A manifesto

(Lost treasure...)

This manifesto was borne of frustration, anger, wanderlust, wanting to experience what's good, and three very good Peroni beers. And a friend's 42-hour trip to Brussels.

I don't make New Year's resolutions. If I need to make a change, I will make it now. More and more, I see the calendar as a part of, hopefully, 85 to 90 years. A continuum. Not separate pieces, but part of the whole.

But I am making myself a promise. There are 12 months in a year. And about 52 Saturdays. The deal is simply this. To find 12 cities, and have lunch in a really good place on a Saturday. I want to have a enjoyable, even sumptuous, lunch. One Saturday a month. That's all. Like Duke Ellington, I'm not asking for much. Only what is good.

This may become an expensive proposition. And frankly, I'd rather spend the money on someone else than me. But at this moment, I don't give a good fucking goddamn right now.

The list? It's a tentative list, subject to revisions. And I reserve the right to add and subtract cities, and kill the project altogether when it suits me. Brunch counts. They are--from the top of my head--Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, New Hope, Red Hook, Home (home home, not where I am now), Atlanta, Paris, Brussels, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Stockholm. Yes, you are seeing the last five cities right. One of these lunches will be a quick 42-hour jaunt, solely to have lunch in Europe. Why? Because I can. Because I want to.

This idea has been kicking around in my head for a couple of weeks. Why? Because. I don't give a good, well, you know.

I'm giving myself an out because, things happen. They do. Life intrudes. This idea may end in 24 hours.

In any case, city/restaurant ideas welcome.