Back from Hiatus, Me, You and a Dog Named Mu

Fruity Strawberry Moo Milkshake, Buddha, dog, and the cat named Bad Cat

If a blog falls in the woods to go into a persistent vegetative state for 6 months and no one reads the blog, does it make a sound? Well, I reckon it does. It goes something like this, “Mooooo! Have a fruity moo shake. Now get off yo’ ass.” Maybe I should apologize to my remaining readers for a prolonged hiatus that included ignoring comments and e-mail, but what would be the point if I’m not as sorry as I should be? Maybe I should explain the reasons why I skedaddled off, but I’ll only briefly mention three that don’t involve alien abduction or getting hit by a bus. I haven’t felt “right as rain” for a long time, as if I’ve been starring in my own personal version of Groundhog Day. I came back to save this blog and address a question by a blogger. The question and answer are located at the end of this long post. Welcome me back?

First, permit me to introduce my new feline muse. Meet the frisky creature named Bad Cat or B-Cat for short. Yes, it’s rather mundane to name a cat… Cat, but I didn’t name him that. He’s not really Bad, unless you consider chasing wild bunnies, getting stuck at the top of a tree with no idea how to get down, pouncing on anything that moves, and digging small holes in the flower garden as wicked. Unlike Max, he’d rather be outside. He’s very friendly, playful, and too stupid curious for his own good.

Bad Cat: Pfffttt yuck, weeds. Pass me the fruity strawberries.

For y’all missing Max, photos of Max getting in touch with his fruity Buddha nature. And strawberries! Hover your mouse cursor over any image to read its description. To cycle through all thumbnails, click on the first thumbnail to view full-size image. Enjoy:

And the SECOND REASON why I scrammed? I didn’t like what my blog had become. Long before I’d read about search engine optimization (SEO), Google PageRank (PR), blog monetization and popularity contests, I used to enjoy… blogging. Strip away all the fruitless acts of shameless self-promotion and what do you have? A smack load of sycophantic link whoring. So, I’m going right back to the beginning. Not the bang, not the word, the true beginning. And now, we move on to the sycophantic link whoring portion of this post! (Oh come on… that warrants at least ONE chuckle?)

The necessary fruity shout-outs to folks who inadvertently inspired me to blog again:

My sister, Dessert Queen: Here, I wrote something. Click the _____, please.
My pal Evilgenius joked, “If I got a penny for every time you said you’d blog…”
Billycoy, thinking that I flew out to the Philippines to attend the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards night, plurked “OMG, I’m gonna print her blog and make her sign it.”: All I can say to that is… thanks, but you’d need A LOT of toilet paper.
Shari: Thanks for “personally vouching” for my nearly dead blog. So… touched.
Fritz, a 2008 PBA finalist (Personal category) and #9 in Pinoy Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2008: Yo, just returning your shout-out to me. CONGRATS!
Jehzeel: KUDOS on helping Batang Yagit to bag PBA Bloggers’ Choice Award!
Mari: Writing “where the heck are you” in your blogroll certainly got my attention.

THE THIRD REASON why I went on hiatus? Like Angelina Jolie, I’ve been studying to speak the French language. Unlike Angelina Jolie, I don’t own a house in France.

The most famous koan… In an attempt to understand the concept of Buddha nature, a monk asks the famous Zen master Joshu, “Does a dog have Buddha nature?” Joshu shouts, “Mu!” In Japanese, Mu has two meanings: 1) “is not”… and 2) the Absolute Mu which transcends “is” and “is not”. Joshu’s answer, therefore, isn’t: “No, Fido doesn’t have Buddha nature” OR “No, don’t ask a silly question” OR “Of course, Fido has Buddha nature!” A koan is not a riddle, but an exercise of the mind. It highlights the futility of the question itself and the meaningless nature of the answer.

I’m not a fan of Idina Menzel (a bit screechy), but I’ve always gotten a kick from her performance of the song “Over the Moon” from Rent (Broadway musical and movie) because it’s just so… over-the-top campy. Watch this YouTube video (5:42 min.):

EH, LET’S WRAP IT UP! OK, we arrive at SHOUT-OUT #8 and the answer to THE QUESTION. Ann asked, “By the way, are you really going to stop blogging? “

My response to that question is… “Mu!” Oh, you saw it coming from miles away? Thanks for continuing to “MOO!” with me. Oh, the tiny dog in the photos? My Level 1 French teacher gave it to me for being the TOP DOG in class (I got highest grade).

Cats, dog, cow… Stinks like a zoo in here. (I’m tweaking my blog. A bit messed up.)

I bid you… au revoir mes amis,
fruity

P.S. I forgot to mention that my inactive blog was nominated for Bloggers’ Choice Award and Best Personal Blog category (only in an insane world) in the recently concluded 2008 Philippine Blog Awards. I didn’t bother writing about it because I didn’t want to encourage people to vote for me. Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I am grateful to whomever is responsible for those nominations. Thanks for waking up my cat.