Whoosh. And rant.

Do you ever feel like you go to bed one night, and it's somewhere in the middle of the Christmas season, and then you wake up and it's the middle of February? Whoosh! Time just flew right by you. Hours and days and weeks have just flown by. Well anyway, here we are in February already. It's Monday at work, and it feels like I've been here forever.

Yesterday I went to the bar at Chili's and tried their $5 margarita of the month. This is a picture of it. Doesn't it look tasty? It was, it was. I had two. And also chips and salsa. Oh and some boneless chicken wings. Yum. This month it's called the "Hearts on Fire 'Rita". According to their website, it contains Maker's Mark Bourbon, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, and Lunazul Blanco Tequila, along with grenadine and Chili's sour.

Anyways. Time for a rant, because why not?

I've recently been considering upgrading my personal computing situation. I've been using desktop computers for, well, ever, it seems. And I've been thinking about migrating over to a laptop platform. I used to use the desktop platforms because a) they were cheaper, and b) the larger screen made it easier for doing composing-type activities. Which, frankly, I'm just not too inspired to do anymore. Plus I'll need to move at some point this year, most likely downgrading in size substantially, so it may not be functional for me to dedicate space at home for a desktop setup anymore. And to be honest, having only one spot where you can work on your computer is something of a drag. So, yeah, I've been looking at Mac laptops.

First of all. They're expensive. Like, you need to donate a kidney to afford them expensive. And to add insult to injury: Apple removed all of its functional ports and replaced them with Thunderbolt ports. And nothing else. This actually happened, I think, back in late 2016. That's how much I pay attention. Here's the thing - there's NOTHING that natively plugs into thunderbolt ports. Except for Apple's even more obscenely expensive Pro Display, if you're into that sort of thing and can sell your first-born child to afford it. The most recent Thunderbolt 3 at least will accept USB-C connections. So that's something. But get this, even Apple's own celebrated and massively popular iPhone won't plug into their laptops, without buying another connector cable or an adapter. Sorry, but removing all USB-A type ports from their laptops, not to mention SD card slots, seems like just a clever way to force you to buy more adapters and cables. A sort of "screw you" to the consumer. As if it wasn't enough that you paid $2000-3000 for their laptop, now you also have to buy an adapter to actually plug any of your peripherals into your laptop to use them. Like you used to when the MacBook Pros actually had these connections built in.

Sigh. Rant over.

So, to be realistic, I'll probably eventually succumb to my own internalized peer pressure and buy a new 15-16" MacBook Pro. And an adapter off of Amazon so I can actually use it the way I want. That will come later this year, likely after I've moved and settled in somewhere new. And then I can retire my late-2014 model Mini.

So yeah, here we are in the second week of February already. It's not my week with Connor but I'll get him back Thursday evening to take him to basketball practice. And then he'll be my Valentine's date. So there's something to look forward to. And...whoosh! Time has flown by and it's about time to pack up and head for home.

Week Two: Done

So in the past I've written posts at the end of the first week of the semester, entitled appropriately enough: "Week One: Done". So I thought I'd mix things up this year with this post. Here we are at the end of WEEK TWO. How's that for craziness? Actually it's been a weird time as I've been struggling to get past this head cold that's been with me for the past two weeks. Ever since I got back from that cruise. Oh yeah, I took a cruise. Just a little 4-night jaunt out of Long Beach to Catalina and Ensenada. This was my 16th cruise overall, and fourth on Carnival. And it was the first that I've taken as a solo cruiser. But it was actually pretty fun. You can read my review and see pictures on Cruise Critic.

Anyways. It's Friday at the end of the second week of school. I'm actually going to a cabaret show featuring music of Andrew Lloyd Webber tonight, put on by the Sacramento Theatre Company. I've never actually been to any of their productions, now that I think about it. Guess I'm branching out. Earlier this week I subbed in for my brother on bass at a rehearsal of the Sacramento Symphonic Winds. It had been awhile since I played in a concert band setting, but it was actually pretty good. Though they're playing, among other things, some music from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with studio-quality arrangements. Those suckers are not sight-readable. Oh well. A good time was had anyway, despite it being past my bed time as it ran till 9:30pm. Well I'll be out past my bed time tonight too. What a week this is turning out to be! Maybe I should have focused on week-twos more often in the past.

Other than that, not much is happening in my world right now. Just slowly working towards that time when I'll be able to breathe clearly again, and not be periodically coughing up stuff. Today is the best it's been in two weeks, so that's something. And this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. Maybe Connor will let me watch it. Probably not though. He has his own plans, his own designs. But the 49ers are in it, and he likes the colors red and gold, so there's hope.

I'm going to cut this short as I'm at work, and darn it if I shouldn't probably be doing something productive. In fact people keep stopping by and interrupting me and making me do stuff. The nerve! Well, at least it forces me to get my steps in for the day...

Day at Sea

Well it's Thursday morning just after 10am as I sit in a cushy lounge chair at the aft "Serenity" section of the Carnival Inspiration. It will be Friday morning before this posts, as frankly I just don't want to pay for internet service. Which means, by the time this posts, I'll be getting ready to disembark and head for home.

It's been a great little getaway, a Monday-Friday cruise that one of the comedians on board refers to as a Section 8 Cruise. Yes, it's a cheap quick trip on an older ship to one of the least interesting Mexican ports (albeit one that has been working slowly but steadily to improve its image). I was offered $40 massages with happy endings multiple times in Ensenada yesterday, and one shopkeep even promised that he has great girls and no "crusty women". Keeping it classy, Ensenada.

But it's been a relaxing time at sea with mild temperatures and sunny skies spattered with white fluffy clouds. Lots of booze, lots of food, and lots of DJ-run pop and hip hop music. And also a rather entertaining piano bar. Also, I played just a wee bit of slots in the casino, and came out $4 ahead. So, that's a win.

This morning I had eggs Benedict at the Sea Day Brunch, then spent some time walking around the ship up on the open decks. And now, I'm just staring blankly at the vast ocean behind us as we slowly churn our way back to Long Beach. Sometimes doing nothing is just what the doctor ordered.

Vacation Time

I realize this is my first post of the year, or if you are one of those "glass half empty" people, my first post since last year, but I've been terribly busy doing absolutely nothing of consequence. So, therefore, it is time for a vacation.

I'm currently a board the Carnival Inspiration in Long Beach, about to embark on a four-night journey to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. This was sort of my Christmas present to myself, and incidentally the first time I've ever traveled as a solo cruiser. So it should be interesting.

I've been onboard for about two hours now, and we just got the OK to go to our staterooms. While waiting i've had lunch at Guy Fieri's burger bar, and my first tropical drink to start the trip off right. Now I suppose I will relax a little bit before we have the obligatory Muster drill. And then we're off!

See you on the ocean. Or. I guess. Back on land. At the end of the week...

The End Is Nigh

Well, here we are on the eve before the eve before the New Year. As we enter into 2020, just over a day from now, we'll surely see all sorts of social media posts of peoples' adventures in celebrating the close of one chapter of their lives. Not to mention, probably, all manner of arguments as to whether the new decade begins this year or next. (Spoiler alert: the decade starts on Wednesday. Humans track passage of time starting from zero, after all).

For me, tomorrow is Tuesday. The next day is Wednesday. That's usually how grandiose my New Years celebrations are. I'm not a party person. I'm a social introvert. I don't make resolutions. I don't count down the seconds, while donning a plastic party hat and clenching a noise maker in my teeth, eagerly anticipating the clock striking midnight. I might have a drink.

I'm usually in bed before 9pm.

New Year's Day. It's just another day. Like any other day, it has only so much significance as we choose to bestow upon it. Still, I went for a walk this evening in the crisp 46 degree air, and reflected a bit upon life and this past year. Small patches of low lying fog drifted casually across the path from the fields. Orion stood clear and bright in the heavens. The moon hung low and large, a sliver of a smile in the sky. It was orange.

Several homes still clung to the holiday season, displaying proudly their bright decorations. But most have by now gone dark for the winter. With each passing day the remaining beacons seem more out of place, as Christmas becomes ever more a faint memory.

The holiday season takes a long time to get here. Months of buildup and anticipation. And then it's over so fast. Is it just a metaphor for life? Perhaps a discussion for another time.

Today I un-decorated the Christmas tree. Took the wreath off the front door. The tree now stands bare, naked to the world. Tomorrow I'll probably pack up the rest of the decor. I'll submit to the reality that the season is done. I suppose, more than anything else, the New Year is a symbol of that.

So did I have a productive year? Did it stand out in any way from my previous attempts at a useful existence? Well. Not really. I did however have a banner year at keeping up with this blog. At least compared to previous years. I read a bit, here and there, for my own personal edification. And I survived my first year as a single father. Was that it? Funny how in retrospect the entire year seems so brief. Or perhaps my memory is getting spotty. But it seems like not a lot happened this year. A lot of...surviving. Routine. That fills up a lot of days, it seems.

Oh, also I transitioned this year into making YouTube videos of my life's adventures. So there's that.

What will the next year hold? Who knows, who knows. More days, more weeks, more months. Time will shuffle along. I have no grandiose plans, just to keep raising my son and otherwise getting by. And we'll see where it leads. Perhaps it will be a year of new beginnings. Transitions. Time will tell.

But hey, tomorrow is New Year's Eve! The end of the year is upon us.

Christmas Is Coming

Well, it's now December, and Christmas is coming. I suppose somewhere, a goose is getting fat. Well. Who isn't? After a full day of gorging on foodstuffs last Thursday, and hosting a mimosa brunch yesterday, followed by happy hour wings at Hooters, I certainly feel like I am. 'Tis the season. But Thanksgiving came and went without any headaches, and it successfully provided us with its annual placeholder between the Halloween and Christmas seasons. I actually put my Christmas tree up the week before Thanksgiving. Why not? Just more time to enjoy it. Plus, I know if I didn't get it done, I probably would not have gotten around to it until mid-December. And what a lot of work that would be just to have it up for a couple of weeks. So, the house is decorated and ready, more or less, and one present currently sits under the tree for Connor. With more to come. Well, for Connor at least; no one's buying me any presents to put under there.

Speaking of Christmas trees: yesterday I posted a holiday video on my You Tube channel which featured Connor describing the "proper" way to decorate the tree. Basically it amounts to putting a hook on the ornament, and then hanging it from a tree branch. Or as he puts it, "you put it on your thing". I guess he doesn't know the word "branch". Well, more educating of the kid is clearly necessary. But the video was a good excuse to post some pictures of my Disney-decorated tree, as well as some photos of the two of us with the tree. Our annual holiday tradition. Well, except for last year. But now I have some fodder to create some actual Christmas cards to send out to some people. I don't send a lot, really. But still it's nice to have them.

And with Thanksgiving so late this year, we're now entering the final week of classes at Sac State before finals. Usually we have a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving; I can't recall a time where we came back from the break and it was already December. But here we are. Which means, now, 10 concerts in 7 days. So it goes. Consistent and predictable, at least. And that is where I sit, now, at work with the final week upon us. Lots to do here this week, and then it will settle down. I'll probably be late at work most of this week, including Thursday when I'll need to step in and help run the choir concert downtown. There's just too much going on at once and not enough people to do it all. But hey, the concert should be festive anyway. And next week will begin the gradual slow down, for me, as we plod on towards the winter break. Getting quieter and quieter as each day passes. I kind of like that.

For now, I'm currently playing Christmas music through my computer at my desk. Why not? Everything is early this year, I guess. I mean I know it's not like the stores started stocking holiday paraphernalia in early October. Oh wait - they did, they did. But it's okay, I'm in the routine, in the groove. And Christmas is, after all, coming...