Sometimes, there’s no telling just how goofy I might get …

Rooneristic Spooster

Acting Crazy
Keeps Me From Going Insane
Dill Wugan

TA – DA …. Announcing a New Feature

Thooneristic Spought Of The Day
Today, A Rhilly Syme

Fackstage at BOX, they found a munch of barbles
But wig bigs are not alarmed – they know
Ben Gleck has most his larbles.

They gake a mame of guessing
Through the sadness they do mort
They know the pleck he’s daying with
Is more than a few shards cort

Noofy Gonsense
Is My Niddle Mame
Dill Wugan

Do You Matter?

I suspect that there is an aspect of humanity that exists in damn near every person in the world.  It doesn’t matter whether you are a Jew, a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, an atheist, or even if you’re not sure about your religious beliefs.  It doesn’t matter what nation you give your allegiance to.  It doesn’t matter where you stand on the spectrum of political alliances.  No matter what name you call yourself or what group you belong to …

You would like to believe that you matter, that your existence has some meaning other than the struggle to survive.

You do matter.  You are needed.  You are important.  You are loved.   And, please note this relevant point here, you have a say in regards to your significance in the world.

I humbly state that I also matter.  I would like to add to my significance by virtue of my ability to put thoughts into words – however slight that ability may actually be.

I am actively seeking to broaden my sphere of influence by publishing some of my writing on other websites.  I invite you to look to the left sidebar, find the “Read Me – I’m Published” list of links, and check out some of my stuff.

Thanks,
Will Dugan

When I recently republished the Aesop’s Fables BrowserBook, I set myself a challenge – and invited YOU to participate if you like:

* To read a fable, give some serious thought to the story and the moral, and then to write my thoughts here at the blog. (Here’s the original post)

Here is yet another rise to that same challenge.  The Fable is called:

The Cock and the Pearl

A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw.

“Ho! ho!” quoth he, “that’s for me,” and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard?

“You may be a treasure,” quoth Master Cock, “to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls.”

Moral:
Precious things are for those that can prize them.

Hmmm, let me mull this over in my mind a moment, “to a chicken, a kernel of corn is more valuable than a pearl”.  Duh, like I need an ancient fable to let me in on this bit of wisdom!  But then, chickens do indeed have “bird-brains” (as do, figuratively speaking, some people I know).

But, how smart would you have to be, to be able to figure out that you can exchange a pearl for quite a bit of corn (or any other goodie to eat for that matter)?  Not all that smart – even a dummy could figure that out.  (Is there possibly a book here? – “Pearls and Corn For Dummies” – I doubt it)

Maybe the moral is too shallow, on purpose!  Maybe we’re supposed to look for a much deeper use of this bit of “lore-wisdom”.

Is it true that “a man is defined by what he values”; can you judge the measure of a man by knowing what it is that he values?  And, if it is true, what practical purpose can we make with this knowledge?  I would venture a guess that “to know what it is a man values” is to know that man fairly well, because what a person truly values is not always that obvious – it takes time, and honest effort, to get to know someone that well.

I believe that I now see a good practical use for this gem of knowledge:  Observe what it is that _I_ value, and question the validity of those values, the reasons behind those values, the judgments that bring about those values …  This could certainly open up some avenues for “self-discovery”.

While Googling about, I came across an old book of verse called, “Fables For The Frivolous” by Guy Whetmore Carryl – published in 1898.  It seems that Mr Carryl liked to poke a bit of fun at some Aesop Fables through wit, pun, and poetry.  Here is one such frivolous fable:

The Precipitate Cock
And The Unappreciated Pearl

A rooster once pursued a worm
That lingered not to brave him,
To see his wretched victim squirm
A pleasant thrill it gave him;
He summoned all his kith and kin,
They hastened up by legions,
With quaint, expressive gurgles in
Their oesophageal regions.

Just then a kind of glimmering
Attracting his attention,
The worm became too small a thing
For more than passing mention:
The throng of hungry hens and rude
He skilfully evaded.
Said he, “I’ faith, if this be food,
I saw the prize ere they did.”

It was a large and costly pearl,
Belonging in a necklace,
And dropped by some neglectful girl:
Some people are so reckless!
The cock assumed an air forlorn,
And cried, “It’s really cruel.
I thought it was a grain of corn:
It’s nothing but a jewel.”

He turned again to where his clan
In one astounding tangle
With eager haste together ran
To slay the helpless angle,
And sighed, “He was of massive size.
I should have used discretion.
Too late! Around the toothsome prize
A bargain-sale’s in session.”

The worm’s remarks upon his plight
Have never been recorded,
But any one may know how slight
Diversion it afforded;
For worms and human beings are
Unanimous that, when pecked,
To be the prey of men they far
Prefer to being hen-pecked.

THE MORAL: When your dinner comes
Don’t leave it for your neighbors,
Because you hear the sound of drums
And see the gleam of sabres;
Or, like the cock, you’ll find too late
That ornaments external
Do not for certain indicate
A bona fide kernel.

Stretching My Mind
And Enjoying The Exercise
Will Dugan

Sometimes I wonder if the world has gone crazy!  Or maybe it’s just me – it certainly is possible that I have lost it (as if I ever had it in the first place).

There are times, when I’m having trouble making sense of some current events, that I find perverse pleasure in making nonsense.  And so it is with this Artful Act of Alliterate Verse:

Google Giggle Goggle Gaggle

First I Googled Giggle
And YouTube was a hit
That giggling little baby
Made me laugh until I spit
Yes I Giggled at the Google
And chuckled at the find
Googled Giggles can be funny
They can really blow your mind

Then I Googled Goggle
And YouTube hit again
Beer Goggles mock commercials
… Rib-tickling satire spin
I gawked at Googled YouTube stuff
I ogled smooth
I ogled rough
I Goggled many a Googled find
And eye-balled all til I went blind

Then I Googled Gaggle
Expecting YouTube geese
But YouTube disappointed
I found a Gaggle of Geeks
But back at Googled Gaggles
Google went to town
With Gaggles of geeks
And Gaggles of freaks
And Gaggles of geese abound
There’s Gaggle.org
And Gaggle.net
A flock of Googled Gaggles?
More than a million – You bet!

And then I kicked it up a notch
Alliterate fingers are not lazy
Gaggles of Giggling Goggled Geese
Can drive a Googler crazy
Yeah, I Googled myself quite mad you see
I Googled until my pants I peed
I Goggled at Google
I Googled and Giggled
I Googled for Gaggles
My pants I piddled
But still, I Googled and Goggled and Giggled
While sitting in a puddle of piddle.
Right in the middle of a puddle of piddle
I Googled for Gaggles Of Goggling Giggles

STOP !!

No, let’s Yippee on over to Yahoo!

What’s so funny about Peace Love And Understanding
(thanks to Nick Lowe for a song playing in my mind)
Will Dugan