Mr. John Damaso unveils best dressed scandal of 1997
By Alex Stanley ’12
THE ROUNDUP
Mrs. Haycock’s Question from the October Teacher’s Pet: “If you could live anywhere in the world that you wanted to, where would it be?”
I’d like to alter the question premise to include the possibility of Quantum Leap-style time travel, by which I could “leap” from body to body throughout recorded—and unrecorded…ooh!—history. Or, if this is not possible, please permit me to split my time among NYC; Lake Como, Italy; and Reykjavik, Iceland because they contain Alan Alda, George Clooney and Björk respectively.
Where were you born?
I was born in George Washington University Hospital, probably six weeks apart from one of my good friends I met 2,000 miles away at Brophy Prep. His name is Dave Bianchi ’97.
Were you ever considered for the best dressed award as a Senior?
I was not only considered and nominated, but I won the category. It was sort of a tie between Mr. Damaso ’97, that’s me, and Daniel De La Pava ’97.
It so happened that the 1997 yearbook was edited by John Damaso, so there were some claims that I tweaked the results and experimented with some creative ballot counting.
I kind of broke the virtual tie, so in parentheses, next to my name, it says winner.
Why are you a teacher?
I really love to be in a school. It is my favorite environment to be in. I believe that every day we should be teaching and learning, that it true for both teachers and students.
Did you ever know Mr. Mulloy ’99 while you were at Brophy?
No. I knew his name, and sort of his face. I have seen photographs of him at the time. He had … a modified Kurt Cobain (haircut).
What is the first word that comes to your head?
Fahrvergnügen. It’s a German word that was used in a bunch of Volkswagen commercials in the late ’90s. I don’t know what it means. It probably has an umlaut.
Over the “u?”
“An umlaut over you.” Isn’t that a sweet thing? It could be a romance novel. An umlaut over you—sorry, I just went away to another place where people ride unicorns on the beach.
You’re probably not familiar with Fabio. He’s one of those one named people. He was famous because he was always on the cover of romance novels for about 15 years.
He was in the news maybe three years ago because a bird flew into his nose on a rollercoaster, so he came off of the rollercoaster with a bloody gash on his face.
The photo was all over the tabloids and TMZ.
What is your favorite band?
That is so hard. I always tell everyone I don’t like to say favorites, because then they get printed in the newspaper. But I think the most defining band for my time so far is probably Radiohead.
It changes every week though.
Do you ride your bike often?
In the cool weather months, I ride my bike every single day.
In the hot months, because I am what they call a sweater, I drive my little car. I keep a record of all the tanks of gas I put in my car in an Excel spreadsheet.
It gets about 33-37 mpg. My bike, what does it get per gallon of Damaso juice? I don’t know, pretty good.
How can students earn an A in one of your classes?
I think if they just love themselves consistently for 180 school days, they get an A.
Also, I like king cake, which is the circular cake they eat in New Orleans on Fat Tuesday, because it is sprinkled with multi-colored sugar, and it has a little plastic baby inside.
If you get that piece then you have all of this good luck.
If you get me a whole king cake, there is no way I can’t get the little plastic baby. King cake and love yourself.
Pose a question for the next teacher?
If you could trade places with a Brophy teacher or administrator for a day, (laugh, laugh) who would it be, and why? Complete sentences only.