The Giving Up/ Cutting Down alcohol support thread - number 13

CuppaTea

15/18 please

maman

Poor_Single_lady wrote: »

18/23 not very pleased with this really.

But it has been lovely on the thread.
Thank you all. xxx

Don't be too hard on yourself. I think 18 is a great score.:T

cathybird wrote: »

I do like live screenings at the cinema and they are a lot cheaper. I wish opera houses would make productions available to download on a "rent or buy" basis as some cinemas and Amazon and the BBC are doing. I'd go for that. £45 isn't bad for the opera. I know people who fork out a few hundred for every visit!

DH costed out going to Turandot at the ROH. He reckoned on about £500 once we'd paid for tickets, train fare and a meal. :eek:
It makes £90 for the WNO a cheap date!:rotfl:

Honey_Bear

There are several of the arts that despite having a really good education I've never been able to appreciate, opera and poetry being the two that fox me completely. I've tried, really tried, with opera and did a literature degree in my 40s for interest and to get to grips with Shakespeare in particular, and poetry as a bonus. Because I do theatre digs occasionally I'm able to get hold of opera tickets for £10 when they're available and over 24 years I've been to see dozens, but I can count on my thumbs the number I've enjoyed. I've even been to Glyndebourne and yes the experience was something I'd not have missed for the world but I just don't get it.

However, there is hope. Not only do I not like modern art, I positively loathe it because it has such unhappy memories - boarding school, dormitories named after artists, that artist's work on the walls, first term, thirteen years old: Picasso. No happy associations, lots of very, very homesick, lost and lonely associations, 35 years later I can spot his stuff across a crowded room and shivers run down my spine. Instant feelings of despair.

So, in Barcelona this year, looking to mix things up in my life I tackled 'modern art' and discovered I can thoroughly enjoy Miro's work. That's quite something for me, and why I feel so positive about making changes in the way I live. Lots of little changes like going to the Miro Foundation, spread over a few months, makes a dramatic difference to how I see things, do things and live.

There are even a couple of poets whose work I know I thoroughly enjoy, and boy did that take some effort to find them!

I heartily recommend it, because even if hearing opera on the radio still has me reaching for the off button, knowing that one day I might 'get it' even after all this time means there is huge scope for all of the unexplored stuff I haven't yet got to grips with. I rather like that idea.

Thanks for the comments about my 1,000 Days. I genuinely hadn't really thought about that until reading them, and it made me realise that this thread is obviously much more important to me than counting them - because I do this every day, but counting from the start obviously isn't!

29/30 please, Shaggy.

Barny1979

26/23 AFDs today

cathybird

Honey Bear, it sounds almost to me as though you feel you "should" like opera? I personally think it's a bit like Marmite - people either adore it with great passion or don't warm to it at all, and it doesn't really matter either way surely, since musical tastes vary and that's all there is to it? I suppose tastes can and do change over time but there's generally no real reason why they should have to. Besides, some really just don't like the sound of the operatic soprano voice. Anyway, that's my thought. Having said that, which two did you enjoy?

I agree with you utterly about Miro - he is completely fabulous. It's a shame Picasso (or any artist) is associated with such bad and lonely memories for you though

scatterbrain109

Hello everyone
HB - congratulations on 1,000 days, that is seriously impressive.
I think I've messed up my day count, I know the last time I had alcohol was on 2nd April therefore I must be 27/28 at close of Saturday please Shaggy.
Have a good Sunday everyone

Jo

Wanna_Bee_Free

Another one for me on Friday so 9/14

HB, like others the idea that you are no longer counting the days has impressed me too.

I love Miro too and also had a pretty miserable time at boarding school although thankfully they didn't put me off art with the themed dorm names you had!

I already love many expensive hobbies I struggle to afford like going to the theatre, skiing and horse riding and have never put the time and money into opera for two reasons. Firstly I thought if I don't like it there are an awful lot of other fun things I can do. Secondly my boyfriend was dragged to opera very regularly by his mother who was a huge fan so he has acquired a keen and lasting hatred of almost all of it.

Well done on your month Barney! You're doing really well!!

Have a good Sunday.

cathybird

Morning all, 22/21 for me today please.

cathybird

Shaggy, please don't shoot me, and again if it's too much work on top of the already hugely generous work you do in keeping the thread going then just tell me to shut up , but I don't suppose we could consider introducing an emoticon for people who actually beat their targets, as opppsed to just reaching it? I know I at least would find it hugely motivating.

Honey_Bear

cathybird wrote: »

Honey Bear, it sounds almost to me as though you feel you "should" like opera?

Not should like, Cathy Bird, just accepting that there are some things we need to put a bit off effort into before we can expect to understand or have any appreciation of them. As I've got older I've found myself listening to music less and less, and I've had to accept that opera isn't going to help with that, although I might dabble a bit more in classical music ... eventually because I used to enjoy music when I was younger. I'm more text-orientated now - it's a jolly good thing podcasts are free on itunes, and Hurrah for Radio 4!

The two operas I enjoyed were Flight by Jonathan Dove (modern) and I'm sorry to say I've forgotten what the other one was! It was the dress rehearsal we saw at Glyndebourne and the chappie who arranged the tickets for us feels pretty much the same about opera as I do, so he chose it very carefully. He knew that a particlar singer in the lead role absolutely made it come alive - it was even funny in places, although sung in German with a bit of drag thrown in. (The chappie who works at Glyndebourne has been staying at the house every year for 20 years, so we've built up a real connection with him. It's just like having an old friend to stay but he gives me money at the end of the week and we catch up on gossip!)

30/30 please, Shaggy.