Speaking About Food

What happens to blogs on Cyber Monday? More people online, but is all the increased traffic solely dedicated to the pursuit of enhanced consumerism? I don’t know.

I do know that the very last thing I want to talk about today is food. It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, and I’ve been eating like a jerk for about a week now. The holiday meal was pre-gamed with the visit of ADS and his family. We ate our way around the Capital Region for three days. Then we had a splendid feast of the four families down in Westchester. Still full from the night before, I couldn’t resist house made corned beef hash at a diner in Danbury. And there was the big Japanese meal Friday night. Saturday I found a middle eastern restaurant in Milford and ate more than I should. This was followed by another turkey dinner with my extended family. Sunday was a Pepe’s pizza party, and I don’t even want to think about how many slices I consumed during that feast.

That list doesn’t include any of the free hotel breakfasts over the course of our travels, the cheese plate my cousin assembled, and a host of other snacks and treats.

Today, I’m full from the accumulated excess of a week. So instead of writing about food today, I’m going to share a link where you can hear me speaking about food.

This is a serious question, and I’m hoping a few of you will answer in the comments or directly to me by DM or email. Do any of you listen to podcasts?

I know next to nothing about the format. But I do know that I never pass up a chance to talk about food. So when comedian Chris Lamberth asked if I would call into his podcast, it didn’t take much convincing to get me to agree.

Yesterday, the episode we recorded went live. You can hear it here.

Chris was in town a few weeks ago for a few performances, and his schedule just happened to coincide with the Schenectady Wing Walk. So he was one of the celebrity judges. We spent a couple hours walking around downtown with local producer Ethan Ullman. It was a lot of fun.

One thing I learned is that comedians are asked, “Are you funny?” a lot. I guess that’s not so different than food bloggers being asked about their favorite places to eat. Although to be honest, the most challenging interactions for me are when someone professes their love of a restaurant that I find to be mediocre.

Despite some people’s opinions to the contrary, I don’t delight in being a dick. But I digress.

Right now, I need your help. One thing I’ve never been able to do is listen to myself talk. Perhaps this is a subject for deeper psychiatric evaluation, but the sound of my own voice fills me with revulsion. Maybe I can grit my teeth through a few minutes of it. More than that is torturous. Although I know I’m not alone with this burden. I’ve read in magazines that many actors can’t watch their own movies.

So I’m hoping that those of you who do listen to podcasts occasionally might listen to this one and give me some notes. Was their anything especially good about it? What could I do differently in the future to be better?

More importantly, what do you think about a dedicated FLB podcast?

There was some consensus among my family around the Thanksgiving table that I should start one. But I have truly very little interest in doing it. Which isn’t to say that I couldn’t be convinced to give it a go. Part of me feels like podcasts are the new blogs, but since I don’t listen to any, I have no idea. And to be perfectly honest, I can’t even figure out when I could squeeze a podcast into my media consumption diet.

Thanks to The Mundane Festival with Chris Lamberth, we now have a sense of what I sound like when talking about food while being recorded. Perhaps my family members will change their mind. Or maybe it actually sounds okay. One thing that’s for sure, this episode is crazy long. But that’s because I do love to talk. And once I get talking about food, it’s hard for me to stop.

It could also mean that my family was onto something. I have no idea. What I do know is that the readers of the FLB won’t mince words or blow smoke up my ass. You will tell it like it is. So I’m really curious to get your feedback.

Thanks.

Oh, and if you want to give me your feedback in person, there is an Official Yelp Event coming up a week from today. It’s Monday, December 5 at Rascals in Albany. There will be crispy duck legs. And the event is open to anyone with a free Yelp profile, just so long as it includes a profile picture.

Although, you may have to move quickly with your RSVP to get on the guest list and avoid the wait list. But you are most certainly invited. It would be great to see you there.