...a MUST READ...

                                                           I must suspend this exploration for now, I'm famished and my ribs are beginning to ache .   Everything begins FIRST with Parental Influence, we LEARN how to exist via our Parents, second is Education, from  Kiddie-Garden   to  Secondary Schoolage* and for some us Beyond that .   OVIOUSLY "IT" helps if one or both of your parents were "College Educated" as they say, but MY Mom barely got out of sixth grade and my Dad didn't complete High School ---  my Dad DID, however, receive Military Training and 'fought' in WW II .   He taught me EVERYTHING , while my Mother tortured me with, "NO "C's"  I don't want ONE "C" on your Report Card.... my Mother could barely fucking READ so, I mean, there's THAT .

                          EVERYTHING is contained within the pages of The Odyssey, War, Sex, Orgies, Magic, Wisdom, Fate and even Karma .   Females can escape its Reading, but for TRUE Males it is a "MUST READ".  

                            "Tare Forward" and "Keep the Faith" 

The Story of the Quick-witted Smart-Mouth

                                                           Some would simply consider Odysseus a quick witted (positive) "smart-mouth" (negative) with a spear .   Thing is Odysseus's entire crew was (get this) at stake .   He and they needed Polyphemus's food for their intended destination :  HOME .   Keep in Mind that Polyphemus was NOT considered a  MONSTER, but instead a HUMAN {but Freakish} GIANT .   Still, it was BRAVERY that Odysseus summoned to confront Polyphemus .   

                             What is the BASIS of this 'Bravery' ?     

                             There is Confidence in one's Abilities, but that is somehow awkward and unwieldy .   Even "Belief in one's Self" is clumsy despite its Truth .   I prefer Experience since "IT" consolidates both Physicality and Mentality while including Spirituality as "X-Factor" .    Odysseus had 'experienced' combat against HUGE Forces that he had Survived .  He TRUSTED himself to succeed because he had done so in the Past .   Experience breeds Power .   {{{I argue that FAILURE does as much but FAILURE is NOT Glamorous nor Romantic}}} .   

                             We are wishing to get a job.  We are denied because "You have no Experience" to which is retorted, "HOW THE FUCK DO I GET if you don't give me this job ?"    Good question .

Nobody CARES

                                                           I KNOW my Gentle Readers are wondering, "WHY is Odysseus considered Heroic for using  "Nobody" as a name ??? what the fuck is HEROIC about THAT ?????   Good Question .

                             I too use Nobody .   When asked "Who are you" which is code for "What is your name?"  I respond with "I am Nobody" which sounds like abject Humility and is "pleasing to the ear" , but in REALITY there is resourceful ARROGANCE at "IT" 's  base .   No one wants to hear , "I'm fucking ODYSSEUS --- first off, not many have read The Odyssey, only a relative few would recognize 'Polyphemus' as aka  Cyclopes .   Thing is, Nobody has TERRIFIC applications like when you hear a strange noise coming from the front door --- when asked about it you can gag, "It's NOBODY" .  "NOBODY IS AT THE FRONT DOOR"  and further, "Should I let him in ?" Terrif ---I mean REALLY Terrif .   

                            Check this out :   NOBODY wrote this blog .    TOOOOOOO Good .

"Nobody did this to me"

                                                           I can't resist, I'm like trump on the stage of the World Cup .   I MUST recount  my favorite Exploit of Odysseus, because, generally, most folks have already been introduced to it .

                              Polyphemus (pronounced  po-LEE-fih-muss) was furious that Odysseus and his crew had tried to steal his foodstuffs and was set to DEVOUR Odysseus and his entire crew .   Odysseus ignited the tip of his spear and threw it at Polyphemus'  good and ONLY eye .   He SCREAMED in PAIN and demanded Odysseus's name .   Odysseus didn't miss a beat and called out I am "NOBODY" .

                            Odysseus returned to his ship and Polyphemus went to his father Poseidon, and BEGGED him for redress .   Poseidon aske "Who did this to you ?"   Polyphemus was HONEST and returned >NOBODY, did this to me"   Poseidon was skeptical, "NOBODY" did this ?  Polyphemus was sent away in disgrace and humiliation, UNBELIEVED by his own Dad .  

                           Odysseus   =    the DEFINITION of "Being able to think on your feet" .

                           How GREAT is Odysseus ???? 

War Stories

                                                           I am not prepared to review the entire Odyssey but I find it necessary to inform my Gentle Readers that when "The West" introduced Homer's Iliad and Odyssey to the Nations of Islam and Arabic speaking countries as well, Homer's Works were NOT received with ANY enthusiasm, indeed, some Scholars argue  that they were, in fact, REJECTED .    Now you wanna figure that because the Arabic Speakers used the 'Language' of POETRY to record History, they would be ELATED by Homer's Works ---  no such luck .   Why does their rejection of Homer matter ?

                             "... for Better AND for Worse",  I'm-gonna equate  The Art of War with The Iliad .   Both can be viewed as "Manuals of Instruction", in that, men learn the nature of Warfare by Reading and then assimilating the Concepts and Ideology of great Men and HOW  THEY conducted themselves On and OFF the Fields of Battle .   Muslims and Arabic Speakers didn't give a shit .   Here it is where Western Ideation was NOT assimilated into the Muslim and Arabic Speakers Psyche ,   they were Different and they STAYED  Different .    Hello recent "talks" to begin the Cessation of Conflict, and their abject FAILURE.

                            I must leave this consideration here, and return to this morning's topic ;  Odysseus as Hero .

Odysseus

                                                           The American Film Industry has brought Homer's Odyssey to the "BIG Screen" .   Now I don't remember turning into  a Butterfly to "cause" This, but that doesn't mean I haven't or hadn't .   Dare I take credit for this Film ?  I mean SERIOUSLY ????   Yup--- I'm gonna .   If trump can flap his wings to generate a War, why can't I flap mine and generate the Odyssey ?   

                           I know what You are Thinking---if I can flap my wings to produce a Film why can't I flap my wings to produce Peace in the Middle East ?    Good question .

                           We live in a Time devoid of RECOGNIZABLE Heroes .  There is no one to "look up to", to emulate, to cherish as Paradigm .   "Mainstays" like Jesus have been ruthlessly abducted, and perhaps PERVERTED is far more precise .   It isn't as if Jesus Failed, so much as WE Failed Jesus .   Either Way, Jesus as Paradigm cannot be Trusted in the Sense that HIS Message has been delivered using abject Cruelty as a Mechanism,  Agency or Vehicle .    According to the Right, Jesus HATES .   "IT" 's   Sickening .

                          It ain't like I ever had the Thought, "What would Odysseus do?"  but there IS an Essence of Odyssian* Sensibility that DOES, indeed, dominate my >every day< existence .   I have attached a Mystical >>Pragmatism<< to Odysseus, a Pragmatism that finds Compliment to Zen and ITS Practical Application(s) .   Odysseus as Zen Master ???           Yup   I can live with that .

The Butterfly Effect

                                                           Sometimes you can be "minding your own business" when a 'something' >arrives< that 'throws you off your game' .   Well, yesterday, {or it could have been two years ago} I heard the term "butterfly effect" during a movie or TV broadcast .   It sent me into a "tailspin" = a term in aviation to describe an airplane's loss of control and forward flight, and then its subsequent sometimes violent decent into the Earth .  A good pilot CAN recover from such a spin, so, I mean,,, there's THAT .

                             My favorite example of the "Butterfly Effect" is fairly common, in an esoteric sense,  it is =  a butterfly flapping its wings in Taiwan can produce a Tsunami in Japan .   First read brings >inscrutable< to the fore, although for some of Us, that "IT" rings as Truth, and besides That, "IT" seems and FEELS Logical DESPITE the HEAVY Inclination to summarily discard it as RUBBISH .    Not-gonna do that .

                             You modify the Condition even >somewhat< and you can arrive at trump 'flapping his wings' to produce the Effect of INSANE WAR .   The DIFFERENCE is odiously OBVIOUS , but I, {personally} cannot escape the lure of Cosmic Mysticism that is attached to that one butterfly .

                             Recall one of the most Famous Lines of ALL Time delivered by Chuang Tsu 

                                                "Is it I, a man, dreaming I was a Butterfly,

                                                  or is it a Butterfly dreaming it is a  Man ?"  

                             I LOVE shit like this, deeply and truely .