The Daily News

1   Welcome back!

2  Alumni, we had a week off. I probably forgot to warn y’all.

3  Is it “y’all” when it’s one person, and “all of y’all” when it’s everybody? Isn’t that where we left off?

4  Because Barry Bonds used “all of y’all” when he declared the entire press corps to be liars.

5  Okay, Barry. Keep digging that hole.

6  Well, the first item of news is the cancellation of the Spring Musical. You might as well know. We just didn’t get enough kids auditioning, and I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles. It’s really a shame, because not all schools get that sort of an offer, and in fact, not many groups at YB have been offered musicals over the years. But numbers are numbers, and the numbers don’t lie. Too bad.

7  Oh, well, life goes on.

8  I actually watched a little of the Academy Awards last night. Very big deal. Chris Rock looked WAY out of place and uncomfortable. His stand-up rocks, and he seemed pretty muzzled. But it all went off without a hitch. I normally have little to say about awards shows anyway. Until they start giving public awards to normal peoples’ jobs, I’m not that interested. .

9  I heard Clint Eastwood referred to as a “genius” last night. He’s good. He’s bad. He’s ugly. But he’s NOT a genius. Puh-LEEZE. Think of it. The guys who put my windows in, for example, are hard-workers, and I would love to acknowledge them as ”geniuses”. They did GREAT work. To me, they changed the entire look of my existence. To them, it was just another job. To me, THEY are geniuses. Eastwood? Come on.

10  Looks like we turn now to FANTASTICS. It doesn’t SEEM like FANTASTICS season, because of the rain and all, but make no mistake. It’s later than you THINK!

11 Thank goodness for collaboration schedule!  I get all disoriented when we have a week off, and when it rains, it’s over.  I have now memory. I have few feelings. I have one thing on my mind. More sleep. I guess keeping Tuesday isn’t such a bad idea. But see, if Tuesday were eliminated, then tomorrow would be Wednesday, and the week would almost be over! I need more sleep. Y’all agree?

13  All of y’all.

14  <yawn>.

14  Better bow out while I still make some sort of sense.

15  Have a great Monday, everybody.

 

The Daily News

1   So…Jezebel the Jaguar walks into a bar…Happy Hollow’s own superstar died earlier this week from complications of liver and kidney diseases.

2   Jezebel has been a mainstay at Happy Hollow for over 22 years. Sad, sad, sad. Oh, well, so it goes; so it goes.

3  So…the hockey season walks into a bar…

4  That’s just a terrible statement, all around. What a tragedy, to see a professional sport simply canning a season. Nobody wins, and LOTS of people and businesses are affected. I hope this doesn’t cause too many layoffs, but it is inevitable. I hope Henry’s Hi-Life lives through this!

5  Ah, well, it doesn’t LOOK like it, but it’s Springtime, and baseball is right around the corner, so you could kick back with a good book (Canseco’s tell-all might be a golden read!) and watch Barry deny stories about the “clear” and the “cream”, and Mark Magwire slimming down due, no doubt, to a fancy new diet, and…

6  All right, let’s change direction.

7  You almost HAD to admire whoever it was who took Michael Jackson to pediatrics the other day. He had a cold, and his nose was running.

8  He’s lucky it didn’t fall off.

9  Auditions continue tomorrow for the Spring Musical. I mean guys, come on! There are schools that would KILL to have this opportunity, and it’s being offered to all of you. Today, after school, in Room P-61. Those video games and mall trips will still be thereafter May. Hello?

10  It’s Spring, and the world is puddle-wonderful.

11  Well, I guess I could use a week off here. Two days in a row we had both THIS building AND our portables blacked out, and were still expected to keep business as usual. Piano kids had to carry their pianos over to Rocha’s room, and I had fourth and fifth periods in the dark.

12  I loved that the electricity came back exactly when I was done teaching for the day. My world and welcome to it.

13  Anyway..

14  Well, it’s Springtime…and…

15  See you all again.

16  Peace.    

The Daily News

1  Well, congratulations to the YB Mens’ Soccer team for their victory yesterday over St. Ignatius. I went out there yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the game.

2  Auditions for the Spring Musical will continue today. Yesterday was pretty disappointing, but we’ll just have to see. It’s tough when we are trying to get something going when the lights are out, and the Theatre is unavailable, but that’s the way the ball bounces.

3   Okay, alumni, time for me to make YOU feel young! Yesterday, a student from my very FIRST year at YB, Corrine Habib, showed up with her SON, and said hello! That was…a LONG time ago! Haha! But I recognized her immediately, and said hello, remembering not only her name, but a lot of great memories from my rookie season at YB, which was actually like a veteran season, because I had already directed four high school plays by the time I had hit YB, so I had already understood a WHOLE lot about education even then.

4  Funny, the only other teachers she remembered who made a HUGE difference were myself, Foehr, and Worden. Made me feel OLD though, but she reassured me that I was a good guy. The years go by, I tellya, but it was really cool.

5  She was a Senior that year, and I remember her telling me about this fellow she went around with. In late Septemeber, she learned that he had been killed in a car accident. I well rembember giving her my copy of Our Town at the time, telling her that it was very spiritual, and dealt well with the loss of a dear friend, or relative.

6  She still has that book, to this day! She also remembers the FIRST Godspell we did at YB, when I was the musical director. In fact, the FIRST extra-curricular thing I DID at YB was to form a rock band to play Godspell in my first year. Another teacher directed it, and I was the MUSIC guy, and worked both band AND vocals. I also did the music and voices the following year for Guys and Dolls. I almost forgot about all of that, except that I LOVED the bands! I gained a HUGE appreciation for band directors and choir teachers, because THAT is a chore!! I also loved that my first gig at YB was to be a teacher of rock ‘n’ roll.

7  Stands to reason.

8  Okay, so auditions continue today, after school, in room P-61. I’m offering, so if it happens, it happens. If not, it’s been a fun ride. Life moves on.

9  Yeah,  yesterday was quite the thing; both MY classroom, my building, AND the Performing Arts building was pretty much blacked out all day, one of the weirder days of the year.  To make matters MORE bizarre, we had Code Red during Drama Class, and my class totally passed with flying colors, but it was WEIRD.  Following that, we had a Senior Class meeting, in which the first theme was taken back, and a new one adopted, which is always a risk. But the majority of people seemed okay with it, so I let it go.

10  Then, during 5th period, my lesson seemed to fall short by about ten minutes, and THEN the fire alarm kept going off. Because the electricity was out, I had to jump in the TOONDRA during 6th, buy a bunch of batteries for the NEW boom box I bought for the musical, and then found that almost nobody came to audition, which, as I said, was cool, because I got to go out and enjoy the soccer game.

11  When I got back, Senior Class FANTASTICS practice was sort of going on in my room, although it was pretty informal. Some came, some went, but a core group remained until dark, and I mean LITERALLY dark, because the electricity STILL hadn’t gone on as of 8 p.m. last night!

12  Well, it was a long day; I got home, ate a cup of rice, and sat down to write this. So here ya are! The end of a weird, bizarre day.

13  I’m drifting off, so I’d better just say saynoara.

14  Have a rainy day.

15  Peace.

 

The Daily News

1   I’ve been getting into visual learning lately. Maybe it’s the rain; I don’t know. For example, I was checking the Merc News about the weather for the rest of the week. Didn’t have to read a word. They had these charming little cartoon umbrellas, one right under the other, for each day of the week, with lots of raindrops if they expect a downfall, and six drops if it’s just a chance of rain.

2   So inspired was I that I drew a raincloud with a page number on my whiteboard, and had raindrops coming out of the cloud. I told my class to turn to page 36, and when extreme bubbleheads would ask, “What page are we on?” I’d say, “For all you visual learners, the page we are on is inside the cloud on the board.” It STILL took some of them three or four more tries, but most eventually got it.

3  Miracle of miracles…

4  I even put the assignment inside of another cloud that had arrows pointing to it.

5  When I was a kid, I always chose library books that had HUGE print and lots of pictures, even though peer pressure would often cause me to get thick books with small print and no pictures. The second the others weren’t looking, I’d head for the big easy. You know, like The Big Book of Dinosaurs, and any Clifford.

6  Well, today is the day of auditions for the Spring Musical! Yesterday’s flyer had a misprint, and so it IS today and tomorrow, with callbacks on Friday, as needed, my room, after school. The musical will be pretty flexible, but having LOTS of after school time really helps! Even if you’re involved in FANTASTICS, I think we could still get you in, because you will be dividing into solos, duets, etc. I’m looking to getting a choreographer, and also bringing in some live music, so it should be a lot of fun, if we get it all going.

7  So it’ll be wet for awhile here. So it goes; so it goes. But there’s something magic about the warm weather, and the Spring Musical floating around FANTASTICS, baseball, two proms, dances, and all the other fun stuff this Spring. The songs I have chosen are REALLY good and fun!!!

8  So come on out and enjoy a change of pace. This has been one tough winter, and it’s time to resurrect. What better way than singing, dancing, laughing, and being with great friends?

9  I hope you guys get out there and give it a bash!

10  It should be fun. We’ll just do what we need, and try to just have a ball!

11  Okay, enjoy your Code Red day!

12  Peace.

The Daily News

1  Lotta Valentines out there yesterday, whole lotta love.

2  All that pink and red. Balloon bouquets bobbing above. Love seemed everywhere you looked.

3  Strange day, that.

4  Always is.

5  I always feel a little pained at Valentine’s Day. It usually takes a few days to recover. It’s one of the WEIRDEST days in the year, because I can’t help feeling a great amount of angst for those who are left out, or who have either nothing going on , or who are perhaps trying to recover from some devastation, recent or distant, that leaves in its wake a wish for the whole concept of Valentine’s Day to simply go away. For every couple that walks around with stars in their eyes, there are others who have to watch and live the entire day in pain.

6  Sorry, not trying to rain on the parade and all; I just always feel for those who haven’t a Valentine, for whatever reason.

7  My solution to that one is to encourage the use of chocolate on that day.

8  A few years back, I wrote a play called Morning, about a girl who has just been dumped, and is systematically trying to reason with the unreasonable. I always loved the last line, when the wiser girl looks at the audience and with a tacit smile, turns and says, “All you need isn’t love.” She then pauses for a beat. Then,she remarks with precision, ”All you need is chocolate.” And then she walks off, with some of the wisest words ever spoken.

9  Word.

10  So to those of you who had to sit on the side and watch everyone else holding hands and gazing into each others’ eyes, this is my Valentine to you. Thanks for going through that every year. Thanks for holding up, and putting a nice smile on your face. Thanks for smiling at people who are happy; it’s a tremendous gift. And thank you for being such a beautiful person. You deserve all the joy life could bring, pure and simple.

11  Go with a friend today and find some chocolate somewhere. Have a Chantico at Starbucks. Treat yourself, spoil yourself, and give yourself the sweet gift that is you. You deserve it after yesterdays’s debacle.

12  And listen to those words that climbed into my head one thoughtful night.

13  All you need isn’t love.

14  All you need is chocolate.

15  Auditions tomorrow and Thursday, Friday callbacks!!! My room, after school. If you are doing FANTASTICS posters, my room works as well, so you could do BOTH pretty easily.

16  Well, take care.

15  Peace.

The Daily News

1   So…Arthur Miller walks into a bar…

2   Happy Valentine’s Day y’all! Or is it “all of y’all”?

3   Ah, it’s nice.

4   Love, love, love…

5   Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate…

6  All you need is chocolate.

7   I got DSL finally!!!! WOW! It SO rocks!!! I messed with everything, and got a buncha pictures up on this website called fotki, but I’ll get back to that in a second, because the BREAKING news is this:

  MUSICAL!!!!!!

7   If you are interested in auditioning for the Spring Musical, come to my room, P-61, on Wednesday and Thursday after school. Keep Friday open.Yes, it’s on! I have some shifting to do, and some things to discuss, but I spent a good part of the weekend getting prepared. Stunning! Clear your schedule of everything but FANTASTICS!!! I’m going to try to be fairly flexible on rehearsals, but try to keep after schools clear!

8  So far, my only concern is whittling down the 96 songs I have decided I want in! I’m serious!!! I literally chose over 96 songs, but I think it’s going to become much more manageable much sooner!  Some of the songs being considered include Tomorrow from Annie, Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera, If I Were a Rich Man, Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler, Maybe This Time from Cabaret, Something’s Coming, Tonight, Gee Oficer Krupke from West Side Story, Summer Nights from Grease, My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music, There is Nothing Like a Dame from South Pacific, I Caint Say No from Oklahoma!, Rainbow Connection from Muppets, Beauty and the Beast, from Beauty and the Beast, Camelot, I Loved You Once in Silence from Camelot, We Both Reached For the Gun <He Had it Comin’>  from Chicago, Coffee Break, Been a Long Day from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Rent, from Rent, Captain Walker, It’s a Boy, Twenty-One,The Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, See Me, Feel Me, and Listening to You from Tommy. 

8  Whoooeeweee! That’s just a TASTE! Clearly, it’s a LOT of work, and I should know by Thursday where to take a lot of this. I would begin with large numbers first, like Summer Lovin’ and Coffee Break, and we would move to duets and small groups.

9  I’ve ordered most of the support music for those pieces. I’ll be spending some time this week and next organizing, and maybe even calling people in who might work for certain songs, so try to stay flexible, and then when we get back, get ready!

10  So THAT’S the gist of today’s Daily News!!!  I intend to get the musical going in early May, even though we are scheduled for April. This will kick a lot of things around, but this is the only way to get it done.

11  So yeah!!!! Let’s give it a bash! It it looks like we have enough interest, it’s a go!!

12  I spent a long time yesterday throwing a billion pictures up on this website:

http://www.fotki.com/ElDirectore

Check them out!

12  I’d better go now; I stopped hitting myself over the head with a hammer about fifteen minutes ago, and I think I need another round!

13  Peace, and  a lovely Valentine’s Day to you all.

14  Bye now!

The Daily News

1  Wow.

2  It just occurred to me how absolutely swiftly this year has been traveling. Seems like only yesterday we were having Senior Sunrise, which remains my favorite day so far.

3  That was just a magical morning to me. Nothing big, but when put in perspective, it took on a lot of significance.

4   Was anybody else as disturbed by North Korea as I was? These guys basically said they had nukes, and know how to use them. That’s just madness. We went to war with Iraq for simply suspecting they had these things.

5  I guess I just don’t get it.

6  That’s just madness.

7  Personally, I prefer not to think about it. Of course, I had to mention it, because it’s pretty much in the news, but yeesh!

8  Dizzy over here.

9  Ah, Friday. We have today, next week, and then a week off. This is just going so fast I don’t know that I can keep up. Already we are voting on FANTASTICS themes, and even THAT seems a little bit of a late bloomer. It’s almost more than I can fathom.

10  I feel like I got hit by a truck with Spirit Week, just scraped myself up, and am about to be hit by another one.

11  I miss my class.

12  It’s almost SO fast that it’s not even fair. About a month ago, I was standing outside the Theatre after school, as I have done so often in the past, and for the first time, I noticed that I didn’t recognize a whole bunch of kids, yet they were all doing the same thing they have been doing since I got here. It was terribly strange…

13  Because I’m not recruiting and pulling new kids into the Drama Workshop, I’m not getting the new generation in. I keep wanting to, but  the more I read about cutbacks and all, the less inclined I am to sell kids on a false set of goods. When I decided not to do any more shows, I was reading the writing on the wall. I was convinced that THEY were not going to tell ME that it was over. That’s what A Love Letter was pretty-much about. It’s terribly difficult going back into the Theatre these days.

14  There’s no longer only one ghost…

15  Heidi has made a couple of very cosmic connections in recent weeks, but most are extremely personal. Coincidences beyond coincidences, and now I just smile, and fall to pieces simultaneously.

16  It’s been tough, but I also am able to go in there and feel a whole bunch of wonderful memories. It’s also a lot of fun to be able to dream of new things, of tomorrow, and of where I might head. A lot of times, change turns into a great thing. It’s painful, of course, but it usually moves life into new and exciting realms.

17  I also like just to look around me and count all the blessings I have. We all need to do those things from time to time, and that’s always a great thing to do.

18  Well, before I get all stupid, I think I’ll just tell y’all to go out and enjoy yourselves this lovely weekend. The sun is shining, and it’s almost Spring, so take time to appreciate all your friends, and all the nice things in life.

19  See you Monday.

20  Peace.

The Daily News

1   Wow. I made it through the entire day yesterday without getting any red envelopes. I’m mortified!

2   Just kidding! I had a wonderful day, went to Vivien’s restaurant and enjoyed some wonderful food, hung out at Starbuck’s waxing poetic with Jose, Sparks, Cam, and Ray, in celebration of Ray’s NOT having gotten kicked out of school for disinterest. We listened to lots of Bob Dylan, and talked about everything and nothing. Sparky and Cam took lots of very artsy pictures. At times, it felt like we were in Berkeley during the turbulent 60′s.

3  The fact that the place had five cops in there sipping it up and watching us out of the corners of their eyes lessened the fantasy just a touch. I mean, how do you plan the overthrow of the Man when the Man is tapping his foot to Dylan tunes, and is sitting two feet away?

4  I guess we’ll have to figure that one some other time.

5  I kept practicing Chuc Mung Nam Moi all day, and then went to a Chinese restaurant later for some take-out. I tried it on the proprieters, but they looked at me like I had twelve heads.

6  I suck as an Asian.

7  The only thing I’m REALLY good at is taking my shoes off and getting them back on in one swoop. I’m an Asian poet with that one, I tellya.

8  I’ve secretly been practicing Jet Li moves on stage.

9  I think I’m actually quick and slick.

10  I REALLY think I look like William Hung trying to do Fred Astaire, or some such thing. But I seem to have a lot of people living in absolute fear.

11  Last night I plopped back down on the sofa and clicked on a little Am Idol. GREAT show! Somehow, that show is totally therapeutic to a Performing Arts teacher in the twilight. I just look, and see how often a lot of what goes on THERE reminds me of things I’ve literally seen HERE. Last night, I thought Paula and Simon were going to come to blows over one guy! They later let these three guys who vaguely resembled Moe, Larry, and Curly right on through. These guys fell all over one another, like pigs in a poke; it was hilarious.

12  Moe! Larry! CHEESE!!!

13  I’m rollin’.

14  Okay, I have the late-night coffee jitters, because I forgot that I had TWO venti lattes <are those things French, or Italian?>, and just had a cuppa coffee tonight.

15  I’m not used to coffee overdoses. I spent most of the day eating apples and gulping down diet sodas once again. Some of my students thought I was throwing down Coors bullets!

16  D00d!  First off, I TOTALLY don’t drink liquor of any sort. Second, if I DID, I’d have WAY better taste than a can of Coors. PUH-LEEZE! Wasn’t that Hitler’s beer? That stuff wouldn’t have enough head to hit that little moustachio of his with even a hint of froth. It’s like having an O’Doul’s with an old penny in it.

17  Enough of that! That’s just the coffee talkin’.

18  I just turned around and looked at the teeveee, and whatever show is on has a clown getting booked by some serious New York cop, because it doesn’t matter WHAT city teevee cops are from, they always have New Yawk accents, tuff guys, yo. Right quick, yo.

19  Dis one’s a REAL tuff guy. Yeah, if you couln’t have huh, no one else could, eh? You didn’t do nuttin’, huh tuff guy?

20  I wonder what the clown did? 

21  Who knows? I just know that NOT ONE of those cops at Starbuck’s had a New York accent.

22  Okay, so if you SEE me tomorrow, it would be totally okay to give me a red envelope, however belated.

23  See ya soon!

24  Chuc Mung Nam Moi! : ) <—-dorky sideways happy face guy who clearly just got a red envelope containing a Benjamin!!

25  Peace, yo.

 

 

Happy New Year!!

The Daily News

1  Happy New Year!!!

2  I say it in English. Sue me! Haha!

3   So…Ozzie Davis walks into a bar, but it was on Friday, so we humbly apologize for the slow recognition. Oz was the man. And Tuesdays are basically dead to me…

4  So…Keith Knudsen walks into a bar…

5  Who? Drummer for the Doobie Brothers.

6  And now…the news!

7  It’s funny that my diatribe against Tuesdays came almost exactly on Mardi Gras..a.k.a. FAT TUESDAY. As always, New Orleans knows how; San Jose just turned stupid. And I STILL am fundamentally against Tuesdays, but maybe we should add an annual Mardi Gras, just for tradition. Just not in San Jose.

8  Yesterday I received a donation receipt for the Tsunami Relief money we sent off to Evelyn. She forwarded it to a friend, Matt Clemm, who donated it through the Yahoo! Inc. Donation Matching Program. I have to assume that means we sent off $1357, and that Yahoo matched, meaning our total effort as a school was $2714! So thank you Seniors, NHS, and ASB!!! I shall be sending a letter to Mr. Rocha with the great news. Thank you Evelyn, thank you Matt, and especially, thank you to all who contributed!

9  Dieting sucks.

10  I have been eating apples and drinking HORRIBLE diet sodas for around a month now. People ask what diet I’m on, and I couldn’t tell them. The rabbit-food, apple, and bad diet soda diet! The trouble is, when I get home after having eaten six apples all day, I want something REAL, like an ox or something.

11  I usually wind up cutting a small hunk of cheddar and wolfing a few random saltines, just because I can. I then eat a huge salad and a small piece of chicken or fish or something ridiculous.

12  Last night I messed up! I had like three small slices of sourdough with this seafood stew called cioppino, which is, arguably, the best-tasting dish on the planet. But man! I’ve reached a point where I get guilty about anything I eat that isn’t an apple or lettuce.

13  This is all because of that health scare my doctor threw at me in December. I’ve felt great, actually, and am probably healthier than I’ve been in years, but JAY-zuss!!

14  If someone walked into my classroom TODAY with an ox, I’d eat it.

15  And how am I supposed to get through New Years when it’s RIGHT in the MIDDLE of two weekends??? SAY, could I talk someone into an ox?

16  Hook it up, yo.

17  I always enjoy TET, ‘cuz it seems to go on all month. It’s time for everybody to start giving white guys red envelopes.

18  Last night I thought my NEIGHBOR had EATEN an ox, I swear, only it was just like SIX-THOUSAND firecrackers going off, scaring my dog so bad that she is no longer a Nazi, but a nurse, instead.

19  S#!t, son!!

20  Her head started revolving in three-sixties like some macabre cartoon.

21  Me? I just kept munching my salad.

22  And slurping down my sixteenth Diet-Coke.

23  Some party!!

24  Well, Chuc Mung Nam Moi, everybody!

25  Peace.

Happy New Year!!!

The Daily News

1   Wow, when we have collaboration, it’s like the world suddenly gets logical and normal again. Yesterday worked SO well; it just seemed that all of us were given the most important gift one could have sometimes: the gift of TIME.

2  Seems we all just hit the ground running this year, causing us to spin out of control beginning somewhere in mid-October.  I remember literally counting how many GREAT days we had the first few weeks of school, and I stopped counting after 14 in a row. I remember high-fiving Thuy Ann each day, because our pledge was for EVERY day to be awesome!

3  Suddenly, after a LONG cold Winter <without colaboration!>  it just seemed to begin geting better again! Yesterday, for example, I FINALLY got to meet with the Senior prom committee, and we had PIZZA and gummi bears, worms, and sharks. With a meal THAT healthy, how could you NOT have a fun day? Pizza and gummi candy, by the way, is really a terrifically great combination. The complement Cokes and things beautifully, and probably are worse than smoking, but we loved it!

4  Dora came out and did a beautiful job as our lead, and before long, we all were enjoying dreaming up all sorts of fun ideas! It was nice seeing smiling faces and laughter everywhere once more. There’s a lot to be said for having a good leader like Dora. So yeah!

5  Well, let’s see…

6  I feel that I’ve gone into hibernation since the play. I’m STILL trying to catch up on rest since the Fall semester. Over the years, I’ve been through some rough times at this school , but oy! This year…

7  Yeesh.

8  That meeting yesterday just made me smile. It was in my funky old room, P-61, but it was just nice. Maybe it was nice because it felt normal, and there are times in this life when normal feels wonderful.

9  On the other hand, it might have just been the variety of gummi candies. I noticed that when I got home, I conked out on the couch at around 8. That’s early even for this old brown shoe. Eventually, I came around, like an old bear in Springtime. I shook off the last semester, stuck my head out the front door, and just as swiftly shut the door and climbed back on the couch.

10  So I’m beginning to look forward to the Spring.

11  Little darlin’,  the smiles returnin’ to the faces…

12  I think I’m going to begin keeping track of good days once more.

13  Mr. Cruz, by the way, did a great job with the faculty, moving us in and out of the Theatre as quickly as any I’ve seen. First rule of being a good leader: don’t keep people unnecessarily long at meetings. End the general meeting swiftly, THEN move about answering questions informally. He stayed focused on that, and so my early reports are REALLY good.

14  Today is Tuesday; that’s ALWAYS the test of how things are going. I’ve been all THROUGH that one, about how I STILL think it’s time to put Tuesday out to pasture as a day of the week. It’s just not necessary is all. I know this offends Tuesday purists, but I really think it’s a day whose best times are behind it.

15  Well, I’m getting fiercely political there, and I know we are all now being monitered, so I think for the purposes of safety, I’ll bow out now. I must be careful not to offend people who are pro-Tuesday, even if they ARE set in their ways.

16  Joe-the-Bear says have a great day. He always gets on me when I say too much, so I’m going to go now.

17  See you again.

18  Peace.