Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

After the famine


2010
01.22

Do you know that stage in life, where you’re neither here nor there, and nothing is set in stone? I’m right there now, and when life is unpredictable putty jigsaw in your hands, it’s probably wiser to not talk it about it too much, as it might affect how the pieces fall.

That’s why I’ve been pretty absent here.

But I will start blogging again soon. I’ve not been writing for oh so very long, but after literarily spewing privately, I’ve suddenly found the dams broken.

Isn’t it funny how after a dry and barren spell of wordlessness, after the first words are cast, a deluge starts flowing?

Words and sentences swim around in my head, reminding me that I am by trade a wordsmith. Haunting me. Tormenting me. Depriving me of sleep.

I love how words play on each other and sentences form, making meaning out of nothing. The English language is much unlike the Chinese one, so unsuccinct and unable to stand alone. But if put together the right way, is pure poetry and music to the ear.

I was told before, in my creative writing class, that I was a poet, not a storyteller. I think that was the death of my fiction writing. I’ve tried to write again over the years, but nothing comes out. Till today, I abhor the need to grade one’s art. Journalistic writing, writing as a craft, is one thing. But writing as an art is another.

But maybe, because I am a poet that no longer rhymes, I might still be able to pull sentences out of my arse that might move the everyday man.

This I hope.

Screw creative writing classes.

Writing has always been self-indulgent. I should probably learn to indulge myself once in a while, instead of being ever so cautious.

However, I started this blog with an aim to NOT be self indulgent in my writing. That is still best left for private journalling. But, this blog is my anvil, and life is my hammer. And only by using it can I hone my pen (or keyboard) into a worthy blade.

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Blogging has changed


2009
12.13

I’ve recently realised something about the blogs I now read.

I started using feed readers around 2006 to keep up with the burst of blogs that suddenly permeated the internet. It was all the craze then, and everyone had a blog. My feed reader consisted mostly of friends and fellow bloggers that I met through the Project Petaling Street community. It was a brave new world then.

Nowadays, most of my friends have stopped blogging, and their section in the feed reader is woefully silent. The feeds that are updated the most are usually informative blogs, and other websites that use RSS feeds.

If my feed reader was a coffee shop, it’s an entirely different crowd now. There are a few regulars from the old days, but the place is mostly buzzing with a different type of read and feed now.

Things have changed.

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The absence explained, and what to look forward to


2009
11.17

Apologies for my absence from this blog. I have been swamped with work, as usual. And on top of that, I’ve been sick since the entire weekend. I think I overheated. My nose spent a great deal of time leaking blood last night. =P

I know that work seems to be impeding my blogging, but I’m stubbornly making it a point to blog because I work as a social media consultant, and therefore must participate and experiment on my own as well, and not talk out of my ass when advising clients.

I’ve also learnt a couple of things about my own social media participation lately as well. At first, I was all for social media integration, but lately I’ve been wondering whether it’s wiser to separate your social and work accounts. But that, my dear readers, is for another post. ;)

And I’ve been wondering whether I should open up more on this blog as well. Longtime readers will probably notice that the passion and fire and brimstone is acutely missing here, just because I’m quite wary that this is the blog that I’m marketing “me” on. But I don’t think this blog is worth it’s name without it’s original soul, is it? So that’s something else to try in this experiment.

Anyway, I’ve had a couple of topics lined up lately. I’ve also been brainstorming for content for the company to package, because I feel that I’ve a lot to share and teach. And even if I don’t get it (I hope I do!), putting my ideas down in writing has given me even more content for this blog.

Now the question is when am I going to write them?

Here are some tentative topics:

  1. More Abbreviations 101
  2. Should you separate your social media accounts for work and play?
  3. What browser would suit you?
  4. Review of the Seashell Asus Eee PC (I just bought one! Yay to finally be able to do work over a cup of coffee in a nice Cafe!)
  5. And much much much much more on social media and business, depending on how things pan out for work, and the content that I’ll develop or will have to keep company property.
  6. And much more from myexperiences working as a waitress and in the newsagency job in Freo. I love Freo; there’s just so many little things about the city.
  7. And, possibly reworked posts from my older blogs, especially if they’re relevant.

And I WILL aim to write at least one post a week. Hold me to it.

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Not compromised


2009
11.02

:p

The blog was never compromised at all. It was just the theme I was using. Apparently it just links to the online service Websnapr that just shows a popup of snapshot of the link in your pingbacks. I mistook it for a popup because the service was down when I hovered my mouse over it, and saw a different site.

Meh. At least it’s a learning experience!

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Blog wipe and reinstall


2009
10.31

Hi everyone,

If the blog looks weird, that’s because I did a complete wipe and reinstall. I spotted popups when I hovered over my pingback links yesterday, and got worried that the blog might have been compromised, and decided to do a fresh reinstall.

Most of the blog content is back up and running anyway, except for the pictures. But everything is back up and good to go. :)

I’ve got to send Leia to the vet now, so I’ll sort it out over the weekend. She’s got malocculsion (misaligned teeth), so we’re gonna go get that sorted out before it gets worse. Please keep her in your thoughts.

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Canvassing V.2


2009
10.30

When I started this blog, I didn’t have a clear idea what I wanted it to be, but I knew that I wanted it to be a place to canvass my thoughts and learning journey as I embark  on my working life. I also wanted it to be a place where I shared what I’ve learnt and what I knew so far.

And there I have my answer. That’s what my blog is going to be. A place to canvass. (more…)

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How it's going so far


2009
10.23

I haven’t updated here for awhile. Been hit by a cold early this week, and then work happened, like it always happens. That’s not good, especially since I set a target to update at least once a week.

Therefore, I’ve started collecting ideas for posts, and putting down drafts, so that I don’t run out of ideas and topics.

I’ve also canvassed some friends regarding this blog, and the feedback I got was to keep posting the “how-to” posts, because they’re useful. And useful information is always good.

Also, I need to start writing for the web. Meaning I have to start thinking about shortening my posts to short sweet snippets if it suits the topic. I keep telling clients to keep things short and sweet, but sometimes, when it comes to blogging, I’m so used to reading text heavy posts from some of the blogs I follow that I tend to forget that people DO glaze over large chunks of text online.

Better practice what you preach, Char!

Also, I’ve started shortening down my categories, and have started using tags more. Basically, “categories” on blogs are usually used to class your content, while “tags” are the keywords that identify your post. Right now, I’m still tweaking my “categories” and “tags” list so that it suits the content a lot more.

And as for the previous post, some of you might have noticed that the post title has changed about three to four times. At first, I titled it “Host a website and save the world!” because I thought it had a nice ring to it, and would grab some attention.

Then a friend pointed out that carbon neutral just meant that you would not add to climate change, instead of actively saving the world. So I changed it to “Host a website and NOT destroy the world.”

And then Jon went o_0, so I changed it to the most standard, safest thing evar. Yes, I need to improve on my headline/title writing skills, very much. One day I will be able to churn out something witty and to-the-point like the really good headline writers out there. Until then, I guess practice makes perfect!

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Personal branding: The hows


2009
09.25

In my previous post, I talked about the whys of personal branding. In this post, I’m going to detail the hows. I’m my own little personal experiment and case study, and this is how I’m going to define and record this whole exercise.

This is what I’ve done so far, as well as what I intend to do:

1. Be clear about what I want my personal brand to be about

This blog is still a work in progress, as I’m still feeling my way around it and trying to figure it out myself.

But what I am clear of at this moment is this: Careerwise, I’m decently happy where I am at the moment. The company I’m working for and the work that I do with it currently allows me to utilise my public relations and journalism training. More importantly, it allows me to integrate all my other unquantifiable skills and experiences into the work I do. It can be quite a challenging job at times, but I’m learning tons, and that’s what matters at this point in my career.

On the other hand, me starting up this blog was also to help establish myself as a writer-for-hire.  This also ties back into the following points of me finding my niche and developing it, as well as me updating regularly so that I get to polish my writing here. After all, if you don’t use it you lose it, right? And practice makes perfect!

Plus, looking at how long winded my sentences have been of late, I so do need that practice.

(more…)

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Personal branding


2009
09.23
Old self portrait

Old self portrait

That’s one of the whole points of me starting up this blog.

I’ve read many cases for personal branding using all that new media has to offer. It’s a way to put yourself out there, and can act as an online resume and as a showcase of what you’re capable of. It can both display your achievements, as well as highlight the skills and personality traits that you can’t quantify in a standard resume. In today’s competitive job markets, having an easily accessible online profile will give you an extra edge. Plus, it is becoming more and more common for employers to Google potential employees, just to check up on the kind of person they are.

Reputation is become a massive commodity, and the whole practice of Personal Branding is an attempt to control that commodity.

These are among all the many reasons and many ways new media and career coaches will give for a person to start a blog, join Facebook and Twitter, as well as one of the many social networking services. And I’m sure that in your online travels, you have heard about the need for personal branding at least once.

But what are my own reasons for personal branding?

(more…)

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