I've found my way back here because of an event I went to yesterday. As I went through my daily lunch routine of reading the Elkridge Patch (great local newspaper by the way!!), I stumbled across a posting advertising a HoCoBlogs.com happy hour / meetup occurring at the Stained Glass Pub in Elkridge. Being that this event was taking place around a mile from my house, I figured I could swing by and do some promotion of the CSI Homebrewers Club website while drinking a beer and chatting with some local HoCo (Howard County) folks. Little did I know how awesome this event would be.
I don't know what I expected. Maybe a handful of computer geeks like myself sitting around talking about the topics they blog about. All I knew was that the first $200 in drinks were on the house and I liked the sound of that. What I walked into was a huge gathering having somewhere on the order of 40-50 people chatting it up, having a great time, and networking. Sure I knew no one there, but then again, I'm not very shy. So I just hopped into conversations and started to talk to people.
I soon realized that there were other people like me out there. In fact, I think one of the most interesting conversations of the night had to be with a couple of wine enthusiasts, Terry and Kathy, who write a blog about all aspects of wine, called WineTrailTraveler.com. They were the wine world's version of me!!! With a beer in my hand and glasses of wine in their hand we talked about a lot of the similarities of making beer and wine. They were a step or two beyond basic wine making and were talking about embarking on the jump to the winemakers version of going "all grain." I got a lot of great ideas from them on content I can add to my website, as well as the CSI website with regards to reviews of various breweries. So that was a lot of fun.
Another person I met there was TJ from the Elkridge Patch. I know I probably rave too much about the Patch's coverage of what is going on in Elkridge, but I've really taken a liking to the writings of TJ. His Patch postings are always good food for though and I find myself frequently commenting on his content. It was great to finally meet him and talk about a passion we both have in common, the Boston Red Sox.
Of course, I met others too...too many to name, but I had great conversations with all of them. It's amazing how often my "just another day" turns into a new adventure of some sorts. The only comparison I can make to that is with my beer making. My goal is to always make something drinkable. What I commonly find though is that the final product ends up being something really good, not just drinkable. Maybe it's chance or maybe it's luck. It's probably a little bit of both, but to me, that is what I love the most about life. Finding out how something can go from ordinary to extraordinary in the blink of an eye.
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