The Perfect Month: Adventure Club! Consisting of Whoever, Devoted to Stuff.

New Year's Resolutions.

I love that this blog is all about Things I Suck At, because there are so many, many things I really, really suck at. In fact, I daresay there's not a single field of human knowledge or behavior in which I am remotely competent. I do, however, have a charming American tendency to 1) do it anyway 2) tell everyone how great I am 3) fail publicly 4) blame it on others 5) find something else, repeat.

However, I'm going to be better this year. Next Christmas, God is going to give me the Most Improved Award and that is a fact. What accounts for my confidence? Because 2011 whimpered out with every aspect of my life deeply entrenched into the Foxholes of Mediocrity, a sort of concertina-wired No Man's Land between Total Suckdom and Mehville. If I can get one elbow out of that foxhole it will be a resounding victory, let alone if I can crawl entrails intact to the It's-A'ite Settlement. That will be like D-Day right there.

When I discussed this with Megan and Shannon, Megan informed us that her New Year's Resolutions were "pretty much the same as everyone else's. Drink less. Go out less. Work more. Run more."

Shannon surprised us by countering, "No, mine are the opposite. I work too much. I don't go out enough. I need to drink *more* - I need to inject some adventure in my life. I need to be less responsible."

Megan and I are great friends. Because we want to support Shanon (and not because we are partygirl lushes looking for any opportunity to wake up in a gutter) we decide to form Adventure Club, an ad hoc club consisting of "whoever" and devoted to "stuff."

We decide to spend January 2nd communing with nature, in 35 degree weather. I, of course, have a bum knee from a freak dog-on-dog skidding accident and no winter gear. I was definitely the suckiest hiker but, again, I didn't spend the day re-reading Shogun in bed so I am the Life Improvement Winner. (And yes, as soon as we got home I jumped straight into bed and re-read Shogun)

Communing With Nature

Patapsco State Park

Avalon Trail