Soy Negrense Is One Year Old!

"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip."

When my blogger flatmate feels his spine already hunched deep into unreasonably lengthy hours of net surfing - that signals my turn to feel the mouse too - first navigating the most familiar site as a habit - Yahoo Sport. Around this time a year ago, I have only TFC eating out my entire time after work. I never loved the idea of immersing myself with cheap and false kindness yet abundant-in-rudeness antics of that swelling ego in Wowowee. Somehow the daily routine got into my system, I didn't have much choice. Shared subscription too is costly to forgo the unlikely spectacle.

Never mind the name (brand worshippers might have not heard of it) - I assure you it's the cheapest from the array of  pricey laptops on Jarir Bookstore shelves. I finally bought one I call my own. And you see, it has lived a full year now, and not to mention the 'perks' that come with the 'friendly price'. With economic limbo hovering over receding hairline, the thought of buying another is a pain between a pair of gluteus maximus. Hell no! Will have to settle for how much productivity output it affords me. For now, will have to raise the bar of patience higher when it is acting out everytime.

On October 11th  marks my first anniversary of posting my very first blog. It was a case of another blogger tugging at me literally so that I create my own blog. Had he not coerced me into blogging, I would have not had the platform to enjoy of my little freedom to write about certain things that concern me on a personal level and the large majority.

Normally,  first blog post always carves prestige down memory lane. Unfortunately, mine had to be content to dummy up by virtue of some CNN graphics of Efren Penaflorida imploring support. Thankfully, the prelude did not resonate that of the rest of my posts. That same week Typhoon Ondoy aka Ketsana is wreaking havoc all over Luzon. It was said that the extent of devastation has never been seen in living memory. I decided there could be no better and relevant topic than the exploits of Ondoy. My first baptism of fire that is Ondoy came as a surprise as readers' traffic continued to busy up my site. And no less the inaugural visit by the 2009 PEBA winner leaving his encouraging comment that left me thrilled.

My succeeding posts were topics drawn from my passion to write about certain issues that I feel passionate about. In the course of twelve months, I have written posts that will go down as my personal favorites. Some may not be popular for readers but I had them written shall I say with fire, rage and conviction. One of my favorites is my post on Jason Aguilar, an OFW from Qatar who was mistaken to be the criminal Jason Ivler. The post was written in less than thirty minutes after watching TV Patrol triggered by my anger at the injustice done to him. This post suddenly became a hit to readers with 8 to 10 viewers at the same time. It's surreal because I'm used to be the only visitor of my own page most of the time. At the break of day my readers numbered in hundreds reading the same post. To my curiosity, I tracked down the origin of a familiar link and found out that it came from the twitter account of Julius Babao. Yes, he posted my blog on his twitter account recommending his followers to read "this interesting commentary". True, it was some sort of inspiration.

Another personal favorite of mine was supposedly my open letter to President GMA when after much speculation whether she will quit politics or not, she filed her certificate of candidacy for Congresswoman of the 2nd district of Pampanga. One remarkable name who left her comment on that page is Lila Shahani, the niece of former president FVR who shared the link on her Facebook. My co-blogger and workmate even warned me that I could get killed when I step out of the plane, albeit jokingly. "What? They will waste a bullet on this lowly species?"

And my third favorite is my post about me and my family. I wrote this when I was feeling nostalgic about my beginnings and how certain events factored in my early exile to the big city at such a young age, and even brought me farther in this part of the world. While penning some emotion-packed experiences of mine, tears welled up my eyes reminiscing the unspeakable travails I have had already at age 18, and in deep gratitude - to Him who spared me from  the scourge of ignorance so that I could make a difference in the lives of those I treasure the most. This post also bears witness to some of my greatest regrets in life -  notably of not having a good education that will always be a powerful weapon in anyone's battle with life's uncertainties. Surely, I'm lacking in it, but God always finds a way, His works are mysterious that our human faculties cannot fathom.

If there is a category about the most unforgettable post I've ever written, and one rich in drama and venomous responses, it is the Grace Padaca story that made the Dy clan foaming all throughout. I had resorted to blocking  most of the comments that awaited my approval because of the arsenic contents that you would conclude Padaca is more evil than the inhabitants of hell. No less than the daughter of Benjamin Dy  led the character assassination attempt against then Governor Grace Padaca. Till date, this post remains one of the most popular among readers and very draining too so to speak.

At the onset, one reason that kept my door ajar to the world of blogging is that - my confidence level was at its lowest. As a college drop-out with  few units earned to brag, I easily get scared of the notion that I will be corrected or lectured at by my readers, probably for a misuse of punctuation or for my terrible grammar or that I may be writing a different thought contrary to what I actually wanted to convey. At first, writing in Filipino I thought would do the trick. (The rationale that other nationalities might stumble upon my blog sounded logical to me that I preferred to do this in the language they would understand.) But of course, I did not allow that mindset to overwhelm me, my passion to write about certain issues purged me of the doubts and skepticism that once stunted my optimism.

In a rather exciting reality in the blogosphere, it is unavoidable that some frequent visitors might be turned off by a post or two that you write contrary to their belief, creed and conviction. I must admit though, I do not find myself writing a post about a recent trip to a store and picking up a fight with the cashier for a rude behavior - and/or maybe a post promoting some high end sale in town - or I  quit blogging. With due respect to many brilliant bloggers out there who can write interesting stories over 'trivial' matters, hats off to them for their gift of really exciting their readers - one that I do not possess. Perhaps I just cannot copy that same penchant for writing minus the emotion that is a staple of my blog. I still hope i can reinvent for a change, who knows.

In my fledgling foray into blogging, I  have also come to terms that while you write about sensitive issues, critics also come in abundance. Some may be outspoken in their attack of the writer, others especially fellow bloggers may choose their protest silently. These things are quite the norm if you are a distinct individual with distinct point of view or distinct manner of writing that may sound distasteful or offensive for the majority of the 'goody-two-shoes' mainstream. This is the challenge that I have accepted long before, not a sort of encouragement but a self-styled way of reasserting that it is me, accept me at face value. There is a pitfall though, that passing judgment on the blogger may be a trap one is drawn to that will precariously define himself to be both irrational and judgmental.

A year may be too short, but it's been a journey. Seriously, insignificant he may be, this blogger does not crave for accolades, "awards" or stuff for that matter. He may be a nominee or whatever, or perhaps this early the fate of his being a nominee has been sealed because of his outspoken views about certain things, nevertheless he will not in any way get swayed by treading the safer ground and repudiating the things that define him and his purpose. The core of this blog, "My thoughts and opinion" will stay, unless otherwise he decides to banish this site to purge himself of the criticism and scorn from the Pecksniffs. I hope this site lives another year. Happy First Birthday Soy Negrense!