"When dawn spreads its paintbrush on the plain, spilling purple... ," Sons of the Pioneers theme for TV show "Wagon Train." Dawn on the mythic Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, looking toward Raton from Cimarron. -- Clarkphoto. A curmudgeon artist's musings melding metaphors and journalism, for readers in more than 150 countries.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Where "Booth" is a verb, "To Bob"

Yea, verily, a fair number of colleagues, some fair, some fairer than others, and some, like The Clark, not so fair, will "Booth" tomorrow, honoring the close of the semester.
For those of ye gentiles who may be ignorant of the ways, and the story of the booth and how booth is a verb, The Clark will tell you that the first toast of the evening will  be "To Bob," co-founder of "The Booth" in 2002. Friend, colleague, worthy cribbage opponent, and heart of the old Journalism Department, Bob Illidge died eight years ago, and is since toasted and remembered with laughter and stories and tears every time we "Booth," and often when we don't, as long as there is a nearby "adult beverage" as he would call it.
The official plaque of where Booth became a verb.
But forsooth, those few words begin not to tell the tale of the Booth and its influence. Four years ago, The Clark, exiled to the isle of the University Center, did by direct revelation, set down a witty, complete story of "The Booth is a verb, a love story." Thou canst read all if it, fifteen chapters plus prologue and epilogue and interludes on this blog, beginning August 9, 2009 and continuing every few days through September, 2009. The Clark is proud of this essential history and look at what is important in higher education, both because it helped Coffee with Clark win the Best Writing Award in Oklahoma blogs that year, and mainly because he loved doing it to honor his friend.Here's the link to the prologue:  http://clarkcoffee.blogspot.com/2009/08/booth-is-verba-love-story-prologue.html
The booth location tomorrow matters not, other than at Cafe Bravo in Oklahoma City, but it is only the latest in several, because time is fleeting as are bars, Since the "First Booth," the location of Boothing has wandered like the Israelites in the wilderness, as the colleagues sought refuge and salvation from  the wilderness of campus inanitiess like rubrics, points, assessment, syllabus police and other nonsense.
And so to to whet your appetite to perhaps peruse the entire Booth story, the next post is an hitherto unpublished fifteenth chapter, the conclusion except for the Epilogue.

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