An Award To Keep 7 Seven Bloggers Honest

Seven bloggers are this month's recipients of Honest Scrap Award from salabasngmandaluyong. The seven random victims - still seen reeling from the impact of this unfortunate mishap - are identified as follows: Dede, Lemuel, JoanJoyce, Roy, Kaye, Mye, and Allforblue.



When you have regained your bearings, this is my explanation. Enthusiastic blog author Gagay gifted me an Honest Scrap Award the other day. I thought it had something to with the Green movement and involves recycling and stuff. Oh dear, how do I squirm my way out of this, I told myself.

If you've been to this blog at least a couple of times, you'd know my reservations about awards. But hey, this one is different. What a pleasant surprise. Just look at the rules:

* When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real.


* Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!


Now, that's something right up my alley. Hmm, I can live with this award. So Gagay, you're indeed one misguided soul. And the fun part is I did not say that. It is said so in the rules. Yay!

By passing this award I know what this makes me. All together now: misguided soul. Bah, that's not exactly news to me. It's my middle name, people. :)

It is also stipulated that I can choose 7 random victims and leave a harassing comment. Oh boy, this is exciting.

Now, the hard part of the rules - about 10 honest things about me. This is giving me headaches. Honesty is such a foreign concept to me. But I can always try. Here goes:

1. My display picture on this blog is from five years ago. Hah! Mind your own business, I'd update it the soonest I find a Piolo Pascual (Filipino movie heartthrob) resemblance among the recent stuff. And by God, I will find one. Even if it takes a picture with my back to the camera - the kindest resemblance that can be had? :)

2. Jan is just my nickname. I'm Gani around the house and with friends. But I'm one of those people who think nothing of giving themselves a nickname. I know, nicknames are earned very much like respect. So what? Besides, this is the Internet. I reserve the right to repackage myself.

3. I report to work in flip-flops and walking shorts.

4. Because I "manage" a small computer store.

5. And I resent it when customers walk in and interrupt my siesta - I stay up till the wee hours in the morning "educating" myself in the Internet. Give me a break.

6. I resent it that these are bad times for the economy every where you turn; I bristle when anybody calls me tatay (father); and I positively agonize and die a thousand times every time the broadband connection in our town conks out. That too me is a catastrophe.

7. Some readers think I write well in English. A little history: in high school I was chosen as editor. For the campus paper in Filipino. Go figure.

8. I am still dreaming of having my own domain and moving to Wordpress and having a different webhost. I'm still saving. But the waiting can be shortened if I win this contest. Up for grabs are free domain, $25.00 and Wordpress goodies! Go check this out and help me figure out the puzzle. If you think you need it more than I do, then feel free to go it alone, langya ka. (You rascal). Nyahaha.

9. Bingkee. What do I think of Bingkee? Am I scared of Bingkee? Will I be in denial if I say I love her? Or will it be more truthful if I say I love-hate Bingkee? No, to all of these. She's a friend - a forthright, open, caring online friend.

10. There is no number ten. But you can ask in the comment section anything. I will do my best to answer it.

Don't Look Now But I'm Flush With Cash

I have inadvertently been inducing a brain bleeder thinking up ideas to post when I should in fact be sitting pretty. But I don't know that. I have not opened my mail. Because I have heeded the advice of Jonathan Mead by being unbalanced in my life so I can be more productive.

So understandably, I only discovered I'm already filthy rich rather late. Aw shucks. But to recap I have earned the following:

1. £950,000 pounds - allegedly from Compaq in their New Year Promo.

2. £864,008.00 - from UK lottery online promotions.

3. £500,000.00 - allegedly from Dell in their New Year Promo.

3. £250,000.00 - from an email online lottery.

The timing is just perfect. Now I can properly pay my good friend and neighbor Mye just so she can keep quiet about the nosebleed my previous post caused her. Her injury - thank goodness - is not internal, but we can't be too careful, right?

People who represent charitable institutions, folks from any hastily conceived foundations form a line to the left. New found friends and even newly discovered blood relatives to the right. No jostling please.

It's interesting these winnings are all in pounds. Obama has his work cut out for him bringing back respect to the US dollars. I'd like to win too next time with US dollars - to even things out.

Because I'm flush with cash today, I can't write. I've since given up wiping this silly grin off my face. I can't help it.

Blog Recommendations

Just because I can't sit still to write doesn't mean I can't give a shout out to people who keep their noses to the grindstone to come up with a gem of a post the past day or two. So I can take comfort knowing that it's not a complete waste of your time. Here they are:

1. JCMangubat - for posting a hilarious video about an OFW. James, my relatives who are overseas can't be relied upon to visit my blog as is customary with my people. So I'd just send them a link to your site to make sure. That's a great find indeed.

2. Brandon Gilbert - for writing a Washington Post experiment and its surprising result about our ability to spot genuine talent in a commonplace environment and at an inappropriate time.

3. Ruth - who at 52 is said to be learning to be a girl again. Sure I'm curious about her marvelous photographs and posts. But this much is certain, my admiration for her blogging spunk is not shrinking. It has grown so much I'd rather not keep my find to myself.

4. Finally, here's Jo of A Majority of Two with her tour de force of a post about letters of complaint from a triple XXX English village. Find out how an innocent list of pastoral concerns can be hilariously charged with sexual innuendos. Now you're intrigued huh? Go.

That's it folks. I can only be generous today with my recommendations. Perhaps a couple days after when I figure out how to cash in on my sudden wealth I'd be less of a Scrooge. Only then can you separate me from my fabulous millions. :)

The Curious Case of a Discombobulated Reader

Image via WikipediaI hate to be told not to use fancy or long words in written communication. Even in blog posts. The old guards of the blogosphere say so every chance they get. Their admonition to fellow web authors about keeping your words short is getting to be a tad irritating already.

So much foul epithets are attributed to users of long words: pompous, stupid, stuffy, pretentious, and arrogant to name what immediately calls to mind.

I have no love lost either on writers who mistake long words for lofty thoughts. It's not about that at all. It's the stigma some proponents of brevity generally foist on writers who pen long, difficult words.

What? It will prove to be my readers' ruination if I use long words now? Come on. Do you perhaps think the average blog reader is a retard? He will be scarred for life if a couple of daunting words are thrown his way?

Can he not be trusted to google the "offending" word? Can he not be relied upon to see for himself if the polysyllabic word is in fact used judiciously?

Yeah, right. He does not have the time. But you trust him to survive these things:

1. your brilliant lolcat posts
2. your stream-of-consciousness, free-association posts on the minutiae of your life
3. your consuming passion not with Jessica Alba, not with Johnny Depp, not with the enduring issues known to man, but your love for SEO. Is it not a little sick?

At the very least, you're not afraid to put your readers to sleep with your treatises. It's your heresy that the average reader's brain cells numbering in the billions and still replicating can survive your spiel, but not a few choice long words. Yeah, right.

If you care about the language, don't stop at clarity. Why start lining up long words to make them face the wall as if for some imagined offense when you can teach equally important writing concepts such as coherence? Or unity of thought. Or precision in writing.

So what if the word is long - if it's the only precise word then go for it. Why settle for something short but tepid? Precision is the key.

What will happen to long words if our venerable gurus hold sway - do you have any idea? They will shrivel up their muscles in disuse. They'd haunt dark alleys and passageways. At best, they will become bewhiskered specimen in Wikipedia or encased in glass in some forlorn museums. Well then. In this blog, I welcome you all. Here you will not be persecuted. And that includes the longest word - non-coined and non-technical - in the English language: antidisestablishmentarianism. You're one badass. I see you have edged Shakespeare's honorificabilitudinitatibus for this distinction.

You're all welcome. Make yourself at home.

I might not get to have use for all of you, but the best ones will have the honor to discombobulate these self-styled watchmen of the English language.

Recommended reading: Hangman, Spare That Word: The English Purge Their Language

Tags: blogging, linguistics

Sunday Porn is the New Happy Pill?

Pornography has proved to be popular during Sundays, a traditional day of worship, according to a recent research in Great Britain.

If it's any consolation for the first time in years, social networking sites have caught up with the adult entertainment sites. But still it poses the question: what do you make of this dichotomy? How do people reconcile these two competing aspirations?

Okay now, I'm gonna kick of my Sunday shoes now while I watch a little porn? Whatever lustful thoughts this enterprise brings about there's comfort in the knowledge it can still be washed away in an act of contrition? How convenient.

The researchers explained the popularity of porn sites to it being winter in Great Britain and the economic depression, likening the video-on-demand as "the most extreme distraction of all."

Man is a complex organism altogether: aspiring to complete his spiritual growth on one hand, while succumbing to feed his basic instincts on the other. Very intriguing battleground, man's mind is.

I have a handful with my soft spot for online games, not to mention my ongoing tussle with nicotine addiction. Add pornography to the list and I'd score what you can call a grand slam of sorts. Yay!

Obama and Other Mind Bogglers

Image by jmtimages via FlickrNo I have not have made myself scarce in my blog to escape being tagged to promote prayer for the Philippines. :) I must admit online games had caught up with me the last few days. For a few days, I was Nortrom the Silencer, caught up in a death grip with minions of the dark forces that comprise the scourge camp.

I survived the onslaught.

The last time I wrote a post here was when George Bush was still president. Now it's Barack Obama's time. Well, good luck, sir.

Of course, I would much prefer Sidney Poitier to be the President of the United States of America. Or Morgan Freeman. Maybe Denzel Washington. But such is life - with its surprise twists and turns.

I was at the mayor's office of this small town, renewing business permits for a small computer store we have. The town mayor was bantering with a retired female school teacher. Both are in their 60's. The mayor told the teacher, "If you deigned to keep me then as your boyfriend, you're now the first lady of this town."

The female teacher broke in laughter. "You're always drunk then. How could I even consider you seriously no?"

The mayor's eyes lit up in amusement. "Yeah, I was always drunk. Even landed in jail for rowdy behavior a couple of times. Hahaha."

This former good-for-nothing bloke has now become an exemplary mayor. The missing puzzle - how he got his act together - remains a mystery to the casual observer. And thus the surprising twist in the story.

I hope life dishes us all more happy surprises. For the world - a kinder and gentler American government through Barack Obama. For the Philippines, a prayerful nation may serve her in good stead perhaps. We can only hope so. And for me, not to be sucked in the world of make-believe again. Fingers crossed and hope to die. :)

Putting Your National Treasure Under Lock and Key

I came across this interesting article appropriating Steve Jobs as a natural treasure. Just as well they should do that in these times of economic uncertainty. Examining his contributions to making the Apple company what it is today, I couldn't agree more. And yet, Steve Jobs, who's on medical leave, can very well be fighting an uphill battle against a formidable enemy.

Time and circumstance indeed have a way of confounding even the best among us. What do we do in times like this when the barbarians are literally and figuratively banging at the gate?

What constitutes our family jewels? How do we hold on fast to our symbols and treasure chests while the world ominously shifts?

In war-torn Gaza, it's a mother or father shielding his children with his body as mortar shells razed the neighborhood. It's a moment's lull in the fighting so you can take your children to a more secure place. A square meal even. Or medicine to stop a wounded family member's infection.

Closer to home, we don't get to stare down death itself like our brothers in Gaza. But we face a bleak landscape of continuing economic uncertainty. We have lost our homes. Jobs came next. And out the window went our little luxuries.

So we power down our consumptions. We make do with less. We compromise. But what are the things or possessions you'd hope you can totally guard against losing? Do you have cheat codes to effect your game plan?

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Zapping 10 Facebook Friends For A Whopper

So how many Facebook friends have you zapped lately for Burger King's whopper? About 231,116 Facebook friends got the axe from their presumed friends in this social network as of this writing.

It's not as if Burger King is after our own heart by helping us maintain our cool and sanity as we obsess our relationships in the social networks. This weird Burger King ploy was cooked up to counter the flurry of new year resolutions of weight loss and healthy lifestyle. All one has to do is to download a Facebook application called Whopper Sacrifice, proceed to delete 10 of your Facebook friends, and voila - Burger King will send you a free coupon for a whopper. For a publicity stunt this is a bit entertaining all right.

My own experience with Facebook doesn't give me the itch to try this gimmick. Of course, I had irritating encounters with a couple of my friends there. But this I ascribe to my temperament - perhaps I was not fit for human company at that particular moment. Nothing major as to cut off any of them. If it comes to that point when one has to make a clean break, the sensible thing is just to remove the friend from the list.

Of course, when you are sufficiently provoked it's tempting to opt for the Whopper Sacrifice. The beheading of course will be duly noted on Facebook: so and so has deleted (insert creep's name) for a whopper. Poetic justice. Sweetness. But you get to delete nine others whose social blunder maybe as innocuous as sporting a tasteless avatar and stuffing your inbox with irritating banter. There's the rub.

For what it's worth this is your chance, folks. Whopper, anyone?

When Kinky Love Trumps Blog Award

This author does not accept blog awards anymore.

Let me split a few hairs, if you will. I'd say my thanks if you persist, but I will not write about it to pass it on. And this post is written not because I'm swamped with awards. I have two already and I think it's enough.

My dear reader, I understand your problem. You have just been awarded a blog award, a variation thereof, from a fellow blog author. And because the tacit understanding with this blog award is to pass it on, you've just met one roadblock. You're one slot short of the five or six awardees. May be even two. It's not a problem if you are easy to please and finds everybody a genius. What if you have discriminating taste? What if you consider nearly everyone a dolt? See the problem on your hands?

Will you lower your standard? Perhaps you remember me doing some neat cartwheels in the comment section of your blog. Will you now set me as your evidence of your new found love for humanity? A nice way to reward Jan for his efforts?

Stop.

Merit or Game of Politics?

It will put me in the spot. I have just awarded 6 blog authors. Another pay-it-forward blog award will leave me nuts. In order to come up with a list of 6 awardees in my own blog award, I left out a good number of people in my network. Will my third award - if it comes - be able to smooth the ruffled feathers of those who felt slighted when they failed to make the cut? I don't think so.

This tends to degenerate into a game of politics. We get to nominate people on the strength of personal ties to us, with a minimum of merit thrown in maybe as an afterthought. Maybe if we give 50 % of the awards to people who are not in our network, but equally deserving of our recognition. Maybe then.

Link Love Failure

Of course I understand the value of awards as link love. But 5 to 7 awards for one recognition? A tie is rare in award ceremonies. If one's intention is to spread the link love, guess what will happen if you award a blog author who's not into a personal or free-wheeling site? Yes, the author will remain faithful to his niche. You'd get a sincere thank you. But there will be no write up of the award. Your link love is defeated. Boo hoo. Which is just as well because the recipient is well within his rights to do so.

This is not to belittle the two awards I have been given. I treasure them because they're my first awards and very special. It's my first tell-tale signs that I have not been stabbing at the dark anymore. The voices I hear are no longer the voices I usually hear in my head but actual voices - a remarkable progress indeed. Thanks Mye and Bingkee.

But the next one when it comes is not cute or endearing anymore. Trust me.

Alternative

A better tack is to make a link to another blog within the context of a post. Because the other author deepens the discussion and adds value to the conversation. Or maybe even because the linked author takes the contrary view, and offering this link gives your reader a comprehensive grasp of the discussion. Is it not then the more natural and effective way of giving recognition?

I keep my favorite blogs on my reader. That's not enough for me because I still drop by to comment on their blogs. I email them when I feel that commenting is not enough. I add them on my Technorati favorites. And if I wake up on the right side of the bed - hey, I even thumb them up in Stumbleupon. And there are even no strings attached to it. Because I do it on my own. That's my vote of confidence. That's my award to you. And that's my kinky way of spreading the love.

Blog Love Award

Six blog authors win the Blog Love Award from salabasngmandaluyong this week. They are -

1. Ismail - Passionate About Blogging
2. Kathleen - Diary of a Heretic
3. Kelvin - Kelvinonian Ideas 2.0
4. Jesse - Edelweiss
5. Ramon - FatherlYours
6. Yatot - TYC online magazine

These people brew strange magic in their writing that alternatively makes me chuckle, talk to myself like a loony, and turn green in envy; sometimes they have the power to make me want to tear my hair out - don't ask why. Hehehe. This is my reward to you guys for wanting me to lurk in your blog instead of putting my nose to the grindstone. :)

Go check their blogs and find out why I consider them my happy pills.

Bingkee, prolific author of I Love-Hate America has presented to me this Blog Love Award the other day. Maybe this is for always darkening the door way of her blog. I am not sure. But if Bingkee, who dilly-dallies about things American, suddenly makes up her mind about salabasngmandaluyong and deems it post worthy, I will not stop her. :)

Thank you, Bingkee.

We're not supposed to look at the gift horse's mouth. If, however, you want to pay this forward you are advised to follow the following rules:

1) Put the logo on your blog
2) Add the link of the blogger who shared the award with you
3) Pass this award to bloggers whose blogs you love
4) Add your link to the list of participants below
5) Leave a message on the blog of the blogger who passed this award

Bloggers Lair/The World of Nothing/ The Macky That Doesn't Exist/ The Spoiled But Not a Brat/ Holding On/ The Mark of an Explorer/ Feel Free/ Shout Out/ Proud to be Filipina's Corner/ My New Way of Living/ I Love-Hate America/salabasngmandaluyong

Favorite Blog of the Week will resume next week.

The Man Behind The Blog

How comfortable are you parting the curtain so that readers can take a glimpse of your real self behind the blog?

I came across this interesting post by Andrew G.R. of the Blog Herald. He asked his readers: how much of yourself do you reveal on your blog? He said he was a private person by day, but at night he found himself opening up to reveal some personal details about his life. Andrew asked himself if this was an awakening of sorts, but he himself observed, "I find the roots of some of my strongest content have their seeds planted in areas I don’t want to share with complete strangers."

As I reader, I find it interesting to find rare glimpses into the personal lives of people I read about in the net. Much as I love the ease of writing and originality of Chris Brogan's posts on the social media and his inputs on blogging, I don't feel a disconnect whenever he strays off topic. He wrote a Christmas post with a video of his dad and sons and I found it endearing, giving me an intimate and seemingly complete picture of what could have been just another online persona.

Closer to home, SELaplana who writes about making money online occasionally posts personal stories. His early hardships as a blog author is a riveting story of grit and perseverance. When he started blogging, he endured the hassle of commuting to a nearby town in order to post to his blog. He's the first to admit he had a poor command of English, but he kept at it in spite of kibitzers who insulted his awkward writing. He did not buckle under the insults. Today, he may still not win the Pulitzer prize for writing, but he writes well enough to put him at the top of his game.

Writing a personal blog is a stage wherein we find ourselves in various stages of undress. It comes with the territory.

Some authors lay it all on the line on their blogs. In my book, Heather tops the list. She pokes fun at everything, most especially the Mormons in her family. It's a scary act and she pulls it off well.

In Annarchy, Ann wrote a time line of Christmas celebrations. It's a post filled with melancholy, family rituals, shared pain and joys - what she calls gravitas in her life. As readers we felt amazed at the adroit handling of the delicate swirls of emotions involved. Spare, but feline enough to leap and tear at your heart strings.

In my case, it's an ongoing process. Much as I'm a very private person in real life, I find myself relaxed and easygoing online. Even taking comfort in small talk, sometimes even alluding to a painful incident in the past. I can't play the clown as well as Jhez does and still retain credibility. Gosh, even if I were as accomplished as he is, I'd still balk at revealing in a year-end report a million pesos earned from blogging . Because I don't want the BIR beating down my door. And complete strangers suddenly claiming we share the same bloodline. I'm more like Ambo who left a comment here that he nearly made it as a priest. Or like Viviene who took a ridiculous story in her life and wove it to make a powerful post on babysitting for American kids. We are Hansel and Gretel of the blogosphere, leaving meaningful trail of bread crumbs for people to figure out. One blogging day at a time.

Maybe it's not the blog per se nor the internet and its social media that account for this phenomenon. It's the nature of writing itself. In every post, in every article, and even in simple conversations we make, we leave a personal imprint of who we really are as a person. A bold statement to the world. Or a quiet gesture implying a deep need to be heard and validated.

As a reader or blog author, let me ask - how much skin do you show? At what point do you draw the curtain and shut the window to your life?

God's Gift To Jessica

Image by tattoodjj via FlickrLet's call her Jessica. And this is her story.

Jessica wistfully recalls the time how her husband pursued her relentlessly to win her hand in marriage. The husband was generous to a fault, treating the whole tribe with gifts - chocolates, flowers, the works. The ploy did not work. The guy was playing truant in college, transferring from one course to another. Jessica told him to graduate first from college. After that, she might consider him.

The guy got his act together and finally graduated from college. When he resumed wooing Jessica, he found another roadblock: she was more interested in her career than entering into a serious relationship. The guy asked the help of Jessica's friends to lobby for him. What sealed Jessica fate was this guy's flair for drama. He made a mess of himself, lost his enthusiasm for everything, got drunk, made scenes, threatened to take his own life. This guy's family begged Jessica to reconsider. She relented. And he reformed his ways. Several months later they were married.

With four kids under her care, she cut short her career and became a full-time mom. Great. The husband proved his worth as a breadwinner - he still does. "I've been in love with the same woman for forty-one years. If my wife finds out, she'll kill me." That was Henry Youngman. But it could well have been this guy's mantra. He made a semi-career out of chasing after skirts.

Their intimacy died soon after. Their communication become snarls, scowls, arguments. The guy only comes home to eat and to feed his game cocks. Then, he goes out again to gamble and to womanize, whichever comes first.

My friend knew all right. Lucky for him Jessica is God-fearing. She draws strength from God, and this closeness with her Creator keeps her sane. Occasionally, she blurts out, "Diyos ko, bakit sa dinami-dami ng tao, siya pa ang itinoka mo sa akin?" (God, with so many man to choose from why did you assign this man to me?)

If I were you, I'd consider arsenic. Hahaha. But this is not so you. If, by some stroke of fate, you remove God from your speed dial, give it a thought. Another suggestion: you're a whiz in the kitchen so make use of your talent. You know how bad cholesterol wrecks havoc on the human body. Take it from there.

Keep your wits about you by writing a blog. I made it easy for you. You need not exact poetic justice by flogging him to death online. Because I just beat you to it. :)

The thing is you're just wearing blinders. God has more meaningful gifts for you. Open the door - look, the world through the internet is at your doorsteps. Take a vacation from your grief, meet new people who can value you for being a beautiful person that you are.

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7 Accomplishments of a Month Old Blog

Hurray to me, this blog is a month old today and I'd like to share with you what I have accomplished.

1. Global Reach. I have been visited by peoples from across the USA, Europe, and Southeast Asia, which include Filipino bloggers. There's no evidence the Dalai Lama has found me, but I can bide my time. Lack of DNA also precludes the people of Timbuktu and backpackers in the Himalayas. What can I say - even my immediate family has not found out either about my blog. All they know perhaps is that I've been holed up in my room this vacation playing online. Or watching porn - I will not put it past them to accuse me of such online pursuit.

2. Award. I received this "You Make My Day" Award from a kind blogger. It's a recognition for commenting actively in her mom blog. What am I doing in her blog? This point leads to my next achievement -

3. Commenter Whiz. I've read that to fire up reader participation in my blog, I must meet my neighbors and actively participate in commenting in their blogs. It's called conversations in the blogosphere. So I did that. If your blog is about cars - be forewarned it will not stop me from dropping my two-cents. I've been known to spread verbal diarrhea in meta blogging sites, blogs on food recipes, and brainbleeders such as web design and online security. Hold on, I've also commented on blogs written in Spanish, Malay and Thai; I only know Filipino and English so it helps I only comment on posts with pictures or graphics in them. So I don't get to be unkindly tagged as that retard Filipino blogger. See? Hahaha.

4. This blog has stirred to life. This is a result of my whirlwind tour of the blogosphere. Now conversations are actually taking place here. I'm immensely pleased with that. Of course, I'd give my little finger to have the kind of activity going on at my Filipino blogging idol and friend Jehzeel's blog. While he usually posts weeks apart people keep trekking to his site as if there's some convention going on - mulling over perhaps the intricacies of defining the edge of abstract electronics arts? :) But one baby step at a time for me - I can live with small chats around a little table.

5. Personal Growth. Though this blog has caused me ugly eyebags, though it has not bought me fancy gadgets yet (the cash register earns $0.31), I'm glad to say it's no skin off my nose. I have gained friends. I have embarked on kicking the nicotine habit. And although I hate to go under the hood of this blog and get dirty, I'm learning bit by bit. I feel like a better man than I was a month ago. Isn't that a marvel.

6. Favorite Blog of the Week. I have introduced this new section of my blog to keep me from staring too much on my own navel.

7. I have survived.. Of course some problems keep me turning in bed at night. Like how to put a contact form in my about page, how to put "add this" to social media at the bottom of my page. So with your help I just might get it done finally. Be patient with me though - you know how it is with village idiots.

Of course, this is still the first month. I'm still at the rocky part of the seas. Anytime, this might capsize and sink to the bottom in the fashion of blogs which don't survive. I just have to take heed of the reasons why blogs do not survive the first crucial months as Nate Hill described it. But with your friendship coupled with my hardheadedness (I didn't say levelheaded, mind) I may yet survive.

Cheers. :)

Favorite Blog of the Week: Grandma Yakima

Image via WikipediaToday's Blog of the Week belongs to 80-year-old grandmother Lorrene Lemaster, author of "Pet Peeves and Other Ramblings."

Grandma Lorrene or Grandma Yakima as she calls herself in her blog started using the internet since 1990 after retiring from her job in Yakima, Washington. Boredom, however, got the better of her and in 2007 she started writing her own blog.

My favorite octogenarian blogger will put to shame a lot of the current crop of high profile blog authors with her gentle wit. Her good-natured stories about her early life as a 17-year-old bride married to a service man, her 3 children and 6 granddaughters and 3 great grandsons and living in the 1930s are hard to put down.

She writes with a hint of mischief about ordinary subjects such as the internet, cable company, newspaper delivery guys, food recipes, aging issues and other mundane concerns. Never fails to elicit chuckles.

On the current meltdown of banking institutions Grandma Yakima posts a query to bank executives," I was wondering if you could advise me… if one of my checks is returned marked 'insufficient funds,' how do I know whether that refers to me or to you?"

This is how she described her early marriage: "I was a mere child when I married. At the ripe old age of 17 to be exact. "What was the urgency you might ask"? Let me assure you, I cannot answer that one because I am totally clueless as to the reason. I just chalk it up to 'young and very dumb'"

She pokes gentle fun at her in-laws as she recalls the anxiety of her meeting them," Well, meet them I did!!! I was expecting to be judged, but not at that exact minute. The following picture pretty much sums it up. My first thought was, ' Wonder if this place has a back door.'"

The blogosphere is starting to notice this marvelous grandma. She got featured in an online publication resulting a big spike in traffic in her blog. Increased awareness of her blog means the people she pokes fun at get to read about them, too. Says Lorrene in her post, "When I started this blog I honestly was naive enough to believe only my family, and people I sent the blog to would ever read it. Needless to say I was not very discriminatory with what I said about anything. I have poked fun at almost everybody in town." She proceeded to make apologies to a long list who she thought she had slighted, which include doctors, office clerks, neighbors, bystanders, dog and cats, fence people, relatives, internet server and a whole lot more.

Well, Grandma Yakima, I hereby presume to speak on behalf of the office clerks and the fence people - we don't mind. We can live with your gentle critique and entertaining stories. Your vigorous mind shatters the stereotyping and prejudice against the elderly. You have not only shown that ageism belongs to the garbage bin but also raised the threshold wherein senior can seek personal growth.

Related Post: Blogging Not Just For The Young by Jeff Chandler.

Award-Winning Village Idiot

Surprise, surprise - this village idiot has got an award from Mye, a fellow blog author who is into food, scrapping, events, home and parenting. The way she's going she may yet take home another award for her affable and philanthropic bent: Ms. Congeniality. :)

This is the award she shared with the resident village idiot -



This, she explained, was for visiting and commenting on her wonderful blog. May pakinabang din pala pagiging tsismoso ko, ano? (Being nosy has its own rewards, huh?)Hehehe.

It's best to pay forward this award to you, my dear readers. But I'd like to keep it atop my cabinet for a while. After all, this is my first award. Secondly, I'm sleep-deprived at the moment; in my euphoria, if I don't watch out, I just might spread the love to every lurker, spammer, and dark character you'd hate rubbing elbows with. Hahaha.

Village Idiot's Tech Savvy

I was up till the wee hours in the morning when a reader emailed me whether I had seen his comments on this blog. I thought this guy was putting me on - there were no email notifications for me. I rechecked the blogger dashboard. None.

But because I'm as you all know a sucker for coffee, reading and writing, and comments I busted a vein or two figuring this mystery out. Ding! I signed out of blogger and gmail. And signed back in. And there they were indeed on the blogger dashboard - 20+ comments on queue which were just sitting there as early as 27 December.

I went to sleep at almost 4:00 am, after dutifully replying to each comment. If you're one of those who left a comment this then is my excuse for not getting back at you. Pardon me, tech savvy is not my middle name. Hehehe.

One other thing - after I've done writing my replies, I found the darn Gmail notifications. All of them, including my comments on your comments.

So here it is - I'm glad to share this village idiot monicker with my big brother Gmail. We rock, brother Gmail.

2008 Has Left the Building: Happy New Year Folks

Image via WikipediaWe spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. - Ellen Goodman

Happy New Year my Filipino friends. I hope you have survived your pistol packing, trigger-happy neighbors who think nothing of firing into the air during the celebrations. I also pray the expected inebriation cost you nothing but dagger looks from the neighbors who were at the receiving end of your impromptu karaoke cum concert. And that you have not lost fingers because of firecrackers.

To my new online friends and readers - Happy New Year to you too. Tell us your new year resolutions, but keep it simple. Spare us what Mark Twain considered as "humbug resolutions." Kidding. We're friends. Bring it on.

And here's to a remarkable, prosperous and happy new year ahead of us. Cheers.

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