I've just returned from visiting family in Nashville. To most, it's known as the "Music City", but to select, more discerning foodistas, it's a true culinary crossroads. Indeed, the capital of the great state of Tennessee is one of the few major American metropolises where both Krystal and White Castle coexist. While I've yet to consume the two side-by-side, I can say with all confidence (prepared for the imminent ire of staunch zealots on each side of the steamed bun) that the difference is... mustard. Krystals have it; White Castles do not. This is the kind of hard-hitting research I'm bringing to the table in 2011.

Granted, a sackful of those gut bombs isn't part of the eventually-fleeting deal I'm made with myself concerning New Year's Resolutions. If I'm to lose 30 pounds, grease-soaked bread slathered with cheese and 60/40 ground beef is what we would call an "onion in the ointment". Needless to say, it's not a good start, but I've always been of the philosophy that the first couple days don't count. If there are bowl games on, then it's still the holidays...

...probably why I weigh the same I weighed last January.

Having little hope for personal improvement, what is to come of this low-rent parcel of cyberspace? Should "blog-related resolutions" even exist? They have before. Flash back just about 365 days from this point, and you'd find me pecking away at my keyboard, full of hope and change for the Suburban Wino brand. 'Twas as if a crowd of Barack Obama/Jehovah's Witness/Lou Holtz/Tony Robbins chimaeras- sporting foam domes loaded with '47 Cheval Blanc and chanting excerpts from Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine- descended upon me and pummeled my usual pragmatic cynicism into oblivion. I would surely be writing every day, educating the brutish, Yellow Tail-slugging masses, and finally taking my rightful place in the pantheon of internet wine sensations. Oh yeah...January 1, 2010: enter the Year of the Purple Beard.

After reading that post in a moment of reflection, I wasn't surprised to see few of my edicts come to fruition. Truth is, I can't allow this blog to be a chore. I want it to be fun. If everything is put into a box and on a schedule, then yours truly will probably freak out and relegate this hobby to the realm of "work", and the quality will suffer (provided there is initial quality, which is debatable). In 2010, I stuck to few plans, and that haphazard approach resulted in more readers, access to some incredible food and wine, fostering of some legitimate friendships, unprecedented wine country travel, and an increased knowledge-base and appreciation for all things wine (and for that matter, life).

So, when someone asks, "what are your plans for the blog in 2011?", I'll gladly offer the same nebulous stare you get from the pimply kid at White Castle after requesting he add mustard to the burgers (as to make them more like Krystals, of course). Then, I'll give a confident "dunno," which won't be entirely true, because 2011 will- without a doubt- be another year of incredible food and wine, and none of it will be taken seriously enough.

Let's get weird...