Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
1) I was grateful yesterday (Friday) when I was reminded of a certain childhood semi-repressed memeory. Here’s what happened: I was on ‘the Facebook’ and Friend of the Doctrine, Katia, was attempting to submit her FTSF Post to the group the Bloppy Bloggers (aka ‘the BB&G). This blogger group was founded by Julie DeNeen and the rule regarding submitting Posts is that they can only be posted in a single Comment, a ‘Pinned Post’. This is intended to keep the distraction level low. Anyway…. when Katia went to submit her Post, it had not yet been started by Julie or one of the Admins, so I suggested she start her own. In the process of trying to decide what to do, we had some fun mostly with the idea that, like being in 5th or 6th grade and running afoul of the Rules, I might be getting her in trouble, ‘sent to the Principal’s Office for not behaving appropriately’. Then, out of nowhere, Leonor Vidal Carrosquilla shows up and writes,
Leonor Vidal Carrosquilla Oh Clark Scottroger you were a bad boy! I attended a Catholic School where in kindergarten the nuns told us the giant Xerox machine in the office was a spanking machine. I was deathly afraid to go anywhere near the office! LOL!
all I read was: ‘spanking machine!’ ayiiee!! (I attended ‘Our Lady of Mercy’ Elementary School and directly across the hall from the Principal’s office (Sister Mary Magellen), was a small room, rumored to contain a ‘spanking machine’. While I never actually saw this machine, I did see in this room (on the countless occasions I had to be in the Principal’s Office) was a dentist chair. I swear to god! There in the middle of this small room was a black and chrome, articulated headrest and foot rest dentist chair….very creepy.
2) I am grateful for the little known, but very powerful (‘whispered about urgently, but discretely’) ‘Miss Elizabeth’s Guide to Niceness and Gracious Blogging’ which holds, (in Suggestion 4.7), that, if you stumble upon Item of gratitude item, that contains many (closely related) items, a GentleBlogger will use bullet points and refrain from multiple attributing.
3) I am grateful for the internet in general and the virtual world specifically, for providing the incredibly wide-range of diversion, making the TV superfluous and un-necessary.
4) I am grateful for Kindle (Paperwhite version) which allows me to read in bed. I fear for the future of reading, however, because sometimes my Kindle locks up. (There is a youtube video that will help you unlock the frozen Kindle. What the video actually does is, offer a ‘ceremony’ that, provided you play your part correctly, will result in a fixed Kindle. I tried once, to copy the secrets of the ceremony and perform it alone, without the youtube and it did not work. I will tell you that, since that time, I’ve had 2 lockups (including one where the screen was dimmed…still worked, just dim. I found the youtube video and participated in the ceremony, done!)
5) I am grateful for this weeks weather! (sorry Dyanne), I am not encouraging polar vortexation, but though cold…cold…cold, it did not snow.
6) I am grateful for the Friday night vidchats as they are functioning as a source of social skill development that I normally would not encounter. Allow me to elaborate: contrary to popular belief, clarks are quite capable of, and do, in the right circumstance, enjoy socializing. It helps to remember that the Wakefield Doctrine does not use the 5 pound sledge hammer of ‘introvert’ that most of the run-of-the-mill personality theories do. We enjoy social interaction like anyone else (meaning, of course, scotts and rogers), it is how we relate ourselves to this interaction, i.e. as Outsiders, that causes us difficulty. (For clarks), is not talking to people, the real problem we have is not talking when there is a lull in the conversation. Watch a clark in a group, if they become involved in (whatever the group is doing), and there is a drop off of interest/activity/conversation, most clarks will feel the need, the responsibility to keep things going! Weird huh?
7) I am grateful for Jean for her response to my video Post ( ‘the scottian Physician’s Assistant and the clark’) this week. I struggled with presenting the story in manner that was at once, entertaining and engaging and enlightening. I did not succeed, but she clearly ‘got it’, as I had hoped that she (and any other scottian female among the Readers) would.
8) you wanna hear something a little strange?…. here at my desk I have an old Westclox alarm clock. It doesn’t keep time very accurately, but it makes a very pleasing tick-tock sound. Occasionally, (as in, just a moment ago), it runs down, it stops. That moment in time makes…. an impression, resonates with something within me. That which I am constantly looking for… the sense of the now. and with that realization that it is only the here and now that is real. The future? no! (I don’t get pleasure from imagining the clock ticking tomorrow), the Past? nope! ( nothing about how it sounded yesterday does anything for me today). But when I happen to be sitting here and it becomes silent…. then all of what lead up to that moment (the Past) and all of what it might have been (the Future)…. becomes, somehow more real.
9) (told you that it was going to be strange)…. the Wakefield Doctrine is my go-to grat item. I have all the things I need (I have to remind myself of that, not because I want more, but because I fear that what is is not enough… for what is not exactly clear…it just is… so I will say I am grateful for all the things I have.
10) It has occurred me this week, as often does in my constant search for samadhi, that what it is I need to look to (when compiling a list like this) is relationships not things. I am grateful for at least having that occur to me
enough
About clarkscottroger
I’ve never had my Kindle Paperwhite lock, but if it ever does I’ll know who to ask for help. I got in trouble once in a Facebook group for something I can’t seem to recall right now and ended up leaving the group. I was terrified of ever being sent to the principals office when I was in school.
Susan
…yeah, it was strange, one time it simply would not respond to swiping (and the Paperwhite does not have anything more than an ‘on-off’ button) the second time was the ‘dim screen’)
Yeah, funny how (some things) never change, it did not bother me excessively back then… and even now negative feedback from ‘authority figures’ seems to trigger a response in me… the ‘oh yeah?’ response lol
You never got sent to the principal’s office? Hmmm.
And dammit, you keep liking this weather and now we’re expecting snow and ice and sleet, all at once. HOW DO YOU DO THAT ALL THE WAY FROM RHODE ISLAND? WHAT KIND OF “IN” DO YOU HAVE WITH THE WEATHER GODS? Don’t get me wrong, I LOOOVE my snow days, but enough is enough. GIMME SOME SPRIIIIING!
I have a Nook. The problem with reading on a pretend book is when you fall asleep while reading, it HURTS when you drop it and get clunked in the face.
I’m going to be at next Friday’s vid chat. You heard it here first.
Dyanne
…thank for the heads up. I now know that I have (nearly) a week to work on my witty repartee (I like to keep index cards of clever and at times risqué quips, bon mot, and droll observation.
As one of only a few scottian females to hangout anywhere near the Doctrine, I will ask for you thoughts and intuitions (yes… the term for me is, in fact, party animal)
I’m thankful you chose this painting :-) It’s actually one of my favorite pre-raphaelite painting. I had a class in college where this painting came up, with all the details. Unfortunately, the model died from pneumonia later, which she caught from being in a cold tub for hours and hours.. So far to my memories. What is the nun’s things with spanking?? No other hobbies? Just wondering.. I love your number 8. I had a wall clock whose seconds hand, if the battery went low, would just fall down from about 2 to 6, and then need forever to make the ascend again. I sometimes watched this for an hour or two :-) Have a great weekend, Clark!
Stephanie
yeah, it’s that moment of silence, the stopping of the clock, weird how…something that is
the photo don’t know what I used for a search term that took me there… might have been as direct as the term ‘Hamlet’ or it maybe have been something entirely oblique, it (the results of these searches) are a part of what I find most enjoyable in putting up a Post.
It’s definitely weird. Does it happen to you sometimes when you listen to the ticking of a clock that for some reason some seconds feel longer than others??
Stephanie
interesting idea… mostly it’s being here when the clock stops… it is very very noticeable resonating with god knows what within
You better get yer Samadhi on if Dyanne is gonna be there on Fri. What the hell is number two about? You’re creating new enigmatic blogger etiquette volumes aren’t you?! What are seven sluts gonna guard this one?
Oh good grief! We may never see Beth again…
zoe
not sure where that came from (other than the obvious counter-balance to the Book of Secret Rules) may be too clunky a concept for the fun that we have here… but I enjoy just trying things out
I love it! Certain it will be put to good and earnest use! Cant imagine the new dances it may inspire but Lizzi’s right….Beth’s gonna be exhausted!
To quote the esteemed M. Lawrence:
“…you guys is so crazy”
Yup… x-) good morning.
dashing off a quick TT, trying to maintain my own status quo… odd read/comment pattern yesterday, here at the Doctrine… did you see the same at R-Written? oh well, you know what they say, “Nature abhoreth a….roger”
lol
You know its funny you should say that….I wasnt around much yesterday and when I did check in it was kinda off but I attributed it to clearing weekend weather snd folks just not around until later. We will see w todays post …although the second one is usually funky….im heading out this am…you guys chatting?
Oh yeah…my thoughts on yesterdays rewritten were pretty heavy so that doesnt help either
no… I think it’s simply Mercury retrograde winding down
how much longer until it’s freaking down already!??
YES! To people not things.
And yup – that lull. HATE that lull.
and m’dear, I did TRY to bring the spanking machine back into Bloppies this evening, but to little avail.
Lizzi
that struck me the other day (that it is relationships not things)…hope you like the new book, it may be a little too much (as I alluded to zoe) but what the hell, sometimes having a resource for what we should be doing can be as good as having a book telling us what we might do…
Nah the name of the author puts me off. I won’t be using it, GuardSluts or no Guardsluts.
Miss… er Lizzi
oh! I’m sorry, did you not read Chapter What-did-You-say-Miss, Section, now-see-here, it clear states that one’s sense of modesty does not warrant or justify making fun of those nice little boys and girls in the hareem!
(lol)
I kinda thought it might be too contrived, but that’s the funny of this place… try things and the only opinions that matter are those of one’s Peers,
know what I mean, jellybean?
yes I do kangaroo!
Sense of modesty be hanged! It’s the author name and I will not use it. It stinks. You should throw the book away and get a new one.
(too entrenched as it is in memories which *might* arise unbidden in you, were a voice to iterate “Francis Clark FARLEY” in a particular tone…)
I cannot stop thinking about the dentist chair. Why was it there? What did they do in it? How many different theories/rumors fly around the school about it?
I too went to Catholic school, and also spent a goodish (badish) amount of time sitting on the looong, black, splintery former-church-pew that was the “waiting area” to talk to Sr. Renee, the principal who was my 4th grade teacher, who knew me and family a little too well. That was the place where rumors and stomach ulcers were born and festered. *shudder* I’m getting a little chill remembering it myself!
I too am thankful for the internet, it’s as social as I want to be most of the time. Like you, I don’t dislike being social, it’s just that sometimes, I feel like “on my best behavior” type thing around certain people and it’s exhausting. I am thankful TO THE MOON for our video chats, to speak with intelligent, yet fun people, and it’s the opposite of exhausting, even if (and I’M SO SORRY) I yawn through most of the calls. It’s NOT you guys, honest, it’s my schedule. It’s all I can do to join in and not fall asleep on the floor of my kids’ room singing them their lullabies :)
It’s one of my favorite things of the week right now! I could use it as a TToT item every week, but I try not to do it. Every week.
We got the snow you did not, but I’m happy to shovel it for you ;) It’s March, I can mentally see a light at the end of this Polar Vortex Winter Tunnel!
Joy
I would submit that the Catholic School Life Experience is right up there with: the Storming of Normandy, preparing for the oral Defense of your Doctoral Dissertation (while suffering from the flu), asking out a girl for the first time, childbirth and/or preparing for your first colonoscopy… in terms of emotionally charged, virtually indelible memories.
you know those aphorisms about one door closing or making lemonade? I am semi-happy to say, I am in a position, a life time later to see something positive in my experience at the hands of Srs. Imelda (who told my 3rd grade self that I walked funny….in the middle of class, of course), Cletus who taught us about the virtue demonstrated by a classroom of catholic school kids who were found dead at their desks (reading their catechisms) because it was better than running screaming out of the building (that was on fire at the time)…. lol
thanks Sisters of Mercy!
I didn’t mean ^ to make that ^ comment all about me, it is great to speak with you via vidchat, and you are the perfect amount of chatty and listeney. It’s not silent for long, and that’s a good thing.
Joy
thank you! (this Doctrine self-improvement program is starting to work!)
no, do not feel like that… I count on Comments being as much conversation as it is “why Mr. Doctrine, my compliments on your insights!” lol no, I prefer people feel comfortable talking (at the Doctrine).
I’m with you on the no snow – it was way too freaking cold for me, but at least it didn’t snow. That said, it’s about to start here…looks like another snow day.
I, too, fear for the future of reading, but perhaps for different reasons – I am an anti-e-reader here. I believe in “real” books and all that is wonderful about them. I just can’t make myself get on board with the whole Nook or Kindle thing.
I love the sound of a ticking clock…something I truly miss in this world of ever-more digitized information. I’m so old school.
Lisa
yeah, huh? I laugh each time my Kindle needs re-charging! If the power were to go off at a time when my Kindle was low…oh oh! lol I do find them more bed-reading friendly though… we will not be throwing out the bookcases of books any time soon.
I’d like some snow. We’ve had none all winter. But then again, I’m kinda getting into the idea of spring, so I’m probably with you that I’m thankful we don’t have snow.
That FB conversation sounds so cool. Your head teacher sounds so weird with the dentist’s chair! Did they torture naughty kids by taking out their teeth? Isn’t there a movie that happens in? I can’t remember what it’s called, but…
I also am thankful for the internet this week. It is amazing how we get to connect and learn from people all over the world. Like this of course!
Yvonne
…aiyee?! no, nothing so drastic (though the Sisters of Mercy did, at least at that time, believe in corporal punishment)… hair was pulled (dragged down the corridor by said hair) and knuckles hit with large rulers… the usual
totally agree with this virtual world, the capability of connecting not only with people separated by distance, but by circumstance … for example, I did not know (personally) a single writer before the internet…. cool
I’m bummed I missed the whole Katia thing about her wanting to know about the thread in Bloppy’s (or not because I miss SO MUCH and I guess I’m all caught up on that drama from here and sometimes statements and sentiments like that make me feel like SUCH a Scott). Also this – re, our vidchat, which I love, even when I must pop in and out due to real live and projectile vomit from my son: “clarks are quite capable of, and do, in the right circumstance, enjoy socializing.” We so do. I guess it’s just a matter of feeling welcome. I’m not doing a thankful this week. Not because I’m not thankful, but it’s after midnight, school is cancelled AGAIN tomorrow, and I’m just fucking tired.
HI! Kristi!
………lol