Two Years Along....

 

 

Two years ago on this date - August 7th - at around 0530hrs Central Standard Time I arrived in Hays, KS with the items you see above in my possession. 

I had just spent roughly 36 hours onboard various Greyhound buses coming cross country from just outside of NYC, where I had spent the summer working a gig following my graduation from graduate school. I didn't have a personal vehicle. And I didn't yet have housing.

But I did have a job. 

A tenure track position, which was slated to start orientation the next day - August 8th.

Hays, being a bit of a smaller community, has its Greyhound location included in a convenience / service station near the interstate rather than an actual station. Fortunately there was/is an on demand bus system that serves the community and that starts its daily service around 0600hrs. So I hung out at the station for a bit and then caught a ride to campus, since I at least knew where my office was going to be...and where I had also shipped a few of my other belongings that were "mission critical" for the start of the semester. The rest of my accumulated possessions were still in rented storage in Gainesville.

 

I admit that I was a bit surprised, though happy, to find the front door to the building unlocked when I got there, even with the earliness of the hour (~0700hrs or so). Gathering all my stuff I found my designated office and stacked things near it, hoping it would be generally secure since classes and the semester had yet to start.

After a couple of hours I was able to connect with the interim department chair and get access to my office and to the things that I had shipped myself....Looking back on it - and as seen in the photos below - my office seemed so very, very barren.

Even so....I was here.

And now?

It has been an interesting two years. 

Six total semesters - two full academic years and I've also taught over both Summer sessions, including teaching sections of one of my courses for students in China. Those sections were a full semester of coursework compressed into a five week time-frame. Admittedly, the China courses were online rather than face to face, but that is more to be blamed on the pandemic than anything else. 

Yeah...the pandemic. Teaching courses via Zoom, or in a hybrid format has taught me a great deal about how I teach. And perhaps helped focus my instincts / desires about serving underserved communities that was a part of what started me on this journey into academia.

Two years. 

In theory, one third of the way through my tenure path. In practice, closer to half, since I had to submit a tenure packet my first semester here. And my next one - packet #3 out of 6 - is due in just 18 days (August 25th, 2021).

Two years. And realizing in less time than that that most published textbooks really don't serve the needs / concepts for one of my courses. So I am writing my own OER textbook for it.

Two years. Years that have helped me realize that all the prior years of my life where I have - as some folks have described it (some politely, others less so) - "lived in my own head" might just obliquely be considered to be preparation for being an academician.

A great many things in my past taught me useful skills for this gig. 

I did find housing. It took me about a week. I still do not own a personal motor vehicle. However, it is only 1.8 miles each way from my house to my office. And I have a bicycle. And feet.

I am well aware of my various debts. I still have a great many individuals to thank, and to repay - both figuratively and practically. Working on those things too.

I seem to be rambling....which means that it is time for me to get back to work. While it might be a Saturday there are still things to do, tasks to accomplish.

Hopefully I will be better again about posting here, even if the blog name might no longer be a reasonable description of things. And admittedly I do spend more time on other media now: Twitter, the occasional Instagram, etc. Perhaps blogging is declasse now-a-days. Even so, sometimes the long form is required. Especially when ones past superhero nickname has been "Verbose Boy".

More later.

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 My Portfolio (As Always, A Thing In Process)

WAY TOO LONG!

WARNING: THIS WILL BE CARL KIND OF RANTING...Yes, I *should* have been updating this blog before now, and not just starting up again with a rant.

BUT....life kind of occurs.

My last update was in February 2016. After I had been to URTA's. BUT *before* I had my confirmation of acceptance in the MFA scenic design program at the University of Florida. *Before* my graduation from UAF, and walking across the stage at the Carlson Center. *Before* two amazing summers worth of work at a summer stock, and an incredible summer with the UF Summer Rep. *Before* the seemingly astounding amount of personal and artistic growth that I have experienced over the past 3+ years. *Before*....

So. 

Yeah. 

It has been awhile. And I *do* intend to fill in the gaps between then and now at some point over the next while, as well as returning to making entries here a more regular part of my routine.

Anyway. The rant of the moment:

I was online and saw someone posting this image: 

to a page regarding lighting and commenting regarding about it being "old" and that it was time to replace it at the school where such was happening. Fair enough. If the school could upgrade, great.

BUT.

There was also quite a condescending, dismissive attitude being tossed around by those on the page about such tech.

Well you know what? Some schools cannot do any better. They have what they have - be it a 40 year old, 12 dimmer two scene preset board and a bunch of Strand Century lekos, or an ETC MicroVision with a handful of Source 4's, or some household triacs and a selection of paint can PAR's - and it's up to those of us who are supposed to be professionals to help show them how to make magic with what they have.

I may have already mentioned this in other posts here on the blog...maybe not....anyway, one of the several reasons that I went back to school after the "27 year sabbatical" was because of seeing what theatre could mean in small, "under-served" communities. Theatre shouldn't *just* be for the elite, upper class students and families who can afford top of the line gear. Peter Brook talks - in The Empty Space - about how theatre should be "rough, immediate, and holy...". Indeed. That is part of why I get so frustrated when people who should know better are dismissive of things that are a bit "worn and older".

Yes, the newest, shiny toys are fun and snazzy. I love to look at them at USITT every year.

But I know that the university that I will - unless things drastically, and unexpectedly fall apart at the last minute - be teaching at doesn't have access to all those things. And the communities that feed into it definitely don't. Part of why I am going there is to help them get some of that, within a certain budget....but it is also to show the students that while there are other methods out there, there are ways of working that can get you where you want to go with what you have at hand.

Okay...I have rambled a bit. Of course, that is part of what a rant is all about I suppose. I need to get to doing things in the physical, as opposed to the online, world.

More later.

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 My Portfolio (As Always, A Thing In Process)

Patience Can Be Difficult...

Well...

It has been nearly a month since my last post. A variety of things have happened, including my trip to the URTA NUAI's, which I have mentioned planning for and such.

In my prior post - Regarding Trips, Long And Strange - I showed some pics of my portfolio review set up, both for my first semester and my last here at UAF. Below is a shot of how my station looked in Chicago, at the NUAI's:

The NUAI's were a pretty awesome experience. Stressful...but worthwhile.

As I may have said in other posts, the process at the NUAI's - for design and tech - is that you get an hour to set up your station, then you have to walk away. And for the next two hours or so, recruiters from various graduate programs come and look over your stuff. They have the option of signing up for what are called "jump start interviews" - 10 of them - which happen right away, as soon as the review period is complete, or they can have the URTA computer schedule a time for that afternoon.

In my case, out of the ~40 programs that were there, I got 16 interviews.  Well 17. But the last one was a computer mistake, and the person didn't really want to see me. Still....16. And that included 3 of the 4 folks that I had prearranged chats with. 10 of them were "jump start interviews". With my first 10 interviews being right away it definitely felt as though I was "hitting the ground running...".

The interviews are somewhat of a blur in my mind. After all, each only lasted 15 minutes.

I emailed most/all of the schools once I got back here to thank them, etc.

Then came the additional Skype interview sessions and more follow-up emails. And waiting. And waiting.

The official URTA "we can start making offers today" deadline was last Monday, Feb 22nd.

My inbox has been, sadly, bereft of offers so far. However, out of the schools I saw in Chicago only one has told me a definite "no". The way it was phrased was: "...The design faculty met on Wednesday to review the mountain of information from the URTA candidate.  We promoted a selection of candidates onto our 'long list'.  I am sorry to say that you are not on that list. ..."

Sigh.

Near the end of the week, I got antsy and sent out six follow-up emails, to schools that I either had been emailing/Skyped with or that I felt I had a solid interview with in Chicago. Within ~24 hours I got emails back from two of those schools saying - basically - that they are still in process. One said that they would likely be making decisions by the end of next week. Then this morning I got a response from a third program saying that they want to have a Skype interview with me next week, either Tuesday or Wednesday.

So. For those keeping score, the results are: 16 interviews. 1 rejection. 3 schools who have been in touch, are still in process, and have yet to decide. And then the other schools who either have only responded to my first follow-up email (that I sent out when I got back from Chicago) or who have not responded at all.

Add into the above mix a school that is not URTA affiliated whose application deadline is April 20th and who I have been in touch with late this week and so....yeah. I think I would describe things on the graduate program front as confusing, and anxiety producing, and somewhat hopeful.

Add to all the URTA related stuff the run of Closer here at UAF that I did the scenic design for (images of which will be added to my online scenographic portfolio in due course), finalizing my contract for my upcoming summer stock gig, and attempting to deal with some personal issues regarding budgets and housing and I would have to say that February 2016 has been a busy month.

As the title of this post says: patience can be difficult. And yet there is still more waiting to be done.

More later, as events develop.





 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             

                                                 My scenographic portfolio:

                                           https://sagecl.wordpress.com/29-2/

                                           My general, rather eclectic, Tumblr:
                                                     Semi-Random Shavings


              A portfolio of my various work and projects, both theatrical and otherwise. 



                                              My school related fundraising site:
                                   Help Me Continue My Educational Momentum

Regarding Trips, Long And Strange

 Yesterday, after my portfolio review (the last of the eight required of tech and design students here at UAF), I was reflecting on things and made a comment elsewhere about how this process - the path towards my undergraduate degree - has indeed been a long, strange trip.

 As a part of that, here is a look at how my presentation has changed between my return to school in the Fall of 2010 and now, the Spring of 2016:

Fall 2010 Portfolio Review (Only the 1/2 of the table nearest the camera is my work)

Spring 2016 Portfolio Review

As an aside, the table cover shown in the Spring 2016 image is a close match to the shirt I wore for my headshot - yes, even designers need a headshot now and again - and that shirt is also my preferred shirt for interviews. So I shall be wearing it at the NUAI's.

A funny thing happened this morning. One that bemused me at least: I had sent an initial reply to one of the grad program recruiters who had recently sent me an email out of the blue. The one who, after reading my resume on the URTA site, wanted me to take a look at their schools lighting design program. In my reply I mentioned my interest in scenography. Just got a reply back. And in it, the recruiter mentions that they themselves received a degree in scenography back when Northwestern used to offer them, so they "...have a very good understanding of your goals." And this is a school that, in candor, I had never even considered.

Many years ago, back when I began this phase of my theatrical journeys, I transferred from my community college to the University of IL: Urbana-Champaign with my intended focus being lighting design and technical direction. Time and events passed, and I became more of a carpentry, properties, and scenic oriented person. Yet I still did lighting designs, now and again. Then I learned/rediscovered the concept of scenography. And realized that it was a significant part of my artistic persona.

Now that I approach interviews for potential graduate degree programs, two out of the four school that I know I will be talking to at the NUAI's will be speaking to me with large emphasis on lighting design: the school I mentioned above and one from my list of "top five." The later school is doing so because they are only currently recruiting for assitantships in lighting and costuming. After I contacted - first by phone, then by email - the school to clarify that I didn't want to miss a chance to speak with them due to having listed scenic design as my discipline on the URTA website, the recruiter there emailed back saying: "... I understand your wish to follow the path of a Scenographer, and we could possibly accommodate that, while having you fill an assistantship in our Lighting or Costume Area, we could tailor your course work to have more of a broader path.  I’ll be sure to connect with you while at URTA, and we can discuss."

So here I am some 37 years on, potentially once again having a major part of my focus be lighting as it was so long ago.

A long, strange trip indeed.







 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             

                                                 My scenographic portfolio:

                                           https://sagecl.wordpress.com/29-2/

                                           My general, rather eclectic, Tumblr:
                                                     Semi-Random Shavings


              A portfolio of my various work and projects, both theatrical and otherwise. 



                                              My school related fundraising site:
                                   Help Me Continue My Educational Momentum

Miscellaneous News - 01/30/16

 This will be a generally brief little "post-lette", serving as an update regarding some of the things I have mentioned recently.

First, in the bad news part: I did not get the touring gig for April. Sigh. And still no news regarding the summer stock position I interviewed for recently either.

In the realm of the NUAI's no additional folks contacting me regarding their programs. Still, having four interviews lined up before I even get there isn't so bad.

As a part of the NUAI process - as well as just plain needing to do it - I have created a scenographic portfolio. It is a bit classier than my combined portfolio on Tumblr, though I will probably keep that up on an intermittent basis as well. Anyway, here is the link to the aforementioned upgraded portfolio: https://sagecl.wordpress.com/29-2/

Later today is the Spring 2016 Portfolio Review here on campus. So I am finishing my prep for that, and using that process as a part of my prep for the NUAI's.

That is about all the news for now.

More later.





 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             

                                                 My scenographic portfolio:

                                           https://sagecl.wordpress.com/29-2/

                                           My general, rather eclectic, Tumblr:
                                                     Semi-Random Shavings


              A portfolio of my various work and projects, both theatrical and otherwise. 



                                              My school related fundraising site:
                                   Help Me Continue My Educational Momentum

Strangeness Is Not Only An Aspect Found In Particle Physics

It has been a bit since my last post - though I suppose a period of ~15 days is nowhere near as long as some of my prior lapses in posting. There have been a couple of interesting developments/occurances since last I typed.

First, I had interviews for two (paying) gigs on the same day (last Monday, the 18th). I've never done that before. One was early in the morning, due to the theatre being a Summer stock based down in the lower 48. And the other was mid to late afternoon, for a gig touring here in Alaska in the month of April. It was a bit strange. But I had mostly good feelings with both when I was done. The Alaska tour folks had said that they would be making their decision in a few days. Sadly, I have yet to hear back. The Summer stock plans to have its staffing done by mid February, and they need to see my online portfolio which, due to a variety of issues, has been slow to being revised. Part of what my day today is about: online portfolio revision and building/continuing to build a scenic model (or two) for the NUAI's.

Second, this week I received a couple of "out of the blue" emails from graduate program recruiters. One implied that he had seen my portfolio. As I mentioned above, the online version of that is still in rehab/being updated. So unless he was speaking of my older online portfolio on Tumblr (a link to which has been attached to several of these posts) I don't know where he saw it. And he also implied that we had in contact previously. Which, as far as I am aware, we have not. Curious. Then today I just got an email from a recruiter who said they liked the resume I posted on the URTA site and asked me to look into their program in lighting design. Which given that the URTA computer has me listed as a scenic design emphasis person kind of surprised me. Though admittedly I *do* have a bunch of lighting included on my resume as well. Another interesting thing is that I had not really given much, if any, consideration to either of these schools. No reflection on their programs. I just...hadn't. So with those two schools included, as of this moment I have probable/definite interviews with 4 programs, out of the roughly 40 who will be in Chicago. I believe I mentioned one of the others in my last post. And after sending out a sort of "Hello, one of your alums was my first college tech theatre instructor, and I will be at the NUAI's..." sort of email with my resume attached I got an email back saying (basically) "I am looking forward to speaking to you/seeing your station in Chicago." So...4. With ~13 days remaining till my session (Feb 6th, 2016). At this rate, who knows how many folks I'll end up talking to.

The third thing is less positive, but no less confusing or anxiety provoking.

Due to budget issues, the state of Alaska has instituted a freeze regarding travel for those within the university system. And there is some discussion as to if the university will pay for my trip to Chicago. The whole thing was approved last semester, including the purchase of none refundable airline tickets. But now it apparently needs to get additional/renewed signatures: first from the Dean (who signed off previously) and then the Provost. The required spreadsheet form - which has a deadline of next Monday the 25th - was submitted yesterday. So now I wait. Logically, I cannot see how they can "take back" my airfare, since the tickets are bought and paid for and such.  But still....I wait. Best case is that the Provost signs off on it. Since missing this would negatively impact my educational advancement, and the paperwork states that in that case exceptions to the freeze can be made, I am hopeful. Plus, the whole trip was funded by a grant, not out of the general fund or whatever. I will admit that I have a worry that they may say "Fine, you can fly out. And since you paid for the NUAI's out of your personal funds (though I got reimbursed from the grant monies) we can't stop you from going to that. But we will not authorize the hotel stay."

As I said, anxiety producing. Especially since I have not been able to locate a day job. And with not taking classes this semester, I can't get a student job either. Sigh. I've sold one or two items to help keep ramen on the table, but I don't have much of salable value. Making me a bit more crazed and concerned about my finances than usual.

Well, I need to get back to work on the online renovation project. And perhaps grab a bite to eat.

More later.



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                                             My general, rather eclectic, Tumblr:
                                                     Semi-Random Shavings


              A portfolio of my various work and projects, both theatrical and otherwise. 



                                              My school related fundraising site:
                                   Help Me Continue My Educational Momentum

New Year? New Post!

Well, the echoes of Auld Lang Syne have faded and it is nearing the end of the first full week of January, 2016. Time for some news!

First up:

As I posted previously, I had been waiting on the completion of the filing of my Credit for Prior Learning portfolio, submitted in lieu of having to take Acting II this Spring. I am pleased to announce that as of Wednesday morning, January 6th 2016, the university's online tracking system indicates that my portfolio has been processed and credit awarded. Which means that I have no more credits/courses needed at the undergraduate level. Which means that some 37 years after starting on the road to it, I have completed my Bachelors degree.

I still need to file a graduation request with the registrars office and pay the appropriate fees...but besides that?

Whooooot!

In other news:

** The scenic build process for the UAF production of Closer is moving forward. If things continue as they have, we should have all the major elements built by the end of next week.

** The preparations for the NUAI's continues. The URTA website has posted a list of what schools will be at the NUAI's and what specific areas they will be recruiting for. After some scanning of that I have been in touch with a couple of schools and have even gotten a reply back from one of them, with the indication of them intending to meet with me there in Chicago. The prospect has me both hopeful and anxious. Of course, that can prove to be a useful combination of emotions.

** The search continues for a part time gig/some way to pay various expenses over the next few months. I do have a lead on a gig that would run during the month of April. Nothing confirmed yet. So I shan't speak much about it. But I really kind of want it. Not just for the money, but also as a resume builder. That said, even if I get that gig, I still need to get some income to make it till April. Sigh.

** While working on portfolio items and my web-presence, I have discovered that I have a blog that I had apparently set up some while back and then forgotten. No posts there...yet. It is on Wordpress. And just a few weeks ago I began stetting up a page - again, no published posts yet - on Wix. The intent is that they - or at least one of them - will be exclusively my theatrically related portfolio. Yes, as you see from one of the links at the bottom of this post I do have a Tumblr dedicated to my artistic endeavors. However it is not explicitly theatrical. And I need one that is. So that means that, within the next week or so, I should have yet another link to add to those found below.

While I suspect that there is more to share, that is all for the moment.

Till later.


 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             My general, rather eclectic, Tumblr:
                                                     Semi-Random Shavings


              A portfolio of my various work and projects, both theatrical and otherwise. 



                                              My school related fundraising site:
                                   Help Me Continue My Educational Momentum