October 26, 2009
-
The Daily News1 Funny how sometimes your day simply unravels before your very startled eyes.
2 Yesterday was one such day.
3 First, the Yankees got to the Series, which we all knew would probably happen anyway, so I wasn't too put off.
4 Second, the Niners fell short in a comeback that included three guys who should have been superstars by now anyway. I guess the good news is that Alex Smith actually played his first coherent NFL game, so we Niner fans may have something on which to hang our hats.
5 Third, I received an insulting comment, which happens now and again, but is always a bit off base and relatively rude. I won't comment on it nor even really acknowledge it further, but it was a bull-sigh and a head-shake.
6 Fourth, I thought something that was going to be grand turned out disappointing, but I think things like that happen all the time, just not in a one-day line-up.
7 Fifth, a lesson plan I worked on all afternoon blew up in my face, since it involved a short video. Turns out that the video had all sorts of cussing in it.
8 Sixth, significant things I've posted on Facebook kept disappearing, which I naturally associate with the beginning of what I lovingly refer to as The Heidi Chronicles, named after the selfsame play by Wendy Wasserstein.
8 And finally, I saw that Rush Limbaugh used a fake story about Obama to criticize Obama, and NEVER apologized. Crackerjack reporting from that goombah.
9 I literally pulled a blanket over my head and fell asleep early, which I had been avoiding for the past four days. I had defeated insomnia, but looks like it came back in fierce order. I conked out at around 8 p.m. last night and am now back into the swing of insomnia, very typical for a Sunday night.
10 In order then, I knew when the Angels won a few days ago that it was going to be short-lived, so I had to get a few Yankee jabs in there for the masses. I offended a few people, but such is life: I took a lot of jabs from Yankee fans over the years, as well as from Dodger fans, AND from Giant "fans" who know nothing about sticking with their team. All apologies if my neener-neeners offended. It's the nature of the sport, so hopefully all is forgiven.
11 Grouches lol!
12 The Niners looked horrendous in the first half yesterday, which made me question Singletary's ability to coach when things go wrong. The guy's done wonders with a team that looked to be a bunch of slack-jawed sad sacks when he got them a year ago, but who had a lot of blind faith buying into his smashmouth decision-making.
13 He makes good decisions though, but I started to wonder how long his tough guy exterior would hold up during the tougher times, as in blowouts. He responded yesterday by fixing a hole. I'm not a huge Alex Smith fan, and I despised Michael Crabtree's holdout, but once those things calmed, and the two became teammates, I thought that we were paying some pretty good money, so let's see some production.
14 That DID happen yesterday. We lost, but with a little bit of hope. Wish I could say the same for the Raiders. Sorry Raiders' fans. I'm still completely sympathetic with your ordeal, and really do hope for the best.
15 Regarding an insulting comment, ah, I get 'em all the time. It was simply an irritant in an irritating line of fire. I fight insults with hard work and love. Easy to do. And then you just let them roll off your back.
16 Looking forward to things that will bring great smiles only to be let down happen frequently, but I do have positive hope in most things. Sometimes, it turns into a disappointment, and one needs to get right back up and keep winning. Someone could literally rip my heart right out of my soul, hand it back, and I could put it back right where it belongs. Might not be that quick, but pretty quick.
17 It's again when it happens in a series of seven deadly moments, and it is only the fourth, it hurts, much like a few punches to the ribs can slow down a boxer.
18 It's all good; the fighter still remains.
19 the lesson plan originally was to be a video of an old show called Sightings, which featured a great old piece about ghosts. I found it on You Tube, found it a tad dated, but it had an excellent bit on Alcatraz. I showed the You Tube last week, which worked, but tied up my computer all day.
20 The original plan was to find something as good, only more modern, so I went to Barnes and Noble and looked through all their documentaries, only to come up short. I then combed all old teevee shows for something like Spielberg's Amazing Stories series, which they had, but which the clerk couldn't find.
21 I wound up purchasing Tales From the Crypt, the second season, which turned out to be pretty assinine. The idea was to get something older, but in color, and which might give enough for a one-hour entertainment session as an overture to the Heidi Chronz.
22 Midway through one episode, explosive cursing fell like a thunderstorm. Now I'm no prude, and if the piece I'm presenting is well-written and meaningful, I will sometimes overlook it. But when it's a series that was mediocre in its original form, it becomes a tough thing to justify.
23 At that point, my patience finally abandoned me, and I became pretty upset, knowing that I had to re-think the entire day today, but after already investing a goddly amount of planning time. That coupled with the other small irritations became amazingly frustrating.
24 I did what any red-blooded American would do: I turned to Facebook, only to find that for the second consecutive day, things that were posted disappeared. The day before, something a good friend had posted kept disappearing. It wasn't THAT important, but I explored ways to fix that on You Tube, and it said that I needed to check my own OS, which to me is like opening the hood of a car and staring.
25 I pushed a few buttons and things came back, then disappeared again, then came back, and on and on.
26 Well, I posted publicly a Tales From the Crypt request for best episodes, and it kept not appearing, and then they all appeared on my "Wall". I removed them, then put one back up. Someone sent in an answer and it disappeared again. At first I got really frustrated, but later thought that maybe it wasn't the correct thing to use to open the Heidi Chronz.
27 It's something she'd do. Heidi that is. And the timing is perfect. Up to this point, by the way, I had never had anything disappear on Facebook. Suddenly stuff was up, down, working, and then not. I quickly yanked Tales From the Crypt from my lesson plan, to be replaced by The Sixth Sense, a much better film about ghosts.
28 The cuss words nailed it, so I went gave up, relaxed, found the grand that old film , and decided it might be the ticket, since it's a pretty short film anyway. Students always like that one, and it is more in keeping with the more studied aspects of ghosts.
29 Satisfied that I had a lesson plan that wasn't what I originally wanted, I settled into writing the DN. The first story I read centered around the world's biggest blowhard, Rush Limbaugh, who had read a FAKE about Obama to everybody, and once he found it was fake, CONTINUED to use it to pummel Obama's character, saying that even though the story was fake, it still showed Obama for the cur he evidently is in the addled mind of Limbaugh.
30 I took the high road with that guy when he was trying to buy the St. Louis Rams, wondering about the screw that has been loose in his cabesa for a number of years. But I thought it might make some interesting fodder for the DN. But once I looked it over, I realized it wasn't even worth the trouble.
31 It was less fodder and more like fertilizer.
32 It was then that I decided to throw a blanket over my head, which I don't often do, but which generally means that I've had it for the day. It isn't a defeat by any means, but more of a victory, as in, "You can't do too much more to me today!" I literally cut my day short from so many setbacks, disappointments, and frustrations.
33 The disappointments usually are the key to the rest, and so it goes.
34 The biggest disappointment of all was my own disappointment in myself for not remaining awake, and therefore leaving myself vulnerable to the madness that is insomnia. I had fought all last week not to fall asleep early in the evening, and last night I caved.
35 People will disappoint us all the time; that, my friends, is life. We counter that with loving ourselves, and believing in ourselves. Sometimes we have to be our own best friends, giving ourselves the same advice we would give to the love of our lives.
36 And every now and again we disappoint ourselves. My biggest disappointment yesterday was in myself for expecting too much out of other people and other things. It's at that point that we need to re-group and turn it all into a positive.
37 The positive is that I got rest, put it all behind, and am now rested and alert enough to give it everything I have going into one of my favorite weeks.
38 I'd love to say that I'm sorry I bothered you with all my challenges from yesterday, but really, in the scheme of things, it's a lesson learned, and one I need to keep before myself, and perhaps even to others who experience the same sorts of things.
39 We forget about the important things when we have those sorts of days. We forget that we are alive, that our loved ones are still around us, and that our own health and welfare may be in much better shape than many others in the world.
40 And before we finally throw the blanket over our heads for the entire night, we can smile up at the sky that all is as good as it can be.
41 Even when we have a seemingly not-so-good day, we still should make a go of it, turn it around, and make the next day the best day of the year.
42 I intend to do that today.
43 Hope I didn't bother you too much.
44 Live life, love life.
45 And sometimes, learn from it. I have brought the great poem Chaplinesque to the table for you to enjoy. It is an addendum, and it is there for a reason. ; )
46 Peace.
~H~
www.xanga.com/bharringtonChaplinesque
by
Hart Crane
We make our meek adjustments
Contented with such random consolations
As the wind deposits
In slithered and too ample pockets.
For we can still love the world, who find
A famished kitten on the step, and know
Recesses for it from the fury of the street,
Or warm torn elbow coverts.
We will sidestep, and to the final smirk
Dally the doom of that inevitable thumb
That slowly chafes its puckered index toward us,
Facing the dull squint with what innocence
And what surprise!
And yet these fine collapses are not lies
More than the pirouettes of any pliant cane;
Our obsequies are, in a way, no enterprise.
We can evade you, and all else but the heart:
What blame to us if the heart live on.
The game enforces smirks; but we have seen
The moon in lonely alleys make
A grail of laughter of an empty ash can,
And through all sound of gaiety and quest
Have heard a kitten in the wilderness. 
finis.
Recent Comments