Came across this today via boingboing.net, which should tell you everything you need to know. Lunchtime trickster Insanewich has a couple items that every hip 'n happening cheese blogger has on his or her desk:

Hi, Mom!

Thanks for sending me this link to the mysterious Yogurito; I love Japanese softdrinks like the mysteriously stony-flavored Pocari Sweat and the milk-based, lacto-fermented Calpis Water, so it might just be up my alley.

Randall Munroe writes what is commonly considered one of the nerdiest comic strips on the planet.

I can't quibble with that analysis, but beyond the abstruse math gags, programming jokes and assorted geekery, he's also got a very good eye for the human condition.

Jesse Reklaw has been drawing his reader's dreams for a decade and a half in his weekly comic strip, Slow Wave.

People dream about food a lot. Alongside phantasms of vampire linguini and forced cereal eating, I thought that this recent account was worth sharing...

If you think the life of a writer is a bumpy one, you can well imagine being a lowly blogger is even more of a challenge.The competition is ON between me and Will Fertman for the most California-local, farm-fresh experiment-gone-right, and he is basically killing me.  But what Will doesn’t know is that we’ve replaced regular household freezer items with these natural tree-bearing ones from over the fence next door... let’s see what happens.  Yes, Will, come September, I will have a bevy of cheese-pairing chutneys from my bounty of fruit and herb, so start shaking in your Birkenstocks.

In the meantime, I’d like to share with you one of the many perks of writing and blogging in a focused marketplace.

Thinking about the wine article from our fall issue, and remembered this little clip... Picture me as the guy in the sweater w/the bowl cut.

Since this is my first contribution to this blog please let me introduce myself: I am a Swiss food journalist turned cheese importer & wholesaler. My company, Quality Cheese, was born out of lack. When I moved to Florida fifteen years ago I immediately started to miss all the fabulous cheeses I had loved, been exposed to and eaten daily back home.

During a phone call with my friend, Affineur Rolf Beeler, I mentioned that I would have to start importing his products. Somehow this little joke stuck in my head. A few months later I ordered thirty pounds each of Rolf’s Gruyere, Sbrinz and Emmentaler. I set out for a trip that led me to five cities and chefs like Tom Keller, Daniel Boulud, Gray Kuntz and Charlie Trotter. Upon my return I found the first order on my fax machine. From a certain Mr. Max McCalman for (at the time) Picholine Restaurant.

Saturday, 26 February 2011
Lunigiana, Italy

Desperate times call for desperate measures, one of the few clichés I can actually tolerate, applies tonight. And I do mean desperate. It has been a completely manic week at the farm, with Spring showing up early and agriturismo guests following the season. Needless to say, tonight is una Notte di Blockbuster, accompanied by a local syrah (purchased Monday by my friend Teri Love of Gioia Wines in Santa Barbara, but sadly left behind for ME!) and some cheeses I bought this week and (gasp!) haven’t found the opportunity to open slowly, bleeding out the process of pairing and sampling at a snail’s pace. Anything less deliberate is a wasted opportunity fraught with the tastelessness of simply snacking and the oblivion of a half-cocked palate, and was thus omitted from this past week’s agenda.

Friday, 14 January 2011
Pontremoli, Italy