San Francisco Bay Area – Balasbas Says

I quit teaching

Today marks my last summer vacation—the end of my teaching career. I honestly don’t know if I would go back even though I could. But I’m not sure how worth it the pay and treatment a teacher gets would be later on in life. The decision came down to a common motif I’m seeing inContinue reading “I quit teaching”

I got a camera

Prologue: Photography has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents always had a film camera available. It was something I looked forward to on the weekends when we went to Costco. It almost became our responsibility as their sons to go to the “Photo” area and lookContinue reading “I got a camera”

Niku Tama Udon without the Niku

I’ve never done anything with food content before. My partner, Aya, is an aspiring chef and several weeks or a few months ago, she asked if I could edit a cooking video for her, and of course, I’d gladly do that. I don’t consume a lot of food content, but enough that I’ve watched alongsideContinue reading “Niku Tama Udon without the Niku”

Celebrating Six Years

Prologue: Kind of shocked I haven’t posted about any of the ABxAM anniversary videos. When I think back to the most recent years, I’m usually so caught up with the end-of-year festivities, the holidays, Aya’s birthday, and the end of the semester. I almost rush stitching a video together between Christmas and New Years. ButContinue reading “Celebrating Six Years”

ALHS c/o 2022

“Who’s your favorite class?” One of my students would constantly ask me. I told him I didn’t have a favorite, but if I did, it wasn’t them. It was the class above them. He still asked me every day, for the next 2 years. Each class he was in lowkey pushed my buttons. It testedContinue reading “ALHS c/o 2022”

Red Rocks & Champagne

Prologue: I get so caught up in using writing as a tool to expel toxicity in my brain. I often put bright spots on hold or are in my drafts. Though I post about it on my private accounts for friends and family, I often find it difficult to find time to celebrate because writingContinue reading “Red Rocks & Champagne”

I need a better relationship with time

This has been an exhausting 24 days. And this last week alone feels like the most exhausting. 6:45AM. Raisin bread in the toaster for 2 minutes. Hygiene stuff. Change. Grab lunch out of the fridge. Start the car. Hour commute. Class. Meetings. Hour commute. 5-6PM. Try to relax. Dinner. Plan. Shower. Shit. Sleep. Do itContinue reading “I need a better relationship with time”

Saving face over saving students

This is ridiculous. Seeing the strain and pressure, COVID is putting on students. They all see that the system is failing them—prioritizing their dollar amount over their actual life. I thought that being a department chair I could help enact some change. But I realize I’m still too small. I only now have a titleContinue reading “Saving face over saving students”

It’s not as bad as I thought: Progress as Department Chair

It’s been about four months since this semester started—four months as department head. At the onset, I was pretty nervous. As soon as I got the position in the spring, I was ready to take on responsibility. Though the previous chair did not want to put anything on me since I was not getting paid—IContinue reading “It’s not as bad as I thought: Progress as Department Chair”

Shelter-in-Place Log #4

School has been closed since March 13th, 2020 and Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a Shelter-in-Place on March 17th, 2020. Despite other pandemics in recent decades (H1N1, SARS, Ebola, etc.) there hasn’t been a global pandemic or even state-wide shutdown during those times. And in accordance to SFUSD’s Continuity of Learning Protocol, all assignments at thisContinue reading “Shelter-in-Place Log #4”