One blog post at a time

It’s been a while and I really don’t know if this time it would be for real. I’m talking about my blogging mojo.

I cannot count the times that I’ve been in and out of blogging lately. This time, I am no longer sure if I am really getting back to blogging or it’s just another itch that I needed to scratch. Maybe in the next few days, you might see me spewing blog posts left and right until such time I lose my steam again. Or maybe even after this post, I might just get lax in my blogging until I bump my head for the nth time. I really don't know.

What do we make of that inspiration?

“You are such an inspiration!”  

“You inspire us! We are proud of you!”

“You are really inspiring!”

We easily blurt those out every time we see an inspirational icon, we hear a great achievement, or when we hear an inspiring story. You know, like those typical rags-to-riches Cinderella story... winning against all odds... an impossible feat accomplished... or a David slaying his personal Goliath.

Easily, we are inspired and there’s nothing wrong with that... but what do we make of that inspiration?

How many of us can really raise our hands and claim, “I’ve succeeded because I am inspired by this person?” Or say, “I’ve changed after hearing that story.”

Life hack: WD-40 uses

I saw this on Facebook a few days ago. I’m not really a user of WD-40, but after reading this, I am now planning to keep can available at home.

Been seeing life hack videos on YouTube lately, and being a McGyver fan, I always try to take note of them. The versatility of WD-40, as mentioned in this article below, is amazing.

Just a note though, as of posting, I haven’t tried any of those in the list here... yet. Here’s the article. 

I NEVER KNEW THIS! 

What IS The Main Ingredient of WD-40?

Before you read to the end, does anybody know what the main ingredient of WD-40? No Cheating. 

WD-40 Who knew?

They put an age limit to creativity

I am most tempted to call myself a frustrated songwriter, but following the principle of “There’s no such thing as a frustrated writer!” I can’t really call myself that. Because I am not... based on that premise, at least.

Still, I am frustrated.

Frustrated that somebody put an age limit to creativity... an age limit to expression... an age limit to art. No wonder I can’t make it. I am overage!

And here I thought discrimination against age in our country only happens in companies during their employee application processing.

I am referring to the Elements Singing-Songwriting Camp which holds an annual week-long in-house songwriting camp for aspiring songwriters and attended by the country’s top musicians and songwriters where they share tips and encourage composers-wannabes.

The FAQ page is VERY SPECIFIC – YOU MUST BE BETWEEN 18-35 at the time of application.

"There is no such thing as a frustrated writer!"

This post is about the first time I became a guest speaker at a writing event in SM City Clark on August 27, 2011

It was far from perfect, I know. But my first talk just went fine, nonetheless.

I goofed up on a few lines, but I do hope I was able to inspire young people to write. It was my first, though I offer no excuses.

It was a golden opportunity to make a difference… I just hope I did.

Just in case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, it’s the announcement of the winners of the inter-high school short story writing contest here in Angeles City, and I was the guest speaker.

And below, is the full excerpt of my speech, just in case some of the attendees found my voice inaudible or were just too anxious for the results to be revealed, or both… and all who wants to know what I said.

Giving up on The Struggling Blogger

It was inevitable. As much as I like to keep the dot com URL for this blog, I finally decided not to.

I finally gave up. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, the on-and-off loading of my blog makes me want to give up. Now, I did. I had to contend myself with the .blogspot extension just so I can be sure that it would load every time I share a link.

It was either that or I would finally give up The Struggling Blogger totally.

I waited for propagation... nay! Too long, more than two months actually. Still, the problem persists.

So I guess, with this decision it would be smooth sailing from here. Of course, unless Blogger itself would have a problem... which I pray would not happen.

As I’ve said, I had time. From now, it’s back to basic blogging for me.

Thank you very much.

Why do we choose the lesser evil?

Choose the lesser evil... this is a cliché that we hear all too often, especially during election.

But why do we need to choose the lesser evil? Is evil really the only choice we have?

It is really sad that almost everybody believed that to be a fact – that the better option really is to choose the lesser evil.

It is an accepted fact, unfortunately, that politics is dirty. Although some would correct that statement saying, “Politics is not dirty, politicians are,” which does not really make it any better.

iBlog9 - The Philippine Blogging Summit year 9

It’s iBlog season once again, now on its ninth year, iBlog9 is scheduled on May 31 and June 1, 2013 (Friday and Saturday) at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman Quezon City.

Registration  for the said event is now open. Just proceed to the iBlog9 event post to register. Yes, the annual blogging summit is still FREE!

I started attending the yearly blogging event in iBlog5 (2009) and has been attending it ever since. I’m looking forward to attend again this year and see old blogging buddies, as well as meet new friends.

The schedule of program for the first day of iBlog9 is:

Day 1 AGENDA (May 31)

Do politicians know intellectual property right?

Do politicians know intellectual property rights?

Maybe they do. I mean, they should, right? How can they serve and protect the people with whom they make their promise to if they do not know the law and understand the rights of the people.

Maybe they really don’t know, or choose not to understand... maybe they just don’t care.

Every election period, we are bombarded by their campaign jingles left and right. For insurance, for immediate recall, familiarity and popularity’s sake, these campaign jingles are bastardized versions of today’s popular songs.

From local to foreign songs, nothing is spared. As long as it’s a hit, especially if it went viral, it will surely be used by them during campaign period.

Evolution of Music

I saw a neat video of a group called Pentatonix, the video is called Evolution of Music where they sang a medley of songs from 11th Century, 1600's to 2010's and they performed they songs a capella.

Being a lover of music, I know I just have to share the video on my blog, so here it is.

Just in case you're wondering what were some of the songs you don't recognize, here's a list of the songs as posted on their YouTube link:

Yes, I hashtag on Facebook. So sue me!

I don’t know why it bothers you. You are not the marshal here on Facebook, are you?

Yes, I know. Hashtags only work in Twitter and it doesn’t have any function in these talking walls.

But, I hashtag on Facebook. So, sue me!

Why do I really put hashtags here? Then again, is it really your business?

Social media is like real world – you deal and meet a lot of people, only it’s virtual. But just like walking on a crowded street, you may not always like everything that you see. You may not favor the actions of some people.

Do you have to react every time?

iBlo9 - The 9th Philippine Blogging Summit

One of my favorite events for bloggers is just around the corner – the iBlog9: The 9th Philippine Blogging Summit is scheduled on May 31 and June 1, 2013 at the Malcolm Theater, College of Law, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City.

Janette Toral is now calling for speakers for iBlog9. Interested bloggers who want to share their knowledge may check the iBlog9 post for more details. The deadline for submission of topic is on April 15, 2013.

Usual topics on the first day of the blogging summit are about blogging for businesses and advocacies, while second day topics are focused on general blogging subjects like Blogging 101, SEO, social media, earning online and more.

Almost wanting to give up... again

It is very frustrating and honestly, it’s making me want to give up... again. I am referring to this new struggling blogger blog.

I was very happy and excited that I was able to revive The Struggling Blogger and have it hosted in Blogger for free. Unfortunately, taking a free ride surely has its consequences.

If you are reading this now, then that’s good! I am lucky this time. This site loaded well now. But most the time, the site would not load and instead, this message shows up...

The same is true with my other domains that I tried to transfer to Blogger – Travel To Angeles City, Womenagerie, and Roysville.

Subscribe to me, maybe?

In this post, I will make a pitch. I will make an appeal. I will ask you... I’m sorry, I mean I am requesting that you subscribe to my blog.

Really, it will mean a lot for this once-again-newbie blogger.

For your convenience, here is the subscription form:

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Or, you may also subscribe through your reader, if you prefer that way.

Thank you very much. You’re very kind.

“What’s in it for me?!”

A blogging newbie once again...

Second post and I still cannot tell heads from tails. As you can see, aside from the header of this blog, I haven’t changed anything yet. It looks like it may take a while. Honestly, I feel like a blogging newbie once again.

Do I intend to make one post a day now? Because I just uploaded my first post yesterday and here I am writing another one. Can I do it?

No. I can’t do that and I really have no intention of having a one-post-a-day blog. It would be nice if I can pull that, though. But I did mention to make good use of the time until my domain expires, right?

Why I (almost) wanted to give up blogging

Blogging has been my life. It has been my way of expression... my outlet. It has kept me company since I was left on my own.  I love blogging, to say the least. Friends who really knew me know what blogging means to me.

But I wanted to stop. Not just rest, but stop totally... and permanently.

Somehow, I lost my blogging zest. I am even having a hard time just starting this post.

When I started blogging back in 2008, it was like I finally found what I wanted to do in my life... and that is to write. Finally I was doing something that I was really enjoying.

Lately, however, it’s not fun anymore. It was frustrating, really.

First, I lost my free-hosting. Fine, you cannot have your free ride forever, but the feeling of being dropped off abruptly, without any warning and even without any explanation why, makes me feel that I do not deserve to be respected enough to be given courtesy.