fruityoaty.com

Yes, I know my “Casper the Friendly Dead Blog Ghost” shtick has dragged on for far too long… It’s high time I put a kibosh on my Blogus Interruptus, but it was inevitable that I’d resurface. I mean, it’s my blogging pattern — I disappear –> a blog reader gets my attention by doing something nice for me –> I return to give a proper, albeit long-winded thank-you. Besides, I was reminded of the therapeutic maxim, “What you resist persists.” Yup…

Jake The Miserable wrote that the phobia of long words is, ironically, called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. I posit that the fear of overly long blog entries is Elephantinefruityoatyblogusityphobia. Boo is the voodoo that I do so well. Be very afraid. I’ll readily admit that I scare away plenty of first-time visitors who are dizzied by my big winding entries littered with spelling errors, run-on sentences, and heinous IMglish chatspeak. I have a dog-eared copy of Strunk & White, but it’s collecting dust on a bookshelf. (The Hippo says, “Pass the soap.” The Elephant hollers, “No soap, radio!”)

Alrighty, let’s get down to this business we call show… of thanks. First up, meet Jasmin Toral aka “Archeia” or “Ynlraey” or “Enexodia”. Multiple Alias Girl maintains a deviantArt gallery. Super creative girl. She drew the nifty picture above for me (Saber character from Fate/stay night). It took me months to clue in on the fact that J. T. is the daughter of Janette Toral, a mover and shaker in the Philippine online community.

I’m in WikiPilipinas (aims to be the largest online Philippine encyclopedia) because of Janette’s Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007. Uh, shiny.

Spam, hackers, death threats, love letters from gay men (?), 1 guy dreamt of my blog name, readers offering to feed me sweets (?), blog awards, fan mail, and now… shiny fan art. It’s certainly been an… ehrm, interesting one year of blogging. All I need now is offers of cash. Cash is always good.

“Brevity is the soul of wit.” Yes, but it’s fun mindf**king 7 or 69 readers into believing that a verbose blog about nada & narcissism is good reading.

Just teasing. Anyway, I still don’t know who nominated me for… Most Kickass Writer of the Year category in Paolo’s recently concluded Pinoy Evil Blog Awards. I made the Evil 6 shortlist poll, placing 2nd with just 7 votes. Odd, 7 really is my Lucky Number! (Note to self: Hi, Lotto Number.) Whoever submitted my name, please ‘fess up so I can give ya good and proper link love in my next entry. As for the 7 poll voters, I know who y’all are (’cause I clicked on “Detailed Results” link)… Thanks Exene and Jemme!

Maybe I should’ve shamelessly plugged myself to get more votes. I put up a link in my previous last post, but I removed it a few hours after I posted it. Sorry Paolo, I just had to give my readers a break from voting for me in popularity contests. Besides, mano-a-mano with Jessica Zafra? I may be a tad cocky, but I’m not delusional. Umm, I write software defect reports, test plans, technical specifications, business-speak, and very bad poetry. According to Wikipedia, Ms. Zafra “… is a fiction writer, columnist, editor, publisher and former television and radio show host. She is known for her sharp and witty writing style.” I’m only a bit familiar with Mike’s Puckering Time and Ms. J. Z.’s blog. If you’re a frequent visitor here, you would know that I regularly stalk the other three guys: Gibbs Cadiz (a newspaper desk editor/writer), Kubi (a self-described struggling writer trying to stay afloat in a sea of apathy), and Kevin (a Top 10 Emerging Influential Blog).

Muchas gracias to Paolo for mentioning me in his entry, “WHAT ARE THE BEST PINOY BLOGS?” He wrote, “You know how sometimes you have to stop and absorb because there’s too much non-gibberish in what they say?” Wait… non-gibberish? But, I was aiming for 100% pure gibberish!

Got an e-mail from Claudine Baron from Mad Crowd Media. The big spiel:

“We’re fans of your blog, as we’re sure hundreds of others are too… We aim to be the largest network of high-quality online independent publishers in the Philippines. By bringing together a host of publishers like you into a single network, we are in a unique position to impress local advertisers and demand better rates through a single point of contact. We are harnessing the power of other publications to help you sell yours.”

Hundreds? Publisher? Me? Ehrm, I’m NOT an A-list blogger. C+, maybe. I know next to nothing about Web 2.0, SEO, and making money online. Eh?

Well, I never dismiss an opportunity without research. Janette Toral talked about Mad Crowd Media in her column. Sounds legit. Currently, there are 5 people working for Mad Crowd Media: Benito Sj Bergara (Mr. Founder and Managing Director), ZR Zoleta, Lisa Rossiter, Claudine Baron, and (how am I not surprised?) Jessica Zafra (Director of Publishers). Man, she’s prolific…

Anyway, the primary writer of my blog, Max the Fat Cat (Mad Max Media, hahaha!) advised, “Dude, domain renewal, web hosting, bandwidth, kitty litter and my cat food cost $$$. Maybe you should join the dark side.”:shock:

Plus, I’m a sucker for robot logos. (Guessing the font is Century Gothic?)

I haven’t signed the 8-page contract and negotiated rates, but if you see some ads on my site, you know the reason. Click on ‘em, pretty please. Ads or not, I will continue to stream 100% pure gibberish! Guaranteed.

Adieu,

Mad Max Media
Clueless? 1985 Mel Gibson flick, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.