The Blogger Beast

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For twenty years I worked as a software developer which offered me limited opportunity to express myself creatively. Even though problem solving often requires thinking out of the box, I had no idea that I still had oodles of pent up creativity locked inside me until I retired. I was surprised how hungry I was to feed the need to create. It was like an ever-hungry beast lived inside me.

To quel The Beast, I made wreaths and floral arrangements, painted elaborate banners for my kids' elementary school, accepted more calligraphy jobs, took a Photoshop class, and several floristry classes. I even accepted a few event jobs where I provided all the decorations for weddings and bat mitzvahs. 

It turns out that these activities only whetted The Beast's appetite. Then I learned about the world of blogging. The Beast stepped up her appetite and became The Blogger Beast. 

There are times when I simply can not devote my time to feeding her, and then she slyly morphs herself into a hungry child, sweetly enticing me to feed her, one small morsel at a time. I have a choice; shall I let her go hungry or indulge her with fast food?

 

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Though it hasn’t happened yet, will the time ever come when she will refuse to be fed? Will she become like a petulant child refusing to be fed?

 

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I'm usually cooking up something for The Beast. On the front burner is the very next meal, almost ready to serve. On the back burner some ideas are simmering, in the fridge some thoughts are marinating, and on the counter I'm slicing and dicing the next post.

 

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Sometimes I'm just planning the menu, figuring out what to feed her next. What would be delicious for my diners? Which ingredients would I like to surround myself with? How many courses should I make? It seems my Blogger Beast sometimes enjoys multi-course meals.

Then there are the times when I have to run out to get more ingredients.  If I'm lucky, I already have them in my pantry of photos, or at Getty Images or in Flickr's Creative Commons store, but sometimes I have to wait until I have time to go out to shoot. Other times I can borrow a cup of images from my neighbors like Fogbay.

Now that this is my 100th post, I realize that The Blogger Beast may not be a beast after all. Maybe she's a Blogger Sprite who only morphs into a beast only when unfed. She is a frequent presence showing me her point of view. She sits on my shoulder and points out yummy things to eat, whispering in my ear how it would make a great dish. She reminds me to carry my camera, just in case we happen upon a perfect ingredient for a future meal. Right now she is a great friend who is great company and relatively undemanding.

  

To celebrate my 100th post, I would like to have a dinner party with my blogger friends. I will of course invite Tangobaby who introduced me to the wonderful world of blogging.

Relyn will grace the evening with the uplifting, soothing, spa-like atmosphere as we come sit by her fire. Cuban in London will provide us with a great playlist filled with music a propos for the occasion. Lala will fly in from her Castle in Spain to set the table with style and grace.  No need to have wardrobe angst, The Sartorialist will provide heaps of inspiration. On the walls, we can have a never-ending parade of exhibits featuring Elsa Mora's intricate papercuts, or photos provided by Ramsey at Fogbay or Robin at Birdtweets. All will join the round table of discussion. Also at the table is the ever-interesting, multi-talented Ruth from Synch-ro-ni-zing. We can go on and on about how much we love Paris. While we are talking about travel, who better to join the conversation than the flight attendant at Postcards and Coasters and Tara at Paris Parfait? When the conversation turns political, Tara will chime in with her insightful knowledge Middle Eastern politics and culture. Gabby could regale us with some of his gripping tales. The conversation will, no doubt, turn to movies, at which time we can call upon Hollywood producer, William Horberg, for his considerable expertise in the all things film, cartooning and graphic illustrations. What a fine time we will all have in each others’ company.

This is also the perfect occasion to pay forward the wonderful awards Tangobaby bestowed upon me and others many moons ago. All of you here at the dinner party, I would like to raise my glass to you and express my admiration for your talents by giving you these awards. If you haven’t already been given this award, please come up and grab them.  If you’ve already been honored with these awards, a pair is always nice. The great news is that you will have no time limit for your acceptance speeches and you will have the opportunity to pay forward these awards to your favorite bloggers.

 

Thank you, Tangobaby for these awards and for your inspiration!