Entry date: 10-29-2022 - Random stuff - Letters to My Friends

Dear Friends,

Before I finish the story of my latest trek across the country, I want to share some random thoughts about things that have been happening this week. It’s been a while since I dropped some randomness on y’all, so today is the day. Happy Saturday, by the way.

I started my new job this week and I like it. The school is a lot smaller than I am used to for a brick and mortar and the kids seem pretty good, for the most part. Being the new guy, they are testing me, of course, but I’m a bit more seasoned than the last time I had to do something similar and join a staff into the year.

My classroom is the stage area, so I have a huge door that rolls up and opens into the gymnasium. I haven’t had to open it yet, which is nice, because it is a process that requires two people. When the process was explained to me, it made me think of the scene at the beginning of the film, WarGames, where they are testing the guys in the silo.

Staff-wise, there are some friendly people, but it seems like the majority keep to themselves which is fine with me. Teachers are often like this, I have found. Polite, friendly, but unless you work closely together with them, friendships aren’t going to happen. I’ve also gotten to a place, professionally, where I am not looking to add to my social life in any way, so I keep to myself.

It’s not like I am a dick, but I stay I pretty quiet. I have no desire to be “that” guy, nor have I ever really done so in a work environment. I like to spend that energy on the students. They are often way more interesting.

*****

One of the pleasant surprises of the last few weeks has been the play of my beloved, yet acid-reflux inducing, Phoenix Suns. I got to watch the Golden State game the other night in its entirety and really enjoyed it. One of the things I noticed was that Suns did not seem to buy into the Warriors bravado and posturing, treating them like any other team. I liked it. In the past, the Warriors have gotten into the Suns heads way more than they did on Tuesday.

In fact, the Suns weathered quite a few barrages from the Warriors where the tide could have turned in previous games. When Devin Booker and Klay Thompson got into their war of words, I half expected the Suns to be the ones to fold and that was not the case.

Clearly, I am writing this prior to last night’s matchup with the Pelicans, so hopefully they were victorious yet again.

*****

For the past month I have been working with some cool dudes in a band called Sick In The Head on some Adolescents covers we will be playing tonight at the Yucca Tap Room. It’s been a ton of fun and while I am the weak link in the band as I have struggled to learn words, I think it’s going to be good.

*****

Up next, musically, is the return of Bourbon Witch. We are going to be playing some covers in celebration of my dear friend Rob’s birthday on November 18. This show will also be at the Yucca, which as I think I have mentioned previously, is not my favorite venue. There are several reasons why I don’t particularly care for it, but the most impactful one is that I have just never felt comfortable there.

There is something about the place that rubs me the wrong way. It was also one of the first bars I ever went to with the intention of drinking as it had a reputation for not carding people back when I was under 21. If my memory serves, though, I went in there and chickened out and didn’t order anything. My gut feeling is that I got out of there pretty quickly on that occasion.

They also had (and I do hope it is truly past tense now) a weird policy where the owner would pay people based on his whim and not on what he said it was, which was supposed to be a percentage of the bar sales. I played several shows there with different bands that were similarly attended and got paid vastly different sums of money. I chalk this up to not being one of his “buddies.”

The Halloween shows are fun, though, I guess and hopefully a few people will be there when we take the stage at 8:30PM tonight. It’s been over 30 years since I have done a set of music without having a bass or guitar in my hands. It will probably feel a bit strange.

*****

Ryan and Bree's wedding was awesome. I am so proud of them and happy about our new family, too. What an interesting and fun group of people. It was really nice to be around so many people that I love in one place and everyone, for the most part, seemed to get along famously. I loved seeing Ryan with his friends. He's cultivated a great group of people and I couldn't help but think about my own tribe, too. I'm glad the tradition of building a family of friends is continuing.

*****

I started with work stuff and so I will end with it, too. I have received some interest from a school district near my home and I’m guessing next week I will, again, be at the crossroads of figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. As of this writing, I haven’t been offered anything yet, but my gut tells me that on of the three or four schools I’m talking to will bite.

The upside is that it would be a district job and not a charter job and I wouldn’t have to put up with a lot of the BS I waded through last year. The downside is that I have a pretty great niche where I have landed and the possibility of being part of the online staff next year might go away if I leave. Either way, I’d like to experience what it feels like to be at the same school for a while, so who knows. I tend to do this to myself.

The grass is not always greener on the other side. The grass is also not particularly green on any side when it comes to education right now. What’s a boy to do?

See you tomorrow (unless I see you tonight).

The previous teacher left this for me. I added the day counter.