Paint all of it in flesh tones….

Posted on July 18, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Never commit yourself to a cheese without having first examined it.” — T. S. Eliot

Okay, so, you can see the expression on the baby’s face, right?…. It’s a bit hard to identify just what is going through the baby’s head, other than the obvious bit of confusion, and the apparent disbelief… To me, the face says, “What is this, and why is it looking at me like that?”, or something equally quizzical, but, much funnier…. The baby owl doesn’t look any more confident of what is happening, although it’s hard to tell with those faces owls have, just MADE for poker…. The picture, by the way, came from the London Daily Telegraph picture section, from a group of animal pix they ran a week or two ago, with the theme something to do with unlikely friendships…..

The expressions, though, are what drew me to the picture; neither of them is quite sure of how to deal with the other, and it shows…. You can also tell there is no issue of fear, only curiosity, and it’s nice to see that, especially in very young creatures…. It means they feel safe in their environment, and are not threatened by each other’s presence…. Creatures that suffer abuse lose their curiosity very quickly, I’m afraid, so it is easy to spot….

We aren’t going to spoil this by speaking of abuse; that’s a subject for another time; this picture is far too CUTE to be used to create such a volatile diatribe, which I’m sure it would turn out to be…. Nothing infuriates me more than those who abuse the weak, who take advantage of those who cannot fight back…. but, in light of the rather more uplifting nature of this shot, we’ll forgo any such ranting for now, in favor of just enjoying the nice feeling that accompanies such a picture….. It’s just too cool for words, in my estimation…. Of course, I’ve managed to use it as the basis for several hundred words, but, that’s me, and it’s what I do, so, back off….

Not too far…. hey! Watch out, you’ll back right off the wing, and fall out of the plane…. My insurance dude would be furious with me, so, please, remain in your seats until all the cocktails have been served, okay? Thanks….

As you may be able to tell, this is starting to unravel on me….. That’s what happens when we take off in one direction, only to find it’s a one-way, dead-end street…. S’okay, though, that’s why we have four-wheel drive; we just take off cross country when that happens, and usually are able to find our way back to our appointed reality…. It’s those rare occasions we DON’T make it back to the correct reality that tend to drive up the insurance costs…. But, what can we do when reality alters itself like that? Sheesh, it’s not as if we’re all Time Lords, is it?….

No, of course not, but, the assbites who sell insurance don’t care about all that…. Don’t get me started on THAT whole scam industry…. Insurance is one of the more egregious institutions foisted upon the average man by the monied elite, a completely unnecessary, unwanted, and unethical industry that takes advantage of people’s fear, to have them betting on their own death or misfortune, so that the insurers can make a huge profit…. If y’all think there is any OTHER reason for that industry to exist, please, tell me…. I’d LOVE to hear THAT set of euphemisms and logical dead-ends…. Sure I would…. I LOVE hearing bullshit until my ears bleed….

Okay, now it’s getting completely away from me, heading fast toward rant-city, so I’d better take advantage of the ending point I see…. right HERE!…. C’mon, ffolkes, we’re jumping off here, so we can get on with the rest of today’s Pearl…. Whatever this is right here, is heading for the trash heap, so, we’d best be on our way….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“The man who sees the consistency in things is a wit, the man who sees the inconsistency in things is a humorist.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

If I hear a single one of you ask, “So, what does that make you?”…. I swear, I’ll make you regret it….

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“A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.” — Buddha

I am full of piss & vinegar this morning; it’s probably a good thing nobody else is around except Murphy…. Even HE is giving me a wide berth today, as the signals I’m giving off are no doubt being picked up intergalactically, thus keeping all and sundry at a safe distance from my person…. That’s safe for them, not for me…. The only danger I’m in is from my own intransigence, and if I have to explain that, well, you should just go on to the poetry section, because you’ll never catch up otherwise….

Below I’ve placed three article links, with a small excerpt from each article added just below the link, to give an idea of the thrust of the issues involved…. I’m using the R.A. Heinlein technique of gathering headlines to show just how CRAZY everything has become in our world…. For some reason, headlines seem to give the best overall picture, as they give us the highlights of the picture, thus showing the breadth and scope of the issues under discussion without having to burden people’s minds with such unnecessary items as fact, figures, or details…. A purely American invention, as is patently clear…. Any who, here are a couple of recent articles from today’s (actually, yesterday’s…) news, after which you’ll find a fine, seven-star pearl, based on the parameters implied by the articles…..

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Michael-Copps-former-FCC-commissioner-on-net-5626535.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bustech

“This deal should be dead on arrival. We have no business doing this after Comcast 1,” Copps said. “To take this footprint that Comcast has developed over so much of the rest of the United States and impose it on so many other subscribers and so many other areas … is totally inimical to the public interest. I don’t see any conditions that would be ameliorative of that, that would make it acceptable to the public interest.”

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/The-state-of-Silicon-Valley-how-lame-is-that-5626692.php

“The drought is real. A federal meteorologist named Brad Rippey recently predicted, in an interview with Wall Street 24/7, that California would run out of water in two years. The El Niño forecast for the fall is now described as weak, with minimal effect on rainfall. Droughts don’t just last for a nice tidy two years – heck, Nevada was once an ocean…… Rippey said that the average reservoir recharge rate between 2011 and 2013 was 70 to 79 percent, while the withdrawal rate is between 126 and 140 percent of average.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/18/nurse-guantanamo-boycott-force-feed-prisoners

“One Navy nurse at Guantánamo had refused to force-feed detainees anymore and declared the practice unethical: I have come to the decision that I refuse to participate in this criminal act, Dhiab told me the nurse said…… The nurse, Dhiab tells me, is the first staffer at Guantánamo to choose medical ethics over military logic. Like all staff assigned to force-feed detainees, this Navy nurse was initially a volunteer. But when he arrived on base this spring, he told Dhiab, he encountered something different from what he expected: The story we were told was completely the opposite of what I saw.”

There, now, don’t you feel better, just for knowing all that? I thought you would….. Here’re your pearls….. enjoy, ffolkes….

“Lamachus chided a captain for a fault; and when he had said he would do so no more, “Sir,” said he, “in war there is no room for a second miscarriage.” Said one to Iphicrates, “What are ye afraid of?” “Of all speeches,” said he, “none is so dishonourable for a general as ‘I should not have thought of it.'” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Iphicrates

“He is the best of men who dislikes power.’ — Mohammed

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

“Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.” — Edward Abbey

“The world holds two classes of men – intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence.” — Abu’l-Ala-Al-Ma’arri (973-1057)

“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” — Eric Hoffer

“Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.” — Edward Abbey

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Not much can be said about Charles that hasn’t been said, so, I’ll let his poetry speak for itself…. I find him to be even more honest than most poets, who are about as honest a group as can be identified…. That is what makes them poets….

Pull a String, A Puppet Moves

each man must realize
that it can all disappear very
quickly:
the cat, the woman, the job,
the front tire,
the bed, the walls, the
room; all our necessities
including love,
rest on foundations of sand –
and any given cause,
no matter how unrelated:
the death of a boy in Hong Kong
or a blizzard in Omaha …
can serve as your undoing.
all your chinaware crashing to the
kitchen floor, your girl will enter
and you’ll be standing, drunk,
in the center of it and she’ll ask:
my god, what’s the matter?
and you’ll answer: I don’t know,
I don’t know …

~ Charles Bukowski ~

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Here’s the deal…. Above, I came close to ranting, with a twist, then created a fresh pearl, which covers most of what we do in a day…. Rather than spend a long time searching out a fresh old-school pearl, on a day when Smart Bee has already proven to be somewhat balky, I’m dipping into the archives for a religirant, one of which I have not created in some time…. Can’t let them feel as if I’m not paying any attention to them, can we? Nope…. That would be cruel….

From 7/1/2012:

Fundamentalism: an effective form of mirth control. — Smart Bee

Smart Bee is almost always right on the money, and this one is one you could take to the bank. Have you ever noticed this? It seems that in order to be ordained as a fundamentalist minister, one must lose or destroy their sense of humor. This lack of funny bone is one of the primary characteristics by which one may recognize this fortunately rare beastie; it is often accompanied by a very strong sense of hypocrisy, and a sense of entitlement all out of proportion with Reality….. and they get all upset and frothing at the mouth when someone (like me…) points out their hypocrisy, especially if the proof is obvious.

“I see little divinity about them or you. You talk to me of Christianity when you are in the act of hanging your enemies. Was there ever such blasphemous nonsense!” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), The Devil’s Disciple

This hypocritical nature is shared with the fundies by politicians, bankers, and lawyers. Of course, the fundies dress differently than the latter three categories, who all dress the same, in power suits with white shirt and power ties. You can differentiate one from another by the type of accessories they wear. Politicians usually have an American flag pin on their lapel. Bankers, of course, have a diamond stick pin for their ties. And the lawyers will usually add a vest to the suit, or wear the scales of injustice on their lapel…… Although each claims they are different from the other, all of them are adept at lying with great facility…..

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” — H.L. Mencken

This insight is quite powerful, and very true to Reality. This characteristic of the American voting public has always fascinated me, in the same way that a poisonous snake is fascinating to study…. they’re beautiful, but very dangerous to one’s health. I suppose the public’s calm, even resigned, acceptance of the lies they hear from the beloved ruling class and the priestly hierarchies is a natural outgrowth of the hypocrisy inherent in each of them individually. In other words, because they’ve chosen to believe in a certain set of lies, ie Christianity, they are only too willing to accept being lied to by their ruling class. It’s kind of pathetic, if you ask me….

“Instead of striving to be like Jesus most Christians would rather presume that Jesus was just like them.” — Callan Williams

I guess the most ironic part of all this is the absolute cluelessness of those who choose this path. They really have no idea how insane their beliefs have become; they refuse to look at any evidence that doesn’t agree with what they have chosen to believe, other than those (often erroneous or irrelevant) passages from the Bible that they will toss out with such finality. It cracks me up when someone quotes the Bible; they act as if just referring to that book denies the truth of any other source, like once they have referenced scripture, no other answer is acceptable…. when in fact, what they’ve quoted often has no relation to reality at all. And the colors they turn when this is proven to them are fascinating…..

“I don’t mind being screwed, but the government thinks I’m a nymph.” — Smart Bee

Okay, I’ll stop harassing the poor churchies now. I know it’s dishonorable to have a battle of wits with people who are unarmed, but some days I just can’t help it. I look at all the damage that churches have perpetrated on society, and my blood boils, my brain ignites, and my fingers start typing accusatory dross and ironic drivel, without conscious volition. Besides, they certainly have it coming, and they’ve had lots of practice, at deflecting accusations, and at outright lying about their motivation. So, fuck ’em, as we like to say downtown…. they’ve been doing it to me, and us, for a long time; now it’s my turn….

Man, n.: An animal so lost in rapturous contemplation of what he thinks he is as to overlook what he indubitably ought to be. His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth and Canada. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

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I suppose it would be fruitful, not to mention the whole “acting with foresight” thing, if I went back over this, to see if it floats…. “Okay, be right back,” he said with misplaced confidence…

“Well,”, he said with alacrity, “I’d say it will not only float, it will swim…”…. Where it might swim TO is a question I don’t believe any of us have ANY interest in pursuing…. It would serve no purpose for any of us at this juncture to speculate, and might even cause a spontaneous fire…. I think it would be best to just to let it go, and see what transpires….

So be it….. gigoid has spoken…. such as THAT may be.

See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…. Even if, like yesterday, only ONE person drops by…. It’s a good thing I’m writing to protect the world, or it might just get me depressed…. Since I write to stay sane, which is the protection I spoke of, it’s no big deal…. Ta, then, luvs…..

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

Olive, or peanut oil for the fries?….

Posted on July 17, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
— The Beatles, The last lyric of their last song

I’ve begun to put both a pearl, and a picture, at the beginning of the Daily Pearls, which, you may have noted, if you’ve stopped by in the last week or so…. After almost three years of, (literally, AND figuratively) pounding my head against the keyboard, in order to stimulate the wherewithal to create an introduction, I’m resorting to new ideas, and new techniques, to get the “little grey cells” working, or at minimum, provide a starting point for discussion….

Today, my choice of quote and picture, while at first appearing to be be quite normal, even a bit elegant, will actually, over time, create a rather disturbing inner dynamic, which could conceivably turn into unwarranted disaster….

All that, you might wonder, from one little picture of a nearly-dead flower, and a lyric? An old lyric, at that? Well, yes…. it is often a surprise to discover just how dangerous the world really is, so, it isn’t so much surprising, as it is inconvenient, and, to be honest, somewhat of a PITA…. Who needs this kind of crap from a blog, eh? Not me, for sure, and it’s MY damn blog! What the hell is going on here?

Nothing, ffolkes, relax…. that was hyperbole…. Faux panic is always a good way to move on to another subject; one can always claim personal preference, and be assigned to a new counselor…. Of course, you’ll never find another counselor like us, but, hey, if you’re too scared to go on, well, we won’t cast stones… We may jeer and taunt you for a while, but, stones are not allowed under the terms of our insurance….

So, please, just chill, and keep you eye a little closer on the altitude meter….. when you see us approaching a ceiling, see the instruction sheet in the seat back ahead of you, to learn how to don your life vest….

If you should happen to be at a seat without instructions, just observe how the person next to you deals with their own vest, and you should be fine…. We’ve never lost a Gentle Reader, so, that’s something, right? Of course, there was that one time, back in the day, when we couldn’t find that guy from Arkansas for a couple of hours, but, he turned out to be fine….. just passed out in the toilet from accessing the in-flight service bar once or twice too often…. He had a terrific hangover, but, no grounds for any litigation, so it all worked out well….

And look, so has this intro section! I’ve managed to wander, ramble, and blather enough to have found a proper jumping off point, which is all we need to get going on this deal…. So, I’m taking advantage of the suitable environmental structure we’ve come across, and diving right in…. Let’s go, ffolkes, you don’t want to get left behind….

Shall we Pearl?…..

I ‘m armed with more than complete steel,–
The justice of my quarrel.

— Christopher Marlowe (1565-1593) — Lust’s Dominion, Act iii, Sc. 4

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

“Ignorance of one’s ignorance is the greatest ignorance.” — Smart Bee

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/07/15/not-all-conservative-white-guys/

Fucking brilliant….. No other lesser phrasing would be powerful enough to express how strongly I believe in what Mark has written here…. He is absolutely, 100% on target with his observations, and delivers a message that even the most hardened idiot has to hear…. of course, until they just get that glazed look on their face, and deny, deny, deny…. which they will do, immediately, by the millions, should they get even two paragraphs into this article…. Mark has a way with words like no one else, and he uses them here to once again skewer the GOP, and the group that I call the Asininnies….. He’s done it so well, I’m tempted to say he did it perfectly…..

“Counts his sure gains, and hurries back for more.” — James Montgomery (1771-1854) — The West Indies, Part iii

Sniff…. It brings a tear of joy to my curmudgeonly soul to hear, and feel, the brilliantly sharp sardonicism Mark brings to bear, on the asininity, and the sheer stupidity that permeates the entire rich, white, Judeo-Christian fundamentalist, corporate mentality…. You know, the one that fills the halls of our government in Washington, all 50 state capitals, and every bloody church in this somewhat less than diversified land of ours….. The ranks of those who refuse to use their brains for anything beyond transporting their bowels from one toilet to another are bursting with politicians, lawyers, priests, preachers, quasi-military police nimrods, and corporate raptors, viciously dispassionate in their unending search for more power, and more resources to control…. all without any regard, or concern of any kind, for anyone whose lifestyle and/or beliefs do not match their own limited views….

It took me a while to compose the above paragraph; I tried to be as condemning as possible, without resorting to vulgarity…. I think it worked okay, in that it’s clear how I feel about those assholes…. but, due primarily to my own tendency toward pomposity, it could be better, and leads me to believe you just can’t replace a good round of swearing and cursing for delivering a message like this one…. I could have said most of that, and delivered the same message, with a simple, “the bloody fucking assholes are doing it again”, with minor amplification for corroboration of details….

Shit flows downhill, you know, so, it’s best to fling it before we get any on ourselves…. Besides, with the way most of those in the 1% treat most everyone else, they deserve every bit of our disdain and vituperation, as well as our vulgarity…. THEY are the ones who live their lives in a vulgar manner…. What word, other than “vulgar”, better befits the likes of Rush Limbaugh, or Dick Cheney, or Karl Rove, three of the bastions of conservative thought?…. None I can think of, and my vocabulary is pretty extensive…. Just putting their images in my mind gives me a shudder of revulsion, worse than any I’ve ever gotten from snakes, lizards, or insects, let me tell you….

Once again, Mark has said it better than I am currently capable of doing, so, I’m going to soothe my fevered brow with an old school pearl, to vent some of the angst and anger that builds up in me whenever I consider the egregious immorality of those at the top of the societal pyramid of power…. those fucking assholes…. Here is a seven star old-school pearl, with parameters designed to find some sharp, pointed sticks, which we shall then envision to be flying directly at the lying eyes of the pundits….

“Government of the people, by the lawyers, for the conservatives.” — Smart Bee

“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.” — Malcolm X

“We are doing the right thing and we do not see the bad things.” — Vice President Dan Quayle pretending he is one of the wise monkeys

“If you can’t get a job, get a senate appointment!!!” — Smart Bee

“Basically a dog person. I certainly, though, wouldn’t want to offend my constituents who are cat people, and I should say that being, I hope, a sensitive person, that I have nothing against cats, and had cats when I was a boy, and if we didn’t have the two dogs might very well be interested in having a cat now.” — Incoming Missouri Congressman James Talent, — responding to the question Are you a dog or a cat person? (Mr. Talent is a graduate, summa cum idiotum, of the Dan Quayle School of Political Science-Like Stuff)

“One can imagine a sane, healthy, cheerful human society based on no more than the principles of common sense, as validated each day by work, play, and living experience. But this remains the most Utopian and fantastic of ideals.” — Edward Abbey

“If God had intended for politicians to ski, he would have made bullshit white.” — Smart Bee

This is an example of what I call a “rock-solid” pearl…. When you see quotes from Smart Bee at either end, and smack in the middle, you can trust that this pearl is one that will hold its shape under the most trying of circumstances, as well as being so sharp, it can puncture the eye of a pundit without leaving a permanent mark….. It’s that solid, sharp, and real…. Much like a fine stiletto in the hands of Mack….. You know, Mack, the Knife? Bobby Darin? No…. Oh well, a sharp stiletto, in the hands of one who knows how to use it, is a VERY dangerous weapon…. silent, deadly, and leaves almost no trace of its work….. trust me on this…. Hmm, maybe we’d best go on…..

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

I need some Emily….

No Rack can torture me—
My Soul—at Liberty—
Behind this mortal Bone
There knits a bolder One—

You cannot prick with saw—
Nor pierce with Scimitar—
Two Bodies—therefore be—
Bind One—The Other fly—

The Eagle of his Nest
No easier divest—
And gain the Sky
Than mayest Thou—

Except Thyself may be
Thine Enemy—
Captivity is Consciousness—
So’s Liberty.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Far be it from me to question reality, but, isn’t this the third section? Aren’t I supposed to be done now? I want to be done now…. Oh well, duty calls, so, I’ll put down my goblet of morning whine, & save it for later…. Instead, we’ll just get started on another old-school pearl, which will go right here, so I can say I did something today, other than just fool around….

I have, of course, fooled around enough so far today to beat the band, but, it works for me….. We’ll just ignore all that, and get on with this random, harlequin style pearl, fresh as a daisy, which, when you think of it, isn’t too fresh, because, hey, it just got picked, and is losing life and strength every second, and perhaps we’d better just get on with it, because, if I don’t take a breath, or end this sentence, I’m going to pass out….. Here, have some pearls….

“Time carves all. Let yourself be carved to attain your true nature.” — Master Po

“Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.” — Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)

“Nothing gives so much direction to a person’s life as a sound set of principles.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Know then this truth (enough for man to know),– “Virtue alone is happiness below.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 309

“In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress”toward victory.
— Alfred North Whitehead

“The effects which follow too constant and intense a concentration upon evil are always disastrous. Those who crusade, not _for_ God in themselves, but _against_ the devil in others, never succeed in making the world better, but leave it either as it was, or sometimes even perceptibly worse than it was, before the crusade began. By thinking primarily of evil we tend, however excellent our intentions, to create occasions for evil to manifest itself.” — Aldous Huxley — The Devils of Loudun

“What comes from this quarter, set it down as so much gain.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Adelphoe, Act v, Sc. 3, 30, (816.)

In the eternally relevant words of Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin), “And that’s the TRUTH! Thppppppt!”

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Okay, so, here we are again, at the end of another fine mess, created fresh this morning by yours truly, gigoid, the dubious, who has, in every respect, lived up to his sobriquet today…. If that confuses you, or makes you feel angry, and afraid, or even just silly, well, it can’t be helped…. I’ve never made any bones about this being a safe occupation; we do what we can to satisfy the insurance drones, but, if there is no risk, where is the motivation to stay alert, eh? The world needs as many lerts as it can get…..

So be it….. gigoid has spoken. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

Only use the strongest poison for the nastiest vermin….

Posted on July 16, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate.” — Euripides

I am up incredibly late, due to a completely unprecedented event, one that took me by surprise…. At the usual time, about 4 AM, I rolled over, looked at the clock, and said to myself, “Oh, go back to sleep!”…. The unprecedented part is, I did…. Fancy that…. Unfortunately for my schedule, that little snooze lasted another hour and a half, so now I’m already under the gun, and have barely started….

What does that have to do with a cheeky squirrel? Well, nothing really, other than their placement here at the beginning of today’s effort…. The squirrel, whom I met yesterday during my walk, lives downtown, near the library, in a park between a couple buildings…. He, (How do I know?…. look more closely at the picture, ffolkes….) is obviously quite used to people, as he walked right up to me to beg for treats, only stopping about three feet away from my feet, to stand up and look me right in the eye, as if saying, “Well, where’s the nuts?”…. I did have a scone, which I proceeded to share with him…. He sat a few feet away, calmly but quickly scarfing down the cake and blueberries like a true urbanite…. I was almost surprised he didn’t ask for a hit of my coffee….

Instead, he just looked at me, as if to say, “Thanks”, then politely turned away & jumped down off the bench next to me, running over to a bush to explore underneath, looking for more goodies, I would venture to guess…. I think it’s a nice thing that the people of this town have been so tolerant of the animals in the park that they have no strong fear of humans, and can coexist with them without any problems…. It is fairly unusual, in my experience, and good to see….

It’s a bit hard on my curmudgeonly nature, though, and definitely puts a test to my training…. but, small, furry creatures tend to hit me in my soft spot, so, screw it, it was a good day, and a good encounter with another one of this planet’s denizens…. who taught me a fine lesson about dignity of spirit…. How so, you may ask? The next picture should give you a clue…. just think, dogs, cats, etc. and how they act in public at times…. and you’ll see just how important dignity really is in the real world….

I rest my case….. WHY do they do that, you may ask? Because they can….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“There is a fine circumstance connected with the character of a Cynic,–that he must be beaten like an ass, and yet when beaten must love those who beat him, as the father, as the brother of all.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Of the Cynic Philosophy, — Discourses, Book iii, Chap. xxii

SIGH…. I KNEW there was a catch to this curmudgeonly old cynic business!… Oh well, bring it on….

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“All things change; nothing perishes.” — Ovid

As noted, today’s post will be put together, primarily, using material from the archives…. Here then is the first of those cheats, with a quick, unusual little rant from the past, produced prior to the last presidential election….. Enjoy!….

From April 2012:

During his 1956 presidential campaign, a woman called out to Adlai E. Stevenson “Senator, you have the vote of every thinking person!” Stevenson called back “That’s not enough, madam, we need a majority!”

Obviously, this implies he was part of the minority, along with not enough voters…. Mr. Stevenson was perhaps the last truly rational man to run for the highest office our country offers, hindered only by his commitment to honesty. I’ve seen a number of articles about that campaign, and it’s clear in my mind that his very rationality is what gave the election to the other candidate.

He made every attempt he could to try to engage the minds of Americans, naively, as it turns out. His opponent, Eisenhower, just mostly kept his mouth shut and let his slogans speak for him, such as “I like Ike!”, and other such intellectual standards, that appealed directly to the American public’s misplaced sense of national pride.

After four years of post WWII and the Korean war economic boom(s), it wasn’t hard for the Republicans to rest on their laurels, firmly attached to the coattails of a war hero…. There was, and still is, no place on the political scene in this country for rationality, obviously, as Ike and his ilk won in a landslide…. So much for the opportunity to see what a “thinking man’s president” might be able to accomplish….

The chances of such a man being elected today are even slimmer, considering that, in today’s media-frenzied world, those candidates who can be the most sly, underhanded, and completely dishonest, are those who catch the eye, and the votes, of the great unwashed, uneducated masses who now comprise the voting public….

“It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.” — Bertrand Russell

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

Conscientiously, I cannot use another poet’s work today, to save the blame for this where it belongs, right in MY lap….

Joe Friday’s lament

Life is short, and though I’m odd, they say
it really doesn’t bother me
to realize there is no God, per se.

Though other folks will disagree
and tell me I’m wrong
I won’t believe it, with naught to see.

Liars called padre tell me, have humility,
and do as the authorities say,
then fondle little boys with facility.

They also tell me to share the wealth
and give them a 10% tithe
so they don’t have get it by stealth.

So spare me the delusions, please
don’t bother with such a tale;
I’m nobody that needs such a tease.

Keep your fantasies under your hat
and out of my face;
I don’t need them, they’ll make me fat….. headed.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

I don’t even feel up to picking out an old-school pearl today, and don’t have any time to fret over it, either…. It’s already light…. So, here is another rant, from the same year, different month…..

From 5/29/2012:

“Why shouldn’t WOMEN have to put the toilet seat back UP?!” — Smart Bee

When I was working, a popular subject for water-cooler discussion was the ongoing, never-ending war between the sexes. For some reason not clear to me, men and women seem to feel as if they are in competition with each other, in a contest to find the most annoying things about the other sex, and make fun of them for those qualities. One of the typical conflicts between the two has always been the toilet seat, a conflict arising out of the very basic differences in the plumbing system of each gender. Men are pointers, women are setters, and the difference is critical only because we both use the same appliance to deal with our needs.

The above question is often asked by men, usually after an argument over having failed to put it down after using the facilities. Being a man, it naturally seems to be a relevant question to me, but for some reason it just seems to piss off the woman involved. I mean, it DOES have hinges; the process of moving it up and down isn’t rocket science, and isn’t particularly hard to figure out. But, due to the ongoing hostilities, women have decreed that it is the responsibility of men to make sure the seat is in the down position, ready for the female to use. How this came to be will, no doubt, forever remain a mystery, but is nonetheless true.

“There will always be a battle between the sexes because men and women want different things. Men want women and women want men.” — George Burns

Thus far in history, at least that part of history since the invention of the toilet, and the hinged seat for it, a solution has never been found. It often seems to me that men and women must enjoy the ongoing war, because neither side seems willing to approach the issue with anything other than ego and divisiveness.

No real solution has ever been sought, to my knowledge. Women spend their time trying to “domesticate” their men to put the seat down after using the toilet, and men spend their time ignoring them, thus ensuring that the conflict will continue. It all seems a bit pointless to me, as I can see two or three possible answers to the question that would serve to ease the hostilities….

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. — Taoist Proverb29/2012

This little gem from Taoist philosophy holds the key to the end of the war. If men and women can, just for a few moments, look at the matter with logic, with the purpose of improving the situation, I believe the answers will make themselves apparent. One answer, in my mind, needs no physical effort at all; it involves a difficulty, but only because people find it difficult to make changes in themselves. If both men and women could, and would, put aside the anger and emotional investment in the conflict, then one small attitude adjustment would suffice to remove the entire problem….

If men could develop some sensitivity (I know, tough when it’s essentially foreign to their nature, but still possible to develop….), then they could see how leaving it up could conceivably cause problems for those who must sit down to use the appliance. As a matter of fact, this is how I personally became aware of the solution, for I once sat down to use the toilet, and found myself falling into the bowl, as someone had left the seat up, and I hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences, and from that time on, I was more conscientious about putting it down…. so, just a bit of empathy, and that won’t be a problem for men to take the second to put the seat down….

Women would also need to develop more empathy for men for the solution to work for them. The toilet seat is on hinges, and as mentioned, isn’t particularly hard to learn how to use. It’s just up or down, and no other choices. So, some tolerance for the forgetfulness that is part of the male nature would go a long way toward solving the bitterness when they leave it up; just put it down for goodness sake, and don’t complicate the issue with anger and emotional storms, all over a moment that in other situations would prompt the woman to feel affection for the man’s charming childishness….

Another solution presents itself to my awareness, as well. The toilet, and the whole system we use, have not been looked at with the intent of improving it for centuries. The toilets we use today would be recognizable to John Harrington, inventor of flushing toilets in 1596 (which is why they are called “johns”, btw…..); it hasn’t changed shape or basic function since its invention all those centuries ago.

It seems to me that a clever engineer could figure out some way to eliminate the need for the toilet seat altogether, thus eliminating the whole issue.

(No comments, please, on using the word elimination in re: this whole issue. It works, it fit, so get your mind out of the gutter for a bit…. (I don’t know about y’all, but, my mama taught me to pay attention to any advice that rhymes….) I mean, we can put men on the moon, and currently have people living in our space on the ISS, hundreds of miles above the highest mountains; why on earth can’t we figure out how to make a toilet easy to use for both sexes…. Seems like a no-brainer to me…. But, since no brains are involved in the process, I guess that isn’t surprising….

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

I’ve thrown this together so fast, yet taken so many breaks, it’s coming out late anyway; so be it. It’s done, and that’s the best it’s going to get….. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, when I’ll hopefully have a bit more in me to create with….. gigoid has spoken…..

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

Songs of hearth and home….

Posted on July 15, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on,–
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone.

— John Keats (1795-1821) — Ode on a Grecian Urn

The advent of cell phones with good cameras, along with the release of the above, a Go Pro digital camera, has revolutionized photography, in terms of who can take photos that may become famously known, on the Net, or via the news and magazine route…. The above photograph, taken from some news site, (where it was found along with many others, most of them taken by amateurs, rather than mostly professional photographers, as was the case for most of our history….), is a perfect example of another area that has changed along with the technology, i.e., language…. The new word, “selfie” has entered the language, where everyone now knows exactly what it means, and what is meant to say the above photo is one of an owl, taking a selfie….

To honor that new word, and to acknowledge its speed of acceptance as common, I have just entered it into my Spell Checker, (all three of them) because it didn’t recognize the word…. Now, it’s an officially recognized word, complete with dictionary entry, and an example (above) of how the word, and the process, have already become so ubiquitous, it can be used to anthropomorphize the owl, having it assume the human characteristic of self-aggrandizement, or overweening pride….

Alright, that’s probably enough for one morning…. I’m not accustomed to beginning an examination of language evolution so early in the day….. Hell, I’m not accustomed to much of anything, other than getting up & trying to find something worthwhile in my recalcitrant brain to put on screen…. I like the picture, though, and it meets, and/or exceeds the general standards for both cute, and compelling, so I don’t think I’ll be whining or regretting my decision to go with it today…. Besides, three paragraphs in is a little late to have second thoughts….

Now those thoughts have surfaced, however, I can’t help but wonder….. No, no, no….. I won’t do it….. I won’t go there any more; I promised myself I wouldn’t, and it never does any good, anyway…. I suppose, since I’m not going there, perhaps I should turn my ability to wonder to the task of figuring out what the hell we’re going to do today for pearls….

My brain is in the beginning stages of panic, as I have a dental appointment tomorrow…. As I may have mentioned, dentists and I are still somewhat at odds, in terms of my willingness to submit to the necessity for their assistance with my dentistry needs…. In short, I fucking hate to go to the dentist, and suffer the agonies of pre-appointment jitters for a day or two before each time I go…. I’ve even had to talk myself out of canceling & rescheduling twice, once yesterday, & once already this morning….

But, that’s tomorrow, and today still needs a Pearl…. as will tomorrow. Giving in to the panic now won’t help, so, I’ll find a way to get through this, somehow…. I am going to have to look for some kind of ending for this, first, but, that shouldn’t take too lon….. Oh, look, here we are now…. I figured we must be getting close…. Okay, then, off we go….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“It ain’t so much the things we don’t know that get us in trouble. It’s the things we know that ain’t so.” — Artemus Ward aka Charles Farrar Brown

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

“Conquer your fear and you need fear no more.” — Smart Bee

Having personally tested this aphorism more than seven hundred times, in real-time, real-life episodes of physical violence, I can attest to it’s truth, and it’s applicability to almost every human endeavor…. Once we learn how to handle being afraid, it is useful to us in virtually every aspect of life, improving out basic ability to deal with whatever life has for us, with a clearer mind, and a relatively untroubled heart….

Then, of course, we turn to matter of mind, and culture, and the fear returns, seven-fold….. No matter how personally capable we are of dealing with the fear we all feel when threatened, physically, it doesn’t help when we come to deal with matters of that affect us as members of a society that is bent on self-destruction, and places such dreadful stress on its denizens each day, to deal with all the insanity and absurdly immoral events played out on the world stage, time after time….. For example, here are two articles from yesterday’s UK Guardian (a foreign news site that tends to give us much more pertinent and relevant information on American culture than our own news organizations do…. though these particular articles are concern the British public scenario….), that should give an idea of just how bad things are…. Read these, then I’ll spew….

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/14/drip-government-data-retention-investigatory-powers-bill-horrors

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/14/gchq-tools-manipulate-online-information-leak

The UK government, with David the Cameron at its head, is in lockstep with Barry the Obama when it comes to slick, impressive-sounding speech patterns, that SOUND as if they are working hard to help the average joe…. when in fact, they are busily screwing them, spying unreservedly on those self-same joes, invading their privacy, essentially eradicating all of the personal rights given to both our populations by the efforts of our ancestors….. Both the UK and US spy agencies (CIA, GCHQ, NSA, etc….) are sharing information and computer hacking techniques just like twins share facial features, and lying their asses off about how far it has already gone….

Now the UK is trying to pass legislation that will make their spying more legal, in their eyes…. which is actually just playing catch up, with the proposed ~~repression~~, er, legislation merely detailing, and making legal, all the clandestine, illegal collection of information that has been taking place since 2001…. The fact of its illegality is being completely ignored, and you can bet, even if we should manage to get them (politicians) back under control, not a single politician, or spy agency official, will ever be prosecuted, or go to jail for their crimes against society…. Any wagers on that?…. I didn’t think there would be…. It’s a sucker’s bet….

I keep pounding away at this, and the US & UK citizenry continues to bury its collective clueless head in the sand, much to the delight of the BRC and the Asininnies, who are pleased to note, I’m sure, that the populace of this country, and England, are as easily fooled, and as easily led into compliance, as any herd of cows could be…. I’m getting more than just a little frustrated at the sheer STUPIDITY of the American public, and wish, strongly, that there was some way to actually get through to the stupid fools, who actually believe their elected officials have their interests in mind…. Bloody idiots, every one of them….

Bah, humbug! I’m pissed again, because it’s all so fucking stupid, and nothing is going to change…. All I can do is sit here, and watch, as our species continues its headlong rush toward extinction, merrily skipping down the path to perdition without a clue….. Oh well, I suppose my best bet is to put together a short five-star pearl, to soothe my fevered brow…. Here are some thoughts on the subject, from our old friend Smart Bee….

“When you outlaw rights, only outlaws will have rights.” — Smart Bee

“Draft politicians, not human beings.” — antidraft slogan coined by Jeff Daiell, 1979

“In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi

“All people are born alike — except Republicans and Democrats.” — Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

“Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man’s task.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xxvii

This pearl, ffolkes, is deeper, and more accurate than it may appear on first look…. Look at it just right, though, and it pokes a nice hole in the invisibility cloak the BRC thinks they are wearing, when they tell their lies to us….

Onward….

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

Here is a poem of mine that speaks to the above subject….. I wrote this in September of 2012, when the imminent presidential election was on my mind a lot, along with the above material, and it’s implications, should Mitt the Twit have reached office…. It DOES give the only real answer to their chicanery…. A reminder that our only REAL defense is already in our grasp….

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 ~~

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

So, here we are, in section three already…. Today’s Pearl has come together much more smoothly than anticipated, so, after a short break, I’ll put together a worthy old-school pearl, probably a standard seven-star version, with random parameters to keep it fresh and, well, reasonably under our watchful eyes, if not our complete control…. Enjoy, ffolkes!….

“I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now? Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” — John Lennon

“It is easy for men to talk one thing and think another.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 322

“All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural propensities.” — Edmund Burke (1729-1797) — Reflections on the Revolution in France, — Letter i, On a Regicide Peace, Vol. v, p. 286

“[Freedom is] the power to live as you will. Who then lives as he wills?” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

“It is in the shelter of each other that people live.” — Irish proverb

“Always do what you are afraid to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

“For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate error so long as reason is left free to combat it.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

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

I am, as usual, uncertain just how this Pearl came to be; I was there the whole time, observing closely, and still haven’t a clue as to how I got it done, especially in such a timely fashion…. I do, however, know enough not to question it, or worry overmuch about it, as it IS done, and that is the primary characteristic we look for…. Anything else that can be said of it is moot, once that is determined…. As such, I am now legally, and ethically required to say my goodbyes, or just dump you on your proverbial butt as I leave the scene, all dignity destroyed, but, content to be finished for the day…. Gotta go play out in the Big Blue Room for a while today, so, see y’all tomorrow…..

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

His reality check was returned for insufficient funds….

Posted on July 14, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

There are times, such as today, when I just don’t have the chutzpah for this…. On those days, fortunately, I can dip into a very large repository of my older work, since, over the last three years, I’ve written over 3 million words, equal to more than 4000 pages of material. I know, it’s more than it seems like I could have done, but, hey, at about 2000 words a day, it adds up quickly….

Not to say all of it is Pulitzer-candidate-worthy, by any means, although, in my estimation, a few pages of it could make the grade, if it was all in one piece…. But, that isn’t why I wrote it; the main thrust of my efforts were taken to prevent overt insanity taking over my life, sending me into a depression I would no doubt have wallowed in for a long time…. For a while there, it looked as if my retirement wasn’t going to go well, but, everything has worked out for the best, and I am content….

I am not, however, quite ready for this today, so, I’ll be dipping into the past again, to find something suitable for today’s “look and feel”, and screw Steve Jobs, even if he IS dead…. In fact, let’s start right now, with a bit of a fictional opening from the past….

From 7/13/2012:

“What we have heah, is a failyuh to obfuscate.” On that hopelessly obscure note, the tiny little alien, which looked suspiciously, not to mention confusingly, like an orange bulldog in a green jumpsuit, wobbled what was apparently his head weakly from side to side, formed what seemed to be a smile with what seemed to be a mouth, closed what appeared to be his eyes (I think it’s a he…), and fell backwards into the lap of the fat dignitary seated in back of the podium…. the mayor, I believe….

Everything would have been okay, but the mayor apparently thought the alien was going to throw up on him, and proceeded to dump the poor wee beastie off the stage, into the crowd, which started using him for a soccer ball (the alien’s personal defense system caused him to roll up into an impenetrable ball…. cute, but confusing fir the crowd, I suppose….)…. A real mess…. While it wasn’t the most dignified ending to a press conference I’d seen in my days in the mayor’s office, it was better than the one we tried to hold after the sewers all exploded at once…. No matter how hard we blew the fans, the smell wouldn’t disperse….

Ever since the entropy bomb went off last year, it’s been pretty crazy around here, what with the Anti-Alien groups fighting it out with the End of Timers, while the remnants of the churches are busy dealing with the twelve disciples of Jesus, who ALL rose from the dead, and are now recanting their stories on the talk show circuit, with franchised copies of the shows running even on Al-Jazeera….. When the Chief of the World Police issued his proclamation of insanity, and said his officers would now be found patrolling the subways, because it was too dangerous for them on the streets, well, things really began to deteriorate….

End of fictional opening…. I don’t know about y’all, but, I like it…. In fact, it’s entirely possible I may just make this the first of these fictional openings I’ve done to be chosen for completion…. It’s a good start, so I may see where it takes me for a while…. It’s just so weird, it just might make a good story…… provided I can find the proper middle, and ending to fit the beginning…. Time will tell, I suppose….. For now, this intro is, again, getting out of hand, so, we’ll just bail…. right here, right now….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap. xviii

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

As mentioned above, today’s Pearl will contain a lot of archived material…. Let’s begin with a fine rant from last year, in the spring….. or, in the words of Willy-boy from Avon, from the Ides of March….

From 3/17/2013:

“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time–a tremendous whack.” — Sir Winston Churchill

I have used this quote previously, usually as part of a group of pearls leading to some point or another; it’s a very good quote, strong, positive, with a solid essence of meaning. It’s also damn good advice, which I try to heed at every opportunity I give myself to rant…. Winnie had a very good point here, mainly because he had the task of getting an entire island full of asses who believe themselves to be independent minded to work together to save those selfsame asses from the Germans, who were themselves displaying their own form of assholiness…. A bloody disgusting task, if you ask me, but, he was obviously the man for the job, as he seldom gave a shit about what anyone else thought, about much of anything….

The insight shown in this statement, however, is much deeper than is at first apparent…. Winnie understood that the average Englishman, as is true for the whole planet, as a rule of thumb, is pretty stupid, and stubborn to boot, being mostly unwilling to listen to anything they don’t wish to hear, whether smart or dumb, much less see any need to act on it. This, as might be clear to others, as it is to me, is NOT a particularly valuable frame of mind if one wishes to survive, and Winnie, knowing his people, was quite willing to use a two-by-four as his primary teaching tool to get his points across to the idiots he was forced to deal with during WWII….

Sad to say, this stupidity on the part of the larger part of humanity continues to this day…. Witness, if you will, the current crop of movies, if you wish to get a clue as to where the mind of humanity is focused…. It may amaze you, and will most likely depress you, to see that there is not a single movie about anything more serious than adolescent acne anywhere to be seen… Oh, there are what are termed psychological thrillers, but, they are mostly just shock literature, designed to make a good screenplay more than to explore the human psyche…. Nothing out there is remotely intelligent, because there just isn’t a market for it…..

I’m not proposing any solutions here; this is strictly a gripe session, for my benefit only. I get so tired of watching the parade of human events, because it so often turns sad, and depressing, to see how stupid and ignorant people can be…. and how cowardly most people are in asserting morality in public…. You know a society is going downhill when the police drive around acting as if they are under siege, and the people do not trust them at all to show either fairness, or restraint. In the town where I live, the worst traffic offenders I see on a daily basis are the police, who set the worst possible example for other drivers, even, and especially, when they are NOT responding to calls….

And the government wonders why nobody trusts them? Our society is sick, ffolkes, and I’m out here with my pile driver to hit that point again. That last paragraph was my second hit, and now, the tremendous whack of which Winnie spoke….

We are all responsible for the sorry state of the world, equally…. Those of us who are not actively engaged in actions which are destructive, are guilty of not speaking up often enough to get the attention of those who are, nor are we engaged in doing anything which will stop their deliberate depredations. They are guilty of being assholes, yes…. but we are all guilty of complicity in that, and can claim no less responsibility for when we fall down the hole we’ve been digging for ourselves…. And, that is the TRUTH….

“I’m amoral, and it’s been bothering my conscience.” — Smart Bee

“To escape criticism — do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.” — Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” — Romans 2:1

(I’ve always maintained there is a lot of good advice in the Bible, as long as one doesn’t go all fanatic about its origin…. this is a perfect example of the veracity and relevance of that contention….)

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

This poet needs no adorning phrases from me, or anyone else; his work has stood on its own, very well, for a long time…. All you have to do is enjoy it….

SWEENEY AMONG THE NIGHTINGALES

APENECK SWEENEY spreads his knees
Letting his arms hang down to laugh,
The zebra stripes along his jaw
Swelling to maculate giraffe.

The circles of the stormy moon
Slide westward toward the River Plate,
Death and the Raven drift above
And Sweeney guards the horned gate.

Gloomy Orion and the Dog
Are veiled; and hushed the shrunken seas;
The person in the Spanish cape
Tries to sit on Sweeney’s knees

Slips and pulls the table cloth
Overturns a coffee-cup,
Reorganized upon the floor
She yawns and draws a stocking up;

The silent man in mocha brown
Sprawls at the window-sill and gapes;
The waiter brings in oranges
Bananas figs and hothouse grapes;

The silent vertebrate in brown
Contracts and concentrates, withdraws;
Rachel née Rabinovitch
Tears at the grapes with murderous paws;

She and the lady in the cape
Are suspect, thought to be in league;
Therefore the man with heavy eyes
Declines the gambit, shows fatigue,

Leaves the room and reappears
Outside the window, leaning in,
Branches of wisteria
Circumscribe a golden grin;

The host with someone indistinct
Converses at the door apart,
The nightingales are singing near
The Convent of the Sacred Heart,

And sang within the bloody wood
When Agamemnon cried aloud,
And let their liquid droppings fall
To stain the stiff dishonored shroud.

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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

This section will, as usual, hold an old-school pearl, in order to soothe my guilt, by producing at least this much of today’s post fresh…. such as it is…. This one has parameters of its own; I let SB figure out what might work, and can only hope for the best…. Let’s see what’s out there, besides the Truth…. Fox and Mulder told us, so we can be sure, the Truth is Out There…..

Freedom has a thousand charms to show,
That slaves, howe’er contented, never know.

— William Cowper (1731-1800) — Table Talk, Line 260

“Thou art the man.” — Old Testament — 2 Samuel xii, 7

A monk said to Joshu, “Your stone bridge is widely renowned, but coming here I find only a heap of rocks.”
Joshu said, “You see only the stones and not the bridge.”
The monk said, “What is the bridge?”
Joshu said, “What do you think we are walking on?”

“Conquer your fear and you need fear no more.” — Smart Bee

“He said that men ought to remember those friends who were absent as well as those who were present.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Thales, ix

Of all that writ, he was the wisest bard, who spoke this mighty truth
He that knew all that ever learning writ,
Knew only this that he knew nothing yet.

— MRS. APHRA BEHN

“The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.” — Chinese proverb

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

Here we are…. finally…. I’m a bit confused, but, that’s normal; my confusion arose when I ask myself why the last pearl took twice as long to complete as the first two… If the intro hadn’t taken so long, I’d still be there, would never have gotten here, and thus, would have been even later…. It’s as if this morning’s supply of entropy exceeds the serenity of spirit I’ve built up, so much so, it started affecting reality more than its presence would normally warrant…. or something…. Well, it’s that, or I’m a bozo, and we all know what that implies, don’t we? Yep, and since we are proscribed from discussing that in public, lest we singe our eyebrows, we’ll just ignore the whole issue, and do our best to bring this to a close…. Since doing so with any degree of dignity is long gone, we’ll just do this….

See ya, ffolkes, it’s been real…. Tomorrow, maybe I will have found some of my sanity, or, at least, a semblance of same sufficient to produce a more elegant submission…. Choppy and strange as it is, this will have to do….. Ta then, luvs…..

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

Doling out a measure of peace….

Posted on July 13, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Always be curmudgeonly. Don’t ever forgive. Go home infrequently. Just keep loose. Mostly, never opine. Pick quirky relatives. Stay tough underneath. Vote. Watch xenophobia, you zealot.

There…. my version of alphabetical alliteration…. Pretty cool, eh? I don’t think I missed any letters, or got any out of sequence…. If I did, I’m sure you’ll…. What? Hell, I don’t have a clue what it MEANS. I just wrote it. Come to think of it, I probably shouldn’t be so quick to claim authorship; who knows? Somebody else might have already done this, and I’m plagiarizing, for all I know….. Somehow, though, it’s a bit hard to believe that anyone else would take credit for something as lame as this…. not if they intended for anyone to have any respect for them as a writer….

Me, I gave up on that a long time ago…. I’ll settle for what I got yesterday, which was a comment stating one reader always enjoys my work as a change of pace from the news…. Yes, he’s a bit strange, too, but, it still feels good to know I’m achieving at least part of what I wish with my efforts…. To know someone is enjoying it, that it gives someone pleasure, is enough for me….

Of course, that may not continue, should I keep making up crap such as the first few lines today…. I DID think it was fairly cool in one respect, at least…. It was fun…. The challenge I set myself, to write something at least marginally humorous, using words that begin with each successive letter in the English alphabet, was accomplished with ease, so much so I was a trifle suspicious it would be good enough…. Sure enough, it’s not what I’d call classical in nature or style, but, there is a point or two in there where it approaches funny…. I particularly enjoyed the WXYZ sentence….

Wow! Now THERE is an eye-opener…. It isn’t apparent from where you are sitting, but, I have been gone for the past four and a half minutes, unable to breathe or talk, or type…. Being a bozoid personality does have its risks, which can, and did, strike anytime…. As I took a sip of coffee just a few moments ago, I got a tickle in my throat just as I started to swallow…. This caused a major disruption in my metabolism, with the most immediate result being that I damn near choked on the coffee, as it made every effort to go into my lungs, rather than down the hatch to the stomach….

Preventing that threw my whole throat and chest into massive turmoil, coughing, choking, and generally looking like the world’s biggest bozo for a while, as I attempted to regain my composure…. SIGH…. One of the things that they forgot, or deliberately omitted, from the manual is this aging stuff… A lot of the small little hassles that our bodies present to us as we age are things we’ve never heard about…. I can’t believe I’m the first old fart to have these difficulties with the aging process, yet we never hear about them when we are younger…. but, I know why…

It’s revenge, for being young…. None of the old-timers say anything about any of this stuff, except to each other…. We all complain about our aches and pains, when we are with our peers…. But, we never got warned, so we aren’t going to give those young whippersnappers any kind of help WE didn’t get…. It wouldn’t be fair to tell them, and let them write it down so it eventually ends up in the manual…. Fair to whom, you ask? Well, to all of us who are already suffering from the indignities of advancing age, and all those oldsters who have gone before, pioneering the way for us…. THEY had no warning, and neither did we…. why should we be any kinder?….

Okay, this meandering is getting a bit out of bounds…. I’m starting to fantasize and make stuff up again, which is fine, but, won’t get this Pearl done…. Today’s intro, in my attempts at trying a new approach, seems to have grown past all boundaries of good taste, or at least, good sense…. That, of course, isn’t anything out of the ordinary for us, but, it IS making this intro a bit longer than is handy… In fact, I’m going to have to…. Oh, wait, look! There’s the ending right there…. Good, now we can get on with this….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Will change the pebbles of our puddly thought
To orient pearls.

— Du Bartas (1544-1590) — Divine Weekes and Workes, Second Week, Third Day, Part i

[dignified silence]……

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

Here, for your early morning viewing pleasure, is a classical, ancient pearl, whose contributing authors all lived prior to the birth of Jesus Christ, who, though not my own particular candidate for basing a calendar on, remains the agreed upon point of reference for the modern version of time…. essentially, all of these wise ffolkes were born more than two thousand years ago, yet their words have survived, intact, to this day…. Enjoy!….

“Human life nearly resembles iron. When you use it, it wears out. When you don’t, rust consumes it.” — Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) — Carmen de moribus

“The most virtuous of all men is he that contents himself with being virtuous without seeking to appear so.” — Plato (B.C. 427?-347?)

“Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit.” There is no great genius without a tincture of madness. — Seneca (8 BC) — De Tranquillitate Animi, 17

“It is a difficult thing for a man to resist the natural necessity of mortal passions.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Of those whom God is slow to punish

“Neither make thy friend equal to a brother; but if thou shalt have made him so, be not the first to do him wrong.” — Hesiod (c. 700 BC) — Works and Days, Line 707

“Time cancels young pain.” — Euripides (431 BC)

“In the land of the dark, the Ship of the Sun is driven by the Grateful Dead.” — Egyptian Book of the Dead

Okay, so the last one isn’t so much of a pearl as it is a small revelation about the past…. and where a certain band got their name…. Okay, fine, here is one last pearl to finish this off correctly…. I hope you enjoyed this little trip back in time with me, to gather a small harvest of the wisdom of the ages….

“No sooner said than done — so acts your man of worth.” — Quintus Ennius

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

It’s a haiku day, I can feel it…. so, here is one fresh one, and a couple more from the archives….

Food for thought

Savory phrases
seem to surface from the depths
of hidden hungers.

~~ gigoid ~~

7/13/2014

A Moment of Haiku

Bare is the soul
who will not see the truth,
even when the truth sees them.

~~ gigoid ~~

2/9/2012

Haiku IV

Time and circumstance;
all of us who are alive,
must pay heed, or else.

~~ gigoid ~~

4/19/2013

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

“It’s awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don’t mind hard work when there is no definite object of any kind.” — Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

This morning, Oscar’s ironic curmudgeonry from his most popular play hits me where I live, to paraphrase my blogging friend, Jerry Doby…. I had a rant subject all picked out for this section, but find myself unwilling to carry out my intent…. No idea why, just don’t feel like ranting just now…. All the emotional content necessary to produce one is present, and accounted for, but, I haven’t been able to find a proper headline to pick at thus far, and I’m not in the correct frame of mind to persevere….. Oh, well, too bad, so sad…. for me, not for you… for you, it means yet another old-school pearl, as fresh as I can make it, sans parameters to help speed the process, and widen our options…. Have a care with this one, ffolkes, it could get a little rowdy….

“If you live long enough, it WILL kill you…” — Smart Bee

“It is important to do what you don’t know how to do. It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious. If you know how to focus, unfocus. If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos.” — Carlos Casteneda

“Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the Third [“Treason!” cried the Speaker]–may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.” — Patrick Henry (1736-1799) — Speech in the Virginia Convention, 1765

(Okay, so this doesn’t exactly fit in with a parameterless pearl…. but, it was there and it’s always a good time to remind all you bloggers out there of our duty as American writers…. Socrates set the example, with his belief in the concept of the societal gadfly; I see it as every American’s duty to challenge the authority of the establishment, and these inspirational words from Patrick Henry serve perfectly as the proper and appropriate credo for all of us who believe in this country, and the dream of freedom and peace upon which it was founded…. There, I ranted, are you happy?…. I am….)

“…the value of the constitution depends on the good will of government itself. If the Supreme Court rules that the Bill of Rights should not interfere with the important business of government (which they have done on at least two occasions), then the constitution is meaningless.” — John Kormylo

(It’s always good to follow a credo/disclaimer with a warning…. Keep a sharp eye on this Supreme Court, ffolkes. They’re beginning to show their colors somewhat, since way too many of them were nominated by Shrubs…. Those assholes, the Shrubs, and all those misogynistic zombies (think Dick Cheney, the Lizard King), or any of the other closet anti-Americans who support them, have a very funny idea of constitutional law, one that has very little, if anything, in common with the one we already have in place…. If you don’t believe me, ask them…. they’ve stated, in the papers, how they’d like to see certain parts of the Constitution repealed, specifically, certain entries in the Bill of Rights, and the junior Shrub is on record as mentioning his belief that the framers of the Constitution “went too far” in handing out freedoms to the people…. See, I told you I had all the makings for a rant in here…..)

“Yes, there is Nirvana; it is in leading your sheep to a green pasture, and in putting your child to sleep, and writing the last line of your poem.” — Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Sand and Foam

“The majority is never right.” — Lazarus Long (1912-)

“There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals from moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It’s not men who limit women, it’s not straights who limit gays, it’s not whites who limit blacks. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it.” — Bernard Mickey Wrangle

Apparent disorder is a product of control.
Apparent fear is a product of courage.
Apparent vulnerability is a product of possession.

Control or disorder is a matter of Analysis.
Courage or fear is a matter of Direction.
Possession or vulnerability is a matter of Positioning.

— Sun Tzu “The Art of War,” translation by R.L. Wing

“May you grow so rich you never have to eat, drink, piss, crap, wash, or walk by yourself, God forbid.” — Smart Bee

This is why I love the process of making pearls…. It started out parameter free, picked out its own theme, then stretched itself into the rarest form of pearl, a nine-star, with comments that add up to a mini-rant…. Bonus!

Man, I love this job!….

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

I especially enjoy it when I finish in a timely manner, having created a completely fresh, original product…. other than the quotes themselves, anyway…. It must be the shoes…. If not, well, that’s okay, too, because I need new ones…. Your guess as to what that may mean is as good as mine; since it has NOTHING to do with anything that has gone before, or with anything being planned, I’m not going to even acknowledge its absolute irrelevance to the present situation…. In other words, what a load of crap! Hah! Gotcha!…..

Having thus disposed of the final piece of childish behavior I had left to get out today, I’ll leave you in peace… Well, once I’m gone, you’ll THINK it’s peace, anyway, because of the relative quiet and calm…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

Tossing beans with butter, in a bowl….

Posted on July 12, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Late, again…. Fuck it, I’m not even going to worry about it a little bit; whatever happens, happens. I’m too bloody grumpy to care, so, it’s just as well I’m giving up right out of the gate…. I have the distinct feeling that if I made any attempt to be normal, not only would it fail, but, the Universe at large would enjoy a huge guffaw at my expense…. with which, I’m sorry to say, I’m becoming all too familiar…. Murphy’s myrmidons must get promoted by merit, because each bloody one of them laughs harder than the last one, whenever they’re around at those moments I try for normalcy…. Bloody assholes, every damn one of them….

There, now that I’ve whined enough, we can start the day with a different tenor…. How about a bit of fiction? Let’s see….

Harry couldn’t figure out if he should knock at the front, or go around to the back door, where all the servants entered the house…. He knew, as he’d been watching all morning, screwing up his courage to approach the magnificent edifice, standing in all it’s Victorian elegance on the corner of Harper and Main…. Harper House, home to the rich, powerful Harper family, the original settlers of the town, way back in colonial days, had stood on that corner since its construction in 1802, by Hiram Harper, the first white man to settle in the valley. It was 1797, when he walked over Harper Mountain, & got his first view of the valley below, spreading out to the south, trees covering the slopes, with leaves gilded from the sun, shining down with strong promises made to the future….

Well…. that was…. something. Not particularly gripping, but, not too bad…. It sets a stage, and paints a picture, but, I’m not sure I’m happy with the flow, or the elegance…. Oh well, for an early morning throw-away, it’s not bad…. and it did get us this far down the page…. Today, that’s a big help, as my brain isn’t cooperating…. I guess I’m a little excited (and when I say stuff like that, I feel six years old again, but, hey, old age is known to cause its victims to display a retreat to a younger time, when we could actually walk to another part of the house without having to make a plan for the return trip….), because my daughter is coming by today, and we’re going to go to dinner with my son, her brother, and hopefully, his new friend(s)….

Since I am so excited about this evening, I am in a quandary this morning, as I just can’t seem to get going on this…. Oh well, this calls for the immediate application of an emergency bail-out method, and, I’m thinking, #4 is always the most effective, so…. hang on, and we’ll apply that…. NOW….

Shall we Pearl?….

“My atheism, like that of Spinoza, is true piety towards the universe and denies only gods fashioned by men in their own image, to be servants of their human interests.” — George Santayana

(I’m encouraged now…. finding that quote so quickly gives me hope for the rest of this mess…. I hope it’s an indication that Murphy has taken his leave for now, and the rest of this will be left alone…. we can always hope, can’t we?…. Onward, with new bravery…. Huzzah!…..)

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

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Expert-witness-in-toy-gun-case-has-history-of-5614736.php

When I saw this, I became somewhat depressed…. It’s absolute truth; you can tell. This guy, this “expert witness” is nothing more than a shill, whom the courts and the police have been using to defend the indefensible for years….. In those instances where officers use their weapons, this guy has been set up as a final judge of the events that lead up to the incidents, whose word is the equivalent to law, in essence, as it is given more credence than even scientific evidence…. which is a crock, and they know it…. It’s a disturbing thing to find out, as it gives more evidence of how the courts, the police, and the government at large is ignoring or obstructing the issue of police militarization, one I see as a distinctly egregious problem, and one that really NEEDS to be watched….

In fact, this whole idea, of having such an obviously biased individual being given priority in court, makes me so angry, I’m having trouble organizing my arguments…. There are just SO MANY moral and ethical objections to such an event, I can’t decide where to begin…. So, instead, I’ll ask you to read the article, and make your own arguments…. It isn’t hard, particularly…. they are so fucking OBVIOUSLY prejudiced, you’ll find some objections, I’m sure…. Me, I’m going to raid the archives, for something that won’t make my stomach so damned upset, or at least, that won’t offend my sensibilities so badly….

Ah, here we go….. y’all enjoy this, ffolkes, I’m going to go calm down for a few minutes, before I try to deal with poetry…..

From 12/22/2012, a very numerological day…. It’s almost a poem, stated out loud…. One two, two two, two oh one two…. pretty cool, eh? Okay, I’ll stop now…. read on, ffolkes, it’s a fun one… (a Funyun?….):

“Unknowingly, we plow the dust of stars, blown about us by the wind, and drink the universe in a glass of rain.” — Ihab Hassan

What a beautiful line! I wasn’t sure when I saved it last night just what kind of pearl it would make, but it creates such a beautiful image in the mind, I couldn’t resist. I suppose it makes a fine contrast to how I feel just now, and as such, can be used to demonstrate how our attitudes are under our control, if we but choose to assume it…..

I feel like shit, emotionally, for various reasons, and that is reflected in my attitude toward the day; I don’t want to face it. I’d like to be able to just turn it all off, and go visit a friend somewhere far away. But, being stuck here, waiting for relief from my financial limitations, keeps me on the edge of depression, as well as keeping me in place…. If only for the time it takes to read, and contemplate this line, beauty takes over, and my thoughts and attitude undergo a marked change for the better. All it takes is a reminder of what we always have as creatures of this reality, our potential for grace.

“Grace”. Interesting word, that…. I like what it implies, the feeling of being connected to the universe, and enjoying that tie for the joy it can bring. To live in grace means to act rightly, surrounding oneself with beauty, increasing the joy in life by living it well, passionately, with compassion and humility. I can understand how religious folks would seek to receive such from the practice of their faith, though I can’t agree with them about exactly where grace comes from. They seem to believe that it is something given to them, as a reward for their faith, when in reality, it is something they have to learn to give, and can only be found inside themselves, because that is where it always is…. It just isn’t always free to let itself be known….

“The supreme irony of life is hardly anyone ever gets out of it alive.” — Robert Heinlein

Perspective…. the proper perspective can be hard to find, and it is good when such can be provided for us by a simple phrase, like this one, and the first one, above. The first phrase tells us to remember there are two sides to life, and only one side is inherently painful. This quote, from the Grand Master, is a reminder to SEEK perspective, and is one nobody should ever lose track of, as it is universally applicable. One may, at least temporarily, find ways to avoid paying taxes, but there is no avoiding death…. none.

Mere contemplation of our own death is a sure way to gain perspective. It may not always be the most amenable, or comfortable perspective, but it is the most truthful that can be acquired, without exception. Nothing will ground us better than thinking about our own demise, as there is no room for anything but truth when dealing with the whole concept. Anything less than the truth just fails to compute….. Not the most comforting line of thought, unless one has learned not to fear death, but, who is ever very successful at that? I mean, that’s why there are so many different religions out there, all offering their own way of dealing with that fear…. they’re just not very good at it. Well, not very truthful, anyway….

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” — W. W. Zeige

I’m not sure whether I can truthfully classify this as a pearl. The criteria for that decision are pretty loose, all in all, so it will fit in that respect. But, I do rather like to make some valid point, and this one doesn’t seem to have one I can find offhand. We humans spend a lot of our mental energy on stuff like this, which may be a clue as to the whole problem of the inability of so many of us to cope with reality without some kind of crutch, or without letting someone else do our thinking for us. That isn’t a danger for me, thank goodness, but most of humanity seems to fall into that pattern, and that, in itself, presents me with perspective issues, as mine differs radically from most everyone in the mainstream of society.

Oh, there are a lot more ffolkes such as myself out there; WordPress is proof enough of that. But, the major percentage of the population of this country generally prefers not to have to exercise their mental muscles any more than is absolutely necessary. Whether the inertial momentum that is built up by such a large percentage is amenable to adjustment remains to be seen, and all we can do is our best, to spread the virus of rational thought as far as we can….. “You’re our only hope, Obi-wan!”……

“I feel better about world problems now!” — Zippy the Pinhead

And, so do I! Shall we move on?…..

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

I’m not sure yet what will go here, so, you’ll just have to wait…. Hey, I’m waiting, too!…. Okay, waiting done…. If you’ve been here with any regularity, you’ll know who I will pick, for, when there is any question about it, I always turn to her…. It’s Emily, of course…. writing on a subject very near, if not dear, to my heart….

The hallowing of pain

The hallowing of Pain
Like hallowing of Heaven,
Obtains at a corporeal cost —
The Summit is not given

To Him who strives severe
At middle of the Hill —
But He who has achieved the Top —
All — is the price of All —

~~Emily Dickinson ~~

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

This old school pearl has been collected with parameters that should, hopefully, cause some fairly steady bleeding among our Beloved Ruling Class, should any of them happen to see it…. I found the first couple of pearls sitting here, having obviously been collected previously, with that in mind… Well, so be it…. I never block any of my impulses, if I can keep from doing so…. and this one will, no doubt, be a good one, pointed and sharp, just the way I like them…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. I intend to….. Oh, also…. this will be a rare pearl, a nine-star, just because, when I use nine, the pattern of the wounds makes such a lovely design on their bodies….

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” — Samuel Johnson

(I know…. I said this pearl would be taking shots at the BRC, and asininnies in general…. But, read that line again, and tell me you don’t automatically think of politicians…. I know I do, because the phrase accurately describes no other segment of our society better, than it does those whom we have elected…. Sad, I know, but, all too true….)

“Most people seem to think that trampling individual rights is OK if it is “for the good of society as a whole.” However, society is but a large number of individuals, and how can harming the individual parts better the whole?” — Andrew Ford, forda@agcs.com

“The First Amendment does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the talk is not `dangerous’. It does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the utterance has no tendency to subvert. It does not put free speech and freedom of the press in the category of housing, sanitation, hours of work, factory conditions, and the like, and make it subject to regulation for the public good. Nor does it permit legislative restraint of freedom of expression so long as the regulation does not offend due process. All notions of regulation or restraint by government are absent from the First Amendment. For it says in words that are unambiguous, `Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.'” — Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, 1958

“A politician will always tip off his true belief by stating the opposite at the beginning of the sentence. For maximum comprehension, do not start listening until the first clause is concluded. Begin instead at the word “but” which begins the second, or active, clause. This is the way to tell a liberal from a conservative–before they tell you. Thus: “I have always believed in a strong national defense, second to none, but … ” (a liberal, about to propose a $20 billion defense cut).” — Frank Mankiewicz

(Don’t worry about the labels here, ffolkes…. Mr. Mankiewicz seems to show a bit of bias toward conservatism…. but, it’s still true…. liberal, conservative, whatever…. they ALL do this….)

“Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them!” — Albert Einstein

“If God wanted us to have a President, He would have sent us a candidate.” — Jerry Dreshfield

“A conservative is a man who wants the rules changed so no one can make a pile the way he did.” — Gregory Nunn

“Curse all his virtues! they’ve undone his country.” — Joseph Addison (1672-1719) — Cato, Act iv, Sc. 4

(I really do love irony…. and, its twin sister, sarcasm…. When both are used in conjunction with hyperbole, well…. awesome is the word that comes to mind for me…..)

“Do not speak of what men deserve. For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*, and you will begin to be able to think.” — Odo, The Prison Letters (Ursula LeGuin, _The Dispossessed_)

I probably don’t need to mention (to this crowd…) that, learning to think in this fashion makes it much simpler to perceive the lies and oppression that the BRC and Asininnies spread around like the clap…. with exactly the same effect on society as that dreaded bacteria has on an individual, if not treated…. sickness, isolation, loss of self and others, and eventual death, from either the disease itself, or the loneliness it can engender in its victims….. Sadly, most of society hasn’t even a clue they’ve been infected by their own leaders, so, no treatment is even considered necessary…. which, as noted, will eventually lead to…. what was that? Oh, yeah….. DEATH….

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

It may not be the best Pearl I’ve ever done, but, it has the one primary characteristic that makes it good enough…. it’s done. I can’t do any more damage to it; it’s already dead. So, I’m going to post the corpus, and hope for the best before it starts to deteriorate…. At least I know it won’t smell bad…. at least, not until the technology advances to the point of making what we see on our comps complete with information for the other senses…. i.e. “sensies”, Virtual Reality complete with smells, touch, sounds, sights, and tastes….. Boy, once that happens, we all will need to be more careful about what we leave lying around, won’t we? Until then, this will do…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I’m not in jail….

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

Provenance won’t impress the hungry….

Posted on July 11, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest.” — Robert G. Ingersoll (American lawyer and orator)

Well, color me surprised, and more than a little amazed, that an American lawyer not only said this, but sounds as if he believes it…. Howdy, ffolkes, and don’t fret, this isn’t the beginning of a rant, though it could easily be one…. No, there’s plenty of that coming up later…. No, my comment was merely prompted by seeing the word lawyer in conjunction with the words, justice, humanity, reason, and love…. Typically, those qualities are missing from the list of those shown by lawyers, especially American lawyers…. and don’t try to make me guilty over picking at them again…. If they didn’t DO this stuff, it wouldn’t come back to haunt them….

I guess I’ll have to go look him up in Google, so I can see how he came to be….. It isn’t simple, or easy, I would imagine, to be able to hold on to such a powerful set of ethics and morals, when everything in one’s training, and society itself, is telling one to act in an opposite fashion, i.e. immorally, and unethically….

(Once again, don’t start….. I know ALL of them aren’t that way, but, if there weren’t a reason for them, lawyer jokes wouldn’t be necessary, now, would they?….). I’ll stop with the lawyer digs, and jokes, when ONE person can show me proof that 50% of the lawyers in practice have, all of a sudden, become caring, compassionate human beings…. Simple enough, eh? And, bloody impossible, as there aren’t that many honest lawyers out there….. there just aren’t….

Maybe I am ranting… what do you think? Is this a direct attack on lawyers at large? Maybe so…. In that case, let me take a short break, to see if I can find a way back to something more resembling an introduction…. Be right back, ffolkes…. time for a pain break anyway….

Hmm…. Okay, so, there isn’t much, ffolkes….. but, in the interests of full disclosure, I didn’t look real hard. I guess I’m just in a ranting mood, so, maybe you should consider donning the Kevlar vests, and the helmets provided for you as part of your entrance fee….. What? No fees are being collected? Again? Damn it all, where the hell’s Luigi? He’s supposed to be taking the admission gate…. Now I’ll have to take the time to find him, & see why he’s been so flaky of late….

In the meantime, perhaps it would be best to just forgo any further attempts at logic or reason…. I don’t think they’ll be of much use at this point…. Instead, we’ll just go on, and do the best we can with what is there to use….. Wish me luck….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If I had my life to live over again, I’d be a plumber.” — Albert Einstein

Me? I’d have liked to have been a travel writer….. a job that combines my two favorite activities…. Hell, it may yet happen, who knows? Stranger things, as they say, have happened….

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

I’ve avoided full out ranting for a while now, having reached a point where I felt I was repeating myself too often, without achieving any of the results that it would be nice to see for all my efforts (such as a world-wide revolution against the corporate masters who have oppressed society for millennia now…. I can dream, can’t I?….). In the last couple of days, I’ve seen a number of articles in various news sites detailing the latest news on several fronts worth ranting about…. Let’s see what’s up, eh?….

http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2014/07/09/nsa-spied-on-muslim-americans-including-ex-bay-area-professor-greenwald-alleges/?cmpid=hp-hc-bustech

Only one comment is relevant in response to this: these people are out of control…. By “these people”, I’m referring in general to the NSA, and their cohorts, the CIA, FBI, and whatever other clandestine-oriented criminals masquerading as official entities who have jumped on the “let’s go fight terrorism” bandwagon, which offers them a perfect cover, and excuse, both of which augment and support their private agenda, which is, simply, to control and mislead the public, so they can continue their raping and pillaging of the public treasury, and blame the terrorists……

Then, of course, there is what has been discovered lately about what the NSA, the CIA, and the oxymoronic intelligence agencies that are part of the US pantheon of spies…. In the case below, in Germany, yet ANOTHER double agent was found to have been perverted by the CIA, this one working in one of the German defense departments…. As a result of this one, the article below shows the latest reaction by the German government….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10959549/Germany-asks-CIA-station-chief-in-Berlin-to-leave-country-over-US-spying-row.html

Of course, all the politicians, in both countries, are just salivating, at all the opportunities they will have for political jockeying over these incidents…. The Republicans are happy because it gives them more ammunition against their nightmare, the Black President with Some Integrity, while, on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats are happy because it gives them a chance to get their own names out in the public eye, making statements, and looking concerned…. Neither one actually gives a shit about the issue, but, it’s one they like to see being played out, as it offers so many different ways to distract and obfuscate….

Then, of course, I saw this one…. I’ve been following a bit of this…. It seems that, back in the Thatcher days, the British equivalent to our Congress, their Houses of Parliament, there were a large number of child molesters in office, and they went so far as to use their power, and positions of authority, to further their sick, pedophiliac habits, covering up their crimes with ease, as they had the authority to tell the police to ignore issues, or sweep them under the table…. A member of the House of Commons collected evidence on it, then turned in his report to what should have been the proper authorities, over thirty years ago….

Naturally, that report was “lost” before any action on it’s contents could be formulated, and the whole issue was swept under the bureaucratic table…. Now, this whole episode is coming to light, and the politicians in Westminster are running around like a disturbed nest of ants…. It’s actually quite entertaining, if a bit sick-making, to watch all these psychopathic assholes try to figure out how this will affect them, or, in many cases, trying to decide whether to kill themselves now, or wait until after their trial…. Read it, then join me in a big raspberry to all the sick bastards who are involved, who may now get their just desserts….

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10959997/Westminster-whistleblower-told-to-back-off-over-paedophiles.html

Sick, sick people, that’s all I can say…. To finish off this bit of random ranting, below you’ll find a list of people who live in the SF Bay Area who are billionaires…. You know, those privileged elite who believe that, because they have all this money, they can pretty much do whatever they wish to do, without any consequences for their actions…. and, they’d pretty much be right about that….

When was the last time you heard about, or read about, some billionaire going to jail, or even to trial, when they have broken the law? That would right about NEVER, right? Hell, these people, when arrested, or even stopped for a traffic violation, never even have those incidents make it to the papers; you never even HEAR about any trouble they have, because it is all taken care of, hushed up and forgotten, before anyone in the public even knows it has taken place…. That is what money can buy, ffolkes, never doubt it…. Take a look at the list, and the amount of money these assholes are hoarding for their own use….

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Who-are-the-richest-families-in-the-Bay-Area-5610052.php

545.9 BILLION DOLLARS! What an incredible number, describing 18 families in the Bay Area who have a net worth in the billions of dollars; the smallest number I saw was 1.2 billion, I believe, and the most disgusting, er, largest, was WalMart’s owners, the Waltons, at, get this, 152 billion. That number, by the way, is the kind of number the mind can’t really grasp, but, think of it this way…. This insanely small number of people have as much financial resource at their disposal as all but perhaps ten countries in the world…. The US Dept. of Housing budget, for any particular year, is not very much larger than this amount, I’m guessing, if at all….

Astounding, mind-blowing, and to me, reprehensible, that so few people can be not just allowed, by the system, and society, but actively encouraged and directed into perversity by the forces of history, with results that reward such behavior…. All to often, the Powers That Be will aid and abet those who successfully hoard that much for themselves, as opposed to more of a moral attitude, which prioritizes such resources into using them to supply what society may have need for…. which, essentially, another way of saying that society, and the victims of such selfishness, is made to pay for the rotten effects of the corruption and indifference to morality shown by those who have hoarded the resources in the first place….

Okay, ffolkes, we’re about done…. Here, to finish this off with a bit of more positive energy, is another fine article from Mark Morford, this time pointing out some obvious bits of information that are generally ignored by critics of the Obama administration…. I mean, he IS a politician, so, as Mark points out, there are still some questionable issues Barry has raised with his spotty conservatism, and terrorist paranoia…. not to mention how he has catered and kowtowed to the financial community…. disgusting….

Nevertheless, in terms of getting things done that will actually HELP the average American, he has done quite well…. Read this, and try to pay attention… I know this is getting long, but, we’re almost done….

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/07/08/the-best-worst-president-ever/

As usual, Mark has put his finger on a point most people would miss altogether…It’s brilliant, funny, and all-too-accurate to miss…. Go ahead, I’ll wait…. There, now, don’t you feel a bit lighter? No? Okay, well, I tried…. We’re done here, so I’ll leave you with this final word, to try to bring this to its most efficient, effective ending….

“Rare gift! but oh what gift to fools avails!”

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book x, Line 29

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

I’m using my own poetry again today, simply because the above took so long, I don’t have any more time to go look for something appropriate by someone else…. and Smart Bee is being a bit of a bastard today, in re: giving me quotes I can actually USE…. Any who, to prevent further whining, here is one from the archives…. This one was written, and first posted, in October of 2012….

Penance, Made Simple

After all the dross is sent away
a celebration can begin,
time will face up to space, to stay
willing, to shine from within.

Anger and confusion come in to share
brushing reason aside,
eager to welcome all that is fair,
alert to danger, eyes wide.

Re-gift the wicked with their own pain
stand with the just;
fail to partake of the ill-gotten gain,
living in honor, the only must.

Standing fast in the face of wrong
is its own prize and reward.
Holding on to truth makes us strong,
well worth working toward.

Little is left to chance by fate
our lessons are never free of cost.
Seldom does reality make us wait
only when alone, are we lost.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

As you probably have guessed by now, this will be another random, harlequin, old-school pearl, because A) it’s fast, B) it’s cheap, and C) it’s what I can do without going off the rails completely…. in other words, I’m using the all-purpose, universal, time-tested American excuse…. Expedience! Enjoy!….

“What you see is from outside yourself, and may come, or not, but is beyond your control. But your fear is yours, and yours alone, like your voice, or your fingers, or your memory, and therefore yours to control. If you feel powerless over your fear, you have not yet admitted that it is yours, to do with as you will.” — Marion Zimmer Bradley, “Stormqueen”

“I once asked my history teacher how we were expected to learn anything useful from his subject, when it seemed to me to be nothing but a monotonous and sordid succession of robber baron scumbags devoid of any admirable human qualities. I failed history.” — Sting

“There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance.” — Terence (185-159 BC)
— Heautontimoroumenos, Act iv, Sc. 6, 1, (805.)

“We become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.” — Aristotle

“Until philosophers are kings … cities will never cease from ill, nor the human race.” — Plato (428-348? B.C.)

“Our care should not be to have lived long as to have lived enough.” — Seneca

“I’m pretending I’m pulling in a TROUT! Am I doing it correctly?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

For a Pearl that felt so choppy while in the process of creation, this didn’t come out too badly at all…. In order to keep from feeling like a complete liar, I’m going to go ahead an post it, without even going over it with a critical eye…. some proofing, and, as far as I am concerned, it’s good to go…. Call me Ishmael, or call me a fool…. just don’t call me late for dinner…. See ya, ffolkes….

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

From this perspective, it’s clear the vicar was nude….

Posted on July 10, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
This picture was taken somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean, during a trip around the British Isles…. It may just be my favorite picture, of all I took on that trip…. The color, the composition, it just speaks to me, in a lot of ways, bringing with it memories of that time, along with appreciation, for the picture’s potentiality for cogitative stimulation…. The first thought that always occurs to me is how it is impossible to tell, just from the picture, whether this was taken at sunrise, or sunset; it could easily be either one….. Not bad, for an old fart with his first camera, eh?….

Today’s Pearl will be odd, as if, A) you hadn’t heard THAT before, and, B) just as if it could be anything else, when one considers the source, to wit: me, in all my strange glory…. What do you mean, that isn’t glory, it’s dirt? I’m not going to even bother to think about THAT statement; no way that could be true…. I mean, if that were true, what was all that….. well, never mind. I think, upon reflection, we should just skip right on by this little episode, and chalk it up to the early hour, even if it’s a late early hour, for me…. It’s getting harder to drag myself up each day, but, that, too, is nothing new, is it?….

Age, pain, bozoid tendencies…. I’ll tell ya, ffolkes, it makes for an “interesting” life, one you would think would offer plenty of material for a writer….. and maybe it does, for a writer whose mind is normal… My own idiosyncracies tend to color my perceptions, as they do for all of us…. mine just have a greater effect on me than most ffolkes suffer; maybe it has to do with all the spikes, thorns, and broken glass covering the material my head produces. It does get a bit iffy trying to handle it without injury, especially given my known habit of beating myself over the head with certain types of information, so it is more easily assimilated…..

I’m wandering again, aren’t I? This is what happens when I sleep late; I wake up foggy, (normal for me…), but, start writing anyway, as I’ve found the process of creating these introductory sections eventually wakes me up enough to get through to the end of a Pearl…. Well, so far, anyway….. Apparently, once I’m relatively awake, I can do this in my sleep…. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether it helps, or hinders to write while somnolent; I DO keep getting them done, so, I suppose that’s something….

Well, now, there’s a pretty mess, eh? It seems I turned the picture, which is somewhat undefined by itself, into yet another reason to ramble and blather my way through the first section, all without ever coming to any conclusions, but, without haring off into uncharted regions of my mind, or anyone else’s, for that matter…. What did I just say? Let me go back a second, & analyze that last sentence…. Okay, yep, it’s as I thought…. I’m reaching the point of incoherency, so we have to stop now, or someone will get hurt…. and it’s most common for me to be that someone…. So, instead….

Shall we Pearl?….

“If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you’re a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind.” — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Okay, well…. that explains THAT….. Onward, ffolkes….

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

I may have mentioned I’m up pretty late, (or not…. I am now, though, right?…. Mentioning it, that is…. I’m up late… there, now you know….), which precludes a FRESH rant, especially given the news of late, which has way too many subjects that would be suitable…. In today’s state of mind, picking one could be as hazardous as writing one…. So, here is a reasonably priced discussion of some esoteric minutiae for your reading pleasure…. Oh, and keep your neurons fired up and ready with this one, ffolkes, it’s a bit deeper than usual, even if it doesn’t touch on anything particularly volatile…..

From 10/21/2012:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

— Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) — Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child”

I first read the phrase “feeding the Elephant’s Child” in a Robert Heinlein novel, many years ago, and enjoyed it as a metaphor for reading/learning, before I knew from whence it originally came. Once I did know (a moment of illumination whose exact placement in time is hazy….), I liked it even more, from an aesthetic standpoint. The above little ditty is brilliant doggerel, astute observation, and deep insight, all presented in a simple, straightforward style, with a powerful, basic lesson for any would-be philosopher, or any one who wishes to encompass reason as their modus operandi, so to speak. Besides which, I find that another piece of Bob’s advice fits well with this one, to wit: “Life tastes better in big bites….”

“Never wear anything that panics the cat.” — P. J. O’Rourke

I like this, a lot. It summarizes perhaps one of the most elemental rules of getting along in the Universe, in essence saying, “You can learn a lot by watching what happens around you…” It is the perfect companion to the concept of learning as presented above, as it contrives to speak to both sides of Reality, i.e., how you approach reality (the clothing you choose to show to the cat….) and how reality will change to react to your approach (the cat’s opinion of your clothing….) It also gives one a subtle warning about how the wrong clothing can produce unwanted consequences, and we all know how an offended cat is likely to respond…. as Mark Twain once remarked…. “A man who carries a cat by the tail is learning valuable things. He will never again be dim or doubtful. Chances are he’ll not carry the cat that way again, but, I say, if he wants to, let him!” You can’t say fairer than that….

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” — Buddha

One can always trust the Buddha to state the most profound thoughts in the simplest way…. I often wonder how he came to such a complete understanding of Murphy, whose presence is acknowledged in all of what the Buddha stated, but whose ministrations seem to have passed by the Buddha’s existence…. either that, or Murphy shows him a lot more respect than he does anyone else alive. At times, it seems that what the Buddha states, such as in this statement, is, in at least one respect, an answer to a question that is raised when Murphy intervenes in our lives…. in simpler words, he explains why Murphy is able to affect us as he does, by cutting through the bullshite we perceive to the truth of what is real….. SIGH…. one of these days, enlightenment will slap me upside the head, and I’ll be able to see Murphy coming…. I hope…

There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” — Bob Dylan

Often I feel as if not only is life a joke, but it is our duty and purpose on this plane of existence to codify that joke, to put it down on paper, or on screen/disc, to free ourselves from the prison of sobriety, achieving an understanding that everything in this silly universe is here for our amusement, and we have been taking it, and ourselves, seriously for entirely too long….. So seriously, we have begun to offend those parts of the universe that just want us to relax and enjoy ourselves, and the time is growing nearer when we will have to admit that the joke is on us, for not being able to change our inner selves enough to be able to handle the humor of our situation…. See, the universe thinks death is funny…. not because it is cruel, but because death is just another part of life, and it doesn’t care about one more than the other…. See, now, isn’t it funny how you never noticed that?…..

I once read a science fiction novel, whose title and author escape me completely; in all it was very poorly written, with prose that did not live up to the good ideas contained in the plot line. However, it was a great plot line, in all….Specifically, there was one chapter I liked, which had a super-genius taking on the task of finding the solution to a mathematical treatise, an equation so complex and advanced that no civilization in the galaxy had ever been able to completely solve it.

The genius/hero of the book shut himself up in his room for three weeks, working on the problem. At the end, he was thinking so hard he entered a trance-like state, computing while nearly dead…. after a week of this, he suddenly opened his eyes, gave a look of astonishment, and burst into uncontrollable laughter for approximately 25 minutes. When he could finally control himself, he simply said, “It’s a joke….” and would never discuss it again….

In a pearl such as this one has grown to be, there comes a time when I have to decide whether to continue on, to try to reach the conclusion that was nebulously hovering somewhere in my mind as I began, or to admit that I have once again wandered into uncharted territory, and might find it a bit tricky to find my way back to clarity. This is that time…. and I’m leaving it up to Smart Bee, as always…. If I don’t find a proper pearl to carry on the tenuous chain of thought I’ve created, then we’ll take the first one that will appropriately wrap it up as a lost cause….. all within a specified number of attempts…. so, here we go… You’ll know in a moment what will happen….

“In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Discourses, Book i, Chap xi

There, see?…. That didn’t take long at all…. and I managed to find the perfect pearl to cover both bases…. In this case, we will use it as an ending quote, since it sort of summarizes a lot of the discussion, after a fashion. It could conceivably also be used as a springboard for further discussion, but this has gone on long enough, and I wouldn’t want to lose anybody due to an injudicious application of excess verbiage, culminating in tedium…. Of course, we may have reached that point some time ago, but, hey, who’s counting?…. Any who, I hope you enjoyed this little foray into not very much….

🙂

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

Being late means not having the time to go search for anything from other authors to fill up the empty spaces between lines; this can be a good thing, or not, depending on a lot of factors, which we won’t go into now…. Suffice it to say, it’s usually easier to find one of my own to go with whatever is taking place, and today is no exception to that observation/rule…. I wrote this in October of 2012, during the period of time after my retirement when I was in my deepest depression, and living under the most trying circumstances I’d experienced in many years…. I guess it goes to prove that poetry comes out of human experience in a more compelling fashion when that experience is a test of their endurance, or stamina, or however one describes the effort of standing up to the crap life sends our way, every day…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is one of my best….

Seeing is Conducive to Belief

Folly sits so comfortably upon my fevered brow
one would easily believe that I would know how
to look at Life with a jaded, weary eye
seeing enough, and more, to know Why.

Such seems the case, as I will it to be,
an open book of a face, it looks so like me;
what’s known to be so, needs no close attention
familiar sights require no minding, nor mention.

The eye is drawn at once to the stark and new,
and sent back to sleep by successful review.
Once we find evidence we feel we understand,
curiosity languishes, dismissed at command.

Ancient sages knew the insidious value of illusion,
preachers and pundits know the power of confusion.
Each pair of eyes contains its own point of reference,
each mind sets its own standards of preference.

Seeing is believing, for those who live in thrall,
accepting what is perceived is all they ever recall.
Unknown to them, reality follows another set of rules,
Deeper, more dangerous, and no place for fools.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Even though I’ve managed to get caught up to schedule fairly well, by dipping into the archives instead of going fresh, I’m still feeling rushed from being behind all morning…. An old-school pearl should fix that, and takes no time at all…. as long as Smart Bee is cooperating today…. Let’s go see what it’s got for us, shall we?…. No parameters, we’re going with pure impulse for this one…. Good luck! Buena suerte! We might need it….

“Actually officer, if you factor in the earth’s rotation, we were all speeding.” — Smart Bee

“And don’t tell me God works in mysterious ways, Yossarian continued There’s nothing mysterious about it, He’s not working at all. He’s playing. Or else He’s forgotten all about us. That’s the kind of God you people talk about, a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of Creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatalogical mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?” — Joseph Heller, Catch22

“The universe is as it is because if it were any different, we wouldn’t be here to observe it.” — Stephen Hawking

“I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.” — Pogo, character in “Pogo,” comic strip by Walt Kelly

“I am not a wimp.” — George Bush

(Sorry, George, but, yes, you are a wimp, and I have to say, I don’t mind telling you….. If you have to say it, it’s proven…. Q.E.D.)

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

“Facts are not truths; they are not conclusions; they are not even premises. The truth depends on, and is only arrived at by a legitimate deduction from all the facts which are truly material.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Well, there you go…. That went well, and quickly, just as planned…. Damn it! Now I have to keep a watch out for Murphy; things have been going WAY too well thus far….. Watch my back, would you?…. I’ll go try to finish up….

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

Well, ffolkes, as I stated in the intro, it turned out quite interesting…. Better behaved, all in all, than I’d expected, so, since I’ve already thus been rewarded by the Universe for my perseverance, I’ll take my leave without further ado, or fuss…. See y’all tomorrow….

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

“Off to Mars Port? Safe journey, Pilot!”….

Posted on July 9, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

What you see above is an example of pure shamelessness…. Oh, not the cat, though, when she is too hot, trying to cool off, as here in the picture, she’s not above getting into any pose at all, in the center of the coolest spot available in the house, no matter how ridiculous it may look to others…. That, though, isn’t shameless, it’s just being cat…. not “a” cat, but, cat; it’s as much of an attitude, describing a state of being, as it is a noun describing a mammal with fur, claws, and strong opinions…. They really, really don’t give a s–t about what anybody thinks…. It’s not their problem…. That is their bottom line, and would, without a single doubt, be their only response if we could ask them, “What do you think about, well, anything anyone thinks about you?”…..

No, I’m the shameless one here, for taking advantage of the ‘puir wee beastie’, snapping her picture, then holding it up for all to see, merely to say I have tried something new and different to get things going in the mornings… (I confess, the cuteness factor played into the decision…. She IS an animal, and cute….) Besides, she deserves a little embarrassment, if it is at all possible to make a cat feel any such emotion, for the way she used to wake me up, and wake up her mistress, and generally, for all the little PK (that’s psycho-kitty, for those who don’t know..), mad dashes, ripped papers, lost pens, stolen pictures, and otherwise annoying little habits she has developed over time….

She has her sweet moments, but, we tend to tolerate each other more than dote, I’m sorry to say. I love animals, but, just look at those eyes…. I suppose it’s from being raised feral for a couple of weeks before being adopted to a home with humans…. There is still has a strong streak of wild buried inside her, and she’s not afraid to let it out…. We have come to terms, though, and our toleration now has tinges of affection at times, so, it’s all good…

So, there you go…. How’s that for a change of pace? No nonsense, no heaviness, no fiction, no blather (Well, maybe some, but, DIRECTED blather, all on one subject….) (a subject EVERYONE can get behind, right?…), and most importantly for me, no confusion, no sweat, no searching, nor any of my usual fear of not having anything to start with…. WHEW! Works for me!….

Of course, this doesn’t take any of the possible challenges involved in adopting a whole new policy & procedure, complete with Art, and all its implications, into account, but, maybe I’ll wait to see just what they are, before I dismiss this technique out of hand…. In fact, maybe I’ll try it again tomorrow, & see what happens…. Something to look forward to, eh, what? It also segues very nicely into the end of the intro section, and, if you didn’t see that coming, well, so much the better…

Shall we Pearl?…..

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

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

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

One might think I’d have a rant on tap, but, they’d be wrong…. even if I don’t know exactly why that happens to be true…. I have the outrage, at all the crap that goes on every day, and the angst, that builds up with every headline that shouts out another lie…. What I don’t have is the actual specific subject upon which to rant…. I don’t know if that’s because I can’t decide among the many, many asininnies that are potentially available for abuse, or which of their shenanigans to expose, or if there just isn’t anything compelling enough to draw my immediate ire, as opposed to my constant disrespect for the morality they display…. or, more accurately, the LACK of morality they display….

SIGH…. Whatever the reason, I just don’t have it in me today…. But, from the archives, I DO have a quite fine ‘discussion’, a milder sort of rant, that touches on the root cause of many of the ills in society we see each day…. I hope you enjoy it; it’s a good rant, for it’s type….

From 4/13/2013:

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

This aphorism is one that I think most people would accept as true, at least part of the time. It also points up what I see as a basic flaw in human nature, a characteristic that everyone possesses, and few overmaster. It has to do with our core beliefs, and the attitude we assume as our method of perception, the orientation of our world-view, as it were. We all perceive what is out there in the universe, but we are not capable, at this time, of understanding, or even noting, all that is there to be perceived, as we are limited to what we can see, hear, feel, touch, taste, or deduce, in our immediate vicinity…. We don’t yet know how to include the input of anything not in our physical presence, other than vicariously (via TV, radio, books, etc…..).

We do, however perceive what we are near, and what we do with those perceptions is what determines how the events of our lives will proceed. What is more, each one of us perceives all of this IN A DIFFERENT WAY….. Two people can look at the same article, or event, and see two entirely different things; just ask them….. We use the same senses, the same KIND of brains to process the data, at the same time to observe the same event, yet the interpretation of those events will vary, by as many degrees as there are people perceiving them. This unique ability, to process data in a completely new and different way from anyone else’s method, is, as might be guessed, both a blessing, and a curse….. It is the latter that concerns me today…..

In order to coexist in the same place and time, people have learned to accept certain perceptions as being identical, for the purposes of communication, e.g., everyone knows what “fire” is, and knows not to touch it barehanded…. (Note: in a way, this blog is all about the process of such communications…. we explore the reality that is consensual, that we all agree to deal with as being the same for all of us…..) This is the blessing it gives, the opportunity to increase understanding, to allow people to work in tandem, making both much more capable, making two more than just one plus one….. This is a very useful tool in the real world, and has helped our species achieve the degree of civilization we now enjoy….

But, the other side of this characteristic has an equal part in our destiny, and may in fact be the more important of the two, in the ultimate sense….. You see, we are all herd animals, and desire the approval and company of our peers; without it, we suffer, much more than we even know. It is not “human” to remain alone too long…. Oh, there is nothing wrong with solitude, and much great thought is achieved when one is not distracted by others….. On the other hand, a human who is alone for too long becomes a pale imitation of his/her true self, without the presence of other minds to test his/her theories, to discuss and share their feelings and accomplishments, to vent their frustrations, to experience love….. Without these things, our spirits become small, and lose their moral compass, leaving us adrift in a reality that seems dark, and dangerous….

This dependence on custom (which I define as the total construct of human society, the set of rules and regulations, all unwritten, by which all of us shape our behavior in respect to each other…..) is so strong that, as the aphorism states, one becomes willing to set reason aside, in order to keep and maintain our feeling of having a place in society. We will assume whatever mask that society demands, at times, in order to not have to wear a mask of our own devising, one that we do not find comfortable…. This is the curse of which I spoke….

You see, there are a number of people who have no compunctions whatsoever in using this human characteristic to their own ends….. They don’t believe in any of the crap they spew, but will say or do anything to make sure that others do, because this is how they control the general populace… They spread their lies, fast and often, until they are believed…. these lies promulgate fear amongst the uneducated and timid, who then demand that “something be done!” by those in charge…. which is exactly what those people wanted, for they can now proceed to further fan the flames of fear, while surreptitiously looting the public treasury to make it seem as if they are doing something constructive…. “Hey, they’re stealing our oil! Let’s spend a few billion to bomb the crap out of them so we can keep driving our gas guzzling SUV’s, each one with 14 great cup holders!”

Oh well, I guess that’s all the rant I’ve got in me today…. It’s kind of mild I know, but I was trying to be scholarly, rather than controversial and accusatory…. I think I’ve succeeded in that, but, it doesn’t quite give the same thrill and/or release as a good, nasty rant, with some great name-calling… Well, I can always call them assholes, because, hey, it fits, and it’s easy to type…. Any who, I’ll stop now, right on the edge of illumination, and allow the Gentle Reader to follow the train of my thought to its obvious conclusion…. For those too busy, or too lazy to do so, I’ll summarize….

Don’t listen to what anyone else says, not about YOUR perceptions. And, for sure, kick the asses of anyone who tries to convince you of their integrity in an elected capacity, or any position of authority…. A lot of people, on every level of society, are just trying to control you for their own purposes, and deserve any ass-kicking that comes their way…. Be like a cat…. cats don’t give a SHIT what anybody thinks, they just are….. No apologies, no fuss, just leave me alone, because I’m busy being a cat….. This is good advice, so, listen up, I’m trying to do you a favor….. 😆

“We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne _Essays_, bk. III, ch. 11 [1595]

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This was written on 10/21/2012…. at least, that’s what Windows tells me in the Properties tab for the document file…. I wrote quite a few that year, breaking free of a 35 plus year hiatus from writing poems…. I like it, & that’s all that matters…. Hey, it DOES rhyme, you know? It helps…. Also, full disclosure…. I did change ONE word today…. and, got rid of two…. which also helped…. I hope you like it, too….

Choosing a Theme

Powerful words playing hide and seek in my mind,
teasing with subtle cruelty, pretending to be kind.
Grand visions and flowery verses of beauty and truth
evaded my inner eye all through the days of my youth.

Affable interludes interspersed with allegorical wit
softened the crimes, against all reason, to finally acquit.
Time became at once an enemy, and an ally
Never once compelled to provide an answer why.

Giving gifts of simple kindness are their own pay,
spreading ripples of compassion are felt far and away.
Love given freely is precious, we are ever told,
increasing love received, more than a hundred fold.

Living long, with passion, has centered my soul,
allowing me room, and time, to choose my own goal.
Now I’ve lived past any need to pretend
I love everything in life, even knowing it will end.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Okay, so, since I didn’t do much of anything fresh today, beyond a couple of pearls to fill in what was still needed, after producing most of today’s post yesterday afternoon, during a random energy burst…. and some serendipitous archive-searching…. At least the major portion of this group was picked out this morning, so, here is a little bit of fresh, mixed in with the stuff I found yesterday, while performing the blogging equivalent of dumpster diving….

It’s a strange group, mostly good for giving one’s self periodic pep talks, or, possibly, moral guidance during those moments when reality challenges us to act…. Or, you could read them just for fun….. your choice, as always….

“He who thinks he is raising a mound may only in reality be digging a pit.” — Ernest Bramah

“Fate is a river; free will is a paddle.” — Smart Bee

“Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature.” — Epictetus

“Action is the proper fruit of knowledge.” — Thomas Fuller

“Never fear shadows. They simply indicate there’s a light shining close by.” — Smart Bee

“Our minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to know the truth.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC)

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” — Albert Einstein

Boy, that last one says it all, don’t it?….

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In spite of the good sleep I managed last night, I’m still tired from my trip on Sunday with the young cone; kids will tire you out trying to keep up, for sure…. Any who, this is done, and that’s all I need to know at this point…. I’m outta here, ffolkes…. I’ll leave you as I greeted you, with a picture of cute…. This one was found on several news sites, so it must be fairly universal in attribution by now…. You gotta love the matching expressions here…. Both of them appear bemused and a little unsure, but, willing to pose together…. amazing synchronicity, I think…. See y’all tomorrow…..

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

gigoid

Ned Moore, aka gigoid, is a 70 year-old, (!!!… When did that happen?….), retired dilettante, who would rather read than eat, most days. His first blog, "gigoid’s folly", has been emailed out to folks he knows for about 18 years now. He still considers it his best defense against angst, and the ever-present specter of sheer insanity..... Due to rigorous curmudgeon training requirements, he has discontinued his Facebook presence, but still indulges in the occasional Twitter session... In essence, he's socialized, but, not overly sociable; all labels and stereotypes are forbidden in his presence... and he doesn't care what anyone thinks about that..... In fact, he doesn't want to talk anymore.... If you feel you MUST contact gigoid, his email address is: alphagigoid@gmail.com You can go read now.... Go on, beat it.... gigoid, the dubious

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gigoid

Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Smart Bee

Paint all of it in flesh tones….

Olive, or peanut oil for the fries?….

Only use the strongest poison for the nastiest vermin….

Songs of hearth and home….

His reality check was returned for insufficient funds….

Doling out a measure of peace….

Tossing beans with butter, in a bowl….

Provenance won’t impress the hungry….

From this perspective, it’s clear the vicar was nude….

“Off to Mars Port? Safe journey, Pilot!”….

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