It’s now been a year since I first started this blog. I know, I know, the archives say it goes back to September 2005, but it doesn’t really. This blog came into existence on July 8 2006.
A year ago today, Lilandra created my account at Wordpress, after months of harrassing me and telling me I should start a blog. I didn’t know then what I was going to blog about, but after she created the account and presented it to me as a fait accompli I started thinking. What should I put on this blog? I had bought my first digital camera back in October 2005 (soon after I started my new job and new life of hectic travel) and started documenting food and places I visited, as well as my landlady’s flowers. A friend sent me a link to her Flickr photos, and one of them was in a group called Food Porn. Ahhhh…
After many hours of browsing through, and then attempts to take better food shots, I joined Flickr myself. And as I increased my posts there, I’d add little comments and info, especially if it was food related, or something specific to a Caribbean place or culture. When faced with a blank blog, it seemed natural to blog some of those photos with the comments. And so many of my early “posts” are just that. Snippets from my Flickr photostream.
Somehow, that didn’t seem like enough. But I was seeing a pattern. Photos showing food and travels and Chennette’s life. Well then, I already had a source of text describing such things. Emails!!! I’d written emails to friends and family for a while now and there were many that also coincided with the period of my new job and travels. So, I browsed through these, found a few that were not entirely personal, and my blog was truly begun. And since I backdated all the posts, to reflect the true time at which they were written and when the photos were taken…my archives appear to go back to September 2005.
It’s been a good year. I have published almost 100 posts in the year. Even if a few are backdated. Much much busier on the blog than I ever thought it would be. I have gained friends. Pre-blog friends have contributed and seemed sufficiently interested. And didn’t complain if they perhaps got less emails… And I seem to have found a little more focus for this blog. It’s very clearly a food-related blog, as that is a constant interest and passion of mine, although since I have no other blogs there are other things slipping in from time to time. It is after all a personal work, and I don’t have the time to do what I think I would like to do for a completely foodie Chennette blog. But I do have ideas, and maybe this 2nd year of blogging will reveal new wonders. Something like that 
Even without these new wonders, I am pleased and honoured (although a bit embarrassed to be slightly self-congratulatory) to point everyone in the direction of the latest issue of the Caribbean Beat (Caribbean Airlines inflight magazine). Franka Philips, (aka TriniFood of CanCookMustCook) has written on Cooking in Cyberspace including her interviews with 3 Caribbean foodbloggers: The Trini Gourmet; Cynthia of Tastes Like Home; and me, Chennette. I traveled on Caribbean Airlines back to Guyana on 1 July, but the plane didn’t have the new issue yet. You can bet I’ll be collecting a few of these on the next 2 flights.
I tried to think of something grand to commemorate my First Blog Anniversary. And I did eventually think of something, but I can’t do all of it by today. And I leave soon for a much-needed vacation. Post-vacation, I’ll launch some new things. I will still be here (hopefully posting) for the next week, but not sure about the last 2 weeks in July when I shall be traveling on my own non-work related agenda. Read: HOLIDAY, FUN and FRIENDS.
[The picture at the top is the first ever picture I posted to Flickr. It was from my first trip after buying the new camera, mere days after opening the box and reading the manual from cover to cover.]
If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds
BlogoSquare
20 Comments so far (Add 1 more)