b88 (3.1-2.2020): prepare, the ides of march

prepare, the ides of march ^[1]     
by m. archer
 
welcome ides of march
bring with you the fun
bring with you the hummingbird
bring with you the sun
bring with you the apple-seed and bring with you the play
 
welcome ides of march (again), please
bring with you the way
_______________________________
 
·        welcome march:
  o   spring breaks, and
  o   great escapes, and
  o   grand migrations, and
  o   salutations.
 
i love march in north carolina.  it’s as if the world be-comes awake/alive, again.
 
on more than one occasion, i have spotted the first hummingbird of spring on (or close to) st. paddy’s date.  this year, i put up the first hummingbird feeders in february… just in case a scout bird got ahead of himself and needed a sip of nectar.
 


_________________________
[1] martino, j. (3.1-2.2020). prepare, the ides of march. book 88: marching into madness.  © 2020 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b88 (3.1-1.2020): march

march ^[1]             
by m. archer
 
little soldier (stand erect)
little soldier (stay)
little soldier (genuflect)
little soldier (pray)
little soldier (go to war)
little soldier (parched)
little soldier (fight and die)
little soldier (march)
_______________________________
 
·        some receive posthumous decorations and military funerals.
·        some return alive, but dismembered (physically, mentally).
·        some see through the smoke-screen-veil of “the few, the proud, courageous, heroic…”
 
some (like me) get away lucky… with no combat, no p.t.s.d., and no-thing but good memories of good people, good times, camaraderie, audacity, and many, many smiles/laughs.

i applaud the heroism, drive and commitment of soldiers (while recognizing that we were/are, in fact, pawns on a chessboard).
 
_________________________
[1] martino, j. (3.1-1.2020). march. book 88: marching into madness.  © 2020 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b87 (2.24-1.2020): spaghettification

spaghettification ^[1]        
by b. lack holified
 
we might never get there (in this holy in-car-nation)
we might never Know (due to spa-ghetti-fi-cation)
_______________________________
 
·        the desire to travel through a black hole might (in fact) be devoured by its own urge.
·        cancer commits murder-suicide in the propagation of its own survival and thrival.
·        life ‘evolves’ into ASI?
·        why?
 

as it turns out…

…the ‘whys’ of theology evolve into the ‘hows’ of science,

which morph into more whys wise.

 
…until they extinctify.
 
in the very desire for relational eternity -- lie the seeds of its own destruction.
_________________________
[1] martino, j. (2.24-1.2020). spaghettification. book 87: is this Heaven?  © 2020 by jaol martino.
[2] inspired by a video with neil degrasse tyson. 

b99 (2.16-2.2021): hindsight 2020.

hindsight 2020 [1]

by joal martino 

hindsight 2020
out without a bang
no pocalyptic nightmare
no song fat lady sang
 
just an icy whimper
leaving us confused
hindsight 2020
back to old (fake) news
________________________
 
·         as this book (happily) comes to a close (with a whimper), there’s a part of the human psyche that actually gets addicted to immanent, apocalyptic danger. life seems boring without it.

·         not to worry.  it’s the job of news to report create the new clickbait, and there will be plenty to talk about, even when there’s nothing (of note) to note.

·         2020 (the big, bad, roller-coaster) is rolling to a close.  nothing more than another old chapter in another old book on the shelf.
 
hindsight 2020: it was an entertaining ride.
_______________________
[1] martino, j. (2.16-2.2021). hindsight 2020. book 99: the february chill. © 2021 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b87 (1/22/2020): dog & pony show

dog & pony show [1] 

by s. naici tilop

i’ve got a dog (named peachy) and a pony named ‘nogo’
i guess (to be correct) it’s just a dog & pony show
_______________________________

• impeachment smoke & mirrors. when evidence can be blocked by those in power, a ‘trial’ is nothing more than a sh—show.

_______________________________
[1] martino, j. (1.22-1.20). dog & pony show. book 87: is this Heaven?  © 2020 by joal martino. 

b84 (3.12-1.2019): ASI is coming to town

AI is coming to town ^[1]
by s. anta claus
 
we’d better watch out
he’ll know if we cry
he’ll know if we pout (or shout) and here’s why:
AI (he) is is coming to town
 
he’s got a big list, he’s checking it twice
he already knows who’d naughty or nice
AGI is watching your town
 
he sees you when you’re sleeping  (what?)
he knows when you’re awake (how’s that?)
he knows if you’ve been bad or good, so you’d better be good (for your own sake), oh:
 
you’d better watch out
he’ll know when you lie
he knows what you do, he won’t blink an eye
ASI's in charge of your town
 
________________________________________
 
·        you’d better watch out (because you are giving him the info)
·        you’d better not cry (he can see and hear you)
·        you’d better not shout about politics (why?)
 o   …because you are telling someone who can see you, hear you, and anticipate your actions… everything about your potential actions.
·        your cellphone (and aps):
 o   know where you are,
 o   know what you like,
 o   know who you care about,
 o   know how to strike.
  §  they:
·        know when you’re sleeping (fitbit)
·        know when you’re awake (smart alarm)
·        know when you’ve been bad or good (cams)
·        …so you’d better be good.
 
we give aps and AI our heart rates, our step patterns, our diets, our purchase records, our driving habits, our traffic patterns, our likes and dislikes… and our passions.
 
aps (and AI) know when you go to sleep.  they know when you are active (and with who, what, where, when, and (not too surprisingly) why.

aps (and AI) combine with eternal networks who watch you walk, who know to whom you talk, and who can easily determine your needs and desires (based upon what you spend your time and money on).  you are an open book!

think about the data that is recorded and passed on:
·        by your smart alarm clock,
·        your news preferences,
·        your phone (fitness, dating, and purchasing aps),
·        your food (and drink) purchases,
·        your gps/travel data,
·        your love interests (dating sites),
·        your television favorites,
·        your music preferences,
·        your dislikes,
·        by you.
 
 
___________________________________
[1] martino, j. (3.12-1.19). ASI is coming to town. book 84: Love Is All there Is.  © 2019 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b84 (2.20-2.2019): nothing left but right

nothing left but right ^[1]
by usa f. oxified & uncle sam business
 
nothing left but right
yes, on the fox-damn-news
nothing left but keeping all the rest of us confused
nothing of material or truth or fact or light
nothing but the fox-damn-news, oh
nothing left but right
________________________________________
 
·        be-cause, as you know, faux isn’t news.  it’s a bulls--t, right-wing, one-sided channel that creates even more stories than the worst of the ‘middle range’ agencies.
·        cnn? p-----s.  democrats? p-----s!
·        the one thing that the right has going for it -- is that it …is a bully.  it is bigger, it is stronger and it speaks lounder and faster.
·        it may win or it may lose, but either way… we are going down. 
·        maybe we should.
·        maybe this (right-winged bulls--t) is the eventual evolution of man: harsh, cruel, lying and bullying. 
·        the moment that mr. business' fake power is cracked, he will fall.
·        the interesting thing is… that all of his followers will desert him immediately, after all.
·        uncle sam business (meaning: his "interests") was a f---ing bully.
·        nobody, and we mean nobody… likes a bully.
·        when uncle sam business falls… nobody, and we mean nobody… will shed a f---ing tear.
·        there might be a few countries to rally beside us -- because if we fail, they fail.
·        that doesn’t mean that other countries' citizens like us – one iota.  it means that their owners might lose some $$$ or power.
 
there’s anger in this deep, dark night:
 
there’s nothing left but right… the dumb bastards who (like cancer) seal their own fate by multiplying their own auto-immune-disease.

tonight, it doesn't seem as if Love Is All there Is. 
 
___________________________________
[1] martino, j. (2.20-1.2019). nothing left but right. book 84: Love Is All there Is.  © 2019 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b84 (2.16-3.2019): relativity

relativity ^[1]
by r. e. lativity
 
it’s all about relationships: to them, to you, to me
we think about all others (terms of relativity)
________________________________________

this might sound cold, but...

 
·        although we’d like to make/believe that we care about others, we actually care about others to the extent that they affect our own lives.

·        we… like every other living thing on planet earth… care about external things only to the extent that they affect us (our way, our lives, our thoughts, our day).
 
while we might pat ourselves on the back (in regard to how much we ‘love’ another), the Truth is that we love them in proportion to how they affect us.

___________________________________

[1] martino, j. (2.16-3.19). relativity. book 84: Love Is All there Is.  © 2019 by joal martino.

b83 (2.3-3.2019): is there such thing as Angels?

is there such thing as Angels?  ^[1]

by wea reangles

is there such thing as Angels?
does everybody dream?
should the whole world be patriotic (crazy as it seems)?
can underdog put up a fight (when fate, it seems so strong)
is there such thing as Angels?
why can’t we get along…

as Angels 

________________________________________ 

• aside from (the obvious) fut bol situation, why can’t we get along... as Angels?

___________________________________

[1] martino, j. (2.3-3.19). is there such thing as angels. book 83: the back 9.  © 2019 by joal martino.

b83 (2.2-1.2019): we are already robots

we are (already) robots  ^[1]

by randall obotic

we are (already) robots

we are (already) "they"

we are (already) that which does not sing, nor dance, nor play

we are (already) that which does not laugh, nor dream, nor rhyme

we are (already) robots, yes:

robotic, all the time

we are (already) robots

________________________________________

if one dares to take a walk around the neighborhood, the reality sets-in quickly: robotic humanoids with dark, stoic faces… driving machines and walking dogs.  those in the u.s.a. will go about their dreary day with one quest: consumption.

mostly, we just want to eat.  everything else, we can get from our own devices, as we:

·         robotically awaken, alarmed by a clock.

·         robotically connect with our computer-phones.

·         robotically prepare coffee, as if it will somehow bring vigor to our lifeless bodies.

·         robotically walk the dog, and robotically retrieve the moist, warm feces that recently departed from its behind.

·         robotically go to work, and robotically plug-into the mega-bot.

·         robotically go home (to eat, and) to watch television, a device which has long lost its vision and tells us absolutely nothing new(s).

·         robotically, we act confused.

even our sex lives have been reduced to pornography and vibrational devices.

----------------------------------

when the time does (eventually) come… when advanced Super-intelligence rules the day… when we want to implant our consciousness onto an ever-living bot… it may not recognize us as a foreign entity… because we…

we are (already) robots.

___________________________________
[1] martino, j. (2.2-1.19). we are (already) robots. book 83: the back 9.  © 2019 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b83 (1/30/2019): sugar frosted quakes

sugar frosted quakes  ^[1]
by q. waking
 
frost-quakes in the morning
frost-quake-shake (at noon)
frost-quakes in the evening as we toast the sugar moon
 
we can dream up headlines from the moment that we wake
bomb-o-genesis with fire-nado, frosted quakes
________________________________________
 
·        because in order to get us to tune in, ‘news’ makers are twirling their moustaches, hatching new words and phrases that might horrify, magnify, signify, or dignify – so long as they get us to click on the bait.
o   frost-quakes
o   bombogenesis
o   thunder snow
o   fire-nado
o   bomb cyclone
o   category 5
o   snowpocolypse
o   polar vortex
o   flash freeze
o   superstorm

…and on and on… ad nauseum.
 
·        one more time: they.do.not.care.about.reality.  they (literally) make their living -- by getting you to tune-in, turn-on, and click.
 
·        they might even get close to the truth (well… at times) -- which would be a bi-fecta.
 
·        even so, the main priority is the click.  the ad.  the sale.  the attention.
 
·        if there isn’t a train wreck, the very job of the media is to create one.
 
·        heck, maybe the train wreck was due to the frost quake, after all.
 

when i was a kid, the weather-guy would say something like (uh) “it might snow.”  nowadays… “several million people could be affected by catastrophic, blizzard-like conditions!”

 

--------------------news (unworthy)--------------------------

 
they might even despise the man – but they will aid his campaign (and his agenda) by keeping his name in the news… just... because… it… sells… ads.
 
they might even harbor a true fear of gun-un-control – but they will publicize the killer (and his agenda), they’ll give him spotlight: fame.  just... because… it… sells… ads.
 
their job is not to "report".  it is (simply) to make $$$$$.
 
-the end
 
___________________________________

[1] martino, j. (1.30-1.19). sugar frosted quakes.book 83: the back 9.  © 2019 by joal martino.  

b83 (1/19/2019): we have but one, small window

 we have but one, small window  ^[1]
by w. indows

we have but one, small window
one lifetime to address
an 80-minute movie (filled with ecstasy, unrest)
we only have one moment, here, and then it goes away
i’m glad we had this moment, Here and Now, me-you, today

________________________________________

• life is an 80 minute second improv, and you are the star of your own sit-calm.

•         …but… since you direct it, it is anything but calm.  you love the chills, the spills, the thrills, the dancing in the street…

•       we only have but one, small window, Now, so maybe we might meet…

in the middle,

with passion,

uninhibited,

free,

alive,

and open to connection.

we have but one, small window.

____________________________________

[1] martino, j. (1.19-1.19). we have but one, small window. book 83: the back 9.  © 2019 by wellnesseducation.us.

b83 (1/11/2019): sitting here, alone

sitting here, alone ^[1]
by a. loner
 
sitting here, alone
a new year come and gone
with no ringing of phone
computer chess: a pawn
 
but something happens when a being is being: on his own
 
maybe i’m connected
sitting here, alone
________________________________________
 
·        while society might try to convince us that ‘alone’ is problematic… think about all of the wonderful realizations, writings, art, inventions, etc. that have occurred (simply because someone was sitting [here, in the now moment] alone).
 
 
____________________________________
[1] martino, j. (1.11-1.19). sitting here, alone. book 83: the back 9.  © 2019 by joal martino.

b82 (9.12-1.2018): things happen slowly: quickly

things happen slowly: quickly ^[1]
by anna o. b. server

things happen slowly: quickly
the warning signs: attack
the courtship phase: orgasm
the duckling phase: the quacks
the winds of fall: thanksgiving
the incubation: sickly
the sowing phase: the harvest
things happen slowly: quickly

__________________________________

·         have you ever noticed that things tend to happen slowly… right up the point when they begin to happen very, very quickly?

·         the growing phase has its growing pains, and then you are dropping your daughter off at kindergarten/middle school/college.

·         computer/robotic technology shows incremental progress, and then ASI puts a sudden end to life-as-we-know-it.

·         the globe heats up slowly (with a barely noticeable sea level rise), and then the mega-storm devastates the city.

·         the breakdown in relational communication, and then the sudden break-up.

·         the tornado approaches with a slow howl, and then…

---------------------------------------------------------

coastal residents have been advised to evacuate, prior to hurricane Florence (days in advance). the sun is shining, the waves are gently easing up to the shore.  if they ignore the early signs, however, they may find that flood waters can quickly create an unmistakable sense of urgency.

it is easy to get lulled into complacency (even as all of the signs point to catastrophe).
those who thrive – tend to take preparatory action long before the action (really) begins.

invest in the foreplay.
the climaxes, my friends, will (naturally) take care of themselves.

______________________________________

 [1] martino, j. (9.12-1.2018). things happen slowly: quickly. book 82: what are the best of times?  © 2018 by wellnesseducation.us.