Month: June 2010



  • The Daily News

    1   So...Jimmy Dean walks into a bar...

    2   Yeah, the Sausage King.

    3   He was also a country singer, actor, and entrepreneur.

    4   So it goes, so it goes. Basically a one-hit wonder, Dean rose to fame in 1961 with the release of Big Bad John, the story of a mine disaster in which this huge guy saves all these miners, but in the process, dies. He also played second banana to Rowlf the Dog on The Muppet Show.

    5   Well, so it goes, so it goes...

    6   Moving on, Part the First: A large part of me wishes I had just made Friday my final DN. I got down to school, and wound up having one of the worst days ever!

    7   Last-minute checks on my grades found some points didn't match up with the grades given, and I had swiftly to "double-check" a lot of things, which took forever. I also was to put a gradebook together and hand in, but had ALSO a stack of ESUHSD English benchmark tests to run through a computer in the English office. I had tried getting it done two weeks ago, but didn't have a password, and then the data base wasn't working anyway.

    8   For WHATEVER reason, it was reading the papers but not processing any of them.

    9   I called a gal in the District, and she walked me through a lot of it, but even after the quick training it STILL wasn't working. Each paper had to be nudged in, taking around fifteen seconds from beginning to end for each, and THEN they weren't processing.

    10  I had actually been working to leave Friday at NOON. But all these setbacks kept me down there until around 5:30, and I STILL didn't finish. It was by far my WORST exit ever, even though it was also arguably my best semester teaching.

    11   Just a bad day, and I had to get home to help get Caitlin moved up to Sacto on Saturday, all of which went smoothly. Turns out she's still going to be coming down to work a few days each week, so that is really nice.

    12   It's just that the usual "soulful" final DN has turned into a cheap blog beginning with the Death of Jimmy Dean, which I may turn into a song,The Death of Jimmy Dean.

    13   Moving on, Part the First: So the reflection on the year? After last year with Mom's passing, and my getting my CLAD certification and a significant raise, a lovelier year. I went in thinking it wouldn't touch last year, but in the end, it did.

    14   I got a Facebook somewhere in August or September, which changed a few things in my life. For one thing, the DN started going out to the masses, not that it hadn't been, but the Facebook world brought me in touch with a LOT of people.

    15   I wound up giving myself TWO, one for my family, and one for people with whom I have worked professionally, whether as colleagues or as alumni. Very nice, since I really don't think everybody should see me doing a cannonball into a resort pool.

    16   Somewhere in October things turned really dark. My Dad started going to the hospital for all sorts of things, and other people in my life began getting serious illnesses, a pattern that has been happening for the past six years. I became seriously depressed, and insomniacal. It brought a LOT of last year back, and I got really disoriented. Began working out every single day to battle the depression, and had to work really hard to stay focused on school and on my classes. They became all-important to me.

    17  By Christmas I began to snap out of it, but still had a lot of demons to fight. I didn't say a lot about it, because in polite society, you don't. At the start of the second semester, I became friends with a group of colleagues, and we started hanging out, and it all started to lighten. GREAT peeps! I became a lot more normal, and really started to see teaching as an art. Concurrently, my daughter Nicole was ALSO experiencing the art of teaching, so we got to share inspirations. She now has a weblog entitled Touched by a Rose <I TOLD you she'd write and publish before I ever tack down one key!>. Here's the link:

                          http://touchedbyarose.blogspot.com/?spref=fb

    18   Sweet.

    19   Somewhere around March I began going to the gym less and less <sorry!> but it had to do with: a) Hitting restaurants with friends, and b) grading and planning started becoming huge. Fortunately, I also began my series of Greek roots immersion/Shakespeare/projects/ the now immortal Cafe' Verona poetry readings, and finishing with both presentations of projects and the eternal Taming of the Shrew.

    20   In the end, I KNEW that my students learned WAY more this year than my students did last year. It's a shame, because cutbacks will most definitely really hurt schools next year. The may go down as one of the best second semesters in my entire history of teaching.I had a blast at the end of the year.

    21   The last month was absolutely electric, every single day! I did a series of poetry readings on microphones, played music, sang, and we had a ball toward the end. On the last day, several students gave me gifts, cards, thank-you notes, and letters. One of my best and brightest wrote this to me. It was on a green piece of paper with light yellow stars bordering it. It said it all:

    Dear Mr. Harrington,

               Wow! What a year it has been! It feels like just yesterday I was a nervous freshman on the first day of school, walking into my very first high school classroom -P207 for English 1A. I clearly remember the first day of class, when you introduced yourself briefly and then started us off immediately with a journal entry. Since then, the year has been a blur of vocabulary, Greek and Latin roots, Romeo and Juliet, ghost stories (Heidi!), horror movies, the Odyssey, interesting projects, hilarious skits, music, and poetry. Now it's nearly the last day of school, and here I am, looking back and wondering where the past year has gone. Amidst all this chaos, I realized that I never got a chance to tell you how much I enjoyed every minute of English class. Truly, I want to thank you for teaching me so much about writing, reading, acting, speaking, teaching, and about life in general.

             When I first met you, I remember I was amazed at how nice your are. Throughout the year, my opinion of you has grown better and better. I think you have a very warm and humorous personality and I have always felt comfortable talking to you about anything at all.

    < she mentions in here that she always wanted to teach English, but never felt she would not be patient nor creative enough, etc. Continuing...>

    However, seeing people like you every day who love their job so much and make such a huge effort daily to teach kids who may not even care, people who approach teaching like it's a challenge and yet somehow make it seem like the most exciting career...seeing people like that really makes me want to follow my dream.

             Thanks for a wonderful year, Mr. Harrington! I'm going to miss you...

                                                                                                Your Student,

                                                                             <name withheld pending permission>

    22   I don't think she knew all that I went through, because I took all my heart and soul and poured it into my teaching the entire second semester. It buried all the demons and hauntings from last year, and made me come alive. I saw other teachers burning out, and thought, "Why burn out when you could be a comet rocketing across the night sky?"

    23   Okay, lousy analogy, because I guess comets burn out too. But you know what I mean.

    24   Added to all this was the GRAND marriage proposal last month, and now Caitlin has gone. She is all smiles and looking forward to a beautiful life with a great guy.

    25   She left Saturday afternoon, and it was suddenly quiet. I had that moment for reflection. Got a phone call right about when the Giants/A's were going to play. It was my sister. Dad had shortness of breath and had to go into the hospital again. He had fallen down earlier in the week, and was experiencing excruciating back pain, which could be connected to the bone cancer, or any number of a thousand other things he has weathered over the years.

    26   And I have yet to go up to the Chill and finish checking out, turning in my gradebook running all those papers, turning in my keys, and blah blah blah.

    27   That's where we now stand at this, the final Daily News of the 2009-2010 school year. Thuy Ann and Maggie both graduated this past weekend, TA from UCSD, and Maggie from UCLA. I stand proud of our superstars of '05.

    28   And I look to the stars to give us all hope, and for a beautiful rest this summer.

    29   You have a great one. Pray for Dad, pray for everyone in your lives who needs prayers. I will always look at the stars. I will always look how they shine for you.

    30    May the Creator of the Universe watch over you and yours.

    31    Lots of love.

    32    The rest is silence.

    33    Peace.

        

    Look at the stars; look how they shine for you...

    ~H~


    fin

  •  PAPA ROACH!!!


    A Y.B. Legend Retires!!!
    The Daily News

    1   A HUGE congratulations to Paz Rocha on his retirement yesterday!

    2   Amazingly, of the four-billion pictures I took at YB, I've been unable to find a pic of the fabulous Mr. Rocha. I probably have pictures of him on a disk, or in a yearbook, but all that stuff is in storage.

    3   Ah, vell. I don't think he'd care. WAIT! Found one! YAY! It's up there now. This is a work in progress, folks!

    4   Oh, and I DO have ONE other picture of him, but it ain't goin' up. It's one where he has his arm around Ponticelli, but I had Nick Arellano chop of Ponch's head and place a teacher I won't mention's head on Ponch's neck. It's hilarious, because it is a picture of someone that Rocha notoriously despised, smilin' pretty under his arm.

    5   I gave it to Rocha in '05. He laughed, but yesterday shared some horrendous stories with me about that person.

    6   <in a high-pitched voice: "PSYCHOOOOO">




    7   There was a TON of people there yesterday. I've known for about a month now that he was retiring, and had to keep it under my hat.

    8    Anyway, I would like to thank Debbie Rocha for buying a huge lunch for a bunch of friends and colleagues of both Paz and myself. We had a ball, and it was good to see so many awesome teachers and friends gathered in one place.

    9   I did ask if he wanted me to return the canopy...  ; )

    10  I was just kidding, of course.

    11  Rocha is eternal, people, and a definite Hall-of-Famer.

    12  What an amazing collection of people. I won't even BEGIN to name names, but just about every cool teacher in the history of YB was there. It was WAY cool, because the second the final bell rang yesterday, I hopped in the TOOOOOONDRA and flew right down Tully to Chevy's.

    13  The past coupla years I have managed to have some sort of party to go to the second school is out, so this was AWESOME.

    14   And because the end of the school year was SO positive (It's technically not over until I sign out, hopefully later today) I smiled the whole way to the restaurant.

    15   EVERYBODY was there, including ESUHSD superintendent Dan Moser, our former principal.

    16    I did have a chance to chat with Rocha for around a half-hour. It was awesome.

    17    He will  be missed, but not on the golf course. He was already filling his dance card with golf and wine-tasting events.

    18    I wish I wasn't so damned young! Retirement looks pretty cozy, getting paid to lounge around, golf, wine-taste, make films...OH! Mr. Russell-Bob has just directed a full-length film called Uncle Louie, and it is officially "in the can".

    19   You can get a peek at it by going to www.UncleLouiethemovie.com. Pretty fun stuff.

    20   Moving on, Part the First: My modus the past coupla years is to have one more DN after the Friday one. I think it's because I still have a buncha work left to do, which is true.

    21   I have to punch my grades into a computer, and then throw a bunch of benchmark tests into some data site, get signatures from everybody-and-his brother, turn in my gradebook, and clean out my room. This all takes some teachers about five minutes, but it always takes me a few days, just 'cuz I hate feeling I have to break my neck to get something done. It's like those guys who tailgate you on the way to vacation, you know, "COME ON, GET GOIN', I'M IN A HURRY TO RELAXXXXXXXXXX!!!!"

    22   Dude.

    23   I officially get a little over two months off right now, and we got cut short a week this summer. I clearly have time to turn in that stuff.

    24   So I'll write again on Monday. Today and tomorrow will be hectic and emotional, because it is Nicoley's last day of student teaching, so she'll probably come home and break down. She LOVES her students, and saying good-bye can be a killer every year.

    25   I got a little teary-eyed yesterday. I LOVE my fourth-period class, and they showered me with gifts. One girl gave me two bags of Verona cookies and a bunch of fruit. Others gave me cupcakes, and they all wanted pictures and stuff. At the end of class, I played Your Song again, as I had for my sixth period the day before. I sang it fine, but my strumming was twangy and too loud, at least that's what I felt. I softened when I reached the line, "Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen..." And I finished it with a line change: "How wonderful life is, now you're in my world..." Huge hugs and good-byes. Just awesome.



    26   So I'm really anxious to hear about Coley's last day. She worked with a teacher named Joan, who is PHENOMENAL, and she has to say good-bye to her as well, although I think they will be lifetime buddies.

    27   And she has to say good-bye to Rose, who changed her life completely.

    28   When she gets home, the place is going to be torn apart, because Caitlin is packing to leave tomorrow.

    29   So right now, I'm perfectly fine, but I know I won't be.

    30   So yeah, I'll follow this with one more DN on Monday. I want to have written "The Rest is Silence" on my board by then.

    31    I'd like also to congratulate Thuy Ann, who graduates from UCSD tomorrow. I don't know who else is graduating, so send it to me on FB, or even on my personal email if you're out there! But TA, we are proud, kiddoooo!

    32    So that's it for the school year. No emotions right now, just eager to get up to the Chill and close out my accounts.

    33    So, be seein' ya soon.

    34    Peace.

    ~H~

     

     

     
    www.xanga.com/bharrington


















  • The Daily News

    1   The mad race to get the remaining papers graded continues into today.

    2    Yesterday afternoon Caitlin came home from work, and my head was buried in grading papers.

    3     I wanted them done because there was a bit of a YB party at O.J.'s last night, and I was honored to have been invited. I wanted to get there, so I stepped up grading to the point that my head focused on that small stack I still had left to do.

    4     The Giants' game was my lava lamp, and the afternoon was pretty normal. Caitlin mentioned something about  having to go the the storage place for boxes, and I just sorta looked up.

    5     She left; I kept grading papers. I wasn't frantic, it's just that it is a time-consuming chore. Time has been important to me the past three years because I  would much rather spend it doing other things. I sometimes think a target would be best. I used to want to put one up in the Performing Arts office at YB:

     

    6    After a fashion, the front door opened, and about six boxes sailed into the room.

    7    It was then it hit me.

    8    Moving.

    9    Boxes.



    10   Moving doesn't really come into reality until you see the boxes appear. This is probably a busy time of year for the box industry.

    11   Each time someone tells me they're moving, I always hallucinate a roomful of boxes. They flash, appear, then disappear, like something on that teevee show Medium.

    12    Nearly any time someone mentions moving, I flash on boxes for a brief sec, and then the world behaves and stabilizes.

    13   Boxes.

    14   They really represent that nothing ever stays the same. Life moves on, whether we want it to or not.

    15   Change is usually fairly gradual, but when boxes arrive, it's time. This isn't an ordinary move though. My baby is leaving home to get married. Grading papers instantly became irrelevant.

    16    Well, I decided to take a break from all of that grading and make some dinner. I had something cooking in the oven, so it wasn't too hard. I wrote a couple of emails to keep things stable, but I knew. I had to walk around, or something, dunno what.

    17    I got back to grading while Caitlin put boxes together. Soon there was a stack of three, and a few more kicking around the room. Helene came home, and we all talked about everything and nothing, as always.

    18    The Giants kept stranding runners because they swing bats like a red-headed stepchild swatting at quick, tiny flies.

    19    Finally, Caitlin said, "Daddy let's sing!"

    20    She does that, and I love it every time, because she has a voice that would entertain the angels.

    21   I immediately hooked up the amp, the mic, but didn't have my mic stand, which was left at the school.

    22   I noticed that the boxes were just about five feet up, so I cranked the mic and placed it on top of the boxes. It worked perfectly.

    23   I started some songs, but for whatever reason, songs I've been working on nobody else really knows. So Le Vie en Rose and Sister Golden Hair went out the window.

    24   I quickly pulled out the big guns, which is always Godspell tunes. I strummed the first few chords of Save the People, and we jumped all over it. I popped some champagne, and we all continued. I messed up the chords, and had a bad guitar day.

    25   Know how you have bad hair days?

    26    I don't get those. I have bad guitar days, when I can't remember chords to songs, even songs I've played in my sleep.

    27    Earlier yesterday my third period class coaxed me into singing, and I absolutely nailed Your Song for them, singing it to them, voice spot on, and ending exactly when the bell rang. I blew a kiss to them, and it was magic!

    28    For some reason though,  I couldn't find an e-flat if it smashed me in the face last night.

    29   Didn't matter. We had fun. I pulled the Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand out of my ear, and we nailed a three-part harmony on "I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hiiiiiiiiiiiiide" (Some people claim they say "I get high". Whatever.).

    30   We sang In My Life, followed immediately by Wait from Rubber Soul, which is how they appear on the American album. Lotta fun. I honestly don't know which order we did all these songs, but Caitlin called Wait, which I also butchered.

    31    Didn't matter. It was a singin' night, and I knew that not only wasn't I going to get to the YB party at Joe's, but that I wasn't going to finish grading papers.

    32    It just didn't matter. The boxes never got filled either.

    33    Didn't matter.

    34    Nothing really matters.

    35    We ate a delicious dinner, put on Glee!, continued singing and I finally conked out at around 9.

    36    I woke up at 4, beating ol' 4:20 to the punch, and hammered out this DN.

    37    Amazing night, and now the deadline looms. I still have about a half inch of papers left to grade, down from around twelve feet three weeks ago. I have passed every paper back to my students. Some read them, some just threw the entire  folder into the trash. I suggested yesterday on the microphone that we have a huge party at Twin Lakes, the beach that is right in between Santa Cruz and Capitola, and that they bring all their papers for a bonfire. That has always been a sort of interesting concept I've thought of over the years, and not out of my realm of possibilities.

    38   I DO stuff like that, only I have calmed it down considerably up at the Chill.

    39   Moving on: It's dark; it's just around 5 a.m. I can't see the boxes anymore, nor the mic on top of them, but I know they're there. The dishes are sort of done, but some wine glasses are floating in a tub in the sink. Teevee trays are still set up, making it tough to walk around, but the quiet is a nice, peaceful one.

    40   I lifted the papers, and they are still heavy enough to be challenging (they MUST be done by 10:30 this morning, so I'll have only two hours to get that done), and as always, it was a race to the last day. I'm going somewhere very important immediately after school, so there is little room for error. And then tomorrow I come in to close it all out.

    41   Mama Mia, let me go.

    42   And then the boxes become reality.

    43    I still have miles to go before I sleep.

    44    Miles to go before I sleep.

    45    You have a grand day, willya?

    46    Peace.

    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington















     

  •     

      

    1   I am a thousand shoes blowing across the evening sky.

    2   I am a missing sock.

    3   I am one pie short of a Stooge.

     

    4   I am the Creator; I am the Fool.

    5   I am the Lighthouse.

    6   I am the Darkness.

    7   I am the music.

    8   I am the song.

    9   I am you.


    10  I am your hope. I am your disappointment.

    11  I am your inspiration.

    12  I have a heart of gold.

    13  I have a heart of darkness.

    14  Give me, give me, give me my due.

    15  I am, after all, just an Old Brown Shoe.

    16  Sing it.

    17  Bring it.

    18  I cherish having you in my short, short life. 

    19  I wish I had never met you.

    20  You're beyond awesome.

    21  You've become a fake, and you know you have.  

      a FB 1

    22  I am the eggman. They are the eggmen.

    23  I am the Walrus.

     

    24  Moving on, Part the First: Well, the year's winding down like a tired old clock.

    25  The winds blow across the sky with wispy memories of a year gone mad.

    26  Last night I pulled up a garden chair and watched the night sky.

    27  A slight wind danced across my face, instilling life to my eyes and to my weary cheeks.

    28  I began reflecting on so many things. I had music playing. Seasons of Love came on in the distance, and it went perfectly with the wind.

    29   Five hundred twenty-five thousand six-hundred minutes.

    30   It blew me all the way back to last year, when I thought things were good.

    31   It blew smoke rings from the corners of my mah mah mah mah mah mah mah mah mind.

    32   Five hundred twenty-five thousand six-hundred minutes.

    33   I looked up and saw a fighter plane and a raven split the sky.

    34   I looked at my fence.

    36   I wanted to cry.

    37   I wanted to clench my fists; I wanted a reason, and there was none to be found.

    38   I looked under the lawn chair. Nothing there. No reason.

    39   Yesterday one of my absolute best students handed me a piece of green binder paper.

    40   It was a letter thanking me for giving energy every single minute, and for teaching her more than she ever imagined she could learn, from becoming a writer, to ghosts, to the Golden Age of Greece, to Greek and Latin roots, to the sweeping lines and wondrous poetry of Shakespeare, to the hip-coffee house poetry of her own classmates, to finally the immortal Taming of the Shrew.

     

    41  She told me that she had always wanted to teach English, but didn't think she had the right patience, and saw how many teachers fight the job and teach angrily these days. They have become slaves to state standards.

    42  She told me that after having watched me come in every single day, and teach with passion every single minute, that she is now interested in the profession. She was inspired that I have such a passion and love for my job.

    43  I slowed her down. "It's just a job," I mused. I tried to hide a smile. I had reason to.

    44  It was perhaps the greatest moment in my entire teaching career.

    45  We stood for a silent second, and time stopped, except the five-hundred twenty-five thousand six-hundred minutes multiplied times a career.

    46  Each time we think we have failed, we have in some way succeeded.

    49  Not many jobs give you that.

    50  It was a moment for the Ages.

    51  Enjoy your day. I'm almost completely done. I am the fence. I am the lawn chair.

    52  I am almost done.

    53  I am almost done.

    54   Peace, wondrous kites, and flying shoes.

    ~H~

     

     

    www.xanga.com/bharrington


     



  • The Daily News

    1   Isn't it funny how the internet seems to slowwwwww down every time you're in a hurry?

    2    How do we GET into "hurries" in the first place?

    3    It's funny, 'cuz I keep trippin' lately on how if artificial intelligence can pinpoint where we are, and draw MAPS to where we think we are headed, then it must be some amazingly intelligent artificial intelligence.

    4   Case in point: yesterday was the prime day for teacher to go to the copy room and use the copiers to copy their finals, which begin today.

    5   I thought I was a pretty slick dude and headed there immediately after school yesterday, just to beat the crowds.

    6   When I arrived, BOTH copiers had the measles, or some stuff.

    7   There were red marks indicating that there were paper jams everywhere one could look.

    8   Being a veteran of these foreign wars, I reversed field and walked back up to my classroom to grade more papers.

    9   After about an hour of cleaning my room, clearing stuff out, and all the rest, I decided that whoever was trying to battle the copiers was probably done, and that all the paper jams and such were fixed.

    10   WRONG.

    11   Our former librarian had TWO copiers acting ridiculous, with paper jams in each.

    12   I introduced my theory to her, which was this: if computerized things can pinpoint where you are and where you are headed in a car, then they are smarter than newborns. I began pondering that our computers have finally reached the point of going beyond human intelligence, and by degrees, human mischief.

    13   They just KNOW.

    14   My latest in a history of conspiracy "theories".

    15   To put your frabjous minds at ease, I don't REALLY think that, but thanks for thinkin' I did.

    16    Still...it's a thought. Our computers are gaining intelligence so much faster than our minds can that it is not inconceivable at all that they might also pick up on our human idiocy, and our human tendency toward mischief and practical jokes.

    17   I personally never thought there was ever anything practical about practical jokes.

    18   But doing little things to irritating people might be another thing entirely.

    19   Like if a co-worker is really obnoxious and mean, it's pretty easy simply to move their trash can to the opposite side of their desk.

    20   Not a practical joke, really, which randomly chooses someone, but one in which you have an actual jerk that might need a small payback.

    21   So I sometimes wonder about computers and computer-operated things, of which there is a myriad assortment.

    22   Like copiers. The always seem to know when someone is in a hurry, and know exactly how to paper jam. They will SHOW you where every single paper is jammed, and even though you clear every single place they show, they will still show you the same places and then not work.

    23   You start by bending over and opening everything that has a neon indicator on it, things with handles and dials that turn. You will find papers jammed right away, so that you get TRICKED into thinking you've handled the situation, but it's never enough.

    24   The machine wants you to open things that don't go anywhere near paper. The sometimes have a latch that leads to nowhere, like the Winchester Mystery House latch. You open it and it's just a hinged door that does seemingly nothing.

    25    So yesterday I saw our former librarian getting on her knees, reaching in like she was looking for a missing sock, and thought to myself, "That machine is having a belly laugh right now. Probably is sending messages out to all the other copiers too."

    26    I tried helping, but only to be polite. I mentioned artificial intelligence to her, and she sort of chuckled.

    27    My newest conspiracy theory.

    28    I wound up walking out of the room, cleaning out a bunch of stuff  from my classroom, and going over to Kinkos, where if a machine doesn't work, you just move to another. I got my finals run in about four seconds. Cost me eleven bucks, but was so worth it. I then smiled that the school copier could no longer harm me this year. Take that, mon ami. I assume it's male.

    29   Moving on, Part the First: I got to spend some time with Caitlin last night. 

    30   She leaves for Sacto on Saturday.

    31    I've been so wrapped up in getting all my boushit done that the depth of that hasn't even occurred to me yet.

    32    It certainly has been in the back of my mind.

    33    So we spent a little time boushittin'. Made a huge mess. I broke a cup and a plate in the same night when cleaning up. I think I was in a hurry, for whatever reason. I also think I have more emotional stuff going on than I think this week.

    34    I sometimes get a half-step off during times like these. When Mom passed away last year, I kept crashing into things and knocking stuff over, and dropping things. It isn't deliberate, just these thoughts that you don't want to imagine enter my mind and everything stops, including hand/eye coordination. I think it's called getting old.

    35    Anyway, it was nice to spend some time with K.T. We talked jobs, Giants, and general fun stuff.

    36   Immina miss you, K.T.

    37   A lot.

    Caitlin in Capitola
    38   <tear>

    39   Moving on, Part the Second: I think I'll do some gardening today. Not sure. Where'd I put my coffee cup?

    40   Have a nice day everyone.

    41    Oh, there it is.

    42   Peace.



    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington
















  • The Daily News

    1    Ah, the last week of school. Teacher's nightmare, and Teacher's dream.

    2    We're all too busy even to blink, let alone grade papers, plan finals, return books, clear our walls, and all the rest of the nonsensical boushit we are expected to do.

    3    For me, it's been a lark! Oh, I've worked my ass off the entire weekend, devoting over 35 hours to grading papers, but if I assigned them, then I should READ them.

    4    What I got were reams of brilliance from some of the brightest classes I've ever had the pleasure of teaching.

    5     Even though I posted this on Facebook earlier, it bears repeating. A girl in my 4th period English 1A class wrote this as a part of a poem:

    I wish that I was seventy-nine
    wrinkly, lazy, and barely alive.
    I won't give a care to my hygiene
    and grin with a mouthful of silver.

    6     That is simply one example of the stuff that has been pouring in. I stand proud of my students this year. They delivered in the clutch. It has been hours and hours of reading reams and reams of paper, but it has also paid off.


    7      It is the perfect ending to an almost perfect year.

    8      I spent hours and hours poring over this stuff, and found amazing pieces of writing. They have clearly improved, beyond my wildest dreams.

    9      I spent years at YB trying to let the English Department realize that I could take kids places they had never seen.

    10    I was consistently blown off, to the point that I stopped going to meetings, which ultimately kept me from EVER teaching at a higher level.

    11    Well...I don't mean to trumpet my accomplishments this year, but the papers that are so slow to grade are also some of the most brilliant writing I've witnessed in my entire career.

    12     Dude.

    13     They LISTENED. They learned. And it clearly wasn't just me. I delivered a lot of good knowledge, but it wasn't just me.

    14     I will declare here and now that it isn't me; it's just some students whose parents placed education as a very high priority.

    15     What this  DID was give me a chance to design lessons the same way I used to design Shows.

    16     The past two months, I feel I have been on my game, beyond belief. I'm a bit swamped with papers right now, but early on I knew that a good lesson plan, and an energetic teacher would be more important than some guy who drags his ass into class after three hours' sleep, pleading with the kids for mercy because he was up until 3 a.m. grading papers.

    17    That dawg don't hunt.

    18    So my focus was on putting the papers off, and planning each day so that I would have a fun lesson plan and LOTS of energy.

    19    It paid off, but at SOME point those papers needed to be done.

    20    For two straight days I plunged through, and have now finished all grading for almost four of five classes. To college people, that's like having only one final left.

    21    To people in the working community, that's like having two days left until vacation, and all your work is in order.

    22    So that's just about the ONLY news I have this great Monday. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm on the train. I still have NO idea how I did this, got fifteen college units, AND was able to visit my Mom last year. I haven't had a minute so scratch my head.

    23    What makes it WAY better this year is the improvement of the students' writing. I have freshmen writing almost at the college level, many of them already there. I taught lots of writing skills this year, as well as vocabulary. These guys responded, and will definitely score high on any sort of standardized tests.

    24   This isn't intended to be boastful, by the way, because THEY did it. They rose and learned beyond my expectations. As a teacher, it's a great feeling. Yes, I did work my butt off, but so did they. And there are dividends to hard work, and instilling a work ethic in others.

    25   So congrats to my students. I don't know when I've ever been this proud.

    26    That's about all the time I have right now. I still have one class to finish and another to do. Coffee break's over, back on my head.

    27    Old joke.

    28    I'll finish the DN's this week, and come back in August. I'll be missing y'all, but that's the tradition. This week I will have completed fourteen years of the Daily News. Shouldn't I get something for that? Like ice cream?

    29   LOL. <I think this week it means "Lots o' Luck", or maybe even, "Good luck with THAT."

    30   I'm ready for the BEACH.

    31   See you all; have a great Monday.

    32   Peace.

    ~H~


    www.xanga.com/bharrington


     
























  • The Daily News

    1   So...Rue McClanahan walks into a bar.

    2   <sigh>

    3    They just keep leaving us, don't they?

    4    So it goes, so it goes.

    5    Moving on, Part the First:  I think that one of my favorite things of late is watching my daughter Nicole finish up her student teaching. It is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.

    6    After having to jump through a thousand hoops, state standards, severe budget cuts, and anxiety beyond belief, she still focuses directly on her students, every single day. She lives for them, and has incredible teaching skills.

    7    And now it is all coming down to the last week, and the good-byes begin.

    8   She came home yesterday and they had taken everything off the classroom walls, something that I now refuse to do. We're ALWAYS told to do that, to tear everything down so that the classroom resembles a vacant apartment.

    9   I realize the rooms need to be sandblasted or something, but really? If they're not re-painting, I think it's tough on kids as well as teachers.

    10  To kindergarteners, it must be really disorienting.

    11   In high school, it's always the first day in which the Seniors have disappeared.

    12  Today is their last day. I have one Senior, my student aide, Vanessa. I got her a card and an iTunes card. She's been great, spending more time listening to me bitch about things than anything else. But she's been great, coming in each morning to my first class and just being there.

    13  So I will be missing many Seniors I met in my first year, which was also THEIR first year. They supported me like crazy, and many of them went into Drama, and our Shows.

    14  I'll miss them. Not like crazy, but every year...

    15  The other night Nicole leaned her face into her hand and stared at the computer.

    16   It had her kids each saying why they love Miss Harrington.

    17   I wrote about it yesterday briefly, but she's been watching the toughest part of the year. Suddenly, kids who were a struggle earlier in the year are now learning, and cooperating, and giving back. One little girl really tugged at her heart, a very special girl named Rose. Rose sometimes acts on her emotions, but is bright and wonderful.

    18   Rose has been a challenge, but a beautiful challenge all year. But she loves "Miss Hewington."

    18   This morning I overheard Nicoley say, "I want to write a book called Touched by a Rose."  I broke into a huge smile that had a tinge of pride in it. I also almost lost it.

    19   That's the difference between Coley and me. I want to write a book called Ears and Braces.

    20    Another difference is that I'll always want to write the book. Nicoley WILL write the book.

    21   She made a DVD of her class, with Godspell songs playing under a collage of pictures. It's a karaoke version of God Save the People and All For the Best, with her philosophies about education coming up periodically.

    22   Her philosophy?

    23   Standards don't teach. Teachers teach. And students teach teachers.

    24   Organized chaos isn't necessarily a bad thing.

    25    A noisy room isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

    26    Students don't need to be taught. They need to be engaged.

    27    A teacher's relationship with a class should involve friendship, understanding, and humor.

    28   I don't have the DVD in front of me, but it also included bubbles.

    29   I'm so proud of you, Coley.

    30   Next week will be pretty emotional, probably for both of us.

    31   Occupational hazard.

    32    Meanwhile, we got rain, and then blasting heat.

    33    Have a beautiful weekend, y'all. And farewell Rue. Thanks for all the laughs.

    34     Hope this DN wasn't too sappy.

    35     Peace.

    ~H~

     

    www.xanga.com/bharrington

     



  • The Daily News
    1   It came across the Facebook lines yesterday that Caitlin has an actual date for her wedding!

    2    Isn't it a sign of the times that I got it on an email from K.T.?

    3    I can't find words.

    4    K.T., I love you!

    5    How's THAT fer words?

    6    Just amazing.

    7    It's beyond me even to TRY to let people know how utterly AWESOME that is.

    8     Best wishes to Caitlin and Josh. I am SO excited!

    9     Moving on, Part the First: Six thousand things happened yesterday, all of them amazing.

    10   But just for a sec, I'd like to take a side trail to Safeway yesterday.

    11    This is sad, so get a helmet.

    12     I walked in, and this guy who was arguably "special" greeted me and asked me how my day was.

    13     I smiled and doffed my hat.

    14     I then went into my usual Zen mode of wandering around a supermarket wondering why the heck I went in there to begin with.

    15     One sorta raspy shopper kept getting in my way, in his own imbecilic world.

    16     Well, I ignored him and wondered again why it was I went in there.

    17     AnywayZ while walking through the store wondering what it was I was looking for, I kept hearing this voice come over the microphone yelling, "We have another dollar to go towards curing prostate cancer! WOOOOOT!!!"

    18    I instantly recognized the voice as being that of my greeter.

    19    Well, I remembered what I was in there for, midway through, but the guy sort of got excited that he was getting people to donate to a good cause. I totally understood the bottom line, and I became proud of the guy. He was getting donations hand over fist, so he kept saying things over the microphone, ending in a "Wooo-HOOOO!" or a "WOOOOOT!!!" I thought it was sorta charming, actually.

    20    I made my way to the checkout, and as always, put on my store-macho thing.

    21   I daydreamed the wait in line, as always, when I suddenly heard this harsh voice thunder out, "Stop doing that! Stop yelling into the microphone, it's annoying!"

    22   It was the loud, obnoxious voice of the imbecile, who was three checkstands over.

    23   I KNEW that the checker had been quite excited about getting people to donate, and that he was a bit over-excited, but it didn't bother me. I totally understood. I was really tempted to confront the loudmouth, but decided that he might be a guy who would get into it, so I backed off. I don't need some angry guy to knock my teeth out.

    24   I also noticed that the checker who had been so excited was nowhere to be seen. I figured instinctively that he was outside crying.

    25   I was right. When I left the store, the poor guy was sitting in the dark, staring sadly into space. I approached him and said, "It's all right man. That guy wasn't mad at you. He was mad at something else in his life and directing it at you. I thought you were great."

    26   He just stared off, and finally choked out the words, "Yeah...but still..."

    27   I got out to my truck and as I drove off, I gave the guy a slight wave of the hand.

    28   People can sure be cruel. Sometimes I'm in disbelief at the rudeness and cruelty of some people. They just have no idea that they hurt someone that badly. Sociopaths, I swear to you. I went home the better man, but I still feel sorry for that poor fellow. Still do.

    29   Moving on, Part the Second: I got home right afterwards and had a sort of medium-sized envelope in the mail. It was not from a company, and when I looked at the return address, it was from Connie Guerrero. It was a signed program from the cast and crew of Bullshot Crummond, the miracle Show that literally saved the YB Drama Workshop in the Spring of 2007.

    30   It was an awesome thing to come home to, because that group of students continued to keep the Workshop going after I had departed for Evergreen. Prior to my departure from YB. I had announced that my last Show was going to be one called A Love Letter in '05, and in '06 I had brought in Angie and Evelyn from the Pigeon Players to direct a Show. Later, a group of students led by Ellen Nguyen approached me and said that I had promised them a musical the year before, so I did a sort of musical that consisted of my Mom's favorite songs from musicals. We called it My Favorite Things. It was a bittersweet time, but still nice.

    31   Toward the end of that summer, I got about three calls from Evergreen asking me to come up for an interview. I then went to YB and told the Principal that I was to be leaving. I assumed that he had already been interviewing for a new Drama guy all summer, since I was clear about my "retirement".

    32   I felt pretty bad when I found that nobody had been hired to replace me, and that it looked like doomsday for the Drama Workshop. I contacted Angie and Evelyn, and asked if they could come in and direct in exchange for free use of the Theatre, and they said they could.

    33   I then wrote the YB Principal asking if we could arrange the same thing that we had arranged they year before. He wrote back a rather terse email saying that they would have to get in line, just like everybody else. I felt that the tone of the email was almost insulting, since Angie and Evelyn are both such professional and amazing directors. A tradition and a program that was a major part of YB was being swept aside as though it had been nothing. I was upset, because I felt that Drama deserved a LOT more consideration and respect than that.

    34   I won't go into too much of that, because it gets pretty ugly, but this group of students led by Sarah Mae Brooks, Cam Bui, Trinh Le, and Suny Um gathered a strong group of actors and crew people, approached the School Site Council for some funding, and then proceeded to mount a complex production that required a lot of tech, and a tremendous cast. They achieved all of it, and with a little help from myself, Nhat Vu, and the music teacher, Paul Zawilski, pulled off a miracle Show. That Show was Bullshot Crummond, and in my mind, remains one of the most amazing Shows in the long history of the Workshop. It deserves more than a simple mention in the DN, and I'll explain why in a second.

    35  I understand from having talked with Paz Rocha a few weeks ago that YB was in the middle of doing a production of Noel Coward's Blythe Spirit, but could get little more info, and with all the busy surrounding me in the past three weeks, I never was able to find much out about it, except that it is still going pretty strong.

    36   I hope to connect up with YB next year and see where they are in terms of Drama. It really stopped me when Rocha told me it was still a tradition. I wish I hadn't been so busy, and that I could have gotten over to see it, and to find out how things were going over there. Perhaps I could catch someone in the coming days, but we are WAY busy this time of the year, what with the race to get grades done, and to close the semester, say good-bye to Seniors, and all the rest.

    37   Anyway, I would like to thank Connie for sending me the program, and to thank that entire wonderful group of students who took the program I built through the years with my heart and soul, and kept it going, despite all odds. They also are clearly responsible for all the joys and lunacies the current program is enjoying, and the memories they helped seed. I would also like publicly to apologize for having given them some harsh criticism when they got a bit frivolous with the ending of the Bullshot. I had admonished them for getting carried away with changes they put in.

    38   In many ways, that was my own fault. I had been coaching from afar, but one thing I forgot to coach was the tendency of high school groups sometimes to fall into the frivolity of wanting to change the ending to a play, rather than giving what theatre people call the "illusion of the first time". It gets old doing the same lines over and over, and sometimes groups want to do that. I stopped most Shows from doing that over the years, but still, it was alwaya something I just didn't like. My thoughts at the time were that they still had one more Show, and to keep it artistic and professional, and I stuck by that.

    39   They were hurt, and I remained stubborn that they should always remain as professional as possible. I was trying to teach them a lesson, and looking back, I imagine I handled it incorrectly. I should really have thanked them to a person for keeping the history of the Drama Workshop alive and thriving. So to the Company of Bullshot Crummond: I know it's a day late and a dollar short, but I apologize for that. You worked your asses off on that Show, and I now offer you my heartfelt apology, as well as my personal standing ovation.

    40   I wish to do that now, at 5 a.m. on a balmy Thursday morning in 2010.

    41   To the Company of Bullshot: you will all remain in my heart more than you'll ever know. I see on Facebook that many of you are going to colleges and universities, and all doing well. To say I'm proud would be an understatement. To say I am humbled by your awesomeness would also be. Your Show was special, and always meant a lot to me, and now to a new generation of students.

    42    I wish to thank you, with all my heart and soul. I am still proud, and will always be proud of your miraculous efforts. It means more to me than you'll ever realize. And Connie, thank you for sending me the signed program. I shall cherish it always.

    43    Moving on, Part the Third: Last night late my daughter Nicole watched a video of the kids in her class telling why they love Miss Harrington. I looked over and saw the look on her face. One of the toughest things about being a teacher is saying good-bye. The kids all had wonderful things to say. It was cute, because they are kindergarteners, and some would say things like, "I like her necklace..." But others said such beautiful things. One student said, "I like Miss Hawwington's niceness..."

    44    Nicoley sent me the link, but my computer wouldn't open it. I'll give you way more on this in tomorrow's DN. But hearing all those kids' beautiful comments, and watching my daughter bloom into a wonderful teacher is about as good as it gets. She is a teacher down to her soul, and the end-of-the-year stuff can get pretty emotional, especially for someone who poured her entire being into the profession. I felt her bittersweet pain last night. She loves her kids, and it was all over her face.

    45    Nicoley, you are every bit the teacher, and in so many ways, way better than all the standards and boushit this profession can toss at you. Despite it all, it is and always shall be about the students. I could see the love in her eyes last night, and I could also see her heart being drawn into the greatest profession out there.

    46   Wow.

    47    Well, before I start blubbering over the keyboard, I'd better get some sleep. It's 5:30 a.m. and I hope to get at least another half-hour.

    48    Miles to go before I sleep, but I'd better sleep anyway.

    49    Have a beautiful day.

    50    Peace.

    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington

















  • The Daily News

    1   Yesterday I went out to get the paper at the crack of dawn.
     
    2    Because I had spent an entire evening answering howls and barks from animals, I didn't sleep that well, nothing new if ya know me.
     
    3    After awakening at around 2 a.m. and then listening to both a cat catterwallin' and a dog doggerwallin', I eventually caught a few more hours.
     
    4   That being said, when I finally awoke at a normal hour, like 6:15 is my norm, I went into my usual routine: clean the cat box, turn on the bathroom faucet for our particular cat named Todd, and then feed Phoebe, the dog, more famous for the epithet I hung on her, 4:20, and for biting back pockets off peoples' pants.
     
    5   She awakens quite often 4:20 a.m. shakes her body as though soaked in water, and then yelps a loud, high-pitched bark that could shatter glass. It's usually about an inch away from my ear.
     
    6    AnywayZ...
     
    7    I had managed to get into my morning Zen, which really is to think good thoughts at around 5 a.m., cross my feet, make a sign of the cross, and go into my mantra, which is this: sleeeeeep. It is meditative and weightless.
     
    8    Yesterday I floated in that state until 6:10, then REALLY slipped into a meditation, and awakened five minutes later as fresh as a daisy.
     
    9   So yeah, I woke up as planned, did the routines, and then barefoot, walked outside to get the Merc News.
     
    10  Now isn't this something.
     
    11  I managed to hit the same acorn going out to the driveway, and returning.Ouch.
     
    12  Don't barefoot, dude. You will always hit infinitesimal objects that will force pain through your membranes. One tiny acorn in an entire driveway, TWICE hit. Ouch.
     
    13  When I said miracles happen a few days ago, I also meant miracles that are so preposterous as to seem insane. Hitting the same acorn twice on a journey down the driveway is a form of miracle, just a thorny, painful one.
     
    14  It also defies odds.  For one thing, you're usually aware of where it is, and will sometimes kick it into some rocks or something, which I didn't do. Or you would at least mark its position. I did neither.
     
    15   So TWICE my neighbors heard me yell in the early morning air, "Ouch!" and "Gosh darn!"
     
    16   I guess that's just the way life rolls sometimes.
     
    17   Ouch. Gosh darn.
     
    18   Moving on, Part the First: Acorns. I mean, really.
     
    19    Well, that was the way the day started. That and a really gloomy sky.

    20    I always try to gear up for Mondays, and especially for Tuesdays after holiday weekends.

    21   A few kids still had projects to present, so it wasn't expected to be a very tough day, but when I arrived at school, I found that my function buttons failed on my HP laptop. The laptop is relatively new; I bought it last year. All last week, the fn f4 function that drives things from my computer to the teevee in my room worked famously. I was even tempted to talk of the S-Cable as the greatest invention since peanut butter and jelly, but I hadn't yet experienced the downside.

    22   Fortunately, it didn't really affect anyone who was prepared, but during my prep period I ran over to Target to buy a new S-Cable. When I plugged it in, it still didn't work. I then went to my computer's help area, and upgraded the driver. Nada.

    23   I was chiefly concerned about one group in my afternoon class. They worked so hard on their project but had used an Apple program that didn't work. One girl who is one of my best students had been so excited about their project, and when it didn't work on Friday, she left almost in tears. Genuine kid too, not prone to emo stuff. It was heartbreaking, because I know she poured hours into the project. I really wanted it to work for her and for her group, but the driver upgrade completed right when they were coming in, and it STILL failed. These are things that happen in teaching.

    24   I had spent almost an hour-and-a-half trying to make it happen, and it just didn't.

    25   She came in with a huge smile on her face, and couldn't wait to present the project. She talked fast, and I didn't quite catch what she had said.

    26   "Mr. H! I have the project on a flash drive, on You Tube, on a CD, AND on a DVD!"

    27    I wasn't really listening, just trying to work up the courage to tell her the teevee wouldn't work. I was straight up with her. "Um...the S-Cable connection from the computer to the television isn't working. It hasn't worked all day. I think it's cursed, because two groups were going to present Mac...The Scottish Play today, and both times it failed."

    28   Then it all stopped, and I realized what she had said.

    29    "We have it on a DVD!!!"

    30    It was simply a triumphant moment. Everything hooked up and WORKED! They put an Entertainment Tonight-style video of Much Ado About Nothing together, and the class enjoyed an epic effort. Huge applause at the end!

    31    Just a moment among thousands of moments, but it all worked. After that, kids sat on the floor in front of the teevee to enjoy The Taming of the Shrew. When the bell rang, NOBODYwanted to leave! They wanted to keep watching Shrew. That usually happens the second day of the film, but these guys were definitely in an end-of-the-year bond.

    32   So a day that began with an acorn ended wonderfully with a happy class. I got home and collapsed on the couch. Lack of sleep, along with all that commotion had done me in.

    33   A good day of teaching though. I just thought I'd share.

    34    Looking forward to today.

    35    See ya soon.

    36     Peace.

    ~H~

     




    www.xanga.com/bharrington



























  • The Daily News

    1   Whew, GREAT weekend. <sucking on a smoke>. Thannnnks.

    2   <Awakening> Whaaaaaa????

    3    Oh, m'bah.

    4    <Awakening still further> Whaaaaaaaaa??????? OH SNAP!

    5    It's a WORK day!

    6    Who knew? LOLZ!!!

    7    Yeah, LOLZ, but NOW what? <Revelie playing on loud bugle> DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH-DUH, DUH DUDDA DUH DUH DUH!!!!!! CLANNNNNNGGGG!!!!!



    8    <Coming out of a coma> Ohhhhhhthassssright...

    9     Haha!

    10   Get to work, beotches!

    11   You ever feel that way after a lonnnnnng and glorious weekend?

    12   Okay, so the Giants lost.

    13   Who doesn't lose to that guy?

    14   It was simply TOO glorious of a weekend, even though Dennis Hopper walked into a bar...

    15   I had to add that, of course.

    16   The weather worked perfectly; it's the end of the school year, and all is right.

    17   Right where everything should be.

    18    Giants, Schmiants. I LOVED the moment of silence during the seventh inning stretch, I must say. A moment, or even an eternity of silence should go out to our troops, and to anyone who has ever been touched by the agony of war.

    19   I looked up and thought of my Uncle Bud, who was lost in war, and who is also the guy after whom I was named.  I never knew him, but if he was anything remotely as beautiful as my own Dad, or my Aunt Tag, or my Aunt Lorraine, then he deserves not only mention, but an invitation to the party I hope to have for him should I reach the Great Beyond.

    20   Well, I thought of lots of things yesterday.

    21   Moving on, Part the First: Maybe Memorial Day goes beyond even our troops, and all those who gave so bravely.

    22   Maybe Memorial Day is also about all of us.

    23   We have all been touched at some point by the horrors of war, or by someone we know and love who has been touched deeply by it.

    24    We have all seen the fear, and all that goes with it.

    25    Many of us have never seen the actual battlefields, which is chaos and insanity beyond anything most of us could ever remotely comprehend.

    26    I did much reflecting yesterday, and decided that often times, our decisions to go to war are often our of our own control. The reasons are often ensconced in disinformation and control by very powerful people. We must pledge never to go to war unless the reasons are spelled out clearly by leaders who don't lie, and who aren't greedy. It is time to save our troops from becoming the victims of lies. We must read our history more carefully, and put politicians under the scope.

    27   To those who have fought and served, we will never forget. And we will be vigilant on our end by not voting for puppets and oil interests.

    28   Moving on, Part the Second:  There's a lot to be said to beginning a week on a Tuesday.

    29   I have to imagine that most people are probably going to be relatively useless today.

    30   AND, if Tuesday had been eliminated as a day of the week, today would be Wednesday. In an age of budget cuts and furloughs and all the rest, my idea of eliminating Tuesday as a day of the week truly begins to make more and more sense.

    31   Naturally, if you were BORN on a Tuesday, it would probably be difficult to let go, but really, for the overall good of society, dude, let it go.

    32   At our school, they have virtually eliminated Wednesday as a day of the week. Every single Wednesday this year was a minimum day, so that we could have meetings and meetings and meetings and meetings.

    33   Meetings are a necessary evil in any company or group, but seriously?

    34   Ah, vell. I think we should have a meeting to talk about it.

    35    Moving on, Part the Third: So last night I go routinely to Xanga to write today's DN, and they have an entirely new "look", in which virtually EVERYTHING has changed. I still walked carefully through the muck, but it had booby traps and snares everywhere I turned. I tried to cut and paste, for example, and the entire page blew up.

    36   When that happens, I usually figure that they are "updating", which continually is another necessary evil. The other day I thought seriously of undigiting my entire life.

    37   Can you even imagine?

    38   You just revolt. You throw out your television, your radios, our cell phones, your computers, everything digital. I'd be tempted to see what life would be like.

    39   Wow. Couldn't be done now, could it?  We'd all freak. We are a digital world. That's wonderful, and darned scary.

    40   Ah, I'll save that for another day.

    41   Moving on, Part the Fourth: There won't be too many more days of the DN this year. As most of you know, it goes from the day before the first day of school to the last Friday of the school year, with a reflective coming up on Friday, June 11. I'm already thinking that this was in so many ways a better year than last year.

    42   Today marks the annual beginning of the end. I shall hear the opening music to The Taming of the Shrew, my annual end-of-the year Shakespearean feast for my students. All classes shall enjoy the exploits of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton duking it out, as always. There's a certain comfort in this tradition, in which my students delight in the antics while I finish up with the business of getting everything ready for summer, so that on the last day of school, I walk in, and walk out.



    43   I keep thinking that the beginning of the end is not going to start, and that the school year is only in February.

    44   But it's here. It's June. It's overcast.

    45   And I'm excited, because I'm anticipating one of the best summers ever.

    46   So I think I'll quietly put to day's DN to bed, where both it and I belong. I began writing this one last night at 6 p.m.; it disappeared a few times, and I awakened at 2 a.m. to hammer it out.

    47   I have already slept five hours, but I do believe I'd like to get in a few more before setting out to conquer this always cruel day after Memorial Day.

    48    I hope you're well rested. If anyone gives you a tough time right  today, call me. I'll straighten them right up.

    49    Parting notes: Thanks TA, for being magnif, as always. Thanks K.T. for allowing for a fantastico Saturday. Thanks Nicoley, for lovin' the Gigantes, despite all. And thanks Rene, for clobbering the house.

    50   Y'all have a great day.

    51    Peace.

       


    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington

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