On January 2nd, 2008, the first “regular” day of the year, my two friends and I sat at a small table in the middle of the dining area at Moe’s, a cafeteria-style, fast-food Mexican restaurant. All the booths were filled with teens, pre-teens, and families. “Five-Plate” (his actual college nickname, because he typically filled his plate five times) was the only one who continued eating. Since his own chips were gone, he reached across the table and finished the few remaining chips on my tray. I took the list out of my pocketbook and showed it to Chuck first, because he was sitting next to me, and because I could see his hands were clean.

“This is the list I was telling you about over the phone yesterday,” I said, handing him a couple sheets of paper stapled together.

“What list?” asked Five-Plate, his mouth filled with tortilla chips.

“On New Year’s Eve, I made a resolution to try a new activity every week for one year. I wrote down a bunch of things I’ve never done before as a starting point.”

“Why?” they asked, in unison.

“Because there are so many things I’ve never done before,” I lied.

The truth was, I’d been feeling jaded since my dad’s death a little over a month before, and wanted to brighten the year ahead, which was sure to be filled with difficult “firsts” (e.g., first Easter without my dad, first fatherless Father’s Day, etc.). Why not add some other “firsts” as well?

Five-Plate leaned over the table so he could see the list. “I’ve done that before,” he said. “Oh, I’ve done that one many times.”

“I’m sure you have,” I said, trying not to get defensive. “Most people have done these things. But think about it. If you sat down and really thought about all the everyday, run-of-the-mill stuff you’ve never done before, you’d have quite a list, too.”

By now, Five-Plate had taken out a pen and was writing his initials next to several activities, including the first item on the list, “Watch an entire porn movie.”

“I’ll do any of the initialed activities with you,” he said.

“It says, ‘Watch an entire porn movie,’ not ‘Watch an entire porn movie and act it out later,’” laughed Chuck.

Even though my friends were already laughing, before I had even started, I was more determined than ever to follow the rules for 52 new activities and keep my resolution.

Read my first activity, Watching an Entire Porn Movie.

 1. Must be an activity I’ve never done before

2. Must do only one activity per week

3. Must include activities that are strange, scary, boring, and/or outside my comfort zone.