Friday, November 3rd...
Today I am catching up...as I haven't written in a week or two, so on to catching up...
I have several prospects for 2007
-starting on my journey to becoming a sommelier, and hopefully a Master of Wine
-attending Stern School of Business at NYU
-attending wine school at UCDavis...the other respected school is in Dijon, France (I don't speak French)
-attending Genetic Counseling School (top pick, JHU, secondary, UCIrvine)
-Building a winery in either Walla Walla, WA, or Mendoza, Argentina...what to pick...two growing seasons perhaps.
Eventually, I would like to build wine communities. Permanent residents and visitors, ofcourse. The end to my means...a Flying Enologist with big dreams.

I have lofty goals, but who doesn't...and America is the place that everyone in the world dreams of living to establish and realize their own dreams and goals. Many people would classify the American as purchasing a home. Luckily, I have already done that just recently, I am closing on November 9th.

I attended a wine festival recently in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, with the main attraction being hot air baloons. Saturday was a success, however, Sunday was not suitable. It looked as though the morning fog would lift, and they would be able to get off the ground, but no dice...I instead took in some great Virginia wines, took a ride in a monster truck through the farm and had my first experience with a segway, what an awesome tecnological spectacle, and a fun ride yet to boot. An older gentleman purchased it simply to provide others with pleasure of the experience, but I found it pleasing on a much higher plane.

Yesterday, I finished an exam on the basics of metabolism, cellular respiration, photosynthesis, and ionic bonds. The time limit was not conducive for finishing, but I have great respect for my professor, a wonderful person from Sierra Leone, Africa. I just found out last night that his wife is a math professor and his daughter is an NBA cheerleader...it would be interesting to meet her...

But I digress. The prior Thursday, October 26th, I tasted some of the best wine at least from the last 20 years, and perhaps a century from the Chateneauf du Pape region of France. My favorite was one from the Mount Olivet vineyard. The region has been shunned for some time but has recently been highlighted in the Wine Spectator as an up and coming region. Well, no up and coming...it was spectacular!...and while not yet formally rated, the current vintage release from 2004 shows a continuity of quality acroos the board that is truly something to be tresured.

My true focus for this blog is to highlight and/or properly represent my journey thru the aforementioned goals...a tough task, and certainly some less than proper posts along the way, but fortunately, I have found a solace in my affinity to enjoy writing this column for all to see and enjoy. So live it up, as I embrace life on the edge, because otherwise, your chances of realizing your dreams are slim if you compomise current circumstances in lou of following your dreams...

I pray that I may inspire others to live life with no regrets...

Signing off, the Maryland wine guy, budding sommelier, future real estate mogul via wine communites, and hopefully someday, a wine mogul and respected consultant worldwide in the business as a flying enologist. Enjoy the ride!