Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
…from the Bloggarini: Janine and Kate and Stephanie and Dawn comes this sentence fragment:
“I thought I was so cool when I…”
…. when I (“…no! you ended up, at 5 years old running from 13 year olds because you thought it was a good idea to throw rocks at the kids while they tried to play baseball”), oh! yeah!! the time I…. (“…yeah, you gonna include the part about how you went to the Burger Chef after the game and bought 2 meals, with shakes! and sat in your car alone laughing to yourself? no, I didn’t think so”), hold on there has to be some time, some event in your life that made you think that you were cool.
Everyone’s waiting!
…college ? maybe that psych experiment with the room with the one-way mirror, (“… dude this is a GP rated blog hop, don’t even think it!”), the years playing in rock and roll bands? (“…how could there not be a time that you didn’t think you were cool? …the time you lit your hair on fire?…. lol, no, that is not what they are going for here…”)
Excuse me? Can I get a consult here? When you ( Janine and Kate and Stephanie and Dawn) say ‘cool’ do you mean cool as:
- cool can be traced back to Aristotle, whose notion of cool is to be found in his ethical writings, most particularly the Nicomachean Ethics
- an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist.
- a general state of well-being, a transcendent, internal peace and serenity
- “Aristocratic cool”, known as sprezzatura, has existed in Europe for centuries, particularly when relating to frank amorality and love or illicit pleasures behind closed doors; Raphael’s “Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” are classic examples of sprezzatura. The sprezzatura of the Mona Lisa is seen in both her smile and the positioning of her hands. Both the smile and hands are intended to convey her grandeur, self-confidence and societal position. Sprezzatura means, literally, disdain and detachment. It is the art of refraining from the appearance of trying to present oneself in a particular way. (“…getting warm!”)
- …cites a definition of cool from the Gola people of Liberia, who define it as the ability to be mentally calm or detached, in an other-worldly fashion, from one’s circumstances, to be nonchalant in situations where emotionalism or eagerness would be natural and expected
Bingo! Put me down for that last definition.
The only time I can think of myself as being cool was the week that my dog Ola died. This as in the year 2000, somehow 13 years ago! It was a genetic, systemic problem, basically her systems shut down gradually. We took her to Tufts Small Animal Hospital, we had every possible test and treatment done. But to no avail. There were two incidents that remain in my mind (actually every incident during that week remains with me) but these are the two:
- On Wednesday morning of that week, we had to take Ola in for more tests in the afternoon, unfortunately, she was having a good morning and was sitting on the couch when it was time to go. Ola was a German Shepherd, about 85 pounds, so not easy to lift. But I had to carry her to the car that morning. I bent to pick her up and had a bad lift position or something, because it caused her pain, so she put her mouth on my right hand. Unfortunately I was ‘committed to the lift’ and couldn’t stop… she closed her mouth just enough to press her teeth a little more firmly… (all this is in about 15 seconds), I tried to change my carrying position, but I only made it worse and for the third time, she applied a little more pressure. It hurt. I finally got her back down on the couch. My eyes stung for a second, but we tried again. I got a comfortable grip on her and we made it to her appointment.
- On Friday of that week, we went to the animal hospital to get Ola to bring her home (she did one overnight on Thursday, the day before). My wife Phyllis and I stood in the waiting room, looking down the corridor which lead to the treatment rooms. The student orderly (this is a veterinary teaching school) pushed a gurney through the swinging doors wheeling Ola towards where we stood. We could see Ola before she could see us. She was strapped down to the gurney, of course, and they had a muzzle on her. What we saw as the Primal Dog. ( lol!) Her teeth were totally bared and she had her eyes fixated on the throat of the young veterinarian intern student. An incredibly ferocious look. Then, as the gurney moved closer to the Waiting Room, Ola caught sight of Phyllis and me standing there and, somehow she managed to convey such an expression of sheepish embarrassment…at being caught …wanting to eat her caregiver. We laughed. She kept giving side long glances at her intended prey…then back to us ears back and smiling.
We were both cool that week.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the lifeline on the above definitions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_(aesthetic)
About clarkscottroger
Clark, we had a dog when I was a little girl that had to be put down. My mom had to take the dog, while I was in school. I found out after what had happened. I still remember how it felt like a hole was indeed left where our dog used to be in our house. So, I can relate to this on that experience. Thanks as always for linking up with us and so sorry you had to experience the loss of Ola.
@Janine
…she was an amazing dog…it was 13 years ago but I can remember every detail of the week…
I love how you were able to capture the dog’s look of “sheepish embarrassment”- what a moment! As always, brilliant take on the FTSF- I definitely vote for the Aristotle variation of coolness…or do I?
@Stephanie
…it was such a perfect moment. The photo on the Post is totally what Ola’s personality was, ‘big smile…big teeth’
..I kind of like the ‘cool’ of the Gola people of Liberia… but! I suspect that each of the three personality types will be drawn to a different definition of ‘cool’ which is, of course…lol
Sorry to read about Ola.
Memories sure are hard to erase…good or bad.
Have a good weekend.
@Ruchira
Thank you…but you know how it is, as difficult as that week was, I would go through it again, a part of our life with Ola…so, in a way I hope to never lose the memories, even the difficult ones
Wow. What a significant post for the one that I had to write tonight. Thank you for sharing. I am not alone. I appreciate that. And wow, like did you totally brain melt with me or what?
@Kristi
When I got to your Post (after sending mine in) I could not believe what kind of synchronicity there was…Knowing someone (that) has been to that terrible/wonderful place that is part of our responsibility to our dogs, reminds me that Ola will always be there a part of my life, I am grateful to you for that today.
Wow, I love this post. I love how you describe your cool definitions and then Ola — just love how she was caught and embarrassed by her teeth-baring. Just realized I used the word “love” three times in my comment. Must be the Friday night wine. Sorry. But very cool post — really!
@Emily
yeah… i get that too, and I am so not one inclined to use that word, but seeing the Post unfold, (as they sometimes do), and remembering the events of years ago now has the benefit of the passage of time. But the emotion is, surprisingly strong and powerful.
Hi there! Great post! Very un-norm-like, which is what I liked about it. And the doggy descriptions, were right to a “T” as my British Dad used to say. I had a big sort-of-sheep-dog at one time, and I also observed all those incidents, just like you wrote about them. They don’t really leave their basic genetic structures behind, do they? It’s just a covering, aided by their love for us specific humans. Lovely post, I enjoyed the academia too.
@Joan
thank you… I struggled to convey that sequence of events where Ola ‘tried to tell me’ that I was hurting her (in my attempt to lift her). It happened very quickly, but I knew then as I know today, she was saying, ‘ouch…hey that hurts…hey!!! stop!’
I suspect the scene at the hospital would be lost on anyone who does not have a pet (especially a dog), not only to see how not so far back is there primal nature/character, but the self-awareness that Ola showed… a lesson in there, I suppose.
I somehow missed this yesterday.
Aww…little Ola…did you know that means “wave” in Spanish? “Hola” means “hi” but “ola” means “wave.” So cool.
I love your take on FTSF.
And our little critters leave such imprints on our hearts, don’t they? It’s crazy how they do that. I’ll never forget my sweet Hash Brown who had to leave us too soon.
I hope you have a wonderful Saturday!
@Cyndi
…very yes on that.
hey ho! it’s Saturday Night…if you get a chance, we’d love to hear from you. 218-339-0422 access 512103
We were way cool that day. I will always remember the ride home. Ola on the back seat, me kneeling on the floor boards in the back seat and you driving. It was rush hour (5:30) on a Friday on one of the busiest highways coming out of Boston.
None of the cars on the highway came near us. We had at least 3 full car length of distance in all directions. It was like there was a force field around the car.