The Daily News
Look at the Stars...
We'll see you again, Congratulations to all...
And in the End
God Give you
Good Night...
~H~
Month: June 2007
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The Daily News
1 The last day of school.
2 To me, the single most irrelevant day of the entire school year.
3 Hard to believe, especially the morning after graduation.
4 I attended the YB Class of 2007's commencement last night.
5 It was the real deal.
6 In my place, in my place...
7 This was one of the most difficult graduations ever, at least for me personally.
8 I felt I was observing another planet, but of a familiar life I once led.9 I connected with Al Russell, who read all the names, and who remains one of my
best friends ever. I ran into other staff, got invited to lots of parties and celebrations, but in the end, I wasn't equipped to go to anything.10 I just wanted to go home. It was way too difficult. It's hard to explain why, but it just was.
11 I also ran into some Class of '05 people, which was really quite nice. Everyone looked pretty good and it was really nice to see them all again.
12 But it was all very shaky and difficult for me.
13 Overwhelmingly sad. I talked at length with Frank Foehr and both of us got caught a bit in the emotions.
14 We talked about this place that was such a huge part of our own lives, and he also
felt exactly what I was feeling.15 Legends.
16 The old guard is vanishing.
17 I wasn't going to make it too far into the evening.
18 Something just shifted last night.
19 Atlas shrugged.
20 I don't know that I'm explaining this very carefully. But all the students and alumni were hugging and taking it all for granted.
21 To Foehr, Russell-bob, and myself, it was filled with pain, and happiness, and memories, and love.
22 And the entire reality of how life is so short.
23 Most of the young people wouldn't understand what was going through our hearts last night. I do know this: they were breaking and raining. And we had a lot of love for good ol' YB. A LOT of love and memories.
24 I just wasn't going to make it to any parties.
25 I wanted to be alone. I wanted to go somewhere and drink it all in.
26 I wanted to go into the hills and sit.
27 When I was a kid, I lived right across the street from this hill, and whenever I would need to be alone, I'd climb to the top of the hill and look over my small town.
28 I couldn't even do that last night.
29 It was the single most painful night I've had all year.
30 And it was genuine.
31 I guess that's the best I could do in terms of reporting it.
32 I was lost.
33 I was lost.
34 I am better now.
35 Word of honor.
36 I am better now.
37 See you tomorrow.
38 Peace.
~H~
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The Daily News1 '07 Whew.
2 One more main day, then even more stuff. This stuff is never-ending.
3 Class of 2007 graduates YB tonight. They are at the Event Center tonight at 6, but you'd better get there early to get a ticket.
4 Insane.
5 I remember when we were pirates and those guys came in so tiny and scared, and they came into the Theatre. We ('05) took them in like a little sister, and that's how it always seemed.
6 Well, good luck to yuzzall.
7 Nothing weirder than a graduation, except organizing one.
8 We're going down this morning to practice on YB's set design.
9 Funny how it all works.
10 Exhausted.
11 We'll talk more.
12 Right now, there's just too much to channel.
13 I need to rest. SERIOUSLY rest.
14 Gone.
15 But ready to roll
16 And rock.
17 Russell-bob, see ya sometime.
18 To the Drama crew, keep fighting.
19 To others, well you know who you are and where I am.
20 Joe's is closed. More to come. It will re-open, so don't trip.
21 Lif'e's rich.
22 Live life; love life.
23 Congratulations to the Class of 2007.
24 Peace.
~H~ -
The Daily News
1 Wow.2 I gotta tellya, the end of a school year is filled with amazing stuff.
3 You know how teevee shows end their seasons with amazing developments? Well, MOST of 'em...
4 It would appear that is happening to me right now.
5 Can't say much, but there are things going on so quickly that I can believe they are even happening.
6 Since I got to the Chill on the Hill we've had amazing changes: people have come and gone so quickly I sometimes feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, only with an extremely manly side, of course, and a rough beard.
7 I'm starting to sound like Francis Flute.
8 Anyway, make no mistake I'm a manly man.
9 I'm not at all threatened.10 The other day on Oprah...
11 Never mind that. The other day on Spike Teevee someone mentioned that teaching was a "pink collar" job.
12 I assumed they were calling me a communist, so I got WAY threatened and started throwing frying pans and cupcake tins at the teevee.
13 Strike that. I started throwing my anvil and boxing gloves all around, and then I went to the fridge and knawed on a little raw meat.
14 ANYWAYZ.15 Ha.
16 I'm thinking of beginning my glue-snorting habit again.
17 It's been a while since I hurled something through a wall, but I guarantee I haven't lost my delicate touch. People what knows me knows I'm a poet when it comes to hurling heavy metal through strong walls.
18 Anybody lookin'? (looks around) "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE..."
19 Enough already.20 We need to settle down and begin taking all of this stuff seriously again.
21 I've lost my harmonica, Albert.22 I better go.
23 Have a great morning, then have lunch.
24 Peace.
~H~
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The Daily News1 So...I was already WAY overworked on Friday what with organizing a memorial in the Theatre, and all the rest. The DN was done, but never mailed! Yoiks...
2 And then LAST night I got home from a Drama Workshop celebration only to find an entire bundle of papers I had forgotten to grade earlier this week, and I needed them all done by this morning!
3 I was done by around 1 a.m. and THEN I was able to mail Friday's DN. I just mailed it and I'm trying like heck to get this morning's out to y'all.
4 Fortunately, I have just to do my morning classes, and then I'm going to the BEACH with the Senior Class. Their picnic is in Santa Cruz! Hooray!
5 Crazuh.
6 Well, nobody said it was easy.
7 Wish me lots of luck!
8 This week is the toughest one for us activities sorts. We are pretty much putting together graduation, but fortunately we have a team working with us. Still, it's like you don't want to mess THAT one up!
9 So you can't just bow out gracefully. Our graduation is all the way on SATURDAY.
10 So the DN will continue all the way through graduation, and then it'll chill for a coupla months.
11 Meanwhile, I am still always on the lookout for great pieces and ideas.
12 Like I just found out last night that Paul Newman is retiring as an actor because he can't remember his lines anymore, and he wants to get deeper into the salad dressing bizniss.
13 Butch.
14 You gotta love Newman.
15 I'll probably go off on a larger piece, but man, that's the Hollywood equivalent to Russell-Bob retiring later this week.
16 It just keeps on keepin' on, doesn't it?
17 And the Sopranos? Huh? Worth mentioning, I imagine.
18 Well, I'm pretty ready to knock this one off for the day, no pics. Too much to be done!
19 So you guys have yo selves a beautiful day.
20 I'm off to the BEACH!
21 Peace.
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The Daily News
1 Ob-la-di. Ob-la-da.
2 Whew.
3 My, oh my.
4 I blinked and it turned Friday.
5 One more week of school. How strange...
6 How terribly strange.
7 I'm one week away from celebrating my first full year in a different job, a different place, a different world.
8 I'd love to say I'm exactly the same, but that just isn't the case.
9 Changes.
10 The thing is, I was never one for changes, even though I know that change is a vibrant part of this life of ours.
11 I just never did change too well. I tend to like stability, and things sort of holding still.
12 A while back I mentioned a book called Future Shock by Alvin Toffler. Written back in July of 1970, the book foretold the vast changes that were and still are occurring in our amazing epoch on this planet.
13 Toffler's contention was that change in the second half of the twentieth century and beyond has been occurring so quickly and insanely that in our generation, and in terms of the life of the planet, this change is equal in magnitude to man's change from barbarism to civilization.
14 Fancy that.
15 No WONDER we're all a bunch of nervous wrecks.16 Craziness is just bound to happen.
17 I can't really give a huge book review here, but I can certainly mention some reasons for our collective psychosis.
18 We simply have no idea. For hundreds of thousands of years we've lived on this planet at a much, much slower pace. People didn't have cars. There were no planes, trains or automobiles. Our natural state was much slower, and the pace of life easier, even if surviving was much more difficult.
19 It was more difficult, but probably without nearly as much insanity.
20 This past week has been simply insane. It always is in schools. To the Seniors, it's as immediate as the sun, or the weather.
21 Today the Seniors cling on to their last day of normalcy.
22 Somewhere we all probably know some Senior who will graduate some time next week.
23 What we don't think about too much is this strange day for them.
24 Today marks the day that it all changes for students. Today, not really graduation. Because today is their last day getting up and running off to school. Today is their last day really of getting up and seeing all the familiar faces in the same familiar locations.
25 Today is one of the weirdest days of the entire year if you are a Senior in high school.
26 And if you simply know a Senior, you have to consider how swiftly they turned into young adults.
27 I want to wish everyone an amazing day today. I want to wish all the high school Seniors out there a huge amount of love and luck. Oh, I'll be saying the same thing right before graduation, but for now, embrace this day.
28 Put away all animosities and hold on to one another for dear life.
29 Because when you get down to it, life is pretty dear, and so are the kids you grew up with.
30 Look into their eyes today and realize that you've all passed, you've all made it through your childhood.
31 Oh, technically college is still a large part of your childhood, but the innocence and wonder of all the familiar sights and sounds and friends and laughter will never be the same, so embrace it, love it, and hug a friend today.32 For the rest of us, let's just move back a few steps and send our love to these young people. We lost two of them earlier this week, and so it's an especially difficult time up on the hill.
32 Pray for all, love all, tell a friend you love them.
33 And then part ways.
34 Peace, and Seniors, hold onto your hats.
35 The best is yet to come.
36 Peace.
~H~
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The Daily News
1 Senility enters your life so slowly that you don't always notice it until you go into your cupboard and find the milk, let us say.
2 I've gotten used to losing my hearing, my eyesight, and my teeth. That's just from having worked at YB for so many years in a dark theatre with loud music and lots of chocolate. I still consider myself endearingly young.
3 I just can't hear, see, or eat. Those things I just notice on a daily basis.
4 But the mind is another thing entirely. Like last night I had completely failed on a mission to get all my awards done. Long story so I won't go there, but bottom line: no awards.
5 And because of failing computers mixed with rip-off paper, it was too late to get the job done. You need special paper which I purchased, and which faded the ink.
6 ANYWAYZ, I traveled all the way up the hill to work on my school computer last night, and even that one couldn't do it, so dejectedly, I headed home at around 10:30 p.m. As I turned off the freeway to go home, I thought I'd just stop at Taco Bell for some grub.
7 The last time I had gone to fast food, it was the Taco Bell over by YB, where this super-white sounding guy asked in his best Buzz Lightyear, "HI, and welcome to Taco Bell! How may I take your order?" Like I was some dignitary at the Fairmont or something. When I ordered, he suddenly turned into a normal bored worker, low-key, and he just said, "What kind of soda wouldju like?"
8 TOTALLY different guy.
9 So I just got into the old Taco Bell drive-thru line, noticing that everything looked dismal and blurry. I ordered my food and looked at this sticker on the drive-thru window. It said, "We're here to help." My senile mind didn't read that at all. In all its dyslexic slendor, it reversed the entire thing so as to read, "Wishing you were here..." I envisioned a beautiful woman, almost a painting, poised and reading a beautiful piece of literature.
10
The words then moved inside my head, and soon the song began. It played on the imaginary I-Pod in my head, and my head started
singing, "Oooo-woo-who, wishing you were (echo...wishing you were
here...oooo, oooo, ooooo, oooo...) here...You know how songs suddenly
start playing in your head, and you suddenly envision beauty and art. Well, at least MY head does that, and has since I was a daydreamer looking out windows in school. So there I was...
11 My lazy, senile brain just said, "Ah, I love that song..." when I suddenly awakened and noticed the gal at the window standing there holding two huge cups, one in each hand. She had a wart, and very few working teeth. I had my worn-out ATM card in my left hand and so I suddenly panicked. My lazy brain went into overload trying to figure out how to get the card to the lady and negotiate the drinks to my cup-holders.12 It was darned-well frightening, let me tell you.
13 I didn't want to spill on the certificates, even if they weren't made, but I also didn't want to ask for a holder, because the last TWO times (yes, you heard correctly) I did, they gave me this ridiculously under-sized and weak holder, and each time, an entire Coke or Pepsi or whatever the heck they serve spilled all over the passenger floorboards of the TOOOOOONDRA.
14 In fact, each time I go over there to open the door, I forget, and the door seems sorta stuck shut. I no longer hold doors for people, I peel them open like an report folder that might have suffered a similar spill.
15 Anyway, I looked back up at the gal who was doing the transaction, and I warned her that my ATM card has a scratch, and that it might not go through, and then she disappeared for a second, you, you know how fast-food people turn invisible and then reappear?
16 Yeah. Something like that.
17 Well, with both Wishing You Were Here AND my preoccupation with the card not registering on the little machine, I just went into a dull trance, mouth down, staring into the side-view.
18 She said something, and I was going to say, "It's okay, I'll just pay cash." But after she said something around three times I realized in my senilty and deafness that she simply asked if I wanted a) hot sauce, and b) hot or mild.19 Around twenty-six seconds later it registered, and I answered, "Oh...hot." I felt a bit like a twenty-first century Walter Mitty. She disappeared once more and then re-appeared with the hot sauce. She was smiling, when I noticed that there was smoke all behind her and little beeps going on. Inside, everyone seemed to just be working normally.
20 She disappeared one more time for something, and it occurred to me that this might be my last moment on the planet, that this place was about to blow.
21 She finally returned and I just said, "Did you know you guys have smoke in there?"
22 "Yays," she answered with a thick accent. "Outrquesedilla machine..." and she smiled sweetly. I bade her well, thanked her, looked up at the sky and thanked the Lawd for not blowing me up, and took off for home.
23 On the way home, EVERYTHING became blurry. Just slightly blurry, like some bad font. But blurry. The ARCO station. Blurry. Jack-in-the-Box. Blurry. Walgreens.
Walgreens. Some things never change.24 Anyway, I got everything home safe and sound, an adventure in senility, and tried to find the CD player that kept playing Wishing You Were Here. I actually wanted to turn the song on and listen to it, but couldn't find it, so I figured what was going on in my head would work.
25 We're here to help.
26 Wishing you were here.27 A day in the life.
28 I miss everybody.
29 Have a lovely day.
30 Peace and fog.
31 Wishing you were here.
~H~ -
The Daily News
1 I guess the first thing I need to address today is the tragedy that took place at our school the other night. We lost two students to an auto accident. Early Monday morning word came into our Leadership class about the accident, and for the past few days the school has been shocked and in mourning for the very tragic loss of two great kids. I won't go into a lot of details, but let's just say it was a tough go. It's been on the news and in the paper. Out of respect for the family and friends of the said students, I'll simply leave it at that. Tough times for lots of people, and we all have been keeping their family and friends in our prayers. Sad times up on the hill.2 Moving on: Stuff like that puts everything in perspective. I look at all the news, and the entire way people sort of over-react to the smallest things, and it just makes me shake my head.
3 Once again, the best lesson surfaces: Life is just too short.
4 We had this guy who used to come over to our house when I was in eighth grade. He was a Junior in high school, and was one of my sister Linda's friends. She had millions, and they all used to come over to our house to paint posters and prepare for the Friday football games.
5 There would be posters, paint, laughter, music, and all that good-spirited stuff going on in my garage. All the football players, spirit leaders, cheerleaders, and anyone else who just enjoyed the entire Friday night football thing would gather and paint posters for the rallies and for the game.
6 Anyway, this one guy sort of watched over all of it. I think he was the Spirit Committee leader. He was great, and whenever someone would get upset about something like spilled paint, or a smudge on a poster, he would always look and say, "Don't sweat the small stuff."
7 My mom was (and still IS) the kind of mom who loved having all the kids come over and have fun. She also had seen her share of tragedy, so each time that guy would say that, she would be absolutely charmed.
8 Don't sweat the small stuff.
9 It's such a simple philosophy, but how often do we get "up to our ears in alligators" when we should really be asking, "Is this really worth all this stress?"
10 Two kids were taken from us last weekend. They had spent the afternoon job-hunting at some shopping mall, and decided to go for a ride later in the day.
11 They were going to look for jobs on Monday too.
12 Sad.
13 It also puts a whole bunch of nonsense in perspective.
14 Today I'm going to drive up to the school, and I'm going to look immediately beyond it to the hills, and to the clouds and the blue sky. I'm going to think of things that are really important, and the second someone comes up and makes me insane, or nervous, or whatever, I'm going to whisper to myself some kind words.
15 Don't sweat the small stuff.
16 Live life.
17 Love life.
18 It's all so simple.
19 Have a beautiful day.
20 Peace.
~H~ 
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The Daily News
1 Aha.2 My second day on the laptop job and things are suddenly looking pretty spiffy.
3 Well it stands to reason.
4 Such a strange time of the year, really.
5 Anyway it's really late, or early. I got in late, or early last night. I was in search of a pristine copy of Franco Zefferelli's Taming of the Shrew, a classic if there ever was one.
6 Elizabeth Taylor. Richard Burton. Michael York. Good stuff.
7 Traditionally this would bring my year to an end. Books would be returned to the bookroom, students would sit and laugh, and the antics of Taylor and Burton would light up the day. It traditionally means the end of a grueling school year, and this year is no exception.8 Shrew.
9 The only way to bow out.
10 Anyway, I did find a copy and I was ridiculously excited about it, almost to the point that I don't find anything else entertaining right now.
11 Ah, it'll fade, but the music, the acting, the entire thing just rolls.
12 If you haven't seen it, you should rent it, read the plot synopsis online and then kick back and let it take hold.
13 Shrew.
14 The only way to bow out.
15 I have to get run over by around eight more tractors, a couple of cow pies, and people who fly on bicycles only because the stick that is up their ass holds them on like a merry-go-round pole.
16 Still...
17 Things are winding down rather quickly.
18 Stay tuned.
19 And God give you...
20 Well, not quite yet.
21 Enjoy your Tuesdeeee everybody!
22 Peace.
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The Daily News
1 Meet Bubbles.
2 The dog, not the dame.3 What's the signif?
4 First off, she's pretty irresistible.
5 Yeah?
6 Second, she's the first image I've been able successfully to pull up in almost two months.6 Finally, she's the first picture I've ever put on the DN that came from working with a laptop.
7 Yep. You heard right. As absolutely computer savvy as I am, I am a REALLY late bloomer when it comes to laptops.
8 I was a late bloomer with cell phones as well. Ironically, my cell just died on me a few days ago and for a brief stint I thought I would once again be cell-less, which wouldn't really break my heart at all.
9 I fought off cell phones for years.
10 I caved, and found I actually enjoyed having one, and in fact became quite dependent upon it.
11 Anyway, it's looking as though I can dig up some fresh images for the DN.
12 It's funny because it seems as if I've been in a sort of picture prison for two months now, unable to get out there and do it. And now that I suddenly CAN, I can't think of what pictures to get.
13 So I'm gonna play a bit of a game today. I'm going to think of something and then google it, and see what comes up.
14 Here goes: the first category is,"HOLY SHIT!" There were around 12 pages of pictures, so I won't announce the candidates. But after examining each for hours on end, I came up with some winners. (
Drum roll) and the winners are:
In third place, Let's just call this
Surfer Dude with Shark
In second place, This ONION headline:
AND...the winner by a wide margin: Let's just call this piece,
A Couple of Big Boobs
M'bad.
15 Well I must say it was a fun experiment. Excuse me while I
duck.16 Whew. That was a close one.
17 All apologies, just getting used to this new forum. I haven't really figured out how to work this laptop yet, so if anything came in that might be construed as offensive, please allow me a day.
18 Meanwhile, here are some ducks:
Why a Duck?Why the heck not?
15 Oh, my.16 This will surely take some getting used to.
17 Hold onto your hats.
18 And if you see anything offensive comin' to getcha, just duck.
19 Why a duck?
20 Hmm.
21 Why not?
22 Peace.
~H~
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