Qwerty Confessions

Hi!

2008-04-03T11:35:00.001+08:00

Thanks for dropping by. Due to some difficulties I experienced recently with Blogger, I am switching to WordPress (you should, too, personally).

Sorry for the inconvenience. If you please, visit my WordPress blog at http://qwertyconfessions.wordpress.com. I've switched back and forth a couple of times, but hopefully this time will be the last.

Also, leave a comment when you get there. Thank you!

Much love,

WordPress. Perhaps permanently.

2008-04-02T01:38:00.002+08:00

Blogger can be a bitch sometimes, and I have to say that I am at my wits' end. God, why can't the Blogger people not screw up on such a simple part of a blog (the custom header -- it won't display in my browser; does it display in yours?).

For the meantime, and possibly permanently, I will be using my WordPress blog at qwertyconfessions.wordpress.com. Thank you.

Risks

2008-04-01T21:49:00.001+08:00

I am, as always, confined to the four corners of my painfully yellow room, again feeling the need to write. It could be the boredom of summer afternoons like this, or perhaps instinct -- whatever it is, it's telling me to write.

I write for many reasons -- to while away the hours, to keep my writing skills sharp, to express my feelings. Today, I am again held in a trance by my notebook computer because a question just popped in my mind.

What will become of me in fifteen years' time?

I have asked this out loud before, and my peers have discouraged me from thinking about it. I've got my whole life ahead of me, they say. And they aren't wrong. At thirteen, I still have so much of the world to explore, and so much of my life to live.

But perhaps my greatest fear is that I will live it the wrong way, and that I will look back and regret my actions. Haven't we all felt regret before? That little, "I wish I did that instead of this." Didn't we, at some point, ask ourselves how our lives would've turned out had we made a different decision? I have always been afraid to make a wrong decision Now, as I enter the audacious teenage years, and as the rest of my life is starting to unfold, I feel the need to make a plan, to plot things out, so that I live my life to the fullest and the way I want to. I feel that my life is better off prearranged, so that I would not need to worry about it anymore. In other words, I'd be better off without a risk to take.

But today, as I was reading Paulo Coelho's novel By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, I came across these sentences which told me that having a prearranged life would probably not be the best thing in the world:

You have to take risks...We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks...because when they are finally able to believe in miracles, their life's magic moments will have already passed them by.

"Magic moments" will be understood by those who have read By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept. Essentially, these are moments in our life when a "yes" or a "no" can change it forever. To quote the book verbatim, magic moments

"may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us."

I feel that this was speaking directly to me (although it is highly improbable). If my life were plotted out prior to my actually living it, then everything I would do would become "just another task"; my magic moments would go unnoticed. I realize that although a prearranged life would be devoid of the precariousness and unpredictability of a life lived spontaneously, it would also be devoid of the thrill of a spontaneously lived life. This leads me to another quote from the novel By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept:

"The person who is afraid of taking risks...perhaps will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won't suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when that person looks back...she will hear her heart saying...'So this is your heritage: the certainty that you wasted your life.'"

I do not want to waste my life. Taking risks is better than having wasted a whole lifetime. I have a dream to follow, and I will follow that dream. I will stumble, and I will get bruised. I will fall seven times, and get up eight.

What will become of me in fifteen years? I will become an accomplished person. A bruised person, but a learned person. A person with failures, but with even more accomplishments. My heritage will not be the certainty that I wasted my life; instead, it will be the certainty that I lived my life to the fullest.

Fixing things

2008-04-01T09:40:00.001+08:00

The Philippine political landscape has recently become tumultuous, thanks to the infamous ZTE National Broadband Network deal, which the country forged with China. The revelation of the project's anomalies by Rodolfo Lozada has shaken the Arroyo government. The people have seemingly lost trust in President Gloria Arroyo, and only her connections to influential entities is keeping her in office. This is surely not the Philippines the masses envisioned when they ousted Erap Estrada in 2001 and installed the current president in office.

Despite the Philippines' incredible financial performance (now P42-$1, when before it was P55-$1), the Philippines is in deep sh*t. Let me tell you why.

Public education here is pitiful, to say the least. That may sound blasphemous, especially coming from a public school student, but here are the facts. Our class was given a 1:1 student-book ratio for our Filipino textbook, but all other textbooks are distributed on a 2:1 ratio, meaning two students have to share one textbook. These books are not in the best condition, either; some are missing pages, others have tattered covers; there are even horribly vandalized copies which would be of no use to a student. Classrooms have broken electric fans, nonfunctional fluorescent light bulbs, ready-to-fall-apart armchairs and dilapidated chalkboards. Teachers, I'm told, are paid less than what they deserve.

Infrastructure is in need of more attention. Although our national highways are excellently maintained, many city streets have potholes and fissures. Many communities lack street lamps, creating a viable environment for thieves and robbers to thrive. Canal systems are poorly built. As a result, during heavy rains, roadways become rivers, and the ordinary commuter cannot avoid getting his/her feet wet in the process. (Rainwater carries all sorts of diseases, and one can never be too careful.)

Corruption is evident and obvious, so much so that I sometimes ask myself why these people bother to hide the fact in the first place. During the last local elections, the convention center in front of our house became a bribery center where people would get paid about P200 ($5) to put the name of the incumbent mayor (who was running for reelection) on their ballots. The ZTE Broadband deal (which the Senate is thankfully scrutinizing) is another example of the deceit in the higher echelons of government, clear proof of the fact that today's public servants are no longer interested in public service.

If that isn't deep sh*t, I don't know what is. I am startled by the government not giving a damn for the country it serves. I look back to a time when public servants were revered, were respected for their work. To a time when to be a government official was to serve the country greatly. To a time when the office was respected. To a time when people who sat in Malacañang took extra care not to tarnish the position they held.

All of that has obviously gone down the drain. Today, taxpayers' money goes not to the nation's coffers, but to the influential. The government plasters tarpaulin banners all over the city with a picture of a newly-constructed bridge and the words, "THIS IS WHERE YOUR TAX GOES". I do not -- cannot -- believe that.

So, it is time to oust the president. People argue that that cannot be done. Why? "The succeeding government would be far worse than the present," they contend.

That, I believe, is out of the question. Should the questionable capacity of a would-be president be reason enough not to oust the current, incapable president? NOTHING should be reason enough not to oust an distrusted president. When it comes to the preservation of a country's morale, we should do what is warranted, no matter what the cost.

"And what if the succeeding President will be far worse?"

Let me tell you one thing: he SHOULDN'T be far worse. If he would still have a functional conscience, he would realize that he'd been put in his current position by the people in the hopes that he would map a new future for the country. He would not betray his people's trust. He would do his best to fulfill his duties to his country -- as we all must, if only in our own little way.

And, if it so happens that corruption continues under a new leadership, we must never tire of taking our voice to the streets and exercising democracy should the need arise. If we need to keep ousting presidents until we find one that will surely live up to what is expected of him, then we shan't stop until we find the one for our country. With the Almighty by our side and with faith, hope and patriotism in our hearts, our search shouldn't last too long.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas.

The Novelist Path

2008-03-31T23:03:00.001+08:00

This was published on IndieBloggers on March 31, 2008.

For the gazillionth time since my dad bought me this
laptop, I exit Microsoft Word with dissatisfaction. I ponder, for a
moment, on the possibility of scrapping this prospective novel and
working on another one, with a different plot. The story, entitled
One More Time, is probably my tenth one. Like all others, it did not
go so well, and I finally decided to relocate it — to the recycle
bin.

I’ve been an aspiring novelist ever since I picked up The Da Vinci
Code. My thirst for prose began to stir at around age 11, and what
really sparked my interest was the Dan Brown bestseller. (On a side
note, I do not know what the big deal is about TDVC. I read it as a
novel, not a religious book, and it did nothing to destroy my
convictions.) As soon as I finished the novel, I Googled the keywords
“how to write a bestseller”, and after taking tips from the websites I
visited, embarked on writing my first story.

Unfortunately, that didn’t last. About five chapters into the story,
I paused and read the whole thing from the top. I realized that it
wasn’t good enough, that the plot was too shallow, that the
characters weren’t compelling enough. I cast the Word document into
its Pit of Eternal Torment, the Recycle Bin (and eventually, I
shredded it altogether).

As a novelist, I screw up from Day One. My many plot outlines are
irrational, to say the least. There is no magic, unexpected twist, no
shocking revelation, no gripping plot point — just a plot. Sure, it
might be different from your everyday life, but it’s not worth
immersing in for hours.

My writing is less than brilliant, too. There are not enough
metaphors and clever references, if any do exist within the pages of
my stories. When I describe a gripping scene in the story, I cannot
make it sound gripping enough. Although I can safely say that some
paragraphs are colorfully worded, the majority of my writing is just
a bunch of words precariously sewn together to try to make a point.

Once, in a National Bookstore, I picked up a novel by a
not-very-known author and investigated its pages, to see if I was
competent enough to measure up to at least the lesser-known of
novelists. Within the first four paragraphs of the novel, I knew that
no publisher would ever pick my work for print.

At first, I was persistent about my would-be career. I saw the first
trashy story as a bump in the road, and that that was normal for a
newbie in the writing world. I quickly grabbed a ball point and a
piece of paper and began outlining the plot of my new story. This
time, I was barely finished with the prologue when I thought it was
trashier than my first one, and I didn’t bother save the work at all.
That cycle went on for the next story. And the next. And the one after
that. And after that. And…well, you get the drift.

This time, I was sure I had no future in writing. Until Mibba came
along. Mibba is an online community for aspiring creative writers
(such as myself) to be able to display their works (and works in
progress) to other Mibbians. I began my own short story there,
entitled ‘Calhoun Beach’. To give you a bit of insight, it was a
story about two seniors in love living in fictional Calhoun,
California. With their imminent graduation from high school, the girl
cheats on her boyfriend. He has to decide whether to try to work the
problem out, or to break up and get back together with his former
girl, who confesses that she’s still in love with him.

I had already completed four or five chapters (which, I thought, were
okay enough). But something told me that it still lacked the luster of
a true novel, so I discontinued updating.

Up until now, I have put off working on another story, because I am
afraid (and perhaps sure) that it will end up in the trash, like all
my past stories. Perhaps, I have to deal with the fact that writing
is not the career for me. Paulo Coelho said in his novel The
Alchemist that we should all follow our heart so we can find our
Personal Legend. If my Personal Legend is not to become a novelist, I
guess I have to part ways with that path and look for the one that’s
right for me.

Now, I stare into my laptop monitor, and with satisfaction, put a
concluding paragraph to this write-up. Perhaps, somewhere down the
road, I will find the path the Lord intended. I hope to be able to
continue to (try to) inspire through my writing, because I know that
we can all impact the world, in one way or another.

So I bid adieu to the world of writing novels, at least until my
heart tells me to reunite with it again. Creative writing will always
be my place of comfort, though, and rest assured I will continue to
write as I breathe.

My write-up on Indiebloggers.org

2008-03-31T22:50:00.001+08:00

Stacy was kind enough to choose my write-up, "The Novelist Path", on IndieBloggers. I cannot thank her enough for doing so. If you found out about this blog through IndieBloggers, I welcome you and hope you keep coming back.

For those of you who can write, www.indiebloggers.org is the place to be. Submit your works now. Who knows, it might lead you to greater paths.

screenshot of my work on www.indiebloggers.org. The permalink is http://www.indiebloggers.org/2008/03/31/the-novelist-path/

I need more traffic

2008-03-31T11:42:00.002+08:00

While Manila and other metropolitan locales around the country are in desperate need of less traffic, my blog is experiencing the opposite problem. I need more readers, and more frequently, so with a bit of Google help, I found some helpful tips here and here. I've applied some of the offered advice.

I'm off to church to pray that they work. God bless. Bookmark me or die. Kidding. Seriously though. =)

Blogging for democracy: why aren't Pinoys embracing it yet?

2008-03-30T22:53:00.001+08:00

The Philippines is arguably the most democratic country in Asia -- perhaps in the world. Since time immemorial, Filipinos have never found it difficult to express their thoughts freely. This was evident during Ferdinand Marcos' dark two-decade regime, when countless were arrested for publishing material contrary to the philosophies of the dictatorship. Our love for free speech and democracy even drove us to EDSA to oust the abusive government -- once in 1986, and again in 2001. We can even recall an American news anchor comment during the first People Power Revolution, "We Americans like to think we taught Filipinos democracy. Well, tonight, they are teaching the world. [1]"

Television, radio and print media were once the only ways to express ideas freely. This meant that only influential and wealthy people could put up a radio station, establish a TV station or publish a broadsheet. Free speech was still exercised, but with somewhat of a filter. TV stations could choose not to air sensitive material; radio stations could turn down an offer to air a racially or sexually offensive message; editors of newspapers could choose not to put sensitive articles on their issues. It was a controlled environment for ideas -- if yours didn't appeal to the masses, then it couldn't be heard.

With the advent of the Internet, this "filtering system" could be ignored. This new technology tore down the walls of conventional media. Soon, ideas flowed faster than floodwater during Hurricane Katrina. Blogging (a portmanteau word[2] composed of "web" + "log"), the main avenue for ideas on the Internet, soon reached popularity as an easy and inexpensive way to express one's ideas and thoughts. The number of blogs on the Internet increased exponentially: today, upwards of 50 million have been registered.

This obviously created a whole new medium of expression. It was a welcome deviation from the restricted "conventional" media. It delivered everything TV, radio and print media could -- and maybe even more. This was obviously a potential avenue for freethinkers, a virtually unregulated medium. Virtually no more censors could be imposed. You could speak your mind. No barriers would stand in the way of free speech.

Isn't this the embodiment of the Filipino's view of democracy? You would think that blogging was a craze here in the Philippines, that it would be bigger than Friendster.

Well, surprise, surprise.

My personal guess is that about 40-60% of Filipinos own a Friendster account, but only 20-30% know about blogging. Although there is already a concrete Filipino blogosphere on the Internet today (so much so that in 2007, the first Philippine Blog Awards were held), blogging has not reached the kind of audience Friendster has. This, for me, is wasted potential; Filipinos' penchant for freethinking and the speak-your-mind attitude could be better exercised through blogging, yet we neglect this blessing of technology.

Why haven't Pinoys embraced blogging yet?

Good question. Perhaps, it is because Filipinos have limited access to the Internet. While in other countries, virtually every home is connected to the Net, here in the Philippines, the same cannot be said.

This lack of exposure to blogging can also be attributed to the fact that most Filipinos access the Internet to:

Go on social networking sites such as Friendster and MySpace
Research information on search engines such as Google and Yahoo!
Use chat clients such as Yahoo Messenger; mail clients such as Yahoo mail and Gmail
Other uses, such as listening to music, watching videos, and the like.

Blogging is not on that list. While it is slowly gaining popularity (maybe because of the recent controversy about Brian Gorrell), I forecast a long road ahead for blogging in the Philippines.

It is a shock and shame, really, for such a democratic nation as the Philippines to be narrow-minded about blogging. Such a powerful tool -- one that can break down the barriers conventional media had put up -- should never be neglected. Sulong, Pinoy!

FOOTNOTES:
[1] I am unsure if that is verbatim.
[2] portmanteau word -- a word that combines the sound and meaning of two words, e.g. "smog," a combination of "smoke" and "fog". (Definition from Encarta Dictionaries)

Switched templates!

2008-03-30T16:31:00.001+08:00

Yes, yes. I've switched to Jellyfish, a Blogger template. I'd been using FinalSense themes to pretty up my blog, but somehow felt the urge to switch back to this plain, somewhat cluttered template. I like the bigger font and the, uhm, organized clutter.

It seems I can't keep my fingers off my keyboard, and my computer off the Internet. I'm spending all my load on Internet-surfing (I use my Nokia E65 as a modem to connect to the Internet; props to Smart for their P10/30 mins. Internet rates), but what the hell. It's summer, and I sure as hell ain't going to confine myself to the space in front of the TV all day.

Just so you guys (guys? people actually read this?) know, I have a Twitter account. I recently discovered microblogging which I like to think of as some sort of cure for blogitis. Still, I'll be online for the next few days (hopefully), Friendstering, Facebooking, Twittering, and blogging.

Happy summer!

P.S. Don't you guys just love TMZ? Thank God Jack TV runs back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back episodes of it every Sunday.

Zeros across the board!

2008-03-30T12:53:00.001+08:00

I checked my PageRank. I'll let this screenshot tell you how it went:

Of course, perhaps all blogs pass this stage of anonymity. A blogger will have struggled to spread word about his weblog at sometime in his blogging life. Guys, please link to me, and tell your friends about this blog. Thanks!

P.S. To Lizza: thank you for having visited a couple of times! ^^,

The Bloggers' Choice Awards

2008-03-29T22:45:00.000+08:00

Blog award websites have become staple in the blogosphere. With so many weblogs out there, it is imperative to ask the question: "which ones are the best?" Of course, we have all sorts of ways to measure a blog's coolness. There's Blog Juice, and the ominous Google PageRank. But the biggest way to measure a blog's impact would be an award. Thus the conception of the Bloggers' Choice Awards. Nominate now! =)

The 2008 Pinoy Blog Awards

2008-03-28T22:14:00.001+08:00

The Philippine Blog Awards, initiated back in 2007, aims to recognize and honor the best blogs in the Philippines in different categories. If you are a Filipino blogger (or are an avid reader of a Pinoy blog), head on down to the Philippine Blog Awards website and find out more about the awards. Nominations soon.

Lolcat picture of the day!

2008-03-28T19:09:00.001+08:00

I just love I Can Has Cheezburger. Check it out yourself! (if you haven't bookmarked it already, in which case, where the hell have you been?)

FINALLY!

2008-03-28T18:36:00.001+08:00

Praise the Lord in the Heavens above.

After weeks of trying to complete the signatures needed on my clearance slip, I finally acquired my report card this afternoon! *applause*

Actually, I'd been in school since around 1:00 PM, waiting for our Filipino teacher to finish whatever the hell she was doing. For us to obtain her signature, we'd have to recite 17 verses of Florante at Laura (a classic story by Francisco Balagtas). At 4:00 PM she finally let us recite, and I stalled in

Ang laki sa layaw, karaniwa'y hubad
sa bait at muni't sa hatol ay salat
Masaklap na bunga ng maling paglingap
Habag ng magulang sa irog na anak

But I pulled through. *applause again* Thank God the whole deal's over with. I can leave Sophomore life and go on to Junior life when school resumes in June.

Which reminds me. I've got two months of summer. Oh, man, I've got a long to-do list to fill out. Viva!

Do blogs do more harm than good? "Square Off" tackles the issue

2008-03-26T21:12:00.000+08:00

On Square Off, a debate program on ABS-CBN's News Channel (ANC), participants tonight parleyed over whether blogging does more harm than good. This question is very timely, seeing as how blogs have multiplied exponentially over the past few years, and with that the number of blogs out there that cause harm.

The government argued that blogs nowadays do more harm than good, citing Brian Gorrell as a shining example of that notion. They narrowly focused their argument on the negative side of blogs, trying to magnify that side.

I disagree with the government's argument. The points they raised in the debate were trivial at most. They neglected the importance of blogs, as well as their purpose -- to provide a venue for people to express themselves. They generalized blogs as ways to write libelously against other people (and nothing else but that), essentially taking the example of Brian Gorrell's controversial weblog and applying its image to all blogs in the blogosphere. They forgot (or perhaps, neglected) the real purpose of blogs: to transcend conventional media, and to express oneself more freely and easily.

The opposition stood their ground well. Their last speaker said, quite smartly, that the government "refused to weigh the debate." So true. They very well expounded on blogs' being venues for discourse, for free speech, and that that cannot be bad, except when it turns libelous. I can argue with their comment, though, that the idea of verbally mudslinging people through blogs is acceptable; I think that no matter what the medium is, being libelous is a bad thing. Never mind whether it was on Inquirer, or ABS-CBN, or QWERTY Confessions.

Still, at the end of the day, the good done by blogs outweighs the bad. Blogs serve the purpose of providing an alternative to traditional media, and (as I pointed out earlier) to allow people to broadcast their message more conveniently and to a wider readership. Therefore, blame not the medium, but those who abuse it.

And, as the opposition wins the debate, I rest my case.

P.S. May I say that the first speaker was somewhat sub-par in his grammar. I mean, there were a few obvious but perhaps negligible grammatical slips in his opening statement.

P.P.S. Comments, of course, are welcome (if anyone reads this). Blogs were meant to be a venue for discourse, right?

P.P.P.S. Once again, I have posted more than once in one day. Looks like that "blog diet" is going down the drain...

My Novelist Dreams

2008-03-26T19:23:00.002+08:00

For the gazillionth time since my dad bought me this laptop, I exit Microsoft Word with dissatisfaction. I ponder, for a moment, on the possibility of scrapping this prospective novel and working on another one, with a different plot. The story, entitled One More Time, is probably my tenth one. Like all others, it did not go so well, and I finally decided to relocate it -- to the recycle bin.

I've been an aspiring novelist ever since I picked up The Da Vinci Code. My thirst for prose began to stir at around age 11, and what really sparked my interest was the Dan Brown bestseller. (On a side note, I do not know what the big deal is about TDVC. I read it as a novel, not a religious book, and it did nothing to destroy my convictions.) As soon as I finished the novel, I Googled the keywords "how to write a bestseller", and after taking tips from the websites I visited, embarked on writing my first story.

Unfortunately, that didn't last. About five chapters into the story, I paused and read the whole thing from the top. I realized that it wasn't good enough, that the plot was too shallow, that the characters weren't compelling enough. I cast the Word document into its Pit of Eternal Torment, the Recycle Bin (and eventually, I shredded it altogether).

As a novelist, I screw up from Day One. My many plot outlines are irrational, to say the least. There is no magic, unexpected twist, no shocking revelation, no gripping plot point -- just a plot. Sure, it might be different from your everyday life, but it's not worth immersing in for hours.

My writing is less than brilliant, too. There are not enough metaphors and clever references, if any do exist within the pages of my stories. When I describe a gripping scene in the story, I cannot make it sound gripping enough. Although I can safely say that some paragraphs are colorfully worded, the majority of my writing is just a bunch of words precariously sewn together to try to make a point.

Once, in a National Bookstore, I picked up a novel by a not-very-known author and investigated its pages, to see if I was competent enough to measure up to at least the lesser-known of novelists. Within the first four paragraphs of the novel, I knew that no publisher would ever pick my work for print.

At first, I was persistent about my would-be career. I saw the first trashy story as a bump in the road, and that that was normal for a newbie in the writing world. I quickly grabbed a ball point and a piece of paper and began outlining the plot of my new story. This time, I was barely finished with the prologue when I thought it was trashier than my first one, and I didn't bother save the work at all. That cycle went on for the next story. And the next. And the one after that. And after that. And...well, you get the drift.

This time, I was sure I had no future in writing. Until Mibba came along. Mibba is an online community for aspiring creative writers (such as myself) to be able to display their works (and works in progress) to other Mibbians. I began my own short story there, entitled 'Calhoun Beach'. To give you a bit of insight, it was a story about two seniors in love living in fictional Calhoun, California. With their imminent graduation from high school, the girl cheats on her boyfriend. He has to decide whether to try to work the problem out, or to break up and get back together with his former girl, who confesses that she's still in love with him.

I had already completed four or five chapters (which, I thought, were okay enough). But something told me that it still lacked the luster of a true novel, so I discontinued updating. (Look for me on Mibba, though, if you have an account there. I post under the user name "bo94".)

Up until now, I have put off working on another story, because I am afraid (and perhaps sure) that it will end up in the trash, like all my past stories. Perhaps, I have to deal with the fact that writing is not the career for me. Paulo Coelho said in his novel The Alchemist that we should all follow our heart so we can find our Personal Legend. If my Personal Legend is not to become a novelist, I guess I have to part ways with that path and look for the one that's right for me.

Now, I stare into my laptop monitor, and with satisfaction, put a concluding paragraph to this write-up. Perhaps, somewhere down the road, I will find the path the Lord intended. I hope to be able to continue to (try to) inspire through my writing, because I know that we can all impact the world, in one way or another.

So I bid adieu to the world of writing novels, at least until my heart tells me to reunite with it again. Creative writing will always be my place of comfort, though, and rest assured I will continue to write as I breathe.

P.S. Props to Lizza, who blogs over at I Am Woman, See Me Blog!. Congrats to her for her second Rising Blogger award.

The Independent Bloggers' Blog

2008-03-25T23:49:00.001+08:00

If you're a blogger, you've probably heard of www.indiebloggers.org or IB. The website provides a venue for bloggers with potential to post their quality material and become popular in the blogosphere. What is different about IB is that unlike other similar sites,

IB is NOT about: getting linked, getting traffic, comments, popularity, who is posted, how many times a person is posted or anything else that sucks. IB is and will always be a corner of the internets where we can get away from all the bullshit and fluff and write our asses off without worrying about popularity or who links to whom or gets more comments. (There is no longer a comment feature on IB for this reason.) Absolutely ANYONE can submit - bloggers, writers, non-bloggers, non-writers, anonymous submitters and stick figures - but we are working together to raise the bar substantially. It is your responsibility to read these guidelines before submitting as I retain the right to change them at any time.

Truly, it is a platform for independent and free expression. Props to its founder and editor, Stacy Campbell, for conceiving such an original and interesting idea. She is one of the few remaining selfless people in the blogosphere who still sees the original concept of blogging: to break away from the mould of conventional media, to express thoughts more easily and more freely. The independent blogger's watering hole is IB. Whether you're looking to get published, or searching for that write-up that will (re)ignite your passion, IB is the place to be.

Visit the Independent Bloggers blog at www.indiebloggers.org. Submit your write-up; who knows, you might get published!

The Papaya Dance crosses borders

2008-03-25T21:19:00.001+08:00

I am not doing well in my bid to cut back on the posts. I shall try and try until I succeed! =)

Anyway, I found a funny Pinoy blog, My Pinoy Humor Blog. It featured the Papaya Dance, which became popular after being played on ABS-CBN's popular noontime game show, Pilipinas, Game Ka Na Ba? It seems that the Papaya Dance has now crossed borders and has become popular overseas. The hosts of Good Morning America on American network ABC even danced to Urszula Dudziak's addictive music on today's episode.

The Pinoy's penchant for indestructible optimism, even in the face of tragedy; our feel-good dance's making it to foreign shores just underlines that fact.

Proud to be Pinoy!

Bacn!

2008-03-25T19:12:00.003+08:00

Looks like a new word has become Internet jargon.

The new buzz word is "Bacn". It is described as emails, such as newsletters or sending lists, we have signed up for, but which we do not necessarily want to read right now. For example, if you're working on a really important month-end report at work and the weekly newsletter of your favorite music website arrives, you'd naturally prefer not to open the email immediately, right? The email is then considered bacn.

Thanks to Reader's Digest for that interesting tidbit.

Album cover

2008-03-24T23:10:00.001+08:00

Dear, dear Lord. Give the blogger inside of me some time to rest. This is my fourth post today. What's wrong with me?

Anyway, on www.my-noypi-mind.blogspot.com, I stumbled upon this nice little game you might enjoy. Here are the rules, quoted directly from the said blog. Just visit the mentioned URLs and follow the proceeding instructions:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band
2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.
3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result as a comment in this post. Also, pass it along in your own journal because it’s more amusing that way.

I did follow the instructions, and this is what came out:

If you're going, "what?" Let me explain.

My band's name is Schrebe. According to the random Wikipedia article to which I was directed, Schrebe is a family name. (But that was obvious already, wasn't it?) I visited the random quotations site, as well, and the words 'and what I fear most' were the last four words of the bottom-most quote. Therefore, "And What I Fear Most" is my album title! The album picture (which is quite artistic, if I may say so) was, of course, taken from Flickr.com.

I had fun with this, actually. I hope you do, too.

Technorati Tags: album cover,album,nice idea,thoughts

Fechr.com

2008-03-24T22:18:00.001+08:00

By writing this post, I break my blogging vow to blog less. (I think I might be masturbating too much. Before you make any judgment, click the link.)

But I wrote this post for two reasons, and one of them is to share to you a fun new website I stumbled upon: Fechr.com.

Fechr (pronounced 'feature') is a website with an interesting, original concept: it features a different website everyday. Actually, when you type www.fechr.com into your browser's address bar, you will see the featured site of the day, and only a frame by Fechr.com. It's a fun, new concept and a good way to publicize your blog.

So far, it only gets around 100 visitors daily, but its creator is optimistic that more and more people will come to the site. He's right to be optimistic; the original idea will surely draw more and more people to the site, and will eventually become a viable source of income, as well as a venue for people to advertise their blogs or sites.

Visit Fechr.com at www.fechr.com and get featured for free. Be sure to bookmark the page (as I have) to discover a new, interesting site everyday.

Technorati Tags: Fechr,nice website,feature your site,thoughts

Church and Global Warming

2008-03-24T21:34:00.001+08:00

Global warming has been a hot-button issue for some time now. Actually, the phenomenon has been slowly increasing since the dawn of the 20th century, when the Industrial Revolution occurred. But only recently (when the problem has really reached its highest point ever) have religions worldwide begun to respond to the problem.

This, of course, is in keeping with the general belief that as inhabitants of this Earth, God expects us to keep it safe and livable for the posterity. Religions today feel that the problem has become more aggravated than ever, so much so that they have taken the responsibility of fixing the problem.

But when is it necessary to draw the line? I think that the Church of Global Warming is too paranoid, so much so that I cannot make full sense of it all, and so I will not expound on that.

I think that religion's role in solving the problem should not be centered around its state as a spiritual institution, but rather its position as a social institution. Churches invariably influence their members' lives and decisions, and we ought to welcome churches' extension of their help in the cause of saving the environment.

We ought not to look at what churches are d

oing now and say, "Stay out of this, faith and spirituality." By saying that, we underline religion's role in itself, not its role as a social institution composed of people. Let religion's involvement be a role model for the other parts of society who seem to be indifferent to the crisis. Show to governments that if religion can step up to the plate, why can't they?

The issue of Global Warming is a global problem. It is not confined to one culture, race, or religion. In the bid to eradicate Global Warming, we should never mind race, religion, or nationality. Blacks, whites, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Americans, Chinese...these should be irrelevant to the issue. We all need to act, and in unity, because Global Warming, if not taken care of, will eradicate not only one race, religion or country. It will cause the downfall of humanity and of life on Earth, and so today, humanity must work to protect the Earth it inhabits and which it was assigned to protect.

P.S. I've changed my signature, having just installed Adobe Photoshop CS3 on my notebook computer. Also, I might have to force myself to cut down on the blogging; so far, I write at least one post a day. I don't know whether that's good or bad, but it's way too much, compared to what you see on the more visited blogs out there.

Technorati Tags: global warming personal thoughts

Writer blues

2008-03-24T12:01:00.001+08:00

These past few days, I've been having difficulty writing a good article. Not a blog post, but an article. I feel like I've lost some of that good old feature writer fire inside of me, perhaps because I haven't written a feature article in ages. I like to think that my flare and passion for writing needs to be fed constantly, like a fire ready to die out any second if neglected.

I love writing. I'm not a good singer, I absolutely stink at dancing, and I can't do back flips. I will say, though, that my writing skills are sharp, to say the least. That is why I desperately need that writers' fire inside of me blazing again, so that I can keep myself and my emotions on the upside. I get upset if I can't write, and right now I'm kind of down.

I've been checking some nice blogs, such as theoryofthought.blogspot.com and the always entertaining misteryosa.com. I shall try my absolute best to look for something interesting to write about, for my sake.

What To Do This Summer

2008-03-24T11:12:00.001+08:00

Holy Week's over, and I can already profoundly feel the essence of summer. In the next week or so, I will begin to wake up at noon, and will spend the whole day in front of the television and wearing nothing but a shirt and underwear. (Call me nasty, but that's what guys do...at least, that's what guys should be doing, according to the laws of natural selection or whatever it's called.)

But I want to be productive this summer, and my idea of productivity is not watching HBO 'til my eyeballs pop out of their sockets. I've put together a list of things worth doing in the next two months or so:

Get a job. I know, I know, you're probably thinking, "JOB?!" Getting a summer job should not necessarily be a no-no. The income could sustain your indulgences for the two months when you don't have an allowance. The extra responsibility on your shoulders should allow you to become more disciplined, and, if everything turns out fine, you should be a better person by the end of May. For example, my personal choice for a summer job would be a radio DJ stint, and although there is little compensation, the experience would be payment in itself.
Nurture your skills. Summer sports or arts clinics are good places to go if you're looking to sharpen your skills. I took the Milo Swimming Lessons a few years ago, and I can proudly say today that I know how to swim (not doggy paddle, but swim). Ask your parents about the possibility of enrolling you in one of these nifty clinics; trust me, they're a good way to spend your summer vacation.
Take summer classes, if you feel you could use a little extra tutoring. It's never bad to prepare for the school year ahead, especially if you think you didn't fare as well as you expected in SY 2007-2008. Of course, speak with your parents about the matter.
Go on a vacation. Yeah, I like to do that, too. Students spend 10 months a year immersed in projects, quizzes, assignments, and everything else related to school. Unwinding during summer, if only for a short period, will allow your mind and body some breathing room. Ask your 'rents if your family could take a short trip to somewhere new and exciting, and where you can relax. Beaches and resorts are, naturally, the best places to go, but depending on what you like to do, other destinations are okay as well.

Of course, while you're doing these things, take some time out and BLOG! Blogging, no matter what the season, is always a fun and productive way to spend time. Self-expression through blogging is always very effective, especially since you have a wider prospective audience.

I made this short post for teenagers. Of course, you'd understand, since I'm part of that age group. Nonetheless, I hope that whatever your age, you'd find something productive to indulge in to while away the otherwise dull summer months. Have a great summer!

p.s. I'm experimenting with a new signature (see above 'with love, Dean' graphic). Comments?

Cagayan de Oro

2008-03-23T18:01:00.001+08:00

Alas, our Cagayan de Oro escapade has to end. We're on the way home, and on the way we've stopped [again] at the usual seaside eatery I mentioned in my WordPress blog. I took some pictures while we were there, though, especially on a stopover before we headed for home, the Philippine Ostrich and Crocodile Farm.

Here's my brother taking a wee at what we've dubbed our 'ceremonial pissing area'.

Oh, look, who's this handsome dude posing with ostriches?? *rolls eyes*

There's just something wrong with this pose.

This is the long-necked ostrich, believed to be the predecessor of the modern classroom cheater.

Here's some more random snaps.

And here's the American government. Oh, no, wait. that's a crocodile, isn't it?? o_O

Another picture of the governm -- er, crocodile.

I know, I know: WTF.

I'm back in Butuan now, Facebooking and Friendstering. Oh, and for those of you who might have read this blog's description, "the personal blog of a teenager where he expresses his views on the political and social issues of today", you needn't fret. Those ideas are coming up. =)

If you thought presidents didn't blog...

2008-03-23T00:45:00.001+08:00

...then you thought wrong. Click here to view a president's blog. Guess which country he governs?

Fine, let's stick to FREE stuff

2008-03-23T00:11:00.001+08:00

Fifty pesos. That's really not that big of a deal. Fifty pesos equals just a bit more than $1. So, why can't I pay for URL forwarding for P50 a year?

Shari Cruz (www.misteryosa.com) recommended to me a few web hosts (forgive me for failing to enumerate them) offering affordable hosting plans, and I had decided to just subscribe to URL forwarding.

The problem is that my mom, who has somewhat scared of Internet-related stuff, refuses to let me borrow her credit card so I can pay for the goddamned URL forwarding service. She's afraid hackers will use her credit card account to buy things online.

Dude, the service is paid through PAYPAL! Freaking PayPal. Gaaah. Well, anyway, I've settled for a better-than-average free URL forwarding service, freedomain.co.nr. It's pretty cool, actually; makes your blog address sound professional.

Lol. Well, you can keep accessing my blog at its somewhat shorter address: www.qwertyconfessions.co.nr. :D

It's getting late. Good night, Philippines!

-Dean

p.s. Tonight's my last night in Cagayan de Oro, at least for the meantime. Holy Week's over (today's Easter Sunday) and come Monday, everyone's going to be caught up in the usual craze of day-to-day life again. I'm also enjoying what's left of my WiFi card, so I'm pretty much blogsurfing right now. That's it! XoXo

p.p.s. I bought Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long album today, and I'm listening to it right now. Love it! Visit www.maroon5.com, the official website of the phenomenal pop-rock band.

Returning to Blogger

2008-03-22T18:27:00.001+08:00

Finally, I've decided to switch to Blogger -- again. Hopefully, I won't be jumping providers anymore. Hopefully.

Still, I am annoyed by the fact that to access my blog, readers have to type in http://qwertyconfessions.blogspot.com. Soon, you will be able to type in www.qwertyconfessions.com and still reach this same blog. ^__^ A little PayPal and parent coercing should do the trick.

My WordPress blog by the same name will be kept alive for the meantime. I've posted some meaningful posts there, and probably I will be leaving a link asking visitors to visit this blog instead.

As you can see, there's not a lot to be read on this page -- yet. Visit http://qwertyconfessions.wordpress.com for the meantime!

-Dean