As I have every year, I came up with a list of resolutions in hopes of improving my life...and as I have every year, I end up sticking with maybe one or two of them.

One of the resolutions I've managed to uphold is no longer listening to a composer's music on their birthday. I even used to do this in the days when I had full time jobs. Inevitably, I would have more of a composer's works than could be packed into a single day, so I arranged my listening over several days. Would this cause problems? Certainly. (John Williams' birthday is February 8th. Jerry Goldsmith's is February 10th. You do the math.)

The fascinating irony is that I've given up this habit and I now have the free time to save on listening days. Perhaps, this is just as well, given that my current CD player goes through batteries like I go through popcorn during an action movie. (Even more, I'm paring my collection down for quick cash, which would definitely have made the listening easier.)

I mention this because I'd momentarily forgotten that Danny Elfman's birthday was yesterday. By this time, I'd likely have been finishing up his work and moving on to the one Michael Small album in my collection.

Now I have more time to do nothing. Kind of freeing, to be honest.