August 31, 2006
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The Daily News
1 So...Glenn Ford walks into a bar...2 I feel I'm writing the DN out of a box. I sat and wondered whether or not I could keep writing it since I'm not at YB anymore. I can't just post it in the hallway, so it can't really be all about YB.
3 But without YB, it just becomes one in a million other blogs. Granted, I still claim the Daily News was the world's first blog, and hasn't changed since that fateful day in February of 1996 when I first posted a hard copy in the hallway of the Performing Arts building.
4 But that was a long time ago. It began as a tribute to the song in Guys and Dolls, a song called affectionately enough, Guys and Dolls. I believe its a character called Nicely-Nicely Johnson who sings, "What's in the Daily News? I'll tellya what's in the Daily News..." and I just decided to post a Daily News in the hallway, the idea being to keep everyone amused, but also to keep communication going on in the Performing Arts dept. The rest, as they say, is history.
5 From there it took off. Each day kids would be hanging out in the hallway and office, and when I would come in and post it, there would be a crowd, and I would literally hear the chuckles and stuff.
6 If it was serious, I'd post it and take off to the faculty lounge to get my mail.
7 But in those days, there were very few DN's that were sad! It was always intended to make people smile before they would march into their daily insanity. I always felt it was a sort of morning cup of coffee or something for the rest of the world, a moment of temporary sanity, a very real, very fun thing for everyone, including myself.
8 And I NEVER felt I was writing it. Never. It just seemed to be a natural extension of everything that everyone else was thinking. Like I was a guy just channeling all the love and stuff, and the common denominator was always our school, in all its blissful madness.
9 And now I have people reading it who go all the way back to my very first day at YB. And it is now read by almost anyone who ever lived and enjoyed that theatre, or that wonderful office in its day, and more recently, the absolutely lovely Peace 61, my room, my hangout, my home for the past six years.
10 In A Chorus Line, there's a song called At the Ballet. I guess if anything sort of reminds me of all of that, my entire world over at YB, it would be At the Ballet, the Ballet just being the entire thing. It's hard to describe, but I well imagine many people reading this right now would get it.
11 But everything was beautiful...ah yes, I remember it well...
12 Okay so it's out now. I LOVE that song, and precisely because I always saw the music in A Chorus Line as not being just about dancers, but about anything that was special and beautiful in our lives.
13 Don't get me wrong. I LOVE home these days. I now appreciate how much I love my family more than ever. The new place takes a lot of my time and devotion and when I see my family, I love them very much, always have.
14 But YB was another sort of place, a place we all loved and shared and laughed and cried. And to the kids who are still there, it really is tough being completely gone. I LOVE the new place. It's exciting, challenging, and an entire new direction. I feel I've finally reached what I always wanted. My classes respect and love me. I have the brightest and best. I got a nice little raise. I'm now a major community figure in the Evergreen area. I have to be on all the time. It's a tremendous responsibility, and it's also pure madness. I am elated to be there.
15 But...it's not you. You all need to know that. I don't even know that I have the skills to tell all of you how much it has meant at YB. And it's a little bit funny, because looking back, I remember only the happy times. And I miss the alumni, but I always miss the alumni.
16 I miss the students. I miss chilling in Peace 61. I miss the carefree times, the guitar, the singing, the joy, or just the ability to hop in the TOOONDRA and fly, windows down, radio up, pedal to the ground. I miss lunch with all you guys. I miss the excitement when someone just walks up and says, "What next, H?"
17 I don't know. How 'bout another memory? Ponch and I always said we're in the business of memories.
18 Ain't it the Truth.
19 So. Do I miss YB?
20
21 Yeah.
22 It wasn't Paradise. It wasn't Paradise. It wasn't Paradise.
23 Have I mentioned yet that Glenn Ford walked into a bar? ; )
24 I will try to keep the DN going strong. Too many people need this bit of a jolt in the morning. Vivien came by yesterday, and John, and Maggie. I had my hat on. Same old H. Guitar. Scuffy shoes. Unkempt. Exhausted but on. Viv told me I could get on Xanga on my computer.
25 So I can get the DN done at a reasonable hour.
26 So the world's first blog will continue to darken your doorway each morning, and hopefully light up your morning a bit. Look forward to it. It'll always be about all of us. But it will also bring in some new things and some new perspectives.
27 I look forward to sharing things this school year. You'll see some VERY interesting changes because the DN will no longer be posted, which means I can now write it unbridled!
28 I miss you all. And I promise to try to keep this guy going, each and every day. Do what you always did. Personally, I'd read it each day just to kick whoever is trying to stop me's ass.
29 Anyway, have a beautiful day.
30 I'll try to keep Paradise going in the meanwhile.
31 Peace.
~H~
www.xanga.com/bharrington
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