Well, now that I’m up, and while I’m waiting for coffee to brew, whom should I assassinate, character-wise? The curmudgeon in me is on full alert, actually a bit disappointed that Murphy wasn’t around to attack and rend into small pieces…. and fortunately for my apartment neighbors, my screams didn’t last long…. Ah, coffee is ready…. I’ll be back…..

Blessed blood of all programmers and geeks! Composers, too, from what I’ve heard; Bach composed an entire set of musical paeans to coffee, complete with lyrics, in one case. There is another unique sensation for you…. that moment when the first sip of coffee brings the entire universe into focus…. Like a leg cramp at night, there is nothing quite like it. And, to be honest, I’ll take the coffee over the cramp any day…..

If you couldn’t tell by now, waking up this way has thrown me off kilter a bit; I don’t know what to do with myself yet. Certain parts of the morning’s routine are out of order, and it’s really messing with my mind. I don’t want to attempt diving if I’m not fully alert…. it may not be under water, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous….. there be some strangeness out there on the web, folks, and it’s a good policy to have one’s wits on hand and fully engaged before diving in…. and, no, don’t ask why I know this…. it’s too hard to talk about…..

I suppose I can only stall so long, though…. I’ll have to give in and just get on with it eventually, so we may as well do it now, since there are good reasons to get done early today. I’m not sure what they are, but there are always reasons, for anything….. sort of like statistics, they can be made to explain almost anything at all….. any who, Shall we Pearl?…..
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“Two-thirds of help is to give courage.” — Irish proverb

To me, this is the very best kind of pearl of virtual wisdom. Nine words, if you count all the short ones, that tell a story that is a lesson, an insight, a truth, and, in the best sense, an admonition, all packaged in a short phrase that burns itself into memory. This can also act as help itself, as just the statement itself gives the courage of which it speaks, to any who doubt as to whether or not help is to be found.

Often, merely the offer of help is enough to aid the one who asks to reach a point where the help is no longer needed; just the knowledge that it is available can give one the strength needed to finish the task alone. We humans are very social creatures, whether we admit it or not, and we are all aware that when two or more people get together to perform any task, the work is lessened thereby, by more than the mere factor of how many are involved in helping. I am constantly amazed at what people can do when they act in concert; often, the very people who join together for a task are surprised by how much they can accomplish together……

I’m not going to say much more about this one; it is what I like to call a stand-alone pearl, that needs no adornment beyond its own contained self. But, I will add one more idea to our understanding of this concept, and that is this…. I say it is an admonition, and it is, because not only does it speak to the effect on the person who has requested the help, it also supplies good reason to offer help to others, by acknowledging the importance of the support, rather than the actual help. Just the fact that the help is forthcoming supplies most of the emotional strength to the act, thus acting as a spur to those who might hesitate to jump in otherwise….. I love it, and hereby name it a classic pearl of virtual wisdom…..
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“Simonides calls painting silent poetry, and poetry speaking painting.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Whether the Athenians were more Warlike or Learned, 3

For many years, I continued my life-long habit of reading an average of a book a day, and I worked at a couple of jobs where writing ability was prized, so I tried to develop my writing chops using prose. I suppose I did pretty well, but it hardly seemed challenging to become a good writer of nursing notes. The fun and education of it came when I started writing yearly reports, using numerous disciplinary reports, from social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, MD’s, recreation therapists, etc.,  to combine into a complete planning document for treatment. It also provided a solid self-education in desktop publishing techniques, using printers, copiers, and computers to produce detailed reports and documents in the psychiatric field….

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” — Benjamin Franklin

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

I often stand and watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, from season to season.

~~ gigoid

Idiot (id-ee-it) n.- One who disagrees with you. — Smart Bee
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Yesterday I wrote about a thousand words or more discussing a wide range of philosophy and the human experience, taking a shot here and there at my two favorite targets, politicians and preachers. It was fun, but exhausting, from a mental standpoint; my mind seems reluctant today to go too deeply into much of anything…. so, we’ll resort to an old-school pearl, of sorts…. here is a group of quotes from various sources, for which,  all in all, a case could be made that it is a summary of what was written yesterday in section three…. of course, you don’t have the advantage of my prose to pick at, or to blame for the content, but, in general, this should take you down some similar paths…… and with less verbiage to wade through….

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

“For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ii, 14

“Forward goes the vanguard of the lunatic fringe, tickling the death clowns of normality.” — HealNorm

“I share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis pervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only by a change in our world view. We shall have to shift from the materialistic, dualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a new consciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the experiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate nature and all of creation.” — Dr. Albert Hoffman

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

“I’m sitting on my SPEED QUEEN..  To me, it’s ENJOYABLE..  I’m WARM..  I’m VIBRATORY..” — Zippy the Pinhead

And after such a powerful quote from Zippy, what more could possibly be necessary to add?….. Enjoy!
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Okay, so things got a bit strange today, at least at the ending…. that’s what happens when I spend too much time in my own head. Maybe by tomorrow, I can have a bit of social interaction with someone, and get a firmer grip on what is real, and what is not….. Right now, that is a bit of a chancy choice for me…. but, I’ve been in worse straits, so…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..