The Daily News

1  Ah, Monday!

2  March. Arrived like the proverbial lion. On Friday, we had thunder and lightning crashing about. 

3  Caitlin's neighbors put umbrellas upside-down under their leaking gutters.

4  It was sort of fun to watch, because a common fence prevented us from seeing parents and family working on that job during the storm. 

5  It was more like watching a family of umbrellas trying to ambush a thunderstorm. 

6  It entertained, in a Winnie-the-Pooh sort of way.

7  Of course we had Winnie-the-Pooh playing during the downpour. 

8  And then we heard this on the news: "Don't even think that the drought has ended."

9  Of course it hasn't.

10 The storm was an absolute tease.

11 I imagine. 

12  Moving On, Part One: We got down to Santa Clara later in the day to visit Nicoley and Matt. We drove through some nasty moments of highway blindness, said our hallos and almost upon arrival we all took off to this fun little restaurant called La Paloma. 

13  Huge plates of food, and massive amounts of chips and dips, enormously heavy, rich, flavorful fare. And yes, I demolished my entire plate in minutes.

14  Three weeks of good diet and exercise right out the window, but what a savory way to go!

15  We talked a lot about teaching, and students, and this wonderful lesson Nicoley gave her class. She engaged them in making toys out of found items. Great rainy-day lesson. We talked about the importance of allowing students a bit of play, and creativity, always a nice means of scooting the Common Core to the side for a couple hours. 

16  Laughter and play are important elements of schools. I see that more now than ever.

17  That old pendulum, I swear to you. "You know, we used to do fill-in-the-blank, but that was three years ago. Since that time, the pendulum has swung in an entirely different direction...," and blah, blah, blah.

18  Listen: If the teacher shows passion, the kids will learn. I hate to say it is that simple, but it is that simple.

19  We have to assume there will be some form of curriculum. The year needs a basic outline. Beyond that, all it takes is daily planning, to-do lists, and passion. 

20  That wasn't a thesis statement. This isn't an essay. 

21  Here is something that students need in English classes: They need to know that the language has rules. They need to learn those rules, to recognize when they're used, and to demonstrate the ability to use them. 

22  Period. 

23  It's just about that simple. 

24  Learn to speak proper English. I'm talking specifically about doing your best to learn grammar. There are rules.

25  Do all you can to learn those rules. I have already provided many of those rules in the past few months. I'll bring some more when I get back up to Sac. Promise.

26 I know it is torture, all that waiting, but I promise to get on that sometime this week. And if I don't, you might at least learn this: I can be unreliable in a New York minute.

27 But stay the course; I generally try to play fair.

28  Meanwhile, scroll through old DN's. I try to keep them all a tad light, and at times, amusing.  

29  Moving On, Part Two: The main reason for coming down to the Bay Area this past weekend was hair appointments and catching up, as well as planning a few events in the coming months.

30  Lots of stuff, lots of stuff. 

31  I didn't have a hair appointment, by the way. I was going to go, but I wanted the hairdresser to leave my Newsie hat on my head, then grab an electric razor, a sharp pair of scissors, a comb, some powder, and a neck blower, and to reverse whatever had befallen my head for the past month. 

32  The art up in there, by the way, is getting all the powder and stuff off my neck without blowing off the hat, no small task.

33  I held back on the appointment on that alone. 

34  When you wear hats, you have to make sure they stay just-so.

35  The ladies were headed for a place that featured complementary Mimosas with the hair-styling. 

36  And I still didn't go.

37  You don't touch a guy's Newsie hat, dude.

38  Especially not this guy's. 

39   It is a re-washed Stetson. Got it in Santa Cruz. It's my personal fave, as long as it is cleaned every day. It's the law. I shape it then, just so, over a small candelabra. 

40  Moving On, Part the Thoid: But is it Art? Dept: Matt and I stayed at the house instead of going to get our hair done. We watched The Shawshank Redemption, and  the Harrison Ford/Julia Ormond version of Sabrina (1995). 

41  I saw the original 1954 Billy Wilder version a few years ago, and enjoyed watching Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn perform so well. 

42  This one, directed by Sydney Pollack, came wonderfully close, although the ending seemed more abrupt. The original idea came from Samuel A. Taylor's classic play entitled Sabrina Fair. I came close to directing that show on a number of occasions, but left most of those thoughts and ideas on the stage floor. 

43  More to come...if I may remind, we are still in the midst of yesterday afternoon. It was not without interruption from goodness knows where. Here is my response, as it happened from the moment of that interruption. Listen: 

44  Sidebar: My laptop just flickered. The screen blinked on and off like bad radar, and it flickered, eventually posting this question: "Where to next?"

45

46  Exactly.

47  My response: Don't be so eager. 

48  Heck. I write More to come...and the laptop comes at me like a New York cabbie... 

49  Moving On, Part Four: I think the gloomy days dampened my enthusiasm for going anywhere yesterday. We had talked of jumping over the hill to Santa Cruz/Capitola, with perhaps a quick stop at the Swanton Berry Farm earlier in the day, but I got tired like you do. I decided to post some old pics of the place, not entirely the real deal, but nice, nonetheless. Here:

50  Ah, so simple. Sail on Sailor by the Beach Boys just played off the TV. Some movie or other. Nice coincidence, considering the series of pictures I just posted. Fit right in.

51  So. In a fun sort of way, I went where I wanted to go anyway. Laziness has its advantages. AND you save on gas.

52  I love that I can astral project. I'm convinced that the older you get, the better you get at doing that. Spiritual people call it astral projection, when you leave your body and travel places. That's deep. I call it a light nap. Not much difference, really. 

53  You get keener at it, with practice. You might even realize a chakra or two. It stems from good Mexican food and slight cloudpuffs of exhaustion, I am thoroughly convinced. 

54  Sometimes you need to view things philosophically: I'll enjoy astral jam over a traffic jam any old time.

55  So let's just humor this fellow, who's had a good go of it.

56  And enjoyed it immensely.

57  <eyes wide shut>

58  Nothing like a spiritual Sunday night to put you back where you belong on a Monday morning.

59  It was a spiritual delight jamming with you. 

60

61  I gottago. And thanks Nicoley, Matt, and the very noble Rocky. You guys totally rock, and this was a nice time. You always manage to get everything right, and so thank you. 

62  Have a GREAT day.

63  See you again. 

64  Peace.  

fin.