Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
(here’s a last-minute replacement photo for Item #7):
1) the near-endless repository of information that is the internet, for clarks it’s a un-spoken dream come true. To have, within a few key strokes, such a breadth of knowledge and information, and it (the internet and the gnome-like browsers), not only offers information, it helps us find what we think we’re looking for, with only the flimsiest of connections to what we seek.
2) used bookstores… while I have not been in one in too many years, a used books stores is not, (in my experience), simply a store that sells books that can’t make on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. A (proper) used bookstore sells book that, probably, were never on the shelf of a bright, well-lit, well-organised new book store. And, a new bookstore with their neatly arranged rows will never smell like a used book store. More the loss for the future generations. The smell of a used bookstore, the smell of time and age, mildew and paper, is one of those environmental experiences that we all have had, but no one has tried to capitalize on: used bookstores, bowling alleys, indoor swimming pools, the lobby of a movie theater, mimeograph printing, and the smell of alcohol in a doctor’s office.
3) (a slight re-statement of number 1) is why lyrics are so subjective… it’s not just that we get don’t understand them, or we learn them incorrectly or that we forget them…. in order to stay in our heads, we have to re-create the song and the lyrics are the one’s that make sense (in our heads). Today’s sub-title is a lyric from an old bluegrass song, ‘Will the circle be un-broken’. This morning, when I searched the lyrics on line, I found at least two variations on just this one line (of the song). I used the one you see, because I thought that those were the words that conveyed the feeling (of the song) the best…see what I mean?
4) I would normally go to a hypo-grateful item here, this Season, the time of year… but, I suspect that, like a song lyric, my experience with autumn will not translate to another’s experience, unless they are matching. (No, it’s not you. I totally lost track of that last statement). Anyway, Fall as always been a …not really depressing, more conducive to feeling less energetic and, because of that, more prone to the passive negative emotions. In any event, this song (especially the opening lines) totally captures my feeling of Autumn
5) seasonal alert for our scottian friends. Now, we’re not Doctors (here at the Wakefield Doctrine), but we will say that there is a very high correlation between those with a scottian predominant worldview and the incidence of seasonal affective disorder. (Not only are we not doctors, but we couldn’t define Seasonal Affective Disorder, even if promised that we could go back in time to high school and be given a jacket that we could wear that would make everyone perceive us as scotts. Which would make high school so much better an experience, at least until it came time to take the SATs) But….but! the scotts I know who are able to spend even a little time in areas with longer days (during the winter), feel much, much better for it.
6) This is a do-it-yourself Gratitude Item. You have a clark and a Halloween costume party and a limitless budget, but only one day to prepare. what do you have them go as?
7) The lawn is done for the year. The basic lawn is established and we have re-adjusted our turning-the-car-around habits to avoid driving up on the grass, the rest will happen next spring.
8) Only 57 more Days Until Winter is over!
9) You know, there are 7 Guard Virgins. There are 3 male-based Virgins and 4 of the female persuasion. Fine. Nothing controversial there! We also know that they serve to maintain the integrity of the TToT. That there is a Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules), guaranteed that there would be Guard Virgins, not because we (collectively) cannot be trusted to not abuse the Rule, but more to allow those who need to bend the Rules due to special circumstance or a transitory condition, the temporary blessings of this bloghop, without inviting anarchy. Like the girl who always got picked to sit at the Teacher’s desk when said Teacher had to leave the room… it was never a boy (though, for those of you out there who are bouncing in your sit, waving your hand at the monitor saying. ‘it happened in my school!!! there was a boy picked to monitor!!!! we’ll just say, ‘yes, of course there was and he was a roger….roger‘ But you get my drift on the SGV. We have them because we need them, we need them because we know how someone always is, and therefore, if we start to picture the Seven Guard Virgins, in their dressing rooms (no, totally not co-ed)…. if we sneak up, the accents shaping the conversations we overhear are somehow familiar.
10) even though I still start writing this Post early on Saturday morning and then don’t get to come back to read/write Comments until the end of the day, I am grateful to Lizzi for creating this thing, and even though we don’t get to chat as much, (she has those AP classes that, (we all knew she was destined to be moved up to)….and cheerleader practice…. which we also knew that she could do, even when she didn’t… when we pass in the halls, the look we share is still the same one that goes all the way back to the beginning, the look of knowing what the world is like inside…)
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About clarkscottroger
It’s sad that used bookstores are going out of fashion these days! And I think I’ll have to find out who exactly the SGV are!
that is the question on all our minds!
#9 made me chuckle because it brought back a story my dad (a retired schoolteacher) likes to tell. It involves me, but I was so young that I don’t really have a memory of the experience–more a memory formed from hearing the story. Anyway, I must be a roger. When I was about 3 years old, I (for whatever reason, I don’t really know) was in my dad’s classroom during a school day. He had to leave the room for a bit, and he sat me down on a stool in front of the class and told me to watch the kids and to let him know if any of them misbehaved. When he got back, I dutifully tattled on a couple of kids who had been talking. Neither my dad nor the students were expecting me to say anything–I was a fairly shy child– and certainly not for that “infraction.”
Kristi
a very good story, not that I’m saying it’s always a roger, but….lol
” …and he was a roger, Roger.” Classics like this will be in the footnotes of the book right?
yeah, huh?
Zoe’s right – that Roger line should definitely be in the book.
Used book stores, like so many other things (handwritten letters, for example) are such lost treasures. I had a favorite and even I, the lover of used bookstores, can’t go there anymore because the new owners have just totally lost sight of what it should be all about. Don’t get me wrong – I’ll poke around in any bookstore. But the used ones…oh, the used ones…are such a delight for the senses!
I like the DIY item. Fun!
Ohhhhh I DOOOOO like #2 because the smell and all-round-wrapped-in-it experience of a used book store is WONDERFUL to behold, even in the imagination.
I think that the clark would go (assuming the secondary scottian, here) as a very dapper gent, with a silver-topped cane, waistcoat, pocket-watch and a monocle. But also perhaps with a few magic tricks about his person.
Those 7GV are good fun. I have to say though, I think they all must have a secondary rogerian aspect, or why commit so hard to the cause?
Cheerleading? And what’s AP class? I miss vidchat. I’m DEFINITELY coming back, I just had a book to promote, yaknow ;) :p
One day it will be YOU with the book, and I will be cheerleading my heart out :)
…yeah, funny how smell is not the things we tend to talking about in the short-term, more a description of the piles of books (my favorite store from a long, long time ago had (mostly homemade shelving) and they were too close together and the lighting was all that good… excellent place and I can almost re-smell the smell.
AP (Advanced Placement… for the student who demonstrate not only exceptional promise, but also performance in learning)
OH! Wow! Yaknow I’ve never been comfortable with that kind of streaming.
I only hope, then, that you’re looking on me as one who has taught and enabled, because I’d say that a large chunk of whatever kinds of promise or performance or capability you see exhibited are attributable to the understanding conferred on me by this here doctrine here, and the manner in which it has let me understand my own self, and get more of a handle on managing the (clearly) very important business of Being Me.
One of my favourite things about old books is their smell. And I DO smell them. Even if I don’t buy them. Just to have smelled them.
totally
the thing is, there will always be that connection (among and between clarks) that no amount of change in life circumstances can alter…. we root for you (and we) worry about you and will offer suggestions and make assumptions and everything that clarks do… the difference between doing these things with rogers and scotts is that we know that you know that we know you know what we mean and how we intend it, ’cause you would do the same… ya know?
Yes – those common threads of innate understanding – they matter a lot :) I get it, and that won’t change, no matter what class I end up in :)
this is true
Oh yes Bookstores…they have an atmosphere that just envelops a person in a way ,much like a favorite warm blanket. The smell, the feel, just nothing books a million or barnes n noble can touch.
I am always intrigued by how lyrics affect people separately. It could be two people’s favorite song but for very different reasons.
And seriously 57 days….. here in florida I don’t even want to know when the heat will return.
yeah… for me the turning point (in the good sense) is December 21st (which, well, sure is considered the beginning of Winter) but the days start to get longer…it stays light later and later each day from there on… that’s the end of the worst thing about winter (along with the cold, of course).
Back when we lived in Manhattan, KS, there was this absolutely wonderful used book store (I’d almost call it antique book store) at this one corner in Aggieville. And yes, I remember the smell, and the cats in the shop window, and the small antique chairs inviting you to sit down and leave through some of the books. It simply couldn’t compare to the used book aisle at Hastings, even though their coffee shop and board game basket provided for countless Sunday afternoon coffee dates pre-kids. Thanks for bringing back this memory tonight, Clark!
I’ve been to Aggieville, Stephanie!
While I do like the smell of a used book store, oh the smell of an indoor pool!! I love it! I was just now wondering why I like that smell so much, and I realized, perhaps it’s because I first met Bryan when we were on the swim team together. Or not. Swimming is just my favorite form of exercise.
It’s amazing the way you’ve evolved during these last 71 weeks of TToT. You NEVER used a numbered list in the early days. And you are throwing in real thankfuls from your days, like having the yard work done for the year.
I have no clue what a clark with unlimited funds would go as.
I already have a trip planned to keep my Seasonal (something) Disorder in check. :)
yeah, it’s funny how so many of my scottian friends totally see the benefit of heading south in the winter (no matter how small a distance or how short a time)… I guess it’s better than eating everything that moves within 20 feet and sleeping until Spring… lol
It’s not that I’ve spent a lot of time at indoor pools, but there is that smell… chlorine and feet, I guess
Kids who see Ferris Bueller today have no idea why the kids all sniff the worksheets as they are passed down the row towards the beginning of the movie. One of those best smells EVER.
I take #5 to mean I should go somewhere warm and beachy this winter.
yes, yes you should.
In fact, if it helps I’ll be happy to write you a note!
“Please excuse this scott from a portion of the upcoming, my-god-is-it-dark-already! Winter so that she may go and chase some prey in more agreeable environment and re-charge her soul.”
(signed)
clark
the Wakefield Doctrine
(yes, that clark)
Who could argue when I have a fabulous note like that?!
exactly! (btw, from what I observe, even a short getaway seem to benefit a person of your worldview)
We used to have a used bookstore downtown where I live and I love to go and spend time perusing all the books. I hope they stay in business forever.
Just when you had me thinking I was a Roger with Clark tendencies, you throw in the SAD thing as Scottian. I wonder what the Virgins would say about that.
…when I saw that hearse come rollin’, come to carry my mother away. I remember how distressed I was when I learned those lyrics.
Mmmm…I love the smell of a used bookstore. Indoor swimming pool, not so much. Unpleasant memories.
6. I made Super Sarah the night before Halloween years and years ago. And I never pulled it apart so I wear it for Halloween occasionally.
You’ve been on my mind this week. I’ve taken to doing all this volunteering, and it’s so weird and unlike me (but like my mother). It occurred to me that I am exercising my underdeveloped scott tendencies. I suppose it’s good to practice all parts of your personality, but I have to admit this week has left me exhausted.
yeah… not sure how I came to hear it, as I am not a fan of bluegrass (but Phyllis is)… but the version by the Stanley Brothers.
excellent! if there is a over-arching drive behind this Wakefield Doctrine it’s to allow us to develop (what the Doctrine maintains is) three potential ways to relate ourselves to the world around us…and, imo, even the effort along these lines gives me the chance to be a better life form.
I love used bookstores and found some of the best ones in New York City when I visited a few years ago. I wish we had more of them here. I love ’57 days until winter is over’. I’m still waiting for Fall!
thats right! the days are a bit more equal in daylight hours where you are… for me, winter is as much about light as it is about temperature…once the daylight hours stop shrinking and start increasing… I feel better
OH OH OH the used book store smell. How I miss thee stinky old paper smell. If I wait long enough, my basement will probably smell like that though because there are like a billion books down there. And hm. For the halloween costume. This Clark here has always done well with current events for costumes. So one year I was a tennis player with scissors sticking out of my back, one year I was a firestone tire that was on fire… and it was always done with stuff I’d had around the house.