I have a guest post today on Raivyn's blog Idiot's Guide to Blogging. I ask the question, "Why do you blog?" and give a few of the reasons people consider when deciding to start writing online.

Give it a read. While you're there, the rest of Raivyn's blog is well worth a look. She's been very helpful with tips since I started this site at the beginning of the year, and has good advice for anyone, beginner or veteran, looking to be part of the virtual conversation.

Thanks, Raivyn, for a chance to spread the word.

Do you enjoy wine? I don't drink a lot of it myself, I'm more of a beer drinker, but I do like a nice chianti now and then (fava beans optional).

If you enjoy Italian wines, though, a new site called VinoWire.com launched today that's dedicated to bringing you news from Italy's vineyards. The site is a product of what the press release calls a "trans-Atlantic virtual conversation" between Italian wine critic Franco Ziliani and American wine historian and translator Jeremy Parzen. They thought that the North American, English-speaking audience would benefit from an online collaboration between the two men, bringing readers up-to-date news about Italian wines.

"Regrettably," note Ziliani and Parzen, "much of the news that makes the crossing to North American loses something in translation: As a twentieth-century Italian poet once said, there is no greater misunderstanding than the Atlantic Ocean."

Another collaboration that would have been much more difficult a few years ago.

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