Blog Day 2007: Five from My List

Today is Blog Day 2007 (if you look at the cunning lettering, it renders 31-08, or August 31 as it's known in other regions of the world than Amurrica.)

Participating bloggers are just supposed to recommend five blogs you've maybe never heard of.

Some are food-oriented, and some are not. All are strong writers: the photography is secondary. (But part of the fun, duh, these are blogs!)

Pictured here, from our garden (that would be the garden that Bob and Logan tend, and from which I am allowed to PICK and PRUNE things): Sungold cherry tomatoes and the glorious pimientos de padrón peppers that cost $20 a pound in San Francisco. I cook 'em with a blowtorch. You'll see.

In no particular order:

1. Brett and You.

I first encountered Brett Leveridge at Readerville.com some years back, and based on the quality and charm contained in his posts, bought (and enjoyed) his book, Men My Mother Dated and Other Mostly True Tales. I also read the article he wrote at Salon called "The Day Annie Shot Me": Annie Leibowitz did his author photograph. Only recently did I discover that he has a weblog, and I sat down with it a couple of weeks ago. And I read backwards, which was an amazing experience, because the day I landed on his blog, he had proposed marriage to his "Flo," and backwards from there, I watched a romance in full blossom turn into a bud, which was preceded by some kind of crop devastation known as heartbreakus Americanus.

I love his politics, I love his warmth, I love his retro, I love how he sees the world. And most especially, I love that his Flo treasures him.

2. Another person from Readerville, a sworn enemy of blogging until, well, things changed, is DG Strong. His weblog, Six DGs of Observation, is indescribable.

I'll point you to a post where he visited Bugtussle Farm, where he belongs to a CSA. Don't get the impression that he's politically correct, because his tombstone will read "I'd Eat That"—deep-fried anything, Twinkies stuffed with foie gras, you name it. He's a legend in his spare time, scathingly funny but also compassionate—I'd say "in surprising ways," but I'm no longer surprised to discover the depth and breadth of his heart. To my knowledge, he's never been wrong about anything, and you may hate or love his writing. Most just gape because he will say anything.

Short story: Nashville, gay, graphic designer and artist, writer, opinionated, and once again, never wrong. I know if I disagree with him, I'd better keep my mouth shut. I also know if he were getting honored for a lifetime achievement at the Kennedy Center, I wouldn't be invited to introduce him.

Oh, and he occasionally works the door at a good restaurant in Nashville, and if you ever go out to a restaurant, you better think twice. (If you love that one, there is a sequel.)

3. Christina Waters.

(I am linking you to one of her posts about Justin Severino.) Even if you don't live in Santa Cruz, you should read her. I never miss a post, and glean the skinny on what's happening in town—especially food, but theatre, films, art, and just thangs. She is a fascinating person, teaching environmental ethics at UCSC, which I hadn't known in our casual meetings. She's not a snob—and she doesn't like snobs. People with PhD's can often be fixated or boring or intimidating, but I think there should be a PhD in "enjoying life." She'd be Professor Emeritus. (I probably spelled that wrong.)

4. Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef.

Hey, now. This kid is nineteen years old, and he's on track. I wonder what Mr. Bourdain and Mr. Batali and Mr. Flay were doing at that age. My guess would be drugs. I kid! I kid the President! All I'm saying is that this kid is clear, he's committed, and he's got his own voice as a writer, already. He's left informed comments on my blog—always supportive. Go subscribe, please, so you can say "I knew him when."

5. Okay, I have saved the best for last. Omnivorous Fish. I love Joe "Fish" Cangelosi with my whole heart, and cannot explain the instant trust I felt when he stepped out of his rental car into my driveway. Sure, he contacted me outta the blue, saying he's a New Yorker coming to California, liked my blog, can he tag along on a trip to a farm, and it was all blah blah blah until I saw the guy. When Logan runs up to someone, I pay attention. After spending the afternoon with Joe I decided I would unlock the doors on my intense privacy, and he came to dinner. No, wait, he cooked dinner. He knows so much more than I do—he could be a professional chef, I am sure, but then there's that phrase he used a lot in our visit. "It's a quality of life thing."  He's got such a great speaking voice—not melodious, just pure Joe, crisp and bright and with (for those with detectors) great wit at the ready.

Anyway, that's my five and I'm sticking to it. I'm not flattering anybody: I genuinely like their work. The theme here is STRONG WRITING. I can forgive weak photography if I have a connection with the good writer.

Oh, hell. I just went to Bloglines to check something out, and found that a new post at The Perfect Bite, and well, okay, that makes six.

The Perfect Bite

Sisters Christy and Suzie Yates are currently living, eating and cooking in the Boston area. Christy is a private chef in Cambridge and Boston who has worked at Formaggio Kitchen as a cheesemonger, a baker, a chocolate buyer and a cook. Suzie is a writer breaking into food photography and sustainable agriculture; she has taken web photos for Formaggio Kitchen and volunteers at the Food Project in Lincoln, MA.  

Thanks to our family, food is in our blood. Mommom gave us cameos on her local cooking program in York, PA. Mom spoiled us with family dinners, after-school popovers, anadama bread and her famous toffee. Dad experimented with homemade vinegars before diving into BBQ and wine. Our older sister hosts kitchen parties to mass-produce pierogi, Christmas cookies and meatballs; and her husband brews beer.

Our greatest thrill is throwing the kind of dinner party that results in new friends and mountains of dirty dishes. When we're not planning our next meal, we train for half marathons, invest in our church, travel, photograph, memorize movie quotes, dig in the dirt and blog.

That oughtta keep you busy.

Enjoy.

My thought for the day is in honor of my ex-husband, who has moved to Utah, but who came to dinner for the second time during the week he's been here. He talked to us about the, well, plain if not downright odd women there. There is a signature Mormon wife hairdo, I guess.

I found him something I remembered from Mark Twain's Roughing It. Bob says that he thinks Mark Twain must have slayed in his day, like Steve Martin. (Raise you hand if you saw Steve Martin in concert. Raise both hands if you saw him more than once. Raise your hands and stick your butt in the air if you saw the Steve Martin Mull tour in about 1975. I bet I win.)

On the subject of Mormon wives, Twain writes:

Our stay in Salt Lake City amounted to only two days, and therefore we had no time to make the customary inquisition into the workings of polygamy and get up the usual statistics and deductions preparatory to calling the attention of the nation at large once more to the matter.

I had the will to do it. With the gushing self-sufficiency of youth I was feverish to plunge in headlong and achieve a great reform here—until I saw the Mormon women. Then I was touched.  My heart was wiser than my head. It warmed toward these poor, ungainly and pathetically "homely" creatures, and as I turned to hide the generous moisture in my eyes, I said, "No—the man that marries one of them has done an act of Christian charity which entitles him to the kindly applause of mankind, not their harsh censure—and the man that marries sixty of them has done a deed of open-handed generosity so sublime that the nations should stand uncovered in his presence and worship in silence."

• • • • • • • • • • •

Thanks for visiting, and go read something new. I will say that all of the people I recommend contain hope. Promise. Belief. Yes. Otherwise I couldn't say YES to what they do.

Comments

[kelly]

That Twain quote is genius. I think you're spot on with the comparison to Steve Martin.

So glad you posted these links, I've been eager for new reads, cleaning out dead links as I switch over to google reader...yay!

[Casey]

About to check out every one of these; they sound terrific. Also, as a writer who is definitely not a photographer (don't faint: all the photos on my blog come from my iPhone) I'm heartened to read that less-than-stellar pictures aren't a reason to never visit again.

[cookiecrumb]

Yes, but if you look at the cunning lettering again, it also renders "Blog"!
Leet!!
Nice collection.