JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

Ever since my picture appeared on the cover of a local publication last year, I’ve realized that others in my community might recognize me now. A few conversations have come from the article. I’m not anonymous any more. So when someone approached me at the grocery store on Wednesday afternoon, asking Are you Julie Leung? I wasn’t too surprised .

However, I didn’t know he was Chris Holmes, another Bainbridge blogger with whom I had done some email and blog dialogue but had never seen in person. When I received an email from him in July, I think he was only the fourth blogger I knew on the island (counting Ted and myself as the first two).

Chris has encouraged me with his posts. He writes with wit and insight as an islander with British/Hong Kong perspective. Chris and I had joked about meeting at Safeway sometime, yet on Wednesday afternoon I was focussed on the fact that I was late. However, the fact that we met after many months is cause for celebration – as Chris said, he can now remove one item from his 43 Things list!

Chris writes of our community and like him, I am concerned about Carol and Michael Gormley who work at Safeway.

And like Chris, I join the Bainbridge Islander in celebrating its first birthday. Of course, I am biased, since this paper is the one which ran a front page article featuring me. But I am grateful for their support of blogging in the community. The editor, Rachel Pritchett, has responded to my emails: for example, publishing a note about the Northern Voice conference last weekend. I also appreciate the perspective, different from the Review’s. The arrival of another local paper in the island market made us a two-paper town, breaking a monopoly, and proving yet again that competition improves quality. What excites me most however is the new Bainbridge Islander website which will be updated daily with fresh stories and permalinks – a first for the island. Hurray! Now all they need is RSS…:-)