Inspiration. Motivation

A good acquaintance of mine, Sam Singh, just got back home last Halloween from a journey all over the world. He took a leave of absence from his job for about a year and a half, and traveled the globe. In fact, his web site is still up, and he still uses it for good things. The site details his trip around the globe and the things he did.

You see, when he would visit a country, he wouldn't simply take in the touristy sights (though some of that is necessary when you visit cool places with cool things). No, Sam would get involved in that country. He would talk to government leaders, nonprofit leaders and NGO leaders. He volunteered, in most all of the countries he visited, in some sort of outreach program; building houses through Habitat For Humanity's Global Village program, or working with CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, just to name a few.

He took 18 months of his life to travel...and give back.

But that's not what inspires or motivates me today. As inspirational as Sam is, and as much as I absolutely admire what he did and jealously wish I could do the same, today I am inspired by Sam's friend, Justin "Bugsy" Sailor.

"Bugsy" has a grand idea, and a web site to boot. Bugsy's goal? To have a beer with Richard Branson. Mr. Sailor needs help in his New Years Resolution to have a beer, this year, with the Virgin Atlantic creating, tropical island owning, adventuresome, bombastic crazy man Richard Branson.

His web site asks all the right questions. If he makes this happen, where should he go? What should he ask Mr. Branson? And the most important question of all: what beer should he drink?

Now I am inspired.

I have a New Years Resolution. It is for the Contributors of Around the Keg (and Hell, let's invite our regulars too) to have a beer with American Beer Cultural Icon George Wendt.

George Wendt's book Drinking With George shows that Mr. Wendt is not only a beer afficionado in reruns of Cheers, he really understands and appreciates beer. George represents, in a way, our beer culture.

Why not a cultural icon like Jim Koch? Well, apparently, getting to have a beer with Jim isn't very hard. No, for the challenge of it, for the metaphor of it, I think we try to have a beer with George Wendt.

I know I need a simple web site, and I will try to design one. We need to ask the important questions on it.

I am eager. I am excited. I want to have a beer with George Wendt. Who's with me??