A New Yeah's Resolution

So far, over the past couple months, I have quit smoking, cut back my drinking, cooked more at home, taken up jogging, started writing more non-11th Hour stuff, and quit being so much of the whore. Now, I have decided to leave my column. Sometime in January 2008, I will permanently cease to be The Power of Chris Compels You. If I felt like lying, I'd say something like "After much consideration" but that isn't true. Some things you just feel in your bones. I am no longer the man for the job (if I ever was).

Just to make sure you understand: I am not leaving the 11th Hour. In fact, I'm looking for a replacement because I think a "night writer" is important and I can't fill that role any more. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop going out. We just need someone with fresher legs to enter the game. Speaking of games, I love to be entertained so I'm going to make a game of this replacement search -- rules to follow shortly.

For the moment, indulge me as I recap my most excellent fortune.

Two and a half years ago, I started writing for The 11th Hour because I answered an ad seeking Urban Explorers. I wrote the first installment and eventually beat out everyone else because my writing was superior and awesome and other adjectives like that. That's when we changed the name from Urban Explorer, which I thought was lame, to The Power of Chris Compels You, which I thought was sufficiently self-aggrandizing. I had no real job at the time as I'd just quit Applebee's where I waited tables part-time, so getting into places for free was really nice. Months and months later, I joined the staff as a salesman because I couldn't hack the cubicle jungle in lizard land, and then even more months later, by way of magic and good timing, I became the editor of the paper.

Part of moving away from this column is to move into greater respectability, which I hope means I can do more to advance the things I've always wanted for myself and for this city. I also hope I can start going to bed at a reasonable hour.

Seriously, the point is that I'm praying we find another talented writer who is looking for an opportunity to show the world what they have, one that might have a chip on his or her shoulder, one willing to work and hustle--another Chris Horne. (You have to admit, for a two-time college dropout with a trick liver, I'm doing pretty good.) It's exciting to think we might find that person (or persons, in the best case scenario).

If you're interested, hold your horses but check back soon because the rules are coming. I figure the process can and should take about a month to complete. I think we'll even announce it at the Reader's Choice Awards.

In the meantime, please leave suggestions for the sort of hoops I should make people jump through in order to take over my spot. (And, as always, feel free to tell me how much you'll miss me when I'm gone, how I changed your life or something equally meaningful.)