FUSSYlittleBLOG 4.0

Three years. Almost every day for the last three years I have written several hundred words about food and posted them to this blog. That’s 935 posts to be precise.

One would think that would get repetitive.
One would think that readers would eventually get bored.
One would think that I would run out of interesting things to say.

My maternal grandmother famously told me that I was a “One-Note Johnny.” And my paternal grandmother once said to me in disgust, I had “An answer for everything.” While they evidently saw these as weaknesses of character, I found them to be strengths. And I think they keep me writing with a singular purpose towards a deeply held belief, that people should be eating better food.

Currently, I think the FUSSYlittleBLOG’s best claim to fame is that it’s the Most Prolific Independent Individual Food Blog in Albany. Maybe next year I can even improve upon that in my march to be the Most Influential Food Blog in the Capital Region. But despite making some progress in that regard, I’ve still got a long way to go.

All the same, I’m amazed at just how far the blog has come from its beginnings and the accomplishments of the past year. And the one I’m most proud of couldn’t have happened without you.

First, let’s look at some baby pictures.

That wayback machine is a marvelous tool. If you click the link above, you should be able to see what the FLB looked like in its first month of life. I did really enjoy the feel of the page back then, but it didn’t work on all computers, and the category names in italics read poorly on some displays. Notably, to some the F in Fussy looked exactly like a P, which was less than ideal.

Back then the independent food blog landscape was dominated by CelinaBean, Albany Eats and DocSconz. There was also Almost Foodies, The Ridiculous Food Society of Upstate New York, and Dish and Dirt from Troy. Alex and Cati left before I got started.

But Celina has taken some time off from blogging. Albany Jane now has a real job that cuts into her output. Mr. Dave has completely shut down the Ridiculous Food Society robbing all of his fans of the archive… again. It’s been over two years since Dish and Dirt has written a word.

In the past year a lot of new food bloggers have jumped into the pot, so to speak. And it’s been exciting to see them all. But watching the rise of the From Scratch Club has been stunning.

Over in FLB land the turnout for the Tours has been fantastic. And even when I tried to curb attendance by scheduling the Tour de Egg and Cheese Sandwich for an ungodly hour on a Saturday morning, twenty people still showed up. Last winter’s Ala Shanghai dinner expanded to fill two tables at The Best Chinese Restaurant in the Capital Region. The Cupcake Challenge finally happened after much handwringing, thanks once again to Cassie Cramer, who came up with a venue for the event.

I spent more time last year corresponding and meeting with local chefs and food producers than ever. It would be great to do even a better job of this in year four. But it’s progress.

Still, the single greatest accomplishment of year three was getting meaningful changes made to the Times Union Best of the Capital Region questionnaire. My Open Letter to the Times Union might have fallen on deaf ears had it not been for the resounding support it received from FLB commenters.

I can’t wait to see how this affects the outcomes. My fingers are crossed, and I’m hoping for the best.

Honestly, I can’t say what’s in store for this upcoming year. I hope it will be more of the same, because this last year was amazing. Thank you for making it great. Thank you for coming back here day after day. Thank you for subscribing to the RSS feed or having notices of new posts sent to your email. Thank you for your comments and the ongoing debates. And thank you to the lurkers. I know you are out there, and maybe one day you’ll reach out and say hi.

Heck, maybe you’ll even show up at breakfast this morning or celebratory beers this evening. Speaking of which, tonight looks like it will be cold and rainy. So instead of beers on the deck at Sutters, they will be inside at Across The Street Pub.

Maybe Mr. Dave will even be lurking in the shadows. A guy can dream, right?