Here is a poem that I heard on TED. The talk was given by Aimee Mullins in 2009. Her video is available on YouTube.

The next new thing; it's always exciting but can be frightning at the same time.

As is my wont, on two days ago, I ran a monthly hash run with some friends.  No, I actually hared a hash run with some friends.

For those who don't understand, a hash run is a fun run. The 'hares' get a 10 minute head start and mark a trail for the other runners (the pack) to follow.  Along the way, the hares also mark false trails and put out meeting points where the members the pack are to regroup. These false trails and meeting points allow the hares a little bit of time to get away, or more to the point, stay away, from the pack. In all actuallity it's a fun way to get in a short run.

Every year at this time, millions of people make New Years Resolutions.  And every year, millions of people break those resolutions.

I don't usually make any New Year's Resolutions, but that has changed this year.  Kinda.

Toward the end of 2009, I got serious about my health.  I quit smoking.  I started running.  I went paleo.

Every month for the past 12 months, some friends and I put on our running shoes and meet up for a four-mile run.  Afterwards, we'll usually grab a beer and have something to eat.  Sounds boring, I know.  But this isn't just any running club.  In fact, we aren't a running club at all.  We are a drinking club with a running problem.

Every year, I hear and see the advertisements for all of those things that the retailers try to make us think that we just can't live without:

• The year-end deal on a car;
• That new, oh so stylish, coat;
• The latest in telephonic gadgetry

This year, my wife and I, with a little D21 inspiration, decided to do something different; we decided to get rid of things instead of gathering them. (Gasp!)

As I was growing up, my grandmother used to take me and my brothers out in the month leading up to Christmas.  She had a budget for the gifts that she would give to us: Twenty-five dollars each.  Now, back in the 1980's this was a good amount for a kid to be able to purchase whatever we desired, which ended up being mostly clothes.

At the end of the shopping trip, she would take the clothes back to her house and lovingly wrap them up.  Then, on Christmas Eve, she would bring those gifts to our house and place them under the Christmas Tree.  We would open them and feign surprise at how magnificently she was able to know our preferences when it came to gift giving.