[Post title from a Rutles song that inexplicably popped into my head as I sat down to write this.]

Early in the already-accursed year 2026, posts by Dave and Anne-Marie had me wondering if I had gone a full calendar year without posting to the home blog. I posted for the first time in 2001, so while I can’t lay claim to being an active blogger these days, missing a whole year would have made me a little sad.

I have many un-blogged artifacts about not blogging ready. My pal, co-DJ, and TRU video producer Jon recently reminded me of this video we made for the OERu (#RIP) where I tried to express why I thought blogging was valuable. The ending almost moved me to tears… of laughter remembering how much fun we had that day shooting it along with our pal Brandon.

I think part of why this video never got fully released was because I ended up overthinking myself into paralysis. Which has increasingly been the story of my blogging life for more than a decade. That ain’t cool. I’m not going to make any grand resolutions for practice moving forward, but for this post at least I’m just going to share a few random bits, as if catching up with a friend. It won’t be comprehensive, or even representative of where I am it. But it will be a blog post.

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I was attracted to TRU with a wonderfully open-ended job description and yes I was ridiculously lucky and privileged and yes it was a blast. A few years later I remember writing this post when I was first assuming real leadership responsibilities. The trajectory since then has been one of assuming more responsibilities. I had Learning Technology & Innovation supporting all campus and Open Learning courses (and our Production and Media team building those courses), and a year ago I took on Director’s responsibilities for the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching as well. This month I’m taking on the updated and aligned title of Director of Learning, Teaching and Technology with the Centre for Open and Engaged Learning. (And still directing Open Learning’s Learning Experience Design and Production team. The full title is a novella.) It adds up to a fairly vast array of things that I should be doing. And I do try.

I couldn’t do it without the talented, dedicated, wonderful people on all these teams, as well as partners and peers in faculties, schools, and units across the university and beyond. But I don’t think it’s any secret that higher education in Canada is in crisis, and TRU is not immune. My teams are smaller than they were a year ago, mostly because early retirements, non-renewal of term contracts, and other forms of leave allowed us to hit our staff reduction targets with minimal layoffs. We are one of many units looking to the future with much smaller teams. The demands (more blended and online courses, GenAI and all its associated activity) are only growing. I used to believe that the pandemic and the emergency pivot to online delivery was the most unpleasant challenge I could expect in my career.

Besides the fantastic people I’ve always worked with, I do take comfort in newer colleagues. My boss Liesel Knaack took on a vast Vice-Provost portfolio last year and totally gets it, her unfailing support, wealth of knowledge and experience has been invaluable. I am well into year two of the Dave Cormier experience, and while I was excited when he came aboard he’s been an even more impressive leader, thinker and do-er than I could have hoped. His blog posts this year offer some sense why. He endures my day-to-day travails and rants with patience and humour, and I could not be more grateful to the dude.

We’ll see how it goes, but I expect the coming period will call on me to do more and to do it better than ever before. I hope I am up to it. One of the melancholy elements of this moment is seeing the effects of budget cuts hitting so many places. I’m not untouchable or indispensable. There are a lot of people roughly my age, highly accomplished and with stellar reputations who are looking for work, many of them for some time. I’ve always found LinkedIn to be a hive of professional anxiety-making, lately the stories and the vibes are increasingly dark. I’m in no position to even consider semi-retirement. If I find myself joining the noble ranks of job-seekers anytime soon, I expect fairly dramatic shifts in professional path. Not much call for an aging dirtbag edupunk these days…

But this is not a distress call. I’ve managed to avoid serious health issues. I’ve been in a relationship for nearly four years now with a rather amazing woman, though we still live a few hours drive and a mountain range apart. Kamloops had a hot, smoky summer, and the weeks on end trapped indoors under apocalyptic skies probably did more damage to my mind than body. But the skies have cleared this week and it’s amazing what fresh air can do for you.

I mainly want to knock out this post to clear the space. I have a few more things I’d like to write about… The OpenETC needs to update the website but it has actually been a period of retrenchment and renewal. Looking forward to rolling some things out. Like every other learning technologist in the western world, GenAI takes up a lot of space in my work, and while I still harbour massive fears and misgivings, I suppose I should own up to some vibe coding. I’ve got a lot of unfinished posts in the drafts folder. I don’t have anything if I want to play the hits.

Maybe I should just post Nirvanna The Band The Show (The Movie) clips. Or indulge weird stories of forbidden knowledge, demented and misguided visionaries, cultists and fabulists, and more on Mike Love. Ty Segall just put out a new album. I am freshly motivated to learn more about Bogotá and environs. I can’t imagine there’s much for readership here, there’s no bottom for the nonsense that might kick out.