Gizmondo recently showed the worst tribute graphics made for Steve Jobs of Apple. It's a blue squre with a black silhouette of a man in mourning and this word written in white text: iSad.

I chuckled.

And then I chuckled more when I read the following series of comments:

Suq Madiq:
I'm definitely not a christian, but I thought I'd point out the first 2 commandments:

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Steve Jobs was awesome, and may he R.I.P., but don't you guys think we're taking the adulation a little too far?

DePaulBlueDemon:
@Suq Madiq
Why are you quoting Commandments if you're not a Christian?

Suq Madiq:
@DePaulBlueDemon
Well, because!

I can still recognize truth without being part of THAT particular group. Stop trying to distract me... I was making a point :)

blackout:
@Suq Madiq
i don't think anyone is considering him a God... besides, if you aren't a Christian, then why bother with scripture?

egojab:
@Suq Madiq
But...that is only that group's "truth" why...Oh nevermind.

MythOfEchelon:
@Suq Madiq
Yeah, you're right. People are massively hypocritical. BUT, there's no harm in remembrance, mourning and respectful tribute.

dinnie the goo-girl:
@egojab
precisely what I was thinking. This doesn't make sense to me, sorry.

KrautMcFriend:
@Suq Madiq
The 10 commandments, doesn't even state it's wrong to RAPE someone, your point?

Big Gulps, eh?
@KrautMcFriend
You're kidding right? If you read the ten commandments you'd see the seventh tells us not to commit adultery.

And if you think that doesn't apply to rape (or child molestation, or lust, or many other sexual sins), give Matthew 5:27-30 a read.

The 10 commandments were not meant to specifically spell out EVERYTHING someone shouldn't do in detail. They are the basis for determining what is wrong. Jesus explains this in Matthew 5.

You don't have to agree with me, I just ask that you research you're topics before you make snap judgements. You may learn something helpful too ;)

Poisonthescene:
@Suq Madiq
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Exodus 22:17 You should not let a sorceress live.

The 10 commandments were written for Jews, toward only other jews.

KrautMcFriend:
@Big Gulps, eh?
I am a Christian, but I don't see adultery as rape, especially since everyone I know reads the Bible in a completely different way - put Obama and Rick Perry in a room alone, you'll see what I mean.

I know that the 10 commandments isn't perfect...

I will look up Matthew/5:27.

And no, I wasn't kidding. :)

SSRPaulO:
@DePaulBlueDemon
Um... Old Testiment?

anomalytea:
@Poisonthescene
You seem to have missed the point of the 10 commandments. Their purpose is to act as a mirror to show you just how bad of a person you are. Think you're a good person? Read the 10 commandments. Most likely you're a lying, theiving adulterer. At minimum.
Anyways, this isn't really the place to discuss it, but I just thought I'd correct the false info given here.

ninjamays:
@Suq Madiq
religions are a giant cult formed to make people powerful and rich as well as shut people up about the whole "What happens after death debate?" People are free to view individuals however they want, god-like or not.

Cryptex:
@Suq Madiq
But churches are craved full of images of their lord. wth?

Suq Madiq:
@KrautMcFriend
Uhhh... Jezebel.com is right over THERE.

kthxbai.

Suq Madiq:
@Cryptex
Yeah but I'm guessing it's of THEIR God, so that makes it OK :)

Suq Madiq
@ninjamays
I'm totally with you on that one.

I was just using slightly cynical humor to point out how it SEEMS we're regarding Steve Jobs. I mean, the way some discussion groups make it sound, it's almost like Steve Jobs will rise again 3 days later, or something...

iStrangle:
@Suq Madiq
These are words on the internet, it's not a big deal. Nobody has killed their children, etc. They are just words.

However, you're definitely taking the "taking this a little too far," too far. Just saying, your bitching is more premature than your orgasm. And no, you weren't making a point.

I stopped here because I can't contain my laughter. Steve Jobs died and a lot of tributes went to him, but this group of people are talking of religion when they're supposed to be showering praises to a man behind Apple. Oh, well...to each his own, I guess.

In support of Philippine Expat Blog Awards (PEBA)'s 2011 theme 'Ako'y magbabalik, hatid ko'y pagbabago'.

The graphics for these composites were sourced, with thanks, from the following:
From the archives of the United States LST Association
From the news clipping of All Voices on the exodus of Filipinos from Libya.

(my lips were sealed until at least 3pm Kuwait time and it's 9:16pm now)!

Favor: Please click my 'Archive' page on top.

You'll see that it now contains all, I mean a-l-l-!, my posts since I started this blog.

Confession: I used to input them manually -- every week! Now, all I need is Abu Farhan's java-tricks to do the job.

Visit Abu Farhan's site and be amazed of his Blogger tricks -- one of them is this instant archive listing of all my posts.

His intructions are easy to follow. He's truly a web find!

Blogger alone lists 18,700 blogs from Kuwait, but so far I've only met a handful of Filipinos maintaining a Kuwait-based blog.

In alphabetical order:

Chronicles of a Desert Prince is Jay's blog which contains photos of Kuwait's people and places. Observably though, he has stopped blogging since April 2010 and his last post was this picturesque photo of a sunset in Marinduque. I hope he continues blogging because his photographs are more than a thousand word.



Incessant Mack's Nag is Macky's blog which contains news and happenings on and about Kuwait. Informative.



Ever's Pamatay Homesick is, of course, Ever's PEBA 2008's award-winning blog. Ever is an architect by day and artist by night (and I suppose during weekends, too). He paints and he sculps, and he writes for POC. He belongs to Adhika, a Filipino artists's group, based in Kuwait.



I found Ponyok's site from expat-blog. His writing style is light and engaging and his posts are truly informative (and at times wacky...read this piece on two barbers).



Tabuena Art Central and Tabuena Inspire are owned by Enrique Tabuena, a "Creative Director, Graphic Designer, Art Director, Illustrator, Visual Artist, Driver". Both sites contain various original art pieces created by the author. His artworks are inspiring and magnificent.



Tukmol's website contains "my everyday ignorance, rants, angst, inspirations, humor and thoughts about almost everything under the sun".

I changed my blog’s look January this year. It’s been six months now. Besides, have you tried not changing clothes for six months? Or perhaps trying to eat the same food for 180 days? Or this: not changing your bed sheet and pillowcases? Or, yes, this: not changing your u-wear for six straight months?

So I’m entitled to have a change, right?

Truthfully? I screwed it up once again. That saying ‘if it’s working, don’t fix it’ is sooo very true. Last week, I tried changing something and suddenly everything went kaput. I was experimenting something and I didn’t intend to save my work, but the ever-efficient Blogger saved it for me.

Lessons learned:

1/ Backup your template;
2/ Backup your posts;
3/ Don’t experiment with on your blog without performing 1 above.

I know I’ll end up screwing this one in the near future – again! -- after maybe six months (or even less!).

I’m truly an incorrigible, insatiable, ever-changing being. I don’t think there’s a medication for that.

So there. Welcome to my renovated home.

Everything you need to know about PEBA 2010 are in The Kablogs Journal Issue 5 which goes online today.

The PEBA Primer, contained in this month's TKJ issue, is Janelle Vales' idea, which featured, among others, an interview with PEBA President Kenjie Solis, a short interview with four of PEBA 2009 winners, a where-in/how-to graphic instructions for bloggers who wish to join PEBA 2010, and reasons why you should not miss out PEBA 2010.

And we also put on spotlight Francesca of France, the endearing mom blogger from France, who won in PEBA 2009!

And yes, we guarantee that you'll also enjoy the regular column posts that we've prepared for your this month.

So dig in and share us your thoughts.

Next month, we hope we'll see your article or two in TKJ journal.

A personal view: We, Filipinos, are admired by our work standard. We are preferred employees to many companies in many countries because we regard the quality of our work highly. The sad part is that when we're abroad, we let our guards down and we lose our morals. “Man," Albert Schweitzer once said, "must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals."

If this is how your family structure is constructed, I believe sooner or later, it is bound to crumble to pieces.



Isn't it time we review how we lead our OFW lives? Let's remember what originally brought us to where we are now. Didn't we promise our family that we will give them our best? sacrifice on their behalf? endure so that their lives can be better?



This is my personal call for you to join PEBA 2010 with the theme “Strengthening the OFW Families: Stronger Homes for a Stronger Nation”. Let us hear what you have to say.

Post-script:

This post contained revised graphs. Originally posted graphs are as below until I realized (via Ed of Blogusvox comment) that what we should keep at a level is our standard for material needs, not our family standards. Ed is right; let's keep our family standard high and up!

Welcome to the marry month of June!

It's the first day of the month and once again, we are coming out with the new issue of The Kablogs Journal.



Who's on our main feature? Phil Saraspe. Phil is PEBA 2009's Top 3 Blog awardee and currently based in Thailand as a teacher. I thought he so fits our month's theme which is 'Learning'. A blog awardee, an OFW, and a teacher -- rolled into one! Noble, indeed!

On behalf of Janelle Vales of The Pink Tarha, I thank everyone who contributed meaningful articles for our June issue.

Our utmost gratitude goes to Jose Santiago Tan for allowing us to choose from his wonderfully photographed subjects. You can view his photos here, here and here.

Thank you, too, to Noel Ablon, Sayote Queen, Hedda Tan, Jettro and Lovely Fernandez for their wondeful articles.

Finally, our gratitude to our in-house columnists who are untiring in supporting us with their regular contributions: The Pope, Kenjie, RJ and LordCM. Next month, Jess Remoto will be an additional surprise to our line up.

Please feel free to rummage through our/your journal, and please share us your feedback. We would welcome it, too, if you'll contribute your original works for our future issues.

Our Issue 4's themes next month (July 2010) are Rain/Water/Storm.

That's a tad late for a Christmas greeting, ain't it? But hey, shouldn't we be merrier because we are celebrating the Risen Christ today? So I guess that's, as what my friend usually tells me: apropo!


Here's a picture I've taken some days ago using my never-dependable cellphone. It's a photo of sprouting leaves from a grown tree.



When I took the photo, I thought that it so depicts my religious life -- I, a person with so feeble a faith, relying mainly and very dependent on 'my tree'. I'm not even a part of the proverbial branch yet (but I so wish I could be soon). I know 'my tree' would really want me to grow and be a branch myself, and from my branch will grow some other branches. I guess I'd have to be patient. I am a work in progress -- still a sprout and prayerfully will one day be a branch, and be a branch for others. Amen.


I'm proud to announce the launching of the maiden issue of The Kablogs Journal created by and dedicated to OFW bloggers around the world.



The journal is a collaborative efforts of various bloggers who contributed their time and brains to the project. (My hat's off to Janelle Vales of The Pink Tarha! She's tireless, who barraged us with sound ideas, and whose -- in her own term -- not-so-OC-ness kept me on my toes! Thank you, Janelle!).

The e-zine is an ongoing exercise. For now, it will publish new materials on a monthly basis (but, with enough materials and sources, we dream of publishing it twice a month). And so we invite you to take part in the future issues of the journal by contributing materials related to the monthly theme.

In the meantime, please feel free to visit our/your Journal and share us your thoughts (and ideas) on how we can further improve it.

You're sitting in front of your computer, staring at a blank post screen when all of a sudden, an idea springs to mind! You type away the thought and after a few moment churns out a lengthy, worthy post. Satisfied that it will be liked by your readers, you click 'Publish Post'. You sit a while waiting for comments to come. In the meantime, where did you post go?

Surprisingly, everywhere!

I sourced these information from www.wired.com from an article written by Frank Ros entitled The Life Cycle of a Blog Post, From Servers to Spiders to Suits — to You.

It's quite an interesting read (plus the graphics is really illuminating). Please visit the site.

Here's the translated texts of the article graphics.





Once the spiders have finished, the post is indexed and could be searchable on Technocrati or Google Blog Search.


Analysts at places like BuzzMetrics, BuzzLogic and Cymfony crunch data using proprietary AI programs to determine how bloggers like you are responding to the ad. They'll try to splice posters by age, sex, location, and level of influence.


Bots are constantly scouring the Web for data they can suck up and churn out elsewhere. Your blog might be targeted for desirable keywords, which are scraped up at random.


Minutes later, your post turns up on sites that collect content from across the blogosphere: Feed Readers like Bloglines and Google Reader display updates for their subscribers as well as meme trackers like Spinn3r, Techmeme and Technocrati (all relying on algorithms that analyze who's linking to what).


Contextual ad networks like Google AdSense, ContextWeb, and Tribal Fusion scan your post for keywords that will trigger the insertion of an ad. Within minutes, you will see related text ads to your blog (unless your blog is ad-free).


Sometimes, companies will want to know what bloggers are saying about their product. They may alter marketing efforts or even their products as a result; sometimes, they'll jump into discussion directly.


Scraped text from your post gets dumped willy-nilly into spam blogs, which rely on random keywords to get a high page ranking on search engines. When readers go to these blogs and click on or view text ads, the sploggers collects a bounty.


Other bloggers and new sites which use aggregators and search engines to comb the Web, may link to your post -- if it's interesting.


Readers use sites like del.icio.us, Digg, and Reddit to note whether your post is worthy.


Readers find your post and write their own comments, joining the discussion, setting off new pings, and starting the process over again.

Cool, huh.  Here's my simplified version of the source graphic.



The next time we hit our 'Publish Post', let's bear in mind: somewhere in this vast expanse of blogging and internet, someone big may be reading us.

When I created my navigation bar, no one taught me how and it really was a hit-and-miss exercise for me. Good thing I found Dynamic Drive website which offers a number of codes for various types of navbars. (If you click View, Page Source in your browser, you'll see how mine is laid out using Wire Frame Aura Menu).



But did you know that you can now easily create your own navigation bar using Googlepages? It's as easy as creating a post!

Here's how: (If my explanation is not understandable, there's this Google page to guide you):

1. From your Dashboard, click Settings, Posting, Edit Pages.



2. Click New Page.

3. Add in your page title like 'About me' which is shown on the sample below. Write the contents of your 'About me' page. (If you click 'Post Options', you can select whether you'll allow comments for your page or not).



(Suggested pages include 'My Family' which can contain photos of your kids, or 'Sources of Ideas' which may contain links of your favorite websites, or 'My Awards So Far...' which may contain all the awards your blog has received since its inception, etc).

4. When done, click Publish page.

5. You will have a choice whether you want your nav pages vertically or horizontally. Click Save and Publish.



6. Click View Page. Voila! There's your new nav bar.

This is how it will look like in your blog. (Note: A page called Home is automatically created which, when clicked, will bring you to your latest post entry).



You can add as much as ten pages in your navigation bar. Now, isn't that cool?

Good luck.

How many headers have I been through? Countless!

I say it again as I've said it before: I am my blog -- and my blog header!: ever-changing, ever-evolving and yes, ever-insatiable.

February 2009.


March 2009.

I'm not pertaining to the second version of Pasta de Nebz that I did tonight. Dig in if you want! (Ingredients: chicken, cooked pasta, spinach, strips of hotdog).


I'm pertaining to these ideas about my future posts.


This will contain interviews with Filipinos living/working/breathing in Alkhobar. I've a line up of people I wanted to talk to: a cashier at Farm 9 (where I usually frequent for my groceries), a butcher in Western Butchery (where I buy my beef for sinigang), my barber (who also happens to be my flatmate), a SAPTCO bus driver, an editor of a Saudi newspaper. I even included the Jeddah-based OFW who is running for Senatorial Elections this November.

The problem is that, except for my flatmate, I am embarrased to talk to these people. I, hence, don't know where to start. All I know is that the style will be like this Granta article -- written in first person.

Remember my post about Entrepinoy? I emailed the site owner, an ex-OFW, and asked him if I can interview him via email. He didn't respond. I may get the same response from those I planned to interview for this series.

But hey, if I don't try, I will never know.


Alkhobar is where I live and work and breathe. It's a small city situated in the lower righthand of Saudi Arabia, near to Arabian Sea, nearer to Bahrain than Saudi's capital, Riyadh. This series will feature places in Alkhobar where Filipinos frequent -- parks, malls, restaurants -- as well as events that Filipinos attend to -- sports, cultural or even religious activities!

Why did I call these ideas half-cooked? Because they're still plans up to now. But I'm really intent in pushing through these ideas.

Insha'Allah (as what they usually say here in Saudi which translates to 'God willing' or 'if God wills it, it shall become'.

I wrote in September 2008: I am my blog: (always) a work in progress; ever-evolving, ever-changing. To usher in 2010, I welcome you in my re-arranged, renovated home. (Tell me how you like this make-over by joining my poll -- there, at the righthand of this post. Thank you).

I wish to acknowledge the following as my sources of ideas and codes.

Klodian of Deluxe Templates. I used his Article template and violated its beauty without shame. I'm now one of his Twitter followers via http://twitter.com/deluxetemplates.

Pocket who originally designed the layout of this template.

Webdesignerwall from where I got the idea of shading my post titles as well as instituting that cute little 'conversation icon' containing the number of comments per post.

Dynamic Drive from where I got the source of my navigation bar.

Image Shack for hosting all my graphics.

Adobe CS3 Illustrator and Fireworks which I used in drawing the shades and graphics.

I still have lots of things to change in this blog like, the header graphics, for example (coz I find it too cluttered).

But, for now, I think I'll leave everything as is, unless of course there's something you find unappealing in my re-decorated home. Do tell please.

And if you have questions or you need assistance in your plan to redo your blog, please don't hesitate to contact the list that I provided above. They're a great source of information and inspiration. Not me! I'm away catching up sleep! Just kidding.

(Please contact me if you need help in your blog. I'm no expert but maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to assist you).

I've a confession...I have a blog account in Wordpress also entitled Isla de Nebz. (Vomit if you want but at least I'm being honest). I haven't updated it since March 2009.

I've another confession to make: Although most of my favorite blogs are 'powered by Blogger', my favorite website is in Wordpress (webdesignerwall).

Last confession: I'm contemplating in transferring my site to Wordpress.

There.

I said it.

My loyalty is now out in the open!

Notice this: Three of the PEBA Top 10 winners are via Wordpress.

In my unpublished post about my predictions for PEBA 2009, I wrote: Let's go Wordpress next time! Why? Because I thought Wordpress is a cool platform and clean and organized.

Plus it has lots of cool gadgets that we can make use of.

Another upside is that it has cool Comments section. Did you notice how, everytime you visit a Wordpress-based blog, you'd automatically find your name, email and website on the comment section? And all you need do is type up your comments? Isn't it gracious?

Those in the Top 100 blogs (by Technocrati standard) use Wordpress i.e. Smashing Magazine, Mashable and Perez Hilton. Only two of the 100 use Blogger: Postsecret and of course, Blogger. More info here.

The downside, based on my experience, is that it loads too slow (perhaps because it contains lots of codes) plus it's difficult to maneuver unlike Blogger where everything is 'pick and drop': Want a widget, click 'Add widget'. That easy.


I am not enticing you to transfer loyalty. In fact, you can read Wordpress' other downsides here.

I'm actually just teasing you.

The truth is, I don't have plans to jump ship. But what I plan is to use a Wordpress-based design in the Blogger-based blog. How?

See these cool themes from Deluxe Templates. Some of the coolest templates were originally Wordpress converted for Blogger.

I am, in fact, keen in using one of these cool templates in my blog.

Turn Out Mag
Art Template
Georgia
Article
Watercolor

Enjoy.

I thought Typepad is also cool -- I found out that oh-so-cool-and-inspirational Oh! Joy is using it. But I haven't really fully tried it to make a decent comment about it's usability.


See for yourself which you think looks better. This same post is published both in Typepad and Wordpress.

I pinched this from the PEBA site: "Isla de Nebz blog stood out than the other blogs for me. Although there were a lot of good blogs and a lot of good entries, I enjoyed the way he presented the entry for PEBA - not just because of the graphics he showed with his entry but also because he had a unique entry per se. We all know about an OFW's hardship, the sacrifices, etc. And most of the entries just did that.But Isla de Nebz entry was a different perspective on a big aspect of an OFW's life - his income and where it goes. I enjoyed that part (even without his original graphics) His other entries were also fun to read - very light, very candid, but at the same time, he was giving us the other side of an OFW's life. He doesn't take himself seriously and I admire that." - PEBA judge

I also pinched the following photos from Roli Inocencio's facebook account:





I'm honestly lost for words. I thought there were 36 other bloggers deserving of this top prize. But yes, with all humility, I accept this year's PEBA award honor.

With this award is a promise to be better in blogging about my existence in Saudi Arabia.

Let me just collect my thoughts for a few sec...

Yaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mabruk!!!!!! Shukran!!!!!!!!!!! Salamat!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dyos te ag-ngina!

Had I been in Manila yesterday, this would have beeen my 10-word speech: Salamat Panginoon sa pagpapala. Gabayan nyo po kaming lahat. Amen.

(I've yet to ask Roli Inocencio, a friend who represented me, what his reactions were. When I requested him to attend on my behalf, I kiddingly told him to ensure that his speech is short and succint, and that he should only say good things about me: that I'm kindhearted, good-looking, a virgin, the sort... Thank you, Roli Pogi. I know you're busy with your theater-cum-showbiz career. Taking time to attend PEBA to represent me meant a lot to me.)

Whew. I really am not used to this kind of popularity. Naks.

Seriously...

Congratulations to all the PEBA awardees!

I, of course, offer this award..

To God. Without Him, I won't be here, my blog won't be here, we won't be here. Thank you, Lord;

To my family: Papa, Mama, Elvie, Jojo, Jillian, Janine (and that partridge in a pear tree...);

To the 27 other nominees. (Hey, guys, I honestly thought you too are all winners with your heartwarming entry posts and your impressive blogs. I pray that this year's PEBA results would make us all continue to strive to be better. Remember: There's always a next year);

To all my blogger friends who constantly visit me and leave me a comment even when my posts are not worth your time;

To all the Saudi-based Pinoy bloggers (I share with you all this honor);

To all the more than 2 million Pinoys around the world. That's 2 million more stories waiting to be written and heard;

I thank the following...

Kenjie of PEBA and his family, Shiela and Heavyn;

To all the people behind PEBA:

• NJ Abad, who first told me that I won. I hope to see you in PEBA next year;
• Azel who coerced me in publishing my entry post. I hope too to see you in PEBA next year;
• Pete Rahon, Noemi Dado, Attorney Fiona Bojos, Avel Manansala, Felix Jigs G. Segre, etc.
• To countless other people.
  

To all the judges.

To all the sponsors. I hope you'd be with PEBA again next year and the years to come.

And finally to all my friends in Saudi whose first question when I told them that I won in PEBA is: Magkano ang premyo? Hehe.

Shukran to all. And Happy New Year!

I finally received from Niini of Nokia OVI the shirt with my funny tweet printed on it.

Graciously cool!









Thank Niini! Thank you Nokia!

How would you like to own it? (Yes, I will send it to you through international pouch, free of charge!)

Here's the rule:

1. Leave me a comment here and tell me which of the 36 PEBA nominees (I excluded myself for modesty's sake) will be included in win PEBA 2009's Top 10 Blogs Best Post Entry!

2. On 28 December (when the PEBA winner is known), I will revisit your comments. The first commenter who correctly guessed the Best Post Entry wins the shirt! If there's a tie, I'll cut the shirt in two; if triple tie, in three! (Just kidding).

Good luck to all of you. Good luck to all of us 37 nominees!

And yes, Merry Hohoho Christmas!

(Thanks, RJ, for suggesting that I make the rule simpler. I believe you're right.)

How can I describe it?

A variety. Unfocused.

See these:

• Julie and Julia and how, when blogging, we should create a niche and differentiate our style;
• Philippine politics, i.e. the way we vote and why I'm going for Noynoy in 2012;
• On Saudi: How Saudis bury their dead;
• Cooking pasta 'ala Nebz;
• A tribute to a teacher who passed away;
• My tips on how OFWs can (and must) save.
  

Unfocused and a variety gone awry. If I were to make a painting out of my November posts, it will be as undecipherable as an abstract.

But you know what, I'm a bit relieved. Because I did it. I tested my discipline and although I didn't come out victorious (with the quality of my posts), I survived 30 days writing 30 posts, and boy it was not easy! (I'm tapping my own shoulders now).

Two realizations here:

1. Planning your posts way in advance is good because it gives you time to mull about what you wrote. Once or twice, I revisit the articles for a last minute correction.

2. There's so much we could write about. Because I tasked myself to write an everyday post, I became sensitive to what's around me. Some of my posts came from a conversation with friends; others from real life experiences. One post was inspired by a Granta article; another post was from a New Yorker cartoon; another idea was from an article in Philippine Daily Inquirer. The latest was from a funny advert someone sent me through email.

Thank you for being with me the whole of November.

In December, I promise to show more but talk less.

He's 20 and he's from Marikina. He calls himself Jerico and his blog is Giallo Antico.

He is the first Pinoy I saw being featured in Blogger's Blogs of Note. (Or maybe he is the latest Pinoy as I've yet to read the others who've been featured in Blogger's BON).


It's a big deal for me because being featured in Blogger's Blog of Notes means your blog is exemplary and notable. Jerico's Giallo is indeed that!

I feel really proud of this kabayan!

Photos are uploaded online using Imagehosting.

(Tomorrow, I'm posting about Noynoy Aquino on why I'm voting for him in 2010!).