The Old Blogging Days

I've been blogging now for more than 15 years. I started on Friendster and eventually moved to Blogger. I still use Blogger because it's easy to use and I never have to worry about back-end stuff. It's also been easy for me to find old posts. In the event I decide to stop blogging I could easily take it out and keep an archive of everything I've written. 

I've been blogging everyday since 2020. It started as a 30-day challenge which I try to do at the beginning of the year. I blog everyday to keep my mind active. My doctors were worried I'd deteriorate after being forced to slow down. They made me promise to keep my brain working, so I blog. 

I miss the old blogging days. I gained a lot of new friends back then. My involvement with the community started when SM Hypermarket asked if I could invite bloggers to try out their new resto, Taste Asia. It was supposed to be a small group, but ballooned to over a hundred bloggers. We had a few of those parties, but I eventually disengaged when it felt it was becoming too commercial. The parteehs was where I gained a lot of new friends across the country. 

My blogger friends were the ones who organized the original Philippine Blogger Awards. It ran for a couple of years and grew because of the support of some brands. It was fun, but it was really hard to organize and andaming tsismis! Hahaha. There were a lot of blogger events. There was iBlog, blogfests across the country, DFAT and many meetups. Those days were enriching since you can learn so much from other bloggers. 

Jayvee had an idea to collate photos, so I thought I'd start some albums where other bloggers can add their photos. Here are some:

Blog parteeh/Makati meet-up, January 2007

Philippine Blog Awards, March 2007

Davao Blog Parteeh, March 2007

iBlog3

Taste Asia Blog Parteeh 1, July 2007

Digitalfilipino Emerging Influential Blogs, August 2007

Taste Asia Blog Parteeh 2, August 2007

Come as Your Blog Parteeh, April 2008

iBlog4

Digitalfilipino Emerging Influential Blogs, August 2008

*Let me know if you have an album of an old blog event where you want people to contribute to and I'll add it here :)

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

Pause?

I've been blogging continuously for 532 days now. I used to do this for 30 days in a year. It became an annual challenge last year because things got weird (aka pandemic). I thought it would be interesting to journal my life through this period. I didn't expect it would flow over to this year. 

Things have been the same lately. Can't really go out, not even to the park. I've been thinking of pausing everyday blogging so I could focus on working on my other writing project. But then it doesn't take me long to write these posts and it keeps my mind active. Maybe this is just me making an excuse to spend more time quilting haha. 

Oh, I read that Feedburner email sign-up service for blogs is going away. If you want to be updated about my posts you may also want to follow my FB page. I have also been posting more tutorials on my YouTube channel (subscribe!). I'm also crazy with pinning pins on Pinterest, follow me! 

I'll probably continue blogging because I want to use this medium to raise awareness for pulmonary embolism. I was misdiagnosed several times before the huge blood clot was found and sadly in our region it's not something that doctors naturally look for. I had to advocate for myself to get properly diagnosed. 

I'm so lucky my guardian angel looked after me and found me an amazing doctor. Take shortness of breath seriously (especially if you had COVID19, read here). Make sure it's not just asthma or anxiety.  

CB///*Yr2/66  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/93 #StayHome #BeKind 

How I Blog

I barely blogged in the last two years. Life got in the way and I just didn't make time for it. I know writing is good for me because it helps me calm down and allows me think more clearly. They say to develop a habit you need to do that same thing for about 30 days. I started doing the 30-day blogging challenge every January a few years ago.

I started this year's blogging challenge here in Manila. When I started it on new year's day I didn't really know what I wanted to write about. I know I've been a mess, but I know writing is the best way to bring me back on track. I think I'm slowly getting my groove back and I'm writing this post to guide me in the future in case I fall in a rut again (haha).

So how do I blog?

Honestly I don't really plan what to blog daily. I just go with the flow. Sometimes I get a brain fart during the day and if I remember it by the time I blog at night I write about it. I have a list of topics I loosely follow, but what I really hope to do through my blog is to inspire my readers to be the best that they could be. We all struggle in life, but remember God only gives us trials we can bear.

I try to stay positive as much as I could on my blog because there's already so much negativity out there. I have other blogs and hope I'd be able to resurrect them also this year. For now I'll focus on this blog so I can discipline myself to write every day first.

What about you? Do you prefer to blog or to vlog? 

The Old Blogging Days

So there's been a lot of brouhaha in the blogosphere the past week due to a Tupperware incident. Nothing like good old tsismis to bring out old bloggers to converge in Plurk. There's been several incidents in the last few years and I usually just take it with a grain of salt. Kanya-kanyang trip naman yan and well we all have our own opinions. The only thought about this incident is just to provide a tip when attending events (or just generally when you go out) -- use ziplock bags! It's not bulky and you can always have one or two in your bag if you need to take out food.

Some bloggers mentioned about the Taste Asia food fest we had a couple of years back. I realized after doing a quick search on my Google Photos that it's not just a couple of years -- it's been ten years! The first event had about 150 bloggers and if I remember correctly more than 70% of those who attended blogged about the event. What we did was entirely an experiment and the arrangements we done purely on trust - provide the food, we'll invite blogger friends to come over. The goal of the evening was to provide an opportunity for bloggers to meet and sample the food at Taste Asia. It was originally meant for just 10 bloggers, but the list grew longer and SM said, "Let's do 150!"

It was an awesome event which resulted in the formation of long term friendships. I met a lot of people that night and it was super fun. I think it worked because we all just came together to learn about each other and what we blog about. It was just like your high school writing club where everyone was focused on their own niches. There was no competition, just pure respect for each others work.

Tech bloggers from that era.

Nung naki-pa-pic ako with the travel bloggers.

I guess it was just pure serendipity that provided that opportunity to me. I had no idea then why SM wanted to meet me. What they pitched to me sounded like a good way to bring people together and that's why I agreed to do it. It cemented my reputation though that I'm a "blogger". I still view blogging as a hobby for me. I don't see it as means of livelihood for myself (uhhh I only get Adsense payouts every few years hahaha), I leave the revenue generating activities to the experts. I ended the Taste Asia events because I learned that there were others who started to earn from it and the brands had different expectations as well. My goal was community building that's why I decided not to continue doing it. I am forever grateful though to SM for providing that opportunity because I met awesome friends that have been around in the last ten years.

Taste Asia 1 Photos
Taste Asia 2 Photos

*This post is dedicated to AJ and Coy. Missing both of you a lot. 

Blog Everyday Month

I have been challenging myself to blog for 30 consecutive days in the last few years. I do this to make sure I don't go into a writing slump again which went on for eight years. There are days though when I feel like sharing a lot of things and then there are days when I just want to keep things to myself. When I used to be in charge of our parish newsletter I used to get a lot of instant feedback from neighbors. It encouraged me to write more.

In the last few years I have been doing this challenge I have been blogging whatever pops in my mind. I was thinking maybe this year I would make it a bit more structured and planned so I asked Sweetie what he thought I should blog about. He suggested I take a look at the most read posts from my blog to see what people like reading. I did and was surprised to see that the most read posts covered a wide variety of topics. Here's the top 10:

What It Means to be a Scholastican (November 2016)
Solar Bottle Light (March 2011)
My Epic Guide to Puerto Galera (March 2011)
The Most Horrible Taxi Ride Ever (August 2010)
The Convection Oven that Blogging Bought (September 2010)
Tulala (January 2008)
Single vs. Married? Which is Better? (June 2007)
Movie Review: In the Name of Love (May 2011)
Onboard the USS Blue Ridge (August 2010)
Handog Pangkabuhayan Text Scam (March 2008)

The last few weeks though a lot of my posts where I share thoughts about politics have been getting a lot of attention. I could write more about politics but I choose to have peace and just share ideas which I think could be helpful.

The list doesn't really resolve my issue on putting a structure to what I would be blogging about in the next few weeks. So I think I'll just follow my instincts and blog about a wide array of topics that I hope would be helpful/inspiring.

Why I Continue to Blog

I was half-asleep early this morning when I felt Miguel checking on me. I sleepily asked, "Why?" and he said that I was too quiet (probably because I wasn't snoring). He then promptly went back to sleep when he saw I was okay.

These are moments I want to remember and that's why I blog and continue to blog. And my primary reason for blogging is to document things/events that are important to me. Sometimes I re-read old posts just to see what I've been doing years ago. Sometimes I come across old posts from search results and I laugh at myself for forgetting I had the information all along.

I have been managing a number of blogs. I have one for travel, tips for planning a wedding, a marriage blog and a smattering of tiny blogs that cater to my other interests. I don't really remember how my blogs multiplied, but I see it as a repository of information I think I'd find useful in the future. My travel blog covers the places I've been to and I write mostly about food. I have a lot of photos from different hotels I've stayed at but I haven't gotten around to posting about them.

I've been exchanging some blogging tips with friends on Twitter the past few days and they were asking me how I've managed to continue writing despite being busy. I haven't been really conscientious about blogging since I write only when I feel like it. I never run out of content though since I keep a journal through photos and by writing down on my planner significant things that have happened. I usually just go back to check photos and my planner to see if there's anything I could write about.

So, I basically blog to entertain myself and I keep it as a repository of information I may need in the future. And well I guess my grandkids and great-grandkids can get to know the younger me when I'm old and gray. 

Half-Way

I'm half-way through my 30-day blogging challenge and I'm pretty happy that I've so far held up. There are days though when I almost forget to blog but it's become a habit and I just instantly remember that I still need to do something before I sleep.

I've been blogging for more than 5 years now and I realized in the past few months that I haven't been blogging regularly that I needed to write. I just feel incomplete when I don't and when I see that I have a gazillion un-blogged adventures.

Things I want to blog about are still piling up and oftentimes I just find myself too tired to write, but at least I've managed to revive my blog. :)

Why I Blog

I have been terribly busy the past few weeks and my blogs have suffered because I just haven't had the time to sit down and write. I'm writing this post while waiting to board a plane.

I have been maintaining my blog for about 5 years now. I started off blogging on my Friendster account and then eventually moved to Blogger. I just want to journal my activities and some things that interest me and not really bother with the techie side of blogging that's why I've been loyal to Blogger. Some friends have attempted to teach me how to use other blogging platforms, but despite their efforts it just didn't suit me. I guess I am already an old dog.

So why do I blog? I always ask myself this question when I get stressed out from blogging. I get stressed out when I have backlog. And that's the time I ask myself, why do I blog? Why do I go through all the trouble? Why do I force myself to sit down in front of my PC a few nights a week to write. I don't get paid for it, nor do I earn much from it. So why do I do it?

Because I have to.
Because if I don't my writing muse is going to bug me to write even when I sleep.
I blog because I need to write.

That may sound strange to some (or many) people, but for me (and my college friends from Malate Literary Folio) it's normal. It would be more painful not to let it out through writing. I know I'm still a long way from how I used to write (or I have had any improvement at all). I know that what I write may not be relevant to others (or anyone for that matter), but I blog because I do it for myself.

And I am in blog nirvana when I write about the stuff that are relevant to me. I know that is so selfish, but this (writing) is for me and I will do it whether or not is published online. Providing relevance or being able to inspire others would just be icing on the cake.

Better Writing, Better Blogging

I know I will never be as eloquent as Manolo, Juned, Blogie and Maro. They are my idols when it comes to blog writing. I can only hope to be a teenie-bit as skillful as they are when it comes to expressing their thoughts and feelings.

You see I'm having a hard time writing this post even.

I took interest in writing when I was a kid. Being the youngest in the family somehow made me the most emo and to keep me from becoming psycho my Mom got me a very nice stationery-like notebook. I used to collect stationeries since I was 7 and it was unheard of to actually write on them! So I was utterly confused when my Mom told me that the nice pink notebook was going to be my first journal.

I started keeping a journal when I was 8. Most of them were one-liners of stuff I did during the day and my Mom would remind me whenever we had an activity to record it in my journal. So I just kept writing and writing with my ugly chicken penmanship, not minding how I constructed sentences.

When I was 9 I discovered the wonderful world of the Bobbsey Twins! That was the time my Dad was a judge in Lucena, Quezon and my Mom and I would take a trip to visit him every other weekend. My Mom would buy me something to read. Eventually I read my sister's hardbound Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys collection. That was where I realized that I wanted to write more than one liners.

I was already 11 when my Mom pointed out to me that I had horrendous grammar. I became so conscious of it that it became hard for me to write. If my friends dig up my snail mail to them during that time they'd be laughing their heads off. Hey, I was only 11! So to improve my writing skills I joined the creative writing club in high school and eventually several student publications in college. I became EIC of our literary folio not because of my writing skills, but probably because I scored really high in the management IQ exam.

I'll be celebrating my birthday in a few weeks and I realize that I'm still far from being the writer (or blogger) I want to be. The best I can do for now (I guess) is to at least not be an eyesore to those who read what I write.

And thanks to Sweetie who patiently checks my posts for grammatical errors.

And I ask for bloggers, are you conscious about how you write?

To Post or Not to Post Everyday

Here are reasons why I don't post everyday:

1. I could write up to 5 posts in a day if I'm in the mood, but, more often than not, I'm not. My muse is very moody and when she doesn't want to write, you just can't make her.

2. If I really wanted to post everyday, I could, but after a long day's work, sometimes it's just nice to hang around doing nothing (a.k.a. doing mindless surfing).

3. I'm probably living my real life. That's what my best friend says when she doesn't find me online. A.k.a. I'm most probably hanging out with Sweetie and Miguel and having the time of my life.

4. I'm probably overwhelmed with my blog backlog. Yup, I do have a lot of posts lined up but I don't know where to start. I even have a small notebook where I write down what I'm supposed to post... like about E-Yellowpages winning the Philippine Web Awards again (hey! congrats guys!!! ako siguro balat noon noh? I think your events portal Juice.ph is kinda cute).

5. I want to keep a secret. LOL.

If time wasn't an issue, would you post daily?

Tamaritisis Blogginisis

Okay, I just made up those words. It's supposed to mean, "tinatamad ako mag-blog". It's a symptom (hopefully not a disease) that I think we all go through sometimes especially when you're attention is in a lot of other more important things.

I just thought I'd write down these things till I get back to normal:

1. I started blogging to educate myself about all these available resources on the web.
2. To rant and make use of my muse when she is in the mood to write.
3. To keep in touch with what's happening in the community.
4. To inspire.
5. As a tool for communication (abangan an event I'll be announcing soon!).
6. To de-stress.
7. To make up for not having officemates. (I got no one to annoy!).
8. To keep in touch with friends.
9. To amuse myself.
10. To share what I can share.

Oh well... still having tamaritisis blogginisis. Sigh.

Upcoming posts though: SM Taytay's blessing and 2 other events =)

My Name is Aileen, I'm a Blog Addict

Egads!

90%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

The score says it all! My score is even higher than Abe's (where I got the exam from).

Oh noes! Is there a cure for this?

So, all ye fellow blog addicts! Tomorrow's THE TASTE ASIA NIGHT! Please don't forget to bring blogger calling cards!

Blogger, Why Do I Love Thee?

I was talking with Pierre during lunch at the iBlog3 Convention about sticking to Blogger. You see, his friends have been convincing him to switch to another blogging platform. This started our conversation on why we love using Blogger. (Hey Pierre, hope you wear your cool hat tomorrow!).

Blogger, why do I love thee?

(1) It's so easy to use. I have to admit I sometimes don't have the patience in dealing with highly technical stuff. I learned how to use Blogger on my own. I just signed up for it and next thing I knew I was adding photos and then going the next step by using Picasa and then adding widgets. Atty. Noel Punzalan also agreed that Blogger is so easy to use. Dean Jorge Bocobo also uses Blogger. So, if you just want to write (blog in techie terms) then use Blogger.

(2) It's a no-brainer to add widgets. My best friend who lives in Singapore buzzes me once in a while with questions on blogging. She asked once how to add widgets. I just told her once - click on the layout link, then click on the add html link and then copy and paste the code, save and that's all you have to do. After saying thanks she was lost in her own little blogging world.

I was toying with my Google Calendar and Googlegroups and found cool widgets to add in my blog. Google Reader also has a new gadget. Read about it here.

(3) Want to use your own domain? All you have to do is purchase one and then register it in the Blogger console. I have one too, but I'm just having it redirected to my Blogger account.

(4) I've never experienced my blog going offline. And I don't have to think about hosting and other stuff.

With Blogger all you have to do is write! Dibah Pierre?