Ten memories for a 10th birthday. Bencards Bites celebrates a decade

On the rainy, late May bank holiday of 2007, this former journalist decided to start writing for pleasure again. I was lucky enough to travel a fair amount and eat in nice restaurants. I went to a lot of museums and a fair number of theatrical productions. Embracing the relatively new concept of blogging to record those activities seemed like a good idea.

It's ten years later. It's the late May bank holiday. It's raining again. I'm still writing.

What a decade it's been. My archive stands at 635 articles. I've had more than 110,000 page views. The majority (about 60%) of my readers are in the USA, with about 20% in the UK and the rest coming in from around the world. I've reported from more than 25 countries. From the hundreds of meals reviewed, 24 restaurants have held Michelin stars. A handful more deserved them, and there've been plenty of humble local jewels worthy of celebration. There've been an embarrassing number of wine tastings, with in-depth vineyard exploration in famous regions of France, Italy, Germany and California. I've reviewed more than 20 operas and attended major art exhibitions across the US and Europe. Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows turn up a fair amount, and there's always been a steady drip of English tourism punctuating the more exotic travel. Baseball and rugby pop up occasionally to balance the culture.

On the personal front, there's been a marriage, a parent's death, a world-shaking recession, two bouts
of cancer, two house moves and some job changes. You won't see much about the last, because I almost never use these pages to write about work.

To all of you who have read, liked, followed and shared me: thank you. I hope I continue to give you reasons to do so. I hope you'll do it more!

I'm planning to punctuate this 10th anniversary year with a series of "10 Best" pieces, picking some memories out of my archives. Today, we'll start with my personal choice of 10 favourite pieces. I've chosen some of these because I think they contain my best writing. Others mark a significant point in history. In every case, the topic and memory is particularly important to me. If you didn't catch these the first time around, I hope you'll consider a trip down Bencard's Bites' memory lane.

1.  On My 50th: Five lessons for a well-lived life Written from the heart, on a beach in the Maldives. Shared further and faster than anything I'd written before.

2.  On food and friendship Stung by a Michelin-starred dinner I didn't think lived up to expectation, but surrounded by the love of friends and mourning the impending departure from the country of two of them, I ponder the value of the intangible.

3.  Adversity tempered by tradition, travel and friends ... Joanlee's eulogy Written as a speech for my mother's memorial service, I still read this every year on the anniversary of her death.

4.  Musical pondering on Valentine's Day Better late than never. In advance of the first Valentine's Day of my life spent in mutual true love, I discuss the role of music in celebrating that glorious state.

5.  The wedding report Maybe not the best writing in the archive, but absolutely the biggest event. And proof that, as time passes, straight reportage of the big moments of your life leaves a magical legacy.

6.  Lessons from a beauty queen A friend becomes a major player in the world of beauty pageants, and I'm forced to confront my own ignorance as I learn how worthy these events can be.

7.  On Harry Potter and communal culture As the last Potter book came out, I mourned the passing of shared cultural experience ... when most of us used to consume and discuss the same thing at the same time.

8. At last, it's ours. Roots sink deep as we move into our marital home. Amidst the packing boxes I
confront my deep sense of place and need to surround myself with family memory.

9.  Want to feel better as the world crumbles? Try Puccini. As the recession deepens and my mother sickens, I understand the purpose of operatic tragedy. In a word, it's schadenfreude.

10. It really is a GRAND Canyon The helicopter tour is the climax of our trip to the American west, and one of the most breathtaking experience of our lives.

Is there any category you'd particularly like to see me tackle in a Top 10 list in the coming year? Let me know. Meanwhile, please keep reading. Thank you!