Happy birthday to me

Summer and chardonnay, the perfect pairing /Michelle Locke

Vinecdote turns one this week and I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have read, commented on, and maybe even, ever so gently, improved what’s been posted here.

As some of you may know, I started this blog at a bit of a low point.  It was a time when I questioned everything I’d worked for, everything I thought I’d accomplished. Even writing my byline became an exercise in angst. For years I’d been Michelle Locke, staff writer. Now, I was … well, who was I exactly?

I knew one thing: I had covered issues big (San Quentin’s Death Row, the O.J. Simpson case) and small (Berkeley’s brief and goose-pimpled Naked Speech Movement), but what really fascinated me was the everyday minutia of life _ the things we eat and drink and how we choose to spend our free time.

So, I decided to start a blog focused on wine, food and travel. The ever fabulous Mr. Vinecdote bought me a digital camera;  I came up with a name _ Yeah, it is a little hard to pronounce. What can I say? As a marketer, I make a pretty good journalist. _ I forked over $10o or so to Yahoo, and away we went.

Some highlights:

Jan. 21, my inaugural post was about Martin Cate and his Smuggler’s Bar rum business in San Francisco. Nothing very spectacular about this _ except that it took me about five hours to screw up the courage to hit the “publish” button. I cannot tell you how many people I begged to look it over before I posted.

Feb. 18, my first news post, blogging about the Wine Writers Symposium at Meadowood in the Napa Valley. I came pretty close to having an opinion, too, a big change for a dyed-in-the-wool mainstream media type. And comments! Comments from people to whom I was not related! Very exciting.

May 5, now this was a fun week. I went to wine school at the Culinary Institute of America and blogged about it. Without really noticing it, I made the transition from dabbler in to student of wine.July 19. My first video! OK, this one was actually shot by the aforementioned Mr. V. But still. I edited it, cropping out the annoying blonde fidgeting around in front of us, and spent hours fighting with VideoPress to get it to post. A milestone.

In October I went to South America. A magical, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And thanks to WordPress for iPad, you went with me.

What have I learned? I’ve learned that I have a dreadful propensity for run-on sentences. That if one should happen to, ever so slightly, mock someone in a post that attracts only 10 readers, there is a 100 percent chance the person in question will be one of those 10.

And I’ve learned that, for someone who always considered herself a bit of a loner, I have some fantastic, supportive friends.

Thank you.

5 Replies to “Happy birthday to me”

  1. The quality and joy in the writing we had hints of, but the summer vacation photo that graces this post shows that the ever fabulous Mr. Vinecdote made a good investment when he bought you the camera, which has allowed us to share in some beautiful moments that transcend even words. The best remains just ahead, on that next FAM trip to ????

  2. Michelle, ma belle!Un an déjà? Ce n’est pas possible!J’adore le lien “a low point” tu as mis tout en haut. Enfin on commence à connaître la vraie Michelle Locke.Je suis fiere à toi et ton blog!À plus,Coco

  3. Jim, you’re too kind. Kim, thanks for all the comments. Coco, je pensais a toi quand j’ai ecrit que. Merci, mon amie.

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