I have a lot of work to do on myself. That's something I've been focusing on lately, but last weekend, I was listening to a video a friend of mine sent me, about how this guy had turned his life around, and something he said really stood out to me.

Once a month, he has a poker night with guys. Specifically, the guys HE thinks are interesting; he mentioned earlier that he tried getting along with the husbands of his wife's friends (friends she made and parents of their child), and he just didn't get on with them.

Such a simple idea, but something about it really stood out to me. I don't even play poker (I have in the past, but couldn't tell you the rules), but that sort of "gathering of men"... guys who share the same ideas of what it means to be a man... I dunno, it sparked something in me.

I reached out to a few guys, about trying to do a monthly guys' night, and we'd start with poker... and every single guy I've messaged seems super excited about the idea. And these aren't even "good friends", but guys I thought were interesting and have traits I really value.

Chances are, we'll wind up just playing poker in my apartment (although I'm hoping my complex will let me reserve the "community room", which is way bigger and has a grill). But I'd honestly really dig you guys' input, on things we could do to not just "have fun", but really make this a cool space that guys want to come back to? Moreover, that guys can really just "be men, totally free of expectation?

Oh, and last thing; would you recommend just keeping it a poker night every month, or should we all talk about ideas of mixing it up each month, ie "let's get together for skydiving next month, or rock-climbing the month after that"? And IF we wanted to do that, would you suggest we just all chip in on it (some of these guys might be more well-off than others), or just plan on taking the financial hit for the first few months until we've got kind of a pattern going?