2010 Resolution: Make no New Year’s Resolutions

Every blog I follow has had a post reflecting on 2009 and/or looking ahead to 2010, so why should this blog be any different? I’ll stay away from the retrospective and stick to the future, because the past can’t be changed and it doesn’t help to dwell on it after extracting its lessons.

I stopped making New Year resolutions a long time ago, because in all honesty I usually forget them by February. In addition to usually being pretty vague (“I’m going to get more exercise and procrastinate less”) and therefore difficult to assess at the end of the year, they’re pretty generic and more often than not go forgotten and unaccomplished. So I’ve stopped making them.

Instead, I come up with a list of things I want to do during the year. They’re not necessarily for personal edification, just things I want to do. They’re better than your standard resolution because it’s a lot easier to decide if they were accomplished: like a checklist, it’s either done or it isn’t.

So here’s my list for 2010, in no particular order. Some are related to piping, some not, but all stuff I want to do.

1. Learn two new piobaireachds. I don’t have tunes in mind, but since I play several amach tunes I would like to learn at least one new fosgailte tune and maybe another brebach. I will consult the silver medal list to see what’s recommended.
2. Play one new light music tune of each type in competition. I know enough tunes to be able to play in grade 1 solos, but learning more is the way to get better. Proposed tunes to learn: The Braes of Castle Grant (2/4 march), Cabar Feidh (strathspey), Dolina MacKay (reel), Joe McGann’s Fiddle (hornpipe), Donald Cameron’s Powder Horn (jig), Ellenorr (6/8 march).
3. Compete with a grade 3 band. I’ve played in grade 4 and 5 band contests, and I’m ready for more of a challenge. Although I’ve been invited to play with a grade 2 and a grade 1 band, I don’t have the time to put into keeping those repertoires up to that level . A grade 3 band is a level that will challenge me to learn new material, and it’s the most practical level for me to be a distance player. Look out MacMillan, here I come.
4. Restart my academic career. This is my fifth year teaching high school, and it’s fun and all, but it’s more fun to be a student. More details will follow as they become available.
5. Learn to juggle. This is something I’ve always wanted to do, and this is as good a time as any to get started. K and I got a juggling lesson from a very cool shop on New Year’s Eve and walked away with a set of juggling objects. Mine are very cool and have pirates on them.