Picking Up Something New (By Swapping) in 2012

The new year has all of us thinking about ways we can improve in 2012. And while I’m the first to admit I’ve fallen the yearly phenomena of making classic New Years resolutions, I’ll also be the first to say I’ve often fell short of my pie-in-the-sky ideas for personal improvement. It always seems that the more emphasis I put on it the less attainable the goal actually becomes.

When discussing New Years Resolutions with some friends over coffee this weekend, it certainly seems that I’m not the acception to the rule here. After reading Sarah’s post about New Years Resolutions last week, I’d decided swap my strategies this year to make my goals more attainable. So with that, here’s 5 things I’d love to improve in my life, and some Swap.com Market items that may help me along the way:

I’d love to start biking to work.
Not only is biking a great way to work out, it’d certainly cut down on my commuting costs. Earlier last week it was announced that Boston would be hiking T fares, somewhere up to 43%. It may be time to take that bike that’s been sitting down in the basement to the shop for a tune up so I can start biking to Swap HQ this spring. Now all I’ll need to do is make an offer on one of these bicycle helmets, after all you can never be too careful when swerving around those famed Boston drivers.

I’d love to learn how to take amazing photos.
I’ve always been slightly jealous of friends who can always capture the perfect shot at weddings and get togethers. Photography has always been an interest of mine, yet I’ve never had the proper training to really hone my skills. So I’ve considered turing to Swap member lucybell for some new photography lessons to really learn how to take great shots my friends might be jealous of.

I’d love to try some new restaurants.
The beauty of living in a city like Boston is that you get to try new things all the time, especially when it comes to food! With so many options around I’ve gotten into the unfortunate routine of just sticking to my favorites each time we dine out. To shake it up a bit I may make an offer on this $100 Restaurants. com gift card and try some new places around town.

I need to upgrade my DVD player.
If you can believe it, I’m still using an old PS2 console to play DVDs on my new TV! While it’s entirely still serviceable (and currently listed on my Haves for the taking) I’m constantly hooking it up every time I want to watch a DVD. Since I use it as a true gaming console, I opt not to leave it out hooked up to the TV, but this slim Phillips DVD player could change all of that.

I’ve been told I need to watch Breaking Bad.
A ton of friends have recommended this TV series on AMC and it’s gotten to the point where one or two ask me every time we meet. I politely tell them I’m still trying to swap for a set of ‘Breaking Bad‘ DVDs and they understand, but continue to urge me on as the story progresses and gets, as they describe, better with each new season. Is this series really that good? May be time to take the dive and offer up something I have for this combo set.