The following is my interview by Ajay for her column Blog-o-rama at the Manila Bulletin. It was published on 12 March 2007 and can also be read here.

BLOG-O-RAMA

A DIPLOMAT LEARNS TO BLOG

By Annalyn S. Jusay (now blogging at www.annalyn.net)

The title of her blog “Kurokuroatbp.” literally means “Opinions Etc.” Being a lawyer by profession, she definitely has a lot of opinions, not to mention engaging anecdotes about her life as a wife, daughter, career woman, and member of the country’s distinguished foreign service in the land of the Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Adopting the online monicker Toe, our featured blogger this week is an ardent, passionate writer who has found the perfect pastime in blogging – a gift she shares with her growing number of readers. Get to know more about her in the following interview:

Q. Please tell us something about yourself.

A. I’ve been living and working in Cambodia since 2002. Two weeks after I got married, I was shipped off to a country, which on one hand is the majestic and mystic land of Angkor, and on the other, the terrible realm of the Killing Fields. Luckily, my husband was shipped off together with me and so far, we have spent our entire married life together in this exotic country. I blog about my life here in Cambodia, my beloved Philippines, for whom I work for, and my crazy family. I blog semi-anonymously under the name Toe, which is NOT, as rumored, short for MosquiTOE Net.

Q. A little background about how and when you started to blog.

A. One day, I accidentally stumbled upon the blog of Jim Paredes. Ting! I had an epiphany. I was enamored with his words, his reflections, his travelogues, his memories, but most especially, if you see his blog, there’s a picture of him wearing a turban with his eyebrows going up-down-up-down-up-down. I wanted one too (not the turban, the blog). So not knowing what I was getting into, I clicked the “Get your own blog” button” and in three easy steps, TAJAN! I had my own blog. I thought to myself, I must be crazy to get myself a blog. After decades of hiding my secret diaries from my Mom and siblings under lock and key, here I am divulging to the world all my dark secrets.

Q. What do you like about blogging as an activity? What do you think is the best thing about it?

A. I started blogging because I wanted to write and I read somewhere that blogging is a good way to “practice writing.” I imagine that “practice writing” is the same as when a conscientious piano student plays scales, arpeggios, and other finger exercises in order to prepare for the more serious business of performing a Beethoven Sonata or a Chopin Nocturne. I believe that if I do “practice writing” enough, one day, all the stars and moons and planets in heaven would align themselves and then I can truly call myself a writer and I would be able to write a poem, a short story, or even a novel. In the meantime, I’ll just nudge the stars, moons, and planets slowly and I will continue to write.

Anyway, blogging gives me that. I can write and I get the satisfaction of seeing what I write in a nice spiffy professional-looking webpage. I get instant gratification because readers can immediately comment and inter-act on what I write. When I blog, I am the writer as well as my own editor and my own publisher (thus all the typos and grammatical errors). I can blog about anything I want. It doesn’t have to be a story, a poem, an article… just the act of writing or blogging is enough for me now while the stars and planets are still in disarray. Indeed, blogging is a good avenue for “practice writing.”

Q. What advice can you give others on getting started in blogging and maintaining one’s blog?

A. Your life is important and its details are worthy to be recorded. If my Lolo had a blog, I would read it and cherish it. Write so that the next generation would know that you were here and you were alive at this moment in time. If you are afraid to blog, and words elude you, just remember that each person in the world is unique and creative. Just be honest in putting down your thoughts. You’d be surprised at what may come out. Use Wordpress. It’s the best.

Q. The blogging rules and principles you live by…

A. From the start, I made rules for myself:

Don’t be too personal lest you embarrass yourself too much. There are things that should be kept between husband and wife, among family members, or between friends. Don’t offend other people and be conscious of others’ feelings (unlike in my notebook diary where I can be as bitchy as I want). Don’t write about controversial issues no matter how strongly you feel about them. Except for socials, don’t write about your work especially about individual cases you handle. When blog-hopping and commenting in other people’s blogs, don’t comment if: you disagree with the blogger (getting into my war gear is not the way I want to live my blogging life), you haven’t read the particular entry, you’re only commenting to solicit that blogger’s comment in your own blog. As much as possible, use correct language, grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuations. Having said that, if you think that your English or Filipino or your spelling or your grammar is not good enough to blog, have no fear. Does Shakespeare know how to spell? The important thing is to try and you’d get better with practice. So do I follow these rules I’ve imposed on myself? Of course… not! At least, not all the time.

Q. Your online/blogging habits.

A. In this age of computers and Internet, I draft all or almost all my blog entries by hand in notebook diaries. If I don’t, I’d never finish a single entry because I tend to multi-task like crazy when I’m on the computer… I check my mail, I play Text Twist, I check my sitemeter (which is evil because it dictates my mood for the day), I download podcasts, I upload photos… the list never ends. When I finish handwriting my entry and start working on the computer, I’d retype the entry on Wordpress, do research, upload photos, and edit the blog entry, publish, and ping. I try to limit my Internet time because I try to prioritize personal relationships. Of course if my husband reads this, he would disagree because I tend to talk to him in snorts and grunts once I settle down and get my hands on the computer and start blogging.

Q. Your thoughts on blogging while at work… should it be allowed?

A. I believe that work distracts bloggers from blogging and should be discouraged… haha… joke! I can’t possibly use personal time in the office or I might be charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. It’s a definite no for me.

Q. Blogging for therapy or blogging for monetary rewards: which one is for you?

A. If I could get paid for blogging, I would gladly do it. Who in his right mind would reject good money? But if I never earn a single centavo from blogging, I would still continue and never stop because this expression of creativity enriches me in spirit more than any fat paycheck ever could.

Q. Do you think blogging should be taught as a subject or course in school?

A. One of the most difficult aspects of blogging for me was the technical aspect. I spent hours agonizing over how to upload photos, blogroll, choose a template, despam, widgetize, categorize, the list is endless. Sometimes, I wish that I learned a little bit of HTML and CSS in school. Heck, I didn’t even know what a URL is. Come to think of it, until now, I still don’t know the meaning of URL. Having said that, I don’t think blogging should be a required subject in school. It may discourage talented and creative people who somehow don’t do well in a scholastic atmosphere. If they think that blogging is just another school subject to endure, they may shun it and the blogosphere would be deprived of bright new talents. Perhaps, blogging as a subject could be offered as an elective, or even as an extra-curricular activity, so that it could be seen as a means of expression and outlet for creativity instead of a scholarly subject forced upon students. The course could give students a background on HTML, CS, and the other technical stuff so that it would be easier for technically-challenged bloggers like me to deal with the technicalities of blogging.

Children are taught to play the piano as early as three years old. It’s just play for them. Maybe, it’s also possible to teach children how to blog at a very young age. I know that kids nowadays have a natural feel for the computer. They could be taught how to blog as soon as they learn how to write. I believe that it depends on the interest of the child.

Q. Your blogger’s wish list for 2007?

A. My greatest obsession about blogging was getting my own domain and I finally was brave enough to actually do it early this year. It wasn’t easy and I spent many sleepless nights obsessing about a hundred and one technical difficulties, but I’m more or less over it now.

I would want to work with images this year. I want learn to put our family tree in my blog, make my own Sudoku puzzle, make my own jigsaw puzzle, upload caricatures, etc..

I guess what I wish for my blog is what most bloggers wish for theirs, besides comments and links of course: prolificness, inspired entries, intelligent yet compassionate readers, and writing that gets better.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS