my Christmas gift to you: a blogging survey!

1. When did you start blogging?

2003 i think... but i've stopped blogging for a period noon, as in consciously shut down the blog... then i took it up again when i became bored hahaha

2. Average, how often do you blog?

siguro mga once a week kapag sinisipag. pero may times na a month or more ang lumilipas before i update

3. How do you host your blog?

wala, di naka-host ito

4. What blogging application/service do you use?

i use blogger.com... i also have an identical blog on multiply.com, hindi kasi allowed ang blogger sa office

5. Do you use an application to blog directly from your desktop, rather than from your blogs administration?

nope. hindi ako high-tech

6. Do you use a free theme for your blog?

i use one of blogger's default themes

7. What type of blogging do you do?

minsan storya ng buhay ko, minan mga reviews, minsan lyrics, kahit ano!

8. What is your primary blogging motivation?

an outlet for my energy, happiness, frustrations

9. Do you care much about the amount of visitors?

not really. syempre nakakatuwa kapag may nagbabasa but i don't keep track of the number of visitors

10. Does the total account of visitors on your blog count more to you, than the amount of visitors who comment on your blog posts?

mas gusto ko pa ang nagccomment para alam ko na binasa talaga hehe

11. Do you use some sort of anti spam solution for your blog comments? (Such as Akismet)

nope!

12. If you run advertisements on your blog, do you sell the ads yourself?

nope... wala na ngang bumibisita dito, mage-effort pa ako na mag advertise?!?!

13. If you earn money on advertising on your blog, how much do you approximately earn per month?

this is not a money making venture!!

14. If you are running a business blog - have it helped your business to start blogging?

n/a

15. Are you a member of a blogging network such as random shapes or 9rules?

i used to be a member of a blog ring

16. If you are member of a blogging network - has it helped you noticeable in any way?

maybe

17. How many daily unique visitors do your blog have?

aba malay

18. Do you keep statistics of feed subscribers?

nope

19. Do you put work into search engine optimisation for your blog?

nope

20. Have you ever bought advertisement on other websites for your blog?

nope... ahaha bitin naman ng survey na ito :-P

donde esta santa claus?

Out of nowhere, I suddenly remembered that old Christmas carol "Donde Esta Santa Claus?" I already forgot the lyrics so I searched the internet for it and I was laughing my head off while reading/singing the lyrics.

I hope he won't forget to clack his castinet,
And to his reindeer, say,
"Oh Pancho, Oh! Vixen, Oh! Pedro, Oh! Blitzen,"
Ole! Ole! Ole! cha cha cha.

How silly are those lyrics?!?!

Anyways, I'm beginning to feel the spirit of the holidays. I've been receiving tons of text messages greeting me a Merry Christmas. A friend also texted me that she has some gossip so I'm anticipating that (gossip is my oxygen!). And in an hour's time, we'll be eating our Noche Buena! WOOT!!! And I'm feeling less lonelier as well since I am talking with someone! May nag online na din sa wakas!!! Hahaha!

Random Thoughts on a Lonely Evening (Christmas Edition)

"Sana ngayong Pasko dinggin mo ang hinihiling ko,
Buksan mo Panginoon ko puso ng bawat tao"

- I cannot remember where I've heard of the above song lyrics. I think it was a song our junior class composed for a project but it may also be some random holiday jingle. But these two particular lines have been stuck in my head and I cannot get it out. Maybe it's because I want something this Christmas and it's definitely not my two front teeth...

- Since I was out all night last night and I went to hear dawn mass this morning and went to the grocery to buy mayonnaise that my mom needs for her salad, I was pretty much pooped out come 10 AM. I was already sound asleep by 11 and didn't wake up until 7 this evening. So I've screwed up my body clock once again and falling asleep is gonna be hard after the Noche Buena later. Thank goodness for Melatonin!

- It's a quarter after 8 already and I can hear the bells announcing the first Misa de Aguinaldo. But our family's gonna hear mass tomorrow instead. Hopefully, my sister will be here when it's time to go to Church so we can be all together even for just one hour. Maybe even more as Christmas masses tend to be longer than the usual mass.

- I'm bored. Definitely bored out of my wits. Christmas eve is always like this every year. Eat dinner at 7 then wait for five hours for Noche Buena. Christmas eve this year falls on a Sunday so watching tv is not an option, Sunday programs are boring! It's a good thing my sister left her laptop so now I'm blogging and reading some stuff online... But this is gonna get old after a while...

- Tomorrow is gonna be a hellish day. I'll see our "asungot" relatives once again, those who only remember us during Christmas time and only comes to our house for money. Of course we have to be cordial towards them but deep in our hearts, we really hate them. But we have to act out this charade every year as it has become a custom. Bah humbug!

- Someone in our neighborhood is playing Christmas carols over their sound system. Surprisingly, I've only heard one group of real carollers tonight. I guess a lot of people are tired of going from one house to the next singing their hearts out and getting only a few measly pesos. But I do miss hearing carollers and giving them money especially if they are quite good.

- I'm really getting lonely this evening. Not having someone to talk to does not only numb the brain but it also numbs the heart. I've been online for an hour already and I haven't seen anyone log on to their IM accounts so I can chat with them. Talking to family is not an option as we have nothing to talk about. So instead, I'm just pouring my heart out in this blog... Le sigh...

- I just suddenly remembered that Christmas is supposed to be the birth of Jesus. Silly me, I thought it was about gift giving, parties and crass commercialization. I guess the true essence of Christmas is really gone and unless the retailers stop selling gifts, the advertisers stop using the holiday as a tool for selling products and the government bans partying, we'll never regain that true essence.

- I'm browsing CNNMoney.com right now. I'm beginning to think of where I can put the money I got and will be getting this Christmas. Of course a chunk of that money will be spent shopping but I'm looking for alternatives for the left over cash. I' thinking of the stock market hmmm... But of course, this is all assuming that I'll get moolah tomorrow.

- Goodness, my sister's laptop is acting up. I guess I can't write random thoughts until Noche Buena time as this computer might crash and all that I've written will be lost. So I'm publishing this already and I'll accompany my mom while she is working. Yes she is working. Looking at her bookkeeping. On Christmas eve. It doesn't get any more Christmas-y than that!!!

Bisperas ng Pasko

Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Nyak, isa na namang moody posting. Wala naman talaga akong problems, namumoody nga lang talaga. Meron nga lang bumabother sa utak ko ngayon pero di na ako magkkwento, mahirap na at baka kung sino pa ang makabasa.

Ilang oras na, araw na ng Pasko. Ito ang pinaka unang Noche Buena ng buhay ko na wala ang ate ko so I'm a bit bummed about that. On the upside, madaming mga kamag-anak na taga probinsiya ang andito so they'll liven things up. And also, I have a lot of gifts under the Christmas tree just waiting to be opened.

Speaking of gifts, I just gave a gift to a fried despite what I have been saying that I will not be handing out Christmas presents this year unless it's part of a Secret Santa thig. I gave him two DVDs, one for his birthday that was 10 million years ago and one for Christmas.

Gift giving is such a chore for me as I don't know what the perfect gift is going to be! That's why in instances wherein I find a perfect match, like this instance when I saw the DVDs of some favorite movies of my friend in the mall, I always grab the opportunity and snap the gifts right up. I really do not have time nor the patience to go to Divisoria and go around the whole place looking for something that's merely "suitable" to a person. Unfortunately, this DVD thing was the only serendipitous instance in this year's gift giving charade. All other friends and relatives are still going to receive nada!

Now all Christmas season long, I was acting like a veritable Scrooge. "Bah humbug!" my YM status would say during particular times of grumpiness. I kept on telling people that I have no money, that I will not give out gifts, that I will recycle all gifts that I'll be receiving. All of these are true... But last week, while browsing the decorations that are on sale, I suddenly got the holiday fever. I just wanted to buy all of the Christmas decorations they have for sale, that I will find gifts for everyone, that I am going to keep all the cool stuff I got. Fortunately, this was a temporary thing. I still have the holiday bug right now but I still don't have money so I'm curbing my spending.

Aaahh 13 and a half hours to go! Lamon na naman I was just at the pakain sa San Beda this morning and I ate two plates of buffet food. Busog kung busog. Tapos lamon sa Noche Buena tonight tapos lamon ulit sa Christmas party bukas hehehe. Pataba nang pataba talaga! Hehehe

I hope that it will become chilly tonight to make the weather more Christmas like. Ang init eh! And I'm off to sleep na, still have to make up for millions of hours of sleep debt! An advanced Merry Christmas to everyone!!!