Tendril 989: The Trouble with Balance

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Tendril 989: The Trouble with Balance

Copyright 2022 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This visual-and-text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, personas, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, scientific-like elements, medical-like terms, psychological-like conditions, abstractions, imaginary/fake words, backronyms, institutions, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Today's Tendril... (Remix)

The trouble with a system of "checks and balances" is that too often there's a balance of zero.

* Original version

Copyright 2017 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

The trouble with a system of "checks and balances" is that too many people write bad checks.

Copyright 2017 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Characters Within (Interis Dieagolis) 7

"Silence is golden," said Modesty.

"Not when you're a cut above the rest," replied Hubris.

"Absolutists. Both of you," said Balance, in disgust.

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Today's Tendril...

Balance favors the clear-headed, The data-driven, The mindful.

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Planning. Practicing. Preparedness. All important. In art. Sports. Business. Life. Spontaneity. Levity. Tranquility. Equally important. To find balance; to reveal simplicity.

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

O, Balance, where have you gone? You've left me waiting by the window, and the candle has nearly burned to its bottom.

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

The Lines of Exploration

Reality is the exploration of the lines that we draw—

Within our hearts,
To complete a task,
For the sake of balance,
As the scaffolding of dreams,
At the intersection of fact and fiction,
Around the highest of priorities,
To connect the unseen dots,
In the logic of appearances,
Among the living (and the dead),
Between the heavens and the hells,
Along the stitches and staples of memories,
And on the pages of our lives...

 

About

Image (capsule) portion (only) inspired by Circle of Dust's "Exploration (Redux)," available at FiXT.

"The Lines of Exploration" poem/text is not related to the CoD track.

Soundtrack (for the capsule image portion of the piece)

• "Exploration (Redux)," Circle of Dust (Remastered), Circle of Dust
• "Exploration (1992)," Circle of Dust (Remastered) [Deluxe Edition], Circle of Dust

Copyright 2016 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Updated 20210515

These visual and text compositions are works of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Today's Tendril...

A life of relativism is poorly lived. A life of absolutes is hardly lived. A life of "balance", even one painted in shades of gray, bends in the wind without breaking, but remains rooted nonetheless.

Copyright 2015 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Characters Within (Interis Dieagolis) 4

"Sometimes you have to live dangerously in order to live," said Risk, excitedly.

"That's just plain stupid," snapped Common Sense.

"So long as you're willing to start with a bit of forethought, you'll finish with the exhilaration of an adventure without being irresponsible and without being sidelined," said Balance, calmly.

Copyright 2015 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Said the...

      "Look at them swooning over their gadgets," said Levitt, an old-school demon that has observed (and interfered with) mankind's technological progress. "They place more faith in their apps than they do in their gods."

      "But isn't that a good thing," asked Janore, a junior demon and a relatively recent addition to the ranks of the earth-walkers.

      "Yes," replied Levitt, "but I do so miss the old days — when deception required exquisite subtlety, a bit of protracted patience, and a measure of ingenuity."

      "And now," asked a slightly confused Janore.

      "Now it only requires the crushing of digital confectionery, the long hours of simulated agriculture, or the promise of finding true love, or at least a hot date, to lure them in.

      "What challenge is there when pure compulsion has them rush to the trough like swine? How less sweet is the taste of victory when the meat is hunted for you and then served on a silver platter," said Levitt more to himself than to Janore.

      "Weakness in any form is to our benefit and all the better for the Master's balance sheet, is it not," asked Janore.

      "Yes, of course. Of course," said Levitt. "We are in...eternal service to keep the Master's balance sheet in the black. Deepest, darkest, black. By any and all means necessary.

      "Now let us find a party that is soaked in alcohol and see if we can orchestrate an embarrassing act that will be captured on video. If we play their cards right, the clip could wind up on one of those 'dumbest humans' television shows. That will surely please the Master."

      And into the night the demons flew, the winds of malice beneath their wings.

Copyright 2015 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, contexts, scenes, scenarios, symbols, glyphs, iconography, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

Today's Tendril...

Logic and passion are

Symbiotic,

Complimentary,

Paramount.

But logic without passion is lifeless and alien.

And passion without logic is animalistic and unruly.

It is imperative that logic and passion find balance—find harmony—in the

Mountains and valleys,

Crevices and cells,

Tendrils and dream-fires,

Of the human heart,

Mind,

And soul.

Copyright 2015 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Be positive. [+]

Focus. >The Ever Present Now<

Stay in check. (1-2-3...10)

Stay calm. <Inhale/Exhale>

Find balance. (Work/Play)

Smile. 8^)

Copyright 2014 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Of Moss and Veil (In Three Parts)

Part 1: Of Moss and Veil: Formed and Framed

-click image for larger version-

 

Part 2: Of Moss and Veil: A Tendril

 Melancholy is a rose. Be wary of its thorns.

 

Part 3: Of Moss and Veil: In Silent Passage

Of moss and veil
I come to thee;
In silent passage,
Together we drift.

To snuff the spark,
Before it lands,
Is all it takes
For the balance to shift.

Copyright 2014 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Balance, like Big Foot, is elusive.

© Copyright 2012 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Following a Thread (a Stitch in My Head)

Fraying, fraying, fraying, our nerves are fraying.

Beating, beating, beating, the war drum's beating.

Tipping, tipping, tipping, the balance is tipping.

Ticking, ticking, ticking, the clock is ticking.

Dripping, dripping, dripping, the sweat is dripping.

Breaking, breaking, breaking, my back is breaking.

Crawling, crawling, crawling, my skin is crawling.

Reeling, reeling, reeling, my head is reeling.

Ending? Ending? ENDING?!?
          These thoughts,
                 never ending.

Drowning, drowning, drowning—
          in the ever present now...

Dedicated to my Notebook Brother.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

A life without balance is a palette of grey. A life of extremes is but a brush of black and white.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Lines of Symmetry

     With all but her mouth draped in silken shadows, she whispered, "Follow the lines of symmetry through your imagination, my love, and along the way you will discover balance, clarity, and purpose."

     She smiled.

     I reached out to touch her cheek and she became the tendrils of smoke rising from the candle on my desk.

    A tear splashed into the candle's pool of shimmering liquid wax — and was no more.

Dedicated to my wife, for her inspiration and for never turning into tendrils of smoke.

© Copyright 2011 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.

The Golden Ratio (ASCII Face)

 

Tendrils

There are times when the path from idea to artwork takes you down rat holes, tumbling through rabbit holes, and into black holes.

 

The artist and the scientist know too well the meaning of begat.

 

Sure, an umbrella keeps the rain off of you, but what does it matter when you choose to play in the rain?

 

Simplicity is a tadpole that becomes a frog (or a toad).

 

Simplicity is a rat hole, if you let it.

 

For artists, engineers, and scientists alike, keeping it simple is easier said than done.

 

If balance and equilibrium were states of perfection, then we'd never know the wonders of frost or the jewels of dew.

 

Complexity is a Frankenstein stitched from the fabric of simplicity.

 

Chasing the possibilities can be a lot like chasing windmills.

 

At some point you have to accept that you're stuck in the quagmire of choice, especially when you're reaching for the clouds.

 

It's amazing how this, 8^), can cause so much consternation.

 

Soul Star (Surviving the Darkness)

 

About

What started out as a simple ASCII image (complete with tagline) turned into a tree with many branches.

The seed that became the tree:



© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.

Today's Tendril...

Balance is precarious in a world rife with ethical, moral, and spiritual extremes.

© Copyright 2010 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.