Dear Faithful Reader... I'm b-a-a-a-c-k from a 3-week blogging hibernation. Yeah, this post is over a week late, but better late than never. I tied for 7th (amongst wow 517 blogs cited by 193 writing project participants... mostly in the Philippines) in the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2007 contest. Umm, I'm so not gonna muck around in that flak about popularity contests, the meaning of influential, etc. I'm going to gracefully mind my p's and q's, salute Janette Toral, and do a little pirouette... Now put your right foot in. Your right foot out. Right foot in. Then you shake it all about... And then you do the Hokey Pokey. Turn yourself around. That's what it's all about.
I'm warning y'all, this is a l-o-o-o-n-g link love spam. Flee for your lives!
I have a massive round of blog hopping and commenting to do, I promise.
If you've linked me up, please contact me so that I can reciprocate the favour.
My sister, "Dessert Queen"... begged me to write a new entry. Very weird.
I could recite my generated speech when I won my Biggest Whiner award, but let's not do a repeat, OK?
My good online pal Jim Caro asked, "How lucky could this blogger get?" I'm the only Cocky Bastard who made it to the Top 10 and also won $100 in the raffle! Cha-ching! Well, make that USD $100 (less $3.20 PayPal fee) converted to Canadian moolah = CDN $99.05. I couldn't attend 
the awards night (free dinner!), but Ma'am Janette will ship out my framed certificate.
Lucky? That's the name of my neighbour's black cat who practically lives in our garden! Lucky is me finding a four-leaf clover on the day that my Dad came home from a long stay in the hospital: May 11, 2007. Since I was a kid, I've always looked for four-leaf clovers, but never found one until that day when I wasn't ACTUALLY LOOKING for one! (Note to self: try doing the opposite of everything I would normally do.) Google says that you have a 1 in 10,000 probability of finding a four-leaf clover in a patch of grass. I was cleaning up the front garden... and suddenly... there it was! 
A few hours later, my Dad called to say he was coming home. Lucky, indeed, eh?
May is when I slowed down in blogging... although I was never a prolific blogger to begin with. Four lame entries in May, four in June, and two (2!) in July. Yeah, Emerging Influential Slacker. Don't make me question my readers' taste, please. Hey, it's no small feat to train one's fat cat to blog.
7 is seen as a lucky number in many cultures. In mathematics, 7 is the smallest happy number except for the trivial example of 1. In religion, God rested on and sanctified the 7th day. Yahweh is the divine name, whose letters' places alphabetically equal 70, a product of the divine number 7... Seventy-seven things you need to know about 07. A mystical number. 
7:11 AM/PM is the posting time on ALL my blog entries. 
Coincidence?
Congrats to my fellow Top 10 winners:
1. An Apple a Day / Paolo Mendoza (formerly of paolomendoza.com) 2. The D Spot 3. CokskiBlue 4. Make Money Online with a 13-Year Old 5. Culture Shiok! (formerly of www.cultureshiok.com) / Menthol Guy 6. Kubiertos 7. fruityoaty / PinoyBlogero 8. Jhed (formerly of jhed.asteeg.net) / The AnitoKid Chronikos 9. Gibbs Cadiz 10. Usap Tayo Mamaya
Luck had everything to do with my $100 raffle win, but the Top 10 win I owe to all the lovely people who nominated me: C5, Zen, Fmontserrat, Ron, SELaplana, Ann, Culture Shiok! (formerly of www.cultureshiok.com) although his entry didn't officially count because it was submitted 4 hrs. and 41 min. too late... and the following dudes who were kind enough to write testimonials (love 'em all but the first 3 are my fave blurbs about ME):
Gibbs Cadiz won 9th (theater, travel, movies, music, books, bloviations):
"She writes long, snappy, quick-witted posts brimming with her brand of intelligent chatter and off-kilter humor. She can unearth the unexpected from something thoroughly mundane (Knorr's vegetable ad as an insidious plot to push MSG, anyone?). fruityoaty looks at daily life with tongue firmly in cheek, and the view she shares with us is wonderful."
Jigs, an aspiring chef:
"I think everyone would agree that there would be no way of me not including this blog. Fruity personifies influential. She has charmed the blogging world in ways only the categorically insane could fully comprehend. It's just unbelievable! When I first started reading her blog, my short attention span, the enticing call of the 300 movie I was supposed to be watching and the heavenly taste of my Mozzarella Sticks couldn't pull me away from reading her posts, one after the other. I actually think I'm scaring her because I am such a stalker! Hahaha!"
Kubi @ Baguio Below (a writer trying to stay afloat in a sea of apathy):
"I like the randomness of it all. In Finding Forrester when William Forrester edits Jamal Wallace's journals, he writes "Where are you taking me?" That's exactly how one feels with Massa P's posts, and what a grand way to get lost."
Jasmin Toral aka "Archeia" @ deviantART (loves to draw and write):
"I like the hilarity.
Evilgenius @ evilgeniuses.ca (obsessed with food and photography):
"Sometimes she writes strange stuff (hmmm... ok maybe most of the time
Joyfulchicken @ chickenmafia.com (chickens of the world, unite!):
"This one is influential because it was most likely created under the influence of some kind of drugs. She earns bonus points for having a morbidly obese cat that looks like Garfield."
Kevin @ Menthol Guy tied 5th (a smart-ass deep thinker who writes well):
"Okay, I've got to admit that I drooled over her Nutella post. From the technicalities of her organized blog up to her writing, maybe this blog got what it takes to own the words "emerging" and "influential"."
Lei (formerly of januarysunsets.blogspot.com):
"Massa P! I'm such a fan of this blog. She had me at spaghetti."
Jhed (formerly of jhed.asteeg.net) tied 8th (misadventures & transparent thoughts):
"The queen of food porn! Haha! Reading her blog is like talking to her face-to-face. No shits or whatsoever, which I really like. It's refreshing with a hint of retardness! Haha!"
Shari (formerly of misteryosa.com) - Best Personal Blog winner, 2007 Philippine Blog Awards:
"Simply one of my most favorite blogs since... forever. Massa P is the bomb, I tell you all! The funniest thing about reading her blog is that I really have no idea what she's talking about. 'Nuff said, haha.
Jim Caro @ Blogbastic! (Philippine news, media and current events):
"Massa P was nominated and I believe she deserves it more with the following she's getting over at fruityoaty considering that she just started a few days after I went blogbastic!"
Abet:
"... engaging and warmly personal. You can really feel the author's self ooze in those articles."
Jehzeel Laurente @ Jehzlau Concepts (personal blog of a web developer):
"It's not only fruity, it's also oaty! To tell you, this blog is very delicious and nutritious. Hehehe.
"
Tina @ Angel Snippets (tagged with a Thoughtful Blogger Award):
"She has a nice blog... she is fruity and oaty. OK, I'm korni na. Anyway... I'm sure she will get a high chance of being in the top 5 now. She should... she shoullllddd!"
Lastly, a shout-out to my own Top 10 picks! Hi y'all!
OMG... DONE. Thanks for the memories. I'll be back with ______ and stuff.
Adieu for now,
Massa P aka "fruity"
want some fruity karma? please bookmark this, 
about this, and subscribe to the full RSS feed OR e-mail feed.
Cherry Cherry Boom Boom Pow, 3rd Blogiversary, Vote for Ria
Girl, Interrupted: My Vote for PBA Bloggers' Choice Award
Smashing Pumpkins Today: Cookies, Cheesecake Pie, Donut, Ice Cream, Muffin,
Reindeer Games with Christmas LOLcat
Congratulations! I wish I can also get an award in blogging. By the way, I just started blogging recently. I am so inspired by your post… hoping one day I can be on a list of top bloggers. Wish me luck!
Wow, that's great! It's so fun to win awards and get recognition, not that I get it very often.
Congratulations also! And at any rate, I love the picture of the four-leaf clover. I always try to find those… I've never known of anyone who's actually found one though!
I still don't get it. What is this site about? Well, it is cute anyway.
Congrats on 7th and welcome back to the blogging world!
Nice job, you deserved 7th, if not higher o_O for next time!
Congratulations. I always enjoy reading your entries.
Allow me to congratulate you for being in the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs. When will they organise something similar to this again? I'm hoping I can include my blog. It's not the link I have in here. It's still being conceptualised.
Go fruity, go fruity, won the contest, won the contest!
Post something, post something, post something!
Now, where did those little anime cheerleaders go? And where did FRUITY go?
Finally, an update… Congratulations.
Andami nang comments, wala na ako masabi about it, haha!
Wuy, may shamrock sa pic! Wala lang, IRELAND came to my mind because of the pic in this post.
WOW, congratulations. I wish I could be like you.
CONGRATULATIONS ON PLACING 7TH!!!
Sorry, I'm just happy for you!
Wow, you found a four-leaf clover? That is so cool, but I think it's even better that your dad came home from the hospital. Yup, I have to agree and say those things are really lucky. I've never found one myself, but who knows, it might happen.
Congratulations on your Top 10 finish. Shoot for a first place win next year!
I love finding four-leaf clovers. Or I used to; I haven't tried for years and years. I guess it's got something to do with being so much further from the ground now that I'm all grown up.
Hey, one thing though, if it's a page about lucky, and has the clover, shouldn't you have Photoshopped kitty from orange to green??? Hee hee…
Congratulations! You really deserve it!
Cheers!
You got the seventh place and the hundred dollars!?! *yells like hell* Swerte! Congratulations ah - too bad you're not present - but I felt your spirit anyway. LOL.
Daan!
Hey, congratulations! If anyone deserves it, you do!
@Fendi: He? Mr. Fruity? Fendi, you crack me up.
@Charles: I combined smilies from 2 sets: DeepMojo Mini Emoticon Smilies Set for WordPress + Animated Chinese Emoticons for Comments. I renamed 22 from the above sets to match the file names of the 22 WordPress default smilies. If you just want the 22 I have on my comment form, just right-click on each emoticon and save the image.
@Jhed: Thanks!
Congrats to you, too on your well-deserved 8th place win! Muawwah! Kisses.
@Zerovoltage: Yeah, I actually WANTED TO WIN 8th PLACE as it is the INFINITY NUMBER. My "thank you" speech would've been a lot more interesting if I had won 8th, HAHA!
I'm aware of the Chinese thing. In Chinese culture, 7 is A NUMBER TO AVOID. The Chinese consider 7 to be spiritual or ghostly. BOO!
@Evilgenius: 50+25+25=100. So, I get zilch?
The cats' PR REP gets 10%! Yep, I pressed my lucky clover inside a book.
This is it, this is it! Fruity loves seeing us sad missing him not making a post! He loves to torture everyone!
Where's the update, Mr. Fruity?
Kiss
Fendi
More power!
Wow, I've never found a four-leaf clover! I don't believe much in that…
I must say the cat is adorable! It looks exactly like mine! (: Anyway, congrats for making the Top 10! And winning 100 dollars!!!
I congratulate you on being in the Top 10. Same goes for the raffle and the 4-leaf clover. You may only blog sporadically, but at the same time they're very interesting entries that are more than worth the read. Trust me, you deserve to be in that Top 10. Your wit and humor really shine in your entries, even if you only blog 2 — 4 times per month!
Hope I can get my certificate too!
Hey hey! Congratz!
Dapat libre! HAHA, just kidding! :p Anyway, you were really lucky!
Oh, and I tried to look for 4-leaf clovers too, but no luck… Maybe I'll buy a patch of grass and wait until something grows… lol.
BTW, I'm just wondering… you're in T.O. right?
I know it's way late to greet you, but anyway…
Congratulations to you! The number 7 surely gave you some rockin' blessings. LOL. Again, my hats off to you!
I wonder, what did you do with your $100?
I guess it's pointless to say congratulations at this point because it's already quite late. And I think it's even more pointless to write that first line. But anyway, I'm a pretty pointless person so I can get away with it. (God, don't you just hate the annoying alliteration? Hideous!)
Much deserved win! I just hope you could blog regularly. You're keeping all of us in suspense!
Glad your dad's OK now.
Fruity, I'm new to your blog. Congratulations and good luck which I think you already have! Looking forward to more of your posts.
Wow wow wow! Congrats, Mare! Sensya kung delayed ang dalaw ko dito sa blog mo. Remember nasa "Tuesday Group" kita.
Congratulations once again! Hehe. Oh well, you deserve the award! But about the $100, share your blessings! LOL.
Know what? I love 7! And really? All your posts posted at 7:11? Cool! Haha. Haven't noticed that.
Link link link. Full of links. Hehe. Outta here.
Congrats.
Re: Thank you for the advice. My parents had a friendly separation, at least that's what I'm getting from them. And I wouldn't want them to be together yet unhappy. So if they think they should separate then I respect their decision.
Fruity or Massa P? Which should I call you now?
Anyway, I wanted to thank you also for still visiting my blog AND commenting in my posts! And not just the recent one. It's really flattering.
In response to your comment on my post, Erratic Excursions, I think among all my nominees, you deserve the title the most. Be there a debate on the definition of the rules in the contest, I think either way, you are still the MOST qualified.
And I am happy, delighted, that you decided to continue. It's not easy to balance everything out. Add to that the pressure blogging brings. I'm still an avid reader of your blog (I practically visit every day even though I know you have no new post! Hehe!) And if you decide to stop blogging, I'll just probably reread everything from the beginning!
Stay well and enjoy.
Re: Your last comment on my blog. It was supposed to be taken in the light of the Carl Ocab scandal. Haha.
Congratulations! You deserve it. And Max too! Now pamper him…
P.S. Maraming salamat sa pagbati.
You won because you are unapologetically, uniquely… Fruity Oaty YOU.
And if you have any haters out there, screw them. WE LOVE YOU.
Sorry, I haven't been around to visit lately. "The Twins" and work are taking up my time. (Where are my "300 movie" updates?!)
Wow, 7th?!
How popular are you in the Philippines?! And 100 bucks? Hey, your blog is worth at least $100.01, HAHAHA! 
Congrats! 7th out of 517 is very impressive.
So influential in what ways?
Congratulations on being a part of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Pinoy Blogs of 2007! You deserve it. More power and God bless!
A new post — and fruity as usual. Yey!
Happy Rakenrol Tongratulations to you, friend!~
Lady Luck has been by your side, neh? From 7th place, to 100 bucks, to your Dad's arrival, and everything. More of the best things in life for you.
I really haven't blogging too, lately. From two posts a week, to one every five days, to one every ten days. I hope it never turns into once a month. LOLz.
I'm new to your blog and now it's not surprising that you are indeed, influential to your readers. Keep on blogging! ~ Weee!~
How serendipitous to drop in after a long while and find that it's time to bid you CONGRATULATIONS. No idea what that award is all about but CONGRATULATIONS anyway.
I'm sure you deserve it. Incidentally, I searched for "fruity oaty" to get here, and I got the commercial. Stupid me, for some reason I always thought "fruity oaty" was your brainchild. I must be your most-out-of-the-loop semi-reader.
Congrats to the fame!
Wow! Congratulations fruity! I just couldn't believe how people spend too much time on this which takes a lot of patience!
I don't even know how the tagging works… so as these contests.
But yeah, you deserved the win!
Kiss
Fendi
There's no doubt this blog would emerge influential.
Congratulations buddy! 
FINALLY! A new post! You don't know how frustrating it is to keep seeing the same post over and over and the comments pile up! Hehe! First, I hope the Dessert Queen keeps telling you to post!
The last part filled with shout-outs was terrifying! Haha! So many Links! Not enough Love!
Oh by the way, the four-leaf clover is so cool! Never actually seen one though.
And your posts all posted on 7:11 is reeeeally weird. That's more than coincidental. That's scary!
Congratulations, Massa P!
Too bad I needed to go into a blogging hiatus immediately after you put me in your Top 10. I could have at least sneaked in even one lousy article about the contest… Tsk! Tsk!
Honey, you have redefined "link love"! Hehehe.
Wow! A four-leaf clover. I wonder if supergluing a fourth leaf to a three leaf clover works as well…
Anyhow… Congratulations! Well deserved! I am thoroughly entertained by your Pulp Fiction-esque entries every time I visit your blog.
Endorsing the 24-hour convenience store much with the 7:11 posting times? Hehehe…
Well, one thing is for sure… this is not just LUCK… You are a fun influential read. Really. Reading this entry made me sing (your intro that is.) Hehe.
I love the number 7… and wow… you have the same time when you post your entriesss??? Amazing!! Pardon… the sssss's, haha.
Finally, a new post. Your sister was right… you should make one. In fact, you should make more. Ahehe.
Congratulations on the wins!
Hibernation. Haha, I use that term for my absences too! =P That's great that you tied for 7th in that blog contest!!! AWESOME. And 7 is a lucky number, but my whole thing of yelling out "7? for every answer in math hasn't helped me one bit. =P 7 is never the correct answer! T_T But one day! I'm sure of it!
OMG, it is nice to see you back writing! And congrats again for the award and also winning the USD $100! That is so awesome. Anyway, where did you get these smilies?
Whoa! So many links!
You deserve it.
And I really think your cat helped. Cats are lucky. 
Plus, for the record, I think an influential blog is more about the blog's content in its entries rather than how often a person blogs. Woohoo, congrats!
Apparently I'm the only one on the web who finds your entries very hard to read. o.O Sorry about that.
Welcome back, though.
Congratulations, Lady Luck! You deserved that double win!
So what's next on the menu? (I'm so praying your next entry is food porn. Haha.)
My anti-spam word was "ipod". Does that mean I'm a winna?
Congrats on #7 of The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007. Don't rest on your laurels though, keep being influential. :>)
As for me, I am very perverse and prefer the number "13? as my lucky number. I never understood why it has been considered so unlucky in the first place. C'mon give some love to 13.
Congrats on the award and raffle winnings!
Now that you're rich and famous… what will you do next?
Congratulations kabayan! I liked the way you put in perspective the success of the project. Prim and proper — [clap!] [clap!] [clap!]
OMG! Congratulations! You deserve the recognition… now give us the $100! LOL! You can't have it all you know… Haha! Kidding.
Again, I salute you for you being the best (and the brightest) retard of all! LOL!
Congrats for winning — tie kayo ng nephew Karlo. I made a post about this at my blog.
Thanks for the link love.
And congrats also for being in the 7th place! You deserve it ma'am.
Whooo, welcome back! And congrats on the award! Wow, you've made it big time! You (sorta) worked hard and it paid off in the end, and now you have a shiny framed certificate to show for it!
Massa P, it isn't a four-leaf clover if you glue on the fourth leaf.
CONGRATULATIONS! I salute you and your fruity oaty self! Maybe that clover really is lucky after all. You'll have me believing in superstition just yet. Your testimonials are brilliant — you should have them as random quotes on your sidebar, hehehe.
Congratulations fruityoaty for winning the prize. I'm shipping your plaque through the courier. Will email you the tracking number once done. On another note, we just started the Filipina Writing Project and I hope you can join.
That is one huge link post, haha. Thanks for the link love!
Yeheeey! Congrats! You are indeed the lucky one (sounds like the song in the 80s?). So, I guess that's a pizza treat for the cat? LOL! Enjoy! Thanks for the link love, too!
( Love the new smileys. 
)
Hey, looks like luck came before the four-leaf clover! You winning in the raffle… congrats congrats!
The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007 isn't luck though, naks!
Yeah, most people consider 7 as a lucky number… but I personally like 8 better. It's a Chinese thing, plus in elementary and high school I dreaded the number "7?. My mom calls it palakol (ax), meaning I barely passed the subject if I got it.
Whoohooo, congrats on being influential!
You should spend 50% of your raffle $ on Max for being the "blog star", 25% on Lucky for being a "guest star", and 25% on your sister for cooking all that food! 
BTW, did you dry the four-leaf clover?
You be back!! And with lots of linkos!! Hahaha, wowowowowowow.
Congrats on both, fruity. You LIKE SOOOOO deserve it.
Congratulations!
P.S.: Your anti-spam whatever gave out what to me was very funny: "ohmibod". Because I do not have an "ohmibod." I wish I have, though. =P
Oh dang. *wipes tears* You're all famous and influential now. *blows nose* And most importantly, you're b-a-a-a-c-k!!!
For a moment there, I thought you were going to give me $10 of your $100 because of the $90 thingie, bwahaha.
Congratulations once again! A very well-deserved win! But the $100? Well, let's just say I would have been MORE deserving. LOL. Kidding!
P.S.: You are a prolific blogger. Maybe not in frequency, but certainly with hilarity.
Gotta, like, sleep now. It's 7:41 AM and I'm still awake! LOL!