It has been a while since I last posted to this blog, and I owe you my readers an apology and an explanation.
After taking an initial stab at writing, I realized that there are many things I want to say - but much of those have already been said by many writers on the internet - some of whom are held in significant regard. Repeating those would be a waste of your time (and mine). So I took some "time out" to reconsider my approach to this blog space and to think things through. Particularly to consider if there was anything which I might write which in some way would provide a personal and different, if not useful, perspective on things. For example, I love food and drink (and photography and travel and a few other things). And so do (practically) millions of others who write in blogs. Some write about restaurants and dishes they have had, or about food and drink they have a personal interest in (my favorite is Hobbes - a British Mathematician who writes mostly about "sheng puerh" - which is also known as "raw" puerh tea) or, in general, on some "focused subject" such as family, God, politics, etc. Most are reviews of things. I would be doing them all a disservice if this blog was yet another repetitive experiment reviewing things! Many of those who know me also know that I am not quite that focused! My contribution to your entertainment would definitely require a representation of the "true me". This would require me to write a blog that varies in focus from article to article - yet provide some thread of continuity over time. Of course, there is no way to totally avoid a "review type" blog - so I will have to justify that writing style when using it, by adding the "personal aspect" of photographs and so forth.
After much consideration (and I did consider terminating this blog) I have decided that a different point of view can in fact be provided (i.e. I would do less in terms of product/service reviews) by writing what would be (hopefully)"insightful", personal essays on topics and items which I enjoy. This decision led me to the concept of "meditation" (something I tend to practice with some irregularity but with a determination to do better) and a minor re-organization of this blog site. The final result is that, instead of a daily blog, I will be writing about once a week - or so - on various topics, with these being categorized into "Meditations" - which provide my own thoughts and hopefully at a level that provides depth and is thought-provoking and/or provides meaningful perspective to the topic at hand; "Rants" which provide my observation on some of the more quizzical things which happen in life; "Travels" which as previously mentioned, document my forays somewhere on earth; and "Recipes" which will generally involve food, drink, or other related ventures into epicurean and other delights. Hopefully these are entertaining from more than the single perspective that each of these titles imply. I also hope to intersperse Photography and Haiku along the way.
My writing is based on my personal observations and thinking - and should not be construed as scientific, although I strive to provide some "evidence" - at least to myself - that the results are verifiable. Caveat emptor, and since you have been warned at this very first instance, I will proceed to describe what you may expect in my writing on the special subject of food and drink.
Food (and correspondingly, drink) is an extremely strong influencing force in life. It shapes culture, opinions, thoughts and behaviors (consider the phrase "guns or butter"). Each person has unique preferences which are, to various degrees, influenced by external factors of society, culture, availability of the food, etc. Such influences generally have a strong hold on the individual. For instance, people who generally prefer Scotch Whisky will generally avoid American Whiskey. Even among drinkers of Scotch, some like myself, prefer a particular brand (for example, Johnny Walker Black versus Chivas Regal in blends; or Lagavulin versus Laphroaig in malts) over others. I have often encountered this strong preference in my friends and acquaintances - and expect that others reading this will be nodding in general agreement. Going counter to these influencing forces is, as you can imagine, not easily or willingly done.
So, what can those people like myself (who call themselves "foodies") do to ensure that they continue striving for new tastes and textures? Experiment, of course! And in the great expanse of foodie bloggers on the Internet, I am in good company with a small group of foodies who appear not to be fixed in one frame of reference. We are "switches" - changing our preferences in various ways - and somehow attempting to overcome the influencing forces which we are also subjected to. This also means that, in specific cases, I will be making a conscious decision to take an experimental departure from time-and-culture-tested-advice in order to more personally experience the reasons behind such advice. I hope to detail these "departures from the norm" as and when I encounter them - and there may be deep lessons in some of those experiments!
Thank you for patiently waiting while I took the time-out. I hope that you will enjoy what follows!
As always, your thoughts, suggestions and comments are most welcome!
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