Tag Archives: Thomas Jefferson

Once limited to peripheral accusations of pyloric incompatibility….

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Ffolkes,

I AM one of the most stubborn people alive, it seems… Hmmm….  I had thought to write that line differently, using the words “must be” where now stands “AM”, in shouting mode, but, once written, it became clear that there was no doubt at all connected to the idea, so, I went with the more positively certain incarnation…. Come to think of it, though, if I am flexible enough to accept the change in words, then I’m not as stubborn about change as I had surmised, so, the entire exercise devolves into sheer obsolescence, as its internal logic falls apart…… So much for THAT beginning…

All that remains is the original concept, that I am, or must be, pretty damn stubborn, to continue writing this amount of material each day, when there is so little response to what is written…. For over 2000 words a day, I pour my soul into this blog, usually taking a few leisurely shots at national politics, or one or more of the churches that abound in our society, all for the purpose of getting my head emptied of the stuff that might sit in there and rot, causing more trouble than it’s worth, for me, and for others who may come in contact with me, thereby suffering the consequences of being the only one there when my angst blows…. It’s not a pretty sight….

Of course, I could stop watching the news altogether…. I did that for a while, but found that it creeps in around the edges, and forces itself into one’s sphere of attention, like it or not….. Plus, as an inveterate, addictive reader, I tend to inhale newspapers whenever I see one, no matter how old; I’ll read just about anything with words on it, including, in a pinch, cereal boxes (Some of them have some way cool stuff on the back for kids, so they’re fun!….Nutritional information is more interesting than it seems at first glance, too….). It’s hard to completely keep free of all the news in this society, as it tends to push into our awareness regardless of how much we try to avoid it….

It helped that for a long time, I had no television; not being current in the events of TV-world has been quite lovely, to be sure. I never did care much for most of it anyway, and find that I don’t miss it much. Now that I do live with one again, I find myself still preferring to read, or jump on the computer to fill my need for words to eat; my brain consumes a massive number of them on a daily basis, so I need a rather large supply, in ALL sizes and shapes, to keep up with my appetite for them. A book each day has been my goal since I was about 10 years old, a goal I’ve managed to achieve, and more….

I read as much as my physical condition allows me to do, which is not as much as I would like…. I tend to prefer to sit while reading, and that particular activity has a limit to it these days, due to the insidious advent of pain, that builds up if I sit still too long, or stand too long, or walk too long, or do ANYTHING for too long… “too long” being a very short period, unfortunately…. But, I find I can go from one position to another, from sitting, to standing, to sitting, to lying down, in rotation, for much of the day, if I’m careful, and never become too painful. It makes it a bit choppy when trying to write, but, for reading, a good place marker keeps me from wasting a lot of time when I change position or activity….

I suppose one of these days, I’ll have to break down and buy a smart phone, or a Kindle, or other tablet computer, so I can do all my reading on that, wherever I am, standing, sitting, or in between….. I’ve been waiting for the technology to become cheaper, as it does over time after new items come out; the prices now for smart phones and tablets is becoming reasonable…. They still are overcharging for access, but, that, too, will go down in time, as the competition in the market increases….. Soon, we’ll all have our Google glass computers, built right into our VR glasses frames, with complete audiovisual connection to the entire world network, probably with voice-activation and virtual monitors on any handy surface….

Oh well, all that will come soon enough… In the meantime, I’ll continue to read using all the different methods I’ve accustomed myself to using, and be content with that…. And, I’ll continue to write my 2000+ words every morning, to get the crap out of my head, and onto the Net…. where, hopefully, some of it may stimulate some cogitation amongst the other denizens… I can hope, can’t I?….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion.  Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, Aug. 10, 1787
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“Learning to look in the mirror without judging too harshly, letting the voice of society cut us without judging too lightly, letting the voice of imagination blind us, but, rather, seeing ourselves with truth and compassion, aware of who we are, where we need to get better, where we need to forgive, is the goal of a healthy life.” — Callan Williams

Oh, how sweet! A beautiful sentiment, worthy of any true knight in shining armor…. Y’know what, though?…. Fuck that…. bugger them all, and let them figure out their own shit….  Sorry, my curmudgeon woke up…. and, though I usually agree with Mssr. Williams’ ideas, I’m sorry, but this sounds really, really new-age bullshitty….. In all honesty, if I heard someone say this to me, live and in person, I believe I would probably puke on their shoes….. What a bunch of Pollyanna crap! It reminds me of the current school of philosophy that tends to look at all students as poor, or victims, and attempts to build up what they believe to be the problem, i.e., self-esteem among the students, when all that is really needed is some damn honesty among the faculty….

Our culture is not only being held hostage by one party in one house of Congress, but by one attitude that tends to become overused, i.e. compassionate uplifting of the poor and ignorant, regardless of how they feel about it…. It’s the Mother Teresa syndrome, where the only way for the person to feel good about themselves, and to feel like they are “better”, they must be offering help and sustenance to someone poorer, and less able to fend for themselves…. never stopping to figure out the simple fact that viewing the world in this way is what keeps it that way….

It is their own insistence on helping those in poverty that creates the condition in the first place…. the proper solution is to change society so there are jobs and resources for these folks to help themselves, not to give them what we feel they need…. But, too often, ignorance walks hand in hand with compassion, because the compassionate tend to allow feelings to dictate their actions, rather than reason. Feelings are important, and need to be considered before acting, but, the actions should never be based simply on what is felt, or it will never achieve the necessary relation to reality to reach the necessary goal…. which is self-reliance, not universal empathy. Empathy is a useful tool, but, not the only tool we possess, to be relied upon exclusively….

“The truth of a proposition has nothing to do with its credibility. And vice versa.” — Lazarus Long, aka Robert A. Heinlein
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I’ve never been completely sure exactly why I like the poems of Emily Dickinson so much, but, then, I’m not one to question my own taste. Whatever the exact reason may be, you’ve got to appreciate the absolute genius of her use of metaphor, so patently obscure, it is beautiful, if only for its ethereal sense of unreality….

The feet of people walking home
With gayer sandals go –
The Crocus – til she rises
The Vassal of the snow –
The lips at Hallelujah
Long years of practice bore
Till bye and bye these Bargemen
Walked singing on the shore.

Pearls are the Diver’s farthings
Extorted from the Sea –
Pinions – the Seraph’s wagon
Pedestrian once – as we –

Night is the morning’s Canvas
Larceny – legacy –
Death, but our rapt attention
To Immortality.

My figures fail to tell me
How far the Village lies –
Whose peasants are the Angels –
Whose Cantons dot the skies –
My Classics veil their faces –
My faith that Dark adores –
Which from its solemn abbeys
Such resurrection pours.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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I realize the rant today left a bit to be desired…. I just didn’t have the proper amount of anger and outrage collected to fuel it to the point of explosiveness I enjoy so much…. But, then, it’s hard to work up a lot of hard feelings over the improper use of empathy….. Hey, it got me through one section of today’s effort, so, it will have to do… They can’t all be brilliant, can they?….. Having thus forced down my portion of crow, we’ll get on down the line with an old-school pearl, my favorite excuse for actual work…. Here is a randomly chosen pearl, on a subject which is not yet clear…. Smart Bee will know what I’m looking for, to save this Pearl from obscurity, and the shame of irrelevance….

“How it is that our memory is able to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?” — Duc de La Rochefoucauld

“I often have long conversations all by myself, and I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word I am saying.” — Oscar Wilde

“…there are periods of history when the visions of madmen and dope fiends are a better guide to reality than the common-sense interpretation of data available to the so-called normal mind.  This is one such period, if you haven’t noticed already.” — The Illuminatus! Trilogy

“Never argue with a Scorpio–even if you win, you lose” — Smart Bee

“It is the mark of our whole modern history that the masses are kept quiet with a fight. They are kept quiet by the fight because it is a sham-fight; thus most of us know by this time that the Party System has been popular only in the sense that a football match is popular.” — G. K. Chesterton, A Short History of England. 156

“The only game that can’t be rigged is peekaboo.” — Cruickshank’s Law #4

“I see a good deal of talk from Washington about lowering taxes. I hope they do get ’em lowered down enough so people can afford to pay ’em.” — Will Rogers

You know, I think this is the first time ever that SB has done this to me…. Taken together these seven pearls, each of which is relatively okay as a stand-alone thought, form a picture of an idea so outrageous, so amorphous, so irrelevant, it boggles the mind…. “What idea is that?”, you may well ask…. and that’s the problem…. I have no frigging idea where this went, or what it means…

The only part that makes any sense to me at this point is the one in the middle, because, hey, I’m a Scorpio… I guess that’s the ultimate point SB is making… If it doesn’t work for us Scorpio ffolkes, we just change the rules by which the game is being played…. It should be noted that this is far more effective when we don’t let the other players know we’ve done so… So, the rule for reading this pearl becomes, cast your mind free, and don’t expect to find a point…. It’s just a hedonist pearl, all feel-good, and no thorns…., other than those we poke ourselves with….
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I am hesitant to even proof this one; it has a perilous feel to it…. Oh well, no whining aloud allowed…. Well, better than I’d hoped for; that’s something, I guess….. I don’t think Papa Hemingway has anything to worry about in terms of this ever being compared to anything of his, but, just in case, I’ll go ahead and post it anyway…. Sometimes, ya just gotta settle for what is, and not worry about what might have been…. See ya….

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

dozer3

All the artichokes were bronzed in individual sterile containers….

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Ffolkes,

‘Tis a sad and fearful thing, when I see nothing more than a vast plain of blankness upon first gazing into my mind in the morning….. Since it matches the blankness on the screen at which I’m gazing, it doesn’t bode well for the day’s Pearl when I do….. But, being the tough son of a bitch I am, I persevere, blindly blundering ahead, pushing aside the fear and loathing that accompanies such inauspicious beginnings, to make yet another attempt at breaking through the boundaries of reality, into the ethereal realms of reason, and hopefully, enlightenment…. or, at minimum, illumination…. Hell, I’ll settle for getting my eyes all the way open….

Or, we can just have some oatmeal, and get on with it…. That sounds a lot more attractive than the first paragraph, especially since we can add brown sugar and milk to the oatmeal to sweeten it…. The only thing I can add to the first paragraph would be hope, which is in short supply these days in this reality….. Of course, the oatmeal doesn’t get the Pearl done, but it increases the chances of it reaching at least a modicum of coherence, whereas, given the parameters implied in the first few lines, we couldn’t hold out much hope for that to happen….. If you manage to decipher all of that, well, I think you’ll see what I mean…

I admit it, I’m lost already…. Three short paragraphs in, and I’m toast…. I’m seriously considering reprinting an old Pearl, from a couple of years ago, just so I can be done with this, but, that would be cowardly, a quality I refuse to countenance in myself. I’ll end up going old school, if I’m smart… but, knowing myself as I do, I also could conceivably fall into another rant, since the BRC and the Priestly Hierarchies continue their policy of taking advantage of everyone else’s good nature, and have no intention of stopping. I can’t help it, they just do this stuff right out there in public, so what is a curmudgeon to do, but point at it, and laugh, as long and hard as I can?….

The laughter, it helps, though it really isn’t funny, is it? But concentrating on the futility and hopelessness won’t make anyone feel any better, either, and I DO try to keep from bumming people out deliberately…. It isn’t my fault the world’s news is what it is; I just look at it, and write about what I see, which, for the most part, astounds me on a regular basis… How else to describe my reaction to the depths of ignorance, and height of arrogance & entitlement that I observe in so many of the world’s so-called leaders? Astonishment is the only possible adjective to give the strength of my outrage at their sheer avarice, and their shameless absence of virtue….

There, I’ve ranted…. short, and not too detailed, but, I think it works…. And, I did remember to include the religious hierarchies today, which, for the last few days, I’ve neglected to do…. The churches and their delusional leaders are the most important of the supporters of the BRC, for they too know all the tricks of mind-control of the unwary, having practiced those techniques for many thousands of years now, to manipulate and control the masses of the faithful, who are the source of their great wealth, as well as their labor pool.

In these modern times, I’m sure the churches are ever so thankful for the newest way to tap the masses for their spare change, to wit: crowd-funding…. It fits right in with car washes and bake sales, as a way to get the ignorant to give away their spare money, to causes they believe will be fruitful in some way, but, actually will end up the same place as their tithes, and their taxes, and most of the rest of what they earn…. in the pockets of politicians and priests, as payment from their corporate masters for their continued support of the thievery happening at every level of society, except the top…..

If you think of the idea of trickle-down economics, but reverse it, you’ll get the picture of how our society ACTUALLY works, in a financial sense…. Everything trickles up, ffolkes…. just follow the money, and you’ll be…. well, perhaps not surprised, but, at the least, chagrined, to find where ALL of it ends up…. But, hey, who am I but one of the schmucks who lets them get away with it?….. I suppose it’s probably a good thing I’ve never owned a gun…. I’d be awfully tempted to use it…..

My dad taught me about guns…. He considered it as his duty to teach us (his children…) how to use them correctly and safely, and how to respect them for the tool they are (One part of which taught us that’s ALL they are, too, by the way…. just a tool, a big hammer; one that throws a lot of nails a long way, quickly…. but, still, just a hammer….). If I owned one, or more of them, however,  I would most likely feel duty bound to use them for personal purposes, which, while I would see any such actions as being beneficial to society, those same actions might be viewed differently by that society itself, especially given the control over the news media that the BRC has…. Plus, I can count, and there are more of them with guns than there is/are(?) of me; strategic planning would seem to dictate a different approach, as that one is pretty much doomed to failure in the long run…. I just don’t have, and can’t get, as many bullets as they already have….

S’okay, I don’t mind…. guns have never been my preferred weapon of choice, anyway…. What I have between my ears is a much more versatile tool, and much more powerful in the long run… After all, I have based my life, in many ways, upon the following aphorism, which, if you examine it closely, and think on it a while, will show you who, and what I am… or, at least, who I try to be…. Of course, there IS no try, is there… Do or do not…. I do, mostly….

“Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage amongst his books. For to you the Kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned by the flicking of a finger.”  — Gordon R. Dickson, The Tactics of Mistake
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Well, I ranted in the intro again, so, we’ll go old-school here, to bring a wee bit of balance to things…. Hope springs eternal, it seems…. Any who, I’m not going to set any parameters, but, it seems of late Smart Bee has had its own agenda in that respect, anyway, so, we’ll just see what comes up, and where it goes…. Enjoy!

“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.” — George Bernard Shaw

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,–
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies:
They fall successive, and successive rise.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Iliad of Homer, Book vi, Line 181

“Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace.” — Eugene O’Neill

“Under the most carefully controlled conditions of temperature, density, and pressure, the organism will do what it damn well pleases.” — Harward’s Law

“There are no winners in life; only survivors.” — Smart Bee

“I wish they would only take me as I am.” — Vincent Van Gogh

“Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?  That no one should exalt himself over the other.” — Baha’u’llah

Onward, as they say in the movies; fear not, mes amis, all will be well…. I just took my medications…
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In the interests of not letting anyone else take the blame for any of what has occurred here today, I will use one of my own poems, one which clearly states who and what I am…. well, sort of clearly….

Ah Ain’t Sho, but Mebbe So….

Fried eggs got nuthin’ on me
Ah’m not even sure of mah name,
or how Ah come to be;
no idea from where Ah came.

Ah does like a mystery tho’,
puzzlin’ things out so’s Ah knows,
good from bad fo sho,
Ah sho don’t want no rock pillows.

If’n Ah cain’t figure out what’s best,
Ah just falls back on mah Daddy’s words,
seems he knowed just whut’d stand the test,
‘n how to gentle the scaredest birds.

‘Course, he’d lived a good long time,
‘n had lots of stuff go on by;
Went to a war, n’ lost a piece or two,
never once used it fer an alibi.

He tol’ me once Ah’d best learn to learn,
school’s only cool if ya ain’t already a fool.
Yer own good measure you can earn,
by startin’ yer learnin’ with the Golden Rule.

Always seemed to me as Ah growed up,
he mostly only spoke if it wuz true,
‘n by doin’ that clued me to what’s up,
kept me from stuff that’d a made me blue.

Without ever sayin’ the word itself,
Ah learned ’bout honor, ‘n helpin’ others
not some fake stuff from some shelf,
but, knowin’ whut’s right, ‘n that we’re all brothers.

Ah’ve been around long enough now, Ah think
to get around the block at least two times.
I s’pose long as my head don’t shrink
Ah’ll keep on doin’ right, ‘n makin’ these rhymes…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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See, now we’re in the third section, and I get to do whatever I want; it’s in my contract….. So, since I don’t feel like ranting any more today, or maybe ever, I’m going back to the same old taxi stand where I leave from when I’m in a hurry, in a figurative sense…. Who knows what will come out of this one? I certainly don’t….

“Here pigs will fly, lightning will strike twice, hell will freeze over, and eventually, things will get really interesting…” — Smart Bee

“Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion.  Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, Aug. 10, 1787

“The world will never have lasting peace so long as men reserve for war the finest human qualities.  Peace, no less than war, requires idealism and self- sacrifice and a righteous and dynamic faith.” — John Foster Dulles

“If a rock falls on your head it does positive harm, but shame, disgrace, reproaches, and insults are damaging only in so far as you’re conscious of them.” — Erasmus

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.” — Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) — Churchill’s Commentary on Man

“Is consciousness just a special form of hallucination?” — Frank Herbert

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), As You Like It — Act v, Sc. 1

I don’t often use Willy’s stuff, but, he was so prolific a writer, even HE got some of it right…..   🙂    I didn’t know where it would go, but, it sure ended up there, didn’t it? I like it, so, I guess that makes me stranger than even usual…. Oh, well….
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Yes, and no, I suppose, is the best response I can come up with, at least until I can go over this with a clear head…. and that could take days. I guess I’ll have to do that now, instead….

I reiterate, I have no idea how that happened, officer…. I’ll be going now, to look for my peace of mind, which I somehow dropped somewhere…. I’ll find it around here somewhere, I know it…..

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

dozer3

Ecstasy mode has been added as an accessory….

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Ffolkes,

“Do not settle for less than the best your own excellence can command.” — Anne McCaffrey

Excellence has always been the goal, for almost my entire life…. In school, on the playing field, at work, every activity I have engaged in has been given my best effort at performing the given tasks as well as they could be done, whether physical or mental in nature. Without tootling my horn too loudly, I’ve done pretty well at it…. I was valedictorian of my high school class, played three varsity sports, achieving All League status in both football and baseball, and have gotten consistently excellent work ratings at whatever job I held…. My personal philosophy, Peruaosophy, acknowledges the importance of excellence in my life, with axiom # 4 stating, “Excellence is its own reward.”…..

This morning, I am reaching a milestone in blogging…. This will be my 800th post, in just over two years of blogging, not all of which met my standards of excellence, other than in their consistency of publication, and their technical characteristics, such as grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. As for the literary aspects, I will be the first to admit that what I’ve created doesn’t always tip the scale all the way to ‘excellent’ in every post, but, I made an excellent effort at it, and would imagine about half of it could be considered quite good….. Some of it is pretty funny, anyway….

So, anyway, I am not sure how I should react to this milestone…. I’m well past the time in my life where I’d use this as an excuse to go celebrate, abusing my liver by an outrageous consumption of adult beverages, but, I guess I won’t mind feeling a small glow of satisfaction for the day…. Well, I can do that, once this actually gets posted, and this 800th version of the Pearls of Daily Wisdom on WordPress joins its fellows…. Since I am trying to rest, and gather my resources and energy for the upcoming move I have to make, in two days, it will be nice to contemplate the satisfaction of my achievement while I am doing so…

This event has also had the serendipitous side-effect of giving me enough material for a legal intro section, without having to go through my normal contortions…. I’m sure everyone will appreciate that, given that, according to the stats, whatever I’ve been doing seems to be driving all but three or four hardy souls away…. No matter, Maya is everywhere, and nothing we perceive is real, unless it is……

Now that I’ve written four paragraphs, my brain is starting to wake up, bringing me a bit closer to real cogitation, and I see by the above that once again, I’ve wasted a perfectly good opportunity for some serious humor with a semi-serious, and all-too-sincere discussion of reality’s current configuration settings. I hate to miss a good chance for a joke or two, but, what’s done is done, and it’s too much to expect me to write, and, at the same time, monitor the direction and quality of what I write, so, as is the standard policy here, we’ll leave it in place, and get on with the rest of today’s concourse d’elegance, which, if I am translating correctly, is at least in the vicinity of where we wish to end up…..

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Even as a great fish swims along the two banks of a river, first along the eastern bank and then the western bank, in the same way the Spirit of man moves along beside his two dwellings: this waking world and the land of sleep and dreams.” — Upanishads
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In order to have any chance of understanding anything in this section, it is recommended that you first engage your most perceptive, flexible attitude, and read the article found at the end of the link below….. please?…..

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2013/08/27/doom-gloom-smile/

In the last few weeks, Mr. Morford has written a couple of excellent essays that parallel my own thinking; this is one that gives a good idea of what goes through my head every day, or whenever I think about the sad situation we are in, as a species, in relation to our planet’s health, and its threatened ability to provide us with an environment that is conducive to our survival…. (Hmm… a little pompously phrased, but, hey, it’s a serious subject….) Those thoughts invariably end up in a scary place, and it is hard at times to maintain the illusion of my own happiness, in the face of the future…. How can I enjoy my own time on earth, when I know that my children’s children will be faced with some very hard times, and choices, as the situation worsens?…

I’m not in the mood to rant, even with the anger and outrage that thinking about the BRC’s complicity in bringing the world to this point gives me; sleep was not to be found last night, and my brain feels as if it is packed in cotton…. safe, warm, and comfortable, but not terribly interested in being sharp…. So, to go along with Mark’s mindful insights, I offer this pearl, to give some color and contrast to a situation that resists any beautification efforts….

“History is a nightmare from which we are trying to awaken.” — James Joyce

How sad and bad and mad it was!
But then, how it was sweet!

— Robert Browning (1812-1890) — Confessions, ix

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

“Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation.” — Edward R. Murrow

“It is not good to try to lead people by hitting them over the head, but for some few, having a bat handy is helpful, just in case.” — Smart Bee

“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” — Mark Twain  Following the Equator (1897)

“YOW!!  I’m in a very clever and adorable INSANE ASYLUM!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Since today is a milestone Pearl, it seems appropriate to use one of my own poems. Here is one of the first I wrote after beginning to write poems again, after a 35 year hiatus…..

Playing by the Rules

All my days I looked for love,
And found it everywhere I looked.
The years were joyous and fully booked
Seemingly by command from Above.

In return for all of the beauty in Life I found
I played life by the Rules that we all know,
It was from my father I learned the how,
Honest love, given freely, hand-fasted, gladly bound.

It seemed a while as if it were all real,
that fulfillment and contentment could be
as real as the children given us to oversee,
to teach them of Life and Love, and how to feel.

Then storm clouds of grievous change arrived, unbidden
Insidious, deceitful, three steps forward, then one back.
Tearing holes in our beautiful cloth, a heart heard to crack,
Gleeful demons eating life’s bounty, fangs dirty, and hidden.

Pain and sorrow grew, in defiance of all I tried,
Sanctuary turned into a reluctant scene of ritual battle,
Love still lives, but is herded like doomed and pitiful cattle,
While the keening of my soul sounds as if I’d died.

Betrayal in love is, allow me to assure, no small pain to take.
Time has no power to reduce its place in my heart or soul.
My truest love became a stranger, a powerfully sharp toll,
Solitude has become my lot, no killing time for necessity’s sake.

Love yet surrounds me, everywhere; I’m not one of those fools…
Children are forgiving, I’m glad to be able to say,
They show me life’s solid purpose, the old, right way,
I guess  don’t know any other way, than to Play it by the Rules.

~~ gigoid ~~
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I had a whole slew of excuses and/or justifications for using an archived pearl in this section, all of which seemed lame once I had written them down, so, I’m not going to give one…. Here is a section three discussion from the Pearl on 1/2/13; I will only say that it seems appropriate for what has happened here today….

“But my dear man, reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.” — Alan Watts

I enjoy the words of Alan Watts, and have done so since first reading one of his books in college, many years ago. His command of English is so deep and wide that he is somewhat hard to read, due to the weight and depth of both the material under discussion, and of the words he chooses to use. But, working one’s way through to the end of what he writes is well worth all the effort, for he explains the complex, and yet simple, wisdom of the Eastern religions and philosophies, in Western terms, so they are comprehensible to those same Western thinkers, with a clarity heretofore unseen. This particular line is one of his most simply written, yet is still deep and insightful…..

With one swift phrase, Reality is laid bare for all to understand, showing its flexibility, it’s malleable nature able to become whatever we perceive it to be. Each of us has our own interpretation of what we perceive as reality, and it is often very different than what others may believe it to be. Sometimes, I am absolutely amazed at the variety of perceptions that people describe, and feel a lot of satisfaction, on one level at least. That is the level of interaction…. I think it is just wonderful, that people from so many different backgrounds, and so many different ways of looking at the same thing, can still live together on one planet in relative harmony.

It would seem apparent that so many differing viewpoints would cause a lot of trouble, and to some extent that’s true…. There is a lot of trouble on this world, and Reality is not a place for the weak or timid to hang out safely. But, mostly, all the various attitudes and outlooks on life seem to shuffle along without much conflict, at the personal level, compared to what might be expected. One of those little unexplained miracles in life that we often don’t see, or appreciate….. The phenomenon is even more pronounced in institutions such as mental hospitals, where the visions of reality are of such a nature as to seem limitless in their variety. I was always impressed at how people from so many different parts of the galaxy were able to live together in peace….   🙂

For me, the best part about the nature of Reality is this chameleon-like quality: it can be anything we want it to be. We can accept the perceptions it sends us, and even see, and understand, what those are describing to others, thus making it convenient for us to communicate about it. Or, we can choose to alter those perceptions, either in the way we receive them, or in the way we interpret them; either method gives us control over exactly how we view what is now a somewhat questionable form of Reality.

(It occurs to me that maybe I should use the capitalization technique, as with the words ‘pearl’, and ‘Pearl’…. Yeah, that’s the ticket… Okay, so ‘Reality’, capitalized, is what we all agree to see, and ‘reality’ is what each of us sees personally, with the word ‘see’ used to indicate ‘perceive’ because it’s a shorter word, took less time to type, and allowed me to further obfuscate matters in order to create the need to clear them up….. That should help clarify where we are in a sentence, even if it doesn’t actually simplify things at all…..)

Speaking of knowing where we are, this discussion seems to have reached a point where the next destination may be out of reach. Oh, not that the reality of it is too abstruse, or complicated, or even merely disgusting. No, it’s just too esoteric for me at 0815 in the morning, after already composing a couple thousand words on human nature and and the nature of Reality. It is almost a depressing come-down to have to consider ending this, since it was flowing so well, but, the perfect closing pearl showed itself, and I’m not one to argue with Smart Bee, or Zippy….. Stay alert, ffolkes, Reality can suck, and it can bite, when it’s not being nice…..

“I guess it was all a DREAM..  or an episode of HAWAII FIVE-O…” — Zippy the Pinhead
_____________________________

I’m struck at how typical this Pearl has turned out…. It’s over the top, length-wise, but that’s nothing new. It’s all over the map, intellectually, also nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s a little bit egotistical, but, hey, it’s my blog, right? I’m a little nervous about just how it will appear, in the big picture…. I guess I’ll go see now, and get that over with…..

Serendipity has struck again, hard…. I like it, and though I tend to be somewhat biased, I try to maintain some small degree of objectivity, and that part of me says, it ain’t bad…. and, it’s done, making it perfect…. now, with this final word from Zippy, I bid thee adieu, until next time….

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

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

dozer3

Just stuff another paradox in there; it’ll burn….

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Ffolkes,

A few days ago, I received a notification from WordPress that I had reached my second anniversary of publishing this blog. At the time, I had posted 792 times, about 30 of which were re-blogs. I find myself uncertain of how I feel about it, beyond the initial sense of accomplishment at having completed that many posts, regardless of their worth as literature. As therapy, it wasn’t the most elegant or intensive I’ve ever performed, but, it worked, having kept me from turning into a blithering idiot, sitting on the floor, dirty, rocking and chanting to myself while I pick at my skin….

Now, I’ll admit, it is not a foregone conclusion that I wouldn’t have made it through my period of isolation and poverty without going mad, though some would say that destination isn’t a very long journey for me, considering where I am starting from…. but, I know myself, and though I’ve never given in to the world’s intense pressure before, I am not sure I was strong enough, physically, or emotionally, to make it as well as I did, by using my writing as a way to keep from making that journey. Since I did make it through without succumbing to my pain and fear, it becomes a moot point, and isn’t something I particularly wish to dwell upon; in contrast to what I wrote much of the time, I didn’t much enjoy that time, not after Noah passed on, and I became truly alone…..

Today, I am past that time, and the issues that caused that state of mind are no longer present. This has changed my inner state, as might be expected, making me much stronger, as I’m not so often beset and overcome by any of my fears, because the means to deal with those fears is now part of my bag of resources. It’s hard to understand just how powerful it can affect one’s entire existence to be free of fear…. It has a way of freeing the mind, removing all the distracting emotional content from certain patterns of thought, content that can slow down the mind, or affect its ability to adapt and deal with the issues that arise in our lives…. Without fear to slow us down, we are much better able to enjoy life, as it doesn’t cause us the same emotional distress as when we allow the fear to hold sway….

In truth, this is a lesson I learned long ago, when I was first involved in the martial arts, and knowing it allowed me to work in a field that encompassed a lot of violence, without ever getting injured physically…. mentally is another story, but, this is just the intro section, and we’re already off track by quite a distance, so we’ll not get into that just now…. However, suffice it to say, fear, of the unknown, of violence, or based on lack of self-confidence, is a very powerful force in our lives, and it is critical for us to understand it in ourselves, and learn how to keep it from affecting how we deal with the world. When we try to deal with the universe under the influence of our fears, we fail, every time…. When we learn to let our fear pass over, and through us, without letting it alter our behavior, then we learn to succeed in the world….

Simply put, fear can either make our life a living hell, or we can remove its influence, refusing to allow it to affect how we will live, and, as a result, learn to enjoy the inner peace that comes with that knowledge…. It’s really that simple, ffolkes, and not all that hard, once one gives up the attachment to their fears that has developed over time…. People are often afraid to give them up, as they are more afraid of what is out there to replace them…. Like most folks, they are happier with the devil they know…. So be it, it is only themselves that will suffer for that…. Well, until they get elected, then, their fear and ignorance has a tendency to spill over…. Any who….

Shall we Pearl?….

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

— Theodore Roethke
_____________________________

The above introduction may have clued y’all in to where my head is today, to wit: your guess is as good as mine….. No, I’m distracted today, by thoughts of moving at the end of the month (week), fragments of a poem that has been percolating, stuff to do today out in the BBR, and, of course, the background muttering that is always there, my personal running commentary on what I perceive, and what my inner self is thinking about it…. What, y’all don’t do that? Hmm…. well, I have always had this little voice running in the back of my mind, sort of like an inner sportscaster/color commentator, looking at the world through my eyes, and commenting on what they see, and what I feel about it…..

“Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one’s head.” — Mark Twain

Does this make me strange? Probably…. I don’t much care, as whoever it is in there doing the commentary is a frigging funny guy, constantly  cracking me up with the reactions they give to what I see or hear….. But, I digress, as usual….

This will be an old-school pearl, because that is what I want to do now, and that’s the way it is, so, that’s the way it will be…. I guess I’m getting cranky, what with all the blather I’ve had to put out so far, just to get to this point…. I’m not used to so much typing right off the bat…. Carpal tunnel’s starting to complain, so, we’d best go on to the next stage…. I don’t know, or can’t say, just what the search parameters for this one will be, as I haven’t decided, and it is time to begin, so, tread carefully…. the path could get a bit dodgy to see, and you don’t  want to get off the path….

“Share everything.  Don’t take things that aren’t yours.  Put things back where you found them.” — Robert Fulghum, “Everything I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten…”

“Be polite to all, but intimate with few.” — Thomas Jefferson

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

“My father was a God-fearing man, but he never missed a copy of the New York Times, either.” — E. B. White

“It is not a fish until it is on the bank.” — Irish Proverb

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

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

Well, that came out better than I’d hoped…. a bit loose around the edges, but still fairly obscure… I like it, so it stays…. No more argument, now, I’ve decided, and that’s it…. Never mind…. We’ll just go on now, and forget it ever happened…
_____________________________

The last couplet of this poem is a somewhat famous quote, used to illustrate many points of discussion….. I just like the poem itself….

A Vision of Poets

There Shakespeare, on whose forehead climb
The crowns o’ the world; oh, eyes sublime
With tears and laughter for all time!
And Chaucer, with his infantine
Familiar clasp of things divine.
And Marlowe, Webster, Fletcher, Ben,
Whose fire-hearts sowed our furrows when
The world was worthy of such men.
Knowledge by suffering entereth,
And life is perfected by death.

~~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning ~~

_____________________________

I am indeed feeling “differently” today…. so much so that my mind has created a new kind of pearl…. Below are three quotes/statements of position/ideas…. Together, they form a pretty good scale of life, in terms of how it needs to be lived…. These describe the high end of the scale, the low end, and, a middle point, which will show the way…. Enjoy this new kind of puzzle for the mind, ffolkes, and be prepared to use your anti-motion sickness pills, as there are some rather sharp turns along the way to the end of this particular ride…..

Deteriorata

Go placidly amid the noise and waste and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof. Avoid quiet and passive persons   unless you are in need of sleep. Rotate your tires. Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself and heed well their advice, even though they be turkeys; know what to kiss and when. Consider that two wrongs never make a right but that three do. Wherever possible, put people on hold. Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment and despite the changing fortunes of time, there is always a big future in computer maintenance … Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet. Fall not in love therefore; it will stick to your face … Reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot, it could only be worse in Milwaukee. You are a fluke of the universe; you have no right to be here, and whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back. Therefore make peace with your God whatever you conceive him to be–Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin. With all its hopes, dreams, promises, and urban renewal, the world continues to deteriorate. Give up. — Tony Hendra


“Not all who wander are lost.” — J. R. R. Tolkien

“We may not be able to persuade Hindus that Jesus and not Vishnu should govern their spiritual horizon, nor Moslems that Lord Buddha is at the center of their spiritual universe, nor Hebrews that Mohammed is a major prophet, nor Christians that Shinto best expresses their spiritual concerns, to say nothing of the fact that we may not be able to get Christians to agree among themselves about their relationship to God. But all will agree on a proposition that they possess profound spiritual resources.  If, in addition, we can get them to accept the further proposition that whatever form the Deity may have in their own theology, the Deity is not only external, but internal and acts through them, and they themselves give proof or disproof of the Deity in what they do and think; if this further proposition can be accepted, then we come that much closer to a truly religious situation on earth.” — Norman Cousins, from his book “Human Options”
_____________________________

I am, as usual, unsure whether or not what I’ve done today is what can be called literature, but, it is definitely done, so, it will have to do for the time being…. I’ve got too much to do today to start over, even if I go to the archives, and I’m not going there today…. Any who, let’s see just what happened here this morning….

Okay, well, that’s different; what happened is completely outside my experience, and well beyond my ability to analyze, or describe in any meaningful way… Nothing new there, right? Since it’s done, and I have so much to do, I pronounce it finished, and will now take my leave, post haste… Until tomorrow….

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

dozer3

Pilfered hearts, buried in parody….

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Ffolkes,

It’s tempting…. the urge to just give it up is getting strong, and the reasons to do so are growing more compelling each day. As I sit to write today, I’m struck by how conflicted I am inside, where one part of me wants to fulfill the routine I’ve established over the last two years, and another part wants me to just go back to bed. For those two years, the latter part of me has been meek, unable to have its way very often, if at all, over the big, blustering, powerful urge to spill my guts….. Of late, though, it has gained strength, and weight, and is now able to bring a sense of controversy to these morning battles with myself…..

Obviously, the part of me that is still dreaming in bed has lost again, as the words keep flowing on screen; I guess the meek aren’t inheriting the earth quite yet…. It does, however, create yet another conundrum for me to solve, to wit: what the hell will I do today for an intro section? I’ve used up just about every style there is, or, at least, all I can think of, and none of them have been workable as an every day kind of opening, that would stand up to the test of time. The closest I’ve come is these wandering, blathering personal commentaries, four or five paragraphs discussing the workings of my head, which, though they may be interesting at times, probably get a bit trying to the patience to read often….

I’ve tried fictional openings…. I’ve tried ranting, I’ve tried pearls. I’ve tried to be logical, and I’ve dipped deeply into the well of nonsense to draw up some humor, such as it is. I’ve even used the Keystone Kops method, and, in times of extreme emergency, made things up. Hell, I’ve even considered the use of high explosives, but, I couldn’t get the permits…. Oh well…. I did have high hopes for that one, but, city hall gets nervous at private citizens asking for permission to blow stuff up….

Oh well, by this time, I should know better than to get all worked up about it….. The struggle to decide on what to write about every day will continue, as long as I keep flogging myself to write…. It’s looking like that isn’t going to cease any time in the near future, so, I’ll have to learn to live with a daily battle in my head, at least until I learn how to live with it, and accept it as reality….. That is one answer, in truth….I could be all Zen, and call this process a koan, a learning experience, and realize that it is acceptable just the way it is…. Life is struggle, and cannot be lived without pain. Learning to accept the pain is what eventually causes one to be able to live in harmony, and the pain, along with the struggle, will pass into memory….

Yeah, that’s the ticket…. Zen rules!….. Well, it helps, anyway…. Ah well, it’s happened again, so we’ll take the five paragraphs of relative crap, and go on to the next steps in this dance macabre….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Work is not an end in itself; there must always be time enough for love.” — Robert Heinlein
_____________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— Jordan Henderson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I only have one thing to say about this morning’s choice of poems…. Take note, for you are reading the work of a genius…..

Reflection On A Wicked World

Purity
Is obscurity.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

So Does Everybody Else, Only Not So Much

O all ye exorcizers come and exorcize now, and ye clergymen draw nigh and clerge, For I wish to be purged of an urge. It is an irksome urge, compounded of nettles and glue, And it is turning all my friends back into acquaintances, and all my acquaintances into people who look the other way when I heave into view. It is an indication that my mental buttery is butterless and my mental larder lardless, And it consists not of “Stop me if you’ve heard this one,” but of “I know you’ve heard this one because I told it to you myself, but I’m going to tell it to you again regardless,” Yes I fear I am living beyond my mental means. When I realize that it is not only anecdotes that I reiterate but what is far worse, summaries of radio programs and descriptions of cartoons in newspapers and magazines. I want to resist but I cannot resist recounting the bright sayings of celebrities that everybody already is familiar with every word of; I want to refrain but cannot refrain from telling the same audience on two successive evenings the same little snatches of domestic gossip about people I used to know that they have never heard of. When I remember some titillating episode of my childhood I figure that if it’s worth narrating once it’s worth narrating twice, in spite of lackluster eyes and dropping jaws, And indeed I have now worked my way backward from titillating episodes in my own childhood to titillating episodes in the childhood of my parents or even my parents-in-laws, And what really turns my corpuscles to ice, I carry around clippings and read them to people twice. And I know what I am doing while I am doing it and I don’t want to do it but I can’t help doing it and I am just another Ancient Mariner, And the prospects for my future social life couldn’t possibly be barrener. Did I tell you that the prospects for my future social life couldn’t be barrener?

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

_____________________________

As often is the case at this point, I have no rantable material available for this section…. Oh, subject matter isn’t an issue, only the degree of angst available to drive it to the proper pitch. Anything less than shrill just doesn’t get anyone’s attention, or release enough of the angst for duty elsewhere…. Such is life, as we say in the blog world (like that is an actual place, with inhabitants, and all that implies….).  What this means in terms of reality is another pearl of a random nature…. I’ll see what Smart Bee starts off with; that will provide me with a search parameter. Then, when I’ve got an idea in mind, I’ll do a fast cruise through the dB, and pick out the best pearls to make the point….

All this doesn’t generally take very long, but, this morning, it could take a while, as I’ve already put SB through some heavy paces…. We’ll see how it’s holding up…. You may use the first quote you see as the certificate of entitlement for the remainder of the pearl….

“What about reality, you ask?  Well, as far as I’m concerned, reality can go take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.” — Stephen King
(This is possibly the best single pearl I have ever encountered!…)

“How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.” — R. Buckminster Fuller
(Okay, that’s a good one, too….)

“How pleasant then to be insane.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
(Ooh, ooh! Me, too!….)

“Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the _real_ object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?”
— Patrick Henry
(Whoops…. a bit of direction change there, eh?…. Let’s see where it takes us….

“Silence gives consent.” — Smart Bee, channeling the sages of all ages…
(Yep, that’s a good one, as well… nice job, SB… That’s five, let’s find two more, to finish strong….)

“Government [is] an illusion the governed should not encourage.” — John Updike, Couples
(Hmm….)

“Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most Souls would scarcely get your Feet wet.  Fall not in Love, therefore: it will stick to your face.” — National Lampoon, “Deteriorata”
(Oh no! What happened? You did that deliberately, didn’t you… Well, no way, Bubba… try again… Two, and both have to be good…)

“Don’t SAY things. What you ARE stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson — Social Aims

“I have been a stranger in a strange land.” — Old Testament — Exodus ii, 22

Okay, that will do…. It’s not perfect, but, it’s relatively inoffensive while still being obscurely disturbing…  It had better do. I’m out of quotes…. Smart Bee went on strike after this last one, so, we’re done here; you can thank me later….
_____________________________

Or, you can thank me now, as it is now completely done, and your suffering is at an end. So is mine, for today… Well, I do have to go read it again, to at least make a try to find the typos that are always there, so, I may as well get that done, too….

Whew! Well, I can see now, I’ll be handing out the E tickets at the beginning of today’s ride, as it takes off through the numberless corridors and infinitude of dead-end tunnels of my mind…. Come to think of it, I should probably check to make sure my insurance is paid up, and that all the safety equipment is in place, before I post…. Oh well, I can’t be responsible for those who don’t trouble to stick their own clouds of preconceived notions in their pocket before coming on board…. They’ll have to take their chances along with the rest of us….

That all being said, I think it came out pretty well, if a bit flagrantly scattered. Hmm, nice…. “Flagrantly scattered” might just be a new iconic phrase to describe this blog; don’t be surprised to see it again somewhere…. Sorry, distracted again; it’s happening a lot today…. Any who, I guess, since this is the closing section, I should bring this to a close, so, I will…. TTFN….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…. Oh, and, Blessed Be…. (No, I’m not Wiccan, but, I like the thought…. it fits in with my concept of “good vibrations”….)(Plus, it will, from this day on, always be there, at the end of every post, as a tribute to, and to specifically direct it to, my friend Carole, to add to her good vibrations, in her fight against the big C….)

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

dozer3

It only performs when titillated…..

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Ffolkes,

In the interests of public safety, and by local statute, I am required to make the following announcement: Caution! Operator carries no caffeine! Do not put your hands in the cage. Do not speak to the operator while writing. Do not look at the operator while writing. In fact, just go away….

Okay, so the last one isn’t really in there, and, you don’t have to go away…. But, the rest is true, and good advice at this point, if a bit frantic, due to a late afternoon attack by one of Murphy’s minions yesterday, one with results much more far reaching than his usual shenanigans….. It was a real pisser, and I’m lucky I didn’t bite myself, it was so infuriating….

After a day of agonizing pain in my neck, which kept me down and out most of the day, I was dutifully, and, manfully, considering the still-present pita (pain in the neck, see? pita…. c’mon, keep up!….) cleaning up the kitchen, when I opened the coffee maker to prepare my coffee for this morning (the coffee maker is one that can be programmed to start at a set time…. heavenly!….). The machine’s getting a bit old, and Murphy decided the moment was the perfect time to have it break, in such a way as it is not repairable….. the bloody arsehole…

The plastic neck that delivers the hot water to the brew basket, to drip, cracked clean through; if used in this state, the hot water would proceed to cover the entire sink and counter where the coffee machine lives…. I’m actually lucky I noticed it break; if I hadn’t, the disaster would have been of major proportion, as it would have actually kept me from getting ANY coffee, and would no doubt have sent me into a towering rage, and subsequent riot, wherein the coffee maker would have most likely gotten tossed through the nearest window, thus requiring embarrassing explanations to the neighbors….

Though I’m pretty sure y’all don’t much give a shit about my hassles to obtain coffee, society knows better, and requires the above disclaimer if I am deprived of the necessary dose of it within a few moments of arising. It’s the law, which was enacted the last time it happened, in 1989…. you might have seen the news reports, though my lawyer tried to have them played down, and did manage to not have the law bear my name, like it does when some sex offender gets a law passed because of their actions, or named after a victim of some kind…

In my own case, there were no deaths, and only minor injuries, mostly to me, and my property…. But, it required a strong police and fire department presence to control the resultant events, and a number of officers got frightened so badly, they’re still in therapy…. The upshot is, I am required to have my first cup of very strong coffee, complete with accouterments, defined as sugar and cream, within two minutes of arising, and I am not allowed to associate with anything more complex than a toilet until that is accomplished. It’s better that way for everyone, so I don’t really have a problem with it, until stuff like this happens….

Murphy KNOWS that coffee is a legal requirement around here, and he delights in making it harder for me to stay on the right side of that legal line in the sand…. Hence, I now have to make a trip to a store today, to get a new machine, just for starters….. This morning, just to add insult to injury, it was necessary for me to heat up water on the stove, in a pan, and pour it through the coffee basket, with the machine off, in order to get any coffee at all, which, as you may guess, did NOT make me a happy camper…. I swear, if that Irish assbite ever manifests himself in front of me in such a way as to allow me to lay hands on him, he will not forget the pain for a very long time….

Now that the morning paean to coffee, and the habitual, almost required discussion complaint about Murphy’s latest version of humorous rudeness, has been composed, we can go on to other stuff…. I would say, given what I’ve seen so far, that is probably a good thing…. Quite frankly, this intro sucks big time….. but, like a wart, there it sits, so what are we to do? Well, I know what I’m gonna do….

Shall we Pearl….
_____________________________

This is the coolest thing! If you are a fan of Doctor Who, you will appreciate this, and may already know about it…. In my short stint of surfing yesterday (pain kept me off the computer a LOT yesterday….), I found the link below…. Following it will bring you to a Google map, which is of Earl Road, in London, England….

The map soon dissolves to show a picture of the street, with a blue Police telephone box in the center of the picture. If one clicks on the two white arrows that appear in the street in front of the box, the scene switches to a virtual view of the inside of the box, which happens to be the TARDIS, the Doctor’s sentient space-time travel machine….

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=51.492159,-0.19092&spn=0.005291,0.013937&sll=51.492140,-0.193028&layer=c&cid=12502927659667388442&panoid=c9UMhWP_MWm9U0L48xEjYw&cbp=13,291.8,,0,18.86&gl=US&t=m&cbll=51.492132,-0.192862&z=17

The scene shown inside the box is a virtual tour of the entire TARDIS interior, and the user can scroll around to view all the parts, though there is no Doctor present to guide the tour….. Regardless, it’s a great little easter egg from Google, and fun to play with for a while…. And, it serves as a way to keep me from subjecting y’all to a rant here in the first section…. Instead, I offer this little bit of fun, and hope you enjoy the time spent checking it out.

“I taught I taw a puddy tat.” — Tweety
_____________________________

It may not be clear from what has gone before, but, my head today is in a very, very strange place. I’m not sure why, or what has brought it on, but, strange it is…. It’s one of those days when I am unsure of just how I will react to any stimulus from others, so, I generally try to stay to myself on such days…. It also gives me a strange, if not altogether weird, impulse toward complex poetry, to match the feeling in my head (which, I understand, is a contradiction in terms…. feelings belong elsewhere than in the head….)…. For this, I almost always turn to this poet to furnish an appropriate verse or two….

Magi

The abstracts hover like dull angels:
Nothing so vulgar as a nose or an eye
Bossing the ethereal blanks of their face-ovals.

Their whiteness bears no relation to laundry,
Snow, chalk or suchlike. They’re
The real thing, all right: the Good, the True . . .

Salutary and pure as boiled water,
Loveless as the multiplication table.
While the child smiles into thin air.

Six months in the world, and she is able
To rock on all fours like a padded hammock.
For her, the heavy notion of Evil

Attending her cost less than a bellyache,
And Love the mother of milk, no theory.
They mistake their star, these papery godfolk.

They want the crib of some lamp-headed Plato.
Let them astound his heart with their merit.
What girl ever flourished in such company?

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

_____________________________

Subjects suitable for a rant have presented themselves to my attention several times in the last few days….

The BRC continues its thrashing around in the throes of embarrassment, trying to repair the damage to their credibility that the clandestine spying they’ve been up to has caused in the public, as well as the exposure threatened to all the other attempts to distract us from what they are doing behind the scenes…..

The Catholic bishops are scurrying around trying to figure out “What were we thinking, when we elected this idiot as Pope?!”, while the new Pope himself is busily meeting with the people on the streets, telling them, if only by example, he is going to clean out the corrupt bishops who elected him… Well, he hasn’t actually SAID that, but, his actions thus far seem to indicate that he isn’t going to go along with the agenda they had prepared for him, and may actually be trying to bring the church into the new millennium…. Not that it makes any great difference to me, but, a LOT of people regard his words as their own guide to reality, so what he says and does can directly affect society at large….

There have been other, just as juicy articles that spelled out some new outrageous government policy, or some new outrage on the public by a police officer, or some new instance of prosecution of an elected official for stealing money from the public coffers…. Stuff like this happens every day, and, in truth, has gotten to the point where it is hard to decide which one to address….

Now, me, I’m lazy, that’s been demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt in the past…. Therefore, even the process of decision making gets streamlined in terms of effort by my brain, which is extremely adroit at figuring out the path of least resistance (long practice helps there….). Hence, this random, harlequin, old-school pearl, with only the most meager of constraints placed on Smart Bee in regards choosing appropriate pearls… As long as fun is being poked, I’m good with it, and so should you be….

“I already know I’m paranoid.  The question is, am I paranoid enough?” — Smart Bee

“Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” — P.J. O’Rourke

“I like a bit of a mongrel myself, whether it’s a man or a dog; they’re the best for every day.” — George Bernard Shaw  1856-1950, Misalliance [1910], episode I

“The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper” — Thomas Jefferson

IDIOT, n.  A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling.  The Idiot’s activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but “pervades and regulates the whole.”  He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable.  He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.  — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hopes for the human condition is a fool.” — Albert Camus

“I realize that I’m generalizing here, but as is often the case when I  generalize, I don’t care.” — Dave Barry

Well, that came out better than I had hoped, or imagined…. well done, SB…. or, should that be, well, done, SB…. ?….. Either way, it seems…..
_____________________________

Given the handicaps under which I’ve struggled in order to complete this morning’s effort, I consider it a job well done, no matter how it came out… How did it come out? Let’s see…..

Okay, well, that’s way better than I’d hoped, or expected; I can easily attribute it to serendipity, which, in my life, is generally accompanied by a gleeful expression of joyful feeling, such as “Look what I found!”, or “Whoopee, I struck gold!”, or other such heartfelt exposition. Consider it said, and we’ll call it square, okay?….

I know it’s good, or at least, okay, because there weren’t any typos I could find…. at least, not in the first pass; however, it still has to cross Murphy’s desk, and the WP new-post editor, either of which could make their own, unapproved and unwanted, changes, usually without my knowledge…. Just remember, when it left my desk, it was pristine…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Put the cheeseburger down, sir, and step back from the condiments….

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Ffolkes,

Traffic has been light this morning, and what is there is moving along well, so I guess it’s okay to get started…. Not that traffic has anything to do with this, but, it works on the radio, so I thought I’d give it a try…. By this time in the process, it really doesn’t matter what I do, it’s all going to be wrong, or misguided somehow, and whatever I produce will crash and burn within moments. The investigators are never able to tell afterward exactly why it crashes (the burning part is obvious…. leaking fuel, oxygen, heat, all present…. only the ‘why’ is mysterious…), but, it does. I really don’t expect them to know how to determine sabotage by icons of nature like Murphy, as he is well able to make such things appear to be due to natural causes…..

You know what I mean by that, right? Natural causes? Same thing the beloved ruling class means when they say some political prisoner died in custody, of “natural causes”, to wit: they killed them…. Oh, they might call it “pilot error” but it was “termination with prejudice”, you can bet on it….. Sorry, but anybody who, during an election campaign, says they’ll stop what is being done to people at Guantanamo, and at other facilities, in other countries, where it doesn’t break our laws so blatantly, and then totally ignores the whole issue, isn’t what I would call trustworthy, and can’t be counted on to tell the truth about anything.

SIGH…. there I go, ranting again in the intro…. It just seems to keep popping out, with little provocation. I mean, how much provocation can I claim at 5:55 in the morning, unless, for some unknown, and unwelcome, reason, I’ve been dreaming about this stuff, which I don’t think I’ve been doing…. not so’s I remember, anyway. It doesn’t matter, really, though, because I’d planned to rant today, so this can be considered a warm-up, or stretching exercises…. As long as you don’t consider it terrible, and go away, I’ll be happy….. It gets so lonely around here in the mornings, and the neighbors don’t appreciate me breaking out my guitar at this hour, so, I’m stuck with this computer, and my imaginary audience, for company…. Sad image, isn’t it?….

Don’t be sad, though, because I like it like this…. Now that much of the stress is gone from my life, of waiting for the bureaucrats to act, for my retirement to kick in, for poverty to end (at least for me…), I am able to enjoy my retirement time, getting a big kick out of watching the world run around like crazy, acting out the panoply of human stories and games, and knowing that nobody has any say about what I do, or when I do it, other than me, myself, and I…. and, of course, Patricia, to whom I’ve lost my heart…. She’s allowed to take up my time with her business on an “ad lib” basis…. but, I can’t consider that an onerous chore, or any kind of bother…. rather the opposite, truth be known….

Okay, well, I’ve blathered and meandered, and wound my way through another four paragraphs that don’t say much of anything, other than some pointless attempts at humor…. I should probably take my own advice, and not try to do that so early, especially before the coffee has kicked in fully….. but, SOMEBODY has to do it, and I’ve never been one to shirk my duty, once I know what it is….

The upshot of all this is, I’ve met the legal requirements for this blog’s opening remarks, so, I’m going to take that assessment and run with it…. If nothing else, it will prevent the formation of bruising around the eyes, where it feels as if I’ve been punching myself since I got up, twenty minutes ago…. Hmm, maybe I wasn’t done sleeping…. Ya think?…. Oh, well….

Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

As noted above, I tend to rant at the slightest provocation, and, though that tendency isn’t one I particularly wish to curtail completely, it is one that contributes to at least one of the problematic characteristics of blogging, a long winded way to say it makes these posts too long sometimes…. Then, I feel guilty, for taking up so much of people’s time, and ending up preaching to the choir, anyway…. This is why I’ve been resorting so often to old-school pearls to get my points across, or at least, out there for perusal and cognitive processing… Again, in short, it’s easier, on you, and, to some extent, on me….

Yesterday, I read an article in the news (you can read it here:  http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/08/06/planet-continues-to-warm-to-new-normal/ ) about climate change. The article discussed the yearly report, from the world’s scientific community, on the extent of the changes in the Earth’s average temperature, the changes in the polar ice, and the rising of the world’s oceans, as the increasing temperature melts those polar ice packs, little by little… The report itself makes no attempt to ascertain, or explain, the causes of the warming; it only reports the factual numbers of how much is changing each year…. It does note, however, that the levels of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere on their scale of measurement haven’t been seen on our planet for approximately 800,000 (!) years….

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part ii, Line 15

I haven’t seen the reaction yet from the fringes of the far right of the political scene, but I expect them to be out any time, once again parading the extent of their ignorance, shouting their outrage at the numbers, claiming that the scientists are “fudging” them, or claiming that we humans don’t understand what the numbers mean, because we don’t have infinite knowledge, like they do…. because “they” believe in God, which gives them the right to challenge the scientist’s figures…. If asked to do so, I could probably write one of their articles; it doesn’t seem hard, as one needn’t bother with presenting any facts, or evidence to support one’s theories…. I would, of course, feel very silly, but, I could do it….

Don’t worry, I won’t; plenty of others will do so, with much more sincerity, if less factual, than I…. It does piss me off, though, to have to watch these idiots go through their contortions, trying to refute the obvious danger that the changes reported by the scientists pose for us as a species, along with all the other species with whom we share the air we breathe… It pisses me of a lot, because they make it harder to get anything done about it, and muddy up the waters made clear by the report, never realizing that by insisting on the truth of their delusions, they are signing their own death warrant….

Rather than bore you with another rant (which, it seems from looking at this small intro, I seem to have already done….) I’ll turn to my old-school format, and bring the point home with a group of pearls…. once again highlighting the advantage to pearls of virtual wisdom, requiring much less effort to acquire than the mundane, standard types of wisdom, which ask us to display intelligence, patience, and perseverance in order to feel the boon of its presence…. Easy money, as they say downtown….

“The radical novelty in modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief, which is at the heart of all popular religion, that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart.” — Walter Lippmann

“These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives; for all the scents of green things growing, each breath is but an exhalation of the grave.  Bodies jerk like puppet corpses, and hell walks laughing” — Smart Bee

“Belief is the death of intelligence.” — Robert Anton Wilson

“Reality is when it happens to you.” — Smart Bee

“Are people more important than the grizzly bear? Only from the point of view of some people.” — Edward Abbey

`Just the place for a Snark!’ the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

‘Just the place for a Snark!  I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark!  I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.’

— Lewis Carroll, the Snark and the Boojum

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

_____________________________

“A people who expect to be ignorant and free expect what never will, and never can, be.” — Thomas Jefferson

I almost used this as a closing remark to the rant/pearl in section one; it’s almost the right sentiment, but, didn’t quite hit the exact mark, so I’m using it here, as the opening remark for another old-school entry. Yes, it’s being a little bit lazy, but, I will reference my point above re: retirement, and the perks thereof, to wit: I don’t care if it’s lazy, it’s what I want to do, and you can’t stop me, at least, not without the risk of injury, to one or both of us…. Since neither of us is willing to see what happens in that case, let’s get on with this…. The primary search parameter for this pearl is “Risk analysis of using ignorance as a survival tool in modern society.” Or, something like that….

“Thank you, Señor MacGyver.”  “Don’t thank me, thank the gravitational pull of Earth’s moon.” — from The Simpsons

“Does history record any case where the majority was right?” — Robert Heinlein, Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“A “sucking chest wound” is nature’s way of telling you to slow down.” — Murphy’s Military Laws, #12

“The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.” — George Bernard Shaw

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

Hmm…. how did that get there? Or, more accurately, how did we get here? This comes close to what I was looking for, but, something isn’t quite right…. we’ll go on, find two more that will shore up the weak side, and bring home the point we’re trying to make….

“I used to get high on life but lately I’ve built up a resistance.  — Steven Wright”

“From stupidity there is always something to be learned, but it’s always the same thing: don’t be stupid.” — Robert M. Adams

There… that should do it…. sometimes the thread that ties it all together is thin, and hard to see, but, it generally works out okay…. in the case of this pearl, the wisdom is inherently obvious, unless one regularly fails in the task implied in the final entry….  😆
_____________________________

Well, that was fun! I don’t know how it will look to others, but, it matters little now, because the road became the journey, and I feel centered…. Hmm… Murphy must be lurking about…. I’d best go proof while I can….. I was right, (write?…), Murphy was hanging about…. That took what seemed like forever to get all the spots I got lazy with my typing… comes from it coming out so fast and smooth, I guess, I had to sit for too long to keep up… Okay, no whining, I’m done now anyway…. and, I’m outta here…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

dozer3

Yet another display of consistently obscene pathology….

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Ffolkes,

I suppose it all comes down to whether or not one is willing to put up with the universe’s demands upon our time and energy, when deciding which of the many different types of cereal to have for breakfast. I mean, there’ the question of sugar versus aspertane; the question of rolled oats versus wheat or corn flakes, the  question of puffs versus flakes, or the whole concept of cut-up fruit, and other accessories to the breakfast experience. And, then, just when you’ve decided on one thing or another, they ask you whether you want home fries or hash browns with that!…..

Life is hard, isn’t it? Decisions await the application of our will around every corner, every hour of the day; we can never really get away from the need for making hard decisions in life. Trying to do so only causes further difficulties, as Murphy has an entire department of imps just waiting to help us make decisions in life that are guaranteed to drive us insane, by feeding us false, or erroneous data about what we have to decide, thereby ensuring we make the wrong decision, thus, affording him and his minions hours of free entertainment, as we gnash our teeth and wail out our complaints to an uncaring universe….

Me, I stick to coffee in the mornings, leaving the decision-making to other folks to enjoy. I refuse to give Murphy the opportunity for any more free shots at me than he already takes. If I want to eat, I stick to pastries, or other stuff that won’t cause a big mess in the kitchen. That room is too full of too many dangerous objects; knives with sharp edges, fire, heavy pots, scalding hot liquids…. No, thanks, I’ll pass on all that in the morning, in lieu of making weekly trips to the emergency room to deal with Murphy’s latest version of what he thinks is funny, which, naturally, frequently causes me to leak one kind of body fluid or another…. another image I probably could have skipped using…. SIGH…. Oh, well, I can’t be responsible for the state of people’s stomachs ALL the time…..

Hmm…. compared to what generally passes for an intro in the mornings around here, this is pretty mild, and actually somewhat engaging, if you have any interest at all in breakfast cereals…. If not exactly your cup of tea, well, we’re serving coffee, over there in the corner, where Murphy and the gang are, of course, taking advantage of my hospitality by hogging all the condiments; you’re free to join them, at your own risk, naturally. He’s already had his way with me today, so he’ll be glad of the company. Me, I’m going to go pearling, as if it were the most natural thing in the world…..

Shall we Pearl?…..
_____________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poetry is sometimes so powerful, it only takes a few meager lines to impart an incredible amount of inspiration, wisdom, and beauty….. Emily was a master of this principle….

Because I could not stop for Death —
He kindly stopped for me —
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~


“We have art that we do not die of the truth.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
_____________________________

I’m still feeling a bit silly, so I’m going to give in to the impulse to let that out into the light of day, and go with another old school pearl, this one gathered with the idea of ‘smiling’ in mind…. Let’s see what SB has to say on the subject…..

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” — Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844-1900)

“Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.” — Joseph Wood Krutch

“If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.” — Murphy’s Eighth Law

“OH, STOP YOUR WHINING!” — Smart Bee
(ref: Peruaosophy, Axiom #6, to wit: Axiom #2 X axiom #5 = And God so loved the world, He said, “Quit whining!”)

* Greatest number of citizens who have actually boarded a UFO
* Many newspapers feature “JUMBLE”
* Hourly motel rates
* Vast majority of Elvis movies made here
* Didn’t just give up right away during World War II like some countries we could mention
* Goatees & Van Dykes thought to be worn only by weenies
* Our well-behaved golf professionals
* Fabulous babes coast to coast

— David Letterman’s “Things we can be proud of as Americans”

“The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.  — Jane Wagner”

“A day without a laugh is a day wasted.” — E.E. Cummings
_____________________________

I love it when a plan, etc…… Due to time constraints imposed upon me by the BBR, (Big Blue Room, for those with memory impairment issues….), I had to sort of rush through this morning’s post… Sometimes that affects the quality, or, at least, the format that is employed in creating the pearl. Today, I think it went well, so, let’s see….

cute owlYes, yes, this pleases cute owl! Well, it pleases me, anyway, and that’s all that counts in the ultimate sense. Cute owl is only here as a hired consultant…. Now that I have demonstrably gone completely around the bend, I’ll leave you to treat your wounds in peace….  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Gazing into the abysmal mirror of introspection….

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Ffolkes,

Well, there’s a switch…. Murphy decided to surprise me today by leaving me alone. As a result, I slept, like the proverbial rock, until after 0700 AM, for perhaps the first time in a decade, if we don’t count those mornings when I did so, but only because I didn’t go to sleep until 3 or 4 AM. I don’t think I’ve slept that much since before my kids were born, 33+ years ago…..

What a treat! Of course, my body feels strange, but, that is just the unusual, and uncommon, feeling of having more than enough energy, for a change. It’s been so long, I wasn’t sure what it was…. thought it was an illusion, at first. It’s actually a good feeling, one I recall having quite often in the distant past, before PTSD and adulthood took away that boon….

Oddly enough, I find that having energy doesn’t necessarily translate into having intelligent thoughts, or brilliant ideas for something to write about, or instantly knowing what phrase will work…. I’m just as fuzzy as if I’d gotten up earlier…. Ah well, I AM a Bozo, so what can I say? And, just because Murphy got me once, by reversing the order of things on me, doesn’t mean he isn’t still out there, waiting to get me again…. the asshole.

Not having any ideas to write about has never stopped me before, and it won’t today, either….. Yesterday, I used the excuse of business out in the BBR to shorten this intro section…. That part worked okay, but, I’m never at my happiest when I have to resort to the archives….. I hate repeating myself, big time. But, then, much of what I end up ranting about is a repeat of one kind or another, so I suppose that’s just a personal quirk that I shouldn’t let affect things as I do. Oops…. there’s that word again….

“Shouldn’t”….. I don’t know about y’all, but a long time ago, I learned a lesson about the word “should”….. It is a truism, and when one thinks it over, it is easy to see that it is a truism right down to the bone, and not really arguable at all; no argument to the contrary of what I am about to relate is valid, because they all veer away from reality and truth….

Simply put, the lesson/truism says, this: whenever you use the word “should” in a sentence, you are relating information that someone else told you. It isn’t something you told yourself, or figured out on your own…. we only do “should” when we learn it from another, and use it as a “guilty” motivation to act a certain way….

In this case, it happens to be something that I DID tell myself, (as seen in the above sentence….)…. but, the need to not let personal quirks affect things is NOT mine…. THAT idea came from someone else, and really isn’t true, when you look at it…. Personal quirks don’t necessarily mean bad writing, but, we’re all taught to not let stuff like that happen, by the myrmidons of society who teach their unwanted and unwieldy code of (im)morality to everyone else with platitudes and lies hidden as metaphors.  No matter what it is, if the word “should” shows up, you can bet some busybody told you whatever it was you used it in relation to, and told it to you long ago, before you knew better than to listen to old fools….

Well, between my back pain (moderate), my bemusement at sleeping so long, and my tendency to ramble, I’ve managed to put together quite a hefty opening section…. a little ranting, a bit of advice, some societal wisdom, and an indictment of the iconic asshole who bothers us all…. not bad for a Saturday morning, I’d say… and, if you will note, I just did say…. Which, all things considered, is probably enough, if not too much, so…..

Shall we Pearl?….
_____________________________

It being Saturday, well, it really don’t mean shit, but, we’ll pretend it does…. So, I’ll tell you that this pearl will be old-school, and since school is closed on Saturday, we’re up the creek without paddles or gum. Nonetheless, I think Smart Bee can do this, so, we’ll give it a shot, and hope for, if not the best, something fairly easy on the eye and mind….

“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.” — Irish Proverb

“To get anywhere, or even to live a long time, a man has to guess, and guess right, over and over again, without enough data for a logical answer.” — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Nobody can live in society without conventions. The reason why sensible people are as conventional as they can bear to be is that conventionality saves so much time and thought and trouble and social friction of one sort or another that it leaves them much more leisure time for freedom than unconventionality does.” — George Bernard Shaw

“The unnatural, that too is natural.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

“To reach perfection, one must understand the converse is also true; to be fully perfect, one must also be perfectly imperfect.” — gigoid

“Truth is just truth…you can’t have opinions about truth.” — P. Shickele

“I’m having an emotional outburst!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“Ask a toad what is beauty?…a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back.” — Voltaire (1694-1778)

(No, I can’t explain why this seems appropriate here and now….. but, it does, and it is, so…. don’t fret about it, stranger stuff has happened around here, so, just feel lucky for the time being, and we’ll move on…..)

Everybody Tells Me Everything

I find it very difficult to enthuse
Over the current news.
Just when you think that at least the outlook is so black that it can grow no blacker, it worsens,
And that is why I do not like the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~


Aha…. now I understand the presence, and relevance, of the Voltaire quote…..
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The following pearl, of the old-school variety, was originally intended as the beginning of a rant; the first quote, from Jack Kennedy, was so startlingly real, not to mention incredibly arrogant, it stimulated the outrage I need for such treatises….. but, my thoughts on the subject were a bit jumbled at first, then, I saw the next quote, and I realized it would be better to go old-school, as the vitriol and vituperation I would have engendered while writing about such chicanery might have gotten on my clothes, and that stuff NEVER comes out… Any who, here is a group of pearls, all intended, please note, as ironic, or to act as an indictment of those who are mentioned in conjunction with them….

“Private enterprise … makes OK private action which would be considered dishonest in public action.” — John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)
(This one just enrages me…. It goes to show, though, just how little politicians care about the common man, and how easily they can rationalize and justify their own actions, or those of their cronies, and how easily morality and ethics are tossed out the door in the name of profit and power….)

“If the liberties of the American people are ever destroyed, they will fall by the hands of the Clergy.” — General Marquis de Lafayette, 1789
(Gee, who’d’ve guessed?…. Ah, let’s see…. Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison….. oh, okay….)

“Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity. It eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation.” — Johnny Hart
(Tongue firmly in cheek….)

“I am not a part of the problem. I am a Republican.” — Dan Quayle
(Blatant ignorance…. not to mention wrong! )

“This just in from a Nicholas Notifier up north.  Everyone’s favorite farmer and political commentator off the interstate near Chehalis has just come up with the prize line of his career.  “Limit congressmen to two terms.  One in office.  One in jail.” — Jonathan Nicholas’ column in The Oregonian, Friday, March 29, 1991

“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.” — Aesop (620-560 B.C.)

“A neighbor came to Nasrudin, asking to borrow his donkey.  “It is out on loan,” the teacher replied.  At that moment, the donkey brayed loudly inside the stable.  “But I can hear it bray, over there.”  “Whom do you believe,” asked Nasrudin, “me or a donkey?” — Smart Bee

Well, there you have it, a perfectly imperfect old-school pearl of virtual wisdom, chock full of sardonic humor and dry wetness, among other oxymoronic impedimenta…. I like it, and so does Mikey….
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I like even better that, not only did I get lots of sleep, this Pearl flowed out smoothly enough to get finished in excellent time. Now, if it doesn’t take too much fixing…..

Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3

Telltale signs of cultural decay…..

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Ffolkes,

Even gilt-edged party favors won’t help this time; these puppies are too close to being finished, and we can’t take the chance of having to start over again. But, then, it isn’t my responsibility to prepare ALL of the correct devices for service, only those in the alternate parlor. The rest are supposed to be taken care of by the out-sourced service teams, and I won’t have my crew all lost and depressed over a couple of distressed O-rings and a corrupted file….

There, I told them, didn’t I? Maybe someday, my brain will let me know what that was all about, but, until then, we’d best get on with this; I’ve got a lot to do today out in the BBR, and getting this posted first is fairly critical, to my sense of order, if nothing else…. Actually, I should just fake it today, and go with stuff from the archives, because I don’t think I have time to be fresh…. So, that’s what we’ll do…. Not only that, but we’ll cut this intro section short, as well, and just go right into the regular program…. I hope it doesn’t upset anyone’s applecart, but, sometimes, we just have to alter reality to suit the needs of the day….

Shall we Pearl?….
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I haven’t ranted in several days, so here is a (sort-of) rant from February of this year…..

“I can handle reality in small doses, but as a lifestyle it’s much too confining.” — Lily Tomlin

This is one of many statements of its type, some from Miss Lily, some from other comedians and social philosophers, all of whom are special to me…. They are special because they poke fun at society in the mildest way, but with clarity that is belied by their apparent simplicity and obvious humor. It is easy for a lot of folks to dismiss little gems like this, as being unimportant, or less than serious, just because it speaks with tongue in cheek… Nothing could be further from the truth, as this statement is absolute gospel to a large percentage of the adult population of this country….

“Reality is for those people who can’t handle drugs.” — George Carlin
(My attribution here might be incorrect, but, George inspired the line, if he didn’t write it himself….)

This quote is another line from the revolution that happened back in the 60’s and 70’s, and it points up a very definitive difference between those folks who spend their time in the mainstream of society, and those who exist at the extremes, in this case, in what is generally conceived to be on the Left end of the scale…. Those who inhabit the other end of the political spectrum tend to rely on alcohol to blunt the effects of Reality on the brain, rather than what are dismissed by them as recreational drugs, such as marijuana, psilocybin, mescaline, etc.  In some ways, you can get a good idea of the philosophies themselves by looking at how they approach the subject of drugs and alcohol, and by the differing methods of enhancing life with them….

Those who rely on alcohol are those who prefer to NOT know the truth, about anything. It seems to me that the physical effects of alcohol parallel exactly the way these folks look at life…. When under the influence of alcohol, one’s senses are depressed, and it is much harder to see the truth than at other times…. and that is the way they like it…. With consumption of alcohol, the hearing decreases, judgment is impaired, vision blurs, sense of touch is lessened, and fine muscle control is compromised, pretty much in that order of occurrence. It is the same each time, but with continued regular consumption, a certain tolerance is developed, a tolerance that slightly mitigates the effects, but certainly does not keep them from happening.

Those who use drugs to enhance or adjust their view don’t deny the truth, but they want it to be all prettied up for them in some way, so it isn’t so harsh and ugly…. Most of the effects of the drugs are in the mind, with some notable exceptions;  the perceptions of all the senses are not depressed, but altered in some way, usually personal to the user, in physical response to the chemical in the drug that causes the cognitive alterations.  Either way, whether with drugs, or with alcohol, perception of the truth is what ultimately suffers, which is what the proponents of both ends of the spectrum tend to forget, or deny….

“Have you ever wondered if taxation without representation was cheaper?” — Smart Bee

I have…. It is and it isn’t, and we are witnessing that phenomenon right now….. This may be why many people have such a hard time with reality; when one becomes aware of just how screwed up things are, and how much lying, cheating, and stealing is going on right before our eyes, it is rather daunting to take in all at once, so people do as they’ve always done, and slip into massive denial of the truth, preferring to just ignore the evidence that is slapping them upside the head…. One time, I actually sat down to do the math on the above question, and what I found was surprising…. Neither way works…. There just isn’t any logical way to govern people, and make it either profitable, or even reasonably cheap…. Well, not as long as the lying, cheating, and stealing is part of the equation, anyway….

“The word “dog” does not bite,” — William James

Boy, if that isn’t the truth…. but, try to convince the general public of that….. It is one of the basic issues to be considered when speaking to the public, one that the BRC and PTB members all know very well, as it is their chief weapon in controlling the populace…. Most folks don’t think…. when they do, it causes them pain, so they tend to let someone else do it for them, and just go along in blissful ignorance, accepting whatever they’re told without a clue. They never consider that the word itself is not the thing it describes; even worse, they don’t care to know….. It is the simplest thing in the world for the Beloved Ruling Class to fool the public, because they actively participate, with apparent glee, in their own debasement….

“As a matter of cold fact, a lot of people have no use for you because they can’t use you.”  — Smart Bee

Sometimes, I’m not sure which disgusts me more…. the callous disregard for others that is the defining characteristic of all politicians and preachers, or the deliberately blind, fawning ignorance of those who refuse to become fully human, use their minds, and take responsibility for their own life…. To my way of thinking, both are deserving of every bit of trouble that reality can give them, just for their intransigence…. otherwise known as rampant stubbornness, or more simply, massive stupidity….

I’m being deliberately offensive this morning, as I’m sick and tired of how the general public refuses to wake up and smell the gunpowder, and I don’t really care if it hurts someone’s feelings. Anyone who disagrees with my assessment is free to offer up their own take on the matter, and I’ll give it equal time for discussion…. but, if what I’ve said hurts feelings, then apparently what I’ve said strikes just a little too close to the truth for comfort, and I would suggest that the person take a look at that before setting themselves up for embarrassment, by trying to argue without a leg upon which to stand….

In the past year and a half, I’ve written thousands and thousands of words trying to wake people up to how much they are giving away by refusing to think. It is my greatest hope that what I have to say may have some small effect on the world, an effect that might in some way contribute to our chances of surviving our own foolishness. I’m afraid my hope is, sadly, rather slim, but, I’m not ready to quit my campaign, nor to change tactics. I’ll keep on poking at the BRC, and the priestly hierarchies, and every other enemy of mankind (for that is how I see them….) for as long as I can, and hope for the best….

“One of the greatest advantages in the world is enjoyed by the person who says and insists that they are telling the truth, when in fact, they are telling the truth.” — Smart Bee
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I’ve stroked my ego enough today, by reprinting old rants and pearls from previous posts, so for our poetry today, we’ll go with the true genius I know can be found in this woman’s work….

A Sorcerer Bids Farewell To Seem

I’m through with this grand looking-glass hotel
where adjectives play croquet with flamingo nouns;
methinks I shall absent me for a while
from rhetoric of these rococo queens.
Item : chuck out royal rigmarole of props
and auction off each rare white-rabbit verb;
send my muse Alice packing with gaudy scraps
of mushroom simile and gryphon garb.

My native sleight-of-hand is wearing out :
mad hatter’s hat yields no new metaphor,
and jabberwock will not translate his songs :
it’s time to vanish like the cheshire cat
alone to that authentic island where
cabbages are cabbages; kings : kings.

~~ Sylvia Plath ~~

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Here is another pearl from the archives, again from February of this year…. not quite as long, but, it’s an old-school style pearl, so it is saved by  its own grace….

“The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.” — Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a fascinating fellow…. His published words are usually considered to define him, as free-thinking, intelligent, and altruistic, in addition to his passion for politics. His private self was, by all accounts, sometimes less admirable, as he was prone to an aristocratic indifference that did not appear in his public persona. But, whatever his faults, he was, above all, a true Patriot of this country, and not only passionate in his defense of it, but eloquent in both the justification for its existence, and in defining its underlying principles.

He showed in his writings, both public and private, a clear understanding of how our country could prosper in the future, as well as the problems it could encounter from agencies in the world that wished to see it fail, or at least struggle to maintain the independence of its citizenry. He was one of the first to point out the danger that banks and corporations pose to the workings of Congress and the government, by their willingness to bribe and pay off whomever they could, to give themselves an edge in the making of the laws (an event that, almost unarguably, took place the first time during the Constitutional Convention itself… I have no doubt the bankers were very involved in trying to influence that body’s results, and spreading money around to do so…. Fortunately, they were largely unsuccessful, at first….)

Since I’ve already ranted once today about the BRC and their clandestine efforts to control reality, I’ll limit myself, and try to avoid repetition, by going old school from this point…. Here are some of Jefferson’s quotations on different subjects, all of which together give an idea of the range of his thoughts, and the depth of his insight….

“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) — Declaration of Independence (A document heavily influenced by George Mason, a fellow patriot, taken almost verbatim from similar documents written by Mason, for the state in which he lived….)

“When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.” — Thomas Jefferson, Writings

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg.” — Thomas Jefferson

“…this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.” — John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1816

“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter To Francis Hopkinson, Paris Mar. 13, 1789

“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.”― Thomas Jefferson
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Well, cheat, or no cheat, it serves its purpose, and all without a single whine for mommy…. I won’t comment on the relative degree of humanity implied by that, if you won’t either….. Let’s see if it hangs together well enough to suit our needs…. Okay, not bad, not bad at all…. Not fresh, but not rotten, either; we’ll go with it (like I’m going to stop now…. sheesh…. get a grip, Ned….)  I have a feeling I’d do well to make my escape now, so….    Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid

dozer3