Sunset near the Orkney Isles, off the coast of Scotland….
The elements of today’s Pearl have been in place for a couple of days, but, sadly, the consistency I once had in posting seems to be no longer part of my skill set. SIGH…. Ah, well, he said, again…. So be it. Some of it’s a bit strange, but, that’s not particularly odd for around here; in fact it might be said ALL of what I do these days has the flavor of strange. But, that’s just who I am, I suppose, & we’ll all just deal with it as we do, however that may be. Me, I’m not even going to make any attempt to either justify, or excuse it, as neither approach offers much chance of flying….
Since rational explanations are not forthcoming, and I have experienced the usual lack of purpose or direction in composing an introduction, it’s probably best for me to just go post it, as best I can, & be done with it. All one can do, is, after all, all one can do. So, enjoy today’s mess, if you will, & I’ll see y’all in the closing section for a final word. For now…..
Shall we Pearl?
“Belief gets in the way of learning.”
~~ Robert Heinlein, “Time Enough for Love” ~~
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Gordon Lightfoot
Image from Wikipedia via Google Images….
Today’s musical selection is one of the greatest & most iconic folk singer/songwriter of my time, a man whose music has inspired everyone who ever heard his smooth, intimate, & melodic songs, including most of his fellow artists. I’ve included a video with his album of best hits which gives an idea of the breadth of his work, as well as a video of a live concert from last year. I hope you enjoy his music as have millions of people across the world for more than 50 years…. Abondanza!….
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Early Observations
Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.
All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.
But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.
Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.
‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.
Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.
Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.
Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.
Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.
~~ gigoid ~~
6/21/2014
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Naked Pearls
Purely Random Notes….
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“.. I wonder if I ought to tell them about my PREVIOUS LIFE
as a COMPLETE STRANGER?”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
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“Bion used to say that the way to the shades below was easy;
he could go there with his eyes shut.”
~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD), “Bion, iii” ~~
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“Among unequals what society
Can sort, what harmony, or true delight?”
~~ John Milton, “Paradise Lost”, Book viii, Line 383 ~~
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“If you wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes.
If you don’t wait for tomorrow, tomorrow comes.”
~~ Senegalese proverb ~~
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“In the dark time will there also be singing?
Yes, there will be singing about the dark time.”
~~ Bertold Brecht ~~
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“I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.”
~~ William Butler Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” ~~
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“Don’t ask me where I’m going,
Just listen when I’m gone
And far away you’ll hear me singing softly to the dawn”
~~ Pippin ~~
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Once more, I’ve managed to spew out enough to soothe my angst, for now. I shall do so again in the relatively near future, of that you may rest assured. Well, perhaps the thought of it isn’t all that reassuring, but, there ’tis…. and, as I noted in the intro, all one can do is all one can do. Since that is exactly what I’ve done, I’m outta here for today. Y’all be well, & happy as you may be; staying strange is also recommended, especially for those of us to whom it is more than merely a state of mind. For some of us, it’s damn necessary…. See ya, 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.
“Service to others
becomes a necessity
in seeking virtue.
~~ gigoid, 10/9/2018 ~~
New Vineyards near Eugene, Oregon….
In the past eight days, since last posting a Pearl, the various parts of today’s post fell together in a random order that eventually achieved some coherency just yesterday. My life outside this room where the computer lives has been, more than I care to think it could be, ‘interesting’, and I use that word in the oriental sense, not occidental. Friends in crisis, personal demon wars, trying to stop smoking tobacco, risky business, all have occurred of late in rapid=fire succession, unwilling to allow one the time to either prepare, or recover. SIGH…. (that’s a West Counties sigh, long, sad face, slowly indrawn breath exhaled with force and a shake of the head….). ‘Tis easy to see why I’m so hard-pressed to get anything done, with so much distraction from any purpose I choose to follow….
But, all of us live in the same reality (that’s why I explore it….), with one difference, that being our own perception of it. That said, it remains both no MORE difficult, or, any LESS difficult than anyone else’s reality, no matter how perceived; in the end, we all must face it alone. That’s why I have come to believe so strongly in the old proverb about ‘living in the shelter of each other’; without each other, we all get lost, and lonely. Sometimes, that can happen even when we are with each other, so, it’s a good thing to also remember the other old proverb, i.e., ‘if you want a friend, be one’….
I’m doing some writing on the side for a friend, and have also procrastinated on getting it done as quickly as I like, so, I’m gonna leave this be so it can get posted, & do my best to quit complaining at myself long enough to get something else done. Wish me luck, ‘cuz I have a feeling I’ll need it….. For the nonce, I’ll see you down the page a ways….
Shall we Pearl?
“Go softly, for you tread on my dreams.”
~~ William Butler Yeats ~~
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John Lee Hooker
Image from chickenmamba.com via Google Images…
Here’s another artist who should need little introduction. If one knows anything of the blues, he is an icon; if not, well, he’s still an icon, just one of whom you don’t know, to your loss…. until now, of course. I’ve included two live videos, as anything he does live is impeccable, IMHO…. I hope you enjoy it….
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For old times’ sake, just because….
From 10/16/2014:
“The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy.” — Steven Weinberg
In the past year and some time, I’ve written many words… more than I care to think about just now, and a number that some would say deserves the term “interminable”….. None of them comes closer to summarizing how I feel about life in general than this…. I’ve never seen it before, to my knowledge, which detracts in no way from its deep resonance with my core beliefs.
I spend a lot of time discussing those parts of life that lean toward the direction of farce, with no little outrage at the depth of human cupidity and well, bozoid tendencies. In my own way, I suppose, this could be construed as my own effort to try to understand the universe, and our place in it…. I hope so, anyway…. because understanding life has been my only quest for the greatest part of it that I remember, reaching back to when I was five or six, and desperately trying to blend in with all the orange monkeys, while secretly wearing my own coat of blue…. For the two years after beginning school, and being exposed all day to the world outside my family, the gap between myself and my peer group seemed to be unpredictable, in terms of what they perceived, and what I could see and understand.
This isn’t to imply I was an outcast; merely an “egghead”, or other such complimentary terminology, as I found the actual school part of it all quite simple. This did, on the positive side, give me enough time to learn to adapt, and make myself likable for other reasons… sports being one, and applying the principle of “to have friends, be a friend”; I was always generous with helping others in school, with whatever I could do. Plus, I do LIKE people, as a rule…. they often disappoint, but, if one pays attention, they also never fail to amaze, in so many ways.
This study of my peer group from my first memories has persisted throughout my life, and remains today my primary focus of self-directed education, so to speak. I love to sit in public places and watch crowds; I don’t much like being IN crowds, so much as watching them interact with each other, all according to the dancing rules we all learn, from kindergarten onward…. From the first time I ever attended a county fair, my favorite activity at each, was to race through all there was to see, spend all my disposable income, and then spend the remainder of my time sitting near the front gate plaza, watching the people as they came to the fair….. endless entertainment, and still is…. only now, I walk the streets when I’m able, or sit in the public parks, libraries, and coffee shops, wherever I live….
“Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
One of the things I’ve learned about people is that human nature is just that… a force of nature. It has not changed much, if at all, since we humans were living in grass huts at the junction of a river; there are still good people, and bad people, and they are most often the same person…. because we all have our own unique view of the world, and our own feelings about what we see and believe we understand. We don’t always have all the information we need at critical times in our lives, and so make decisions that affect our behavior or outlook, decisions which become habits, leading us to believe these habits are justifiable because they work to keep us comfortable…. until they don’t. Life always changes, there is nothing that can stop it from doing so; if we do not learn to change ourselves, to adapt to the changes in the universe around us, it will end up destroying us.
The universe has no mercy, no pity; these are human concepts, and not a part of reality at all. But, being human, we crave justice, for things to be fair…. we bend our efforts to changing the universe to meet our wishes, never realizing that it is folly, that reality does not work that way, and there is nothing at all we can do to alter that reality according to our wishes without suffering the consequences. How quickly those consequences will result in our demise as a species is, of course, a matter of some debate. I tend to believe that we are nearing a breaking point, and the universe is going to be submitting a bill for payment to us, for the damages to our living domicile for which we are responsible, in the very near future…..
It must be noted that most of what I write about, whether I write well, or merely a lot, lends itself equally well to tragedy as it does to farce. In fact, it should also be noted that this is a good metaphor, for human nature. We are contradictory creatures, you, and your Uncle Bob, your Aunt Shirley, and I, and everyone else who makes up human society, filled with warring impulses, and wildly differing viewpoints. The expression of our nature in the real world reflects all of that, in all its tragic, farcical, gloriously foolish splendor…. We inspire and disgust each other on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, especially if one watches a lot of TV, with its completely distorted approximation of reality…. I have pretty much given up on TV completely, as it merely serves to fuel my outrage, and that, as you may have noted already, needs no further encouragement….
Well, a thousand or so words should be enough for a retrospective musing on human nature….. especially when they flow out as smoothly as these. I’ll leave this here, and most likely come back to it another day…. I will leave you with this fine observation from Mssr. Darwin, of The Origin of Species fame…. a book which gave birth to perhaps the finest scientific advance of the millennium, the since-proven Theory of Evolution….. surely a magnificent creation of the human spirit that encompasses both of the elements, farce and tragedy, we explored above….
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin
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“But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having.”
~~ EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow, “Cynthia Horner’s Eulogy”, Apr. 1994 ~~
Unsolicited Gratitude
Fear becomes familiar when reality bodes us ill
pain assumes first position, no matter our will.
Powerless, we founder, no strength to prevail
anguished and afraid, against unwanted Fate we rail.
Still, a grain of hope deep inside, hidden well against need
gives us reason to survive, our starving souls to feed.
Failure of courage burdens time, of being bested,
until our souls, in submission, become foully infested.
Bitter tears wash through us each day, with little care,
no thought, no feeling, no wish, or need to be fair.
Rendered clueless, confusion falls upon us, as prey,
we surrender a piece of our soul, little as we may.
Yet, always, a bright beam of hope is seen from afar,
no matter how dreary, or dark, it may seem where we are.
None knows, nor would consent to tell, it seems
from whence it hails, or why it so brightly gleams.
Saving our sanity, absolving our unwanted fears,
dispelling the myths and lies that come with the years.
Each man has known the precious gift that hope may give
And gives glad thanks, as long as he may live.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/10/2012
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Naked Pearls
Stones on the Path….
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“Fate is a river. Free will is a paddle.”
~~ Subtle Bee ~~
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“We can not live for ourselves alone,
our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads.”
~~ Herman Melville ~~
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“Time carves all.
Let yourself be carved to attain your true nature.”
~~ Master Po ~~
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“What I gave, I have; what I spent, I had; what I kept, I lost.”
— old epitaph
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“Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old;
seek what they sought.”
~~ Matsuo Basho ~~
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“Creation is a mighty joke, but the laugh is at my own expense.”
~~ Meher Baba ~~
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“All is flux, nothing stays still.”
~~ Heraclitus (540?-480? B.C.) ~~
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Well, there you go…. Such as it is, I offer it up for your perusal, and, hopefully, your approbation. If not, well, the effort is always worthwhile, for all one may learn. I’ll quit pontificating, or, even merely being naturally pedantic, long enough to bid thee farewell, until the next time, which will probably be in a day or three. Who knows? This little foray may have broken the dam upon my fountain of expression; I guess we’ll see, won’t we? Until we do, y’all be well, & happy as you may be. As has probably become obvious by now, if nothing else, you can leave the ‘being strange’ part to me….
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.
“A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world’s torrent.”
~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~
Ebb tide on the Strand, Galway Bay, Ireland….
Hajime…. I write because I found, early on in life, it helps me to organize my thoughts; in doing so, it aids in maintaining a relative degree of what is often termed ‘sanity’. At this point in my life, a fair piece down the road, I might add, I am ambiguously happy to report, it hasn’t worked too well at all. Now, I will agree, that’s a pretty ambiguous statement, as well, but, it’s accurate, for all it may be ironic, or more pointedly, sardonic. I’m happy to be insane, but, ambiguously, because it’s not a sane world, which rather makes the whole exercise somewhat of a conundrum. I suppose, if I stop to think for long about it, that’s not only a fair assessment, but, shows clearly, my sanity bears little resemblance to what others might accept as such….
I have related the above, not because I am particularly proud of it, or even concerned by it. No, I only do so to demonstrate for y’all, in graphic clarity, a set of thoughts that, if considered with gravity and compassion, can provide some understanding of why it often gets a bit strange around here. It doesn’t necessarily excuse it, or even attempt to justify any of it; it only offers an opportunity to process the strangeness, so it can be assimilated into your own understanding of consensual reality, at least well enough not to laugh outright at any of this. Well, I guess laughing is okay; I do try to be humorous. But, it also will, hopefully, help y’all to see why I’m so fucking weird, which can only help. Right? Right…..
Now we have that completely squared away, as far as it will ever be, I think I’ll get on with the rest of what I’ve cobbled together for today. I am aware enough this morning to be able to realize, if I don’t, it may never happen. Wouldn’t want that; I’d be mentally constipated all day. Instead, let’s go consume some fibrous material for the mind, such as it may be.
What? No, we’re all out of rationality, so, don’t ask. Instead, just hang on, & before you know it, you’ll be on your way to your next scheduled stop…. I would suggest, however, you fasten your restraining belts; it might get a little turbulent….
Shall we Pearl?
“He that respects himself if safe from others;
He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.”
~~ Henry Wordsworth Longfellow ~~
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I am in need of soothing music, as is often the case in the midst of creation. Today’s selection was chosen, as is also often the case, because I like the picture it displayed on You Tube. I hope you enjoy this hour-long selection of classical pieces, put together by a random computer user…. Abondanza!….
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Classical Music
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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, tongue firmly in cheek ~~
3/23/2013
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Naked Pearls Notes on Life at Large….
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“All that glitters is not gold”
is from “Parabolae”, a book of poems written circa 1175
by Alanus de Insulis, a French monk:
“Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum”
= “Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold”.
It was Englished by Chaucer in the “Canterbury Tales” (1389) as:
“But al thyng which that shyneth as the gold
Nis nat gold, as that I have herd it told.”
~~ Smart Bee ~~
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“A day dawns, quite like other days;
in it, a single hour comes, quite like other hours;
but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us.”
~~ Maltbie Babcock ~~
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“So seek the wolf in thyself
Shape shift – nose to the wind
Shape shift – feeling I’ve been
Move swift – all senses clean
Earth’s gift, back to the meaning of wolf and man.”
~~ Metallica “Of Wolf and Man” ~~
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“Not all those who wonder are lost.”
~~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~~
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“In the moment between stimulus and response lies freedom.”
~~ Steven Covey ~~
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“The world is full of cactus, but we don’t have to sit on it.”
~~ Will Foley ~~
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“I see my life go drifting like a river
From change to change; I have been many things –
A green drop in the surge, a gleam of light
Upon a sword, a fir tree on a hill,
An old slave grinding at a heavy quern,
A king sitting upon a chair of gold –
And all these things were wonderful and great;
But now I have grown nothing, knowing all.
Ah! Druid, Druid, how great webs of sorrow
Lay hidden in that small slate-coloured thing!”
~~ William Butler Yeats, “Fergus and the Druid” ~~
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Well, there you have it. While I wouldn’t call it classical literature, I would say, it’s done. I’ll add, thank goodness for that. This one should probably never have happened, but, who am I to argue with consensual reality? Rather than belabor such an obvious point, I’ll just say, see y’all next time, and let you be until then…. See ya….
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.
“I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.”
~~ William Butler Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”~~
Gang of young Irish Seagulls, Galway….
Hajime…. When one makes the decision to battle internal demons, one takes on an opponent with special knowledge, of all one’s weak points, and avenues of attack. It also means one’s own skills and talents can be used against one; I can attest, it makes any battle sure to achieve epic proportion. I’m not complaining; the alternative is to live in Hell, & that just isn’t going to happen, not while I live. But, it also means any clear victory comes at a heavy cost, at a time my bank account is at a low ebb. SIGH….. It’s a good thing I’ve learned to accept that nothing worth doing is going to be easy….
As I have often related, I do this to stay sane; whether or not it works is probably an area of judgment I would rather not enter, lest the answer be too much to bear. So far, I have lived, and loved, for a long time, and have yet to break my vow to refrain from killing; in some circles, that can be enough. For me, it’s never enough; if I was satisfied with my own state, it would never change. So, I struggle on, to find the center, where change is welcome, for we are balanced enough there to adapt to any change.
Now I’ve thoroughly confused everyone who stumbles in today, with a healthy dose of obscurity, I think it’s best to get the rest of this mess done, & get on with another day in Paradise, or, wherever this is. I can’t say, with any degree of confidence, I can predict how it will go, but, that’s probably a good thing. Too much too easily becomes too much, indeed. Rather than tempt Murphy’s kind attentions, let us adjourn to the meat of the matter, where we may find another piece of the puzzle. If not, well, so much for another day; we can always try again tomorrow, right? Right. For now, let’s do this….
Shall we Pearl?
“Forget about likes and dislikes.
They are of no consequence.
Just do what must be done.
This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.”
~~ George Bernard Shaw~~
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When I went to look for inspiration for music today, this is what I found…. Given our opening lines, and the photo I chose, go figure, eh?. I guess you can take the boy out of the shamrock, but….
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Irish Folk Music
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Illusory Time
Viewed from askance, the river is long;
deep, uncompromisingly intent, swift and strong.
In duality, perception creates our only reality;
such faux metaphoric paradox enforces mutability.
By two we perceive, both zero, and one;
digital, binary, on or off, such fun.
Separate, melded, we exist, knowing not what we know
ego, striving to be solitary, looking above, seeing below.
Furiously asleep, cultural anomaly claims a victim of choice;
validly unconscious, nobody speaks, nary a voice.
Potential escapees stir in dreams, fighting to wake,
until taking the wheel, for their own bloody sake.
Pots boil in due time, when the fire’s hot,
time exists to our advantage; or, not.
The solitary warrior, head bent in pain,
fights on, with, or without gain.
Night fell, day after day it persisted;
of those who knew, none showed any care, or resisted
Angels, ministers, none had any defense, nor grace;
all that remains is a face.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/22/2016
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Naked Pearls
Pieces of the whole….
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“To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves
and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows.
It’s easy to say no, even if it means dying.”
~~ Jean Anouilh ~~
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“Nothing matters very much,
and very few things matter at all.”
~~ Lord Balfour’s Contention ~~
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“Brains first and then Hard Work.”
~~ Eeyore, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne~~
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“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: “I’m with you kid. Let’s go.””
~~ Maya Angelou ~~
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“In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth,
while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped
to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
~~ Al Rogers, Global SchoolHouse Network, at CUE ~~
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“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
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“Truckin’, like the do-dah man
Once told me “Gotta play your hand.
Sometimes your cards ain’t worth a dime
If you don’t lay’em down.”
Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it’s been.”
~~ “Truckin'” by Garcia, Weir, Lesh, Hunter ~~
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Well, Ollie; this is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into. Fortunately, it’s done, so we can just ignore any warning signs we may have encountered, & be on our way with a smile and a whistle. Well, we could, if I could whistle any more…. I guess I’ll just say, see ya, & let it go at that for today…..
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.
Hajime…. Today’s Pearl is yet another truncated version, for the simple reason I don’t have time to put it all the way together the way I prefer. I make no excuses for it; I’m once again the designated babysitter for my granddaughter for the day. Simple excited anticipation prevented much of what you won’t see today, and may be considered no great loss. Believe me, I’m not sweating over it. Yesterday was a good day; got to talk to a friend halfway across the world via Skype, which always gives the geek in me a thrill, quite aside from the pleasure of talking with a like mind…. the glow of inner joy kept me going all afternoon.
Well, that’s all the chatty conversation I’ve got today; I’m gearing up for the physical effort I know is coming; my granddaughter, at two, is a bundle of energy, which my aged body must strain to keep up with. Fortunately, I’ve done this before, & know it’s just a matter of using my head & being mindful, not hard to do with a two-year-old’s mind to enjoy. It’s such a joy to watch it learn to learn…. and soak up perceptions like an ocean sponge. Since I only have what you see below, I suppose I should get to it, & figure out how to get started on a Pearl for tomorrow…. Ah, well, it’s all grist for the mill, right?
I found a new technique for getting this intro done, too. Wanna see it work? Watch….
Shall we Pearl?
“Folly, thou conquerest, and I must yield!
Against stupidity the very gods
Themselves contend in vain. Exalted reason,
Resplendent daughter of the head divine,
Wise foundress of the system of the world,
Guide of the stars, who are thou then, if thou,
Bound to the tail of folly’s uncurb’d steed,
Must, vainly shrieking, with the drunken crowd,
Eyes open, plunge down headlong in the abyss.”
~~ Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller, “The Maid of Orleans” ~~
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Conclusions are left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader….
*******
“Everything that irritates us about others
can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
~~ Carl Gustav Jung ~~
*******
“If you regard discomfort as a normal condition
you are not likely to be troubled by want.”
~~ Ieyasu’s maxims ~~
*******
“If our behavior is strict, we do not need fun!”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
*******
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
~~ William Butler Yeats ~~
*******
“Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered,
“To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws.”
~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Aristotle, xi ~~
*******
“We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure
without being more sensitive to pain.”
~~ Alan Watts ~~
*******
“A hard beginning maketh a good ending.”
~~ John Heywood (c. 1565) — Proverbes, Part i, Chap. iv ~~
*******
***************************************
Well, there you have it, in its entirety. I’ll offer no complaints, nor any encouragement; only empathy is available, at a reasonable fee. Probably, the best idea, for all of us, is for me to just say, see ya, ffolkes. I’ll be back when I’ve got this back under some sort of control; shouldn’t take long…. Be well, be strange, be alert….. All are good to be….
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.
“There is only one blasphemy, and that is the refusal to experience joy.”
~~ Paul Rudnick~~
Shadowy figure seen near library….
Hajime…. ‘Tis indeed a sad thought with which I begin the day, though, as is common, it didn’t begin that way. As I looked at the picture I chose to adorn the first position for today, I realized it is a perfect metaphor, a visual representation of the third query in the Riddle of the Phoenix. My sadness is not the realization I have reached that milestone in my life, but, that there are so few people left in today’s world that will know whereof I speak by identifying it as such. A couple of y’all will, I’m sure, pick it up right away; a few others will, no doubt, get it after a moment’s search of their memory for the referenced riddle. But, the majority of people in the world today won’t know, at all, what the hell I’m talking about…. Well, maybe with a little help from Google….
Oh, well; it’s way too early to go any further along that path, especially when the path I need to walk right now leads us elsewhere. I’ve managed, in my madness, to put together a Pearl for today, though I cannot say exactly how it came to be; it’s all a bloody blur, as I threw it together in rather a hurried fashion, having arisen a bit late, & found SB to be in another snit. With the application of a bit of ruthlessness in making choices, and more than a little bit of threatening behavior toward software, it all came together, in spite of some active campaigning by a cat for her share of my time. The life of a blogger is a strange and wondrous thing, it’s clear….
Since it is done, I guess I’ll continue the ruthlessness, & go get it posted. In order to accomplish that, I suppose bringing this intro to a close assumes a more critical aspect; funny how that works, isn’t it? I’ll just reach over here, into this convenient drawer, where I know I’ll find just the right method to get that done with dispatch…. Why, look! It’s exactly the technique we need! Fancy that! Because three exclamation points in a row is quite enough for anyone, I’ll go ahead, & use this now. Don’t blink, or, you’ll miss it….
Shall we Pearl?
“Are people more important than the grizzly bear?
Only from the point of view of some people.”
~~ Edward Abbey ~~
***************************************
Playing For Change
Since you see the logo, you’ll realize, naturally, we’re going default again…. Today, we’ll start with a Song Around the World, featuring a number of anonymous street performers, along with some rather familiar, more famous faces, singing a Grateful Dead tune, the simple, beautiful “Ripple”….. Enjoy!….
***************************************
Song Around The World Ripple
***************************************
***************************************
***************************************
Increments
Meaning fades to distant reality
while gazing at such triviality.
An insane world, where utter finality
is reward for disability.
Metaphorically, as a matter of course.
Moment to moment, passion blooms,
swells, and fades, swept by new brooms.
Bitter dreams catch fire in empty rooms,
waiting for broken time, which never resumes.
Superficially, with great force.
Dire wolves stand snarling at the door
called to existence from a distant moor;
discordant strains sound a mad, sad roar,
a dirge for those who went before.
Morbidly, without vital recourse.
Honest effort fades from human ken
until entropy finds home in every when.
Illusory fear inundates imagination, then
buries hope, in its own ashes, hidden.
Cruelly, absolutely no remorse.
Silence falls until it shatters the night.
The universe has refused the fight.
Illusion is now reality, such a fey sight.
Who has courage to live in the light?
Really? It could be worse.
~~ gigoid ~~
2/15/2016
***************************************
Naked Pearls
Five steps on the path….
*****
The purpose is to identify not with the body which is falling away
but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle.
This is something I learned from my myths.
Am I the bulb that carries the light,
or am I the light of which the bulb is the vehicle?
If you can identify with consciousness,
you can watch this thing go like an old car.
There goes a fender, etc.
But it’s expected; and then gradually the whole thing drops off
and consciousness rejoins consciousness.
I live with these myths — and they tell me to do this,
to identify with the Christ or the Shiva in me.
And that doesn’t die, it resurrects.
It is an essential experience of any mystical realization
that you die in your flesh and are born to your spirit.
You identify with the consciousness in life — and that is the god.”
~~ Joseph Campbell ~~
*****
“There’s a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out.”
~~ Lou Reed, “Magic and Loss” ~~
*****
“For a man needs only to be turned around
not once with his eyes shut in this world to be lost….
Not til we are lost…. do we begin to find ourselves.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau, “Walden” ~~
*****
“I’m going to happydance among the stars and wear my stripes anyway I want to.”
~~ Stripes the tiger ~~
*****
“I see my life go drifting like a river
From change to change; I have been many things –
A green drop in the surge, a gleam of light
Upon a sword, a fir tree on a hill,
An old slave grinding at a heavy quern,
A king sitting upon a chair of gold –
And all these things were wonderful and great;
But now I have grown nothing, knowing all.
Ah! Druid, Druid, how great webs of sorrow
Lay hidden in that small slate-coloured thing!”
~~ William Butler Yeats, “Fergus and the Druid” ~~
*****
***************************************
Y’know? It’s harder than it seems to type with a cat in your face. Leelu wants her morning cuddle, so, I’m done here; the rules of having a familiar do take precedence, as some of y’all know. Today, I hope to make it by a few blogs, but, can’t make any promises; the BBR seems to keep interrupting my solitude with demands for participation. But, in spite of the futility of hope, I do feel some, which, if nothing else, raises the odds it might happen. In any case, I’ll be back again soon, to try this again. One of these days, I’m going to get it right, you wait, and see….. Ta, then, luvs….
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.
“Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.”
~~ William Butler Yeats, “The Stolen Child” ~~
Heralding St. Paddy’s Day….
Hajime…. Happy Equinox. For my own part, I am incensed with my own condition, which now prevents me from sitting, again. I have the parts of this Pearl completed, so, I’m spending a few minutes posting it, which is more, probably, than I should. Once done, I am unsure when I’ll be able to post again, or to visit any of the sites I like to read, until I can once again spend time on my butt at the computer. At this point, all I can feel is anger, which is unproductive, so, I’m going to finish this, & go deal with life at large at this locale. Y’all are, of course, on your own, as you always are, though with my thoughts & good wishes to take with you….
Let’s go get this done, okay?…. Right, then; off we go….
Shall we Pearl?
” …’fire’ does not matter, ‘earth’ and ‘air’ and ‘water’ do not matter.
‘I’ do not matter. No word matters.
But man forgets reality and remembers words.
The more words he remembers, the cleverer do his fellows esteem him.
He looks upon the great transformations of the world,
but he does not see them as they were seen
when man looked upon reality for the first time.
Their names come to his lips and he smiles as he tastes them,
thinking he knows them in the naming.”
~~ Siddartha, “Lord of Light”, by Roger Zelazny
***********************************
I have used this woman’s music previously, for the exact same reason I’m including it today; I like the deep feeling with which she plays, and dances the tunes she chooses to perform, almost all of which is Irish, in execution if not always origin. I hope you enjoy it as much as do I….
********************************
Máiréad Nesbitt
********************************
********************************
********************************
Early Observations
Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.
All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.
But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.
Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.
‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
hid his real words among their own.
Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.
Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.
Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.
Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.
~~ gigoid ~~
4/12/2013
********************************
Naked Pearls
Notes on Process & Program….
*******
“As for myself,
I always willingly acknowledge my own self
as the principal cause of every good and of every evil
which may befall me;
therefore I have always found myself
capable of being my own pupil,
and ready to love my teacher.”
~~ Giacomo Casanova ~~
*******
“You live and learn. Or you don’t live long.”
~~ Laarus Long ~~
*******
“It’s green.”
~~ Scotty ~~
*******
“Great acts are made up of small deeds.”
~~ Lao Tzu ~~
*******
“Before enlightenment,
one carries water and chops wood.
After enlightenment,
one carries water and chops wood.”
~~ Zen Proverb ~~
*******
Saavik: “Permission to speak candidly, sir.”
Kirk: “Granted.”
Saavik: “I don’t believe this was a fair test of my command abilities.”
Kirk: “And why not?”
Saavik: “Because, there was no way to win.”
Kirk: “A no-win situation is a possibility every commander may face.
Has that never occurred to you?”
Saavik: “No, sir, it has not.”
Kirk: “How we deal with death, is at least as important as how we face life,
wouldn’t you say?”
Saavik: “As I indicated, Admiral, that thought had not occurred to me.”
Kirk: “Well, now you have something new to think about.
Carry on.”
~~ “STII:TWOK”, Stardate 8130.3 ~~
*******
“True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.”
~~ Socrates ~~
*******
********************************
Well, that’s it; that’s all I’ve got. I’m going back to bed, for now; later, who knows? I also don’t know when I’ll be back. Let us hope for soon, though hope is a form of denial. Ah, well, such is life, here on planet Earth. I’ll see y’all when I can, 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.
“Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.”
~~ Clarence Darrow ~~
Cat skill training….
Hajime…. Good morrow…. As I suspected, events in the real world prevented completing this Pearl, until this morning. Upon arising, more changes in my(our) morning routine were called for to deal with events taking place while I slept. In spite of all that, I find myself sitting here, adjusting like crazy, with just enough time and chutzpah to get it done, with a couple of minor cheats. To maintain the week’s strategy, of ‘going with the flow’, I shall trim ruthlessly, beginning right here in the beginning; it seems my best shot to fulfill my intention, as well as a logical way to do so… Who’d a thunk it? Begin at the beginning, & go on…. Sheer genius, eh?
Well, perhaps not. Nonetheless, I’ll do what I can, which, though probably less than perfect, will be all I can do. Which, naturally, leads into another use of my own favorite axiom, to wit: all you can do is all you can do. On that brief, yet cogent note, I will employ our latest version of the abrupt ending, right here at the beginning, just as if I knew it was the right thing to do….
Shall we Pearl?
“That that is is not that that is not.”
~~ Subtle Bee humor ~~
********************************
Old Guys, Rockin’….
To ensure a pleasant, if not overwhelmingly exciting experience here in our music section, I checked out the included concert by Hot Tuna yesterday…. I can attest, it’s another example of how well these guys’ music has aged over the years. They just keep gettin’ better, in my humble opinion…. Listen, and see if you don’t agree….
*************************************
Hot Tuna Live
*************************************
*************************************
********************************
I’m tired of my own poetry, & since I’m sure y’all are, as well, here is a classic poem, from a classic author, whose name requires no introduction. It’s one of my favorites of his, but, that means little in regards a poet who wrote so many of my favorites. Arguably one of the best ever, in my opinion, which I would say is shared by anyone who reads poetry…. Enjoy!…
Fergus And The Druid
Fergus. This whole day have I followed in the rocks,
And you have changed and flowed from shape to shape,
First as a raven on whose ancient wings
Scarcely a feather lingered, then you seemed
A weasel moving on from stone to stone,
And now at last you wear a human shape,
A thin grey man half lost in gathering night.
Druid. What would you, king of the proud Red Branch kings?
Fergus. This would I Say, most wise of living souls:
Young subtle Conchubar sat close by me
When I gave judgment, and his words were wise,
And what to me was burden without end,
To him seemed easy, So I laid the crown
Upon his head to cast away my sorrow.
Druid. What would you, king of the proud Red Branch kings?
Fergus. A king and proud! and that is my despair.
I feast amid my people on the hill,
And pace the woods, and drive my chariot-wheels
In the white border of the murmuring sea;
And still I feel the crown upon my head
Druid. What would you, Fergus?
Fergus. Be no more a king
But learn the dreaming wisdom that is yours.
Druid. Look on my thin grey hair and hollow cheeks
And on these hands that may not lift the sword,
This body trembling like a wind-blown reed.
No woman’s loved me, no man sought my help.
Fergus. A king is but a foolish labourer
Who wastes his blood to be another’s dream.
Druid. Take, if you must, this little bag of dreams;
Unloose the cord, and they will wrap you round.
Fergus. I See my life go drifting like a river
From change to change; I have been many things —
A green drop in the surge, a gleam of light
Upon a sword, a fir-tree on a hill,
An old slave grinding at a heavy quern,
A king sitting upon a chair of gold —
And all these things were wonderful and great;
But now I have grown nothing, knowing all.
Ah! Druid, Druid, how great webs of sorrow
Lay hidden in the small slate-coloured thing!
~~ William Butler Yeats ~~
********************************
Naked Pearls
Finding the Way…
*******
“When something is wrong with the river, I will not blame the rock.”
~~ Chris Pirillo~~
*******
“In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then
to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~
*******
“Be careful or be roadkill.”
~~ Calvin, “Calvin and Hobbes” ~~
*******
“Things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining.”
~~ Frankl ~~
*******
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
~~ Aristotle ~~
*******
“He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own.”
~~ Confucius. ~~
*******
“Where the map differs from the terrain, believe the terrain.”
~~ Swedish Army Manual ~~
*******
********************************
Hmm…. Not too shabby. It may be tempting fate to say so, but, it seems Murphy is taking a short break. Before he wakes up & decides to stick his pointy nose into our affairs, I’ll maintain today’s ruthlessly efficient technique by finishing this off quickly. How so? Easy. Watch this….
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.
“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.”
~~ Marilyn vos Savant ~~
Irish Cheese Factory, east of Galway…
Hajime…. Good morrow, Gentle Reader(s)…. ‘Twas a minor struggle, but, I have managed to put together a Pearl; while I can’t say it’s the best ever, it is up to snuff; ’nuff said on that. The rant upon which I am working continues to grow beyond all reason, & may require both editing and trimming before it’s ready for consumption. However, we’ve got some rather fine music today, to go along with a nicely obscure little old-school pearl, and a poem, which, though mine, isn’t too shabby. If nothing else, all the elements for an excellent Pearl are in place; whether such status has been reached is a judgment I’m not prepared to make, so, you will have to decide for yourselves….
With that being said, to cover my ass, if not my conscience, I think I’ll just get on with it. Such ruthlessness always seems to work out, though not necessarily with any better results, which remain just about as random as they can be. Go figure, eh? The truth hurts, much of the time; we all have to get used to that. Since this blog is, as far as I can make it, dependent upon truth, we’ll pretend we’ve learned our lesson well, and go with the flow, as indicated. That flow is a fast-running stream today, so, we’ll maximize our utilization practices, & get on with it; fighting the current never works well, anyway. I think we’ll use this old method, which just happens to be laying right over here. Watch this….
Shall we Pearl?
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
~~ William Butler Yeats ~~
********************************
Image from Pinterest via Google Images
Today, I feel my age, thanks to the constant rain…. Well, I’m using that as an excuse, anyway. This pair of artists were both stars in their own right; together, they made magic….
*************************************
Ella and Louis
*************************************
*************************************
********************************
A dream, weeping….
“Never a dull moment to spare”, he said
with a crooked grin, and a broad wink.
“Can’t keep Reality hanging by a thread….
what would Chaos, or Entropy think?”
So, we plucked up our dreams of old,
to carry us on, in dutiful, strong arms,
stuffed a candle in the remaining fold,
for luck, and perfect proof against charms.
Storms follow the sun, but, never stay;
lessons round every corner, all free.
Past fleeting doubts, in a sad disarray,
the journey becomes the reason to be.
Simple kindness manifests untold riches,
in defiance of common cause’s demise.
Bold courage, hanging in stitches,
mends wounds that come as no surprise.
Still, waters run deep, ’tis said by many.
Too much pain cannot apprehend
the salient, sharp points of epiphany,
nor, plainly, to wisdom aspire to pretend.
Folly dogs even the simplest truth,
fumes of toxic ignorance and bile,
alienated as a loose rotten tooth;
it often hides itself, for a long while.
Sought after eons ago, we cried out,
to believe, to suffer no more doubt.
But found instead good reason,
for love, and truth, from season, to season.
~~ gigoid ~~
8/30/2014
********************************
Naked Pearls
Oddly enough….
*******
“In anything at all,
perfection is finally attained,
not when there is no longer anything to add,
but when there is no longer anything to take away.”
~~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery , Wind, Sand & Stars ~~
*******
“The farther it gets from the bench it was worked on,
the more real the real world becomes.”
~~ Todd Johnson ~~
*******
“You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.”
~~ Navajo Proverb ~~
*******
“Happy is he who can give himself up.”
~~ Naguib Mahfouz ~~
*******
“If the doors of perception were cleansed
every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up,
till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”
~~ William Blake, English poet, artist, and mystic ~~
*******
“Life is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.”
~~ Jean de la Bruyere ~~
*******
“Th’ MIND is the Pizza Palace of th’ SOUL”
~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~
*******
********************************
Having once again fulfilled the vow made to myself so many years ago, I’ll finish this off with some spare elegance. I will, if all goes well, be back again tomorrow to do this again; one of these days, I might even get it right! Time will tell, the blabbermouth. See ya, ffolkes; Ive got stuff to do, so, I’ll leave you to find your way out by yourselves…. Ta, then….
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.
Hajime…. How’s it going, you ask? Well, I’ll tell ya…. On second thought, perhaps I won’t, since mostly what I’d have to say would reflect my current inner state, which can only be described as tentatively enraged, and, can only be ascribed to the manifestation of former indiscretions in the latter day. Is that sufficiently obscure to give the idea, without pulling any covers we’d rather not pull? Why, yes. Upon re-reading it, I think it manages that quite well. Since we are now at the closing lines of this paragraph, I believe I’ve saved us from what otherwise may have devolved, into a session of whining and sulking worthy of a two-year old.
That’s a good thing, right? Well, I think so, though this pedantic exploration of indistinct possibilities hardly serves the same purpose. But, though probably less entertaining for y’all, it’s kept me from losing what little credibility I might have counted upon, at least in my own eyes, if not yours. Given the scope of the condition already observed, I’m going to need all the credibility I can muster, if only to provide me with adequate chutzpah to finish what I’ve so inelegantly begun. ‘Twould doubtlessly be a far better thing to forgo any such displays of misspent angst, but, obsession has to count for something, or, what’s the point of doing this at all?
Hmm…. Now, that’s a question I am positive we’ll be better off not to explore too deeply. In fact, it tells me we’d best be on our way down the page, before anything happens to disengage our rationality any further; it’s already sprung several leaks, just getting us to this point in our narrative. To save us all from any embarrassment, I’m going to employ our most efficient tool to get us the hell out of here. It’s so efficient, I probably won’t even get to finish this paragraph befor….
Shall we Pearl?
“Though leaves are many, the root is one;
Through all the lying days of my youth,
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun.
Now I may wither into the truth.”
~~ W B Yeats ~~
********************************
Sheryl Crow
Image from sherylcrow.com via Google Images
In today’s world, I doubt this young woman needs introduction, so, I’ll just say, enjoy!….
*************************************
Sheryl Crow Live
*************************************
*************************************
********************************
Unsolicited Gratitude
Fear becomes familiar when reality bodes us ill
pain assumes first position, no matter our will.
Powerless, we founder, no strength to prevail
anguished and afraid, against unwanted Fate we rail.
Still, a grain of hope deep inside, hidden well against need
gives us reason to survive, our starving souls to feed.
Failure of courage burdens time, of being bested,
until our souls, in submission, become foully infested.
Bitter tears wash through us each day, with little care,
no thought, no feeling, no wish, or need to be fair.
Rendered clueless, confusion falls upon us, as prey,
we surrender a piece of our soul, little as we may.
Yet, always, a bright beam of hope is seen from afar,
no matter how dreary, or dark, it may seem where we are.
None knows, nor would consent to tell, it seems
from whence it hails, or why it so brightly gleams.
Saving our sanity, absolving our unwanted fears,
dispelling the myths and lies that come with the years.
Each man has known the precious gift that hope may give
And gives glad thanks, as long as he may live.
~~ gigoid ~~
10/10/2012
********************************
Naked Pearls
Subtlety works, beginning to end….
*******
“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants.
The question is: what are we busy about?”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
*******
“Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.”
~~ Aldous Huxley ~~
*******
“A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility”
~~ Aristotle ~~
*******
“Oh, come ON! A one-man religion?”
“There is no other kind.”
~~ From THE QUESTION ~~
*******
“Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.”
~~ Abraham Lincoln ~~
*******
“All perception of truth is the detection of an analogy.”
~~ Henry David Thoreau ~~
*******
“Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.”
~~ Amelia Burr ~~
*******
********************************
Oh, look? I’ve made it to the end! If I seem a bit surprised, well, can you blame me? I mean, just look at the intro; we’re lucky to have survived, at all, ffolkes, so, let’s not bust our britches moaning about it, shall we? Instead, I’ll use a similar method as the one we employed in that now infamous intro, which allows me to say, see y’all tomorrow. Consider it your solitary warning….
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 