Rules of the Game

My New Year's resolution is to enter every contest I come across in 2010 (on television, radio, print media, Internet, commercial advertisements, etc) and detail my wins (hopefully...) and losses here.

Merriam Webster defines "contest" as:

Main Entry: ²con·test
Pronunciation: \ˈkän-ˌtest\
Function: noun
Date: 1630
1 : a struggle for superiority or victory
2 : a competition in which each contestant performs without direct contact with or interference from his competitors.

Here are the rules of the game:

1. Each contest must have set rules and regulations (spur of the moment challenges i.e. "you have to eat 10 hot dogs right now" do not count)

2. Contests must be reasonably safe, e.g. Ultra Marathons, races across the Sahara Desert that require a great deal of "know how" and alligator wrestling are out of the picture.

3. I will not enter a contest that asks for my social security number or other personal information or will jeopardize my career

4. I must enter the lottery at least once a week

5. Just to clarify, I cannot simply just google contests and enter them. I must either stumble across them in my day to day life, or they must be recommended to me by a friend, family member, or blog follower.

6. I must have reasonable means and be within a reasonable distance of the contest. Since I am based in the New York Metropolitan Area lets try to keep it limited to Northeast, with reasonable exceptions in the Mid Atlantic, Southeast, and Midwest. Think something I could feasibly do in a weekend or during my off hours from work. I work a standard 40 hour week.

7. The entrance fee for all contests must be under $150. Contests that have other prohibitively expensive fees may also be excluded on those grounds.