So here it is my first diary entry of 2006. I figured what better way to kick off the New Year than to start off with the whole New Year's Resolution clich�. But before I move onto that, let me tell you about the NYE party and the day after. The party itself was actually pretty good in terms of flow of drink. They served top-shelf Belvedere for the vodka. I started off with 4 martinis and switched to vodka and sodas once I got my buzz on. The Grand Ballroom at the Palmer House was huge. They had a DJ spinning tunes in the main ballroom and a cover band in an adjacent ballroom. Although I didn't quite score an NYE kiss at midnight, I also didn't get so terribly drunk that I would have wound up face-down kissing the ballroom floor. And of course I had fun with my cousins and friends and that was good enough for me.

When the party began winding down from midnight, close to the 2:00 am closing time, my cousins and I rolled out of the party and into a cab. We were actually lucky to catch one and we had him drive us to the nearest 24hr McDonald's for some serious munchie-killing. The cabbie refused to go the the drive-thru so we gave him the fare, the tip and the finger and staggered to Mc D's for some greasy, yet much needed junk food intake. Once we satisfied our junk food fix, we tried catching a cab back to my former bachelor pad. The problem was that literally every cab was taken and I'm talking cab after cab after cab, so we began walking towards the condo, which was our only other choice. The problem with walking was that my female cousin was in her strappy party high-heels, the kind that were not good at all for any type of walking activity, so she was basically hobbling along in a geisha-like walk effectively doubling our walk time. Being the gentleman I was raised to be, I gave her my arm to help her stride along. We wound up walking a little over a mile before we finally got to the condo. Once we had gotten to the pad, we naturally wound up crashing.

I woke up the next morning feeling totally dehydrated and still partially buzzed, so I pounded close to 4 liters of water to help detoxify myself and took some Alka Seltzer for the mild headache. By the time everyone returned to consciousness we gathered all our stuff and wound up at Clarke's for some Brunch. My cousins thought I was a lunatic for ordering a Bloody Mary. I had to school them about the Bloody Mary (a cocktail made of Vodka, Tomato Juice and seasonings) being once of the traditional brunch-time beverages. It's also one of the more common hangover remedies, by providing a shot of alcohol, the very substance you may be suffering withdrawal symptoms from. the Tomato juice is supposed to help as well. After brunch we went home and crashed for a second time.

Later that evening one of my friends placed a semi-drunken call to me. She was out for a second-round, next-day continuation of her previous new-year's eve drinking binge, hanging out with her equally lush-a-licious friend and was inviting me to hang out with them. I actually invited one of them to that NYE thing the night before, but she had previous plans so we wound up hanging out this other night instead. Having already partially recovered from the night before and not having work the next day, I naturally accepted the invitation.

While we were talking on the phone, she was noting how sexy my voice was, like I didn't already know that. ;) I told her I'd talk dirty to her but I'd have to charge extra. She just laughed. Drunk girls are so easy. =p Her friend who was equally drunk, if not more so, wanted to hear my voice too so she grabbed the phone but she couldn't hear me at all. You see the problem was she was holding the phone upside down. I just had to laugh at that. So we agreed to meet up at a bar. By the time I rolled into the bar the two girls were stilly pretty sauced. The girl I knew gave me a hug and kiss right away. She's this tiny Asian girl probably half my size so she gave me one of those flying hugs. When I caught her she was almost a foot off the ground. =p Then I was introduced to the other chick who I wasn't formerly acquainted to until that night, but I've seen around. She gave me a hug and kiss as well. Interestingly enough I was going for the cheek and they seemed to be going for the lips, so I wound up with a semi-cheek/semi-lip kiss from each of them. I should hang out with drunk chicks more often. =p

The slightly drunker new acquaintance was getting annoyed with the hip-hop music that was spinning in the bar that we were in. The amusing part was that the crowd was almost exclusively Caucasian and nobody was dancing so the lush girl went up to the DJ and asked to change the music up to any genre but hip-hop. The DJ who happened to be Black didn't seem to listen though as the next song and the next song and the next one after that were all hip-hop songs and beats. With the lush girl notably peeved with the music, we wound up picking up and heading out to the next bar.

The other bar we wound up in was a bit smaller with a mini CD jukebox instead of a DJ and one of those compact coin-op billiard tables. My friend who invited me out was going through her cell phone rolodex of friends inviting others to meet us and this one guy who lived nearby actually showed up. I noticed he had one of those newer Razr V3c phones so naturally we talked technology. The V3c is the RAZR version made for the CDMA carriers like Verizon, U.S. Cellular and Alltel. Unfortunately it's not coming out for Sprint/Nextel because they are pushing some "thin" Samsung. The V3c has an updated camera (from a VGA 0.3 megapixel to a 1.3 megapixel) and upgraded on-board memory (from 4 mb to 30 mb). We were also talking about the upcoming RAZR V3i the GSM update of the original RAZR V3 which is coming out on Cingular first and perhaps T-Mobile later. It's going to be MP3 capable with possible iTunes like the ROKR E1 phone that's already out in Cingular and will have expandable memory up to 512MB via micro SD/Trans Flash card. The RAZR V3i will be my next phone for sure to upgrade my still cool, but aging technology-wise silver RAZR V3.

Since the billiard table was present, we wound up playing some 8-ball. It's funny because one girl was always in the bathroom missing her turn. The lush girl kept missing her shots, so she wound up recruiting the bartender to take her missing partner's shots. It was a close game because me and the other guy were relatively sober compared to the girls, but the bartender who was completely sober was able to clean up the table and pocket the 8 ball for the game on behalf of the girls with the guys just one ball behind. Oh well, you can't win them all. =p Both of the girls started early like 4 in the afternoon or something and my friend was feeling the effects. Fortunately she was in walking distance of her apartment so she started getting ready to leave and the rest of us followed suit.

My friend had to walk in the opposite direction of my car so the other guy walked her home while I walked the lush girl to her car. I asked if she was OK to drive and offered to give her a ride home, but she seemed to have sobered up a little after several bathroom breaks at the bar. By the time we got to her car I hugged and kissed her goodbye. Again she went for the lips. I could have totally made out with her right there, but since I wasn't really that buzzed myself the playing field wasn't leveled and the gentleman in me didn't want to take advantage of the situation. Besides my experience with making out with the drunken go-go girl, I already had my fill of drunken kissing and wanted to start 2006 out on the right foot.

So now I can move on with my New Year's resolutions. I would of course be amiss if I didn't recount my resolutions from last year so let me do that before I proceed. 2005 was an interesting year to say the least. I was able to knock off a long-standing goal of finishing my Bachelor's Degree back in November of 2004 and I was able to get my old job back from being laid off for almost a year back in February of 2005, which was one of my ongoing resolutions from 2003. Technically speaking I was looking for a better job at the time and I was hoping I could move onto one once I completed my bachelor's degree, but since my layoff and re-hire almost a year later I've considered full-time job stability a priority over taking a risk with a new job and seeking an immediate increase of my wages. I've since shifted my priority to completing my master's degree and will focus my energy on that before I explore new career possibilities.

Although I'm no social butterfly by any means, I have gotten significantly better at socializing. If this were kindergarten, I'd get a star next to "plays well with others". Getting a female's phone number is as simple as asking for it at the right time in the right way. I haven't quite gotten the formula down for scoring a date of the romantic type, but I figure it's only a matter of time before I either evolve my game or meet the right girl so I'm not really worried about all that. Looking back at some of my resolutions from my past I had some interesting ones to say the least. The one about me not spontaneously masturbating was utterly ridiculous and I probably failed it within the first month. It's interesting to note that nowadays, now that my focus has shifted away from achieving sexual gratification, masturbation is not as huge a factor in my life. I'm not sure if it's me growing up or me just growing too damn old. Perhaps it's a little of both. I still need to spank it from time to time to relieve stress and take off the edge, but it's not quite the daily routine that it used to be. If I find myself walking around with a constant hard-on in my pants then I'd have to squeeze the juice, otherwise I pretty much just leave it alone and focus on other things. I do notice that my orgasms are more intense if I hold off for a while and I could go twice in a row like I used to be able to do back in my teens and early 20's.

I have noticed one thing since I've deprioritized the importance of sex in my life. Women are not at as important a factor in my life as they once were and I found that my behavior and my standards have shifted accordingly. In other words, a tight ass, cute face and a willingness to spread your legs for me isn't going to quite cut it for me anymore. Unless you stimulate me on some intellectual level as well, I'm probably not going to go for you. I've grown comfortable in my life as a bachelor with very little worries and an almost non-existent level of drama. I have in essence found other ways to evolve such as pursuing higher education and deepening my existing friendships. Although I haven't exactly closed my mind to a healthy sexual relationship, it is safe to say that it is no longer a requirement in my life nor is it a priority of a high level. I've put it in the back burner, which I could hopefully reach back and grab, nice and warm during a time in the future when I may need it.

The only thing left that I haven't really touched upon is my physical fitness. My fall from grace in that respect is a rather long drop. Although I haven't weighed in recently I'm probably a good 30-40 pounds above my ideal weight in terms of excess body fat. Although physical fitness will be important to me in the long run in terms of health, I can't help but wonder if I was meant to be this weight level to help me understand how utterly superficial people are in general. I have of course been larger before, during the time I was recently divorced and much more depressed about my life in general and my weight level has gone up and down largely due to my physical activity. I have discovered an almost direct correlation between how good I look and how successful I am with females almost regardless of how good of a guy I am on the inside and I can't help but feel a slight amount of disgust with that whole idea. Of course I have no control over how other people think so I have to aim some of that disgust at myself for thinking almost the same way. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't. Had I been skinny and physically fit my entire life, I probably would not have realized how disgustingly superficial I really am and would have no basis of comparison nor would I have a reason to change or evolve my way of thinking.

So I find myself at a dilemma in terms of coming up with a resolution for 2006. I know that devising a full workout routine on top of my full-time work and full-time classes is an almost guaranteed recipe for failure. But that's if I'm looking at a hardcore workout routine to build muscle in order to look sexy. Since my overall goals have shifted away from females, I can simply work out in terms of health. 30 min on the treadmill 3 times a week along with some moderate resistance training will do wonders for my health and will probably melt about 15 lbs along the way. I won't have the rock hard body or the chiseled abs, but for right now I won't need them. I can shift to a hardcore workout routine when I finish my Master's. It's going to be a bitch at the gym competing over the machines with all these other New Year's resolutionists, but I figure when the majority of them have fallen off of the workout wagon by February, I would have settled quite nicely into my own routine.

Another resolution is of course school. I positively cannot drop anymore classes as it will jeopardize my financial aid, so if I have to study every night and make the big sacrifices then so be it. School will be the only asterisk over my workout plan. If I'm caught up with my assignments and reading and studying then I'll be working out. If I need to put my nightlife in the backburner as well then so be it. I had a really good run in terms of going out and picked up quite a few friends, but Winter has come up so I might as well go into a partial hibernation. It's a juggling act to say the least, but to make my life a little easier I might as well list down some of my past resolutions and some of my ongoing ones and go on from there:

Resolutions from past years that I have succeeded in:

• Complete my Bachelor's Degree. - I finally took care of this goal back in November of 2004. I will of course have to upgrade this resolution to "Complete my Master's Degree" since I'm back in school. I'll also have to make a concerted effort not to drop any classes as it will affect my financial aid adversely so I'll throw that in as well.
• Be more open and friendly in general and develop existing and new friendships. - This one is coming along quite nicely, I have made a few new friends and am keeping in touch with some older acquaintances much more than I used to. There's of course room for improvement so I'll keep this one open-ended.
• Ease up on my "vices". - I don't really drink as much as I used to and since I only smoke when I drink both activities have leveled off a bit. Smoking and drinking have been more of a social activity and less of an activity within itself, which is ultimately a good thing. If I can maintain my current state I'll be just fine.
• Get back my sense of humor. - This one was straight from last year's resolutions when I was in a major emotional slump. Although I'm a much more serious guy than I used to be, I think my sense of humor is starting to reassert itself rather well. As I blog and socialize more often I hope to see my humor level return to full stregnth.
• Get my career back on track. - Although I haven't made any significant advancements in the past 6 years career-wise, I did manage to get myself laid off for almost a year back in 2004, which was an utter low point in my life, but I also managed to get re-hired early 2005, which helped shift my life back to a relative degree of normalcy so I consider this a minor life triumph.
• Try and date more often. - The key word here is "try" and try I did. I've gotten several numbers here and there and have actually asked quite a few women out. One thing I've learned is that women have a unique way of telling you "No" without actually uttering the word. They will go out with you on the terms of "friendship", or they will simply not return your calls when asked the question "Would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime?" if they are not interested for whatever reason. Although I've been out with a few girls in 2005, I wouldn't officially qualify any of them as a "date" per se, but considering I didn't even try in 2004 and my level of activity has skyrocketed this last year due to my efforts, I think I did rather well for myself compared to the year before so I'll throw this one on the "W" column. Although I do count this as a success, I think I should evolve this resolution a little and remove the word "try" and actually go out on a date or two this year. We'll see how it goes, but I have the feeling that my life will simply and naturally progress into this area, which is something for me to look forward to.

Resolutions from past years that I have utterly failed in:

• No more spontaneous masturbation. - It seemed like a good idea in theory, but in practice it didn't quite work out. Although I'll still pleasure myself when the need arises, nowadays I won't do it at the expense of arriving late for work or losing much needed sleep. I guess the whole thing sort of balanced itself out on its own which is cool, but not quite what I had originally intended when I made the resolution. It was kind of a silly idea to begin with so I don't need to re-make it for this year.
• Get Laid. - I've actually had this resolution in years past, but last year I shifted gears a bit and decided that since this was determined largely by my sex drive, it shouldn't count as a resolution. If it was a resolution however I would have failed miserably anyway since 2005 was quite notably a sex-free year for Derrick. Since my focus has shifted away from sex anyway I'm not really making this an ongoing resolution either. If it happens it happens, but if it doesn't I'm not really going to beat myself up about it. (insert masturbatory pun here) I may pick this resolution up again in a later year perhaps when I graduate my masters, but for now it's just not an issue.
• Get into a regular fitness routine. - This is one I've really disappointed myself in over the past few years. I think I've set myself up for failure by trying to get into a hardcore workout routine. Like I mentioned earlier I should probably scale down my ambition and maybe set some more realistic goals to work around my already busy schedule. Although I can't compromise my work and school, everything else is up for grabs. This is something I can do if I try hard enough and stick with it in the long term.

I think that's good enough for now. I have school, work, fitness, friends and my dating life to focus on for 2006. I've put sex in the back burner because I need to put the other stuff in front and if the dating goes well, hopefully the sex will come naturally from it. Pun not intended. ;) My first class is actually this evening so I think I'll start getting ready and get to the campus early to buy books and the like. For those of you who didn't cop out and actually made New Year's resolutions of your own, good luck with it. For those of you who didn't and you know exactly who you are, you deserve to be spanked and I have paddle with your name on it. So anyway, on with my life...