I'm not much for resolutions. I tend to have a hard time coming up with a short list of focused things I can commit to.
I'm not very good at keeping them either. As Nena often quips, I'm a man with many ideas and plans, but following through isn't my forte.
But, that doesn't mean that I don't have things I'm planning to accomplish in the new year. So, here we go with a few things I'm thinking about these days:
More Reading. I'm a book lover. Nena would say that I have a problem, but I figure books are a good thing to be obsessed with, right? And, just like many other bloggers, I receive a fair number of food- and wine-related books from publishers. I've not always been great about reading them in a timely fashion. In 2008, I hope to change that.
More Writing Too. With the newest, and youngest, member of the LENNDEVOURS team's arrival, 2007 was a wonderful year. But it was also a year of many changes. First, I lost my office (it's Jackson's bedroom now). Then, I lost control over my own sleep schedule. My writing, both quantity and quality, no doubt suffered. But, now that the little guy is a little older, there's no reason that I can't devote more time to my craft. There might even be the beginnings of a book somewhere in my head. Long Island wine country needs a real book written about it, not a coffee table book written that is little more than pretty pictures and marketing fluff written by PR agencies.
A Visit to the Finger Lakes. I've tasted a lot of Finger Lakes wines and I've interviewed several winemakers from the region, but (sadly) I've never been there myself. We hope to change that this spring. Stay tuned for information on our trip to central New York, hopefully in April.
Create an Online Guide to Long Island Wine Country. Yeah, I know. These sorts of sites already exist, but I can do it much much better. Most "guides" available now are little more than for-pay winery lists or winery-provided boilerplate copy. In other words, they aren't very useful and don't have the readers' best interest in mind. I'll be going way beyond that by writing about the wines (hoping to keep it up to date as they release new wines too) and also offer commentary on the tasting room experiences, an oft-ignored but important feature of any winery.
Work on "The Site." Many of you know that I have big plans in my mind for a new website. The wheels are in motion...just very slowly. Hopefully I can press down on the gas at least a little this year.
why did I read "pass the gas" when you actually wrote "press down on the gas"? I'm tired!
Good goals. You, Dr. Debs and I all had reading at the top of our lists.
Posted by: Jill | January 01, 2008 at 10:47 PM
The snow is here and the new year upon us! We look forward to your visit to the Finger Lakes this year. Happy New Year to all!
Posted by: Johh Iszard | January 01, 2008 at 11:38 PM
I think we all have more reading/writing at the top of our lists...
Looking forward to your wine country guide. As you said, there's really nothing of quality out there.
As for your new website, well, I hope it's a move towards writing more for yourself and less for all the other pubs you contribute to.
If you put all that ink into your own projects, you'd be quitting your day job in no time.
Here's to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2008.
Posted by: Bill | January 02, 2008 at 08:34 AM
Standing Stone! Standing Stone! Uhm... I'm just a little excited to read about your trip up to the Finger Lakes, and uhm, I humbly suggest a trip to Standing Stone, but, uhm, if you don't go I won't be hurt. Anyway, happy New Year to you and yours Lenn!
Posted by: ann | January 08, 2008 at 05:19 PM