What does blogging feel like to you? Part 2

Whether or not you blog for income, there is still respect for consistent and creative--or even just common sense--content. Aside from motivation, there are plenty of resources for helping you establish yourself as a quality blogger. Whatever “quality” means, I guess. In this arena of self-producing and self-publishing, one just may be one’s own boss. Without much physical capital and with time and focus being major investments in your blogging, one may find it easy and even attractive to just…slack a bit.

I figure that your motivation to blog is cultivated by your desired outcomes, including the level of engagement of your readers. Sometimes people may get this backwards: they have enough motivation to start creating content and when fame-and-fortune (to use a euphemism) don’t come their way in the first hours, days, weeks or months, discouragement runs amuck.

What does blogging feel like to you? Part 1

I feel like I've neglected this blog recently. Has Twitter been my excuse?

I think I’ve fallen in love with Twitter this year and it seems to be my social networking platform of choice.

But, wait. Isn’t Twitter a micro-blogging platform? Anyways, I never said the words “social media” until I began managing social networking accounts that weren’t my personal ones; I maintain a difference in my mind between social media and social networking. Twitter as a micro-blogging site is a type of social network but it doesn’t seem to displace anything other than perhaps my blog. Well, in the world of “social,” Twitter doesn’t replace Facebook at all for me, but the engagement I find on Twitter is a lot more, well, engaging than I thought it would be. I use the two platforms to interact and in different ways with different people and groups. The “conversation” and “dialogue” have been of value to me.

My blogging was more of a monologue that I thought I would just put out there and hoped/expected that someone would find it intriguing/funny/witty/relevant.

I’m working on that. Recently, I was better at consistently posting what I hoped were quality and relevant posts but when I became more engaged on Twitter and I learned that Twitter was, well, micro-blogging, I didn’t feel so bad about neglecting my Blogger dashboard once in a while.

I’m planning on getting back into the swing of things, though. I have decided on shorter posts and posting series of content on topics that I am interested in and that I hope to effectively share with people that are also interested in those topics.

I hesitate to say that I should find blogging pleasurable and I don’t know why. I may think that at the moment because that next thing to say is that blogging is one thing for sure:

work.

But, I’m looking forward to it! Check out Friday’s post for the topics I plan on writing about in my upcoming post series.

See Aden Run! Only $10!

Or something like that.

This Saturday I will be joining my team in the Greensboro Children's Museum's Running for the Green 5K. The event will be a fun time supporting the museum's new Edible School Yard that will be debuting right after the Running of the Green this Saturday, May 22nd, at the Greensboro Children's Museum.



The above photo was taken at one of the first volunteer Saturdays at GCM when we started digging the plots. Now that was an experience for me! Ah, nature.

My team doesn't have a name yet...we really didn't think about that! We're three in the team and are pretty excited about Saturday!

Learn more about the Edible School Yard and it's inspiration:
Greensboro Children's Museum
GCM Edible School Yard
GCM Running of the Green 5K
Alice Waters

Spring is no joke.

Looks like I took myself a four-day weekend from blogging. Kinda like Thanksgiving, but not.

So much has been going on in Greensboro lately! Spring is no joke. The moment the morning of March 20th rolled in with all it's spring-y spring-y-ness, this city has been jumping! Maybe there's just as much to do during the cold and/or dreary months, but this time of year makes everything just more...energetic!

Well, except for Sunday when I was kicking around with my kickball teammates in 90 degree weather. My lemon-flavored seltzer water was not cutting it in the hydration department.

At the beginning of every month you gotta say it: "I can't believe it's already (insert month here)."

Well, it's May and we're straddling spring and summer. Before we know it, the back to school sales will be filling our ad streams.

Anyhow, today is Tuesday, May 4th. It's an election day and it's Dining out for Hunger Day.

Yes, I think "community" is a nebulous term and even concept but other times, doing something in the community is the only think that makes sense.

Welcome to May!

It's like heaven on Earth!

Or, at least in the blogosphere!

I stumbled upon (what a great name for a website) Annie's Eats blog yesterday. I feel like I've been to that site before. I can't remember when, how and why, but yesterday was the day that I scrolled down the blog and gasped every...oh...half a second?

These are some things that Annie has featured recently that I l-o-v-e (in chronological posting order):

1. mango sorbet
2. taco and mac in the same sentence
3. hydrangeas!
4. champagne cocktails!
5. artichokes...I mean, are you kidding me? Is she reading my mind?
6. fresh fruit
7. lovely handwriting (and a "liquor store" section in a grocery list!)
8. Earth Day + cupcakes x an awesomely simple cupcake design = awesome
   
9. hummus
10. pita bread
11. baked good featuring oranges

The list could probably go on. I did click on "Next Page," but I figured that if I wanted to get any sleep last night, I should hold off on that.

And now that I've skimmed through the photos, I can take some time to read some text and get more than the gist of posts. Although, food + photography can kinda make one crazy...

The year of the coconut.

What is going on? Purely Decadent has gone Purely Crazy! It seems that grocery stores are replacing the regular Purely Decadent flavors with the coconut milk versions. It's hard to miss--I guess if you are sensitive to these perhaps premium products--all of Turtle Mountain's coconut craziness: the milk, the ice cream, the yogurt.

Ok, let's be honest. It's the "milk," the "ice cream" and the "yogurt." In any case, I am not amused.

My love affair with Purely Decadent came about in, oh, Summer 2006 or so when I discovered it's Cookie Avalanche flavor. It thought, jackpot! Over the years, new flavors rolled out and I tried a few until I stumbled upon a new flavor that knocked Cookie Avalanche out of the water.

That would be...aaaahhhh...Cookie Dough.

Now, after ditching most dairy a long time ago, not having milk or ice cream for at least ten years now, I really didn't miss it. My first taste of so-called ice cream was a delightful Tofutti Cutie and I loved it. When I noticed pints of the stuff from different brands, I was more open to the idea that I could eat ice cream again. Not just sorbet, but something I could make a sundae with!

Not that I actually make sundaes.

When the Food Lion near me started straight-up replacing the regular Purely Decadent Cookie Dough and other flavors with the coconut versions, I was taken aback. I was pretty sure that I was the person buying out the stock of the regular version but it always seemed to be restocked so I could continue to pay the extra 30 cents or so that the price rose about three times (grrr).

I mean, I did try the coconut version but it was too...coconut-y. I must say though, despite the somewhat overwhelming coconut flavor, the texture of the ice cream is amazing. I kept saying that it tasted like eating a cold, creamy pillow. That's the best I could think of.

I'm no poet.

Look, if it were just a coconut-flavor of the ice cream, I guess I wouldn't care. But I now assume that every other flavor of the coconut version is just the assigned flavor in a dense coconut-y fog.

Which is ok, if you don't mind that.

I live so far out from other grocery stores that it's basically not worth it to me to buy the regular Purely Decadent and drive home. That biz would melt.

Well, I could just save my money and stop dropping 4 bucks on something that I eat in a night or two. I would get an insulated bag but for some reason I have the perception that that is not an eco-friendly purchase. The world is complex.

The year of the coconut isn't all negative. I discovered coconut milk this year and it has made my cupcake baking pretty fun and interesting. I've got bags of shredded coconut and that's been a cute and tasty addition to things.

You think I can get locally farmed coconut in Greensboro?


Yea, sure.

I "Facebook" like you. How's about that?

I was looking up Panda Express since they are a new merchant on our discount card at work and I had to share: Panda Express' playing off of the new "Like" button on Facebook just cracked me up! Great way to get into the "Like" button!

"Do you 'like' me...?"

http://www.facebook.com/PandaExpress