Where Have All My Commenters Gone?

    I'm trying hard to understand why so few people are leaving comments on eggbeater lately. I get a lot when it's my birthday or I get fired from a job, but, on the whole, the amount of comments seems to have waned. Is there something I should know? Maybe take a shower more often? De-tangle the knots in my hair? Shine my shoes? Give out more recipes? Wrote about more industry gossip? Start another flame war? Buy a more expensive camera?

    Don't be shy, please tell me.

    Your comments feed me. Your questions keep me going. Even if you've found a recipe or an instruction or a story posted long ago, I welcome and keep open commenting on all posts young and old.

    Maybe I'm too thorough. I don't leave enough holes.
    Maybe I'm too sensitive. It's poetry month and poems are more vulnerable than the average eggbeater post.

(The last post? kitchen. That poem is one of my all time favorites. I have been thinking for months about when I would unveil it.)

    It could also be that many of you have become my friend. And we talk, in person, about what's on the blogs so then there's no need to leave a comment. Is that it?

    It's hard to post day after day, night after night, when there's so little feedback. I hope it's just Spring Break and soon again eggbeater will be a source of inspiration, enjoyment, silliness, delicousness, random information gathering, vicarious living, a reliable cooking tip spot, and anything else you come here for.

    Perhaps you remember how in November 2006 I posted every single day? Sometimes twice a day! From NaBloPoMo, I give you this reminder:

We blog, you comment. Your comments are our fuel, our reason to go on posting, our food for blogthought, our accessories to our wordy outfits, the salt on our meat, the eggs in our souffles, the chocolate sauce on our ice cream, the cream in our coffee, the boiling hot water started from cold water for our proper cuppa tea, the water on our garden, the sun on our leaves, the bark in our woof, the purr in our pet, the shine on our shoes, the bounce in our step, the kiss in our smooch, the bubbles in our bath, the scent on our skin, the hot sauce on our eggs, the craft in our craftiness, the Ness in our monster, the moon in our tide, the Maldon salt on our fresh-roasted peanut butter, the pectin in our preserves, the bacon to our BLT, the ---- can you help me out here?

Comments

[Monkey Wrangler]

Ooooh, ooooh, me first, me first! After reading that I BETTER comment.

Shuna darlin', it ain't you. Yes, you are most thorough. Yes poetry probably doesn't garner much argument or tension and tends to strike the heart. Being as though most of us have a tough time expressing these matters, folks are silent. Consider the quiet a barometric reading of the internal pressure that I suspect too is low due to spring break and getting out.

Quiet? Not me, blah blah blah.....
Peace out,
sourdoughmuffinhead

[Aaron]

cornichon in our our sauce gribiche...mine apparently didn't have enough tonight.
how 'bout the cream cheese in our bagel or the strawberries in our shortcake...
I like those foods more than tongue and sauce gribiche anyhow.
Love you lots...stay tough.

[puck]

i *am* shy, actually. :D

i've noticed a lack of comments on my personal blog recently, and really? sometimes that happens. i think it just waxes and wanes.

but i promise, we always think that you're fabulous.

[Calichef]

I haven't meant to be so quiet, I just haven't had much to say lately. Heck, I only post on my personal blog (if you'd like a link to my semi-private personal blog, just ask) about four times a month now, and Cali's Blue Plate Special has been completely incative for a long, long time.

As a blogger who also LOVES comments and has been blogging for almost five years now, I can say that comments go down when the weather gets nice. They will pick up a bit when it gets too hot to hang out outside. Then they slow down when school starts and people are busier again, then pick up for a couple of months and then slow down over the winter holidays. It is just the natural ebb and flow of life.

I want you to know that I *do* read every, single entry. I love your blog writing style and especially your poetry because it's very well crafted and the care you take when selecting just the right word to express a thought is perfection.

I'm very sorry that I'm two hours away because I think we would be great friends. I love having friends whom I can learn things from, and you have a lot of knowlege to share.

The next time you go to Oroville for the peaches (or the olive oil) let me know. I'd love to meet you there and take you to my mother's for lunch (or dinner) and a tour of her quarter horse ranch. I think we'd have a lot of fun. Of course, I'd have to take you up to the dam to watch the sunset. It's amazing to watch from there.

P.S. I can show you a hotel where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor had a knock-down, drag-out fight and had the police called on them!

[Sara]

Shuna, this is my first time commenting on your blog, but I am a long time reader. I truly think your blog is great. Have read every single post and have tried a few of your awesome recipes.
Thanks a lot for writing so often!

[Lydia]

Shuna, I have many days of thinking exactly this. Am I writing, putting my ideas out there, but nobody is reading? I've found a couple of things to be true. (1) Some days of the week I get more comments than other days, week after week. (2) More of my commenters are other bloggers than nonblogging friends who know me personally, but (3) those nonblogging friends often email to me off the blog about something I've posted. (4) I know from the number of subscribers that many people do read everyday. (5) My commenters are interesting, informed, lovely people whose comments enrich my own writing. (6) I never know which subjects will bring people out -- who knew that people felt so strongl about Miracle Whip or evaporated milk?!

As a professional food writer, I often write but get no feedback on my work -- the stuff that's published in magazines, for example. You know that many thousands of peole read the magazine, but maybe, maybe, one or two people will comment on the article. The reason I started blogging was to engage my readers in the interactive forum. I respond to all comments, and I do it in the comments so everyone can be part of that conversation. I hope people get to know me that way, and then they will want to continue to dialogue.

Anyway, we readers and commenters are out there. Keep blogging because you love it, and because you have something to say. Keep the focus sharp, and the commenters will appreciate it. And accept that most people will read, enjoy, but be too "shy" to comment.

Thanks for your blog. I read it and love it.

[Denzylle]

I have only commented once before. I said 'hi!' and a few more words from my side of London when you were here in our city. When you uploaded comments, mine did not appear. There was absolutely nothing offensive about it - maybe it was too banal for you. Whatever, I decided I wouldn't bother again.

I'm commenting this time since you asked...

However, I still read and enjoy reading your blog.

[maggie]

Hi! Still reading, just not typing so much!

[mary]

I think that, like others have said, poetry is less likely to evoke blog comments (and this is coming from someone who reads plenty of poetry). A good poem tends to provoke reflection, it's not the sort of thing that you look at and immediately say "oh wow, that looks delicious" or "how helpful." Even if the response is "lovely" or "wow, I never thought of it that way before," it's a more internal response. Other than that, it must be that these things do indeed wax and wane because people go outside or get wrapped up with spring holiday things or simply feel quiet.

But, please, keeep writing.

[deb]

I am always reading, and think you're fabulous.

[aimee]

Is readership down or just comments? I know I'm hooked on your blog and I imagine others are, too. Maybe they're just shy? I read your blog everyday and have commented only once. I recently started pastry school in New York and I've really appreciated reading about your current experiences and reading through the archives. Your blog is great!

[Luisa]

I like what you wrote about comments back in November and I still do. I notice that it waxes and wanes over at my site, too. Who knows why? I don't think it has anything to do with you needing to start another flame war, though :) xoxo Have a lovely weekend, my friend.

[jenny]

Please keep posting, I love your blog, I love the photos and I love the bittersweet poetry and prose. I admire your skills as a pastry chef and the way you describe food, your pallete is obviously much more sensitive than mine. I guess I'm not much of a writer myself so I dont feel I have much to say, but I check your blog every day, hoping there will be a new exciting post or some beautiful pictures. I'll try to comment more and you can skip it if its dull. As previously mentioned, san diego could really do with someone to shake up the dull desserts world! (apart from michelle coulon which is just divine)

[anita]

I've been "up to my a**shole in alligators" (as the Bald Guy says, showing his Appalachian roots) the last couple of weeks, but whenever I see a new eggbeater post, I rush right over to read. I usually don't have time to comment, but I can't stay away. I'm really looking forward to the class in a couple of weeks!

xoxox
~A

[Curt]

One thing I notice while running around the blogosphere reading is that women's blogs get many more comments on average than do men's. I don't know if this is because writing styles encourage more comments when written by women, if the readership of women's blogs tend to be largely women, also, or what. No gender bashing one way or another, just an observation and curiosity. I've even posted ASKING for comments and gotten almost none. Maybe I just need to realize that my blog sucks. :)

[Garrett]

Comments come and go. Yestertday I had none on a new cupcake I made with some of the best pictures I had ever taken; then I realized I accidentally turned comments off. Blah, I'm a dingus obviously.

Comments are like the tide, they come in and they go out. I agree, it's fuel. Each comment is like a hug from Jesus. They charge you. But you have to make sure you don't become addicted to them like a street hooker to blow.

Just know I loves you. You were one of the people who inspired me to blog to begin with, and you constantly inspire me to take further steps in each challenge I face.

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

Hi Shuna! Do you have any plans to come to NYC and teach a class or two? Please? I keep reading what a wonderful teacher you are!

[Rachael]

We love you! We love you! You are a kitchen wonder! Our only excuse is that we are mute, in awe...

:-)

[Christina]

I'm another visitor who enjoys your blog silently. But I do empathize with your hunger for comments. It can be a little gloomy to put something out there and not know who is responding or how. But I'm guessing you have plenty of readers, like me, who are more meditative than participatory, but still appreciative.

[Tea]

Maybe all your commenters moved to Seattle?:-)

There is a seasonal ebb and flow. I also think people enjoy leaving comments more when their comments get answered (not just questions, but comments). This is something I am making a concerted effort to do. I love getting comments on my site but I haven't always done the best job of responding (no time!). I am now reforming my wayward ways. Some of my favorite bloggers are fantastic about answering comments (Molly, Luisa, etc). I know it makes a difference in how I feel about leaving comments for them.

There are many blogs I read and love but don't always comment on because it feels like I am shouting into the void. It's more fun to get a response back (that said--it takes time and energy I don't always have).

But hey, a flame war could be fun:-)

[Denzylle]

Thanks for contacting me, Shuna.

I shall continue to read your lovely words and I might even comment again sometime...

[Susan]

Hello! Ask and you shall receive, I guess? I just wanted to say hi and that I've been reading this blog for a few months now. Love the recipes and the inside look to what "you folks" do in the industry :P I look forward to taking your knife skills class next Sunday with my fiance!

[Dr. Biggles]

Feh, they fluctuate. People's lives change. It's tax time and spring break is either here or coming up for folks.

Smooches!

[Sean]

Ditto on Anita's comment -- just now getting my head above water after several months of nuttiness. But I'm looking forward to giving you hugs in person soon!

[joanna]

Hi Shuna,

I was actually just about to post a comment, which was(is) this: I made the Pavlovas for Pesach, first night. I wanted to use a fresh, in season fruit, but nothing was looking great - so I went with the mixed berry blend from Trader Joe's, topped with fresh chantilly cream. I used Billington's dark brown molasses sugar in the berries, by the by. Extra good. The whipped cream, of course, rendered the entire (meat) meal unkosher, but nobody in my non-Orthodox family seemed too bothered by this detail

They were a HUGE hit, and damn, those egg whites stiffened up in no time flat in my brand new RED Kitchen Aid that I got just a few days earlier.

[Joanna]

Oh yeah - one more thing:
Can you provide a really good (moist) straight-up chocolate layer cake recipe - with chocolate frosting? Or perhaps just reference one from a particular cookbook or recipe website?

If it were up to me, I'd go flourless, but it's for a friend's b-day and he specifically requested chocolate CAKE cake. Old school, like. I want it to be really chocolatey and not too cakey-dry.

If you have time, that is.

Still reading daily...

[Lori S.]

I am reading less often (not less, just more quickly, more rushed), but for that I blame the new job. I blame the new job!

[Dolores Ferrero]

I'm in the same boat as others before me -- super busy with no sign of letting up until mid-May. But I'm here, I'm reading, I'm enjoying the way you put words together that's so very uniquely Shuna. :)

[shelly]

Welcome to my world! :) I don't get a lot of comments on my blog as a rule. Then again, I probably don't have as many readers as you do.

I can definitely relate though. Sometimes it's as though you're standing over a precipice, looking out over a canyon, hearing the echo of your own voice. You pour out your thoughts, your life onto the digital page and wonder whether anyone is even reading. "Hello-o-o-o-o! Echo-o-o-o-o-o!"

But in the end, you do it because you like playing with words and food. And once in a while somebody answers.

[shelly]

P.S. Some people are a little wary of anything interactive on a website. For example, some good friends who are in their 70s do a lot of web surfing, but they can't relate to anything interactive. I tried to convince them to use Skype (basically a very cheap, high quality telephone you use on the web), but to them it's like using the microwave to call their friends. It just doesn't compute.

[Carolyn T]

Hi Shuna - I think we readers forget that you WANT feedback. Sometimes I think when reading somebody's blog that I really like - oh, they must get tons of responses from other people, they don't want to hear from little old me, etc. So, I must remember to make the time and effort to tell you and others how much I enjoy the blogs. Since starting to read food blogs about 6 months ago I'm absolutely addicted to it - and particularly enjoy reading those bloggers who give a glimpse of the writer's heart. You certainly do that in spades. I did send a comment when you lost your job, but that was awhile back now. I also love the little bit of kitchen chemistry and wisdom that you empart to all of us out here who cook everyday food. I love to bake, but don't do it as often as I would like to because my husband and I are trying to cut down on carbs (and it's darned difficult!). So, keep up the good work. I read you every single time you post a new comment (through Google Reader). Love your writing style too - I'm an avid book reader - and enjoy your cleverness - which is something powerful for any writer. It's a talent, to be sure, and you have IT.

[Lynn D.]

I'm ashamed that it took this post for me to finally comment again on your blog. Your posts and photography have been so inspiring and uplifting for me and really helped me get through some difficult times. Many is the time that I've written up a comment in my head, but it just doesn't come up to your eloquence, so there it remains. If you head up to Portland again, stop by Salem and I'll make you lunch.

[chronicler]

well, easy for me to say. I've been gone. My oldest just had her first child and I went for the fun! That's why I've been gone. However, the gone-ness of myself has affected my blog too. 2 comments average. Wax and wane and all that stuff.

I do check back and will promise to comment more often. However, just like today I'm 33 on the list. I'm just not sure how many you want to read. 2000? Okay, I'll commit to commenting more. ;-)

[MEJ]

Well, I dunno... seems as if there has been less to comment upon lately (until your request). More esoteric writings and miscellaneous pondering that makes me wonder about this as a "food blog". At least there has not been so much bad news & personal sadness lately. There is not much positive I can say about the poetry since I am not much into that myself. I mean no disrepect since I can see so many do enjoy it. But I do moreorless expect to see food related blogging when I go through this category of my saved bookmarks. Maybe I would react better if I moved yours to another category...I think that would help me be more receptive.

[Raspil]

this is me not being shy:

"Your comments feed me. Your questions keep me going."

to be honest, that was sad for me to read. don't allow comments to dictate your happiness or value as a person -- they seem to have some sort of hold on you and this post is proof.

are you blogging for your enjoyment or the enjoyment of others? if it's for other people, why? why pressure yourself? we're just people, no one is paying you to blog, therefore you owe nobody anything. there's no need to jump through hoops for your audience or become a neurotic mess because your number of comments is low.

we're just people. share with us what you want, when you want. try an experiment -- get rid of your comments for a week or month. if your hair starts falling out because you don't feel "connected" with the folks who may or may not be reading you blog, it might be time for re-evaluation of what's important.

i haven't had comments since 2000 and when i did have them (for two whole weeks and got nothing but trash written in them), i got rid of them. i do not miss them at all. i also feel people are generally full of shit or incredibly phony and am not really interested in what they say regarding my posts. i'm not writing for anyone but me. i don't know what people want or like and i'm not about to cater to them. not in a blog. no way.

[Alice Q. Foodie]

Hi Shuna - this is funny, because I've been feeling the same way - but then I haven't been leaving comments for you (or very many other people) lately either! It's hard to tell, sometimes I think it's just that comments beget more comments.

In any event - I always enjoy your musings - just keep doing what you're doing. No showers needed!

As an aside I am wondering if you know my baking and pastry instructor, James Foran? He used to be up there, and he's relatively well known.

Cheers!

[ari]

i do think your blog is the kind that facilitates/invites conversation - however. everything people have said about comments coming and going and people just being fickle, though not in a bad way - all of this is true.

back when i was posting images of drawings i'd worked on, i had to fight tooth and nail to get people to give me feedback in comment form. this sort of hesitance to comment on what's creative/ specifically personal, as opposed to what's political or understandable like other food topics, might also have something to do with less comments on the poem posts.

anyway. i will comment more if you say you'll make that chocolate cake-ish next passover. the meyer lemon dessert was dreamy, but obviously, i haven't forgot the cake-ish.

i have good food memory.

and now, since you'd recommended that i do this, i'll take this opportunity to give a shout out to another blog that's just starting to get comments - by it's own authors! zeum's own teen interns, the zeummasters.

check it out.

http://zeummasters.blogspot.com

(i'm shameless)

[Helen]

Now, I may be wrong but I navigate equally between French and English/American blogs nd I notice that people in Europe will take the extra 2 minutes to post something, even so simple as "Hello, interesting post/ recipe". Here we don't seem to post unless we feel it will be profound. I am happy when people take the extra minute in their busy life to just shout me an hello. I like the comments that push me to say "yes, maybe I did not develop that idea enough" or "oops, I forgot to talk about that aspect", but I am equally heppy when a blogging a aquaintance does a drive by comment.
Just my thought.

[Husband]

Let me say that I love your blog. It was one of the most flattering things when you put ours as one of the blogs you had a crush on.

However, I'm a notorious lurker and don't comment often. So, even when I'm not saying much I'm enjoying it a tremdnous amount.

Second, I don't think you are too sensitive about the comments. It perplexes me at times as well. Some of my worst posts get the most comments and some of my favorites get none at all. My pistachio ice cream is one of those that to this day is my favorite recipe I've ever posted, and no one even paid much attention to it. So, I never can figure out what my readers want.

We adore you and don't get down! We are still avid reading, even if just not telling you so.

[Sharon]

Shuna, you're clearly getting plenty of reinforcement here. However, it's worth saying that your blog is maginificent and I'm a regular reader . . . if not a regular commenter. Keep up the good work and keep inspiring us. I promise to keep reading if not always commenting.

[naked desserts]

I visit your site everyday and Love all your posts-personal and profesional.

It is easy to leave a comment of encouragement, support, or a thank you. On other instances, I just get a quiet satisfaction after reading your post. I don't have a clue how to express that!

[Sarah]

Read you daily. Love the poetry, the recipes, the food stories, the life stories, the honesty, all of it. I think you have one of the more intelligent banks of food writing out there right now.

[shauna]

Oh Shuna, we love you. Comments come and go. On one post I receive 54, and the next one 6. Write for yourself, from the heart, and we will read.

It's hard to remember — I try to remind myself — but writing is only an offering. We can't look for the comment back. Keep going.

[Linda]

Hi Shuna,
I love to read your blog but because you are a professional chef I read it for chef stuff. I'm not particularlity interested in poetry and nature stuff. But that's just me...

[mare]

okay...I have a question:

I see lots of seiten recipes bounding around the web, as a celiac they are not an option. What can I use instead? Tempeh?

I appreciate the help Shuna, just never wanted to bother anyone with the question, really.

[Joe Fish]

Still love you... just working 19 hours a day. Happy Ravioli and Leg of Lamb Day.

xo
Fish

[shuna fish lydon]

monkey wrangler,
thanks for catching this post just moments after publication! I'm so glad you're just mere miles from my own house and kitchen!

aaron,
thank you for being there, even when you're thousands of miles away! here's to a summer filled with ice cream!

puck,
your own blog is so lovely, wow. thanks for speaking up even though you're shy!

calichef,
thank you for the amazing invitation. I'm not sure I'll roadtrip up to oroville again, but if you find yourself on the peninsula point, do let us all know. we bay area food bloggers do know how to welcome a person!

sara,
yeah for first comments! yeah for second and third comments! and ones you lose count of! I say it all the time but eggbeater loves new voices! thanks for sayin' sompin'

lydia,
your insight and particular knowledge has been noted. thanks for telling all. your comment s proof that I was ok to ask the questions, even if they sounded pathetic.

denzylle,
around that time, while I was in London, Typepad had an onslaught of spam and because I was on dial-up things got lost. but I'm glad it didn't deter you. (And my what a gorgeous name you have!)

maggie,
thanks for stopping by even to type those words! glad you're eyeballs are still around!

mary,
thanks for the encouragement. glad you're enjoying the words!

deb,
having you around is like seeing a famous person on the sidewalk! thanks for making eggbeater part of your life! (and for taking such sexy photos of food!)

aimee,
yes, just comments are absent. although a lot of people stop by, I think many of them are lost in google-land...

luisa,
you are such a gem! more adventures in nyc this summer?

jenny,
thank you for your thoughtful words. the best way to encourage pastry chefs is to bother your local press into giving them their own press. this way their name might go on the menu and their work will be paid attention to...

anita,
do be careful of those alligators, they is some fearsome creatures! I'm looking forward to having you in the class you thought of!

curt,
your dilemma is an intriguing one. I know few male born people who are blogging, it's true. this might have to do with the fact that all over the world the main voice heard is that of men and in blogs we seek out the voices of those not generally heard. (One Black male blogger I read gets over a hundred comments just minutes after he posts!) my best advice--- leave comments all over the blogosphere. this way people click on your name and find your blog. also take time to edit your words. the people with the clearest voices on the most partiucular of subjects seem to get the largest readership...

garrett,
"Each comment is like a hug from Jesus" THIS COMMENT MADE ME LAUGH OUTLOUD AT HOME ALONE! you are the absolute best!!! yes, I remember when you were only a commenter. and now look at you-- you're the fancy cupcake QUEEN!

lisa,
****In fact I AM THINKING ABOUT TEACHING IN NYC THIS SUMMER!*** look for me in June... don't worry, I will keep y'all well informed!

rachael,
thank you! thank you! (but remember I am just a mere human like the rest of us two-leggeds!

christina,
well thank you for enjoying slightly past silently this time. it's much appreciated!

tea,
LOOKIE! I am responding to ever single commenter! Thanks for the feedback-- it all helps! and hey-- you not supposed to be in seattle forever, right?

susan,
thanks for signing up for the class! it should be a big & lively one indeed!

biggles,
eegads, it's true: tax time! that dreaded plague of spring... worse than slugs and snails!

sean,
thanks for being there as your cute prolific self! I get tired just trying to keep up with you, badass.

joanna,
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR KITCHEN-AID!!!!!! and yeah for making that recipe! pavlovas, when done right, are like eating clouds! thanks for stopping back to say you made em. (look for the cake VERY soon!) thanks for asking!

lori s,
well I appreciate that your working at a new job! don't worry, soon you'll have time to subvert the paradigm again....

dolores,
you, my girl, are one unbeatable person! thanks for sticking around!

shelly,
what I love about you is that your humour comes right through this black lifelless canvas we call the inter net. I'm glad you're out there, taking my classes, writing into the void even when we hear our own echo back! and yes on the interactive part. sometimes I ask specific people for comments and they write or call me at home!

carolyn T,
yes! we WANT feedback! If even to know there's a reader or two out there getting something from the missives! thanks for your good words on my words.

lynn d,
no need to be faulkner in the comments. believe you me, spell check could make a lot of money if it charged per word! thanks for the lunch invite.

chronicler,
thanks for being with me from the beginning! and hey, if I had a car like that I would be gone a lot too!

MEJ,
"Maybe I would react better if I moved yours to another category...I think that would help me be more receptive." I've heard a lot lately that people more think of eggbeater as a life blog. I like this, I think it is more apt since eggbeater describes my life. and when I'm working 95 hours a week again, all it will describe is THAT life...

raspil,
have you EVER been shy?! your words are strong & important and I appreciate them. I appreciate that you are forging your way through a tough business with a tough attitude. I appreciate that you are a female line cook who has what it takes to be very good. admittedly, although my own personal passion drives me, feedback is sometimes needed. (even in the harsh realities of the kitchen.)

alice q,
I don't know this fellow... do you know where exactly he is. there's a chance I might know him through the grapevine... I'll keep an eye and mouth out for him. glad to see you commenting here again... and it's true-- comments are like bunnies.

ari,
go ari! go ari! coming out of the woodwork into the woods!

helen,
I will have to agree with your assessment. in america there are a LOT of blogs and we have far too many to choose from. I'm going to try and take more time to comment as well. it was great to meet the london bloggers-- they gavce me such a warm welcome!

husband,
we are part of the mutual admiration society. thanks for your eyes even when I don't have your voice!

sharon,
thank you for reading regularly! and thank you for your flattery!

naked desserts,
thank you for the encouragement!

sarah,
thank you for reading it all. and thanks for your words on my words. writing is an elusive profession indeed!

shauna,
"Write for yourself, from the heart, and we will read." thank you dearheart. this is all true but I was really starting to feel dejected and I was moved to say so...

linda,
thank you for your honesty. my chef professional self has a wide variety of interests and places for inspiration so I hope you're ok with weeding through what you don't like to find what you do.

mare,
the best place for this question is with Shauna (above) of gluten-free girl. I am in no way the celiac expert and I would be loathe to steer you in the wrong direction!

joe fish!!!!!
nice to see you again, other fish! happy asparagus and ham day! see you in a few months, yes?!

[s'kat]

Shuna- you rock, but I'm shy and don't always pop by with a comment (except for the alligator thing).

I love reading your site, and if you do indeed take your teachings on the road, rest assured I'll sign up for one!

Cheers,
s'kat

[mare]

Shucks, Shuna ~ thanks I thought of Shauna, but really didn't think another person who couldn't have seiten would know. Alas, even if Shauna doesn't know, her Chef will!

Thanks!!

[psn]

Shuna,

I do love your blog, but I get it through an RSS reader, so I hardly ever comment anywhere. I do know what you mean, about writing and having no feedback just feels like writing out to (ahem, computer pun approaching) the ether. It's nice when someone just drops a line once in a while. Perhaps I'll go around this week and leave a post on the blogs I read, just as a "Thanks for your words. I do love reading them, even if I'm usually/always a lurker." Keep up the awesome work.

[JM]

Another thing about cycles...especially if you have a bunch of academic-y types as readers, we tend to drown in piles of crap around midterm time, never to return until the semester is over.

I read every single post you write, here and at Bay Area Bites, but my brain is so fried from school stuff that I can't do anything more than give you a mental gold star and then move back to my thesis-writing. :(

[shuna fish lydon]

s'kat,

I like this: "if you do indeed take your teachings on the road" I sound like a great philosopher instead of a basic baker!

psn,

yup. you know, I have no idea how many readers come to me through RSS. Thanks for reminding me that are those of you out there... but feel free to pipe up at any time!

JM,

I feel honored that someone writing a thesis would stop by eggbeater at all! Thanks for making my words part of your life!

[Jessica "Su Good Sweets"]

I don't tend to comment on poetry on photo posts, since I mainly come here for the food. (No pun intended)

[lee]

Shuna,
Since I visited SF and met you in the flesh, I have let my blog slide and have stopped reading food blogs obsessively too. At first I thought it was temporary. I was intimidated writing about my trip because I so admire the writing style of you and Tea and felt I couldn't live up to it. Then I joined a group on flickr where I post a daily photo. I started to teach myself photoshop and this was taking all my time. My friends have started asking if I'm ever going to post again (even though most of them never commented!) and I just don't know. I'm more inspired by the photography right now. There's only so many hours in a day. I started blogging because I wanted to be part of the community. Sadly, there are few bloggers where I live. I think maybe, unconciously, meeting you and Tea was an end to my year of food blogging and it's time to move on. Of course, I will continue reading and commenting, just not as obsessively. I really appreciate your writing.

[Dad & Ellen]

Thought I'd write to cheer you up for not getting so many comments, and I see you got a million comments!! I think what everybody says about waxing and waning is true. Also true artists keep sending out their creations no matter what the response.

Poets used to say, "Putting out a book of poetry and expecting a response is like dropping a rose petal into the Grand Canyon and expecting an echo."

Bloggers today tend to get much more response than bookwriters of twenty years ago when responding meant mailing a letter to the author care of the publisher who might or might not forward it. Today, a couple of clicks and instant feedback!

You must be gratified to hear from so many people who say, "We live you even when we don't comment."

Now this comment is long enough! Bye!!