GRIZZLY PEAR
There are those who are the face of a group. And there are those who make it run.
Sometimes it’s all wrapped up in the same person, but I’ve usually seen these roles shared among different people.
For better or worse, it is the way of the world to give the figurehead all the glory, but do not discount the heart within the organization.
We spent the day cleaning out the house so it would be ready for rental.
Later that evening I went through my books and pulled out Akira and Sandman. It’s been much too long since I re-read them.
I wonder who I’ll view these books now that my world has changed.
But I don’t think it’s a random coincidence both happened on the same day.
Closing and re-opening are the function of a door.
We had a friend in town who was trapped an extra day due to flight cancellations, and he ended up stayed with my parents for the night.
While he was grateful for the hospitality, the honor was ours, especially given the additional opportunity to hang out a little more than we would have otherwise.
Maybe it’s an old world view of hearth and home, or maybe it’s just the plain old saying it’s better to give than to receive.
What are the default settings that I work with?
When I open up the computer in the morning, its gmail, facebook, espn, huffington post. Unless I’m a good boy, in which case it’s the new post editor for this site.
Even though that initial four website scan is generally pretty fast, it is still ten minutes that I should be exercising, which is sorely lacking in my life.
Same with my food. We’ve fallen into a rut of going cheap at the local Burger King, down the block from the office. I think I need to start going a little further down the street to the Albertson’s and start buying salads.
Maybe the only default setting that doesn’t feel completely like a vice is when I’m feeling a little frazzled in the morning. If I have a spare moment, I’ll drop by the coffee shop, order an espresso and decompress. Occasionally there will be a lightning bolt of inspiration — I don’t know its the change of scenery, or the caffeine, but I’ll take it.
I guess I was a lucky kid, as I generally grew up with the assumption that people liked what they did with work.
Even though I’m lucky as an adult and I’ve enjoyed my jobs, that is clearly not an assumption I would make nowadays.
But still, that is a powerful ideal to reach for. Not necessarily overblown “follow your passion” BS, more of “find a job that you like and be a professional on days you don’t.”
And on the flip side, when you run into someone that doesn’t reach it, have a little pity for them.
I was about half an hour early to a meeting so I ended up grabbing a coffee at the campus cafe and surveyed the setting.
It was good to contemplate the users of my building. I needed to descend from the fog of bureaucracy and see the young women and men who will be using this building.
The people in that shop will be graduated by the time my building opens up, but the next round of future teachers of Clark County will be following right behind them.
And not long after, my daughter and then my son will be following behind them.
My two little ones are closer in age to these young folks than I am.
How time has flown.
As a two architect household, we had a heck of a time making decisions for our own house remodel, especially since I’m a bang it out guy and she’s a bit more of a pump the brakes gal. It definitely made for some interesting “conversations”.
Ultimately the exercise was a great crucible for the relationship, and I learned to completely trust her gut. Whenever she had the nagging vibe something wasn’t right — she was right. While it might take a while (and an unreasonable amount of effort) to come up with a better solution, the end result benefited from reevaluating the condition.
That said the house remodel did drag out an ungodly amount of time, but we were living rent free with my in laws and I get along well with them and I think they liked having the girl around to keep them amused.