Tracie P and I take SXSW pretty easy. Since we live in Austin, Texas, the “live music capital of the world,” we’re treated to the good stuff year around. For me, SXSW is special mostly because so many of my good friends from the music world come to town. Here are some highlights from our personal SXSW…
Tracie P had an heirloom martini (above) and I sipped some bourbon with my old bud Billy at the High Ball.
My friend and ex-label-mate Robert Francis put on a rocking show at the Atlantic Records showcase. Man, he’s going to be a huge star. The dude’s so friggin’ talented. Great show…
After the show, Tracie P and I snuck off to Max’s Wine Dive for a little Bollinger rosé and a chili dog. @TWG I know, I know! Tomorrow the diet begins again!
In other news…
There’s been a lot of chatter lately in the enoblogosphere about the futility of wine blogging. I haven’t really been following it, although I have enjoyed some of the reactions, intellectual here and visceral there.
Previously my virtual friend and only recently my real-life friend (after he and 5 other wine bloggers, nearly all of them COMPLETE STRANGERS, joined me in Asti for the Barbera-athon), Thor likes to tease me that I don’t write a wine blog but rather a relationship blog. He’s right. I don’t author a wine blog: I write a blog, a web log (as the etymon reveals) whereby I chronicle my life, my relationships, the music I like, the food I eat, and the wines I enjoy. It just so happens that a lot of my life is centered around wine. I make a living writing about, talking about, teaching, and selling wine. I also happen to be deeply in love, to enjoy music immensely, and to see poetry and inspiration in the world around me — sometimes in a glass of traditional-style Barbera, sometimes in a guitar solo played by a friend.
Wine blogging is really about sharing experiences and connecting with like-minded folks. After all, if it weren’t for wine blogging, I would have never met really cool folks (who are now part of the fabric of my life, even though I have very little real-time contact with most of them) like Alfonso, BrooklynGuy, McDuff… not to mention the LOVE OF MY LIFE.
It’s Sunday morning and Tracie P and are sitting around sipping coffee and listening to This American Life and we’re both “blogging away” (she’s working on a post about Lacryma Christi). I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t care how useless it is… I wouldn’t give it up for the world…
Buona domenica, ya’ll…
Do Bianchi 
well said, grasshopper
our personal source of sadness is that Alex Chilton died a few days ago, age 59. the refigured Big Star was scheduled to play SXSW.
Both McDuff and Wolfgang did moving posts dedicated to him… I didn’t realize he was supposed to appear at SXSW…
“who are now part of the fabric of my life, even though I have very little real-time contact with most of them…”
what a perfect way of describing it. and right back at you.
Chilton’s scheduled appearance at SXSW was one of the things I’d thought about mentioning in my post until I just let the mood of the moment take me and went with a short and to the point memorial to the man. I had you and Tracie in mind too, Jeremy, wondering if you’d maybe planned to attend….
I must admit I have days when I feel like blogging is futile, like nobody is reading. Then I remember why I do it. For myself. Because I love to write. I love wine. And food, music, cycling, art…. And I really dig that it’s brought me closer to people like you and Neil and Alfonso and so many others, even if sometimes just in the virtual world. It’s only a matter of time before we rectify that situation, I hope.
Thanks for the gesture, brother. And thanks for doing what you do.
Never stop blogging, Jar. Also, never stop posting pictures of food like that. If I hadn’t just eaten, I’d be asking you to mail one of those to me.
Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and the words of support. It’s been a rough (if rewarding) time for me lately in the enoblogosphere and the words of support and friendship and camaraderie mean a lot…
@Thor (and @everyone) the invitation to come and hang and eat and drink in Austin and chez Tracie and Jeremy P is always open… :-)
Oh, no. Do not issue that invitation. I’m trying to *lose* weight, not emblimpify.