It was a cool way for businesses to pitch to bloggers and for bloggers like us to get to know some brands in the market. I immediately warmed up to the sight of this lean and limber young lady from Polecats Manila hanging on to a pole by the entrance. Whatta welcome!

This man that lugged along a camera and a printer on his back was also quite a sight. Everybody had fun having their photos taken and then seeing the prints a few minutes later. Obviously, that’s what the backpack is for

We were all assembled classroom style at the Top Shelf of Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street. I sat behind Rowena of Animetric’s World and Melody Co while her boyfriend, Boy Kuripot (a.k.a Jeff) was busy taking advantage of the free wifi (what would a blogger event be without it?)

There were a few freebies passed around although this is already nothing new for those actively blogging. One stuff I loved: free bikini waxing from Lay Bare!

Here’s a shout-out to a few (out of the more than 100!) bloggers I spotted. It’s nice to know that the blogging scene in Manila is now one of the most vibrant in Asia!

Hannah of flaircandy.com, Micamyx and Antonio Carranza

Blogging veterans Anton of Our Awesome Planet and Sonnie Santos

Angela of lushangel.com

Siblings Mhel and Ken of certifiedfoodies.com

A few fashion bloggers

I thought to myself then: what is this blogger and his band thinking? Weren’t they afraid that the word will eventually go around and their reputation will be tarnished?

Until the Sunday Inquirer article by Ms. Margaux Salcedo exploded and put certain persons under suspicion.

From the looks of it, looks like the Inquirer article is just the tip of the iceberg as Philippine Star food columnist Stephanie Zubiri promised (in her Twitter) gather the complaints of other restaurateurs and do a follow up story on the subject.

But if I were to base my reaction on the Inquirer article, it is not so much BBB who should be condemned but the pernicious tactics of this PR firm which solicits clients, Mafia-style. Right now, I can only think of very few PR firms who specialize in online buzz marketing and even hires bloggers as consultants or on a per project basis. Hmm. Ito kaya?

Here are my notes from this incident:

1. It is sad that legitimate bloggers have been given the bad rep again, but this shouldn’t dissuade anyone from blogging, if your intentions are clean. We blog about food because we love to eat, explore food territories, take beautiful photos, and see it all as part of our culinary experience. So go ahead and do it without fear or expectations of a reward. We are here to simply enjoy.

2. It’s funny how some people are so territorial about the word “FOOD BLOGGER” (as if they own the patent!) I see this among the “high and mighty” food bloggers who are so snobbish and holier-than-thou, and the irrepressible bunch who are not content with eating in presscons, me take-out pa. Tama bang magpatayan kayo nang dahil sa pagkain lamang? Pathetic!

3. Disclosures are crap. Don’t ever demand it, much less ask for somebody to truthfully declare it, then believe it, hook, line and sinker. Otherwise you’re asking for the moon.

4. But anyway, here’s an honest-to-goodness disclosure from me: I never pretend to be anything, especially anything am not. I accept sponsored posts and will appropriately disclose them, no problem. I attend events when I can because I love ‘em and they contribute content to this blog. Whenever publicists email me press releases, I sometimes come out with them mostly out of goodwill and with no remuneration. What are friends ARE for? And finally, years of being in traditional media makes me love presscons where there’s free-flowing buffet food, but of course this doesn’t mean I can’t afford my food. I’ve eaten in 85% of restaurants in Manila and beyond, 65% of which we’ve paid for.

As for the freebies and schwags I receive in presscons, am beginning to raffle them off in contests in this blog, if you haven’t noticed. And that’s the fun part! That’s all, folks.

In five years, Marketmanila’s stats are certainly impressive, with 2,700 posts logged and an Alexa traffic rank of 73,942 (which effectively puts it among the top 73,000++ websites in the world). I am truly amazed at the number of blog posts he’s written because in my five years of blogging, I’ve only made 1,001 posts and I feel I’ve worked like a carabao already.:D I guess that when you pursue something with such a passion, blogger burnout is bound to happen. And in such a case, it is well-advised to take a much-deserved rest. It is true that we can only blog ardently at the expense of other things in life we need to do, and sometimes, difficult choices have to be made.

I’ve featured Marketmanila in my Manila Bulletin column Blog-O-Rama and while looking for it in my Gmail archives, I found it creepy that I submitted the column on September 2, 2006 (!) and four years later, on September 2, 2010, Marketman would announce his sabbatical (or not) from blogging.

Here’s the transcript of that article and email interview entitled “The Marketman’s Passion for Food”

The blog world only knows him as the Marketman. For someone who “once flipped hamburgers and fried thousands of pounds of French fries” as a sideline in Boston, his website is surprisingly about the good life, and good food. It seems there is no restaurant, no hideaway, no nook in the world he will not visit in order to indulge in his all-consuming passion for gastronomy. And for sure, his countless readers are grateful enough to learn about treasured recipes, tips, latest foodie discoveries, and insights on global cuisine which the well-traveled Marketman abundantly shares in his site, aptly titled “Marketmanila.” It has become so popular that even foreign readers are taking notice, and has decidedly given dining in Manila and the much-neglected Filipino cookery a new face. More in the following interview:

Q. Please tell us something about yourself
 
A. I once flipped hamburgers and fried thousands of pounds of French fries at a fast food outlet to help fund my undergraduate degree in Finance when I lived in Boston.  I worked as a corporate banker and management consultant and “retired” in my late 30’s.  I say exactly what I want to say and I often get kicked by my wife under the table for saying it… Despite being totally logical and rational by nature, I am a LEO and DRAGON and I read my horoscope…   

Q. What compelled you to start a blog?

A. Food is a personal passion second only to my family.  In 2004, I discovered several other interesting food blogs and I thought I could do an interesting one based out of Manila.  I never thought it would go on this long or reach so many readers around the globe.  The final push to do a website came from good friends.

Q. Please tell us something about the design and concept of your blog and the blogging system you are using.
 
A. I wanted Marketmanila to be as “clean” as possible.  Lots  of white space, lots of content, little if any clutter.  I wanted to have several photos per post.   I use WordPress to blog, but to be honest, since I consider myself a technology-deficient individual, I got an expert to help me create and maintain the site.

 Q.You write almost daily, if not everyday. What motivates you?
 
A. I am obsessive-compulsive by nature.  Once on a roll, I like to roll even faster, better, more often.  Though I often have several dozen posts in my “backlog,” I find that I blog best when I blog about something that is very current – unique produce I spotted at the market that morning, a dish that tasted brilliant at lunch or a service fiasco that got me so hot and bothered that I tapped out a thousand words before pausing for a Diet Coke.  

Q. What advice can you give aspiring and existing bloggers on blogging successfully and consistently? What do you think are the qualities of a good blogger?

A. Readers are looking for the “personality” of the blog.  If it is one they like, they come back repeatedly.  If the personality of the blog doesn’t suit them, they never come back.  However, as a community of readers grows, you need to feed your blog often if you want it to grow and prosper!

Q. There’s no Google AdSense running in your blog. Why?
 
A. I always thought taking advertisements or having a commercial side to Marketmanila.com would ruin its “personality.”  I once toyed with the idea of using the phrase “Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?…Marketmanila is fresh, finicky and free.”  I want the freedom to write exactly what I want, and I don’t want ads to stifle my freedom.
 
Q. Do you still see yourself blogging five years from now? How about blogging full-time?
 
A. I didn’t think I would last more than 300 posts but I have just written my 700th post in roughly 20 months of active blogging – that’s about 1 post a day.  I hope I will have evolved into other areas in 5 years.  No, I would never blog full-time, though I am close to it now!!!
 
Q. What do you find most fulfilling about blogging? Any memorable feedbacks from your readers?
 
A. I have learned a phenomenal amount from my readers and have personally pushed myself further food wise than I could have ever imagined.  Readers not only correct my posts when I am wrong or have minor errors, but more importantly, they provide valuable new information about how a dish is prepared in their province, town or home.  They introduce me to new ingredients and methods of preparing a dish.  They give interesting suggestions, ask good questions and often know much more about a topic than I will ever learn…  I also feel like I am becoming a part of their day…how bizarre is that???

Q. What do you think are the elements of a great food blog?

 A. A good food blog makes you salivate.  It unlocks a special childhood memory or taste. It gets your heart pumping a little faster when you read a rant.  It gets you to try and eat or cook new things.  It has superb photographs.  And it must possess the personality of its author. My friends who know me well and who read my blog say it reads exactly like I talk.
 
Q. What do you think is the role of your blog in promoting Philippine cuisine?
 
A. With over 1.5 million page views in the past 20 months, I hope many Filipinos and foreigners alike, at home and abroad, see many classic and invented Filipino inspired dishes prepared with care and the best ingredients.  I also hope to bring a bit of home to Thousands of readers who now call a foreign country home.  
 
Q. Plans for your blog?

 A. No plans. Not sure where this will all lead…

?

My friends from Gadgets Magazine are organizing Pinoy Blogfest 1.0 which is happening tomorrow, April 17 at the Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas Center, Pasig City. With the theme ” Opportunity & Responsibility,” it aims to gather together alternative media practitioners and bloggers on issues confronting new media.

A Universal McCann study conducted in 29 countries in 2008, estimates that about 90% of Filipino users read blogs (second only to Korea’s 92%). It also reported that the Philippines has the highest percentage of photo uploaders and web video viewers.

Among the hot topics to be tackled in the confab are ethics, copyright concerns, and journalistic integrity. The keynote speech will focus on “The social and ethical responsibilities of new media.” Other plenary topics include “Optimizing the economic potential of your blog” and “Bloggers as media practitioners.” The morning session is expected to close with a facilitated discussion on “Crafting a blogger’s code of ethics.” Speakers include Gadgets Magazine’s Publisher & CEO Maribelle Alba, media personality Ira Panganiban, Yugatech’s Abe Olandres and Yvonne Chua from Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

The afternoon schedule of Pinoy_Blogfest 1.0 will consist of breakout sessions covering technology trends, gaming, mobile networking, photography, digital living, and health/fitness.

Pinoy_Blogfest 1.0 is open to all bloggers and blogging enthusiasts. A minimal registration fee of P2,500 will be charged to cover meals and the participant’s kit.

Pinoy_Blogfest 1.0 is presented by Gadgets Magazine in partnership with Coca-Cola Philippines. Other sponsors include Toshiba the official notebook partner, Canon, Asus Technologies, TCL Sun, Isukoshi, Reebok, and LG. Media partners are Manila Bulletin Technews, Business Mirror, Jam 88.3, Wave 89.1, Magic 89.9, 99.5 RT, 103.5 MAX FM, NU 107.5, and clickthecity.com.

I’ve observed how this contest ran and noted that being chosen an “emerging influential blog” actually translates to being popular, SEO-savvy, and being able to tirelessly campaign among your peers, while having a good marketing pitch. Nothing wrong with that. I am actually reminded of the time when I was a child and crowned the Mayflower Queen of our barrio because my relatives raised the most money, hehehe. Anyway, my choices here include sure winners, two group blogs I am active in and some silent favorites. If only the number wasn’t limited to the Top 10, I’d definitely choose more. Here it goes:

1. Barrio Siete
2. Litratong Pinoy
3. Dear Bloggery
4. Dare to Speak Out
5. Social Media Philippines
6. Patay Gutom
7. Cebu Bloggers Society
8. Millionaire Acts
9. Pinoy Cravings
10. Sumthin Blue

Congratulations in advance to the winners! The contest awarding is near enough. It’s on August 8, Saturday and will be held at the Forum Hall of PAGCOR-Paranaque. Our company PAGCOR will be sponsoring the event and me and my officemates will be there to welcome you all.

The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs Project 2009 is brought to you by Absolute Traders, My Brute Cheats, Business Summaries, Fitness Advantage Club, Events and Corporate Video, Events at Work, Dominguez Marketing Communications, Red Mobile and Blog4Reviews.com.

Because of the popularity of blogs these days, some companies are joining the blog mob or the blog bandwagon. There’s really nothing wrong with this. A corporate blog, after all, is another way to connect with your customers or market on another level. And a blog, if put up well, can project more warmth and candidness than a generic press releases would. It is an affordable, high-impact way to get your message across without the expense of multi-million campaigns.

On the other hand, a corporation or company should also ask itself if a blog fits their marketing goals. It is really not for everybody. Sometimes, it can make a firm vulnerable to unwanted “blog storms” or security lapses and make its stand on certain matters open to interpretation. That’s why I’d suggest that entities think long and think hard before starting a blog. Here are some suggested things to do:

1. Get to know the bloggers and be acquainted with the blogosphere. Don’t go into it half-blind. Have a feel of its inner workings and familiarize yourself with basic netiquette. Make an effort to hobnob with chief influencers and walk their talk, if necessary. Find out how they’re talking and what their impressions are about YOU.

2. Write down your blog goals before stepping into the action. As every company has a business plan and feasibility study, so they should also treat their blogging venture like it was a real business. This includes mapping out what the introductory post would be, the overall thrust & tone of the articles to be written and how to go about making the blog a success.

3. Establish a tight, topnotch team. Assigning your blogging chief, content writers and technical chiefs are a given. In other instances, it might also be wise to involve other departments like legal and human resources to help you examine the risks involved and establish what the company’s blogging rules and policies would be. If you’re not tapping experienced personnel, make sure there’s sufficient training for those involved. Let your blog team sign confidentiality agreements if need be.

4. Let everybody in the company know the blog exists as part of corporate marketing and policy. After all, your employees will be your primary supporters in this endeavour. Enlist their support by way of comments and contributions.

5. Moderate comments, but make your blog as interactive as possible. Reviewing comments before they even appear in your site is a must for the blog savvy. There’s just no way a negative , derogatory or sarcastic comment can appear in a company blog.

However, make your customer a participant, rather than just a mere reader in your blog by encouraging honest feedback. Reply to them by private email, if not in the blog itself. Entertain them by way of product promotions and the like. The blog can be tapped as an extension of your marketing office, you know?

6. Exude sincerity and make your style conversational. Your blog shouldn’t sound like your run-of-the-mill advertorial or press release. Your audience would like to read posts with substance but those which they can relate to, themselves. It is worthwhile to exhibit a human face.

(to be continued)

Personally, I don’t believe in taking down what I blog about, even if it’s too easy to press DELETE in cyberspace. My conviction is to always stand by what I write. (and pataygutom.com is one blog food blog I like!) However, I don’t believe in labelling people myself, even though it’s quite tempting to categorize the numerous characters that populate the internetz. Blogging is called “citizen journalism” precisely because anyone can post his thoughts and materials in the great WWW without the stiff hierarchy and requirements of the media networks. Considering the diversity, we would certainly run out of terms to categorize people. But is that even necessary? Name-calling and criticizing is a human propensity but it should be kept by people within their groups, not in the open field where respect, decency and tolerance is called for.

The Ople uproar has taught us that even shrewd, seasoned marketers fall on their feet in dissecting New Media. You cannot really articulate the thoughts of one segment without being scrutinized by another. Blogging remains a new, evolving phenomenon that it would be futile to stick with generalizations at the present time.

It is also a pity that bloggers like us who attend blog events have to be guinea pigs in the great social experiment that is “Analyzing New Media.” True that events like this feel like one big party, but is it really substantial to share your story with 100 other people in the room? Journalists frown on this because we prefer scoops. Also, you get to think that instead of fumbling and bumbling on the road to “Mastering the Phenom that is New Media,” publicists should have prepared themselves (and their staff!) beforehand by doing thorough research and buying the Handbook of New Media which only costs $27 in Amazon (okay, I just Googled that )

In the final analysis, who is to say that a journal blogger will not evolve into a Google blogger and so on and so forth? Is the value blogger the king of all? Isn’t it all a matter of perception, and of branding? Why is it that the few local SEO bloggers who earn five figures in $$$ a month are silent in all this hoopla? Is it because money matters more to some people, while to others it is all about popularity, protecting their turf and being invited to events?

Tired of all this, an old friend Batjay offered to give one more category for bloggers, called the Tanginangyan blogger: (pardon the local lingo)

” the tanginangyan blogger generates content from his very sick mind. he tries to explain things from a screwed up point of view of a filipino who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about marketing. he will say what he wants, curse all he wants and talk about the most mundane topic because he doesn’t give a f*ck.

tanginangyan bloggers tend to be purists who miss the early days of blogging when money wasn’t as important. for the tanginangyan blogger, the most important part of blogging is being able to tell people stories and hearing feedback from readers, like:

“kuya batjay,

si bong a. alon po ay dad ko po. ako po ang nag-introduce sa kanya sa site niyo. tuwang-tuwa po siya sa inyo. he even bought your first book and lagi niyang inaabangan ang inyong new blog entries. he passed away today, feb.11 – 10:00am Philippine time. the comment he gave above is his last. i will treasure it. i’ll be goin home for his wake. please pray for him. thank you for making him smile through your blogs.”

Nuff said

It was my first time to join blogger events “on a mass scale,” with the exception of the Blog Awards, and I liked it. It was great to know the faces behind the blogs, and I like the part where everyone introduces themselves. There’s bound to be an interesting story on how one got to blog, or what one has gained from it so far. It’s my first exposure to DigitalFilipino and I think am joining it soon, haha.

Our first stop was the boom city of Davao, home of the Mindanao Bloggers. Close to 100 bloggers had fun in PAGCOR-Davao’s Pantawan Hall where we ate and drank the night away, capped by a friendly tournament of Texas Hold ‘Em Poker.

At the Teatro Casino party in PAGCOR-Cebu, members of the Cebu Bloggers Society came in identical “Blogger Ko Bai!” shirts which showed their complete solidarity. Couldn’t resist buying one.

That’s Kevin Ray Chua , author of the Sen. Mar Roxas for 2010 blog, bringing his own laptop to the dinner table, haha.

But I liked best the gathering Manila (PAGCOR-Paranaque, to be exact) because this is where most of my friends are, and I feel most at home here. Still, it was nice to be acquainted with the bloggers I saw for the first time…..

Like the Reyna Elena herself, one of the most popular overseas Pinoy bloggers who was on vacation all the way from the US of A. Reyna’s field is in investments, but still hopes to settle in the homeland someday. We are shown here with Angela of HeyoKity.

Kodakan galore! Am quite fond of these two young girls, Ada and Sabrina, who do kick-ass designs for Friendster blogs. In fact, their vixenart.net (Alexa rank: 8.703..whew!) should be on the list of the Top 100 Blogs, if only because…. Photo grabbed from Jehzlau.

Top Blogger Jehzeel Laurente with Belo girl Micamyx and Carl of WebMagazine. Jehzeel brought along his mother who proudly showed us photos of her one and only boy.

Maki Eduardo, Dine Racoma, a publicist from Full Circle Events, and Fitz Villafuerte of Ready To Be Rich.

Angel Cuala, the Fatherblogger and my fellow Visayan who is behind Bloggista.com.

AJ Matela, Fritz Tentativa, and Jonas Diego were in the house!

Other bloggers in attendance: Juned Sonido, Sonnie Santos, Azrael Coladilla, Suzaku Lace, Robert D.C. Reyes, Ederic Eder, Tonyo Cruz, Ed Arevalo, the PAGCOR web whiz Gary Viray , Eugene Villar and many others… there were more than a hundred people in the room.

Had a nice time, till the next time folks!

SPOT THE YELLOW BOOK . Batjay (seated) with his blogger-friends Apol, Wats0n, Tito Rolly and Fisherpau. Not in photo is yours truly

The king of the blog humorists, Nicanor David a.k.a Batjay launched his second blook recently.For the occasion, he went straight from the airport to Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street, wearing his Spiderman shirt. There’s a long line of people clutching the yellow copies of “Mga Kwento ng Batang Kaning Lamig” and he obliges with personalized dedications, with matching cartoon drawings pa.

We asked him if he flew all the way from California for the launching, and he says not really. He foremostly wanted to see his beloved mother. Growing up, Batjay was a “batang kaning lamig” and the book’s title is driven by memories of him hanging out with his friends, highlighted by eating sessions where they would eat cold rice served by his mother, amid big steaming hot bowls of sinigang.

Anyway, Batjay’s book is so handy and funny that I don’t have it anymore. Somebody snitched it!! Here’s the full text of my article as it appeared on Manila Bulletin yesterday:

THE SECOND COMING OF BATJAY

Book authors are crossing over to the blogosphere and having their own websites, in an apparent bid to widen their reach. After all, everybody who matters is online these days. On the other hand, there are a handful of bloggers who are crossing over to the media and the publishing world, in an effort to also widen their reach and influence. No harm there, ’tis a free country.

Bloggers who’ve managed to publish their own books are few and far in between. It takes somebody like humorist Nicanor David Jr., more popularly known as Batjay, to gain acceptance from his blogging peers and people from all walks of life who aren’t necessarily connected to the internet. This is the reason why just a year after he launched his maiden book that was adapted from his blog, another publishing house was ready to take Batjay in its wings.The result is ” Mga Kwento ng Batang Kaning Lamig” launched by Fox Literary House Inc. last April 14. Fox is one of those raring, upstart publishers willing to give young writers a break and accommodate non-conventional genres. At the time we interviewed the California-based Batjay, he was the lone blogger (read: new media publisher) sharing the limelight with a few twenty-something authors who wrote a collection of erotic fiction and some chick lit.

“Mga Kwento ng Batang Kaning Lamig” was sold out in no time. Having bought myself a copy of the slim, 92-page volume of anecdotes and imaginary conversations, it’s easy to see why. Batjay’s story is about the Philippines’ OFW diaspora, told in a funny way.There are many of us who can relate, as either we have worked abroad or know of a parent, sister, uncle, neighbor and classmate who does. It’s true that the Philippine economy will simply sink without its overseas workers’ remittances, but the real story is the distinctive OFW “culture” that has developed as a result. Yes, OFW’s , when gathered together, have a mouthful of observations to make of their respective adoptive countries. Or, as Batjay attests, they simply laugh their homesickness blues away, as this example from his book (or blook) shows

AKO : I will fucks you a copy of my proposal
AMERIKANO: It’s fax. “Faaaaax!”
AKO: Sorry. I will faaax you a copy of my proposal. Three shits total.
AMERIKANO : It’s sheets. “Sheeeets!”
AKO : Packing sheet
AMERIKANO: Huh?

It is really hard to translate Batjay’s Tagalog jokes because as he himself admits, Filipino humor can’t be carried over as effectively to another language. This is after all what makes us unique as a people, the very thing that unites us.

He minces no words and offers no apologies for his irreverent humor, which is no-holds-barred and is direct to the point.

“My style is one you can never use or discuss in a formal conversation. This is a kind of language that you will just hear on the streets – malutong at bastos pero down to earth at makatotohanan, walang pretense,” the blogger-turned-author says.No worries, because Batjay’s book just happens to be required reading in a creative writing class at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.Award-winning writer Jun Cruz Reyes calls it “creative non-fiction.”

After all, where else can you find witty titles like ” It’s not how you pick your nose, it’s where you put the booger that counts,” or, ” The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.” Batjay engages readers by his musings about living and working in the US, and writing an imaginary advice column called “Dear Unkyel Batjay” where the author fires off sane (and insane) advice. The words, even though funny, turn out to be wise and philosophical on second thought.

Okay, we don’t wanna spoil the show. At only one hundred twenty pesos, Batjay’s book should be one of the wisest, most economical purchases you’re going to make this year. Read it and weep…from laughing.

In 2007, I wrote 154 blog posts and counting. This is a milestone for me, considering the time, wit and energy it entails to blog a wee bit sensibly.On the average, I made 17 posts per month and I consider blogging at a steady rate as my biggest achievement this year.

During my early years, I admit to blogging for art’s sake. Now I realize I can be more prolific when I don’t take my creativity too seriously and just let the gods of SEO take over. This has given me more returns in terms of traffic and advertising and I believe we are now saving for the Hong Kong Disneyland family vacation that blogging bought

Lest I be misunderstood, I am still into blogging for the sheer love of it…. because I will always be at home with the written word and because blogging has enabled me to gain more friends, know more people, interact with readers and network. They are definitely add-ons I can’t complain about.

The year was a memorable one because bloggers were now part of The Action. Just look at the product launches, food fests and numerous events we had to attend.There was also the extra income I got from blogging that’s good enough to buy me a laptop already. I wonder where that one went? Heh.

Blogging is love, and blogging has brought me.. My Love. No, not really. I met somebody in the last quarter and took the pains of hiding my real identity from him (even printing a fake calling card, lol). I thought he was clueless. Turns out he’s more technosavvy than me. The blog was found out in no time. I blame it now on Uncle Google. Made me think, what right do I have to entertain the illusion that I won’t be found, now that am blogging at full speed? Am just glad that the Special Someone digs teh blog, warts and all. In fact, he knows this from A to Z – even the parts I don’t care, or dare (!) to remember That must be l-o-v-e, right?

Because he’s the better writer, watch out for a guest post from him on My Wall soon. Too bad he’s not a blogger