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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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)?
Presenting the 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.
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”
Allow me some bragging rights, okay? Congratulations to my daughter, Lauren for being chosen as one of the WikiPinoys of the Year: Bloggers (for People and Society) given by Wikipilipinas.org. Wiki Pilipinas chose the Filipino Bloggers as the WikiPinoys of the Year. Why?
[tag]Andrew Olmsted[/tag], also known as G’Kar the blogger, was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave a friend a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July. Here is Andy’s final post. His actual blog is here. Andy must have known of his imminent death since he prepared his final post last July. Losing someone who can write well from the dreaded war zone is a tremendous loss – most people never get the chance to know how, when, and where they might probably die. Andrew knew death was a possible outcome enough to write this last post . For me, some of the most insightful parts are the following: (The quotes are from Andy and my comments are below it.)
It’s not easy asking anyone to do something for you in the event of your death, and it is a testament to her quality that she didn’t hesitate to accept the charge. As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose.
I would never ask anyone to post a final post for me. I know we will all die eventually. I guess if you’re a blogger and based in Iraq, death is a big possibility. It was Andy’s way of immortalizing his life through this last post.
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Happy New Year 2008! I greeted the New Year by taking a slice of this evil Dairy Queen Peppermint Ice Cream cake. Let’s all greet the new year on a positive note by setting goals for ourselves. It’s a good thing that my sister reminded me of my New Year goals last year. Yesterday, she read the Review of New Year Goals for 2007 and it reminded her to set her goals. Butch loved the idea of writing down my goals when I told him that I achieved 8 out of my 11 goals for the New Year.
I realize that goals need to be written down. It serves as an affirmation of myself, my life, and my ability to choose. Then I let it go. New Year goals are something we need to dig within and discover what we would like to happen in our life this year. It is an affirmation that we are interested in living life in the year to come.
So the questions evolved. What would I like to attain? Where would I like to go? What would I like to happen in my marriage and family life? I have to remember that I am not out to control others with my goals but rather giving direction to my life. So I continue on pondering. What problems would I like to be solved? What decisions would I like to make? What would I like to happen in my business?
I’m preparing for the New Year celebration tonight. While preparing for our noche buena, Butch and I reflected on this year and the 2007 goals we achieved or did not achieve. I’ve learned to be grateful for the positive and negative experiences. They made me a better blogger and person. For everything that happened to me as a blogger this year, there is a reason for which I am grateful. I will list them all but will not mention the specifics of the negative experience.
1. I received three awards for my blog this year.
- Globelines Broadband Family Blog Award (in honor of family-oriented blogging) 2007 Philippine Blog Award, March 31, 2007
- Winner, Blog- Personal Category, DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards 2007 April 27, 2007
- Winner, Best Website, Blogs Category of the 10th Philippine Web Awards held November 23, 2007
The truth is I believe other blogs are more deserving than mine. Despite that nagging thought, I accept the judges’ perception and decision with heartfelt gratitude.