End-of-Year Survey, 2015 in Trichotomy

What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?
~ Use a snow blower. Play solo at Zankel Hall. Put down a pet. Get a promotion. Visit New Hip Company’s headquarters. Perform at a cemetery.

Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
~ No Resolutions

Did anyone close to you give birth?
~ Don’t think of anyone.

Did anyone close to you die?
~ Henrietta Jennings the rat.

What countries did you visit?
~ France

Where did you go on vacation?
~ Myrtle Beach. France. And the annual Binghamton trips.

What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?
~ Penthouse apartment in New York.

What date from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
~ The 4 days we spent in Paris was a lot of fun.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
~ Getting my promotion, probably.

What was your biggest failure or regret?
~ Not picking up on Henrietta’s symptoms sooner, I guess.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
~ Had trouble with my gums earlier in the year. And random nigs here and there. Happens when you age.

What was the best thing you bought?
~ Does the vacation to France count?

Whose behaviour merited celebration?
~ La Professeure

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
~ Lovely Girl’s now-ex-husband.

Where did most of your money go?
~ Mortgage.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
~ France trip.

What song will always remind you of 2015?
~ Der Erlkonig.

Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder?
~ Probably about the same.
ii. thinner or fatter?
~ About the same, strangely.
iii. richer or poorer?
~ Richer.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
~ Practicing piano.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
~ Watching TV.

How did you spend Christmas?
~ At La Professeure’s parents.

Did you fall in love in 2015?
~ Yes.

How many one-night stands?
~ 0

What was your favourite TV program?
~ PBS NewsHour. Match of the Day. The Marvel comics TV shows are pretty good too.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
~ Yes.

Who is someone you will probably never see again after this year?
~ Some of our cruise-mates in France.

What was the best book(s) you read?
~ Are We All Scientific Experts Now? by Harry Collins. Interestingly I’d suggested La Professeure pick this book for her school’s common reading portion of orientation, and it won out against 20 or so other books.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
~ That a human orchestra sounds really funny.

What did you want and get?
~ A promotion

What did you want and not get?
~ Perform Rach 2 with an orchestra.

What was your favourite film of this year?
~ The Big Short, The Avengers.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
~ Swim in Myrtle beach, and watched the Pirates Voyage dinner theatre. I was (ahem) 38.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
~ If our friends would have fewer crises.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?
~ Bum.

What kept you sane?
~ My friends. Making music.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
~ Still have my eyes on Martha Raddatz.

Who did you miss?
~ Henrietta Jennings

Who was the best new person you met?
~ Some of the musicians at the cemetery performance. My ex-Columbia post-doc coworker.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015:
~ Happy wive, Happy life.

Tell us something you’ve learned about yourself:
~ I have little patience for dumb.

If you could relive any day from 2015, which would it be and why?
~ When we visited Musee d’Orsay in Paris. I would have taken the Metro to get there.

Did any of your predictions for the future come true in 2015?
~ No predictions.

What was the funniest thing that happened to you (or the funniest thing you did) this year?
~ Asked for diarrhea medication in French (thank you Google Translate!). Performed a Gounod/Bach Ave Maria-Barbie Girl-O Mio Babbino Caro-All That Jazz-Piano Man mash-up.

What was the worst thing that happened to you this year?
~ Having to work with my loud-talker co-worker who knows little but interferes a lot.

What was the best thing that happened to you this year?
~ Getting the promotion.

What was the hardest thing you did this year?
~ Getting the promotion. Saying good-bye to Henrietta.

A new food that you were introduced to:
~ Lots of them on the visit to France… it was the first time I tried Escargot.

What traditions were started?
~ A lot of my musician friends have started hosting music parties to make up for the lost amateur group meetings. We just hosted one on New Year’s Eve, and then two days later, the Treasurer hosted another, and then the ENT doctor will host one in 2 weeks.

What traditions were broken?
~ Coming home and feeding Henrietta her treat.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
~ “Goodbye my little friend”

Did you save any Chinese fortune cookie fortunes from this year, what do they say?
~ Did not save Chinese fortune cookies. I do think that La Professeure is getting better at speaking Chinese from them, or I am getting better at guessing what she was saying.

Headlines in the news from this year that you’ll remember most:
~ ISIS stuff. US unemployment back down to 5%.

In 2015, what did you realize you had previously taken for granted?
~ Good health.

Are there any memorable slogans/sayings that describe and/or are from this year?
~ “Je suis Charlie”

What will you be doing this New Years’ Eve?
~ Hosting a spirit-tasting themed party with musician friends and La Professeure’s friends.

Where were you last New Years’ Day (2015)?
~ Watching the Big Ass TV with La Professeure.

Last updated January 05, 2016