October 19, 2006

• The Daily News
  
  
  
  

  1  Haha! You can’t stop ‘em!
  
  2  I just re-read yesterday’s DN. I couldn’t believe how many errors there were. Things were misspelled, and other things that normally were centered weren’t. Just perfect, really, because it best expresses my mental state, which has actually been joyous and alive. And then there are the ducks…
  
  3  The exhaustion from this new gig is easier than when I was at YB. YB had a way of wearing one down emotionally, and all that stuff. Here is a morning after a day at YB:
  

  
  

   

  Here’s an afternoon after a day at EV:

   

  
  

  
  

  
  4   This new gig is, simply stated, “whack”. The wonderful thing about working in a brand new school is that it is still going through a major learning process, and communication is so ridiculous that the proverbial left hand, you know, doesn’t know it is a left hand.
  
  5  I’ve already joked several times that I have ‘em right where I want ‘em.
  
  6  Except that it DOES surround you, which is pretty much the nature of the beast. The job proper is already “whack”, but the fact that it’s in an almost brand-new school multiplies what I call Whackiness: The Factor.  Or more endearingly, WTF for short.

  
  7  Last night, with the gorgeous sunset, the stillness surrounded by the electricity of all the classes being their, the madness: it all came back, the reason I stepped into this insanity to begin with. The school spirit thing, the excitement, the costumes, posters, props, war paint, and the students cheering each other on.  The rest of this job is challenging, and involves getting supervision for sports and dances, and working with community groups and all, but last night saw us having a dress rehearsal for their Homecoming skits, and I thought San Jose was going to light up below us from all the electricity in the air. 
  
  8  It just rocked, reeled, and thundered, from top to bottom! All four classes showed up in costumes for the various games: Freshmen were Monopoly, and I think green but I’m not sure (of COURSE freshmen are green!),  the Sophs were yellow, and Candyland,  so I apologize for having that all mixed up the other day.  Juniors were “forest-green, red and white” and Clue, and Seniors were black, and dressed like Jumanji. Ah, a jungle theme, and Monopoly…hmmm…didn’t YB do those two themes in recent years?  ; )  <—— sideways cutesy wink thingy that people always do when they want to do a sideways cutesy wink. It was awesome, and I wanted to jump for joy.
       
  

       
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  9  Ah, who cares? On a large scale, it was just Spirit Week, with classic goofy skits and fun costumes and dances, and I just loved it! Everyone cheered for everyone else, and they got a chance to run the whole thing like a dress rehearsal for a show. Each class got to go out three different times and perform for the others, and they got to correct things and to get their skits more polished.
  
  10  It made everything I’ve been stressing about worthwhile, because when all is said and done, it’s always about the students anyway. I actually thought it worked great, and would be a good idea to use at FANTASTICS. All four classes come together for a huge dress rehearsal, and are given notes on how to improve, and they go on three times. It worked great, and leaves a lot less to chance.
  
  11  Anyway, that has nothing to do with the DN, and it almost feels disruptive, but it is interesting to see and report how the other half lives. Bottom line: a bunch of high energy kids just had a blast last night, the Freshmen were so worried and cute, the Sophs just beginning to get it, the Juniors hungry and ready to take the Seniors down, and the Seniors poised and meaning to go for the kill. Can the Freshmen beat the Sophs? Can the Juniors turn it up and beat the Seniors?
  
  12  Who cares? It’s all GREAT fun, and liberating running the whole show! I saw the Freshmen advisor dressed in the class’s Monopoly shirt, watching over this awesome class and coaching them as though they were in the NBA playoffs. We both see ’010 as THE class of the future already. In many ways, I’m probably part of their class because we came into the place together.
  
  13  So yeah.
  
  14  Sorry about all that talk about Spirit Week and stuff; it can get away from the real news happening in the world. I think I started this DN sort of laughing about how much harder it is to edit the DN these days because I have to be up by 5 each day for Leadership class, but we are in the eye of the hurricane right now, and the school is rooting for all of us to succeed.

   

  15  But it’s stressful, in a poster-paint sorta way. And it does impact the editing on the DN, because I already fell asleep in the midst of reporting all this. I drooled on the keys and it zapped my nose.

   

   16 Anyway, I hope  all this takes you back to the good days though, of posters, streamers, friendships, hope, and dreams of absolute glory, and of course, the Homecoming that happens to all of us at some point.

   

  17 Those were good, innocent days, and if you look back fondly to your school days this fine morning, then this has been a worthwhile read, and hopefullyeven brought a smile or two.
  

  18  Wish me luck, the same to you.

   

  19  Peace, have a beautiful morning.

   

   

                                                            ~H~
  
  
  
  
                                             
  
  
  
                                 

   

   

                                                                            

                                                                                

   

  
  
  
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  • 2:33 am
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