Month: August 2010



  • Hey, I KNOW who Mike "The Situation" is! More on that later in this edition of...

      
    The Daily News
    1   Got through it, yo!

    2   Ah, Mondays!

    3   WELL NOW!

    4   It's only like 8:30. P.M.

    5   So my feeling is sincerely this: I love my shirt.

    6   I bought his like, Madras shirt, and it is simply so comfortably lovely.

    7   How ya gonna argue?

    8   Every now and again you find something that is pure fun.

    9   That would be my shirt. I think it cost like six bucks at Kohl's. Anything that cost six bucks at Kohl's goes into the cart. I figured it would be perfect for gardenin'.

    10  Sooooo comfortably lovely.

    11  I can't really claim that saying, by the way.

    12  A billion years ago Donovan wrote and recorded a song called I Love my Shirt.

    13  Donovan.

    14  Such a peaceful fellow.

    15  Well, I went to Kohl's  about a month ago and bought this goofy Madras shirt.

    16  I put it on right before Rachael and Jack's wedding and thought I looked like the side of a house.

    17   So I hung it up in the closet, never again to be lifted off a hanger.

    18   We've all been there.

    19   But last night I put it on, and thought it looked pretty spiffy.

    20   Translation:  I knew it just made me look not bad.

    21   You reach a point, man.

    22   Still...

    23   I didn't look good. But I didn't look bad either. And it was really comfortable.

    24   In July it felt really tight. Yesterday it felt airy and nice. Go figure.

    25   Ah, ya gotta love it.

    26   Some stupid shirt. Actually, I wore it for comfort alone. It is really light, has short sleeves, and even a pocket to hold my glasses.

    27   I don't know that I'd EVER wear it in public, to be honest. It is comfortably lovely, but not walking-around-in-public lovely.

    28   Moving on, Part the First: Life's pretty good when you write twenty-seven items about a comfortably lovely shirt.

    29   Hey, I'm suddenly hip. I know who J  Woww is. And Ronnie.



    30   After the party on Sunday, everyone came over for a first-season marathon of Jersey Shore. It's this show about extremely vain and stupid people who live in Jersey.

    31   At first I thought it was everything I despise about the 21st Century. Everything seems to have turned into muscles, steroids, classless, moronic behaviors, surface looks...do I continue here?

    32   Really. I'd love to see programming that focuses on how to have class, but it is much more entertaining to watch a drunken girl wait for a guy to come home from a bar so she can crack him in the teeth.

    33   All very tough to watch, and as a teacher I'm thinking, "Young people think this is the way to behave."

    34   Ah, 'twas ever thus, I imagine.

    35   After a while, I got drawn in though. It's almost like everything: after around six hours of vegging out on this stuff, I kept thinking, "Who WATCHES this crap?"

    36  Duh.

    37  We naturally laughed at almost everything. We had a houseful of people laughing often in disbelief, but hey, I am now schooled in Jersey Shore.

    38   I always remind myself of the saying that I had posted in the Performing Arts office almost from Day 1: "Against stupidity, the very gods themselves contend in vain."      ----Friedrich Schiller. 


    Friedrich von Schiller: Not a Jersey boy.

    39   I wound up finding it stupidly entertaining, like most things nowadays.

    40   And yet...

    41   I still watched.

    42   I don't usually watch too much teevee. I usually use it as a lava lamp when writing the DN or grading papers. So for me to waist the goodly part of a day on something THAT stupid was wonderful. No thinking required. A show that has morons clobbering one another and acting stupid. I never had ANYTHING like that when I was growing up.



    43   Moving on, Part the Third: After school yesterday, Nicoley and I loaded the keg onto the TOOOOOONDRA and returned it. We laughed that the first thing two teachers do after a long work day was to load up a keg.

    44   I actually thought she should paint flowers on it and use it as a centerpiece in her classroom, but thought twice.

    45   Probably not a good idea. Cute though, you must admit.

    46   Okay then.  I have to get to gettin'. It's almost 6:30, and I have some young minds to brainwash into realizing that getting smarter is much wiser than looking to Mike "The Situation" as a role model.

    47   I think I'm fighting a losing battle.

    48   Have a GREAT Tuesday, intellects. I'm glad we still have some out there.

    49   Peace, yo!

    ~H~


    www.xanga.com/bharrington

  •   

     
     
     
     
    The Daily News
    1   I am better now, word of honor; I am better now.

    2   Okay, Vonnegutians, that's a quote from Vonnegut's odd "novel" Breakfast of Champions.

    3   But in my case, the scratchy throat remains, but never became as extreme as I had feared. I'm guessing that if I went in Friday and taught for five hours, it would be raw right now.

    4   At least my deal was just a bit of exhaustion and a raspy voice. Vonnegut was literally going a bit crazy as he wrote Champions, and even caught himself beginning to break down publicly.

     

    5   I've done that.

    6   Word of honor.

    7   I've done that.

    8   Just not lately. In fact, lately has rocked!

    9   Moving on, Part the First:  I felt somewhat like Nostradamus on Thursday AND Friday. Two MAJOR predictions eerily came to pass.


    10  First, Mars never grew to the grandeur of the Moon. It was still pretty big to me, and prettier and more pronounced than usual. But as big as the Moon? Nah.

    11  Second, I predicted that Lincecum would give up "four or five runs" and "get yanked by the fifth".

    12  This one was eerily true, although he gave up four runs early and was lifted in the sixth. At least I think. I was still doing the garden, digging the weeds late.The guy needs to be sent down, as sad as that is to say. I love the guy, but he definitely needs to go down, at possibly the most critical point in the Giants' season.

    13   I'm more worried about his mental state. Seriously. If he has won two of the prestigious Cy Young awards in his first coupla years up, AND if he has physically lost his prowess, then we are going to witness a tragedy beyond words.

    14  The Merc News had this headline on Saturday's sports' page: (SIGH) Young...

    15   Anyway, I couldn't get mad at the guy because he has worked his entire life to achieve success before the age of 25. And now he faces the dreadful prospect of being young and washed up. It's a possible tragedy, but then, it may become one of the greatest comeback stories since...since...Barry Zito.

    16   Argh.

    17   Torture.

    18   Moving on, Part the Second:  On a high note, the engagement party for Caitlin and Josh worked beautifully on Saturday. My babies <her sister Nicole also!> looked absolutely radiant; the weather proved to be a great friend, my Dad AND my Aunt Tag made it, sitting blissfully on my train bench in the late-August sun, and life came alive in my garden and yard, which had colors swirling every which way amid flowing wine, beautiful family and friends, dappled shadows, and even a hummingbird.

    19   The yard worked, but so did the families. Josh's Dad works as a production manager at Wente Vineyards in Livermore. He brought tons of select wines from the Vineyard, and my daughter Nicole put a keg of Gordon Biersche Marzen on her card, figuring what better way to end her first week teaching than to show up at a HUGE party with a keg?

    20   The guy writing out the rental kept chuckling as we talked about her planting pictures on Facebook of Miss Harrington ordering a keg of Marzen on the Saturday after her hire date.

    21   Hey.

    22   Don't spread that around.  ;  )    <----------sideways cool winky guy.

    23   We still high-fived at the usual Real World vs. People's Concept of Teacher's World. Always a laugh. Yes people. We ARE real, and do NORMAL things. We even get along.

    24   Fun stuff. I have been letting Nicoley use my camera for her classes, so she took a bunch on that camera as well, but Caitlin wouldn't allow me access to the pics. I think she might have been scared that I would have put them up on the DN, and that the entire Facebook world would see pictures of people's zits, eyeliner smudges, and faces changing from human beings to barn animals.

    25   Won't happen, but I do understand. I WILL throw some pics up there, but I think they might need to go through a panel of experts before I am allowed to do so.

    26   AnywayZ we had a GREAT party and lots of wine and laughs with people we know and who we didn't know. In the end, nobody cared! We all knew one another, and it all was so fun and amazing!

     
    27   And Dad and Aunt Tag enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

    28   Some things are untouchable.

    29   That was one such moment.

    30   Welp, I'm going in to teach today, and I can't wait. It's going to be really nice to get back to a normal routine, but I will forever hold to my heart the Summer of La Vie En Rose. Josh's family's last name is "Rosa".

    31  God's real.

    32   There was a hummingbird and wind chimes.

    33   That's Mom.

    34    That's Nonie.

    35    God's real.

    36    Congrats, Josh and Caitlin. You both are beautiful, and have beautiful family and friends.

    37    This is, after all, La Vie En Rose.

    38    Peace.

    ~H~


    www.xanga.com/bharrington




  • The Daily News

     

    1  So...you THINK Mars will be as big as the Moon tonight, do ya?
     
    2  Undoubtedly, Scientist.
     
    3  Don't break your neck looking up tonight.
     
    4  Here's the deal. The Moon is WAY closer to us than Mars will ever HOPE to be.
     
    5   Never gonna happen.
     
    6   Logic dictates.
     
    7   I sort of wish I had taken bets on this one. I remember seeing something written about this in the middle of the summer, and for a brief midsummer second, I thought, "Mars IS going to be bigger than the Moon!"  I laughed because of my long-term love of Mars. I am an Aries, so if I go Roman, I'm Mars.
     
    8   Fun stuff though. Great hoax, unless it somehow got viral and screwed up peoples' computers.
     
    9   Anyway, no need to go flying into the hills for a look see. You'll just look stupid.
     
    10  Moving on, Part the First:  I didn't go to school today. Too many aches and pains, plus my voice is getting scratchy. I rarely take time off from school, but this is an annual happening. Somewhere around the fifth or sixth day of school, my voice gets raw. Teachers talk all day long, but in the summer, I just did lots of gardening, and spent a lot of alone time, which was nice.
     
    11  There's an enormous difference between being alone and being lonely. At no point was I the least bit "lonely" this summer, because I enjoyed doing my yard and putting in flowers, and a patio and all. It looks gorgeous, at least for what I had been used to all the way to June.


     
    12   Last year I never really got a handle on the yard, so this winter it really turned into a science project.
     
    13   This year I jumped all over it, worked from dawn to dusk each day, and it slowly turned into a really pretty place. It now reminds me of a mountain resort, with fountains and a lot of frivolity that reminds me of the mountains.
     
    14   Only it took LOTS of arm strength moving pavers, sand, and mulch from the TOOOOOONDRA to the yard, and then bending, digging, sweating, and <cussing!
     s-h-h-h-h-h! Good thing I had my iPod on, so I couldn't hear what my neighbors probably heard!>.
     
    15   I still have tons to do, but it's now stuff you could do with a scratchy throat: Clean-up, lighting, sound, etc.
     
    16   Moving on, Part the Second: I don't really have any pics to put up quite yet because I've given my camera over to Nicole so she could make a website for her students. It already looks awesome! I don't have the link, but it's so fun to watch her plan and share. We've been pretty busy trying to put a party together for her sister's engagement, so I can't wait to start sharing classroom stories with her.
     
    17   So if I haven't told you, Nicoley, congrats on getting through your first week! That's one of the toughest things for any beginning teacher. Soon it will be a routine, and you will begin to experience WAY more joy than you will frustration. Hang in there and love it!
     
    18   Moving on, Part the Third:  Well, it's Frideeeeeeee!!! We all made it through another week, and it STILL feels like summertime to me!
     
    19   We have Giants, A's, Niners, and Raiders all in one fun weekend.
     
    20    Predictions:  The Arizonas will kick Lincecum's ass tonight, because I've seen no evidence that he has taken any measures whatsoever to increase his fastball speed.
     
    21    The Raiders will kick the crap out of the Niners. The Raiders' defense will easily shut down Alex "Roll-to-the-Right and Throw Out-of-Bounds" Smith.
     
    22   I love my teams, but I also KNOW my teams. The Raiders are a MUCH better team this year ever since they released Loser Boy Russell.
     
    23   Anyway, that's about it, sports fans. I hope I'm wrong, for my own teams, but not bloody likely.
     
    24   The Giants will still win the series, but expect Lincecum to give up four or five runs tonight and get yanked by the fifth.
     
    25   That's it.
     
    26    You guys have a GREAT weekend!!!!
     
    27     Peace.
     

     
     
    ~H~

     


    www.xanga.com/bharrington





  • a a a hard day's night 3  

    The Daily News
    1    Anyone catch the Giants/Reds game yesterday?

    2    Amazing. Losing 10-1, the Gigantes fought back, got ahead 11-10, only to eventually lose it 12-11 in extra. INCREDIBLE game, one of the best ever, even if the Giants lost it in the end.

    3    I watched it online for the most part, because it started at 12:45 yesterday. I have a prep period that runs into lunch, so it was pretty easy to goof off and catch the game, but I have no radio or teevee at school.

    4    After school, the Giants were down 10-5, so I was able to listen as I did chores. I listened to the game on the radio, and listened as the Giants torched it upfor six runs in the eighth inning.

    5    Naturally, the second I got home and finally turned it on teevee, the boys lost a lead in extra innings, eventually losing what has been one of the zaniest series in the history of the ball club. And losing this game?

    6   As Duane Kuiper reported, "Torture."

    7   Yeah Kuipe, I agree. It coulda been a classic, but it turned out to be a form of torture, which the guys in the box have lovingly called many of the team's games this  year.

    8   Still, what an amazing comeback!

    9    Gives us all a little hope. Sports sorta does that for me.

    10   Ah, vell.

    11   Really an amesome game. Not just yesterday's. Baseball in general. It has made a massive comeback itself, so I appreciated yesterday's game.

    12   Nice to see, a REAL ball game with strategies and hustle.

    13   Truly amazing. It would appear that baseball's back.

    14    Moving on, Part the First:  I was able actually to enjoy the recent heat wave all the way until last night at around 6 p.m. Having an air-conditioned classroom helped considerably, but once I got outside to run errands, I wilted pretty quickly. By around 7 p.m., I was done, even though I had eight-billion things to do.


    15    All I ate yesterday was a coupla apples, so by 6 p.m. I was a tad hungry. But it was too hot even to consider eating anything. Eventually I microwaved some food, but by 7 p.m. I just conked out from heat exhaustion.

    16   I woke up around four times to try to write the DN, but I guess everything had sort of caught up with me, and I kept caving to exhaustion.

    17   I WAY wanted to get out in the yard and finish up all the detailing of an entire Summer of Creation, but simply couldn't do it. I wanted to grade some papers, to check some emails, and to do all other sort of normal nonsense.

    18   I honestly think that everything I've been through for the past ten years all caught up with me last night. I was that exhausted!

    19   Dude, that's a boatload.

    20   Torture.

    21    It wasn't 'til around midnight that I was finally able to awaken and write today's DN.

    22    I wasn't bummed out or anything, just absolutely at the mercy of the heat and all.

    23    For instance, I have worked and worked and worked on the yard all summer, and my deadline for finishing is Friday afternoon. TONS left to do, miles to go before I sleep, and yet I simply couldn't move!

    24   I guess there are times in life when reality sets in and lets us know when we've reached our limit. I never thought you could put limits on me dude, seriously.

    25   I usually push past that, but yesterday trumped all of my usual stubbornness when life tries to stop me.

    26   I didn't feel bad, I just knew that last night I was simply done, at least for the night.

    27   Whew.

    28    I even knew I HAD to hit my DN deadline, but when I tried to do it, I conked out again. I eventually decided to give in to nature, and allow myself some rest.

    29    Yeesh.

    30    Anyway, I was able to pull myself together at midnight and polish this thing off. My other chores will have to be done in the next two days, but fortunately, the heat will have died down by then.

    31    I feel pretty normal as I tack away at today's DN. In fact, at no point was I worried or anything.

    32    It was just strange being unable to pull away from the oppression of it all. At no point was I depressed, or anything else. Just unable. Something was telling my body to slow down, to take a day off.

    33   AnywayZ ...I guess no harm, no foul.

    34   Getting sleepy, as a matter of fact. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...


    35    I finally conked again, and wound up sleeping like a log last night. A hard day's night, indeed.  I'm WAY refreshed this morning. Remember that the DN is written often at night and polished up in the morning, so if I was sleepy in item 34, I got in a bunch of sleep by item 35. Make sense? Perhaps those "Z" s will refresh your memory...

    36    Fortunately, today I just meet my classes at our Theatre, and the safety people are going to talk to them all day. Yeah, it's the second time in two weeks that I'm getting paid to sit around and do nothing, but it is also a necessary sitch.

    37    Maybe I'll go up to the booth and pretend to do lights. I don't really need to be schooled five times on school safety.

    38    So I guess I'm back, and ready to take on the world once more.

    39    I feel strong, alive, and awake once more. 

    40    Full strength, uh yup! So bring it.
     
    41    Time to make everything happen. I just needed a day. I'm tanned, rested, and ready! I feel I can take on the WORLD today!
    42    ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz...
     
    43    You have a great Thursday everybody.
     
    44    Peace.


     
    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington
















     
     
     
     
     

     

  •         


    The Daily News
    1   Same crickets.

    2   Sweet weather.

    3   There are times when everything is just somethin' so right!

    4    Last night was that, indeed.

    5    My favorite thing was that the crickets have set their sound design to perfect.

    6    I'm so used to the artificial thing.

    7    I'm again out in the garden, which I spent another three hours perfecting, and the crickets TOTALLY got it.

    8    They understated, which has always been my idea, at least in my imbecilic mind.

    9   If you throw TOO many crickets out there, then people worry that they may be in their pants.

    10  No such thing.

    11  We had about two or three that wanted simply to sing.

    12   Ah, make your music, dudes. It's like a summer cartoon.

    13  AnywayZ...

    14  The Giants' game is on somewhere, a perfect harmonious convergence with the crickets.

    15   Ah, all is still well...

    16   Honestly?

    17   It matters a little to me if the Giants win, but really, just having a ball game droning in the warm summer night simply works, regardless of all the rest.

    18   Dude, I'm carrying summer as long as summer will carry me.

    19   Just a lovely time of year, isn't it?

    20   I got more done on the garden, but then, I get something done every single day to make that garden pleasant.

    21   Pleasant, not perfect.

    22   Still, this year it all came together, so it's as close to perfect as one could get.

    23    Like, yeah.

    24    Sweet nights.

    25    Lovin' it, each and every night.

    26    Last night I had two green apples all day.

    27    I was sweetly committed to losing weight and loookin' good!

    28    Actually, I no longer wish to look good. I've said it time and time again.

    29    I'm happy just to avoid looking bad.

    30    Either way, it's a beautiful night, all around!

    31    Moving on, Part the First: I finally collected the first two assignments yesterday. Suddenly, I have a ream of paper to read. We have that many more students in each class this year.

    32    I'm dying to read them, but having to finish the yard has taken precedent.

    33    I'm also already worried that we are almost into the third of our first six weeks, which means I will be buried in papers within a week.

    34    Doesn't take long.

    35    Moving on, Part the Second: I noticed the on opening week that YB still hadn't gotten an Activities Director. Was I tempted to go over there and do that?

    36    Nope. Maybe for an eightieth of a second, but nope.

    37    Been building a garden with midsummer crickets.

    38    I also enjoy teaching freshmen. They're still a little bewildered and wide-eyed. I used to think the best gig was sophomores or seniors, but really, the freshmen at the Chill tend to be really fun and intelligent.

    39    Plus thirty-nine of them can fit in one classroom.

    40    So yeah, right now life's pretty good. Tomorrow I get to do nothing, just like Friday. These guys have to haul themselves down to our gorgeous Theatre and listen to an hour lecture on school safety.

    41    Might be a good time for me to grade some papers.

    42    Ah, it's so nice to see a DN where nothing really exciting has happened.

    43    It's like sitting around on a summer night sipping an cold lemonade.

    44    It just sorta happens as time passes.

    45    Wake me up when September ends, willya?

    46    Ah, peace.

    47     Peace.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     



  • The Daily News

      

    1  This is the second DN written from the oasis that is my backyard garden.

    2   It's a fool moon, and I'm barefootin'.

    3   Dude, say whatcha will, but it's still SUMMERTIME in my frabous eyes!

    4   A few crickets chirp as I unroll this folderol. MUCH better than 13 million crickets, so it's unassumably poetic.

    5   Ah, ya gotta love summer!

    6   Even the tale end of it.

    7   I just now washed my feet with a garden hose.

    8   The crickets are goin' and so am I!



    9   Moving on, Part the First: My daughter, Nicole, aka Miss Harrington, finished her first day as a teacher today.

    10  Already she has idjits trying to give her "advice".

    11  Hello.

    12   I'm sure they want to tote the modern line and force her into doing things that simply don't work. I have listened to her philosophies on teaching, and really?

    13   My daughter is spot on.

    14   It always has killed me in education when people who have NO idea of what passion and professionalism means start walking into YOUR methods and give advice, much of which is mediocre at best.

    15   Teachers who KNOW how to teach should be left alone to their own brilliance, at least that's my philosophy.

    16   The current trend is to dummy down lessons, and do the bidding of mediocre people who haven't been in a real classroom since they realized they couldn't teach a squirrel how to store his nuts.

    17   Fortunately, she totally gets it, and the toughest thing she faces right now is how to tell the unfortunate goombahs that teaching is an art.

    18   Her methods are so much better than anything I've seen in this strange time in our nation's education.

    19   She has the absolute theory that passion and caring about students is more important than all that other folderol.

    20   If I were a parent, I would kiss the very ground she walks on.

    21   Hey, wait a minute!

    22    Dude.

    23    I didn't mean that literally.

    24   Health nuts.

    25    Yeesh.

    26    Anywho, Nicoley GETS it.

    27    So I just wanna say, Miss Harrington is going to be one of the best teachers who ever crawled into this crazy bizniss.

    28    Coley, just roll dude.

    29    Ah, wonderfulness!

    30    Moving on, Part the Second:  Welp I'm still outside in the garden, listening to a lone cricket singing along with the fountain.

    31    It is just a gorgeous night, and writing to the light of a flashlight means that summer is still in full swing.

    32    This week started a bit shaky, because I messed up a coupla lessons due to senility, but I quickly recovered, and now feel that it is STILL the best opening I've ever had. I was a tad shaky yesterday morning, but that's because we watched bubble tests on Friday. So it was sort of like coming back from a three-day. Still, as I said, this has been the best opening I've EVER had. That's saying a lot.

    33    Strong stuff.

    34    Nothing really amazing in the past coupla days, but I still feel that I can't wait to get in there and do it today.

    35    Little late, and even the crickets are beginning to slow down, so I think I'll just call it a night.

    36    Yawn.

    37    So thanks for listening.

    38     I'm cuttin' out early here, 'cuz I'm just pretty exhausted from well, everything.

    39     Tell someone you love that you love them, and hold fast to your dreams.

    40      Walk barefoot. Enjoy a popsickle, and sip some lemonade. It's still summertime!!!  Look up at some point, and smile today.

    40     Peaceout, homies!

    41     Live life.

    42     Love life.

    43     Peace.

    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington











  • The Daily News

    1   It's MONDEEEEEEEEE!
     
    2      The coolest thing about today's DN is that for the first time ever, it is coming to you from my almost finished backyard, which went from a science project to the Forest of Arden in a little more than a month!

    3  I'm out in my garden, complete with crickets, flowers, a sweet fountain, and the Beach Boys goin' on my iPod!

    4   Two months of major overhaul, but now my yard is absolutely incredible!

    5   Ah, who cares?

    6   Well, to me it is awesomeness! A LOTTA design, labor, and sweat beyond belief, but I built it for my daughter Caitlin. She's having a party for her upcoming wedding, so we will have Casa Vicky's, and lots of family over for an upcoming engagement party.

    7   Meanwhile, my daughter Nicole has spent the last four days preparing for her first day teaching as a professional. This morning we took a picture of her going out the door for her first day. Miss Harrington. Good luck sweetie! This portion of today's DN was written this morning.

    8   Life just moves on, and on, and on, and sometimes gets better and better.

    9   Not quite done yet with the garden. I have a flashlight in my mouth, for example, as we speak, because there's no direct lighting on the patio. All lighting is indirect, in the garden proper. So yeah, this is being written with a flashlight in my mouth. It is also being written this morning, so if you get confused, well don't.

    10  And no, I'm not bluffing, haha! It tastes awful, but I had to go outside, listen to the crickets and the fountain, and write this stuff. Flashlights shouldn't be put in the mouth.  But it worked so beautifully! Ah, fun stuff.

    11  In My Room plays as I pound this stuff out.



    12  In My Room will always remind me of Jenny and I singing it at all sorts of things, the most important of which is our wonderful friendship.

    13   Great weekend, I swear to you.

    14   For one thing, I don't have cancer.

    15   I swear to you.

    16   Okay,okay, I can't lay something like that on you, but  a few months ago, I had this lump, won't tellya where.

    17   I had it figured for some garden bug that bit me, or maybe even a bedbug.

    18   I just kept working on the Forest of Arden. Deadlines, you know?

    19   Plus I don't trust doctors, with all due respect.

    20   More on that later, but last Wednesday, the lump started to grow, almost at an alarming rate.

    21   I still didn't trip, but I certainly worried, because each day it grew larger and larger.

    22   Saturday night Helene and I were enjoying our anniversary, so we finished working on the yard. The lump was ridiculous, but I didn't want to alarm her. We went out to the yard for a beautiful dinner I made for her.

    23   We had SUCH a wonderful night! I made a gourmet meal, and set it up at the bistro table in the yard. Put music on, poured some expensive wine, and everything was workin'.

    24   The only thing lacking was light. I lit the area around the patio, but not the patio proper. That's why last night I had the flashlight and all.

    25   I decided that candles would make it all work, so I went back inside to get a candle.

    26   I saw this awesome candle on top of a bookshelf that was up high. It sat on a triple candle holder that had some cool mountain bears on it.

    27   It was out of reach, so I tiptoed, and flicked it with my finger.

    28   The candle suddenly flew at me, and hit me right on that lump.

    29   Brace yourself.

    30   It hit it direct on, and it burst the lump, exploding all the stuff that was in there.

    31   It was as big as a golf ball, but it burst, and everything suddenly drained!

    32   I told you to brace yourself.

    33   But seriously?  It flattened out within seconds, and I pointed to whatever Heaven might be, and thanked life for a new lease. I thought it was cancer, and worried that it was cancer.

    34   Spider bite.

    35   And NOT a black widow!

    37   I instantly loved God, Joe-the-Bear, and even Mars, whose month this totally is.

    38   Whatever bit me didn't succeed in the assassination attempt.

    39   I'm convinced that spider didn't act alone. I'm convinced that their was a second poisoner on the mulchy knoll.

    40   Quite a scare, peoples.

    41   Anyway, I'm now outside, listening to crickets, looking at Mars in wonder, and enjoying writing my first outside DN! I put some Neosporin over the wound, and a tight Band-Aid. As I said, I don't like going to see doctors. Nature cured me with a candle.

    42   Whew.

    43   The Beach Boys' Good Timin' just came up on the iPod. Sweet song. All about life, and about how the world keeps turning, and how we're all learning.

    44   Good, good timin'.

     


    45   Unknown song, but so sweet and philosophical, all about life, and love, and living.

    46   It faded, and all I had left was the sounds of the crickets, and the fountain, and of course, the very sweet Kokomo.

    47   And now I write this with that sweet song rocking my world, as it always did, and I'll get to why some other time.

    48   Right now, I'm thanking everybody who saw me in the past five days, for reminding me of how much we must embrace life, and live it, and love it.

    49   You know who you are.

    50    Love you all.

    51    So much love.

    52     It's MONDEEEEEEEEE!

    53     Fly low.

    54     Live life.

    55     Love life.

    56     Good luck, Coley, on your very first day.

    57     Longest DN ever? Maybe...

    58     I love you all, everything. It's great to be alive.

    59     Peace.

    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington


  • The Daily News

    1  It's Frideeeeeeeeee!!!!

    2   Yee-HEEEEEEEE!

    3    Who woulda thunk?

    4    This week was arguably the best week of the year!

    5     Ever think a teacher who has had summer cut back ten days would be celebrating the opening week of school, and even declaring it the best week of the year?

    6     Me neither.

    7     But when I look back, it was. It simply was.

    8     It began with spending last Saturday with my daughter Caitlin rushing in and saying, "Dad! I got a wedding dress!" Within seconds, she stepped out of her room looking like an absolute princess.




    9    I melted, I openly admit. Nobody will EVER take that moment away from me. Later on, I lit up the entire yard that was a science project two months ago, and now looks like the Forest of Arden, at least to me. LOTTA hard work. Caitlin came out and saw the candles going, the lighting, the flowers, and the fountain, and she gave me a huge hug, and then cried. It was all for her engagement party, and I must admit, it looked really beautiful. So did Caitie, or as we abbreviate, K.T.

    10    The very next day, I got up to my Dad's to watch the Niner game, and I stayed for the Giants' game. We enjoyed a tremendous Father/Son day. He looks and feels better than he has in years.

    11    The next day, school started. I saw so many people who had lost their jobs back working again. We still lost some GREAT staff, but those who survived bonded. It was the first time at the Chill that I felt the staff coming closer together.

    12    Tuesday brought in our first day of school, and wow.

    13     My classes all rocked. Wednesday was a perfect lesson, as was Thursday. The students got in there, discussed things, were philosophical, and SO many raised hands and answered questions that I was positively blown away by their sincerity, and their intelligence. Some years you just feel it.

    14    In the midst of all of this, my daughter Nicoley got a teaching job, which turned her entire life upside down. She had been passed over by another candidate for a job she had hoped to get all summmer, but landed an interview, and then was hired, just like that.



    15   The job was hers, and I shared that with everyone in yesterday's DN. That night, Helene and I celebrated with a little wine, some Sinatra and some Simon and Garfunkel, and then we sang, and even danced outside to the night sky. Just lovely!

    16   And yesterday my students once again came in and delivered, or maybe I did and they just fed off my lead. I like to think so. Anyway, they were great.

    17   A really good friend texted me asking if I would want to hang out after school yesterday, and I said I would. We wound up having a great ride in the TOOOOOONDRA, and basic charmin' chit chat about everything and nothing.

    18   At the end of sixth period yesterday, I was told that today I had to administer a test to my students. At first I was a bit disappointed, because we revved up the year so quickly and with such nice interaction that some bubble-in test was going to interrupt the "bonding".

    19   Well...yeah, it clearly will. They'll forget almost all the work we did this week, but on the other hand, I'll have time to take care of a lot of business today during the tests: making seating charts, charting the calendar, and planning for next week. Having six or seven straight hours free today is going to release me to really get in there this weekend and get the garden/yard done. I  should hope I could now pull away and help Nicoley set up her classroom.

    20   I told me students about her being hired, and each period gave a rousing round of applause. I almost lost it, but as I said yesterday, you can't hurt steel.

    21   Every now and again we hit depression, and frustration, and other roadblocks. Sometimes it almost seems that life is SO full of that stuff that it becomes the norm.

    22   We forget that every once in a while, something so right simply happens.

    23    I guess that's true, but it's always difficult to fathom.

    24    Do dreams come true?

    25    Mebeee, Mebeee not. But I'll tellya one thing: this was one darned good week.

    26    Will it continue?

    27     I sure as heck hope so. I'm down.

    28     And now it's Frideeeeeeeeee.

    29     When I got home last night, I found a note from Helene telling me that our water heater was out, and that this morning's shower was gonna be cold.

    30     Dude.

    31     You can't hurt steel.

    32     I'm living life right now, and I'm loving life right now.

    33     And the Giants WON!

    34     Just good times going into a good weekend.

    35     You down?

    36     Celebrate. It's a great time of the year for it. Just celebrate that you woke up, that youput on your shoes and socks, and that you are alive.

    37     Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I sure KNOW I will.

    38     Have a good one.

    39     Peace.

    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington

  • The Daily News

    1   Here's one for the ages: The Campbell Unified School District just added a new teacher to their fold. My daughter Nicoley, or "Miss Harrington" was notified yesterday afternoon that she will be the new Kindergarten teacher at Carpi Elementary School, in the very room she student-assisted last year!

    2    She wrote me yesterday morning at around 11 a.m. that she had an interview, and I pretty much figured her to be a shoe-in. The teacher with whom she worked moved to a different school, but they became not just teacher/assistant, but colleagues in what Frank Foehr and I used to call the "War of Love".

    3    I didn't know she got the job 'til got home at around 4:30 yesterday afternoon, after having had myself back-to-back awesome days teaching.

    4    I pulled into the driveway and Nicole bounded out the door with arms pumped like Rocky!

    5    To take it back a few years, ever since she could remember Nicoley has had a passion for teaching. She would play teacher as a child, and later on, she taught younger dancers how to dance. In recent years, she had never taken her eye off the prize, even though last year was one of the most frustrating she ever had.

    6    If you've ever had the pleasure of working with SJSU, you might see what I mean.

    7    But new teachers also have to jump through a billion hoops in order to receive their credentials. Many don't make it. Many give up.

    8    And as Nicoley saw all the cutbacks, and as the school year loomed closer and closer, she started to feel what it would be like not to put a classroom together, not to think of creative lesson plans, and worse, not to enjoy the interaction of mentor and learner that is so unique to this profession.

    9    Within one week, each of my daughters has caused a bit of an almost tear...I must admit I did get a tad caught up when she told me the news.

    10  But dude.

    11  You can't hurt steel.

    12   AnywayZ, I gave her the biggest hug ever, even though she was all sweaty and gross from working out. I, on the other hand, smelled fresh as a daisy!

    13    But I digressssss....

    14    HA! Not really. She just glowed...

    15    After a few years of sadness going on with my Mom passing away, my Dad's health, and all the rest, this has been a glorious week!

    16    When Nicole hugged me, I jokingly whispered in her ear, "How much they payin' ya?"

    17    Then I looked...not bad bank for a first year teacher!  I was TOTALLY joking, but she now has a career, with benefits, in a really nice school district.

    18    She absolutely has passion for teaching, and to the teaching world in Campbell, California, you just got yourself a jewel.

    19    Congratulations, Coley! My beautiful baby is now a teacher. She shares many similar ideas to me, which, while scary, also means that she will put everything she can into the classroom, and not always teach to tests. She is warm, welcoming, and will go the extra mile to engage kids, and get them motivated.

    20    And to Nicoley: as they said at your commencement, "Welcome to the profession."

    21    <moment> Sorry. Proud papa.

    22    Your Nonie would be so proud.

    23    Is.

    24    I'm dyin' here.

    25    Better move on...think I'll at least try right here.

     
    26    The internet refuses to allow me the right to control fonts, so bear with me as I attempt to hammer this out.
     
    27    I tried with both servers simply to write these words: Moving on, Part the First.
     
    28    When your daughter just got a career job, the internet musta known that everything from there on in was open field to mess with the fonts.
     
    29    We'll try one more time.
     
    30    Moving on, Part the First: We still good?
     
    31    Amen.
     
    32    Had my second consecutive day of amazing teaching.
     
    33     I won't go into details, but things ran incredibly well.
     
    34     I don't know when I EVER had a better opening two days, lemme just say that.
     
    35    I DO know that it all became irrelevant when my daughter told me the news.
     
    36    All I can really say is that after all we've all been through, things suddenly righted themselves.
     
    37    I'm just spinning.
     
    38   All apologies, but every now and again this just happens, and even though it's a little after 11 p.m. the night before, I must keep crankin'.
     
    39   That all being said...
     
    40    Live  life.
     
    41   And sometimes, ya just GOTTA love life!!!
     
    42    More to come. Huge congrats, Coley! Now get your room arranged, willya? Quit standing around!

    43    And to all the rest: Have a great day!

     
    43    Peace.

     

    ~H~

    www.xanga.com/bharrington

  • The Daily News


    Photo not courtesy of the New York Daily News.

    1    So...Bobby Thomson walks into a bar...

    2    Goes yard.

    3    A part of me took the long drive with him.

    4    Thomson is famous for the famous (or infamous, if you're a Dodger fan) "Shot heard 'round the world."

    5    It was 1951, and in late August, the Giants had found themselves a seemingly hopeless 13 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, prompting Dodgers' manager Charlie Dressen to declare, "The Giants is dead."

    6    Well, in most circles, you aren't bound to win any championships when you are THAT behind in August. But the Giants went on a 16-game tear, beating every team in their path to tie the Dodgers by the season's final weekend.

    7    When the two teams faced one another for a best of 3 series, the Giants won the opener, 3-1 with Thomson delivering a two-run home run at Ebbets Field. Ralph Branca, the pitcher who ultimately delivered the Dodgers' fatal pitch, also gave that one up to Thomson.

    8   But true to form in this classic rivalry, the Dodgers came back in the Polo Grounds, pounding the Giants to the tune of 10-0.

    9    Thomson, who had already had a bad day by getting caught in a rundown,  blundered two groundballs, which broke a 1-1 tie, leading ultimately to a Dodgers 4-1 advantage going into the ninth.

    10   In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants got one run in, and had two runners on second and third with one out, when Dressen decided to bring in Branca. Thomson took a strike on the first pitch.

    11   The next pitch was certainly one of the greatest moments in baseball history. Branca challenged Thomson with a fastball, and Thomson smashed it into the lower stands, prompting Giants' announcer Russ Hodges to scream, "There's a long drive...that's gonna be I believe...the Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left field stands! The Giants win the pennant, and they're going crazy; they're going crazy, yay-HAY!!!"

    12   FAMOUS call, the "Shot Heard 'ROUND the Word" they called it. As a kid growing up, I would always dream about that game, and about my Giants winning the pennant. It was a total Cinderella story, only for boys. They would play that stuff every year, and every year I would listen to it and just try to imagine the excitement of that moment. I think it was the first time in my life that I learned to appreciate history.

    13   I bought a sports vinyl record with all sorts of sports' highlights on it, including Thomson's epic drive. Of all the great moments on that record, Thomson's always dominated.

    14   Even if you aren't a baseball fan, you could certainly understand making a comeback of that magnitude, especially if THEIR coach declared you dead.

    15   So Bobby, wherever you are, thanks for a moment all many in baseball will never forget.

    16    As an end note, the Giants lost the World Series that year to the dreaded Yankees, who got them in six games, but I still think that Hodges' call of the Thomson home run is among the greatest in sports' history.

    17   You'll be missed, but not forgotten. Thanks Bobby, for bringin' it all back.

    18   Moving on, Part the First:  Had an outstanding opening day yesterday, and believe me, I was worried.

    19   The nice thing was that I had already planned almost the first two weeks last week, so it ran smoothly. I worried about my classes, but within seconds of meeting them, I could see brilliance everywhere I looked.

    20    My group of teacher goofs all met in the morning, and looking like the Hollywood stars we are, moved to the picture area to get our ID's done.  = )  <---sideways smiley dude.

    21   Not IDS, you Freudian fools!




    22   ID's!

    23   As in, "Boy, I have a GOOD ID. Let's git our pictures took!"

     


    24   Okay, that didn't work.

    25   I shoulda said, "Boy, I have a GOOD idee." Then you bring in that poetic hillbilly touch to the proceedings.

    26   AnywayZ, when the Gang of Four walked toward the picture hall, we got flocked by enthusiastic students who high-fived, and were all ears and braces.

    27   We felt like movie stars, or at LEAST the Pope. It was SO wonderful because that group of friends gave tons of money to Haiti, and to people fighting genocide, as well as many other causes. We were always together, trying to get stuff goin', or at least contributing, so the students respected our swagger.

    28   And yeah, I must admit...we were all dressed fashionably, and were doing the opening day swagger!

    29   But it wasn't because we were peacocking or anything. It was picture day, and a few teachers who help with every cause imaginable bounced to the quad area, and it was terrific fun!

    30   Well, everything ran wonderfully, there was great interaction with the students all day long, and by the end of the day, I realized that it is time to give everything I could to our new students.

    31   Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe my freshmen are the Class of 2014? I honestly don't really know. You lose track after a hundred years.

    32   Anybody feelin' old?

    33   Haha!

    34   Thank God for me that I have been youthening for the past 900 years.

    35    Just like the legendary Merlin.



    36    Okay folks, that's the only update so far. Things ran well at our school, despite being ridiculously understaffed. We're STILL out there doing it!

    37    I realize that today will be a lot tougher, but for now, thanks to some amazing people in all areas of our school, we have taken the challenge, and will do everything in our power to make 2010-11 one of the greatest challenges, and greatest school years ever!

    38   I intend to give everything I have to achieve that.

    39   Write it in your heart.

    40    It's getting late, even though it seems early. I couldn't sleep the other night because I was so excited about starting the new school year, so I think some nice rest on the second day out might really serve both myself, and my students.

    41    It's good to be back.

    42    Well, that's it for today. Hope y'all enjoyed reading about the challenges facing educmacation in the 21st C! The first week is always pretty scary, but always pretty exciting as well. You remember how it is. I remember many of you on the first day!

    43    Ah, vell, wish me luck. Wish us all luck.

    44    Love you all.

    45    Peace.

    ~H~



    www.xanga.com/bharrington

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