The Daily News

1  I knew I could sleep in this morning, and so went to bed late last night. My prep period is third, which means essentially that I don’t really need to awaken until like 9:30.

2  Of course, the clock went off at the usual time, so I got up early anyway. I’m wobbily and groggy, but what else is new?

3  The Final Days.  Always strange. Weird things go on, like Xanga changing font sizes for no apparent reason.

4  I’m a little undecided as to whether I should or shouldn’t continue the Daily News over the summer. Normally, this is it. I really like to disengage myself from nearly any connection with the school, because I just need to.

5  U2′s Beautiful Day has a line that sums it up:

 you’ve been all over, and it’s been all over you…

6  Truer words, truer words.

7  I think I will hibernate the DN. It’s had a tough go this year. For whatever various reasons, it got away from me. Sometimes I think that nobody really even looks at it anyway, that I’m just sort of clacking away for my personal bemusement.

8  Oh, bother.

9  I usually end the year with a DN that brings the soul and memories of the year to a soulful close. This year began with us sitting outside in the sun painting posters for Spirit Week, listening to Staind’s So Far Away, and just talking about anything and everything.

10  It ends with a sadness, or at least a huge sigh for the Seniors, but also a great big kiss goodbye. We’ll miss them a lot. They are holding together, holding on to one another, yet they are walking toward a very exciting and amazing time,  so just buckle your seat belts, guys, and enjoy the ride.

11  And Drama Workshop, I think we got off the bus too early this year. It all just stopped after the One-Acts. Suddenly we weren’t “chilling” in the Theatre, and the old Theatre just grew weeds. We need to do a little gardening, and bring it all back to life next Fall.

12  And to my Juniors…time for us to dream of what memories lie in store.

13  And my daughters…

14  This is my life…

15  Have a wonderful summer!

16  The rest is silence.

 

 

 

http://xanga.com/El_Directore

http://www.ybdrama.com

The Daily News

1  Whoa! I overslept, so this will be a quick one!

2  I have to go to a second job later tonight, and need to bring a change of clothes, so I needed more time this morning. Doesn’t the world always sort of know that, and it decides to play little tricks on you, like helping you to oversleep?

3  I’m not too worried. Yesterday I had to finish up and print my final, and my computer froze. I almost laugh when stuff like this happens, because it gives me faith that the Creator of the Universe likes to mess with people, and has a sense of humor.

4  So it’s just fun seeing if I can meet this challenge. I think I’m on it here.

5  But as my old pal Robert Hunter used to say, “When life looks like Easy Street there is danger at your door.”

6  Pho Becomes Big!  That wonderful, fat and hearty Vietnamese soup is gaining mainstream ground. There is an article all  about Pho (rhymes somewhat with “duh”, says the MN), it’s brief history, and its evolution into American pop culture, and it even includes a recipe, which, I venture, not one of my students would say is accurate.

7  That’s the beauty of that sort of a dish. It’s made at home, and with a lot of love. If your mom, dad, brother, or sis is a good cook, then nobody’s recipe is going to touch theirs.

8  So last night in Tampa Bay, Devil Rays’ manager  Lou Piniella must have been nursing a hangover from the Lightning victory the other night, because he was crabby enough to stop the game with the Giants last night and force Giants’ pitcher Jerome Williams from wearing his lucky puka shells given to him by his mom before she passed away.  Williams respnded with a four-hitter in seven innings.

9  So there you go.

10 Have a remarkable day, and hang in there guys.

11  Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.xanga.com/El_Directore

http://www.ybdrama.com

The Daily News

1   What a strange day yesterday was.

2   Once the Seniors are gone, the school just isn’t the same.

3   Man, Reagan’s corpse wasn’t even cold yet and yesterday I saw that Newsweek had a special edition in all the supermarkets. Is it just me, or is that just a little too eager? Well, I guess they are in the business of hawking magazines, and Time evidently did the same, so as always, business is business.

4  I’ll bet those stories were written around nine years ago.

5  Nothing surprises me, really.

6  Last night was pretty emotional in my house. I know I keep coming back to it, but my daughters’ rooms are getting emptier and emptier, and for whatever reason, it’s been really tough on all of us. I’m glad I can act, because I kept a tough-guy face on, but inside, my stomach was upset, and I had a major lump in my throat.

7  I guess I shouldn’t. I know the face I’m supposed to throw out there, but it’s just that we are all pretty close, so it’s a tough one.

8  Good news: my mom came home from this nursing home she has been in for over a year. I called her last night, and she was absolutely elated! She’s back home, where she wasn’t sure she’d ever be again. She fell down a while back and had surgery which ended up making her unable to walk, or even to sit in a wheel chair. But she stayed up, and strong, and is now home, laughing, joking, and loving it!

9  Sorry to bother y’all with my own personal stuff. It’s just…things, you know. I’m actually happy for my daughters because they are learning how to go out there and do it, but still, the notice was pretty short. I’m happy for them, but it’s still tough.

10  And just this time of year is always so weird anyway; it seems I’m saying good-bye to lots of people all at once.

11  Oy.

12  Yeesh.

13  I am better now; word of honor, I am better now.

14  I remember author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. writing that in one of his novels, I think Breakfast of Champions. Right in the middle of writing the book, he began getting all emotional, and then he wrote those words. It killed me. He was writing a fictious novel, and then put himself in his own book. And you know, it worked.

15  So I thought I’d steal it.

16  I am better now.

17  Word of honor.

18  I am better now.

19  Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.xanga.com/El_Directore

http://www.ybdrama.com

The Daily News

1   So…Ronald Reagan walks into a bar…

2   I guess he forgot to duck.

3   I have mixed emotions about good old Ronnie. Politically, we were miles apart, but I always appreciated his sense of humor, as well as his genuine love for America.

4  I also never felt he was a part of the creeps who surrounded him; I just don’t think he believed in the evil. I think he was genuine, and believing in Republican ideals, but I always felt he was NOT part of the sinister ones. Well, maybe the years have made me a bit more understanding that he was just naive.

5  So, yeah. I always loved his comment when he was asked how he was doing immediately after the assassination attempt on his life: “All in all, I’d rather be in Philadelphia,” came his reply.  This was actually stolen from the great W.C. Fields, who was rumored to have wanted,  as his epitaph, “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” But I mean, come on. Talk about an awesome sense of timing.

6  I also liked what he said to his wife Nancy: “I forgot to duck.”

7  I’ll bet right about then he knew who was in charge. He pretty much did what he was told after that. He learned to duck.

8  So, yeah, believe it or not, even I was a bit saddened when I heard the news.

9  So, Gip, here’s a liberal who actually has brains, saying, here’s mud in yer eye. Just don’t get me on some of your politics, because, well, I think you know.

10  Moving on; I guess there will be no party for Smarty.

11  JAY-zuss. How fast did that become old news?

12  Did Sesame St. with cussing win a Tony last night?

13  The Tony’s are a bit too schlocky for me, but entertaining.

14  Strange days, indeed.

15  Good luck on your finals, everybody.

16  I’m out.

17  Peace, Gip.

 

 

 

 

Check these for bugs.

http://xanga.com/El_Directore

http://www.ybdrama.com

The Daily News

1   Friday, and the Seniors’ last day.

2   There will be nothing really normal going on today. Oh, I’ll go in and teach, but the Seniors are already gone, in their heads. The last thing they are thinking about is whatever their teachers are teaching, I’ll tell you that much.

3  The last two weeks of school are weeks of bonding and daydreaming for the Seniors. There best writing is probably going to be in yearbooks, or in xangas. They could go for that essay, but it will be so out of it and irrelevant that most anything written for school will be inferior to yearbook entries, diaries, journals, poems, and songs. All this is going to be done today.

4  Me? Ah, I decided a few weeks ago not to break my own spirit by getting irritated that the kids are out of it. Instead, I taught the plots of five Shakespearean plays in the past two days <okay, that’s a bit too fast, but I did it, I tellya!>, theories as to His questionable authorship, theories which I have affectionately dubbed “Shakespiracy Theories”, and for the first time in five years, I have brought back Franco Zefferelli’s Taming of the Shrew, arguably my favorite movie of all time.

5   So I ain’t been trippin’.

6  I had forgotten what a beautiful classic that piece really is. Every second of that film is brilliant. Oh, there are those out there who argue that it’s message is sexist and degrading to wimminz, and all the rest, but really, it’s just a great film. I was always secretly a personal fan of Kate’s last speech, admonishing the Bianca and the widow for beeing peevish. If a relationship is to work, then BOTH parties need to respect one another; THAT I think is the true theme of Shrew.

7  For those who prefer the film in more “today” terms, 10 Things I Hate About You is the same plot, but not even in the same league as Zefferelli’s Shrew.

8  Whew. Going off there. But that’s where my head is today; the film brings back lots of wonderful memories I have had over the years; I think of classes of yesteryear watching it, and I watching Seniors looking out windows, staring, daydreaming, wondering where it all will lead, but having the music from Taming of the Shrew always as a backdrop. In my classes, this has traditionally been the anthem marking the end and the beginning.

9  And it brings me memories.

10 That’s it; and Seniors, just walk through the day strongly. More people understand and love you than you will ever realize.

11  And my classes, let’s enjoy Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in perhaps the greatest film of them all!

12  God give you good night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://xanga.com/bharrington

The Daily News

1   Time’s winged chariot continues its star-crossed journey through the night.

2   You know Snoopy, from Peanuts? I feel like that guy this morning. I feel like that novelist with the hat, clacking away at his typewriter, constructing amazingly convoluted pieces with detailed precision.

3  I heard on the radio this morning that some guy got arrested for going into a car wash, taking off his clothes, and taking a shower.

4  That was me. I am no longer on the Atkins; I’m now on the Fatkins, and I need huge soap and a big arena. M’bad.

5  Here’s something. Some thing from outer space hit Washington state last night. It was bright, lit the place like daylight, and then it was out. There seems to be no trace of this thing. No wisecracks on this item, just a big hmm.

6  I am getting used to my daughters’ decision to move out quickly. Everyone was a little better and more optimistic about it last night.

7  At least I was.

8  At least on the surface.

9  Wow, where did the time go? I woke up and it’s already time to go back down and talk more Shakes-peare and stuff. Yesterday I lectured for four straight hours before I fell asleep from boredom.

10  They shouldn’t let narcoleptics into this profession. Looks ridiculous, and you drool.

11 My! I have to get on my horse and gallop outta here. I guess all a friend can say is, “See ya latuh!”

12  Out. 

The Daily News

1   Where do I even start?  Tonight was the Installation Banquet, another awesome event authored by Mr. Paz Rocha, who is clearly the heartbeat of this entire school.

2   As always, I looked up and watched the Seniors. I have this really special deal with Seniors, because this time of the year, they are lost, confused, excited, and totally in love with one another, clinging tightly to the one constant in their lives: each other.

3  Anything going on this time of the year is all about the Seniors. I remember when they came in as freshmen, and were pummeled with candy during Spirit Week. I felt so sorry for them!

4  But this stopped quickly when I saw them in their Sophomore year doing a FANTASTICS entrance that remains one of my faves of all time.

5  I was a judge; I may quite well have been head judge; I don’t really remember. I just remember their spirit and uniqueness, if that is even a word.

6  Well, they were given a beautiful ceremony last night in the gym, and I was totally applauding all of them.

7  But the evening took a turn, and suddenly my class stepped up and called me to the mic.  I had NO idea that my class had gotten me a brand new Ovation guitar, and when I got it, I was totally dazzled!!

8  My daughters moved out tonight. I knew they were going to , but I had all those emotions going down.

9  I was pretty sentimental last night, and all day today I was trying to act like I was proud that my girls were going out on their own, but deep down, I was really sad. You might get this someday…

10  So when I was given the guitar last night, I was totally stunned. For those of you who weren’t there, my Juniors presented me with a brand new electric/acoustic Ovation guitar, one of the best I have ever seen.

11  So even though this was supposed to be about the Seniors, how can I help but tell you about how emotional it was to have my kids give me that?

12  Seniors: I hope you understand.

13  Juniors: I love you all, everything…

14   I am totally stunned and happy tonight.

15  I think I’ll go to bed; it’s late…

16  Thanks, Seniors, for all you do!

17  And to my Juniors…you know, d00ds.

18  I love all of y’all.

19  Peace.

The Daily News

1   Busy, busy, busy.

2  I hope you all enjoyed the Pigeon Players’ Silent Auction and film festival on Saturday night. I heard the films were really good. I spent the evening watching my daughters dance in one of the best shows they ever did.

3  On Saturday and Sunday a group of us went to the Moffett Field Air Show to sell really unpalatable ice “cream”, which was really this stuff called frozen lemonade, strawberries, or root beer. It was actually sugar, food coloring, and chemicals, but who knew?

4  We had a great time. As cynical as I get about our President, and of our foreign policy and all, I still love America. And there’s now way to go to something like a military Air Show and at some point not feel a little patriotic.

5  Oh, it’s the perfect place for propaganda: impressive fighter planes soaring in perfect formation while great music plays loudly, and flags wave everywhere; it was a beautiful day.

6  Ironically, some of the sound show consisted of artists who have been soundly anti-war: John Lennon and the Beatles’ Come Together played while two planes went at each other head-on and passed within 18 inches of one another; U-2 (named after military aircraft) had two songs, Beautiful Day and Elevation, and of course, Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA and Coming to America boomed while these planes shot past and moved into formations with amazing precision.

7  I actually put my cynicism on the back burner and just enjoyed the spectacle. Sometimes you just need to kick back and enjoy things, not give them too much thought.

8  I admire people who don’t think.

9  Last night was a tough night. My daughters are both moving out of the house and into an apartment today. I cooked dinner, like normal, and we ate and talked; they are excited about getting out on their own, so it is an exciting time.

10  But inside, I got pretty sentimental.

11  Don’t tell anyone.

12   It’s a secret.

13   I don’t want anyone to know.

14   That’s it for today. The secret is out: I’m just a sentimental old patriot, and I’m going to miss my little girls very much.

15  Godspeed.

16  Late.