Resolutions Revisited

In January of 2006 I made a few resolutions. I want to see how I'm doing with them.

1. I will retire from my job. As soon as I stop enjoying it. Honestly. I've been resolving to do this for quite a while, and some people are tired of hearing about it. Being sent to London is making this harder.

---I retired in May of 2006 and haven't regretted it for a minute.

2. I will make an attempt to find at least one falsettist I like. I won't work too hard at this.

---I must say this took until 2010, but I find I do like Philippe Jaroussky, whom I first heard at Salle Pleyel in Giulio Cesare in Egitto. He is quite pleasant to listen to.

3. I will decide where I am going to live after I am retired. This is also difficult.

---I ended up in Sacramento. I like my apartment, but I'm not sure this was the greatest decision.

4. I will try to weigh less at the end of the year than I do now. I should try to find out how much that is.

---I do weigh about 15 pounds less than when I was working.

5. I will go to at least five opera houses I have never been to before. There are two in London, so that should make a nice start. I will also try to get to Munich this year. There are at least three there.

---I have done quite well with this one. Besides the two in London, I have been to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in LA, the Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the Arena di Verona, the Baths of Caracalla, Munich Opera, Palais Garnier, and Opera Bastille. I could do better.

6. I will spend more money than I make. This is not a goal you have to set for yourself, but in my case I am a terrible cheapskate.

---I seem to have been successful in 2008 and the years since them. I'm way behind this year.

7. I will try to change my opinion about at least three things.

---Does everybody that ever appeared on American Idol count? No, I suppose not. Joyce DiDonato. She continues to move rapidly up my list. I made it all the way through Tristan and now rather like it, but not as a favorite. I liked Domingo's Cyrano a lot more in San Francisco than I had in London. It's iffy that I have done much in this category. After all, I like an awful lot of stuff.

8. I will have a new favorite opera.

---This was a silly resolution. How could you possibly prefer anything to Der Rosenkavalier?

9. I will try to fall in love. This gets harder to do as you get older. I think it's hormones. I will assume that opera infatuations also count.

---I have been successful here. It was after this that I began chasing around to see Jonas Kaufmann. It is nice to see that others are doing this, too.

It is surprising to have so much success in the resolution game. I think you have to pick the right resolutions.