“Hey, mister….”
“Yeah?”
“Got any change?
“Only this little jar of entropy….”

No, that’s not quite right….

“Hey….”
“Yeah?”
“What’s new?”
“My socks….”

No, that’s not very good, either….

“Hey, buddy…”
“Yeah?”
“Got milk?”
“No.”

Ah, that’s better…. now we can go on….

You may be asking yourself just what the hell this is all about, which would be a completely understandable, even logical reaction…. It won’t get you any closer to finding out, but, hey, it’s logical, and that’s something these days…. To explain…. The three little conversations above are another experiment, designed purely to see it it would be a feasible method for getting these silly introductions out of the way with a template, or possibly a new routine, like the “Who’s on first?” thing, that whatshisname and his partner used to do on stage…. !!! What was that name?…. His partner’s name was Lou…. Aha!!… Abbot & Costello, that’s them…. Any who, onward….

I’m still not happy with the way these introductory sections get done each day…. There’s no rhyme, nor reason to their construction, and no solid method to make sure it’s an intro that will be effective in its purpose, which is to say, it is compelling, drawing people in to read further…. The above, while not bad, is NOT something I could do every day, but, I might be able to work it into the routine on a rotating basis, maybe….. It seems like the kind of thing that might work if we don’t have to depend on it every day; But, an occasional foray into nonsensical comedic conversations could be a handy, and fairly effective method…. So, we’ll see how it works out….

Obviously, today’s version, while fairly silly, isn’t very good, all in all, and these little blurbs will have to be punched up, so that it really DOES draw ffolkes in to the blog, even if they’re only looking to get in out of the rain. We have umbrellas we can loan out, if necessary…. In fact, that’s a good idea…. Maybe people will be encouraged to come back, if we treat them with kindness…. Maybe they’ll want to come back to re-visit that site that loaned them an umbrella when they needed it….. Oh, wait, there’s that whole physical presence thing in the way there, isn’t there? Oh, yeah, forgot about that….

Never mind, then…. It’s a bit hard to loan out anything, when we’re not in physically proximate positions, so, that idea is shot down rather neatly, isn’t it? Silly me, such nonsense…. Of course, we encourage that around here, as you know…. Well, since all of this is now pretty well eliminated from the neighborhood of Reality, and I have little idea left of what I’m doing here, I guess I’ll get on with the regular stuff we do….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.” — Heraclitus
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Today will be a normal Pearl, insofar as what we do here is able to approach normal at all; all three sections will have the regular, normal inclusions in their appropriate places… This first section will be an old-school pearl, because I found three pearls waiting for me when I got here, and that’s just the way it is…. As you can see, curmudgeonry is also part of the somewhat random process for deciding things here at ECR….. Any who, these pearls, the ones I found here, all have a bit to say about people, and how they live…. or, in some cases, how they SHOULD live…. But, as they say, you can lead a horse to water, but, you can’t make them think…. er, drink…..

“Apollo said that every one’s true worship was that which he found in use in the place where he chanced to be.” — Michael de Montaigne (1533-1592) — Essays, Book ii, Chap. xii, Apology for Raimond Sebond

“An empty man is full of himself.” — Edward Abbey

“If you see a man approaching you with the obvious intention of doing you good, you should run for your life.” — Thoreau’s Law

“Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.” — Bertrand Russell, “An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish”

“Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you.” — Wally “Famous” Amos

“I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way.” — Robert Frost

“Go softly, for you tread on my dreams.” — Yeats
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Below is a small piece of prose I did back in February of this year, prompted by a couple of lines by T.S. Eliot, one of my favorite poets…. I just like it, and hope you enjoy it as well…. It’s followed by, of course, a bit of Emily….

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From February 6, 2013:

Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled
About the center of the silent Word.
– T.S. Eliot

What is the silent Word?  The Word Is…. Not not, Is…. We may be, or not, but, what is, is, and needs no word, but the Word remains…. at the center, where it was seen and not heard by T.S….

Sometimes, powerful truth can be found in apparent nonsense, and T.S. Eliot was a master at creating very lean, very clean poetry whose very simplicity drove straight into the heart of Truth. I always feel more serene after reading his poems, disturbing as they can be, and find that reading his work brings me illumination, if not enlightenment….
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Per my statements above, this section would be where I begin to rant, but, I made that statement (re: today’s Pearl structure) prior to getting this far, so, let’s see if Reality will condescend to allow us to maintain our path, or make us take a different route to where we need to go…. Half a moment, please….

A funny thing happened on the way to this rant…. The BRC, PH, SCM, and IM who make up the category in which I usually can find my target of choice for the day have ALL apparently issued a blanket statement to the media, that no stories on them are to be published for a time, to allow them to bury any evidence that may have come to light while they were busy with their clandestine shenanigans…. What, you may well ask, does this mean?…. Well, let me explain…

I’ve been perusing the headlines in the news for the last few days, since the new year began, and there has been NOTHING about any of the Asininnies anywhere in there! The Congress, the courts, the POTUS, the White House, & all the government agencies who are normally all over the front pages are nowhere to be seen…. Of the eight most popular stories today on the front page, three were about yesterday’s football game, two were accident/injury reports, one reported on a court case, one on the death of a broadcaster, and the horoscope for the day…. To believe the evidence, one would think we had nobody in the government at all today….

Ah well, it can’t last forever…. Eventually, one of them will open their mouth near a reporter, another lie will pop out, and all will be back to normal…. In the meantime, however, we are left without a rantable subject, and must once again turn to the archives in order to complete today’s Pearl…. Here, then, is a piece from early last year, a discussion of…. well, you’ll see…. Enjoy!….

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From January 20, 2013

“Nothing unreal exists.” — Kiri-Kin-Tha’s Law of Metaphysics

For the uninitiated, this is from Star Trek, a line from the fourth movie, The Voyage Home. It is the answer, and question, posed to Spock by the computer, near the beginning of the movie, just before it asks him, “How do you feel?” Though the quote, and its author, are part of a fictional story, and do not, as far as I know, exist in real life, the idea is nonetheless a potent philosophical assertion, and deserving of some meditation upon its implications, and ramifications. I like it, as it creates a series of doorways, one after another opening for welcome, inviting me to come in and examine its furnishings for their value…. A bit fanciful, perhaps, but then, it IS from Star Trek….

“Trekkies” have always taken the concept behind the show and movies much more seriously than most of us, and have created an entire panorama of alternate universe stories, legends, and characters as an adjunct to the original tales. I am certain that some fan, somewhere in the world, has put together a book that lays out Kiri-Kin-Tha’s philosophy for study, complete with Laws, Axioms, and Arguments. They probably even included material from other fictional works from the ST venue, weaving them into a coherent treatise, all of which is completely fabricated…. People can be pretty amazing when they are obsessed, indeed….

“Nothing unreal exists.”….. fascinating, as Spock would say. It is reminiscent, in a backwards fashion, of the question posed by the door to Ravenclaw Tower, in the final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, when Professor McGonagall is queried, “Where do Vanished objects go?” by the door, in order to gain entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. “Into non being, which is to say, everything.”, she answers immediately. “Nicely phrased”, replied the door…. I say backwards only because the ST movie came first in real time, by about 25 years or so…. As can be seen, however, the concepts involved in the two similar episodes are more than mere ideological throw-aways, but have some valid basis for their existence….

This is the power of Imagination at its finest, in my mind. People will take a good idea, and run with it into landscapes where it has never before been conceived, turning it into passionate variations on the original theme whose quality rivals that of it progenitor. At the height of the frenzy over the Harry Potter movies, a few years ago, I visited a site called MuggleNet.com, curious as to what the fans of the movie and stories were doing.

I was completely astounded by the prolific writings by fans, who wrote entire novels, short stories, and alternative plots by the dozens, all populated by the characters from the books by J.K. Rowling. Romances between the various characters abounded in the imagination of the fans, as well as the creation of new characters, and inventive new kinds of magical spells, objects, and creatures. The variety and depth of talent displayed is incredible, and goes to show how powerful is the influence of obsession on our imagination.

And hence one master-passion in the breast,
Like Aaron’s serpent, swallows up the rest.

– Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle ii, Line 131

Of course, obsession has the unfortunate tendency to go beyond the bounds of reasonable action in pursuit of its object of attention. It can easily consume all of the mind’s available store of common sense, submerging it in the raging river of passionate belief in whatever idea has emerged as the passion of choice. Pope was speaking no more than simple truth when he wrote these lines, which point again to the same fatal flaw that exists in other areas of human nature, the weakness of will that makes us choose paths that are self-destructive in their intensity, or in their ultimate logical end. Too many of us tend to make our choices in life without using even the most basic of mental tools we have, including imagination; the use of those tools can be hard, in the sense that it is harder to think than it is to allow others to think for you….

Thus, we come to another point where the subject under discussion can be expanded, and further explored. Or, we can leave it here, with the ideas already discussed as a springboard for private consideration. I have a feeling it could get a bit esoteric from this juncture, and I’d lose a lot of ffolkes to the fatigue factor. I am feeling that a bit meself, having now been sparring with this Pearl for a bit over three hours. I should have eaten some philosophical oatmeal, to increase the fiber content of my output, I guess….

Rather than go any further down that road, we’ll bring this pearl to a close…. Perhaps you can take a bit of what we discussed with you, and chew on it later…. it doesn’t seem to get any less crunchy over time, so it can’t hurt…. Fewer calories than jerky, and it won’t require flossing afterward….

“You can get anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant (‘ceptin’ Alice).” — Arlo Guthrie
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Without even looking at it, I will admit that today’s effort MAY not be per usual, even for around here…. I just discovered that I’ve created this entire Pearl without the benefit of brushing my hair, so there is no telling how crooked the thoughts contained herein might have become in the process…. Since it’s done, and I’m NOT going to do it over, it will just have to do, however it came out…. which, all in all, isn’t too bad…. It will fly, anyway, so, off it goes…. See you tomorrow, if all goes well….

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

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