Vine It

Let me tell you a little bit about Vine.

What Vine is to someone who doesn't Vine but has probably seen some:
6 second apps (probably deriving from the Popular Page, that are often funny, musical, or artsy. If you're at all familiar with SmackCam then you have at least heard of Vine. A few years ago when vine first started some comedians, actors, models, etc used vine as an additional platform to showcase their talents. To me at first, Vine was just a way for people with ADD to watch only the funny parts of YouTube videos.

What Vine is to someone like me is way more than that. A majority of the friends I've made in the last year have been from Vine. I started lightly Vining in Montana. I made my own six second videos, made myself laugh and maybe a few others. But at that time, I didn't realize what it would turn into. I'd participate in "tag nights" put on by various "Vine Teams". A Vine Team is basically a group of individuals that join up in a chat app calls GroupMe and suggest "tags" and vote on them. Examples of this would be "Bad Times to Be Drunk", "Weird Party Themes", and "If I Won the Lotto". If you've watched "Whose line is it anyway?" then you'll recognize this idea from "Scenes from a hat". I joined a few of these teams at first. Team Small World Viners, Banned from TV, Banana Hammock Bandits and so on. I found that quite a few of these people were a lot like me. Lonely, artistic, creative, funny, and just real. They were trying to find an outlet. Trying to put their brain on display. And trying to connect with other people like them.

I made real friends in those groups. Some, not all, are people I still talk to to this day! But it wasn't until I joined French Toast Borgata that I really found my place, my voice, and my people. About the time I moved to NC was when a viner I really admired noticed a vine I had made and sent me a message. I had watched a lot of his vines and this man is creative! Phil became a friend of mine instantly. He had asked if I want to join up with the group he was in and I couldn't resist. FTB became my family. Their well known "vine names" vanished and I was able to get to know them all as Ashley, Adam, Jon, Phil, Rich, Chris, Jay, and Melanie. Members have come and gone over the last year. Shortly after I came into the group, someone was added that has really changed my life. I know people say that and I know it sounds cheesy and cliche, but its true.

Nadine and I clicked. Instantly. She and I were kind of an opposites attract even with friends situation. She's tough, tiny, strongwilled, and knows exactly what she wants and how she's going to get. She's taught me more about life than she realizes. And in May of this year I drove up to Jersey, stayed with her and she and I went to what is called a Vine Meetup in New York City. I got the chance to meet a whole group of people from Vine and there was zero awkward about it. Because of this app, it was like we all fell into place together. Almost as if we were meant to know each other our whole lives. People that without this app I never would have met and gotten to know.

To me Vine started out as a way to just be goofy, super weird, and creative. It turned into friendships, family, and a real way to connect with real people.

This is why I cannot regret my move to NC. So many people I never would have met and so many things I never would have gotten the chance to do. I've met 20+ Viners in person now. My Facebook and phone contacts are loaded with these people. And I would not change a thing.

The post is dedicated to everyone mentioned above..along with:
Ken, Scotty, Josh, Deshaun, Dashawn, Michael, Tommy, Rah, AJ, Andrea, Genia, Bobby, Tom, Jeremy, Kate, Chris...and honestly so many more. Thank you!