Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
A big ‘Welcome Back’ to Kristi from her TToT kith and kin.
Given last week’s TToT post from the Doctrine, one would think that I’d have a surfeit of words, both gratitudinous, hypo-gratitudinous and simply for-the-fun-of-it. But one can always be wrong, can’t one? lol No, serially! Trying to adjust to slightly different schedule for writing. (See Item 5).
Without further ado, I will state that I feel gratitude (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) for the following:
1) Una
2) Phyllis
3) The Wakefield Doctrine. Why? Think back to the last time you stood in the shower. Not a rush-and-get-dressed-and-out-to-work-or-school-or-daycare shower. A day-off shower. One where you have the luxury of time. One where the obligatory cleaning of body and parts is complete and you stand in the falling waters and think or, better, you reflect on things. Nothing earthshaking, just things like, ‘not bad weather today, a bit on the cold side’ or ‘should stop for gas on the way to the office’ or even, ‘that person in college I used to know, what was their name?’ Got the context?
Cool.
So I’m in the shower this morning, reflecting along the lines of the examples above, when I happen to think about the amount of yard clean-up I could accomplish. I was not satisfied with my first estimate of what I could achieve in one day, which lead to the memory of a big yard project in 1993. This is where the fun of the Wakefield Doctrine comes in. (New readers? Of the three personality types of the Doctrine, I’m clark.) The moment the ‘thought image’ of the yard project in 1993 faded, I thought, “Maybe there is no turning back the clock.”
While we wait for the Doctrinaires out there to stop laughing, I will add, for those new to our little personality theory, you wonder about my state of mind during or after that matter-of-fact thought? Not a hint an italic in any of the eight words.
Standing in the shower, I laughed out loud.
That is the fun that comes with learning the Wakefield Doctrine
4) Technology
5) Almira. The work continues. Ayiiee! these passive voice sentences cause me to feel as if I was lacking in ability and bereft of skill in the wordifying…. But …but! I am not complaining.
Our music video this week was put in my head by a scene from Almira I was editing this morning. Below is an excerpt from that scene. Dorothy’s friend and roommate at Sarah Lawrence has decided to surprise Dorothy who is home in Kansas after her first year in college.
Eliza Thornberg pulled away from the TWA terminal and started her adventure at 11:00 am. Her car, as arranged, was waiting, gassed up and ready to go.
With the Packard’s convertible top down, Eliza sang along to the radio, as she drove west on US 50. Within an hour, she passed a gilt-lettered sign that informed all motorists they were, in fact: Now Leaving Gardner, Kansas, Pop. 783. The sign, did, however, make it a point to assure all they would be welcome, upon their return. Eliza drove on, out into a very unfamiliar part of the country.
The two-laned highway stretched out of sight ahead of her. Recalling Dorothy describe Kansas as, A land so big, the sky went from the top of your head, straight up to forever, Eliza felt a new appreciation for how difficult it must have been for her friend. To come from this vast, but empty land, to the suburbs of New York City; also huge, but very not empty.
Driving down the far slope of a flattened mountain of a hill, about an hour outside of Kansas City, Eliza lost her musical companion as the radio faded into silence. Left off by the side of the road, Fred Astaire, a most urbane scarecrow in white tie and tails, sang at the receding convertible,
“oh, I love to climb a mountain,
and reach the highest peak,
but it doesn’t thrill me half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek…”
Feeling more alone, the silent radio became just another gauge on the dashboard, Eliza thought about her decision to cut short her trip to Hollywood.
6) The Gravity Challenge. Each morning (except Sunday) the Graviteers: val, kristi, joy, may stand on scales across the country, take a photo and send it in. It’s a good thing.
7) THIS SPACE AVAILABLE (If there are any new readers, casual viewers, blog-grazers or accidental visitors who are saying to themselves, “Those Ten Things of Thankful people seem a nice bunch, maybe I should… but Ten things?! Better wait for the list to build up.” We say, ‘NP, bro/broette! We got one space on our list reserved for the wandering blogger. Send it in and we’ll clear out some space here at #7 and paste it in.”
8) The Six Sentence Story... word is getting out that this is the place to practice the craft and have fun doing it. Stop by this Wednesday and tell ’em the Doctrine sent ya.
9) something, something.
10) Secret Rule 1.3
* not a ‘real’ word**
** yet…lol
*** given our respective work schedules and all
vid
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
About clarkscottroger
I love how you tie everything together – thank you.
“….”seems to vanish like a gambler’s luck..”
Good TToT. Heard and saw 2 great skeins of geese fly overhead a couple of weeks ago. Right before we got 10″ inches of snow lol. Hope that does not portend the same for you.
I can only imagine the work entailed in the editing process of a completed book. No doubt, the end result will be well worth it.
Thanks for the shout at about Six Sentence Stories! It surely is a highlight of my week.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Old times lyrics (c 1935)
YEs, will see all at the SSS
Almira is coming along…it’s such a task, all the writing and editing. All at once you love it for the possibility and hate it for the daunting shackle of creativity it permits you to have – at least that’s my experience with the writing process. lol.
As for the shower, wow. I have some of my best revelations in there. The kind where you feel the positive energy of the water ions infusing and cleansing the mind and relaxing the body…letting the subconscious thoughts bubble to the surface, such that even Castandeda would appreciate them. :) It’s such a phenomenon there’s even a twitter account called, “Shower Thoughts.” So fun.
learning to write, as frustrating as it can be at times is a very apt and/or useful illustration/demonstration of the same process that is involved in otherwise self-improving ourselfs (imo)… we learn and see more of what we need to learn, the focus of our efforts also become more as we learn. Like the old saying, ‘a craftsman discovers new tools even as he uses the old’
Love how you describe your thought process!
thanks, M
Yes, technology… I am no digital native, but I try to make my life easier by using it. That does not mean I am always successful, though :-)
Have a wonderful week!
Thanks V! You too
Always a delight! The shower is a wonderful place for inspiration!
I agree, probably a market for water proof tablets… so you never risk losing an idea
Thanks for the welcome back. It’s always weird to return home after traveling. Things are the same, yet I’m different for having the experience.
I won’t be surprised at all to see book(s) of yours published sometime. I think the hardest part of storytelling is coming up with the idea. Good mechanics don’t matter much if the substance isn’t there. If you have the substance (and your stories do), you can always tweak the wording as needed.
You are welcome. Travel is such a significant thing, to be in a place that is different (and on occasion, connected with so much of one’s life and upbringing).
Thank you for the thought…
I think that there should be a waterproof white board to write on when I am in the shower so some of those thoughts that stream in and out of my mind don’t slip down the drain. LOL
As for the massive yard and garden projects like those of years past, they are just wishful thinking now, at least in my case. No turning back the clock, but it is still fun to remember them and sometimes a sense of amazement at what we were able to accomplish once upon a time.
Love the scene from Almira and the description of Fred Astaire being left off by the side of the road.
Ditto what Kristi said about your books.
I’ve always loved the gross/large scale projects that involve moving earth from one place to another… to change how a portion of the world appears, however small scale.
One of those scenes that stuck in my head once I understood that Eliza, totally city girl, would be driving across as non-city a place as Kansas.