On March 12, 1997, I wrote my very first column entitled, “A Penny For My Thoughts,” which was about my father. When I wrote that, I didn’t know if it would be my first and last, or if the column would endure for an unknown period of time. When I reached 100, I was very excited. Then came 250, 500, and 750. Those milestones made me realize that my column had taken on a life of its own – gathering a fan base and garnishing comments on my MySpace page and various e-mails I received. At this point, I am up to 959 with this column – which made me realize that the unbelievable feat of me writing my 1,000th column is not far away.

That said, if I am going to reach that achievement – I plan to do it this year, in 2008.

The reason I tasked myself with this is because 2008 has truly been an amazing year for me. After a few years of hardship, heartbreak and hard times, 2008 has brought me an entirely new life. I have a job with the U.S. Army, I live in New Jersey, I have my son Beavis back, I have my belongings back from storage, and I have Julie living with me. What better way to culminate this incredible year than to reach my 1,000th column – which has documented the last 11 years of my life.

There are 49 days left in 2008, which means I have to write 41 columns in that time – an average of 0.83 columns per day. Basically, I only have eight days left out of this year that I can go without writing a column. While this may seem like a difficult feat to accomplish, it should be noted that in late 2000/early 2001 – I wrote 100 columns in 79 days – an average of 1.26 columns a day. At that time, there were times I wrote four or five columns in one day. When I was in Juneau, Alaska to see my friend Montel, I wrote 22 columns in seven days – an average of 3.14 a day. If I can mirror the writing determination and stick-to-itiveness I had back then – accomplishing this goal will be a cake walk.

On the flipside, there were times in my life where I would go months, even close to a full year – without writing a single column. The first 100 started on March 12, 1997 and was completed on December 13, 1999. There was another time it took me close to two years to finish 100 – The first of the 100 was written on August 27, 2001 – and the 100th was written on January 3, 2003. So if I go back to being as lackadaisical and intermittent as I was back then – achieving this personal milestone will be impossible.

Truth be told, I really want to do this, so I will keep on myself to make sure that I don’t slack off and miss this opportunity to say goodbye to 2008 with one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. I will remember that I only have eight days where I can write nothing – which, if I even take one day – will most likely form a habit of disaster. Also, I am willing to take suggestions for column topics that will give me ideas on what to write about – because many people over the years have planted seeds in my head that have led to insightful and interesting columns. So please do not hesitate to shoot me a suggestion if you have one.

So off I go on my personal quest to write 41 columns in 49 days – reaching what I thought was the unattainable 1000th column…

…wish me luck.