Saturday Morning

Well here it is Saturday morning, just over a week left of the summer before school starts again. Once again time has just flown by. Why does it keep doing that? It had better stop before I get old....

We had a good July though as we took a 10-day cruise out of San Francisco to Alaska. We had never been on a cruise that long before. Quite a bumpy and windy ride going up the coast, but the destination was totally worth it. The scenery up there is completely amazing. We didn't end up seeing a whole ton of wildlife; mostly whales spouting at a far distance, sea otters and occasionally dolphins in the water. On land in ports we did see salmon jumping and bald eagles (up close even at the Raptor Center in Sitka). It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, despite the engine trouble that made us late into Victoria, Canada.

Now it's time to refocus on work and the fall semester. Well actually, I've been at work the last three weeks now trying to refocus on work. I'd like to report that I've made significant progress there. But I'd only partially be telling the truth. Really it's been a fairly slow and quiet rite of passage at work, awaiting the inevitable return of all those brats. I mean, the faculty and students...

But now it's time to have a somewhat relaxing weekend, the second to last before all hell breaks loose. Today is the Stockbridge annual picnic, so that will provide a chance to go bake in the sun and fatten up on food. Not that I need to fatten up though - the cruise put me up enough, and its going to take awhile to shed off all of that. Oh well, moving right along.

I am proud to report that the marching band music I've been arranging for the fall is all done. So, I have gotten something accomplished this August.

Where Did June Go?

It seems like I just blinked my eyes for a second, and all of a sudden it was July. Can you remember a summer ever passing by so quickly as the first third of this one has done? Then I blinked again, and today it's July 7. One week into the month. I'm afraid to close my eyes again, for I might find it's the end of August already. Granted I would welcome cooler temperatures. This upper 90-low 100s that we've had the past week is not to my liking.

Anyway, things are moving along at work this summer, although the individual days seem to pass by slowly. Already we've replaced the lighting control system in the Recital Hall and gotten all new digital keyboards in the piano lab, and our rekey project has been approved and the details finalized. Just waiting for ordered hardware now. It might take awhile.

But this is the time of the summer where I generally start to check out. Most of the cleanup from the previous semester and resetting for the next semester is done, and I'm pretty much ready for vacation. Still have another week to go though, before taking just two weeks off and getting ready to embark on a 10-day cruise from San Francisco to Alaska and back. That should be a real treat. I might just have to take off more than two weeks though, just because. I am tired of seeing the inside of my office!

Still, so much to do this summer including finishing the season brochure and getting it to the printers and completing several composition projects (which probably should have been finished already...or at least substantially started!). Guess I'll take a lunch break now and then see what the afternoon has in store.

Disneyland!

So this week I took a trip to Disneyland; it had been five months since I last went, so I was starting to have withdrawals! Three nights in the Magic Kingdom is always a good way to celebrate the end of another semester at Sac State. This time I went on my own, as Whitney is still teaching through June 10. I've never done a trip on my own before, so it was a new experience, and certainly one I was slightly wary of. But it turned out all right. 

My friends Mike and TC were down there already, by lucky coincidence, so I hung out with them from time to time. But mostly I ran on my own, which in some ways is nice. It's a bit of freedom to explore as you like. Turn left here, turn right there, go to this land or that land next. Whatever! The park was of course happily found much the way I last left it. Well, sort of. The ongoing construction in DCA has grown somewhat, such that half of the park now seems to be behind a temporary wooden wall. Albeit a pretty, decorated wall with depictions of Disney characters and promotional drawings of what the park will look like - whenever they finish it. 

The big news is the new ride, Ariel's Undersea Adventure. Or I think that's what it's called. Anyway, it actually wasn't open quite yet, not to the general public anyway. Cast members and their friends and family has special passes which were allowing them to experience it already. But at least the construction walls are down from that area, and the new building housing the attraction is both massive and impressive. They still have Aladdin at the Hyperion Theatre (I could have sworn that was being replaced...). I did go and see it, and was glad I did as I seemed to enjoy it more than ever. It helps that the Genie essentially does stand-up comedy improv every show, that makes it fresh and new every time. This time, we learned that Arnold Schwarzenegger is his father... 

I got to see World of Color for only the second time ever - and I found that I enjoyed it even more than the first time. Good sign. This time, the Tron preview I saw before was gone of course, but a new sequence featuring then new Pirates 4 movie was in its place, and was quite spectacular. Can't wait to see this show again! 

Disneyland was much less under construction; the biggest news here was the impending opening of the brand new Star Tours attraction. This week it was open to Annual Passholders who were fortunate enough to win some sort of lottery online. This didn't include me. but, I did have a lot of fun exploring my old favorites and even managed to catch both the fireworks and Fantasmic the first night I arrived (they're still on off-season hours so these run only on weekends at the moment). 

I got to see Billy Hill unplugged and up close and personal, as the Golden Horseshoe is being renovated so they are playing out in the streets in Critter Country. As I almost got run over actually, as I happened to be right in their entrance line as they came out and the bass player jokingly steered right for me as I tried to scamper out of their way. It was a great show from them as usual, despite having no sound and no fiddles. But all great trips have to end, and on Wednesday I grudgingly left for home. It won't be the last time I go, as I did buy an annual pass again - and I'm already looking at going twice more before this year is out! Now, onto the summer...

Another Semester Done

Well here we are on Tuesday of finals week, a cacophony of recorders tooting in the hallways in anticipation of their Music 8 final. Boy that gets annoying real quick. But the semester is finally finished, all of our concerts are done and gone. It's been a pretty busy semester, especially the last few weeks where we had 10-12 concerts per week. Next semester is looking to be a little lighter, fortunately, but of course there's still time for folks to sign up for recitals, so you never know. 

I played the Sac State musical this spring, playing on bass for The Wiz. I was really concerned about my wrist, after Rent destroyed it last September. The doctor, incidentally, essentially told me I was getting older and needed to exercise it our and take ibuprofen. Ha! Well although my wrist was hurting throughout this run, with several high doses of drugs I was able to push through. It wasn't as bad as it was in Rent, but even now after 4 weeks have passed I still get jolts of pain sometimes when I turn my wrist a certain way. So, it may be very well that I have to retire from playing. It seems pretty clear that my wrist just isn't up to doing heavy playing anymore, and certainly not as infrequently as I tend to play. Xrays revealed nothing particularly wrong, so it may be time to hang it up and move on to other things. 

On another note, I did finally get a new composition work finished, a trio for oboe, clarinet and viola. The first movement was premiered at the end of April and went pretty well. The full three movements should be premiered in December. Now that this semester is done I can relax from the musical journal and musicology readings I had been doing for my grad class, and focus on reading through the entire Harry Potter series as I ride the bus to and from work. 

We'll see what this summer has in store, but as of right now I have a Disneyland trip planned for next week, a 10-day cruise to Alaska in July, and somewhere in there I need to start working on my final project work again, my symphony, so it can be performed next spring. In the fall I'll have one elective class, and then with my final project I should have finally earned the Masters degree that I began slowly working on in 2007. So bring it on, summer of 2011! I'm ready... Huh, it looks like it's going to rain outside. Are we sure it's the end of May??

Two Months Later

Been awhile since I updated my blog! It's spring break week here for Sac State. Unfortunately not spring break for anyone else; everyone else seems to still have their spring break attached to Easter, which is a month away. So I'm chilling at home, working on the third and last movement of my Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Viola, and doing some light practicing on string bass (playing Urinetown, subbing for my brother on Friday and Saturday). 

 I never practice bass, that's the weird thing. But sometimes you just get in a mood, and if you have a free day at home anything can happen. It's storming outside, huge wind gusts and pelting rain beating down on the world. Kind of soothing I think, to sit inside and watch it going on. So what else is going on? Well we're gearing up for the busy part of the semester at Sac State, where we have anywhere from 7-10 concerts per week. I'm also going to be playing electric bass for The Wiz at Sac State in April. Should probably practice a bit on that too...my left wrist hasn't been the same since Rent last September! It still hurts slightly when I play string bass; I noticed that when I read down the dress rehearsal for Urinetown earlier this month. Maybe playing just isn't meant to be my thing anymore... 

 And oh - I haven't been to Disneyland since December! I'm starting to have withdrawals already....But, we are planning a summer 10-day cruise to Alaska, round trip from San Francisco. That should be a blast! So, life goes on...maybe it's time for a break. That 70's Show just came on TV...cocoa, anyone??

First Day Back

Well today is the first day of the new semester. It's been business as usual, more or less, for the first day. Lots of students coming back, having forgotten their locker combos, needing a reminder, needing new lockers; the usual mundane tasks of the first week of school. This day has been slower than usual though - it seems the economy is finally starting to catch up on us. I've never seen such an empty class schedule in our building. Someone came by to find a room for a rehearsal from 10-11:30am. 

 A few semesters ago we would have been lucky to find a couple of options, but today there were 6 different rooms open at that time. Yes, as more people graduate and enrollment restrictions keep our new student numbers low, we will continue to see a decrease in the activities around here. They're projecting another bad budget cut for the next academic year, and I wouldn't be surprised if the union starts talking about furloughs again. In the meantime, the number of concerts is still pretty high as the students we still have are trying their best to get out of here before the fees get raised another 10% or 15%. Can't say I blame them. I guess the good old days of having tons of activity and a never ending flow of classes and people through the building are gone, at least for now. 

We'll see how long we're able to maintain a full complement of ensembles, at least with a comparable quality level anyway. More and more folks will probably be brought up from the junior colleges to sit in and fill holes. It's just after 4pm on Monday, and it feels not too unlike a Friday around here...