Resolved

Hello from Denver! I'm here for work, but I've had a small bit of time to wander around the Mile High City and collect inspiration for my new year's resolutions.

(You shouldn't be surprised that this is coming a few days late. For one thing, I'm not very good with deadlines. Also, unlike my tech savvy male relatives, I'm not an early adopter. I like to let the market settle a bit. You know, watch others test out their resolutions for a while and then see how I feel.)

So here they are:

5) Hike more. After walking through the entire REI flagship store here in Denver, I stumbled upon this LED trail hat and decided it was exactly what I'd always wanted but didn't know it. Watching it blink at me, all I could think was: this is genius. Shortly after purchasing it, however, I realized there would probably never be a situation in which I would actually need it. Thus, my first new year's resolution is to justify this purchase. Twilight hike, anyone?

4) Host one party per month. There are worse things than eating alone . . . but I think food just tastes better when you have good company. I was too exhausted to walk very far last night, so I brought a book to the nearly-empty hotel restaurant. Every time I had to turn the page, I'd either drop my fork or spill salad into my lap. There were two other men - clearly also here for the conference - at separate tables nearby doing the exact same thing. We'd occasionally exchange sympathetic glances and then bury our noses back into our reading material. It felt a little pathetic. So tonight, when some current and former coworkers arrived in Denver just in time for dessert, I was grateful for the friendly faces. It's nice to laugh over crème brûlée. Hence, I'm resolved to facilitate this for others.

Also, I made the same resolution last year, and my January brunch was so successful that the two love birds who met there ended their first date at my February Valentine's Day dinner. By August, I was hosting their engagement party, and the bridal shower was in November. Who knows what 2011 will bring?

3) Visit more great American cities. Exploring new cities is like meeting a new friend; each block is full of stories you don't know.

2) Go on at least two dates, consecutively, with the same person. I've been working in recruiting directly or indirectly for about five years now. While in Denver, I will be conducting 19 interviews in the space of 3 days. The point is: I know what I'm looking for, and I'm pretty good at reading people to find it. I'm also fairly comfortable in my own twenty-something-year-old skin and have a decent grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, when it comes to dating, I like to maximize efficiency. As soon as I'm confident that we're not going to work, I stop wasting your time.

The upside to this system is that I'm never wrong. If I decide that you're not the one and stop seeing you, then I'm correct about the fact that "our relationship isn't going anywhere" 100% of the time. Also, it minimizes the chance that either of us will get hurt.

The downside is that, because this system leaves me perpetually single, I routinely encounter situations like this: when dropping off a check request form at work the other day, my accountants cornered me and asked me when I was going to find myself a husband. They then proceeded to give me all kinds of helpful advice, such as: "Put Vaseline on your teeth so you smile more!" Thanks. No, really, that's helpful.

The other downside, of course, is that I'll never know what I'm missing.

I'm not convinced that this resolution will actually change anything, but it's not the worst advice I've received recently.  (D "give him a chance" DG, this one's for you.)

1) Pray boldly. I know people with some serious needs. And I know a God who cares about those people. In 2011, I want to take that seriously.