Blogging Mysteries

Mystery #1

A week or two ago my friend, Honey, who's based in Cagayan de Oro, buzzed me and asked me to check a blog she's been reading. So I did and got a bit hooked and I asked her who the blogger was.

She said, "Well that's precisely the reason why I'm making you read it coz I don't know who the blogger is." And the we proceeded to investigate through Google search using clues from her blog (she was obviously female). We came up with nothing and still no results in the days that followed. She's good at hiding her identity!

Funny, I uncovered the identity of the blogger, offline. I was chatting with a friend over lunch and managed to deduce based on our conversation that the mystery blogger is his friend! It was so funny because I wasn't even thinking about the "mystery" and we weren't even talking about it. But when he mentioned her blog's URL, a huge light went on in my head. Aha! And then I confirmed by telling him the clues that Honey and I got from her blog.

Mystery solved!

Mystery #2

Well, this is not a mystery, but more of a question. We all know that a lot of people don't use their real names for their blogs. Blog lurkers would also hide their identity under other names or pseudonyms. We all know why - for anonymity. But do you think bloggers who are popular and are known in the blogosphere would have separate blogs under a pseudonym?

Yes! And I know of some... but then it's a secret! And they don't want to disclose the URL even to me. Hmph. Maybe I should call in Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys or the Bobsey Twins to help me. Tsk tsk tsk.

Mystery #3

Did you know that when you search for my name on Google ("aileen"), I'm #6 on the list but the #1 slot goes to "Aileen Wuornos", a serial killer! Aaaaargggh!!! Maybe the members of SEO Philippines can do something about that. Hmmm... I wonder. Well, nothing to lose sleep over.

Anyway, because of that I asked my lunchmate this afternoon if he's seen a "Murder She Wrote" type blog. He asked, "A murderer who blogs?" And then, he laughed out loud. Siyempre, we were referring to mystery writing. Fiction! I haven't really surfed the net nor Google Blog Search for it. Maybe next week when I'm back from a short vacation. It would be an interesting read aside from ghost stories.

And so I'm going offline for the weekend...


Going offline to recharge my batteries and to ponder on this:

"God insists on choosing the most unimportant people to do His work."

That's from Bo Sanchez' email about the pilgrimage he's currently doing.

Oh! And congrats to the winners of the Digitalfilipino Web Awards!

Translation
Siyempre - of course

How to Cool Off on a Hot Summer Day

I can just imagine my Tita when she arrives from the US next week. She's coming home, permanently, after living in the US for almost 40 years.

I bet she's going to rant about the heat, day in, day out.

Some people say it's going to be hotter next month. And it's definitely been a really hot week! And to cool off this is what I've been doing:

(1) Drinking lots of water - jug of water with lots of ice at arm's length
(2) Drinking Coke! - yeah, I know it's bad (it's my Mom's fault!)
(3) Eating ice cream and frozen delights - the joys of Twin Popsies! And I've been twittering about this :)
(4) Wearing summer clothes - I went on a shopping binge last week for summer clothes (the advantages of working at home!)
(5) Miss Minchin hair (LOL) - I'm keeping my hair up, much as I'd want to cut my hair really short, I can't coz I'm going to look like in still in high school

Of course, nothing beats staying in an airconditioned room (I don't want to buy! I'm saving up for something else) or going swimming (beach! beach! beach!). But that's as cool as I could get while working in my little ol' basement.

*Tita - Aunt

Why Do You Read My Blog?

I remember my Kuya and Ate telling me when I got myself in the biggest scrape I've gotten into.

"Focus."

And that meant finding out at a very young age what I really wanted to do. I had to stop being the reckless, happy-go-lucky-I'll-do-whatever-I-want teenager and face my responsibilities. And that's why I know, more or less, what a want (well except in finding the one I think... tsk tsk tsk).

Anyway, things don't just pop out of my head. I don't get brain farts* like Archimedes. I study situations methodically (yeah, yeah nerdy nerdy!) and in the case of blogging - statistics!

I've been feeling quite giddy since I activated Google Analytics in my blogs. It shows me my traffic, where it's coming from, what people are reading, if my readers are mostly new or loyalists and a whole lot of other interesting things.

Well, this is my personal blog, a hodge podge of anything under the sun, from travels, food binges, ranting, blogging and whatever, but it's been quite hard to fathom why people read it. I have other blogs for my other interests (weddings, ghosts, work etc.). It's easy to understand why people are reading my other blogs, but my blog? I dunno since I usually write about stuff from all over the Milky Way.

So, if I may ask you, why do you read my blog?

*brain farts is a term my colleague, JV, taught me, it means "ideas that suddenly pop out of one's head"

5 Reasons Why I Twitter

It's been more than a week and for some reason "twittering" is still a discussion point among friends. Abe is still adamant about not using Twitter and has posted his 5 reasons (this post was actually born out of our discussion last night) and Ely, who uses Twitter, is currently looking into "the language of Twitter" ergo "reading between the lines".

So, why do I Twitter? This is what I've been telling Abe since last week.

(1) When you work at home, you have no one to bug. So it's my way of bugging people, unobtrusively of course. In short, nagpaparamdam lang po.

(2) Sometimes you just want to record mundane things like eating ice cream, drinking coffee... I was actually surprised several people went off to eat merienda because I posted I was eating yummy pistaccio ice cream.

(3) Twitter reminds me that there is a bigger picture and the world is moving as I sit here at home pounding on the keyboard.

(4) Abe and Ely told me Twitter opens one up for stalking. Well, that depends on what you Twitter about.

And finally,

(5) I get traffic from my Twitter!

Of course, one has to Twitter responsibly that's why I just Twitter about really mundane things like going out to play badminton, eating ice cream, nothing heavy. And now I can just imagine Abe saying "What for?" Eh gusto ko eh, bakit ba. LOL.

And Ely, you'll definitely have a hard time reading between the lines of my twittering. LOL.

Translations
nagpaparamdam lang po - just letting you know I'm here Eh gusto ko eh, bakit ba - Because I want to, so what

Would You Read Your Own Blog?

In this information overloaded world and with so many messages going around and with so much media input, in one defining moment before the latest Bobcast episode, we asked ourselves:

Would you read your own blog?

So much drama! (rolling eyes!).

I asked myself this question after I started checking out my blog stats closely. My stats were going up, yeah sure, but I wondered – why are people reading my blog? You see, I just started blogging (on a social networking site!) because I just wanted to write and not really to get any attention. A few weeks ago I blogged about looking into my blog traffic. And I was alarmed! I had readers! And not only from the Philippines, but from all over the world.

Uh-oh! Oh noes! <overwhelmed>

Anyway, I then asked myself, why are these people reading my blog? Frankly, I don’t know. Siguro naaaliw lang sila. Or natutuwa sa kakulitan ko? Well whatever the reason, thank you dear readers! I promise to get myself in more adventures and scrapes so I can tell another story that I lived! LOL.

Anyways, at the end of the day, would I read my blog? Notwithstanding the Pygmalion effect… I think I’d just skim through my personal blog, get details on how to go to vacation destinations and tips on how to enjoy the place, read my work blog, ghost (since I share posting in it with some friends) and wedding blog, and my other blogs? Never mind, panay emote lang yun. Hmmm, fair enough, I can't imagine being a fan of myself nor projecting myself more than who I really am, that’s going to be really weird. And besides, it's more fun reading about other people's stories. LOL.

Translations
Siguro naaliw lang sila – Maybe they find it entertaining.
Natutuwa sa kakulitan ko? – Fond of me being a scatterbrain.
Panay emote lang yun. – It’s all about ranting. And as Badar would say “She’s got that faraway look again.”

Food Binge: Breakfast at Antonio’s, Mannang’s, Gilly’s Island, Max’s, Café Nemoso, Miggy’s, Coffee Bean, Café M, Bubba Gump

I just realized that I’ve been binging on food again in the past week. No wonder I can’t wear my skinny jeans again! Argh! Gotta get those uber funny looking love handles burned before Bohol!

Breakfast at Antonio’s (Tagaytay) – Had a coffee break and pancakes with a friend on the way to Punta Fuego. The chocolate chip pancakes were so rich and filling! The ultimate sugar rush! On the way back to Manila from Punta Fuego we had lunch at Antonio’s again. I had the misfortune of eating their spaghetti. Grrrr! I'm still wondering why it had so much carrots in it! (My friend says it was used as an extender.) My spag’s better. But the place is so nice and romantic! (Mental note: bring a boyfriend next time!).

Mannang’s (Mall of Asia) – Regular Asian food. Sarap. Iced tea though had lemon in it and I’m allergic to citrus. We had to take out the calamares since the serving was so big. Well, nothing special then.

Gilly’s Island (Mall of Asia) – Miguel and I just had dessert. I had the mango pie and Miguel had the oreo cheesecake. Why is it I never learn not to order dessert from bars? They’re always, always, always frozen!

Max’s Fried Chicken (SM Bicutan) – Max’s never fails to fill me up and satisfy my craving for chicken. Jufran plus Max’s Fried Chicken = simply the best lunch with one’s family.

Café Nemoso (Better Living) – This is where I showed Sasha the sowsi way of eating barbecue, and their grilled hotdogs are the best! Dibah Jayvs? (barbecue photo by Sasha Manuel).

Miggy’s (BF Homes) – Still my favorite Mexican food place. I love their burrito! Too bad their Better Living branch is gone.

Coffee Bean (Greenbelt) – Note to self: their cakes aren’t good. I’m also allergic to their coffee. Geeez.

Café M (Greenbelt) – Really nice place for meetings, the waiters just walk by as if you don’t exist. My ka-meeting said that sometimes you have to ask 5 waiters to get your drink. Big pancake servings though. Service though wasn’t good, I had to wave my arms wildly to get the attention of the waiters.

Bubba Gump (Greenbelt) – Shrimps! Shrimps! Shrimps! I love shrimps! But I love my Tita Olive’s shrimps cooked with 7-Up better.

I think I’ll be sticking to homemade cooked food this week. I’m going to be financially and horizontally challenged soon if I keep eating all around town!

Playing on Ice

I always wondered how ice skaters could glide ever so gracefully on thin metal strips on slippery ice. I watch in awe whenever I get the chance to view competitions on TV. And I was simply awestruck when I watched an ice hockey game in the US last year.

You see, I couldn't even balance myself properly on a balance beam, much less stand up straight on roller skates. I remember getting all bruised up when I was 16 and my friends strapped on roller skates on my feet in Tagaytay. It was a disaster. I stuck it out with skateboards eversince.

I don't see myself as the super adventurous type, but I like trying out new things. So last night at the invitation of a friend who plays ice hockey, wobbly legs and all I wore the stinky ice skates and got on the ice.

First and foremost, the skates were heavy, stinky and it was difficult to stand on dry ground on it. It felt like I was on stilts. But I told myself I had to be brave since I brought Miguel along. How would you be able to teach your sheep if you don't know how to graze the land yourself? So, it was a challenge. I had to motivate myself and inspire Miguel to follow suit.

It was a liberating experience indeed. I was so surprised that we managed to go around the rink (holding on to dear life at the edges), but at least we managed to stand on ice without falling on our fannies and got to glide along a few meters at a time.

And methinks I'll be going back to Mall of Asia soon to try it out again.

Maybe I can still become a figure skater after all. Hmmm... NOT!