Category: Thinkings and poems

The music of William Blake’s poems

 

 

As someone who walks about humming or even singing without knowing, this looks fascinating.Most of my poems have music but I don’t write it down.

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-music-of-william-blakes-poetry

 

Where else in the Songs are there references to music and singing?

The first song in the Songs of Innocence sets a number of themes that recur during the collection: the child, nature, and song. It is the child that tells the poet to pipe, but then to sing; and then leaves the singer alone to write the poems.

What happens in the poem is that the poet pipes, then is asked to sing, and then sing again, and then to transcribe what has been sung. Thus there is a clear indication that these are songs for both reading and singing. At the end of ‘Introduction’ this is reiterated, as the songs are to be heard:

And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear

The last line of the introductory poem to Songs of Innocence makes it clear that the songs were to be written down ‘so that every child may hear’.

Economics is not a science.Get over it.

Horse

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/13/economics-science-wang/

 

No, Economics Is Not a Science

By ALAN Y. WANG
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Economists have faced a deluge of negative press in the past few years, ranging from criticisms over the failure to forecast the financial crisis, to the more recent disbelief over the granting of the Nobel Prize in Economics to three economists, two of whom hold views that can be said to be polar opposites. Indeed, the reputation of mainstream economics—specifically macroeconomics—is arguably at its worst since the formation of the field in the 1930s, with the advent of the Great Depression. This state of affairs prompted Raj Chetty, a professor of economics at Harvard, to author a defense of the field in ‘The New York Times,’ titled “Yes, Economics Is a Science.”

It seems as though economics is fighting for its right to stay in the exclusive group of fields deemed worthy enough to be called “science,” where subjects such as physics, chemistry, and molecular biology reside comfortably. Some instead opt to call economics, along with psychology and sociology, a “social science”—a vague term, often blurred with humanities, which is neither here nor there. Nevertheless, the underlying implication behind this battle is that to be a “science” is to be credible.

I don’t agree.

First and foremost, I don’t agree at all that economics is a science. Let me preface this by saying that I am concentrating in economics, and have the utmost respect for the field. Let me also clarify that when I say “economics” throughout this article, I primarily mean macroeconomics—microeconomics is an entirely different beast. While the two are intrinsically related, the methods of experimentation are so drastically different that the two can hardly be subject to the same criticisms.

Merriam-Webster’s definition of science is “a study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation.” What physics and chemistry and molecular biology have in common is that the building blocks of what they observe and experiment with don’t change. Such is the natural world. But what is the building block of economics? People. Economics does not study any unit smaller than a collection of people. And human behavior can never be absolutely predicted or explained—not if we wish to believe in free will, at any rate.

Read more by clicking the link

What is a paradigm?

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Not Thomas Kuhn having coffee

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/paradigm

 

paradigm

NOUN

  • 1A typical example or pattern of something; a pattern or model.

    ‘society’s paradigm of the ‘ideal woman’’
    More example sentences
    Synonyms
    1. 1.1 A world view underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject.
      ‘the discovery of universal gravitation became the paradigm of successful science’
      More example sentences

  • 2Linguistics 
    A set of linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles.

    ‘English determiners form a paradigm: we can say ‘a book’ or ‘his book’ but not ‘a his book’’
    Often contrasted with syntagm
    More example sentences

  • 3(in the traditional grammar of Latin, Greek, and other inflected languages) a table of all the inflected forms of a particular verb, noun, or adjective, serving as a model for other words of the same conjugation or declension.

    Example sentences

Origin

Late 15th century: via late Latin from Greek paradeigma, from paradeiknunai ‘show side by side’, from para- ‘beside’ + deiknunai ‘to show’.

Pronunciation

paradigm

/ˈparədʌɪm/

Virtue, beauty, wonder, colour based

In the 60’s women  wore a tiny mini-  skirts
[Which seems  odd now, as we wear trousers most]
Then  bought longer ones should Vogue direct

We wore minis, stockings with grip welts
Cool in summer, chilly in the frost
Once all women  wore wool winter skirts

Trousers  made us free from fashions cracked
As long as we had slender tapered waists
We bought versions of  Parisian taste direct.

 

But  recently we see the trousers whacked
They must be short this year or lack good taste
They’re up and down our calves just like the skirts

And though we hated  belts, suspender packed
We now must buy a longer type of sock
To close the gap the shorter trousers make.

So I make my case that women’s trousers lack
Virtue, beauty, wonder, colour based
I think it’s time that skirts should now be backed

Let us admire the  daring females  most
Who wander  flower-skirted to the coast
Let us humans tear off all that hurts!
We need comfort, let the fashions flirt!

 

 

Destiny

We have time but do not know for what
We do not wish to feel we’ve not lived well
Yet meaning  seems a fiction with no plot

I feel he will return, has he forgot?
Who shall be the arbiter, who’ll tell?
I have time but do not know for what

The dove has not returned to the dove cot
The devil seems to maul about this hell
Is meaning a  mere fiction with no plot?

Our ancestors were thankful for their lot.
They had expectations  lower yet fulfilled
We have time but do not know for what.

Am I someone human  or a blot
Upon the page where God writes his last Will?
Is there inner meaning or a plot?

Whatever game  it is we pay the bill
We see the  truth before us with no  frill.
We have time but do not know for what
Oh, destiny’s a  lie, no play’s pre-writ.

He will come Messianic and fulfilled
The birds will sing and all shall be his will.
We have time and bless the daily gift
Knowing neither what is slow or fast

 

 

 

Deja-zoo=I’m a monkey.

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Deja loo= I’ve already been to the lavatory
Deja-coo= I’ve already been seduced by this person’s beauty and charm
Deja boo=I’ve already disliked this person
Deja -trouve =Already found the treasure
Deja flu-I already had flu
Deja-flew= I’m here already
Deja- glue= married/in love/self obsessed
Deja- who? I’ve got dementia and I don’t care
Deja-shoo=I’ve got rid of the cat for an hour.I’m free
Deja you=Met already.
Deja plus=I’m French and better than you.
Deja-zoo=I’m a monkey, almost.Come back next year and I shall be.

Stan gets visited by two lovely ladies

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Stan was standing on a small step ladder washing his windows yet again with a clean blue microfibre and elastane cloth and some Windolene he had bought in Tesco’s
I don’t know why I bother, he whispered to Emile, who as usual was watching from the back of the sofa, which he was “milking” gently with his paws.
With all the rain, the outside of the windows was besmirched by leaves and bits of mud.A  wiser man might have left it alone but Stan had O.C.D which made him very jumpy if he failed to carry out certain tasks… so he made use of it in house chores and baking perfect cakes and buns..and in taking snaps of frogs, birds and flowers.Mental disorder can be useful sometimes.
All of a sudden he heard clattering footsteps…
Up the garden path walked two women dressed in the latest style of 3/4 length silk cargo trousers with matching blouses, all in a subtle shade of violet.
Except for their faces, of course, which were both a light shade of beige; they had Revlon peach blusher on their cheeks and Chanel scarlet lipstick…on their lips.They also wore dark blue nail varnish from Rimmel
“Good morning, Stan!” called one of them.”We are Anne‘s cousins from Pittsburgh.She told us to call on you today.”
“Well,I never knew wearing expensive makeup ran in the genes… can there be any other explanation?”Stan cried.
“Anne told us we must wear it all the time in the UK.”
she responded,”even in bed.”
“You seem a bit fast,” he answered,
“I’m not sure I want to go to bed and as you seem like identical twins,which of you should I bed?”
They burst out laughing….oh,what a noise!
“I was just saying what she told us,not meaning that you need to go to bed with us.In fact, we sleep together at night.”
“As children that would be normal,but don’t you think you should separate now?People might think you are gay!”
“We never worry about stuff like that… and by the way,this is Ruby and I am Rosie.”
“I’ll put on the kettle and make you some coffee,” the dear man said in a kind tone of voice,before he went into the kitchen and swallowed a handful of red and green striped valium tablets.
“I wish the psychiatrist would give me some talk therapy.I don’t like taking valium but I seem to be having visions again… and I don’t want to get worse..I never heard Anne mention cousins in the USA. I wonder if CBT would help me?”he said to Emile.
“I see visions all the time,” the cat replied in a matter of fact and calm way.
“Do they not make you feel anxious?”Stan called.
“No ,I just watch them drift by,” purred Emile.”I enjoy them.”
“I wish these two women would drift off.” responded the weary yet charming old man.Ruby and Rosie came inside and admired the kitchen where colanders in many colours hung from the wall into which someone had knocked a few dozen nails.
“”Why do you have sixteen colanders?”asked Rosie.
“Why do you think everything has a reason?”Stan replied.
“I can see you studied philosophy,” Ruby cried disconsolately.
“No, I have just read Ray Monk’s Life of Wittgenstein eight times,” he quipped merrily.
“Wow,is it not boring?”
“No.it’s so good it put me off reading lesser books.And I love to understand things or not understand”
Just then Stan tripped on the rug and fell over unconscious
.Emile picked up his mobile with its full Qwerty keypad and texted 999.
“Why are you texting?”asked Ruby.
“Well, it difficult to mioaw down a phone and now I have this Blackberry it’s so easy…. why even a mouse could do it.”
“Do you know many mice, Emile?” enquired Ruby wistfully
Rosie slowly made some instant coffee, walking around poor Stan ,unconscious on the floor…and she and her twin sat down on some white Swedish chairs at the old oak table and drank it, gazing shyly at the huge weigelia blooming outside in the shed.
The front door opened and in ran Dave, the bisexual paramedic.
“Is it you, Emile.Have you lost your hankie again?Are you sad?” he moaned nervously.
“No, it’s Stan… but at least he’s not broken the chair”
Stan came too and looked up…
“Oh, lovely,I  feel much better for that nap,” he said brightly.
“Don’t you have a bed to sleep in?” said Ruby querulously.”I like your mean expression, my dear man.”
“Now, look here said Stan,”I’m too old for any monkey business.
Besides, I don’t know if you are real.”
“We just wondered why you slept on the floor.”
“A man has to do what a man has to do,” came the mystifying response.
“Now that Dave is here,he can take one of you and I’ll take the other.”
“Where will you take us” the twins asked delightfully….
“Do you fancy the cinema… they are showing Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday”
“Don’t tell me he’s still on his summer holiday!” riposted Ruby
“Let’s go in the ambulance.I’ll lie on the stretcher” offered Rosie generously..
“I’ll lie by you,” said Dave.” and Emile can drive.Stan and Ruby can lie on the floor.”
Sometimes life seems so simple, it’s rather like a dream controlled.
Controlled by what, asked Emile,clutching his Blackberry.
But answer came there none…
And that was very odd because.. they’d vanished every one…
To read more, why not take out a subscription?At just £100 a day, it’s value for money…as money no longer has any value!

 

Do we trust atheists?

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-atheists-we-distrust/

“Gervais and Norenzayan’s findings may shed light on an interesting puzzle: why acceptance towards atheism has grown rapidly in some countries but not others. In many Scandinavian countries, including Norway and Sweden, the number of people who report believing in God has reached an all-time low. This may have something to do with the way these countries have established governments that guarantee a high level of social security for all of their citizens.  Aaron Kay and his colleagues ran a study in Canada which found that political insecurity may push us towards believing in God. They gave participants two versions of a fictitious news story: one describing Canada’s current political situation as stable, the other describing it as potentially unstable. After reading one of the two articles, people’s beliefs in God were measured. People who read the article describing the government as potentially unstable were more likely to agree that God, or some other type of nonhuman entity, is in control of the universe. A common belief in the divine may help people feel more secure. Yet when security is achieved by more secular means, it may remove some of the draw of faith.”

The findings on why we distrust atheists also point towards another potential way of reducing such prejudice: by reminding people of charitable and altruistic acts committed in the name of atheism. In recent years, there has been a growing number of virtual communities dedicated to those interested in atheism. Some of these communities have begun to organize charitable efforts. For example, the Haiti earthquake led members of Richard Dawkins’ foundation to launch a campaign entitled Non-Believers Giving Aid. In December the Reddit.com online atheism community managed to raise over $200,000 worth of donations for Doctors Without Borders. It is possible that greater public awareness of altruistic atheists may help alleviate some of the distrust that many Americans feel towards nonbelievers.

We live in hope

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Mary was going out for a meal with some former colleagues who had taught under functioning analysis and triquacking theory.She stood in her bedroom, surrounded by piles of clothes, wondering how hot the restaurant might be and how cold and frosty the air in the road by the bus stop.
I think I’ll phone Pete she told herself.
Pete answered on the first ring.After so many years, she still recognised his semi- South African accent and pleasing voice
Hello, it’s Mary Dirac-Brown hers, she said shyly.
Hello Mary Dirac-Brown, he responded instantly
Why, he sounds like the Amazon website, she thought to herself.That figures!
Hello, Pete, I was wondering if you could give me a lift to the restaurant tonight
You don’t need a lift, it’s on the ground floor, he informed her quietly and sensitively
I mean in your car.I can’t drive now.
Why not?
Actually, I never took the Test because I always drove very fast
Why didn’t you use the brakes? he teased her.I reckon you might have passed.
I stopped the car and vowed never to drive again but now it is a problem with Stan  dead etc
Well, what time do you suggest? Shall I come earlier?
Why does he say that  ,she pondered
No, it will take ages to put all my clothes away.I can’t make up my mind what to wear.
Why not just copy Hilary Clinton?
I must not buy any more clothes.Shall I dress smartly? Or smart casual or unsmart?
I know, said Pete.Shut your eyes and pick up 3 things off the bed and then wear those.
Mary closed her eyes.When she opened them she had a pair of Arran legwarmers, a green silk shirt and a black pleated silk skirt.
I suppose if I wear my new long camel coat, the leg warmers will be hidden, she whispered.She took a bottle of dandruff shampoo and washed her light gold locks and then waxed her bikini line by mistake.
My goodness,  why and how did I ever think of doing that, she pondered ruefully?And in the winter who wears a bikini?
Dressed in her pure silk outfit, the legwarmers hidden under thigh high red leather boots, she created a buzz in the restaurant as she climbed in through the window followed by Pete in his yellow wool suit and green tie.
Why did you come in via the window, asked Tom McDonne, the former head of her maths department?
We didn’t see any doors, she cried gaily.And Mossad wants more women agents so I thought MI5 might like to see me.
Who is this Mossad, Tom asked?
It’s the Israeli intelligence service.You must have heard of them.
But they don’t want old people! Tom told her ignorantly
That’s why we came through the window, so if any spies are here they will see how agile I am still.And I still know what uncountable infinity is.Aleph, aleph.
Tom led them to a  long table.
Wow, it’s a log table Mary screamed.I’ve not seen one for years.
Well, with computers and such like we don’t really need them anymore, Tom revealed.
Are they real logs, she queried.
No, they are vinyl, the waiter admitted furtively.Easier to wash
Mother never washed my log tables, Mary told the men impudently.
Let’s order some food, Tom said, as they all sat down
I fancy the Polish Hussar Roast,  he admitted.
What has a Polish Hussar ever done to you, Mary asked?
Nothing yet but I live in hope
And so do all of us.

Try for a sort of controlled uncontrol,then.my dear, he murmured.

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And here are Pandora’s socks, Professor Smith, quipped,as the female student in the front row fell asleep whilst sitting upright in a large armchair.
And I also have Achilles’ heel here.
Now for your project, I want you all to say Three Hail Mary’s.
A large bee stung my ass and I awoke and coughed up my soul onto the bed.
Get back inside, I cried.Keep me whole,give me oil,keep me churning.
Alright ,it muttered calmly.Don’t lose your head.
I have it well screwed on, I responded.
This is a surprise to see you.
Well, since Pandora lost her socks all the souls have been getting loose from their bodies.Women…why do they lose their socks so much?
After that,the doctor called.
Hi, he screamed.
For God’s sake, don’t do that, I shouted
I’m not dead you know..even though my blood pressure is zero.He smiled and handed me a blood sugar monitor.
Here you are,this will cure your pneumonia.
What about my new mania?
What is that?
I am interested in spirals…
Keep it under control.
The whole point of mania is to be out of control
Try for a sort of controlled uncontrol,then.my dear, he murmured.
What a clever idea, I told him.Goodbye
I swallowed the test kit and it cured the pneumonia immediately
That’s it ,folk

For Uni is apparently non -U.

Toilet is a word that’s still non U.
So think of this and ask where is the loo?
For we must not slip down the pole and freeze
Nor be betrayed by knocking of the knees.
Your children  go to Uni, you’re a prole
And semester’s   a nakedly  home goal
Do not let the guests  sit in your lounge
Nor ever use settees when feeling proud.
We called it the couch but we were down
Among the miners, wrong side  of the town
Never eat  your dinner at  midday
Never hold a rosary as you pray.
Do not mention semesters again
Former polytechnics use that name.
And if your son’s at Uni, call it U;
For Uni is apparently non -U.
Remember always  gay means queer as well
Keep your nerve   you may need it in Hell,

For most of us contain a living mind

Apparently, some people are surprised
The words we speak, the sentences  that bind
Language plays such a big part in our lives

Dedicated writing, like love, thrives,
For most of us contain a living mind
Apparently brilliant people are surprised

The problem’s when a woman is  a wife
When every day, she’s told she must be kind
Language plays such a  strange role in our lives

One day such a woman  takes a knife
And stabs the man who caused her facial lines
Apparently, all humanity’s surprised

So what is it that causes bitter strife?
She forgot to turn the water into wine?
Language plays the fool’s role in our lives

Let some forceless torture be derived
And with a rubber bullet make it plain
Nobody even noticed the surprise.

What if  Abel had got rid of  Cain?
Would we now be living in this pain?
It seems grave people are much less surprised
Language  is what makes us take our lives

 

Like the face of a new born daisy   

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 What was so wrong about asking
About your absence from this world
And trying to grab you back
holding onto your coat tail
Eternity’s long enough already
We don’t need your vapour trails.
Was it a wicked thing to do
As you floated so far away
To reach out to touch you once more
I admit I never knew you kept score.
When I beat you at chess so long ago
Were you already packing bags
to throw out the door?
I knew it was the real thing
But some men never do.
You have your expectations
And your tests and rules
But we never learned those
In our higher math schools.
We learned rigour and icy vision
We learned definition and precision.
But what use are they in loving
I didn’t know how to steer with no maps
You were off anyhow.
The orchestra stopped playing
When they saw the gap.
You can’t fly forever
But I do be leaving you.
In the circumstances
What else does a woman like me do?
You can smile and squeeze your eyes tight
Suck in those cheeks and hide your love.
What’s coming after you’s an eagle or a crow
Not a dove…it’s black I know
When you toss it all away then
Seems like it’s long past time
and emotion to call it a day.
Come again…..you must be crazy
Love is clear to me  now like the face of a new born daisy

 

I’d rather be in  Oxford eating deer.

I’m in my  very first seminar today
Semesters are ten weeks long. they say
In hall, we have  ten toilets and a lounge
We have our tea at 7 pm, I found.
I have an en-suite bathroom  and  TV
I watch stuff on my iPad , eerily
I am quite short of dough since I ‘ve just got
The latest wiPhone,no my credit’s shot
If I miss my tea, I’ll have  expense
Getting a delivery to this bench
Hey, I’m sitting in the park  it’s going dark
My speech is so non-U , I  must depart.
I never liked  this Uni anway
My girlfriend said she’ll sell me on eBay.
She said we’ll have to move to Lincolnshire
Grimsby is quite cheap, the fish are dire
The Ferry does not go to  Hull  these days
But since we have no car, I cannot wait
The Humber Bridge is where the North begins
We always have hot chips and greasy chins.
We write  more poems up here than you down there
Larkin is my Saviour,  now revered
I write with biros in an old scrapbook
Like Sylvia Plath’s,  a  journal money hooks.
I never write about a  poet here
I’d rather be in  Oxford eating deer.
I did PPE at Magdalen  by the Bridge
Until  my Dad turned up with an old fridge
He said, how do you do it, my dear son?
I never knew what sex was, Mother won!
Did no-one tell you what a wet dream was?
I think I must have  had one on the bus
Or am I just incontinent and mad
I said, just shut your gob, you are mi dad.
And Oxford is not suitable for me
They never use a teapot for our tea,
The profs all sit up there on that big stage
They call them Dons, but I feel quite enraged
For they have better food than we do right down here
The struggle of the workers is made clear.
Hierarchical, the power is  in their minds
As they stroll about Port Meadow speaking rhymes
I never got to swim off Magdalen Bridge
I’m at the Polytecnic  feeling rich.
There we have the blacks and the females
We meet people from Hong Kong and up the Dales.
The teachers eat in the same place as us
Workers re-united by our love.
And racially, the teachers are quite broad
Some are Greek and some live up the road
One is black and some are brown or green
The maths professor is a beauty Queen
We learned about Greek syllogisms last week
And paradigms are shifting as I speak.
As for Zero, it is really hard
The Indians invented it.Good Lord!

 

 

Unnoticed and unnamed, the tender dies.

Unnecessary cruelness spoils our lives.
Suffering,  quite avoidable, made real
Emanating from unconscious drives

Where is the self that thinks, reflects. decides,
Where the love that makes a sheltering shield?
Unnecessary cruelness spoils our lives

Where the humane feelings that should thrive
Where the strength to contain what we feel?
Unnoticed and unnamed, the tender dies.

The stifling of humanity implies
That psychopaths have   grasped the  steering wheel
Unnecessary cruelness  ruins lives

 

Before we speak or write, let’s watch our minds
Will our words bring cruelty, will they heal?
Not hearing, caring, tenderness will die.

 

Love must flow or kindness may congeal
Take notice of the bigot’s fearful zeal.
Unnecessary cruelness spoils our lives.
How control the inner reptile’s drives?

The pain and value of knowing we do wrong

I have been  wondering why the term sin has almost died out in our language and I think  for many of us who were brought up in a very strict version of Christianity it became too painful to think about it.We were made to feel ashamed  of our failures so much so that we abandon the whole idea of sin.We don’t know as children that it is very difficult to live without making mistakes and our emotions run away with us so that we hurt other children….But now looking at the world as it is,maybe it would be better of more adults admitted making dreadful mistakes.And we know  free will may not be as free as we think.But if we accept we do sin then it makes us more tolerant of others around us…If we were perfect it might make us self righteous and judgemental which to me seems a perversion of religion.Yet this is happening  in the world today.

Evocation and music

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Trying to 
Or are we
in this information culture,
evocation is more important;
explicit saying  counts against us.
People need to be fuly
into believing
being educated is more
than information:
the incoherencies and
what they’re saying,
the musicality
of people’s voices
and intonations;
would get more
from them.
To be effective,listening is
something other, not the coherences;
we  hope to listen for words
that are saying more,
It’s got something to do with  being;
it’s a form of listening,
not distracted by incoherence
but evoked by it.
Evocation, the task of the artist
The way to heaven
Purged of noise,numbness,notoriety.
Loving the music of life.
The agent who speaks
And the one who learns to hear
Slowness,unknowingness,silence.

Are you on major fantasisers

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Lichfield Cathedral
The doctor says I am suffering from allusions in poetry.So I am on major fantasisers
I’m a nag-nostic too.I  might relieve God sometimes.He’s a wave and a particle and very light.He comes and goes.Like many men and women may do nowadays
Meanwhile, in the garden, there is mass wisteria.It will be ok in a few weeks when we get cold whether or not.Is this bad?
There is a big depression where we bury the vegetable peelings amongst other things like the dead.And  what the cat catches,
So we are collating the law with a dictionary
The priest says my sins are mortal but not deadly.
I have been text-communicated by the Immigrant in the Vatican
I didn’t realise it was a sin to have sex when your husband has died.
Is a vibrator in itself sinful? Or is it the folk who might use them?
Is it a sin to make them in a factory?I f so the economy will slump…
It’s funny that Boots sell something that could send us to hell for all eternity.I am not referring to their famous face cream though it does remove the top layer of the skin.It is however not enough for those who have cancer especially if it is on your bum.
If Boots sell vibrators surely the Church must see it’s now the norm and does not use birth control which they still ban, so it could be a gracious way of having sex without the need to take the PILL.Still, it does seem odd to imagine that you get married and you both have sex using vibrators.
Not quite a honeymoon especially if you take two vibrators.What, though, if the battery goes flat?What if you forget your adapter for the plug? I suppose you could take it in turns!
It’s like food.We used to do that ourselves once.Now it’s sex.No worry about wasting the weekend in bed whispering in each other’s ears though , do remember not to use one while driving up the M1.I know it’s boring but do you want to be on a video on Twitter? You do! Say no more.
Remember though that you might have an accident involving others.If you are suicidal, please jump off Beachy Head.Do not cause a traffic jam as you will most likely be murdered.And murder is not suicide, is it?You will have injured someone else and that is more unethical than using men , women or vibrators for recreational purposes.
I rest my taste.Or my vase.Or my handbag… BTW is there a vibrator bag? If not, why not become self-employed and start a new business.Different colours and so on.I have no idea about size so an expandable fabric might be good.
When it comes down to it, should we get one free if our partner dies?I would prefer a large soft cat but,hey who am I to judge others? Let   Lords decide if it is cricket!
And if not.We’ll have to put the radio on.

For sale

Devon Veracity 4

Coat made from combed hairs of 1,000 cats  £7,890 or nearest offer Cash needed
200 books proving Jesus’s father was a Roman Soldier Free to the first comer.Donations received
Fifteen pairs of unworn high-heeled  red shoes  £89.3333333333333
Ten Bibles unused except for killing beetles. Free on donating money to the Samaritans [£20]
T-shirt with slogan Theresa May Fly, Boris My Eye, size 46 Bust with cleavage.
Nightdresses newly ironed.[3] worn but darned exquisitely. £8
Leather trousers size 56 waist.Free to anyone who can get them on or off.Off me that is!
1 Albatross in need of care.Free if you look kind

The postman

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I am going to marry the postman

As soon as his wife runs away.

It might be tomorrow

What bliss and what horror.

But  it certainly won't be today





I think I shall keep my own name

Despite what the postman might say.

For I've got so used to this

My history's suffused with it.

Post me a prayer for today

So Europe took their human ash within

In Bedzin and in Krakow they breathed in
What they denied in conscious thought or word.
The ashes of the Jews, the shades of skin

Penetrating lungs so deep within
The dead  unburied mixed, in air secured
In Bedzin and in Krakow, mortal sin.

The nearby people turned to burial urns.
The human dust by  breathing was allured
The ashes of the Jews, the shades of skin.

So  Europe took their human ash within.
A graveyard we became unknown, impure.
In Bedzin and in Krakow, more of sin.

And who they thought destroyed  lived on in them
Controlled their lungs, their hearts  their minds uncured,
The ashes of the Jews,  borne in their skin.

Like a mass communion without words
We ate and breathed the Jews, the gays, unheard
In Bedzin and in Krakow  we walked in
The ashes of the lost, the glades of skin,

A group enraptured in a dance.

I  wonder why the geese fly high;

Creating patterns in the sky?

A group enraptured in a dance.

The stunning art of Providence.

I wonder why the trees are tall?

Standing close.I feel quite small.

The branches shiver in the breeze.

Ballet of winter, dancing trees

I wonder why the sun curves round

A path I see here from the ground?

The sun gives light which softly shines.

An Arche de Triomphe for the pines.

I wonder why two robins fed

On our crumbs of seeded bread?

Such sweet songs of courtship sound!

Life goes round and round and round.

She said she loved him. Never. No!

She said she loved him, long ago.
Dressed in white, she had her glow
Leaking spite from every pore.

He obeyed her, as we know
He tried to sleep as curses flowed
She said she loved him. Never. No!

Envy  showed in her decor
She   stole gold chairs and broke up choirs
Leaking lights, tried to destroy

Thomas Cromwell, her hero,
Angels  fled  as she got near
She said she loved them, aha ha.

And  her blood, sceptic it roared
Through her body like a fire.
Pushing spite out through her pores.

She passed a Church with leaning spire;
Got out and labelled it a liar.
She said she loved men, long ago
Cooked with spite, how can she know?

 

 

 

 

 

 

God speaks nothing, he’s the Word

You can’t catch God in that butterfly net
You can’t catch God and ask him   precisely what  he said

Be you any wiser than the tide is high?
God can laugh and God  can cry

You know words are metaphors
They unlock that secret door

Be you poor or be you rich
You can’t suppress that nervous twitch

Be you lightning in a storm or a daisy forlorn
You will never be a God who weeps for the torn.

God speaks English, God speaks Greek
He speaks Hebrew as the paralytic creak.

Don’t you go and try to catch
Frogs and toads and baby cats

When you’re in complete despair
You may find that God is there.

You must walk the way of love
Then you will be hand in glove

Yet we envy, we betray
We leave malice on the autoplay

God speaks nothing, he’s the word
From all humans, it is barred.

When he speaks we all will know
He does not speak it just for show.

It’s more a hint than a logical proof
You can’t leave Mythos off the hook

Logos is and Logos does
Because, because , because, because.

 

Keats and negative capability

Ennealophus-fimbriatus_2017-2

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/john-keats-and-negative-capability

 

Stephen Hebron explores Keats’s understanding of negative capability, a concept which prizes intuition and uncertainty above reason and knowledge.

In December 1817 John Keats was returning from the Christmas pantomime with his friends Charles Wentworth Dilke and Charles Brown. On the walk home, he later told his brothers George and Tom, he got into a ‘disquisition’ with Dilke on a number of subjects:

several things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously – I mean Negative Capability, that is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason – Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half knowledge.[1]

It is a famous passage; and it is entirely characteristic of Keats that he should come up with one of his most telling phrases (‘Negative Capability’) in such an impromptu fashion, without preamble or lengthy explanation. His language is not immediately clear, but richly suggestive and idiosyncratic.

What does Keats mean by ‘negative capability’? Clearly, he is using the word ‘negative’ not in a pejorative sense, but to convey the idea that a person’s potential can be defined by what he or she does not possess – in this case a need to be clever, a determination to work everything out. Essential to literary achievement, Keats argues, is a certain passivity, a willingness to let what is mysterious or doubtful remain just that. His fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he suggests, would do well to break off from his relentless search for knowledge, and instead contemplate something beautiful and true (‘a fine verisimilitude’) caught, as if by accident, from the most secret part (‘Penetralium’) of mystery. The experience and intuitive appreciation of the beautiful is, indeed, central to poetic talent, and renders irrelevant anything that is arrived at through reason. Keats ends his brief discussion of negative capability by concluding that ‘with a great poet the sense of Beauty overcomes every other consideration, or rather obliterates all consideration’.

The poetical character

Keats never repeated the phrase ‘negative capability’ in his letters. Like similar nuggets found throughout his correspondence, it is of the moment, prompted by a desire to share his latest thoughts with his friends; it is not part of an overarching intellectual structure. But it is prefigured in a slightly earlier letter, written to Benjamin Bailey on 22 November 1817, in which Keats observed that he was unable to see ‘how any thing can be known for truth by consequitive [sic] reasoning … can it be that even the greatest Philosopher ever arrived at his goal without putting aside numerous objections – However it may be, O for a Life of Sensations rather than of Thoughts!’.[2]And Keats touched again on the idea of the passivity, humility even, of a great writer, in a letter he wrote to his friend Richard Woodhouse on 27 October following year. The ‘poetical Character’, he maintained,

is not itself – it has no self – it is everything and nothing – It has no character – it enjoys light and shade; it lives in gusto, be it foul or fair, high or low, rich or poor, mean or elevated – It has as much delight in an Iago [the villain of Shakespeare’s Othello] as an Imogen [Shakespeare’s heroine in Cymbeline]. What shocks the virtuous philosopher delights the camelion Poet.[3]

Why not trust the Word when all was said?

Can they not return,those much loved dead
Who leave such empty spaces in our hearts
Which like the hearts of mothers,fathers  bleed?

“Ash to ash” is what the Priests have said
But there is still a soul, a living part
Can they not return,those much loved dead?

 

Why will I not walk into the dread
Without a map or any kind of chart?
Why not trust the Word when all was said?

And so I linger late, without my  bed
Hoping  for a vision,for a start.
Can you not return,oh, needed dead?

Let us  bless the water and the bread
Bless us all before we too depart.
Why not trust the Word and what was said?

Now the holy banquet is prepared
The vital clue is  all our food is shared.
Can they not return,those much loved dead.
Ease the hearts of  humans as they bleed?

Go for a walk and get more intelligent…and turn off that TV

THE EXERCISE PART WORKS FOR DOING MATHS PROBLEMS…..

5 Simple Ways to Increase Your Intelligence

Written by John Wesley –

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/5-simple-ways-to-make-the-most-of-your-intelligence/comment-page-11/#comment-117405

Your brain needs exercise just like a muscle. If you use it often and in the right ways, you will become a more skilled thinker and increase your ability to focus. But if you never use your brain, or abuse it with harmful
chemicals, your ability to think and learn will deteriorate.
Here are 5 simple ways anyone can squeeze a bit more productivity out of the old gray matter.

1. Minimize Television Watching – This is a hard sell. People love vegetating in front of the television,
myself included more often than I’d like. The problem is watching television doesn’t use your mental capacity OR allow it to recharge. It’s like having the energy sapped out of a muscle without the health benefits of exercise.
Don’t you feel drained after a couple hours of TV? Your eyes are sore and tired from being focused on the light box for so long. You don’t even have the energy to read a book.
When you feel like relaxing, try reading a book instead. If you’re too tired, listen to some music. When you’re with your friends or family, leave the tube off and have a conversation. All of these things use your mind more than television and allow you to relax.
2. Exercise – I used to think that I’d learn more by not exercising and using the time to read a book instead.
But I realized that time spent exercising always leads to greater learning because it improves productivity during the time afterwards. Using your body clears your head and creates a wave of energy. Afterwards, you feel invigorated and can concentrate more easily.

3. Read Challenging Books – Many people like to read popular suspense fiction, but generally these books aren’t mentally stimulating. If you want to improve your thinking and writing ability you should read books that make you focus. Reading a classic novel can change your view of the world and will make you think in
more precise, elegant English. Don’t be afraid to look up a word if you don’t know it, and don’t be afraid of dense passages. Take your time, re-read when necessary, and you’ll soon grow accustomed to the author’s style.
Once you get used to reading challenging books, I think you’ll find that you aren’t tempted to go back to page-turners. The challenge of learning new ideas is far more exciting than any tacky suspense-thriller.
4. Early to Bed, Early to Rise – Nothing makes it harder to concentrate than sleep deprivation. You’ll be most rejuvenated if you go to bed early and don’t sleep more than 8 hours. If you stay up late and compensate by sleeping late, you’ll wake up lethargic and have trouble focusing. In my experience, the early morning
hours are the most tranquil and productive. Waking up early gives you more productive hours and maximizes
your mental acuity all day.
If you have the opportunity, take 10-20 minute naps when you are hit with a wave of drowsiness. Anything longer will make you lethargic, but a short nap will refresh you.
5. Take Time to Reflect – Often our lives get so hectic that we become overwhelmed without even realizing
it. It becomes difficult to concentrate because nagging thoughts keep interrupting. Spending some time alone in reflection gives you a chance organize your thoughts and prioritize your responsibilities. Afterwards, you’ll have a better understanding of what’s important and what isn’t. The unimportant stuff won’t bother
you anymore and your mind will feel less encumbered.
I’m not saying you need to sit on the floor cross-legged and chant ‘ommm’. Anything that allows a bit of prolonged solitude will do. One of my personal favourites is taking a solitary walk. Someone famous said,
“All the best ideas occur while walking.” I think he was on to something. Experiment to find the activity that works best for you.
Conclusion :–I hope you aren’t disappointed that none of the techniques I’ve proposed are revolutionary. But  simple, unexciting answers are often the most valid. The challenge is having the will to adhere to them. If you
succeed in following these 5 tips, you’ll be rewarded with increased mental acuity and retention of knowledge.
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On the therapeutic value of ironing and other out of fashion notions

 

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I believe working with the hands is very good for us..gardening, sewing, building models..whatever you like.
Ironing is generally despised since women usually had such a burden with that on top of working outside the home.
And now, even if you have the time, it’s seen as a trivial task.I discovered ironing therapy when the bombs killed and injured hundreds of people in the Underground in July 2005.I saw the bus blow up on a TV in a shop window in the town centre and as my husband was in London I was very worried.
My husband was ok but even so, I was distracted and distressed in a way very familiar, I am sure,to people who live in certain parts of this world.
In the end, I took out all my numerous nightdresses and ironed each one very carefully.I have used this technique a number of times since.I find it’s best used on simple items= like hankies, underpants, nightwear so your mind can relax.Ironing men’s heavy cord trousers is definitely untherapeutic.
I think it can act like meditation in a way.And restoring a little order to chaos is usually helpful.
And it’s free too unlike counselling.Simple sewing can also be therapeutic as can cooking and gardening.
I recall in the 1970’s when I used to make bread a female friend of my husband told me off and said I was “letting feminists down”
So please, if you think I’m letting feminists down …don’t tell me.
I think we should have some freedom and also should value traditional female skills and talents as well as encouraging women to study or train for careers formerly closed to them.
Please excuse me now………I’m ironing 23 pairs of ladies’ undergarments this morning..yes,they are all mine.They say, there’s safety in numbers, though I’ve never known quite what that meant.I suppose wearing a lot of underpants would keep one warm and well covered in case you get into an accident or you have to climb a ladder in a public place..are you a lady window cleaner?
So I’ll put on my apron and begin to work.Ironing my hair today…..hot work.