Guitarchic Dot Net*

This is long overdue already but I’m blogging it anyway. The Blog-o-rama column that featured my two blogs came out last weekend, Feb 18, on the Technews of Manila Bulletin. I didn’t know when it was gona come up, hence I didn’t get myself a copy, grr. I found out about it only the day after, good thing a friend has got a daily subscription of the paper. Yay.

In the interview, I talked about my blogs and how they evolved from a personal venting channel to a tool that has helped me establish my profession. Also, I talked about how it’s like to be a struggling female SEO (I know, this is a pretty old tune already, ha!) in this IT industry that’s been mostly dominated by men. I had fun answering Miss Annalyn’s questions, I guess it pretty much showed in how I blabbered my way throughout the interview.

So yeah. Thanks (once again) to Miss Annalyn Jusay for this wonderful opportunity. :) I took snapshots of the column and uploaded them there. Also, the online version can be found here.

Three hours to Christmas here in the Philippines, yay. I’m sure you’re all busy with a lot of things — as I am. (I’m in a family reunion as I type this. Boo.) But here’s me taking a break for a few minutes from all the festivities to wish everyone happy holidays. So yeah.

Blessings to you and your family. Merry Christmas! :)

I have a confession to make (again). During Gio Villanueva-Wall’s Q&A on Keyword Research Tools and Tactics at the SEMCON, I was the one who SMS-ed the question “How does it feel like to be Aaron Wall’s wife?” I mean, seriously, that was a valid question to ask, right? I’m sure a lot of us were curious to know! :)

“I got myself a competition” and “I am married to the Internet!,” Gio said to a room-full of SEMCON attendees. Didn’t I just say that it’s a good SEO technique (for female SEOs) to marry an SEO guru? Hehe. (Way to go Sharm! LOL) :)

Anyway, I was lucky enough to be able to have a chat with Gio when she and Aaron dropped by the Intercon the next day (SEMCON, Day 2). And unexpectedly too, as I just happened to be sitting at the back with some guys from SEO Philippines, near the entrance, when the couple dropped by.

With Gio — yes, that’s my back okaaay.

It was lovely to know that Gio speaks fluent Tagalog, hence it wasn’t that hard for me (LOL) to chitchat about tiangges, and shopping, and boracay, and stuff that are not related to SEO. And it was even more thrilling to know that she happens to be dropping by this blog (guitarchic.net) too once in a while. I mean, really now? :)

And really now, it’s not everyday you get to chat with an SEO rockstar in his shorts and slippers. *starstruck*

Chitchatting with Aaron Wall woohoo :)

Inasmuch as I wanted to ask Aaron more about his book and his SEO secrets, I ended up asking more questions about him and Gio, how he likes it here so far, and his interests aside from SEO, and music (music!! man!! I was talking about music with Aaron Wall, haha), etc.

With the Walls :)

I had my ten minutes worth of air time with the Walls, yay ME — perhaps one of the highlights of my SEMCON experience (which I will blog more about later). Very down-to-earth, both of them. :)

I told Aaron Wall that he’s got a pretty good taste, falling in love with a Filipina. And I could say the same for Gio, for marrying The SEO Book. Er, I mean, the author. Hehe.

As for me, I’m still starstruck. (And wondering if someday, people will tell my husband-to-be that he’s got good taste marrying this SEO girl that I am. Blpht.) :p

*Photos courtesy of Jason Torres, who happened to be holding Konks, my camera, when I was having the grand SEMCON time of my life.

..even though I have a ring-side ticket.

Image from Tina’s Switchfoot In Manila site

I mean, seriously. That was really lousy of me to pick this day, of all days, to be all lethargic and (errr) to waste precious hours over Facebook. Yep, ladies and gents, I spent the whole day superpoking people, and flooding my Facebook friends’ inboxes with spam-ish invites, and nominating friends at Superlatives, and adding Facebook apps, and sending virtual gifts, drinks, and pastries. When I could have spent the night watching Switchfoot with some friends.

I. Don’t. Have. A. Life.

So don’t you dare rub it in and tell me how much you all enjoyed the concert. And Paolo Valenciano’s, my forever-and-ever-amen crush since way back I-can’t-remember-when (but of course that’s before I found you), and his band, Salamin’s front act. And the Balut dare. And all the fun stories you had tonight. No. I don’t want to hear them, thankyouverymuch.

Meanwhile, I’m going to frame my unused ticket to remind me how much of a loser I’ve become. And, well, beg all of you to add me at Facebook, you know, just to make me feel a bit better about wasting away 800 bucks for a concert that I missed because of Facebook, and of sheer laziness.

P.S. But of course I didn’t Facebook-ed the whole day. And that wasn’t the real reason why I got lazy to go. But let’s not talk about that.

Remember that night? Were you there? If you were, well, you witnessed the fun, here’s more partying for you! But if not, here’s a chance to redeem yourself. :)

SM Hypermarket is hosting another party for bloggers slash the announcement of the SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest. The biggest blogger party evaah is happening on August 23, 2007, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at the Taste Asia, SM Mall of Asia (beside SM Hypermarket).

SM Hypermarket is looking at hosting this party for 500 bloggers and friends! Kamusta naman sa dame.

So here are the specs:

What: SM Hypermarket Invites Bloggers to Party!
When: August 23, 2007, Thursday, 7:30 pm
Who: bloggers of any size, age, status or whatever
How: Just leave a comment on any of the coordinators blogs
Why: Party and awarding ceremonies for the winner of the SM Hypermarket blog writing contest
Where: Taste of Asia (beside SM Hypermarket), SM Mall of Asia

Marc and I were assigned as point persons for the SEO crowd, hence, if you’re an SEO blogger, specialist, project manager, whatever, (or if you’re simply my friend hehe) and you want to be part of history, just leave a comment to this post and have yourself listed. Or, you can navigate over to Aileen’s post and find your specific niche there.

Join na. You don’t want to miss this one! ;)

You can view the master list here.

Time backtracked. It’s past midnight, I’ve got stuff to do, and I’m feeling a bit drained and gloomy for some reason, but look, here I go, browsing through MobiusGames, particularly the kids section, and having a grand time testing one game after another. So far, I’ve tried Eve Online (a galactic adventure ala Star Wars), I’m loving ToonTown (who wouldn’t love creating your own Disney-like cartoon in the form of a game?), and I’m currently hooked up on Diner Dash (again).

And let me just add that I had a super time laughing over GM Charo, Mobius’ resident love guru, whose love advices you can find on their recently launched online gaming magazine.

Yup. At a time like this. (I can’t believe myself either.)

I know I really have to move on from this break-now-pay-later phase like, real’ soon, but I can’t help myself. I’m extending the streak another night. I guess it’s true what they say — you know a person is pressured when she keeps stalling and making excuses. Take it from someone who has a tendency to do everything BUT that one thing she’s supposed to do.

Thanks to online gaming sites such as Mobius, stalling becomes worth the while. LOL. I mean, seriously. Sometimes I wonder to whom online games are meant for. Evidently, they’re meant for kids, and geeks, but come to think of it, they’re also meant for busy people who need to chill and have a break. Quite an irony, if I may say so, since most of us won’t even bother playing online games because we just don’t have the time. Thing is, if we don’t have time for stress-relievers such as this, maybe we need to make time for it. Get what I’m saying? (And no, I’m not just justifying myself.)

It’s just like that “gorgeous” night at Serendra with three lovely lovely ladies, where, in the midst of coffee and jazz music and yuppies having their own adult conversations, we found ourselves talking about things that usually don’t cross an adult’s mind.

THE Joni Ang, MOI, THE Liz Buenaflor & THE Mae Paulino

And it was fun, and refreshing, and feel-good. As if we allowed ourselves, for one night, to forget the race that this life is, that there are bills to be paid, and that there’s work the next day. Classic girl bonding moment.

Earlier that night, actually, we also met up with THE Eric Roceles and THE Riane Garfin of Digital Media Exchange, and just like the play of words to which this blog post is entitled with, we spent a good two hours talking about a plaything of sorts in an adult-ish and professional way. God knows I was never an online gamer (and the only games I got myself addicted with in my entire life were Theme Hospital, SIMS, and Diner Dash), but to be given a chance to get in touch with that kid inside again was something that’s pretty appealing to me.

So hey, my point is this. Encouraging you, my dear readers, to play Mobius’ Games takes the backseat, lest you start to think that this is a sponsored post (LOL). Sure, Mobius’ gaming portal is proudly crafted by among the best talents in the country, successfully targeting both local and international gamers from the South East Asia. Sure, they offer world-class gaming products that can really get you hooked. Sure, I’d recommend it anytime. But more important than this, gaming sites such as Mobius exist to remind people that there’s always ALWAYS a room, in our daily hectic existence, to relax, chill, and play.

So there goes my Mobius Experience. Plaything, but not really.

Tuesday night was a success, definitely. The food, the drinks, the schwags. 150+ bloggers coming together in one place (and coming out with satisfied tummies) is no joke. And I managed to be there to witness it all. What? You didn’t see me? I have proof, look. 1. 2. 3. 4.

With me in the booth: Sasha, Sharm, Aileen, Markku, Marc, Ely and his friend.

That’s me with the “Band of Bloggers”, and I don’t even know what I was doing there, I just happened to be outside the booth and someone pulled me in. LOL. Let me just say, Cliquebooth rocks. You have to remember them next time you hold an event, seriously. Check it out. (In case you start to wonder how this picture set happened, I edited it. It’s impossible to have four shots with different people in one set, yup.)

I’m tempted to send some link love to everyone I saw there, but they’re just too many. So I’m sending this one to the organizer of all organizers, Miss Aileen Apolo, and SM Hypermarket, for that very successful Taste Asia event. Clapclap (standing).

Oh, and because I promised, here’s some link lovin’ for Ely for the pink umbrella that made my night (thank you!!). And Markku, the guy who every girl wants to have an issue with because he’s cute and single, and because you know no one will strangle you to death or send you anonymous hate comments when you post pa-cute pictures of yourself with him (ha!). And Sharmskee for the endless talk about cute Swiss hockey players and those camwhore moments. And Jayvee, for making takas for me one of those coke tumblers (oh, wait, sorry, am I not allowed to tell everyone that? hehe). And Mikey and TJ for being on bodyguard-slash-kuya mode to me the whole night. And Jomar who took us in, gatecrashers that we are. And Miss Janette, and Ganns, for expressing their concern towards my emotional state, judging from my twits (don’t worry Ma’am, Sir, those are just twits. Hehe.)

But really now. The real highlight of my night (but of course Markku’s still a close second) was finally meeting Abel’s family: Chel, who I only knew through multiply and twitter, and their adorable little princess, Tiana.

There’s something about watching Tiana twirl in her cute flowery dress in the middle of a noisy and crowded party that made me want to tear up right there and then. And I wouldn’t elaborate lest I start emo-ing again, but really, candid moments like that (of a little girl twirling, or clutching her Mom’s hand, or hugging her Daddy as he carries her, oblivious to the noise going around her) sends my world to a halt, making me wish that life is as simple as that which is seen through her eyes.

Gaah. Didn’t I just say that I won’t elaborate? :)

It was lovely finally meeting you, Abel, Chel, and Tiana. ♥

Oh, and by the way, there was not a moment in that party that I didn’t wish Liz, Mae, and Joni were there. It was a relief making up and spending quality girl bonding session with these gorgeous bloggers at Serendra last night (Wednesday), though. But yup, that one deserves a separate post.