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EDWARD JACOBS

Author: Ed Jacobs

  • Friday, July 10, 2020

    Jackson keeping Ellie comfortable as tropical storm Fay approaches

    I’ve spent too much time over these past weeks/months reading about the state of coronavirus/Covid-19’s spread in the U.S. Some areas/states/commumities have handled this wisely, though at tremendous economic cost, and seem to have brought themselves to some level of control over this pandemic’s spread. Other areas were too impatient–too overwhelmed by economic pressures and protests by people who simply will not think of the public health–and are now experiencing massive outbreaks. The daily numbers are beyond frightening. North Carolina is, like other states, experiencing a surge in case numbers.

    We are, as a global community, absolutely in uncharted territory, even with history’s lessons from past pandemics. Countries who seemed to have brought things under control are now locking down again, as new outbreaks emerge. So many of the current surges are, it seems, emerging from the actions of younger folks, driven by their instincts to socialize and live a life of the risk-driven teenager’s perspective. I was no different at that age–likely much worse, in truth.

    Like other businesses, universities across the country are handling the ‘return to classes’ with the same inconsistency as our country’s politicians. Public health issues are clear and undeniable. The cost of not bringing in student room & board fees, the potential cost of reducing tuition costs b/c everything’s taught online; these costs are just too much for institutions to bear, it seems.

    Nonetheless, the California State University system made the decision, some time ago now, to shift completely online for the coming semester. For students and faculty, this means a lengthy period of adjusting to this reality, a lengthy period to properly prepare for this paradigm. They have no question about how they’ll teach an learn, and they can get to work creating the best situation possible.

    Now, other schools are doing the same; Harvard, MIT, are the big names making this commitment, but there are many smaller institutions doing the same. With every day that passes without that shift being made, students and faculty are forced to plan for two scenarios–in person, remote–and the likelihood that a shift from one scene to another will happen mid-term.

    At ECU, the Board of Trustees just shifted their regular meeting to a ‘virtual’ one, citing the state of the pandemic’s spread in the state, etc., as a concern that would keep them from coming together in person. This relatively small group finds it too risky to come together, yet they continue to insist that 30,000 students, 2,000 faculty, and thousands more staff should convene on campus on August 7. Who can see any sense in this? Surely it’s just a matter of days for the powers-that-be to taken sensible action.

    I took the step today to request that my in-person courses be taught fully online. I dreaded the phone call, afraid of the resistance from my Director, the process of dealing with HR, the paperwork, documentation, etc. There are some horror stories out there (Chronicle of Higher Education) of faculty being denied such permission, even noting high-risk categories, child- and elder-care situations, etc., and ECU isn’t known for its ease in dealing with problems.

    One phone call to the School of Music’s Director, a very easy, friendly exchange about our mutual concerns for the state of things…and it’s done. And i’m feeling some relief at the clarity of knowing all will be delivered online, and that my job will be to continue that preparatory focus. I’m certainly much more comfortable teaching in person, and would prefer to do so under normal conditions, but i’ll learn a lot through this process, and am looking forward to what’s ahead. One of the first steps will be to write a note to my students, and i’ll get to that this weekend.

  • Wednesday, July 8, 2020

    First words?

  • Sunday, July 5, 2020

    “But, your fathers, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of this day, of the infallibility of government, and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to the wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints. They went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to.”

    From Frederick Douglass’ “5th of July Speech” in 1852. Full text: https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/2945

  • Saturday, July 4, 2020

    Hoping this generation makes our world a better place.

  • Thursday, July 2, 2020

    Yesterday’s dive at the quarry was a pleasure for us. A nice hour-long drive there, then a leisurely pair of dives, practicing some skills, just being in the water–all felt great. Pack it all up, then head home. Generally a 4-5 hour day, and a very nice way to spend a date-day for us.

    Today, Pattie heading up to Norfolk to spend a day with Christine, and to bring her some moving boxes. She and Stephen are moving to a new pad, so Pattie will spend a day or two visiting.

    I returned the tanks, then headed down to Surf City before Joe, Cristin, and Jackson departed for return to NY. Got here about 11:30, finding Jackson enjoying his lunch. Soon we headed down to the beach, where for the first time he really enjoyed being in the water, experiencing the waves and the sand.

    And happy to catch a family shot that captures their good time here for the past few weeks.

    Miss them already. Hoping against hope that they’re able to soon find a reason to move thisaway.

  • Wednesday, July 1, 2020

    Just care: https://digg.com/video/phil-vischer-veggie-tales-history-of-race?fbclid=IwAR2FQuAlWFeGKnGt9MfiKO39xNkhwrHIl8UX39Deg8i8CecY963igspRW5s

    _____________

    And these pix–Jackson’s official 11-month photo shoot at the beach (Cristin is quite the photographer!)–just in!

    And not the best video quality, but a milestone captured nonetheless:

  • Tuesday, June 30, 2020

    Over this past weekend, I finally got to finish the piece for Jason Calloway (solo cello), naming it Witness Marks. From the program notes:

    “Witness marks  [n.] A scratch or similar mark on each half of an assembly used to position of locate parts.

    This music was written in a period of great disorientation, with a hope that focusing on a single line would help me put one step after another, to find a way forward in a time of so many different kinds.  I felt the writing of this to be a welcome and necessary diversion, a break from the darkness surrounding our days during the spring of 2020.”

    Now sent off to Jason, and am curious to hear his thoughts, and to implement whatever suggestions/changes he comes up with.

    I’ve never used this function in the notation software before, but generated a ‘scrolling-score’ video, which moves the score along with the computer-generated audio. Clearly not a human performance, but perhaps provides a very rough idea…

    Today, will continue reading, considering, sketching ideas for a few poems I’ve permission to use, to see which I want to use for Rachel/Ari (Duo Cortona, soprano & violin). Am really torn between two I just love; E.E. Cummings “somewhere I have never travelled” and Marie Howe’s “Limbo” from The Kingdom of Ordinary Time.

    I also am very drawn to Maggie Smith’s “Rasp,” and these days especially drawn to The Gods of Age, by Adeeba Talukder, but haven’t requested permission for either yet.

    Will hopefully set all of these, in time, and hope to decide on which for soprano/violin before today is over…

  • Monday, June 29, 2020

    Forwarded to me by a friend on Twitter:

    The past week saw the release of ECU’s plan–“Return of Pirate Nation“–for the fall’s return to ‘normalcy.’ I appreciate how much we all want to get back to face-to-face classes, but it all really feels delusional to me.

    The release of the plan, which is undergoing regular updating as new questions/concerns are raised by a variety of constituencies, was followed by an online ‘town hall’ with the Interim Chancellor. I like this guy, and think he’s doing as good a job as is possible through all of this. The ultimate decisions about being open/closed, shifted to online completely, etc., are all being controlled by the UNC system, so it’s hard to know whether the policies he’s trying to design/implement are following a path he believes in, or the path he’s there to make happen.

    This certainly sums up my feelings:
    https://www.profgalloway.com/higher-ed-enough-already

    ________________

    Yesterday, though, a really pleasant one for Pattie and me. The boat-dive out of Beaufort, which we’d be eagerly anticipating, was cancelled due to bad weather. So we packed up our gear (and the tanks we’d already rented), and headed out to an abandoned quarry on this side of Raleigh (Fantasy Lake Scuba Park) and gave our new equipment a maiden voyage. We moved at our own pace (rather than having to get up early to catch a 6 am boat), and got in some very enjoyable diving. Equipment works great; regulators are smooth and easy (though no great depths here, i.e., only 35′ max in the area we explored), and Pattie had an easy adjustment (no adjustment, really) to her new buoyancy compensator. The biggest learning curve was in the packing, as we have more gear than we’ve had in the past, and in the rinse-and-dry at home. Finding a place to hang things (over tile in the laundry room) and using a dehumidifier turned out to work like a charm–after dripping a bit on the deck.

    We were ready to head out again today, but I’m not feeling tip-top, so we’ve decided to take it easy for today. Tomorrow, though, we’ll head out again!

  • Thursday, June 25, 2020

    Back in Greenville today, and sure did miss getting Jackson out of his crib this morning. Gosh, what a terrific treat this past week has been, seeing him every day, seeing the routine, getting to know what great parents Cristin and Joe are.

    Cristin’s really done some great stuff, not the least of which is training him to get to sleep on his own. None of this “rocking him to sleep” I used to do with Joe. She just takes him into his crib, lies him down with a kiss and a back-pat, and he generally just goes to sleep. Perhaps a minute or two of crying, but that’s it. So, so nice. Also nice that they have a great baby monitor–these are video enabled now, which is so cool.

    A view from the monitor…

    Now, though, back in Gvl and needing to take care of some business–lawn mowing, blood donation, checking in on Pattie’s mom, etc.

    Very excited to have a dive scheduled for this Sunday. A company here in Gvl that dives out of Beaufort, NC; they’ve a boat that they take out just about every Sat/Sun. If the experience is a good one, and every indication right now is that they’re good folks, small boat, etc., it’ll be really nice to have this local connection. We do have a good lead on an outfit closer to Surf City, though, and that’ll be one we check out in the coming weeks, I’m sure.

    Time for some writing before tackling the lawn…

  • Tuesday, June 23, 2020

    Two highlights from yesterday on the deck in Surf City

    Begin to zone out, settled into his happy place

    A wonderfully relaxing day here yesterday. Each of these days sends me back 30+ years to a similar routine of getting the baby out of his crib, mellow wake-ups, and ramping up play sessions. Just such a magical way to start the day, and feel so lucky to have these moments again. For sure, Jackson is a happy and easy little guy, just as his dad was; and so lucky that he’s healthy, happy, and has a great disposition. He eats and sleeps well, has great energy and curiosity, and gets wonderful attention and love from his parents (and grandparents). The definition of privilege, and so nice to see him thrive. I wish every child, parent and grandparent had this.

    Now to get Joe, Cristin moved closer to NC…

    The day pre-Jackson began with some good writing, and I’ll get in an hour or so now before he awakes. Am now bringing Jason’s diversion to a close, spending time with polishing/tweaking, etc., as this little piece comes to its end. I’m looking forward to sending this off to Jason, and getting started on the piece for Rachel and Ari (Duo Cortona)!