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TToTListicle Friday -the Wakefield Doctrine- “…well, because the only effective treatment for aging is novelty.”

January 13, 2018 By

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

‘Ascending and Descending, 1960, by MC Escher’,
I will not even try.
Wait a minute! Sure I will! This is the refrigerator wall of my efforts to develop skill with the writing thing. So here goes.
Escher’s drawing is of a rooftop staircase of what seems a castle or otherwise a building with medieval features. The tiles on the two roofs that show appear to be of clay, the type we associate with Spanish architecture. This is re-inforced by the clothing of the figures in the drawing; they are wearing what might best be described as cowls. But we need to come back to the figures, we have to deal with what they appear to be doing.
In the drawing our perceptive is from above and the right corner (the picture is essentially square). The figures are walking on a staircase that is built around a central, square opening. Perhaps it is a courtyard, but we cannot see down into it, only the far wall of the interior space shows and it has windows and so we assume an interior courtyard.
The staircase is in four equal length sections, ninety degree angles at each turn (sorta) but one corner, the upper right in the drawing, has an open tower affair. The staircase passes through and under this structure.

 

Not much time! A lot to do! Two, (not one, two…count them…two!) bloghops to combine into one!

This week we attempt  to combine the TToT with (the re-formatted) Finish the Sentence Friday. ‘Thank you, Josie Two-Shoes;  ‘mercie, Kristi and Kenya.’

Surely all Readers are saying, ‘Hey! Doctrine! This particular juxtaposition of bloghops, she is a lead pipe cinch, N’est-ce pas?’

No, it is not the aforementioned striking crania with el plomo tubing. I broke one of my personal secret rules and went and looked at what them cats at the FTSF be submitting for posts. ayiiee! not just text and photos (we do that!) but full-on illustrations, multiple fonts, cartoons and insightful entries.  But …but! on the plus side, they are using the same alphanumeric system and they put their ‘3s’ after they ‘2s’ just like everone else.

So, on with the Post: A list of my favorite things for which I’m grateful.

(Apology to Kristi and them, I had high hopes for a dual column post, TToT on one side FTSF on the other. Then I could (in this dream post) run parallel lists, side-by-each and it would be (this) juxtaposition that would surely inspire me to reach the heights of blogamadhi* Alas it was not to be as I could not figure out how to work the photos in and the photos are one of my favorite things.)

oh, yeah…. once you’ve read through this and provided you haven’t sworn off reading blogs, click on the ‘Listicle’ link and join the fun over there and, of course, at the bottom of the page is the link to the TToT. Speaking of which…

TToT

1) the Wakefield Doctrine.

2) the blogosphere (…. so, the weather here has totally taken a turn for the vastly improved!)  photo? sure!)

“Una on a non-snow covered lawn”
(Landscape orientation)
A photo of Una sitting in the backyard near the garden, she is facing away from the camera, standing on guard against any threat from the woods.
Two-thirds of the scene is week-old pea soup-green lawn. In the center of this we see the ‘n’ and ‘a’ of ‘Una’ in frozen-dirt brown contrasted with the frozen green of the surrounding grass.
The top third of the scene are the woods that surround the yard. Like green sails frozen by a sudden wind, the branches of the pine trees seem caught in motion, bending from right to left. Throughout the background are the telephone pole trunks of the trees and just a few patches of non-dark let us know there is a sky above and houses beyond the trees.

3) lifeforms (human) / lifeforms (canine) See above….

4) music as an emotional touch-point Currently listening to Pink Floyd (will attach at bottom)

5) treehouse(s)

‘The treehouse and the bridge.’

6) (a) Book of Secret Rules (which could alternatively be identified as a: Secret Book of Rules)

7) Graviteers and Sixers

8) Sunday Supplement is a chance to see how the day feels (or offers to feel or, more to the point for some us, how we might relate ourselves to the world around us on this here Sunday here.) Of course all the Posts since that day in June of ‘aught nine have been efforts to explore that very question. That being said and seeing how I mentioned ‘music’ and ‘philosopher’s stones’ in the same post, lets just ask Mr. Clinton! (George, not Bill,  lol)

9) Sunday Supplement well, the weather has been fair, but cold. Did someone say, ‘Too cold for dogs?” Ha!

10) Secret Rule 1.3

Listicle

[reference 1] I almost always go to my favorite Latin phrase, ‘sine qua non’. This is very much a literal truth. I started this here blog here in order to promote the ‘theory of personality’ of the Wakefield Doctrine. It was both reason and motivation. (You know those old photos of elderly couples surrounded by children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and how, if you look very carefully at the faces of the people you see: ‘We’re still together’  and ‘I love my parents so much’ and ‘They seem to be so happy, I can sit still for one photo’ and finally, ‘Who are these old people, family I guess I can sit for one more photo and text while I wait’…Like that.)

[reference 2] the place (for me) where potential can become (virtually) actual. This is not as tail-eating as it might seem on first blush. Here in the virtual world, which in no way is confused with the ‘real’ world (except that its comprised of real people doing real things in their own locations), I’ve found the context in which I’ve been able to develop several interests that I had not previously been aware of having, the best example is writing. (ya know?))

[reference 3] perennial list item: dogs in general, Una in particular. (Observant and/or rogerian Readers might, at this point say, “err… you also mention humans. A list that itemizes is good, a list that expands on the qualities and characteristics of each item is better. So, while you have expanded on the canine constituent, what’s the deal with a human ranking co-number three on this list?”)

[reference 4] Music is a thing I like, as gravity is a quality of the earth that I appreciate. Speaking for myself, music is surely the closest I will get to possessing a ‘philosopher’s stone’. Anyone can work hard, we all have an innate capacity to endure hardship, especially in service of a greater good; yet while it is the iron that provides strength, it is gold that shines.

[reference 5] My wife Phyllis (see reference 3) is a person of that rare combination of a childlike imagination (surely the best kind) and practicality. She knew that a treehouse would be an asset to the family unit. And so we have a treehouse.

[reference 6] Now this is what makes the blogsphere the wonderland/asylum that it (imo) is… I would tell you what the Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules) is, but the title is about as useful as titles get. What it does, that’s the part that makes it awfully fun. Ask anyone at the TToT.

[reference 7] I participate in a daily, (except for Sunday), bloghop called the Gravity Challenge. We all send in a photo of the readout of our scales (whatever portion thereof we chose) and enhance our individual efforts by our participation. Six Sentence Story is zoe’s weekly bloghop.. muy benefito.

[reference 8]  (sorry… today’s still Saturday) OK! Listicles and Listiclae you can come back now, it’s Sunday! Still references between the two lists, however. You’ll find the music above and the rationale here: The idea that ‘the day’** has the last word on our emotional state is one that is enthusiastically debated here at the Wakefield Doctrine. The reason is that the underlying determinant of ‘how our day is going’ is found in the answer to ‘how do we relate ourselves to the world around us’. The key here is ‘ourselves’ not simple ‘relate to the world around us. (More to follow in reference 9).

[reference 9]  (nope, still Saturday…stop by tomorrow)

[reference 10] The first of the Secret Rules found in the BoSR/SBoR and it would apply to a Listicle as much as it does to the TToT. The Rule says, {in part}: the completion of a list [o]f Ten Items (or more, provided terminus item is anticipated and thus identified) is, in and of itself an Item and (op.cit) may serve in said list. [‘Principle of Anticipation as Justification’ et.al.]

 

 

 

* not a ‘real’ word

** the circumstances, not public and private, objective and subjective solid and illusionary that comprise our description of everything (that appears to be) outside our heads. ya know?

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January 1, 2018 -the Wakefield Doctrine-

January 1, 2018 By

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

‘Una and Phyllis sitting on the bridge at the pond on a single-digit temperature afternoon.’
(landscape orientation)
Three quarters of the photo is of winter-bare trees, background woods and a snow-covered bridge identifiable as such by the repeating divisions of the top surface, as the snow is so light and dry as to allow the gaps between each plank to show dark. Una and Phyllis are in the lower right quarter of the photo. Una is the triangular shaped fur-covered lifeform who appears to be smiling, if for no other reason than she has the quality of living in the moment. Phyllis is the blue, black and grey shape to Una’s left. Phyllis is smiling as she is practicing the way of life that permits such a response, despite the conditions of the external world at the moment.
I am behind the camera assuring both that ‘that’s a great shot! it’s a wrap’.

the Wakefield Doctrine is a perspective; inherent in all perspective is a new way of understanding.

the Wakefield Doctrine is a tool; (one definition) of a tool is, ‘an artifact created to enhance and multiply the intended effect of an effort’.

the Wakefield Doctrine is fun; fun has been defined as ‘the byproduct of relating ourselves to the world around us in a manner that meets the external demands of the world while leaving the opportunity to be creative‘.

Thanks and a big shout-out to Friend of the Doctrine, Cynthia for her ‘first of the year clarity statement’ Which simply means that, as a clark, she has captured the spirit shared by all clarks.

Two and an eighth clarks….*
Cynthia and Una and John.
Una is sitting in her chair at the head of the table. Cynthia is standing to Una’s right. John is on the left side of the table, mostly ‘out of frame’.
No one is looking at the camera.
…of course

As per the above definition, the work in the Summer of the years past illustrates that one (circumstance’s) effort (and labor (and expenditure of energy)) is fun when those involved contribute (creativity includes assembly) to producing a thing of utility and value.

And so, in the time that unfolds into the next culturally arbitrary division of time aka the ‘New’ Year, we here at the Doctrine will take up our friends challenge to have an effect on the world by finding ways to become a more and better self.

(Clearly that admonition is hypo-grammatical both literally and figuratively.)

The third ‘definition’ of the Wakefield Doctrine above mentioned fun. It is. Fun. For example, from one of the earlier posts in the blog, a discussion of jobs.

All jobs, employment, occupations, avocations, professions, missions, crusades, escapades and ways that we chose to earn money fall into one of three categories:

Scientist, Salesman and Machine Operator.

  1. Scientist is (for our purposes) the one who wants, no, make that needs to discover the unknown and upon discovery wants to share it with others. clarks, it has been noted elsewhere are the creative one of the three, creative in the purest sense of the word.
  2. Salesman is the one who wants to change others, to get them to conform to his/her will.  A scott will get others to do things just because if she is the one directing others then no one is directing her.
  3. Machine Operator is a person who believes that the only tasks worth doing is the one with a defined set of variables, anything from engineer to accountant to musician.  Rogers tend to be the most excellent of musicians from a technical standpoint. (If you had a band comprised of a clark, a scott and a roger, the scott would be the ‘front man/woman’, the roger would play lead and the clark would play rhythm (but also be the main songwriter).

So get out there and look around.  What do you like to do for work or for fun? I guarantee that whatever it is, it will fit into one of these three jobs and more than likely it will correspond to whatever it is you are (clark or scott or roger).

 

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TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine- (lets get this shindig started! yo ho ho… It’s Christmas arrr!)

December 24, 2017 By

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

Is it just me or does Christmas Day falling on a Monday feel odd, somehow?

Right now, though, it’s the weekend and that’s never an awkward time.1 And, now that we’ve grown and matured and learned whatever life lessons we encountered, we can set on back and enjoy a weekend of writing about gratitude, Gratitude, to go out on a limb and ‘pronounce’…is the emotional manifestation of our acceptance that life itself is already complete, that we but have to open ourselves to it. Of course, ‘opening oneself (to life)’ is inherently risky. The problem being that accepting life does not, generally speaking, permit us to specify which parts, elements, features, people, places and things we want and which we do not want to acknowledge. Taking the good with the not-so-good appears to be the rule.

Enough of the metaphysics. It’s Christmas. (lol…. for my more agnostic friends)

Josie Two-Shoes is the hostinae of our weekly get together and she has, in the last year, done yeoman’s work in making this ‘place’ available and welcoming to all who would participate. (Which is only as the Founderette, L.L.2 would have it.)

 

1)  Total Number with a bullet  The end of Winter. This week the shortest day of the year lay on our icy doorsteps, clung to our shoes and slowed the day until the very end. And that early setting of the sun marked the beginning of Summer. Because, if Winter is about anything, it’s about the retreat of life, hiding from the cold. The days become longer now, each and every day. Maybe just a few minutes a day, but I’ll take it.

2) Una

3) Phyllis I will credit with having an marked open-mindedness to the more….clarklike elements around the house. Especially this time of year. Christmas involves presents, both large and small, and, as we all know, presentation is a high value feature in the world of the Herd Members. And so, I make an attempt to join in. Phyllis keeps the wrapping paper and such in a closet and each year, I grab a bunch and attempt to wrap her presents in manner I hope she finds entertaining. I may have succeeded this year. Following is a group photo (of presents) and a close up of the apparent winner of the worst wrapping award (“Two years running! Thank you, thank you very much…”)

Nominee for ‘Worst Wrapped Christmas, 2017’

(Landscape Orientation)
The box containing the present is of a rectangular shape and is the center of the photo, sitting on a shelf, long side down.
The box is red and has the design of a belt and buckle on it’s top. The buckle is of a design associated with Santa Claus (broad black leather, the buckle is large, square and silver.)
The belt and buckle design is ‘across’ the thin side of the box, which it to say running up and down across the top.
The ‘wrapping’ consists of three pieces of silver reflective wrapping paper that has red and white spiral figures (against the silver background). These spiral figures shout ‘Christmas’ (with just a whisper of ‘Umbrella Corporation’ lol)
One of the three strips (of an un-even rectangle shape) is taped horizontally across the bottom of the top of the box. There is a second, almost wedge-shaped piece of the same wrapping paper, running on an upward diagonal. it extends to the upper right corner of the gift box.
The third element of this gift wrapping is more disturbing. In the upper left quarter of the top of the present, it is not laying flat as the other two, badly taped pieces of wrapping are.
This third thing is taped at one end but rises off the plane of the top and, with several folds, loops back down to touch the top of the box.
oh my

4) Very enjoyable call-in last night with Cynthia and Denise  Q: How many layers of reality is required by a clark to ‘take a selfie’? A: photo below:

 

5) The writing thing. Mostly the part where I get to discover characters and, with patience and a willingness to suspend disbelief3, watch the characters become kinda real. Example? Sure, real quick (and weird). So I was sitting around, not able to think of anything to write and I thought, ‘Sister Catherine, she’s about 45 years old and born in Ohio. I wonder where?‘ As luck would have it, as I googled Ohio, up pops Miami Children’s Home .. Next thing you know, I’m thinking, ‘She was raised in the orphanage.’ Ok. that’s not so weird, lots of fictional characters are raised in orphanages. Then, for god knows what reason, I googled ‘the 1960s in Ohio’ and discovered that the Beatle’s last US tour had a stop in Toledo in 1966. Naturally I thought, suppose, somehow, Sister Catherine’s mother snuck out of the house and went to the concert, met someone and got invited to the after concert party and, as they say in the Victorian novels, ‘ended up in a family way’. So, I’m thinking, ‘that’s pretty reasonable.’ And I clicked on this link  and, I was ‘damn! how cool is this writing thing?‘

6) Reserved for Free Thankful Posting*

7)* (that’s where, if there’s anyone out there reading and not feeling up to writing a whole post, but has an Item of Thankful they believe everyone would enjoy hearing about, they need only send it on in (as a comment) and it goes right to Number 6!)**

8)** (we prefer the term, ‘Creative Item of Gratitude re-alignment and tre-classification… as opposed to, say, “Hey! that Doctrine guy just took one Item and turned it into three on his list! That’s not fair. Isn’t anyone gonna call him on it?!” Everyone else kinda stand around not saying anything; time, silence and positive energy combine in a most pleasing way (like a BLT) and, finally someone, zoe, perhaps or maybe Kerry turns and says, with a smile, “You’re welcome to talk to him. He won’t mind. We’ve all learned that a little tolerance goes a long way. Zoe here, once a very, very long time ago, tried to talk to him. The result was, shall we say, interesting. But, by all means go ahead, we won’t stop you! But…but before you go, you might want to look at the item at Number Nine? It’s quite an…. fascinating view on blogs and blogging.”)

9) the Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules)

10) SR 1.3

yeah, it’s like, a present… click this thing

1)  unless you’re a clark, that is, in which case, it’s surely the best of times, the worst of times

2) yeah, there is a certain Victorian, Dickensian vibe to the initials

3) yes, I do realize that phrase is originally referring to the Reader, rather than the writer, but the fun is when you apply it to yourself as you learn about your characters.

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TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine- Sunday Edition!

December 16, 2017 By

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

‘Unlike Time, a dog always waits …’
  Landscape orientation
The scene depicts two things:
a) the endless struggle and temporary balance between opposites in Nature and
2) the innate serenity of dogs
First, the struggle (because this is being written by a native of Y Chromia (lol)

You know how I (often) do this thing, write about how weird we are here at the Doctrine, at the start of some posts? Well, today I’m feeling more, ‘the Wakefield Doctrine is so useful a tool for self-improving oneself that, rather than footnote a disclaimer to the effect of ‘please bear with us, we’re kinda weird’, I’ll express my feelings upfront.

Not so weird, this Wakefield Doctrine. Provided one enjoys alternate perspectives on the everyday world that we all inhabit. We used to refer to (this personal quality) as flexibility of intelligence. The willingness to entertain the notion that there is more than one reality available, if we are but willing to allow for a perspective that is different from our own. And that, if anything, is what the Wakefield Doctrine is: a(n) additional perspective on the world and the people around us. A tool for seeing the world as the other person (might) experience it.

Enough for the piles of words. This weekend we got hit with the ‘artsy stick’, big time! No! You laugh, wait till you wade through the following music vids, home vids and quotes from really cool people saying things I can only dream of coming up with myself.

1) Josie Two Shoes first! Hey! Lets all give a steady round of applause to she-who-opens-the-door-that-lets-us-into-the-asylum-but-does-not-lock-us-in. yeah!

 

1.1) “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” the very cool observation, attributed to Fred Nietzsche

 

Music you say? Heres an old Christmas classic:

2) Phyllis and Una

Phyllis and Una walking towards the tree house.

3-8) technology, free time on a Saturday morning, local climate, a lifetime of saving up scraps of interesting and the willingness to display the products of this celebration of a moment in time with friends. As exhibit A, I offer the following. (A total ‘damn’ out to anyone who, after watching these two short vids, thought…”Now lets trying watching the movie, ‘Wizard of Oz’ with the music playing…lol)

 

9) (photo to follow) enough with the artsy nature stuff… lets spend a few minutes with one of our favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan

10) Secret Rule 1.3 (from the Book of Secret Rules, (aka the Secret Book of Rules) that states, in part: the completion of a List of Ten Things of Thankful constitutes an Item in and of itself, self-referencing as that might be. The Item, (frequently noted as, “Holy smoke! I’m done already! That was quick”) should, by tradition and convention, be placed in the penultimate position in the post.)

Click here.

 

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SSS -the Wakefield Doctrine-

December 14, 2017 By

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

This is zoe’s Six Sentence Story bloghop. Each week, she provides us with a prompt word and challenges one and all to take the word and make the denizens of the metaphoric world of rhetoric totally green with envy at the fabulous stories we submit.

You know, we may talk funny ’round the Doctrine here and elsewheres… not pointing any fingers, (far be it from me to imply that Paul or Miz Avery or that English fellow, Keith… are among those of us who view the English language much the way a kitten sees a totally lit and decorated Christmas tree…. no, they all stand up folks what write real good and don’t even get me started on some the others like Mimi (who not only writes a mean Six, and somehow manages to make it part of an entertaining serial story)… and speaking of upside down, there’s that woman from clear on the other side of the planet, Irene and there’s Pat B…. I could go on and on, which might be the merciful thing to do this week. Given our Six.

Did we mention that sometimes the Six Sentence Story ends up being viewed as an opportunity to ‘practice the craft’…. (ahem! well, perhaps using the word ‘learn’ might yield a more satisfactory participial phrase.*) In any event, this week’s Six is from the next chapter in my other WIP, ‘Home and Heart’ (a Sister Margaret Ryan novel)

The prompt word this week is ‘TUNE’

 

“Alex, over here,” Alex Dumas heard the voice even as his eyes struggled to adjust; stepping in from a cloudless October noon, the pretend-nighttime lighting of the bar was like jumping off a dock into a cold blue lake, the secret lay in not panicking at the sudden change.

After six voice messages that consisted entirely of, ‘we need to talk, you’ll be glad you did’, Alex finally picked up his phone just as Phil Borastein was leaving his seventh; in what seemed to be a single breath, the man explained that he, among all literary agents in the world, was the only one qualified to make ‘The Nun and the Billionaire’ into a runaway bestseller. The ‘Nun and the Billionaire’ was the title of the series of articles the graduate student just completed for his college newspaper; chronicling the efforts of a novitiate nun, one Sister Margaret Ryan, to stop the foreclosure of her elderly mother’s home by a predatory corporation, by the name of the Bernabau Company, was by all measures a monster hit.

The bar was of a tried-and-true layout: a row of booths along windows that looked out over the street, creating a Hieronymus Bosch-painting–as-performance art i.e. a world of light and a world of darkness separated more by the nature their respective inhabitants than by any physical barrier.

The last booth was backlit in reflected neon red and silver that, like the shimmering waters of a fountain of youth (or failing that, a fountain of forgetfulness), the jukebox sat and released into the air, tunes that made one remember a past that should have been.

As Alex got nearer, stepping around the supplicants to glass gods of forgetfulness and forgiveness perched on lonely stools with heads bowed, looking at their drinks in quietly desperate attempts to find their way out of a world that they couldn’t remember seeking, the owner of the voice became clearer, or at least more visible; the young man’s immediate impression was that of a toad, not so much slimy as he gave the impression of being an animated pile of compressed fat with a toxic smile, wearing a worn-out suit.

 

* no, it’s alright, I admit to a shameless wikipedian binge in this week’s Six. That I risk totally inappropriate use of words and concepts of grammar is irrefutable. Much like a boy given 10 seconds in front of a candy counter, not only might I’ve grabbed items I have no familiarity with, I surely risk an upset stomach at the end of the day. oh well, such is the typical day in the fun house that is the internet.

 

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