In the Beginning...

Here's the deal.  New Year, new journeys, but no resolutions.  Resolutions?  They're awfully . . .  resolute.  So I won't be making promises I may not keep.  But - I will be writing in the New Year, I'm certain of that, and I'm pretty sure I'll be drinking.  So what if I married the two?

What's that you say? Writing is often ruined when coupled with hooch? Sure it is. But what if, say, we went on a journey - you and I. Say we grabbed a book off the shelf. My shelves are different than yours, so I'm going to grab Jerry Thomas' Bar-Tender's Guide. Who was Professor Thomas? Only the father of American Mixology. This book was the first-ever drink book published in these United States, and for that - please, a round of applause.

So that journey. You, me, and this delightful little book. What if we simply drank our way through it? Page by slaking page? How hard would it be to follow through on that endeavor? Not very, is what I'm thinking. So if you're with me - ah, come, you're with me, right? If you're with me, then let's go.

And yes, it might be a cliche to begin this enterprise on New Year's Eve. Amateur Night, right? But there's the beauty of a drink well-concocted. It can take a cliche and make it original again. Tonight, I'll be celebrating an East-Coast New Year's. No, that doesn't mean I'll be in Manhattan mixing one. It means I'll be ringing in the New Year when the ball actually drops in New York - 9 pm my time. Late enough that the eleven kiddies, mine and my friends, will feel that they've stayed up for something, not late enough that Child Protective Services need be called.

There's a second party after this first one - fondue all around. Maybe after the wee ones have closed their eyes, we can take turns at Party Number Two.

If you're ready - so am I. Ready for Drinks With Nick.