And so we arrive at the conclusion of this three day quotation challenge themed on Genius to Insanity. A very liberal interpretation but having journeyed through Einstein and Poe we arrive at madness and a book by Lewis Carrol you might have heard of entitled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Not that Carrol was mad…far from it…it takes total genius to pluck this from the imagination….
There are obvious mad quotations I could use but some I have already bunged into blog comments on other people’s posts…I’ve therefore decided on different ones, unexpected ones for those that know me to tie in with the challenge theme…
Quote number one
The axiom this is impossible crawls all over, the homework at school will draw out parents with an eye roll and a nod, the student failing to grasp relativity (on topic, see Day One), the illustrious computer say no (previous post) and turning things into gold…the alchemists dream that marketing agencies selling us rubbish seem to have got their heads round.
For the imagination and writer nothing is impossible…except a mind that says it is, whereupon the Hatters reply holds resonance. For me I am Alice…publishing seems the elusive impossibility…deep down I have a Hatter arguing the toss. Time will out as the saying goes…
Quote number two
I love the Cat. The words hold truth although within the blogosphere reality holds strange meaning. Realities converging through wires and wifi in a virtual environment that breathes a community no less alive than a small local community in your neighbourhood. The difference being no coffee shared with cake. However, local communities don’t touch all corners of the globe and that, my friends, is where imagination is indeed the weapon against reality. Obviously that is a metaphorical ponderance but consider where those you know here come from, cultures diverse to our own, beliefs different to our own…and yet I am proud to know that all of us share one powerful thing….friendship and a will to get along…in a world of reality with politicos and news that is invariably down on everything and ever creating its own agendas…can you truly argue with the Cat?
Quote number three
I am not even going to try and argue with the Rabbit…suffice to say…well, nothing…I can’t apart from nod wisely and think deeply.
And that, my friends leads me to consider nonsense…and this leads me to a parting poem…one you may have heard rather than read. Heard in the film perhaps by the Hatters rendition performed by the brilliant Jonny Depp. And if not then shame on you…the sequel is imminent 🙃
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!’
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood a while in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One two! One two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
‘And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe
Rules of the challenge
(Copied from the nomination by Intentergy’s post)
If you accept the challenge, post 1-3 quotes for three days and nominate three other wonderfully talented bloggers to the challenge as well.
For my part I’d like to see if the following three bloggers will participate, although at this point in time I’m not sure if I’m supposed to nominate three bloggers per day…these are picked from commenters as penitence for, well, being brilliant enough to stop by.
Think of it as shameless blog cross promotion if it pleases you more 😁
I leave you with a final quote from the master of horror Stephen King
Bwahahaha!
😉
Oh that Hatter, Cat, and Rabbit! Very wise creatures indeed!
Thanks for finding the purple turnip for me! I shall have to go pay a visit! I’ll give your regards!
Melinda
All I have to say is….New trailer…have you seen the new trailer??? And I do not been a driving accessory for Vanronica!!!
Oh my, this is so on point. I appreciate your insights.
The three day challenge was themed to arrive at this one after meeting some quite mad bloggers…which is brilliant 🙃
Thank you for the generous comment 😊
Of course! It’s not often that someone has such unique and accurate insights.
I’m a natural cynic…it helps 😁 Actually all I’ve done is pool some fabulous writers and thinkers together and used them to express my randomness. If any of it actually makes sense it is pure coincidence 🙃
Well, they say writers need to be crazy, so it works.
I like the affirmation….I feel much better about self now 😜
Haha, yes, we are all crazy.
Well two of us have just openly admitted it!!!
Yup.
Your posts are interesting, funny, and very creative. Love it.
Thank you so much Karen. Odd thing is…I don’t intentionally start off trying to be funny it just starts with the of word and things just flow out…I think it’s the entire opposite of my writing genres. If you look at some of them on here humour might present but generally it’s far more serious stuff…although someone did suggest I try s humour book…I thought that was a terrifying idea 🙃
I’m not going to tell you that your blog is brilliant, just in case it puts you off your stride. Let’s just say: meh – it was okay. 😉
Thanks for visiting my blog, Gary – how did you come across me (if you don’t mind me asking)?
Excellent, one does compliments so very badly…they are incredibly humbling so meh it’s OK works far better. It means one must strive harder and raise the benchmarks 😊
I have a working premiss which runs like this…if somebody likes a post anywhere (I’ve here, on another blog comment I’ve made or post) then I am duly obliged to visit them and in 99% of cases I follow them immediately because I’ve found this community awesome from day one…which was only in January when I entered the fray with trepidation and extreme WTF is this all about newbie mode. The other 1% of cases is amnesia…I look, but time is short and I regret to say I oft forget to go back when time is long…. If memory serves you liked a comment on Ben Hubermans Daily Post. I popped over and thought must come back and comment when time is long…but in finding it was a cool blog hit follow there and then with every intention of popping back to comment and peruse. Alas for you this may involve a modicum of rambling 🙃
I also visit meet and greets. In fact a blogging friend has one starting up this weekend…I say friend not lightly even though I only met her at the last one two weeks ago. Great places to seek out new friends….which is odd…my entry point was to promote my writing but finding good people like yourself was an unbelievable bonus. I can dig out the link if you like?
Thank you kindly for commenting and following 😇
Rambling is good. Your kind of rambling is better because it is entertaining, amusing and informative.
I have no idea what a ‘meet and greet’ is but it sounds good so if it’s not too much trouble I’d love for you to dig the link out.
You work much the same as I do with the visits, likes and follows, Gary. I know how you feel when I miss someone – it feels like the loss of a (potential) friend.
Let’s assume that meh means brilliant and that you can now cruise at the current altitude. 😉
Informative you say? Terrible accusation that and makes me sound rather deep and complicated…no…hang on that’s a conscious self analysis trying to decide what my brains going on about… Excellent re the methodology of what I perceive to be blog etiquette…. Now…meet and greets…this one is hosted by the lovely Nikki and starts tomorrow…
https://therichnessofasimplelife.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/meet-greet-17/
Went there, enjoyed her work, left some random comments, wondered why you added an extra k to her name and then came back here to type this.
I did some breathing at the same time – how’s that for multitasking beeatch!
(sorry – not you, Gary – I was talking to one of the voices in my head)
I have no idea except poetic license? Or…yes here we go…I’m a writer, first drafts are about getting the words down…grammar, spelling, punctuation not important…flow of tale is….corrections are what editing is about…clearly I was not editing at the time and the extra ‘k’ was, in fact part of the writing first draft process and therefore a legitimate inclusion 🙃
You gotta respect the legitimate inclusion of extra ks in the first draft draft process. No argument from me on that, dude! 🙂
What a fantastic post Gary. Such humor and truth in your words and the quotes were brilliant. Love the Cheshire Cat. 🙂
Thank you Miriam. On the subject of madness and inspirational writing I often return to Alice. The nonsense poem is just brilliant…well it appeals to me..so not quite sure what they says 🙃 Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment 😊
It’s my pleasure Gary. 🙂 And for the record, it appeals to me too!
You know it’s excellent to know the blogosphere is rich in mad people…I find that brilliant 😇
You’ve done full justice to your theme! Great quotes! Thank you for reminding me about Alice in Wonderland. Hatter is who you need in at the moment. Let the Alice thoughts gradually disappear, my friend! 🙂
Many thanks for the accolade…there are just so many great quotations out there I found not theming an impossible task for three days of challenge. Once I’d done that the flow was a bit easier. Obviously the final day was inevitably going to end up with Alice…the Jabberwocky poem is sublime 😜
But sound advice….the impossible must not be believed !!!
Nice way to refine from the infinite number of quotes! May be I shall try the theme thing too when I take up this challenge. 🙂
It helped me loads…rather than trolling for the ideal quote I figured a theme would allow me an easier search task. I collected all the quotes…or a number before doing anything and then drafted in the ones I thought best fit when constructing the posts….I guess from a social experiment POV that tells you how I think 🙃
Very well thought and that shows how organized you are as a person! 🙂
Or….can’t do anything unless its planned in advance…ish…no, that’s wrong planning ahead is terrible…but you are spot on in another sense…my mind is highly organised at times….and this seems to be an example of that wrt writing challenge?
I wouldn’t be surprised. It indeed is! I’m so glad to having met a wonderful person like you! 😊😊
That is…I really must stop starting with that because I feel the urge to keep quoting Treebeard….one must reciprocate that too…I’m still in awe of how nice everybody here is 🙃
Yes they are! It’s a nice world here, for a change. 😁
Yes it is….and I find you all inspirational because watching global news I get the impression we all hate each other….and it’s just not true us it 🤔
Oh yes, news channels only share and spread the hate!
I think of them as state induced indoctrination mechanisms…trying to tell us how to think. I try and balance by watching news from other countries…sometimes outside view points are very enlightening 😁
It wasn’t the mad hatter’s fault he was mad..in Victorian times hat makers used lead during the processing and the fumes made them a bit…well, mad.
A very good point, although he’s one of my favourite characters 😇
But very salient in terms of the Victorian use of lead in hat making and a few other things too I suspect.
Genius to insanity, hmm? Of course I couldn’t say “no” when you’re speaking to me in my native tongue (nudge nudge wink wink).
I’ll have to see what I can come up with. Oftimes the largest question to me is where the insanity stops and the genius begins.
Thanks for including me, my friend. It IS an opportunity to cross-share works, and quite engaging, all at once.
I can’t claim genius so have to try for insanity 🙃 I think it is rumoured there is a fine betwixt both though 🤔 Told you I could not resist nominating you with this last set too….can’t possibly think why though 😁 Looking forward to your concoctions too !
Oh, Gary…your brilliance is blinding….I just love everything you share….you are funny and deep and dark (as in your amazing horror works)….these quotes are awesome and thought-provoking…and, although others are starting to tell me that my writing reminds them of Lewis Carroll, you were the first…I read Alice In Wonderland when I was a teen, but never again…and it is so interesting to find that I think in such whimsical terms…I wouldn’t have made the connection given that my literary inspirations include writers like Judy Blume…anyway, thanks for sharing, big brain 🙂
You are indeed over generous Truly, I merely write as words form in some random fashions or other. This quote thing was themed from the onset and reflects inspirations from Einstein to Po to Carroll. Each of them has components of how my mind jumbles things up and throws them back at the page. I’ve not yet put up much from my current book or actual horror twists…just lead ins to test the waters so to speak. Your words, to me, were obvious in the mannerisms and fluxing of thought trains…but then it’s been turned into one of my favourite films so that probably helped me grab that thought and turn it into your blog comments. You should read it again and see for yourself. To me you have taken subliminal inspiration from the teen read 😇
You are modest….I am not overly generous…just call ’em as I see ’em 🙂 Also, I have no doubt about the Carroll connection…I just see it as more proof that the words that come to me, come through me…the hard part is letting my mind go so that things can fall in line…which is hard for someone who tends to over think sometimes… 🙂
True, I am…compliments unsettle me…it causes pressure to produce better writings…and that’s scary 😊 True, though the hard part is being in the right frame of mind to get inside the writing so it takes over and flows…don’t knock overthinking here either…it can help permutate different daydreams that show different paths in the story to help you find the right one…and therein is a half full glass if ever I saw one 🙃
I think I get what you’re talking about…when people give you glowing feedback, though initially pleased, the self-doubts that play head-games with us warn us that our next offering will be a disappointment. And, thank you for giving overthinking a positive re-frame! You are awesome..I hope you are enjoying your day 🙂
It’s one of those post euphoric slumps….the immediacy of the feedback gives a rush but then the shadows creep back asking….were they fibbing, being nice, didn’t want to hurt you….it’s actually rubbish you know….. Obviously these thoughts cycle like a see-saw until you write more….then it starts all over again. If you accept its normal then you can own the issues…allegedly 🤔
I am so very fortunate to have a friend like you, Gary….you have such generosity of spirit…you are so kind and willing to share your wisdom (and I imagine that a good deal of it has been hard-won when it comes to taking risks)… I’m touched by your sensitivity toward others….you are such a blessing 🙂
One tries to pass on snippets of stuff…mind you most of this writing lark is based on research and pitfalls I’m finding as I go along. This community thing works (my opinion) by sharing and constructively offering suggestions. It struck me earlier that everyone here is in a similar boat in that writing about anything and everything is a common interest. As such it’s really easy to get a strong rapport with people. That’s priceless 😊
Agreed…writers get it…how much it all matters to us…how it is about our hearts and passions and desire to connect and add something of great value to the world 🙂 And yes, connection/rapport is priceless 🙂
Even your comments are entertaining!!
“That’s uncommonly kind of you,” said a strange voice….no no, hang about that was Treebeard in LOTR…but the sentiment works for me….many thanks new pending new friend 🙃
Let’s pinkie-swear to be bff! 🙂
I am detecting like minded madness !!!!!