The DN

Say Cheese.

1   God bless us, every one.

2   A Christmas Carol just ended on TCM.

3   The second this finished loading.

4   I had been watching it, but it froze several times.

5   I won't list the other electronics and electrical things that have gone bat crazy lately.

6   'Tis the season.

7    Yesterday a student said inaudibly during his final essay, "Mr. Harrington, how do you spell 'Tis?" He rhymed it with "Sis."

8   I'm somewhat convinced he said it with a partial lisp, for laughs. He is a bit of a cat-that-ate-the canary guy. I paused and shot a quick glance over my glasses.

9  "How do you spell what?" I asked, wishing instantly that I hadn't.

10  "Tis," he said, his wry smile missed by no one.

11  "If you meant, 'Tis, as to say, 'Tis cold outside,' it is T-i-s."

12  Poker-faced, I returned to my grading.

13  Eyes exchanged, all ears and braces. I broke into a half-smile but caught myself.

14   Professionalism is always the order of the day.

15   I wore a scarlet Santa hat and a Christmas-wrap tie. 

16  As always, the REAL Captain Christmas steps up at times like these.

17  El Capitan.

18  I think they bought that.

19  Moving On, Part One: This is my last DN for the year. 

20  Can I get an "AH-MEN!?"

21  I'll be back on January 7, or somewhere thereabouts.

22  Rough year. I'll be glad to see the ball come down on this one.

23   Meanwhile, I look forward to having a break. 

24   My daughters are taking us to Disneyland!

25  Can't wait. I'd love to pretend that I'm not excited, but I am. 

26  I don't think I've been there in eight years.

27  Time flies. 

28  Thank goodness.

29  I thought ahead yesterday and brought a laundry basket so I could get all the students' finals, portfolios, and other nonsense home.

30 When I got to school I saw my friend Cris Kuch, and said, "I brought this so I could bring home all the bribes!"

31  Students bring us presents. I have yet to think any student ever did so in hopes of achieving a better grade. 

32  A lot of the students who bring things are already doing enough to get high grades six times over. 

33  Yesterday a girl gave me a bookmark from India. It had what looked like ancient engravings. It seemed magical to me.

32  I had cookies, fudge, and Starbuck's cards, along with an array of cupcakes, candy canes, Ghirardelli Chocolates, and heart murmers.

33  The nicest gift was the patience and care that many of the students put into their finals.

34  After they all departed amid sincere good wishes and holiday smiles, I stood alone in my classroom. 

35   For some unexplained reason I decided to clean each desk. Several showed what looked like cuneiform etchings, imprints from so much writing. 

36  A part of me wanted to unscrew some of those desktops, take them home and bake them for posterity. Desktops roasting on an open fire. So warm, so true.

37  Isn't that what the Sumerians did?

38  In Ancient Messopotatoes? Cuneicorn?

39  Ah, nevermind. 

40  Anyhow, thank you for joining me in this year-in-the-life experience. Fun stuff this Fall, mysterious sounds, incredible coincidences, including a click of my vacuum cleaner as I wrote this item. 

41  Quick one before we leave: for whatever reason something drove me to visit Jesse Griffin, my guy next door. Pink Floyd's The Wall danced  through my head when I entered his room. I walked in singing plaintively: "We don't need no...educaytion; we don't need no thought control..." <guitar solo up; instant evil>

42   He looked up and smiled. 

43   I looked up only to notice he had stripped his wall clean. He usually has all sorts of student work posted and it was mostly vacant. 

44  "All in all it's just a..." 

45   Odd. 

46   Coincidences. <sigh> I expect more. Somehow they give me hope.

47  Maybe it's because I had a relatively bad year.

48  Maybe it's because of the hospitals and the emergency that took me away from here twice.

49  Maybe it's the spirit of my family and friends.

50  Maybe it's that I realized that I'm just not ready to go yet.

51   Too much more to do. 

52   Put away all the nonsense. It is expected, no, demanded that all work take a back seat beginning TODAY, much to the chagrin of all the Scrooges and Grinches out there. 

53  The people win this one, every single year. 

54   That being said, I wish you all the merriest, and I am glad we win this one every single year. Gives hope.

55  God bless us, every one.

56   And as always, live life.

57   Love life.

58   See you again.

59   Peace.

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/

The DN

1  I wish I were as maniacal about my iPhone camera as are younger people.

2  I had a few awesome photo ops yesterday.

3  Photo Op 1: This one appeared at the freeway entrance from Tully road to 101, heading north.

4  As I rounded the turn I saw a hippie guy with long hair, Alfred E. Neuman face, and  tie-dyed tee holding a cardboard sign that said, "I Love Weed!"

5   He didn't appear to be a hitchhiker, just an extremely merry fellow.

6   Guy was perfect.

7    All these Christmas people hurrying from or to work, or from or to a mall for shopping, or going seasonally zany.

8   This guy had nowhere to go, and he didn't seem to care if he was ever going to get there. The guy rocked.

9   I hopped on the freeway like Goofy's Mr. Wheeler, merging in and out, escaping certain death at every turn. 

10  I reached my own neighborhood none the worse for wear and decided to run my finals before doing anything else.

11  I pulled into the new UPS store near home.

12  Photo 0p 2: There is a new tea/pearl place right next to it, and an older white Honda car parked there. The interior was black. I looked over and both driver and passenger were gone, but had left their hats on each of the front seat head rests.

13  The driver displayed a Minnie Mouse baseball hat that faced forward, posed just so; the passenger had a red baseball cap with black rim positioned backwards, but with a gangsta slant that gave the picture some swag.

14  The black interior made the hats pop. You could see the artistic style as well as the friendship. You could also see that it had been staged.

15  I looked over and did a double-take. They got their audience.

16  I smiled. I could easily have snapped a pic. I just didn't think to do it. Maybe it's better that way. Lovely stuff. 

17  Moving on, Part One: I was a photoholic a few years ago. I loved my amateurish eye.

18  I lightly studied the art of photography, but never delved deep enough. 

19  A lot of principles of shadow and light, imbalance, balance and all the rest exist in theatre as well. 

20  As much as I enjoy my iPhone, I don't take it seriously as a camera. I got to know a couple of my cameras inside and out. 

21  It's been a while. 

22  I do enjoy a light, easy camera. I'm impressed by a lot of the higher-end models, but I'm happy with simple for now. 

23  It's awesome to me that the rest of the world has caught the photo craze.

24  It's a fun hobby, and can be done for practically nothing once you have the equipment.

25  I've never gone after expensive items. Not my style. 

26  I miss going around and taking pictures though. No time. Nor energy.

27  Believe it or not, teaching wipes you out.

28  I find myself in major need of a nap at the end of the day. LOTS more stress than people might imagine.

29  But it's nice, because I love my job.

30  Yesterday I got some pretty thoughtful gifts from my students.

31  That's pretty nice. And it is usually pretty darned genuine. One year a kid got me a blank music book.

32  I wrote some songs and had fun with it.

33  Yesterday I got a multitude of presents. One girl gave me a small book that simplifies Strunk and White's classic The Elements of Style. 

34  After I ran the finals I pulled into my fave pho place, went to the trunk, and pulled that little book out of a shopping bag.

35  The book still had a bow on it. The student had it autographed by the author: "To Mr. Harrington..."

36  It lifted my spirits on a winter afternoon of lunacy, hippies who love weed, cars with baseball caps displayed, Disney moments, and all the rest.

37  All the rest.

38   When I stop the madness and look up, I'm pretty happy these days.

39  To many of my former students, I might be a small chapter in a book that ended: the high school years.

40  To me, it's all as alive if not better than ever. It jams, it rocks, it wrenches, it pulls rugs; it tugs, it sings and it dances, sometimes all in the same day.

41   And I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

42  Photo Op 3: Scene: A teacher dressed a bit like Harbaugh, black sweatshirt, baseball cap, glasses and a stern look. He sits in an off-white leather chair with legs outstretched, tacking away on an infernal T-O-S-H-I-B-A, stretching deadlines. He appears as uptight as Hunter S. Thompson coming down from a breakfast high. He tacks out a phrase:

43   "I Love Weed!" He laughs. He is me. Third-person selfie. "I Love Weed!"

44   I can't get that guy out of my mind. 

45   Dude. Is that all you do?

46   Hilarious.

47   Welp, I don't love weed. I don't love too much of anything except ice cream and coffee beans these days.

48   Anybody lookin'?

49   I think I'll sneak out the back way.

50   Sorry to go, but I have a saloon to run.

51   See you again. Hope you enjoyed yourself. Have a good one. Enjoy 'em all.

52   Peace.

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/

The DN

1  Chaplin is on.

2   The film starring Robert Downey, Jr. 

3   It works. 

4    As always, I used it as white noise while I tacked away at this nonsense.

5   Sometimes it's better that way.

6   City Lights.

7   Just now. Quite consistent with the week.

8   jlfkdfkdsfjkdm.

9   Earlier I watched and thought of how much fun it must have been to make films during the silent era.

10  I particularly enjoyed the moments when they would show the actors shooting scenes.

11  It took me back. I never realized how much influence Chaplin had on my own directing. He would build entire sets in the snow, move people up there to freeze and film, and then leave almost all of those scenes on the cutting room floor. His history befell many of my casts and crews. Watching Chaplin took me back to my first Show at YB.

12  It was called Silents. It was a Show that was to have no talking, and served as a studied course in silent acting. Chaplin emerged as the greatest of the silents. 

13   I already had four-and-a half shows under my belt by the time I arrived on the scene with an old hat, a suitcase, and a pliant cane.

14   jkladjfkjfdjf. I just looked up. A half hour has passed. Silents. Chaplin. Memories.

15  The special 1972 HonoraryAcademy Award scene is on. It has Charlie staring into the darkness while a tribute plays over his head. Robert Downey, Jr. is at his best, making this perhaps one of the most underrated scenes in cinematic history.

17  He's old. 

18   In the scene, Charlie's entire past plays behind him on an enormous screen. Tears pour down his cheeks. He touches old age with a perfect delicacy and elegance. 

19  The actor and the Tramp blend and become one as the film moves to an end.

20  The good scenes were good. 

21  It's what was needed last night. It was just what was needed.

22  Moving On, Part One: Every year Christmas sneaks up on me like a crimson pole cat.

23  I noticed it particularly when I did shows, or stayed late working with invincible activities.

24  I remember one day a few years ago. I don't remember what was happening or what the day was. I just remember walking out of the Theatre and standing on the amphitheatre stage looking across the lawn at YB. My eyes focused on a cherry tree just to the right of the stairs.

25  At the top of the tree I saw Santa Claus's face, smiling back at me like a spiritual cherub.

26  I blinked a couple of times. 

27  It remained for a few minutes. I looked over and saw a blackbird flitting to another cherry tree to my left, turned back and Santa was gone.

28  Within seconds a huge Coke truck drove past. There was the Santa face, still smiling but with a bit of the prankster coming off the face. 

29  Christmas.

30  In those days I rarely noticed Christmas until it was too late.

31  That happened to me last night.

32  I bought a roast for the oven, but had forgotten that a few days ago a pan spilled oil inside the oven. 

33  I sat down, probably to begin this, when I smelled smoke. 

34

35   Within seconds I saw the corner of the oven shooting off sniffy plumes. 

36   I stopped all action and Googled "oven cleaning."

37  It required going to the store and buying some baking soda.

38  Couldn't do it. Not 'til I rested my eyes for a bit. 

39  I am quite aware of Christmas right now, and the crazies, both drivers and people who dress in black clothes and think they can walk around busy streets at Christmas time. 

40  Baking soda. I finally got up, put on my shoes and headed for Target. 

41  I was a wreck. I always park in the same spot, every time I go certain places. 

43  It works. I remember one Christmas Eve when I went to Target, got out, and couldn't find my car for around fifteen minutes. 

44  Ever since that night I locate certain areas for each place I go. 

45  So I parked by Radio Shack. It's normally a swift walk to the front of Target. 

46  Christmas.

47  People are nuts. 

48  Guys flew through the lot in huge hurries, quite often oblivious that there are children in the parking lots.

49  The walk to the doorway was a land mine of dodges and turns. 

50  I got the baking soda. As I checked out, some lady coupon hoarder got in front of me.

51  She was a dead ringer for Margaret Hamilton from The Wizard of Oz, only she was in workout clothes and sported green tattoos. 

52   You can't make this stuff up.

53   I wound up grabbing a few more items, just enough to cause a delay when they say, "Would you like to buy a bag?"

54   I hesitated and then said, "Nah I'm good."

55  I had five things instead of one, just enough to cause an imbalance while making my way back to my car.

56   Pirouettes. Pliant canes. 

57   I made it home safely, made a little food, and sat down on the Cloud.

58   Chaplin was on.

59   Chaplin was on.

60   Gottago.

61   See you again.

62   Peace.  

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/

The DN

The Return of Captain Future!!!

1  I hope you were able to Time Travel yesterday. I re-read my instructions. People may have launched early and gotten lost.

2  I was deadlining with the instructions, so I have since redone them. It works a lot better now. I apologize if I caused anyone to stay in the past.

3  Fun concept. Got LOTS of hits. Unfortunately, when I got to work I double-checked and saw some minor flaws in the instructions. 

4  Ah, it's all in fun.

5  I worked on it last night and it seems more clear now. You could try it out by coming back to this item <item 5>, scrolling over and up to the "This is the One" post, and re-reading. The return trip should get you back here. But get a helmet. 

6  The inception happened the other night. I went back to check on some older posts and saw that the entire second half of one of them had turned ashen, as though it had survived a nuclear explosion. I couldn't leave it that way, so I got out a repair kit and cleaned it all up. I then goofed on how I was literally repairing something that had already happened, that I was taking a screwdriver and a sacred cloth, and fixing the past. Too many old TCM science fiction movies?  

7   If you know science fiction, you know that you're not supposed to change things in the past.

8  I travelled against convention.

9  What a fun concept. Imagine: if we could go back into the past and change things, what things would we change? Given the changes of the past fifty years, can we ask that question without considering futuristic possibilities? Do English teachers ponder too much? Is a bear Catholic? Does the Pope shit in the woods?

10  <finger snapping, head bobbing> That's deep, bra. 

11   Change-of-Century Reminder: The use of the word bra is the 21st century morph of the antiquated bro. 

12  It's a brave new world, bra. 

13  Travelled.

14  Awesome. 

15 19th Century spelling, and used exclusively by H.G. Wells, who took it into the 20th Century. 

16  Anybody lookin'? 

17   Okay dude look. It wasn't exclusively. No time to explain, but it just wasn't.

18  Moving On, Part One: I downloaded this thing called Irfan View yesterday. I used it a few years ago when I was doing assignments for some online class I was taking. 

19  I had a bit of trouble trying to create the back-and-forth effects of the Time Travel and thought I might be able to do a magic trick with this system. 

20  It didn't work, or at least I didn't have time to learn all the new stuff they've thrown into it. 

21  It worried me a bit because of potential bugs and pop-ups. 

22  I gambled. People who know me know I'm not a gambler, but I've had the program on my desktop for a few years, so I trusted it.

23  

24  Twice last night my computer picked up random sounds and suddenly blurted stuff that wasn't open. 

25  That's creepy. I'm sorry bra. But that's creepy. 

26  You know how sometimes you have a few windows open, and something stops buffering and it surprises you?

27  That happened except nothing else was open. 

28  Any ideas?

29  I had a GREAT idea: mute button. 

30  What was REALLY weird was I was previewing some special features on my DVD of JFK when it happened. 

31  Odd. 

32  And then I couldn't control re-starting it. 

33  <insert Twilight Zone music>

34   Welcome to the 21st Century. 

35   Computers. 

36   Scary critters and getting scarier. 

37   Moving On, Part Two: Same day. 

38   Last night I shut down my computer. I got tired of it being weird. 

39  I walked out front, went to the garage and brought out some Christmas lights. I added some to the design in front. I replaced burnt-out bulbs, and felt the cold on my clothes. 

40  It felt nice. I fixed the drawer on the oven. 

41  I popped on the teevee. In an act of what could only be construed as divine intervention, Meet John Doe was on. Great film, one of the best. Directed by Frank Capra of It's a Wonderful Life fame. It provided a perfect backdrop to doing anything other than working on the computer.

42  While that old film flickered in the living room, I lit up the house with Christmas lights and enjoyed distancing myself from the monstrosity.

43  The computer. 

44  Felt nice. 

45  Does anybody remember life before computers?

46  It was a pretty swell place. 

47   It still is. You just have to poke around.

48   Gottago.

49   See you again.

50   Peace.

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/