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:

(more…)

In response to an invitation I posed in my previous post, my blog friends wasted no time in contributing their own “invented” words. You guessed it, it’s all about blogs!

From Polo :

Cyberbloggeriaadicta – an affliction of those who can’t stay away from blogs

Bloggerianervosa – is what attacks a blogger when his/her blog goes offline

Tito Rolly:

bloggerable – a story that has potential of being blogged about

bloggerisms – original phrases or philosophies found in someone’s blog

Karla:

multiblogger disorder – someone who has different blog personalities ( a blogging schizophrenic, perhaps?)

Mec:

blogolalia – a disorder whose manifestations generally include inability to talk about anything else except blogs and bloggers

blogcott - a boycott of someone else’s blog and not going there again

Jayred:

Blogtitis – a blog-related infection affecting bloggers who are highly-addicted to blogging

Cathy:

Bloggadocio – bragging about one’s blog

Ate Sienna:

blogpals – friends in blogging

Tintin:

blogablahs – the usually curable disease of laziness to update or justlack of topics in the meantime. Can be differentiated from a blogger’sblock by lack of frustration. You’re just not feeling it as opposed tobeing frustrated at inability to think of topics.

Well guys, we sure hope all these lands in the dictionary soon. Keep ‘em coming!

What’s in a word? As the ultimate writers’ tool, I like the fact that I can play with it, twist it and choose it to reflect my own mood and personality. Here are some I invented just for fun, as they relate to my experiences. Your contributions are most welcome.

blogger’s block – n. a derivative of the writer’s block mental blockcharacterized by going off the blogosphere for a long period of time or staring at the computer for hours while not being able to post anything of note after a session.

Usage:

Friend: Ajay, you have not updated this site in a week.

Me: Para a week lang. That’s because I had a bad case of blogger’s block.

blog maniac – n. a person who has an obsessive and uncontrolled need to blog about anything and everything which includes but is not limited to writing about one’s favorite dog, sexual preferences, thy neighbor’s nocturnal activities and such. Antonym of blogphobic, i.e. people who avoid blogs and blogging like the plague.

porkypine – n. the opposite of vegetarian. Usually refers to a person who always pines for hog meat such as crispy pata, bagnet, lechon, fried porkchop and binagoongang baby during mealtimes.

Usage: Kumakain ka na naman ng chicharon, you porkypine!

cellulag - n. a condition akin to jet lag which is unique to tech writers who review people who often change cellphones. The general state of being disoriented as a result of dealing with different interfaces and navigation keys every two weeks and not being able to distinguish anymore between what is Swedish (Ericsson) and what is Finnish (Nokia).

gadget envy – n. a derivative of penis envy. The Freudian-like tendency to possess thy colleague’s latest model device and doodads, sometimes to the detriment of one’s bank balance. Kleptomaniacs and cellphone snatchers have also been known to exhibit this condition.

bloggerific - adj. an outstanding, standing ovation-worthy blog post

blogaboo – n. blogging about something, only to realize you got your facts wrong and goofed big-time. The updated version of boo-boo.

Hopefully, more to come!