Overt simplicity: Bane, or Boon?….

Posted on August 8, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.”

~~ Saint Augustine ~~

The Baddest Raccoon in the World

Image from the UK Telegraph 8/5/2015

Good morning…. I think. The odds have improved a bit; without going into boring detail, suffice it to say I’m up, and have slept adequately for the purposes for which we had hoped to so obtain. Boy, that got a little convoluted, didn’t it? Let’s try to stay within the loose parameters set by our nearly nonsensical title today, by keeping it simple. In fact, let’s keep it simple as pie…

Cool picture today, eh? That is one BAD ASS raccoon, boy howdy! If he’s bad enough to have a croc for a limo, can you imagine who he’s got for a bodyguard? Definitely somebody you wouldn’t want to mess with, I should guess…. Okay, enough about me….

Shall we Pearl?….

“If you can’t speak softly, just use the stick.”

~~ Smart Bee ~~

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I might have mentioned the laziness I feel today; if not, well, I am. I don’t even feel like expending the energy to go look for a video, so, instead, here are a few really cool pictures, from the same article where I found our Bad Ass Raccoon for today’s opening picture, a photo spread in the UK Telegraph on 8/5/2015. You can find the rest of the pictures by simply Googling the date and newspaper name…. Enjoy!….

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Today’s rant will be from the archives…. It’s not that I don’t have anything to rant about; in this crazy world full of assholes and butt wipes of all kinds, finding material is not a problem at all. No, it’s merely my own laziness, combined with a serendipitous find of an old rant on a currently hot-butto subject, to wit: gun control, a term which has a number of different meanings, depending on whether you’re speaking to someone from the NRA fanatics, or from the AABH Gumbies (American Association of Bleeding Hearts). My own opinion is…. well, don’t worry, it’ll be clear in a few moments….
Enjoy!….

From 7/24/2012:

Gun Control – the belief that government, with its great wisdom and moral superiority, can be trusted with a monopoly on deadly force. — Smart Bee

This short statement, which I sadly found unattributed, states perfectly why I resist all the efforts that people make to change my feelings about guns, and how society should deal with them. In 61+ years, I have never, ever seen one convincing argument that can even tempt me to believe that the government of this country is either morally superior or possesses great wisdom. In fact, all of the evidence I can find tells me the exact opposite.

If any of these people advocating that all guns should be made illegal to possess by a common citizen can provide me with ANYTHING, just one thing, that indicates that I am wrong in this matter, then let them show it. I’ve seen NOTHING that tells me that the government has ANY morals or ANY wisdom…. and I’m supposed to trust them with guns? I would as soon turn my back on a hungry leopard…..

I’m serious about this, as most of us are when speaking of deadly force and weaponry. But what I meant is, I am serious in my invitation to the people who advocate gun control,which I happen to believe in; my definition is just a bit different than the common conception. But, if they could provide me with even one piece of information to support their belief, then I’m willing to listen to it, and consider its validity, or lack of same. I’m fairly certain they cannot, or will not, do so, but I try to keep my mind open to new information. They have not provided any….

I don’t think that common citizens NEED to own automatic assault rifles, or bazookas, or tanks. But, access to these types of weapons CAN be regulated, in such a way, and firmly enough, that number of people who obtain them for nefarious purpose, such as what happened in Aurora, Colorado recently. (And in Orange county…. you just didn’t notice that near massacre because it was the police doing the shooting…. at scared women and children….) I can see requiring that a person wishing to obtain such weapons undergo psychiatric testing, and registering the guns so the police know where they are, and how many. Regulation is possible, and in the case of weapons capable of mass mayhem, desirable.

But, I DO NOT believe, for even one second, that any government in the world, including this one, can be trusted with a monopoly on deadly force… from that point to tyranny and slavery is one short step, as has been amply demonstrated throughout our bloody, violent history. “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” We have all heard this, from the time we were small. It is a truism that nobody even bothers to try to disprove, as it has been proven to be true so many, many times, and it is so widely accepted as truth no one even knows anymore who said it first.

So, when I hear the outcry that always comes after an incident like the one in Colorado, shouting that “guns are bad”, and “get rid of the guns”, I sigh, and shake my head, and wonder at the naivete of the people who believe that the government could be trusted with that kind of power. But, I guess it’s no more naive than the folks who believe that Mitt the Twitt wants to help make their life better…. and no less dangerous a belie to hold…..

“Remember kids, if there’s a loaded gun in the room, be sure that you’re the one holding it.” — Captain Combat

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In the recent past, I’ve been too lazy to even go look for any new poems by anyone else. While cruising old Pearls for material, I found a good one, which I haven’t posted for three years, which ought to be long enough for a recycle job…. Enjoy!….

A Last Confession

What lively lad most pleasured me
Of all that with me lay?
I answer that I gave my soul
And loved in misery,
But had great pleasure with a lad
That I loved bodily.

Flinging from his arms I laughed
To think his passion such
He fancied that I gave a soul
Did but our bodies touch,
And laughed upon his breast to think
Beast gave beast as much.

I gave what other women gave
That stepped out of their clothes.
But when this soul, its body off,
Naked to naked goes,
He it has found shall find therein
What none other knows,

And give his own and take his own
And rule in his own right;
And though it loved in misery
Close and cling so tight,
There’s not a bird of day that dare
Extinguish that delight.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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It took a bit of persuasion, but, SB came through in the end. This is what I’d call a typical Taoist pearl, with some pretty standard, not to mention excellent, thoughts on how to live one’s life in harmony with the universe…. Using these concepts as a guide can most certainly allow on to achieve, at the very least, a reasonable facsimile to harmony, which is, needless to say, better than the alternative, n’est pa?…..

“By letting go, it all gets done.” — Tao Te Ching

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest–a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.” — Albert Einstein

“Rotten wood cannot be carved.” — Confucius (Analects, Book 5, Ch. 9)

“Who does not trust enough will not be trusted.” — Lao Tzu

“Democritus said, words are but the shadows of actions.” — Plutarch — Of the Training of Children

“Great tranquility of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame.” — Thomas A. Kempis

“One who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” — Lao-tzu, _Tao Te Ching_

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As is perfectly normal, a bit of a struggle ensued when I attempted to keep this process moving; SB always has something to contribute, and usually, it’s got a lot to do with whatever Murphy’s been whispering when I’m not paying attention…. Brute force and threats worked just fine today, though, meaning we saved a bit on bribes, always a good thing. I think it would probably be best now if we go, before I say something subject to litigation. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; Mom says I have to….

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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Calculated intent, or entropic happenstance?….

Posted on July 18, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Only the madman is absolutely sure.”

~~ Robert Anton Wilson ~~

Ice Wolves Desert Sunset

Image created by Europaicewolf, at:

https://europasicewolf.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/wolfie-chew-sticks-you-turned-the-air-blue/

Good morning…. Mornings such as this one seem to challenge the believability of that statement, but, as a social nicety, it’s de rigeur; that means, in the final analysis, there is nothing to be done about it. Thank goodness, too, because just putting that sentence together challenged my capabilities pretty strongly, and, the outcome remains in question, as you see….

That all said, I think we’ll just get on with this, for I can see by what I’ve done so far, there could be trouble today…. I hope not, but, keep your eyes open, and stay alert…. No telling what may happen….

Shall we Pearl?….

“If you want to be respected, you must respect yourself.” — Spanish Proverb

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Image from wikimedia.org via Google Images

Felix looks a bit uncertain in this picture, a quality it shares with almost all the pictures of him I saw on Google. Given his status as a child prodigy, I don’t blame him; a lot of pressure gets placed on such savants, tending to keep them from ever becoming entirely comfortable with their peers, who generally regard them with jealousy and suspicion…. He managed to live through it, I suppose, probably using his music to express the angst that living brought him… Whatever it was, he made some incredible music…. Here is a bunch of it…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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Felix Mendelssohn

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https://youtu.be/sWiCHa9DFOY

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I told one of my favorite readers a short while ago I would try to produce more fresh rants…. Naturally, ever since then, I keep stumbling over old rants and discussions worth posting again…. It’s often irresistible to do so, since it saves me the most time in creating these missives, and, as we all know, I’m lazy as shit. So, here you go, a nice little discussion of beauty, and perfection, gigoid-style…

From 9/19/2012:

“Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable; what it is or what it means can never be said.” — George Santayana

This observation by Mssr. Santayana seems to me to explain most of the movies that come out of Hollywood, or anywhere else. Each of us, though we cannot always say what we see as beautiful, knows what it looks like when we encounter it; every movie made is an attempt to attract people with visions of commonality, beauty that all can agree on, and, of course, pay money to see. It’s a manufactured market, only there because people want to experience those feelings, and are convinced that they can by participating in the public viewing of someone’s idea of beauty (or comedy, or evil, or any other intriguing related emotional experience)….

It reminds me of the concept of perfection…. We all have heard that “nobody is perfect”, or “nothing is perfect”, and there are numerous philosophical treatises that attempt to prove that perfection is beyond human attainment. My question for these people is this: if there is no such thing as perfection, then why do we have its image in our minds? It seems more logical to me that perfection is merely very rare, but examples of it are bound to occur, just by the law of averages, and when it does, we have the perceptive ability to see it, to acknowledge and appreciate its perfection….

The statement also can be viewed as another way of looking at the nature of reality, or the Tao of life. Is not the very first line of the Tao Teh Ching a paraphrase of the above? “The Tao that can be named is not the true Tao.” It touches on the very base of natural law, of how reality is not what we can say of it; it is more than just the description of it. By observing what is real, our perceptions remove the part of what has occurred that gives it body and substance, what makes it real…. If Albert Einstein’s God is the true one, then He left clues to this aspect of reality all over, but especially in physics, as noted by the famed Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which so poignantly points out the folly of placing one’s total faith in what is perceived…. because by seeing it, it has already changed, to suit another of reality’s aspects, Change….

Axiom # 2 of Peruaosophy states: “The Nature of the Universe is Change. Unpredictable, innovative transformation of Reality is the Norm. If you have a problem with this, you are in for a rough ride.” Since Peruaosophy is my own philosophy, I can tell you, without fear of lying, that the axiom is absolutely true. It has been tested by every method I could think of, all through my life, and I can assure you that it is a factual statement. Trust me….

Okay, so you don’t have to take my word for it…. test it yourself. If you can find a single time when you can say that it is untrue, you document that, and send it to me. I’ll check it out, if any are sent in, but I have serious doubt that I’ll get any replies, as I’m confident of the axiom and its veracity. It doesn’t mean it is better, or more real than any other viewpoint or world view, but I’d wager it stands up to any of them without flinching or looking away….

Now see what I’ve done? I’ve talked myself into a corner, and can’t figure out how to tie all this mental meandering together with any aplomb. I’m sadly short of quotes, so we’ll have to make do with whatever I can come up with on short notice….. let it suffice to say that I believe in beauty, as little as it can be described, and I believe in perfection, in reality, and in the nature of everything…. After all, to be perfect, one would need to also be perfectly imperfect, else how would one tell? And I know for a fact that many of us are imperfect; at times, I am so myself, on rare occasions….. 🙂 Besides, nature itself is full of examples of perfect beauty, anyway…. just take a walk in a garden when it is blooming with roses, and you will find any number of physical examples of the concept……

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart: the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned….

~~ William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming ~~

His head,
Not yet by time completely silver’d o’er,
Bespoke him past the bounds of freakish youth,
But strong for service still, and unimpair’d.

~~ William Cowper (1731-1800) — The Task, Book ii, The Timepiece, Line 702 ~~

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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 ~~

Written 3/23/2013.

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Our final old-school pearl for today is pretty fresh, having been plucked from the depths of the Smart Bee database late yesterday afternoon. I can’t say what it’s about, mainly because I forgot to set any parameters; it will have to do as it is, no matter what it says… I doubt it’s anything out of the realm of possibility, so, we’ll just let it go…. Enjoy, ffolkes; you can be sure it won’t be on the Quiz, since we don’t have any idea what’s in there….

And who (in time) knows whither we may vent
The treasure of our tongue? To what strange shores
This gain of our best glory shall be sent
T’ enrich unknowing nations with our stores?
What worlds in the yet unformed Occident
May come refin’d with th’ accents that are ours?

~~ Samuel Daniel — Musophilus, Stanza 163 ~~

“Do not believe what I tell you here any more than if it were some tale of a tub.” — Francis Rabelais — Works, Book iv, Chap. xxxviii

“If life must not be taken too seriously, then so neither must death.” — Samuel Butler

“Trust no one and be honest with all.” — Claudius the God

“Excess of grief for the deceased is madness; for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not.” — Xenophon

“Son coeur est un luth suspendu; sitot qu’on le touche il resonne.” (His heart is a lute; no sooner touched than it resounds.) — Pierre Jean Beranger

“The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.” — Max Lerner

You may be infinitely smaller than some things, but you’re infinitely larger than others.” — Smart Bee

For I say this is death and the sole death,-
When a man’s loss comes to him from his gain,
Darkness from light, from knowledge ignorance,
And lack of love from love made manifest.

~~ Robert Browning — A Death in the Desert ~~

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Fortunately for us all, the trouble I predicted never happened; dodged a bullet there, we did. Since we’ve been so lucky, I’m going to rest on that laurel, and get us the hell out of here before it blows us all to hell…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes; they’ve gotta run out of ammo soon….

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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Still dubious after all these years….

Posted on June 22, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It is in changing that things find repose”

~~ Heraclitus ~~

A Case in Point for Heraclitus

Good morrow, by all reports…. We’ll try to keep it that way…. In fact, we’ll do that now….

Shall we Pearl?

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

~~ Confucius ~~

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You might think the logo for today’s video section is an error; it is not. I am doubtful (what else is new?) I will find a rant in me today, as I got much of my built up angst out with yesterday’s outburst…. To sublimate, today’s video will be our rant for today, with an indictment from our friend John Oliver against the most hated organization in our government, bar none, save perhaps the assholes we personally elected….

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The IRS

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https://youtu.be/Nn_Zln_4pA8

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Yesterday, I ranted quite a bit against the machine, so to speak; as the following proves, this is not the first time I’ve explored the particular aspect of current events under discussion there. Back in 2012, prior to the presidential election, I wrote a politirant in a very similar vein, which, in some respects, goes even further toward explaining the issue clearly…. Here then, to continue the discussion began yesterday, from a bit less than three years ago….. (SIGH…. not much progress has been made, has it?….)….

From 7/31/2012:

“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That “all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people…” To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” — Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791

I had intended to write here a sober, reasoned discussion of the above from my second favorite Founding Father (okay, George Mason is my fave….), but decided first to search a bit more to see if I could find something to accompany this, to lighten it up a bit…. this is what I found…..

“History records no more gallant struggle than that of humanity against the truth.” — Smart Bee

Now, while I might suggest that the word “epic” is more apt, ‘gallant” still gives it an adequate emotional index rating. With either word, it rather goes beyond the statement by T. J., into the deeper issue of basic truth. Personally, I don’t understand the issue that most of humanity seems to have regarding the truth…. I’m not afraid of it, even though it is painful more often than not. Unfortunately, much of the rest of mankind seems to not have that sort of reaction to the pain it often brings, and will go to incredible lengths to avoid having to experience that pain, even if it means putting up with another, lesser pain in the process….

You can see, of course, the immediate similarity between those folks who avoid pain, and those folks who vote conservative, or are supporting the accomplished liar, Mitt the Twitt….. Sometimes, many times, in fact, the stuff that is coming out of the mouths of Romney and his supporters is a dead giveaway, one that shows their stark, malignant fear, fear that is rooted in their racism and bigotry. Their worst nightmare came true in 2008, and a BLACK MAN (gasp!) was elected President….

Without ever considering, or even looking at, his record while in office, these ignorant throwbacks will go to ANY lengths to elect ANYONE else, even if that person is actively trying to harm them, as is the case with Romney…. They don’t care, he’s white, so they’ll be more comfortable with him in office…. or so they think…. Should it happen, it will be a rude awakening when he starts his campaign to get the rest of any money they have left, and cheerfully squashes any hope of a better life that they might have retained…..

In reality, this discussion does relate back to Tom’s statement re: the rights of the people vs. the rights of the government. We, the people, have not tried hard enough to maintain the rights we were given, and those rights continue to be eroded. More and more, government is seizing control of various aspects of our lives that formerly were our own issues to deal with. The rights in the Bill of Rights are now amended, and every amendment is another nail in the coffin of freedom….

So, here is the truth, and painful or not, it would be wise to pay attention…. like Jerry Garcia said, “Choosing between two evils is still choosing evil.” There are no heroes on the ballot. No matter which party is in office, they will continue their assault on the freedoms that Tom says are ours, not theirs. Go with what your reason tells you to do, and don’t be distracted by the lies. Put aside the fear, and the bigotry, and the cowardice. Only one of the two choices is making any effort toward transparency, and you don’t need me to point out which one. Nor would I be so rude as to suggest which you might choose; I just lay out the truth, and you pick….

The truth is Obama lies at times, for expediency, just like any politician. But, he also is genuinely invested in making reforms that will actually help the middle class, and as far as I can tell, has not overly abused his powers (there are anomalous blips on that radar screen, but another time for that….).

Romney lies all the time; time after time after time, it has been documented that he lies just about every time he opens his mouth in the public arena. In addition, he is unapologetically indifferent to any claims of his doing so; he lies again by denying his lies, even when they are laid out in front of him. He has made it abundantly clear that has no interest in making things better for anyone but his own core group of friends, the rich and powerful who occupy Wall Street offices, seats in Congress, and the religious right. The fact is, he is so out there, his own party is starting to get nervous….

These statements are truth. They can all be proven, if necessary, using documentation that is available to anyone in public archives. What you decide to do with that truth is up to you, as it always is…. What will you do with it?…..

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While looking for the rant you see above, I found the following poem, by one of my absolute favorite poets, which works very well in tandem with the material today…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

A Bronze Head

HERE at right of the entrance this bronze head,
Human, superhuman, a bird’s round eye,
Everything else withered and mummy-dead.
What great tomb-haunter sweeps the distant sky
(Something may linger there though all else die;)
And finds there nothing to make its terror less
i{Hysterica passio} of its own emptiness?

No dark tomb-haunter once; her form all full
As though with magnanimity of light,
Yet a most gentle woman; who can tell
Which of her forms has shown her substance right?
Or maybe substance can be composite,
profound McTaggart thought so, and in a breath
A mouthful held the extreme of life and death.

But even at the starting-post, all sleek and new,
I saw the wildness in her and I thought
A vision of terror that it must live through
Had shattered her soul. Propinquity had brought
Imagination to that pitch where it casts out
All that is not itself: I had grown wild
And wandered murmuring everywhere, ‘My child, my
child! ‘

Or else I thought her supernatural;
As though a sterner eye looked through her eye
On this foul world in its decline and fall;
On gangling stocks grown great, great stocks run dry,
Ancestral pearls all pitched into a sty,
Heroic reverie mocked by clown and knave,
And wondered what was left for massacre to save.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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Today’s final pearl is a classic. Full of good advice on living Life at Large, and living it with honor and serenity…. It also came together in two short sessions with SB, so, hallelujah!…. Enjoy, ffolkes, this pearl is one for the ages…

“Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” — Zen koan

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

“The psychic task which a person can and must set for himself is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity.” — Erich Fromm

“Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.” — Isaac Asimov, The New Hugo Winners

“Believing ourselves to be possessors of absolute truth degrades us: we regard every person whose way of thinking is different from ours as a monster and a threat and by so doing turn our own selves into monsters and threats to our fellows.” — Octavio Paz

“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 51

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” — H. G. Wells

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It’s probably a good thing today’s effort went as smoothly as it did; even now, being done, I feel on edge, as if the world is ready to shatter at the slightest bit of turmoil…. Ah well, probably just my subconscious, telling me to stay alert; the trumpets heralding Armageddon could conceivably blow any moment…. But, if we manage to make it through another day without committing species suicide, well, then, you’ll see me here tomorrow, delivering another load of nonsense, vitriol, and an occasional bit of rhyme…. See y’all then, ffolkes, if my luck holds….

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

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

If that isn’t pond scum, we’re screwed….

Posted on April 7, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Not to be cheered by praise,
Not to be grieved by blame,
But to know thoroughly ones own virtues or powers
Are the characteristics of an excellent man.~~ Saskya Pandita (1182-1251) ~~

Photo of Mars Terrain by NASA’s Curiosity Rover

Once again late, I have no choice but to ruthlessly trim all the dross and drivel from whatever happens here today. It would be nice to be able to find a routine again, but, since I don’t seem able to do so, I’ll continue to find some way to cope on a daily basis. Of late, this has required some rather extensive trimming of the amount of nonsense I’m using; not easy when it falls so naturally from my mind to the screen. But, it’s working, so, I’ll keep at it….

All that being said, as usual, to little purpose, I’ll use my new-found ruthlessness to make the executive, and therefore, least compassionate decision to yank the plug on this intro, regardless of how it may seem to those who don’t do this sort of thing on a regular basis. Or, for that matter, to anyone at all. It’s not personal; it’s bidness…. Don’t take it amiss, but, you all should DUCK! NOW!….. Whew, sorry, got a little close that time…. Never mind, we’re done, and now, we’re gone….

Shall we Pearl?

“I once wanted to save the world. Now I just want to leave the room with dignity.” — Lotus Weinstock

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Usually I try to put something relaxing, or entertaining here. Today, you’re out of luck in that respect, because I saw this yesterday (thanks, Lou!…) over at my friend’s blog site (https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/john-oliver-government-surveillance/).

Ffolkes, this is a video EVERYONE needs to view…. So, go view it…. Sheesh, do I have to tell you EVERYTHING?….. Go on, now….

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Last Week with John Oliver

Government Surveillance

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https://youtu.be/XEVlyP4_11M

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I’m late, and the video section covered the rant, so, here is an old politirant from 2013, to use the Churchill method of bringing a point home…. This is the tremendous whack, by those lights…. Probably falls a bit short, in that respect, but, it ain’t bad, and I like the words I coined for the political parties, too…. Enjoy!….

From 9/19/2013:

“A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt as dangerous.” — Alfred Alder

So, I was going to forgo a rant today, giving my back, and your brains, a bit of a break, but, when I went to peruse the news, I saw the latest discussion of what is happening in the House of Idiots in Washington, D.C., regarding the budget resolutions being discussed, wherein the possibility of a shutdown is threatened, if the Retardicans and Demobutts can’t come to some kind of compromise. It seems the Retardicans are still upset about Obamacare, and the notion of helping the middle class, as well as the lower classes (gasp!), to obtain medical insurance coverage at a reasonable cost. This idea, of being fair and ethical, seems to have struck them in the wrong place, and they have been whining and complaining ever since it became law, frantically searching for ways to undermine the whole program, with the ultimate goal being to stop it altogether….

The entire issue, of course, is just smoke, to cover up the simple racism that these assholes won’t cop to…. It is STILL stuck in their craw that they somehow allowed a BLACK MAN to get elected to the highest public office. They have looked for, and desperately latched onto, every possible way they could find to block every piece of legislation the White House has espoused, no matter how much such legislation would help the public, ever since Obama was first elected. The publicly stated goal of the Retardican Party in 2008, right after the election, was to make Obama a one-term President; having failed at that, their new goal became the eradication of ANY laws, or any beneficial reforms, that were accomplished during his administration…. Hence, the campaign against healthcare reform, which, ultimately, is not in their best interests, but, hey, who needs common sense?….

I’m almost too disgusted with the entire bunch of them, Retardicans and Demobutts both, to even continue this rant….The right wing continues to shoot itself, and the public, in the foot with their intransigent inflexibility, and their unreasoning paranoia about the POTUS, while the left side continues to wander around letting whatever the administration says or does go without question or review, as if somehow a man who was politician enough to get elected to the Senate, then the Presidency, all of a sudden became the world’s most truthful man…. Sorry, folks, it just doesn’t follow….. such trust in ANYONE who is an elected official in this country is plain silly, and doesn’t show much real common sense….

I see NO ONE in the public venue whom I would trust to make decisions for me, on ANY subject, much less those that can affect my life, and the quality of same…. Sorry, I just don’t see ANYONE who seems to be honestly interested in anything beyond their own agenda, and those agendas have nothing to do with mine, or what I see as beneficial for everyone…. They just don’t…..

I also, unfortunately, don’t have any viable solutions, which is why my rants often are short…. I mean, I do know what would help, and that is for everyone in the world who does have common sense to get together, join forces, and tell the assholes to stop…. But, they have guns, which they are practiced in using to get their way, whereas, most of US aren’t willing to contest matters on that level, so, that probably isn’t ever going to happen….

Not until more of our side are willing to use force to get our way, just as they have always done…. Since I don’t see it happening, we may as well just kiss our asses goodbye, because the eventual outcome of such idiocy is death, and I don’t mean individually, but rather, as a species…. Stupid is as stupid does, as somebody once said, and when I look around the world these days, stupid is pretty much all I see…..

Hell is the place of those who have denied;
They find there what they planted and what dug,
A Lake of Spaces, and a Wood of Nothing,
And wander there and drift, and never cease
Wailing for substance.~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

~~ Responsibilities and Other Poems (1916).The Hour-Glass ~~

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Time for a bit of T.S…..

Sweeney Among The Nightingales

Apeneck Sweeney spreads his knees
Letting his arms hang down to laugh,
The zebra stripes along his jaw
Swelling to maculate giraffe.

The circles of the stormy moon
Slide westward toward the River Plate,
Death and the Raven drift above
And Sweeney guards the horned gate.

Gloomy Orion and the Dog
Are veiled; and hushed the shrunken seas;
The person in the Spanish cape
Tries to sit on Sweeney’s knees

Slips and pulls the table cloth
Overturns a coffee-cup,
Reorganized upon the floor
She yawns and draws a stocking up;

The silent man in mocha brown
Sprawls at the window-sill and gapes;
The waiter brings in oranges
Bananas figs and hothouse grapes;

The silent vertebrate in brown
Contracts and concentrates, withdraws;
Rachel née Rabinovitch
Tears at the grapes with murderous paws;

She and the lady in the cape
Are suspect, thought to be in league;
Therefore the man with heavy eyes
Declines the gambit, shows fatigue,

Leaves the room and reappears
Outside the window, leaning in,
Branches of wisteria
Circumscribe a golden grin;

The host with someone indistinct
Converses at the door apart,
The nightingales are singing near
The Convent of the Sacred Heart,

And sang within the bloody wood
When Agamemnon cried aloud,
And let their liquid droppings fall
To stain the stiff dishonoured shroud.

~~ T.S. Eliot ~~

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Since Smart Bee is still on strike, I’ve dipped into the archives again, for a pretty good old-school pearl…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

From 9/20/2013:

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 ~~

~~ 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, it FEELS okay; it also seems a bit catch-penny, if I have that phrase correctly used, to mean choppy and ill-favored…. Ah well, it fulfills the primary characteristic we’re looking for; it’s done. So, I’m gonna fly, while I can…. 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….

The only universal solvent is Change….

Posted on March 28, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Many men fancy that what they experience they also understand.”

~~ Goethe ~~

Image from Space.com Pictures of the Day, 3/23/2015

For close to four years now, I’ve maintained a routine which gave me the time and space to produce these Pearls each morning. It’s been valuable to me, in at least one sense, if not many; if nothing else, my sanity, while never completely intact, remains sufficiently strong to resist giving in to all the parts of life which might make us unhappy by their complete indifference to our sensibilities. It may not sound like much, but, believe me, being able to find a spot of peace in this life is more of a gift than many folks, or, for that matter, ffolkes, may realize…. I do, and I appreciate it….

However, as today’s title indicates, if there is one thing we all need to stay on top of in life, it is our ability to deal with changes. No matter how much we try to arrange our lives to prevent it, we are all eventually going to have to deal with it, in one part of our life or another, for it is the ONLY universal law we have, in reality; all things must change. Entropy makes sure of it, and, since we can identify it, but, still cannot point to it, there is little we can do to affect it at all.

Most mornings I don’t try to philosophize so early; my brain isn’t usually ready to even think about being organized. With this new routine, however, it seemed to be an appropriate way to start the day. I see, by my words above, I’ve again written myself to a point where I either must expand the discussion, or let it go by; since we are still in the intro section, I’ll let it go, with one final word about the new routine…. These Pearls may not show up as close to the usual posting time as in the past; I’m getting up later, and sleeping better. While both of those aren’t bad things, they do tend to make this process happen later than previously. So be it….

I’m good with it; it’s a simple enough adjustment to make, even for an old curmudgeon like me. Hell, it may even improve these intro sections, which could only be considered a good thing. In the meantime, we’ll employ one of our methods for getting us out of here, before it turns on us, becoming something more than a simple intro, to my undying regret and embarrassment. If y’all could again pull the lever under your seat, the plane will assume the proper landing configuration, and we can get on with our dive….. Thank you, now, hang on…..

Shall we Pearl?

“Anates tuas in acie instrue.” (Have your ducks all in array…) — Latin for everyday use

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Image from Walmart.com via Google stock images

If I had to pick a favorite classical artiste, it might be this violinist. She, and the group of other women violinists she has gathered into the group La Pietà, have brought imagination back into the recording of classical music, using their talents to make classical music more accessible to the common man, through movies and music. Every piece I’ve ever heard them play has produced the same feeling of peaceful, imaginative pleasure, at hearing music played as it should be played, with heart…. Enjoy, ffolkes, there are a LOT of good pieces to hear today….

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Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà – Danse macabre – Camille Saint-Saëns

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https://youtu.be/txUvlfk9BR0?list=PLws4cSjvcS5orMEDja2BF1UDoL-UNbOTT

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Image stolen from Talesfromtheconspiratum.com

I am up late; obviously, this affects the amount of time I’ve left myself to post. As a result, I don’t feel I have enough time to produce a new, fresh rant; whatever I could come up with wouldn’t make the grade, from my viewpoint, given my personal standards. What I CAN do is create a fresh new old-school pearl that takes some rather pointed shots at our usual targets…. That will ALWAYS make the grade, in my book… and, it should do the same to yours…. Now that I’ve completely confused both of us, with that remarkable statement of…. well, I can’t even think of a word for what it was…. Oh well… Let’s make a pearl, shall we? (Oops…. but, it’s okay. That’s not a royal we, just you and me….)….

This pearl takes its shots from a different viewpoint than usual; these come at the target from the side, or from behind, showing up those qualities in which our beloved ruling class FAILS to achieve any standard of ethics, or morality, or, ultimately, virtue….. Some of them show us WHY they are like they are, others merely show us where they fall short…. All are an indictment of what they are, which is, to put it most simply, complete and utter assholes, without an ounce of compassion, or, humanity, in their spirit….

“A guilty conscience never feels secure.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 617

“He knew that insofar as one denies what is, one is possessed by what is not, the compulsions, the fantasies, the terrors that flock to fill the void.” — Ursula K. LeGuin, _The Lathe of Heaven_

“After the first death, there is no other.’ — Dylan Thomas

“Honor is the reward of virtue.” — Cicero (B.C. 106-43)

“… none are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” — Goethe

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” — Thomas Paine

“But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.” — Declaration of Independence

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Image stolen from The Europa Ice Wolf

No, I don’t know which part of my mind decided this was the right piece of art work for this poem; deal with it, ffolkes, it’s only a picture…. Since there was no rant today, to speak of, this will have to do….

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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Since I’m so late, and SB is not as cooperative as I’d hoped, here is an old, old-school pearl from a bit over a year ago…. Enjoy!…. Or, not; the choice is, as it always is, yours….

From 1/6/2014:

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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Well, all things considered, not too shabby. Good enough for what we do here, certainly. Since that be the case, I’m outta here to go see what sort of trouble I can cause for the PTB…. See y’all tomorrow, if things go well….

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….

Stories from the blank pages of history….

Posted on March 2, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Primum vivere, deinde philosophari.”

[First comes life, only after that philosophy.]

~~ Latin for everyday occasions ~~

Northern Lights over Dustanburgh Castle, Northumberland

UK Guardian, February 2015, Owen Humphreys PA

Damn! Damn, damn, damn!….. and, damn, again….

Nope, it didn’t help, though, it should have. Seldom has a series of epithets, so powerfully expressed, been found to be so useless. Today, such vituperation apparently offers nothing; nothing, at least, to relieve the frustration built up by thirty minutes of staring at the blankest damn page I’ve ever seen…. or, maybe it’s just my mind that is so blank….

Hmm….I see the vast, empty white space, filling my mind with terror, has spread all the way to the title today…. THAT’s when we know it’s too late…. when what is in my head leaks over into the title, it means we’re in big trouble, right here in little China…. or, was that River City? Good movie, either way…

Also either way, it’s another day in the canoe, riding familiar waters of a well-known creek, without the proverbial, or, even a literal paddle… Of course, many of us are becoming accustomed to such days; anyone can come to accept, if not exactly appreciate, even the foulest, most odoriferous of environments, if that is the only type gracing our nostrils…. (Wow, what an awkwardly phrased sentence!…. it’s amazing it got all the way to the end of the sentence….) People are odd that way; we can get used to almost anything, if we must endure it for long…. There are far too many examples in history to think otherwise; such stories are plentiful, though, not on the blank pages….

Hmph…. Imagine that. A small spark of inspiration just struck me; no worries, there’s no blood. But, it did remind me I DO have things I could relate in this section, as I had a visit yesterday with the grandkids…. I’m not so cruel, however, as to subject y’all to hearing how big they’ve gotten, or the latest cute stuff they’re learning to say, to my son’s total embarrassment…. You see, the little spark also lit up a small additional piece of information, regarding intros, and the ever-popular emergency exit method #4, which we’ve been forced to apply two or three times of late….

How does that work? Easy, just like this…..

Shall we Pearl?

“What you cannot enforce, do not command.”

~~ Socrates ~~

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Today’s video choice has three superstars of the classical world playing together…. If this doesn’t fill you up, you need to learn to relax a bit more…. Exquisite!…..

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Beethoven: Triple Concerto (Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim, 15.02.1995)

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http://youtu.be/xFSOuIQ82Ew

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I got nothin’…. nada, zip, zilch, not a damn thing wandering around in there…. Y’all know what THAT means…. a trip to the archives… Today, we’ll go for something a bit lighter than the usual faire…. Ah, just right…..

From 9/7/2011:

A Morning Muse

Sometimes, when I’m alone for a long while (it happens pretty often these days), I admit that I talk to myself. I’ve heard all the cliché responses to that remark, having worked in the mental health industry for many years, so let’s just sail right on past those and consider what I actually mean by that. I think all of us do it, though many would say they probably would enjoy it more if they didn’t answer back. However, giving that the attention it’s due, what I’m talking about are, more or less, complete conversations, with all three of the sides part of any argument being expounded by yours truly, unashamedly, often with elaborate accents and voices.

It’s really okay. I’m not crazy; who would know better than me, right? One day, I just realized, only when I talked to myself could I really relax, and be myself. I mean, who understands me better than me? Who can better formulate rational and reasoned theories to explain even the most outrageous questions I can ask myself? Who won’t be offended by even my most base and bestial impulses? Who won’t be mean if I ask a dumb question, or make an obvious mistake out of ignorance, or, advancing senility? And, who will ever make me laugh at myself, if I don’t? Of course, the only question that ever really gets answered is, “If I don’t talk to myself, who else is likely to do so today?” And I know the answer to that one already.

Now maybe this is all illusory; in reality, I’m not really having those self-induced delusions of adequacy. Maybe I’m channeling for some ancient Egyptian priestess and her demon lover, who are trying to steal my body, sending my soul to hell for all eternity. No, wait, that was an episode of Charmed.

Well, see? There you have it, first hand. The boy has finally and truly slipped around the bend. I HATED that show; after three minutes, the plot was apparent, with only special camera effects of which to take note thereafter, in between the 4-5 minutes of commercials between vignettes (well, and, who doesn’t take note of the witches’ wardrobes, or lack thereof?….). The very idea that I’ve been hiding that little time-bomb in some dark corner of my mind makes me shudder to think what else might be in there somewhere.

Then of course, as we all might guess, Reality always asserts its’ presence. When we start to wander too far afield, it gleefully steps up next to our shoulder to administer a sharp slap to that really delicate spot right behind the ear. You know that one, right? The spot that just explodes pain into the side of your head, to remind us forcefully of what actually is something we must not only believe in, but deal with, no matter our pitiable opinions of fair and unfair. Therein lies my challenge every day, when I ask myself when I wake up each day if I really want to get out of bed at all…..or will the demon lover take over my body, casting my soul into hell for all eternity, laughing, laughing at the poor, pathetic human? I suppose I’ll have to get up to find out….

Note from 2015: Naturally, Zippy has provided us with the perfect closing pearl for such an astute discussion, to wit:

“Will this never-ending series of PLEASURABLE EVENTS never cease?” — Zippy the Pinhead

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One of my own poems will do today; this one was written during the 2013 NaPoWriMo challenge, to write a poem a day for the month of April, 2013…. I made it through the challenge, with only minor cheating…. I like this one, though I don’t really know why…. I hope you like it as well….

Funny Bones

Dreaming the way home, lost, unseen,
from the dance, where
he felt so free, and clean.
Sorrow couldn’t find him there.

Waiting, filling up the hours, hoping,
some connection can be found
keeping busy as bees, coping.
Love creeps in, without a sound.

Fat days, skinny nights, passionate
visions of semi-conscious entities,
cannot seem to fully illuminate
or hide our innermost frailties.

Resolute, find the perfect sense, codify
simple rules with every breath
never waiting, anxious to modify.
fear nothing in life, not even Death.

~~ gigoid ~~

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Smart Bee is on strike today, apparently; nothing at all came out when I asked for an old-school pearl…. Rather than fight with it, here is a pearl from the archives, to save the day, and a bunch of time we can find a use for later….

From April of 2013:

Having ranted today once, I’ll not subject y’all to another…. though there’s more in there to rant about, for sure…. I just don’t want to make y’all think I’m insensitive, or have become overly personal, or judgmental (read: boring….). So, we’ll fall back into default position, and put together a fresh pearl, with some kind of point, yet to be determined by my subconscious mind…. I just let that happen as it happens, as you know…. If you get the point today, be aware it’s worth extra points, and this one WILL be on the Quiz…..

we can never be born enough.
We are human beings;
for whom birth is a supremely welcome mystery,
the mystery of growing:
the mystery that happens only and whenever
we are faithful to ourselves.

~~ e. e. cummings. ~~

“The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination — but the combination is locked up in the safe.” — Peter DeVries

“One day with life and heart is more than time enough to find a world.” — James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) — Columbus

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” ~~

” Never eat anything bigger than your head.” — Kliban’s First Law of Dining

“I may not understand what you say, but I’ll defend to your death my right to deny it.” — Albert Alligator, in Pogo, 26 September 1951

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” — Bhagavad-Gita (and Robert Oppenheimer)

Well, there you go…. If that isn’t obvious, I’m doing something wrong…. it’s not your fault, so don’t hurt your brain trying to figure it out. My insurance company refuses to cover self-inflicted mis-comprehension…. I do have some nice tea, though, if that will help…..

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As I sat today to begin, I was not at all sure how it would go; happily, with a bit of struggle, it went reasonably well, all things considered. To show my appreciation for such politeness from the Universe, I’ll not torment y’all any further today, but, will take my leave in a dignified, timely fashion… In fact, I’ll do that right now…. 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….

Faceted jewels, hidden in darkness…

Posted on February 14, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

Too long a sacrifice

Can make a stone of the heart.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

Public House in Cork, Ireland, with freshly pulled Guinness waiting for your Valentine.

Who is NOT the blond bartender you see in the rear of the pub, more’s the pity.

Somehow or another, the idea of Valentine’s Day got planted in my consciousness this year. Most years, all it takes for me to forget all about it, is to think of how it began, back in the middle of the twentieth century, when that day, along with Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, President’s Day, and probably a number of others I don’t remember, were instituted as official national holidays. The entire reason, well known at the time, was to supply a holiday during those months of the year when there was not a religious, or other well-known date, like Halloween, Christmas, and Easter, to stimulate the sagging economy in those months, giving people a reason to buy gifts…. Not exactly romantic, eh?

This year, I don’t know why, the date keeps popping up in front of me, which is ironic, as I don’t have anyone in my life other than my kids with whom I’d share such sentiments… Plus, I HATE buying useless stuff just because some poor business person isn’t going to be able to keep their cash flow in the black for a day or two. They steal enough of my money, without my helping them out by falling for such egregiously avaricious tricks…. I wouldn’t want to lose my own good self-opinion, now, would I? No, I don’t believe I would…

Ah well, I have now given in to the extent of writing almost three paragraphs about the day, though I wouldn’t say they were particularly filled with joy and happiness at the day’s arrival on the calendar. In addition, in the next section, you’ll find a very indulgent piece, nicely done by some guy with a pair of breeding hamsters (probably wants to start a farm & sell the thousands of offspring to come in the few months they live…), and way too much spare time on his hands…. It’s pretty funny….

But, as far as I can make it so, that’s all the corporations get from me today…. Well, I might reconsider, break down, & buy a Hallmark card, should I happen to walk out of the house and be accosted by a gorgeous, sensual woman, who demand I give her the card, take her out to dinner, then take her home to teach her all I know of the Kama Sutra…. Yeah, sure, like THAT’s going to happen…. So, I’m figuring I’m done with it for the day…

“Now what”, he said, bemusedly. If only he had started out differently; if only some fantastic fictional passage had stormed through his consciousness, ripping control of his fingers from him, to pound the keyboard faster than he could read, filling the screen with gripping, violently graphic, yet, oddly romantic images of intense emotional drama, pitting human nature against itself in an eternal battle of good vs. evil, all the while laughing madly, gleefully drooling all over his own lap, until, finally, he slowed, considered what he had done, and, stopped typing…..

Slowly, he rose, walking calmly to the desk across the room. Opening a concealed drawer, he pulled out a leather case. Unsnapping the fasteners, the case opens to reveal a dark, shiny, evil-looking 9mm Glock automatic pistol. Picking it up, he chambered a round, placed the gun at his temple, and fired one shot right through to the opposite wall, taking quite a bit of brain and bone matter with it, forming a rather striking pattern across the rug and wall….

He then walked over to the computer, sat down, and, naturally enough, typed in the following words….

Shall we Pearl?

“.. I’m IMAGINING a sensuous GIRAFFE, CAVORTING in the BACK ROOM of a KOSHER DELI –” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

Well, what did you expect? It IS Valentine’s Day, even if I don’t pay any particular attention to it. The following video, at least, puts it all into the proper perspective…. Thanks to Lou for posting it two days ago, thus, furnishing me with yet another fine pearl…..

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

Tiny Hamster’s Tiny Date

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

http://youtu.be/rPLiGyWy5bQ

first posted by Lou, at:

https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/tiny-hamsters-valentines-date-200/

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

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

“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

Ahhh! Bliss…. I’ve always enjoyed the way Epictetus expressed his thoughts. Somehow, his style speaks to me in a way I feel as well as see, and hear, telling me in the simplest, most direct way, how to understand life, and our fellow humans; his sense, apparently, shares commonality with my own. To me, this is an excellent way to show exactly how we can be sure we are being, well, screwed, by those in power…. It is proven true every day, any number of times….

Each day, those in power release some sort of blast of information, designed in some fashion to influence the public in some way. Even when the public KNOWS of this, they still tend to listen to those in power, as they have been trained to do so since entering this world. Still, there is so much of what we are told that isn’t even remotely true, those among the unwashed masses who have not been fully beaten down into slavish acceptance will take note of some obvious discrepancy between reality, and what they are told is reality by those in charge. On the internet, there are literally hundreds of places to find these discrepancies, which clearly show that what we are told is not always true….

Here is where Epictetus’ words come into play…. In order for the officials making the statement to contradict reality in this way shows how it is not possible for them to do so in ignorance of what they do…. By the very act of lying, they prove they know the truth, but, choose to withhold it, to serve some purpose of their own…. Often that purpose is apparent; more often it is not. Either way, I think you could easily say they weren’t doing it for OUR benefit, without feeling as if you were telling a lie yourself….

“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do ingloriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple: who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?” — John Milton (1608-1674) — Areopagitica

This is MY solution to this question, and, my intention as one who rants. Given the simple fact of the degree of control already established over our society/world by those who would be king, the Truth is the only weapon remaining to us…. Those who rule have already perverted much of Truth to their own purposes, by the simple expedient of convincing almost everyone they have always told the truth, when they actually merely convinced people what is true was not…. If there is one thing I’ve always believed, with some trepidation, admittedly, it is the Truth will out; ultimately, it will make itself clear, usually in a painful way… I don’t think it LIKES to be hidden, or used to promote evil…. But, in time, it always wins out over a lie… I’m hoping, anyway….

Sounds complicated, but, it’s quite simple actually; the problem is this: once the lies are accepted as truth, the actual truth has no more power to be heard; those convinced they are right, possessing the only right answers, will not listen to any evidence otherwise, even if it slaps them right in the face….. It is one of human nature’s most destructive traits, in spite of also being one of its most endearing faults…. I only wish I knew another way to get through to them, but, they made the decision long ago, to never discover the truth of reality for themselves, but, to allow others to tell them what to believe, to mold the shape of reality for them…. To turn back now, for almost all of them, is impossible….

“It’s called EVIL, kid.” — Smart Bee

SIGH….. We had such promise, too….

What is wanted is not the will to believe,

but the will to find out,

which is the exact opposite.

~~ Bertrand Russell (1872-1967), “Sceptical Essays”, 1928 ~~

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

A poem of mine is going to have to do for today. I hope you like it…..

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 ~~

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

Back and forth, back and forth, like a damn tennis ball; Smart Bee must have been watching tennis on TV or something, during whatever moments this batch of pearls were chosen. All I did was ask for a simple old school pearl already made up, so I didn’t need to think too hard about parameters… This is what came back to me…. I can’t figure it out, other than maybe as a metaphor for Life as a Ping Pong Ball…. Oh, well, at least they’re all one-liners…

“A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 540

“If truth is beauty, how come no one has their hair done in the library?” — Lily Tomlin

“Democritus says, “But we know nothing really; for truth lies deep down.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Pyrrho, viii

“Those who do things in a noble spirit of self-sacrifice are to be avoided at all costs.” — N. Alexander

“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” — Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao”, 1966

“Each of us bears his own Hell.” — Publius Maro

“Reality is a sandwich I did not order.” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

Ffolkes, the world has gone mad; not just mad, but, stark, raving mad. I’m not certain, at this point, exactly what I will do about it, but, it’s not going to fix itself; it has made that perfectly clear. Thus, it leaves it to us to try to figure out what the hell we are going to do; given the options, I’m pretty sure what I’ll do; how ’bout y’all? Well, it’s late, or early, or something; you can think about it, and hopefully, there will be a tomorrow, when you might think about sharing that with us…. Meantime, keep your head down, and your powder dry, ffolkes; it’s a hard rain that’s gonna fall…. Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow; if not, fare thee well, until we meet 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….

Potboiler or not, it’s quite a story….

Posted on January 18, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Do I look like someone who cares about what God thinks?”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

To Enlarge, click on picture

Casting hope aside, with endless sorrow, the ancient warrior took up his sword, settling the scabbard firmly at his side, ready to hand. No expression crossed the stoic face, despite the burning anger, and thirst for battle that gripped his soul. Only the hard presence of immutable will would be allowed to escape his control, until the one responsible for this atrocity had been served up to the gods of revenge, in pieces too small to identify. Only then would the ancient warrior be content to lay aside his weapon, to honorably die, joining those whose lives were his to avenge….

Often, in the small hours of the dark morning, my constant companion awakens me to begin the day, pushing me up with the hope of finding more peace than can be found abed, where time becomes an enemy in the lee of midnight…. I gaze at the screen, once my mind is caught up to my eyes, wondering what I can find here to ease the whirling, spinning maelstrom which confronts me out here in the real world of consciousness. I can feel the weight of time, sitting on my shoulders, bringing memories of both joy and pain, denying hope, politely, and, oh, so cruel, with its constant, relentless barrage of what seems to be a multitude of small, yet vicious invisible mites, biting, biting, each and every one of my nerves, one after the other….

My doctor, it seems, doesn’t believe in my pain, for he/she wants me to give up the most stable source of any real peace I’ve had in the past 40 years. The prurient, prudish morality of a soulless behemoth masquerading as a “corporate person”, otherwise known as a Health Maintenance Organization, has decided that it is within their purview to decide for me what the proper treatment for my condition is, without any consideration at all for what that arrogance will do TO me…. Because I insist on making my own decisions about the best way to treat my pain, and my PTSD, they are willing to literally blackmail me with the threat of my own pain to protect themselves from their own imaginary bogies, which they are afraid will leave them open to litigation, thus taking away from their profit margin, the purpose for their entire existence….

But, that, unfortunately, is ranting, which is, at this juncture, both too early, and too big a subject to try to address in the intro…. not to mention the inappropriateness of such a discussion in public, at all…. But, in the mood I’m in, (as indicated by the obvious self-portrait in the first paragraph….), what the fuck do I care what’s appropriate? In fact, now that I think of it, the opening quote from Zippy is perfectly apt for today…. Fuck ’em all, I say. Bring any of them to me, and I shall make them meat…. All I ask is your silence, and some help in disposing of the evidence….

No? Well, no worries, nobody has died yet….. but, the day is young…. A good portion of today’s Pearl was completed yesterday, and the day before, as my newly developed method of writing has become more of a routine, choppy though it is, with its necessary breaks every ten or fifteen minutes to find another (relatively) comfortable position in which to type, or to walk around to stretch, and allow the skeleton to come to terms with the pain currently assailing most of my joints…. It’s a bit choppy, but, it works for me….

Another advantage of this system is the increased vigilance it allows me, to stay on top of those little opportunities to get to the correct area on the map we use, such as this fine looking entry point coming up on our bow…. It’s so conveniently located we’re going for it, even if it does, again, throw the rhythm I’ve found into the toilet…. S’okay, I’m coming to rather enjoy the offhand way I am ordered about by my inanimate objects…. They’re only trying to help, you know, and they are severely underpaid, in my opinion…. But, that’s a rant for another time, and place…. Right now, we’re going in, so, I’d suggest you hang on to the nearest stanchion; our pilot today likes to cut things close….

Shall we Pearl?

“Once, there was NO fun… This was before MENU planning, FASHION statements or NAUTILUS equipment… Then, in 1985.. FUN was completely encoded in this tiny MICROCHIP… It contain 14,768 vaguely amusing SIT-COM pilots!! We had to wait FOUR BILLION years but we finally got JERRY LEWIS, MTV and a large selection of creme-filled snack cakes!” — Zippy the Pinhead

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

As the first couple of paragraphs in the above section indicate, my soul is crying out for peace…. This isn’t a cure, but, I find it helps…. Maybe it is part of the connection I’ve always felt to the Druidic culture that flourished in ancient Europe, or, maybe it’s just the way it takes me away from reality…. whatever it is, it works for me….

Celtic Music – Sleeping Dreams And Fantasies Mix

http://youtu.be/n4zxO1xy6ec

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

“A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar.”

~~ Mark Twain ~~

Now that I have your attention, we have a different sort of ranting section for you today…. Right now, I am unsure of exactly what it will look like, or, where it might end up, but, having found the perfect opening picture and pearl, I’m going to let if fly, just so we can see what kind of trouble we can either cause, or get into, whichever seems more fun…. What else would you expect, when you find these two at the top of the section?….

With the proper tone firmly established, we shall move on to the more intellectual part of today’s experimental pearl…. an old school indictment of Asininnies, of the political persuasion, those we call Pundits, (or, sometimes, The Liars Club….). I’d hoped to include the rest of the categories of the larger group, (i.e. Dogma Dogs, Myrmidons, Snakeheads, Pimps, Illuminati, Mundanes, Droids, or, anyone else worthy of our ire….), but everything that came up was in this smaller group, which, apparently, Smart Bee seems to consider the most vulnerable target at the moment of choice…. Or, it could be these are what came up, with incipient laziness taking over at that point…. Here they are, such as they are….

“He’s not a politician. He’s just ethically challenged.” — Smart Bee

“Democracy is a form of government that substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. In democracy, what you get generally is bad government by a bully, tempered by the pen of several newspaper editors.” — George Bernard Shaw — Man and Superman (1903) Maxims for Revolutionists: Democracy

“You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think.” — Smart Bee

“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand-fold in the future.” — Solzhenitsyn

“Bother! said Pooh, as he found a politician in his honey pot.” — Smart Bee

“How do you make sense of such madness? The answer is, you can’t.” — Pablo Guzman

“As long as the United States Government exists, there is no real accomplishment being a humorist.” — Smart Bee

Okay, now comes the fun part…. We’ve taken our shots at the pundits for the day; now we get to finish the new format with one final comment, which I’ve personally chosen to represent the metaphor of reality being highlighted in this unusual fashion…. This is what I came up with, as a final word on the Asininnies for today…. It’s a very nice statement of insight on life today, which, I promise, will be my last word for today on this subject…. In truth, the statement is a fine finish for any indictment, for it speaks to the reason any of us might feel the need to indict at all….

“The stars are made of the same atoms as the earth.” I usually pick one small topic like this to give a lecture on. Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere gobs of gas atoms. Nothing is “mere.” I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more? The vastness of the heavens stretches my imagination — stuck on this carousel my little eye can catch one-million-year-old light. A vast pattern — of which I am a part — perhaps my stuff was belched from some forgotten star, as one is belching there. Or see them with the greater eye of Palomar, rushing all apart from some common starting point when they were perhaps all together. What is the pattern, or the meaning, or the *why?* It does not do harm to the mystery to know a little about it. For far more marvelous is the truth than any artists of the past imagined! Why do the poets of the present not speak of it? What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were like a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?” — Richard Phillips Feynman (1918-1988)

As is patently clear to me, in a larger sense, Mr. Feynman obliquely implies the mindset adopted by those of our human brethren who choose ignorance and faith over knowledge and reason, thus limiting themselves to a pattern of looking at reality which keeps them, and consequently all of us, from living as we are meant to live.

If not for this intrinsic flaw in our very nature, we could be living in a very different world, walking in beauty, singing, in perfect harmony and rhyme, rejoicing in all the secrets of heart, soul, and reality, rather than merely humming along with the dirges, which are the only music playing in our current reality, a stark, dark, desperate world in which compassion and beauty are crushed under the heels of the boots worn by the god of war, namely, Avarice, and, Indifference…

I know…. Bummer, huh?

gigoid, the dubious

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

There are moments in life when the power and presence of serendipity makes itself felt, leaving no doubt in my mind there is more to this universe than we can ever really know…. This poem was the first I encountered today in my search for an appropriate entry for today’s poetry section; it’s the poem of the day on PoemHunter.com, my favorite site to find those verses I need for this part of each Pearl….. It’s a small piece, but, with that incredible characteristic of the very best of poems, brevity, mixed with powerful metaphor, to create a short epistle which gives us much, much more than just the few words use could be expected to give….. Plus, it fits in with my mood….. go figure….

A Coat

I made my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat;
But the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world’s eyes
As though they’d wrought it.
Song, let them take it,
For there’s more enterprise
In walking naked.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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

This pearl is, to my mind, a good one. It’s composed of pearls whose primary characteristic is in how it must be examined more deeply than the first reading, to penetrate to the second, and third ideas that are buried within their shy outer bearing….. In short, when you read them, they should make you pause, and say to yourself, “Wait a second….”, then look again…. hopefully. Works for me, anyway…. Just look deeper than the shallow first concept, ffolkes, because the result is a pretty good picture of how to approach reality with something more than just a pretty face…., which, in spite of popular belief by many, not everyone has…. No matter anyway, reality doesn’t care….

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” — Yogi Berra

“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.” — Erasmus

“The last good thing I saw on TV was the ‘off’ switch.” — J. Craig Brunson (craig@ukpr.uky.edu)

“Where no hope is left, is left no fear.” — Milton

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.” — Thomas H. Huxley

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Poem for the Living

When I am dead
Cry for me a little
Think of me sometimes
But not too much.

It is not good for you
Or your wife or your husband
Or your children
To allow your thoughts to dwell

Too long on the dead
Think of me now and again
As I Was in life
At some moment it is pleasant to recall

But not for long.
Leave me in peace
As I shall leave you, too, in peace.
While you live
Let your thoughts be with the living.

~~ Theodora Kroeber ~~

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

Thankfully, it’s done. Just in time, too. I was about to break out in song…. Figuring, rightly, I’m sure, that would drive y’all over the edge, to which we come close enough on a regular basis, we’ll just use our advantage of position (here at the end….) to make our escape, before any of y’all catch on…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless embarrassment kicks in….

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….

Patagonian cricket league posters on sale….

Posted on December 13, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Don’t get hit.”

~~ First rule of fighting ~~

There is no doubt the world in which we live is in a sorry state; there is too much evidence of that to deny, even for one of my dubious nature…. Yet, we each go on, blithely behaving as if tomorrow never comes, just as we have for our entire history, without any acknowledgment, or even awareness, of our own impending doom as a species. In spite of the mountains of evidence to indicate how serious is the situation we find ourselves in today, no governing body, no major world leaders, and nobody of any societal significance is doing anything about it, other than some little noise-making in the news now and again, and a constant parade of lesser personages, such as yours truly, who keep trying to get everyone else to FUCKING PAY ATTENTION!

Alas, our noise, true and attractive as it may be, is drowned out, in the cacophony of complaints and bullshit that the political pundits keep laying out; they have the control of the media, having trained them to react just the way they planned to every new piece of insanity, to wit, with hyperbole, outrage, focus on the negative and/or insignificant, and misdirection, always trumpeting who is to blame, rather than calling for real answers….

Instead, they are trained to focus on completely irrelevant issues, having little to do with the core of the problems, which are never discussed, at all…. Any actual discussion of problems is discouraged, as being counter-productive…. What is never stated is this; all that information we are not hearing IS counterproductive, but, not to us, but, to those who are in positions of leadership… If the news was actually reported correctly, the pundits would be running for the border, trying to escape the mobs….

But, that would be an ideal world, and the one in which we spend our time is NOT one of those, by any stretch of the imagination…. Ah well, we’ve made our bed, we must now lie in it…. Sadly, the house, in which the bed might be found, is right in the path of flowing lava…..

I see now that the metaphorical structure I’ve built up with such enthusiasm just fell apart, into small pieces…. I can see it lying there, on the ground at my feet, mocking me with bitter laughter…. Silly things…. But, having it all fall apart like that does make it clear, at least to me, that I’ve gone completely off the rails here this morning, haring off down a rantable path, without ever checking to see if my brain was on…. which, I’m pretty sure, it wasn’t…. At least, I can’t find any evidence anywhere in any of the above paragraphs that would indicate power to the lobes…. Hell, I’m almost positive I wasn’t even awake yet when I started; I’m barely awake now….

Ah well, it’s done what, apparently, it was designed to do, which is get me to this point, far enough down the page to feel as if we’ve actually done something worthwhile…. We HAVE gone far enough to make this legal, which, as y’all know, is all we really care about…. As it now meets all state and federal regulations, nonexistent though they may be, we can use the opportunity that presents itself to make our escape…. Besides, I believe I may have just used up ALL of my ability to type for the day, just getting this done…. Oh, well…. I’m taking us down, ffolkes, so, you’d best hang on…..

Shall we Pearl?

“A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” — Oscar Wilde

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

One of the saving graces of humankind is our ability to make music…. classical, blues, jazz, it all expresses our nature, in one facet or another…. Here is the an example of the best of the blues, the one musical genre most likely to be of use to us in the coming years, as we learn how our own nature has been our undoing….

This Is The Blues – Volume 1

http://youtu.be/f_9zy9ZYEkA

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

As noted, my hands are done typing for the day, so, here is a discussion from the past, with all our favorite targets in attendance….

From 9/19/2013:

“A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt as dangerous.” — Alfred Alder

It seems the Retardicans are still upset about Obamacare, and the notion of helping the middle class, as well as the lower classes (gasp!), to obtain medical insurance coverage at a reasonable cost. This idea, of being fair and ethical, seems to have struck them in the wrong place, and they have been whining and complaining ever since it became law, frantically searching for ways to undermine the whole program, with the ultimate goal being to stop it altogether….

The publicly stated goal of the Retardican Party in 2008, right after the election, was to make Obama a one-term President; having failed at that, their new goal became the eradication of ANY laws, or any beneficial reforms, that were accomplished during his administration…. Hence, the campaign against healthcare reform, which, ultimately, is not in their best interests, but, hey, who needs common sense?….

Since I don’t see it happening, we may as well just kiss our asses goodbye, because the eventual outcome of such idiocy is death, and I don’t mean individually, but rather, as a species…. Stupid is as stupid does, as somebody once said, and when I look around the world these days, stupid is pretty much all I see…..

Hell is the place of those who have denied;
They find there what they planted and what dug,
A Lake of Spaces, and a Wood of Nothing,
And wander there and drift, and never cease
Wailing for substance.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

~~ Responsibilities and Other Poems (1916).The Hour-Glass ~~

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

It has been said that intelligence is both a blessing, and a curse…. I’m here to testify….

Intelligent Crimes

The value of wit is often said to cause harm,
for those who think, such is its greatest charm.
The new and the bold cannot be fulfilled
if innovation and change is left unwilled.

Society behaves at its base as a mob
conformity and submission its primary job.
Any sign of rebellion against the mob’s rule
is met with resentment, naming such rebel the fool.

Intellect and talent are looked at askance,
expressing artistry stands nary a chance.
To stand out from the rest of mankind
is fraught with danger, for body and mind.

Often I stand to watch in solemn dismay
as beauty and joy are left by the way,
ignored and reviled by the unwashed masses
who prefer darkness, and acting like asses.

With shouts of derision the normals make known
their fear of intelligence, greater than their own.
They hope to stop all semblance of progress;
for thoughts and ideas, they couldn’t care less.

The world struggles on in spite of all opposition,
managing to maintain its advanced position.
Pulling the foolish along in spite of reluctance,
helping each to learn the survival dance.

Hard though it may be to keep up with the future
genius manages its plans to develop and nurture.
In the final analysis, those who live by reason
enjoy life the most, season to season.

~~ gigoid ~~

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

Thankfully, I had a few moments yesterday, (very few, in retrospect, but, enough….) when the pain was in abeyance sufficiently for me to spend some time perusing Smart Bee for some appropriate pearls…. Here is what we were able to come up with…. It’s all pretty good advice, or, at minimum, viewpoints worthy of examining as helpful; taken together, they all show us how to live as well as we can, from an ethical/moral standpoint….

“There is in us a tendency to locate the shaping forces of our existence outside ourselves. Success and failure are unavoidably related in our minds with the state of things around us. Hence it is that people with a sense of fulfillment think it is a good world and would like to preserve it as it is, while the frustrated favor radical change. The tendency to look for all causes outside ourselves persists even when it is clear that our state of being is the product of personal qualities such as ability, character, appearance, health and so on.” — Eric Hoffer

“Let us treat men and women well; Treat them as if they were real; Perhaps they are.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

CALLOUS, adj. Gifted with great fortitude to bear the evils afflicting another. “When Zeno was told that one of his enemies was no more he was observed to be deeply moved. “What!” said one of his disciples, “you weep at the death of an enemy?” “Ah, ’tis true,” replied the great Stoic, “but you should see me smile at the death of a friend.” — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” — Oscar Wilde

“It is impossible for a man to love his wife whole-heartedly without loving all women somewhat. I suppose that the converse must be true of women.” — Lazarus Long

“Loneliness is the poverty of the self. Solitude is the richness of the self.” — May Sarton

“He preferred an honest man that wooed his daughter, before a rich man. “I would rather,” said Themistocles, “have a man that wants money than money that wants a man.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Themistocles

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

My normal (hah!) routine is shot to shit…. It is now 0330 in the AM, and this Pearl is done…. I’ve been up too long already, and may just go back to bed, in the forlorn hope of actually getting comfortable enough to sleep, with my hips, hands and shoulders all singing to me, a song of misery played on the strings of my nervous system…. Ah well, so much for another day in Hell…. No worries, I’ve got my ticket to Oblivion, right here in my pipe…. See y’all later, ffolkes…. maybe even tomorrow…..

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, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

À bientôt, mon cherí….

No job for a gentleman….

Posted on November 20, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

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

~~ Machiavel, from The Jew of Malta ~~

~~ Christopher Marlowe ~~

Mei stumbled under the load she carried, as she climbed the path to her parent’s cottage, set upon a small hill just outside the town where they lived…. The town sat on the road leading to the great city of Peking, where the Emperor held court with the great nobles and beautiful ladies Mei saw each day, passing by on the Great Road leading into the city from the south. Mei liked to watch them pass by, seated in their swaying palanquins, distant and aloof, as they stared indolently out at the gaping crowds along the roads, wishing she could see the court, where the bright clothes and sparking jewels of the courtesans were said to outshine the sun…. She just knew it would be the most beautiful sight she would ever see….

Bah, humbug…. I’m already bored with little Mei; I’m pretty sure she’ll end up as another fashion maven, or courtesan, doomed to a short life full of the misery so common to the lower classes in ancient China…. or, at least, if the Emperors back then were of the same ilk as today’s ruling classes, it would be so. I don’t think human nature has undergone any particularly startling changes over the last couple thousand years…. No, the depths of human stupidity are boundless, and I don’t think there are enough of us who can see what is happening to be able to change the direction we’ve taken, one sure to lead us to places we do NOT want to end up….

But, sadly, the Asininnies who run the planet are no smarter than the rest of us….. They refuse to see beyond the needs of their own avarice and lust for power, blithely assuming their invulnerability…. So, I rant, and make my peace with karma, so as to remain ready for the imminent extinction I see as the only remaining outcome to our current state of affairs…. I hate to be pessimistic, as humans do have the potential to make the necessary changes; I just haven’t seen any evidence that would show there are enough ffolkes willing to make those changes, compared to those who prefer to ignore any and all warnings from reality that their actions are not merely unproductive, but, frankly suicidal….

There I go again…. Damn, I sure wish that wouldn’t happen, but, I suppose if it didn’t, this blog wouldn’t have lasted as long as it has…. There is something to be said for stubbornness…. I’m not certain just what that may be, but, hey, I don’t know everything….. That has been made perfectly clear in the past three-plus years, hasn’t it? I do however, have a small degree of control over this vessel, so, I can utilize whatever exit strategies we may need to get us where we need to go…. Well, I’m authorized to do so, even if it isn’t always physically possible…. we do try, though, honest.

Not only do we make a concerted effort to maintain control, we don’t charge any extra fees for doing it, so, I guess that makes us a bunch of bloody altruists, now, doesn’t it? Not a bad reputation for one old, fat fart with flat feet, and a tendency for his nose to grow red and round…. In fact, I think I’ll take this opportunity to rest firmly upon my laurels, insofar as it applies to the task at hand, which, of course, may be seen to be of the category “not at all”….. In point of further fact, I’m now fully in the process of cheating, which hopefully will take us out of this mess, one rapidly losing all hope of ever being rescued…..

In fact, I’m so officially and completely lost, we’re leaving…. NOW….

Shall we Pearl?

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” ~~

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

After such a strangely apt opening, I think a bit of music to soothe our now-troubled minds would be in order….

Music for reading – Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Debussy, Lizst, Schumann

http://youtu.be/Qc7UzQB8gtI

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

“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.” — From The Notebooks of Lazarus Long, by Robert A. Heinlein

Cognitive Synthesis of Perception. Precognitive Forecasting. Looking At The Big Picture. Multi-tiered thought. There are many phrases/words used to try to describe the process of prognostication of future events in human culture, a pastime obviously fraught with the danger of being wrong more often than not. The future has a past history of surprising us with its unpredictability, almost without fail, as we are not as smart as we would like to believe, IN RELATION TO THE BIG PICTURE.

That last part, you see, is a fatal flaw in all of us; by using our intellect, by removing our minds and thoughts from the plane on which we exist with everything else, spending time in our imagination, we tend to lose the connection we have to what is REAL, thereby failing to account for that source of information/perceptions, and/or its influence on what may come to pass.

In short, we forget to calculate OUR OWN effect on events, which, as is patently obvious, is completely predictable, in its insistence on sticking to a pattern of deliberate stupidity in the face of reality. We humans, as a matter of course, will use all our will to deny reality if it doesn’t fit in with our preconceived notions of what we would LIKE reality to be….

Most of the time, our unwillingness to think puts us, according to those who would have us believe without examination, under the control of supernatural being, who will forever relieve us of any responsibility for our actions, and will never, ever make us try to think for ourselves again, once they have surrendered our will to this delusional entity…. This delusion is particularly powerful in its reliance on “ipse dixit” reasoning, which allows the proponents of the blindness the permission to completely ignore any and all contradictory evidence they may be presented with, whether real, or reasoned…. Nothing will penetrate, because they won’t allow it….

If you think I’m exaggerating, then I offer the following as a relatively strong set of proof, of an ilk even the most ignorant could conceivably find acceptable, in that it’s all direct reporting by other humans, all of whom suffer from the same core set of delusions…. even those who seem to be reporting contradictory evidence…. Very few of them actually express any awareness of THEIR OWN prejudices…. but, one must read SOMETHING in order to find ANY kind of thought stimulus….

Below are a large number of links to articles I read on the Net yesterday…. Most express outrage at the bozoid activities they describe, so, at least those authors have some clue as to what is going on, so, what they report assumes a slightly more acceptable level of what might be held as truth…. My point can be found not by reading and studying each and every article, end to end, (as I MOSTLY did…. sigh, I’m tired, too…), but, rather, by looking at the total picture, the gestalt, as it were, that is suggested by considering them ALL as single pieces of evidence of the problem that exists in humanity’s nature…. Some seem to be good news, some are obviously NOT so encouraging, but, all point to the same conclusion, my friends, using any sort of reasoning method you may choose to apply…

In short, looking at the Big Picture will convince you that THE ENTIRE WORLD HAS GONE INSANE, AND THERE IS NO CURE!

Sorry, ffolkes, but, as far as I can see, all the evidence available points to that conclusion, and I do try to be realistic, if somewhat optimistic at times…. Okay, hell, busted; I’m a cynical old curmudgeon…. Nevertheless, I still don’t see much that convinces me people are going to change, not enough to make enough difference against the inertia created by the mass of STUPIDITY and DELIBERATE IGNORANCE I see surrounding me on this planet…. Meanwhile, well, here I am, stuck on this sorry old ball of mud without my space ship, and no other way to get away before it all goes south….. No hills to head out for, so to speak….

Here, read as many as you like…. There are lots more where these came from, and each one is rant-worthy by itself….. Afterwards, I’ll include a few pearls to help illustrate the point….

http://observer.com/2014/11/breaking-doj-moves-to-disqualify-all-defense-attorneys-who-know-of-govt-misconduct/

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/19/3593628/how-did-this-unarmed-schizophrenic-woman-get-killed-by-cleveland-police/

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/18/3593645/house-epa-science-advisory-board-bill/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/18/1345795/-Gov-Mike-Pence-says-not-giving-food-to-the-unemployed-will-ennoble-them?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/18/3593389/congress-postal-service/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/18/1345753/-About-these-pundits-and-their-fetish-for-bipartisanship-Can-t-they-just-find-a-toe-to-suck-instead?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/18/1345751/-McConnell-Boehner-struggle-to-find-a-way-around-another-government-shutdown?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/19/hillsborough-inquest-police-story-forced-gate-liverpool-supporters

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/19/nsa-reform-surveillance-usa-freedom-act-section-215

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/nov/19/man-allegedly-tortured-us-ulk-troops-wins-right-sue-damages

http://time.com/3594482/holiday-shopping-black-friday-thanksgiving-christmas-gifts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29

I would like to point out the sheer avarice our culture encourages as implied by the last article, as well as to have you note that this is an article about buying ‘stuff’ for Christmas, in November, while we are still over a week away from Thanksgiving…. SIGH….

“I never could see why people were so happy about Dickens’ `A Christmas Carol’ because I never had any confidence that Scrooge was going to be any different the next day.” — Dr. Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist (1893-1990), — on the transience of the Christmas spirit.

“There live not three good men unhanged in England; and one of them is fat and grows old.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), King Henry IV — Act ii, Sc. 4

“We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.” — Dwight D Eisenhower

“The distinction between Freedom and Liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have been unable to find a living specimen of either.” — Ambrose Bierce “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“I think as long as you suffer for your sins, they don’t count.” — Calvin

“I don’t think we should punish the criminal [a rapist] by killing his child.” — Dr. John Wilke, President, National Right to Life Committee, — Search for Common Ground, taped for television 4/89, as quoted in — The Far Right, Speaking For Themselves, a Planned Parenthood pamphlet

To summarize, once more, with feeling, loud enough for those in the rear of the hall to hear…. say it with me now!…..

“Stupidity is much the same all the world over.” — John Stuart Mill

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

Today’s ending quote in the intro section was a bit of a tease, so, here is another bit of doggerel from our old friend, Willie B…..

When You Are Old

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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

In an attempt to counter-balance the large load of deliberate mendacity described in section two above, here is an old school pearl with advice, comments, and observations about some of humanity’s more sterling qualities, few as they may be….

Know then this truth (enough for man to know),–

“Virtue alone is happiness below.”

~~ Alexander Pope (1688-1744) ~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle iv, Line 309 ~~

“My own life has been spent chronicling the rise and fall of human systems, and I am convinced that we are terribly vulnerable…. We should be reluctant to turn back upon the frontier of this epoch. Space is indifferent to what we do; it has no feeling, no design, no interest in whether or not we grapple with it. But we cannot be indifferent to space, because the grand, slow march of intelligence has brought us, in our generation, to a point from which we can explore and understand and utilize it. To turn back now would be to deny our history, our capabilities.” — James A Michener

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.” — Thomas Jefferson

And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there

~~ Box of Rain by Lesh, Hunter ~~

“Have no respect whatsoever for authority; forget who said it and instead look at what he starts with, where he ends up, and ask yourself, “Is it reasonable?” — Richard Feyman’s father

“Everywhere the human soul stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness; on the confines of two everlasting hostile empires, Necessity and Freewill.” — Carlyle (1795-1881)

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.

~~ The Buddha ~~

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

Today’s Pearl came together rather quickly, given the fact the ranting section was completed yesterday as I perused the news…. There were so many egregious examples of just how crazy the world has gone, it put itself together…. So, here I am, at 0545, mostly done, and no idea what to do next…. The rest of the world won’t be up for a couple hours, mostly, so, I may as well just go back to bed…. I could, I suppose, try to find something constructive to do, but, what fun would THAT be, eh? I think I’ll go find a bureaucrat to torment, if I can find one out of bed this early…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes….

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, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

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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