Looking Back / Looking Ahead

January 6, 2023

Like most people, every year around this time I start taking stock of the year that was, and the year ahead.  When I worked in the corporate finance world, we made our list of goals (both individual and department) for the coming year.  It could feel repetitive (as you usually started with last year’s list and made adjustments to it) but at least it was a way to document what you were aiming for.  And of course, in a corporate environment, it was always about how you can do more (usually with less), but I was fortunate to work for reasonable managers who appreciated the work we did.  And I was very fortunate to have a team that would rally around our department goals.  That being said, it’s been almost four years (how did that happen?) since I left the corporate world.  And even though it’s been a long time (again, how did that happen?), the experiences are still ingrained in me to begin the year by taking stock of the year that just passed and what’s ahead.

I’m Serious This Time

As I think back to a year ago, we were still in the midst of trying to navigate some sort of “new normal,” not sure what it even meant.  It’s hard to believe that we are coming up on three years since the pandemic began.  A year ago, the holidays were still fraught with “what if” scenarios and donning masks to manage our risk calculus.  A year later, it feels like we are even closer to a new normal.  Yes, we still think twice about gathering with large groups of people if the downside is much higher than the upside.  If I have a big family event coming up, or a big trip in a week or two, do I want to risk coming down with COVID beforehand and having to change my plans?

I’m sure we all had family members who had to miss events this year because they tested positive for COVID, or were feeling under the weather and didn’t want to risk it.  It’s kind of crazy to think how we’ve moved from one end of the spectrum to the other.  It used to be “I think I’m getting sick and don’t feel like going to the party.”  Now it’s “I think I’m getting sick and better skip the party so I don’t get others sick.”  On the one hand, it’s kind of annoying to have this hanging over our heads every time we congregate (especially in the winter when there is more “stuff” floating around), but at least it makes us more considerate of others.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  But in all honesty, I’m hoping we keep moving down the road to “back to normal.”  I’ve been writing about this every few months, but I’m serious this time.

A Milestone Year

We’re not big travelers, so we’re not ones to jet off to Europe or the Caribbean.  That being said, we’ve talked about a trip to Aruba that was planned (and canceled, of course) and I’m sure we’ll get there soon.  So our big adventure this year was a major home renovation, including a new kitchen and dining room.  We’re very happy with how it came out, and since my wife loves to bake, it’s great for our everyday experience (even if it’s not so good for my waistline – yikes!)

We did have a wonderful vacation with my wife’s extended family at York Beach in Maine last summer.  There were about thirty of us in two houses for a week, sharing cooking and cleaning responsibilities, as well as many laughs throughout our time there.  Every day included trips to the beach, walks into town, or just relaxing on the front porch admiring the view of the ocean.  There were game nights, a fantastic night of poker, and everyone got to spend time with each other throughout our time there.  And I can neither confirm nor deny that there was an intervention to address my growing addiction to cookies.  That was a very funny moment, even if it was all too real – unfortunately, I didn’t get additional willpower to address my addiction to sweets for Christmas.  Oh well, there’s always next year.

The family vacation coincided with our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.  On that night we decided to go out for a nice dinner alone and forgo the family dinner.  While driving over to the restaurant in the next town, we encountered an enormous thunderstorm, which helped create an incredible sunset later that night.  But the strangest moment was when we heard “our song” on the radio while driving to the restaurant.  Now, it’s not like “our song” is a popular one you hear all the time on the radio.  This is a Bonnie Raitt song from 1991, the year we met in college.  I wrote about this one back in my celebration of that year in music here.  I mean, what are the odds that this song would come on the radio while we were driving to dinner on our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary?  It was one of those moments that gives you a warm feeling in your heart and goosebumps at the same time. 

This was also the year that I turned 50, that milestone age that hit a lot different than turning 40.  Sure, there are some days that I feel older than others, but overall I can’t complain.  But I think the number “50” is still kind of hard for me to process.  Maybe it’s a feeling of being more appreciative of what I have in my life, as I am much closer to the end than the beginning (not being grim, that’s just math – remember, I’m a numbers guy.)  My wife and I are about the same age (although she would be quick to point out that I am older – she’ll see that milestone number in about a month) and we had some eye-opening moments this year realizing we’ve been married for about half of our lives.  Holy shit.  Check the math on that one……yup, checks out.  Luckily I am still madly in love with my best friend who makes me laugh every day.   

Looking Ahead

So, while I don’t have to do a formal list of goals for my boss (at least my wife hasn’t asked for one yet), I have thought about the coming year and what I’m looking forward to.  Fortunately, I’m having a blast with my volunteer organization helping small business owners.  I work with a fabulous team of mentors who have become friends over the last two years and it’s so rewarding to be able to share my knowledge and experience with people who need help.  I help clients on an individual basis, and also teach webinars about topics I have experience with, and it’s been a lot of fun.  I’ve learned so much about what it takes to truly run your own business.  Some of my clients have been so inspiring and I cherish working with them.  And it’s nice to be appreciated for helping them out.  As I was finishing up before the holidays, I received some very kind words from a few clients.  All it takes is one client to tell you how much you have helped them to keep you motivated with the organization.  It’s like when you are having a crappy round of golf – you just need one great shot to keep you coming back for more (torture.) 

Speaking of which, there will be plenty of golf on the calendar this year.  And if you are keeping score at home, my friend and I got out for a round on New Year’s Day, successfully extending our streak of playing at least once in Connecticut every month.  We are now up to 94 months in a row.  And if you have any influence on the weather in Connecticut, I would ask that you keep any snow away from us until at least early February. 

Two Very Different Experiences

You probably also know that besides golf, one of my passions is music and there will be several concerts on the calendar for this year.  Of course, I’ll be finding my way to see the Dave Matthews Band a few times and hopefully Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters if they both tour in 2023.  There are also two dates firmly in the calendar and I can’t think of two concert experiences that will be polar opposites of each other than these two artists, who were both (coincidentally) caught up in The Great Ticketmaster Debacle of 2022™ 

In March I will be heading to Boston with my sisters and my son to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.  This will be my fifth time seeing them, the last time in 2009, so it’s been a while.  I still remember getting tickets for the reunion tour in 1999 and telling my wife that I had to get tickets, regardless of the cost, because you never know how long they would tour.  “Bruce turns 50 this year – this could be the last time.”  Insert laugh track here.  Twenty-four years later, they are embarking on a world tour that will likely last well into 2024.  If you missed out on tickets for the first leg, the rumors are strong that they will be playing stadiums this summer.

Speaking of stadiums, the other concert I am going to is in May when my daughter and I will be headed to Gillette Stadium to see the queen herself, Taylor Swift.  I covered my feelings about her early last year and I continue to be amazed at her talent, drive, and the sheer magnitude of her popularity.  She will be playing 54 sold out shows in football stadiums in 2023.  You’re talking about tens of thousands of people for every show.  And that’s just the United States.  I’m sure she will take her world dominance to the rest of the world shortly thereafter.

So you may be wondering how I was able to get tickets given The Great Ticketmaster Debacle of 2022™ involving these two artists.  Well, let’s just say it wasn’t easy.  And it wasn’t cheap.  But I actually don’t have too much of a problem with expensive tickets, up to a point.  With Springsteen’s shows, he used something called “dynamic pricing” for some of the tickets, which drives prices up or down based on market demand, like airline or hotel pricing.  This is how you get tickets going for thousands of dollars in popular cities.  I found that practice ridiculous and completely unwarranted, especially for an artist that just sold his music catalog for more than $500 million.

The Taylor Swift tickets were on the expensive side, but didn’t have the dynamic pricing feature, so we didn’t get crazy increases during the ticket sale process.  No, the clusterf*ck that day was due to Ticketmaster’s systems crashing, despite assurances that they could handle the website traffic.  Of course, the way they set up the gatekeeping process for fans was also a disaster.  Needless to say, they have had better days.  Well, actually, I don’t think they have.  Ticketmaster has been a problem for decades, going back to Pearl Jam trying to tour without using them, which is basically impossible, because they control ticketing for the majority of venues in the country.  One might call that a monopoly, but I’m not a lawyer. 

Another aspect of concerts these days is ticket prices.  A frequent complaint you would hear from people my age or older (depicted as “old man yelling at cloud” in meme form) is that tickets are way more expensive than they used to be.  It usually starts with “In my day, I could see [insert name of legendary band] for [insert dollar amount that approximates the cost of a Starbucks coffee].”  Now, that may be true, but the economics of the music industry have changed enormously in the last fifty years.  First and foremost, people don’t buy music anymore.  Well, dinosaurs like me still do.  For some bands, I still like buying the physical CD or the iTunes album.  But most people stream their music on Spotify or Apple Music.  That means that artists are paid when someone streams their song and a recent article indicated it was as low as $0.0033 per stream.  So, can I blame an artist for charging a few hundred dollars for a good ticket to a concert when they make all of their money on the road now?  To be honest, I can’t, but that’s just me.

What’s On Tap

So, as I look forward to the new year, of course you can expect movies to play a big part in my writing.  First up will be my series on the best of 2022 in film.  Starting next week, I will highlight some of my favorites that you might have missed this past year, most of which are already available to watch at home.  And then, I’ll showcase my ten favorite films of the year.  I was fortunate to see a lot of movies this past year, and there certainly were some great ones.

One More Thing

We were recently coming home from a family party and I was scanning through the Sirius channel trying to find something good to listen to, as I am usually the car DJ.  I stumbled upon Life During Wartime by the Talking Heads.  Naturally, I stopped there because the song is amazing and I defy you to listen to that one without tapping your foot or bobbing your head to the beat.  I recently wrote about my love of Stop Making Sense in my post about music documentaries here and just rewatched the film in advance of writing that post.  Hearing this song again made me crave listening to the soundtrack to the film, which I have been playing on my phone (practically) nonstop the last two weeks.  As I was finishing up this week’s post, I discovered that the entire film is available on YouTube in fantastic quality.  If you want to spend ninety minutes watching brilliant musicians in action, or simply have this on in the background while you dance around your house, here you go.  Enjoy and you’re welcome.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week.