June 7, 2005
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The Daily News
Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout;
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray.
And though she feels as if she's in a play,
she is anyway...
--John Lennon and Paul McCartney
1 Sometimes I just feel as if I'm in a play.
2 Don't you?
3 Well, the Senior Picnic went off fairly without a hitch. It was one of those deals that I thought I had paid meticulous attention to the minutest detail, and STILL had things go awry. The food arrived a little late, which meant a feeding frenzy. Although I had bought literally hundreds of forks, spoons, plates, etc., they vanished, every one. Kids sucked down soda and water like there was no tomorrow, and I was running off to the stores getting things. The ranger got mad, the inflatable collapsed, but other than those minor things, the Seniors had a ball.
4 The class always had a core group that was in on everything, but since the massive success of FANTASTICS and Prom, interest in the class has clearly risen substantially. So instead of running the usual 20-30 kids, my numbers have tripled. So here I am, down the stretch, with three times the amount of kids going to things. I'm ready to go over.
5 Anyway, I had bought enough serving spoons for all the food, but we lost them; that sort of thing kept happening yesterday. The Seniors barely noticed, but from a "directorial" standpoint, it really made me feel I had lost a football game, like 48-6 or something. From the STUDENTS' perspective, we just keep winning, every single day!
6 So, you just shake it off.
7 I finally heard the Band playing Pomp and Circumstance, and it all closes in, man. Every time you go down a different alleyway, something jumps out and catches you, I swear.
8 Just reporting here. Emotional, yeah, but it's also fun to step outside myself and watch, and report. I feel somewhat as though I'm both IN a play, and reviewing a play.
9 After we got back to campus yesterday, Thuy and I drove slowly through campus. It was a Disney ride, pure and easy. She felt she had come home again. The CD began playing that Graduation Friends Forever tune by Vitamin C, and I turned it up. We parked between the Theatre and the Gym, right there on the corner of the Theatre, and as the song played, Seniors began hugging, mugging, high-fiving, and doing this wonderfully choreographed show for us. Kids would walk by, flash the peace sign, and return to bonding with friends. Groups would put their arms around one another and sing along with the track. It was sad, but bittersweet. Exquisite pain is what I call it.
10 Fun to remove myself, be a reporter, and then jump back into the emotional vortex that has engulfed the students, and the school.
11 I sit and watch this every year, but it is SO different when YOU are the Senior Class, and make no mistake, I am a member. At least in their eyes.
12 Whew.
13 I went home yesterday afternoon, the first time I've been home in the afternoon on a weekday in about a hundred years.
14 It's funny, I climbed on the couch, and fell into a deep zone. I awakened at around 7:30, looked at the clock, and yelled, "Ah, s#!t!! I'm LATE for school!" and literally popped off the couch, only to realize it was 7:30 at night!
15 So yeah, I hope you're enjoying reading all this emotional drivel. Tough guy reporter; you can't hurt steel, baby.
16 Back to school.
17 We mere mortals still need to do finals.
18 See ya soon.
19 Peace.
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