Time for My New Years Resolutions!

Now that it's almost April, it’s probably safe to publish my New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve come a long way – I used to do this in December.

Which is still how I handle Lent, by the way.  While all my relatives are bragging about what they’re giving up, and making everyone else miserable in the process, I am silent.

It’s not that I’m not giving anything up. It’s just that I won’t know what it is until Lent is over. So I wait until Easter Sunday, and then look back on how I spent Lent, trying to think of all the things I apparently gave up by not doing.

I compile this list that looks something like this:

Going to Mass

Eating caviar

Helping with the dishes

Drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon

Skydiving

Eating fruits and vegetables

I could go on, but you get the idea. I find my list far more impressive than those who go into Lent merely giving up alcohol, caffeine or sex.  One thing. Big deal!

But when it comes to something as important as music, I'm willing to be more proactive, and share my goals a little earlier. In that spirit, here’s my New Year's resolutions, along with how I'm doing with them:

More Downloads, Fewer CDs: It’s been hard for me to make the transition from actual solid CDs to virtual music. But a lack of actual space and a need to feel less than ninety years old has prompted me to download more.

Status: Going like a mofo! No problem here at all.  I watch the monthly Amazon “100 $5 downloads” like a hawk on the first of every month. Of 7 actual albums I've gotten, 3 were downloaded.  If you count it by CDs, it’s 6 out of ten. A-

This, in turn, will enable with this, my other resolution, which is to:

Get More Current Music: I must say I really do miss those times when I was at one with the zeitgeist – working at the college radio station, hearing all the new releases before everyone else did. Or in 1981 when love was in the air, Elvis C was putting out a record every other month and I would actually go to shows.

Status: I’ve been really falling down on the job here, and Nutboy is all over me about it. So far, of those six records, NONE are from this year, and a grand total of ONE was from last year. The rest? 2002, 1977, 1969, 1935 and, uh, 1923. So I’m kind of sucking at this. But, unlike me, the year is still young. 

The same for books, by the way – more current stuff.  I won’t go into my "Western Civilization Project" here, except to say that it works against this resolution. But just like music, it would be nice to be more in touch with the culture by reading the newer books.  Like music, it’s riskier - none of the current stuff has really stood the test of time yet. But I’ve gotten uncomfortable with the old fogey-ish habits I’ve fallen into. 

Status: C, but working on it. Maybe that’s the difference between the old fogey and the geezer.  The geezer’s trying.

And that’s it. 

You want more?  Oh, I would have included things like being a better person and all that, but my wife and kids are about ready to kill me in my sleep anyway, so, really, why bother?

And besides, look how well I do with Lent?