Complex Numbers

It's a Trappist!

Where in the world would you like to visit the most? Assume you are not worried about money in any way. While you're traveling, give me a status update on January so far. Smooth sailing, or turbulence?

It's a close call between Scotland and Belgium.

The reasons are similar: Belgium makes some of my favorite beer, but there are some Belgian beers that don't make it out of Europe, and I want to drink them. As for Scotland, well...

Ideally, I'll visit both places before I visit the Great Pub in the Sky, but if I had to choose... well, I've actually been to Scotland, if only for a couple of hours whilst touring the UK, so I'd pick Belgium.

I have a friend who also loves scotch, and we have tentative plans to visit the island of Islay,   home of - depending on your feelings about scotch - either the sweetest nectar of the gods to ever grace our benighted world, or the most disgusting waste of good barley to ever besmirch the noble name of Scotland.

Naturally, I'm in the former camp. But it's okay if you don't like Islay malts; there's a limited supply, and the more people dislike them, the more there is for me to drink. Heavily peated whisky is probably an acquired taste. It is certainly an expensive one.

As for Belgium, well, Belgian beer is also not for everybody. The particular strains of yeast involved in the brewing process are quite distinctive, and impart a flavor that their fans call sweet, and their detractors liken to old gym socks. As with scotch, well... that means more for me. Traditionally, Belgian beers were brewed in monasteries. Many still are. The Trappist ales and abbey styles remain among my favorite beers.

So many drinks. So little time.

For the past month or so, I've been working on losing weight. This involves the usual weight-loss regimen: eating less delicious crap and more disgusting vegetables, and exercising. It also means not drinking as much as I'd like to. I want to emphasize once again that this was NOT a New Year's resolution, because I don't do New Year's resolutions. I started back in December, after coming back from a trip to Nevada and California that involved a lot of fine dining and even finer drinking.

If I can make it another three days, it will have been four weeks. If so, I'll celebrate with a glass of wine and start working on the next four weeks. But I do take some small satisfaction in knowing that, thus far, I've been successful in avoiding temptation.

That won't last, of course. I will fail, as I always do. But for now, I'll take the win.