The Good
Big news coming out of Massachusetts about shipping laws in the state. The 1st Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that could open the door for
wine lover in Massachusetts to purchase more of their favorite wines
online or by mail order directly from producers. Right now MA law restricts consumers from ordering wine directly from out of state producers. Dr. Vino posted about this on his blog, and you can read more about it in this article as well. Any progress on wine shipping laws is a good thing.
The Bad
There was a lot of conversation on Twitter about this post on whether or not bloggers are writers. The post really seems to be more geared towards whether or not bloggers are GOOD writers. It seems clear to me that bloggers who actually write content, as opposed to posting pictures, videos, links, etc., are writers. Blogging is a specific type of writing, just like poetry, play writing, and journalism are types of writing. Within each of these disciplines there are good writers and bad writers, but all of them are writers. I will happily concede that there is a valid argument to be had about whether or not the medium of the blog represents a devolution in writing, but I think that the argument was poorly executed in this particular post. Okay, ending rant now.
The Ugly
There is very little that I can say about this item that I found on The Wine Whore blog that the image, which haunted my dreams last night, doesn’t say for itself. So, I will simply leave you with this -
Nice, Ben. I had to see that picture once this week on Randy’s blog, and now again. And it will probably even show up in the RSS feed when I cycle through looking for stuff I missed.
Now I hate you.
Lol. You do have to admit that there couldn’t possibly have been a better item for “The Ugly” though, right?
The Good: Yes! I live in MA, so this development was a step in the right direction (even though nothing can get shipped to me from out of state yet).
The Bad: I am 100% with you on that. Bloggers are writers. Maybe not good ones, but they qualify.
The Ugly: Thanks a lot for the nightmares…
The Donald will like that!
Yeah, I raise my glass to the loosening of shipping laws around the country. Hope things keep getting better.
I just had to pass on the nightmares that The Wine Whore gave me yesterday with that image.
Ben – this is a great series. I can’t believe Randy, made it in two weeks in a row.
I watched the swirl around the bloggers / writers article. I read the post and didn’t see the big deal…just a blogger stating their opinion…isn’t that what we all do. I could care less if someone things I’m a crappy writer or a good writer. In the end, all that matters is, am I true to myself, my goals and my passions.
You keep up the great work!
Josh
Thanks Josh, glad you are enjoying these posts.
I actually agree with the blogger that there is a lot of bad writing out there on blogs, I just don’t agree that bloggers are not writers. They are just writers in a specific discipline. Either way, you are right. All that matters is that you are writing what you want to write, and being true to yourself.
I agree that it’s just a blogger stating their opinion, but I disagree with their opinion, so I am voicing my conflicting opinion here.
Love this series! I know I am biased, but this is really a great way to share what’s going on in the blogosphere.
Thank you for the mention… seeing that pic of Rosie again, made my day and ruined my lunch all at the same time!
Cheers!
Thanks Randy, glad you are enjoying the series. I’ve had a lot of fun doing these.
Yeah, kudos to you for discovering such a horrifying photo.