The Edge. Still Got the blues for you…a TToT

Gary’s dead. Unusual circumstances notwithstanding, those of my generation will all succomb at some point. Death stands, red brocade rope on either side, hand extended waiting to take our ticket, tear it in half. But the popcorn is free, as is everything at the massive concession stand beyond those red ropes.

Good morning! Hm. I wrote the intro paragraph yesterday morning. What a difference a day makes. Or does it? Do we trick ourselves into thinking “today will be different”? How do we/can we measure, gauge, what I like to call, self-evolution?

Clark, the creator of the Wakefield Doctrine, the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers, and the blog of the same name, hosts the Wakefield Doctrine Saturday Night Drive Call in show. (necessary info is on the Doctrine’s home page.) Cynthia Sageleaf is a frequent caller and last night was no exception. It was an enjoyable call and, as is often the case when Cynthia calls in, the conversation extends well beyond the 8:45 pm “end” time. Last evening, while catching up on the most recent developments and acomplishments in Ms. Sageleaf’s life, we got onto the topic of “change” and “self development”. How does it manifest? When, can we, as the subject take note to it’s effects in our lives, other lives?

You may be scratching your head and thinking, “damn! what stimulating  conversation…not!” lol…and yet, it is! We always have a delightful, engaging, often humorous exchange of life’s observations. Since Clark, Cynthia and myself are clarks, the conversation naturally is centric to how we continue to learn the language and behavoir of the scotts and rogers in our world. As clarks, it is all about understanding. With understanding comes recognition. With recognition comes action. See how that works for a clark?

If you are a clark, no doubt this will resonate with you. If not, remember the basic principle: scotts act, clarks think and rogers feel. What is the Wakefield Doctrine? It is a perspective, it is a tool. It is, for me, indispensible.

Hey Josie! You still there? Order comin’ right up….10 Things of Thankful:

1. the Wakefield Doctrine. For the obvious, but also as the vehicle by which I made Cyndi’s aquaintance when she called in that Saturday night so long ago:)
2. The results show the osteoporosis in my spine can now be considered ostopenia. Break out the streamers and balloons. Good news:D
3. Music. Always a thankful. And not just music but the obvious! the artists who create the magic that provides escape, energy, motiviation, calm, sadness…the emotional engineers in my life.
4. I am thankful for the encouragement I receive to not give up on writing. To not give up on re-learning to play my bass.

5.  So the picture over there from the eclipse is supposed to be on this side of 5. What the hell. Someday, oneday, if I have some more of them, I will work on the whole inserting pictures into a post. The thankful? I’m not embarrassed by my seeming inability to manipulate basic blog features/functions!

6. Second Chance Thrift store run by my local Humane Society.

7.  Rockin’ Rasberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.

8.  So this is going to sound weird but, I’m grateful that I still notice shit. Let’s face it, sometimes, we all kind of rush through the day without taking the time to remind ourselves to slow down, all the while not having a clue of all the cool stuff we missed out on. Observations of people, places, synchronistic events, weather, the hue of a sky, the timbre of light at a precise moment. We lose the sense of being in the moment.

9.  Dammit! Look at the form this post has taken. See! I should have put the picture at the very end. Then I would have a nice centered list with a fanning out at the end. OMG. What an old person I am. Or, is it the lack of patience. Or thinking that I should be doing something else more important. Higher on the scale of “stuff I want to accomplish”, the worrying about a future that doesn’t exist and won’t if I don’t take the damn time to turn off my brain and be in the moment right now. Enjoy it, take care of it and not look so far ahead. Afterall, there may not be a tomorrow. So, be happy with today. Funny, that also was a topic that came up in the call last night. The idea of time. How to better use it, what causes us to lose track of it in the first place and the helpful methods for staying “on track”

10.  Today. Not tomorrow. Today. I will not tire of reminding myself and you, that today is our gift. Let’s not squander it. That doesn’t mean it has to be filled with activity and “doing stuff”. It simply means we should engage and participate in “the moments that make up a dull day”.

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Reaching the Edge, it’s a Six Sentence Story

OK, the rules say it’s not too late! It’s Thursday night, 8:37 pm and, while I could post tomorrow, it would seem anti-climatic if I did. It’s opening day after all! Thank you Ms. Zoe! for hosting this weekly bloghop, on this, Six Sentence Thursday.

Every week our estimable hostess reveals for us the “word of the week”. This week’s challenge word? Border. Use it however you wish just as long as your contribution is no longer, no shorter than 6 sentences.

Now, without further adieu (pun intended!)….

Bordering on the edge of insanity, Sr. Cedric decided today was the day her first grade students would either behave or suffer the consequences.

Her efforts to control her young charges appeared to have little to no residual effect as they were as rambunctious and noisy, unrepentant and precocious as ever!

Not one child believed her when she told them she was leaving until she instructed Peter Miller to pull the window shades halfway and then open a couple of the transom windows; then… it started sinking in.

The short, somewhat stout nun calmly walked the width of the classroom toward and out the door turning off the lights as she left, closing the door softly behind her.

As the shock began to wear off and the reality that our teacher had just abandoned us set in, many of us began crying as we realized this was the real deal, Sr. Cedric left, she was gone.

And then.. the sound of the principal’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker…

Even at the Edge, there’s a TToT

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge. I am your hostess, Girlie. As is my prediliction as a clark, I find myself in “transition”. Self induced. My body’s own reaction to…life. In it’s present form. We, the perenial journeymen (and women!) struggle always to find our way, our place in the world around us. LOL. Now if that doesn’t resonate, you know you’re not a clark 🙂

New readers, I speak of the Wakefield Doctrine, aka the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers. clarks, do yourself a favor and click on the Doctrine link. No thanks necessary. scotts, rogers? Please do the same. I will not be offended if you come back here and ask me, what for (rogers). I would be doing newcomers a disservice if I did not mention that there are scotts and rogers with a strong secondary clarklike aspect who will also find the Wakefield Doctrine….curious and helpful. Enjoy. All of  you.

I offer today, a 10 Things of Thankful post. In the tradition begun by it’s orginator Lizzi O’Ryan, née Lewis, and now presented under the administration of one Josie Two Shoes, I offer these 10 thankfuls.

1.  Thunderstorms. And the new sense of comfort I feel listening to them.

2.  the Wakefield Doctrine. (goes without saying, but doesn’t hurt to acknowledge)

3. Libraries.

4. Serendipity. While at the local library, I picked up a summer events calendar. Perusing the free upcoming concerts, I noticed this name, Eilen Jewell. I never heard of her until now. I will be going to the show on August 24th 😀

5. Discovering new music.

6. For sunshine after the rain. Here, I can’t help myself lol

7. New post at the Rag, the Secessionist Rag. Yep, the progenitor roger has re-emerged.

8. other clarks.

9. Speaking of! A clark with a wellspring of incredible writing projects, Claire Perez Ekman, has just published A New Season Revisited. Now available in paperback. Congratulations Claire!

10. Today. My only day. A day I began with a very particular schedule in mind and which has been altered tres drastically. The special thanks is my ability to accept and adapt and embrace nonetheless. Embrace people. Embrace.

Anda 1uh, anda 2uh…it’s a 6uh Sentence Story!

Teetering onthe Edge, I bi-bid you greetings. It’s the waning of an absolutely gorgeous late afternoon turned early evening, this Tuesday (but now it’s Thursday night! aack! what the heck you been doin’ for 2 days?!). I did not take a walk. Nope. Despite the sales job I gave myself, the admonishments, the reminders of what might be, what if and still…I could not drag myself out of doors to walk. (but I did walk last night. yay!)

But hey! How you doin’?! Ready for this here Six Sentence Story bloghop?? Excellent! Zoe, our hostess bar none, has graciously given us the word of the week. Scratch. Amazing, isn’t it that I’m actually writing this 2 days in advance? Yes, way! (uh, duh, it’s now Thursday night and you’re late, Girlie!)

fingers bloodied, tips shredded like finely grated mozzarella, I crawled through unevenly shaped shards of glass, colored like the sea glass I searched for as a young girl walking salted, shoreline sands, hopeful ocean tides would deliver me the rare, sought after treasure.

eyes focused, as gray as the slate upon which I found myself sprawled, I set my gaze on the small pinhole of daylight in the distance and imagined my escape.

my life depended on scratching and clawing my way out of this once secret, underground chamber, extricating myself from the lichen coated wreckage of the mighty structure before they returned to retrieve the dead.

only one person could orchestrate this kind of mayhem on this scale in this kind of town and no one, not the Almighty himself would dare challenge his intent or motive as this was the outcome he pursued from the beginning.

plant the seed of doubt, of discension and then let loose a tirade of destructive rhetoric, the rest will take care of it themselves as not one individual stood up when it mattered to question why.

roy wasn’t delusional when he described the patriarch of his newly found family…

 

 

Fairytales and Thankfuls. Let’s Talk TToT.

Here I sit in my tiny room, chores unattended. I try and coax a little sunshine into the space created by these four buttercupped walls, beyond the cinammon sheers and upturned blinds… but there is none to be found. Gray hovers hopefully, somewhere there is light and eventually it will find its way…

…it is early evening. I have returned. Still no light shines through any pane, chilled by cooling air, the world out there remains the same. Sunlight is not necessary to illuminate the thankfuls, the gratefuls, the how lucky I ams. No sir. I can write this in the darkest gloom or the brightest of sunlight.

Let’s give pause to thank Josie, who has taken the baton, taken the mantle and made it her own. Here’s to you Josie for providing a link to possibility and participation.

Hey! Look at me! I woke up again today, Sunday. In good health (as far as I know) and that, my friends, is ALWAYS a thankful. To boot? Unlike yesterday, the sun is shining this morning. Here, why don’t we proceed, we’ll even employ the more conventional numbering system…..

4  Technology! Phones! The YouTube! for sending me a suggestion this morning. It’s a 3 hour (yes, 3 hours) long recording of Johnny and Edgar Winter at the Bottom Line in NY in 1978. The recording is of excellent quality. *sigh* Johnny. My first guitar crush.

5  The possibility of anything. Why, yes, getting oneself into this particular mindset is not easy to put it simply. At times, it seems impossible! So, when faced with the stubborn refusal of my brain to allow my body to participate in this consideration, what to do? Trickery! That’s right! By whatever means necessary, trick yourself! It worked on Carlos, it can work on me, right? lol The catch of course, is I have to perpetrate the trickery on my own damn self 😀

6 the Wakefield Doctrine. #5 was a good segue, non?

7 FB friends. Yes, they are friends to me even when/if I don’t comment or if all I do is click the “Like” button. They are all still part of my “world”.  If I’ve all but disappeared to them, they remain friends because they share of themselves. When individuals share, possibility has opportunity to become reality. Somewhere, in some fashion. “Cause and effect” come in all kinds of packages. And it goes without saying that it is the positive of which I speak!

8 A dog barking somewhere outside of my abode. A short time ago, earlier in the morning (which makes it all the more special) I heard the deep timbre of a dog’s bark. Deep signifying large canine. This is important as unfortunately had it been the barking of a smaller dog, I would not have had the same positive reaction. No disrespect to the smaller canines out there and their owners 😀  I am thankful for the duration of that barking while the light of the sun shone through my cinammon sheers, because I felt….the imminent, almost palpable, on the cusp, seasonal change. Just a few moments 🙂

9 SR 1.3 (go ask Clark)

10 Music, moments in time captured for perpetuity, the awareness that today is the only day. Sing whenever you can…

It’s all about Tense, Right? Writing, Not Writing and the TToT

Hey! Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge’s Blog! It’s a beautiful Friday. In fact, it is a perfect beach day! 90+ temperature, screaming ass sunshine and little to less than zero, breeze. A standstill, summer afternoon. All fine and dandy if you live near a beach.

Girlie no longer lives near the beach. She finds herself once again a resident within the nation’s capital beltway, more specifically Northern Virginia. Presently, she sits upon her bed eagerly awaiting the possibility of the day. The 18″, light gray stand fan oscillates air that otherwise would be a tad on the stifling side. She sits, ancient lapbaby resting confortably on her upper thighs. Her jean clad legs stretch straight out at an almost 90 degree angle, left foot crossed over the right foot, red polish still bright upon toes deprived of beach sand. Sitting cattycorner against 2 pale, buttercup yellow walls, she waits for the thankfuls. Let’s wait with her, shall we?

1 …do we have a number 1? We do and a couple more. Not in any particular order, priority and/or preference, our 1st thankful is for this day (well, yeah, this one’s a priority lol). For the waking up to another opportunity and the fact that it is a stellar weather day, and that, my friends, is the cream cheese frosting on top of the carrot cake.

2 the move. Office move that is. All is packed and the transition is in motion. And so the timelines be shifting. They don’t have to of course, but Girlie, she’s about recognizing the opportunities that always surround us but for our own myopia or plain old stinking resistance to change. Or…fear.

3 vacations! Huge thankfuls for time away from normal environs. Don’t we become dulled by routine after awhile? Of course! And so, somebody invented the “Vacation“.

4 how do 3 clarks react when contemplating taking a selfie of all 3 of them together? There is another like picture in which the 3 clarks are pointing their cameras at the mirror to take said “selfie”. lol (see below)
Great thinking Clark! 😀

5 the Wakefield Doctrine. Go back to #4 🙂

6 meeting Cyndi, Cynthia, Sageleaf and all incarnations of this amazing clarklike female.

7 sucessful selfies

8 (going to “steal” from Clark. That’s right. Going to post this today, Friday, and leave at least 2 spots for the weekend thankfuls. There’s going to be some.

9   Wendy’s TToT post this week. As hostess of this, the bloghop that Lizzi built, Wendy’s posts are example of why the TToT is so successful. It is not only about each of us recognizing and acknowledging those things, people, places, etc that we give thanks for each week, it is about seeing reflections in another’s thankfuls and realizing how much we have in common.

10 My #10? Why, it’s for today. I’m thankful I got done a whole lot of “stuff” I needed to do before noon. Went to the gym. Enjoyed a little “lounge” time then headed into the new office to set up my desk. Hopefully, when I arrive in the morning our IT guy will have connected my computer and scanner and I’ll be ready to work. New beginnings…

Will She? or Won’t She? It’s SSS Time from the Edge

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge. I’ve all but ceased many activities I once enjoyed and perhaps was even pretty good at. But I’m afraid I have succumbed to/indulged in/given over to, the notion that I no longer write. But I haven’t given up completely and therefore, I’ll try. For a little while longer. Hell, maybe for as long as Zoe graciously continues to host this hop.

I have enjoyed writing a 6 (if you don’t know what “SSS” stands for then click on the link in the last sentence) in the past. It is a past that feels far away, and not a little “foreign”. Why? Oh, I know why. I’ve been armchairing it since I was a kid lol

Are the wagers placed? Good. What say we find out what appears on the screen in say the next, hm…5 minutes? …

He half stumbled alongside the rain rutted, gravel strewn driveway, pre dawn dew coating his upper lip.
The light…. appeared dimly, not too distant, he could do this, he could make it to the door, into the house none worse for the….wear.
What a night! Was he recollecting acurately the phenomenal fortune he’d had at the blackjack table? Checking his pockets and his wallet, the proof was still there, neatly banded. Wait, just wait until he told Larissa, surely she would forgive him, this one time when he scored so big.