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It's the soap box of the 21st century, but if you're older than 50, blogs are probably off your radar along with other social media. Many of us “elderly” folks seem to think that all these activities are a “time suck,” though most probably wouldn't use those exact words.
Last week, I had the pleasure of eating lunch at the Viceroy's Nest café, where Chef Francis Mo creates an inventive menu of sushi and nigiri. The food was delicious, especially the lobster almond soup, with its lobster dumplings, shitake mushrooms and tomatoes in a creamy coconut broth flavored with green onion and cilantro.
The luncheon was a press event, to get the word out about Nest and its new menu. I was the only one there from a newspaper as other reporters were busy producing stories for big Christmas editions.
The other four guests were bloggers, and though I never read blogs on purpose, the group's enthusiasm aroused my interest in this form of online publishing.
The bloggers around the table were Katrina Strecker and Dean Weiler of eatAspen.com, eatSnowmass.com and other “eat.coms,” Jillian Livingston of aspenreallife.com and Andrew Isreal of aspenspin.com.
The word blog comes from the term web log, meaning a log or diary on a Web site. As a joke, one early blogger broke “web log” into “we blog” and the word blog was born.
Originally online diaries, where the writer keeps a running account of his or her personal life, they've evolved into many other forms. Now it's an online forum for anyone who wants to write and have it published on the Internet, usually with a means for feedback by the reader.
The Town of Snowmass Village has a blog for the town manager and the mayor on its official Web site, tosv.com, but like so many blogs, the entries are few and often quite old. Other local organizations and businesses with blogs on their Web sites are Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Silvertree Hotel, and Skico's AspenSnowmass. Lime Restaurant & Bar uses Facebook to blog and lists reviews by fans.
Villager Max Grange has a blog off the Challenge Aspen site. Acting as a motivational speaker from his wheelchair, Grange is now a marketing assistant for the Snowmass Village–based Challenge Aspen organization.
Although they are not Villagers, bloggers Katrina Strecker and Dean Weiler have a Web site about our local eateries, which includes a blog. Eatsnowmass.com is all about the restaurants in Snowmass Village and details them by type, theme and location. Who delivers, which are kid friendly, who has breakfast, who has happy hour are answered on this site. Each restaurant entry includes price range, location and reviews. But they use Google maps for the location, which can lead to problems.
Since when is Goodfellows Pizza located by the Mountain Dragon? I personally never use Google maps for this reason.
Yet for those looking for a place to eat in the Village, this is a good Web site.
The blog part of the site can be reached by clicking the “Visit Our Blog” on the bottom of the left side bar menu.
They're on top of things when it comes to the latest eateries. They list Venga Venga and Garnish, which both opened in December. There are also nine new restaurants in Aspen.
It's here that the bloggers tastes and personalities come into view.
Not content to describe the tasty delights through just words or photos, eatAspen.com even has videos. Watch a sushi chef at Takah create a roll as a funny little ditty is sung. Or relive the action at last year's Soupskol, part of Winterskol, to make your mouth water for the 2011 event.
The blog lists sushi classes at the Nest by Chef Mo, but have not yet created a video to show off his humorous class at the Viceroy each Thursday at 6 p.m.
While Strecker and Weiler have a distinct and discrete focus to their site and blog, other local sites are more general.
Jillian Livingston's aspenreallife.com evolved from an earlier personal diary type blog on Facebook that she called “Is Dis Normal or Disfunctional?” It was in the genre known as the “mommy blog,” which detailed the joys and frustrations of raising her three sons.
Her current blog reaches beyond the family to life in Aspen/Snowmass. It includes video interviews with locals, articles, information on events and lots of photos alongside personal stories.
Livingston has the credentials to create a successful blog and Web site. With a broadcast and film degree from Boston University, experience working in publicity and as a merchandising editor back east, she moved to Aspen and used her talents for local non-profits, followed by a film job with Aspen Production Services.
Livingston's latest creation has taken her to jobs blogging for ACRA, Aspen Post and Rippin' Skiers.
Andrew Israel started Aspenspin.com four years ago by taking photos of anyone he met and posting them online. Today, there are more than 5,000 photos on the site listed by categories. The blog has expanded to cover “The Pow, the Pix, the People,” which features people living the dream of skiing all day and partying every night.
By Israel's own admission, “AspenSpin doesn't travel to Snowmass very often – but when we do – we like to make it count.”
This from Aspenspin.com: “A-Spin recently attended a media ‘Tweet up' at the Nest Restaurant at the Viceroy Snowmass....... It's always a good time for Freshies. Fresh Fish and Fresh Powder merge at The Nest.”
For all those “elderly” folks reading this on a media that some fear is going the mammoths and mastodons, blogs can be useful or a “time suck,” depending on how you use them.
Last week, I had the pleasure of eating lunch at the Viceroy's Nest café, where Chef Francis Mo creates an inventive menu of sushi and nigiri. The food was delicious, especially the lobster almond soup, with its lobster dumplings, shitake mushrooms and tomatoes in a creamy coconut broth flavored with green onion and cilantro.
The luncheon was a press event, to get the word out about Nest and its new menu. I was the only one there from a newspaper as other reporters were busy producing stories for big Christmas editions.
The other four guests were bloggers, and though I never read blogs on purpose, the group's enthusiasm aroused my interest in this form of online publishing.
The bloggers around the table were Katrina Strecker and Dean Weiler of eatAspen.com, eatSnowmass.com and other “eat.coms,” Jillian Livingston of aspenreallife.com and Andrew Isreal of aspenspin.com.
The word blog comes from the term web log, meaning a log or diary on a Web site. As a joke, one early blogger broke “web log” into “we blog” and the word blog was born.
Originally online diaries, where the writer keeps a running account of his or her personal life, they've evolved into many other forms. Now it's an online forum for anyone who wants to write and have it published on the Internet, usually with a means for feedback by the reader.
The Town of Snowmass Village has a blog for the town manager and the mayor on its official Web site, tosv.com, but like so many blogs, the entries are few and often quite old. Other local organizations and businesses with blogs on their Web sites are Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Silvertree Hotel, and Skico's AspenSnowmass. Lime Restaurant & Bar uses Facebook to blog and lists reviews by fans.
Villager Max Grange has a blog off the Challenge Aspen site. Acting as a motivational speaker from his wheelchair, Grange is now a marketing assistant for the Snowmass Village–based Challenge Aspen organization.
Although they are not Villagers, bloggers Katrina Strecker and Dean Weiler have a Web site about our local eateries, which includes a blog. Eatsnowmass.com is all about the restaurants in Snowmass Village and details them by type, theme and location. Who delivers, which are kid friendly, who has breakfast, who has happy hour are answered on this site. Each restaurant entry includes price range, location and reviews. But they use Google maps for the location, which can lead to problems.
Since when is Goodfellows Pizza located by the Mountain Dragon? I personally never use Google maps for this reason.
Yet for those looking for a place to eat in the Village, this is a good Web site.
The blog part of the site can be reached by clicking the “Visit Our Blog” on the bottom of the left side bar menu.
They're on top of things when it comes to the latest eateries. They list Venga Venga and Garnish, which both opened in December. There are also nine new restaurants in Aspen.
It's here that the bloggers tastes and personalities come into view.
Not content to describe the tasty delights through just words or photos, eatAspen.com even has videos. Watch a sushi chef at Takah create a roll as a funny little ditty is sung. Or relive the action at last year's Soupskol, part of Winterskol, to make your mouth water for the 2011 event.
The blog lists sushi classes at the Nest by Chef Mo, but have not yet created a video to show off his humorous class at the Viceroy each Thursday at 6 p.m.
While Strecker and Weiler have a distinct and discrete focus to their site and blog, other local sites are more general.
Jillian Livingston's aspenreallife.com evolved from an earlier personal diary type blog on Facebook that she called “Is Dis Normal or Disfunctional?” It was in the genre known as the “mommy blog,” which detailed the joys and frustrations of raising her three sons.
Her current blog reaches beyond the family to life in Aspen/Snowmass. It includes video interviews with locals, articles, information on events and lots of photos alongside personal stories.
Livingston has the credentials to create a successful blog and Web site. With a broadcast and film degree from Boston University, experience working in publicity and as a merchandising editor back east, she moved to Aspen and used her talents for local non-profits, followed by a film job with Aspen Production Services.
Livingston's latest creation has taken her to jobs blogging for ACRA, Aspen Post and Rippin' Skiers.
Andrew Israel started Aspenspin.com four years ago by taking photos of anyone he met and posting them online. Today, there are more than 5,000 photos on the site listed by categories. The blog has expanded to cover “The Pow, the Pix, the People,” which features people living the dream of skiing all day and partying every night.
By Israel's own admission, “AspenSpin doesn't travel to Snowmass very often – but when we do – we like to make it count.”
This from Aspenspin.com: “A-Spin recently attended a media ‘Tweet up' at the Nest Restaurant at the Viceroy Snowmass....... It's always a good time for Freshies. Fresh Fish and Fresh Powder merge at The Nest.”
For all those “elderly” folks reading this on a media that some fear is going the mammoths and mastodons, blogs can be useful or a “time suck,” depending on how you use them.
