Ffolkes,
Yesterday, according to the WordPress statistics bots, I posted my 821st post on this blog…. (funny, I first typed “blob” where it says “blog”, then went ahead and corrected it, but, I see now it might have been better to leave it in, as it fits nicely…. oh well, another opportunity for humor lost…. It happens a lot around here….) I’m not sure whether to be impressed at my persistence, or dismayed at my stubbornness. Only my audience could tell me, which is terrifying, to say the least….. so, I’m not going to even ask, as it really is a moot issue…. I’m going to write as long as I have something to say, and since I kept my innermost thoughts to myself for many years before starting this blog, I’ve got a lot of stuff stored up….
That being said, we can go on to more lucrative, or more interesting material…. that, of course, is the plan. The plan undergoes a number of alterations, usually, before we reach the end of any particular Pearl, so, those kinds of alterations are not unexpected, or hard to manage…. It’s the weird stuff that gets thrown in by my whimsy that tends to make things strange. So far, though, I’ve managed, at least in my own mind, to keep from posting anything that might offend anyone who isn’t an asshole already…. If I have, well, I’d have to consider that a personal problem, as I post enough disclaimers to warn off even the most idiotic of readers….
The stuff I write here is all my own…. if it isn’t, I say so clearly. If I find a quote in Smart Bee, unattributed, I will first Google it to see if it is out there where it can be found; I find an author for these unknown statements about 50% of the times I look for it. If I can’t find it, I give the attribution to Smart Bee, which put the onus for identification back in their court (the software’s authors, that is….). Otherwise, what you see is me, or it is other folk’s stuff, clearly marked, being used by me for the purpose of discussion and/or clarification, and it’s what you’ll get, every day….
I won’t claim what I do here is the best literature you’ll ever read, but, I will say to you that ALL I say here, especially those items that poke fun and ridicule at the BRC and the priestly hierarchies (to wit: church and state….), are my own responsibility, and I stand behind them 100%. If you disagree with any of it, comments are welcome, as long as they are intelligently written, and don’t get into flaming….
Unwarranted criticisms are cheerfully ignored, but, should you take your best shot here, at me or at what I say, in a way that crosses over the line into personal issues, then the consequences that will surely follow, are on your head, and so be it…. I’m not going to be nice to an idiot; it only encourages them to let that nonsense out on someone else…. No, I’ll do my best to put such in its place, and I guarantee, that place doesn’t smell real nice….
In my two-plus years of blogging daily, I’ve been very fortunate not to come across any trolls; everyone who has commented has been very appreciative, and polite; in fact, I consider several of my serial commenters to be new friends, people who, someday, I would enjoy meeting in person. That’s saying a lot, because I don’t keep many friends; I only have a few, whom I’ve known practically forever, of the kind who, when you see them, after a week, or after a year, will immediately take up the conversation from the point where it was left, without any need to make up the time between those conversations, because the connection was, and is, always there….
I see now that, once again, I’ve managed to blather for almost a thousand words, none of which got me to any particularly valuable place, or even one where we might conceivably take off on a literary adventure of some kind…. It’s enough for an intro, though, and that will have to do….. In the main, this is because I just don’t have anything more, of any relevance, to say; I’ve found, in these cases, it’s best to just get on with the normal course of events….
Shall we Pearl?…..
“What you would seem to be, be really.” — Ben Franklin
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Since I went a bit overboard in the intro, I will forgo subjecting y’all to a rant today…. I’ve done quite a few of late, of some great length, and can see how reading all of what I write can get to be a chore, depending, of course, on how fast one reads, and how quickly the material can be assimilated. Hopefully, it takes a bit of time to follow the arguments, which are not always simple. Though it may seem otherwise, I do try to simplify things a lot when I discuss them, but, sometimes it just isn’t possible to make a point without displaying a modicum of subtlety, or of complexity, either of which can slow the process down….
Rather than rant, I decided to go with an old Sesame Street game my kids and I used to like, when we watched it together many years ago…. It was called “One of these is not like the others….”, and usually consisted of four concepts, one of which was diametrically opposed to the others…. Here, I have upped the ante a bit, to five items… but, they all are of a type, but for one…. I shouldn’t have to explain any further, and I trust the perspicacity of my readers enough to not ask me to do so….
Just note which of these tells a different kind of story than the others, and all will be well…. At the end of it, you may have a bit of a headache, from delving so deeply into the human well of experience…. but, the sheer difference of the fifth wheel in this group is sure to uplift your spirits, at least a little…. I find it helps to use a 10 point scale for rating these….
http://www.walmartgreenroom.com/2013/06/tom-cruise-on-how-walmart-helps-people-live-better/
My own scoring on this one went like this…. #1 I give this a ten on the ‘idiot’ scale… #2 This gets an eight on the ‘asshole’ scale, but applies to the whole group involved…. #3 Got a negative 3 on all scales (hint: negative numbers are positive in the real world) …. #4 With both TC and Walmart in the same article, this one gets a 20 on both the ‘idiot’ scale, and the ‘asshole’ scale…. #5 got a 7, on the ‘disappointment in society’ scale….
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This morning, I’m feeling both nostalgic, and somewhat lacking in motivation. I guess I’m suffering from cruise withdrawal, knowing my next time on board a ship is still four long weeks, plus a day, away in the future…. When this happens, I turn to the classics for a bit of surcease…. This one needs little introduction, as most of it is familiar to just about anyone alive, who graduated from an American high school in the last 100 years, and paid any attention at all in English class…. Enjoy!….
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkn’d ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.
~~ John Keats ~~
Oh boy! I’ve ranted, approximately, and found a really great poem, so, at this point, I get to go old-school, which just makes my day…. I love this process, as it makes me use my head just the way I like, with both discipline and randomness, all in a good cause…. Well, it’s a cause, anyway…. good and bad are distinctions I prefer to avoid, as they tend to rope one into certain positions, and I don’t like to let myself get trapped like that…. Any who, whatever the rationalization used, this one should come out well, as I’m going to use very loose reins, and allow Smart Bee to do most of the work…. What better way to start the day, as long as one has sufficient coffee as a prophylaxis against any undue conceptual manipulation.?… Let’s see what that little devil has going today, shall we?…..
In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies;
All quit their sphere, and rush into the skies.
Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes:
Men would be angels, angels would be gods.
Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell,
Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 123
“Everybody gets free BORSCHT!” — Zippy the Pinhead
Don’t lose your head to gain a minute.
You need your head, your brains are in it.
— Burma Shave
“Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool.” — Smart Bee
“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” — A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
In looking back at this group, I see it would be possible, perhaps, even, advisable, to stop here, and use this as a five-star pearl, with a pretty good point to it, if one is slick enough to trip over it…. But, it just doesn’t feel done to me, so we’ll see what more SB can come up with to bring this to its full potential….
“No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.” — Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592)
“He is able who thinks he is able.” — Buddha
There you go….
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Well, I’ve gotten to the end of another fine mess, and still feel as if I haven’t begun… Does this mean it’s going to be a long day? Hmm… You may be right, it’s probably too early for such depths of potential disaster; depression and paranoia are hovering right around the corner, should we follow that distraction….. So, let’s just go proof, and see if it all hangs together, or needs a few edges sharpened….
Okay, so the edges were fine; oddly enough, so was the rest of it…. In fact, all in all, this is quite good, and I don’t feel a bit of a qualm about letting it go out, as is…. Y’all may feel differently, but, guess what? It’s a done deal, and it’s too late for anything but a comment…. 🙂 See ya….
Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…
When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.
Which is Why….
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
gigoid 