Portraits of affable wallet accessories….

Posted on May 8, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“In the dark time will there also be singing?”

“Yes, there will be singing about the dark time.”

~~ Bertolt Brecht

Artist’s rendition of proposed EUSA Lunar Base

Image from Space.com

Good morning, ffolkes…. The new, minimalist method I’ve developed for the intro section seems to have worked out fairly well… If I have aught to say, well, I can…. If not, such as today, it’s perfect…. Let’s let it do its thing, okay?….

Shall we Pearl?

“Passive activity income does not include the following: Income for an activity that is not a passive activity.” — IRS form 8583, Passive Activity Loss Limitation

And, don’t you forget it!….

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Image from wikipedia via Google free images

This little guy was my childhood hero; I never missed one of his cartoons on Saturday, for as long as I can remember…. Enjoy!….

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Mighty Mouse

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https://youtu.be/lxUPYqQ1Lrs

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“Written laws are like spiders’ webs, and will like them only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful easily break through them.”
— Anacharsis (f1. c. 600 B.C.), Scythian philosopher — Quoted in Plutarch, the Lives of the Nobel Grecians and Romans, Solon

I decided NOT to produce a fresh rant, though I certainly could; there’s plenty of stuff going on out in the BBR at which to pick…. But, I found this older piece that works just fine with the above stimulus quote, from a few years back…. It’s actually two pearls from the Pearl posted in March of 2012. Enjoy, ffolkes! It’s all real, not to mention still relevant….

From 3/27/2012:

“And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the bible were used to beat plowshares into swords…” — Alan Watts

“…You don’t have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That’s contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not suspected.” — Edwin Meese

Viewed in light of the first quote, if one may assume its veracity, even temporarily, for the sake of argument, the second quote, while disappointing in the extreme, is not as surprising as it might otherwise have been seen. Oh, where to begin a response to such an outrageous display of ignorance and bigotry? I count only 26 words here, and can think of at least 14 ways this is just wrong, just off the top of my head. It piles one false assumption on top of another until any glimmer of possible relation to the truth, or reality, is completely obscured. Unfortunate as it is, this mind-set is still all-too-common, especially amongst the political pundit review currently on parade.

As a matter of fact, this mind-boggling distortion of our actual laws on the subject, reminds me very strongly of three of our esteemed Republican candidates being followed avidly by the news-mongers, especially Mitt the Twitt…. in the last week alone (post Etch-A-Sketch), he has made, (and I, along with a fairly large number of bloggers & citizens keeping track, counted), at minimum, 19 apparently deliberate lies that involved vague accusations of impropriety by the current administration. Each and every one of these statements, when checked against reality, or what was reported in other media sources, was obviously made up on the spot, or completely in reverse of what actually occurred. He is so desperate to appear to be confident and forceful, he is completely oblivious to the fact that no one is buying into his nonsense any more; in response his lies get more and more removed from any connection to reality or truth. His two closest challengers are no better; they make a habit of making statements that have absolutely no bearing on the subject under discussion, or accuse the media of playing favorites to distract the audience from whatever question they attempting to avoid answering by doing so.

All of these men have lost touch with reality in a lot of areas, and their denial of this fact serves as further evidence of that loss. Their belief, that they have their finger on the pulse of the American people, is so far removed from the truth it approaches the realm of delusion. They have completely lost track of, or denied, any connection they may have once had to the rest of their countrymen, insisting that their out-dated, ignorant policies, that didn’t work 45 years ago, or 90 years ago, will nonetheless work in today’s changing face of global politics, while completely ignoring the mountain of evidence to the contrary. They have assumed the mantle of the fanatic, a segment of the population that has previously been clearly identified as those folks who, when they have lost sight of their goal, redouble their efforts. Sad, and a terrible waste of everyone else’s time and energy to have to even listen to such nonsense. They have given up their place in the human tribe, and don’t even know it…… Pathetic, if you ask me…..

Mi taku oyasin. (We are all related.) — Lakota belief
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There are times when the pearls I find that stimulate me to want to write about them are found in clusters. Several at once, all closely related, or similarly themed, just throw themselves at me, clamoring for inclusion. On these occasions I’ve learned to let them have their way. It is just as effective a lesson as my comments usually can claim to be, and has the added bonus of requiring less actual work on my part; the authors I choose have all done my thinking, and expressing for me, and usually much better than my discussions. Below are some observations on politics, patriotism, and the price of liberty, from some pretty well-respected political observers……

“In a state-run society the government promises you security. But it’s a false promise predicated on the idea that the opposite of security in risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take risks. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.” — Theodore Forstmann

“My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one’s country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” — Thomas Jefferson to A. Stuart, 1791

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” — H. L. Mencken

“I don’t pick on politicians. They ain’t done nothin’.”– Red Skelton

“Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.” — Kin Hubbard

(Don’t ask…. it just fit, that’s all…)

and finally….

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,–
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.

~~ William Shakespeare

~~Much Ado about Nothing — Act ii, Sc. 3~~

(Will was obviously channeling George Carlin…)

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Since I haven’t had it in me to rant much of late, here’s a poem about ranting….

A Few Words of Note

In place of ranting and raving about assholes every day
maybe I’ll try something more fun.
Rather than throwing words at all the assholes on public pay
I’ll switch to shooting at them, with a gun….

Should I actually hit one, purely by mistake,
maybe it would wake them up.
Maybe, if they had to think, or actually cut us a break,
we’d see a chance to win at life, to take a step up.

Our nation, such as it is today, was founded by men who told the truth;
that morality disappeared long ago.
Simple ethical strength so bright, so prevalent in our country’s youth
was soon corrupted, corporate interests now run the show.

Nothing would please me more than to fire off some rounds,
if only to gain their attention.
But, I can no longer run, I’ve gained too many pounds;
so, my keyboard and intellect must serve to fulfill my intention.

I won’t stop, of that you may be sure
I love my freedoms, and the philosophy from which it springs.
Tom, and Ben, and John, and Pat, those patriots pure
gave me their example, and the inner peace it brings.

If bullets won’t persuade our elected liars to toe the ethical line,
I’ll throw my most powerful words…..
If nothing else, it will make them wriggle to escape, or voice their pitiful whine,
thus exposing themselves for what they are…. plain and simple turds.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Ffolkes, THIS is a pearl; in might even be called a prototypical pearl. It’s a wonderful nine-star collection of some of Life’s lesser known lessons, couched in less than ordinary terminology, wrapped tightly in extreme metaphor, yet, each one with a valuable piece of information, each essential to getting the whole picture of Reality as it is, not as we guess it might be… Most are stuff you either already know, or, ought to; if not, well, there’s still time to learn, even for slow-learners…. not that I’d ever suggest any of MY Gentle Readers could be such…. All of them, I’m sure, will chuckle right to the end, then just go, “yep…” Well, the polite ones will…

“Ah said, pay attention, boy!”

~~ Foghorn Leghorn ~~

“If possible, try to find a way to come downstairs that doesn’t involve going bump, bump, bump, on the back of your head.” — Pooh, in Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” — Isaac Asimov

“It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.” — The Vatican Sayings, Epicurus

“It ain’t loafing unless they can prove it.” — Dick Brown

“I only took the regular course.” “What was that?” inquired Alice. “Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,” the Mock Turtle replied; “and then the different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.” “What else had you to learn?” “Well, there was Mystery,” the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flippers, — “Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling — the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: HE taught us Drawling, Stretching and Fainting in Coils. I never went to the Classical master, though. He taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say.” — Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.” — Edith Wharton

“Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’, but it’s free.” — Kris Kristofferson

“You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”

~~ Steven Wright ~~

See. ffolkes? I’ve always told you, it’s all in the wrist….

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Yet another day’s duty done; it’s not a bad feeling. In fact, it’s so good, I’m taking it, and my leave…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, provided the Apocalypse isn’t scheduled for tomorrow….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Three portions of the marinated calamari tubes, please….

Posted on April 23, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“A man reveals his character even in the simplest things he does.”

~~ Jean de La Bruyere ~~

The Shelbourne Public House

Cork, Ireland

A close look at today’s picture, (click to enlarge), will reveal a perfect pint of Guinness, sitting under the tap on the the right of the bar; it was built, at my request, in the traditional manner, filling the glass straight down from the tap, until foam reaches the top. At that point, the glass is allowed to rest, until the foam retreats down a sufficient amount, at which time the glass is again filled. If necessary, this will go on until it is just right, with about 1/2″ to 3/4″ of foam at the rim…. I asked the bartender to demonstrate the procedure, then gave them the pint to drink, as it was only 11 AM, and I just wanted the technique, and pictures of the process…. She, (the blond at the back of the bar), thought the grey old American hippie was a bit strange, but, took the money, and kept the pint….

Good morrow, y’all…. Thanks to Kaiser, I spent about 3 hours last night with tardive dyskinesia, which gave me the gift of insomnia from midnight to 3 am; such a joy. Needless to say, this made me late to arise, and, consequently late starting today’s mess…. I’ve attempted above to mitigate any angst, with a bit nostalgia from my trip to Europe, in the hopes of eradicating any excess. It seems to have worked, sufficiently well to be able to remember our main goal, to introduce today’s Pearl…. I’m thinking two paragraphs is probably enough, especially since I have nothing more to say on any of this….

Let’s do this…. I’ll tell Luigi to take us in gently, and y’all can actually finish your drinks. We’ll unload at the oyster beds, and immediately break for lunch, okay? Then, we’ll be back on schedule, even if it’s a recycled program from last year…. At this point, obviously, it isn’t going to matter at all; we seem to have lost our way without even moving…. Funny how that works sometimes, eh? Watch your heads as you disembark, ffolkes, it appears our landing disturbed the local fauna, which is making a concerted effort to push the vehicle into the water…. No worries, we’ll just use the electric zapper, and….. There! All fried…. Now we won’t even have to order breakfast…. C’mon, time’s a’wastin’….

Shall we Pearl?

“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.”

~~ Plutarch ~~

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

Jerry Jeff & I go way back; we spent many a moon-lit night partying back in the 70’s…. I guess I’m getting sentimental in my old age, returning to my roots to spend time visiting old memories of good times…. Well, that, or I’m just getting obsessed…. Hmm…. I suppose I could obsess over worse stuff, eh?…. It’ll do for now, so, enjoy!….

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Jerry Jeff Walker & Loudon Wainwright III ~ Live concert

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https://youtu.be/bvvFOSgPZLI

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Today, I intended to try to create a fresh “meander”, of a rantish nature, but, that plan went down the tubes with my late arrival…. Here, then, to sublimate, an old-school meander, aimed at the pundits who engage in the nasty habit of politics…. (Definition: Politics: from the Greek, “poly”, meaning “many”, and “ticks”, meaning “blood-sucking vermin”…. — Jay Leno)

“…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

“If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary, you are still bobbing in the ocean of delusion.” — Lin-Chi

“It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.” — Voltaire (1694-1778) — Letter to M. le Riche, Feb. 6, 1770

“Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How’s that again? I missed something.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“Liberty don’t work as good in practice as it does in speeches.” — Will Rogers

“Deep in the nature of all these noble races there lurks unmistakably the beast of prey, the blond beast, lustfully roving in search of booty and victory.” — Nietzsche

“A violent man will die a violent death.” — Lao Tzu

“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.” — Voltaire

— Bother! said Pooh, as the Borg assimilated him.

To bring this old-school meander to a proper close, a metaphor is, patently, essential…. Here is a perfect closing thought from our old pal, Bill Watterson….

“Today for show and tell I’ve brought a tiny marvel of nature: a single snowflake. I think we might all learn a lesson from how this utterly unique and exquisite crystal turns into an ordinary, boring molecule of water, just like every other one, when you bring it in the classroom. And now, while the
analogy sinks in, I’ll be leaving you drips and going outside.” — Calvin, “Calvin and Hobbes”

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Sharing the Wealth

Lucky are we who live with some adversity,
Such strife to bear leaves us strong and free.
Time is no better spent at a fine university
Teaching us the kind of person we wish to be.

We humans are such contrary creatures
Life lived in ease is our fondest intent.
New perceptions are our strongest features
Learning to cope with troubles we cannot prevent.

Lessons we learn at Trouble’s bent knee
Stay on top in the bag of tools we carry.
Knowledge so earned can keep us free
On our long, strange trip to Charon’s ferry.

Pain is the least favorite of our teachers
Yet such powerful lessons stay forever and a day.
No matter how life presents its features
Strength of will equals what life sends our way.

T’is well to consider such time-tested tools,
To carry them with us as we travel through Life.
Events are less likely to show us as fools,
as we deal with Reality, where peril is rife.

~~ gigoid ~~

Written 9/6/2012.

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“By an epiphany he meant a sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or memorable phrase of the mind itself. He believed it was for the man of letters to record these epiphanies with extreme care (saving them for later use, that is), seeing that they themselves are the most delicate and evanescent of moments.” — James Joyce

In at least one real sense, this statement by James Joyce expresses a large part of why I “Pearl”…. The aphorisms, quotes, taglines, and/or statements you see here, by ancient sages, modern philosophers, comedians, warriors, scholars, hell, the entire pantheon of humanity’s most cogent, powerfully worded wisdom, has served me well, my entire life, helping me to figure out how to live with dignity, with compassion, and, with some degree of competence, if not excellence… learning to live with honor, with happiness, and, most importantly, with trouble… I am always searching for new ways to express what I’ve learned, for what good is wisdom unshared?

I’m not perfect, or wise, for that matter; I am, however, pretty damn happy, and content, though my life is often filled with what many would call severe trouble…. So, I share…. THAT is what Pearling is all about…. our common search for answers to the demands, and questions, with which Reality presents us each moment of each day…. What do you say we go look for some pearls, eh? Maybe one of them will give somebody an epiphany… If not, well, there’s always tomorrow….

“Are you out of my mind?”

— Smart Bee, being a wise acre….

We’ll start again; this one, patently, doesn’t count….

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“Virtuous and vicious every man must be — Few in the extreme, but all in the degree.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

“Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offense.”

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero ~~

“Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools.”

~~ Napoleon Bonaparte ~~

“I distrust all systematizers, and avoid them.
The will to a system shows a lack of honesty.”

~~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ~~

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it’s best,
night and day to make you everybody else,
means to fight the hardest battle which any human can fight
and never stop fighting.”

~~ e.e. cummings ~~

“Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite;
keep reason under its own control.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ~~

“Courage without conscience is a wild beast.”

~~ Robert G. Ingersoll ~~

“Who can remain still until the moment of action?”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

“And unextinguish’d laughter shakes the skies.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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I won’t bore you with the old saw about, “Better late… etc.”, as it would merely serve to annoy y’all, and might be construed as pandering…. Far be it from me to ever commit such an antisocial act…. Instead, I’ll merely say, “See y’all tomorrow”, and let it go at that….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Dastard Dan dolls on sale, this week only….

Posted on April 20, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The lesser of two evils — is evil.”

~~ Seymour (Sy) Leon ~~

Disco Night on Celebrity Infinity

The day begins…. a very poignant phrase, full of potentiality and promise. Too bad we’re prepared to ignore any and all such GOOD ideas in favor of the usual shit we do here. I can’t say it isn’t a nice phrase, it just doesn’t stand up very well to the ministrations of the iconic forces of nature who hold sway over the events transpiring in this locus. I didn’t ask for it, but, wherever I seem to be ends up as a nexus of universal forces of entropy; chaos not only hangs out here, he’s left this address with all his buddies, (fear, misery, and depression, to name a couple….), who keep knocking at the door, asking to come in….

But, I don’t mind. I just herd them right into the back yard, where they can shuffle around & play with the snakes. It’s all quite civilized; I found it to be a better solution than just firing off a few rounds at them when they crossed the boundary lines. Fewer complaints from the neighbors…. Plus, it saves on ammunition, and if their oldest friend, Trouble, shows up, well, I have them all in one area, where he can join them, and they’re easier to gas….

Okay, I’m done. Fantasy bullshit can be put back in the drawer now. Luigi, we’re all buttoned up here, and I’ve kept everyone distracted while you warmed up the engines…. Let’s take it away, and do this in record time; I’ve got an appointment with my mom’s lawyers in an hour, to strategize for our upcoming case against the PTB. Ffolkes, now you’re completely off track, we’re going in, and going in hot! Hang on….

Shall we Pearl?

“If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture – that is immortality enough for me. And as much as anyone deserves.” — Edward Abbey

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It’s been a tough week, in a lot of ways, though productive in the final sense. I’ve needed a lot of soothing for my spirit, for which, as some of you know, I turn to classical music. I’ve used this one before, but, then, it IS, I think, my favorite piece of all…. Enjoy, please…

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~~ The Four Seasons ~~

~~ Antonio Vivaldi ~~

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https://youtu.be/GRxofEmo3HA

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From 10/21/2012:

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

— Rudyard Kipling ~~

~~ Just So Stories (1902) “The Elephant’s Child” ~~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

🙂

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Honorable Request

Days, filled to a brim with fluff and time, pass
dimly into memory, bit by combative bit,
ever mournful, yet loud with life and sass,
only in dream do we meet, and dance, and flit.

Souls, spinning ’round in gleeful wonder, comply
as they must, never given a reason,
somberly proper, yet limber and quite spry,
dancing on to greet each bright new season.

Storms, angered by apathetic care, rage
proceeding into ministerial glare, unknown,
clothed in colors, purified solely with sage,
past an infinite future, already flown.

Life, plumbed to its depths and secrets, keeps
flowing with currents, strong and fairly found,
love stands, asking release, as it slowly weeps,
seeking refuge unasked, to stay honor bound.

~~ gigoid ~~

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We start today’s old-school pearl with what I consider the finest, most accurate metaphor I’ve seen for the state of religion in America today…. The rest of the pearl gives my own take on religion, sort of…. Like all such philosophical representations of what is essentially a matter of deciding whether or not a delusion is connected to reality in any way, it’s a bit amorphous, but, I think you’ll catch the drift….

“Do you think God lets you plea bargain?” — Calvin ‘n Hobbes

“I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson

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

“Faith does not offer the least support for proof of truth.” — Nietzsche

“They talk of me going around and buying souls, like a fishwife come market day, never stopping to ask themselves why. I need no souls. And how can anyone own a soul? No. They belong to themselves…They just hate to have to face up to it.” — Lucifer Morningstar

“In his private heart no man much respects himself.” — Mark Twain

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

Tsze-kung asked, saying, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” The Master said, “Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” — Confucius (551-479 B.C.)

“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety ….” — Lazarus Long

Okay… I know the last one is not speaking about religions; it works just as well, for this subject, though, as it does when applied to its original subject matter, the exact nature of which I will leave as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. of course….

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Odd moods are nothing new for me; I encourage them. They can, however, complicate life to a certain degree; fortunately, for me, that’s a good thing, as it keeps me occupied NOT killing mundanes…. With that cheery thought to keep us inspired for another day, I’m off. (Duh…) See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless my diagnosis gets changed again….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Positive signs of disinterest….

Posted on April 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“‘The early bird catches the worm’ just shows that the worm should have stayed in bed.”

~~ Lazarus Long, “Time Enough For Love” ~~

Energy Ring: Created by gravitational dance of two galaxies.

~~ Photo from NASA ~~

I seldom make any effort to tie in the opening quote, but, today, it has more than usual significance, as I feel much like Lazarus about rising early. Sad to say, my own body gives less than a shit about what I feel about it, and got me up today at the usual insane hour of 0330. I flogged myself back to sleep, but, it didn’t matter; the extra hour did nothing but make me groggier, for longer, once I was up, with the added virtue (wrong word, but….) of rather strong vertigo to make it special….

SIGH…. This, naturally, has brought me to the point where all I want to do is kill…. anything. Anybody. I don’t care, just send me SOMETHING I can annihilate, with prejudice; otherwise, I guarantee, I’ll have bought a gun by noon…. No, I won’t actually go buy a gun; I’d be too tempted to practice on live targets, and we all know how that can complicate life. I suppose I’ll just have to, again, bite the bullet, and get on with today’s Pearl. It might be my only hope of salvaging the day….

In fact, let’s do that now. I’m not even going to ask Luigi to take us in, as we haven’t left yet. If y’all will just close your eyes, and imagine yourselves to have already flown to the oyster beds, we can take it from there…. All we need now is to turn on the the Way Back Machine (which I borrowed from Mr. Peabody), and we’ll be off to the wilds of Consensual Reality…. Okay, switch on; you all have your 3D glasses, right? Okay, let’s go…. Mind your step over the pit….

Shall we Pearl?

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

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Today’s video has but one purpose; to soothe…. Enjoy!

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Classical Music Mix

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https://youtu.be/wLkjMLdLf3s

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From 6/18/2013:

“A little sunlight is the best disinfectant.” — Justice Louis Brandeis

In the past few days, I have been ranting, albeit mildly, and without specific target, beyond some telling shots at a large group of humanity, and the moral flaws displayed thereby…. My intent in producing such rants is very aptly stated above by the good judge, showing again that someone can always say better what we try to say ourselves. But, that doesn’t detract at all from the veracity of what I’ve written, or the need for the light to be shined on those parts of society that most need it…. to wit: the actions of our Beloved Ruling Class, and their owners, the Corporate Masters…. with the complicit support of the Priestly Hierarchies, and, the blindly obedient horde of myrmidons dedicated to following the dictates of the ruling classes, the Police and Paramilitary Wannabes….

Of late, there has been a lot of talk bandied about the internet, regarding the personal data being stolen (no other word for it….) by the government, as authorized by Presidential Executive Order, (a concept I am not sure was ever mentioned in the Constitution…), in its insane, paranoid pursuit of terrorists, and terrorism…. In fact, by writing those words here, I am guaranteeing myself an audience, because they are two of the key words used by Prism, the data mining software in use by the NSA, FBI, and, no doubt many other less well publicized agencies, to mark any communication for further review, with the intent of examination for terrorist tendencies or sympathies…

So, just by mentioning the subject, I know I will have at least one NSA geek, or an FBI agent, who will be reading over whatever I write today…. Actually, the foregoing sentences contain at least eight words that are on the extensive list of such words that will gain their attention, so I guess I’d better make this good…. 😆

I am proud of what the NSA contractor did; I agree with his own assessment of his action, as intended to be of benefit to the American people, not as an act of treason, and applaud his courage. It is very easy these days to label an act such as this as treasonous, given the recent (mostly successful) attempts by government agencies to justify their paranoia. Since 9/11/2001, (See? Another key item for them to target…. I don’t know if I’m brave, or stupid…. or just old enough not to care one way or the other….), it has become the fashion for politicians to wrap themselves up in the flag, and inflame the fears of the common man about terrorism. This includes the naming of anyone who protests the loss of their rights as ‘treasonous’, ostensibly for placing America in danger, by exposing the clandestine gathering of information by government agencies… or, in simpler terms, by shining a light on things that are going on in the dark….

“Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?” — George Carlin

No, they don’t ever mention that…. nor do they mention ANY of the stuff being done out of sight of the public eye. I hold it to be a very dangerous policy to allow government agencies to operate in the dark, to make legal a great number of actions which, if performed by any citizen, would cause intense public outrage, and which, in truth, are ethically, morally, and, most importantly, Constitutionally unlawful. Every one of the rights supposedly granted by the Bill of Rights has now been restricted, in favor of illegal searches and seizures, loss of privacy, rampant police intimidation, and a government that believes it can do whatever it wants, as long as it is in pursuit of “national security”….

Sorry, but, I’m not buying any of it…. But, then, I have suspected for many years that the government of this country has been hiding the biggest part of what they do from the public, for a very long time…. Remember Dwight Eisenhower? He was that President who, back in 1954, sent thousands of American troops to Vietnam, to act as “advisers” to the brave soldiers of South Vietnam, who were fighting their own “war of independence” against the ungodly Communists in the North (right next to Red China, don’t y’know?…)…. Of course, when good ol’ Dwight did this, he didn’t bother to inform anyone; he just sent them over, and ignored the whole issue in public….

Since that time, almost sixty years ago, the government of this country has pursued a policy of “what the public doesn’t know won’t hurt me” in almost every area of national and international involvement. Whenever there is too much clamor from that public about such clandestine activities, or too much light begins to shine on one or more of the shenanigans always taking place somewhere, there is, oops, some kind of terrorist attack, or another shooting at a school, or a plane crash, or an earthquake, or anything at all, some manufactured, others just serendipitous calamities that are part of our natural world…. Any of these will do to distract the public eye away from whatever it is that has been exposed….

I have always wondered a bit about the timing of the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon in 2001…. They seemed to happen right when there was a strong push in the news to investigate the election results of both 1996, and 2000, results that had the Junior Shrub in office, rather than the greener candidate, Gore. In both those elections, there were critical glitches in the vote counting process in key states, oddly enough, the two states that provided the key electoral votes to get Bush elected, despite having lost the national popular vote, twice (Florida in 1996, and Ohio in 2000….) Any who, all of that was very close to coming under intense scrutiny, when, all of a sudden, we are attacked, by an unknown terrorist group (strangely enough, a group whose leader was a member of the Saudi Royal family, who are close friends of the Bushes….)

After the attacks, there was a singularly lackadaisical attempt to ascertain the culprits; none of the information gathered on them ever examined where the money to finance the attacks came from, an omission that is contrary to ANY professional investigation…. On TV police dramas, in the news, and, in the minds of any intelligent person, it is always made clear that finding the guilty will include, if not exclusively use, “following the money”…. It is basic criminology to find out who paid for it when a crime of such a large scope is committed. The very lack of effort in that direction makes one wonder, just a bit….

Well, I’ve now discussed the issue long enough to have used just about every key word in the program that mines data for the National Security Agency, so, we’ll see whether or not any of what I’ve discussed is enough to get their attention…. I think I’ve also managed to mention just about every conspiracy theory out there for anyone to see, ….. If any official response is generated, we’ll know just how badly things have gotten, when a free citizen of this country can potentially become a target for police and security agencies of the government, merely for exercising the right of free speech…. In a way, I suppose you could say this is an experiment, designed to gauge the degree of paranoia that is so obvious in our BRC….

I’m letting it go now, both to get it done, and because it is such a depressing subject…. I think I need some poetry, to soothe my soul…..

Teacher: “Bart, give us an example of a modern-day paradox.”
Bart: “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

— Bart the Genius “The Simpsons”

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Today’s poem was written in April of 2014; y’all can decide for yourselves which mask it represents….

Fine and Good, Good and Fine

A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,
cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.
This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around
cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.

Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,
I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.
Every damn time, it all went to crap,
Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.

‘Course, each time it happens, I forget the last;
why not? I’m havin’ such a blast….
Livin’ in each moment, filled with joie de vivre,
’til it’s all gone away again, nothin’ left up my sleeve.

Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,
life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..
T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,
is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.

My road’s been littered with parts o’my heart,
each one colored with trust, which ain’t always smart.
Yet, long as I don’t lose my connection to joy,
I’ll find my own true love, and be a happy boy.

It’s been some kinda fun, even when I’d take a fall,
and doin’ it over makes no sense at all, at all
Day after day, I keep on keepin’ on, as it’s said;
Guess I’ll keep on doin’ that ’til I’m dead.

‘Nuff said….

~~ gigoid ~~

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That not in fancy’s maze he wander’d long,
But stoop’d to truth, and moraliz’d his song.

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

~~ Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, Prologue to the Satires, Line 340 ~~

“…the wise man looks into space, and does not regard the small as too little, nor the great as too big; for he knows that there is not limit to dimensions.” — Lao Tzu

“It was a common saying of Myson that men ought not to investigate things from words, but words from things; for that things are not made for the sake of words, but words for things.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Myson, iii

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.” — Albert Einstein

“Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.” — Epictetus (c. 60 AD) — Concerning the Epicureans,
— Discourses, Book ii, Chap. xx

“Have you learn’d lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learn’d great lessons from those who reject you and brace themselves against you? or who treat you with contempt, or dispute the passage with you?” — Walt Whitman

How he lies in his rights of a man!
Death has done all death can.
And absorbed in the new life he leads,
He recks not, he heeds
Nor his wrong nor my vengeance; both strike
On his senses alike,
And are lost in the solemn and strange
Surprise of the change.

~~ Robert Browning (1812-1890) ~~

~~ After ~~

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

Surprise! It’s done. Further than this, deponent sayeth naught…. In fact, deponent sayeth, “I’m outta here!”, and leaves it at that. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if Fate is kind….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Alternate versions are in production….

Posted on April 13, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The field cannot well be seen from within the field”

~~ Emerson ~~

Stubborn Beauty

I’ve lost it, ffolkes…. Nor do I have any clue as to why, or where…. Well, ‘why’ probably isn’t hard to figure out; I’m burnt. I’ve blogged almost every day now for close to four years, or more, and I think my motivation is becoming a bit murky. Without it, it’s hard to get going on any of this…. Where it went isn’t as important as the fact it is gone; it’s not as if I’m going to go hunt it down to kill. But, it might help to know where to find it when I DO want it, if I ever do so again…

For today, I’ll have to use any leftovers I have sitting around, or cheat, which is becoming all-too-familiar for my taste. But, I’ve assumed the duty, so, I don’t have any choice in the matter, not now. I suppose I’ll even refrain from complaining about it, as it would remove any available dignity from our neighborhood, a lack we already suffer far too often…. Of course, dignity isn’t our primary goal; in fact, since motivation has absented itself, I’m not sure what goals we have…. I guess I should do something about that…. For today, we’ll just assign the completion of today’s Pearl as the Daily Duty, and be done with it until tomorrow….

That said, it looks like we’ll need to resort to one of the old emergency exits to get us going; this seems to be growing beyond all usefulness. I suppose #4 is the most efficacious, so, we’ll go with that…. Y’all know you need to hang on, right? Right…. Let’s go Luigi, time’s a wastin’…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Faith in immortality, like belief in Satan, leaves unanswered the ancient question: is God unable to prevent suffering and thus not omnipotent? or is he able but not willing to prevent it and thus not merciful? And is he just?” — Smart Bee

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Here is music from Frank Zappa; many of his fans never knew what a fine instrumentalist he was; he showed them just what he could do, on this, and a couple of subsequent releases of albums in the same vein as this one…. Enjoy, ffolkes. the world will never see his like again….

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Frank Zappa – Shut Up’n Play Yer Guitar (full album)

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https://youtu.be/AIUKUghqK08

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

“Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history, mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. They will submit to any indignity, perform any vile act, do anything to achieve power. The worst off-sloughings of the planet are the ingredients of sovereignty. Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us.” — P.J. O’Rourke, _Parliament of Whores_

I find myself again in the position of NOT having the wherewithal to rant, in spite of the most excellent opening quote, which, obviously, would lend itself to a grand display of angst and passionate curmudgeonry. Instead, I’ll use an older piece again, one published elsewhere on the net, in the dark ages before WordPress came into my literary world…. Here is one published on Socyberty, I believe, sometime in 2012….

Choosing Ignorance

It has finally happened. My sense of outrage has been stimulated over the last few weeks by one news item after another, until I feel I can no longer hold my silence. Most of the time I can put it all aside, having long held the belief best summarized by the immortal Fred, the long-suffering bird in the comic strip Odds Bodkins, who said, “Politics is poopadoodle!” Armed with this profound truth, I’ve been able to mostly ignore even the most controversial topics common to those who DO talk about the events of the day. But even Fred would be outraged at the absolutely incomprehensible nonsense in the news of the last few weeks, and phlegmatic though I may be, I am not a stone, I am a man.

The tenor of the articles I read in my corner of the world generally runs to the more positive stories that are often hard to find. But there have been too many examples of late that demonstrate very clearly that it’s probably too late for the human race; the changes that are needed from our species as a whole are legion, and none of them, none, are even under discussion. The policy of those who are in power in society is to deflect any mention of the problems facing us, to cast doubt on the veracity on those who would deliver bad news, to kill the messenger, as it were. They have succeeded beyond all belief; the general public is now thoroughly indoctrinated to believe whatever tripe is reported to them, regardless of the source. It just has to sound good, and people will believe it.

I recently read an article about Ron Perry, the Texas governor who has entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination. In the article on SFGATE (link below), Mr. erry is quoted regarding man made global warming. He is quoted as saying, “I think we’re seeing almost weekly, or even daily, scientists that are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man made global warming is what is causing the climate to change,” He also stated his belief that scientists have “manipulated the data,” to support their theory. The scientists to whom he refers, both those who subscribe to the validity of man made global warming, and those who question the theory, are addressed in another article, this one by Al Gore as reported in Rolling Stone magazine.

In this article, Mr. Gore responds to those who doubt the effects of man made pollution on global climate changes, by pointing out simply, that EVERY national science council of EVERY country in the world have all publicly, and officially, expressed their confidence in the integrity of every study completed and published, all of which give convincing evidence to support the fact that man made pollution is for sure and for certain having a deleterious effect on climate all over the world. It is clear that it is happening NOW, not someday.

Mr. Gore also points out that the “scientists” who purport to disbelieve the theory are very few in comparison to the thousands and thousands in the world’s national science foundations, and many of those who have discounted the science involved in the studies have previously publicly expressed that their beliefs are faith-based rather than based on the facts presented. Reportedly some of them have even been recruited by faith-based organizations to lend their weight to the argument, criticizing the study techniques and pointing out “mistakes” in the studies that purportedly augment their position.

Those in power in society don’t want this information to be widely disseminated, much less widely believed, as it will, in the best-case scenario, cause them a loss of profit; in the worst-case they could conceivably be tried and convicted as traitors to the species. If the general public ever realizes just how much of what they hear and see is made up of lies and innuendo, designed to inflame their fears of the unknown, and take their attention away from what is truly taking place, then there would an upheaval such as the world has never seen. But instead, the general public just goes along with whatever they are told, trained well to accept whatever they see on TV, or hear on the radio as truth. Or worse, as gospel truth, just as if gospel is the sole repository of the truth.

The truth is NOT limited to gospel; evidence exists that clearly shows that even in the days when those particular religious treatises were written, those who were in power dictated what was true, and what was not true, and only the concepts and ideas they espoused were included in the “divinely inspired” treatises commissioned by them in support of their power. Even the pure messages of Jesus of Nazareth have been adjusted over the centuries to reflect whatever those in charge of the Church wished. Politicians have always been with us…

Another article I read recently speaks about yet another example of how our beloved leaders have lied to us over the years. The article relates the problems encountered by the indigent population of the Marshall Islands ever since the US government decided to use their home as a testing ground for nuclear technology, sometime back in the 1940’s. The article (link below) gives a clear and compassionate plea for help and understanding for the people indigenous to the Islands, whose ranks have been decimated by the effects of nuclear toxins in their environment. The government, in its’ infinite wisdom, denies any problem exists, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. Read the article, it is very illuminating, and is one more example of what the public has forced down its’ collective throat by those who believe, and rightly so, that they can get away with anything they want.

Those in power, and those who conspire to be in power, will say and do anything to make the public believe that it is acting in the best interests of everyone. In one respect they may be correct; as long as humanity at large continues to accept whatever is told to them by people on TV as truth, or as long as what they read in a newspaper is believed, as long as people choose to be ignorant, they will be sealing their own fate, and will deserve exactly what they get.

What they, and we all, will get won’t be a stairway to heaven; it most will be certainly a planet-sized grave for us all. When the planet decides it has had enough of our little species, it will certainly direct us onto the path of the dodo, and the dinosaur. All that is needed is for us to choose ignorance; the ozone layer will continue to disappear, the world-wide temperature will rise a couple of degrees (that’s all it takes) and the polar ice caps will melt. This will cause both world-wide flooding of the land masses, and a disturbance in the shape of the planet’s orbit, which will result in world-wide earthquakes. Armageddon, indeed, and brought on by our own resistance to change, by deliberate ignorance. So, how will you choose?

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/climate-of-denial-20110622

http://brookmeakins.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/what-if/

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/08/17/politics/p073158D98.DTL

The image of the Dodo is from MS Office Clip Art.

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Raging at Aging

As old as you feel, we are told, is old as you are,
custom assures such vision will carry us far.
Reality begs to differ, may it be so bold
it is really quite painful, and very, very cold.

The power and strength felt in our halcyon youth
desert us with age, yet another unwelcome truth.
Irony rules our time here on this bountiful earth
as we reflect the changes over time since our birth.

As physical powers fade from this fragile shell,
we learn our mind can serve us quite as well.
The strength that once filled our bones and hearts
is now applied by our will, to more arcane arts.

Life’s greatest gift is our freedom of choice
no matter how often we forget, we still get a voice.
Energy, or apathy, by our will we may choose,
failing to do so, our only way to lose.

Each of us lives in the grip of time and space,
always seeking our balance, our own chosen place.
One must accept reality, for it is true at the core,
all we can do, is all we can do, and nothing more.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Today’s final old-school pearl picked itself. You can’t blame me for this one, cogent as it may be….. Don’t hurt yourselves trying to figure out the conclusion; I have a feeling it might not be exactly what you expect…..

“Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man’s superiority to all that befalls him.” — Romain Gary

“The ultimate test of whether you posses a sense of humor is your reaction when someone tells you you don’t.” — Frank Tyger

“Good humor is the health of the soul, sadness its poison.”– Stanislaus

“Give us, O give us, the man who is cheerful in his work! Be his occupation what it may, he is equal to any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness. He will do more in the same time — he will do it better — he will persevere longer.”– Carlyle

“Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Really, Crito, why should we care so much about what ‘most people’ believe?” — The character Socrates, in Plato’s _Crito_, 44d

“Although a wise man might urge that one should suffer fools gladly, this should not be construed as license for any fool to demand that one do so.” — Frederic William Kantor

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Well, it’s done. I haven’t the foggiest as to how that happened, but, since I’m not one to examine horse’s teeth, for any reason, that will have to do. In fact, I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I survive the day….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Damn the Tournedo! Full meat ahead!….

Posted on April 12, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”

~~ Oscar Wilde ~~

Natural Symmetry

In previous posts, for a long time, this intro would be quite long, as I thrashed about in my mind to find something worthy of being written. The process, of course, was complicated by physical issues, and, of course, my own natural degree of weirdness, and my inherently bozoid nature. Then, I got ruthless, for a while, which seemed to help, but, wasn’t very satisfying, as it felt like trickery more than literature…. Now, I’m once again stuck for what to do, without any of the bad habits available for use, since swearing off all whining and/or ranting in this section…. which, quite naturally, leaves me in the lurch, a place I’ve been before, and hoped never to occupy again….. SIGH….

Oh, well, so much for the “plans of mice and men”, as the saying goes…. In this case, I’d prefer it go away, but, one can’t deny reality, so, I’ll just have to deal. I think I’ll use a bit of that vaunted ruthlessness today; it feels as if this could easily get away from me without it. All that being said, to even less purpose than usual, I suppose we should get on with the rest of what we must do to get done….

Very well, then. Please place all beverages in the provided holder, tighten up your restraints, and we’ll be on our way. Luigi! Take us down! Use the proscribed route; I’ve got an exemption for today. Hang on, ffolkes….

Shall we Pearl?

“It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”- George Carlin

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Phoebe Snow is one of the most underrated artists in our world; her voice is unique, and powerful; her songs touch the very core of the humanity we all share…. To my mind, that makes her one of our Singers, of more value to the Universe than anyone who wears a power suit and flag pin…. or, a cassock and surplice…. Enjoy!….

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Phoebe Snow Live

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https://youtu.be/QVX_rPpxtIU

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A Powerful Ally

From April of 2012:

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

I think that everyone can agree with the above statement; it would be hard to think of an argument that would have any kind of negative effect on this concept, as it is about as true as true can be. Arguing with this would be akin to trying to describe the contents of a room with no lights or windows, from outside the room, with the door and your eyes closed, with no moving around or touching allowed…. Having thus identified the importance of imagination in human existence, we can move on to a discussion of how powerful a tool it can be when applied to the mechanics of living.

As humans, we use imagination in every aspect of life; whenever we encounter a new situation, whether problematic or merely interesting, it is our imagination that we use to inspect the characteristics of the event, and to judge its relative size, shape, and degree of difficulty. It is our imagination we use to discover a course of action that will enable us to deal with the situation to our best advantage, or not, depending on our own skill at using it. And in those situations where a clear course of action is unclear, our imagination can provide us with entirely new ways to approach and cope with what we have encountered.

Of late, I have been reading a lot of articles written by women who have survived and exited, by their own efforts, the atrociously cruel life of those trapped in the human sex-trafficking industry. These articles are perfect examples of the power of imagination, from women who have experienced, and survived, the most degrading, debilitating, indifferently cruel treatment known to humanity.

That life, or living death, more like, was the lot of these enslaved women, and children, until they were able, by virtue of their strength of will and imagination, to free themselves. For every single one of them, their imagination was both friend and foe, first as fuel to the fire of their very real fears for their lives, but ultimately, the force that enabled them to see the path they would need to walk to take back their life. Without it, they would be doomed to death, ultimately, for the insane, perverted misogynists who control this deadly trade have no compassion, and no compunctions about silencing those who would defy their will….

But, happily, for these as yet all-too-few amazingly strong, imaginative women, a path to freedom was found, and now, they are all determined not only to live out their own lives according to their own standards, but to support each other, and to speak out against those who would continue the madness from which they fled, to do whatever is needed to give aid to the women and children who are still enslaved by these indifferently cruel masters of evil…. and one of the forms that aid can take, is to stimulate imagination in the victims, so they to may come to an understanding of how it can help even the most despairing soul to fight for freedom…. understanding like this….

After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans.
After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure…. that you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.

~~ Author unknown, but brilliant ~~

That is what it is all about, to my mind. Once these unfortunates are able to realize that they do indeed have worth in the eyes of the Universe, a whole new vista of possibilities opens for them, each one with the promise of freedom shining brightly, to show the way….

For life, with all it yields of joy and woe,
And hope and fear (believe the aged friend),
Is just our chance o’ the prize of learning love,–
How love might be, hath been indeed, and is.

~~ Robert Browning (1812-1890) — A Death in the Desert ~~

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

“Now here’s something you’re really going to like!”

~~ Rocket J. Squirrel ~~

Ashi Akira is one of the few of my most loyal Gentle Readers, perhaps the most loyal, a distinction he shares with Willowdot 21, both of whom have been around since very soon after the beginning of this blog on WordPress. There are several others, who stop by on a regular basis, to catch up if they’ve missed a few, and I really appreciate all of them, since I don’t get much chance to reciprocate, not as much as I would prefer to do; plus, I don’t promote the blog at all, so, I know those who come do so by choice, mostly. I find that a worthwhile reason to do my best at it….

Ashi-san also posts just about every day, though his posts are much easier to read than mine, as he is a master of haiku…. He DOES have other work/pages, which I’ve never had the strength/time online to explore, but, this much I know of him re: haiku…. He has this form of poetry down to an artful science/scientific art…. This one proves it; even to one as dubious as me….

Her Flowery Smile

Her flowery smile

Floated awhile silently

A shallow spring dream

~~ Ashi Akira ~~

https://ashiakira.wordpress.com/2015/04/11/her-flowery-smile/#comment-8495

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

“He who knows best knows how little he knows.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The liberty of man consists solely in this: that he obeys natural laws because he has himself recognized them as such, and not because they have been externally imposed upon him by any extrinsic will whatever, divine or human, collective or individual.” — Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State

“The veracity which increases with old age is not far from folly.” — Francis, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) — Maxim 416

“Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD)
— Meditations, viii, 22

“Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

“Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul.” — Ovid (43 B.C.- A.D. 17) born on Mar 20, Roman poet

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

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The simple act of posting these Pearls for the last two weeks has been an adventure, for lack of a better word. When you see it each day, you can be sure it was an extreme effort to get it there, for it has been, every day now for what seems like forever. But, it’s done for another day, so, I can put aside any possible guilt, and get on with the crap I’m dealing with…. I’ll see y’all tomorrow, come hell, or high water, or, as is most likely, the complete collapse of civilization…. Take your pick; they’re all pretty well certain to be part of our future….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Fabulous shoes, Margo. Jimmy Choo?….

Posted on April 5, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“And God said: “Let there be cats!”.

and He was promptly ignored.”

~~ Genesis 6:66 ~~

Image stolen from the Europa Ice Wolfie

Morning, ffolkes. Gosh, I don’t believe I’ve seen a screen this white in a long time. Empty, too. I suppose I’ll have to do something about that…. Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t I write a Pearl? Yeah, I think I will. I haven’t done that in, well, at least 23 hours or more….

You may cease the giggling now, or, wait!…. Was that a growl I heard from the back of the cabin? No need to get testy. Just because I try something new doesn’t mean y’all can just fire off like that. Think of what could happen if one of those actually hit me! Nasty. Okay, so, I know it’s not all that, or even all that funny, or compelling, or any other descriptive pronoun one wishes to use, but, hey, it was different….. Alright, alright, I see your point….. SIGH….

Okay, so, I’ll do this…. I’ll give up. Ffolkes, this is the intro. The Pearl, such as it is, is below. Go read it.

That’s all I’ve got….

Shall we Pearl?

“Nothing endures but change.’ — Heraclitus (540?-480? B.C.)

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

Camile Saint-Saëns

Image from Wikimedia

At one time, I heard this man described as the hardest working classical composer of all time; he wrote an INCREDIBLE amount of music in his lifetime…. and, as far as I can tell by what I’ve heard (quite a bit of it..) all of it was as good as these piano concertos…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this is one of humanity’s brightest lights….

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

Camile Saint-Saëns

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

https://youtu.be/eIZpyoKHhXo

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It’s been quite a while since I talked about Pearls, so, today’s rant will be replaced with an older discussion of said Pearls, from the archives….

From 3/28/2012:

“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” — Federico Fellini

It has been a while since I talked about Pearls, so when I stumbled upon the above quote, I knew it was time….. Pearls of Virtual Wisdom come with a caveat and disclaimer, to wit: These Pearls consist of ideas and concepts, and even procedures, that are Virtual Wisdom. They should never be confused with, or used as, Real Wisdom; the results can be somewhat unpredictable, have been known to cause injury, and in one case, (my own), have resulted in months of severe depression. (Of course, that depression may not be due strictly to the intrinsic differences in the Pearls themselves, but rather a direct result of inattention to which variety I was using at the moment) Regardless of how real Pearls of Virtual Wisdom may appear, or how shiny they look to the untrained eye, the author assumes no liability for failure to heed this caveat.

That being said, let us for a moment consider pearls as incarnations of jewels, as the precious gems of rare beauty and great value they become when freed from the oyster, the shelter which created each layer of the pearl’s beauty out of its own pain…. The soft sheen of a fine pearl, luminescent in the dimness, glowing in the light, has captivated the eyes and imaginations of men and women since the first oyster was plucked from the sea bed to become someone’s supper, and has inspired those who fall under its spell to acts of great sacrifice, and acts of great cruelty, in the quest to possess these timeless treasures from the sea.

Thus the metaphorical nature of the Pearls of Virtual Wisdom becomes apparent, as we see that although virtual wisdom looks just like real wisdom, the difference may be likened to the difference between naturally produced pearls, and those that are cultivated in laboratories. One is shiny, and of great value for its rarity and beauty, naturally endowed; the other is shiny, but of lesser value, due to lesser rarity, and a somehow lesser beauty, as made by the hand of man. The subtle differences are of little note, except to Reality, which always knows which wisdom is which, as it knows which pearl is which; hence the caveat and disclaimer, to avoid any conflicts with Reality due to negligence on my part…..so, please use these Pearls with appropriate caution, and they will bring you joy for years to come…..

“Did an Italian CRANE OPERATOR just experience uninhibited sensations in a MALIBU HOT TUB?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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All Things will Die

All Things will Die

Clearly the blue river chimes in its flowing

Under my eye;
Warmly and broadly the south winds are blowing

Over the sky.
One after another the white clouds are fleeting;
Every heart this May morning in joyance is beating

Full merrily;
Yet all things must die.
The stream will cease to flow;
The wind will cease to blow;
The clouds will cease to fleet;
The heart will cease to beat;
For all things must die.
All things must die.
Spring will come never more.
O, vanity!
Death waits at the door.
See! our friends are all forsaking
The wine and the merrymaking.
We are call’d–we must go.
Laid low, very low,
In the dark we must lie.
The merry glees are still;
The voice of the bird
Shall no more be heard,
Nor the wind on the hill.
O, misery!
Hark! death is calling
While I speak to ye,
The jaw is falling,
The red cheek paling,
The strong limbs failing;
Ice with the warm blood mixing;
The eyeballs fixing.
Nine times goes the passing bell:
Ye merry souls, farewell.
The old earth
Had a birth,
As all men know,
Long ago.
And the old earth must die.
So let the warm winds range,
And the blue wave beat the shore;
For even and morn
Ye will never see
Thro’ eternity.
All things were born.
Ye will come never more,
For all things must die.

~~ Alfred Lord Tennyson ~~

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

Today’s final section is another pearl giving advice on how to live life in such a way it becomes a path to peace, rather than a constant struggle to survive…. Enjoy!….

“Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth: the only way to help yourself is to help others.” — Elbert Hubbard

“What is known as wisdom is ultimately only a perpetual thinking it over, i.e., non-action as first impulse.” — E.M. Cioran

“I count religion but a childish toy … there is no sin but ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Cato said, “I had rather men should ask why my statue is not set up, than why it is.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Political Precepts

“Examine what is said, not him who speaks.” — Arabian proverb

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” — Sir Edmund Hillary

“Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows.” — Thoreau

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

“How did the great rivers and seas gain dominion over the hundred lesser streams? By being lower than they.” — Lao Tzu

And THAT is why this is the most important of today’s aphorisms; this concept seals the deal on all that went before…. If y’all need a bit of time to assimilate that idea, well, now is a good time to take it, ‘cuz I’m outta here…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes…..

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Here’s the point….

Posted on March 19, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Fear has its use but cowardice has none.”

~~ Mahatma Gandhi ~~

Simen Johan ~ National Geographic ~ Red Monkeys

Damn! This hurts! But, I won’t let it stop me, so, you won’t hear me complain any further. It will, however, keep this intro to a minimum, come hell or high water, whatever that means. It also makes me somewhat of a fool, for trying to do this while completely distracted. Foolishness is one of my strengths, or, so I’ve always believed, so, it shouldn’t affect the overall output; only the timing, and the quantity of mess I can create in one morning… That’s what the label says, and that’s my story.

In order to make it a shorter story, I am going to use method #4 right away, so we can get on with this before I start whimpering, or before my left arm gives out completely…. Don’t worry, even if I have to crawl into the chair after each break, I’ll finish this, or die trying. Since my left hand is almost dead now, I will now employ our emergency exit…. Hang on, ffolkes, it’s bound to be a bumpy descent….

Shall we Pearl?

“Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.” — Voltaire

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

Maria Muldaur ~ Image from Pinterest.com via Google Images

Here is more music from my days as a hippie, during the latter half of the 1960’s, from one of my favorite singers of the time; she can still croon out a pretty nice love song today….

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

Maria Muldaur

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

https://youtu.be/CzJ-g5QLC24?list=RDCzJ-g5QLC24

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

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

Image stolen from Talesfromtheconspiratum.com

Ffolkes…. I had a rant started, but, it got moved down the schedule, as I just don’t have it in me today…. Here is a fairly short discussion from 2013, speaking again about our plight as humans in a dying culture…. so to speak…. Take it as you will….

From 3/5/2013:

“The thinking that we are doing has brought us to where we have already been. In order to go somewhere else, we must think in a different way.” — Albert Einstein

One can always trust Albert to state profound ideas in the simplest way…. you gotta love that. Here, his insight has pinpointed the root problem with which our species has to contend if we are to survive to the next millennium, and illuminates the necessary element in solving the issue, all in two short, simple statements. We humans have made a real mess of things, to put it mildly, and now are faced with a dilemma never faced in all our history as a species…. that we know of…. Perhaps Atlantis fell for exhibiting the self-same lack of ethics and moral advancement as our society has done, and Mother Nature stepped in previously, as she is close to doing now…. There is no way to know for sure…. What is certain is that our own time is nearing an end, unless we make an unlikely change in our attitudes and habits….

This is the root of the problem we face, that the necessary changes need to be made in the human psyche, our souls, as it were, and it just isn’t going to happen unless each and every person alive makes the change. The assumption that we have the right to use the resources of the planet for our own benefit ONLY, to strip the physical world of all the materials we want to use for our own purposes, no matter what effect it has on the rest of what exists here has only one outcome possible, and that is our own self-destruction, taking many innocent species with us… The plants, the other animals, the immense beauty of the physical world in which we live are all being wasted by mankind’s insane rush to obtain and hoard anything considered useful to themselves, at the expense of all else…..

This attitude indicates an inferior spirit, one whose moral and ethical advancement is arrested, and even reversed, until all that is left is pure, unadulterated avarice and greed, and complete dispassion for other life-forms. If you have ever seen an open wound, an ulcer, then you know just what the spirit of such a person is like… and the pain they cause for everyone else…. Unfortunately, this ulcer cannot be treated with ointments, and a clean bandage…

To my mind, the necessary changes that can save us are obviously spiritual in nature, and will require some kind of spiritual awakening in ALL humans on the planet, a realization that we are part of a larger scheme of things than merely our own concerns, and that our participation in that larger view of reality is necessary for us to survive. If we continue to deny the reality of this, then our selfish destructiveness will be brought to an end by our own actions. Unless we can get those who care not for anything but themselves to alter that state of mind, we are all going to die, because there won’t be any breathable air, or any non-toxic water, or any food that will sustain us… We will have fouled our own nest unto extinction….

“Our humanity were a poor thing were it not for the divinity which stirs within us.” — Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Francis doesn’t get much air time on this blog, since most of what he says is crap; he tends to hide a nimble mind behind a screen of religious fervor that colors most of his thinking. In this particular phrase, he is close to a truth, but where he uses the words “divinity which stirs within us”, I would say, “the divinity of which we are part.” Robert Heinlein’s character, Valentine Michael Smith, in Stranger In A Strange Land, perhaps said it best when he said used the phrase, “Thou Art God”…..

Only when we come to understand that we are part and parcel of everything else that exists, no more, no less than any other part, can we reach the understanding, and the compassion, that will be needed to overcome the problems we have created through our specie’s deliberate ignorance and avarice….. We must accept the responsibility that comes with divinity, to cherish and protect all the different parts of reality that make up the whole of our being, instead of using whatever we see to increase our own creature comforts, at the expense of the rest of reality.

Our species MUST undergo a spiritual awakening, or we will surely be condemned to an ignoble end, much like the thousands of species our kind has already added to the list of those who have disappeared from this plane of existence. I wish I could say that all I’ve said here is speculation, but, there is too much hard evidence that supports what I’m saying to ignore. The time we have to awaken our brothers and sisters who have been brainwashed into disbelieving their own power is growing very short, I’m afraid…. I’m also afraid that it isn’t going to happen, and that would indeed be a great waste……

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

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Today we’ll go with an old favorite; this poet, to me, epitomizes the meaning of the word itself. She, and her work, define poetry like no other….
Enjoy, ffolkes…. (Well, Shawna doesn’t have to unless she wants…..)

I measure every Grief I meet
With narrow, probing, Eyes–
I wonder if It weighs like Mine–
Or has an Easier size.

I wonder if They bore it long–
Or did it just begin–
I could not tell the Date of Mine–
It feels so old a pain–

I wonder if it hurts to live–
And if They have to try–
And whether–could They choose between–
It would not be–to die–

I note that Some–gone patient long–
At length, renew their smile–
An imitation of a Light
That has so little Oil–

I wonder if when Years have piled–
Some Thousands–on the Harm–
That hurt them early–such a lapse
Could give them any Balm–

Or would they go on aching still
Through Centuries of Nerve–
Enlightened to a larger Pain–
In Contrast with the Love–

The Grieved–are many–I am told–
There is the various Cause–
Death–is but one–and comes but once–
And only nails the eyes–

There’s Grief of Want–and grief of Cold–
A sort they call “Despair”–
There’s Banishment from native Eyes–
In Sight of Native Air–

And though I may not guess the kind–
Correctly–yet to me
A piercing Comfort it affords
In passing Calvary–

To note the fashions–of the Cross–
And how they’re mostly worn–
Still fascinated to presume
That Some–are like My Own–

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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This pearl, a nine-star necklace of shiny, mysterious gems, created itself, in a manner of speaking. However, rather than distract, and, possibly, bore you to death trying to explain how, I’ll just tell you, it seems to be speaking, in a general, yet pointed way, about living Life with Reason as one’s guide, rather than allowing ignorance to rule one’s fate….. If y’all think otherwise, feel free to say so, if you dare…. Oh, not that anything untoward would happen to you, but, remember, here on ECR, we deal only with what is provable in Reality, so, any nonsense will be treated as such…. Any reasoned response is welcome, of course, with sincere approbation. (Well, look it up, for goodness’ sake!…. It’s a simple copy & paste on Dictionary.com….)

“The glory of a firm, capacious mind.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book iv, Line 262

“… denn da ist keine Stelle, die dich nicht sieht. Du musst dein Leben andern. (… for there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life.) — Rainer Maria Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo”

“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 17

“Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.” — Publius Syrus

“It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Truth is eternal, knowledge is changeable. It is disastrous to confuse them.” — Madeleine L’Engle, An Acceptable Time

“Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing.” — Walt Kelly, Putluck Pogo

“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser to-day than he was yesterday.” — Alexander Pope

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” — Plato

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

Well, it’s done, That, I think, is as far as I should go in describing what happened here; anything more would tempt fate, not to mention Murphy. If I could reach it at all without stabbing myself, I’d pat myself on the back for a job well done…. except that it would be more accurate to say it is a job; well, done. So be it. gigoid has spoken, probably more than was wise. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, should I be favored by the gods of serendipity, and, provided I can get my tenses and persons squared away….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Ode to a Grecian fern….

Posted on March 17, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“His own character is the arbiter of every one’s fortune.”

~~ Publius Syrus (42 BC) ~~

~~ Maxim 283 ~~

3 owls in Russia-Olga Maltseva-AFP-Getty Images

Chased by all the demons of Hell, I awoke. Having spent much of the night running from the hosts of Hell, I awoke, to find myself once again deep in the throes of confusion, made worse by nausea, thanks to my traveling balance crystals, which have chosen this morning to go for a spin. Rather than return to the steeplechase, wherein I was the fox, I got up, stumbled out to boot up, and began to write…. Just my luck the only idea in my head has more to do with murder than literature…. Who do I want to murder? Oh, take your pick, it’s a long list….

I had hoped I’d gotten past this morning angst related to this intro section, but, apparently not. Oh well. I don’t have the chutzpah today to worry about it. Fortunately for me, about half this Pearl got done before I got up, so, we may yet meet our personal demands for publication by a certain hour. Of course, there’s no guarantee, given or implied, we’ll ever make it out of this section, though the odds are in our favor there. Despite all the problems I find obstructing the way during this process, we do get it done each day…. Well, it’s done, as long as we don’t try to call it anything like “good” or even “okay”….. I think “inoffensive” is the best we can hope for….

Nonetheless, here we are, so, I may as well try to make it something worth wasting a bit of time to peruse over your morning coffee or tea. In order to do so, however, I think I’m going to have to make another executive decision as to timing, to get us down to the next section. I know it’s not exactly kosher, but, I’m not of the Tribe, so, that isn’t a factor for me. Besides, I LIKE pork…. and, I like meat on Fridays, too, so, all you priestly types can just forget it…. Forget what? Hell, why ask me? I just type here….

Speaking of typing, I think I’ve typed quite enough for one morning; any more along these lines, and we could find ourselves in court again. I swear, when we started this, we never thought our legal budget was going to take up such a large part of the overall cost of business…. But, I guess that’s life in the modern world; the lawyers are entitled to their cut of my money, according to the rules we all play by…. Well, that’s how they’d like us all to behave, anyway…. Ah hell, see? I can’t even rant effectively right now…. ARGH!

Fuck it, ffolkes. I’m outta here. I can’t deal with trying to make this right, and it’s too late for that anyhow. Hang on to your hats, because I’m telling the pilot to take us in hot…. PUT THAT DOWN!…. That will be enough of that, thank you. Now, if y’all don’t mind, we will now take our leave, and go find something else to do, that won’t make us look so funny, or get us in any worse trouble than we’re already in…. Again, I say, fuck it….

Shall we Pearl?

“I’m not a teacher only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as of you.” — George Bernard Shaw, “Getting Married,” 1908

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

Jennifer Warnes ~ Image from allmusic.com/Google images

http://www.jenniferwarnes.com/

I’m not sure how many ffolkes, or folks, will remember this lady. I know many will know her voice when hearing it, for she was part of a song duet which became a cultural icon during the 60’s, and, in fact, was one of the better known performers of that time, at least, among us hippies. This was because she was a contemporary, and frequent co-performer with many of the biggest names in music of that time, including Mimi Fariña, Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt, and, her best known collaborator from that era, Bill Medley, of the Righteous Brothers, with whom she sang the duet in the incredible “I Had the Time of My Life”, as revived for the movie, “Dirty Dancing”. She has also collaborated a lot with Leonard Cohen, whose work we highlighted here a short time ago… Enjoy, ffolkes; this lady can SING!….

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Jennifer Warnes

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https://youtu.be/bPlpxHhzSp0?list=PLfb5wJhuBA28GTLiTWlwzMLO8f9Z9v4na

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

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

As noted above, I don’t have much going on this morning that isn’t tinged by a bit of incipient nausea; ranting is out of the question. This one from a few years ago will have to do for today…. Oddly enough, nothing much is changed from when this was first posted…. go figure….

From 6/6/2012:

“Let us, then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of a bitter and bloody persecution.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

See! They warned us, and we still didn’t listen! Almost every one of the men who were involved in the writing of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, at one time or another in the ensuing years, wrote a letter or essay discussing this very idea. They had just fought a long, hard battle to set up the safeguards for the freedoms we now supposedly enjoy, and were nervous that what they had accomplished would be lost in the future, due to the machinations of those among the human herd who make it their habit to prey on the rest of the group.

Corporations, and the politicians who take their money in return for legislation favoring those corporations, were considered just as dangerous to liberty as were religions; Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Mason, Adams, and a host of others all wrote their own version of warnings to their ancestors, naming rapacious corporate entities among the most dangerous enemies against which to guard. These men, who had already risked everything to create the nation we live in, had no desire to see that nation fall to internal enemies, and were careful to make sure that we would know…

But, nobody listened, and, now we are reaping what we have sown. Corporations control Congress. If you believe otherwise, you are delusional, quite simply. It is only necessary to go down the list of those who have been elected, and tally up how their votes go on issues that concern the control of corporate activities. It becomes perfectly clear that NO legislation that seriously hinders what corporations are allowed to do in their pursuit of profit will ever be enacted.

If something that appears to be beneficial to the public does get voted in, you can bet there are codicils and amendments to the bill that essentially emasculate any attempts to curtail profit. Congress hasn’t enacted any laws beneficial to the public in over 75 years, that I can see, and I invite anyone to show me one bill that did so. Just one…. then we can discuss how long it took to find it…. and what THAT little item of information means….

Back in the mid-nineteenth century in America, a corrupt Federal judge was paid by corporate interests to make a ruling that, in essence, gave corporations “person-hood”, making them legal entities entitled to all the protection of the laws that govern individuals. Essentially, this gave these businesses the “right” to a profit, and allows them to charge their customers for any expenses they wish, no matter how egregious or outlandish, and their right to that is protected by law.

Every legal decision challenging that personhood has been defeated in the intervening years, on those few occasions when anyone has tried to throw off the chains the law has placed on us all. The amount of money spent on lobbying, to control the laws that get made, far exceeds what is spent on education, healthcare, or almost any other publicly beneficial programs, and in the eyes of the 1%, it is money well-spent…..

Now, PAC’s for both the Democratic corporations, and the Republican corporations (yes, they are…. there is no real difference between the corporations and the pundits they have paid for; they’re speaking the same language, and have the same goals….) are all set to spend BILLIONS of dollars, dollars originally ripped out of YOUR pockets for stuff you don’t really want or need, to spread lies, misinformation, accusations, and prestidigitation around the public airways until we are all sick of it…..

Well, until some of us are…. I’m sick of it already, and they haven’t really ramped it up yet….. I think I’m going to go buy some aspirin to go along with my other pain medications; I can feel a headache coming on, and I don’t think it will let up until December….

“I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little the more as I grow older.” — Michael de Montaigne

So be it.

gigoid has spoken.

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

I don’t know why, but, this one seems appropriate for today’s Pearl….

Accentuated Lessons

Bold statements of calculated intent
Become common rule of the malcontent.
Avarice assumes such attractive wear
Beguiling deception, illusory and fair.

Grasping and pulling with ghostly hands
Legally proper in all the signatory lands.
Seeking and finding each vulnerable soul
Anguish as payment for exacting the toll.

Wraiths of commerce’s invisible dead guards
Still haunt the dreams left in sad empty yards.
While absentee nobles sit in stiffly elegant splendor
Served by sad-faced detainees in abject surrender.

Escape from reality is illusory at best
Often we falter and fail its daily test.
Only when focused on inner strength
Does peace stay with us for any length.

Peace lies within, always…..

~~ gigoid ~~

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

This is what I would call a pearl of philosophy, for lack of anything more classy or brilliant. It has been specially constructed to conform to the highest standards of truth, as well as ethically and physically centered for your convenience; the purpose is to encourage using what you read, and ponder, to center your mind, and your spirit…. It can’t hurt to try, now, can it?….. I can tell you from personal experience, if you do it right, it works…. But, then, not everybody CAN do it; nothing wrong with that, as each one will work toward the same purpose in your mind, whether you know it or not…. Truth is like that; yeah, it is….

“Alone, I look down the road. Each must walk one’s own path.”

~~ 365 Tao ~~

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

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

“I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”

~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~

“Nothing in human affairs is worth any great anxiety.”

~~ Plato ~~

“Without civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their survival has no value.”

~~ Bertrand Russell ~~

“Don’t be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it’s just death.”

~~ Lena Horne ~~

“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”

~~ Buddha~~

“Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

“Truth needs no flowers of speech.”

~~ Alexander Pope ~~

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

“Hopelessly lost, but making good time…” — David Letterman

Boy, that’s us, to a T! However, not only are we hopelessly lost, but, we have arrived, so, we can say we made good time, for sure… Hell, I’m not sure I’m all the way awake yet, so, I can only assume being done is the right thing to do….

Hmm… You know what? In looking back over that last sentence or two, I think it’s just as well we ARE done. Any more of this and we could be arrested for assault with an empty weapon. Since I can’t afford any more time in court, I’m definitely outta here for today. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if I can’t figure out a way out of it….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loo.se.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Misfiring on all cylinders….

Posted on March 15, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.”

~~ Jules de Gaultier ~~

OMG! So SCARY!… Dragon Style Tai Chi!

So much for good intentions…. Having slept two full hours past my normal time to awake, I’m running WAY behind. As would be expected, this condition produces a mild feeling of panic, which I must throw aside, ignoring it to the best of my ability, if I am to have any hope of getting this done. Especially considering the state of mind I find myself in, which somewhat resembles a bowl of oatmeal…. Bland, inoffensive, and BORING…. even if it’s good for you…

So far as I can tell, that oatmeal isn’t overcooked, though, so, there is hope we may yet find our way into the body of today’s Pearl. Of course, that assumes I have the wherewithal to even produce something resembling our normal output. I’m not certain, exactly, how I’m getting THIS done, as I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing, or where I am going with this. More so than even our ‘normal’ state, we are somewhat befuddled, like a sloth awakened from a short sleep, blinking confusedly at the light, wondering just what or who I am…. SIGH….

Oh well. It’s been worse, I suppose, though I can’t recall when that might have been; past, present, future are all dark to me. In fact, so dark, rather than fumble around any further, with no clue as to what may occur next, I think I’ll use this handy, dandy plot device I found laying here, to get us out of this poorly conceived, yet hopefully mundane effort to distract y’all from the actual mess we’ve come to inhabit. I can’t do anything about the excessive sweating y’all had to undergo, but, I will loan y’all some deodorant to get you home without offending your car’s co-inhabitants.

In addition, we won’t charge any extra for the extra time it takes to clean off the debris from your clothing; it is, after all, our own fault, for trying to keep up with the times. Sad to say, we’ve never been able to catch up, but, it’s fun to keep trying. Since I can’t think of a single thing to do to keep this up any longer, I suggest you hang on….. this will be a very sharp, fast dive back into reality, where we may once again set our imaginations free…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Remember, ‘nowhere’ is also ‘now here’.” — Smart Bee

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

When my soul needs uplifting, there is nothing like this woman’s music to lift us up…. I have been madly in love with her for almost 50 years…. Brilliant guitarist, red hair, a gorgeous smile. and the voice of an angel…. What’s not to love? I give you the woman I call the finest female musician of the past century…. Ms. Bonnie Raitt….

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

BONNIE RAITT Live in Germany 1992

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https://youtu.be/FeprNTw9Wcc

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

From 1/29/2015:

“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.” — Johann L. Uhland (1787-1862) — Speech, May 27, 1836

Zowie! Eureka! I knew I’d heard this somewhere before, but, couldn’t remember the author’s name. In stating this observation, made not long after the US government was formed, the author takes the hand of Thomas Jefferson, who expressed his fear of exactly this happenstance, in numerous letters to friends before, and after, the signing of the Constitution. He recognized the overpowering ambition and thirst for power so obvious in those who embrace it, attempting to warn his fellow citizens, many times….

As is plain to see, nobody paid the slightest attention, whereupon the bankers, in close conjunction with their myrmidons, i.e., the pundits and lawyers, continued to pursue their evil intent, to secure their hold over government, and, thus, society…. They’ve been so successful, we see in today’s world, they control every level of the national scene; witness the number of Republican presidential candidates who have been sucking up to the Koch brothers, and the Citizens United PAC, with their unlimited pile of money, in use in today’s world buying the loyalty of every single politician they can pervert to their insane desire to make the world over in their own image…. It doesn’t seem to matter at all to them that image is a clear, crisp photograph of the worst HELL imaginable, or that it would entail oppressing 99% of the human race….

Why are many scientists using lawyers for medical experiments instead of rats?

a) There are more lawyers than rats.

b) The scientist’s don’t become as emotionally attached to them.

c) There are some things that even rats won’t do for money.

~~ Smart Bee ~~

Gee, do ya think I’ve lost some of my respect for lawyers, and their second-slimiest clients, the bankers? (First place in my hell is reserved for pimps, and those who abuse women, children, or animals…. which, of course, lawyers and bankers do by proxy, with their usual complete indifference to the suffering of others….) Why no, of course not. I’ve lost ALL of it, with what I consider damn good reason, based on 64 years of observing the human drama, along with my own personal experience with both categories of asshole…. The only respect for any of them I have, is for those who actually HELP people, without considering what they can get out of it, other than their own satisfaction for helping people find justice, and a reasonable fee for that help, whether the fee is taken in pies & chickens, eternal gratitude, or simply cash….

In keeping with today’s theme of picking on lawyers and bankers, and, to save energy for my upcoming battle, I decided to pick out an old school pearl, aimed at the former, as they’re an easier target, all in all…. They’re just SO…… weaselly! Well, there are some are exceptions, sure, but, the others infest the world so prominently, the good ones are hard to find…. Ah well, here are some observations about them, from Smart Bee, and a number of other people who feel the same as most everybody else, about those lawyers who use their skills to benefit themselves, showing complete indifference as to whether it benefits anyone else….

Liar, n.: A lawyer with a roving commission. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“A group of white South Africans recently killed a black lawyer because he was black. That was wrong. They should have killed him because he was a lawyer.” — A. Whitney Brown

“Always take a lawyer with you, and bring another lawyer to watch him.” — Bo Diddly’s Observation on the Law

“Fleas can be taught nearly everything a lawyer can.” — Smart Bee

“Here’s an amazing story. A man in Orlando, Florida, was hit by eight cars in a row and only one stopped. The first seven drivers thought he was a lawyer. The eighth was a lawyer.” — Jay Leno

“If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?” — Smart Bee

“In a man’s world…simian aptitudes are rated high, and so not too many women get in. To succeed as a lawyer, for example, a woman would have to throttle two of her chief attributes: her disdain for the petty accumulations of useless knowledge, and her sharp feeling for the truth. What men in their imbecility consistently mistake for a deficiency of intelligence in women is merely an incapacity for mastering small and trivial tricks.” — H. L. Mencken, Chicago _Sunday Tribune_, January 8, 1928

“In the Norse mythology Loki originally was on the side of the rest of the gods, helping them once or twice using particularly nasty forms of trickery. He was a cunning negotiator with a talent for technicalities. He was sort of the Norse equivalent of a lawyer, no doubt the reason they tied him down in a pit dripping acidic venom on him.” — Martin Terman

“How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? You won’t find a lawyer who can change a light bulb. Now, if you’re looking for a lawyer to screw a light bulb… ” — Smart Bee

LAWYER: A professional advocate hired to bend the law on behalf of a paying client; for this reason considered the most suitable background for entry into politics. — Definition from “THE CYNIC’S DICTIONARY”

Needless to say, I could do this forever, no sweat, or guilt; there are already nine pearls, and I’ve only used three of the ten pages of quotes I’ve collected on the subject. But, I suppose there ARE more productive things we could all be doing. This is pretty cool, but, as with all good things, it can’t last forever…. Onward, into the day….

Oh, hell…. Naturally, AFTER I’ve finished, I find the PERFECT pearl for this group. Since we’ve already completed it, I’ll just tack it here on the end, where it will enjoy its highlighted position; I call it perfect because it takes a shot at two categories at once, both of which are current players in my personal drama…. This one tells it like it is, for sure and for certain….

“Doctors are the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.” — Anton Chekhov

gigoid has spoken…

So be it.

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

In order to avoid blame, and keep to the now ruined schedule, here is another of my older poems….

Fine and Good, Good and Fine

A pig in a poke’s got nothing on me,
cuz I’m as confused as a man can be.
This ol’ world’s got me spinnin’ around
cussin’ and spittin’, a penny for a pound.

Forty ‘leven times since I was a kid, well,
I’ve fallen in love, ‘least too close to tell.
Every damn time, it all went to crap,
Forty ‘leven times I’ve felt like a sap.

Don’t want y’all to think I’m sad or blue,
life’s full of sorrow, lots for me, and/or you..
T’other side of that coin, we can be glad,
is joyful love, and that ain’t at all bad.

‘Nuff said….

~~ gigoid, tongue firmly in cheek ~~

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

So, I have no idea where this pearl came from…. I found it sitting here when I came down to start on this section. I’m not entirely sure what it’s saying, but, it definitely has something to say…. I’d pay attention, if I were y’all… there might be something in there more important than it seems at first read…. It won’t be on the Quiz, unless, of course, they’re lying to me, too….. Ah well, it’s a fun read, anyway, so, enjoy!….

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” — Plato (BC 427?-347?)

“I know now that there’s one thing you’ve all overlooked: intelligence and education that hasn’t been tempered by human affection isn’t worth a damn.” — Daniel Keyes, “Flowers for Algernon”

“Everything is leaf, and through this simplicity the greatest diversity becomes possible.” — Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832)

“All cats are NOT gray after midnight. Endless variety …” — Lazarus Long

“If it is not seemly, do it not; if it is not true, speak it not.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, xii, 17

“We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.” — Seneca

“Living Dead the path is chosen; to live forever is to die forever. To not know when you’ll die is to find life wherever you are.” — Alagad

“The chief aim of wisdom is to enable one to bear with the stupidity of the ignorant.” — Xystus I

Ne te confundant illegitimi (Don’t let the bastards get you down…) (alt: Don’t let illusion confuse you…) (Literal: lest you confuse Illegitimate) — Smart Bee

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

Well…. Considering this Pearl was composed and created from relative scratch in just under 58 minutes, it came out fairly well…. I’m not going to even THINK about proofing, as it might take longer than the original creation. Y’all know what that means; you are hereby released from any further need to remain on the premises; all legal action has been canceled. Me, I’m outta here, before I change my mind…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

gigoid

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

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Fabulous shoes, Margo. Jimmy Choo?….

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