Welcome to Glenn's Blog!

Here I will periodically post random thoughts and stories about what's going on in my life and the world around me. As if anyone cared. But seriously, you've found your way here, so hopefully you will enjoy at least some of what I have to say, even if you aren't entirely interested in it. At the least, it should be a good way to waste time.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Week One: Done

Well the first week is in the books at Sac State. It actually was a pretty okay week. At least, it was fairly uneventful and rather predictable. Lots of students needing their forgotten locker combos, new students needing practice room keys. Faculty wanting to schedule their ensemble rehearsals and move their classrooms around. The usual.

It actually seemed a little slower than normal for a first week. Go figure. Well at least I got caught up on a lot of things I was behind on. Getting calendar stuff up to date. Scheduling things with the university. Getting staff work schedules out.

As an aside, I have the largest student staff I've ever had at 6 people, plus one additional swing person. And February is the slowest month, concert wise. Yet I'm having trouble getting everything fully scheduled around everyone's busy schedules. Maybe I need to hire more people.

Anyways, it's Saturday night, and as is typical with a weekend day with Connor, I spent an inordinate amount of time today at the park and watching Connor's favorite YouTube videos of families playing with their kids (Yeager Family anyone?).

If this all seems like rambling, well, it is. That's me now, apparently. A middle age single father rambling on and on about normal day to day activities, and recording them here for all posterity.

Maybe I should start a YouTube channel. I could be famous.

Monday, January 21, 2019

Semester Eve

Well here it is, the night before the start of the spring semester. Winter break is officially over. Usually the breaks seem to fly right by, and are over before I have a chance to blink. This one was draining and seemed to drag on. Not that I'm glad it's over. I'm never glad it's over. But mostly i think that's because I don't want to go back to work full time.

The spring semester is as usual a busy one at Sac State. I suppose that's a blessing, since the time there does move faster when it's busy. In this my 40th semester working there, I feel more than ever just burnt out. I'm tired. I don't really want to go back to it. I kind of want to travel. To explore. To enjoy the beauty that still can be found in the world. To find myself. Am I lost? Maybe, maybe.

I recall my last trip to San Francisco and the calm serenity of walking along the beach. Staring at the ocean waves. Watching the flocks of tiny birds running away from the incoming wave, running towards the receding waves. Not a care in the world. For me, I mean, not the birds. Of walking the city streets in the early morning just before sunrise. Watching the world come alive.

I want to go for a walk right now, one last breath of fresh air and peace around the surrounding neighborhood, such as it is. I can't though, as I have Connor this week and I can't very well leave a sleeping 5 year old home alone with the cats.

So I'm at home laying in bed and watching Lady Bird, a coming of age film that doubles as an homage to Sacramento. At least I get to see some sights of the city in it.

Tomorrow it will be back to the rat race. I'm sure I'll be inundated with all manner of returning students needing to be reminded of their locker combos and new students needing to be indoctrinated into the system of lockers and practice room keys and the general bureaucracy of college life. Should be...fun?

At least it should be busy enough to go quickly.

Well anyways, at next light it will be off to the races. I think I'll retire early tonight and enjoy this last evening of "freedom" in dreamland.

Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Day It Was Suddenly Real

It's 10 days into the new year. Have I had any epiphanies, embarked on any new adventures? Well no, not really. Not yet anyway. I've spent a little time organizing old photos, updating my framed collages with fresh prints. Going through my movie collections, pulling out things I know I'll probably never watch to be sold for pennies on the dollar at Dimple Records. Finding random things in the house to add to the Goodwill pile. In general streamlining my life. I guess in a certain manner I'm refreshing my soul a little bit.

I'm getting ready for a new adventure I suppose.

I'm recently separated, though not from my own design or decision. In two days my former wife will be moving out of our house, leaving me to start anew and find a new path in life. I'm really not sure where things will lead, or what will happen next. It's been a long time since I was "single". It will be a voyage of discovery I suppose, possibly through tumultuous seas. Who Knows? The unknown can be like that.

The title of this post is a song lyric reference to "So Big/So Small" from the hit musical Dear Evan Hansen. I had the good fortune of being able to see this show at the Curran in San Francisco a few weeks ago; I won an online ticket lottery to acquire a ticket for only $25 (the regular price for the particular seat I wound up in was closer to $300). The song speaks of a breakup, of a parting of ways. It seemed appropriate. In any case, come Saturday it will suddenly be real, and I'll have to take a first step forward. We'll see where it leads.