Let's Try Again

This blog originated in the fall of 2005, as a means for the boys and me to exchange thoughts about Michel de Montaigne. Both boys were planning to read Montaigne; Mike was living in Israel, which made it difficult to speak by phone (that was before the time of Skype and iChat and all that); and so we envisioned the blog as a forum for posting our thoughts, insights, questions, whatever. In all, there were probably three postings about Montaigne. But fortunately, John proposed that we also post about RedSox baseball, and single malt scotch whisky. And of course, it's been the latter two topics that have kept the blog alive and well for almost seven years. That and the fact that after a week or two, I no longer cared what the blog's original limitations were; I quickly decided that I could post about any old thing that interested me. So over time, Manny de Montaigne has seen its share of Syracuse basketball; it's played host to my epic letters to the SU athletic department; I've written about Dylan concerts and Pharoah Sanders; and for a period of time, posted extensively about Genesis.

So why bring up the original purpose of the blog; why mention Montaigne at all? Who really cares about that? I mention Montaigne because he was really the first introspective writer, the first author to look within, and to write about the process of self-reflection. Today, of course, that's about all writers do; even when I read Time magazine, I have to endure more self-absorption than discussion of whatever might be going on in the world all around us. And I don't know about you, but I could hardly care what anyone who writes for Time magazine, or any other news outlet for that matter, thinks about anything. Just tell me what happened, you know? But I'm digressing. The question here is why did I stop writing after almost seven years?

So the first thing to consider is that 2012 has been pretty much of a sports disaster. First, Fab Melo decided in early March to declare for the NBA draft, even before the regular season ended; and for the second time in only three years, Cuse entered the tournament with a number one seed, but no real chance of winning the thing. Last time it happened, we could hardly blame AO for blowing out his knee in the Big East tournament. But this time, Fab Melo's truancy left a bad taste in the mouth. Next came the disastrous start to another baseball season, and the realization that there was no way in hell the Sox were going anywhere. (Of course, even then I never expected that they would be plunging to the basement of the AL East, and perhaps challenging for the worst record in all of baseball. Then the Celtics ran out of gas, which shouldn't have surprised anyone, given their age. Still, it was a disappointment after they gave the Heat a run for its money.

So what, you say. But the point is that, no matter what else is going on in the world, there is usually something good happening on the sports page, something that one wants to write about. Not this year. This year, I look away as I turn to the sports section, afraid of what I might see. Such as Oakland 20, Boston 2. That would be bad enough if it was a football score. Then let's add the complication that I was working my butt off from the beginning of April through August. I know that's just an excuse, but being that busy, at the same time I was dispirited about all my favorite topics (aside from whisky), made it very hard to sit down and write anything.

So I have a million and one things to post about, none of which have been forgotten. Such as:
1) Another new Rosebank. It's not really new; there is no new Rosebank. It's actually 21 years old, but newly opened, and definitely worth the wait.
2) The Whisky Lovers Ball, 2012.
3) The A-Gon trade. What does ownership plan to do with the $260 million they have saved?
4) HP 21 -- opened at the Whisky Lovers Ball.
5) High West rye whisky. Distilled in Park City, Utah.  That fact alone is worth a posting, because Utah used to have the weirdest alcohol laws of any place on the planet. Why anyone would choose to make whisky there is a bit of a surprise.
6) The NBA draft. The Green go for the Orange.

And so on. Who knows, maybe the pennant races, or the post-season will give me something to cheer about? If not, there ought to be enough whisky news to keep me busy until November, when another  Hoops season starts in the Cuse. And for now at least, the University has not yet managed to kill that program. So the plan is to resume posting. And not to care if I really have much of anything to post about. Even if there's nothing worthy of a posting, I can always share my feelings with my readers. I know how much all of you look forward to that.