http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gawHpKchG0c

And here's a trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0m6sclZkH0

The Daily News

1  Is there anything better than a job well done?

2  Without actually bragging, I feel that happened yesterday.

3  How often in life do we have an opportunity to finish a large task, and then sit and reflect on all of it?

4   After my last class yesterday, I felt I had been released from a prison perhaps of my own making.

5   What's funny is that I had spent so much time reacting and preparing that when it all finally stopped I stood astonished.

6   My students sat and took a final while the rest of my presence suddenly had nothing really to do. I felt this immense sense of Catholic guilt. I thought that I should be helping everone, or working the room for further explanations, but really, I simply gave the prompts for the final and then spent the remainder of the day trying to get myself organized to exit this fine morning.

7  No matter how I looked at it, all the hard work had succeeded. My workload had suddenly lightened up and I found myself bouncing pencils on my desk and looking out to the baseball field.

8  I still had tons to do, but the lion's share of the year had all been done and over before I even handed out a prompt.

9  My students had trouble grasping that it was over. They wanted the Cafe' Verona to continue; they wanted my instant feedback on their finals, and for many, they wanted to cry.

10  So did I, in many ways.

11  It was a very stressful and emotional year, as are most.

12  But this year was arguably the most heartfelt and stressfulf in my entire career. My Mom's illness, the online class, and the adaptation to suddenly working with the brightest lights in the district made for a wonderful ride, and an entire different respect than I had ever received in other places (ahem!).

13  My entire dream of teaching that began in college had finally reached "fruition" and I found that at long last I not only had an entire new generation loving my idiotic antics, but that I also began to understand Letterman's humor.

14  If that makes no sense, then you haven't been hanging out at 11:30 p.m. trying to make any of this immediate to a layperson.

15   Letterman is always sitting around giving me giggles and true smiles every single night. A lot of people don't like the guy, but he has always been my end-of-the night go-to guy.

16   This takes nothing away from Leno, who I also revere after all these years. But Letterman was consistently underrated because of his tendency to be a bit acrid and acrimonious, neither word of which I understand but that I do know are early on in the dictionary.

17  Either way, his style is clearly consistent with my style, and it was nice last night finally to give his idiocy a listen.

18  Ah, he's worth the investment. I have no specifics, just random thoughts to throw out there on this, the second-to-the last DN of this school year.

19  I'll give a better deal tomorrow, hopefully, although I'm going to see Wicked tomorrow night immediately after I've turned in my keys and all.

20  So it will be another rush job, but what else is new?

21  Meanwhile, it's still Friday, so love it. I'll throw one more DN out there before I blast off for Mars. Thanks for abiding.

22  Meanwhile, I have one thing to say.

23   Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily News

 

1  I had to miss YB's graduation last night as I was again inundated with papers, grading, and closing everything down. The irony is dripping man.

2  I almost said that the ironing is dripping, which would really not have worked at all.

3  The irony, by the way, always seems to be dripping, whatever that means.

4   For example, around two months ago I graded this huge batch of papers KNOWING that I was going to run into these paper struggles later in the year. I knew then that my Mom's illness, my college class, and my own inability to get organized were going to team up to bite me in the ass.

5  So I took graded about two or three reams of papers for my third period class so they would be done. I put them in a box by the front door, where they sat for the past month or so. They were especially important because they contained original poetry by my class, and I knew they needed special care.

6   So for the past three weeks I've been grading papers as never before, for I had gotten hopelessly behind with all the rest of everything going on.

7   I finally finished everything for that class, and went in yesterday proud, holding sixteen tons of papers. I handed all of them back in a mad flurry.

8   Right as class was ending and everyone was saying good-bye, one of my favorite kids came up and asked if I had her poems.

9   I laughed and told her they were probably being handed out by the poetry fairies circulating the room in devine disruption.

10  She shook her head.

11  "Mine weren't there," she said. Great kid too.

12  I said, "Of COURSE they're there! They were the first ones I graded two months ago!"

13  It was then I realized that I must have forgotten the box by the door, or that there even WAS a box by the door.

14   The class hugged, cried, and left, and I went home. There, right next to the front door, was this container with one huge stack of papers. So the class I wanted to really take care of had come and gone and the papers never returned.

15  Added to this irony is that we have this thing called "School Loop", some magical means of contacting all our students, posting their assignments, and keeping them updated, which I had done in 2004 using a Xanga. I had no idea all year long how to do School Loop, and always told them that. Secretly, I don't really WANT to know, since it would mean twice the e-mails and inquiries from parents and students.

16   So I almost deliberately stayed naive about how to use the thing, figuring that I am already plenty busy. I LOVE the concept, but from my perspective, if I had begun operating with THAT much communication, parents would want to know grades on a daily basis, and I'd spend all my time doing that rather than goofing off at home.

17  So yesterday I frantically gave myself a crash course in School Loop, and finally dashed off a letter to all my third period students telling them to come in and pick up their stuff today.

18  I got about four million e-mails back.

19  Nah, not really, but I certainly felt it might happen.

20  Anyway, it all got resolved.

21  I still stayed up last night until way past midnight in a race to finish commenting on all the papers. As of this writing I've still got about one more ream to go through by 10:50 today. Fortunately, I have to give a final, which gives me two hours of quiet to finish this all up. After I'm done with that, I'm done with everything almost.

22  Ask any teacher: the last few days of school are usually an insane race to get the heck outta the place. I report this about me, but I actually represent all teachers, staff, and administrators who have to go through this annual ritual. It's a huge pain in the arse, but always happens.

23  It's just a job, like any other, only we have to close down once a year. They're having summer school at the Chill this year, so we are also supposed to take all the stuff out of our rooms and off the walls.

24  I just bought two bicycle locks and am locking everything up, and then I'm gonna screech outta that place. It isn't that I don't like it, it's just that the madness of the year gets more and more intense with each tick of the clock.

25  Nearly everybody I've talked to in the past two days is being replaced. They are brave souls, and overall pretty optimistic, but it is sad to think that these people will all be gone next year. The cuts are going to be extreme, and I totally salute anyone going through a layoff right now. Brave, brave souls, all.

26  Welp, that's my tale of woe, for what it's worth. I gotta get some sleep or I'll never finish those papers.

27  I'll probably awaken at around 3:30 and finish reading them.

28  Meanwhile, enjoy your Wednesday now, willya?

29   Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington

 

 

 

 The Daily News

1   I know that it is the last of this school year's DN's, but I have to share something that came over the internet via my dear old friend and confidant Geoff, who got this from HIS dear old friend and confidant Joe "Numnutz" Wilk.

2   It is called The Blues. It was irresistible.

3   So I'll waste none of your time: here is the piece/

The Blues

Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning...."

"I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 poun
d."

The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch--ain't no way out.

Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportationis a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is.

You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass

Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses

No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

Do you have the right to sing the Blues?

Yes, if:
a. you older than dirt
b. you blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis

d. you can't be satisfied

No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived
d. you have a 401K or trust fund

Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston coul
d. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues.Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. cheap wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. nasty black coffee

The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling

Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

Making your own Blues name Starter Kit:
a. Name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. First name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
c. Last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)

For example:Blind Lime Jefferson, Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, et
c. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

And, I don't care how tragic your life: if you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues. (DAMN!)

4  I had stressed the entire morning when that came over the airwaves, and I about dies of laugter.

5   All so true, and so fun!

6   Well, I'm down to my last three classes. Finished another six hours of papers, but definitely turned the corner on the year, not a moment too soon.

7   So I think I'll pull out my guitar and slug down some whiskey.

8   I'm ready to get down to some hardcore blues, even though I have a laptop.

9   Happy landings today. It will be my most triumphant day even though technically old Numnutz gave me the proper fixin's to sing the blues.

10  Hope you enjoyed that.

11   I sure did, and Goof, it's the veddy best, lemme tellya.

12   Peace, see ya tamale.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington

 

 

  The Daily News

1  These days I sometimes feel I am reporting home about the distant wars.

2   For example, I spent all day yesterday afternoon trying to figure out which things I hadn't yet graded, which things needed to come home, which things needed to be documented and sent to the District, which things needed to be done before I begin my final online class, which things...

3   And I felt a slight pain in the left side of my heart. It wasn't much, but it had more to do with wishing the very best for my students, and very little with physical concerns.

4   Yesterday I received applause in five out of five classes.

5   As a teacher, I found it quite moving and soulful.

6   I don't think that ever happened to me before. The only other time I had something that amazing was my very first year at YB when the entire senior class stood up and clapped for me at Honors Night.

6   It was shortly afterwards that I became a different teacher, one relegated to the artistic worlds of Language Arts and Comp Lit, where I met and enjoyed students who were English Language Learners. At first I felt offended, but as the years rolled by, I realized that those students were talented, amazing kids, quite often ignored or misunderstood by the mainstream.

7   I got a kick out of them! Many had lower skills, but enormous heart and soul. I had a great connection, always did. While other teachers enjoyed the challenges of upper level students, I had great fun with our English learners.

8   I used to have them read newspapers on Fridays. I remember this one Cambodian kid who used to say, "New pahpah, Newpahpah!" because he always loved newspaper days.

9   I remember the kid who put up with all my grammar drills and returned one day after five years at SJSU to give me thanks for teaching him the structural rules of grammar. He told me that those lessons got him through college.

10  I'm humbled by the applause coming from my students yesterday. They all are fun and brilliant, and many became emotional at the end of the period.

11  These are kids who "get it", and who will always understand.

12   I just thought of the English learners I had through the years who accomplished things beyond what anyone could ever imagine, and how very much they learned and accomplished as well.

13   Much of those underscored accomplishments defined many of the teachers at YB.

14   Those teachers were the best of the best, because the ones who helped the English learners became role models, surrogate parents, and great friends to the students in their quest for higher level thinking.

15  The rewards at YB were always special and amazing.

16   People will never know.

17   YB had a special thing, and it worked for the entire campus year in and year out.

18   The accomplishments of those students were always minimized, and the teachers rarely recognized, but I always knew who the GREAT teachers were. Many still read the DN, and have silently been tremendous support folks for the students who really need good teaching.

19   Unsung heroes, but my personal heroes, to a person.

20   So yesterday I felt proud to have made a difference in the lives of students who understood the effort it takes, and it touched my heart.

21   In some ways, I thought the applause was representative of the many English learners who also struggled to understand what was happening in the "New pah pah".

22   I received a dozen red roses that one time the Seniors in Honors Night stood for me my first year.

23   Yesterday I again received those red roses when each class applauded. Nobody will ever get it, but it meant some sort of sweetness that saturates the lives of any good teacher out there.

24   It felt nice, no matter what else. When I heard them all laughing at the antics of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew, it made it all come home.

25   I don't know if this is too whatever, but I'm simply reporting things as they come in.

26   Thanks to all of you who got it over the years. You'd be surprised how much it means to a teacher to be recognized at the end of the school year. It isn't about ego; it's about passion, and how much we hope to make some sort of difference in the lives of our students.

27   Yesterday was one such recognition. I never had five classes applaud with genuine heart.

28  Felt great, I must confess.

29   Wonderful. Marvelous.

30   Peace.

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington

 

 

 The Daily News
                                                    Chaplin in modern times

Bogart and Bergman in Casablanca

1  Ah, the final days.

2  I buried meself in work this weekend, beyond anything I've done in a while.

3  It was a lost weekend, with the exception of my watching Michael Curtiz's The Cole Porter Story.

4   I've become addicted to the Classic Movie channel.

5   I don't suppose it's because I'm awake every single night at around 2:30.

6   I also caught a glimpse of Errol Flynn in Captain Blood.

Captain Blood

7   Oh, there are some bad ones, which make the good ones look so much better.

8   I'm ready to take a class in classic films. I took a few in college, but now many of the films that were contemporary at the time are considered classics now!

9   I don't remember who said it, but I heard a quote that went something like this: any movie you haven't seen is a new movie.

10  Iono. I may have been the guy who said it.

11  I can't seem to be able to Google it.

12  Anyway, I really do believe that.

13  I also don't always feel I have to call a great movie a "film". That's uppity, even though I get in on it meself.

14   It is also fun to think about films because there MUST be a greatest film ever made out there. I'll be darned if I could decide on the best of all time.

15   Citizen Kane always jumps into my face any time I bring that up, even though Orson Welles was pretty full of himself.

16   Great movie. I also love Casablanca beyond words, but there are billions who would argue against that grand old piece.

17    Godfather?  I'm going out on a limb here to say that although I love the Godfather flicks, I think it is pretentious a lot of the time. I doubt guys talk like that, honestly.

18    I also think that Zeffirelli's Taming of the Shrew is arguably the most underrated film ever. Almost everything about it is perfect. Acting, costumes, sets, tableaus, timing, lighting, music, textures, and yes, even an offensive theme!

19   So many.

20   I'm not seeing that sort of film nowadays, with all due respect. Maybe Benjamin Button, which had a sweet ending, but not much has really moved me in years.

21   And I'm guessing that there are as many top ten films as there are movie fanatics.

22   So is there a greatest of all time? I wouldn't even want to start a list, I swear to you, but it would be fun to see what people have to say.

23   How about that? What is the greatest movie ever made? If you could choose one, what would it be.

24   I'd be hard-pressed not to vote for Shrew, even though it isn't even on the film register in most people's books.

25   I'll just let that one float out there and see what surfaces.

26   We all have a fave, not necessarily what film "buffs" would enjoy.

27   Anyway, I'm thinking of trying to buy as many classics as possible.

28   The other day Caitlin and I went to Target to look at DVD's. Most films were on sale for as low as $7.50. The classics, however, were asking up to $17-$29 each! So maybe it's becoming a movement.

29   Anyway, I've really loved it; it's the only thing that has made sense to me in the past three weeks. I just smile at old movies.

30   So right in the middle of writing this, I notice that the teevee has some commercial about skin acne on. I just got up and switched it to the Classic Movie channel, and guess what was on.

31   Casablanca.

32   We're in Paris for the final kiss and separation.

33   You must remember this.

34    Peace.

Hoffman and Ross in The Graduate

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  Randy Johnson must be top priority today.

2  Sorry David Carradine, but the Big Unit won number 300 yesterday, and it worked in every way.

3  We'll get back to you, guy.

4   Thank goodness for the rain delay both nights. First, the rain delay the other night which went to almost midnight meant that HAD they said the game would be played, there would have been a baseball game beginning almost at midnight. Had Johnson pitched and won that one, it woulda been history beyond history. History will show that.

5   As it was, he did fine until he began talking about some of the baseball greats we've all seen: Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, and Cy Young. More importantly was Johnson's interview which got interrupted by the second ball game yesterday. CSN knocked him outta the box so they could bring in Kruk and Kuip for the second game.

6   The rain delay enabled us to watch the entire Randy Johnson interview, and while repetitive at times, his references to his time with "Nolan" worked for me. I was a huge Nolan Ryan fan when I used to vend beer and peanuts and stuff. Any time that guy was on the mound, I'd get myself behind home plate and watch to see if I could see the ball and maybe hit it. Naturally, I would have been a .350 hitter against the venerable Ryan.

7  And Carlton would certainly have been shakin' in his socks if he faced me, and I was the only person on the planet privy to that information.

8  Ah, ya gotta love it.

9  But what made it all excellent was when Randy Johnson talked of his dad, who passed away years ago.

10  I understood, certainly.

11  Soul.

12  Well it IS Dead Week at the high schools, so I'm listening to "Deal" by the immortal Grateful Dead, contemplating bringing this iPod to my American Lit kids tomorrow.

13  Yeesh.

14  There's so much more.

15   I mean, David Carradine walked right into a bar yesterday, but also fell into a cosmic Heidi trip.

16   I got myself into the school's theater yesterday to show Taming of the Shrew for my English 1 and 1A students, who lapped it up and loved it.

17  But yesterday at the end of the first class, a couple of students approached me and said, "Mr. H, the Theater became really cold right in the middle of the movie. We think Heidi was here today!"

18  You read yesterday's DN. I wrote about my old ybdrama.com website, which had the Heidi Chronz on it, and yes, I DID look at them on said night.

19  I actually loved it.

20  Dead Week.

21  I had already heard of David Carradine's walk into a Buddhist bar. so I was cool with that.

22   What I didn't expect was when my American Lit classes came in.

23   Since they were Am Lit, I had to bring something, well, American.

24   I brought the John Ford film version of Grape of Wrath.

25   Which was WAY cool, as is any film of the immortal Ford.

26   But what I forgot was that the preacher in the film was played by John Carradine, the FATHER of David Carradine!

27   Suddenly he was up in the air acting his heart out in that film.

28   I had a wireless mic to incorporate colour commentary on the films, and I brought up the passing of David Carradine.

29   The film continued to a scene where the character of Connie, the husband of Rose of Sharon, had a guitar and began strumming.

30   The song he strummed and sang was immediately recognizable as Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad, a Grateful Dead staple.

31   Tell me.

32    After exiting, I got it.

33    Message complete, thank you very much.

34    Leaving Barnes and Noble, I felt that I was being absolutely attacked by Heidi trips: I saw The Scarlet Letter, something by Fitzgerald, and then one last glance to a book that jumped out at me: Steinbeck's East of Eden.

35    My main reason for even BEING there was that we needed a pound of coffee, and I needed the CD of Pomp and Circumstance for Foothill HS's graduation, which takes place in our Theater.

36   Anyway, I saw East of Eden and KNEW it was on with Heidi.

37    I finally made my way to the Starbuck's section of Barnes and Noble, and looked at the coffee. I immediately tripped on what they had predominantly on display.

38    Caffe' Verona.

39    Gawd's Truth.

40    The second name I have had for my room. The Cafe' Verona is now officially the Caffe Verona, with two "F's".

41    Furthermore, my barista said that I was entitled to a free cuppa coffee because I had purchased a pound.

42    Heidi. I sweah to Gawd.

43   Tell me.

44    Have a beautiful weekend, and listen to a little Grateful Dead for me.

45    And Randy, you the man. Proud to have a real Giant on the Giants. 

45    Peace.

 

~H~

www.xanga.com/bharrington

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily News 1  After I sent off yesterday's DN, I looked back over it and decided to take an astral ride to www.ybdrama.com, just for old tyme's sake. 2  What struck me immediately was that the website had steadied itself since Halloween, my last attempted visit. 3  I abandoned the site a couple of years ago when I couldn't work with Geocities any longer. My account had expired, so I gave them more money, and then the website wouldn't let me layer things any longer. 4   I don't know it that makes any kind of sense, but layering is simply the ability to lay one thing on top of another, much the way one can put magazine pictures over other magazine pictures in a collage. 5   With Geocities, I was able to put words over pictures, and pictures over other pictures. When I created the website in 2002, I had attempted to learn web building and all. At the time I was completely unaware of Xanga, so I spent the early part of the summer trying to go digital. I had noticed that almost no teachers had websites, so to me it was a bit cutting edge, even as late as 2002. 6  Anyway, I put together a rather rudimentary website, but enjoyed working on it, much the same as I now enjoy working on a garden each summer. 7  The website took shape, and soon I was able to post DN's. What's fun is seeing old DN's, because it's a bit like reading old comic books. The original ideas are different than what eventually emerged. 8   For example, I now refer to my summer retreat in Tahoe as Mars, and it has been that for many years now. But it was originally referred to as Jupiter!  9  I also noticed that in my entry of 8/14/2002 I had put, "So...Ed Headrick, inventor of the Frisbee, flies into a tree..." 10  This struck me as weird, because a guy ALWAYS walked into a bar... 11  Until I thought to myself that the inventor of the Frisbee WOULD fly into a tree. 12   This was confirmed on 8/20/02 when I reported that former Dodger Johnny Roseboro walked into a bar... 13  Anyway, visiting the website was fun, but also a bit dangerous because I started reading all the early online DN's, of which there were many. 14  There was a gap between 2003 and 2004 when Geocities screwed up the account, so those DN's are in hard copy in storage, but later on, May 16, 2004, I began the present form of the DN. 15  It wasn't until a few years later that I began posting a lot of pictures and colors, and moved to the Ariel font, but it was still fun navigating around the old ybdrama.com haunts. 16   Especially interesting last night was the fact that when I visited the website on Halloween, everything was at different angles and looked like a scrapbook that had taken a fall off a high building. Pictures were out of place, and it was embarrassing sending my students to it to read the Heidi Chronz. 17  But the other night, by some miracle, it had been restored to its original design. Everything looked better, and it looked nicer, all the links worked, and I really enjoyed looking over it. It was still a work in progress, but had a really alive feel to it. On Halloween, it seemed dead as an old tree. 18  Maybe it's the Spring that watered it and brought life back into it. 19  I don't know. 20  The Message Board was invaded by Viagra ads and other nonsense, but still works, as far as I know. I'm thinking of posting on it after I write this, just to get it all going again. 21  I may be able to add some things, although I don't remember my password, nor anything else about how to make that site work again. It's also a bit distanced, since I'm no longer at YB. 22  You can still get to the DN, as well as my old Xanga spot if you go there. 23   It was an enchanting visit, all in all. I was amazed that it righted itself and that everything is back the way it originally looked. 24   You might wish to visit. It's a bit like a trip through the Winchester Mystery House, especially the Heidi Chronz, which I attempt to edit each year, and which always goes wonky when I attempt it. I think I caught the entire website off guard last night, and caught it celebrating itself. 25  I'll visit again, but right now it's almost 5 a.m. I awoke at around 3:30 as per usual. Insominia runs my life these days. 26   Anyway, if you're bored later on, take a glance at www.ybdrama.com just for fun. I think it's a good two-hour tour of all that nonsense, but it's a sort of fun tour. 27  And it is filled with coincidences, ghosts, and other fun stuff, like Strong Bad, my hero. 28  Meanwhile, I've corn to plow. I'm tearing down the Catedral, or the Cafe' Verona, if you will, up at the Chill. My room is now boxes and empty walls, save for a the Renaissance masks. Sort of soulful for the first time since I got up there. 29  Working with five full classes brought a great amount of soul back to teaching. 30  I'm still a teacher, and it's great to have had this year, for what it's worth. 31   Whoops. Getting off subject, or maybe onto tomorrow's. 32   Visit the site. 33    Peace. ~H~   www.xanga.com/bharrington VISIT STRONG BAD BELOW. http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html www.ybdrama.com

 

 

  The Daily News

1  Nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about.

2   It doesn't matter how many years I do this, I'm always amazed when we hit the final days of school.

3   At some point it feels as though all of it will go on forever. But yesterday's meeting told us that we have a tonna work left to do.

4   For one thing, the closing out of a year is always a buncha boushit where we have to get around six-hundred things done and signed off before leaving for summer.

5   Not that I mind, mind you.

6   But we have to get this sign-out sheet done where we have to put together a gradebook, give finals, grade finals in one day, calculate all the grades, sign every sheet, turn in every book, get clearance from the library, the bank, and a billion other things, all the while reading and grading papers.

7   Naturally, I take to the couch and pull a blanket over me eyes every time someone gives me too much stuff to do.

8   It's all necessary, and an annual ritual. All of it tends to get done when I am having my classes watch Taming of the Shrew.

9   This year's meeting was a bit unique in that many staff members will not be returning due to the economy. It is a sad, sad thing to see, and a proud thing as well, watching those people keeping their heads up and continuing to do everything they can as professionals. We're losing our receptionist, who is awesome and amazing, our bank lady, who calls herself The Bank Lady and is the heart and soul of the ASB kids, our bookroom guy (they are planning on giving the students five or six books on the first day of school), and several young, incredible teachers, all of whom are working hard, and continuing to do everything they can for the students.

10  It's happening everywhere I realize, but  still.

11  Sad, sad, sad.

12   Moving on: The end of the school year also means the end of the DN for the summer, so next Friday will be the last DN until August. I'll probably throw a summer piece in there at some point just to say hi, but it's truly what keeps the DN from being just another blog.

13  The DN defined the blog, in my humble opinion! Haha, it will go into its fourteenth year next fall. Online it's been going on since around 2002, maybe earlier as I have some old ones posted on www.ybdrama.com, but I rarely go there anymore.

14  I also have a HUGE hard copies of old DN's going back to 1998, even though the DN started in 1996 during our production of Guys and Dolls, which remains one of the classics.

15  This pre-dated blogs by perhaps centuries. It was originally a means of talking to everybody involved in the musical, and was posted in the hallway of the performing arts building. At first it was reasonably factual, but after a while, I decided to add things that would make people laugh in the morning.

16  I used to love sneaking in, posting it, and the sitting in the office while everyone would come in and read it.

17  As alumni would visit, I'd send copies, and eventually, I had people receiving copies from all over the place. I now have people going all the way back to my very first day of teaching at YB reading this, and staying in touch.

18  And the fun thing is, I never really think it's about me; it's more about a shared past, and how somehow we all have been thrown on board this crazy ship that is called the present, and face the same uncertainties, idiocies, democracies, elections, inspections, causes, bosses, productions, deductions, hopes, dreams, moronic schemes, babies, maybes, tears, fears, strokes, jokes, scars, cars, and cheap cigars and we're all fighting the good fight as we continue this voyage to goodness knows where.

19  And each day we drag ourselves outta bed and do the best we know how.

20  It makes me proud just to know people can still do all that and yet can continue to smile and enjoy listening to a bird singing on an early morning in June, when it all seems to slow down a bit and the days stretch out enough for us to stretch out with them.

21  I hope all of you go out and enjoy the day today. Take some time for yourselves, and in your mind, tell whoever is driving you crazy that they just aren't important today.

22  And then eat chocolate.

23  And read meaning in a cloud.

24  Thanks for being you.

25   Peace.

~H~

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