Wine Blogging Technology Perspective

Sorry guys - it has been almost two months since posting anything.  Both Deanna and I started new jobs and they have taken some effort to get up to speed.  We also moved apartments and were without Internet for about 6 weeks in total at home.  Additionally, the move occurred much more suddenly than we expected,  so became exhausted moving everything in a two week time period - usually we take 4 - 6 weeks to move with some overlap between the old and new place to make it easier to move.  I was really drained and at one point actually went three weeks without drinking wine - so you know how tired and out of it I must have been!

Anyway, I am back now and looking forward to writing a few blogs over the next few weeks.  We have taken a 4-day weekend to our place in the Hunter Valley, but emergency requests from work are cutting into our 'free' time a bit, but since I love my new job, it is not that much of a drama.  I plan on writing a few immediate blogs to catch up on the topics I wanted to blog about over the last few months. A list of these was presented in my blog on 'Why I don't write for GT (Gourmet Traveler) Wine magazine'.

I am also using a new blogging interface, so that may take some getting used to.  I will experiment a bit with it, and hopefully will quickly become comfortable with it..  One thing I am excited about is that I have finally installed Instagram on my iPhone and now able to send immediately pictures related to and enhancing the blogging experience.  Say what you will about Social Media, FaceBook, Instagram, and other Web 2.0 social media sites, but I find they whole concept has deepen my relationship experience and ability to share with others.  The positive or negative experience people have is really determined by how you use the apps and if you were a good relationship person to start with or not.

I learned first of my Dad's massive stroke over a year ago on FaceBook.  I also have developed some really good friends on FaceBook with a common avocation for wine and writing / reading, some of who I have now met personally and become good friends with.  We have exchanged knowledge, ideas, and even bottles of wine.  Plus when we first met in person, it was already a comfortable relationship.  And recently, my Uncle Pete died a few weeks ago, but I felt much more connected and sharing in the grief with relatives in US through our FaceBook cousins group.  All of these things have kept me closer to family, old friends from High School or previous employers, and I have met some great new friends with common passions.  I will keep growing in the use of Web 2.0 and its associated technologies.

Enough about the technology (except to say I will soon be establishing a Twitter account and using that to spread my interest and small knowledge of wine), and now we will get back to the the topic of wine!  Next post coming soon and will be on 'Malbec - a secondary grape'.