It’s BlogDay 2006!

What was it I said yesterday about lounging? Ah, yes. We are in a loungy state of mind these days. And deservedly so (thanks, Cookiecrumb!).

Not that I didn’t have every intention of rising bright and early this morning (that’s 9 am west coast time), and industriously tackling my BlogDay 2006 post, but see, there was this cat.

I mean what are you supposed to do when you’ve got a cat perched so lovingly on your tummy? You just can’t bear to move her, right? So you scritch behind her ears. And then under her chin. And then you do that thing where you curl your hand into a loose claw and she slides her jaw across your fingertips, teeth behind slightly retracted gums, scritching your nails, your fingers catching on her ears as she tilts her head and shifts sides…

…and she’s so damn purringly content that the next thing you know it’s two hours later and you’ve just finished giving a full body deep tissue Swedish massage (plus Rolfing session) to your cat.

Well, I’ve had worse mornings. And possibly even lazier mornings.

But seeing as the day is now passing by and it is indeed BlogDay, it’s high time I get to my BlogDay post.

First a brief official bit about BlogDay:

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. In this way, all Blog web surfers will find themselves leaving around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.

The BlogDay site archives are down at the moment, but I’ve got the full instructions posted over at Food Blog S’cool, so check ‘em out. If you join in, don’t forget your Technorati tag so you’re part of the official blog exploration route!

Now, for my five, I didn’t exactly pick “new” blogs, but, as Paz points out on her BlogDay is coming soon post, new means “blogs that you’ve recently discovered or blogs which are new to you.” I’ll add to that (because I’m all about bending the rules): newly discovered bloggers within larger, well-known group blogs.

So, without any further ado (or feline interruptions):

1. Gastronautical Gastronomicon: So here we are in Portland and I’m thinking: where are all the local food bloggers? I’ve run across two or three of them, but is there such a thing as a food blogging community around here? Surely those lucky Bay Area kids can’t be the only ones having fun, right? Well, after dipping my toes into the Portland Food forum, what do I discover but Gastronaut’s tasty (and deliciously snarky) blog and — lookie! — he’s just started a Carnival of PDX Food Blogs! With baseball references! We are so all over this.

2. Pacific Northwest Cheese Project: I’d heard about this bloggy love letter to the great artisan cheese makers of the Pacific Northwest some time ago from my friend Jay Lake (author, baker of fantastic ginger chocolate chip cookies, and occasional cheese blogger), but for the longest time I resisted checking it out. Why? Because I was trapped on an island that was almost entirely bereft of affordable goat and sheep cheeses for my poor, lactose intolerant tummy. But now that I’m in the big city (where I can hardly swing a cat without hitting a damn fine piece of non-cow cheese), I can read and salivate and rejoice.

(The Cat objects strenuously to that last parenthetical statement and though she too adores the Pacific Northwest Cheese Project, she would be much happier if her captors were to accidentally leave a portion of their recently-purchased Black Sheep Creamery Pale Blue Ewe in an accessible location.)

3. Global Voices Online: I only just discovered Global Voices Online, and there’s much there to explore, but for today’s five I want to single out one contributor who’s a familiar face in the food blogging community: Melissa, the Cooking Diva. I’ve dropped by Melissa’s blog on a number of occasions to check out her delectable Latin American recipes, but here’s my new discovery: she’s got an amazing collection of global food blog reports over on Global Voices Online. Seriously, if you’re looking for one-stop global culinary inspiration, this is the place, hands down.

4.Now we take brief detour from Gastroblogia and head over to Daily Kos where I offer up three diarists well worth a read. First up is OrangeClouds115, who writes eloquently and passionately about organics, pesticides, family farms, and the politics of food in her series Vegetables of Mass Destruction. Second is bonddad a hard-hitting economic writer who isn’t afraid to use the term “Class War.” Third is nyceve. She writes about the shambled, killing state of health care in the U.S. and oh, you’ve got to have a heart of Halliburton steel to not be moved by her stories from the trenches.

Now, why these three with the latter two stepping outside the realm of culinary blogging? Because it’s all so sadly and horrifyingly connected: lack of access to healthcare, to decent employment, to healthy and affordable organic, locally produced food — how many millions in this country have hit this ugly trifecta? It’s a national disgrace and it deserves our attention.

(The Cat is now horribly depressed and would like me to choose something of a more cheerful nature for my final slot. So…)

5. Teapots Teapots Teapots: The other day, on a whim, I decided to search for tea blogs. I found several lovely ones, but the one that most appealed to my sense of whimsy was Andy Titcomb’s UK blog about teapots. Not only does Andy blog about unusual teapots (and teapot collectors, and newsworthy moments in teapot history), he also makes teapots and has quite a nice gallery on his main website. The Cat has asked me to point out this one as her personal favorite.

Well, there you have it — my list of five many blogs to visit on BlogDay 2006, and hereafter. I’m told you can still join in even if it’s just turned September in your time zone, just so long as it’s still August 31st somewhere in the world! Okay, I made that last bit up, but it sounds good to me!

Finally, if I may kidnap a grand suggestion from Sam, leave a link in my comments if you’ve got your own list of five (or more) to share!

BlogDay2006

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 31st, 2006 at 5:25 pm and is filed under meme central, tales of gastroblogia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.