For those who celebrate or commemorate it, I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day. Today many of us in the WordCount Blogathon are posting a Wordle, a word cloud design of popular words used on your blog or website. I got a kick out of the fact tha two of my largest (and, I’m guessing, most used) words are “meat” and “cream.”

Enjoy, and head on over to Wordle.net to create your own word cloud for your blog, website, or Delicious account. Come back here and post a link to it, if you like.

Photo courtesy Flickr user jonmatthew photography

The Blogathon’s second theme day asks us to reflect on what we’ve learned as bloggers. If we were to start blogging today, what would we do differently?

There is one thing above all others that I would change: I would pull a Lindsey Buckingham and go my own way.

There is a lot of blogging advice out there. Some of it is contradictory, like the number of times you should post a week. Some successful bloggers recommend posting three times a week, while other just as successful bloggers say to post once a week. 

Some of the advice is standard. Stick to your topic. Post on the same days of the week every week. Organize your thoughts into easily readable lists.

Some of it is organizational. Write and schedule your posts ahead of time. Keep an editorial calendar. Regularly host guest bloggers or submit your own guest blogging posts to other sites.

It’s easy to get caught up in all the advice, especially when most, if not all of it, is very good advice. But here’s the question: What advice works best for you and your goals, and what advice can you ignore?  

I’ll give you an example. Here are three of My Morning Chocolate’s Top 5 Posts of All Time:

Ow! My Eye! – What to do when hot pepper juice gets in your eye
How to make pain au chocolat (a photo essay)
Recycled crafts: How to make notebooks with food packaging and old paper

Notice a theme? They are all how-to posts. So, knowing that these are the most popular posts, I should write more “how to” and service posts to boost my stats, right?

Well, yes, conventional blog wisdom would say to do that. But I don’t always want to do that. I rarely do, actually.

Instead I’m much more likely to respond to some advice I got from fellow food blogger Beth at 990 Square. When I took a few very long blogging breaks this past year, she suggested I write about what’s going on in my life.

And she was right. I”m most interested in writing essays these days, even though – and I know this is shocking – stories about my life don’t get nearly as many hits. But I’m ok with that because one of my blogging goals is to practice creative nonfiction writing.

Which brings me to a second piece of advice: If I started blogging today, I would recognize that my goals for blogging would likely change over the years. We grow as people, so our blogs will naturally evolve too.  

What about you? If you started blogging today, what would you do differently?

It’s Haiku Monday, a WordCount Blogathon tradition. In the past, I’ve written about chocolate and kitchen mishaps. This year I was inspired by summer berries.

Juicy, tangy, bright
In coffee cakes, scones, crisps, jams
Sweet summer berries.

If you’re so moved, please share your own haiku below. I’d love to read them.

I’m down the Maryland shore for the Cruisin’ Ocean City event, a 4-day car show where the the streets are loud and packed with the low, dull roar of gunning cars.

We actually didn’t come for the car show, but the old cars are parked everywhere and many of their drivers are constantly cruising down route one.

I’m not a car person. Having to drive down busy roads is actually one of the worst chores in the world, I think. But even for me, it was hard not to be impressed with some of these old cars, especially their bright colors (construction cone orange, mint green and silver, sunny yellow) and sleek, shiny chrome exteriors.

So my photography practice continues with a few pictures of the cars, as well as one of my favorite Ocean City institutions: Candy Ktichen.

Have you ever found a new appreciation for something that never held your interest in the past?

The best way to ensure you’re using fresh herbs in your cooking is to grow your own. I’ve cut fresh herbs from my parents’ plants before, but they start to wilt or get too moist only a day or two after I’ve brought them home.

The good news for garden novices like me is that making an herb planter box is incredibly easy. With my mom’s help, I made three boxes using a 24″ wooden planter box, a plastic window box liner with holes in the bottom for drainage, potting soil, a small garden shovel, and some favorite fresh herbs (in this case, rosemary, basil, thyme, and chives).

I painted the wooden box a bright blue (much like this diy dresser – I’m on a turquoise kick!). Then, working with the plastic liner, I filled it halfway with soil, planted my herbs, and filled in the spaces with more soil.

I usually have a hard time keeping any plant, flower, or herb alive. But my mom, who has an incredible green thumb, tells me growing healthy and vibrant herbs is easy. Keep your planter box in natural light, she says, and frequently check the soil. When the soil feels dry, the herbs need water. That’s it.

Gardeners, what other plants and herbs are easy to grow? What do you have in your garden this year?

Photo courtesy antwerpenR on FlickR

Last week Michelle Rafter, founder of the WordCount Blogathon and a writer for the website SecondAct, which is geared towards those over 40, asked Blogathoners to write about their “second acts”: risks they’ve taken, changes they’ve made, or revelations that have come to them in the second half of their lives.

To me there is nothing more inspiring than a good reinvention story. I love Eat Pray Love. I often pick up Po Bronson’s What Should I Do With My Life?, a collection of stories about people who are finding their professional purpose, even though I’ve read the book several times now. I write profiles more than any other type of article because I like to hear people’s stories.

So even though Michelle will be linking to a few of the Blogathon posts on SecondAct.com, I can’t resist directing you to a few of them here.

Julie Farrar took off on a two-month stint in Paris after dropping her daughter off at college. She writes about the lessons traveling has taught her about living well in midlife. But I think her advice reads as valuable life lessons for people of any age, regardless of whether you travel. 

Nurse Marijke Vroomen Durning wanted to be a full-time writer – and now she is. Anyone who has thought about changing careers should read her inspiring story.

Jennifer Willis attends a telescope building workshop, part of her goal to reclaim a long-lost but not forgotten passion for astronomy.

Patrick McGraw conquered his fear of team sports in his 40s by joining a soccer team.  

Jackie Dishner used long bike rides, church, and journaling to heal from a rocky relationship – and to transition into a career as an inspirational speaker. She also offers tips on how to mentally release fear so you can plunge forward into your own “second act.”

To me, second acts can come at any age. So what life transitions are you most proud of? 

To all the moms out there, including my lovely mom, I hope you have a wonderful day!

I’ve only briefly skimmed through the list of bloggers, but here are a few new-to-me blogs that caught my eye so far. None of them write about food, though one is about growing food. But I like to read about a variety of topics, and I know you do too. I hope you find a good read here that fits your interests.

Cristina Santiestevan – Outlaw Garden: Breaking the Rules by Growing Vegetables Even When HOA Says No. I wish I could garden. Even if I had the space though, I can not keep plants alive. So for now, I’ll enjoy looking at Cristina’s lovely pictures, like this one of dewy sage leaves in the morning.

Holan Kerrick – Gadget Girl Tips: Tips, tricks and humorous stories about technology for the everyday person. For a story last month I interviewed a few local technology professionals, and I learned I’m fascinated by the tech culture. But my technology chops? I could use more of those. I’ll now look to Gadget Girl to help improve my skills.

Jackie Dishner – Bike with Jackie: Your guide to inspiration, encouragement, quirky stories, laughs and life-changing adventures. I love to read about psychology, especially when a story has inspirational messages or advice. I’m happy to know I can get some daily inspiration this month from Bike with Jackie.

Jennifer Willis – Jennifer Willis: journalist, writer, author, and essayist. I like reading writing blogs. And when Jennifer Willis had a post earlier this week about developing writing specialties – a topic that’s been on my mind since last week’s ASJA conference – I knew I’d want to read more about her writer journey.

Mridu Khullar Relph – Mridu Khullar Relph: Thoughts on writing and life from a female freelancer in India. Same as above. I like to read about writers. Mridu is balancing a freelance career and taking care of a new baby, so I have a feeling I could learn a lot from her.

This is just a sampling of the variety of topics that Blogathoners are writing about this year. Here is the full list of 2012 Wordcount Blogathon participants.

Have you discovered a new blog you love recently? It could be about any topic. Tell us about it in the comments.

Scenes from the Big Summer Potluck 2011

I didn’t plan to stop blogging for an entire month.  It just worked out that way.

I could tell you that it’s because I was busy with my move or my summer class or my thesis.  Or that my new place has a very old stove with two ovens that are covered in splattered grease inside, which doesn’t make for pretty, appetizing photographs.  Or that I write for work and for school and that writing for the blog sometimes feels like a bit too much writing.

All of these reasons are true, but at the same time they’re excuses.  I stopped writing here because after two years of blogging, I’m unsure where I want to go next with My Morning Chocolate.

Back in 2009, a few months before I started MMC, Kenny and I were ready to leave New York.  (I apologize if you’re already heard this story…)  I was trying to decide between going to grad school for journalism in Chicago or nonfiction writing in Baltimore.

The one-year Chicago program was expensive, and the admissions counselor told me that many alumni nabbed communications positions in nonprofits after graduation.  Nonprofits were and continue to be my sector.  I’ve been working with them for more than a decade, and I didn’t think I needed to shell out $80,000 only to graduate and get a full-time job in the same field.

So I chose nonfiction and Baltimore.  But I was still interested in journalism.  I read several advice columns that said you don’t necessarily need a grad degree to be a journalist, but you do need to know about a couple of subjects that interest you.  I like food.  So I started this blog to learn more about it.

Fast forward two years.  This past weekend, I was in Pennsylvania for the Big Summer Potluck, a three-day food blogging event hosted by Maggy, Pam, and Sharon from Three Many Cooks and Erika from The Ivory Hut.  (A big thank you to all of them for the work they put in organizing the event, as well as the wonderful Baltimore bloggers Wendi and Beth for being kind enough to give me a ride; and amazing sponsors like Pop Chips, Green Valley Organics, Kerrygold, KitchenAid, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.)

Friday night was a group Mexican dinner with spicy enchiladas, a bright corn and tomato salad, raspberry mojito sorbet and much more; Saturday was for photography, writing, and recipe workshops and savory sausage and chicken jambalaya; Sunday for a breakfast of gluten-free muffins, yogurt and granola, and smoked salmon with capers and cream cheese.  Sixty bloggers attended.

It was a lovely event, even for an introvert like me who has a tendency to turn mute in groups of people that are larger than four.  I was so inspired by what I saw that I’m working on a piece about the food blogging community, that just may end up as a multi-series post some day.

But that’s down the road.  At BSP, Shauna Ahern from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef said so many things that stuck with me during her workshop, “Writing in the Moment.”  (Partly because I wrote her quotes down in my notebook, but still…)

She said that we shouldn’t feel like we have to force writing simply because we feel like we should post a certain number of times a week.  (Guilty. See this post on salad as an example.)

She said that we don’t always have to make impressive food.

And she said this:  “I just want you to be you in your writing.  And I probably want to eat your food too.” 

I was so happy to hear this.

I get caught up sometimes in what I think I should be doing.  I should be taking better photographs.  I should write more recipes.  When really, I didn’t start this blog to become a better photographer or recipe writer.  I just wanted to write about experiences surrounding food in the hopes that you, MMC’s readers, would be inspired to get in the kitchen or out in the world to experience food your own way.

Thinking about this, I’m reminded of New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin’s take on the subject.  He tells stories about food.  But, in Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More, author Dianne Jacob says this about his style:  “He adamantly refuses to describe his work as food writing.  He calls it “writing about eating” and doesn’t distinguish it from any other nonfiction.”  I like this description.

My friend Julia at Wordsxo suggested I could make this blog a hybrid, focusing on food, life observations, and nonfiction pieces.  It’s a great idea.  Perhaps this is where MMC is headed next.

Now, if you’ve read this far through all of my navel-gazing and you too have a blog, have you ever thought about tweaking or completely changing your focus?  What keeps you coming back every day to write?  What do you want you readers to take away from you blog?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.     

Yesterday Culinate – an online magazine that “helps people put food at the center of their lives” – published my story on eating adventurously on a budget.  Head on over to Culinate to read the full story.