new year’s resolution december 31, 2009:  lose five pounds, give up demon rum, be nicer to my neighbor mr. radnor

new year’s resolution december 31, 2010:  to meet every one of my 325 facebook friends at least once in the calendar year

weight on december 31, 2009:  138

favorite form of alcohol:  champagne, white wine, just hand it right over

friends i have seen as of december 4, 2011:  268

number of friends who have defriended* me or deactivated their account:  11, two having done so AFTER i have seen them–one because their girlfriend found out they met me and the other for reasons that have nothing to do with me so nine are people whom i will not see this year.

number of friends whom i have defriended*:  2 and one is gilbert gottfried

weight on december 31, 2010:  138 pounds

weight on december 4, 2011:  140 pounds

length of time the “no alcohol” new years resolution lasted:  four days

number of friends who have become so famous that now i’m a “fan” and i can’t get communicate directly with them:  three

number of friends who are spambots:  six and i really really don’t want a new iphone.

number of friends who are animals:  one cat and one dog and i don’t think i should bring them together.  there is a large dog community on facebook that i have become aware of.

number of friends who are confirmed to have passed on (or become late, as long as we’re going to use euphemisms):  5

william clark is the american explorer most definitely dead since 1838. still, he is f2fb friend #60 and i "saw" him in princeton, new jersey. his biographer lanny jones is f2fb friend #59 and was our chaperone. briefly, facebook deactivated mr. clark's account on the basis that he was a "fraud" of some sort. my friend has been restored to facebook.

number of friends who just won’t respond to me, period, and i have to stop contacting them because i’m feeling like i’m being a stalker:  18

number of times i have been stood up by my friend in cleveland:  five and i’m giving up

number of times i have flown into los angeles and driven into san diego:  twice

number of friends i still have left to see in los angeles or san diego:  five (if you have any suggestions, bring it!)

number of flights i’ve taken this year:  39 (not bad for someone with a fear of flying)

number of flights i’ve taken this year without a ritual pre-flight beer or pre-flight ativan:  3

number of countries i’ve visited:  13

northern most place i have traveled to:  a layover at kotzebue, alaska on my way to nome, alaska.  i could have spoken with santa or russians but everybody was on their coffee break.

southern most place i have traveled to:  a layover in kuala lumpur, malaysia on my way to mumbai–i don’t remember much about malaysia because there was a heavy storm, a rough flight into the city, and there was wine available at the bar outside of the gate for the flight to mumbia.

number of overnight road trips (some as long as two weeks) in my car--14

new years resolution for 2012:  don’t know

will i finish this year’s new year’s resolution:  don’t know, but probably going to have to settle for an asian f.

in episode 3 of season 3 of glee, the character mike chang gets an a minus and his father attributes this "asian f" to mike's devotion to the glee club. my asian f will come about because of a combination of spambots, deactivations, defriending, and people just not wanting to see me--oh, and alex grace having the nerve to move to mexico city AFTER i had already been there.

plans for december:  a trip to new york which will last just about thirty six hours, a trip to the pacific northwest which will include british columbia, and two other road trips.

the person i was:  scared

the person i have become:  less scared

the person i would like to become:  138 pounds

question i have wondered this entire year:  are you really my friend?  or are you “just” my facebook friend. . .

*the new term is “unfriended” which makes it sound like the un-cola 7-up!