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Creative Non-Fiction and The Blog

Seriously since you seem to have the energy and inclination for such endeavors, perhaps you can start a campaign to promote not only Filipino women, but also writers who will write in excellent Pilipino, or at least use impeccable English as a substitute.

That’s part of a lengthy email from a FilipinaImages.com reader. Oh my. Seriously now, what a tall order for a mere blogger like me to start such an advocacy? Sorry, I am not the right person. I know my limitations. I have great ideas for blog topics but more often than not, I am often stumped on the opening hook for my entry. If I tortured myself about my imperfect English, I would not be pounding away on my keyboard and blogging for the past two years. In fact, that’s one reason I only blogged in 2006. I felt insecure about my writing. If I let my insecurities interfere with my goals, there would be no advocacy on grief support in the Philippines and Reshaping the Filipina Image Online. It does not mean I don’t want to hone my writing skills. The only way to improve on my writing skills is to write everyday and learn to be better.

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Photo Hunt: Narrow

mount pinatuboPhoto Hunt theme is Narrow. This is the narrow path when one treks to the crater of Mount Pinatubo Volcano. Actually, this is a photo taken by Lauren, my daughter when she travelled with a few bloggers to the crater of Mount Pinatubo. Lauren was only four years old when the Pinatubo Volcano erupted so violently that more than 5 billion cubic meters of ash and pyroclastic debris were ejected from its fiery bowels. The volume of ash was enormous that it went as far as Manila. I wrapped a face mask on my kids’ noses and mouth to avoid dust inhalation whenever they frolicked around the neighborhood streets. And now she traversed that narrow path to swim on the crater’s lake.

According to my daughter, the photos of Mt.Pinatubo Volcano don’t do justice. One has to be there to bask in the beauty of Mt. Pinatubo. When she finally reached the crater, it was filled with deep blue waters:

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WikiPilipinas Filipina Stories, A Contest

Awarding of the Winners of the WikiPilipinas Filipina Stories

Date: March 28, 2008
Time: 11-12:00 Noon
Venue: SMX Convention Hall # 3, SMX Convention Center, beside SM Mall of Asia, Manila
Map: Click on thumbnail

smx_map1.jpg

This is our tentative program for the March 28 event, 11-12nn

1. Opening Remarks
2. About Vibal Foundation
3. Empowering Women Through Internet
4. Walkthroughs: Filipiniana.net and Wikipilipinas.org and Filipinaimages.com
5. Raffle iPod Nano
6. Announcement of Winners
7. Closing

Wikipilipinas will host lunch in a restaurant in Mall of Asia after the program.

wikipilipinas.jpgDine, Gus Vibal, founder of WikiPilipinas, his staff and I met up last week to discuss ways to support their first online Encyclopedia of Philippine Women that they started in WikiPilipinas.org. I believe Gus is truly sincere in his WikiPilipinas’ vision to be ““the largest Philippine knowledge database”. I mean, Gus pratically invested a lot on WikiPilipinas. (A few sponsors helped though).

Dine, Lorna, myself and most of you will agree that we all want to raise the profile of the Filipinas, and be part of a larger movement in uplifting the status of Philippine women. I believe that WikiPilipinas is sincere in their mission as we all are. Here is our collaborative project which I hope you will be a part of:

230px-Filstories1.jpgIn line with the principle of honoring the diverse, beautiful, and powerful image of a Filipina, WikiPilipinas will launch a special portal Encyclopedia of Philippine Women inside the site which will compile and detail the achievements and triumphs of Filipinas everywhere. Its sister site Filipiniana.net will also have a Philippine Women Microsite containing documents discussing Filipino women, as well as selected texts from the oeuvres of Filipina writers. Through a combined effort for advocacy, WikiPilipinas partnered with Filipina Images to help promote a more empowering image of the Filipina. By having an online platform to showcase Filipina intelligence and talent, surely the goal will be closer.

To promulgate the advocacy, WikiPilipinas and Filipina Images websites will launch ““Filipina Stories,” a writing contest with the mission of uplifting the image of the Filipina.

Check the prizes and mechanics of this contest.

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Thursday Thirteen 129th Edition: 13 Things On My Table


Thirteen Things On My Work Station

I am quite a minimalist. I abhor clutter and like to keep most of my envelopes and papers inside the drawers but it’s impossible to clear my work station totally. Here are the 13 things lying on on my table right now:

1. My desktop 21 inch monitor, of course.

2. My PLDT telephone

3. My Web Awards

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What Is A Blog? How do I Start a Blog?

If you’re a regular visitor of my blog, you already know what a blog is. But some people I meet don’t know. I’m sure some of you faced a similar situation below.

For instance, when I take a photo in a restaurant, I am sometimes asked by the owner: are you a journalist?

Me: No, I’m a blogger.

Owner: What is a blogger?

Me: I write for my blog.

Owner: What is a blog?

Often, I take the word blog for granted that I don’t really bother to explain myself clearly. I found this video through Juned that explains what a blog is in plain English. Watch it.

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Photo Hunt: Important

Photo Hunters theme this week is Important. I chose this photo of my daughter resting on a hammock by the beach during a recent trip to Boracay. Before this photo was taken, I was using the hammock. I called my daughter to try it out because the swaying motion of the hammock brought me to lala-land. It felt so good. The photo shows the Importance of Rest and Relaxation.
important.jpg

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Hit by Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Bug

The travel and photography bug hit me after my latest adventure with the young and vibrant Pinoy Travel bloggers. The trip awakened a few wants and needs.

1. I want to travel the hidden paradise islands in the Philippines. I am 50 years old and I have yet to travel most parts of the Philippines. After taking the quiz below, my lakbayan score is only a C. There is room for improvement, I know. I want to earn a grade of B by the end of 2008.


My Lakbayan grade is C!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Traveling with the Eugenius who turned out to be a whiz identifying places from a ““satellite view” was an added bonus. From my SeAir plane window, he pointed Mindoro. I didn’t recognize it from above. When I used to travel the boat from Cebu to Manila, I memorized the islands along the way. What was there to do while traveling for 36 hours? I knew the location of shark infested areas in the Philippine seas. I could tell if the ship passed the islands wof Romblon, Masbate or Mindoro. But that’s over 40 years ago. I want to travel the Philippine islands once again.

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Boracay and The Dream

A dream about a late loved one is often a gift. “Don’t overanalyze it. Accept it with gratitude.” But what happens when a friend dreams about your blog entry? Here is a story which is one for the books.

I apologized to Cathy that I was unable to attend the Grief Share meeting last Saturday. Here are parts of our chat a few hours ago.

Cathy: okay lang. I read it in your blog.

Me: I haven’t blogged yet about boracay. Where did you read it? in my blog?

Cathy: yes. about my recovery

Me: No I haven’t blogged about it yet. The wi-fi was so slow in the hotel.

Feeling rather surprised, I checked my blog if I accidentally posted an entry. I knew that Abe blogged about it so maybe that’s where she found out.

Cathy insisted that she only reads my blog.

Cathy: I saw a photo of you in front of Microtel with Butch and Lauren.
microtelmcirotel

Me:: Only Lauren went with me.

Then Cathy narrated all the photos she saw in the entry I never posted (until now):

Cathy: There’s a nice shot of palm trees at dusk. You have a photo with Abe.

boracay duskabe_me__boracay.jpg

I pointed Anton Diaz Boracay Escape with Pinoy Travel Bloggers and Ivan Henares Microtel Boracay in Diniwid Beach entries but Cathy did not read those entries either.

Me:: Maybe you accidentally saw my Boracay Photo Gallery?

Cathy: Ah No. It was a collage of photos. (Cathy takes a look at my gallery) There is that picture in the boat and I thought the man in stripes beside you was Butch

boracay

Me: How did you know then? I have not shown my photos yet to my readers because I have 500 photos to upload. Besides I cannot make a collage because my macbook does not have Photoshop.

Cathy: If you didn’t post, then how else did I see it? Psychic powers?

Me: then no other way unless you read the 12 other bloggers’ entry.

Cathy insisted again that she only reads my blog from the the list of Pinoy Travel bloggers I mentioned.

Cathy: You even wrote thanks to SeAir and Microtel and there was one other sponsor I cannot remember. And you added that you were glad that Lauren was able to join you on the trip.

The sponsorship and Lauren were the clincher. One can conjure dream images of the beach and my travelling companions. But the sponsors? There are a gazillion hotels in Boracay. And airlines? There are around 5 airlines that fly to Boracay. Also, how would she know that Lauren nearly didn’t make it to Boracay? Her dream is almost accurate.

How can one explain my blog entry that Cathy read but which I have not posted yet (or still drafting as I write this)?

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2008 Philippine Blog Awards

Presenting the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards.

2008 Philippine Blog Awards
The awarding is open to all Filipino bloggers who have full ownership of their blogs. This implies that blogs belonging to blog networks or corporate blogs cannot be included because of ownership rights. The awards therefore pay homage to “grassroots bloggers” who have built up their blogs from their own efforts.

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Blogger Conversation in the Family

You know by now that everyone in my family has a blog. Heck, even the pet cats and dog have a blog except it hasn’t been launched yet.

Can you tell the blogger state of newbiness or blogger age (not biological) by the following conversation?

1. Husband after an argument:

“I bet you’re gonna blog about our fight. Go ahead, blog about it. See if I care”

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