve been to several operas; I try not to formulate opinions without at least checking out that about which I opine. Seeing them in person did nothing to alleviate the sense of ridiculousness I felt, or the pity I felt for those poor singers, in those ridiculous period clothing outfits, prancing around the stage hitting those notes that will shatter crystal. It must be extremely humiliating for them, and some of them actually have pretty good voices. They’d do a lot better to grab a guitar, a microphone, and hit the road….

I guess it all comes back to that sense of elitism that people seem to be so invested in….. People like to think that certain things show class, or culture; opera, symphony, golf, yacht racing, polo, all are activities that are, in the minds of the public, associated with wealth, privilege, and culture. Shakespeare, and a few other literary figures, get added to that list, as the tides of fashion change regularly, influencing what is in vogue. But none of the importance that people place in any of these things is inherent. None of it is really true at all; mankind loves his delusions, and if those delusions are involved with self-image, then the less it approaches reality, the better they like it.

You see, I think they all suspect that if they ever really stopped to look closely at all the things they hold as important, they would find themselves with a fist full of sand, or smoke, which  disappears the moment one opens the fingers wide. They know in their hearts that all of what they are so proud of about themselves is false, so this makes them cling even more strongly to the delusion they are not fools. Unfortunately for them, the universe knows already….

Shakespeare isn’t all that good; I find most of his work to be heavy, obscure, and just not very much fun to watch or read. Opera is worse, as once one has sat down to listen, it is impolite to get up and leave, which has been my impulse in the first few minutes of each one I’ve attended. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m just not impressed at how loud, or how high a singer can sing. There has to be something to connect to for the average Joe, something to which they can relate, and the opera I’ve heard seldom comes close….. So, next time somebody tells you how much they enjoyed the opera, take a close look at their level of sanity, because they are definitely delusional…..
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Couplets on Wit
I
But our Great Turks in wit must reign alone
And ill can bear a Brother on the Throne.

II
Wit is like faith by such warm Fools profest
Who to be saved by one, must damn the rest.

III
Some who grow dull religious strait commence
And gain in morals what they lose in sence.

IV
Wits starve as useless to a Common weal
While Fools have places purely for their Zea.

V
Now wits gain praise by copying other wits
As one Hog lives on what another sh—.

VI
Wou’d you your writings to some Palates fit
Purged all you verses from the sin of wit
For authors now are so conceited grown
They praise no works but what are like their own.

Alexander Pope

Not your average classical poet, was he?….. No comments, just enjoy….
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I can’t consider it cheating when it takes this much out of me. I have a multitude of stuff to do today in the Big Blue Room, so I’d best be getting to 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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

It won’t help save the parameters….

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1

Ffolkes,
Starting cold isn’t hard on just engines; it doesn’t seem to be doing a lot for my brain, either. So much for theory…. back to the drawing board…. Maybe if I look under here… no, nothing. There’s nothing lying about I can use, and nothing fictional or philosophical is formulating, that I can see. This could prove to be a frustrating experience, if I can’t come up with something pretty soon; the natives are restless, and I may have to leave mid-Pearl. Hmm, let’s see what happens when I do this….You  may want to cover your ears….

Well, that wasn’t so bad, now, was it? I had assumed that there would be more of a fuss forthcoming, but that was quite restrained, all in all. One would think that it would be a bit more of a struggle to empty one’s own mental pockets, but it went very smoothly, if not exactly fruitfully. Perhaps that explains the lack of interest in fighting for what was found, as it wasn’t much, to be sure. In fact, nothing was found, and that is a bit unsettling, as I had no idea I was so short on material…. not even an old cliche to examine. Pretty sad….

Is this schizoid paranoia or just existential blues? — Smart Bee

I think perhaps I’d best just dive in and begin the search for pearls in Smart Bee; it looks like that is my last, best hope for this morning’s salvation. We can only hope at this point…. shall we Pearl?…..
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“To be, or not to be: that is the question: whether ‘t is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep: No more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to,–‘t is a consummation devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there ‘s the rub: for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause: there ‘s the respect that makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, the insolence of office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? who would fardels to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscover’d country from whose bourn no traveller returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pith and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 1

This passage is probably the most quoted paragraph in history, generally trotted out when some ambitious actor wants to impress a director with his memory for script, or else when some English professor is trying to impress some cute undergraduate. This morning I took the time to apply my own doubt to my theory about Shakespeare (which, as I’ve shown previously, is solidly negative….), by reading the above passage with an open mind…. Or, as open as I can get it, given my already formed opinion of his work….

I found this to be, as Will’s work often is, rather obscure in its meaning. Sure, it flows nicely, and the way he structures his phrases is certainly lyrical sounding when spoken aloud. But, to me, the difficulty in following the thread of thought that the soliloquy sews detracts from that lyrical quality, by forcing the observer to work too hard at understanding the meaning of the words…. To me, this is a flaw in a play; it deflects one from being entertained by making the audience work at comprehending the actor’s lines….

Second, I found this obscurity to also take away from the power of what otherwise might be a stirring speech. Instead, it merely comes off as depressive, and whiny. “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,” sounds a bit like a complaint to me, and is less than attractive in a Prince, to be sure…..

I guess the English have always enjoyed a bit of crazy in their princes and kings, eh what?…. I suppose in that sense, Will nailed Hamlet’s character on the head…. but, that doesn’t mean I have to like it…. and I don’t….  To my mind, even after this examination, Shakespeare remains the most over-rated author of all time…. And as further proof that even he knew it, from the same play…

“T’is as easy as lying.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act iii, Sc. 2
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Nice to see the formalities being observed…. educating new recruits is an important detail….

(Photo found on Facebook…)
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“By doubting we come at truth.” — Cicero

Warm eyes, wet lips
Gently touch my finger tips

Soft sighs, silky hair
Longing for me to touch her there

Her begging eyes
Her whimpering cries

Urgent needs of one so sweet
Bring me quickly to my feet

The night is warm, there is no doubt
It’s my turn to take the dog out.
— Smart Bee

“All true knowledge contradicts common sense.” — Smart Bee

This is an old school pearl, after a fashion. Raise your hand if you get the point…. well, okay, don’t. But, if you did, well, you get it, right? Right. So, I don’t have to write a thousand words here to try to tell you, which is probably fortunate for both of us.

There is a point, you know, but, it’s not one that bears any great significance in real terms; I’m just feeling a bit lazy today, and it’s easier than spending another half-hour chasing down something about which to rant. I’ll just leave you with this thought…..

“The storm starts when drops start dropping. When the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.”  — Dr Suess
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I can only wish there was a way to get rich on the concept of unpredictability…. Well, there probably is, but I haven’t heard of such, precisely, though there are numerous theories of which I’ve read. If nothing else, it might help me organize my own existence in such a way as to take advantage of the rapidity with which the Universe presents its manifestations of mutability. Since I don’t know of any such process, I’ll have to settle for the ability to create a paragraph like this, totally meaningless in relation to the task at hand, other than to reflect the confusion and lack of cohesive thought currently on display here…. which makes it accurate, if nothing else…

That being said, to little purpose, I will draw this to a close, thus giving the universe the opportunity to heave its normal sigh of relief, and get on with 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

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Savage knickers at the seashore….

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Ffolkes,
Last night, a Friday, in my younger days, I would have stayed up late, playing some guitar & having a deep philosophical discussion at intervals between songs with both Tom, my playing partner, and either John or James, (Daniels & Beam, respectively…), whichever we were entertaining that night as monitor for the session. A few other like-minded individuals may have been in attendance, and the air would have been rife with speculative, joyfully creative flights of imagination, music, and Life. Such nights fueled much of the rest of the week back then, providing impetus for making it to the next week’s jam….

Ah, but, those days are gone now…. not forgotten, obviously, but gone, only accessible by memory. Such memories, however, are the soul food for the present; they provide me with ample reason to last another day. Lasting another day, at this point, has assumed a more immediate relevance than any previous time in my life, as the effort to do so becomes greater, seemingly more so each day….. I still try to put some speculative, joyfully creative moments on the agenda, but those moments are definitely fewer, and further between, coming as they do in the mornings when writing these Pearls…. My guitar, alas, is currently in gaol at the pawn shop until I can break it free….

But, I do have to say, although the occurrences of moments of value happen less frequently, they are no less uplifting, and continue to provide me with reasons to last another day…. if only to post another Pearl…. shall we get on with doing so? I think that would be best….
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My life, described in six words….

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

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

For life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o’ the prize of learning love,–
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.
— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — A Death in the Desert

Considering that what I said in those six words is as true as the day, it felt kind of good. Fortunately, it didn’t lead to any more than 15 seconds of fame, the time it took to say my name, and my contribution…. not that I was hoping it would lead to an appearance on Letterman or anything, but it did feel pretty good, as I am proud of the quote….

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

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

“I dote on his very absence.” — William Shakespeare  (With all he wrote, even he came up with something coherent occasionally….)

I’ve been fortunate, I guess, in that of those five times, only three were painful in their intensity; two of them were relatively amicable breakups. But, it hurts when a woman I’ve loved for 23 years, and intended to die with, decides she’d rather pursue other options;it hurts, and it hurts a lot…. It also hurts when a woman has said she loved me for ten years, and has been lying the whole time…. that kind of betrayal brings a very lasting pain, and is slow to pass…

I hear you reproach, “But delay was best,
For their end was a crime.” Oh, a crime will do
As well, I reply, to serve for a test
As a virtue golden through and through,
Sufficient to vindicate itself
And prove its worth at a moment’s view!
.     .     .     .     .     .
Let a man contend to the uttermost
For his life’s set prize, be it what it will!
The counter our lovers staked was lost
As surely as if it were lawful coin;
And the sin I impute to each frustrate ghost
Is–the unlit lamp and the ungirt loin,
Though the end in sight was a vice, I say.
— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — The Statue and the Bust

Pain is an old friend, though, in all its various guises, and I know it always passes in time. Now I am looking for love again, in my own time, still trying to find that one woman who can be both loving and honest. The ones I’ve known so far have all had a problem with that last part…. it’s not something our society teaches well. But, until I find her, I’ll have to make do with the pain….

I know she is out there, somewhere….. There’s got to be some woman who would enjoy being worshiped by an old, fading, but faithful, romantic curmudgeon with a soft spot for dogs, cats, and kids….

In the desert a fountain is springing,
In the wide waste there still is a tree,
And a bird in the solitude singing,
Which speaks to my spirit of thee.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Stanzas to Augusta
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The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.
— The Buddha

I can’t think of a single thing that needs to be added here, so I won’t….. As Nike says, “Just do it….”
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“Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane — like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell — mouths mercy and invented hell — mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!” — Mark Twain, _The Mysterious Stranger_

Perhaps it’s lazy, perhaps it’s stealing…. but my comments here wouldn’t add anything that would make this more accurate or more  effectively true, so again…. just take it in, and hold it alongside all the nonsensical tripe you hear for balance….
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One day, I’ll find a way to make this process less haphazard…. today it seemed as if the pearls kept following the discussion, popping up to say, “Oh, look how perfectly I fit here!…” while I’m looking for a new one to use for the next pearl. And then, finding pearls that don’t lend themselves to discussion, being too perfect as they are…. Ah well, I can’t complain, I guess…. it’s done. And done fairly well, so it will have to fly as it is, once again…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!