Here in Highland Park, New Jersey

Ilana-Davita got picked as one of Swedish Chekchouka’s seven blogs, so Ilana-Davita picked me as one of her favorite blogs.

As Ilana-Davita pointed out, by picking out seven, you are eliminating others. I decided the first person on my list would be the first person disappointed by her list, and here she is (drum roll, please):

Batya at Me-Ander: Batya was the blogger who introduced me to blog carnivals. Many months ago, she left a comment on one of my cooking posts; I felt like she introduced me to the JBlogosphere. Yay, Batya!

And now for my second pick:
Daniel who’s Struggling with God: He writes nicely and a very human way. Yes, he is often struggling. Sometimes someone else can voice what others just feel.

Three:
Gail at Rubicon3: Gail writes insightfully about politics, warmly about her family, and I love when she puts up a drawing. She’s also a great photographer. Yesterday she helped me with Twitter. I still am not quite sure what Twitter is all about, but if you want to follow me, I’m leoraw.

Four:
A Mother in Israel: She’s one of the only bloggers I’ve met in person. There’s always an interesting discussion on her blog. And I’m rather partial to the lovely header she has up there (I designed it for her).

Five:
Frumhouse: Always something interesting to say, an interesting angle. Sometimes a lovely poem to warm your day.

Six:
Jack: He helps keep the Jblogosphere going with Haveil Havalim, and he’s funny. More the second one. I mean, the first one is a lot more work. But the second one is why it’s always worth a peek to see what he’s noting today.

Seven:
Lion of Zion: He teaches me about Brooklyn, what’s up in Camp Moshava these days (I went there for four years in the 1970s), gives me a peek into the male world of leining. Unpredictable, what his next post topic will be.

Eight (who said I can count):
Robin, who introduced me to all these wonderful photo bloggers and Mr. Linky fun

Who I didn’t pick:
TherapyDoc is already on Ilana-Davita’s list.
SuperRaizy is already on Ilana-Davita’s list.
Baila is on Swedish Chekchouka’s list.
ImaBima is already on Ilana-Davita’s list.
HiHoRosie just got a similar award from her set of bloggers.

And I’m often finding new ones. I also really like A Simple Jew. Is that cheating?

So, feel free to take up the challenge of seven favorite bloggers. It’s not easy.

Kosher Cooking Carnival #32: the the look but you better not eat edition is up over at Soccer Dad’s (It was a fast day yesterday, but now that’s over, so eat, kinderlach, eat).

I will be hosting in August, so please post recipes, thoughts on food, restaurant reviews, anything food-related as long as it’s kosher.
For more details, read Batya’s post, who coordinates the Kosher Cooking Carnival.

I posted the answer to the Cookie Contest in the comments to that post.

And because I love showing off photos, here’s more Kfar Blum breakfast, the kibbutz hotel we stayed out in the north of Israel. For the salad lovers, we had:

And for the all-American kids like my son (and their mothers who had to taste and decided these were the best pancakes she had ever eaten):

I have more ideas for posts than time. Here are some I’d like to present:

• Birthday Party Ideas
• Breakfast in Kfar Ruth (pronounced ‘Root’, as in root canal, but much tastier)
• In Search of Brown Rice (posted!)
• Easy Hikes in Tel Dan
• Art in Israel
• Explaining Ghosts to Small Children
• A Crab Photo (I thought maybe it was a scorpion?)
• Border Ahead: How Little Israel Is, A Photo Essay
• Artsy Manholes (What Does Your Sidewalk Say To You?)
• Chicken Soup (the homemade food my kids missed the most when we were traveling)
• Noodle Kugel for kids Recipe (posted!)

And I have a Pirkei Avot post that I promise, at least to Ilana-Davita, bli neder (without making the promise have to stand up in a Jewish court, or something like that), that I will get online this week. About how even if you’re an old fogey-stogey like we are becoming, you can still learn Torah. But it’s much easier to get started when you’re young.
Posted: Learn as a Child

Meanwhile, visit Therapydoc’s post about the Shidduchim Crisis (matchmaking crisis in the Jewish community).

I really enjoy sites that use this cute little widget called Mr. Linky.

I first learned about these little projects for blogs to which one adds one’s own link from Robin, who regularly posts on Wordless Wednesday. I found Robin because she sometimes comments on Mother In Israel. And I want to wish Mother in Israel a safe and happy trip to America. And thank her for coming to visit us when we were at the Kings Hotel in Jerusalem.

OK, back to Mr. Linky. At one point several months ago, I posted a composition for Project Blue, which also uses Mr. Linky. That was a lot of fun. Soon after, Ilana-Davita posted for Ruby Tuesday. I also posted a recipe in a recipe box swap that uses Mr. Linky. Today, I “met” a blogger named Dina, who was posting as part of an ABC project that uses Mr. Linky. Dina, who lives west of Jerusalem, wrote about the attack last week. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Linky, I wouldn’t have found her blog.

What is very cool about all this is that you can connect with people you really wouldn’t otherwise meet. What you have in common is the desire to share something simple, a photo or a recipe. But it’s a nice start, sort of like an ice-breaker at a party full of guests.

It seems you can use Mr. Linky on almost any blogging platform, including one’s own Wordpress installation, like mine. More about using Mr. Linky here. So if anyone has any good ideas for a Mr. Linky scheme, let me know. I was thinking of an alephbet one, like every week bloggers write something about a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Would it work? An artistic one, where artists can post a link to their latest creation? Any ideas welcome. Also, if you have a favorite Mr. Linky project that you’ve found on someone’s blog, please let me know.

We are going on vacation. And so is this blog. When I will get a chance to post again is a mystery to me (as well as to you). Maybe next week? Stay tuned.

In the photo is one of the first rudbeckia (black-eyed susan) of the season. I have many of them growing in the front of my house. Rudbeckia are native to New Jersey.

Underneath my yellow rudbeckia flower is a geranium plant with purple flowers. The little orange “dot” in the upper left of the picture is one of my first marigolds of the season.

Or this could be titled:

Stealing ideas from your blogger friends

First, Haveil Havalim #169 is up, in two parts, on a new (new to me, anyway) site: Part I and Part II. Jill’s blog is called Writes Like She Talks.

This brings me to the title of this post: Why blog?
And the subtitle: I stole this from Mother in Israel. (good topic, mom)
I do not talk like I write. I have always felt stifled in my talk, and therefore one of my goals with blogging is to say what I need to say in print. And hopefully in “real life” I can feel more comfortable expressing my ideas verbally.

Initially, I was hoping to connect with others locally, in the Highland Park area. What I have found is that many of those who read blogs are bloggers themselves. It has been a joy to connect with others around the world, in Israel, in France, in Seattle, in Virginia, in Chicago, in England, in (wherever it is you presently live). As Baila described me on her blog, she used the expression: “jack-of-all-trades”. The unfortunate conclusion to that expression is “master of none”, but I do try! So as many topics as I have introduced on this blog, I am sure there are more that I will explore in the future. And I LOVE comments. Please share your thoughts!

When Ilana-Davita linked to the latest HH, she included a lovely rose. It inspired me to post the little marigold on top of this post, that I found early this morning peeking under from under a geranium plant. This one probably was a self-seeder from last year’s marigolds. Unfortunately, the camera focused on the geranium leaves instead of the marigold, but I don’t have the patience (or time) to take the photo again. You get the idea. And thank you, Ilana-Davita, for letting me steal another good presentation notion.

NOTE: This blog will be going on vacation soon. Hopefully, I’ll write a little post about being away that should appear early Thursday morning.

And I’m stealing Mom in Israel’s conclusion, too:

Okay, that’s enough about me and my blog. Tell me about yours.