The Daily News

1 FANTASTICS!!!!

2  Wow.

3  Almost hard to believe it's here.

4  Everything sure has been nervous and ready around here lately! I love it!

5  I can't wait to go into that gym tonight. I know everyone has been working hard, and I also know that a whole bunch of us are coming to root everyone on.

6  This is the ultimate in bringing our school, our community, and our alumni together.

7  So good luck to everyone, because when the dust settles after FANTASTICS, we ALL win.

8  Meanwhile, I had the best rehearsal yet for the musical, My Favorite Things. We had been struggling for a little while now. Well, it seems finally to be paying off. Yesterday the cast nailed a bunch of songs.

9  We just all came together, and they sounded wonderful! There was a lot of good feeling going all around our Theatre last night. This cast got up in it, strong, powerful , and with lots of spirit and drive.

10  So sometimes a lot of things in life play almost like a movie. Or a song. It feels like a long cold lonesome winter has finally moved into spring.

11  Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces.

12  Here comes the sun!

13  It's time to have some fun, laughs, and good times.

14  Fun, laughs, good times.

15  Who could ask for anything more?

16  And to the entire YB community, let the games begin!

16  Peace.

Good luck YB Warriors!!! from
The very Class of '05!!!

 

luv ya all!!!!

 

~H~

 

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  Crazy times, I swear.

2   Congrats to the Choir for a fun time performing last night! Hope you guys had fun!

3  I completely forgot they were performing last night.

4  Getting old sucks.

5  First to go is your memory. Older means wiser, so they say.

6  You just LOOK wise because you're, well, old.

7  The you forget things. I forget everything. My whole life these days is like 50 First Dates, only hourly.

8  Every time my cell phone rings, I have to try to read who it is with  reading glasses, which makes me look like something right out of The Wind in the Willows.

9 For me,  I had this dial tone set to Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, but I swear to you, I kept wandering around hearing that song even when it wasn't even ringing. I"d hear ringing, and sometimes, even voices.

10  <With an Irish accent> Musta been the wee people. <Eyes twinkle.>.

11  So I finally decided to put my cell phone on "vibrate" so I wouldn't wander around like a lost frog in a forest every time someone would call.

12  The only challenge of having it on "vibrate" is that every time my stomach growls, I answer my Altoids.

13  And when I read, it is reasonably fruitless, because I can't remember what I read the day before.

14  The list goes on, but I can't remember it.

15   I'll open the cupboard only to find a gallon of milk.

16   I read the DN, and find after I've sent it off and posted it, that I spelled milk "mikl".

17   I'll suddenly go blank and look to Dictionary.com because the word just doesn't look right.

18  And then I'll look up the wrong word, but goof on going from definition to definition just so I could learn more words I'll grow to forget.

19  And then I'll just shut it all down, and smile wisely.

20  At least I could LOOK wise.

21  Enjoy this day.

22  Enjoy every day.

23  What was I just talking about?

24   Peace.

??????????

 

 

~h~

 

 

I think. Therefore. I think.

 

 

 

www.xanga.com/barrington

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  So news to me, but I just read that California high schools evidently have until July 2007 to replace soda with water, fruit juices, and sports drinks.

2  Well, one high school, Shasta High School <the irony is dripping!> has a group of students who are pretty upset about it, and who want a statewide ballot to put soda back in the machines. Leading the charge is a student by the name of Rocky Slaughter, who states, "We're allowed to drive cars. We're allowed to shoot guns..so why can't we make decisions about nutrition?"

3  Uh...they're allowed to shoot guns? I guess I can't argue with THAT logic, Rockman. Only in Shasta. It hasta be Shasta.

4 Other schools joining forces with Shasta are RC High of Richmond, Dr. Pepper Middle School, in Rocklin, who's principal, Mr. Pibb, has sent notice to every school in America, and Lemon Slice Evangelical High School and Dentistry Training Center, in Long Beach.

5  Schools in more isolated areas, such as President's Choice High of Fullerton, and Sunny Select Pre-school in beautiful Pinole, California, have also jumped into the mix.

6  Okay, so the first TWO items are actually accurate, and the rest of this was just me being a wise guy. But Shasta High School in Redding, California, actually has made this a cause celebre, and ol' Rocky Slaughter is simply bubbling over with enthusiasm for his pro-junk initiative.

7  Senator Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, and author of the original ban, had this to say: "I don't think any school should be in the business of selling junk to students."

8  With that amazing mentality, I should think we will be seeing half the history books removed from the classrooms as well.

9  Okay, that DID make sense, so you just need to open that other eye and join the morning.

10  Moving on: Headline in yesterday's Merc:

Gas prices rising out of sight again

11  I thought those price increases were pretty much on display and in plain sight for all to read. And weep.

12  They oughta ban that too.

13  They oughta ban everything.

14  I thought for a while that I was just imagining all the rain, and that all the talk of umbrellas this year was just over-exaggeration. Turns out we are on track to break the record for the rainiest March on record. So far, it has rained 18 days, and the record is 20.

15  I say that kid puts together a No-Rain initiative.

16  Well, enough of this nonsense. It's pretty late as I compose this, and I'm about ready to pop a cola and hit the hay.

17  I just went to my fridge to grab a cold one, and I SWEAR to you, I had two Shasta colas chilling in there.

18  Cahoots, I tellya. Cahoots. And I'm NOT a sellout. I just LOVE Coca-Cola. No shameless kickbacks. I swear to you.

19  Gottago. Raise a glass to rainy days.

20  Peace.

~H~

 

 

 

www.xanga.com/bharrington

 

The Daily News

1  Sometimes it's the little things.

2  I'd like to thank everyone out there for letting it leak that yesterday was my birthday. I normally keep that fairly secret, but I guess word got out pretty loudly this year.

3  Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone out there who somehow brought me stuff and made my day, for just being so thoughtful. I generally just let the day go by with little or no fanfare.

4  A million people did wonderful things for me yesterday. I'd like to thank each and every one of you out there who conspired to make it a beautiful day for me.

5  I'd especially like to thank my family for having so much patience through all of this.

6  Everyone was so unbelievable. I usually just blow a birthday off as a pretty depressing day. But yesterday I had good thoughts coming to me at every turn.

7  I'd love to thank each individual who contributed, but there were so many that I'd fear I'd leave someone out, so I just want to let each of you know that you were all just amazing.

8  I especially enjoyed the little things. The nods, winks, and sometimes, wordless moments. It all worked. All of it. So yeah, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

        Slow down my beating heart
A man dreams one day to fly
A man takes a rocket ship into the skies
He lives on a star that's dying in the night
And follows in the trail, the scatter of light...

                                                      --U2, In a Little While

8  Ever just have a song stuck in your head?

9   Happens.

10  I love it.

11  Enjoy your day.

12  And thanks again.

13  Once more. Life is Good.

14  Peace.

 

~H~

 

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  So...Buck Owens walks into a bar...

2  And there you have it!

3  The DN is back up and running and as stupid as ever!

4   Among other things, Buck wrote this:                                         

  They're gonna put me in the movies;
     they're gonna make a big star outta me.
     The'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely,
     And all I gotta do is act naturally.

5  Yep. If you're a Beatles's fan, you probably recognize the great Act Naturally, as sung by the immortal Ringo Starr. Well, it REALLY was a Buck Owens tune.

6 

So I hope you come and see me in the movies;
then I know that you will plainly see
the biggest fool that ever hit the big time
and all I gotta do is act naturally.

7   Good stuff, Buck. Good stuff, Ringo.

8  Oh, and the apostrophe "s" after "Beatles" evidently is now considered THE way to do plural possessives.

9  Grammarians. Yeesh.

10  Oh, boy.

11  I just checked this, and for some reason, right after I sang the praises of Xanga, it decides to go wonky with the fonts. I claim it's a Myspace.com conspiracy to keep us all stupid. More on that later.

12  No point in battling it. When it wants to do this, it just does.

13  Hopefully it will do it for just a brief stint, and then go back to normal.

14  Yoiks.

15  Well, this weekend, there was a Youth Advisory Council meeting at the Camden Community Center in San Jose, in which over 400 middle and high school student talked about Myspace.com.

16  I bring this up because I have talked of how much better I have always thought that Xanga was than Myspace, and how Myspace is just plain strange and unintellectual beyond reason.

17  Myspace, it turns out, is owned by a company called News Corp. which is owned by the foxy and very conservative Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News.

18  Murdoch is your living, breathing, walking, talking symbol of everything that's wrong with modern journalism at the hands of rich guys with an agenda. Those of you in the know have probably seen the very revealing documentary called Outfoxed, Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004), a chilling indictment of the current state of television and radio journalism in modern times. I think if you have a computer at home and a little time, you can watch it by clicking on the following link:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7798.htm

19  Anyway, the film basically discusses how Murdoch essentially sees a news story and then tells his reporters how to approach the story. It's pretty scary that the "liberal" media seem to be dominated and controlled by very powerful rich people.

20  Our thoughts are no longer our own, and guys like Murdoch want to see to it that it stays that way.

21  But like most people, I'd personally rather just turn my head and ignore that sort of thing.

22  Who has time to find out the truth about anything?

24  I'm personally too busy goofing on my own Myspace. HOW I ever got one to begin with is a mystery to me, but NOT having one nowadays is a bit like not having pants, I imagine.

25  Anyway, I just thought it interesting to note that Myspace is controlled by News Corp. But it doesn't surprise me. The trend is clear: the media in the Year of our Lord, 2006, are all now completely controlled, so nothing to be said, nothing to be said.

26  And guys like Murdoch now own and control the single most popular website among young people.

27  Well, as I said, who has time to care?

28  Personally, I'm too busy.

29  Like most people in America in 2006, I can only think in short bursts.

30  That's just the way I like it. I choose to remain an idiot. I hope some day you'll join us. And the world could live as dumb.

31  Peace.

 

~H~

 

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  There is no Daily News today. Sorry.

 

The Daily News

1  Quite a stretch in here.

2  The beautiful thing about teaching is the days off.

3  I mean that as not an indictment of education, but as an actual reality.

4  For all I complain about it, it still has only 182 working days. I thought it was 179, but Michelon corrected me.

5  What other job on this planet has so few working days?

6  For what it's worth, I tellya.

7  When I talk with alumni who are trying to figure out what to do with themselves, I inevitably mention teaching, which is amazing, because I complain about it so much.

8  But I continually find myself saying, "If I had it to do all over again, I'd STILL choose teaching!"

9  And it isn't always the time you get off, which is remarkable. It's the whole package.

10  Yesterday, I went through the very underrated Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliet. Almost every class quieted down when I read that passaga aloud.

11  As teachers, we've all pushed students past their own limitations, and we've all seen students who didn't think they could go another step suddenly turn around a triumph beyond any of their wildest dreams.

12  Mercutio's speech, however, is designed to keep people from being fools at the hands of dreams. He delivers it to Romeo, his good friend, who is hopelessly in love with Rosaline, and Mercutio's speech is designed to cure Romeo of his love addiction.

13  At the end of the speech, Mercutio gets more intense, so much so that Romeo interrupts with the words, "Peace, peace, Mercution, peace!
Thou talks of nothing."

Mercutio.                  True, I talk of dreams;
     Which are the children of an idle brain,
     Begot of nothing but vain fantasy;
     Which is as thin of substanc as the air,
     And more inconstant than the wind, who woos
     Even now the frozen bosom of the North
     And, being angered, puffs away from thence,
     Turning his face to the dew-dropping South.

14  Good stuff. Amazing stuff.

15  My freshmen appeared riveted by it yesterday.

16  And a true teacher can sense those sorts of things.

17  A happy birthday goes out there to Jenny.

18  And also, Jackie from the play.

19  And to Dave, this Sunday.

20  And to all of you, enjoy a great weekend!

21  Brush up your Shakespeare.

22  And if you're indecisive about a career, give teaching a chance.

23  Tonight it all seems somehow worth it.

24   Peace.

The Daily News

1  For the eight billionth time, I've somehow wound up with my usual case of insomnia.

2  I'm not sure what the cause is, but I get home pretty late from rehearsal these days, appear wide awake for a few seconds, and then I just collapse.

3  Last night I even got home earlier than usual, and STILL sat down, watched about twelve seconds of television, and just conked.

4  Ah, who cares?

5  I'm guessing it's just a pattern, because I find myself writing this drivel at around 2 a.m. these days. The challenge with that is that you just don't feel funny at 2 a.m.

6  You begin thinking all this poetic stuff, and you find yourself hunting for soulful thoughts, things about rain, pictures of comforting umbrellas <see yesterday's dn!> and all the rest.

7  Or I may look at the Merc News for tidbits.Yesterday had not much, with the exception of 72 year-old comedienne Joan Rivers putting up a sort of Myspace.com thing on this thing called Match.com. She's hoping to find romance in cyberspace.

8  She should have gone to Horsespace.com.

9  I mean, Joan. REALLY now.

10  I found out yesterday that there is a Cambodiaspace.com or something like that. Some kid was on it yesterday, and damned if it didn't look EXACTLY like Myspace.com.

11  Do they have those for everybody and everything now?

12  I was traveling through my other Xanga yesterday, and saw a great piece I did two summers ago. It was a piece called Just Another Moonlight Mile: A Virtual Yearbook. It held up pretty well.

13  One of my freshmen looked at it and said, "What's this? You have a XANGA, Mr.H?" They have utterly no concept of privacy. Ah, I ain't got nothin' to hide.

14  I just chuckled and said, "Yeah. Here's a picture of me when I was a cadet teacher in high school. I was eighteen." They laughed, and said, "That's not you!" And I said, "Yeah, it is!" And then they laughed even harder. I also showed them that I was selected as Best Leader in my high school yearbook. They said, "No way!!!" I said, "Yes, way!"

HA! Class of  TWO-THREE!

15 Next, they all looked at each other with baloney sandwiches hanging off their braces and said, "XANGA? HAHA!! THAT IS SOOOO PLAYED OUT!" "DUDE! THAT WAS SIXTH GRADE!"

16  I just made about 1300 people feel old.

17  Well, I'm youthening, like that great Arthurian wizard, Merlin.

18  With my usual timely synchronicity, two things just popped up on my e-mail.

19  Both had to do with Xanga.

20  I loved Xanga, by the way. Myspace is WAY more popular, because it requires utterly no thinking. But Xanga seemed the way, and I have mourned its demise a few times on this space, which happens very much to BE a Xanga as well!

21 I must confess, I let my good ol' Xanga go to seed. I kept promising to give it a re-birth, but it just sits there nowadays, amid all the rest, like a rusty old lawnmower in a field of weeds.

22  Well, that's about it for today. Not much on this end this fine day.

23  I think I'll try to get off a bit of sleep, and send this one out to the masses.

24  First, I'd like to send out a big birthday wish and many happy returns to our pal Nhat, who has been an awesome help with the musical this year.

25  Okay, enjoy your day. And Nhat, happy birthday, big guy.

26  I'm gonna go look at my old Xanga, just for fun. Here, you can to, just for fun! Enjoy the piece.

http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=El_Directore&tab=weblogs&uid=108978618

27  Peace.

I'm the guy on the right. Fall play. Senior year. The show: See How They Run.

Hope this was fun!

~H~

 

 

 

 

The Daily News 1  Whew. 2  I hope you got through that storm all right. 3  I've managed, because I finally have mastered the fine art of holding on to and appreciating my umbrella. 4  I almost lost it yesterday, but looked right where I left it, and there it was. 5  I guess the beauty of all these storms is that as we look into the alpine splendor of our own Mt. Hamilton,  and as I see the sun split through the clouds in miraculous splendor, or when I see storybook rainbows shining down on our town, I smile. I know where I placed my indefatigable umbrella, and I again love life. 6  And my umbrella became stronger all winter, fighting off the fierceness of the cold winter storms, and keeping me as strong and as forceful as the wet, shifting winds. 7  That may sound a little funny, but I somehow gather strength when I hold it up. And I'm now careful about where I lay it down. And I'm especially careful never to forget it, ever again. 8  It became my dearest friend this winter. 9  Maybe it's symbolic. 10  But it's been a long, cold winter. I've needed that protection from the wind, rain, and snow. 11  I've needed something to hold on to. 12  So yeah, perhaps it has been symbolic. 13  But to me, it's been my best friend. 14  Well, almost. 15  In just a funny sort of way, it's been like a best friend. 16  I'm once again exhausted. The show has been a lot of work, and has been utterly draining. Life has been a swirling madness of late. 17  But through all the madness, I've seen drenching rains, rare snow flurries, vivid rainbows, and rays of  sunlight bursting through all of the dark clouds. 18  And I hold my umbrella each day, placing it in it's spot, now that it's finally become a part of my daily routine. 19  I now know where it is at all times. 20  It's my best friend. 21  Well, almost. 22  Peace.   ~h~

The Daily News

1  Holy moly. This weather at YB is getting ridiculous.

2  Well, the kids away to school wanted me to send them some pictures of the snow, so here goes.

3  This is the student parking lot yesterday.

4  Here's Buzz. My, how the snow has changed him.

5  Here's Rocha's room from the student parking lot.

4  And here are some kids huddled in my room.

5  I turned my camera to the new football field, and yeesh.

6  Fortunately, the district sent some people out to check on things. Here, they stumbled upon the creek area.

7  As always, there's always some kid out of uniform who STILL has to run, despite the deep freeze.

8  The White House heard of our plight here at YB, and rushed right over, but decided to take a dip in the pool, much to the consternation of Coach K.

9  Rocha and I decided to do a little ice fishing.

10  One of my freshmen ain't so dumb. Right outside my room, yo.

13  Conrotto was shocked at first, but fear not, she's all right.

12  So that's it. Hope things warm up around here, but I just thought I'd let you all know that we are doing well, despite the wind, rain, and the snow.

13  Have a peaceful day. And kids, hurry home. We miss you!

Spring break at YB, '06

 

~H~