A most formidable hamster….

Posted on October 9, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“It is better to copulate than never.”

~~ Lazarus Long ~~

The market on Portobello Road, London

Hajime…. As our opening quote from Lazarus signals, today’s Pearl might get a bit rambunctious. I seem to have entered a time bubble, or, perhaps, slipped through a worm-hole into an alternate universe. Whatever it may be, for four days, almost, I’ve been getting closer to a sort of balance, between all the hard places, and the soft. Not to imply it’s nearly so simplistic, but, let it suffice for now as a fairly close approach to my personal reality, and get on with the fun….

Yes, fun. I decided we/I don’t do fun enough; in fact, I remembered one can’t overdo fun, at all. So, today’s post has some whimsy, some grit, some entertainment, and a bunch of verbiage otherwise known as filler. What can I say? It’s a gift. Or, well, a talent, anyway. Still, it might be worse, you know…. I might have decided to rant again. Not only is there no new, fresh rant over which to fret, the one I chose to include, from the archives, is an abbreviated version, mostly old-school, with only a smidgen of necessary neuronic involvement. Afterward, of course, there’s a poem to ease y’all into the old-school section for our finale today…. Don’t forget, the price is right, right?….

What with all the tasks and events presented to me by Reality yesterday/today, I’m not sure how, but, what follows is a complete Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, with four complete sections. That, and the other tasks are done, and I’m glad…. I think I’ll go eat some worms…. Or, not. Perhaps, instead, we’ll do this….

Shall we pearl?….

“What happens to the wide-eyed observer
when the window between reality and unreality breaks
and the glass begins to fly?”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

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

In the interests of efficiency and elegance, today’s musical selection finds us with a collection of classical pieces, for study or relaxation. Since both are handy when reading here at ECR, you get them both, for we are nothing if not accommodating, eh?…. Enjoy, ffolkes; it’s all good stuff, and makes the reading go nice and smooth….

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

From 7/20/2014:

I cannot tell a lie…. Well, that isn’t true. I can, but, I have a hard time justifying it to myself, so, I keep it to a minimum; mostly, I succeed… It’s not usual, I know, for people to even think about it, more’s the pity, but, that’s just the way I am…. So, since I can’t, I’ll tell you right now, I don’t have the wherewithal to rant any more this morning…. The intro took most of my angst away; the emotional power just isn’t there now, so, anything I did write would be a bit frail; I like my rants to be robust, if nothing else….

So, we’re going to do this…. Below is a link, to yet another example of A) how egregiously the governments of the world, ours, the Brits, and all of them, are bumbling around, spying on you, me, and each other, while the public sits and watches as they try to justify their insane paranoia by telling the public it’s all for their own good…. It’s bullshit, of course, but, that’s their story, and they are sticking to it….and B) how the lies aren’t even being addressed by those who are telling them, but, rather, are being labeled as legal, by the passing of legislation making it so….

Since I’m NOT going to rant about it, I’ll follow the link with a seven-star pearl that takes aim at those who are involved in the whole ugly mess at the top of the heap, which, in my mind, is beginning to resemble one of those snake pits we hear so much about…. Hiss, hiss, wriggle…..

Enjoy the pearls, ffolkes, and try not to let the article depress you any more than necessary…. If you must, you can be glad this is the BRITISH government that is being exposed in this article…. at least it’s not our own….. THIS time, anyway…. Of course, ours is busy with its own illegal spying programs, none of which have been shut down, or even restrained, in spite of all the hullabaloo over it…. Ah well, see you in the poetry section, ffolkes….

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/18/intelligence-services-email-database-internet-tribunal

“This message has been personally tested and certified by Big Brother Bill, Senator Exon, and the Religious Right to be PC, containing only the best of family values, and Safe For The Children ™. Disclaimer: The caffeine made me do it.” — Smart Bee

“The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes and fears rather than with their minds.” — Will Durant

“Americans used to roar for Liberty, now they bleat for Security.” — Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

“Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.” — Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw (1818-1885))

” — I’d love to, but…the President said he might drop in.” — 4 of 101 Easy Ways To Say NO

“It does take a perverse form of optimism to have any faith in the news media when almost every time they cover something you _know_ about, they get it wrong. Maybe they’re wrong that often covering subjects in which I’m not an expert? Naw, it just couldn’t be.” — Grant Edwards

“It ain’t me; it ain’t me; I ain’t no senator’s son!” — (Creedence Clearwater Revival) The Fortunate Son

Yep…. As I’ve noted previously, it’s all in the wrist….

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

Unbidden, treasure unfolded…

Taken by surprise, Psyche sits numb
Amidst tall phrases worn of elder time
Seeking a not-new place from which to come
No shiny new horizon, nor altered paradigm.

Sudden regrets shape dreams as times maintain
Shades of memories bring poignant clear sight
Visions of duty, each chosen wild campaign
Shouts echoing clamors to enfold the night.

Arisen from less than eternal havens of sleep
Facing moments created in torment and pain
Destiny weighs upon those chosen to keep
As the sparrow flies now to sever the twain.

Faded pathways lead away, hazy and long
Burned out verges, so long unknown
Images of yesterday, clear and strong
Bleed into today, though t’is but my own……

~~ gigoid ~~

9/6/2012

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

Naked Pearls

Ha, ha, ha….

*******

“Nothing unreal exists.”

~~ Kiri-Kin-Tha’s Law of Metaphysics ~~

*******

“Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.”

~~ Hermann Hesse ~~

*******

“When the situation is desperate,
it is too late to be serious.
Be playful.”

~~ Edward Abbey ~~

*******

“A little nonsense now and then,
is cherished by the wisest men.”

~~ Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ~~

*******

“As for myself,
I always willingly acknowledge my own self
as the principal cause of every good and of every evil
which may befall me;
therefore I have always found myself
capable of being my own pupil,
and ready to love my teacher.”

~~ Giacomo Casanova ~~

*******

A monk said to Joshu,
“Your stone bridge is widely renowned,
but coming here I find only a heap of rocks.”

Joshu said,
“You see only the stones and not the bridge.”

The monk said,
“What is the bridge?”

Joshu said,
“What do you think we are walking on?”

~~ Zen Bee ~~

*******

“To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”

~~ William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence” ~~

*******

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

Having completed my chosen duty, with some degree of efficiency, I shall take my leave without any more pathetic attempts at humor. In fact, I’ll be completely serious, and reiterate my intention to return tomorrow, to torment, er, challenge y’all again. See ya, ffolkes; be strange, it’s cool out there….

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….

Organized reserves of flippancy….

Posted on March 30, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“I expect nothing. I fear no one. I am free.”

~~ Nikos Kazantzakis ~~

Captive Beauty

Hajme…. Quietly babbling to itself, the brook tumbled over rocks down the gentle slope toward the waiting trees, obligingly leading into the depth of the woods. Softly, the breeze pushed at the backs of sweaty necks of the party walking alongside the brook, on an ancient path worn by generations of animal and human feet. In the afternoon sun, which beat mercilessly upon the heavily laden backs of the porters, the party looked wilted and fatigued, stumbling occasionally on the rock-strewn path. As the afternoon wore on, they walked more slowly, peering side to side on the path, obviously seeking the proper bivouac…..

Okay, that’s enough. We’ll leave our party wherever in the hills they happen to be, & let them find their own camp site. I wrote that story intro because I don’t really want to be up at all, having again fought for sleep all night, unsuccessfully. I don’t feel too bad, considering, but, I decided to try not to complain about it first thing. Since I could only wait until the second paragraph, I’ll also place a firm limit on it, and end such indulgence before it really gets started…. The primary purpose in saying anything at all about it is to give warning to my Gentle Readers as to the general outlook for today’s Pearl, which is, sad to say, rather unpredictable in nature…. Go figure….

I only say this to give y’all a chance to skip the parts that don’t suit you today. It’s all fairly fresh, if not from the archives, and probably won’t be too weird, thought, of course, a certain degree of that is always present. However, it will be, due to circumstances well beyond my comprehension, if not control, shall we say, somewhat patchwork in nature, and, thus, the unpredictability previously mentioned. Hell, I guess I’m saying, I haven’t a clue as to what may happen after the intro, so, watch where you put your feet, and your faith. Either one could be in serious danger if you are less than mindful…..

Now I’ve probably driven most everyone away, I guess I’ll get to this; it’s already late, by my usual schedule, so, some haste might be in order…. Haste, however, as we know, makes waste, so, fuck that. I’m going to take my time, and see if I can’t make it, if not good, at least palatable as food for thought. If I can do it, it will be a first, but, we won’t comment on that. Instead, we’ll do this…..

Shall we Pearl?

A wise man once said …”I don’t know.”

~~ Subtle Bee ~~

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

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

Today’s music was chosen simply because it’s a default day. As always, this compilation was picked because the picture drew my eye. I hope you enjoy it as you read….

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

Classical Music

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

https://youtu.be/aJZtIHeI27s

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

As a break from the usual sobriety, here is a discussion of one of our favorite things around here, to wit: sheer nonsense…. Enjoy!….

From 2/8/2013:

“Yow! I want to mail a bronzed artichoke to Nicaragua!”

~~ Zippy the Pinhead ~~

As previously noted, we like our nonsense around here…. This one from Zippy is particularly nonsensical, and will serve nicely as a segue into a discussion of the value there is in engaging in nonsensical behavior on occasion. A lot of folks, and even some ffolkes, might think there isn’t a lot to say on the subject, but, they don’t know me, do they? Having spent much of the last two years honing that very skill, to wit: propounding at length on subjects of little meaning, I think we can turn this into quite a nice little pearl, one that will shine even in the dark…. or maybe not… Why don’t we just go ahead, and see what happens, eh?….

Now, to begin, let me point out that the concept of nonsense, by the structure of the word itself, gives us a clue as to where its value lies… it is composed of two parts, “non” a prefix indicating negative state, and “sense”, in this form meaning perception, or ordered perception, more accurately (it makes good sense….). This tells us that the word ‘nonsense’, as the direct antonym for ‘sense’, supplies the balance that the universe demands from every part of its makeup….

“As a professional humorist, I often get letters from readers who are interested in the basic nature of humor. “What kind of a sick perverted disgusting person are you,” these letters typically ask, “that you make jokes about setting fire to a goat?” … — Dave Barry, “Why Humor is Funny”

Everything in the universe exists in duality, as we have explored previously; this duality is directly related to our own set of perceptive abilities, which operate solely by noting the presence or absence of certain forms of matter, or energy manifestation (light, sound, etc….) We see because our eyes note the presence and absence of light waves. We hear the moments of sound between the moments of silence…. It all exists in duality, and that is how we perceive it, for that is what gives the universe its balance, and allows it to produce life, and matter, and all that we are a part of in this grand landscape of wonder….

But, the human mind is subtle, and recognizes the subtlety of the universe…. Thus, when we are confronted with seriousness for a long period of time, our nature demands something as balance, and we slip over into the nonsense mode in the privacy of our minds, to provide some relief from the somber nature of much of what is created by the hand of Man…. Goodness knows, after I am forced, or trapped, into listening to the prattling of fools about laws, or dogma, or some such asinine bureaucratic folderol, a bit of Zippy, or Wacko, or Pooh’s evil twin can always make me smile, and get through the boredom with greater equanimity….. or, as much as I ever can summon in those situations…..

“A little nonsense now and then,
is cherished by the wisest men.”

~~ Willie Wonka ~~

Willie knew this little fact about the universe well, thanks to Roald Dahl, whom we can thank for his contribution to literature of quite a bit of nonsense, written with great style and verve, and not a little sarcasm. This little couplet springs up in my mind on many occasions when I am confronted by some piece of societal sobriety, and reminds me to take what I’m seeing or hearing with a big dose of salt, and maybe some Cholula’s hot sauce to spice it up. What the hell, it can’t hurt…. Can it? You tell me…..

“SANTA CLAUS comes down a FIRE ESCAPE wearing bright blue LEG WARMERS.. He scrubs the POPE with a mild soap or detergent for 15 minutes, starring JANE FONDA!! — Zippy the Pinhead

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

Notes of process and program…

Poems, alas, don’t chase through my head,
bumping and pushing each other like brothers at dinner.
They’re more ripped out of my innards, instead.
Time and circumstance reveal no ultimate winner.

Simmering and bubbling near my unconscious mind
these maddening rhymes blind me sans glimmer.
Building until bursting as if to be dined and wined,
the remaining denizens appear much slimmer.

Fiery visions retain such glorious fatal dimension,
in retrospect, yet fail to leave a permanent scar,
until blessed, or cursed, with focused attention,
singing, crying, bleeding, fast as a movie star.

Pretty soon can’t be soon enough, she said
to a chameleon colored thief bathed in moonlight.
Fancy candles in stripes of blue, gold, and red
foster honest dreams in shades of white.

Passage to daylight is problematic, at best:
beastly ghosts of insomniacs cast no shadow.
Even judges with robes can pass the wrong test
while the rest of us go with what we know.

~~ gigoid ~~

1/3/2013

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

Naked Pearls

Good Stuff to Remember

*******

“What you think of yourself is more important than what others think of you.”

~~ Seneca ~~

*******

“Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right.”

~~ Sophocles — Antigone, 706 ~~

*******

“It is necessary to the happiness of man
that he be mentally faithful to himself.
Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving,
it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe.”

~~ Thomas Paine ~~

*******

“It is impossible to design a system so perfect that no one needs to be good.”

~~ T. S. Eliot ~~

*******

“Do not look for all the answers at once.
A path is formed by placing stones one in front of the other.”

~~ The Giant from Twin Peaks ~~

*******

“…for the most part happiness consists in being willing to be what you are.”

~~ Erasmus ~~

*******

“Tanstaafl!”

~~ Ancient Sage Bee ~~

*******

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

Well, I did it. As I figured before beginning, I don’t think I’ll comment on the quality of whatever you find above; too easy to look silly, and, I’ve probably already reached my limit for that today. I think I’m going back to bed, to see if the sleep I seek, which seems so elusive at night, can be found, or persuaded to approach for a session of indulgence. The way I am feeling, fat chance…. In a perfect world, who cares, right?

Okay, that does it. I’m outta here, before I try to be rational. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes. I can’t seem to help myself….

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….

This is a multi-zone pass….

Posted on January 17, 2016 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.”

~~ Benjamin Franklin ~~

And your point is…?

Hajime…. Ah, yes, apartment living…. You know the day isn’t going to go well when you’re awakened at 3:30 AM by screaming voices from the other side of the wall…. Once the hullabaloo was done, & the cat settled down, we managed to get back to sleep, only to oversleep…. Hence, today’s later than usual posting (we don’t use the Tardis on weekends if not needed…. maintenance….), paired with the perfect stolen meme to open todays mess. It describes my feelings this morning quite well, thank you very much….

However, rather than take out my angst over having to listen to someone else’s drama so late/early, and, to give my aching arms & hands a break, we’ll cut today’s intro short yet again…. Hell, this makes the third or fourth time in a week; certainly a new record…. and, I say that just as if a) it mattered, and, b) anyone cared at all. Before I get lost & can’t live up to the word ‘short’, we’ll employ this old literary trick, which works like this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” — Thomas Paine

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

Image from nytimes.com via Google Images

I feel like something raucous today; this promises to fit the bill just fine…. Enjoy!….

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

Allman Brothers Band
with Eric Clapton

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

https://youtu.be/pb22MYqdugE

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

I’m lazy; so, sue me. I don’t feel like ranting yesterday; therefore, we have no rant today. We do, however have a bit of nonsense from the archives…. You may as well enjoy it; it’s all you get here today…..

From 2/25/2012:

“It’s a buck dancer’s choice my friend, you better take my advice.
You know all the rules by now, and the fire from the ice.
Ain’t no time to hate
— there’s barely time to wait.
Whoa, oh, what I want to know: where does the time go?”

~~ Robert Hunter ~~

Where does the time go? And who says so? Where does your lap go, when you stand up? Where are all those socks that have been lost over the years in the wash? If it’s an unknown soldier, whose side was he on, and how do we know? If Billy stays at his work, baiting lines on a tuna boat, a long time, does that make him a Master Baiter? If Time is a river, or a road stretching out before us, how does it fly? If a butterfly flying away from its cocoon can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world, what happens when an elephant poops? Why on Earth did kamikaze pilots wear helmets? Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?

These are the kinds of things that trouble mankind? Well, no, but I tend to think about them a lot. I’m curious, and there are still a lot of things I have to learn; one can only learn when they admit they don’t know. Why, you may ask, do I spend my time on such nonsense? That’s an easy one. Because I damn well want to, and it’s none of your damn business what I do inside my own head.

But, since you’ve asked so nicely, I’ll put down my curmudgeon cudgel, and tell you. It all started when I was young, and my brother accidentally stepped on my nose. You might wonder what my nose was doing under his foot, but you’ll be disappointed to learn that you’ll never know, because it’s not relevant, or germane to our discussion.

What is relevant is this….. life is hard enough to deal with just as it is; there is pain, suffering, and, a seemingly hostile Universe with which we must contend, every minute of every day. There’s no need to add another layer of difficulty by refusing to see the other side of that seriousness, that little bit of nonsense that is present every where and every when, in everything we do, in everything that happens to us.

We are all Bozos on this bus; when the nose shows, you must let it grow. There will be time enough to be plenty serious when serious problems need to be addressed; when we have the opportunity to experience the other side of existence, it makes good sense to take it. Or, as so aptly put by Willie Wonka:

“A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men.”

Cheers, and welcome to the parade!…….

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

Visible life

Forty-two days of pressure and internal rain,
leave marks of salvation, often in pain.
Such sharp reminders of yesterday’s remorse
fight heavily to keep a straight course.
Rash moments, bright, and routinely immense
Give us pleasure, bereft of common sense.

Still the night comes soft and eternally dear
to bring out wishful dreams so vitally clear.
Life’s myrmidons give freely in protest
lifting with skill, soul pieces first to infest,
Loudly brash, with no such voices to remain
Sealed in infamy, branded ugliness all too plain.

Now come brave signs of chapter and verse
Shielded by ignorance, irritable and terse.
Gravid portions of in-between retaliation
leave only pale marks of initial gestation
With hope even pallid warriors grow brave
Leading all humanity, to a warm, stale grave.

Hope never falters, nor leaves any trace
Yet lingers forever in a welcoming space.
Cheerful faces yet shine out of time
for tricking and fumbling sweet melody sublime.
Fill in the spaces with a long, strong retort
life is ever visible, if only as last resort.

~~ gigoid ~~

9/15/2012

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

Naked Pearls

Life Lived Large

*********

How does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown?

~~ Bob Dylan ~~

*********

“The things that matter most
must not be at the mercy
of the things that matter least.”

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~~

*********

“Be patient and tough;
someday this pain will be useful to you.”

~~ Ovid ~~

*********

“One’s mind is like a knife.
If you don’t sharpen it, it gets rusty.”

~~ Nien Cheng ~~

*********

“I think we are drawn to dogs
because they are the uninhibited creatures
we might be
if we weren’t certain we knew better.”

~~ George Bird Evans ~~

*********

“Nature is not human-hearted.”

~~ Lao Tzu ~~

*********

“This is living, not to live unto oneself alone.”

~~ Menander ~~

*********

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

*********

“I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together!”

~~The Beatles. “I Am The Walrus” ~~

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

That’s it. Done. And, not bad, considering. With that in hand, to assuage my non-existent guilt over today’s mess, I’ll take my leave, post-haste, before all my brownie points expire. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, tongue-in-cheek, hat-in-hand, and, just-in-time for a new day…. well, here, anyway…. Ta, then….

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

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

Which is Why….

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

gigoid, the dubious

The *only* duly authorized Computer Curmudgeon.

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

“SCRAM!!!!!!!!!!”- Oscar the Grouch

À bientôt, mon cherí….

Fionella isn’t ready to cope….

Posted on May 23, 2015 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Mankind…

The public enemy’s not the man who speaks his mind.”

~~ Anthrax ~~

Can you tell me when the next shuttle blasts off for Mars?

This place is TOO crazy!

Image from SFGATE.com Pictures of the Day Feature, Thursday, 2012

Good morrow to you…. Due to circumstances completely within my control, I’m running late. This means nothing. Well, it does mean I’ll cheat again, but, other than that, you’d never know, unless I told you…. Hence. the warning, since we’re all about full disclosure around here…. Unless, of course, that would be silly…. Goodness knows we do that enough, as it is….

Shall we Pearl?

“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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

Today’s video choice is here, heralded with the ranting logo, to take up the slack due to no fresh rant…. Here is one of our favorite comedians, with a complete show of stand-up comedy, dealing with modern times…. I haven’t watched it yet, but, if he does stand-up as well, and as pointedly as his weekly show, it should be quite Carlinesque…. and, though I had to add that word to the Spell Check Dictionary, I don’t believe that will be true for the future…. Carlin’s name will go down in history as possibly the greatest social critic/comedian of his time…. The ultimate jester…. Enjoy, ffolkes….

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

John Oliver

Terrifying Times

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

https://youtu.be/9BH6GcYW4so

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

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

As noted above, and, as the picture of Kokopelli indicates, (if you know me at all…) there won’t be a fresh rant today…. Here instead are some pearls I’ve saved as potential openings for several rants; you’ll get the picture, I think….

“Art is a moral passion married to entertainment. Moral passion without entertainment is propaganda, and entertainment without moral passion is television.” — Rita Mae Brown

“A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.” — H.L. Mencken

“One of the merits of democracy is quite obvious: it is perhaps the most charming form of government ever devised by man. The reason is not far to seek. It is based on propositions that are palpably not true — and what is not true, as everyone knows, is always immensely more fascinating and satisfying to the vast majority of men than what is true.” — H. L. Mencken

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.” — H. L. Mencken

“If you could print all the money you wanted, and steal all the money you wanted, couldn’t you manage to stay out of debt?” — Smart Bee

“Did you hear that the Dutch government gave Quayle 12 rare Rembrandt etchings? He’s already got four of them colored in.” — Random American comedian, 1990

“Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” — Buffalo Springfield

“The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.” — H. L. Mencken

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth.
— Fedor Dostoevsky

Okay, that’s probably enough for you to get the idea we’re shooting for today…. As a small bonus, allow me to end this section with a perfectly appropriate critical comment from the man who codified most of the Proverbs to be found in the English-speaking world….

“This hitteth the nail on the head.”

~~ John Heywood (1597-1580) ~~

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

Today, we’ll go with two short, classic poems from our cultural past…. Two of my favorites, I might add….

The world is too much with us; late and soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune,
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

~~ William Wordsworth ~~

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

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you- Nobody- Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise-you know!
How dreary-to be- Somebody!
How public-like a Frog-
To tell one’s name-the livelong June-
To an admiring Bog!

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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

This picture, I think, is my absolute favorite pearl of wisdom, taken as a whole, virtual or otherwise… The picture, wonderfully conceived and executed, is a perfect graphic representation of the words of Lao Tzu, giving depth and color to the idea, making it even more powerful than the words can do alone…. Considering the lesson involved, as possibly the most powerful single idea humans have to learn in their entire life, that is saying a lot…. It states the entire concept in visual words… the Man, split apart by opposing forces within… the fiery power of the passions of the heart, versus the cool, cerebral, electric power of the reasoning mind….. bloody brilliant!…

Since I don’t have enough like this to construct an entire pearl, we’ll go with a regular style, old-school pearl, with lessons similar to, or a variation of this one…. It’s pretty deep, and can stand up to a lot of discussion; in fact, it has done so, for a very long time…. Let’s pearl, ffolkes….

“A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities will keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing.” — Samuel Butler

“Life, it turns out, is not a struggle; it’s a wiggle.” — Smart Bee

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” — Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” — Mark Twain

“The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.” — Joan Borysenko

“Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it…. Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 29

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” — Oscar Wilde

“Perhaps I know why it is man alone who laughs: He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Hmm…. Given the nature of the beginning, the results of our search seem a bit… off. Off parameters anyway, and, it certainly didn’t exactly follow the line of inquiry suggested by Lao Tzu’s opening remarks, did it? Oh well, I suppose we’ll just have to call it a compendium of lesser known lessons about life, as presented to, and by, gigoid, the dubious…. I picked ’em, after all…. If it comes to that, I DO stand by each one of them; they all have been useful at one time or another in my life, to be sure….

So, there… and, so be it.

gigoid has spoken, as should be expected….

Oh, shush! Ah say, shush, boy!….

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

Well, since it’s done, we won’t quibble. Instead, we’ll waffle, and make like a tree….. Yep, I’m outta here. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, if nobody talks me out of it….

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

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits 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

Kowabunga!

À bientôt, mon cherí….

A period of swiftly diminishing returns….

Posted on December 30, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”

~~ Marcus Aurelius ~~

Gosh…. now that I really look at it, that’s a pretty nice picture, isn’t it? I put it there just because I had it, sort of; I took it a few days ago while on the way to visit with my grandson for Christmas…. a more memorable occasion than it sounds, as it is the first time I’d had the opportunity to see him at Christmas since he was born. I’m glad the picture turned out so nicely…. Now, when I get my printer up & running again, I can print a copy of this, as a reminder of the day…. The short video I shot will also be nice to have to look at when I think of him, or of my son, and our first holiday together as a family with three generations…. That’s a nice piece of serendipity….

Such a nice surprise helps; I’m still a bit unsteady, but, after a good talk with a friend, and a semi-successful battle yesterday, I feel somewhat more centered today…. There is more turbulence to come though, so, I’m not making any promises as to how much longer I’ll feel like doing this…. At the moment, I can see there is still too much inside me that will do better out than in (as almost everything is….), so, we’ll complete this Pearl before we make any binding decisions….

I can’t say for sure if that is good news, or bad news for y’all…. I suppose you’ll have to take Hobson’s choice, and be happy with it, won’t you? Besides, you’re stuck now…. We’ve already left the terminal, and are now 11,000 feet in the air…. Not a good time to head back to the ticket stand…

I won’t even bother to make any predictive statements as to whether or not I can pull this off…. I’m no politico, who will lie to you, straight-faced, without ever having any intention of doing what I say. Nor am I a bozo, (at the moment…. that may change at any time….), who will try to distract you with humor, or a mess, or a snack. I am, however, a realist, and a gentleman, so, that’s something, I suppose…. You can call me a fool, you can call me a radical, you can call me a cab, and that’s okay…. just don’t call me late for dinner….

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willie Wonka

It is an established fact that nonsense has saved my sanity on a number of occasions, too, so, we’re rather fond of it around here…. Not that we depend on it very often, but, it serves us well, and is always welcome…. In this particular case, it has saved us from the ignominious display of maudlin reminiscence, or otherwise mildly embarrassing emotionally-charged crap that might otherwise have ensued…. Whew! It may not be apparent, ffolkes, but, we just dodged a big bullet, I think…. So big, I think we’d best get on with this, if we have any hope of ever getting done…..

Shall we Pearl?

“He who knows does not speak, He who speaks does not know.” — Lao Tzu

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

In an attempt to maintain some balance, let’s go with a bit more nonsense, okay?…. Okay!…. This is just about as much nonsense as can be found; these fools need no introduction, I should think…

The Three Stooges — Three Little Pirates (1946)

http://youtu.be/OjIWbeZ3KtM

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

“The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.” — Oscar Wilde, _Intentions_, “The Critic as Artist.”

I would bet that 99% of Americans alive today are completely unaware that they are at war, not with any foreign powers that wish to destroy our way of life, but, with various branches of their own government, which has been treating them as adversaries since the end of WWII, when the NSA first began its ongoing campaign to monitor ALL communications between ALL people in the ENTIRE world….

At this point, they have been approximately, (from what I can surmise from what information is available…) 75% effective in learning methods to intercept and utilize the information that is exchanged between people, via telephone, snail mail, email, internet data transfers, even private conversations, face to face, in almost any place, anywhere in the world, if they so desire…. It takes extreme measures to communicate with anyone without them having access to the information that is sent and received; a very few encrypted systems, and a very few physical places on the planet which are safe from their eyes, ears, and electronic surveillance technology….

Be afraid…. be very afraid..

Still not convinced?…. Try reading this, and some of what has come before in this saga….

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/26/aclu-nsa-documents-christmas-eve-lessens-impact

Well, duh! Of course they did…. After the article, there is a group of good articles summarizing timeline events in the ongoing saga of the NSA, and its ongoing war against the American public…. as well as the people of the entire world…. Nobody is safe from their prying, at all, and they continue to distract, hide, and fight any attempts to either rein them in, or shut them down…. But, then, what did we expect? Moral, ethical behavior? From the same people who have been doing this for over 65 years?…. I think it’s more than a bit naive to expect any such thing….

I wish I could come up with a solution that didn’t involve killing them all; that only plays into their strengths, and puts me at their level, karmically speaking…. Not going there, yet…. The day may come, but, for now, I’ll keep on shouting out whenever I see their chicanery, and encourage any and all trouble we can give them in return, without abrogating my own standards…. a tough row to hoe, but, been there, done that, so, oh well….

I had thought to let this go at this point, but, the following article caught my eye, as more proof of the lies, and the disregard for our rights that has been the hallmark of this “transparent” administration, under which we have lost more of our freedoms, than under any previous president…. and that, sadly, includes BOTH of the Shrubs…. This article describes how little they care anymore; they aren’t even bothering to pretend not to be hiding information….

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/the-nsas-ongoing-effort-to-hide-its-lawbreaking/384079/?single_page=true

Excerpted from the article:

“These actions do not represent mere violations of NSA policies… but willful violations of the law… If you, citizen, were caught illegally using an NSA database to check up on that girl you met on OkCupid, what do you think would happen?

Do you reckon that you’d get a cease-and-desist letter — or that you’d be scooped up by a team of thick-necked men with very short haircuts and dumped in the darkest oubliette Uncle Sam has available? …This is an inversion of the right order. In a sane society, people entrusted with state power — from NSA agents down to traffic cops — would be held to a higher standard rather than a lower one, and sanctioned more severely for wrongdoing rather than less.”

“The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power.” — Daniel Webster

Unfortunately, ffolkes, it’s too late; this happened a few years ago, when the Supreme Court sided with Wall Street, and approved the formation of Super PAC’s as legitimate organizations, with full sanction to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence the election process…. The Supremes, you see, were one of the first branches to fall under the influence of corporate money, back in the 1800’s when they first approved the laws that made corporations “people”, ensuring that corporate rights would be preserved over those of humans….

Oh well…. Since there’s nothing to be done now, unless I want to buy a gun, I guess I’ll just go have a whiskey, or twelve, and try to forget it for a while…. Well, that, or I’ll find more articles, and be back again to rail against the assholes who are killing us all, and don’t care, as long as they can get theirs….

“How many Kennedys does it take to change a light bulb? None, at least until we get some corroborating witnesses.”– Smart Bee

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

This is another of my own poems, recently rediscovered, so to speak…. I thought at first this was a different poem, but, the title is a metaphor, which I’d forgotten…. It refers to Asininnies, and their shenanigans on the public stage, not the weather….

From 9/18/2012:

November Dreams of Spring

Crass and cold, the beggar finds me swollen, so frail and fat
with painful stepping motions, running, like a Republicrat.
Building with straw and spittle, should artists come aground,
we all pay heavily, a billion for a bloody pound.

Too desperate, too ashamed to play such a part
We ask for belief, and sweet liberty, dressing up so smart.
It falls between the simple cracks, always in a hurry
To find a shrunken ego, ashen, swift, and full of worry.

Never there was a more penitent group, such a sterling way
To fast in luxury, making sure the guilty enter, but do not stay.
Forgotten gods can find their diffident suitors tonight
With dream-fitted convention, and a natural sense of delight.

For all the silken babies cried, to see the broken dreams of power
forgiven moments of certitude serve, filling up the maiden’s bower.
All the patient, loving veterans of ancient foreign time,
give up their first impressions, dying, dying for a rhyme.

~~ gigoid ~~

Odd, isn’t it, how we sometimes fall into a trance to write…. or, maybe that’s just me…. ah well, regardless, enjoy!….

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

The pearl you see below is one of the special ones… I know because it picked itself, so to speak…. It’s a bit hard to describe, sometimes, exactly how that works, but, the point to this one is pretty much made clear, if nowhere else, at the ending…. Enjoy, ffolkes, it’s all pretty good food for thought…. Personally, I like number five, too….

“Fear is strange soil. Mainly it grows obedience like corn, which grows in rows and makes weeding easy. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground.” — Terry Pratchett, _Small Gods_

“Freedom is found in no form of government; it is in the heart of the free man. He takes it with him everywhere. — Smart Bee

“Alienation without must be accompanied by alienation within; that is the law for every social level, even individuals. To harm one’s fellows, even one’s enemies, harms you, takes away some essential element from your self-respect and self-image.” — Greg Bear

“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xiii, Line 375

“Life is too short for grief. Or regret. Or bullshit.” — Edward Abbey

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

It’s done, and, while it remains a surprise, I’m going to take my leave, post haste, stage left, taking my sanity, such as it is, with me…. Not that it is of much use out here in the Big Blue Room, but, at least it’s safe in my pocket…. If things continue to look up, I’ll see y’all 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….

In the final analysis, partial hydrogenation was a key factor….

Posted on June 17, 2014 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

“Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

I used this tagline yesterday, as an apology, sort of…. In retrospect, I’m thinking this may just be something I could have tattooed on my forehead, as it seems to be one of the most common phrases I use, in a figurative sense…. This entire blog demands that I express some sort of explanatory excuse quite frequently, just by the nature of my chosen subject matter, and my chosen manner of discussion…. Well, in my world, it demands an explanation, anyway; just because other folks don’t live by what my daddy taught me gives me NO reason to do so. In fact, a big part of what he taught me is the concept of Duty, which precludes any sort of shirking, or abrogation of responsibility for our words and actions…..

In conjunction with that thought, came another…. It had to do with something else my father said to me one time, a piece of wisdom that, as it does at one point or another in every father’s life, occurred to him, and prompted him to share with me; I have since shared it with my own children, as part and parcel with the other important lessons I felt they should be taught, as I was…. He said to me, in so many words, “I have taught you all that you know; I have not taught you everything I know.” He smiled as he said it, to take some of the pain from its delivery, but, he couldn’t hide the truth of it, which often causes pain to those who insist on having it, straight up with no ice….

That being said, I have, at least in one respect, tried to do a bit more for my own children, as I am aware of my own failures as a father (we all have them…. we just try not to dwell on them….), and can’t hope to emulate the example he set, in some respects…. But, I have left a legacy for my two kids my father never had time to create, if he so desired…. and that is this blog, along with all the years of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom I created before 2011…. a history that goes back to 1997, when I was first in computer school, and chose my user name, gigoid…. The first Pearls came out, via email, a year or so later, when I got my first computer & Internet hook-up, slow as it was….

The rest, of course, is history, sans any editing by the winners/losers of any societal issues that may determine whose version lasts any length of time…. In the past three years alone, in putting out the Pearls for this version of the Follies, I’ve written well over two million words, all in my own inimitable, irritable style…. These words, and those yet to come, are what I leave my children as my legacy…. With these words, I am trying to transmit to them all the things I’ve never had the time to relate to them, thus giving the lie to that old saw about not teaching all I know….

It may not be the most lucrative legacy ever left, but, it’s what I’ve got, and it ain’t bad…. To further the process, I’d say I’ve wandered around this idea long enough for one day, and now decree it is time to get on with today’s business…. I’ve been working on this one for a while now, as the idea for the first section today struck me solidly in the forehead about two days ago, and I’ve been trying to find periods of time without major spasming to work on it….. my walk around the pirate conclave on Sunday was a bit more draining than I had first imagined…. I’ll live, but, it’s been a bit of a struggle to keep wanting to do so….

Ah, the hell with it; if I don’t get on with it, it’s going to explode, or dissolve in its own tears…. Shall we Pearl?….

“Language is the apparel in which your thoughts parade before the public. Never clothe them in vulgar or shoddy attire.” — George Crane

Oops! Now what?…. Oh well, we’ll just go on, as if we hadn’t seen this at all….

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

Welcome, gentle readers, to another episode of the Life and Times of the Wise Old Pine Cone…. Like me, you’ve probably heard stories all your life, telling happy tales with magical, happy endings, filled with anecdotes and descriptions of the Old Cone, and how his wisdom and understanding of The Way, and the Force, as well as the Metaphorse, helps him, and all who hear of him….

I know, I didn’t expect to find him here, in this somewhat bedraggled excuse for a city, either, but, I was waiting for a bus one day, and, there he was, just hanging out, waiting to catch the same bus…. We got to talking, and one thing led to another…. He came home with me, to continue our conversation, and further explore how he could help me, and I could help him, to leave a record of his words, and actions, for generations to follow…. Of course, I was humbled, and honored, agreeing at once…. We tried a couple of forays out into the BRC last week, and now are heading out for another walk, just to stretch a bit after the Pirate Festival I attended, and ended up walking A LOT more than is normal….

First, here is the Wise Old Pine Cone himself…. basking in the morning sun, looking forward to the day….. For all I know, he was meditating, as well, on some esoteric point of philosophy beyond my comprehension…. or not…. He looks content, though, doesn’t he?….

As we walked, we came across some of his friends from the tree, a married couple, the Burleycones, (I know, they’re HUGE, aren’t they? The WOPC tells me they’re examples of a certain strain of cones, who are all much larger than the rest of them…. kind of like a whole sub-species of giant sized cones….), who apparently had something very serious to discuss with him, to which I was not privy…. All I know is the Old Cone was a bit withdrawn for a while, kind of thoughtful…. Here he is talking with the two towering Cones….

You can see from the Wise Old Pine Cone’s expression, he’s got a lot on his mind…. He sat on this bench, staring at a small congress of crows, for over a half-hour before we set off for home….

When we got back to the house, I found out we’d been followed…. by a young pine cone I’d never seen before…. It seems the Burleycones have a son, and the Wise Old Pine Cone agreed, after much inner turmoil, to take the youngster on as his new paduan learner cone…. It’s a big job, for both of them, from what I know of the tradition…. As well, knowing what I do about the Wise Old One, it promises to be a very long, arduous, involved, and challenging time for the young cone…. He looks pretty sturdy, though, and seems to have an intelligent look about him…. We’ll see how he fares, at the Art of learning the Way…..

Here we see the Wise Old Pine Cone giving the Paduan his first reading assignment…. It’s a book written by a blogging friend of mine, Jeremiah Stephen, titled, “Sphere(s)” (as you see below….)….. Jeremiah’s blog, where you can find a link to purchase the book, (I did, and consider it well under-priced for the value of its work, and the worth of its contents, which is virtually incalculable….), is located here…. http://knowthesphere.wordpress.com/

Having read portions of it, (thus far; I’ve only had it a couple of weeks, and Jeremiah’s work is DEEP…..), I know that the young learner has his work cut out for him; it’s a challenging book, excellently written, full of solidly based, well-thought-out, and eloquently presented points of philosophy, all using a metaphor connected to spheres, which allows him to display his deep insight into reality…. He does all this in a fresh, innovative style of writing that engages the reader without becoming overwhelming….. Heavy praise, I know, but, which doesn’t even mention the accuracy and sheer, instinctive rightness of the conclusions he presents, as the logical, and meta-logical, results of his arguments. It will be interesting to see what our young paduan makes of it….

Here we see the young pine cone meeting Guan Yin, the Chinese goddess, aka the Empress of Heaven…. The Wise Old Pine Cone, in his wisdom, knows there are many things the young paduan can learn from her, things only she can teach him…. If you don’t know what they are, you don’t want to know, or it would do you more harm than good, thus negating the purpose of sharing the knowledge…. Trust me, the WOPC knows what he is doing, and so does Guan Yin….

Below you see the paduan meeting another of his teachers…. The Wise Old Pine Cone, having learned long ago to not try to do it all himself, assigns much of his paduan’s learning to other teachers, to provide more than just one point of view of the same material…. and, since Buddhism is an inherent part of what he teaches, why not go directly to the source to obtain the needed instruction?…. Wise, indeed….

In the picture below, we see the young paduan learner being introduced to a peer, one of the students of the Buddha…. Scrappy-Doo found out about the school, and figured out he would benefit from the calming effect the teachings have…. You see, Scrappy has entered puberty, and would like to meet some girls…. but, his aggressiveness and scruffy manner puts them off. So, he’s trying a bunch of different things to improve his chances of meeting a girl…. which, when you think about it, isn’t stupid….

Here you see the two famous teachers relaxing with an adult beverage, (or, perhaps, two or three of them….. they’re adults, after all….)….

The kids are tucked in bed, & Guan Yin doesn’t drink, so the two enlightened Ones have the place to themselves…. I hope they don’t go overboard, like they did last month…. The school had to shut down for three days until they recovered…. Oh well, we’re all bozos on this bus…. or, so I have come to understand…. which means that everyone, even the driver, gets more than just one chance…. After all, we are all bozos, right? Right….

I hope you enjoyed today’s little foray into silliness… I did…..

“A little nonsense, now and then, is cherished, by the wisest men.” — Willie Wonka

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

Since we’re being silly today, here’s a poet who does silly better than most anybody…. Enjoy!….

A Boy Named Sue

Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
and he didn’t leave much to Ma and me,
just this old guitar and a bottle of booze.
Now I don’t blame him because he run and hid,
but the meanest thing that he ever did was
before he left he went and named me Sue.

Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,
it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I’d get red
and some guy would laugh and I’d bust his head,
I tell you, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
Roamed from town to town to hide my shame,
but I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
I’d search the honky tonks and bars and kill
that man that gave me that awful name.

But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
just hit town and my throat was dry.
I’d thought i’d stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon in a street of mud
and at a table dealing stud sat the dirty,
mangy dog that named me Sue.

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
from a worn-out picture that my mother had
and I knew the scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old
and I looked at him and my blood ran cold,
and I said, ‘My name is Sue. How do you do?
Now you’re gonna die.’ Yeah, that’s what I told him.

Well, I hit him right between the eyes and he went down
but to my surprise he came up with a knife
and cut off a piece of my ear. But I busted a chair
right across his teeth. And we crashed through
the wall and into the street kicking and a-gouging
in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell you I’ve fought tougher men but I really can’t remember when.
He kicked like a mule and bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laughin’ and then I heard him cussin’,
he went for his gun and I pulled mine first.
He stood there looking at me and I saw him smile.

And he said, ‘Son, this world is rough and if
a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn’t be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said ‘Goodbye’.
I knew you’d have to get tough or die. And it’s
that name that helped to make you strong.’

Yeah, he said, ‘Now you have just fought one
helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you’ve
got the right to kill me now and I wouldn’t blame you
if you do. But you ought to thank me
before I die for the gravel in your guts and the spit
in your eye because I’m the guy that named you Sue.’
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun,
called him pa and he called me a son,
and I came away with a different point of view
and I think about him now and then.
Every time I tried, every time I win and if I
ever have a son I think I am gonna name him
Bill or George – anything but Sue.

~~ Sheldon Allan Silverstein ~~

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

Well, it’s been a productive morning…. We’ll finish off today with, of course, an old-school pearl, just as if we had it all planned out that way….. which, of course, we didn’t…. but, serendipity is our friend around here….

“I spent hours trying to come up with the perfect tagline. This isn’t it.” — Smart Bee

“After things have gone from bad to worse, the cycle will repeat itself.” — Farnsdick’s Corollary to the 5th Corollary

26. Read more books and watch less TV. — Instructions for life

O! If I were a fish
I’d lay hap’ly on my dish.
Yes, that’s my one and only wish —
To be a fish!

For fish don’t ever mish;
They needn’t flush after they pish!
Yes, and life’s just swish, swish, swish,
For all the fish!!!

— found in Smart Bee with no attribution, other than the essential quality needed, to wit: it’s damn silly….

“Facts are stubborn little bastards, be careful with them.” — Smart Bee

“One useless man can be called a disgrace. Two really useless men can be called a law firm. When you get more than these together, you have all the essential ingredients for a committee. And after the committee has made one or two criminal errors which are against the law, you have all that is deemed necessary for the formation of a congress. Our country has two separate bodies of these people, no one room being quite large enough to contain them all. And then there is the executive branch, but we shall discuss this later under the heading: “Extreme Absurdities You Would Not Believe!””– parts attributed to John Adams (though I suspect the last sentence or two were added sometime after the new millennium began….)

“Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” — Langston Hughes, Dreams

“Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.” — Buddha

“In dealing with the State, we ought to remember that its institutions are not aboriginal, though they existed before we were born: that they are not superior to the citizen: that every one of them was once the act of a single man: every law and usage was a man’s expedient to meet a particular case: that they all are imitable, all alterable; we may make as good; we may make better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1882)

This is an unusual pearl, ffolkes, but, that fits right in with today’s essential theme…. This one went from silly to sublime, in nine (mostly) short steps…. I hope you enjoyed it….

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

Ffolkes, I just don’t see how I can do this any better than this…. and, if so, I’m not sure I want to…. The best part is, I get to try again tomorrow… Well, that’s the best part for me…. y’all have to take your chances, as we all do when surfing…. I’ll make it worth your while, though, you can be sure of that…. Until then, stay silly, ffolkes, it’s a good excuse….

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

Honor is never for sale…..

Posted on November 13, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,

It isn’t every day one can start off with live Dead before breakfast, or even coffee, and, for many, it might not be exactly their cup of tea, ( I know, mixing my beverages, if not my metaphors….) but, I find it to be a fine way to begin the day, especially when the tune being enjoyed is from a live concert, with a lively, jiving boogie beat, complete with extremely hot licks by one of rock’s greatest improvisational guitarists, one of the earliest virtuosos in that category…. the inimitable, and, sadly, now deceased, Jerry Garcia…. Ah, sublime!….

I guess I just pulled my covers again, as an aging, now aged, hippie, first indoctrinated in the philosophy of free love in 1968 in Berkeley, CA, and a multi-concert attendee at Dead shows….. I never went on the road with the Dead, following after them all over the country, as so many did, but, I’ve made my share of whoopee at their gatherings of the tribes, and don’t regret a single moment of the experience…..

It was a time of great hope in our country….. The passions of the day, and the concepts of liberty and personal freedom that were engendered among the young of our nation back then have been carried forth, and preserved, over time, until, today, the same people who protested the war in Vietnam are now out on the streets, protesting the most recent draconian actions of the government, which, in spite of our efforts, have grown over time to include the latest outrage, wherein they are spying on their own citizens, looking under every rock they can find, in their paranoid search for terrorists….

Of course, the spying began even before the Vietnam conflict; they were putting together files on us at the FBI in 1968, and before that, from 1960 to 1964, during the Free Speech Movement, that preceded the advent of the hippies, and free love…. The government, apparently during WWII sometime, decided that keeping secrets from the public was necessary, whereupon they began to consider themselves as above the law, not subject to the same requirements as the rest of us….. Troops began to go to Southeast Asia, to protect “American interests” there, which, when examined more closely, turned out to be our interests in the heroin trade, a trade that has flourished there for centuries…. About that time, the FBI began to spy on American citizens, looking to root out the “commies” amongst us….

That particular insight, first brought to light in the mid-1960’s, and made very public by the movie, Air America, in the 1970’s, was the beginning of the end of my blind, willing support of the government….. The idea that our elected officials were involved in protecting that industry was completely repugnant to me then, and remains so today, especially since it turned out that such involvement was only the surface of how much corruption, theft, and outright lying our politicians were engaging in, among other revelations, all of which convinced me of their complete lack of virtue, or honor…. They were hiding behind the flag of liberty and justice, using its precepts to engage in destructive, illegal acts that threatened their own people, and didn’t seem to care at all that what they were doing was diametrically opposed to all we have been taught to expect of our leaders….

Hmm…. I seem to have slipped into another early rant, brought on by nostalgia…. Well, that should pass, now that the Dead song is over…. I’ve switched over to the classical station’s stream online, and am now being soothed by J.S. Bach’s “Little Suite”, a familiar piece that never fails to please…. Dum ditty dum, dum ditty doo….. lovely!

Oops, I seem to have pulled another cover here…. Yep, I’m a longhair, and that includes my choices in music; I love classical music, especially that of Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach (all of them…. several of the Bach family wrote good stuff, not just Papa…. PDQ Bach wrote some pretty amazing pieces himself, as did J.S., Junior….) Any who, it’s nice to have a variety to listen to….

I started listening to the genre about 15 years ago, when I got tired of what was passing for rock and roll then, and found that I had discovered an entirely new universe of music to explore, most of which I’d never heard…. What a treasure trove that turned out to be….. Like any field of human endeavor, 90% of it is crap, (Sturgeon’s Law covers ALL human activity….), but, over time, the crap has been winnowed out, for the most part; what is left is some excellent music, and offers me uncounted hours of bliss…..

Well, now that I’ve blathered, and ranted, and just plain babbled about next to nothing, I think we should get on with the day’s dive, saving any further chattiness for any public contact I have to make today….. Yeah, that’s the ticket….

Shall we Pearl?…..

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe

— _Jabberwocky_, by Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)
_____________________________

In this section today, you will find an old-school pearl, fresh as SB and I can make it….. I had intended to discuss a more sober, perhaps even significant subject, with every intention of allowing myself to rant thereon….. but, I’m feeling a bit under the weather, rant-wise, which means, basically that I’m not outraged enough at the moment to carry it off successfully…. So, I’ll go with my default in such instances, and let SB figure out something appropriate to the day, and the moment…. It should all be okay, and, if nothing else, you may congratulate yourselves on having dodged another bullet, metaphorically speaking, of course….

“Tip O’Neill is just like Congress; old, fat and out of control.” — J. LeBoutillier

“You can always get the truth from an American statesman after he has turned seventy, or given up all hope of the presidency.” — Wendell Phillips

“As a general rule, the freedom of any people can be judged by the volume of their laughter.” — Smart Bee

(Even the Google algorithm can’t find attribution for this, other than “Anonymous”…. hence, the attribution is given to SB, per ECR policy….)

“I believe I have no prejudices whatsoever. All I need to know is that a man is a member of the human race. That’s bad enough for me.” — Mark Twain

“The effectiveness of a politician varies in inverse proportion to his commitment to principle.” — Sam Shaffer

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

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” — G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 4/19/24

Okay, so it turned into a rantish pearl in spite of all my precautions…. oh, well…. So, sue me…. or, if you’d care to just ignore it, we can go on to other things, and just chalk it up to experience…. Let’s do that, shall we? If nothing else, and like nothing else does, it will piss off the lawyers, which is ALWAYS a good thing….

“Great things can be reduced to small things, and small things can be reduced to nothing.” — Chinese Proverb
_____________________________

Since I don’t wish for anyone else to catch the blame for any of this, here is one of my older poems to fill up the necessary space, and time….

Off the proverbial cuff….

I never meant to kill that period of time,
it didn’t give me any choice.
It tried to hem me in without reason, or rhyme,
refused me any vote, or any voice.

You have to admit, I buried it deep and fast,
just as if I cared.
I knew, though, it would never last,
or ever be fully repaired.

No news, no pictures can bring it back,
once is all we get.
No pleas of public good, or even public lack;
in stone the past is set.

Futuristic visions now occupy my dreams,
I’m ready to go on.
Look! It fills up the screen, and it gleams!
Where’s the moment I’m sitting on?

NOW, I remember, at long, long last,
is all we really can hold.
Every moment goes by so bloody fast,
best fill them all with beauty, warm and bold.

~~ gigoid ~~

_____________________________

How did y’all get so lucky? Here I am, already in section three, and still no rantable passions available to get me going…. One might gather the erroneous impression that I’m a wimp today…. I prefer to think of it as a temporary disinclination toward emotional excess, and let it go at that…. I mean, one can’t rant all the damn time, or one takes the chance of becoming entrenched in the same set of attitudes so common to that type of thinking epitomized by the dreaded Limbaugh, that bastion of all that is most ignorant and ugly about America….

I do try to save my outrage for things that have some social significance, hopefully of greater significance than my own prejudices; he doesn’t even bother to try to decide if anything that comes out of his mouth is significant; he only cares that someone listen to his drivel…. Ah well, let’s go in a totally different direction from that fool, and find some thoughts on Life from some of history’s more elegant thinkers….

“The meaning of life is that it stops.” — Franz Kafka

“Where life is more terrible than death, it is then the truest valor to dare to live.” — Thomas Browne

No man is an Island, entire of it self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” — John Donne (c.1571-1631) — Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624) “Meditation XVII”

“It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is absolutely fatal.” — Oscar Wilde

“[…] For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner […] on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. […] That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that.” — Carl Sagan

“Don’t try to have the last word. You might get it.” — Lazarus Long

I would like to have it noted that I took great care in the construction of this Pearl, editing the inclusions numerous times before coming up with this seven-star grouping…. which, I believe, is one of the best pearls ever…. Really, it’s damn fine stuff, ffolkes, so, please, pay heed…. Then, when you’ve finished that, remember this ……

“Never underestimate the importance of a cheap laugh.” — Plucky Duck

Okay, so I could have said that more elegantly…. how’s this?…..

“A little nonsense, now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willie Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
_____________________________

It’s been a long road to this juncture, and I feel every step it has taken to get here….. Let’s see what we picked up along the way….. I am compelled by honesty to admit that it isn’t bad…. at least, not so’s you’d notice, anyway…. It’s certainly long enough for a Pearl; I guess, given my feelings about out versus in, we’ll leave it as it is, and just pretend that I know what I’m about….. If you bought ANY of that, well, thanks…..

😆

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

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

gigoid

Parking parallel is de rigeur on Mondays….

Posted on June 12, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Fiddle di dee, fiddle di die, the cow jumped not over, but, onto the moon, bending and breaking it beyond all recognition. The cat wasn’t playing a fiddle, but did have a boom box blasting…. according to the latest reports. Little dogs do more than just laugh at such sport, they usually pee on it. And dishes, well, they’re well known to prefer dark, sharp knives over spoons anyway….

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willie Wonka

Especially when it attacks first thing, before coffee, before reason…. It is smart, therefore, to just go with the flow, and let it out as needed, knowing full well the consequences of such actions. One must, however, consider the overall effect, and keeping it inside can cause much more damage than letting it out. As I am fully aware of all this, when it strikes me, I just let it right out, and use the time I didn’t spend agonizing over it to clean up whatever spillage there might be…. saves me time and energy this way, y’know?….

It also allows me to find a way back to reality from the fringes inhabited by all such nonsense; such foolishness cannot spend too much time close to the normal side of reality, lest it turn mundane, so one must go where it resides in order to pluck it up for use. I find it to be a quite relaxing time, those hours spent in pastimes reminiscent of circuses and carnivals, soaking in the happy laughter of fools, and the merry giggles of the clowns. Even the “nyuck, nyuck, nyuck” sounds coming from the Stooges corner bring no annoyance, as they blend right in with the blaring of the bicycle horns and big, red noses worn by so many in that neighborhood…..

Hmm… looks like I wandered a little further away from the mundane than I had realized; that last paragraph slipped over into nonsense again, instead of heading back toward sober reason. I do enjoy my time there, but, I tend to have trouble letting go of it; for a while upon returning, it is difficult to even consider religion or politics, without applying some Carlinesque twists, to soften its gravity.

Needless to say, it also makes it hard to rant about much of anything else, as everything is viewed through a prism of humor and silliness, and doesn’t appear half as bad as it actually is in real time. All in all, this is probably a good thing, as it keeps reality from hurting too much on a daily basis; it merely makes it hard on the political/religious reformer in me, to NOT be able to rant sufficiently….

I suppose that idea makes y’all burgeon with hope for this Pearl, but, that, too, is a foolish thing to do… As yet, this Pearl has no obvious shape or intent, so it’s next to impossible to say what will happen… The first pearl Smart Bee shows me will often set the tone for the whole day, so we’ll see how that goes… I do know that starting with nonsense always makes me happier… I may be a reformer, and a curmudgeon, but I really do enjoy life more when my bozoid side comes out early in the day…. Who knows? We might even end up with something amusing, or elevating, rather than something depressive and dark…. I suppose, though, we’ll never know if we don’t get on with it, so….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I only wish I may see your head stroked down with a slipper.” — Terence (185-159 BC) — Act v, Sc. 7, 4, (1028.)

Now, see what you’ve done!…..
__________________________________

Okay, so I get it now…. The universe sometimes gives us directions we may not clue into fully…. I see, now, why reality chose to push me toward silliness and bozosity today (Bozosity is the state of being a bozo….). What we have, following this introductory blurb, is a group of aphorisms about religion…. I guess it made more sense to put it like this today, than it did to rant about it, as I normally do… Or, maybe reality is tired of my rants… either way, y’all win today, because this is just as pointed, just as accusatory, and, in its own quiet little way, as much of an indictment as are my most telling, and compelling rants on the subject…. Enjoy! And be careful, the point it makes is quite sharp, and WILL cut you if you are negligent of care…..

Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,
A hero perish or a sparrow fall,
Atoms or systems into ruin hurl’d,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 87

“Religion is the opiate of the masses.” — Karl Marx

“You can’t depend on the man who made the mess to clean it up.” — Richard Milhouse Nixon (1952)

SCRIPTURES, n. The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”

— Bother! said Pooh, after he spoke the Lord’s name backward.

“If God is dead, who will save the Queen?” — Smart Bee

“True myth may serve for thousands of years as an inexhaustible source of intellectual speculation, religious joy, ethical inquiry, and artistic renewal. The real mystery is not destroyed by reason. The fake one is. You look at it and it vanishes. You look at the Blonde Hero–really look–and he turns into a gerbil. But you look at Apollo, and he looks back at you. The poet Rilke looked at a statue of Apollo about fifty years ago, and Apollo spoke to him. ‘You must change your life,’ he said. When the true myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message. You must change your life.” — Ursula K. LeGuin

Whoa! Sorry, that last one slipped in there without telling me… but, it kind of fits, if you look at it with just the right squint to the eye…. I mean, if the first six quotes didn’t give you a clue about how religions are bad for you, the last one drives the point home, with the very last line….. I don’t know about y’all, but I LOVE THIS STUFF….. Oh, and just in case it wasn’t clear already….

“A mind not to be changed by place or time, the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” — John Milton
__________________________________

It’s probably a literary law of some kind, but, when one is given a hint like the one above, one MUST take that hint…. Far be it from me to ignore a slap to the side of the head like this one…. Here, then, is the poem to which Ms. Le Guin refers, above…

Archaic Torso of Apollo

We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,

gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast’s fur:

would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

__________________________________

“I don’t want to panic, but my alphabet soup says, “Forget about me … just try to save yourself.” — Tom Wilson (“Ziggy”)

Now you know just how I feel every morning! This is the real reason I gave up on Alpha-Bits cereal, in spite of what was published, and in spite of whatever you may have heard. I got tired of being warned every morning re: approaching Armageddon, and started eating more oatmeal, just so I didn’t have to face that every day. It’s disheartening to be reminded on a daily basis that your breakfast is significantly smarter than the majority of US citizens, at least when it comes to their government, which is completely controlled by corporate interests, as well as when it comes to society at large, about which one may confidently say the same.

We won’t even bother to mention the religious hierarchies’ connections to temporal authority, or to the shadow masters; we took our shots at them above, and wish to be fair, if not merciful. We’ll just say this on that: if you think the churches and preachers are NOT in the pockets of the corporations, well, I suggest you try to obtain for yourself a new mind, because the one you have isn’t working very well….

I mean, think about it… Who are the favorite members of any congregation, no matter what the denomination (clue: it has to do with the word “denomination”….)? Why, the men, and a few women, who contribute the most to the church roof fund, right? The ones who put the most gelt in the collection plate are the ones the church leaders ~~pander~~, er, cater to, not the ones who reach out with empty hands….

“If this isn’t war, why is CNN massing on the border?” — Smart Bee

Let us also NOT get into the culpability the media holds for its part in the farce that comprises the play put on the world’s stage by society. We could point out the numerous, obvious perpetrations of cluelessness, or lament the lack of courage in modern journalists, either of which is common in the media.

How else can one explain how sheer lies are repeated endlessly, without challenge? How can one explain why certain questions aren’t asked, or certain articles suppressed, at the request, or the legal insistence of governmental authority? It isn’t explainable, unless one remembers that the media relies on government to supply the reason for its existence, and one is reluctant to bite the hand that feeds, eh what?….. Sycophancy is not limited to dweebs, and/or acolytes…

Instead, let us indict the true culprits for today’s worldly mess…. ourselves. Pogo, by Walt Kelly, said it long ago…. “We have met the enemy, and he is us…..” We are responsible for all that is wrong with the world, because we, the great unwashed masses, allow the governments and churches, and their puppet masters, the corporations, to determine how the world will be run…. We accept all their lies, and go on with living our lives as slaves, subject to the whims and twists of fate, because we refuse to take the reins of our own lives into our hands, and assume control….

The shadowy rich assholes who are the real power behind all the governments of the world are not going to stop their self-centered, selfish hoarding of the world’s resources, nor will they ever make a decision based on the welfare of society as a whole. They will always make their decisions in relation to what is most beneficial for themselves, and what will allow them to maintain their stranglehold on the rest of the world….

That is their primary concern, and they have guarded that concern for well over three thousand years, without ever letting the rest of humanity realize to any great degree just how much they control…. No other theory holds any water, nor fits the given facts of history, as well as this, and I regard it as gospel truth…. According to the available evidence, this is not a theory, so much as it is a fait accompli….

“In the game of life you get to choose where you keep your brain – heads you win, tails you lose.” — Smart Bee

I guess I had a rant in there after all…. We are all screwed, ffolkes, just as often and as hard as THEY want; moreover, unless we decide, as a group, to do something about it, it isn’t going to change until we are all dead and gone, leaving this planet, and the universe, to go on without our promise, or our participation…. I hate to be a downer, but, I don’t see how we can fix it, without some serious upheaval, for which I am not particularly hopeful, given the general level of “stupid” in much of humanity…. Oh well, as Epictetus said, “Happiness and freedom depend on the realization of one principle. Some things are within your control. And, some things are not.” So be it….

“UH-OH!! I think KEN is OVER-DUE on his R.V. PAYMENTS and HE’S having a NERVOUS BREAKDOWN too!! Ha ha.” — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

I am afraid I have to report that most, if not all, of the above was written while in an altered state of consciousness…. which should make for some interesting reading, you betcha…. Let’s just see….. Well, since it would be overly egotistical to call it brilliant, I’ll merely say, well done, and let it go at that…. For a morning so devoid of original direction, it seems to have found its way into the light fairy well, which bodes well for the rest of the day…. That is, if I were the type to be susceptible to precognitive signs…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

A large herd of nincompoops passed by here…..

Posted on April 19, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
Weird…. the thoughts going through my head are quite simply, weird. Of course, this is not new, nor is it surprising; I’ll bet even you didn’t react much when I said it…. because, I’m sure, it has been previously established that weirdness, and this blog, are one and the same thing….. What this means, in terms of today’s intro, is that I’m once more stuck in my head, and can’t come up with anything to write about, other than the trouble I’m having thinking of something to write about…. It’s almost an endless loop, which, if I fall into it, will keep me stranded in literary limbo forevermore….. The question I have to ask myself at this point is, do I want to allow myself to fall into that loop, or keep on writing…. it’s a tough decision these days…..

I am convinced that if I don’t write, my head becomes all clogged up and I get grumpy and even more curmudgeonly than usual. The process of putting down all this stuff on paper, or at least, on screen to save, is what has kept me sane these last two years…. If I hadn’t had this, I would either have killed someone, or ended up in a psyche ward, drooling and talking to myself (not so different than some mornings around here, but, not a place I want to spend a lot of time….). Now that the most basic stress factor in my life has been mitigated, I find that I still need to do this, to keep my brain clear of any buildup of angst. So, I guess I’m stuck with it….

All of which means little to y’all, but, it did get me two paragraphs in, so, not a complete loss….. Now what? Damn me, if I know…. I’m having trouble deciding on the color of socks to wear, and there are only two colors to choose from….. I wouldn’t count on me to come up with anything at this point. Maybe I should go find a pearl, to see if it will give me a direction to take….. hold on, be right back….

“The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.” — Henry Kissinger

Obviously, Henry has been in this kind of situation before…. but, he’s right, and since we have no alternative to this, I can allow that to clear my mind of all indecision, and just go with whatever flows out of my head…. Since it is the ONLY alternative available, we have no choice to make, which means the choice is made…. That’s logic, right? Right…. So, onward, troops, into the day, fearlessly, and with hope held tightly to our bosom…. (Do authors have bosoms? Hmm….) Logic has pointed us in the correct direction, or, if not, we are at least moving in ‘A’ direction, and that is better than sitting around on our collective asses….

I’ve blathered now through four or more paragraphs, and nobody should have to put up with more than that, so, we can end this now, and get on with the rest of today’s effort, such as those may be….. Just to make sure you understand the rules, I leave you with this reminder….. Remember it well…..

“You offend Shai-Hulud by sheathing your crysknife without having drawn blood.” — Fremen proverb (from Dune, by Frank Herbert)
__________________________________

As you may have noted, my brain is broken…. and I am not sure which tool is going to work to fix it…. What this means in terms of today’s Pearl is that you will have to put up with more than the usual degree of smarminess, and the occasional random insult, as I try to cope with creating a Pearl out of what is laying around in my brain, rather than a true creative episode, building and sharing images of grand eloquence, made up of just the right words….. Today, though, those words are hiding from me, so I have to allow Smart Bee to have its head, so to speak, because anything in mine has to be viewed with suspicion, and handled with care, lest it explode, whereupon, we get blamed for an act of terrorism…. Of course, that last word is probably what comes to mind when y’all think of this blog anyway…..

Nevertheless, I’m going old school, and you can’t stop me…. (Believe me, you don’t WANT to stop me today….. just let me have my way, and everything will work out fine….)…. Here is a group of pearls, all of which are pointed in a certain direction, which SHOULD be obvious…. If it is not, well, I guess you’re S.O.O.L., as they say downtown…. well, they said that when I hung out there…. any who, here….

“Critics quarrel with other critics. With an artist, no sane man quarrels.” — George Santayana

“Our discontent begins by finding false villains whom we can accuse of deceiving us. Next we find false heroes whom we expect to liberate us. The hardest, most discomfiting discovery is that each of us must emancipate himself.”– Daniel J. Boorstin

“Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.”– Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Rape of the Lock, Canto v, Line 34

“There’s a lot of stupid people out there. Just to prove it, think of how dumb the average person is, and then realize that half of the people out there are stupider than that.” — George Carlin

“A man that expects to train lobsters to fly in a year is called a lunatic and is locked up. But a man that thinks people can be turned into angels by legislation is called a reformer and allowed to walk free.” — Mr. Dooly

“All things that are born must die. Work hard for your own freedom from sorrow.” — Buddha

“Do not speak of what men deserve. For we each of us deserve everything, every luxury that was ever piled in the tombs of the dead Kings, and we each of us deserve nothing, not a mouthful of bread in hunger. Have we not eaten while another starved? Will you punish us for that? Will you reward us for the virtue of starving while others ate? No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of *deserving*, of *earning*, and you will begin to be able to think.” — Odo, The Prison Letters (Ursula LeGuin, _The Dispossessed_)

Oooh…. now, THAT’S a pearl of virtual wisdom, if I ever saw one….. Print it!…..
__________________________________

SIGH….. I know I’m probably not doing this Poetry challenge the way it’s supposed to be done, but, I can’t find it in myself to care much, as I’m not trying to win, or anything like that…. I’m only participating because someone thought I would enjoy it, which I have…. but, I can’t make poems come on demand; it doesn’t work like that for me. They happen when they happen, and if I try to force it, they just put on Harry’s Invisibility Cloak, and disappear…. So, I don’t force them, deadlines or no…..

Fortunately, I’ve got a backlog of poems that HAVE leaked out over the last eight months or so, which is what you will see again today…. This one is kind of wordy, and a bit clumsy-seeming, but I like it, for its unabashed pride in its own inherent meaning…. which sounds really obscure, but feels right…. The haiku is, once again, fresh as the day, composed just a few moments ago….. As every day this month, these are being included as part of the April National Poetry Writing Month Challenge, with the updates to be found here: http://www.napowrimo.net/ I hope you enjoy them…..

Haiku VII

The sun has come up,
once more we rise, and then shine.
Standard issue day.

~~ gigoid ~~

Fatal Supplication

But what becomes of our deepest dangerous dreams?
Does fantasy rescue any part of life’s imperiled favor?
Reality becomes but silvery pairs of mismatched teams,
Dining with affable elegance, such diffident waste to savor.

Who decides what sorrows to carry bravely to term?
Will fragrant moments of sanity make hasty manifestation?
Only Time’s patient mutability sends messages so firm,
Yet salient impersonal vexation lends credence to ripe imagination.

Can folly bring out sadness and rampant visions of beauty?
What kindness can be found in distant open relations?
With countless faces the dead disturb with dire impunity,
From separate caches of wisdom come simple stylish privations.

Shall shallow emotion serve to provide such explanations?
When does avaricious intensity assume primary focus?
Plain answers slide softly through with multiple mitigations,
While conceptually indignant concepts engage a fatally personal locus.

~~ gigoid

__________________________________

“I am ignorant of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance, and therein lies my honour and my reward.” — Kahlil Gibran

This is a valuable piece of thinking, a very powerful attitude to have, and a beautiful expression of an ancient truth; Kahlil Gibran had a knack for all three attributes in his writing, and is deservedly regarded as one of history’s finest poets, as well as a respected philosopher. He was able to insert deep, insightful messages into the public’s consciousness, through his amazingly eloquent poetry, and exceedingly logical treatises and stories. This concept, that the search for truth is as important to us as the truth itself, and is worthy of our mindfulness. One cannot learn, until they will admit they do not know…..

“Real life isn’t like this.” — Smart Bee

Well, yes, it actually is, SB…. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt, and assume SB meant this facetiously…. We aren’t born knowing what is true and what is false, not in any absolute sense…. But, we are born with what I like to call a “crap detector”, a part of us that whispers in our ears, “they’re lying about this”, anytime someone tries to feed us bullshit, i.e., something that isn’t true…. Some folks are pretty good at lying, and make it hard to tell; others aren’t…. but, all of us have a pretty good idea, and if we listen to that little voice, we learn quickly just what we can trust and what we cannot….

“I’m growing older, but not up.” — Jimmy Buffett

One of the secrets to a successful life is this attitude, in conjunction with the above mentioned characteristic…. When we are small, our minds have not yet learned to fear, or to hate, or to make any assumption other than “What does that mean”, or “Is this crap, or food?”….. which makes the decision making process quite simple, reducing each event to its most basic components of meaning.

This simplicity of mind can be cultivated in later years, and is valuable in giving us the ability to detect crap quickly, and make our decisions accordingly. If one merely tries to rely on what they know, and what they’ve learned, they’ll soon be buried in their own ignorance…. The oldest ffolkes around all know that one has to keep a child alive inside us, if we are to be able to enjoy life…. it’s all just too damn serious if you don’t….

“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.” — Willie Wonka

This is why we, as humans, are subject to both Murphy’s Laws, and to the Principle of Bozoid Tendencies…. Both are of great importance in maintaining a healthy outlook on life, to keep us alert, and to give us that child-like ability to laugh at ourselves, and at the messes we can get ourselves into…. I ask you, what would Life be, without being able to laugh at ourselves? Pretty damn boring, I’d say…. That’s why I always let the nose grow, whenever it shows, and encourage others to do the same… Firesign Theater was righter than they knew when they said, “I think we’re all Bozos on this bus!”…. We all are in the same vehicle, headed goodness knows where, and the driver got left behind at the last restroom stop….

“HOORAY, Ronald!! Now YOU can marry LINDA RONSTADT too!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

This pearl has been brought to you by the letter “C”, and the number 7…. All statements made herein are the author’s creation, for which he takes the credit, but, not the blame…. The Devil made me do it! Sure, he did…. Anyway, I’m done now. I’m not at all certain that this isn’t the strangest Pearl I have done in quite a while; I have a strong feeling it is…. Strange, that is…. I’m going to cut my losses here, and be done with it…. Ta ta for now….
__________________________________

Strange indeed…. amazing what the mind can accomplish when the body is in excruciating pain…. Today’s version of hell is being brought to me by an impacted, infected tooth, that is telling me, very emphatically, that I need to call the dentist…. It doesn’t care that the dentist won’t be in the office until 9:00, it just wants attention, NOW….. So, if I miss a punctuation mark or two, or any other typos, you’ll understand why…. Be right back….. Okay, I’m back, and I’m outta here… this will do fine, since there’s no way in hell I’m doing it over…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

Sovereign protocols might polish that up….

Posted on February 8, 2013 by gigoid

Ffolkes,
That was quite an experience…. I just sat here and wrote a poem, which you will find in the usual poetry section below….. It is without a doubt the most fluid piece of poetry I’ve ever written, as well as the fastest…. as I note below, it flowed out in about five minutes while I was waiting for my coffee this morning. Quite cathartic, and, if I do say so myself, just a little bit off the beaten path, in comparison with most of the stuff you will see here, or anywhere else…. My beliefs may not be the most crystal clear, but they are strongly held, and not lightly dismissed, as they tend to be based solely on facts (hence the title of the poem, which speaks to the iconic line from the show… “just the facts, ma’am”….)

Now, I know the poem isn’t main stream, by any stretch of the imagination…. and, if I were to look at it, (which I seem to be doing…) it isn’t designed, or likely, to convince a lot of folks to listen to me, as it goes against the grain of about, oh, 96% of the rest of humanity, and what they believe to be true about reality. You can call me controversial, you can call me a fool, you can call me Ishmael…. just don’t call me late for dinner, or call me to proselytize, because I HATE that….

I already know that what I’ve written there won’t be appreciated by a lot of folks, unless there are a few ffolkes out there who happen to agree, or at least are willing to hold two ideas in their heads at once without imploding, or needing to believe them both.

But, I’ve decided I don’t much care anymore…. at least, not to the extent of making me keep quiet. I’ve always been hesitant to argue with religious folks, mainly because they tend to get so vehement in the defense of their dogma; I don’t like to be responsible for raising other folk’s blood pressure.

Now that I’m older, and beyond that sort of habit of avoidance, I don’t mind putting my own beliefs out there, so people can have something to talk about that will challenge their minds, instead of softening it into mush, as is the intent behind most dogma….. “Mental oatmeal’ is how I refer to dogma in my own head, because it’s chock full of delusional fiber that is a fast-acting stool softener for mental constipation, turning one’s mind right into soft crap….

“The more we are proud that the Bethlehem story is plain enough to be understood by the shepherds, and almost by the sheep, the more do we let ourselves go, in dark and gorgeous imaginative frescoes or pageants about the mystery and majesty of the Three Magian Kings.” — G. K. Chesterton, Christendom in Dublin, Ch.3

It seems that just trying to explain the poem is turning this into a mini-rant, and I’ve been trying to avoid that in the intro section, apparently without much success…. Ah well, what can I say? Ranting seems to just come naturally these days, and it certainly helps to keep the word count up…. It also seems to make the intro section grow into something more than a mere introduction each day, instead, becoming a wild growth of abundant verbiage that threatens to take over the entire blog….. and no weed-whacker in sight….

Well, you know what this means, don’t you? It means that I can no longer stretch out this section, and have to get to work… Sheesh, almost an hour, just to begin… oh well, I got a poem out of it, and even though it isn’t one that will win any literary prizes, it was enough to provide me with a bucket full of material to get started today…. I’ll take it…. Shall we Pearl?…..

From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art.

— Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — Essay on Criticism, Part i, Line 152
__________________________________

“Yow! I want to mail a bronzed artichoke to Nicaragua!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“A little nonsense now and then,
is cherished by the wisest men.”

— Willie Wonka

“SANTA CLAUS comes down a FIRE ESCAPE wearing bright blue LEG WARMERS.. He scrubs the POPE with a mild soap or detergent for 15 minutes, starring JANE FONDA!! — Zippy the Pinhead
__________________________________

Before reading the following, I must ask anyone with strong religious faith to put on their thinking caps, turn off their sense of outrage, and turn up their tolerance a few notches….. It probably isn’t a justification, but as explanation, let me note that I wrote this in approximately five minutes this morning, while waiting for the coffee to finish brewing…. So, take it with a grain or two of salt, as it was created pre-consumption of life’s blood, and I can’t speak for it, other than to say it is mine…. and, as far as I can see, it’s consistent, if a bit grumpy….

Joe Friday’s lament

Life is short, and though I’m odd, they say
it really doesn’t bother me
to realize there is no God, per se.

Though other folks will disagree
and tell me I’m wrong
I won’t believe it, with naught to see.

Liars called padre tell me, have humility,
and do as the authorities say,
then fondle little boys with facility.

They also tell me to share the wealth
and give them a 10% tithe
so they don’t have get it by stealth.

So spare me the delusions, please
don’t bother with such a tale;
I’m nobody that needs such a tease.

Keep your fantasies under your hat
and out of my face;
I don’t need them, they’ll make me fat….. headed.

~~ gigoid
__________________________________

I started the day with oddness, so it seems appropriate to keep on the path I’ve chosen for the day…. The following pearls all dropped into my lap, so to speak, as I cruised through Smart Bee this morning…. As is my wont, I allowed my subconscious to choose which ones I should keep, and these five are what it picked…. For the life of me, I cannot see very much that ties it all together into a single idea, but, hey, I’m just the driver here…. I suppose, all in all, it could be considered another comment on oddness, or at least, learning to live in that state comfortably….

“The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.” — Edith Sitwell

“The First Amendment does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the talk is not `dangerous’. It does not say that there is freedom of expression provided the utterance has no tendency to subvert. It does not put free speech and freedom of the press in the category of housing, sanitation, hours of work, factory conditions, and the like, and make it subject to regulation for the public good. Nor does it permit legislative restraint of freedom of expression so long as the regulation does not offend due process. All notions of regulation or restraint by government are absent from the First Amendment. For it says in words that are unambiguous, `Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.'” — Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, 1958

“Als das Kind noch Kind war, gab es diese Fragen: Warum bin ich mich, und warum nicht dich? Warum bin ich hier, und warum nicht dort? — Rainer Maria Rilke
(“When the child was a child, there were these questions: Why am I me, and why not you? Why am I here, and why not there?”)

“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt to people we personally dislike.” — Oscar Wilde

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.” — Very Smart Bee

Now, THAT is a sentiment I can get behind…. even if I have to push….
__________________________________

Most days here on ECR, I would, at this point, comment on the day’s work…. Today has already proved to be odd in both structure and content, so I’m not going to bother with any critique…. I’ve read it through for typos and basic sense, but can’t quite grasp any piece of it solidly enough to begin to analyze it…. but, that might just be my normal state of confusion at this point in the day.

Whichever the case may be, I’m declaring it done, as I can’t see myself trying to do it over at this point…. Just as well, I suppose…. I’m going to toss it out there and see what happens, and hope that my strangeness isn’t so strong as to drive anyone away permanently…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

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

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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Exploring Consensual Reality

Tag Archives: Willie Wonka

This is a multi-zone pass….

In the final analysis, partial hydrogenation was a key factor….

Honor is never for sale…..

Parking parallel is de rigeur on Mondays….

A large herd of nincompoops passed by here…..

Sovereign protocols might polish that up….

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