Opera nerd alert

In 2011 I started tracking every performance I saw. I loved being able to look back at the year through that lens, so I continued keeping track. Here are the 2012 numbers:

17 movies

2 vocal competitions

7 recitals and concerts

8 Broadway plays and musicals

1 Off-Broadway play

1 cabaret

1 circus

34 operas (at 11 different companies)

GAH! THIRTY-FOUR OPERAS! And I thought 17 was a lot last year. Obviously, our summer o' opera made a big difference. It was a great year for seeing things—was it for you?

My favorites of 2013 were, in chronological order:

March 10, 2012: Venus in Fur on Broadway with the incomparable Nina Arianda

March 13, 2012: Pina 3D at Lincoln Center Film

June 29, 2012: Don Carlo at the Wiener Staatsoper with the best cast ever

July 7, 2013: the premiere of Written on Skin in Aix-en-Provence

July 10–13, 2012: my first Ring cycle in Munich

August 8, 2012: One Man, Two Guv'nors on Broadway, where I almost fell out of my seat laughing

November 18, 2012: Joyce DiDonato's Drama Queens recital at Carnegie Hall

What did you see that moved you last year? Any performances you're particularly looking forward to in 2013?

Guten Tag, 2013!

2013 is beginning very auspiciously—I'm home! Since I got back yesterday afternoon, I have been soaking up all the time I can with CM and the kitties in our beautiful house. Monday's opening was a great success, and the gala party in the Grand Tier afterwards was fabulous, of course, but I could not be happier to be home.

I've been thinking a lot about goals for the year, how I'd like to grow, what I'd like to accomplish. Rather than making a lot of big resolutions, I'd like to focus on the little things—doing more of those things that make me happy, and less of what doesn't.

For 2013, MORE…

• homemade coffee
• wearing of lipstick
• throwing of dinner parties
• reading for pleasure
• staycations
• phone dates
• braising of meat
• writing
• nights in
• spontaneous adventures
• taking of photos
• intentional packing for gigs
• after-dinner walks

But LESS…

• wondering what I should do with my life (duh, this)
• procrastination
• constant checking of email
• accumulation of stuff
• internet rabbit holing
• mediocre yet expensive dining out
• streaming Netflix
• cynicism
• time without my husband

What about you? Did you make resolutions this year?


Buenos dias, 2012
Grüß Gott, 2011
Buongiorno, 2010
Bonjour, 2009