• I successfully proposed to Rachel, thereby demonstrating that there is hope for us all.
• I read over 300 books.
• I broadened my mind in countless ways, some of the most important of which included: perceiving the difference between really reading and merely appropriating the text of the Bible; achieving a much firmer and more systematic grasp of various parts of the history of ideas including contemporary philosophy, protestant theology, and Christian mysticism; discovering whole worlds of theological and philosophical thought which I never dreamed of and which, surprisingly, I am finding relatively easy access to.
• I was published five times in respectable places: 1 story, 1 poem, and 3 essays.
• I presented for the first time at an academic conference, on the subject “The Politics of Pilgrimage.”
• I began my latest and most successful web-venture — this blog — which has proven to be a source of unending helpful interaction and a valuable forum to develop the habit of writing and the seeds of ideas otherwise cast on the infertile soil of a bad memory.
• I learned how to cook (passably, not yet competently).

Having a firm antipathy to resolutions — for the all too cliche reason that nothing seems to ensure that I will fail at something so well as when I resolve to do it — I have compiled my most hopeful expectations for the year 2010.

• On July 31 I will marry Rachel. Ideally I will not before that time have driven her to break off our engagement by reading too much or arguing too much about everything with everyone.
• I will apply to my nine top graduate schools and wait to hear back from them with the confidence that arises in the aftermath of best effort.
• I will read and think to new depths about my currently predominating subjects of interest, Marxism, Mysticism, and Mythology (translated: liberation, the mysteries of faith, and the stories which frame Christianity); and I will write good expressions of my currently percolating insights regarding self-subversion, pluralism, genesis, solidarity, and dialectic.
• I will publish at least three philosophy or theology related essays or book reviews in respectable journals, and I will present a paper at at least two academic conferences (not including the “Calvinism for the 21st Century” conference at Dordt College).
• I will read through the Bible at least twice. (The first time following the theme of “solidarity” — which regular readers will perceive to be a thematic decision made in the very nick of time.)
• I will become worthy, via regular and thoughtful posting and commenting, of blogroll recognition from at least a few of my favorite theoblogs, and will also at least triple the current number of daily unique visitors to this blog and the number of feed subscribers.
• I will become a more competent cook, especially of meats.