Resolution Failure 2012

I'm such a persistent failure at New Year's resolutions.  Not at keeping them, mind you... oh, no.  I never make it that far.  I'm a failure at making them.  The part where most people reach for the sky and dream big dreams?  Yeah, not so much.  It never occurs to me to so much as consider my options until January 1st, when all of Facebook proudly posts things about all the improvements they plan to make and all the gyms in town start their non-stop campaigns to bring the guilt-stricken and cookie-bloated masses in to sign up for irresistibly-discounted memberships.  Then I realize that I forgot again (AGAIN!), and that I haven't solemnly sworn to become a better person or a healthier eater or even to have a more organized closet (hah!).  I have failed, once again, to promise myself that I will do Pilates while simultaneously reading more literary books (and less Stephanie-Plum-esque trash novels).  I always neglect to think about resolutions for even a second... right up until I start hearing about everyone else's and think, "oh, those again."

As usual, I didn't make any resolutions, but I did read everyone else's.  I saw some that appealed to me, like the Project 333 concept, which advocates paring down your wardrobe to only 33 items of clothing and accessories to reduce materialism and clutter.  I don't know how why 33 is the magic number, but I agree that most people have too many clothes and that most of us would do well to collect a few quality pieces and resist the urge to collect trendy crap that lasts less than a season anyway.  I'm thinking about how I can do a massive clothing donation and get myself down to 50 items or less without putting myself in a position to have to go out and replace it all at the end of the "project."  I plan to hold off until after the internship match in February, since which city I'm going to will obviously impact what I keep and what I donate.  Houston and Boston require different wardrobe considerations, to say the least.

I have also starting really questioning the usefulness of Facebook in my life.  Of my 400+ friends, I think I probably only really interact with 25-50 of those people at all (in person or online).  Half of them are people who have Facebook, but don't use it, so that puts the total number of Facebook friends with whom I use Facebook to keep in touch somewhere around 5-10%.  So, really, I started thinking to myself that I should probably just send those people postcards or something.  That led to another thought.  Mail is fun.  I like getting mail.  I like getting mail that has human handwriting on it and is actually addressed to me and isn't a bill, I mean.  (No one likes student loan mail or political ads.)  Maybe if I sent people notes in the mail just because, they would reply in similar fashion and I WOULD GET FUN MAIL.  I could get pretty cards or paper and use stamps and it would be so much better than getting a Facebook notification.  I'm thinking it over.  I like stationery.  This could work.

So, in summary, I failed to make any 2012 resolutions, just as I have failed every year for as long as I can remember.  However, I have concluded that I don't like clutter and outdated clothes, I am almost-completely over Facebook as a social phenomenon, and I really like cute paper goods with my name on them.  Unless I see something shiny and get distracted, I might do something about one or more of my somewhat-secondhand ideas for life improvement and change.

Or... I might just go read a book.  Ooooohh, did you know there are lots of "bucket-lists" of books that we are all supposed to read before we die floating around?  Maybe I could choose one of those and check them off before 2013!  You know, unless I'm busy creating my minimalist wardrobe, deleting Facebook friends, and writing adorable personalized notes to send in the real mail.  :)

Narrowing Down the List

My final list of interview invitations has whittled the possible-cities list to six.  I got seven interviews, but two of them were in NYC.  The full list of possibilities is:

1.  Houston, TX
2.  Omaha, Nebraska
3.  Louisville, KY
4.  Boston, MA
5.  New York, NY (2 possible sites)
6.  Dallas, TX

I didn't get any interviews in, near, or really even within a reasonable day's drive of Florida.  All of the cities have airports, so yay for that, I suppose.  Anyway, the proximity issue doesn't matter much when all the cities require a flight to go home for a weekend and all of the flights last a couple of hours.  That makes it a little easier to just focus on the sites and the training... and, frankly, which city is the most appealing to live in for a year since I definitely hope to go SOMEWHERE.

Thoughts?