Sunday, July 13, 2008

'Wait. Are you the Michelle?'

When we walked up to the annual West Seattle SummerFest this afternoon, we stopped by the booth of the excellent West Seattle Blog to say hello and offer props. WSB really is an incredible blog. Michelle and I talk about it all the time as the model for a neighborhood news source and for the kind of community-centered, reader-friendly micro-coverage that might help save the stupid newspaper industry. So we were happy to meet Tracy Record, a lifetime journalist who runs the venture (more than) full-time, and her husband Patrick Sand, whom their site lists as co-publisher and "the sales guy."

Michelle stuck out her hand. "I'm Michelle," she said. "I run the P-I's web site."

"Wait," Tracy said. "Are you the Michelle? Like, from Michelle & Mark?"

I raised my hand, and we all had a nice few minutes of mutual admiration. We noticed long ago that Tracy had listed M&M on her West Seattle blog roll, but she must actually read it too. She asked about our road trip, and when she mentioned something that had happened in the hood recently she added, "I think you were still gone then."

Very cool. It also made me realize we haven't been doing much blogging lately. Sometimes, I find, you just feel like taking a break. We'll have a couple of little posts to catch up on in the next few days. For now, here are a couple more pics from today's street fair.




9 comments:

Ronelle said...

Hi Guys, Welcome back! I have been waiting patiently for your return. Not to start by bragging or anything -but look out Michelle -I hit it OUT of the PARK -really!
Mark - too bad about Sexson -I am sure you are heartbroken. I got my Wii online now (thanks for the tips Mark) and I will be contacting you to see what we can do with them online.
How cool ro see how popular your blog is becoming - in fact -I wonder if your musings had something to do with Sexson's fate. By the way Michelle -the Mariner's could use a slugger. I am happy to find you guys back to blogging -I miss you during your breaks.

Michelle said...

Hey Ronelle,

congrats on hitting it out of the park! There's nothing to it, right? Just time it right and hit it hard!

mich said...

This is a hoot! I'm also glad you're back, though I couldn't blame anyone for taking a break.

Ronelle, I love staying connected with you through the blog. Mark let us take a run at the Wii the other day. I get the addiction, even though I don't exactly have a natural aptitude for the thing. You should have seen Mom bowl!

Anonymous said...

I like "lifetime journalist." Terribly appropriate given that in my case this affliction/vocation stretches back to age 11, when the school paper published my critique of holiday consumerism in the form of a "Joy to the World" rewrite (the leftist teacher was impressed; my capitalist grandma was not). BTW I forgot to mention this while gushing over you guys, but the feature Patrick and I always really appreciated was the "M&M morning news meeting." Much more lively and to the point than the zillions of news meetings over which I presided over the years. We'll check back to see if it returns. Later!

mich said...

I was just talking about how I miss the news meeting posts, too!

And I'll add to the cheers for WSB. I live here and love it. Keep up the good work.

Mark said...

Wow, amazing that we got five comments in just a few hours after our first post in several weeks. It makes me feel even guiltier about not blogging.

TR, thanks for jumping in. It was really a treat to meet you guys yesterday.

Ronelle, nice job on the Wii blast! I hit my first out of the parker last night too. And yes, you're certainly right about Sexson's exit being good news. Any of the three of us could replace him in the Mariners' pathetic lineup.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhhhh...................All is well again. And now the world knows I'm a great bowler.

Breaks are allowed, when you must, but the return of M&M is so comforting.

I really enjoyed my Seattle visit. It was great seeing everyone and I got a kick out of my first Wii experience. The street fair pics made me miss West Seattle even more.

LaSue said...

Need to let you know I've missed you guy too. I'm returning to my life. The German's left yesterday and I hope to update my blog soon. Keep writing. It is great to keep in touch.

freda said...

hey M&M, good to see you back. I just got in last night after a few days in Colorado with Renee and family, what a nice surprise to find a new post and all those commets.