It seems only yesterday that I started blogging and in what feels like a heartbeat, a blink of an eye, a flash, two shakes of a lamb’s tail, a New York minute, it’s now roughly, just about, approximately, one year later, and I’m still alive. Time flies when you’re having fun, ain’t that the truth?
So what is this supposed to mean? Am I now no longer considered a beginner, a learner, a novice, a newbie? Wait, go back, go back, to that “novice” part. Therein lies the problem. My blog name is The Novice Gardener. I’m forever a novice. I will never be a master. Might as well. I don’t even know what CSS, RSS, or ASS stands for. Oh, wait, I do know about the ASS part. Acute Silliness Syndrome, isn’t it?
The Novice Gardener – Acutely Silly DenFooDenDo Blog. You’ll have to read Part I to find out what that stands for. It has nothing to do with being cute, I’m afraid. Get it? Acutely? A…Cute…Ly? Oh, never mind!
In that Part I, I mentioned having a hard time completing Blogging 201 assignments. All stemming from the fact, I believe, that I have an accidental blog, and not a purposeful one. It’d be so much easier if I had a purposeful blog. Then I can envision what it is that I want this blog to grow up to be.
Sadly, however, that wouldn’t solve all my branding problems. At the root of my problems lies a fickle mind. I can never stick to a course of action. That’s why it’s a DenFooDenDo blog.
It is somewhat a surprise to me that I’m able to stick with this blogging thing for this long. I attribute my doggedness solely to the friendships I’ve forged through the blog. Only because I’ve found a blogging community, made easy by WordPress, I’ve been able to continue. (I wonder how it is at Blogger? Should I find out?)
Some may pooh-pooh the idea of virtual friendship. A non-virtual friend happened to deride the value of virtual friendship openly recently. In an attempt to be snarky, I’m sure. I’ve just got a question for those espousing this viewpoint. Ever heard of pen pals?
So, we’ve established the fact that this is a blog without a purpose. Judging from the response from you, that doesn’t seem to matter all that much. The more important question, rather, is what will I do with it?
I can tell you now that this blog will continue to be a jumble of thoughts and ideas, and although I’ve been accused of this, it will never be one of those blogs that aspires to inspire. Of course, if any of my posts happens to inspire you, that’s an added bonus, the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, as well as music to my ears. See, I can’t even stick to one phrase. Do you see a pattern?
As a matter of fact, everything seems to work in reverse with me and this blog. This blog, started accidentally, has inspired me to write better, cook better, garden better, photograph better, decorate better, and so on. This blog, started accidentally, has taught me so much about what motivates and moves me, what I like and don’t like to do, and most importantly, what I can and cannot do.
This blog, started accidentally, more or less a year ago, has taught me so much about myself, in the most unimaginably fun way. This has been a year filled with excitement, fun, laughter, and most of all, discoveries.
Who knew when I started, accidentally, that I could make pretty things like these:
Who knew when I started, accidentally, that I had stories like these inside of me, waiting to be told:
A Pomegranate Tree Inside Of Me
Peacemaker
Lamb Shank Curry Quest
Who knew when I started, accidentally, that I harbored so many opinions about so many different things:
Bruno Mars WAS the right choice
The art of being interesting (Scandalous Sandwich)
Quayles and Potatoes
And the most meaningful discovery of all, who knew when I started, accidentally, that I would meet wonderful online friends, such as all of you.
That is just a partial list, consisting of my Fiesta Friday and Fiesta Friday Challenge co-hosts. I’ve met many more friends than this list shows, of course. Many, many more. Wonderfully talented and incredibly creative blogging friends, who are caring, supportive, kind, and gracious. Virtual friends for now, but you’ll never know.
To celebrate all these discoveries, and my belated 1st Blogiversary, whether it’s in March or in April (both went unnoticed), I made this cake, not accidentally, but inspired quite entirely, by Momofuku’s naked cakes. My fickle mind couldn’t decide on crystallized or fresh flowers for decoration, so I present to you both.
This post is long enough, so recipes will have to wait, maybe in Part III. Nah…there’s no Part III, just teasing. But there will be Fiesta Friday #15.
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The Novice Gardener 