Goodbye Mr. Morris

Image by kabun via FlickrGoodbye to you my friend. I'm giving you up now even before the year ends. I will start 2009 afresh and with personal growth in mind. Without you.

We've been great friends. You were with me in college - by the sheer force of your presence I thought I had gotten an aura of coolness. For an extremely introverted nerd who was insecure in his place in the universe your help got me through that awkward phase.

I have fallen in and out of love. And through these highs and lows you were a constant, trusty companion: the lusty party animal in our heady celebrations and a consoling booster every time I got dumped for a better man.

When I had tried to take my own life eons ago you were there - a partner in an almost consummated crime. And though you were not responsible for springing me back to life, you held your ground and never abandoned me.

You have been a great crutch every time ennui got to me. When every day seemed to unfold with the same dreariness your presence anesthetized this awfulness and made it more bearable.

Nearly thirty years after that initial puff, I have come to my senses. You're not a life affirming friend after all. You belong to the dark side. Hahaha. You're insinuating yourself into my destructive impulses. And you must go.

True, you have hardwired your influence into my brain for years. But I will start anew. I refuse to believe your stronger and grittier than I am. I refuse to believe that I can be made to dance around your little finger any longer. I refuse to believe that a mere cigarette can claim dominion over my life. Because I have intellect and will and I intend to use it. A fellow blog author Brandon Gilbert said it well in his life-affirming post. And I felt as if he were personally addressing me to make good on my personal growth agenda:

You decide. You manifest. You rule. This is why you are here. This is what you came to discover. You were born to experience your absolute dominion over every flimsy, malleable illusion of time and space; to have, do, and be anything.

Thanks, Brandon. I can already feel the universe conspiring to make me succeed. Indeed, it has got my back covered.

Goodbye, Mr. Morris. You have outlived your usefulness

I'm reclaiming my life back.

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Gaza Air Strikes On My Mind

Image via WikipediaAs I write this post, terror and grief is taking a stranglehold in Gaza as Israel squares itself for more airstrikes into Palestine. Death toll has climbed to over 360 while civilian casualties are mounting as Israel targets Hamas military and security infrastructures.

Israel towns close to the border with Gaza are themselves being subjected to rocket attacks, and with election only a month away in Israel, it is believed that this incursion into Gaza is meant to cozy up to Israeli electorate who has increasingly shown low regard for Israel leadership's handling of security matters vis a vis the rocket attacks. It doesn't help that these same leaders are believed to be taking advantage of the last remaining days of George Bush administration who has proved to be Israel's top supporter; the same could not be said of President-elect Obama who has professed sympathy to the Palestinian peoples' aspiration.

I write this post because I'm simply astounded by the sheer non-sense that has gripped my consciousness the past few days. Yesterday, I posted a shameless plea for more reader interaction in this blog. Unrealistically likening it to a wasteland. I feel like I have whored myself with that post.

True I have been lonely. And longing for companionship. But try this - imagining your house getting blown to bits. And your mother, or sister and little brother - shredded to pieces right before your very eyes even before they can fully experience how it is to have lived fully. Try that for size.

And the help you thought will come - international aid in terms of medicine and food - getting rammed at high seas and blockaded elsewhere. Try wrapping around your mind around this.

I've been staring at the tempest in my teacup. What a shame. Sheer and utter non-sense.

I'm deeply sorry.

Incidentally, do you have a family member or relative working in Israel? In Palestine? How are they doing?

Long Time No Hear

Image by Ferran. via FlickrHi, how are you? Kindly sit down. I'm just going to ask you some brief questions.

First, I am curious what interests you as a reader of blogs? What are you looking for when you visit a blog? I ask you this because it's kind of tiring listening to the sound of my own voice around here. Maybe your recommendations are just the sort of thing to fire up conversations in this blog.

Because I'm a sucker for conversations. For stories. Inside scoops. Will it not be a pleasant surprise to find out that what tickles me is just the sort of thing that fascinates you as well? Or maybe not. You can stomp your feet, snarl your disagreement. Spit out your snarky asides. Or unfurl a longish treatise on the matter and give us a glimpse of your scholarly mind. That will be fascinating.

I live for the moment when I open my desktop, head straight to this blog, to see if you have left a note under the door. It will not be the end of this blog, of course, if you don't. I'd stay at this for as long as this fulfills my creative aspiration. Until this blog feels like the good old earth, and not some desolate Martian landscape. But I'd rather have your help. :)

Do you have suggestions? Within reason, I will act on it.

Ciao.

Break Into Technorati's Top 100 Fave List

Let's help each other break into Technorati's Top 100 Favorites this Christmas season.

In lieu of Christmas gifts, I'm offering a Technorati Link Exchange Gift with my readers. Because I am dirt poor at the moment. No fancy gadgets to give away here for you. Nyahahaha.

Maki in his post about Technorati's exchange favorites cites two irresistible reasons for joining in such an exchange program:

Provides social proof. Getting in the Top 100 provides social proof of your blog’s popularity. This will increase the attractiveness of your site in the eyes of advertisers and blog readers if mentioned or displayed prominently.

Expands your blog readership. You are more likely to receive visitors from Technorati if you are listed in the Top 100 most favorited list. Visitors are bloggers,which means that they are potential feed subscribers if you have quality content.

You're not screwing the Technorati system by participating in this link exchange. There's nothing in the Technorati TOS that prevents you from doing so.

My username in Technorati is Djian. If you care to join me, kindly drop your own username in the comment section. So I can get going and slobber you with some Technorati love.



If you need to write a blog post about this, kindly put a link to me and especially Maki of Dosh Dosh. After all, he's the first to cook up this Technorati love pie.

Here's a link to other reader participants to this Technorati favorites exchange program as compiled by Maki.

For readers who are not blog authors yet, I can hang out with you in Twitter, Facebook, and Friendster. I can be your Boy Friday, pick things after you, and trumpet how cool and fascinating character you are. Of course,when the stars are properly aligned in heaven, I can give your mother's affection for you a run for her money. But only if you want to.

Once More With Feeling: Goals for 2009

Goals that are not written down are just wishes. - Anonymous

Very well then. I have to set these down then, my goals for 2009.

Personal Goal. Giving up the smoking habit. I have set it out in my initial post in this blog, but I kept postponing the day of final deliverance. I confess I have yet to position myself on the starting block and make a go at it.

Every day, I first check out the comment section on this blog. Primarily because I positively cringe at the prospect of a reader checking my progress on my earlier vow. I hate that I can't brag that I have started already. Can't even put to to paper the suffering I have to go through on account of kicking the habit. Bad, bad.

It's no relief that this blog has stayed under the radar of friends and well-meaning readers. When they do eventually come around and ask I have to be honest. My credibility as a person and as a blog author rests on this.

It's not enough to write it on stone. In this day and age you have to write it down on a blog for good measure.

I'd occasionally post here my progress if you don't mind. And if you feel like checking up on me, feel free to do so. I'd appreciate it.

Goal For This Blog . In my earlier post, 8 Internet Goals for 2009, I have cheekily enumerated what I set out to do for next year. That I guess was written in a moment of pique or derangement. At the time, I desperately needed company in this blog. And there were no visitors so I wrote that. The only valid goal was summarized in the 8th entry. So there.

Of course, I can delete it, but in retrospect, I elected it to stay as a stark reminder of my progress as a blogger.

I wish to add my dream of moving into a more decent house (shhh, this is just between you and me, okay). Where I can move as I please. Where there's a big cupboard I can stack with to-die-for plug ins. Every time I check out my blog neighbors in wordpress ville, I hate having this feeling of inferiority as if I were a poor cousin. I know I'm not exactly living under the bridge, but I can't help it.

It strains credulity if one blogs about personal growth while living on the pittance of the blogger platform.

I'm just saving money for the move.

In your case, what do you wish to achieve in 2009?

Merry Christmas To You All

Image by Kounelli via Flickr"Christmas is for children. But it is for grown-ups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts." ~Lenora Mattingly Weber

1. To my silent readers. Or reader (I always aspire for accuracy) -

2. To my flesh-and-blood friends. Leo, Menchu, Nitz, Yong, Vicky, Susan,Josie, Usting, John Rove, Jhomar, Marya, Alma,Imee and Eric and Bionikz -

3. To my online friends Abnoy, Jay Em, and Camille -

4. To my blogging friends Jehzeel, Yatot and Tiramizu, and pals in Facebook and Friendster and Twitter -

Merry Christmas to you all. And Happy New Year too.

See? I have sufficiently defrosted the chill in my heart in time for Christmas. Drama. So in all honesty, I can greet and wish you the best this Christmas - in terms of health, wealth and posterity. :)

Readers who wish to greet someone can write on the comment box. I promise to publish it pronto. Your special someone or special enemy may not likely read it, but hey it's there for posterity. And you can conveniently provide him or her a link.

Let It Slide

Ralph Waldo Emerson: Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis!

It's all right, I know you want to. Let it out. You can tell me. What am I here for? Don't keep it bottled up inside you. If you do it would leak and eat anything in its path, if ever so slowly.

What's bothering you, man? Oh that. The sinking almighty dollar. Very bad for business indeed.

But you know what, let it slide. Dude, thousands have lost their jobs, you still have yours. You have lots to be grateful for. And if worse comes to worst, you have other prospects, right? Just the other day, we're talking about your multiple streams of income. Think about that. You were ready even before this economic downturn. You have continually reinvented yourself.

For sure, this is crimping your style. You have to cut down on eating out, buying fancy but for most parts non-essential stuff, blah-blah-blah. Therein lies the beauty of it. It's back to the basics for all of us - a continuing appreciation of what is truly essential. All else is fluff. What is it again - all is vanity and vexation of the spirit? I wonder who said that, totally escapes me now. But that doesn't make it any less true.

Preoccupy yourself with the problems that bedevil your fellow man. Compared to their burdens, your concerns seem hilarious at best. The most precious personal growth can be achieved not only in times of plenty but during adversity as well.

I know you're made of sterner stuff. Take heart, my friend. If all else fails, scream. :)

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Rescuing A Dream From The Garbage Bin

Back in college, we were asked to turn in an essay on what we dream of achieving. Because my pretension to becoming a writer then was already being severely limited by lack of focus and to a large extent by a paucity of ideas and creative inspiration, I settled for publishing. Ding. I proclaimed I'd be a big time publisher. A Filipino Charles Scribner in search of my own Ernest Hemingway incarnate.

My teacher gave me an A for that presumptuous essay.

God, however, gave me a D-. Of course, you know what usually happens to the best laid plans - God laughs at you and upends the drafting table. I know God might have finally approved of the plan, but my failure was largely because of my lack of focus and other failings. I had designed the blueprint myself. And so it had come to pass.

Instead of graduating from college, I applied for a job. I found one but I was underemployed as a quality inspector in a textile factory somewhere in Rizal. Of course, I went through pushing carts full of bobbins of yarns to spinners. I was fairly young, but it was backbreaking. An opening in the quality control staff later made my life easier. From peon I became a pencil pusher, consolidating inspection reports and doing other routine work you can do on auto-pilot. The greatest challenge to my creative aspirations was to cook up excuse letters for my co-workers who gallivanted from work. It's that and how to squeeze my minimum wage so after I fed myself I'd still have some money for books.

Cut to present time. I'm managing a small computer retail store. At night I have been blogging. That's publishing still, right? Well, what do you know. May be this is my second chance. With this publishing platform, I have the world for an audience. Of course, the audience is preoccupied elsewhere. Understandably so, I have not written anything for them to take notice.

It doesn't daunt me a bit. Why should I expect the world to pay heed? I did my inquiries and I found out my best friends had yet to check up on my blog. None among my family members had visited me, too. Boo-hoo.

Maybe that's for the best. That will give me enough elbow room on this blog. "Who do you think you are - mentioning in your blog your Ate R's to-die-for recipe for carbonara. You perhaps think that trumps my exotic frog recipes?" Or something of this sort.

Even the household puppy named Ditton - of askal lineage (local variety dog) - reserves barking and raising an awful racket every time I sit down to blog. It doesn't help that children carolers drive Ditton to a fit. If I skip blogging on some days, it can very well be because of him. Clearly, he's not a cute, dainty little thing that blogging big time eventually bought. But he's become a metaphor for everything that taunts me to quit. It's just a blog after all. An excuse that will soon become a full treatise why one stops pursuing a dream, if I don't pay attention to these things.

Nice thing though - it has been only 17 days of blogging. I should not let up and lose focus.

If only for the reason that this blog can keep me sane. That's a big thing for me. Honest writing can make a person fully conscious of life's journey, it's challenges and triumphs and even losses. That's a major help, whatever job one may have in this world.

At least I have here a tool to help me evolve as better person. By looking inward, by self-examination, and by seeing all this personal growth crystallized in writing. And if I am lucky through your companionship and conversations.

Your thoughts? Any dreams from earlier life you have rescued from the garbage bin? Are you working on it too?

Quitting Is Not Option

It's a rainy Sunday night. I hope everything is all right in your world. Around in our neck of the woods, of course it can be better, but it's okay - we're perfectly fine. The television is off, there's coffee to my left, and you guys sneaking in just to say hello. Isn't that just great.

Earlier, I found this inspiring video while poking around in YouTube. I hope you enjoy it as well as I do.

Kick-Ass Gift Ideas for Christmas

Image by Rui Ornelas via FlickrFive days to go before Christmas - are you done buying your Christmas presents yet?

Just the idea of making a trip to the mall can make one feel tired. Imagine the mad rush and the long wait at the counter. The uncertain economic times makes shopping doubly hard. Is it wise to buy that Xbox this year, although you've resisted your son's pleas for two consecutive Christmas seasons? Will a second-hand iPhone bring joy to your daughter's listless life, or will her uppity peers' derision for sporting used items scar her for life? Ah, you have raised monsters, I see. How about gold-plated leash and muzzle for your kids then.

For the wife: book her a couple of days in a posh hotel. With spa, beauty salon treatments, the whole works. You may be the hunter, the food gatherer, but God knows what she puts up with to remain sane and gracious when you come back after your adventures in the jungle. After all, you just plunk down the table your catch and you thought you're done being a man. Dude, she deserves the grand treatment.

The husband: what will you give him this year? Forget about socks, ties, and after shave lotion. Surprise him with handcuffs, whips and leather gear. Whim him into a frenzy, catwoman. He's the man after all. The inertia of several years of placidity has morphed this alpha male into a remote-brandishing, beer-swiggling living room fixture. Pretty soon he will turn into a museum piece if you let him be.

For boyfriends: when he starts giving you meaningful looks on Christmas, remember to give him the lowdown. You're done being intimate at dark alleys and scary places, which include the lousy and smelly backseat of his car, the shrubbery in some forlorn park. That he is God's gift to you doesn't cut it anymore. Spell it out for him, "Get a room." The classier the better.

For girlfriends: give her an intensive tutorial on savvy internet use - photoshop tricks, html, PHP. Teach her how to make money on youtube by making full use of her knowledge on making videos. Introduce her into blogging even. Make her so busy she leaves you well enough alone in your online games.

For friends: fruit cakes - because that's what they are, the whole lot of them. For a just a few dollars, earn their lifelong gratitude by paying for their porn subscriptions. Lady friends are a lot tougher to please, but strict adherence to diet are known to crumble during the holidays, so treat them to fine dining and videoke.

For me: I'm a practical man. Just leave a comment saying howdy and stuff below. Perhaps something civil like "up yours." I'll be eternally grateful, promise.

Here's a link to 15 Strange and Bizarre Gift Ideas for the Weirdos in Your Life.

While you're at it check out gift ideas for your dumbest friends

8 Internet Goals for 2009

It's all very well to be optimistic when you are down, and although you're seeing stars from the ditch, that doesn't cut it for me anymore. It has got to improve. I don't want to smell funny and disoriented from too much muddling through anymore. And a goal-oriented blogging is the way to go. So here are my goals for next year:

1. Clarity. I resolve to use simple, everyday words in my blog if I really want to gain readers. So that the riffraff in my neighborhood will finally take a liking to me and thus bulk up my readership. Without their sweaty embrace and at the very least their grudging respect I'd be doomed at the bottom of the food chain.

2. Use of Exotic Terms. I will do away with high highfalutin words so I can sneak in every now and then some jargon of my choice. Like SEO. Leveraging. Meta this, meta that. Every one should understand that it's just very much like a dance of joy when posts about couple of obscure financial jargon will have successfully driven an insane volume of traffic to this blog. Consider this a commercial break from regular program. Don't despair because I will make it up to you in our karaoke night outs.

3. Utility. I'd serve you a movable feast of riches via guides to your personal growth. Simply because I'm a buddy after your own heart. I care for you deeply. Not only will I teach you how to make your armpits smell like a baby, I'd occasionally point you where the wonderful freebies are. Free downloads and stuff. Because I care from the smallest of your whims to your total education.

4. Upfront and Personal. I'd try to a put a little something of myself into my writing. So you and the world can find some uniqueness from the drivel that I dispense against the output of the rest of the blogosphere. Or I can draw inspiration from your exciting life and the wench you call your significant other. And when she finally leaves you for your own father, hello, maybe there's poetic justice in seeing her nailed just right on the internet, okay?

5. Sky-high Statistics - unique visitors, page views, subscribers, adsense growth. Last week, I was ecstatic I had one subscriber. Of course that was shortlived because I found out I had subscribed to my own feed through my mobile phone. What a hoot. Although I honestly think I have good taste so a vote of confidence - even from myself - ah, that's big deal. Hahaha. Faith cannot move mountains at my behest, but I sure can haul my ass up there.

6. Zen. I'd be detached from materialistic considerations. My equilibrium rests not on the fickle tastes of readers and the inscrutable Mr. Google. But of course,just to be sure, I'd be keeping a tight watch over these concerns. Especially my small patch of adsense. I will be serenely watching my grass grow. And finally -

7. I'd intone every morning as I watch the sunrise, "Universe, I am ready. Give it to me, give it to me."

8. Chuck nos. 1 to 7. Okay, I need to go for clarity, utility, and Zen qualities. But not in the aforementioned context. I'd just be myself, engage you in meaningful conversations, I hope. And gently connect to the universe, and not holler into it.

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Out of Sorts

Image by Garry' via FlickrWoody Allen: My problems all started with my early education. I went to a school for mentally disturbed teachers.

I set forth into the world this morning with a little swagger, with a song on my lips. And I returned home soiled, a little unhinged, unfit for human company.

"Yaya, pag may naghanap sabihin mo wala ako." (Tell whoever asks I am not home)

Of Dead-Ends, Smirking Tabs and Twyla Tharp

Four awful hours and counting - I am still sitting here in front of Google Docs, waiting for creative inspiration. I have hit the wall, a dead-end of sorts. And my screen monitor staring back at me impassively.

So please cut me some slack while I meander from point A to point B.

Why Google Docs and not Word? Nothing. I like it though. Google Docs is great for online collaborative writing. You can be from anywhere in the western hemisphere and still work with me here in the Philippines, that's not a problem. It's not you, however, I'm dying to collaborate with - although this can be arranged. Hahaha. I am waiting, pleading, hankering, fidgeting, lusting after my muse. Is all.

Temptations are everywhere. My Firefox browser's tabs are open and taunting me, perhaps whispering among themselves and secretly wagering how much longer I can presume to turn in a post with my current state of mind. Just for the record the kibitzers are:

* Gmail - because I emailed the amiable Jehzeel
* iGoogle - which contains my google reader, quotations, to-do lists, news feeds
* Google Adsense - because it's where I watch my grass grow.
* Bloglines - because I don't want all my eggs in one basket.
* Batang Yagit's blog - mustered enough courage to drop a comment there.
* ChrisG.com - I was searching for wishful thinking blog, ended up in Chris'
* Google Doc - yet untitled.

These smirking tabs... Little did they know that I have read an insightful piece about creativity, and this is what's keeping me doggedly at this task. It's an excerpt from The Creative Habit, a book by Twyla Tharp -

I will keep stressing the point about creativity being augmented by routine and habit. Get used to it. In these pages a philosophical tug of war will periodically rear its head. It is the perennial debate, born in the Romantic era, between the beliefs that all creative acts are born of (a) some transcendent, inexplicable Dionysian act of inspiration, a kiss from God on your brow that allows you to give the world The Magic Flute, or (b) hard work.

If it isn't obvious already, I come down on the side of hard work. That's why this book is called The Creative Habit. Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits. That's it in a nutshell.

So here's my post then. O, ano. :) I've not exactly reinvented the wheel here, the earth still revolves around the sun, but hey, I did not fail to turn in my daily post, that's the main thing. So nobody can accuse me of failing to inflict myself on the elite few who read my pages. Nyahahaha.


So my dear reader(s), and those who arrive at my blog clueless (Who pushed you? Should I know?), how do you grapple with moments like this when your creative juice seems to have dried up? How do you deal with it?


A free excerpt of the The Creative Habit can be found here. And here's a link to a video of Twyla Tharp on creativity and motivation. If you thought this is cool, thank Merlin Mann because I found this gem on his 43 Folders.

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Drop-Dead Gorgeous Blogs

What to you is a drop-dead gorgeous blog?

If we speak of a blog that is easy on the eyes - can you break it down for me? Do you mean something like a movable feast for the senses? Is it a burst of colors and sounds? A veritable digital fiesta? Or just a functional, minimalist design to make a perfect counterpoint to its intended message or content?

A perfect blend of originality and creativity perhaps. Something you cannot find elsewhere in the blogosphere.

Or maybe it's the distinctive voice embodied in the blog. Humor. Compassion. Sharp wit. Maybe even plain skulduggery appeals to you. Maybe just for the simple reason that only that blog has the power to put you to sleep. "Look ma, no medication.."

Please make a recommendation or two. Name three or four blogs - I know you want to be fair. And please add some notes for each of your nominees - what makes them a compelling blog.

Come on....

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Notes From Under the Rock

Image via Wikipedia
You are here under the rock with me. Isn't this grand, you and I face to face at last? But what am I doing - make yourself comfortable. Let me just dump these pile of clothes elsewhere. There...

So what's your choice of poison? Oops, I forgot, no hard drinks around these parts. Will beer do? I am big on coffee - will you have some?

I have a feeling about you. You were here before, right? You took a peek inside, then you moved on. No hard feelings. I do that myself on occasions. I'm not mister personality myself. Hehehe.

Do you know that I joined Facebook last night? That's a big step for me because I'm not the outgoing type you know? I have reservations because of privacy issues. Does putting my name and face out there cause me to regret it in the future? I don't know. The good thing is I have not done any horrible thing in the past that will show up in Google. Not yet anyway - who knows what terrible atrocity or level of stupidity I may yet unleash, right? Hahahaha.

Any scary scenarios that may befall me by putting myself out there is just that. Mere suppositions. I'm not a celebrity - so who will hound me? I don't own a yacht, nor do I have secret bank account in Switzerland. Who am I kidding? There's no greater waste of time and effort than trying to separate me from my riches. I have none. Of course there are voices in my head, if you're interested, but that's another story altogether.

The alternative, however, to self-imposed seclusion is just as dreadful. That's much like getting lost or sidetracked on your journey to self-improvement. Living in anonymity, without a firmer sense of community, that's a much greater loss, right? Because this very minute, I know friendships are being made, alliances are being forged among individuals in the creative arts and other circles that aspire to be the best in their field. I just can't ignore and be left out in this vibrant give-and-take. Can you?

Besides, I can tweak this interconnectedness to suit my taste. I can always unplug when the noise becomes too much to bear, if it comes to that.

You're going already? Okay, then. Thanks for coming and having this conversation with me.

Oh, I'll walk with you outside. Yes, outside. Isn't that funny - from under the rock into the sunshine? Well, as Woody Allen says, "Eighty percent of success is showing up." That I will do. On the basic premise that this will help me evolve as a better individual.

My friend, drop by again sometime....

I recommend Chris Brogan's insightful post, Template for Building a Small Powerful Social Network

An Old Goat Reminisces

Image by krisdecurtis via FlickrIf there's one thing today that I miss is the art of writing and receiving letters the old fashioned way. You write on a stationery or any paper of your choice, perfumed or not, taking your time mulling over what to write, and when you're done, you post it to the nearby post office. That sort of thing.

Look at our choices today at communication. We have email, text messaging, we can create 140-word message for twitter or plurk. Then, there's the real time functionality that Google Talk, Skype, Yahoo messaging, and other online chat platforms offer.

Several of my friends have been working overseas. It used to be they sent me letters or snail mail, varied accounts of their exploits abroad. During holidays and birthdays they send me cards. And every time, they arrived it's very hard to contain that joy and excitement.

Today, I receive emails in lieu of letters, e-cards instead of the old fashioned one. But let me ask you - since when have you received a long email? Letters today have morphed to bulletins, updates or mere snippets in the form of emails. Perhaps in order to cope with the sheer volume and competing messages in our inbox. Has the effort to manage online communication today makes us harried and unable to send thoughtful and satisfying emails? Perhaps.

As for my friends, I know they miss me. I even suspect that they, in the strange dynamics of long distance friendship, still love me as they used to. I miss them, too. I still love them. But I miss the introspection that goes into the writing process so you get the full delineation of desires, dreams, triumphs and even losses. I so miss nailing the underlying current and tone to a letter that stops short of conveying a hurt, a rejection. I might be getting dense, but it's been a long, long time since I read an email layered with subtleties.

If at all they're all too pregnant with LOLs, mangled words, and other abominations. And instead of true accounts of their life I get a constant stream of generic content they found on the web. Do you wish me to data-mine all these generic content so I can have a decent inkling of the sentiment you wish to convey? Hah! Please tell me instead - no, punish me instead with unrelenting stories about your cat, and I promise not to get bored. So I will have the insatiable lust to fire back with a long email for inflicting this on me. Hahaha.

Hmmm, maybe it's just the Yuletide season, knowing you're thousand miles away and I'm here still rooted at the spot where you have left me. Or maybe I'm just getting old and in need of a hug.

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In Bed with a Good Book

Image via WikipediaEnglish novelist Anthony Trollope of the Victorian era said it best:

The habit of reading is the only one I know in which there is no alloy. It lasts when all other pleasures fade. It will be there to support you when all other resources are gone... It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live

Part of my bonus from my day job goes to buying books. Ah, I love the smell of new books. I can even spread the love to secondhand books, and although I draw the line at sniffing used books, I can always hug them and take them to bed.

It has been a while since I had a good read. A couple of Tom Clancy's here and there borrowed from my best friend. I think the last book I bought was One Hundred Years of Solitude.

I am lusting after books because this is all I can reasonably buy this Christmas without upending the delicate balance of my financial world. Hahaha.

I am lusting after books because I got sidetracked by the internet, pulled here and there by glitzy videos, bite-sized wisdom served like aperitif for kids with short attention span disorder.

Back to the basics again for me this coming vacation. Here's looking forward to a carnal, salacious, mind-boggling trysts with authors I hope to get hooked up with again.

Because of possible ethical issues with regard to donating books to this blog author, I urge you to restrain your generosity. It's all right. All is well with us even without gifts. The small print though states that I can be persuaded to accept your gesture of goodwill. Hahaha.

Care to share what book you will pick from the shelf to read this yuletide season?

Here's an interesting article for your reading pleasure, The Future of Literacy: Online, R U Really Reading?.

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Warcraft Is the Leading Cause of College Dropouts?

Image via WikipediaA Federal Communications commissioner pointed out that video game addiction is the "leading cause" of college dropouts. Interestingly, the FCC commissioner singled out World of Warcraft (WoW) at the same breath.

The story has gained traction as it got cited in Boing Boing and Gamepolitics.com. What is odd though is that the reference to the leading cause of college dropouts, with the blame attributed to WOW, is a part of a laundry list of issues with regard to privacy, pornography, cyberbullying, and hodge podge of other concerns. The research was not conducted by the Federal Communications Commission itself, but was cited only as anecdotal device in Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate's speech.

Which does not detract from the interesting point the commissioner has made:

With the explosion of educational resources available online, one might think parents would be 100% pleased with the internet’s role in their children’s lives. But surveys show just the opposite: a late 2006 survey that showed 59% of parents think the internet has been a totally positive influence in their children’s lives-- down from 67% in 2004.

You might find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction - such as World of Warcraft - which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide.

However threadbare the claim was I find a bit of truth in the statement. I have several friends who recently dropped out of college on account of DOTA. Well, you don't have to own up people, but you know who you are. Hahaha. What was that you glibly said to me and to whoever cares to listen? "Ang pag-aaral ay sagabal sa DOTA." (Rough translation: Studying sucks as it interferes with DOTA)

When your girlfriend sends you a text message or calls in the middle of a frenetic defense of your Sentinel base, you stall until you fend off the attacking scourge minions, then you grudgingly attend to the insistent call or text, with this remark - "Ang mga babae talaga sagabal sa DOTA." (Translation: I wouldn't dare say women/girl friends of WoW players suck. No, no, I would not go there. Just take this to mean, your precious superman would appreciate it very much if you buzz off and give him a moment with his thing. Let's say for another 12 hours? hahaha)

As for me, I had cured my DOTA addiction. For me it is a piece of cake. I don't want to be called names, flamed and cursed at in this world of make-believe. It's that simple.

Besides I find another addiction - blogging.

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Fire Up Your Business or Personal Growth with Social Networks

Image via WikipediaReinventing oneself is a must in order to survive the present economic hardship we've been facing. We see it applied around us everyday. In our neck of the woods, we see doctors trying their hand at nursing to clinch that plum job posting in London or in the USA. Teachers have become nannies abroad, or household help, while those who elect to stay go on to hone up on their salesmanship. Moms get into part time catering jobs, others become real estate agents or bloggers even.

The good news is we have affordable technology through the social networks in the internet to help us reinvent ourselves and to make our presence felt. Some people call this a paradigm shift, but I guess that's quite a mouthful for us. So we stick to the process of reinventing ourselves.

It doesn't pay to be obscure and languishing in anonymity in this age. If I am celebrity, grunting under the weight of wealth I have stashed somewhere, I can afford to pine for simpler times when no paparazzi hound me. Obviously, I am not. Most of us are not.

The internet, however, is a great democratizing tool. We may have the talent and skills, but we will likely remain small fry in a big pond if we remain tied to the old models of conducting our business.

World Presence

If you're in a small business, and you have a blog or a website, you can make your presence felt on the world stage through the internet. You gain contacts, make a sale or collaborate with like-minded professionals on projects or business deals. You will be at the forefront of emerging trends, methodologies and insights relevant to your field of interest.

Whoever you maybe - a mom, dad, student, or whatever day job you keep - you can further enhance your skills and professional growth even if with less money at your disposal.

Join Social Networks. Facebook is a good addition to your social network. Here you can join a group related to your business or interests. You can seek the counsel of your peers, or you can look for a mentor who can walk you through practically anything be it forming new business ideas or methodologies. With a social network said to be the size of Russia in terms of membership think of the possibilities for your career growth or business.

Or may be MySpace suits you more. Or even Friendster.com. If you're a little leery of breathless teens striking poses on these sites, grin and bear it. Screen out the noise and fluff. Put its strengths to good use. Stop treating social networks as mere vanity mirror to bolster your ego so you can be on your way into making a big splash on the world stage.

Topnotch blog mentor Yaro Starak has an excellent video tutorial on putting Facebook to good use in your blog. Well, he's talking about finding your niche via groups and forums in Facebook. Switch his topic with your own and he may very well be talking about your business as well.

And here's Chris Brogan's helpful post on The Vital Importance of Your Network. Check it out.

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Being Jehzeel Malkovich

Yehey! I have my first Filipino commenter today. It's no less than Jehzeel Laurente, the super friendly, creative, funny and prolific creator of Jehzlau Concepts.

I can only think of two blog authors that really give me the final shove into blogging. Jehzeel is one of them. The sheer joy and enthusiasm and inspiration I find in their blogs has kept me sleepless for almost two weeks. The thought of blogging nagged at me even during the day. And so I hiked up my pants and waded in.

Most of the high profile blogs get me fired up too for their excellence, but they are high up in the clouds and out of reach. And if you're one befuddled newbie you need all the encouragement and inside information that you can get. Jehzel has that gift of friendship - answers your email, replies when you text, even invites you on his social networks.

And to think he's one of the top guns in Pinoy blogosphere. I'm not sucking up, mind you. Ratified.org, a web directory which ranks Pinoy blogs based on subscribers, page rank, Alexa rating and Technorati data, ranks him as No. 4 as of this writing. He had already reached the coveted first place at Ratified.org , but he got bored and lonely at the top, I guess.

He's been featured several times in Manila Bulletin's Blog-o-Rama. He's got it made, but fledgling that you are, you won't feel the difference. Because he's a decent and unpretentious guy.

Will he give the shirt off his back to help a fellow human being? I am positive. But why settle for the shirt when you can very well ask him to donate to you his aging laptop, in the spirit of Christmas? Hahaha. After all, he's buying this Christmas a Core 2 Duo quad, equipped with the latest strange-sounding state-of-the-art contraptions. Hehehe.

I have Jehzel as a mentor and friend. How about you - are you as lucky as I have been?

Waiting to Exhale

Will anybody ever come? I have checked and rechecked the people I have sent invitations to see my blog. Did I miss somebody? The idea is that they get to see this - my new home - before the world makes a beeline to appreciate my latent genius. So they can feign no surprise when this blog becomes viral. Ahahaha.

Spare me your contempt, all right?

Now what.Something's holding them up.These are my theories:

1. They're just sprucing up their Friendster account. But hot prospect Zac Efron look-alike goes online. And there's a must-see in YouTube. One must be current so as not to look like a retard in case this topic comes up around the office cooler.

2. They're challenged to a best of 3 game in DOTA. Must preserve reputation in Garena. Wimps they are not. Bring it on, I can almost hear the thirst for blood in their voices.

3. The Christmas season has lured them to the dark side. The siren call of materialism. Can't just do a darn simple task I ask of them just because I have not spread some goodies on the table for them to cart away when they go? I have no budget for this. Do you perhaps think its about time I sold my kidney to make a reasonable splash in the blogosphere?

4. Or I am dead wrong. They have come after all, removing their shoes so as not to leave any noise, careful not touch anything for fear they'd leave a trace of their DNA. One quick scan at my turgid posts and they're gone. They're confident that I have no idea about tracing IP addresses and if I ever bump into Google Analytics, never knowing what to do with it even if a month's supply of coffee depended on it.

Flash of insight: Okay, I'm alone. So what? To get you up to speed, I'm a reformed internet whore. It's no skin off my nose if you don't pay me attention. I can take care of my self. Sheesh.

Resolution: I'd rather cosy up to Mr. Google, and watch out for tell-tale signs that its cute spidey bots have finally come a-crawling my new home. Hello spiders. Pitter-patter into anything, except my cup of coffee, okay?

PS: Final call, are you coming or what?!

Stop! I Want to Get Off

Image by H. Kosin via FlickrWe march to the beat of movers and shakers of technology. It used to be I had only to keep abreast of the internet and its basic basket of goodies to make me feel smug about it all. After all, I can keep pace. Then there's Web 2.0 and the whole shebang of social networks sprouting like mushrooms after the rain. It's keeping me harried and inadequate.

I thought I had it good. I had a mobile with a built-in pen light. Until the street food vendor who parks his cart across from our office building flashes his mobile phone with cam and video. Darn.

Until this jerk in the office had crossed over from Friendster to MySpace. He's now goofing around in Facebook. I bet he'd try blogging one of these days, if Twitter and Plurk give him so much as a lull to pick his nose.

It used to be we can get away not answering the landline phone. "Oh dear, I was at the grocery when you called." Not today, you have your mobile with you. If you're online, you cannot hide because there's a program to unmask your stealth settings. You will be harangued if you so much as forget to call on Skype, which is a no-brainer because it's free. "Busy? Are you sure? Cause I saw you and your friends horsing around in your undies on YouTube."

And your boss at any moment of the day can call you to follow up on some freaking report he needs ASAP. You tell yourself, am I on vacation or what. You have no choice. You have your laptop with you.

By and large, the vital importance of technology to life, governance, and largely to empower individuals to realize his cherished dreams and aspirations cannot be discounted. It is ourselves we must tame and our tendency to run off like a headless chicken. We must learn to adopt it to enhance our way of life to make it truly empowering.

Although there's a downside to it, the good news is that we have the final say as to how we conduct our affairs, picking up just the right tools to make us not only productive but also fulfilled individuals. And to make time for introspection or self-examination. Call it meditation. Solitude. Or taking refuge in your version of a panic room. Or tinkering around your own inner intricate wiring to finally touch base with your real, gracious and lovely self.

Give it a thought.

For more insights on the matter, here's Tony Long's brilliant article Eat, Sleep, Work, Consume, Die

4 Lessons Learned from Manny Pacquiao's Win over Oscar de la Hoya

Manny Pacquiao won over Oscar de la Hoya, practically forcing the golden boy to consider retirement from boxing. The whole Philippine archipelago stood still and celebrated during the live broadcast. We cheered ourselves hoarse, consumed bottles of beer and what-have-you, twittered about it, raced to put our two-cents worth in our blog, and generally made ourselves proud we are Filipinos. When the euphoria, however, had died down what valuable lessons do we get from this experience? Here are my thoughts about it:

1. Hard work and training pays off. Let's not drive ourselves silly counting the millions Manny Pacquiao earned during this mismatch of a fight. Think instead of our idol's humble beginnings and the sacrifices he endured to become a great world boxing champion. We marvel at his abs and awesome fighting form, but let's also wonder about the toughness of his mind and spirit. That's a treasure trove waiting to be mined for those of us who want to better our lives.

2. Value of diversification. To secure our future, we must learn how to diversify and reinvent ourselves to adapt to our economic condition. Manny is at the top of his game, but he has a singing career on the side. Not much of a Plan B? Don’t scoff now – he can always renew his interest in politics and make a serious jab at it. What are Oscar’s options? Maybe it’s time he dabbles at blogging.

3. Manny Pacquiao’s English is cool. He’s improved a lot. Even if he has not I can live with it. Okay, there are unconfirmed reports of grammar nazis taken to the hospital to stabilize their blood pressure on account of Manny’s television interviews. Do we even care? Naah.

4. The vice presidency of a country is a perilous, unforgiving and thankless job. I am glad our vice president took this occasion to unwind and become a part of Manny’s groupie. After all, one must maintain a balance between work and pleasure.*evil smirk*

So, what do you think?

Technology That Empowers Me

Right off the bat, I'd say it's my mobile phone. I sell load credits for mobile phones on the side. And while my earning is not that big, it has been steady. My first phone was a clunky Nokia 3210, a gift from a special person. Then, I bought Nokia 1100 from my savings. Then I gave it away for a smile - I'm that easy. Hahaha. So far, I keep two phones - a Sony Ericsson with cam, video and with wireless Lan and another cheap Nokia set.

Sometimes, I wonder why I bought that pricey SE mobile phone when for a few thousand pesos more I could have gotten myself a desktop. And to this day, I merely use it for texting and that occasional call. I'm still summoning enough brain power to tinker with its video feature. But hey, these shiny toys sure keep you in touch with your friends, colleagues at work, and the world at large. So I guess I am at peace with myself. Usually being the operative word.

My story is not as fantastic as the guy who twittered his way out of prison. It has not funded a son or a daughter to graduate from college - I'm unencumbered, you know. It has brought relief, however, to a few friends and relatives who were in dire need of a small loan here and there. And what a display of admirable cunning and power of persuasion. I just have to bow my head in shame and give in.

I am writing this post on a hand-me-down desktop computer. It's not as if I were sending you this post from some fancy resort in Europe a la Yaro Starak. But I can see the potential here. I am holding court with some of you, bantering and exchanging ideas. Who knows what we may come up with, if we choose to scheme together. Hahaha.

Psychic rewards, for now. That to me is empowering, but what do you think?

This post is inspired by Chris Brogan's 100 blog ideas.

ASL

Image by husin.sani via FlickrLocation: Yahoo Chat Room No. 27.

What's cooking? I'm chatting with a new friend, passing the time with small chitchat. Exchanging notes about favorite online games, links to our profiles in social media, and mundane topics.

Buzz! A chatter with a weird username cuts in.

"ASL."

For the uninitiated,here's a good resource to go to when people inflict you with their internet jargon.

An online buddy theorized my extreme displeasure this way, "Baka Ala ka Sex Life?" ("Maybe you have no sex life?)Hehehe. So young and so insightful.

Back to the buzz-happy, ASL-wielding interloper. Nothing stops his/her kind if you reply daring him/her to explain why he or she thinks he (okay I give up) is God's gift to meaningful conversation. Demand that words be fully spelled out and expressed in complete sentences. With subject and predicate.

Guaranteed conversation stopper. Hahaha. Don't get me wrong though. I can be as silly as the next person, especially if you use a seductive avatar. Ka-ching.

But when the moon is full, I'm easily provoked. It gets me every time. ASL, my foot. Is that a way to start a conversation? And you're not a cat, and I'm clueless about cat-speak so don't "eow" me to signal your friendliness. Maybe that's the norm, but should you follow? You had better come up with something sensible to share. Make it worth my time to answer you.

Expediency is the name of the game. That part I concede. But, come to think of it, for what? So we can trade inanities at a faster rate? I say keep it to yourself.

There are sterling exceptions, of course. Decent and funny conversationalists especially at Room 27. You know who you are, peeps. Hmmm. Ok, let's have it then.

JM, Camille, Abnoy, Jeyel, Mot, Freakshot, Red, Dreadie, and Tipsy. There maybe more, but you can register your protests on my comment box.

If you happen to drop by here, aba, welcome to my room. Now you know why I've been missing in action in your chatroom. Hahaha.

Breaking the Ice

Hello there. I am Jan. Maybe you're wondering about this phrase "sa labas ng mandaluyong." Literally, it means outside of Mandaluyong - a city within MetroManila, Philippines. Among the landmarks in Mandaluyong is its mental institution. I do not live in Mandaluyong nor had I been an inmate of this hospital. So far.

Or maybe I should. Well, I sometimes I entertain this notion of escaping the clutches of men in white toting the straitjacket. This no doubt tickles me no end. Simply because I have not gone completely bonkers after all despite being driven up the wall so many times.

Quitting and Muddling Through

Because I have a couple of vices I need to toss overboard. Heading that list is to quit smoking. This addiction has bedeviled me since college. If there's one milestone I want to achieve in life it's this: that I have licked my nicotine addiction. Nothing beats rising above your weaknesses, and in no small measure gain a mastery of your life.

I had vowed to my mother I'd quit smoking years ago. She had been dead a couple of years and I still have not honored my promise. My significant other had given up on urging me to kick the habit. Even my sweet dog scampers away whenever I light up, sneezing on its way to safety. It's not too late to win back my dog's wavering affection then.

And this is only one area in life I need straightening out. Other issues hound me. But you might run away and leave me talking to myself. So I will bide my time and not scare you too much. Promise.

Starting Over

So this is my chronicle then of my attempts at bettering my life. It's for the best I share my efforts at self-improvement with you. The good thing is you can always chime in and tell your story. Anytime. It’s most welcome. So we can draw strength from our conversations. And any grand schemes we can cook up. And finally lose those pesky voices in our head. My head rather. Hahaha.

Contact Me

Hi there! This is Jan. Thanks for dropping by here on my blog. You are here because you wanted to contact me in any way possible and I really appreciate that.

Just fill in the necessary information inside the box in the form below and I will respond to your queries, suggestions or violent reactions as soon as I received your message.

But what are the things you can ask me about? Here are some suggestions:

• You might want to share me something very personal but you cannot write it on the comment page.

• You might want to suggest some topics or give a related information to one of my blog posts.

• You might want to react on one of my blog posts but you couldn't write it because you are too shy, or perhaps you reserve your rudeness for my eyes only so you decided to just write your comments in the contact form instead.

• You might just want to drop by and say hi or hello to me, or perhaps make my day bright!

So that's it! Thanks.

About Me

Hi, I'm Jan Geronimo of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro.

I studied Development Communication in college or Journalism if you prefer it so. Writing is my strong suit. And so is procrastination. And eating. And playing online. As you can see, I don't put too much premium on my own hype so you can see me when I'm on my best behavior toiling away at my blog, doing my darn best to learn more especially about writing for the web. An old dog needs to learn new tricks eh?

So God help you if you ask me to collaborate with you on a project or an idea, I just might humor you with a yes.

If you're here primarily to enjoy yourself or drop by just like a good neighbor, I'm fine with that. I sure can use some company. There's this joke about a man who falls from the top of the building. Concerned witnesses ask him how he's doing as he hurtles past the window. And he says so far, so good - no broken bones yet.

One time it may be me who'd be hurtling down from that high rise. Or it can be you. Metaphorically. It's good to know we have one another to make the lure of an open window less tempting.

So if it's not open windows, I'd be talking here about technology, writing, blogging, and personal journeys into the bizarre. I do hope you feel free to join in the conversation. Or cut me short when I seem so full of it. Because I enjoy authentic conversations and friendships.

But what am I saying. I say let's have some fun.

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