But I still thought I wasn’t going to be able to watch because of…*ahem* budget constraints. BUT awesome people have put up several ways for us to get a chance to watch Cats Now and Forever for free! There’s one by Citibank, one by McDonald’s and CatsInManila itself, just to name a few. Yeah, I think I’m gonna go and join one of these. Haha! There might be other contests going on, so check out the official Facebook page or the official Tumblr page.

Cats Now and Forever opens July 24, 2010 and will run until August 15, 2010 at CCP Main Theater. For the complete list, check out Cats in Manila on Tumblr

Ticket Prices

* inclusive of 3% service charge

For tickets, call Ticketworld at (+632) 891.9999 or visit their website www.ticketworld.com.ph

I’ve been hearing about Elianto from several people around me for a while now, but I’ve never really tried it. But since Elianto decides to be extra generous this May, I’m hoping I get to finally try it.

Elianto and Kikay Corner are holding a blogging contest from now until June 15th, and up for grabs is P1,500 worth of Elianto Eyeshadow Palette x 7, which is composed of a pressed powder, 6 eyeshadows and eyeshadow brush.

From the looks of it, the palette will fit my skin tone nicely, according to make-up advice I got from someone I consulted with. And I seriously need a new eyebrow brush. And with me having photo shoots for fun, I think this new kit should come in handy.

I wanna try Elianto. And I should win this contest, yes?

Stretch the Fun by taking home a new Nintendo Wii or PSP! Simply post your funniest face (e.g duling, wacky, etc), get your friends to vote or like it and have a chance to win a Nintendo Wii, PSP and KFC Gift Certificates!

Mechanics
To post a photo, go to the wall of the Chewy Cheese Fan Page and upload photo.

1. Entries have to be original.
2. Entries may not be composed or edited through Photoshop.
3. Post as many entries as you can!
4. Criteria for Judging
   1. Number of Votes (1 like = 1 vote) – 50%
   2. Creativity – 30%
   3. Humor – 20%
5. Promo period is from March 31 to April 30, 2010
6. Prizes:
   1st place: Wii
   2nd place: PSP
   3rd place: 5,000 worth of KFC GCs
   4th place: 3,000 worth of KFC GCs
   5th place: 2,000 worth of KFC GCs
7. Prizes are transferable but not convertible to cash
8. Winners will be announced on May 5, 2010 through the site.

The winners were drawn using Random.org as shown in the thumbnails.

Aja – screenshot
Ganns – screenshot

I know I said I was only going to give away 2 journals, but keeping with the spirit of generosity suggested by the planner’s title, I decided to give away my own copy, as well! And the winner for the extra draw is:
Zoe – screenshot

Congratulations, winners! I hope the Journal will help you this year. I will get in touch with you guys and we’ll figure out how I’ll give the journals to you guys.

Many thanks to Mukhang Pera for posting about this contest in their blog, and many many thanks to everyone who submitted entries!

Bloggers
Why I Want “This Journal Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010″ by Emong
Be Better Not Bitter by Aliping Binabahay
This Journal Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010 raffle by Pink_23
This Journal Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010 by Min
This Journal Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010 by kasai
This Journal Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010 by Gentrified
Day 13: Plans and Goals by Cherry
Being a Big Sister by Ellen
I Need a Planner…badly! by Laya

Commenters
JA
Mistervader
Vin
yanangski
Tere Sevilla
Kawen
Christian homeschooler
Winston
Carlo
Charmaine
Janette Toral
Sherwin
Mi
LA
Joy
Koji
Apple
Gail
Jen
Chit
Abegail
Rem
Ellen Joy Castel
Suzanne delos Santos
Vivian
Kae
Donna
Kasai
Floraben
Min
Leslie
Colwin
Suzanne
Glenda C. Santos
Bagel
melandriaromero
Lhan

Here it is, folks! FreeSpeech Publications, the people who gave you the This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life 2009 (long title, I know, but that’s what it’s called), has released the 2010 version! Some of you may have already seen it in Powerbooks and Fully Booked (I know I have) and maybe even flipped through it. Maybe you’ve thought, “Wow, this’ll be a nice gift!” or “I should buy me one of these.”

Well, guess what: I’m going to have a giveaway! Yup, I liked my 2009 planer so much that I think you should get the 2010 one. I’m giving out not one, but two copies of This Journal Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010.

This Journal Will Actually Change Someone’s Life 2010 is filled with witty facts, unusual holidays and interesting blurbs, awesome pates with mood charts, quarterly check-ups and tips for self-empowerment.

It’s very much like last year’s planner, which, as I’ve said, was very helpful to me. You can read my review or check out the official website.

So do you want one?

You can either comment or blog!

Comment
1.) Post a comment below about why you need a planner this year

Only one comment per person, please. Multiple comments by the same person will only count as one.
Each commenter will get one  (1) raffle ticket.

Blog
1.) Write about why you need a planner this year
2.) Link back to this blog post.
3.) Post a comment below with the URL  of your raffle entry.

Blog posts will get two (2) raffle tickets.

I’ll hold the raffle on January 15, 2010 (with witnesses haha) and post the result immediately after. Submission of entries ends at 12 noon, Manila time.

———————————————-

This Journal Will Actually Change Your Life 2010 is available in Powerbooks and Fully Booked stores.  You can also order your copy in the official website for 720 Php.

WordCamp is the premier event for WordPress users and developers. . . . One of the objectives of WordCamp Philippines is to encourage more developers to use and deploy WordPress, not only as a blogging engine but also as a full-featured content management system for Web sites.

During the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit, a group of…err… bloggers decided that maybe bringing WordCamp to the Philppines may be for the good of mankind. So yey! WordCamp is coming to the Philippines.

To be honest, I wasn’t overly excited at first. My main reason was it falls on the same day as the birthday of one of my best friends, so I was wanting to keep my schedule free for her. Secondly, as much as I recognize that WP is a good blogging platform, I don’t really use it personally. But recently, I’ve had to use WordPress in work. And… I really can’t resist blogging seminars. Ahehe.

So, we’ll see. Maybe I can do both WordCamp and girls’ night out. More details…

Summarizing:
What: WordCamp Philippines 2008
When: Sept 6 2008
Where: College of St. Benilde Taft Ave., Manila
Registration fee: FREE

For even more info, head on over to the WordCamp Philippines website.

WordCamp Philippines 2008 sponsors:

• i.PH: the Domain for Individuals
• Free Online Flash Games
• Wazzup Manila Philippines
• Real Estate CRM
• Real Estate Website Designers
• Orange County Real Estate
• Auto Insurance Quotes
• Lane Systems Inc.
• RedMedia
• Orange County Business Lawyer
• Cebu Pacific Air
• Buddy Gancenia Reality TV
• SmartBro Wireless Broadband
• SPOT.ph
• Make Money with Performancing Ads

So, anyway. iBlog4. Good talks. Friendly bloggers. Organized…organizers. Fun event.

When I got to the venue, I scanned the room to look for familiar faces only to find…none. Well, actually, Tess was already there, but I guess I missed her the first time I looked. I got a seat and, while waiting for my friends to arrive, I got my camera out to take photos of the venue.

Except my camera’s battery was, as it turns out, empty. Argh # 1.

Read full post…

A little past nine the event began, and still my friends who were supposed to come with me weren’t there. Ah, well. The guys beside me (Vincent, Arthur and Josh of ChickenMafia.com) and I talked a couple of times, a couple of sentences a time, anyway, so… Yeah.

In between speakers (the first ones were Charo Nuguid and Brain Gorrell), bloggers were allowed to pitch for their blogs, and one pitch that stood out is a girl (can’t remember her name!) who advertised her brother’s site, PinoyIdol2008.com and SurvivorPhilippines.com. Haha! The guy is a genius for getting those domain names first before GMA Network did.

By 10 AM, we had a 30-minute break. While I was writing notes for this blog post, this cameraman began taking a video of me. It was hard to pretend not to see the camera when the spotlight was glaring straight into my eyes. Haha!

I went outside to look for people, and saw Tess and AJ, whom I’ve only talked with on Twitter but never met personally.

The break ends, and we go back in to listen to Pinoyblogero Karlo, who slipped and disclosed his online earnings when his mother was in the audience(Haha! Bye-bye allowance from the parents?) and Juned, who kept fishing camera after camera out of his pockets (how on earth he fit all those in his pockets, I cannot imagine). Juned made me want to buy a fisheye camera. (As If I can afford it.)

Just as Jonas Diego started on web comics, my laptop’s battery died. Argh # 2. And then my power cable’s adaptor wasn’t in my bag. Argh#3!!! And I wanted to read his comics, too! I shall do that after I finish this post.

Beth arrived during lunch break. Strange that she wasn’t included in the participants’ list, when she was in the list online. Hmmmm. She didn’t get an ID. Too bad.

After Marcelle pitched for his blog he did a magic trick (by popular demand). I think this is now a staple in blogger events. Haha!

The afternoon went by pretty quickly: Aileen and Coy‘s amusing informative video/talk on podcasting and vlogging, the three speakers on Blogging and Elections (Luz Rimban, Manuel Quezon III, and Janette Toral), and Atty. Disini‘s open forum on legal concerns in blogging. All three talks were interesting and important ones, but I just have to say that Atty Disini’s portion got my attention the most. Hehe. Copyright infringement and such.

We had another break (I just stayed in my seat and closed my eyes) before Noemi Dado‘s talk on blogging for a cause.

The last speaker of the day was Ria Jose from Davao, on the Mindanao Blogging Experience. It was a really fun talk, and it SO made me want to go ahead and try making a blog on Quezon City (or any niche blog, really) like what the Mindanao Bloggers did. Hmmm… I’ll think about it and weigh the possibilities. It was a really fun talk, methinks, and the Mindanao people were a fun bunch, even from where they sat.

And, my goodness, the whole of Davao has free WiFi?! ARGH! Why can’t it be like that in Quezon City?!

Aaaaanyway. The iBlog4 came to a close with me winning an iBlog4 shirt (along with 50 other people), and all the (remaining) participants climbing on the stage for a group photo. After that photo session, I got to have a picture taken with Arthur in the Chicken costume. Dude, you rock!

I was beside Aileen (in a rocking Pinoy Blogger shirt) and BA during the stage photo… Seeing him now (and comparing how he looks like now to how he did during the last time I saw him, which was in the first Blogger Food Fest in MOA) made me realize how long I was absent from offline blogger events. Yikes. I should go to more events and meet my blogger friends!

…I say that, and yet I didn’t go to the after-event party at Katipunan. Haaaay. It’s so hard to be in demand and I have to be in several places at once. Hehe.

Wrapping up, again, I say: iBlog4. Good talks. Friendly bloggers. Organized organizers. Fun event!

Got this from BlogActionDay. Not exactly 100% accurate, but amusing, nonetheless.

Read full post…

Greed: -1

Passion

Profit

You’re not in this for the money, for you blogging is all about the passion! Sure you might make a little pocket change now and again, but you know that it’s the content, the audience and the people that are what makes blogging great!

You’ve been blogging since Nick Denton was in diapers. When it comes to blogging experience you are the authority on blogging. Heck you probably even have a blog where you give advice about blogging!

Sociability: 7

You love web 2.0 stuff like Digg and Delicious and you’re involved in more blogging groups, networks and activities than anyone else you know. With all your connections, you make Neil Patel look positively anti-social!

Lately: I’ve been…

Reading manga.

Reading books: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Persuasion by Jane Austen, and The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Working my butt off. I’ve been insanely busy the past weeks, but I’ve actually been having fun. leGASP! Yes. I’m not being sarcastic. I’m actually enjoying my job again. Of course, my schedule still sucks, and my wallet’s still in agony, and bills have been screaming at me, but…yeah. I’m smiling again. Tiredly, but smiling nonetheless.

Planning for NaNoWriMo only to scrap all plans, and then replanning, and then scrapping them again, only to end up deciding to say “oh, whatever” and NOT to have any plans at all for it. At first I wanted to have an outline of some sort, or at least a main plot, before diving into this, but since I’ve ALWAYS planned my stories, I thought I’d try something new. And, hey, top-of-the-head writing is the whole point of NaNoWriMo, anyway. Heeheehee.

Writing Nathaniel and the Orphan. If you’re my reader, do not fear. I am writing it. Seriously. I’m just… Having a really really hard time because I’m nearing the end of the book.

Rereading the Blue Star stories. Just for the heck of it. I didn’t really plan to: one day I just saw my FPcom profile and saw my old titles. I checked out the first episode I ever wrote, and before I knew it, I was sucked into the Blue Star world all over again.

Trying to pick up The Death and Life of Matsuo Yuuji. Yes, omg, I tried to write a new chapter. I really did. I haven’t written a word of it, though, but…I tried. Yes. I think this was brought about by my rereading of Blue Star. Haha!

So…obviously, I’ve been writing a whole lot of things (or trying, anyway) that if I actually had a writing blog, I would’ve had a gazillion posts already as I vent out my frustrations and crappy ideas. Heh.

I ask this because something strange is happening to my blog traffic. It’s nothing to be alarmed about, of course, but it’s definitely interesting.

Somehow, my old posts —like, almost-three-years-ago type of “old post”— are getting attention. I don’t really know why… Nobody’s noticed them much before (nobody except for my three best friends who were my only readers at the time).

Sure, sure, my newer, more popular posts are still garnering most of the hits, but my eyebrow sort of just rose by itself when I saw really really old posts getting a couple of hits per day.

So, anyway. Since some people seem to find these interesting, I (re-)present to you my Top 5 Oldest Posts. Read full post…

Katamaran (Laziness) – An all-Filipino post, and is currently one of the top 10 most visited posts in my blog. Yes. It’s swimming in there, along with the top posts that are listed on the upper right side of this page. This post is actually my reaction paper on Tungkol sa Katamaran ng mga Pilipino a literary work by Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippine National Hero. I wrote this for a social studies course during my senior year in college. Hm. Maybe students are looking for material for their reaction papers, as well? Haha!

Progression of Memory – Here’s a pretty rambly post I wrote to celebrate my promotion into the world of flash drives. Harhar. The first half of the post is funny, methinks. Maybe that’s why it’s getting hits in the first place.

The Road to Strawberry Jam City – The mountainside view I got while on the way to Baguio City, the “Summer Capital of the Philippines”, got me contemplatative, much.

Come to the Garden – Sonya’s Garden, to be specific. So I suppose travel posts really do get attention, hm?

one-note samba – I remember that I originally wanted to write a rant that night, but ended up writing something comedic. Or so my friend said.

So…yeah. That’s the top 5. There’s still, like, a dozen more that get about a hit a day… If anybody’s interested to know what those posts are, then gimme a holler.

Ciao!