On the passing of another year

One year ago I made a list of things to do. The concrete things I mostly managed; the waffly ones were, well, waffly. "Grow in wisdom and temperance" - yeah, right. What a pompous twit I was.

Lots of things have happened (duh). I became a teacher briefly, and I hope my erstwhile students have recovered. ('Egregious' actually means "very bad", 4P; I should have corrected myself a long time ago damnit. I mixed it up with 'gregarious' as you should have figured out.) It was a short ten weeks but that time changed me. It was the scope of the responsibilities and the feeling of the sand always shifting beneath the feet that did it. It's a rare teacher indeed who's ever in total control of the situation; every lesson was a challenge, and I think it's good that I had the courage to occasionally laugh at my pretence of being in control. Some people tried so hard not to, but I think it's okay to lose face sometimes; it makes you the bigger man (or dweeb, actually).

Brandenburg. Ouch. Organizing your very own Bach concert on a whim is no joke. Who does that anyway? I learnt two things: how to apply for an Arts Fund grant, and how to kill yourself through overwork. I guess I should never have plunged in without getting a team together first. Still, on the positive side I had a chance to play with many great musician friends for the last time in a long while.

As an aside: my mom told me of a childhood connection to Brandy 2 (the concerto grosso one). Apparently when I was a kid (two years old) the opening to Brandy 2 was the theme music for the arts channel on TV, and every time it came on I'd stop whatever I was doing and listen till it was over. Guess it must have resonated on some subconscious level.

Then it was preparing for the trip and then actually getting to Yale. I can't believe I dragged myself and my mom all around New York, New Haven and a bit of Boston. And then OIS (fun times) and then the few days before classes started, and then living for the weekend every week, and midterm season, midterm season redux, Thanksgiving break, reading week, finals, flying back home. Went by just like that. I'm glad I met great people in OIS and my classes and had awesome suitemates; my term would have sucked without these little mercies. Looking back I should have partied more, and that's reflected in my grades.

So since I live by terms now, not years, new term's resolutions are in order. I resolve to

• Party at least once (I need help for this)
• Take classes I'm excited for
• Keep my grades up
• Stop sleeping in the 9am classes
• Stop trying my luck with the rice in Morse

Happy 2011!