in january 2010, i made a new years’ resolution to lose five pounds. this year, 2011, i made a resolution to visit the 335 facebook friends i had when i toddled off to a new year’s eve party. how’s it going so far? and am i any better at losing weight?
weight on january 1, 2010: 138
friends on facebook january 2011: 335
day of the year as of march 23: 82
facebook friends i have visited with so far: 81
catfish moment*: discovering that f2fb #54 inda loop was not a young black female rapper living in new york city but was in fact f2fb #53 richard “mop” furniss
thing one i have learned: people try really hard to do the right thing and they hide a lot of pain and stress and worry. our facebook personas are more upbeat than our real selves.
number of flights i have taken this year: 11
number of flights i took in the previous decade: 8
scariest moment on plane: pilot on flight from memphis to chicago announces that the cabin doors have been locked, we’re cleared for take off and will be arriving in atlanta in less than an hour and a half
scariest moment just before getting on a plane: mexico city when officials wouldn’t let me board a plane to return to the states because i was missing a form from the mexican immigration service
number of ativan i took before boarding the plane from mexico: 3
thing two i have learned: never wear an underwire bra if you’re going through security at an airport
number of new facebook friends i want to visit: 1351
countries for which i have developed a special fondness: brazil and japan, and somehow i will visit those countries too!
this is a picture of me and my first friend in the world sandra patrick. she was my sister, eight years older than me, and the most glamorous woman i knew at the time. even if she was just fourteen.
thing three i have learned: i have spent a lot of my life scared of the world. admittedly, it’s a pretty damn scary place. but if i don’t engage in the world now, i never will.
number of friends who have told me that they or their spouse has gone through the twelve step program for drugs and/or alcohol: 17
number of friends who have asked me to not identify them as such: 6
number of friends who have told me that they have an expired vehicle license sticker: 1
number of friends who have asked me to not identify them as such: 1
number of friends who have deactivated their accounts since january 1, 2011: 4
number of friends who have reactivated their accounts: 3
number of friends who have defriended me: 1
number of friends i have defriended: 1 gilbert gottfried, i’m sorry, but friendship is a two way street
weight as of january 1, 2011: 138
thing four i have learned: sometimes i have thought of myself as being more social than i am because i have facebook friends. facebook is good at connecting but i have to make sure that i engage in the world as it is. using facebook as a tool not as a substitute for maintaining friendships.
mornings i have woke up and thought this was the stupidest new years’ resolution and i will fail: 82
people who have told me this is the stupidest new years’ resolution and i will fail: 3
people who have said “go for it!”: countless and i’m grateful!
country i have most trepidation about visiting but will anyway: burkina faso
city in the united states i have most trepidation about visiting but will anyway: homer, alaska (there’s gotta be polar bears and woolly mammoths)
adventures that are soon to happen: tomorrow a road trip to cleveland, sunday a visit to unity church, monday a visit to the protesters in madison, tuesday a culver burger in beaver dam, a boxing match (yes, i will don gloves), skydiving, roller derby, and chapel hill. that’s just this month.
mornings i wake up and think this is the funnest new year’s resolution and i will succeed: 82
weight as of march 23, 2011: 138
*catfish is a movie about a woman who created a web of facebook personas in order to engage in an online virtual romance with a young filmmaker.
arlynnpresser 
March 23rd, 2011 at 9:06 pm
There is one thread of consistency through all this–that your friends are strongly supportive of your efforts to meet the challenge you’ve set yourself and are reaching out to help and aid you in whatever ways that they can.
There is a second thread of consistency, actually–your weight hasn’t changed at all throughout. Perhaps you’d be happier carrying five fewer pounds but perhaps, equally, you are at the weight that destiny, fate and/or God wants you to be at.
March 23rd, 2011 at 9:18 pm
absolutely correct on point one! i have been astonished! and i remember you have encouraged me from day one and i still think the grand tour of new york a la john r. douglas was really cool–
i have been invited into people’s homes, met their families, slept on their beds (really, the glasers of michigan have the nicest mattress on that guest bedroom) and i’ve been shown their artwork, their hobbies, their passions. and when i’ve felt down or sick or ready to give it all up, that’s when i get phone calls and texts and messages saying don’t give up.
as for the second point, i have kept the five pounds–it’s just redistributed so that i’m a soft, squishy marshmallow of a gal!