Armchair BEA, Day 4: Beyond the Blog...

See how I didn't even change the title for today's post? That's because I totally approve of it for some reason... It's nice and has alliteration and stuff, you know? Anyway, I'm totally going to "share a fun aspect about my blog or life that has nothing to do with books" in just a second, but can we talk about freelance writing first? Can we talk about how I'd LOVE to do freelance writing but have no idea how to go about it, and hey, do you do that and how do YOU go about it? And also yeah, do you make money doing this blogging thing, because let's talk about that too.

So, I of course do neither of these things because clearly, I think I'll be happier as a pauper. No but seriously, some one give me a job/send me some money please? But what do I do when I'm not reading or watching TV or whatever? I'll tell you: I'm probably baking. And you don't even have to tell me how much of a 50s housewife this makes me sound, and I also don't need anyone saying that doing it is an unfeminist thing to do. Baking has nothing to do with feminism, in my humble opinion, and a whole lot to do with making delicious treats that you can share with people you love. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout says that Atticus has two peculiarities: "one was that he never ate desserts; another was that he liked to walk." Well, Atticus clearly sounds like the paragon of fitness and virtue, but no desserts? Seriously? It's about the only thing I don't like about the character, and I'd like to think that I could turn him with a slice of red velvet cake...

I have ever so slightly integrated baking onto my blog (see the 'Devouring...' tab above) but I've literally only shared maybe 7 or 8 things I've baked, other than what I've shown in teeny instagram pictures in my weekly update posts. I'm not really sure why this is- I think it's partially that I read a LOT of food blogs and I definitely can't take pictures of food as well as those people so I don't really even try; partially that people never seem to read them (which isn't, in itself, something that normally stops me, but I don't want to bore people by making them look at my crappy pictures of cake!) and the last part is that I'm a bit wary of posting recipes on the internet, because they basically belong to other people, and it's not really up to me to share them, you know? So it's kind of like... here are crappy photos of cakes, that I'm not going to give you the recipe for and that you don't want to look at anyway. Lucky you!

So, yeah, baking is mainly a thing that stays offline for me, because of all those things, and also because, for me, the main point is in eating the darn things! Having said that, I do still photograph a lot of the cakes I make, (there's some evidence of that here) and I know that, if I'm ever stuck for a post, I can always do a nice baking one! But, as I've said, it's not something I tend to do a lot of, and I think I prefer it that way- I spend SO MUCH time online that it's nice to have a pursuit that literally forces me to unplug and turn basic ingredients into something delicious, if not always (ever) nourishing. Baking=a nice rest for my overstimulated internet brain.

Having said all that, I do have one baking post that I know I'm going to write in the future, because I think I've found the actual best recipe for brownies EVER, that's so easy to make and seems to be foolproof (I'm a brownie FOOL, in general, so this is why I know it is) so I just need to prepare myself for such an event, since I know that I'll just eat like all the brownies afterwards, like, within about 3 days. They're THAT good, you guys. I don't really know why I just told you that, other than the fact that it's on topic and well, you know you want to stick around to see it!

In conclusion, baking is fun, and, at least the way I do it, something that's better when it's left off the internet. If you ever need a break from, I don't know, real life, then baking is something that I can wholeheartedly recommend, especially since you get something pretty tasty out of it at the end. At least, that is, as long as you do it right...