Go Crazy

Only exceptionally rational men can afford to be absurd.

Allan Goldfein
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Hello Stuart
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"O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! I would not be mad."
Shakespeare.

There is no madness that isn't firmly grounded in reason. True craziness can only come from a sound mind. Only the logical thinker is truly insane. It takes daily inspiration to be a practicing lunatic. The goal of all learning is authoritative silliness. Only a rational man can provide any genuine nonsense,

Take flying, for example. Why would anyone in their right mind stuff themselves into a metal tube, on a seat that is probably too small and hard, to be thrown through the air at an inhuman speed to get to an airport which probably takes almost as long to get out of as it took to get there?

And space flight? Even worse. You are tucked, tied, plugged and lashed into clothing that doesn't fit any human body, just to be able to enter a totally hostile environment, and then to be strapped into a small space awaiting a blast from a rocket that will thrust you as far away from home as it can. That's not crazy?

Now let's take sports. Baseball. One adult throws a ball at another adult who tries to hit it back with a stick. Meanwhile seven other adults stand around hoping for something to do. Basketball. Adults chase each other around a large room and jump up and down, arm pit to face, after another ball. Football. Adults chase each other around and knock each other down, passionately trying to get their hands on a ball. A what? Yes, a ball. Nonsense.

Incidentally, football games all have half time shows. But none of the TV Networks that broadcast the games will ever show you those. They act as if the game had to stop for a half hour because some other group had booked the field and that we. the viewers, are much more interested in watching guys who don't know as much as they think they do, discuss the game we've just been watching, than to see some expert cheerleaders and marching bands perform a well prepared entertainment. Madness.

Now let's take the arts. Otherwise intelligent people will paint their faces, put on clothes, that might fit, and go out in front of other smart people and present a piece of total fiction as if it was reality. And when they're finished those otherwise smart people beat their hands together. Seriously.

A symphony orchestra has musicians who play most of the time and others who hardly play at all. The harpist almost never plays. Isn't there something else she could be doing, ironing some shirts or spending time in the nursery taking care of the children of the other musicians. And the guy in the percussion section who's only job is to play the triangle in the last movement. Why doesn't he go check on the furnace or something, instead of sitting around in his tuxedo for an hour. Ridiculous.

There are times in out lives when we eject the clear light of reason and do things that are purely absurd. We go chasing after other people. We stand or sit watching other people do silly things. Or we put ourselves in ridiculous circumstances for the sake of something we think we want.

And it's a good thing we do, for if we didn't we might all go "mad."

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
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This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.

A new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.

Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for me.

I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain or the Confused. Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish.

There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.

Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.

I have 13 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.

DB - The Vagabond
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Ribald Reductions 2/25/09

Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.

Will Rogers
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Hi. Bring your smile and come along.
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If I sold my parrot to the town gossip he and the bird would probably just sit around in stitches over the last 7 decades of my foolishness. I have finally come to the point where I can either laugh at the silly things I did that I thought were so serious and important at the time or else I can forget about them. I have also realized that you can't really draw wisdom from your nonsense and put it in its proper perspective until you can laugh at it. I have another quote, this one from Rochfoucauld, which says "He who lives without folly isn't as wise as he thinks,"

One definition of a farce is "A passion carried to a ridiculous extreme." Think of that. When a passion bites the brain and twists the heart we stand a good chance of becoming a farce, something to laugh at and laugh about in later years.

The truth of the matter is that we can't help it. If you live a busy, vigorous, expanding life your are going to do something stupid every now and then. It's inevitable. So you stepped in the doggie poop on the sidewalk did you? Well, join the club. What do you mean you forgot to record that last check you wrote and now you can't remember how much it was far? Why did you do such a thing? One night I went out on to the stage to play a romantic scene after a change of costume and forgot to zip up my fly. It added a whole new dimension to the scene, one which was not appropriate. I couldn't understand why the audience was laughing at me. I know a writer who was covering the US Senate for a major newspaper. One day he incorrectly reported all the votes. You can imagine the phone calls he got. He managed to keep his job. But how do we live these things down?

You live a practical, sure and well organized life, you have the respect of your family, neighbors and coworkers, you are known far and wide as a reasonable, reliable and dependable person. But one day, for some reason you will never know, you decide to go out and do something extremely wild. Your reputation is temporarily shot to hell and your self respect has plummeted to the basement. You look at yourself in the mirror (or maybe you don't) and wonder how you could have been so stupid as to do such a thing. What happened is that you have been very careful and worked very hard not to permit yourself any hint of ridiculous behavior and it all backed up on you until one day it came out like a volcano erupting. Believe me I know what I'm talking about. If you don't make room for the harmless wild and crazy you can be sure you will cause yourself a lot of trouble.

Moral: Do something foolish every now and then, but don't sell your parrot.

DB - The Vagabond
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Are you still smiling? Good.


Comment from my friend Bob of the email lions

I hope I live my life in such a way that the parrot would have plenty to say, and I wouldn't mind the gossip knowing about it. In other words, that I had plenty to be embarrassed about, and I'm not the least bit embarrassed about it. Haven't gotten to that point, of course, but it's something to shoot for. Bob