Advice To A Wine Blogger: You Suck!
Every now and then I receive emails from folks who want to offer me advice on my writing and on the focus of this blog. I always appreciate this kind of correspondence…even when done anonymously. This happened again yesterday in response to a blog post on the very close relationship between the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission and Texas Wholesalers.
The email, sent from an anonymous Gmail account, got off to a good, solid start:
"Until you actually work at a regulatory body like the TABC, you should shut up and stop trying to speculate about their ethics."
Mr. Anonymous makes an interesting point. But I'm not sure if their advice on how to choose one's literary subject matter is meant to help guide me in future subject matter choice, is warning me about the perils of speculation in one's writing, or if they really just don't want to have to confront my posts anymore. I think it might be the latter.
"Texas doesn't need fraudulent outside state retailers bootlegging wine into Texas and that's what is trying to be stopped by the TABC and UPS and Fedex."
Here Mr. Anonymous isn't so much offering literary advice as providing an analysis of the Texas wine market. Turns out I agree with the letter writer. Indeed, what Texas needs is a legal and well-regulated way for Texans to buy wine from out-of-state sources, like wine retailers and auction houses and wine of the month clubs, so that wine lovers can access the wines they want but can't get inside the state. Plus, this would clear up the whole "bootleg" thing as well as deliver the state significant tax revenue. It's unclear however, that Mr. Anonymous and I would come to the same conclusions on what the Texas wine market really needs.
Mr. Anonymous ends on what I consider a sour note:
"You don't understand anything, moron. Your blog sucks!"
As you can imagine, this kind of thoughtful criticism of my blogging efforts cuts to the core and makes me re-evaluate the very nature of my blog and the reasons for my maintaining it. I had always worked under the assumption that I understand at least a little bit and that my blog at least didn't "suck".
So…Dear Mr. Anonymous: I'll try to understand things better and try not to suck too much. Thank you for your thoughtful email.
Unfortunately, Anonymous does not forgive. 🙂
Obviously your blogs are fantastic and you ‘hit a nerve’ … how kind of you not to write back about Mr. Anonymous’ lack of knowledge and understanding about blogging. Don’t re-evaluate a thing!
Always good when someone expresses an opinion. Not entirely sure what he wants or expects you to do about it. Strange chap.
The fact that “anon” doesn’t ID himself and knows a fair amount about alcohol regs in Texas makes me think he might just be part of the problem.
I read the TABC-Wholesalers post twice trying to figure out what to think of it and what to say (if anything..opted not to.) I couldn’t make what to think of the TABC’s press release about how (as I inferred it) nefarious out-of-state retailers were selling and shipping wine to TX consumers (and why they felt the need to make proclamations about it.)
They came across like the Kid-Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. (I don’t know why that comparison comes to mind.) I guess it was because there was an air of entrapment to it (although never mentioned or alluded to – but perhaps due to the willful participation [implied] of FedEx and UPS in catching these lawbreakers.)
Now to read of the comments to you above (to borrow from Ms. Dugan’s verbiage), this person’s sure got their knickers crunched up in a wedgie! (And she says it much more eloquently than I do.)
‘Bootlegging’! Really?
As to the commenter’s closing note…I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about with your writing, Tom. 😉
My guess is a few oil millionaire retires and active industry executives are importing the select vintages their ample cellar wine racks need for purposes of entertaining folks, friends, business associates.
I think the anonymous critique was reluctant to specify who and how Tx protectionism has seive-like problems with absolute exclusion.
Also, it is a long way between those towns in Tx. I found that out on a few drives on Rte.66; and those 500 miles traversing the state of Tx are only the shortcut thru one edge of that territory.
Just think of how efficiently the three tier apparatus serves ordinary people in what is a wide open expanse of the south west.
What is it exactly that gov Perry likes from the cellar bin? I would imagine government officials must get some kind of exemption from nominal barriers to scurrilous trade, like for rare wines.
Yet, in those neighborhoods in the southwest, too much is rare.
Anonymous comments are the cyberspace equivalent of a pointy white hood. Like cockroaches they hid in the dark because they can’t face the light.
Cheers to you!
Nannette Eaton
Man, I wish I got comments like that.
Just think of how efficiently the three tier apparatus serves ordinary people in what is a wide open expanse of the south west.
What is it exactly that gov Perry likes from the cellar bin? I would imagine government officials must get some kind of exemption from nominal barriers to scurrilous trade, like for rare wines.
The powerful have always had access to any alcohol they wanted. My friend Garrett Peck wrote a book about DC during prohibition (https://historypress.net/indexsecure.php?prodid=9781609492366) and it has great stories of how congress had its own bootlegger and the French embassy’s wine distribution. Prohibition was for everyone else, apparently.
As you can imagine, this kind of thoughtful criticism of my blogging efforts cuts to the core and makes me re-evaluate the very nature of my blog and the reasons for my maintaining it. I had always worked under the assumption that I understand at least a little bit and that my blog at least didn’t “suck”.
great that you took the high road on your response about TABC. No need to lower yourself.
Tom – you make me glad no one reads my blog! 🙂
But I think you have a great T-shirt or button to wear at the Wine Bloggers Conference: “My (Your) Blog Sucks!”
I wonder what he wanted to achieve..frontline flea control
Good or bad opinion everybody have the right to express himself, just not in this language!
Thanks
I think he/she (most likely he) doth protest too much….
“Mr. Anonymous ends on what I consider a sour note:”
Great line. Thanks for the laugh!
Tom, it may be time to get a CAPTCHA on your blog comments, since I don’t know that flea medications for dogs and “wholesale nfl jerseys” are relevant contributors to the comment section. Just sayin’.
That being said, I think your blog sucks about as much as I think my radio show sucks. And seeing as I am pretty fond of my show, I think the rest works itself out. Keep fighting the good fight!
The idiocy of your enemies is your badge of honor.
Wow, I guess you hit someone’s nerve, great job! Let’s just put him in the “passionate” category!
I think he didn’t get to enjoy his favorite glass of wine today!