My daughter receives threats and insults from internet bullies every now and then because of her “bombastic” blog entries. I recall the times she was bullied on her entries about speaking english over tagalog, the jologs, the conyos and lastly, her roomie rants. Sometimes I attribute it to jealousy. One day she asked me if [tag]blogger rights[/tag] exist. Her celebrity entry drew the ire of the stage mother that the latter even threatened to file a complaint to the college dean. Nothing materialized of it. Good thing she didn’t file. My husband-lawyer was ready for a countersuit. My daughter has learned to publish blog entries in private or public mode to prevent harassment from internet bullies. It’s one reason she keeps changing her blog domain name. Anyway I found this site that provides a Legal Guide for Bloggers, a collection of blogger-specific FAQs addressing everything from fair use to defamation law to workplace whistle-blowing. These FAQs are limited to the USA laws but remember, most of our websites are hosted in US servers. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) covers US servers. Some can be applicable to the Philippine blogosphere. A historical first in the [tag]Philippine blogosphere[/tag] was that time the PCIJ blog was slapped with a temporary restraining order. Nothing is FREE and dandy in the blogosphere.
Here’s an ABS-CBN Insider interview of J. Angelo, a stay-at-home dad and a professional blogger (Problogger) whom I met in the iBlog summit 2.
The blog is indeed a nifty tool for long lost friends who want to reconnect with you.
With the aid of google search, two friends I haven’t heard in years found me through my blog. One is Betty who is now based in Singapore. The last time we saw each other was in Sampaguita Residence Hall at the UP campus in 1978. Suddenly, my memories brought me back to those carefree years when we would gossip on our latest crush , search for dinner or just hang out in our rooms. I don’t know why I lost touch with Betty. It must have been because we left for the province after graduation or we were too caught up looking for jobs. Then there is Bing, my officemate at the UP Institute for Small Scale Industries. She is now in New York. Am I really that bad in communicating with friends whenever a milestone occurs in my life? Bing said that the last time she saw me was when Lauren was a few months old. How terrible I am.
I don’t think I meant to overlook or neglect friendships. I know that there are some friendships that wax and wane , going through cycles throughout the years. Some trail off when one person outgrows the other. I just didn’t know how to take care of myself during my early years of marriage. I thought family should come first. But I know better now. Friends are a joy. Adult friendships can be a good place for us to learn to have fun and to appreciate how much fun we can have with a friend. A friendship is a comfortable place to be ourselves. Bing and Betty are two friends that I want to reconnect. Hopefully I can visit Singapore or New York within the year.
I thought friendster was also another way to communicate with long lost friends until my techno-challenged hubby questioned me in a tone that sounded a wee suspicious. This conversation occured during our troubled marital years.
“Why are you at friendster?“.
“huh? How did you know that?” (sounding a bit defensive after hearing his suspicious tone)
“My fraternity brods saw your Friendster profile.”
“Let me explain. I am in [tag]Friendster[/tag] so that high school or college classmates know how to reach me. Ahhhah. you thought I placed that up because I want to date? Don’t you know friendster is also for social networking? Oh….and did your brods tell you that my photo is that of our son, Luijoe????.”
That shut him up.
My friendster photo has since been changed to our couple photo . And dear hubby is not so technically-chaellenged anymore.
Update on Cheche Lazaro: (May 8, 2009) Cheche Lazaro and the Wire Tapping Case filed by GSIS
To be interviewd by Cheche Lazaro in “Straight Talk” is an honor. Her interview style is excellent. You know, I usually get a pre-interview by production assistants days before a show. This is normal procedure since hosts are usually busy. It surprised me that no one from ANC (ABS-CBN News Channel) called me up. Hmm, I thought that maybe Cheche can handle it herself. The only call I received was from the production assistant of the executive producer. He was so touched after reading Luijoe’s memorial website and wanted to borrow Luijoe’s photos for a clear graphic shot. They went all the way to the house just to get the photo albums.
Before the live interview, I caught up with Cheche at the dressing room and we had a little chat as the makeup artists retouched our shiny faces. I am amazed at her preparation for this episode. She printed out research materials on grief and highlighted sentences in my story of the Fallen Cradle. She told me that this is a fairly new topic rarely discussed on TV. I know. I told her that grief education is quite new in our country and we’re just taking off with the introduction of grief pyschologists and grief support groups.
I told the girls I can’t be bothered to be their driver tomorrow because I have to appear as a guest at Cito Beltran’s Straight Talk at 1 to 2 PM. My daughter’s immediate reaction: “I won’t be surprised if you appear in Boy Abunda’s talk show“. I don’t really watch TV so I don’t know what kind of talk show it is. But why not? If it helps promote The Compassionate Friends, I’m all for it. I just found out today that Cito Beltran is on leave so Cheche Lazaro will take his place. That’s excellent! She is one of the country’s most respected broadcast journalists . As founding president of Probe Productions Inc. and host of The Probe Team, she started the first investigative newsmagazine for television in the Philippines. I hope I “talk straight” as it is my first ever live interview. The other guest is Agnes Prieto who edited the book on loss of a child, Fallen Cradle. She also initiated this book project.
If you don’t catch the live interview, the replay is at 11:00 PM, June 2 and at 6 PM on June 3, Saturday. I think it will also show simultcast at the The Filipino Channel or ABS CBN Global.
I have been tagged by Ajay to describe 10 of life’s simplest pleasures. She said that “The trick is to be original with your answers and not repeat those which have already been written by your circle of friends”. I have more than 10 of course but here’s my original list not found at Ajay’s list:
1. Watching little boys play with their dads or moms in a park. ( Yes I miss my son)
2. Butterflies that suddenly cross my path. (Is that a sign?)
3. Meditating in a Sauna room. (OOh the heat just makes you want to reflect)
4. A random kiss from my husband and not totally expecting it. (Inspite of more than 27 years of togetherness, I still get gooesebumps when Butch does that.)
5. An email from a long lost classmate or friend after finding me through my blog. (Wow, small world they found me)
6. A hug from my daughters. (I am loved!)
7. Laughing together as a family as we watch comedy shows. (Guess who has the loudest laugh?)
8. Staring at my pictures where I look so much slimmer. (I even look so much better now than I was 20 years ago. Narcissistic huh?)
9. Chatting with my siblings who are all based outside the Philippines (boohoo, I’m the only one left here)
10. Holding hands with my husband. (and … 🙂 )
Now tell me what are your life’s simplest pleasures?
Speaking of my husband, I got the surprise of my life when I saw his name in my googletalk a couple of days ago. I sent my first message. Butch replied with “we save on text messaging cost this way.” Apparently, his secretary installed it for him so it is easier to communicate. Yesterday, he sent me a rant:
Haha, Butch hates crowds. He probably ended up at the crowded Skating rink.
As you might all know, I use the computer a lot for my business so I am pretty much online. Now it feels strange seeing his name highlighted in my desktop and seeing if he’s available or idle. One time he sent me a message and when I didn’t reply , he called me instead. “You’re not replying“. He probably thinks I sit all day in the computer chair or perhaps he can’t tell when my computer is idle.
What is even weirder is knowing he left the office already when his name is not on Gtalk. I feel like I’m snooping around or something. I have to get used to this [tag]Googletalk[/tag] business.
I was quite apprehensive over the production of Ali’s Sotto Mother’s Day Feature. Ali’s talk show was launched late last year and I had never watched a single episode. What will be the focus? Will it sound sensational aka Oprah Show style? Or will they show some heart breaking dramatic effect? I was prepared for the worst.
Surprisingly, the episode was nice, touching and inspiring. The Ali Show featured mothers who have moved on towards a positive resolution of their grief. It’s not easy to narrate my grief and the events surrounding Luijoe’s death in public but I needed to share , if only to give hope to other bereaved parents. Most importantly, my son’s memory is kept alive through The Compassionate Friends which I co-founded with two other parents. (View Screencaps of the show)
When I woke up this morning, I received a few text messages about the show. The funniest of them all was a text message forwarded by my husband.
Hi Butch . Is Noemi a movie celebrity? I keep seeing her picture on TV. what show does she come out in?
haha, I don’t know if our new friend was kidding or not but I think he was referring to the preview of the show.
It’s not that I’m vain. That’s a test shot. I checked to see if the makeup artist placed too much cake on me. Okay, I’m vain. I was invited as one of the guests for the taping of a Mother’s Day Special for Ali Sotto-Bsaies’ talk-magazine program (light public affairs show aptly titled “ALI,”). I expected it to be over in 30 minutes. It was difficult for Ali to do this episode. Our interview reached two hours due to frequent crying breaks and retouching of makeup. Miko Sotto‘s birthday was just last May 10 then there ‘s Mother’s Day. Anniversary dates, holidays, birthdays, special days will come and pass, each with their sting of pain. I felt really sad. I don’t know what will come out of my episode. Just see for yourself on the outcome of the interview. Other mothers featured are Agnes Prieto, Alma Miclat , Vilma Dy and Ali Sotto herself. It’ll come out on May 16, 2006 ABC Channel 5 at 11:00 PM.
I’ll talk more about this when the show airs next tuesday.
More TV shows are showing a mother’s loss this month, like Maalala Mo Kaya and Magpakailanman
I’m exhausted.
Even if I only stayed for the morning, I had a great time at the iblog 2 summit (view me here and here). Thank you to the organizers of the iblog 2 summit. You all did a great job. Really, a huge success in terms of registrants and quality of the speakers. (View gallery). I don’t have the figures yet but the room was standing room only . We had to get additional chairs. 
I happened to be the moderator of the Personal Blogging Panel and met Joel Yuvienco, Anton de Leon and Mike Abundo. They are so funny and perfectly suited for their topics. Mike Abundo innovated his open forum. He asked for volunteer bloggers to show off their blogs. In turn, Mike recommended strategies to improve the marketing effectiveness of the blog.
My daughter, Lauren just got in the room just before Mike closed the open forum. She readily volunteered her blog. Mike thinks that Lauren has too many “chicklets” in her side navigation. Guess what “chicklets” are!
(photo courtesy of Disini’s gallery)
Lauren protested , ” But I like the “chicklets”
I couldn’t stay till the end of the summit because I had to fix some legal problems. Glad to have also met Abe Olandres and Manuel Viloria, JJ Disini, and Adrian Sison. Incidentally, Adrian is about to launch his book on RA 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004) this coming June.
And the perks: An iblog2 t-shirt and a Certificate of Appreciation. How sweet.
Rebecca Mackinnon and Dr. Ronald Meinardus
Thanks Annalyn for the Blog-O-Rama interview of this blog. I received a few emails from readers who have lost a loved one and got directed to The Compassionate Friends website. I know I can’t take away their pain but by talking or writing about their grief, they can somehow ease their pain. I only got to read the paper version while at the gym early this morning.
“Touched by an Angel” is only 7 weeks old , and my Google [tag]Page rank[/tag] is already PR 5 on the main page (it’s PR0 on newer entries). Sometimes I don’t understand Google. Only 10 sites link to this blog and not to mention, the domain is quite new. Anyway, this is good news because there is a chance that visitors can easily find this site by typing the significant keywords.