Four Days a Week

Happy Columbus Day!

I say “happy” but there is a growing list of reasons why today is not a happy day. Please know that despite the playful tone of today’s blog, my heart is with you. For the record, I thought about taking the day off. It’s a holiday after all. Well, at least the kids are out of school. Mrs. Fussy, on the other hand, has to work. And I’m sure she’s not the only one.

This is a big week for stories on the blog. I want to share my thoughts on the Schenectady Wing Walk and on Troy ChowderFest. On top of that, this week Bard & Baker is having its grand opening on Thursday, Brown’s Brewing is hosting Fall Sessions that same night, and Saturday is the family version of Fire Feast at Pitney Meadows Farm.

However, I know from past experience that blog readership on a holiday isn’t as high as usual, and I didn’t want any of these stories to get overlooked. This is why I don’t typically write posts on the weekend, and try to avoid posting on holidays. Plus, it’s good to have a break from the blog on occasion.

Except the blog was recently given some positive recognition which also came with a slap in the face. So I’m a little fired up, and taking a day off isn’t really in the cards.

Last week I got an email from a fellow named Anuj. It was actually the second email I received from him. The first was back in 2014 when he invited me to be a beta tester for something called Feedspot. At the time, TechCrunch reviewed the site and liked it, for whatever that is worth

It seems there is now a blog component to Feedspot that compiles all sorts of listicles. So Anuj wrote me again to let me know that the FUSSYlittleBLOG had been included in the list of New York State’s top 40 food blogs and websites.

I’m not entirely sure how this works, but it’s some combination of search results and social media rankings. And there we are, right up on the list at number 35.

This is not a list of the small and weird food blogs scattered throughout the state. There are some real heavy hitters at the top of the list like GrubStreet, New York Times Food, and Eater NY.

At number 14 is the Niskayuna based Alexandra’s Kitchen, which is fantastic. This cooking blog features gorgeous food photography and surely draws a national audience who find the recipes as inspiring as I do. I still haven’t met Alexandra, but it’s Smallbany and I know we share at least one common friend. One of these days I’m sure we’ll bump into each other. And for the record, she beat out Smitten Kitchen which came in two spots below her.

Believe it or not, but I don’t read too many food blogs. So never heard of any of the blogs outside the top 20. But the blogs in between Alexandra and me are entirely focused on New York City and its five boroughs.

So we made the list! That’s amazing. Now here’s the slap in the face.

The Feedspot list provides a bit of information for each of the blogs featured. Since social media impact was one of the sorts, it’s fun to see how one’s Twitter and Facebook followings can drive your rankings. Surely those helped me make this list, while some other more established blogs with bigger readership did not. Each listing also tells where the blog is from, when it started, and its frequency of publication.

For the FUSSYlittleBLOG Feedspot says the frequency is about four posts per week.

And that was the slap in the face. Because I write five posts per week dammit. Five. Monday through Friday. Do I post when I’m traveling for work or on vacation? You better believe it. Do I take off the occasional holiday? Sure… but not today. Four days a week. Harumpf.

Okay. Rant over. Tomorrow we’ll be back with the important job of bringing you behind the scenes of the judging from the Schenectady Wing Walk. Just know this, fancy pants Aperitivo totally schooled 20 North Broadway who generally makes what I consider to be the best wing in the Capital Region.