OK, so mine's not the first.

You could say I'm late on the blogging bandwagon. In fact, you could say that the bandwagon is merely a speck in the distance, flying at warp speed down the information superhighway, and I'm still pumping my own gas at the broken-down '76 in the dusty ghosttown of technological innovation.

All metaphors aside, I was truly brokenhearted to discover that there about 7.2 zillion other food blogs out there. Why was I surprised, really? The Food Network is wildly popular, as are reality cooking shows like Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef; Rachael Ray has expanded her half-hour show into an entertainment and culinary empire of Oprahgantuan proportions; and blogging, according to Thomas Freidman's brilliant book The World is Flat (originally published in 2004, now in its 3rd edition), had reached epic proportions at the time of his writing.

So I'm a little behind.

Well, I've always been a bit of a late bloomer. My first kiss wasn't until I was fifteen, in the backroom of the roller skating rink I slaved in for $4.75/ hour. To this guy named Jason with terrible teeth. Ew.

But, rather than eschewing the information others have worked so hard to glean, I am going to embrace it. I will learn from them, derive inspriration from them, and post links to their blogs from my own.

When I think about why I started this, I remember that it came as a blindingly obvious flash - THE INTERNET! It's here, it's free, and most of all, it's easy. I can say whatever I want. I can entertain the idea that my little ol' blog will put some good into the world - and maybe in some bellies. As Friedman so eloquently puts it, everyone in this magnificent information age will at some point be "the author of his or her own digital content." This is my content. I am an author.

And it is democratic in an oddly poignant way, this digital free-for-all society we find ourselves a part of. It's amazing: every person with access to the internet can make him- or herself heard. Perhaps just to a small circle of friends who care enough to read, but open and free to the world nonetheless.

In the immortal words of George Michael:

All we have to do now
Is take these ties and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that i don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you rake
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take
Heaven knows we sure had some fun boy


I don't know if that really applies here, but it just popped into my head. (Arguably, it's the Star-Spangled Banner of my generation.)

With that, I'll direct you, dear readers, to the Forbes List of Best Food Blogs (they have about ten different blog categories, check them out). I'm up against some stiff competition, folks. But I'm going to continue to write about food. And writing is what feeds my soul.

Live well.