Let’s be honest with each other. Do you ever come here to learn something new? Or do you trek all the way here – that is if you’re not reading me from your reader – just to hang out and hear another familiar human voice?
Come on, what do I have to teach that you can’t search on Google? Or in Twitter? Or in FriendFeed live search. Surely you’re better off there huh?
You’re not alone, my friend. That’s pretty much on my mind a lot of times. For example – sure, I need to learn HTML. And there are countless resources online for that just a click or two away. I went to this site, downloaded this HTML cheat sheet, saved it on my computer both at home and at work. Did I go back to hang out with the author? No, I went to my blogging buddies sites and had fun.
Of course, I made a mental note of that blog. I’d go back there if ever I survive learning HTML to learn something else. But for the meantime?
I just wanna have fun
Just to give you an idea, I’d tell you where I’ve been today. Been to only a handful of them because I’m a slow reader. When I like a blog time is no object: instead of scanning the post I’d swallow it whole, take a seat and ask for coffee. You guess right, it’s a long sweet goodbye before I go. Okay the places, I’ve been to -
- Good Times Manila – A blog which lampoons celebrities and pseudo-celebrities. Deejay writes so well that a great number of his clueless readers generally take these send-ups as encyclical from the Vatican itself. Therein lies the joke as well, except for Deejay who tirelessly reminds his hyperventilating readers to go check out his About Page in an effort to calm them down.
- Influenza Bloggers – A newly launched fun blog which pokes fun at everything. Nothing is ever sacred to this group of bloggers. Not even themselves surely. I read it every day just to be in their good side. I have this pet notion that this group of wackos will hesitate to train their guns on a friendly face – however “influential blogger” he maybe. Ahem.
- Filipino Poems and Poetry – You can lower your eyebrows now. Poetry is my kind of fun. An acquired taste surely since Elmot shared with this blog his sensuous poem, Bells and Women. I go there not in search of more risque poems – okay, that too. Now hear this – I’m astounded to find not balm for my repressed urges, but a cure for my calloused heart. Pretty annoying initially as I’m not given to touching base with my inner yearnings, but what can I say – Elmot has that rare ability to slow me down without saying, “Poof!”
- Clinical Chemistry Blogs – All 29 of them. I checked them all today to see what they’re up to. Well, I’m happy to say they’re all still there, making baby steps into the blogosphere. If these guys are what splogs look like? Oh boy, I’d be happy to be branded as a splog myself. Thanks, you lovely people, for voting your Lolo Jan as one of the influential blogs of 2009. I owe you big time. And if anyone causes you any disrespect, I’d give you free lessons so you can say with flair, “With all due respect, you suck!”
Alexa rank, my foot
Please note that in all of these new watering holes only Good Times Manila has a high Alexa rank. Well, I don’t care. It’s the least of my concern. I vote with my feet. Sure, I visit high traffic blogs, but my greatest satisfaction is to have that sense of community with brilliant new blogs wherein I’m treated as a person and not as a statistic. And it feels nice to have a stake in their growth. I feel a sense of ownership simply by association. And this makes my day. Every single time.
So the question is – why for heaven’s sake are you here - or your other favorite blog hangouts? What’s in it for you? You need to learn the proper maintenance of a light saber? Jesus. You’re hopeless.
Oy, I almost forgot. Tomorrow – that’s a few hours from now – is my birthday. I’d rather you greet me here than be constrained by a 140-character tweet. And yes – with all the ruckus raised by the Mafia wars in Facebook – this is a much saner place to drop your greetings. And for the shy souls, please use the contact form.
Photo Credit: Garry
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Hi Jan,
Before you go to the mainland, I just want to greet you a late “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” Woooooooooooooot!!!!! (Headspin) (banana_cool) –> This looks better at plurk. LOL
I was calling you yesterday, I guess you were too busy replying to comments here on your blog and forgot to answer the phone. Tsk tsk tsk! At least you got the greeting on the email. he he he
Will see you tomorrow!
alles Gute zum Geburtstag
alles Gute zum Geburtstag
alles Gute zum Geburtstag
alles Gute zum Geburtstag
alles Gute zum Geburtstag
Geez, I don't know how they sing it in German! As my bespren lyle would say, “ENJOOOOOYYYY”
Z
You're calling me? Maybe you should have hollered?
Yeah, I was beginning to wonder already why you're not here. But I'm okay
Thank you, Doc Z.
now.
About banter: I love online conversations. It's hard to explain its dynamics. How can we be so candid with people we hardly know in the traditional sense? Common sense tells us to hold back – not to reveal too much. And to take everything with a grain of salt.
I'm painfully shy in real life. Online I'm more gregarious and open to striking up conversations with anyone. Well, nearly anyone I should say.
Is online interaction fulfilling a need we can't possibly have in the real world? I'm not saying I'm acting out a fantasy. It's all too real for me. I instinctively reach out and try to make a connection.
And I love it when both parties – new online buddies – sustain the connection. The banter, the prattle, joking around, even trading harmless and affectionate insults. It's a strange alchemy – I can't even pin it down exactly.
Making a fundamental connection with another person is just so fulfilling, isn't it. That's the bottom line for me. Now make that a community. Step back a little to take a long good view of that plethora (your word! lols) of riches.
We are made! We have arrived. Look no further, woman. Now if we can only take this plethora of riches to the bank and encash it. Ahahaha.
Hays, nice to have you here. It's been a long time since your last visit huh? But not to worry. I don't keep a record of attendance especially with friends. You can come and go as you please. But of course it pays to humor me when it's my birthday. If you know what's good for you. Ahahaha.
I'm happy. Don't worry about me. This is a first for me – celebrating my birthday with my online friends. And it's a blast. I enjoyed the special attention, I admit that. lols. Nah, the cake – or what's left of it stays in the ref. Ano ka, e kung gutumin ako sa kaba blog ko sa gabi. Ahehehe.
Thanks, Fedhz.
It's all right, Novz. Thanks for the greeting. Is Roel busy? I'm afraid he's gonna ruin my birthday celebration. I have this recurring nightmare he just might hold up the singing here by seeing to it that the birthday be optimized first for SEO. Good thing the dude is busy. Ahahaha.
Deejay is cool. I like his blog a lot.
With the help of borrowed words let my convey to you may sincerest greetings on your birthday:
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
- Rabindranath Tagore
The complexities of online relationships abound. I agree they fulfill a need, not necessarily unavailable in real life but rare to be sure.
It's odd isnt it how honest and open and receiving and rewarding it all is?
I believe we, all of us and you / me are as honest and open as we would be in real life, yet we are different too. You mentioned you are shy in person. I am not shy per se, but not usually the one to jump in and hold a conversation. I suspect that all other aspects you demonstrate on line become apparent IRL once the shyness is passed. As with me, I am just as sunny, and encouraging in real life. Yet, I can express different aspects of my makeup with the variety of people I met online. Not to say I am a different person with each, but can express different side of me with each. There is a kind of acknowledgment and validation on line, to a degree that I rarely receive in real life, that acknowledgement is enchanting. There may be danger in feeling that IRL freinds take one for granted.
Some say why spend time fostering relationships with people on line, when one should be fostering their IRL relationships. I say do both.
A plethora of riches indeed, JG. Intriguing and fulfilling.
Happy Birthday Jan.
Like you, I enjoy visiting blogs to see what's going on in my blogging buddy's lives – what they're writing about, what photos they are posting and to show my support for their efforts. Although I don't get to go visiting as often as I'd like, it's always a real treat when I can.
What a marvelous quote from Tagore. Thanks a lot, Joji.
“There is a kind of acknowledgment and validation on line, to a degree that I rarely receive in real life, that acknowledgment is enchanting. There may be danger in feeling that IRL friends take one for granted.”
And that, Trina, has the making of a great post.
But of course you are spot on. We need to cultivate both our offline and online relationships.
Thanks, Barbara. One of the privileges of genuine online friendships is that we learn to let our friends be: allowing them the freedom to come and go. We understand they got interesting lives to live and private demons to wrestle with. But of course we're happy to be made a part of each others lives. And through blogging we are presented that gift and rare opportunity.
What? Wag mo isara ang commenting – madami pang dadagsa dito.
It's stress. Lol, our general manager asked me this morning if I was losing weight. gah…
You should try some of my kapeng barako i bought in Tagaytay. I have a coffee machine at home that makes a lovely cup of capuccino. sigh.
Iyon iba kasi nakalimutan na ako. Kaya hayan tinotoyo ang LJ. Empty threat
lang yun pagsasara ng commenting. Ahehehe.
That sigh – is it for the kapeng barako? Or for your coffee machine at
home? Me? I have set my sights lower – my happiness comes in Nescafe
sachets. lols. Very affordable noh.
i dont know where roel is. he's probably very busy. you know, making money online an making friends offline.
aaah, a great post you say, the problem being I rarely have more to say than that nugget, therefore it only makes a few interesting sentences at best.
I suppose an acknowledgement to my words/thoughts would be in order, and that goes back to that validation and acknowledgement….
However, I have absolutely no problem if you or others create a post based on an idea spawned by those words. thats part of the game too, right?
Oh my, Jan! Sorry I read this post just now. Hindi tuloy kita nabati! Happy Birthday!
so why am i here? because you're here (yee, ang cheesy!). LOL. srsly, you're one of the most profound bloggers I've known. It's always a pleasure to read you.
Happy Birthday or Gratulerer med dagen as we say it here.
I usually check for interesting reads that's why I got here in your blog. The rest, I visit them as frequently as I could to see the latest news of their lives. Be there for them being a friend as well.
Wow! happy birthday! Sorry di kita mabisita ngayon agad… but will get back to you when I return home… Ingats!
Sorry doesn't cut it anymore, Joel. Bukod tanging ikaw ang absent.
Thanks, Joel.
Ahahahaha. It's all right. I like you so much that the delay doesn't
bother me at all. How's that for being cheesy?
Thanks a lot, Charles. I'm pleased you find my blog interesting.
It's okay, Jaydee. Thanks sa greeting.
I haven't got an internet connection for over a month, been busy with my treatment and with the new business i'm setting up. This is the first time I truly roamed the net again, and what do I find?…
My friend, let me tell you that you never cease to amaze me. Another quality article from you.
Belated Happy Birthday, my friend!
Thanks for the greeting. I'm glad you like it.
A month without an internet must be pure hell or heaven. It will be hell for
me if that happens to me. Ahahaha. But things happen for a reason – and
there are no incovenient things that can't be turned around to our
advantage. How do we react to it is what matters.
But I'm glad you're back.
It was a blast being with you on your “Birthday celebration”..he he he… Memories , I'll cherish forever.
Thank you, Jen. I had a blast, too. Just imagine if only there were no
cellphones with cam and video capabilities around? I would have danced, too
and sang my heart out. Being a blogger has made a little wary of
publicity. I might end up on the front page of Influenza Bloggers.
Ahahaha. Angeles City rocks!
I guess time to hangout to my familiar place.
Maybe part of tradition lang na after greetings “makibalita” . Like, “How was the celebration?”
you're making me feel really guilty Jan. Hate you. Haha!
Awwww.
Happy birthday Sir!
I like the way you write. Interesting and direct to the point. I'll drop by when I am not too busy with neuroanatomy, and soon, the musculoskeletal system. Haha! Take care! And oh, I am powered by coffee too!
So saan ang gimik natin ngayon pagbirtdey mo?! jejejejjeje
Belated Happy Birthday Sir Jan! Hope you the best in life. Ang bilis ng panahon pero hanggang ngayon di pa tayo nagkikita haha. Sabi nga ni Rocky bago sya umakyat ng Baguio kitakits daw tayo!
Oo nga eh. Saan ba ang headquarters ng blogging empire mo? lols. Thanks sa
greeting. It's all right. Last Sept. 5, we went to Angeles City to visit
blogging buddies. Shock – they used the occasion as a pahabol celebration
for my birthday. Ahahaha. It was fun.
Hey, good luck sa contest. Sana one of my friends win – that includes you
of course.
I'd be darn lucky having more haters like you, Badongskie. Ahahaha
We had a blog meet up with young blogger friends in Angeles City. We had loads of fun – eating, singing, swimming, drinking. It's a city that never sleeps. And we couldn't do no less.
It was a simple celebration at home. Nothing fancy. Cake. Ice cream and pancit. And my ubiquitous coffee. The family had softdrinks. lols. Getting old is cool, Darbs. I get to have a cake now – I rummaged through my childhood memories. Alas, there's no instance cake had got into the picture.
Must be because we're not well off. For mother, the most important consideration was to make sure there's food on the table three times a day. Cake did not figure at all in her sensible equation.
I wish I were more wiser than older – that's my impossible wish. But with good friends, I can be the undisputed village idiot yet still felt loved so in balance, it's all for the good. Can't complain.
Thanks, Noelle… Awww, those are tough subjects. All the more reason you must have fun online afterward. Take note, I said afterward – this means your studies come first.
no prob darren raw, ehehehe! ayos!
Oh My, I'm just about 2 months late for your birthday wishes! Since I'm here I'll be wishing you a great life and a pleasant weekend ahead. I would say my purpose of visiting here is to network and check out what my blogger pals are doing. Visiting is fun and inspiring. Relationship building is something I enjoy doing and not getting tired of. Just hoping I have more time for that. ^^
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
Hey, thanks a lot. It always surprises me when someone leaves a comment on
an old post. Gives me a jolt. A pleasant jolt in this case.
This only means I need to grease my blog writing wheels more. It's been
sputtering a lot lately.
where is deejay? he seems to be missing….
Baka po na-corner na ni Aling Koring. Pati nga Facebook nakikialam na rin.
Sa Facebook page ko sa right sidebar Facebook is asking me to reconnect with
Deejay. Ahehehe. Napansin siguro na di sya active lately.
I blog because I have fun doing it, and you are right about people can just search on google to find out about anything they are looking for. But who knows, maybe some information you provide is what is found when they search on google
I blog because I have fun doing it, and you are right about people can just search on google to find out about anything they are looking for. But who knows, maybe some information you provide is what is found when they search on google
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