Tastemaker

I am on the road to becoming a certified tastemaker.

My first foray has been writing for Yelp, a popular Internet site that collects reviews from average consumers like myself about a variety of restaurants and other businesses all over the country. To date I have written about 40 entries, mostly covering places where I have eaten. This seems like a respectable number of reviews, but it pales in comparison to upwards of 2,000 entries or more that some of the Elite writers have contributed. People can check three categories after reading a review: Useful, Funny, or Cool. So far I have garnered 10 Usefuls, 5 Cools, and 0 Funny, as well as 2 Compliments. I am trying hard to think of witty things to say so I can get at least 1 Funny, but nothing has worked. I saw one reviewer yesterday who got a Funny for this restaurant comment: "I prefer the service to the food." What is so funny about that? I'm proud to say that I am currently the lead entry for several establishments in my neighborhood: a barber shop, a bicycle store, and an art gallery. I am also prominently featured for the Staten Island Ferry and Perry's Diner in Brooklyn. Seriously, this site is a real help in finding good places to eat and do things while avoiding the duds.

My second foray is this blog. Thanks to free blog tabulations, I have ascertained that this blog is being read by people mostly in this country but also all around the world. By the way, I sure would love to learn who my readers are and to receive comments from you.

Recognizing my growing importance in the area of consumer opinion, I received and accepted an unsolicited invitation about a week ago to participate in a long-term study of consumer usage in an area that touches the lives of almost every American. This is a modestly paid position which unfortunately does not permit me to disclose its nature at this time. Once the work is completed and a stipulated period of time has passed, however, you can be sure that I'll relish discussing the entire story in detail.

I conclude by ruminating that despite my efforts, I probably will still not qualify for inclusion as a tastemaker in the Metropolitan Section of the Sunday New York Times. However, I may have been a contender at a recent antiques show that I attended at the Park Avenue Armory. I know the Times photographer saw me, but he just kept walking. Actually, given the anonymous nature of my endeavors, the only appropriate venue for me would be a masked ball.