Ode to 118 degrees

I was aware of this when I agreed to move to this fair city in the desert.  This is the Sonoran desert after all, the same latitude and altitude as the Northern Sahara for those needing a point of reference.  Despite all of the super irrigated and lush lawns full of citrus trees this is still an area that averages extreme temperatures and and average annual rain fall under 9 inches.

This heat is different.  Strangely enough there is a difference between 103 and 109 and there is also a difference between 109 and 117.  At 105 or 109 you can still get away with working outside, shade still offers refuge.  At 117 the heat is thick, even in the shade.  You look outside and plants look fatigued, brown, and weak.  The bright sun only illuminates a weary and browning landscape.  The family of quail in our neighborhood seeks refuge deep within the jasmine that I keep moist.

So I will deal with this heat wave.  I will huddle indoors in a sluggish state of survival.  I will repeatedly remind myself of how nice it is in February.  And I will wonder why the heck we didn't arrange to be in San Diego.

We should have known better.  Ah.....Phoenix.

Introducing Bite Sized Phoenix

It's no secret that I'm a glutton for ....well, gluttony.  I take up any chance to get out and sample some new cuisine in the burgeoning and ever impressive Phoenix dining scene.  As much as I enjoy Yelp I wanted to put my own stamp on my fair city.

Enter Bite Sized Phoenix.  The idea is to provide a precise, twitter-like experience for those wanting to explore the culinary options of the greater Phoenix area.  I don't have any grand aspirations for the site other then an outlet to document my experiences in a medium that gives me a little more creative possibility.  It is still a work in progress but it is starting to take shape.

Excessive Sociality

Pardon me while I wipe the dust off my blog. In this age of 140 characters, likes, and instagram there seemingly isn't much room for expansive thought and paragraphs.  I'm not alone as a quick perusal of most blogs that I usually follow reveals that mine isn't the only one resembling an unkept corner on the web.

Why?

Do we no longer have the attention span or fortitude to actually see our thoughts through.  Perhaps.  The new portals of social media seem to be a kudzu strangling the life from the once verdant blog landscape.  Alas, the 'Dude' is one of those now on life support.

This is what it has to cope with.

1. Twitter- It is so much easier to write in 140 characters instead of going through the effort to develop a thought.
2. Facebook- Tough to compete with that ecosystem.  I remember joining that thing early on when it was nothing more then a playground of a few thousand college kids.  No, carried on the backs of a billion house wives, it is the 800 pound gorilla that has become the de facto clearing house for anything online.
3. Linked In- Yes, even this business networking tool takes time away from the beloved blog.  The groups function provide relevant forums that typically hone in on special interests better then the looser network of the blogosphere.
4. Vine- Pictures now?
5. Instagram- Now that we are literally carrying a couple cameras with us at all times it only makes sense that we have a convenient way to post everything.
6. Pinterest- Not much experience here either but a force to be reckoned with.
7. Yelp- We can't even eat without feeling compelled to tell the world about it.

So we see that all of these and others have been slowly chipping away at whatever free time we have to devote to the grandfather of social media, the blog.  And just like our grandparents they will be relegated to only occasional visits  a sporadic fits of nostalgia.