Tag Archives: Smart Bee

Even podiatrists hate bunions….

Posted on by
2

Ffolkes,

“All cruelty springs from weakness.”

~~ Seneca ~~

willows gull

Willow’s Gull

https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/if-we-were-having-coffee-gardens-birthdays-and-canals/


Good morning…. or, so it says here on the label…. Why don’t we take it at its word, and get on with this?….

Shall we Pearl?

“The world has taken on a thickness of vulgarity that raises a spiritual man’s contempt to the violence of a passion.” — Charles Baudelaire

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

royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573

    Only one band sounded like them; no other will ever reach their level of expertise, or passion for the music they made together….. I’ve used this concert in a previous post, but, it bears repetition very well…. Ffolkes, this is music of which you’ll never hear the like again; one of the band members passed away in 2014…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. the best rock band ever….


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

Cream Live at Royal Albert Hall
2005

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

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

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


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

Dont keep calm

    I’m not late, and, I’ve got plenty of angst…. I am, however, also lazy, and not in the right mood to rant…. Here’s a good one, though, from the archives, to keep the pressure on the BRC…. Can’t let them think they’re getting any breaks, you know….

From 8/16/2013:

“I put aside my copy of “BOWLING WORLD” and think about GUN CONTROL legislation..” — Zippy the Pinhead

You know, the most amazing thing, to me, about this whole issue with the spying on our telephone and computer data by the government? It is the absolute genuine surprise on the part of the administration at how upset everyone (i.e. the public, or, more simply, “us”…) is over this issue. It’s as if they can’t believe that people are actually upset that the government is collecting all of our phone conversations, and all of our email correspondence, in order to, according to them, “defeat terrorism”.

They, in their absolute confidence in their own rightness, are having a hard time with the fact that NONE of the rest of the populace, at least, none of those outside of the government itself, agrees with them….. For some unknown reason (well, you know it, and I know it, but, they don’t….), they think they can do whatever they want in the pursuit of their imaginary demons, and we’re all supposed to fall right in line with that…. In truth, it makes me feel a little better about things when I think about the reaction by the public; I had almost given up on them ever caring at all what the BRC did to them….

I’m not going to rant again today about this; it’s all over the news, and many people are presenting some well-thought-out, and well-researched and -written articles on the subject, probably much better than I could do. I like to think I’d be funnier, but, that isn’t necessarily of importance to such pieces, so, for now, I’m leaving it to them to distribute the information people need to be clear on the issue. Clarity is necessary, because this is one of the best opportunities we, as the public, have had in some time to bring light to bear on the clandestine activities being perpetrated on us by our supposed leaders….. I think it is important NOT to let them off the hook on this, and bring all the pressure we can to make reforms, at least in this one area….

Rather than rant, I will put together another pearl on this subject, because I believe that the more we hold the BRC up for examination, whether that regard is focused on humor, their (absent) virtue, their chicanery, or just their displays of idiocy, it’s a good thing to keep to keep the light focused on them as long as possible. If we don’t hold our leaders, such as they are, up for our criticism of their acts against us, then, who will? They certainly aren’t going to be pulling their own covers, or showing off their latest theft from us; it’s in their best interests to keep as much of that away from our attention as they are able to do. So, I’ll keep on making fun of them, just as long as they keep lying to us….

Therefore, here is another seven-star pearl, with the clear intent of either making fun of, or bringing unwanted exposure to, our Beloved Ruling Class, and all of their myrmidons…. (a great word, go ahead, look it up….) (No, I’m serious, you need to look it up, or the first quote won’t make any sense to you….) (Of course, none of it MAY make any sense, but, I do what I can, and no more….) (Ah, the hell with it, it means, essentially, “faceless minions in vast numbers, set to do their bidding”….)

The Bible is true this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

 ~~ Jordan Henderson ~~


“Do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
(One of the first recorded instances of a President using computer programming techniques on the public….)

“An election year is the time politicians want to help us out of all the trouble they got us into in the first place.” — Smart Bee

“Disco oil bussing will create a throbbing Naugahyde pipeline running straight to the tropics from the rug producing regions and devalue the dollar!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Muddy water let stand becomes clear.” — Lao Tse

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

“If life is merely a joke, the question still remains: For whose amusement?” — Smart Bee

Well, there you have it…. I can’t make it any clearer than that….. Well, perhaps I can…. we’ll try later…..

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

Comedy_Tragedy

Dreaming, I wait….

In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.

Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.

Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.

Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.

Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.

When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.

Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.

~~ gigoid ~~


Written 8/18/2013.

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

buddah-out-to-lunch_s

    Whenever a pearl like this comes to pass, you’ll see the laughing Buddha, because I often feel as if that is what is happening…. It’s all good stuff, comments on Life, and how to live it, but, it’s a little weird in spots…. You’ll see…. The Buddha knows, you see, about us…. and, he doesn’t mind…. He told me so….

“There is no sin but ignorance.’ — Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.” — Cicero

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Cuando sabes a donde vas, el mundo entero se aparta para abrirte paso. (When you know where you’re going, the whole world will assist you on your way…) — Spanish proverb

“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 16

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“Therefore with the same necessity with which the stone falls to earth, the hungry wolf buries its fangs in the flesh of its prey without the possibility of the knowledge that it itself is the destroyed as well as the destroyer.” — Schopenhauer

There! See? Didn’t I tell you? Ah well, it’s all good…. cuz we’re done….

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

Ah, yes…. We are, indeed, done. ‘Tis a fortunate thing, too, as I’m completely out of stuff to say…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, most likely….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

dozer3


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Oh, swell…. More starving adolescent ferrets….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				5			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero!


[Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow!]


~~ Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.) ~~


willows swans


Willow’s Swans



https://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/if-we-were-having-coffee-gardens-birthdays-and-canals/




Good morning, by all evidence…. Since I’m up late, we’ll keep it short…. hell, let’s go all the way to dwarfism….


Shall we Pearl?


“Descartes thought an animal, that couldn’t talk, couldn’t think, or so he taught, but I surmise, my cat thinks otherwise.” — sig of Glyn Hanton, Early Computer Geek


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





royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573




    As is my wont when running late, we’ll go with my default…. In today’s case, that means a couple hours of Yo Yo Ma, playing Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach…. Enjoy!….







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
















Default Music


 Yo Yo Ma















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


























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























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




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





Aristotle_Bust_White_Background_Transparent




“One thing you learn the hard way is that there is no easy way.”


~~ Smart Bee ~~


“Then, one day, you realize the hard way IS the easy way.”


~~ gigoid ~~




The two statements you see above are both true, according to my own experience, as well as that of many others, I’d imagine. I’m not the first to say either one, though, perhaps, I’ve never heard anyone go so far as to follow up the former statement with the latter, in quite this way…. But, no matter; it’s all true, which means we can use it to begin a discussion of Life at Large, and, our own place in that picture….


Or, as is the case any morning I’m running late, I can sublimate, by creating an old school pearl that says much of what I wish to relate…. Let’s do that…. I think we’ll look for ways to show how our Beloved Ruling Class fails to make the grade when it comes to honesty, responsibility, or any sort of honor….


“Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly.” — Thomas Jefferson


“Of all mankind, each loves himself the best.” — Terence


“Death is not the worst evil, but rather when we wish to die and cannot.” — Sophocles  — Electra, 1007


“Corruption is not the No.1 priority of the Police Commissioner. His job is to enforce the law and fight crime.-” — P.B.A. President E. J. Kiernan


(Just a bit unclear on the whole concept, isn’t he?….)


“Without followers, evil cannot spread.” — Spock, “And The Children Shall Lead”, stardate 5029.5


“A hungry man is not a free man.” — Adlai Stevenson


“In time of war the first casualty is truth.” — Boake Carter


(Ever notice how often this country is at war, either against another entity, or against some part of our own culture?…. That’s where the truth dies….)


“A politician is an acrobat – he keeps his balance by saying the opposite of what he does.” — Smart Bee


“Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong.” — Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), “Mein Kampf”, 1933


Well, that ought to do it…. If, by reading nothing other than the last line, with its attendant irony as applied to today’s American political scene (whose proponents LIVE by this rule, obviously….), then it was a good rant/pearl…. Onward….


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





Comedy_Tragedy




When life calls, ready or not….


Memories are all we have sometimes

to keep our sanity intact,

with learned phrases and subtle rhymes

lessening life’s vicious, vibrant impact.


Presently all seems composed and intent

in stark contrast to hollow day,

forlorn patchwork emotions of unheralded bent,

fill up night’s bower, leaving hell to pay.


Such vigorous and elevated temper

brings us rare moments to ponder,

filled with lessons all need to remember

lest base perception lose valued wonder.


Laugh loud when entropy sticks fast

leaving shameless anger in its wake.

Let bygones pass quietly into the past

reaping only what is left to take.


Final words of wise imagination

tell us living well’s the best revenge, it appears

ever eluding choirs and congregations

finally finding home, never buried in tears.


~~ gigoid ~~




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





ankh




    Odd… All true, all real, all good stuff, but, odd…. S’okay, it works for me….. Naturally, since we don’t know, it’s got to be about Life…. or, at least, how it seems to those who want to live it with some honor and dignity….




Dry sun, dry wind;

Safe bind, safe find.


~~ Thomas Tusser (c. 1515-1580) — Washing ~~




“Well, it just seemed wrong to cheat on an ethics test.” — Calvin


“Some books are lies frae end to end.” — Robert Burns — Death and Dr. Hornbook


“A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever.” — Jessamyn West


“… as sight is in the body, so is reason in the soul…” — Aristotle — Nicomachean Ethics, Bl. I, Ch. 6, 10966, lines 29-30


“The fear of death keeps us from living, not from dying.” — Paul C. Roud


“I have lived in this world just long enough to look carefully the second time into things that I am most certain of the first time.” — Josh Billings


“How you do anything is how you do everything.” — Zen proverb


“In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves — to that part of us which is conscious of a higher consciousness, by means of which we make final judgments and put everything together. The independence of this consciousness, which has the strength to be immune to the noise of history and the distractions of our immediate surroundings, is what the life struggle is all about. The soul has to find and hold its ground against hostile forces, sometimes embodied in ideas which frequently deny its very existence, and which indeed often seem to be trying to annul it altogether.” — Saul Bellow


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


Okay, so, not too late…. Had to cut some corners, but, we made it, and that’s all I care about…. I’m gonna just go now, cuz that’s what seems like the thing to do at this point…. It ain’t proactive, but, close…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I’m still on the streets….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….







		
	
					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
It’s June; we’ll use the shaved version….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				8			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“For a man needs only to be turned around not once with his eyes shut in this world to be lost…. 


Not ’til we are lost…. do we begin to find ourselves.”


~~ Henry David Thoreau, “Walden” ~~


Opportunity_Rover_Sees_Rock_Spire-a3f7bbf0bff2eafe6a9e967b29440382


Rock Spire on Mars


Image by NASA’s Rover Opportunity




Good morning…. I love pictures taken by the Mars Rovers, Opportunity, and Curiosity; it always gives me a little thrill to realize the picture I’m looking at was taken, not long ago, on a planet more than 50 million miles from Earth…. THIS, ffolkes, this is what we humans were made for. Anyone who doesn’t understand that, really, is not in touch with their own humanity. Nothing fascinates us more than wondering what is up there, and nothing, in my mind, will stop us from going there, unless it is ourselves, and our own flaws…. If anything in this Universe exists which can be called a destiny, for any living creature, it is my belief the destiny of humanity is to go to the stars…. Not to conquer, not to control, but, to understand, to wonder, to find out…. Maybe, when we get there, we’ll find what we’ve always been looking for, which we cannot even name….


Those among my Gentle Readers with sharp eyes and memories will note the first, opening pearl today is the same one with which yesterday’s final pearl ended. I seldom resort to such tactics, but, the chance to carry on an idea like that was too hard to resist…. It’s a perfect pearl; short, pithy, to the point, and versatile, so, why not use it?…. But, then, much of “Walden” is like that, isn’t it?….


Any who, that’s all for now, just had to get that out…. I’ll be courteous today, by not subjecting y’all to any further attempts at humor, or even ill-conceived and executed attempts at coherence here in the intro; instead, we’ll use those newly-acquired, useful, ruthlessness and executive decision-making skills to get us on down the page….


Shall we Pearl?


“Belief is not the beginning but the end of all knowledge.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


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





Larry Welk




Image from hulu.com via Google Images




From about 1957 to 1968, until I left for college, my family spent every Sunday evening in front of the TV, with much of the rest of the country, to watch this show. Although today I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to accordion music, I still have a fondness for good big bands…. Larry brought good music to people who otherwise would have had NONE in their life, even if they didn’t really appreciate it much…. And, he’s got such a smarmy smile, he’s cute, as well as, patently, harmless….




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
















Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Music















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


























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























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




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





Dont keep calm




“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” — C. S. Lewis


I find C.S. Lewis an interesting character…. He lived during the mid-twentieth century, in England. His works include a number of fantasies, including the Narnia series, a thinly disguised series of stories with a heavily Christian world-view, composed as morality tales for the modern world, in almost complete euphemist style…. But, he had, in my mind, one of the more inventive philosophical bents of many of the modern thinkers, producing a number of very excellent observations about life, politics, religion, and how they all interact, such as the one with which we’ve begun today’s discussion….


I had intended to speak about that entire set of combined subjects today, but, while researching one bit, I found the following rant from last year, which immediately proved to be serendipitous, as it speaks to the subject at hand perfectly…. Below this paragraph, you’ll find what I consider my finest rant EVER. I read it for the first time since writing and posting it yesterday, & realized it fit in exactly with today’s discussion…. So, to get to the point I’ve been circling for a while now, here is a pretty complete summary of how I view today’s modern world of the future, and, my opinion as to its most likely outcome….


From 9/3/2014:




“It is up with you; all is over; you are ruined.” 


~~ Terence — Act i, Sc. 1, 9, (54.) ~~


http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/US-military-targets-Islamic-extremists-in-Somalia-5727512.php




Oh… why, look there! It’s us, bombing people again, without a declaration of war from Congress. I don’t know about you, but, I’m getting more than just a little perturbed, not to say infuriated, by the American public’s acceptance of these completely illegal (under our own laws….), immoral, unethical, and fucking useless in any humanitarian, or practical respect, completely unwarranted attacks, on whomever we decide is a threat to our…… our what? What were these, no doubt, evil people doing that threatened us, here in our big houses, across the big ocean, with our big airplanes ready to bomb anyone foolish enough to annoy our corporate masters?….


Oh, right, didn’t I mention? I have no doubt whatsoever that, whomever we’re bombing now, if we examine the expressed reasoning closely, we will find that, somehow, in some way, these people were disrupting the smooth flow of money into the coffers of one, or more, of our corporate masters, er, patriotic businesses… It wouldn’t be supportive of the government to NOT protect the interests of those paying for the bombs, now would it? Of course not…. Naturally, since it costs about $75 million/day to bomb them, at least the arms makers are showing a good profit, yes?….


Did you detect a smidgeon of smarmy disdain in the above? If you did, you got it; if not, you’re not paying attention… Not unsurprising, given the brainwashing from which most Americans suffer; the media has helped the Beloved Ruling Class, and their employers, the corporate snakeheads, to spread their manipulations and distractions… oh, hell, let’s just call them what they are…. the lies they use on a regular basis, to distract the public from examining any true facts of what they’re up to, to manipulate the public and the media into believing those lies, as well as believing the other lies they tell, just because they can’t help themselves… just as if it were true, or legal, or had anything to do with helping the common man….


“I wish everybody would have to have an electric thing implanted in our heads that gave us a shock whenever we did something to disobey the president.  Then somehow I get myself elected president.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey


Hmm… the New American Dream, I’d say…. already half-true….


You may be certain of this… whatever spun-sugar the administration, which (who?) ordered and carried out this bombing, (An act which, again, was initiated without informing either Congress, or the public, anything about it beforehand….), in their Olympian fashion, deigns to tell us in this instance, about why we must bomb the Somalians, whatever THEY are up to, (oh, right… the article explains, they are “extremists”…), will NOT be anything resembling the actual truth, or anything that would help to resolve any real issues…. It will merely be whatever their information spin doctors have told them will fool the public into backing them, and fool the media into reporting all of it as if it were legitimate in any respect…. Count on it….


“The NY Times is read by the people who run the country.  The Washington Post is read by the people who think they run the country.   The National Enquirer is read by the people who think Elvis is alive and running the country…” — Robert J Woodhead


You may also count on the fact that, most likely, this is all about somebody’s profit line, and protecting a small group of “corporate persons”, aka “the men who would be kings”, who tend to feel that the money flowing into their pockets is theirs by right of entitlement; they firmly believe they are entitled to make a profit, no matter the cost to anyone else… Accept that, believe that, and you’ll have made a start, at finding out the actual truth behind most of what our government does, in any situation that comes to the attention of the public, and the media…. It’s all about covering the corporate ass, you betcha….


Now, you may think I’m being an obsessive conspiracy-monger, but, I doubt that, seriously. I don’t think it is a conspiracy; it’s simply the way it is…. The assholes to whom I refer are the same assholes who have had this country, and, for that matter, the world, in a stranglehold since the dawn of the concept of money…. They are just men, canny, strongly self-centered, and completely amoral, who have made it their habit, and lifestyle, for millennia, to take advantage of the way the system works, which is exactly how they have arranged it to work, with them as the only people in a position to control the whole shebang, from the shadows, where they are safe from those upon whom they prey….


Now, the system has grown to be so ponderous, so huge and unmanageable, that, while still protecting their identities by the very size of the system, it’s getting away from them a bit; a lot of information is now floating around out there on the Web they would rather stuff back into the box…But, sadly, not enough, yet, to make a difference in how things work, or, to change where we are headed, as a direct result of the insane machinations of mankind’s most amoral members… It may be too late altogether, to prevent their deliberate perpetration of the inequities they’ve built into our culture from leading all of us, them included, down that path followed already by so many failed species that have lived, and died, on this ball of mud over the last few epochs, since life began here on Earth….


I have a suspicion that we Humans won’t make much more of a splash, or have any more effect on reality, than did the passing of the Dodo, when Homo horriblus’s (our) voracious appetite for destructive insanity, and our failure to live up to our potential , led us to killing the last of the defenseless birds, just a couple hundred, or so, years ago…. When we have, in our turn, passed into memory, the Earth will, with a resigned sigh, in sorrow for the potential beauty that will never be, shrug its mountainous shoulders, shift around some basic elements, and begin the long slow process of healing the wounds we will have left behind us, in the final cataclysmic throes of our death-song…..


“As Caesar was at supper the discourse was of death, -which sort was the best. “That,” said he, “which is unexpected.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Caesar


—————————-


Final note from 2015: Though I really don’t have anything more to say, Zippy does, in re: the ultimate meaning of being human…. Well, TRYING to be human in an insane world, anyway….


“America!!  I saw it all!!  Vomiting!  Waving!  JERRY FALWELLING into your void tube of UHF oblivion!!  SAFEWAY of the mind –” — Zippy the Pinhead


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





Emily-Dickinson




    Emily, if y’all hadn’t noticed, is my favorite poet, and, some days, she is necessary for my sanity to maintain any semblance of normalcy…. Today is one of those days…. Fortunately, her work isn’t hard to find….




The duties of the Wind are few


The duties of the Wind are few,

To cast the ships, at Sea,

Establish March, the Floods escort,

And usher Liberty.


The pleasures of the Wind are broad,

To dwell Extent among,

Remain, or wander,

Speculate, or Forests entertain.


The kinsmen of the Wind are Peaks

Azof – the Equinox,

Also with Bird and Asteroid

A bowing intercourse.


The limitations of the Wind

Do he exist, or die,

Too wise he seems for Wakelessness,

However, know not i. 


~~ Emily Dickinson ~~




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





13923408614402




    Today’s final, old-school pearl is one of those tough ones; persuading Smart Bee to give up anything useful can be a challenge of major proportions, and, today was no less so than it ever has been…. I’m actually sweating from the effort…. Since I can’t shower off until I’m done, I suppose I’d best get it posted, so there won’t be any further guilt amassed for no good reason…. The pearl itself is a collection of comments on how to approach certain aspects of Life at Large, should you desire something more than a slavish, miserable period of time on this planet…. Take heed, ffolkes, it’s all good stuff, if a bit murky….


“Cease to be ruled by dogmas and authorities; look at the world!” — H.G. Wells paraphrase of Roger Bacon’s works


“History is a lie commonly agreed upon.” — Nietzsche


“Sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue.” — Confucius


“There’s more to living than not dying.” — Smart Bee


“The laugh of a child will make the holiest day more sacred still.” — Robert G. Ingersoll


“It is not length of life, but depth of life.’ — Ralph Waldo Emerson


“When one burns one’s bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.’ — Dylan Thomas


“I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.” — Cicero, De Oratore


“You may not, cannot, appropriate beauty. It is the wealth of the eye, and a cat may gaze upon the king.” — Theodore Parker


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


Well, there you go…. Today’s Pearl has been brought to you by sheer stubborn obsessiveness, with a side of confusion. But, don’t worry, neither is toxic, merely inconveniently wearisome. We’ll all get over it. That being the case, I can take my leave without further rigmarole, in the full belief in our own rightness, or, at minimum, sheer effrontery…. Whatever, as they say downtown…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, so long as nobody catches on….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Omigosh! It’s muddling again!….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				1			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“Th’ MIND is the Pizza Palace of th’ SOUL”


~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~


pannacotta_478x345_tcm13-22636


Pannacotta


Or so it said. Looks more like Zabaglione to me….




Good morning…. Here we are again…. Since I don’t have anything particularly compelling to say right now, we’ll just get on with the scheduled mess, without any feeble attempts at wit so early in the day…. In fact, we’ll do that right now….


Shall we Pearl?


“Though one must first learn skill and ethics thoroughly, one must come to embody them so completely that they become subconscious. Reacting to a situation by asking what is right and wrong is already too slow.” — Deng Ming-Dao


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






Doc-Watson-RIP


Image from blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org via Google Images




When the best guitar players in the world get together, it isn’t easy to get them to agree on much of anything. But, when you ask any of them to name the best flat-picker who ever lived, the only name you will ever hear is this man’s…. He was, before his death a few years ago, the acknowledged Master of that style of playing, with, literally, no one else who came close….. Enjoy, ffolkes…..




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
















Doc Watson















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


























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























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




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





Dont keep calm




“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the rights of the people by the gradual & silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” — James Madison, Virginia Convention 1788


I am still not quite full of enough angst to prompt a fresh rant…. To sublimate my always-present anger at the BRC, however, I’ve found a pearl from a couple years ago to fill in. It’s a rather fun old-school indictment of the pathological liars who inhabit our governments hallowed halls these days, as Mr. Madison warned us about, having abridged the rights of the people by their “gradual & silent encroachments” upon the basis of our freedom. In short, the assholes have already screwed us….


Gee, I guess there IS a bit more angst in there…. Ah well, this will help…. Enjoy!…


From 8/6/2013:


Yesterday, Smart Bee was a bit off center at times, but, with good grace, and a willing heart, it managed to get me what I needed, and threw in a few extras for today’s post, which I dutifully saved, recognizing them as the lustrous gems they were…. I’ll now go search out a few more, to fill out the dimensions for a proper indictment of the beloved ruling class, and the panorama of human folly we call “politics”, which, as, I believe, Ambrose Bierce pointed out, is a combination word, coming from “poly” meaning “many”, and “tics” meaning “blood sucking insects”….. a perfect description of the general run of that sport’s participants….


“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H.L. Mencken, “Little Book in C major”, 1916


“Can there be a republic that does not slump under the weight of so much human desire?” — Michael Scully


“Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. . . . the human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.” — Frank Herbert, Dune


“‘Tis better to be alone than in the company of fools.” — Bobby Matherne, American Philosopher (1940-)


“I had too much to dream last night.” — Electric Prunes


“In our society, the Republicans set out to prove that the Democrats can not  be trusted to run the government. And the Democrats set out to prove that the Republicans can not be trusted to run our government. The real problem here is that both the Democrats and the Republicans have come up with  something which is absolutely true and perfectly correct. This means that the people get to pull some sort of horrible trick on themselves and live with their choice for four years.” — Smart Bee


“Now I’m concentrating on a specific tank battle toward the end of World War II!” — Zippy the Pinhead


Okay, silly, I know…. but, look closely, and you’ll see how true all of them really are, when compared to reality…. Here, if it’s that big a deal for y’all…. here is a final word, that pretty much says it all… but, without the buffer of humor….


“…when all government… in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1821


—————————–


Note from 2015: There…. doesn’t that feel better? To finish off this indictment, here is one last thought on our beloved leaders, an actual FACT, of which they are all fully aware, utilizing to their advantage on a regular basis….


“Crime does not pay … as well as politics.” — Alfred E. Newman


There you go….


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





Comedy_Tragedy




    Here’s one of mine we haven’t seen for a couple years….. Enjoy!….




Funny Bones


Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,

from the dance, where

he felt so free, and clean.

Sorrow couldn’t find him there.


Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,

some connection can be found

keeping busy as bees, coping.

Love creeps in, without a sound.


Fat days, skinny nights, passionate

visions of semi-conscious entities,

cannot seem to fully illuminate

or hide our innermost frailties.


Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify

simple rules with every breath

never waiting, anxious to modify.

fear nothing in life, not even Death.


~~ gigoid ~~




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





ankh




    Today’s finals pearl is what I’d call an esoteric pearl about Life, (hence the ankh). Each of the individual pearls speaks to a part of Life important to living well, but, from a direction one often doesn’t remember to view….. Enjoy!…..


“Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Apothegms, No, 247


“Although war is cruel and brutal, it is also dangerous and stupid.” — Yakko Warner


“All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.” — Alexandre Dumas


“A child is a person who can’t understand why someone would give away a perfectly good kitten.” — Doug Larson


“A bone to the dog is not charity.  Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.” — Jack London


“Doth perfect beauty stand in need of praise at all? Nay; no more than law, no more than truth, no more than loving kindness, nor than modesty.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 20


“For a man needs only to be turned around not once with his eyes shut in this world to be lost…. Not til we are lost…. do we begin to find ourselves.” — Thoreau, Walden


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


I have fulfilled my vow…. Well, at least, for another day. I’m tired now. I think I’ll go back to bed, & start again in a couple of hours…. Hopefully, this short episode of creative reverse peristalsis won’t have gone sour by then…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided Fate doesn’t have other plans for me…..




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
“Daft!”, he cried. “They’ve all gone daft!”

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				1			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“Sic Biscuitus Disintegrat.” 


~~ Adrian Ogden ~~


ukg apotw 1


Spring in England



Image from UK Guardian Animal Pictures of the Week (See the cows on the farm?)






Good morning…. Let’s have a small Quiz, shall we? No worries, there won’t be a grade, or a prize, just self-satisfaction, or, stimulation, to take the opportunity to learn…. even if it is only something about yourself, and how you react to quizzes…


If you understand the opening quote today, above the picture, and wish to participate, say so in  the comment section… Caution! Don’t give your translation, if you know, so others have the same opportunity, without being tempted to, well, cheat. If you do cheat, just say so; for example, if you used your handy-dandy translation software (What? You don’t have any? Well, go get some; it’s invaluable if you wish to see what folks in other countries have to say, without sounding dumb by asking…), say so. It’s not a shameful act; at least you were curious enough to look….


If you don’t know, well, that’s okay, too. Unless taken in school, there aren’t a lot of places these days where one can pick it up….


I was lucky to be able to figure it out; the Latin phrase you see is close enough to Spanish, (which I’ve spoken since my youth…), and Italian, (which is quite similar to Spanish), to figure it out by context and deduction… It’s a great little aphorism, chock full of traditional homespun wisdom….


But, then, maybe it’s just me who gets excited over stuff like that…. Oh ,well, it filled up the intro section, didn’t it? Yep….


Shall we Pearl?


“Frivolity is important. Frivolity is the species refusal to suffer.” — John Lahr


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






royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573



    Today, we’ll just take it easy, a bit of a break with some classical music…. Enjoy!







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
















Classical Break
















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


























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























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




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





Glasgow-Greenock Port 041




    I’m in a place today where ranting would be impossible…. So, here’s an old one…


First posted in the first half of 2102:


“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” — Sir Winston Churchill


“….for DEATH awaits you all, with nasty sharp  pointy teeth!” — Monty Python and the Holy Grail


Death. The great equalizer. Nobody gets away from it. As a matter of fact, it has been proven, beyond a shadow of doubt, that everyone who breathes air, dies. So, air must not be good for us, right? That’s logic…. Of course it’s logical. It is also, however, not true, and serves as an example of the fact that logic doesn’t always lead to the correct answer to any particular question…. sometimes you gotta just go by what is real….


I like the first quote, by Winnie C., the PM…. When my turn to find out what happens after we die comes around, should the Christian viewpoint turn out to have been true, I would prefer to meet my maker with this same attitude. To my way of thinking, if it (Christianity) IS true, then God has a lot to answer for…… Seriously…. I’m sorry, but I just can’t believe in any deity who would allow his creation to show such perversions as this species has shown. Whenever I bring this point up to a priest, or theologian of any sort, all I get is “God works in mysterious ways….”


Yeah? Is that right? You say there is some hidden purpose to those actions we don’t understand? Well, fuck God then, because he’s acting like an asshole. I don’t care a whit if there is some hidden purpose; there is NO ACCEPTABLE REASON to suppose that a merciful God would condone child molesters, or rapists, or torture, (even during war). I don’t believe it; it is neither logical, nor rational…. Most importantly, it isn’t reasonable….


Claiming that God is beyond our understanding, and therefore we cannot understand his reasons for allowing such actions, is pure bullshit. If he is that far above us, why are his morals so perverted? I don’t care what you say, I won’t accept the rape of a child as being justifiable from ANY standpoint. None. And if God does have some justification, well, I ain’t buying it. No matter what it is, it isn’t right…. And going along with it, believing the lie, is just another cowardly way of avoiding responsibility….


Men are responsible for these actions, not God. Men kill, and rape, and pillage, and manipulate and coerce their fellows into performing acts of heinous nature. Numerous times in our bloody past, this killing has taken place in the name of God, as the fanatical zealots so common to Christianity, throughout its vicious history, carried their own particular brand of oppression to new lands, forcing the natives to swallow their version of reality, regardless of how they felt about it.


This blind, unreasoning zealotry continues today, with the current Republican candidate all set to bring the US right back into the Stone Age, should he. through some cruel quirk of fate, be elected as POTUS. If that happens, I’m pretty sure Armageddon will be close behind, as I don’t think the rest of the world is going to sit still long enough for him to cram his own faith down their throats.  Hell, right here at home, should he be elected, I’d be surprised if there isn’t a revolutionary upheaval within a few months of the election. I know I would certainly be considering assassination as a viable political tool…. It is now legal for us to use torture as a resource, why should we balk at assassination?


Ah me…. I guess I got too much sleep. It seems to have awakened my old hippie instincts; I haven’t talked revolution in oh, six or eight months now…. I suppose I’ll just have to wait until November, to see which way to jump…. Let’s hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. That’s always the best policy…. for survival, anyway….  and that may become our primary goal, if things keep on keepin’ on….


“It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire


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





Comedy_Tragedy




Random Exposure


If I only knew what I was doing here,

I could give others a clue.

Reality gets stranger every year,

and I’m not sure what I should do.


Singing happy old tunes, in an old, gravely voice,

gives me a lot of pleasure.

I’m only glad I can still make a choice,

to look at life, to take its measure.


Memorable moments keep passing by

gilded, framed in precious emotion.

I never have to ask anyone why,

no need for a stronger potion.


Everything in life is clear, to me

there is no doubt, no misunderstanding.

We’re all good, as you can see,

members of Life, in good standing.


Life can be hard, or it can be great fun;

the right path is there for each of us to take.

That choice is often a difficult one;

pay close attention to the choice you make.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 4/22/2013


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





socrates




    We begin today’s final old-school pearl with Socrates; hence, the picture. The point of the pearl is also one Socrates might have explored in his school, back in the day, in ancient Macedonia…. We finish with a very cogent, powerful statement from one of our greatest artists, who has obviously not limited herself to understanding just music in her life, but, has used her connection to increase her knowledge of Life at Large…. This  is all stuff that will definitely be on the Final Quiz…..


“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” — Socrates


“It takes a wise man to recognize a wise man.” — Xenophanes


“Before honour is humility.” — Smart Bee


“It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.” — Arthur Calwell


“As great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.” — Ursula K. LeGuin


“To a reasonable creature, that alone is insupportable which is unreasonable; but everything reasonable may be supported.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. ii


“Age ain’t nothin’ but a number. But age is other things too. It is wisdom, if one has lived one’s life properly. It is experience and knowledge. And it is getting to know all the ways the world turns, so that if you cannot turn the world the way you want, you can at least get out of the way so you won’t get run over.” — Miriam Makeba


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


Hmm…. Today’s was the first Pearl put together on the road, a day late & probably more than a dollar short…. But, here ’tis, so, we’ll all deal, eventually…. For now, this is what you get, and I will be back tomorrow, at a reasonable (for me) hour…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Boy, that is one sick puppy….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				2			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.”


~~ Lord Peter Wimsey ~~


~~ Dorothy L. Sayers, “Gaudy Night” ~~


curiosity_methane


Mars Rover Curiosity ~~ May, 2015


Image from Space.com, via NASA Images






Good morning….


Today’s opening quote is a jab of irony at myself; quotations are lifeblood to me, and my mind…. For some reason, using quotations seems to make the wisdom they impart more personal, and more understandable to me, and, hopefully, to others…. It’s also damned entertaining, and a memory workout, to come up with the appropriate quote to cover any situation in real life…. In fact. that is where the irony exists…. Socrates, Aristotle, etc., all were noted for proclaiming their own ignorance, in order to deliver the lesson that only then can one be open to learning….


In the book, and in the movie, Gaudy Night, when Lord Peter makes the statement you see re: quotations, he is speaking at dinner, to the Warden and Fellows of Shrewsbury College, a fictional women’s College of Oxford University, during the investigation of a mystery there. The Warden, one Dr. Baring, says in reply to his statement, “I think you are excessively modest, Lord Peter. The apt quotation is no mere intellectual sleight-of-hand. It’s a form of wisdom.”


I like that sentiment, for it confirms my own thoughts, in a way which helps me justify this entire process… if only to myself. Lord Peter, bless him, added another reason, for reason, to wit: “The only kind of wisdom that has any social use, Warden, is the knowledge of one’s own limitations.”, thus paraphrasing Socrates, Aristotle, and other ancient and modern sages.


It also tells me, though I won’t go into it now, WHY doing this helps me stay sane…. which I am quite thankful for, to be sure…. For now, we will leave this little introspective discussion, for two reasons. One, I’ve no doubt bored some of y’all to tears, prompting the second, to get on with the business of the day, i.e., pearling our little hearts out….


Luigi, my good fellow!…. Would you be so kind as to hit it!…. Follow me, ffolkes….


Shall we Pearl?


“A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe.” — — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”


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





Orangutan-and-Dog-are-BFF-8




Best Friends Forever




While looking at a story on this blog,  https://makingsenseofcrazy.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/worlds-first-phodographer-dog-wears-heart-rate-monitor-with-camera-that-takes-pics-when-he-gets-excited/ , I found the video below, as one of the choices after the video in the article. The picture you see of the BFF’s is one I found several years ago on sfgate.com, but, could never find out anything about the two animals involved in the picture. Finally, I found them, and the story of their friendship is one that can melt the hardest of hearts…. Enjoy, ffolkes, these two show us all what life is all about….






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















Suria and Roscoe















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


























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























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




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





le penseur-rodin




“Nature does nothing uselessly.” 


~~ Aristotle ~~




Today’s idea for discussion seems, at first glance, to be either too vague, or, too simple. However, a bit more consideration provides the meaning a bit more clearly, when one realizes he is speaking only the simplest of truths; everything that happens does so, for, and with, a purpose, whether known to us, or not…. Our own understanding of what that purpose might be doesn’t seem to have any real effect on the ultimate truth of the assertion; when we act as if we believe it, bending our efforts to make it true, or, act as if we don’t believe it, working against it, the end result is the same, to wit:




All nature is but art, unknown to thee;

All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;

All discord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good;

And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,

One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.


~~ Alexander Pope ~~

 

~~Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289 ~~




Unfortunately, a large number of people can’t deal with such ambiguity; it makes them uncomfortable, as it requires effort, especially in the direction of learning, to use the mind, and to understand as much of what we perceive as we can…. For many, that is as frightening as any other fear they have, for it means they must always be dealing with the unknown. In short, they find using their own mind tedious, difficult, and uncomfortable….


The resultant vulnerability arises from one simple fact; the Universe, and Life at Large, are ambiguous, by their very nature. As you see, a conflict at the most elemental level is generated, compromising their intelligence, and their ability to be anything other than what they are told to be…. Freud, who tended to think in terms of diseases of the mind, identified it this way….


“Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity.” — Sigmund Freud


These unfortunates, clueless to understand themselves. or the world around them, thus, without ever realizing it, become vulnerable, to anyone with the boldness to assert their own ability to mitigate those fears, if only the fearful ones will accept what they say as the truth…. This willingness to trust, to believe what is told to them, fearfully driving them to act against their own self-interest, firmly fastens a slave collar on every person alive who gives in to gives in to their fear, without ever realizing they are fully capable of learning to cope with life themselves…


One of the ways those with no ethics, or compassion, who ignore any such niceties as justice, or equality, sublimate their fears into bending all their efforts to control others, to get them to believe in what THEY tell them… To accomplish their ends, they form rigid systems of belief, often offering supernatural protections, or rewards of immortality in exchange for implicit trust, and the surrender of will… These systems reflect the fears of their creators, in their own inability to tolerate ambiguity, i.e, the REAL nature of reality… Another author noted this most succinctly this way….


“Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality.” — Theodor W. Adorno


Then, of course, we may find classic social commentary, cleverly disguised as whimsical fairy tales/children’s stories, such as The Wind in The Willows, a short animated film from the early twentieth century, produced by one Kenneth Grahame, in which one of the story’s characters, quite famous in his own right, observes….


“To the small of brain, Ambiguity is pain.” — Mr. Toad


The only hope many people have of ever breaking their collars, to learn to learn, as it were, to use their own minds to find their own truths, is with the help of a teacher, or, at minimum, some sort of personal epiphany, either of which may convince them they CAN learn, and, more importantly, they CAN control their own lives…. Though hard to find, such teachers still exist, not only in books, but, as hidden gems, often not in schools, though one may find more of them there; at least those in that field are people committed to learning, even if their own beliefs may hinder the complete liberation of their minds…. There are even those who try to teach other teachers how to help, as demonstrated by this:


“Part of teaching is helping students learn how to tolerate ambiguity, consider possibilities, and ask questions that are unanswerable.” — Sara Lawrence Lightfoot, “In a World of Ideas,” 1992


Staying free isn’t as simple as it may sound by our discussion; I’m not implying people can be free just by wishing it, or by suddenly becoming more aware…. A certain degree of courage, and will, is also required, which many people never find within themselves, though it it there, in all of us. Sadly, a great number of people never do find any sort of freedom, not the sort they have never known, as there are a number of people in the world who actively work to prevent the masses from ever realizing their own slavery….


Bankers, preachers, politicians, even many educators, all victims of the same asinine beliefs in supernatural entities who will protect them, all are controlled by a few, insane, sociopathic oligarchs, masters of deceit, who, for millennia, have hidden behind the scenes, manipulating others for the sole purpose of fulfilling their own personal agendas, all of which are based SOLELY on their own wishes and desires, with absolutely no connection to their shared humanity.


Of the wisdom that is the legacy of all mankind, these assholes (no better word to describe their true nature…) pick and choose from the highest sounding, to justify their own selfishness, using their own expertise at psychological manipulation, and lying with a straight face, to achieve their own, perverted ends…. For example…. the following piece of wisdom, though perfectly innocent in its intent (to share knowledge of how to make oneself safer), provides them with the perfect excuse for their behavior, based on lies….


“All warfare is based on deception.” — Sun Tzu (ca. 500 BC)


What is really a shame is that far too many Westerners, especially those of a financial or political persuasion, seem to have read a mistranslated copy of the Art of War, wherein this line was translated as, “All life is based on deception.” It’s the only explanation for how a perfectly good concept, an essential truth, can be perverted and taken to its logical extreme, all for the loss of meaning in one word…. In this case, here on Earth, which we see around us today, nothing seen, heard, or read can be trusted; the truth is considered a weapon of last resort, only to be used as a distraction from the ‘true lies’….


“There are some remedies worse than the disease.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 301


SIGH…. I’m getting tired, and I need to finish this off before it gets away from me, so, we come to this final idea…. To get rid of the oligarchs who have been oppressing the majority of humanity for centuries, the most obvious, and quickest method, is to become like them, showing no compassion or concern for the rights of anyone but themselves. The numbers would be, patently, on the side of humanity in such a conflict, but, to use their own methods of violence to usurp their power can only mean, ultimately, we will become the same as them, thus, turning any attempts at achieving liberty into a mere transformation of power. from one sociopathic entity to another….


So, what is the solution? Well, at this point, at (unfortunately) 2:23 AM, on an unseasonably cold night in California, after hours of sleepless tossing and turning, I can’t say I have one, other than, possibly, my own, which involves me, a large supply of arrows, and a map to the oligarch’s houses. I’d be willing to sacrifice my own honor, in that way, to save humanity, and wouldn’t even mind dying afterward…. It’s the stain on my soul I don’t think I’d care for….


I’m working on it, though. It’s a tough problem, to figure out how to get rid of the assholes without becoming one…. I guess I could spend my time watching reality TV….. But, since I don’t much care for TV, I guess I’ll figure out something else…. When I’ve got something workable, I’ll get back to you…. Until then, let me leave you with one final thought, one which points up the ultimate solution for our difficulties, provided for us by Reality. It is also one which everyone, masters, slaves, and rebels, must eventually come to know….




There is a reaper whose name is Death,

  And with his sickle keen

He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,

  And the flowers that grow between.


~~ Henry W. Longfellow ~~


~~ The Reaper and the Flowers ~~




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





walt_whitman_1875







What is there left to say in admiration of this man. One of the Great Souls, Walt Whitman was an example of the best of mankind. If a solution to our problems can be found, it could well start by beginning with this man’s views on how to live…. We could do worse….




Dismiss Whatever Insults Your Own Soul


Love the earth and sun and the animals,

Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,

Stand up for the stupid and crazy,

Devote your income and labor to others,

Hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,

Have patience and indulgence toward the people.


Take off your hat to nothing known or unknown,

or to any man or number of men,

Go freely with powerful uneducated persons,

And with the young, and with the mothers or families.


Re-examine all you have been told

in school or church or in any book,

Dismiss whatever insults your own soul;

And your very flesh shall be a great poem…


And have the richest fluency, not only in its words,

But in the silent lines of its lips and face,

And between the lashes of your eyes,

and In every motion and joint of your body.


~~ Walt Whitman ~~


~~ Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855 edition ~~




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





13923408614402




    Okay, so here’s the deal…. Today’s final old-school pearl is kind of silly, but, it’s still a good pearl…. Moreover, at the end, you’ll find a method whereby you, and only you, can make it the perfect pearl for YOU…. Enjoy, ffolkes, whether it seems so, or not, it’s a pretty good set of ideas about Life at Large to consider, even if they’re without the usual degree of sobriety…..


“There is no opinion so absurd that some philosopher will not express it.” — Cicero


“Half of the people in the world are below average.” — Smart Bee


It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson


“There is no difference between theory and practice in theory, but there is often a great deal of difference between theory and practice in practice.” — Chuck Rei


“These days, the wages of sin depend on what kind of deal you make with the devil.” — Kara Vichko


“There are worse things than dying.” — Kalas


“Most of all, I’ve learned that a good time to laugh is anytime you can.” — Linda Ellerbee


“Take everything you like seriously, except yourselves.” — Rudyard Kipling


As a bonus, for today’s final pearl, YOU, the Gentle Reader, get to choose the final entry for this section… Choose one of the following; all have been cleared as perfectly appropriate finishing pearls for this pearl…. If you’re so inclined, tell us in the comments why you made the choice you picked…. Choose wisely, young paduans….


Z #1)  “GOOD-NIGHT, everybody..  Now I have to go administer FIRST-AID to my pet LEISURE SUIT!!” — Zippy the Pinhead


Z #2)  “Hold the MAYO & pass the COSMIC AWARENESS…” — Zippy the Pinhead


Z #3)  “I feel better about world problems now!” — Zippy the Pinhead


Et Voilà…. I keep telling you, and telling you, and telling you….  It’s all in the wrist….


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


It’s hard to tell at this point, but, I’m pretty sure this one turned out pretty well. Or not. Since it’s still shy of 3 AM, and, I’ve been in misery for hours, frankly, I could care less, because it’s done, and, now I can try to get some sleep. Y’all have a good day, I’m gonna be busy sawing logs, I hope. Until tomorrow, then, I bid thee a fond, if somewhat sappy, adieu! Or, as we used to say on the streets…. well, no, I’d better not. I will, however, be back tomorrow to try this again….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








Featured image




À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
No tango tonight for you, Mortimer….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				2			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“A man’s happiness, — to do the things proper to man.”


 — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ~~


~~ Meditations, viii, 26 ~~


Just as if they had been dotted on top of the myriads of glowing suns in the Milky Way, this image depicts some of the brightest stars of the southern sky: on the right, in a rhomboidal shape reminding that of a kite, are the four stars of the constellation Crux, the Southern cross; in the lower left part, instead, shine the two most brilliant stars of the constellation Centaurus, the Centaur.
Just as if they had been dotted on top of the myriads of glowing suns in the Milky Way, this image depicts some of the brightest stars of the southern sky: on the right, in a rhomboidal shape reminding that of a kite, are the four stars of the constellation Crux, the Southern cross; in the lower left part, instead, shine the two most brilliant stars of the constellation Centaurus, the Centaur.


The Southern Cross


 Image from Space.com




Good morning…. It’s a big world out there, and our last outpost of sanity is under continuous attack, by the forces of Entropy and Chaos…. This…. whatever this is, keeps them at bay in my little corner of Space/Time, as it has for close to four years now…. Join me now, as I once again take up the gauntlet, to do battle with every ounce of reason and rationality I can find…. Often it isn’t much, as is patently obvious…. But, we, or rather I, persevere, though there are times when we wonder why I bother….


Then, I look in the mirror, and see the dregs of sanity lurking there, and I am content…. It’s still a long road before me, so, I’d best get started…. As you might be able to tell from the state of this introductory section, it could be rather an uphill journey today…. Luigi, tell the tower we’re taking off, and not to worry about the fighter escort today. I’m feeling MEAN….


Shall we Pearl?


“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” — C. G. Jung


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






fats






Image from radiofreeamsterdam.com via Google Images




Yesterday we visited the days of old; today we’re returning to the same era, to listen to another all-time great…. Fats was the MAN, when I was young…. Nobody did it quite the same…. Enjoy, ffolkes; Fats is another cultural icon worth remembering….




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
















Fats Domino















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


















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























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




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





Dont keep calm




    Last year, in 2014, I came up with some pretty decent rants…. Here is one from August of that year, simply because I can, and I’m lazy today….(Whattyamean, today?….)(Oh, hush…) Enjoy, ffolkes….


From 8/31/2014:


“Stupid is as stupid does.” — Mama Gump


Yesterday, during a rant in section one of the Daily Pearl, I made a comment, wherein I accused Bill Clinton of being an idiot, and a husband, in the same breath…. While his persona exhibits elements of both adjectives, neither one fits completely comfortably; if it was a suit, you’d think it was poorly tailored. He IS an idiot of course; letting one’s lust control their actions while in the White House as the President, is kind of a give-away on that…. and he IS a husband; it says so right on the license available for anyone to see somewhere in what, oh, yeah, Arkansas, or Alabama, or wherever it was they got married… Who knows, maybe it was in D.C. after they left Little Rock, or whatever… But, obviously, he isn’t terribly good at either one….


Any who, I wanted to clarify that, while also acknowledging that, in truth, Bill is a VERY smart guy…. I don’t care who you are, you don’t get to be a Rhodes Scholar if you don’t have a few neurons to bump together… He also plays a pretty mean sax, which is also an indicator of superior, or at least multi-talented, intelligence…. All of which goes to prove that intelligence alone has little, if any, survival value. Possessing a high IQ does not give one the ability, necessarily, to USE it in a way that helps one advance, in any respect….


Ethically, morally, or in terms of worldly success, as in being rich, famous, or celebrated in some fashion, smart guys don’t always win against the mundanes, simply because they are often not paying attention to what is important to those with less on their minds… In Bill’s case, he tried to take his multi-tasking to a new level, and failed, miserably…. Common sense often escapes the most intelligent members of this species; they tend to be a little less balanced out on the fringes of the bell curve…. too much going on in their heads, that ends up distracting them from what they’re doing in the real world, and that they are being watched, always…


That’s all…. just sayin’….. Smart don’t mean smart, if you know what I mean…. Sometimes, a little bit of street cred, a little low animal cunning, as it were, can go a long way to being more useful than having a degree, or being able to quote poetry…. Unfortunately, when someone like that learns the law, then turns to politics, there is no end to the harm they can cause…. Witness just about every president in my lifetime…. Most of them weren’t the most intelligent, though smart enough to get through law school; they are definitely the most corrupt, and the most vicious sociopaths, that is for sure and for certain, but, overly intelligent, they were NOT…..


Sorry, but, I just calls ’em as I sees ’em, ffolkes, and that’s the way it’s been for my life; I can count, on fewer than the fingers on only ONE of my hands, the number of presidents I respect, at all, and only one of those is still alive…. That one will go down in history as an ineffective president, because he had the unfortunate quality of possessing both intelligence, and integrity, not to mention compassion…. which are three qualities that no other president since 1962 has possessed. to any appreciable degree, and definitely not together in the same man, other than the one…. If you disagree, fine…. comment, and tell me why, so we can discuss it…. But, please, make it worth my time, because there isn’t a lot of evidence I’m aware of for you to choose from..


Any who, that’s it…. just wanted to make clear why I thought Bill was an idiot husband…. I’ll avoid any comments as to WHY he is uncomfortable as a husband, married to a woman who is just as sociopathic as he is…. a woman completely lacking any sort of real compassion for others, because it is subsumed in the vast furnace of their ambition….


There is no room for compassion in one who wishes to lead a nation, especially one with the power and resources of this one, along with the historically traditional imperative, and true national pastime, of proselytizing democracy, and our twisted versions of Christianity, on anyone in the world who doesn’t have them…. whether they want them, or not….


Sometimes, that interference in the lives and interests of other nations in the world in the guise of business, to spread our capitalist markets, which require constant expansion to prevent collapsing under their own weight…. Or, our insistence on playing busybody is justified with the pretense of humanitarianism, with rationalizations ranging from saving them from godless communism, to fighting the evil of “muslim extremists, and/or rebel insurgents” who are fighting terrorist civil wars, “killing their own people, including, gasp, children and old people!”


These wars, though being fought over what seem to me to be all-too-familiar sounding, minute, yet firmly idiotic differences of interpretation of scripture, are still CIVIL wars, even if religiously motivated ….  I won’t comment on this scripture, allegedly also “divine” in origin, in the book of collected dogmatic delusions that were  left to guide them by their version of a mortal, yet, somehow, also immortal, and, thus, divine, (by the time-tested use of “ipse dixit” reasoning) prophet of the ONLY god, or Allah, or Baha’u’lah, or whomever they worship/idolize/follow/are enslaved by…. Well, I wasn’t planning to comment, but, I suppose I just did….


However, my point remains valid, despite my opinion of Islam, or Christianity, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or any other religion…. As far as I’m concerned, they are ALL the possessors of a SMALL piece of the Truth about Reality in this Universe, but, they have erroneously chosen to misinterpret the meaning of their piece, and have beaten their dead horses, killed by that error, into a sad, bloody pulp, unrecognizable, and useless for anything other than making everyone’s life more difficult, and divisive…. I can’t say it much clearer than that, about religion, or politics, either….


Instead I’ll say that it’s a shame there is probably no one to run against Hillary who can win, because she’ll be, unfortunately, as cruelly self-serving, as dishonest as, well, a politician, as unaware of, and as little concerned with the plight of the common man,  and as falsely “transparent” in their actions and words, as any man who has ever held the office…. including Tricky Dicky and LBJ, who were about as underhanded, and corrupt as any politician who ever lived….


The scary part of that, if not the scariest part of the whole shebang we call the future? If there IS anyone who can win against her, things in this sad old country, and, no doubt, the rest of this sad, old world,  will go from bad, to very much worse, in a very short time…. Think about it….


Just watch…. I hate being right in these cases, but, my track record is, sadly, practically unblemished, as I have called just about every election at the national level, for all those years of repetitive foolishness I’ve witnessed….


“It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” — Noel Coward


“…there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data

available to the so-called normal mind.  This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — The Illuminatus! Trilogy — Robert Anton Wilson


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


Three final notes on this subject from 2015, as it becomes more relevant each day:


“If you ever see me getting beaten by the police, put down the video camera and come help me.” — Bobcat Goldthwait


“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. — Douglas Adams, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”


“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in a letter to William Smith


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





Comedy_Tragedy




    As noted in the previous section, I’m feeling a bit lazy today; hence this antiquated poem from the archives…. Enjoy, for what it’s worth… Written sometime in 2013, it’s one of my favorites, such as they are….




Accentuated Lessons


Bold statements of calculated intent

Become common rule of the malcontent.

Avarice assumes such attractive wear

Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.


Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands

Legally proper in all the signatory lands.

Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul

Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.


Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards

Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.

While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor

Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.


Escape from reality is illusory at best

Often we falter and fail its daily test.

Only when focused on inner strength

Does peace stay with us for any length.


Peace lies within, always…..


~~ gigoid ~~




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





buddah-out-to-lunch_s




    Today’s final old-school pearl is a tricky one…. All of the following are observations on Life at Large, in a manner of speaking…. At least one of them is a trick pearl…. It looks okay, and sounds okay, but, when one stops to look more closely at the concept, it turns silly on you…. which, somehow, doesn’t detract from its rightness…. Go figure, and, of course, which pearl that may be is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. You should KNOW you never get out of here without having to use at least three neurons!…. Enjoy, ffolkes….


“Fear always springs from ignorance.” — Smart Bee, paraphrasing the Bhagavad Gita


“Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.” — Francis Bacon (1561-1626) — Apothegms, No, 247


“It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Goethe


“With two hearts do people live; a small one of deep softness, the other of  steel.  And kindness is too often a shield, generosity too often a sword.” — Kahlil Gibran


“I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.” — Richard Feynman


“You’re never too old to learn something stupid.” — Smart Bee


“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost


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


Today’s process of creation felt a little choppy, but, hey…. we’re done. Y’all know what that means right? You’re on you own again…. Go do something constructive, or, at minimum, patently explainable in small words, of three or fewer syllables. Wouldn’t want to confuse anyone, now, would you? No, of course not…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can dodge the bullets….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








dozer3




À bientôt, mon cherí….



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Fionella isn’t ready to cope….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				1			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




“Mankind…



The public enemy’s not the man who speaks his mind.”


~~ Anthrax ~~


capuchin6


Can you tell me when the next shuttle blasts off for Mars? 


 This place is TOO crazy!


 Image from SFGATE.com Pictures of the Day Feature, Thursday, 2012




Good morrow to you…. Due to circumstances completely within my control, I’m running late. This means nothing. Well, it does mean I’ll cheat again, but, other than that, you’d never know, unless I told you…. Hence. the warning, since we’re all about full disclosure around here…. Unless, of course, that would be silly…. Goodness knows we do that enough, as it is….


Shall we Pearl?


“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)


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





Dont keep calm




    Today’s video choice is here, heralded with the ranting logo, to take up the slack due to no fresh rant…. Here is one of our favorite comedians, with a complete show of stand-up comedy, dealing with modern times…. I haven’t watched it yet, but, if he does stand-up as well, and as pointedly as his weekly show, it should be quite Carlinesque…. and, though I had to add that word to the Spell Check Dictionary, I don’t believe that will be true for the future…. Carlin’s name will go down in history as possibly the greatest social critic/comedian of his time…. The ultimate jester…. Enjoy, ffolkes….







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
















John Oliver


 Terrifying Times



















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


























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























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




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





About Hopi Indian Symbols




    As noted above, and, as the picture of Kokopelli indicates, (if you know me at all…)  there won’t be a fresh rant today…. Here instead are some pearls I’ve saved as potential openings for several rants; you’ll get the picture, I think….


“Art is a moral passion married to entertainment.  Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.” — Rita Mae Brown


“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man.  In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken


“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man.  The reason is not far to seek.  It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken


“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.” — H. L. Mencken


“If you could print all the money you wanted, and steal all the money you wanted, couldn’t you manage to stay out of debt?” — Smart Bee


“Did you hear that the Dutch government gave Quayle 12 rare Rembrandt etchings? He’s already got four of them colored in.” — Random American comedian, 1990


“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” — Buffalo Springfield


“The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.” — H. L. Mencken


“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.  The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth.

— Fedor Dostoevsky


Okay, that’s probably enough for you to get the idea we’re shooting for today…. As a small bonus, allow me to end this section with a perfectly appropriate critical comment from the man who codified most of the Proverbs to be found in the English-speaking world….




“This hitteth the nail on the head.” 


~~ John Heywood (1597-1580) ~~




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





Comedy_Tragedy




    Today, we’ll go with two short, classic poems from our cultural past…. Two of my favorites, I might add….




The world is too much with us; late and soon


The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune,

It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. 

     

~~ William Wordsworth ~~


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



I’m Nobody! Who are you?


I’m Nobody! Who are you?

Are you- Nobody- Too?

Then there’s a pair of us?

Don’t tell! they’d advertise-you know!

How dreary-to be- Somebody!

How public-like a Frog-

To tell one’s name-the livelong June-

To an admiring Bog!


~~ Emily Dickinson ~~




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





Lao Tzu sez




    This picture, I think, is my absolute favorite pearl of wisdom, taken as a whole, virtual or otherwise… The picture, wonderfully conceived and executed, is a perfect graphic representation of the words of Lao Tzu, giving depth and color to the idea, making it even more powerful than the words can do alone…. Considering the lesson involved, as possibly the most powerful single idea humans have to learn in their entire life, that is saying a lot…. It states the entire concept in visual words… the Man, split apart by opposing forces within… the fiery power of the passions of the heart, versus the cool, cerebral, electric power of the reasoning mind….. bloody brilliant!…


Since I don’t have enough like this to construct an entire pearl, we’ll go with a regular style, old-school pearl, with lessons similar to, or a variation of this one…. It’s pretty deep, and can stand up to a lot of discussion; in fact, it has done so, for a very long time…. Let’s pearl, ffolkes….


“A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities will keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing.” — Samuel Butler


“Life, it turns out, is not a struggle; it’s a wiggle.” — Smart Bee


“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” — Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See


“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” — Mark Twain


“The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.” — Joan Borysenko


“Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it…. Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 29


“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” — Oscar Wilde


“Perhaps I know why it is man alone who laughs: He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche


“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory


Hmm…. Given the nature of the beginning, the results of our search seem a bit… off. Off parameters anyway, and, it certainly didn’t exactly follow the line of inquiry suggested by Lao Tzu’s opening remarks, did it? Oh well, I suppose we’ll just have to call it a compendium of lesser known lessons about life, as presented to, and by, gigoid, the dubious…. I picked ’em, after all…. If it comes to that, I DO stand by each one of them; they all have been useful at one time or another in my life, to be sure….


So, there… and, so be it.


gigoid has spoken, as should be expected….


Oh, shush! Ah say, shush, boy!….


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


Well, since it’s done, we won’t quibble. Instead, we’ll waffle, and make like a tree….. Yep, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if nobody talks me out of it….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch










Dozer
Kowabunga!






À bientôt, mon cherí….





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
She won’t start for toffy…

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				9			

					


				

			
 Ffolkes,




“Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.” 


~~ Socrates ~~


UraMajorRoqueLosMuchahos-claro


Ursa Major ~~ The Big Dipper


Image from Space.com






Good morning. Today’s Pearl will be an extreme cheat…. There are reasons, but, to tell you would be narcissistic, and whiny, so, we’ll just say they’re compelling enough to keep me from creating anything particularly fresh, or cogent. Neither is within my grasp today, at least, not yet…. Whether I will be able to find ANYTHING within my grasp today is an unsettled question…. Let’s get on with it, while we can….


Shall we Pearl?


“Cicero called Aristotle a river of flowing gold, and said of Plato’s Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to speak, it would be in language like theirs.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Cicero


If that’s true, then, me and Cicero, we’re mates…. Probably why we see so many of his quotes around here….


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





royalty-free-clip-art-vector-logos-of-black-and-orange-floral-acoustic-guitars-by-seamartini-graphics-6573




    Since I’ve got nothing in me worth sharing, we’ll go with classical music, which fills up the spirit….. Enjoy!







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











Classical Music for Reading











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


















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























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




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





About Hopi Indian Symbols




    Today, given my brain’s status as a no-show, I thought Kokopelli would make a more appropriate opening thought than our usual Don’t Keep Calm logo; the content today is a bit more unpredictable than usual, and unpredictable is what Kokopelli is all about…. Here’s a piece from the archives, to fill in the necessary space today…. Enjoy!….


From 2/24/2014:


It seems the BRC has captured one of the world’s most dangerous drug cartel leaders, El Chapo, the Dude, of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico…. I have included below a link to the article announcing the capture, and included below that some “interesting” phrases and words used by the anonymous spokescops (who are never authorized to talk to journalists….. but, they do anyway….)…. The words italicized in bold are the ones I’d like to point out to y’all, with a comment or two about them as an addendum…. Read the story, then, we’ll talk…..


http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Mexico-captures-Sinaloa-cartel-boss-Chapo-Guzman-5258301.php


“He was caught with an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved” in the capture…… A federal law enforcement official said intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped lead U.S. and Mexican authorities to his whereabouts…… Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists. ….. Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ”


“didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan……” “A U.S. law enforcement official said members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities find him after they were arrested earlier this month. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the case by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.”….. “His arrest followed the takedown of several top Sinaloa operatives in the last few months and at least 10 mid-level cartel members in the last week. The information leading to Guzman was gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”


Allow me to point out a few little things in this article that give us a little clue as to how things are in the REAL world, where the government has the tools to find and capture ANYONE in the entire world, by the use of their “counter-terrorism” toys, and “executive orders” and the excuse of national security to employ any and all techniques to achieve their purpose, up to, and including torture, lying at will, and the legal clearance to perform their actions in complete darkness, without any public or judicial oversight…..


“an unidentified woman, said one U.S. official, who added that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Marshals Service were “heavily involved”


To my suspicious mind, this tells me that the US DEA and Marshalls used an undercover female operative to lure Guzman into an isolated position, where they could take him without dealing with his security forces…. which they did, perfectly…. In several articles I’ve seen, in addition to this one, the same phrase, “an unidentified woman” was used…. Now, do you you REALLY believe she is ‘unidentified’?… I don’t….


“intelligence from a Homeland Security Department investigation also helped”


Gee, ya think? Homeland Security is authorized to do whatever they want…. why shouldn’t they share their technology, and some of that unlimited data they are picking up from around the world with anyone who wants it…. As long as they’re giving it to another group of their insane compatriots, they’ll share it, with pride, even glee, in their own ingenuity, never caring at all about how unethical it is….


“Mexican authorities, based on a series of arrests in recent months, got wind….. ” “didn’t say how authorities traced him to Mazatlan.”


“Got wind?” Got wind? What the hell does that mean? And, since when do the police go by information they “got wind” of…..  Ffolkes, somebody is hiding something here, ya think? It’s obvious they don’t want to let the public know where they are getting their information, although in this case, they give us another clue about that….


” members of Guzman’s security team helped Mexican and U.S. authorities”


Gosh! That was awfully nice of those fellows…. These hard-boiled, vicious drug cartel security individuals had a complete change of heart, and shared all they knew with Mexican and US authorities, out of the goodness of those hearts, I suppose…. I think it is probably more likely that the word, and technique, “waterboarding” was brought into play, as both a threat, and in actual use… I don’t believe for a minute these guys gave up their boss without a little bit of a struggle…. They come from a culture where “machismo” is paramount, and they would not consider it very macho to talk…. hence, they were “persuaded to help”, and I don’t think the persuasive techniques used were verbal, or anything other than torture….


How do I come to that conclusion from this article? Easy…. they told us, in so many words….


“gleaned from those arrested, said Michael S. Vigil, a former senior DEA official who was briefed on the operation.”


How does one “glean” information from drug cartel security forces? I don’t think it was the promise of some Kool-Aid, ffolkes, do you?…. And, since this mouthpiece was “briefed” on the “operation”, what do YOU think he meant by “gleaned”? I do try NOT to be too naive….


This whole “broken rant” was created for the single purpose of demonstrating how the BRC uses its new toys, provided by us, to wit: you, and me, the not-quite-charmingly naive public, when we allowed them to pass those silly ass Homeland Security bullshit Acts after the 9/11 attacks…. In truth, I don’t really care much that they used it to bring down such a predator…. He was, and is, no doubt, someone we can all do without in our midst, since he insists on preying on the weak and foolish….


But, it seems to me, it was all merely an exercise of domestic discipline, as one set of vicious, insane power-hungry individuals, in the official, authorized, guise of law enforcement myrmidons of the ruling elite, tracked down and captured one of their own type of people, who had the bad taste to try to force his will on others without having the mandate of the public voting apparatus…. When one doesn’t automatically accept the bilge water that is presented to us as the truth, it is easy to see how little difference there is between those who hunted him down, and he who was hunted….


Governments have the backing of the multi-national corporations that control society, whereas the big drug cartels, rich and powerful as they may grow, are merely small businesses compared to them… and, we all know what happens to small business when a mega-corp wants to step into their marketplace…. The pharmaceutical companies don’t like the competition from street drugs, so they keep society amped up in arms against them, so their bottom line profit is not reduced to any significant degree….


The whole War on Drugs, (Y,know? It’s funny how our society’s rulers always deal with a problem by declaring War on it….Then, they throw money at it, and tell people that will make it go away…. Hmm…. how’s that working for ya?….), that has been raging in this country since the mid-1930’s, when the drug companies noticed how popular marijuana was becoming in the mainstream, is merely another example of how the real rulers in society don’t want the people to make their own decision about ANYTHING, not if whatever it is can make money for them….


(It’s why they are making their play for control of the Internet…. It’s a very real, but, still only potential, money cow…. if they can wrest control away, and start charging for access, they’ll essentially control all the information flow…. which also give them the wherewithal to censor information, before it gets TO the information cloud…. If they keep control in their corporate hands, you can kiss 75% of the Internet’s effectiveness as a social communication tool, free of interference, goodbye….)


Instead, the governments, at the urging of their corporate masters, spread outright lies and mountains of false information through their own media outlets, attempting to convince people of the dangers of (whatever), followed by the passage of legislation making any who decide for themselves into criminals in the eyes of society….. Even though, as in the case with marijuana, what they are fighting against is actually better for people than anything they have in the list of drugs they manufacture, (at a 2000% profit-margin, don’t y’know….), they decided to enlist the government’s influence over the people to make it illegal, since they had no actual way to stop people from finding and using it…. It grows EVERYWHERE on this planet, without much effort…. That’s why they call it a weed, you know?….


Okay, I’ve rambled, and ranted enough for one morning…. Ffolkes, the governments, the BRC, the Asininnies, the shadowy corporate slave masters, or, whatever label you wish to place upon those who actually rule this planet, don’t give a shit about me, or you, and they’re going to continue to do whatever they choose, just as long as we let them…. They make my life, and yours, a hundred times more difficult than it needs to be, all for the sake of maintaining control over the power, and resources, with which they are obsessed. I, for one, am tired of playing their game…. What game?….


“If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.” — Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War


As far as possible, for the remainder of my life, I will be taking every opportunity I find to expose their asininity, their chicanery, their just plain evil intentions, in as loud a voice as I can muster…. I’d appreciate any help I can get in spreading that exposition around to those who need to see it…. Maybe, just maybe, if I can get this idea into the heads of enough reasonably intelligent people, we all will figure out it is time to stop them…. Then, we can join forces, to create of a large enough repository of the power of human will to overcome the physical entrenchments that have already been put into place, for their protection against that very thing….


With enough people, of good loving heart and infinite compassion, all putting their force of will behind whatever we decide is necessary, I’m sure it would be more than enough to turn the tide, and, in the process, maybe, just maybe, we’ll save our own sorry asses from the depredations we have allowed them to perpetrate in our name…..


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


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





Comedy_Tragedy




    I’ve read poetry all my life, more so at some times than others, but, it’s always been there, a part of the beauty I seek to include in my life…. When I find a poet I like, I am not shy about saying so; that’s why the ffolkes who frequent this blog, a hardy lot, to be sure, end up seeing a lot of Emily Dickinson, Keats, Pope. and other classic poets. I also, occasionally, include on from the poets I’ve discovered hidden here on WordPress. There are several excellent poets, and, “MaggieMaeijustsaythis” is one of the finest….


She recently began writing in a ‘sort of’ new style; it’s very similar to her previous work, but, it’s also different, with more scope, and more freedom, it seems… Here is another of her latest, posted just a day or two ago…. Y’all should go bookmark her site, and buy her book(s); someday, she will be known around the entire English-speaking world, should we humans survive the next fifty years or so…. Any who, forget that, just, enjoy…. Oh, be prepared for some reality, ffolkes….




Doctor, Tell Me


I am going to be. Here,

in a sticky womb,

a living room made for

madness; a sautéed fanciness.


The feast is being set,

just above the chandelier,

they call me by number,

my tattooed slumber calls. 


White isn’t always padded

or strapped. Most likely

it only surrounds

the dark blue ring

around the sunburst I look at.


I think I am a painting.

Rembrandt is too gross, but

Picasso, he is enough mystery

to create me.

Half of me sprawls across the cold,

I wait for night-watch to

twist me back to form.


The other girl squats in the corner.

I smell feces and antifreeze.

Do I dream? Can I dissect the fumes of

the dead?

Her charred body crawls toward me,

she removes her teeth.

Everything glitters like a shadow. 


Then, I am here. In the morning.

It isn’t the sun that tells me,

but the number, tattooed to

my skull. 


Doctor, tell me, has Picasso gone home? 


~~ Maggie Mae ~~


http://maggiemaeijustsaythis.com/2015/05/21/doctor-tell-me/




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





A-laughing-girl-and-her-camel




    One of the reasons for cheating today is Smart Bee…. Yesterday, it decided to take a dump, figuratively; no matter how many times I uninstalled & reinstalled the program, it wouldn’t act right… I gave up, and am hoping it will work this morning when I install it yet again… If it does, fine, we’ll get a fresh pearl out of it, if I have to use whips and chains…. If not, well, we’ll dip into the archives, which you’ll know because I’ll tell you the date it was first posted…. Go figure…. Enjoy, ffolkes, whatever we end up with….. The first pearls you’ll see are the last I got out of SB before it crapped out….


Aww, wasn’t that cute? SB gave me a joke quote to start today’s search, perfect as the opener for this batch, even though it has nothing to do with the other parameters of the search…. It just…. fits…




Run out of taglines: (A)bort (R)eread (S)teal 


~~Smart Bee ~~




Okay, SB. go ahead & steal them; we don’t care, as long as we get a pearl out of it….




He not busy being born


Is busy dying.


~~ Bob Dylan ~~




“In a full heart there is room for everything, and in an empty heart there is room for nothing.” — Antonio Porchia, Voces


“A candour affected is a dagger concealed.” — Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) — Meditations, book 9.


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


“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” — Robert Frost


“Life is not an exact science, it is an art.” — Samuel Butler (1835-1902)


“If we lose affection and kindness from our life, we’ve lost all that gives it charm.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero


Not bad…. Not bad at all…. Plus, you will note, please, as predicted in the intro section, we once again see Cicero at the ending….


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


Well, that worked out fairly well. Since I’m NOT going to do it over, y’all get it just as it is…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully with a bit more pizazz to offer…. At least I got Smart Bee back on deck…. Ta, then, luvs….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








Kowabunga!




À bientôt, mon cherí….







					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
There arose a great tumult….

			
						

				Posted on   by  			

			
						

				Reply			

					


				

			
Ffolkes,




He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; 


and one only evil, namely, ignorance.”


~~ Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, xiv ~~


Scorpion-manish mamtani


Image by Manish Mamtani from Space.com



http://www.manishmamtani.com/




Good morning…. It’s a good thing I came up with the new method for these intros; on days such as this, when my mind is a vast, blank plain, without even the smallest of shiny objects, anywhere to be seen…. Instead of worrying over it, we’ll merely go on to the next section, knowing we’re covered…. See ya down the page, ffolkes….


Shall we Pearl?


“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite  you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” — Mark Twain


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






yakko__wakko__and_dot_by_slomoto-d5qotz9


Image from slowmoto at deviantart.com via Google Free Images




Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the Warner Brothers (and Sister), are the only modern cartoon I like; they hearken back to a crazier age…. Just my cuppa tea, so to speak…. Here’s a playlist with a LOT of their cartoons…. Enjoy!….




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











Yakko, Wakko, & Dot


 The Animaniacs











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



















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























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




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






buddah-out-to-lunch_s


“Do you ever think about the end of the world as we know it?” 


~~ Calvin ~~




I do…. It can be a rather daunting task to carry any such examinations to a final conclusion, for, most of the time, my calculations put us humans much closer to our own moment of truth, as a species, than anyone cares to either admit, or address, without panicking, laying blame, or, attempting to minimize the truth, to make it more palatable. From what I see happening in today’s world, both on the environmental, and the psychosocial/political/cultural fronts, it isn’t going to be long at all before we are faced with a number of severe crises, all of which will threaten our very survival as a species, or, as a civilized culture, should we be fortunate enough to survive at all….


In a general sense, I’m not certain we deserve to survive. Human history is little more than a long litany of sorrow, pain, death, and abuse of our fellow creatures, including the weakest members of our own species. Wars, political chicanery, more wars…. history is rife with Man’s inhumanity to Man, and to the other creatures with whom we share the planet. We have killed whenever we felt like it, for as little reason as the desire for power, a sickness afflicting a significant portion of the male half of the species. Nothing more than personal wants are considered sufficient reason for some to take and take and take, never considering the effects of their actions on any other living thing, nor caring….


Yet, there is good in life. A great many people are compassionate, and live to serve others, at least to the extent they love. There are a great many intelligent people, who have plumbed the secrets of the physical universe, bringing the advantages of the power of imagination to ease the lives of many others, as well as to help provide the species with the time to explore the limits of that imagination…. Art, Philosophy, Medicine, Music, all the finer characteristics of an advancing civilization have been created by the same creatures who kill for fun…. We are, for certain, a creature of great contrast; Our nature, quite naturally, mirrors the nature of reality, to wit: both good and evil coexist, as two sides of one coin, at the very core of both…


This leads, patently, to some confusion, especially in those members of our species whose power of imagination, and basic wit, are not sufficient to allow them to fully understand this concept. (Yes, I just called a lot of people “stupid”. I was trying to be nice….) This, of course, leads to a basic misunderstanding of their own nature; some people have a lot of trouble with the ambiguity that naturally exists in nature. It frightens them, as does anything they do not understand…. This fatal flaw allows them to be manipulated by any other person they have learned to trust, accepting the thoughts of others as their reality, rather than learning to face their fear, to learn  what they do not know. Learning is hard; faith is easy…


“The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true.  It is the chief occupation of mankind.” — H. L. Mencken


I admire H. L. Mencken; he wrote at the turn of the twentieth century, some time after the time called the Industrial Revolution had come to pass, solidifying technology as the primary focus of society in its advance, while simultaneously witnessing the usurpation of our democracy by the corruption of the Judicial Branch, which, bribed almost openly by corporate interests, passed laws cementing the control of the oligarchs, who now had the reins of government, industry, and the economy firmly grasped in their fat, avaricious fingers….. H. L. was fearless in pointing this out to the society of the time…. Did anyone listen? Apparently, not much….


“Government, today, is growing too strong to be safe. There are no longer any citizens in the world; there are only subjects.  They work day in and day out for their masters; they are bound to die for their masters at call.  Out of this working and dying they tend to get less and less.” — H.L. Mencken


Sound familiar? George Orwell’s novel, “1984”, detailing the horrors of the possible future of mankind, should the current cultural trends continue, was published in the mid-twentieth century, in 1949, many years after Mencken’s comments. Today, society does not look much different from the one proposed by Orwell; it’s been said that, of the more than one hundred predictions made in the book regarding society, ALL of them have come to pass…. I can believe it; anyone who doesn’t can just read the news headlines for a couple days to find graphic proof of how true it is….


“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” — Isaac Asimov


As far as I can tell, this is obvious. Yet, we continue to use the same old methods of problem solving so poorly used for millennia; sometimes I think the whole species is insane, for it doesn’t make any sense to keep using ideas and actions that don’t work…. SIGH…. It’s really frustrating to think of how stupid people act a lot of the time, especially when I know that stupidity is a choice….


Oh well…. such is life, they say. I’m tired of hearing it, but, what can ya do? Not much. In fact, for right now, I’m so damn depressed over the state of the world, I’m going to STOP ranting, and go do something more fun… You should do the same…


Go on… Find something constructive to do, ffolkes…. Go on, I mean it….. We’re done here…..




“He was a man, which, as Plato saith, is a very inconstant creature.”


~~ Plutarch ~~


~~ On the Tranquility of the Mind ~~


About Hopi Indian Symbols





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





Comedy_Tragedy




    As noted, I’ve had quite a bit of pain lately; s’okay. We’ve become old friends, me & my pain…. Here’s a poem I wrote another time I felt this way for a while….




Elemental, dear Watson….


Don’t worry,

it’s not 

me 

you hear

screaming.


It is 

only 

my bones,

giving in,

to

cowardly,

pathologically,

repetitive,

fucking,’

complaints 

of 

past abuse,

and

all the fun

we had.

playing,

hard.


I don’t mind

too much;

I can spend my

TIME

in another space 

in my head, 

pretending

my bones

don’t 

exist….


It 

is,

indeed,

a shame

they 

always

come

back….


Fuck.


It

hurts.


More proof,

I guess,

either

God isn’t,

or,

He  is.


IF


He isn’t?

Oh,

Well….


Ante up.

Deal.


IF


He is?

Then,

I don’t fucking care 

who 

doesn’t like it, 


I say,


He

is

a bully,

a coward,

a hypocrite, 

and,

truly,

an enormous asshole.


I suppose,

God

 is

what comes,

to,

and

from,

People,


because


 they

feel

a need,

for

someone

to 

blame,

for

a

Universe

they

cannot 

understand

or

accept.


I

will

take the complaints.


After all,

they

are

my bones.


~~ gigoid ~~




Written 9/14/2014.


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





Morning muse




    Today’s old-school pearl speaks very simply of life, and some of the rules, and/or ideas to remember, to help us to live it well….


“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.” — Marcus Aurelius


“Custom does often reason overrule and only serves for reason to the fool.” — John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester


“Often when he was looking on at auctions he would say, “How many things there are which I do not need!” — Diogenes Laertius — Socrates, x


“Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness.” — Lao-Tzu


“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds.  A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.” — Clive James


“You live and learn. Or you don’t live long.” — Lazarus Long


“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet


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


What an ordeal!…. Actually, it went fairly smoothly, even if Smart Bee was in a snit…. None of it matters now, of course, as we’re done. Having done all the damage I can do for one day, I’ll take my leave, to gather my resources so I can try again tomorrow, to fulfill my never-ending quest to create the perfect Pearl of Virtual Wisdom…. As today’s episode indicates clearly, we have a ways to go…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….




Y’all take care out there, 

and May the Metaphorse be with you;

Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark,Theresa, & Richy

and everyone else, too…


When I works, I works hard.

When I sits, I sits loose.

When I thinks, I falls asleep.


Which is Why….


Sometimes I sits and thinks,

   and sometimes,

I just sits.


gigoid, the dubious


PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.


“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch








Kowabunga!




À bientôt, mon cherí….