Tag Archives: Zippy the Pinhead

Nobody leaves without cleaning the flues…..

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Ffolkes,
The words you are now reading are the advance guard of the second team, since my first effort this morning was so bad, I just trashed the two paragraphs I spent twenty minutes struggling to put down. Now I’m faced with this really, really blank screen, and not a single clever phrase or compelling vision to be found. I’m not going to complain, but, y’know, fuck Murphy, right in the…. well, I’ll not go there, in case there are any PG-13’s in the crowd lined up to read this…. Hah!…. Like THAT’S ever going to happen!….

As I awoke today, bemusedly staring up at the ceiling, it occurred to me that it is now down to single digits….. Time, that is…. Specifically, the number of days left before I leave again to pursue my travel dreams, has reached single digits…. Only nine days left until my lady and I board the Grand Princess for 10 days of scenic glacier cruising up the inside passage to Alaska. This, of course, brings me great delight, though it does little to help with my immediate difficulty. I could, I suppose, spend this intro crowing about that, but it seems tacky, and would only add to the guilt I already feel for stepping outside my usual policies regarding conspicuous consumption…. So, I won’t mention it any further, beyond this brief acknowledgment….

However, this is a good time to go over some housekeeping notes re: the upcoming trip…. I don’t foresee encountering the usual issues with connectivity on this trip; the ship has Wi-Fi, I’m sure, and we’ll never be all that far away from civilization in that respect…. Plus, the ship is set up to deal with American electrical devices already, so I don’t have to worry about charging or power issues. The only issue I expect to face is how to budget the time…. I will be with a companion, with whom I intend to spend virtually all my free time, or, as much as is possible, and won’t have the same amount of time available to write as on the last trip, when I was alone….

My plan, for now, is to concentrate on posting the pictures and scenery we’ll be seeing…. I plan to take a lot of photos, and will be uploading as many as is practical each day, here on this blog, as another travelogue of the trip. I’m hoping to see some pretty incredible country, and the glaciers are supposed to be amazing to view, so, hopefully I’ll get a lot of good shots to share with y’all. As might be expected, I doubt that I’ll do much ranting, as the impetus for such vitriol just won’t be present…. If it is, I’ve made a serious error….

So, nine days from now, I’ll publish a final send-off post, on the morning of the day we embark, whereupon I’ll spend the next week and a half indulging myself and my lady, and, no doubt, enjoying every minute of it, not counting those odd nanoseconds when guilt may intrude, only to be laughed into submission…. In the meantime, I suppose it’s time to get started here, as I can now start working on the list of ‘stuff to get done before leaving’, including packing. (I confess…. I’ve been 3/4 packed for almost two weeks now, and just need to put in the last minute stuff that isn’t back from the laundry….)  It’s a tough job, but, somebody’s got to do it, and it may as well be me….. Shall we Pearl?….

“Fill’d with fury, rapt, inspired.” — William Collins (1720-1756) — The Passions, Line 10
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It’s one of THOSE mornings, you see, so things may get a bit stranger than usual. Here is a seven-star pearl, that just sort of composed itself…. It has a decently sharp point to it, with another perfect ending note from our old pal Zippy, so, please, be kind, and don’t hurl any epithets until you have proceeded on to section two…. He gets offended, you know, if he hears them, and I have a hard time getting him to come back, as his plaintive statement at the end surely indicates….. Any who, it’s good advice, all in all, so, enjoy……

“You don’t have to worry about me. I might have been born yesterday…but I stayed up all night.” — Smart Bee

“A right is not what someone gives you; it’s what no one can take from you.” — Ramsey Clark

“On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.” — Things We Can Learn From Dogs

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein

“Besides the practical knowledge which defeat offers, there are important personality profits to be taken. Defeat strips away false values and makes you realize what you really want. It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold.” — William Moulton Marston

How dieth the wise man? As the fool.” — Smart Bee

“I am NOT a nut….” — Zippy the Pinhead

Well, neither am I, though I am often accused of being a soufflé, or, more often, and more accurately, a Bozo…. and that’s good enough for me!…..
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I don’t know about y’all, but poetry often saves my sorry ass from going places that aren’t good for me to go…. Other times, it just makes me smile, which, mostly, comes to the same thing….

I’ll Get One Tomorrow

Barber, barber, come and get me;
Hairy torrents irk and fret me.
Hair and hair again appears;
And climbs like ivy round my ears.
Hair across my collar gambols;
Down my neck it wayward ambles.
Ever down it trip it tickles;
Yes, where it trips it tickles.
Barber dear I wish I knew;
Why i do not visit you.
Why I grudge the minutes ten;
In your smiling den.
Why I choose to choke on hair;
Rather than to mount your chair.
Men no busier than I;
Weekly to your office hie.
Men no busier than myself;
Confront the armory on your shelf;
Men no wealthier than me;
Gladly meet your modest fee.
And for a fraction of a dollar;
Keep the jungle off their collar.
I alone am shy and flustered;
Solitary, cowardly custard.
Shaggy as a prize angora;
Overrun with the creeping flora.
Barber, barber, you’re in luck;
The bell has rung, the hour has struck.
Sloth strong, the hair is strong;
I cannot stand it any long.
Barber, barber here I come;
Shake up the odorous bay rum.
Bring on your shears your scythes, your snippers;
Bring on your crisp electric driers.
Employ a dozen extra sweepers;
Bring giant harvesters and reapers.
I warn you a bumper crop;
Waits to overwhelm your shop.
Barber, barber, be verbose;
Be anything but clip me close.
Leave me razored, leave me scissored
Leave me hairless, as a lizard;
Barber, barber, single and scald;
Barber can’t you make me bald?
I will be the happiest of men;
And never think of you again.

~~ Ogden Nash ~~

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A thousand fantasies
Begin to throng into my memory,
Of calling shapes, and beck’ning shadows dire,
And airy tongues that syllable men’s names
On sands and shores and desert wildernesses.

— John Milton (1608-1674) — Comus, Line 205

In the normal course of events on any particular morning around here, I try to keep faithful to some degree of consistency of format. In that regard, this section would be fated to become a rant, targeting the Beloved Ruling Class, or some other societal bane that has most recently aroused my ire. Today, however, I’m feeling too mellow, and too at peace with the world at large…. Probably has to do with being in love…. I am a not-so-secret romantic, at heart, and tend to let my attitude reflect my inner state, unless called upon by the rules of curmudgeonry to display some crustiness, or unless reality gives me reason to put on the crankypants we all wear at times.

Since I don’t feel up to ranting, I’m going to try something totally new, for me…. I’m going to shut up…..  Not forever, just for the day….. I figure that, for once, I’ll go by the old show biz adage, to always leave ’em wanting more…. though I’m not entirely certain that would apply here. Nonetheless, I’m going to let this die a peaceful death for today, and spend the extra time it gives me to plan my day in a bit more detail…. The more planning time I put into such activities, the greater the chance of successful outcomes…. So, as they say in Text World…. TTFN …..

“Doth not the sun harden the clay? Doth it not also soften the wax? As it is one sun that worketh both, even so it is one Soul that willeth contrarieties.” — Akhenaton
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Being reluctant to examine too closely what I produce, lest any influence by a muse should be frightened away, I won’t go over this one too heavily, other than to proof it… I have the feeling that, if I did, it would all just go “poof!”, and I’d have to start over….. Makes me shudder just to think of it…. Hence, in sooth, to proof, or not to proof, that is the question. Whether to tempt the arrows of fate, or let a word be misspelled….

Oh, wait, that’s Will’s line…. Never mind….. Alright, that’s it…. When I find myself using Will’s work, even as a joke, I know I’m done…..  Before I can do anything even more damaging to my reputation as a reasonably intelligent person, I bid thee adieu…..  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

dozer3

Put the stray curator in the parlor for now….

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Ffolkes,
Rational thought, being skittish, and reluctant to come out to play at this time of the morning, has easily escaped my feeble effort to pin it down, in spite of the reservation I made. While the foregone conclusion may well be obvious, that doesn’t alleviate the frustration. Having, however, given a solemn promise, this won’t stop me, but may, due to circumstances completely within my control, adversely affect the quality of the content of today’s Pearl. I’ve a pile of stuff to take care of today out in the BBR, so this missive must needs be done smartly; I only hope I can do so with some style…..

Legal requirements for blog intro material require me to notify any potential readers of the above, little as it has to do with anything at all. Regulations are like that, especially when they only exist in my imagination, but, I prefer to cover all the bases, having experienced the wrath of bureaucrats previously. Not that imaginary bureaucrats have anywhere near the power as actual, live zombies, but, one must do what one believes to be correct, even if not entirely sure of what that may be…. In spite of what you might have heard, the Universe does give points for effort; you just can’t use those points for any of the prizes….

Right…. now that we have conjured up a sufficient quantity of absolute twaddle, it is imperative we not lose momentum, lest we lose track of what has been done, and what remains to do. Of course, I can’t honestly say that I ever actually KEEP track of any of that, but, it sounds good, and does fill in more space. Moreover, we have honorably adhered to my determination to avoid anything resembling cheese, thereby keeping under control one’s consumption of cheese’s favorite beverage companion, dry, white whine…. Hey, it can’t be any other color; I’m Caucasian, and haven’t been out in the sun without a shirt for years…..

Now that I have completely gone ’round the bend, we’ll get on with today’s conflagration (I don’t know what else to call it at this point…..). I will point out that, despite any such rumors to the contrary, none of what is included in this blog has any nutritional value…. intrinsic philosophical value, yes, but, don’t bother trying to live on it, as you’ll end up with a severe case of scurvy to go along with the hair loss….

“It is human nature to think wisely & act foolishly.” — Anatole France
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As mentioned above, I have a lot to do today out in the real world, so fresh material will have to wait until tomorrow…. Here is a relatively short rant, sort of a combined political and religious rant, from the first day of the year we are currently surviving…. It came out pretty good, and is still quite valid today, so…. enjoy!….
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“If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else.” — Thomas Jefferson

Oh well, so much for THAT hope! From all I can see in today’s society, what Tom J was afraid of has come to pass. If one takes almost any of the articles in the news that talk about the activities of government, religion, or society at large, it is obvious that bigotry and priestcraft have corrupted every level of those entities, and influence just about every human interaction that we see. Common sense is nowhere present, in any of those same activities under discussion. Of course, he forgot, in this instance, to include the bankers, but perhaps that is where the bigotry comes in…..

By its precise meaning, bigotry doesn’t include the idea of cheating, lying, and stealing from whomever one encounters; those activities, for a bigot, are only appropriate when done to those outside the personal group, to “foreigners, niggers, and chinks,” or some likely other group they’ve chosen to bless with their ignorance…… But, in a sense, bankers can be said to be universally bigoted, for they have no qualms about lying, cheating, or stealing from anyone, in any group, even their own. I guess that would qualify them as Ultimate Bigots…..

“As an ox goeth to the slaughter.” — Old Testament — Proverbs vii, 22; Jeremiah xi, 19

I would imagine this is how the bankers and preachers (either of which is capable of turning into a politician, at the drop of a hint….) view the masses of humanity who do not subscribe to their venality. In this view, they may be at least partially justified, by the apparent willingness of those masses to submit to whatever is done to them. Why should the politicians stop lying, when their lies secure for them the keys to the treasury? Why should the preachers not spread their delusions, when the masses are so willing to accept them, because it saves them the effort of either thinking about morality, or even better, saving them from having to BE moral….. The bankers, of course, need no excuses to carry on their despicable acts of calumny upon the remainder of society; their sole motivation is based on profit for them, and nothing else concerns them at all…

“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” — Thomas Jefferson

Back to Tom…. He was a bit over the top sometimes, in the force of his expression, but never, to my mind, in his sincere commitment to Truth, and his sincere love for Mankind. I would like to think I join him in this sentiment, especially today, when we are so besieged  by attempts to tyrannize our minds by our own beloved ruling classes. The war against immorality continues unabated, and too many folks in the world have withdrawn from the battle, accepting the lies and delusions that are foisted upon them.

It is important, in my opinion, that the rest of us, who can see the depredations assaulting the common man every day, keep on shouting from the rooftops to the rest of our compatriots, if only to save our own sanity….. and, before the strain of the conflict brings us to our knees, and we enter Zippy’s domain, doomed to extinction…..

“I just forgot my whole philosophy of life!!!” — Zippy the Pinhead
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Here is another piece from the archives, to save time, our most precious commodity, after the contents of our bag o’love….
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It has been awhile since I read the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam, and a small piece of it in Smart Bee gave me a hankering to run through it again. It’s a long piece, though, and can take a while to get through. In addition, it takes up a lot of space…. so, to avoid both those problems, today I’m providing a simple link to the poem, on PoemHunter.com, where I find a lot of what goes into this section…. A very large amount of the world’s best poetry and poets are to be found there, and I enjoy the simplicity of their interface… Any who, here, for your reading pleasure….

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-rubaiyat-of-omar-khayyam/

Enjoy!…..
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Well, I’ve gone and done it…. I’m going for the hat trick today, with all three sections pulled from the archives…. I decided that, if there are over a million words of material in the archives, why should I not utilize a bit of it to my own advantage? It IS my own material, after all…. Any who, here is another rant, this one fairly straightforward, again taking aim at organized religion, which I consider to bear a large degree of responsibility for the state of society….
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“Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.” — Vladimir Nabokov, quoted in “Time”, 1981

Well, Vladimir certainly nailed it in one! This fits right in with what I believe, which, though it has little if anything in common with popular religious views of the afterlife, is nonetheless just as optimistic in outlook as any of those rather exceedingly ornate, highly unlikely scenarios. In my world view, the mind, and consciousness, whatever it may be, is equivalent to energy in our universe, and as such, should logically have the same characteristic as all other forms of energy we have thus far discovered, to wit: it cannot be destroyed, only changed in form.

Each of the world’s religions has their own version of what happens after we die, and all of them are made with the assumption of the presence of their idea of God as the underlying reason for all that occurs. This, while logical, to a small degree (one has to accept some rather specious assumptions in order to follow a logical path to the concept of a God….), mostly reminds me of a small boy walking past a graveyard, whistling loudly to scare off his own fears…. It’s mostly wishful thinking, as far as I can see, according to all the physical evidence available. The proponents of these religious philosophies all make the same basic error in their logical constructs, one that is so basic, they can’t even see it….

That error lies in assuming that Man, or a man, being a mortal being, limited in perception and understanding by their own physical envelope, is capable of either understanding, or describing, what is a God. If one assumes that an entity is capable of creating an entire universe, I don’t think it is logical to assume that we, as part of that creation, would have the capability of comprehending either the process involved, or the being that carried it out. The mere fact that, in order to try to comprehend God at all, we need to try to give him first, a sex, then a visual identity, is the first and most telling clue that we are wrong, right from the start…..

The next clue as to our inability to know God is the behaviors that Man ascribes to Him. In just about every religious book I’ve read, the actions of most of the Gods therein reminded me more of a surly, selfish teenager than of a God. I don’t know, it just seems a bit illogical to have the creator of the entire universe behave worse than a cranky two year old that needs a nap, if He doesn’t get the fawning worship he so desperately needs. It sounds more like Benito Mussolini, or Madonna, to me, than it does like God….

This doesn’t mean, though, that there is no hope of redemption (though I’m not sure from what I’m being redeemed… the idea of original sin is pretty much a hoax, you know, put in the Christian dogma to help manipulate and control people….), or of life after death. The universe is actually a quite beautiful place without the concept of God hanging about, getting in the way…. And this viewpoint allows one to appreciate life much more fully, knowing that we bear sole responsibility for making our lives worth living…

Everybody dies, and everyone lives after death, as far as I can see from a logical standpoint. I think that what Vladimir says is a good way to look at things, as it acknowledges that responsibility for our own happiness, and does so without implying the existence of a need to do so in hope of a reward for good behavior, as is the case in those religious institutions who wish to control people here in this life, using the threat of punishment or reward in the next. We can assume control of our own lives, including our own happiness, or, we can allow others to think for us, and accept the chains and limitations of living according to someone else’s ideas of what is real….

The saddest part of all this? Most folks never even realize they have a choice in the matter. From infancy, they’ve been brainwashed to believe what they’re told, and all-too-few of us manage to escape the bonds of slavery that are placed on our minds early in life. Most folks just accept what they are told by anyone in authority, and get very comfortable in their chains, since they don’t have to think for themselves at all….. They never realize just how large and beautiful the universe really is, because they’ve accepted the blinders they wear, and refuse to even acknowledge that they wear them at all….

It sure makes me glad for whatever happened to keep me from falling for that whole scam; I can’t say exactly what first clued me in to the facts, but, I’m very, very happy that it did. I can’t see going through my life filled with fear of what might happen afterward; it’s too much fun enjoying all the beauty and grandeur that exists on our planet to spend more than a second considering such nonsense……  🙂   Thank God for small favors, eh?   🙂  Sorry, couldn’t resist….

‘Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 50
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Mission accomplished, and with some style, by all appearances…. Let’s take a look…. Well, it all worked once, why not again? Plus, all of it remains valid, so, it works for me….. As a bonus, I’m still on schedule for the day’s activities, so I’ll take it, and run…..  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

dozer3

Afterward, we’ll dance a merry jig….

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Ffolkes,
Once more, I find myself caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, in more than a merely metaphorical sense. In this particular case, as it presents itself each morning, the Devil is represented by the blank page staring me in the face, and the Deep Blue Sea is a metaphor for well… something.

I guess the metaphor breaks down there a bit, thanks to the rather pathetic lack of any rational thought going through my head at this hour. I really don’t see how one can be expected to shine so early in the day, but, then, I’m the one who set the original paradigm, of posting a fresh Pearl every day, so I have no one else available to blame….

Naturally, I COULD blame Murphy; he certainly puts in his bid for attention and acknowledgment on a daily basis. I am, however, honest enough, and resigned enough, to realize I’m not his only target, and cannot lay ALL of the fault at his feet, no matter how tempting it may seem. I could blame it on the hour, but, I’ve been getting up this early for years, so I should be accustomed to the process. I might even be able to persuade at least a few of y’all to believe it has to do with how hard it is to stay fresh when posting each day, but, once again, that isn’t something that is unique to me, so it won’t wash either….

No, my claim to a metaphorical dilemma is more, or less, accurate than I’d hoped, or counted on, leaving the blame for this mess squarely planted in my own lap, with the responsibility for cleaning it up attached…. SIGH…. It might be time to reexamine this determination of mine to maintain a daily presence on the ‘net, in light of the increasing time I’m spending in the BBR, and in light of the increased time happily spent with milady Patricia. Though it seems not to keep me from producing this blog each day, I’m not certain at this point just how much continuing to do so may, or may not, be contributing to my overall level of satisfaction….

For almost two full years now, I’ve managed to post virtually every day; in that time, I believe I’ve only missed a total of five or six days, mostly due to travel and/or internet connection issues. This has been done for the simple purpose of saving my sanity, or what there is of it. I’ve never cared how many people read it, or “Like” it, as the whole point of the exercise has been to get out of my head all the stuff that otherwise would sit in there and cause trouble for me. In that respect, it has been entirely successful; I am as sane as I’ve ever been (though that may not be saying much….). Now, however, things have changed, mostly for the better, and the necessity to protect my sanity is not as critical as it has been for a while….. Happy days, eh?….

I suppose it really doesn’t matter at all, to any of y’all, anyway, just why, or even how, I do this every day…. It only matters to me, and only as much as I care to think about it. Mostly, I just tell myself to forget about all that crap, and get on with it, and, since this little meandering blurb has reached the legal limit for an intro, I believe I’ll do just that…. It isn’t often I get such a smooth segue into the next section, so I’m going to take the money and run….. Shall we Pearl?…..

“I can do a score of things that can’t be done.  I can find a thing I cannot see, and see a thing I cannot find.  The first is time, and the second is spots before my eyes.  I can touch a thing I cannot feel, and feel a thing I cannot touch. The first is your heart, and the second is sad and sorry.”” — James Thurber (1894-1961), “The Thirteen Clocks”
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Sometimes, the process of collecting pearls, and grouping them according to concepts, becomes a rather mystical event, or, at worst, metaphysical, as the pearls will almost throw themselves at me, clamoring for inclusion, with no obvious connection to any that have gone before…. Then, when I reach one of the key numbers, such as five, or seven, it all becomes clear why they have been vying for attention, and the reason for the group becomes clear…. Or, more accurately, becomes perceivable, if not exactly clear…. In fact, clarity has little to do with it; if it did, I’d never get a group together. This one, for some strange reason, picked itself out in about five minutes; even more strangely, it works….

“Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, ix, 7

“It gets you nowhere if the other person’s tail is only just in sight for the second half of the conversation.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

“A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last.” — Joseph F. Newton

“I’m going to happydance among the stars and wear my stripes anyway I want to.” — Stripes the Tiger

“And die with decency.” — Thomas Otway (1651-1685) — Venice Preserved, Act v, Sc. 3

See what I meant? No? Oh….. Hmm. Well, think about it, I guess….. It will come to you…. If not, you can find aspirin in the first-aid kit under your seat….. We’ll go on now….
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Two months ago, almost to the day, I apparently wrote a poem, of sorts, during, and for, the National Poetry Month Writing Challenge. I had forgotten about it, dismissing it, I think, because it doesn’t rhyme throughout most of it…. However, I read it again today, and it isn’t bad, for a free verse attempt…. It is actually quite a good statement of my personal religious evolution, so, in lieu of a religirant today, I humbly, if egotistically, offer this instead….

Early Observations

Until I knew there was more,
I wanted to know God.
They said he was a nice guy,
and would let me live forever.

All I had to do, they said,
was live my life for Him,
always living by scripture
cleaving only to his Way.

But, everyone I saw in church,
acted different at home.
Living wild, cussin’ and fussin’,
nobody lived like they said.

Still, I tried to be like Jesus,
he was sort of cool.
He never hurt nobody
and walked on the right path.

‘Course they killed him for that,
they couldn’t stand his example.
Turned him into a martyr,
 hid his real words among their own.

Then I found the Buddha,
and met Lao Tzu at the gate.
They saw things real different,
showed me how to see straight.

Right thought, and right action
replace blind obedience and faith.
Reality becomes manageable,
fear retreats, the universe expands.

Brother John said it pretty well,
“Imagine there’s no heaven,
it’s easy if you try.”
Sounds like he knew why.

Day to day, life is grand,
we walk in eternal beauty.
Open your eyes and hearts,
find yourself already immortal.

~~ gigoid ~~

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“Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance the shimmy, and you’ve got an audience.” — Diogenes

Once again, as I have found innumerable times in the past, one of the ancient scholars has given voice to an observation about human nature that convinces me that, not only did they know, even more so than we do now, just how humanity is flawed, but were aware, as well, of how people are wired for failure by their own lack of courage, and/or integrity. To make such a statement as this, Diogenes seems to have tapped into the modern human mind, and recognized it, as it sits around, watching the pretty lights on the idiot box, where the news anchors, pundits, and talking heads all whistle and dance the shimmy….

“On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are created jerks.” — H. Allen Smith, “Let the Crabgrass Grow”

Sadly, I think we can expand this to include the rest of the days of the week, because, as far as I can tell, TV is available 24/7, and, having sampled something from each time period throughout the day and night, at one point or another in my life, I can assure you, the assault on your sensibilities, and the “dumbing down” process that is entailed by watching it, continues through every one of those hours…. Even the shows that are purported to enter the realm of intellectual endeavor are written for people who have a sixth-grade vocabulary, with charts, graphs, and lots of pretty pictures to help in the understanding of simple ideas

There is NO LIMIT to the amount, or the degree, of stupidity that is displayed every minute of every one of those hours….. Hell, one of mankind’s favorite kind of TV shows to watch are “sitcoms”, which, typically, are half-hour plays with plots designed to make fun of the human condition, making it all okay to be stupid, because, hey, that’s what they do on TV, right?…. According to TV, all married women are smarter than their husbands, children are smarter than parents, and government officials all tell the truth…. on alternate leap years…..

The most valued shows are the ones that display the most stupidity; hence the popularity of The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthea, and previously, shows such as All in the Family, Father Knows Best, Happy Days, or Petticoat Junction, for shit’s sake!

Of course, there was also The Munsters, and The Addams Family, too, so there is some balance, but, mostly, American sitcoms show Americans at their worst, and make them ridiculous, not to mention cheap, grasping, greedy, and, often, obese…. all of which, unfortunately, paints an accurate picture of American culture

“I just heard the SEVENTIES were over!!  And I was just getting in touch with my LEISURE SUIT!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I pat myself on the back often these days, for not having watched any TV at all for over three years now, aside from the random baseball game during the playoff season, and the World Series (some traditions MUST remain, even for us curmudgeons….), so, I’m unaware to any great degree, exactly what current shows are like…. But, from what I read on the ‘net, and what I hear from people, TV hasn’t undergone any philosophical evolution in the meantime, and, in fact, continues to do just about as badly as ever, in terms of living up to its potential as a medium of communication and/or education….

This is a policy, not a mistake, or an evolution, but a deliberate policy, which the BRC (who are the ones who control that particular medium…. who else?…) will continue to employ as long as selfish, unprincipled people own the rights to it, and continue to use it as a means of controlling the information available to the general public, to suit their own ends, just as it has always been utilized…..

I wouldn’t count on TV shows getting any better until it is no longer under ANY sort of regulation; the only regulation really necessary to control TV’s effect on the user is to realize the fact that people always have the ultimate power over a TV set, due to the simple little switch on the side, which turns it on, and off, at the will of that user….. Now all we have to do is teach people to use it to turn it OFF, instead of ON…..

“He who searches for truth must not appease his urge by giving himself up to the narcotic of belief.” — Hans Reichenbach, quoted in _ The Philosophy of Matter in the Atomic Age

TV? TV? Oh, yeah, I remember TV….. This is a phrase I would love to hear more often…..
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“Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck.” — Immanuel Kant

Without even looking, I know that today’s is a special Pearl…. But, I’m going to look, anyway… besides, gotta proof it, y’know?…. Well, it IS special, but, no doubt, this too will pass relatively unnoticed, given the flood of data that streams across the world’s notice every day…. Ah well, at least I know, and that, ultimately, is all that really matters…. We may not be an island in the currents of Time, but we must all face it alone in the final analysis, to sink or swim as our nature dictates…..  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

dozer3

Parking parallel is de rigeur on Mondays….

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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!…..
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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
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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 ~~

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“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
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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

dozer3

Use the lug nuts we softened yesterday….

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Ffolkes,
Celebration is called for, if not demanded…. I woke up, again (an event that becomes more significant each day….), but this time, I looked over at the clock to find that I had actually slept longer than I had thought, not less. It was actually past five in the morning, by a goodly number of minutes, and even my making it past 9:30 pm last night for the first time in ages doesn’t account for it…. But, I don’t care why, it just feels good, so I’m going to spend the day celebrating my return to near-normalcy, and try to figure out how it happened, so I can make it happen again tonight, and from now on….

Probably wishful thinking, but everyone needs a goal, right? For the nonce, it will have to do, as it also presents me with a blank page again, and no idea what to do about it, other than my usual blather. That seems to be working just fine, but, I can’t depend on it to produce an entire pearl, not if I still want any readers at the end of it. Of course, the number of readers I’m attracting is again on the decline, so I’m not sure if anything will work, other than sheer nonsense and/or sheer brilliance…. This morning, I’m pretty certain the former is within reach; the latter may be too much to expect right now….

Not that I’d necessarily even recognize brilliance, even if it walked up and slapped me, but it would be nice to see some of it around here now and again, just to give me a reason to come back and do it again. Writing this way seems to be a bit like the game of golf…. It’s harder than it looks, it takes more time than one would expect to learn how to do it right, and the payoff isn’t very exciting. Still, like golf, one good poem, or one good rant, or one great group of pearls is enough to get me back out here again each day, just like one good fairway drive, or, one long putt that drops in for a birdie, will bring us back out to the links next week….. It doesn’t take much….

There is an old piece of wisdom somewhere that talks about how the longest journey begins with one step (it’s actually from the Tao Teh Ching, by Lao Tzu….), and it applies about as universally as anything can…. so, naturally, it applies here. This Pearl isn’t going to get done until I quit screwing around, and start writing, or at least cruising for pearls to include, or to stimulate, so I once again have to put aside my fantasies and get down to the actual work involved with creating a Daily Pearl of Virtual Wisdom, such as it is….. which isn’t going to happen, until now….. Shall we Pearl?…..
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“I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that all the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” — William Henry Harrison

Well, duh….. As I get older, this principle, or, this observation of a principle, becomes more obvious, and less surprising. I first began to question government back around 1957 or so, the first time I ever got a look at Dicky Nixon, when he was running for VP behind Eisenhower. Even at that tender age, I couldn’t figure out why this man was so famous and admired; he looked like he wore too much Brylcream (a brand name hair grease in 1957…) in his hair, and he smiled way too much…. Any kid under 10 is leery of adults who smile like that; they know it’s false bonhomie (though generally without knowing the word ‘bonhomie’ itself….), and generally avoid such adults at any cost, even to the point of speaking out, to say something like “Don’t touch me with that!”, when asked to shake their hand….. because we saw them run it over their slicked back hair, and didn’t want the grease all over our own hands….

It’s been a while since I wrote a politirant… This isn’t because the politicians have been idle, far from it. They are busily carrying on the agendas of their corporate masters and the BRC, weakening social programs, giving money to the rich and powerful, distracting the public with miscellaneous bullshit while they transfer more money to their own pockets, and go about their true business of making money off the rest of humanity. No, I’ve just been too satisfied with my own lot to work up sufficient outrage, since my own actions right now are feeding into that whole trained consumer scenario, while I make up for the poverty of my existence over the last three years….

I know, it’s a little hypocritical of me, but, I don’t really care much what others think about it. All my life I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today, even if I’m a bit less capable, physically, than I had planned to be at this stage, and I don’t really give a shit if other folks don’t approve of how I’m living my life. I’m doing just exactly what I want to do, much as I always have done, and will continue to do so as long as I can. Some of what I want to do requires that I engage in dealings with the BRC, politicians, and corporate slaves, and do so without biting off their appendages, because they are such gits….. Sociopathic gits, but gits nonetheless….

“Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage.  But if we don’t practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us — and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.” — Carl Sagan, “The Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” Parade, February 1, 1987

In another sense, I’ve about given up…. Over the last three years or so, or just over two years of writing daily in this blog, I’ve ranted and raged against the machine on a regular basis, sometimes with a lot of vitriol and energy, which is completely justified, when one considers just how much the ruling classes act like vicious animals more than people…..

But, no matter how often, or how much, or how well I write, none of it makes a dent in the facade of respectability that cloaks those in positions of elected authority in this country. These politicians have been getting away with criminal acts for so long, by the old “make the laws ourselves” method, which makes their thievery legal, that they now believe it is their God-given right to plunder the public treasury, looking upon the structure of income in government like their own bank….

I’ve managed to acquire a comfortable retirement income, between my almost 30 years working for the State of California, and putting money into their retirement system, and by putting money into Social Security for over 50 years. Together, it gives me enough room to breathe, financially, for one of the first times in my life, and to be honest, I’m enjoying it, little as I like money, or its demands on our psyches.

Or, I guess it would be more accurate to say, I’m enjoying what money can do, when one has enough of it to be able to think beyond necessity. Unfortunately for my angst, or perhaps, fortunately, this leaves me without the depth of feeling needed to rant successfully… It’s like Voldemort told Harry, in HP 5:TOOTP, “You’ve got to MEAN it, Harry!”, referring to using the Cruciatus Curse correctly…..

So, I’ll just say this…. Politics is poopadoodle, and politicians are all assholes…. I can’t put it more simply, or more effectively than that. Anyone who WANTS to be in an elected position of authority in this world is, in my mind, insane, by definition. It takes a strong degree of insanity to WANT that kind of power over others, and it takes a sociopathic, rationalizing sort of mind to be able to steal from the rest of mankind without suffering a single pang of conscience… The same goes for the bankers, and the preachers, and the police, mostly, and for anyone else who makes a habit of fucking over other people….

Sadly, that’s a large percentage of mankind that preys on the rest, and they’ve been practicing for oh, about twenty-thousand years now, ever since people started to hang together in groups, and came up with the concept of barter, and/or money…. Ever since then, people have been trying to figure out new and improved methods of getting an advantage over their peers, using these concepts….. the rest we call History…..

“You have the right to remain an idiot.” — Smart Bee
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I suppose that a mild rant such as the above is sufficient reason to feel as befuddled and bemused as I do…. Enough so I am picking today’s poem from that position, going with what appeals to that sense of bemusement….. and this is perfect for that…. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did….

I dreaded that first robin so,
But he is mastered now,
And I’m accustomed to him grown,–
He hurts a little, though.

I thought if I could only live
Till that first shout got by,
Not all pianos in the woods
Had power to mangle me.

I dared not meet the daffodils,
For fear their yellow gown
Would pierce me with a fashion
So foreign to my own.

I wished the grass would hurry,
So when ‘t was time to see,
He’d be too tall, the tallest one
Could stretch to look at me.

I could not bear the bees should come,
I wished they’d stay away
In those dim countries where they go:
What word had they for me?

They’re here, though; not a creature failed,
No blossom stayed away
In gentle deference to me,
The Queen of Calvary.

Each one salutes me as he goes,
And I my childish plumes
Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment
Of their unthinking drums.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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Well, here’s the deal…. One last old-school pearl to finish out the day, and we’ll call it a draw, okay? I know I’ve been a bit scattered and discombobulated, but, just getting to use that word is enough of a reward for me, so, back off…. I’m kidding, of course….. But, not about this group…. They picked themselves again, so the underlying message, whatever it may be, can be blamed on my subconscious…. I’m pretty sure there is a message, which, of course, is left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader…. besides, I’m on a deadline here, so, again, back off…..     😉

“Death tugs at my ear and says: “Live, I am coming.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up–that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.” — Blaise Pascal

“Ask a toad what is beauty?…a female with two great round eyes coming out of her little head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly and a brown back.” — Voltaire (1694-1778)

“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.” — Buddha

He ‘s gone, and who knows how he may report
Thy words by adding fuel to the flame?

— John Milton (1608-1674) — Samson Agonistes, Line 1350

“Do I have a lifestyle yet?” — Zippy the Pinhead
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“That he is mad, ‘t is true: ‘t is true ‘t is pity; And pity ‘t is ‘t is true.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet — Act ii, Sc. 2

Hmm… even Will gets one right now and then…. and this shoe sure fits well!  Let’s see if it floats…..  Okay, it will have to do…. It’s really not too shabby, all in all, so, since I’ve posted worse, we’ll fly with it……  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

dozer3

Sweet, savory, sour, AND bitter….. nice choice…

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Ffolkes,
Honestly, I didn’t mean to wake up like this….. all crotchety, grumpy, and annoyed. But, then, I didn’t plan to wake up at 0430, with a ripping headache right in the middle of my forehead, either. Thankfully, a bit of coffee, a bit of worship, and all is well, at least for the time being, and I can think about getting this started.

Not that I’m brimming over with ideas right now; in fact, that well seems particularly dry at the moment, so we’ll have to see what happens when I start actually firing up the old brain cells for real…. Yesterday, I managed to come up with a decent religirant, and a hell of a good pearl in section three (you should go back to read it, if you haven’t…. it’s a good one….).

I’ve had to change some plans that I made yesterday, thanks to the unpredictability of other people that I failed to factor into the plans, so today promises to be another day of cleaning up after Murphy, in a sense. He managed to thwart what was on the agenda for yesterday, forcing me to reschedule it for today, costing me about $50 extra, so I’d wager he’s feeling pretty good about himself right now, having used well an opportunity for which he’s probably waited for several days. Asshole….

Can’t seem to pull the crankypants off all the way; they keep getting fouled on my socks, or maybe the lingering headache has something to do with it…. In the short time I had yesterday to read blogs, I did read one rant from one of my favorite liberal bloggers, John over at The American Liberal Times; he gave some pretty good shots to the conservative right in the political world, all with his usual mild tone, which he uses to great effect in his indictment of the idiocy generally on display in conservative writing.

I enjoy his fair-minded, even-handed manner of delivering these indictments, with which he usually supplies ample evidence of his target’s ill-conceived misconceptions about life, political reality, and justice. He also is quite steadfast, and stands tall and strong in favor of his ideals…. Fun to read….

Any who, I suppose this isn’t getting done what needs to be done around here, so I’ll quit blathering, and get on with today’s post. I’m totally unsure of what might happen, but, that’s nothing new, so….  Shall we Pearl?….
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“Go on, EMOTE!  I was RAISED on thought balloons!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

Okay, so that didn’t work out so well…. Though the truth of the above statement, as it applies to me, and my life, is indisputable, it doesn’t solve any of the problems inherent in this process, and is here only to indicate the extent of the difficulty I face today….. To begin a pearl with such a pearl is very un-pearlish…. trust me, I would know.

It’s a perfect ending line, naturally, but to shove itself into my face with the intent of starting off a pearl, well, that’s just, plain and simple, over the line…. Now that it is there, though, what can I do with it, except go with the flow, and finish it off? Nothing, that’s what…. So, here we go, with a supporting cast that will, hopefully, save this pathetic attempt at humor from blowing up completely, necessitating plastic surgery….. I like my face just the way it is, strangely enough….

“When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they ever press charges.” — Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey

“In Oregon, the State Legislature has come up with a State Nut. This is unlikely to happen in Missouri, since there are too many candidates.” — Smart Bee

I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, poor heart, unceasingly;
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A truth and noonday light to thee.

— Ellen Sturgis Hooper (1816-1841) — Life a Duty

“Memory serves wise commanders.” Tz’u-hsi, 638 AD

“Luck affects everything; let your hook always be cast.  In the stream where you least expect it, there will be fish.” — Ovid (3/20/43 B.C.- A.D. 17) Roman poet

“A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.” — G.C. Lichtenberg

If thou would’st have me sing and play
As once I play’d and sung,
First take this time-worn lute away,
And bring one freshly strung.

— Thomas Moore (1779-1852) — If Thou would ‘st have Me sing and play
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I am feeling more than just a little lazy today; can’t seem to shake off the sleepiness I woke up with… so lazy, in fact, I’m not even up to Googling for a poem, and will go with one of my own, from the archives, just to save the effort of finding one somewhere else….  I know, really lazy, huh?  Oh, well….

Here is one to celebrate, sort of, the coming, and going, of spring, which, this year, thanks to the myth of global warming, has been completely unrecognizable as a  Northern California spring, resembling more something you might find in Missouri, or Uzbekistan, or somewhere odd like that….

An Old Man, Snoring….

Winter arrives with gusts of wind and rain,
  clover spreads green amongst the hedges.
Urban gardens quiver, and dream of spring again,
  gargoyles stoically crouch on corniced ledges.

Umbrellas sprout over heads shrouded and hatted,
  dotting the sidewalks in colorful profusion.
Urban denizens pose sketches, framed and matted,
  adding casual beauty to fill the illusion.

Hissing tires, swishing along with the wipers
  join nature’s orchestra smoothly, as percussion.
Dripping gutters sound gong tones, true pipers,
  a sudden roar of wind hushes all discussion.

Dreams of summer heat form the crux of desire
  as winter chills our souls from without.
Sitting in warmth, gazing into an imaginary fire;
  content to know spring will come, no doubt.

~~ gigoid

__________________________________

The following is another display of how lazy I’m feeling today….. It is a rant I wrote back in January of this year, when I was still living with the constraints that come with living with no money to speak of, to wit: not enough food, and barely enough of anything else….. Things have changed, for the better, but, sometimes, it’s good to think back to how little I had then, and appreciate the difference…. Not that any of that has anything to do with this rant, but, it had to be said, to cover up my lack of work ethic today….. so be it… If nothing else, it’s a good rant, so, enjoy….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is this an out-take from the “BRADY BUNCH”?” — Zippy the Pinhead

I’m rather hoping it is, in sooth…. if not, we all are in serious trouble, up the proverbial creek without a hint of a paddle. Not that it should be anything new or unfamiliar, as most of our history has been spent thus occupied. Of course, previous centuries didn’t have the distinct advantage of having either the Brady’s, or Zippy, in all his insane wisdom, as cultural icons, as well as ethical touchstones….. They had to make do with Socrates, and Plato, and stuffy old guys like that….. Aristotle was practically a rock star in his day, and remains a pretty smart dude, by all evidence, but I still prefer Carlin, I think, for the most cogent philosophy for modern times….

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.” — The Constitution of the United States of America Amendment 6, 1791

For a moment, I wondered what my unconscious mind was thinking when it made me copy and paste this amendment into the pearl, as a pearl…. especially as it seems to be in conjunction with the Zippy quote…. Here I am, five minutes later, still wondering what the hell I was thinking…. It happens that way sometimes…. just give me a few moments here, and I’ll come up with it…. Aha! Got it! Naturally, I only needed to go back to basics…. The answer to the question of how the two quotes are related is…. Reality….

Aye, that’s right, reality. It’s what we do here, explore reality, and all its implications, ramifications, and delineations. Also, it’s temperature. Well, perhaps that isn’t the right word, but…. Reality, as is clear and obvious to the most casual observer, exists in varying degrees (hence: temperature…. see?). The degree of reality that is included in an out-take from the Brady Bunch is clearly not the same degree of reality that is implied in the Sixth Amendment.

I’d say, the Amendment would hit around 8 or 9 on the real scale, with 10 being the Reality of Amber, where all roads lead. (See Roger Zelazny’s book, The Courts of Amber…..), whereas the highest the Brady’s could hope for would be a 2 or a 3 on that same scale. They’re too oppositional in nature to be rated otherwise, as well as being on opposite ends of the scale of Relative Importance to ME and YOU…..

Now we get to the meat of this matter…. Of late, there has been a lot of public discourse regarding gun control, as a result of the media’s steadfast love of gore and manipulation. Another school shooting took place a few weeks ago, wherein some crazy idiot got hold of some firearms and used them in an insane manner.

This, of course, all morality aside, is still a reprehensible act, and, IMHO, most easily solved by just taking one of his own guns and using it on him, at the time of his crime. Bang, problem solved, and since he’s standing there over the bodies he has made, no question of guilt. In such cases, the why of his guilt should not matter; whatever it is, it is reason enough to put him down, in defense of humanity. The other questions can be answered after the children have been defended….

Sadly, there are two segments of humanity who don’t agree with this logical outcome. One segment is what I term the humanitarians, a misleading term, since it usually involves the denial of much of human nature. The other, of course, is our old nemesis, the BRC…. our Beloved Ruling Class….

Neither of these groups will agree that allowing people to have guns should be allowed, or that killing the killers is a proper solution for the issue. In both of these positions, they are dead wrong, and, more, they know they are. This serves to make their arguments more shrill, more emotionally based, and, in their eyes, more valid, in some strange form of weird logic….

“Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, so don’t kid yourself…” — Frank Zappa

One of the most edifying parts of this discussion, for me, is how it makes it so easy to identify those who are wearing the uniforms, and from what camp they are from, according to their colors and insignia. You can tell the humanitarians, they’re the ones wearing the faux-camouflage pants, in support of the troops, they’ll assure you; they want the police to be the only ones who carry guns, believing, for some unknown reason, that police are somehow more moral or ethical than other people. (Of course, they also would have trouble if you asked them to define the words, “moral”, or “ethical”, in any other terms than those used in a philosophy paper they memorized in college, or in seminary….)

The BRC are always easy to spot, as their sense of entitlement provides them with all the armor against opinion, or law, they ever need. They want guns to be only held by the militia, (which they control), or the police (whom they also control), because it makes them nervous as hell to know there are guns out in the land, in the hands of people who would use them, for certain, if they attempt to perform their illegal lying, cheating, and stealing anywhere in their presence. It also makes them nervous knowing that they would be in danger for real, if the truth about what they do is ever made public with enough evidence to convince the masses to act…. They don’t want to have to worry they will be over-matched in firepower when that day comes along….

SIGH…. I’ve opened a can of worms, again, I know it….. I’m not going to claim to have all the right answers to the situation we find ourselves in today. Though it is a different world, technologically and culturally, from the time when the Second Amendment was written, deciding to abandon its precepts on that basis is not, and should never be, enough to justify any change in a law that is so important to the common man, the very people for whom the laws were created, to protect them from the self-same usurpation that is now being attempted. Once the law is amended, and weakened, the term “slippery slope” becomes very real, and a valid fear for those people.

To put a cap on it for now, I’ll say this…. Quite simply, I do not trust those who would take the right to bear arms from the people (added later: I reserve the same lack of trust for those who wish to amend, or limit in any way, the right to bear arms; ANY kind of change will ultimately be used as the basis for arguments designed to completely take the right away…). I have seen NO evidence, in history, or in recent current events, that ANY governing body, or ANY group, or ANY single person, of ANY persuasion can be trusted to have guns, and use them solely for the benefit of the people, without turning them to their own purposes, first. NONE. You can’t show me any, either…. Go ahead, I’m listening….

I have studied people every day of my life, and I know too much of human nature to ever believe what I’m told of another person’s intentions; even the best intentions can change in mid-stream, turning its back completely on any commitments made previously. People lie, they cheat, they break in their minds, and they can’t, as a whole, ever be trusted to act rationally on a consistent basis….. at least, not any more rationally than can I myself….

“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” — Oscar Wilde

Such being the case, I’d rather keep my guns, thanks. I’ll accept the risks that go with that freedom, which includes the risk of bad people getting their hands on guns, and doing bad things to others. Don’t worry, if they do it in front of me, I’ll help…. and not by running away and hiding…. Life is dangerous, ffolkes, and one either learns to get along with that idea, or one spends a lot of time worrying about shit that can’t be changed…. A very unhappy state of affairs, to my way of thinking, and not very realistic in the long run….

“When the panorama of human existence becomes chaotic and confused, it is quite soothing to watch the sun rise in the East.” ~~ gigoid
__________________________________

All things considered, this went very well, thanks to my laziness and willingness to cheat on my own standards…. Of course, if they are MY standards, then breaking them isn’t really cheating, is it? It’s merely utilization of the right to edit, otherwise known as “changing my mind”, a right and privilege none of us should ever forget we possess, as it can make the difference between success, and a handful of shit….

Sorry, forgot to hold the graphics….. “One cliche, please, with a side of graphics!” “Do you want whale sperm with that?”…..  Now that I’ve completely lost it, let’s see how it reads….. Not too shabby, all in all, and certainly worth posting…. Onward, into the day!…..  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

dozer3

Just fill in the holes, William….

Posted on by
2

Ffolkes,
And then, I woke up….. afraid….. SIGH…..

I had hoped to never find myself in this position again, but, that was apparently wishful thinking, at best. I really don’t enjoy some parts of my PTSD symptoms; actually, I don’t really enjoy ANY of the symptoms I experience in that respect. Tears and emotional lability sometimes, depression others, and in between, just a bunch of anxiety and near panic attacks, for good measure, as it is said…. Who says it, I don’t know, but, you hear it all the time…. None of which is of any particular moment to me just now, as I am sitting here struggling with my emotions, trying to keep them out of my head, so they won’t make me cry (for no apparent reason I can see…..)…. Ah shit, it’s not working…. I’ll be back….

Sorry ’bout that…. I had thought, what with all the money, and cruising, and general gaiety going around, I would be immune from such attacks, but, I guess not…. Fuck, fuck, fuck….. Actually, I know why this is happening, and I’m not happy about the reason. I have an appointment with my doctor to discuss medications, and I am worried that he is going to turn conservative on me, and start getting all weird about my use of drugs that are not what he prescribes, exactly…. Unfortunately, discussing this in a public venue could conceivably have bad results, so I can’t really go into it much…. suffice it to say that my own doctor is the one causing this anxiety in me, and I need to do something about it, today…..

I can see that this is getting a bit sticky, and obscure, so I’m going on into the pearling process now, before I lose all control, of myself, and this Pearl. I hate to do this, but, I’m going to surgically excise any further nonsense in the intro section, and get on with the dive for today, before I seize up and get really weird… It’s been known to happen on such days….. For now, let’s get on with it….. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

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

http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Damaging-storms-moving-through-east-south-4569342.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Quakes-kill-2-in-Taiwan-injure-33-in-Philippines-4569405.php

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/UK-politicians-caught-in-lobbying-scandal-4569418.php

http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Apple-antitrust-suit-over-e-books-set-for-NY-trial-4569709.php

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/4-wounded-in-3-Oakland-shootings-4569499.php

“One U.S. lawmaker has been to Bangladesh since the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on April 24, 2013, killing, at last count, 1,129 garment workers. That would be Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who returned to the Bay Area Thursday after a week of meetings with government officials, garment factory owners, and survivors of the building’s collapse.

He had harsh words for Gap and Walmart, who have refused to sign a legally binding Bangladesh safety accord. “It’s very clear whether you are Walmart or you’re the Gap, you have to make a decision now whether you want to have blood on your labels. The fact is, they’ve led this race to the bottom over many years and it has led to this dangerous situation in the industry.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The foregoing are all taken from the news in northern California on Sunday, June 2, 2013. I collected them because I was struck by how the batch of them, taken together, is almost surreal in its degree of negativity. 13 dead in storms; 2 dead, 35 injured in quakes; politicians taking money (gasp! what will they do next?); Apple and publishers conspiring to steal money from consumers (another gasp!…); 4 wounded in shootings….. and OVER A THOUSAND garment workers dead, crushed and/or burned up in a building that collapsed, because the builders cheated on the materials, the owners didn’t care, and no safety measures were in place at all. The owners/operators crammed about five times the safe number of people and machines in the facility to grind out more cheap stuff for the big stores to sell. So many people, and so much machinery and materials, the building collapsed.

Garment workers…. That’s a nice, impersonal title, don’t you think? Not bad to describe, and disconnect from, the OVER A THOUSAND human beings who died there, all of them so poor they had to cram into one building with no possible escape, just to earn a starving wage, so fat white folks can make more money off the cheap stuff they’re making…. But, hey, they’re just gooks, right, not even Christians, or white, or anything, so it’s not like it counts, or anything like that, is it?…. Hell, most of ’em were probably women and children anyway, living on welfare…..

“Will it improve my CASH FLOW?” — Zippy the Pinhead

One day’s worth of headlines… I can’t wait to see tomorrow’s leading stories….. Somehow, I don’t think they will provide any of the balance so badly needed, unless, of course, the aliens land, and give us the answers to all the tough questions. The odds on that are slim, at best, so I think I’ll just try to not read them any more…. Of course, then I won’t know just when it all is going to finally collapse, will I? Oh well, I’ll just have to remember to read the comics first, I guess….

“… if the democratic nations fail, their failure must be partly attributed to the faulty strategy of idealists who have too many illusions when they face realists who have too little conscience.” — Reinhold Niebuhr

The world is currently in what Robert Heinlein used to call “The Crazy Years”, merrily going to hell in a handbasket; the above headlines are proof positive that we are a society out of control, with no apparent way back to any sort of sanity. I don’t know at this point if there is any chance to pull ourselves back from the brink of extinction, not with the way things have proceeded thus far. And, to be frank, it would, and will be, our just desserts, for all the lack of understanding and wrongheadedness we have displayed in our sad history….. Ah well, it must be time for a nap……

If of all words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are, `It might have been,’
More sad are these we daily see:
`It is, but hadn’t ought to be.’

— Francis Brett Harte
__________________________________

Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet, has been in the news of late; apparently, he didn’t die of prostate cancer, as first reported when he died, but, may have been murdered by a CIA operative on the orders of the dictator of Chile at the time, Augusto Pinochet…. His body has been exhumed, and forensic scientists are examining his remains for poisons, and/or signs of terminal cancer…. Results are pending…. Regardless of all that, he was an exemplary poet, and great philosopher, in my opinion…. Here is one of his works that seemed to speak to my mood today….. It’s a bit grim, but, sometimes, we need grim….

A Song Of Despair

The memory of you emerges from the night around me.
The river mingles its stubborn lament with the sea.

Deserted like the wharves at dawn.
It is the hour of departure, oh deserted one!

Cold flower heads are raining over my heart.
Oh pit of debris, fierce cave of the shipwrecked.

In you the wars and the flights accumulated.
From you the wings of the song birds rose.

You swallowed everything, like distance.
Like the sea, like time. In you everything sank!

It was the happy hour of assault and the kiss.
The hour of the spell that blazed like a lighthouse.

Pilot’s dread, fury of blind driver,
turbulent drunkenness of love, in you everything sank!

In the childhood of mist my soul, winged and wounded.
Lost discoverer, in you everything sank!

You girdled sorrow, you clung to desire,
sadness stunned you, in you everything sank!

I made the wall of shadow draw back,
beyond desire and act, I walked on.

Oh flesh, my own flesh, woman whom I loved and lost,
I summon you in the moist hour, I raise my song to you.

Like a jar you housed infinite tenderness.
and the infinite oblivion shattered you like a jar.

There was the black solitude of the islands,
and there, woman of love, your arms took me in.

There was thirst and hunger, and you were the fruit.
There were grief and ruins, and you were the miracle.

Ah woman, I do not know how you could contain me
in the earth of your soul, in the cross of your arms!

How terrible and brief my desire was to you!
How difficult and drunken, how tensed and avid.

Cemetery of kisses, there is still fire in your tombs,
still the fruited boughs burn, pecked at by birds.

Oh the bitten mouth, oh the kissed limbs,
oh the hungering teeth, oh the entwined bodies.

Oh the mad coupling of hope and force
in which we merged and despaired.

And the tenderness, light as water and as flour.
And the word scarcely begun on the lips.

This was my destiny and in it was my voyage of my longing,
and in it my longing fell, in you everything sank!

Oh pit of debris, everything fell into you,
what sorrow did you not express, in what sorrow are you not drowned!

From billow to billow you still called and sang.
Standing like a sailor in the prow of a vessel.

You still flowered in songs, you still brake the currents.
Oh pit of debris, open and bitter well.

Pale blind diver, luckless slinger,
lost discoverer, in you everything sank!

It is the hour of departure, the hard cold hour
which the night fastens to all the timetables.

The rustling belt of the sea girdles the shore.
Cold stars heave up, black birds migrate.

Deserted like the wharves at dawn.
Only tremulous shadow twists in my hands.

Oh farther than everything. Oh farther than everything.

It is the hour of departure. Oh abandoned one!

~~ Pablo Neruda ~~

__________________________________

I have a lot to do today, and need to get started early to get it all done… so, I’m cheating here, but in a good way. This is a Pearl from November of 2011… Much of it is apparently written around the same subject as discussed in section one of today’s effort, so I’m including it here, to save myself some time, and give y’all a bit of contrasting text to compare…. You can check for me to see if what I wrote then is consistent with what was done today, or if it was better, or worse…. Whatever it was, it’s a bit long, so, here it is, so you can get started…. It’s long, I know, but not bad, so, enjoy….. please….

11/16/11
Ffolkes,
Good morrow to you…..let us begin as we mean to go on…..

“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” — Gene Fowler

This line is included today merely to give y’all an idea of what I go through every morning to produce this…..whatever it is. It is a pretty good description, actually, because when I’m done, I actually feel battered and bloody. Bloody well used up is what it is. Maybe it’s easier for other writers; I don’t know. But for me, to produce something that my standards will allow me to publish for others to read, is much like having a piece of my soul ripped out. The funny thing is, though it hurts a lot, I wouldn’t stop doing it, even if I could. The pain of creation, which after all requires destruction first, is a worthy payoff for the sense of accomplishment I get when I see one of my pieces online for all to see. Quite a rush actually…..

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” — Aldous Huxley

This observation, as far as I can tell, is 100% accurate, and because it is, many of the problems society is facing are easily explained, if not easily resolved. For example, when was the last time you gave a thought to what else besides oxygen is in the air that you take into your lungs on the average of 15-20 times per minute.? When you last got a glass of water from the tap, did you stop to think about what was in the water you use to drink, cook with, and bathe in? As Mr. Huxley pointed out, most folks, yourselves included, seldom think about or appreciate such simple necessities, or what might happen if they were no longer available.

What will we do when the air is so full of carbon dioxide that the amount of oxygen in it is decreased below the point where it will sustain life? Will we all have to wear breathing apparatus in order to brave the outside world? What will happen to all the other animals if there isn’t sufficient air? What will you do when the water you drink is no longer safe to consume? We need water as much as we need air; our chemical make-up is 90% water, and not having enough of it to replace what we lose is a sure path to the grave within a matter of days.

There are other issues connected to this subject; the consistent degradation of our planet’s ecosystem has a great many negative effects, small and unnoticeable at first, but growing larger over time until they are added to the list of processes that will eventually lead to extinction of all of this planet’s life forms.  Part of the problem is that it is a slow, insidious process, this degradation, and the deleterious outcomes are not evident until too late to reverse.

And remember, the Universe doesn’t care, one way or the other, whether we survive or not; the rules are the rules, and fighting against the natural laws of our space-time continuum is a fool’s bet. Like it or not, we, as a species, are going to need to make some serious changes to the way we do things, if we are to survive at all. And we will need to do it starting yesterday…..

“A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.  Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” — Albert Einstein

I really admire Albert Einstein, and not because he was a great scientist, as well as one of history’s shining examples of men and women who greatly advance human knowledge, and do so out of their love of mankind. Albert’s wisdom was not restricted to the principles of physics and math; he had a unique way of looking at the world, and the ability to share their deep insights into life and the universe for the benefit of others. He was an eternal optimist, and as the above quote demonstrates, had a firm grip on the concept of living with honor and dignity.

He believed in the inherent goodness of every man, and lived his life in a way that it stands as an example for the rest of us. I cannot wholly agree with what he states above, because I have a much darker view of what human nature is capable of, and less faith in mankind’s willingness to submit to natural law. But what he said does show with clarity where our salvation lies, and in his own inimitable manner, he shares his deeper knowledge with the rest of us in the hope it will inspire others to act honorably……

“To laugh often and love much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give of oneself; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sing with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier: this is to have succeeded.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

From what I gather in my study of 19th century American writers, a lot of the best were what I would call masters of advanced curmudgeonry. Emerson, Walden, Thoreau,  were all libertarians living in compromise with a democracy, and spent much of their time either complaining about society, or hiding from it in their forest retreats. This is not to say that what they wrote was bad or mistaken in premise, necessarily, but if you read their work with this in mind, it becomes apparent that they didn’t much like other folks, or put much trust in their rationality.

But, as the included quote indicates, being a curmudgeon doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t understand humanity, or what it takes to make life complete. This paragraph from Mr. Emerson demonstrates this perfectly. One cannot argue with conviction that all of these attributes listed, and experiences from a long life, are positively rooted, and make perfect sense. Whether or not we actually have all of these characteristics is unimportant; the list remains valid even if incomplete. And it provides anyone with a good map and directions that can be useful to us in our pursuit of happiness…..

So much for another day…..Hopefully, you have consumed a fair portion of food for thought, and found it palatable enough. If not, feel free to let me know, and I’ll see if I can come up with something more savory….in the meantime, y’all take care out there….
__________________________________

I can’t say that was entirely painless, but, it’s done, and thus joins the ranks of so many others that have been thrown out there for y’all to peruse, and abuse, if you must…. Once they leave here, I have little control over that, so I’m becoming a fatalist in that respect…. So, we’ll leave this one to its fate, and go on with the day’s business……  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

dozer3

This Pearl doesn’t smell fresh, Ollie….

Posted on by
9

Ffolkes,
And then, I woke up, to find this…..

How It Works….

Retreat, retreat, he cries in vain
we cannot stand such pain!
Another battle, another day’s fight
Eternally at war, both day and night.

Storms within, crashing and thrashing about,
filling each moment with fear and doubt.
Cries of anguish, hopes for a swift end
Denied with wounds that will not mend.

The crisis approaches, time will not wait.
It marches on, driven madly by fate.
We have no recourse, no other road to walk,
No great power to whom we may talk.

Morning arrives, seemingly mild and free
Until one considers all that must be
An intro, some pearls, a photo or two
Today’s magnificent Pearl, created just for you…..

 ~~gigoid ~~


I was looking for a particular date of an event from last year at around this time, and in the process, came across this poem, that I wrote, apparently, in June of 2012, before I had begun to collect and save my poems in one folder. It was part of the intro section then, and certainly is appropriate today, as well. Without further fuss…. Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

My brain is broken…. well, maybe not broken, but tired, for sure. This is the second or third day I’ve felt fairly normal since getting back from Europe (boy, I LOVE saying that….), and I’m finding it tiring to try to slip back into any routine…. As a result, I am going to fall back into the far reaches of the recent past, all the way to late July in 2011, when the following comprised the Pearl of Virtual Wisdom for that day…. I like it, so the hell with it, you’ll like it, too… or not, but, I’m guessing yes…

Ffolkes,
But then, penguins don’t generally display male pattern baldness as they age. Of course, it’s difficult to say, really. I mean how many aged penguins have YOU known intimately?……If you couldn’t tell already, it’s a Friday. Now, I have to admit, that doesn’t hold much value for me anymore; one day is pretty much like any other when one enters retirement mode. The trick is to look at each day individually, and fill it up with things which, in my working days, I didn’t have the time or wherewithal to do.

Of course, these days my wherewithal is looking a bit worn and shabby, but one must deal, because, hey, only game in town, right? It’s a good thing I’ve always been a bit of a fatalist; it comes in handy these days when I wonder “why?”…….these are my favorite type of pearls. Short, pithy one-liners that appear simple, but echo and reverberate throughout one’s psyche, revealing their depth only upon contemplation……enjoy!…..

“It doesn’t really matter what you can do if you don’t do it.”  — Bram Moolenaar

“The more you love, the more you can love—and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love.” — Robert Heinlein

“Courage is the ladder on which all other virtues mount.” — Clare Booth Luce

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — New Testament — John xv, 13

Live for those private moments of wild abandon! –Opus

The world out there really doesn’t give much of a damn what we do, so I would guess it becomes our personal responsibility to make sure our actions are honorable. It’s really too bad that particular idea never comes up in school; personally I don’t recall any classes on ethics or morality. I believe that is a mistake, because leaving that up to parents hasn’t been particularly effective in that respect. So…..teach your children well, feed them on your dreams, (thanks, CSN&Y) because chances are no one else will…… y’all take care out there….
__________________________________

Since I included one of my own poems above, here is one by an acknowledged master…..

A Bronze Head

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

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

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

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

~~ William Butler Yeats ~~

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As noted in section one, above, I’ve turned off my brain for the day, (well, perhaps not noted, but implied…. no worries, it’s off….), and have been enjoying taking a cruise through some very old Pearls, from a couple of years ago…. It is interesting to see where my mind was then, and how it was looking at stuff in general… Fun, and a complete waste of time, for sure, so it fits right in with this morning’s agenda for me. I found the following Pearl, and thought it would go well to finish out today’s effort, or lack thereof…. It’s interesting, anyway….

Ffolkes,
The human condition. We all know what that is, from the inside. But explaining it to another is probably the single most difficult task communication has ever known. Every one of us, when tasked to explain ourselves, runs into a road block of dense resistance, and we end up stuttering or silent, or we lie. The essence of the difficulty lies in the fact that our perceptions are different; none of us has precisely the same reference points of experience, so attempting to define “self”  becomes a matter of trying to find points of reference upon which we may agree.

From these points we may come to some small understanding, if there is sufficient desire on both to do so. But mostly, we just hide ourselves, or lie, because the effort to be understood is greater than the effort it takes to manipulate what we show to others. Most folks just don’t want to work very hard, and are content to “get by”  by just showing those parts of themselves that they believe will be acceptable. Or, after achieving a certain age, they stop worrying about it altogether, and just say what they feel, or think, without regard to how it may be accepted. This is what most people call “freedom of speech”. But it’s all just another way we fool ourselves into thinking we understand the world around us, and “know” the human condition. After all, we’re humans ourselves, right?  Think about it…….

One of these is not like the others…..it will be easy to spot, and has no real meaning beyond its presence. I just thought it looked good where it ended up, so it got left in……the rest of these are statements on the human condition. Which ones can you apply to yourself?……

“You know what it’s like to be dead.  It’s just like it was before you were born.  Remember what it was like before you were born?” — Evan

“I am the shadow my words cast.” — Octavio Paz

“I have come to the conclusion that my subjective account of my motivation is largely mythical on almost all occasions. I don’t know why I do things.” — J. B. S. Haldane

In ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as gods.  Cats have never forgotten this.

“If you don’t care where you are, you ain’t lost.” — Rune’s Rule.

“I used to be a FUNDAMENTALIST, but then I heard about the  HIGH RADIATION LEVELS and bought an ENCYCLOPEDIA!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

“Know thyself”? If I knew myself, I’d run away. — Goethe

You already have your homework assignments, so I’ll leave you to it……enjoy the day…..y’all take care out there….
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“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” — Charles DuBois

As is often the case, I don’t really know what prompted the last minute addition of the above quote, but, that’s okay, I’m pretty easy-going about that sort of stuff. It’s a survival technique, a defense against sheer insanity, which hovers ever near….. And, that is quite enough for one day, I should think, so, I’m outta here, with no regrets, but lots of second thoughts, as usual….  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

dozer3

Deluxe accommodations don’t come cheap….

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Ffolkes,
And then, I woke up…. old, and in pain. This, however, is not a surprise, as I’ve awakened to that state on a daily basis for some time now. Today, I am forced to acknowledge the reaching of a new level of both, as my age-related conditions continue to worsen at a slow but steady rate. SIGH…. It gets harder each day, a bit, to maintain the attitude I’ve tried to keep, to never give in completely to the demands of that pain, or the aging, at least to the extent that it keeps me from doing what I wish to do, or, at the very least, what I intend to do.

I firmly believe that giving in to age is the point where time starts to win, to gain the upper hand in our life-long struggle against entropy. We all, at that point, start the slow, inevitable slide toward death from old age. I intend to die only when I’m ready, when I’ve seen and done all I intend to do and see, and not before; I WILL NOT give in….

That being said, I think I’ll go take a short nap….. Okay, now I feel better, and the coffee is hot; what could be better? Some rest, a pill to combat the pain, and some hot coffee; the only thing I could add would be a good laugh, and for that, I merely need to take a moment to go look in a mirror….  😆   Yep, works every time; I just look at this self-styled Roman nose, which my daughter refers to as Mount Olympus, and I can’t stop the grin, scary as it is, with the number of teeth I don’t have staring out. Oh well, another five months or so, and my new bionic teeth will be ready to install, and I’ll once more be able to smile at babies without giving them nightmares…. Hey, a guy’s got to have a goal, right? For now, that’s mine….

“It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish.” — Aeschylus

I KNEW there was a reason for all this folderol this morning…. I was merely setting the scene, to keep things interesting, for me, if not for y’all. I try, and try, but the intro section just gets away from me every day; I can’t seem to find a consistent approach to it, that fulfills all I want it to do. I’m probably blocking any success in this effort myself, unconsciously, just to play a head game.

My unconscious mind is sneaky that way, and has always had an odd sense of humor, to boot; at times, it can be a trial. But, since I don’t have any choice in the matter (we can’t pick the personality of our unconscious, any more than we can pick family…. it’s just there….), I have to deal…. Today, I’m going to deal like this, with a quick escape…. look over there for a second….

Shall we Pearl?…..
__________________________________

Fortunately, or unfortunately, you decide, the pain I’m experiencing is going to cut short my sitting time, which precludes, to a certain extent, any long, involved writing…. Hence, the following seven-star pearl, which sort of chose itself (the giveaway on that is the two quotes from SB itself, at the beginning, and at the end, under the gun, and out the door, so to speak….), and somehow seemed to fit right in with the way my mind is proceeding this morning…. If it is unclear to you, well, just let it simmer awhile on a back burner, let it reduce, and it will be clear, probably without having to run it through a strainer, or a China cap….. If it is STILL unclear, well, just chew on the final aphorism, and that will do….

“I give up, what is the meaning of life? — Smart Bee

“The best sort of revenge is not to be like him who did the injury.” — Antoninus

“The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.” — William James

Future, n.  That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true, and our happiness is assured. — Ambrose Bierce “The Devil’s Dictionary”

“Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” — Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye

“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in so far as it stands ready against the accidental and the unforeseen, and is not apt to fall.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, vii, 61

“Your education has failed you if you have not learned forgiveness, compassion, and love.” — Smart Bee
__________________________________

Sometimes, I gotta go with the classics, with good reason…..

A Boundless Moment

He halted in the wind, and — what was that
Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost?
He stood there bringing March against his thought,
And yet too ready to believe the most.

“Oh, that’s the Paradise-in-bloom,” I said;
And truly it was fair enough for flowers
had we but in us to assume in march
Such white luxuriance of May for ours.

We stood a moment so in a strange world,
Myself as one his own pretense deceives;
And then I said the truth (and we moved on).
A young beech clinging to its last year’s leaves.

~~ Robert Frost ~~

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As mentioned too often above, I’m not able to sit for long today, so here is another randomly chosen pearl for your perusal, and enjoyment…. Hey, it’s easier than a rant, or a discussion…. I had a really good pearl ready for use too, from Ralph Waldo, but, we’ll save it for later…. Today, this is what you get….. so enjoy, for goodness sake…. How often do you dodge two bullets in one day?…… I did add some comments, in parentheses, so, all is not lost; I still went too far…..

“Nice underwear.  Perhaps you should take them off your head.” — Smart Bee

“The comfort of a friend may be taken away, but not that of having had one.” — Seneca

“I don’t mind being in touch with reality, as long as I don’t have to live there.” — Smart Bee
(With my complete agreement…)

“It’s against my programming to impersonate a deity.” — C3PO
(But, not mine…. )

“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” — Albert Camus
(Yes, yes, I do both…. expend the energy, and realize it…. )

“Heresy is another word for freedom of thought.” — Graham Greene
(I didn’t say it, but, it’s nice to know someone else gets it….)

If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re missing the joke.” — Smart Bee
(Here, too, I agree strongly…. )
__________________________________

Though I admit to placing the following in the position in which you find it, I take no responsibility for its presence beyond that admission. My subconscious mind FORCED me to put it there, with threats of dire consequences should I refuse…. Sue me, when it comes to threats from my subconscious, I’m a wimp, because it knows ALL my weaknesses and fears….So, here it is, such as it is (I have to admit, it has style, if nothing else going for it…..)….

“Barbie says, Take quaaludes in gin and go to a disco right away! But Ken says, WOO-WOO!!  No credit at ”Mr. Liquor”!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I don’t know…. it kind of fits in with the rest of today’s futility, you think? Oh well, I guess there have been worse days around here, though it’s hard to say when…. I’m washing my hands really well after I finish today, you can be sure….. You probably would be wise to do the same….. 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

dozer3

Breaking news: Cop bitten by doughnut….

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Ffolkes,
And then, I woke up….. at that magical hour of the day, when it reads as a perfectly balanced trio of primes, at 3:33….. or, as the Martians would say, a three, filled. It truly is a magical time, when nobody else is stirring, and I have the thought waves pretty much all to myself. I can direct the flow of them, or let them carry me off to a place where nothing is too fantastic to consider, and nothing is forbidden to think, or to say….. It’s a place in my mind I go to a lot, especially when I’m feeling stressed, or blue, because it’s impossible to feel bad there, where total freedom, of thought, of action, of life is not merely encouraged, but demanded…..

Then, of course, I come back to reality, reluctantly, but always in a better frame of mind with which to approach whatever is happening out there in the BBR, or as we sometimes call it, the scary bad place outside the door….. Sometimes, it’s scarier than what can go on in my head, which is going a good ways, but, after a visit to my “happy place”, I can deal with the fear much more easily. Deal with it I will, for fear is one thing that will never rule my life, no sir…. I’ll have none of that, thank you very much. I see far too many of my planetary peers letting fear determine their attitudes and how they deal with reality, and it is no way to live at all, not for anyone who treasures the power of mind….

How did we get so serious? I just started babbling, and all of a sudden, it’s a mini-rant against fear, which, though a common enough subject, and enemy enough to rant about, I’m barely awake, and have only had one sip of that life-giving nectar of the gods, coffee, so a rant would soon fall down into incoherence, unless I got all pissed off or something, and who needs that at this hour of the day? Not me, certainly, though it IS a way to wake up thoroughly…. just not the most pleasant way, which is more what I’m in the mood for today. Easy is good, I’m thinking…..

Good enough to have provided almost four paragraphs, of not entirely useless material, and at least given me an opportunity to get going with some slight dignity, if not panache. Hell, I’m just happy I’m awake enough to be able to access words like “panache” without blushing, it being so early and all…. and what are all the computer noises about, eh? It keeps making this “doh, don’t” kind of noise, almost like the Law and Order noise when a scene changes…. but we’re not changing scenes….. Makes me wonder what’s going on in the background that it isn’t telling me about…..

“Life is like quotations. Sometimes, it makes you laugh. Sometimes, it makes you cry. Most of the time, you don’t get it. — Smart Bee

If THAT  doesn’t give you an idea of how today is going, I don’t know what will….. Shall we Pearl?
__________________________________

“To know that one has enough is to be rich.” ~~ Lao Tzu

Though it may sound like it, this is not an endorsement, of either poverty, or affluence. In fact, it is the exact middle ground between the two, that is the meaning herein, the part that contains importance for us as humans, in a society that challenges everyone to become one, or the other, not being content with merely being content with what one possesses. As usual, I’ve probably obscured the basic idea, when I meant to clarify….. SIGH. Sometimes it’s hard being me, what with my natural tendency toward pomposity of speech…. Comes from reading too much alone, and getting comfortable with too many writing styles to remember which one I’m currently using myself….. or, maybe I’m getting old….

Regardless of any of that, I have recently been struck by how apt this aphorism has been in my recent life. I think I’ve done pretty well at dealing with the sudden, exhilarating experience of having more money than I need on a very basic level. Most of my impulsive buying has been prompted by two desires, both of which I’ve managed to fulfill without going completely insane, and blowing it all. One desire is to see those places I’ve always wanted to see; the other is to be able to provide assistance, of a financial nature, to my kids, and grandson, both while I am alive, and after I pass on to the next adventure in the ongoing saga of gigoid, wherever it may lead.

In addition, I find it a very pleasant experience to give in to the urge to buy gifts for the people I love, without having to stop to consider the long-term effect, or worry that it will cause me a strain to do so. Not that I can buy everyone a car, or anything, but it’s really nice to buy flowers now and again, and be able to enjoy doing it…. Even if it doesn’t make me so, it makes me feel rich, to know that I have enough, enough to be able to live, and be able to help whomever I wish to help….

“Kids, the seven basic food groups are GUM, PUFF PASTRY, PIZZA, PESTICIDES, ANTIBIOTICS, NUTRA-SWEET and MILK DUDS!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

As I perused the above, while looking through SB for an appropriate quote for this discussion, I realized this was a perfect choice, because, I can always count on Zippy to provide the proper perspective to any discussion that threatens to become mundane, which the above was certainly doing…. (I wonder if I have enough teeth to eat Milk Duds anymore?) Besides, he forgot coffee, unless that is counted as a pesticide, or an antibiotic…. Nevertheless, what I’ve discussed above is all true, and I must say, not only is it a good feeling to be flush for a change, if not exactly rich, it is a good thing to be able to appreciate my good fortune, and the culmination of a long period of hard work, defined as “waiting patiently for the feds to turn lead into gold”, so to speak…

So, if you are fortunate enough in your life, to have enough, maybe you will join me in appreciating what we have, and thinking how we can help others by sharing our good fortune…. It’s a darn sight better than hoarding it, or worrying about spending the fruits of our life-long efforts foolishly, and a lot more satisfying in the long run…. I guarantee…..

“I have more than enough of almost everything.” — Smart Bee

“No man is free who is not master of himself.” — Epictetus
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Striking Gold

Madness comes and goes, it’s true,
whenever it chooses to do so.
Living’s much like wearing a shoe,
when all you are is a toe.

~~ gigoid ~~


In perfect demonstration of this, I offer the above….. such as it is, it is deeper than it may appear, and quite relevant to my internal life, where I spend probably far too much of my time…. As a balancing act, I offer the following, which is the first one that caught my eye today…..

It’s All I have to bring to-day,
   This, and my heart beside,
This, and my heart, and all the fields,
   And all the meadows wide.
Be sure you count, should I forget, —
   Some one the sum could tell, —
This, and my heart, and all the bees
  Which in the clover dwell.

~~ Emily Dickinson ~~

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The above first section is possibly one of the weakest, yet still reasonably valid pieces I’ve done in a long while. I knew what I wanted to say, but it came out all weird, and rather than try to bring it back, I just let it fly wherever it chose, which turned out to be a bit odd…. Not to say that “odd” is anything new here, but, that wasn’t how it started out….. Oh well, I guess I’ll just go cruising through SB to see what throws itself at me, and sticks…. Hopefully, it will make a bit of sense, but, if not, well, it will fit right in with a lot of what I do around here in the early mornings……

Scimus te prae litteras fatuum esse. (We know that you are mad with much learning.) — Petronius (d. c.66 A.D)

“Back when I was attending the University of Utah, The Daily Utah Chronicle ran a joke ad for a debate between Phil Donahue and Whiskers the Lamb. Over 30 people showed up.  (what they were expecting, God only knows.) — unknown, but not Smart Bee, because SB is a program, and this is obviously the memory of a real person; I just don’t know who, and neither does Google… It is listed as an unattributed joke on some IT website called anvari.com, but, other than that, the only reference on the web was a post of my own, from a couple years ago, when I used it in another Pearl…. Whew!

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

I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it,
Time in hours, days, years,
Driv’n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world
And all her train were hurl’d.

— Henry Vaughan — The World

“I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” — Winston Churchill

Well…. Sometimes, serendipity just astonishes me. It may seem a bit elusive, but, I consider the above to be one of the best five-star pearls that Smart Bee has ever come up with…. The important part of that is that I don’t really know why, it just is…. balanced, whimsical, and ultimately, perfectly real, with some self-deprecation and hope thrown in just for good measure….. So be it, gigoid has spoken, and it is good….
__________________________________

Okay, I have to see if it is as weird to read as it was to write…. Hmm, well, better than I’d hoped, so, off it goes…. It’s been real, AND fun, so, I’m already in the plus column for the day, and it’s just barely dawn… Time for a nap….  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

dozer3