I joined the Photo Hunters as a way to promote my blog to a wider audience. It also forces me to make use of my digital camera. Photo Hunters’ members post every Saturday based on a theme chosen by the founder of the group. You can join here. Today’s theme is Hobby and I want to present one of my hobbies, Cooking.
All day yesterday, Lauren complained how she was nervous over her topic “Do’s and Don’ts of Personal Blogging for Iblog 3 Summit because it would be her first public speaking engagment. I told her not to worry and just be herself as if she were just blogging. True to form, she captured her audience with her wit and charm.Listen to Lauren’s Podcast and judge for yourself. Her powerpoint can also be downloaded as you listen to her podcast. (Warning to sensitive readers: May contain Offensive language in the Podcast Intro)
In answer to the question if I read her blog. I know Lauren has a private blog since she entered college which I don’t bother to find out but I read her public blog. Recently , I was asked if I cringe over the cuss words that she uses. Her blog is her way of expression and for me to censor it is just not right. She limits or avoids cuss words in front of us. I don’t curse myself but her dad does. So how can I tell my own daughter not to say words when her own father does it?
And I finally met Dine!
Taking snacks and desserts can be quite a challenge for diabetics like me. Our body screams ““sweetness”. We can only stare and drool at that… Read More »Sugar Free Desserts at SugarNot!
I poked Sexy Mom via Google Talk early this morning to start using her Twitter. You’ve probably seen a few of my trivial Twitter Updates (using the wordpress plugin, twitter tools) and my Twitter badge on the right sidebar of this blog. Twitter is an update service or similar to a social networking site that lets you ““micro-blog” or write short (140 characters) quips on what you’re currently doing. It’s a nifty tool for people like me who work most of the time on the internet. All twitter.com does is ask: “What are you doing?” What I like about Twitter is that I can write the most irrelevant and mundane things without worrying if it’s blog-worthy or not. In short, Twitter is a mini-blogging tool. JAngelo wrote that someone said it can replace full-fledged blogging.
When there was only one computer in the house , shared by all of the family members, the computer virus eluded us. That’s because I am such an obsessive compulsive over any files invading my computer. The last time I encountered a computer virus was in 1993 (1994) due to my husband’s files from the law office. The kids know that a virus can crash the PC so at an early age, they learned to be careful. A crashed computer means no computer.
Now I don’t know why M of all people brought in a virus from the UP Psych lab. She’s quite fastidious when it comes to her computer. At first, she complained that the wifi in her dad’s laptop kept shutting down. Then when she brought her PC from the dorm , the black box exhibited the same symptons as the IBM thinkpad,
*ding ding* my mind raced. “It’s a virus”
“Mom can you fix it?”
Downloading the latest AVG proved futile. The explorer crashes as you click it. Even using online virus check crashes the browser. Any word with AVG or virus causes the computer to crash. Strange virus indeed. She can’t even view her blog entry on that weird virus.
What does being broke mean? Does it mean being down to the last million peso? or down to the last 100,000 pesos or the last 1,000 pesos? There was a time, we only had 1,000 pesos in our savings/checking account way below the minimum bank requirement. We even had a negative balance due to a service fee charge for dropping below the minimum. Our saving grace was Lauren who had savings which we borrowed to keep us afloat. In the strictest sense of the word, our financial situation was not entirely hopeless. We were not bankrupt but we were not liquid either. Though we had other assets, it took time to convert them to cash. Though in the red, we didn’t incur credit card debts, renege on our mortagage or borrowed from the bank. These financial challenges a few years ago inspired me to be more responsive to income opportunities. I grew up in financially secure family because my father was hardworking with an astute sense of financial responsibility. We were blessed with a family bakery business and a father who invested his earnings wisely . Despite his illness,and unable to work since his stroke at the age of 55 years old, dad had enough money to last him till his death at age 71.
Not that my husband and I were financially incompetent. With a thriving law office , the financial future looked great. Butch brought in most of the income while I stayed at home and puttered on my hobbies. I felt like a queen being pampered by my King. In the past, I often turned down a lot of projects or refused commissions because I wanted the other party to benefit more than I did. I felt guilty over my earnings. Then the financial crisis hit us like a rock. Stress and hopelessness in our life drove us to be a bit more complacent. We lost focus on our financial affairs. Too bad my king faltered. I had to wake up from my queenly slumber and grab opportunities as they came before we went totally bankrupt.
The past certainly brought me lessons:
So what does my entry “[tag]Cheap Travel Fares Online[/tag]” have to do with all these? I sound like one of those crazy spam words.
You will have to surf through the comments in Yuga’s entry Blogging is a privilege, not a right to understand why this blogger by the name of Blogie of (ittalks.robilloblog.com) starts to judge my spirituality because of a “sarcastic” comment I supposedly made. It’s funny that I am “condemned” like this on a Good Friday. Now I know how poor Jomar felt when his stand on the invocation was ripped to pieces. Here is what the offended Blogie posted:
Before you even try to argue what bourgeoisie or the concept of bourgeoise is with me, I suggest you look them up in the dictionary first. I will engage in a debate with people only when both parties are on the same intellectual plane.
I’ve seen your blog  how can you purport to write about God and spirituality when you can be as sarcastic as you are in your last comment?? Sarcasm, Noemi, has no other purpose but to hurt. Sarcasm has no place in intellectual exchange because it leads to nowhere. If you aim to have a meaningful discussion with me, stick to sober language.
Must have hit a raw nerve on this blogger.
I am so not in the same intellectual plane as he is. So bless me for my feeble mind, dear readers…and allow me to rant about it here as I am not worthy to be in a meaningful discussion. This is my space after all.
Anyway, I replied to Blogie’s comment that sarcasm can be compared to a glass which is half-empty or half-full.
But see, this person doesn’t know me so he judges me on the surface of one or two entries. So let’s give him some slack.
I have seen comments in many blogs about the Philippine Blog Awards. I didn’t realize how a situation can be overblown or overreacted.
Let’s count the ways again…
Read More »I am uh sarcastic. Bless me Father for I have sinned….
Now that the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards are over, let’s not forget that there is another bloggers’ event called iBlog3: the 3rd Philippine Blogging Summit . It will be held at the School of Economics Auditorium, in UP Diliman, Quezon City this April 13 and 14, 2007. This event is organized by the University of the Philippines – Internet Society Program. Register Here. It’s FREE!
Don’t miss it, okay? Lauren and I are one of the 25 speakers in this event where we will talk on a wide range of topic ranging from the Blogging for Newbies , Professional blogging to Increasing blog popularity and whole lot more. It’s also another venue to meet up , right?
The program :
I am not talking of the blood-sucking monstrous vampires or human living vampires that exhibit vampiric characteristics or the need, compulsion, or involuntary tendency to “feed” upon some substance or some kind of energy produced by other living things, primarily other people. I’m talking about one facet of vampires which is the repulsion to strong light. On the first morning in our new home, L came running to my room complaining that her room was too bright. I went to her room and noted a stream of sunlight on her writing table. What a bright and sunny day, just perfect mood to start the day.
But noo…L wanted to sleep in.
“Vampire?” (knowing L’s fascination for vampires during her teen years)
“No, I just hate the light. I want to sleep in.” L groaned.
“That’s not too bad. The sunlight is not hitting your bed” I teased. On the floor , our two cats squirmed for a spot under the dark corners of L’s bed. For about a week, I heard the same complaint all day long. M could not stand the afternoon sun hitting on her bedroom. She had massive migraines during the first week.
It got me thinking that so our old home seemed encased in a tomb. . The design of our old home is narrow where certain parts of the rooms barely received the sunlight. The walls that partitioned sections of the home prevented the flow of sunlight. I noticed I always turned on the fluorescent lights in the family den and the dining room. The only room that received sunlight was the living room during the mornings and the kitchen in the late afternoons. The rest of the rooms screamed of darkness and gloom. Is it one reason I felt so despondent in that house? With blinds to shield any meager source of sunlight, their rooms were a virtual nightscape. It’s no wonder that L oversleeps and wakes up at 1:00 PM when she has no school. One time, I even slept in L’s room and woke up at 10:00 AM to my utter disbelief.
I love the light. Maybe my vision is a bit impaired which makes me yearn for better lighting system. Our new home is situated in a corner lot with ample and huge windows which means more sunlight streaming in all directions.
I love it.
The chorus of the family members “WE NEED CURTAINS NOW”
My feet are killing me! For 2 hours, I walked the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium lobby to cajole guests to eat cocktails and be merry. Well, what a day! I got a surprise! I received a special award from Globe Broadband : the Family Blog Award which is meant to honor family-oriented blogging. It’s indeed an honor to receive the Family Blog Award as it helps promote my blog’s advocacy. Of course, I never imagined myself to be a recipient of any award for tonight’s [tag]Philippine Blog Awards[/tag] since I chaired the Venue and Food Committee. I learned that Globe Broadband/Innove guys thought of this idea and selected their winners based on their own criteria. What an innovative way to promote brand name recall and recognition to a very special niche. It’s a good thing that my Globelines Broadband Internet is working well so far or else I would not have been happy to receive this award.
Other awards given out by Globe Broadband were
1. Blog Achievement Award” The Mommy Journals
2. Pinoy Ako Blog Award: ederic@cyberspace
3. Blogirl Award: Well Whatever
4. Deliblog Award: Dessert Comes First
The best thing about receiving the Family Blog award is that my whole family attended the Awards Night with me. They enjoyed the food (thanks Josiah’s Catering), the bloggers and just being there with me. All my family members maintain a blog except that Butch and M chose to keep a private url. So it was quite an exciting adventure for them to see/meet the person behind the blog that they have been reading for ages.
(Photo courtesy of Anton)
The night flew so fast…In just one hour and half, winners were announced.
The winners of the 16 categories are:
Read More »Family Blog Award and The Philippine Blog Awards Night