Some Bloggy Stuff

Summer, for me, is clean-up time. During the school year, my house slowly grows into a whirlwind of marked papers, well-worn books, assignments never quite brought to fruition, household projects that eventually get marked for "summer", etc.


Anno speaks of the massive summer projects she undertakes with her husband - planting 400 trees, putting in a vegetable garden, building a new heating element.

I'm proud when I get my desk cleaned off.

Part of this summer clean out is working on all things blog. Learning about new blogs, thinking about my own.

Each summer I feel I'm going to overhaul the site. Um... we'll see.

What I have been doing is finding out about some wonderful new blogs, and trying to update both my reader and my blogroll.

I have one major frustration:

I absolutely can't comment on some of my favorite new blogs. I'm not the only one in this boat. There is a major bug via Blogger and some of us are just plain blocked when we try to comment in Blogger comment formats where the blog owner has chosen the "embedded below post" option in their comment settings. I've been all over bulletin boards, etc., about this topic and there only seems to be one "fix" - switch to pop-up or full page comments. Once this happens, the stupid "user id" thing disappears and then folks can comment again.

I know, I know, you blog owners are already getting comments - yes, but you might be getting even MORE comments if we could all actually access your blog!

(And, of course, these are bloggers who don't include e-mail contacts on their profile and/or their e-mail contacts don't seem to work).

It's your choice, obviously, but just sayin'.

There are three blogs, in particular, that I read every. day. but can't comment on, so if any of my regular readers know a way to bring this to these folks' attention, I would be very grateful:


WaystationOne - Brian shares his frequently brilliant writing and thoughtful comments on raising his sons and on life in general.


Hungry Like the Wolf Rita and Lola cook up San Francisco delights in their tiny, NYC dorm kitchens. These young women can seriously cook, and they provide great commentary as well.


Tales from the Fairy Blogmother So this is the most ridiculous - I can't even comment on Shan's blog - and she's the host for What's Cooking Wednesday! She's also a bang-up cook, wonderful craftswoman and has many interesting insights and all I can add to her blog is my Mr. Linky links.

Okay... enough of that. And if anyone can help me in terms of those of us with the "Blogger bug" or who can contact these three bloggers and let them know of this dilemma, I would be extremely grateful.

Secondly: generosity.

Lola of
Aglio, Olio and Peperoncino has graciously bestowed the following lovely award on me:



The Splash Award is given to "alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive and inspiring blogs".

I'd like to bestow this award on some of my recent new finds in the blogging world:

I'm skipping
WaystationOne, because Brian already received this from Lola. I'd certainly send it Lola's way, but obviously, she already has one, too.


To Lola and Rita of Hungry Like the Wolf for all the reasons listed above.

To Jackie of Pham Fatale. Jackie is a French-Vietnamese, Paris-raised, San Franciscan who lives with her Indian husband. Just looking at her pedigree, you know her recipes are out of this world. Her blog is also beautifully designed, and she really takes you through each recipe step-by-step.

To Michele of My Italian Grandmother. Michele started her blog as a tribute to her Italian grandmother, who passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 98. She taught many cooking secrets to Michele, but she never measured nor wrote down her recipes, so this is Michele's attempt to recreate those recipes, as well as add many of her own. Michele's on a trip right now, so if you visit, just check previous entries.

To Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums. I think many of you already know Rosa, but I was only recently able to find the time to go check her out thoroughly, and what a lovely blog she has! Fabulous recipes, adorable cat pictures and extraordinary photography, both of her cooking projects and of her Geneva, Switzerland surroundings. I feel like I get to take a vacation every time I visit her.

To Laura of Lolalina: Find Your Sweet Life. Given this time of great difficulty worldwide, isn't it nice to find a little corner where everything is lovely? Laura dedicates herself to finding the sweetness in life, and she has a beautiful aesthetic sense, as well. Another great "vacation" spot for me.

To Myra Klarman of Relish: Life. Work. Pictures. Myra is an extremely talented professional photographer from Ann Arbor. Myra gives her unique visual take on various events in and around Ann Arbor, and I am in awe of her ability to capture our city and our people with such clarity and love.

To Noelle of Simmer Down (a food lover's blog). Noelle is a musician who loves food and loves sharing her passion for food through the beautiful recipes and events captured in her blog. She also hosts a virtual culinary book club called "Chew on This!".

I hope that you all enjoy these blogs as much as I do. Happy reading!