CMABLOGS: A Life on a Pencil Returns This 2018, and for Good?

CMABLOG: A Life on a Pencil is now back this 2018. Whether it is for good or not is yet to be seen, but I am confident now that with the many plans and changes both in my blogs, life, and finances that it will be pretty fruitful soon.

Image originally from Pedro Penduko, Episode II: The Return of the Comeback (2000), with a minor touch of craziness from yours truly Chris A. All rights belobngs to their respective owners and copyright.

It's been a while since my last major update or blog here. It was way back in 2016 which was about an opinion piece about some unoriginal Filipino soap opera and how one major network got away with it. Fast forward to 2018, and they are still at it together with their "creative" and "talented" writers.


I am thinking of injecting more GIFs like this to convey the current mood or point I am trying to make in my blogs. Something I pick up from the workplace and I think will be pretty awesome as I learn to utilize this more and more on my 2018 blogging comeback. GIF from Spider-Man (2002)


It is what it is. It's part of a bigger cog that is keeping the everyday Filipino mass and children "entertained." Hopefully, the generation watching this will eventually outgrew the mediocrity produced by Philippine mass media and switch to something worthwhile as they mature and become more educated. Let those who are entertained with it now be entertained. No one and not even this opinion piece can change that, but that doesn't mean that we have to agree with it. We can all agree to disagree. You do you. With this, let's wait for this to be over and let time forget this forgettable soap opera.

Moving to a more positive tone as I believe that will irk most of the die hard Alden Richards and Kapuso fan boys and girls (way to go starting your blog for 2018), will now be focusing more on regularly updating my blogs mainly Retro Pilipinas, Pinoy Movie Blogger, and CMAQUEST. Those blogs will have lighter tone on them, moving mostly from criticism (maybe not so much on Pinoy Movie Blogger) and more of a celebration of what they have been in the past (Retro Pilipinas) and what they potentially might be (CMAQUEST).

You can also use CMABLOGS: A Life on a Pencil as the main hub for the latest updates regarding my blogs, and what is the next big thing for us in the long run. 'Will keep you guys updated in the days to come. For now CMABLOGS: A Life on a Pencil has returned This 2018, and hopefully for good.

On Contributing for LionhearTV: A Writing Stint and Experience on Doing Local Showbiz Articles

I have been writing for a local entertainment website called Lionheartv since January 26, 2016. It is quite an interesting experience and feeling to be part of something big; bigger than my blogs that is. Lionheartv is bigger in a sense that it has higher readership and community of 'followers' compared to my blogs; even if they are all combined. Majority of Filipinos loved Philippine entertainment 'news' and most of the times to fault.


People connected with me in my personal social media account and Twitter account knows I am usually indifferent towards what happens in the Philipine showbiz, so I also find it quite ironic that here I am doing showbiz pieces. Well, people need to make a living and this is currently my main project, so I got to lived with such ironies. As much as possible I try to inject a little bit of my usual critical self in most of the usually trivial (for me and Philippine society in general) showbiz "news" article handed to us, the writers. Well, I am really not that indifferent as back then I made a piece about Vice Ganda with On Vice Ganda on Anti-Bullying Fiasco on ABS-CBN's Showtime which I once again revisited with my Lionheartv article "Comedy at the expense of others, ‘bullying’, and Vice Ganda." There are some things that needs discussing, more important that feuding ex-lovers, something that reflects and concerns society. Mass Media has been the pink elephant in the room on its hand in shaping up the collective consciousness of the mass.

Some of the Lionheartv articles I have contributed and proud to share here includes the following:

(1) Amidst Sen. Sotto statement, AlDub is still getting politicized
(2) Is Tito Sotto hurting the public’s perception of “Eat Bulaga?”
(3) Emotional Tito Sotto temporarily leaves “Eat Bulaga;” asks Dabarkads’ support
(4) Aiza Seguerra reacts against Manny Pacquiao ‘Same Sex Marriage’ statement
(5) Reelectionist senator Tito Sotto, “Eat Bulaga,” AlDub, and the 2016 Pangasinan Political Rally
(6) Manny Pacquiao quotes and deletes bible verse on ‘Gays Put to Death’
(7) A Look into the Social Media Backlash regarding Vice Ganda’s Opinion against Manny Pacquiao



There is also an article I made which I hardly consider to be a proudest work, but find it really "interesting"; for lack of a better word. In my article "Fans Clash and Petition to Disqualify Maine Mendoza from Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2016," I had a "fascinating" "luxury" of encountering some passionate AlDub, Lizqueen, JaDine, and KathNiel who are at each other's throats. You can check out the article at how I handled it for more information. The funny thing is that in Twitter, some fans are reacting negatively even if they haven't read the article which in reality is skeptical about the whole matter. Ladies and gentlemen the best of what fandom has to offer (NOT):


I am still currently contributing for them as of the writing of this article. This is probably the main reason why I was able to do more updates and articles there, than in my actual personal blog. Every once in a while I make an exemption and update 'Life on a Pencil' especially if it has something to do with the things I am passionate about, secularism and freethinking. I have been doing a series of Editorial Reactions which I will be making a regular segment/section here at 'Life.' Well, I have been more active with my other niche blogs, mainly Retro Pilipinas and Pinoy Movie Blogger, but that will soon change as I am slowly going to the direction of full-time blogging. I really appreciate my experience writing for Lionheartv.

Taking a Swing at Full Time Blogging and Online Presence

It was not long ago that I happen to stumble upon the wonderful world of blogging. The initial motivation was to make money out of it, but along it came learning; that one can't d it without having something good to offer - that content was 'king.' From then on, I started to learn the ropes of what I should offer outside money making from blogs. I later toned it down to give way to content and the readership. It was a series of trial and and error. My experience gave birth to a series of blog that I am proud to author right now.

I initially started with CMAQUEST (http://cmaquest.blogspot.com) which by then was categorized as personal, and later becoming more of a "mixed bag" or a 'general' blog. Later on, I separated my personal stuff to give CMAQUEST more of an 'entertainment' niche. This is when this blog, Life on a Pencil (http://lifeonapencil.blogspot.com) came to be. Since discovering that niche blogs have more special viewership and can be a source of specific audience, I later made two other blogs which I am able to create quality content without having a hard time; on things that I am passionate about.

I later made Retro Pilipinas (http://retropilipinas.blogspot.com) which is about anything the past mostly shows and pop culture that I grew up with hoping to resonate with a number of people online. Thus, the target demographic is anyone in nostalgia who suddenly remember somethings of the past; the Throwback Thursday people. I have also been managing the Retro Pilipinas Official Facebook Page in which you can LIKE or FOLLOW for updates when you are in social media.

I also made Pinoy Movie Blogger (http://pinoymovieblogger.blogspot.com) which is all about Filipino movies, movie trailer impressions, and actual movie trailer reviews. The mindset I had when I initially conceptualize it was to help celebrate and promote the local movie industry. To also be critical about it and help it improve. With the fascination over international films, why can't we build fascination of our own here. Pinoy Movie Blogger has also been doing well in terms of viewership and its social media following, you can LIKE and FOLLOW the Pinoy Movie Blogger Official Facebook Page for news and updates.

I have also done some writing stint. I have become a contributor at Flip Geeks with an article entitled ""

Officially a FlipGeek: First Article on FlipGeeks about Tokusatsu

It's now official, yours truly is a FlipGeeks . I got in touch with them a couple of weeks back and was fortunate enough to become a part of their project.

www.flipgeeks.com/

FlipGeeks is the Filipino geek’s corner for toys, comics, video games and everything else! FlipGeeks or FG aims to be the number one online resource in the Philippines in providing news, updates on the geek genre (toys,movies,comics,etc) and pop culture.

It can really be a big challenge for me especially as I also author a few more blogs besides CMABLOGS mainly CMAQUEST, Retro Pilipinas, and Pinoy Movie Blogger, not to mention a new career. I am not complaining, I willed this! I like challenges, I like sharing stuff, and I as usual I plan to conquer the world!...

I have always wanted to be part of something big and something relevant (for me that is). I believe that the geek community is growing and has been taking over the internet like global warming to Earth... (DERP) that was not a good comparison, LOL. I believe FlipGeeks can reach that community starting here at our motherland, the Philippines. I will aid the group's objective to be the community that FlipGeeks aims to be and maybe more. This is enough motivation to keep me going like an Energizer bunny.

Besides the regular spots where you usually see me blogging,you can now regularly see me blogging at FlipGeeks as well usually about all my geekiness. For starters, I made my very first article about tokusatsu's influence to Filipino kids and the geek community at RETRO FLIP GEEK: A Look Back at Tokusatsu Shows and Its Influence to Filipino Kids.

If you guys can remember I made a similar post about tokusatsu here at CMABLOGS with For Philippine Television Networks Consideration: Create An All-Original Filipino Tokusatsu Series Seriously for the Younger Television Audience. This previous post and my first FlipGeeks article compliments each other rather than just being a mere copy-and-paste copy of each other. Hope you guys can check both of them out.

For Filipino Geeks out there, you can visit FlipGeeks for more Geek news, articles, reviews, and giveaways.

Balancing Act Between Gaming and Blogging

So may things to do in so little time. I too am one of those people chanting those statement over and over again. Well, I know I am at fault here for not having the proper discipline to even manage my own time, but I can help it. Now that I am making a decent earning from my home-based writing career, I can only do one of two things work more or balance things of by playing. I decide the latter.




Not to say that blogging is not entertaining at all... it is, but if you have visited my other blogs like CMAQUEST, Pinoy Movie Blogger, and Kuwentong Bayan at Alamat you'll notice that I take blogging seriously. Serious in a way that I invest a decent amount of my time just to make a competitive post. I can't even balance work, romantic relationships and blogging in the past, but luckily I gradually learned to resolve that issue. But after I got my Xbox 360 last year, things started to go out of hand once again. Gaming tends to eat a lot of hours away making other tasks impossible to fulfill with out proper time management. Sadly I don't have such discipline in me. This is why a reader can easily notice that my last blog post was on the last week of July. I got hooked in playing various Xbox 360 games like Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Dead Space, Dragon Age II, Mass Effect 3 and various Xbox Live Arcade titles. In a way, I find it gaming an escape to the lonesome nature of my home-based career. This is probably why I have invested more time on it than blogging, but then again,  can't really quit blogging... not just yet. Do you have that idea in your head that you just want to share and ope to the rest of the world? That is what I have always been struggling. I have so many wonderful and creative blogging ideas that tends to be overtaken by work or gaming, but it always resurfaces. So here is attempt number "I don't know what anymore" to rid me of that creative urge. To at least keep at least 2-3 blog updates on every the blogs I own, and probably create two or three new ones in the process. I still have so many things I want to express and share online, but I am restricted with my own weakness.

Hopefully I can finally find balance amidst the chaos of my own doing.
Cheers is to another good start.

Passing and Lighting the Torch on SM City Rosario's Seminar on Blogging

I was in SM City Rosario a little while ago and gave a talk to students and teachers regarding the basics of blogging. A few days ago Azrael Coladilla invited me and Iris Rebao-Pulga to be speakers in SM City Rosario's short seminar about the basics of blogging. I was a bit skeptical at first but eventually gave in. I said to myself that I must learn how to face one of my greatest fears in life which is public speaking. Thanks to the new found confidence I have acquired throughout these past few good years, I was able to overcome it after I started rolling and sharing my blogging wisdom.





I never thought that I would find myself speaking in front of an audience of 200 people which comprise of students and few teachers. I could still remember back at 2007 like it was yesterday, I was starting out as a clueless beginner in the blogging scene. I learned everything the hard way, committing every single mistake that a blogger should never do (in a monetization aspect that is) until I gave up. Later that year, the spirit of blogging called onto me (like the three ghosts of christmas past, present and future) so like a prodigal son who lost his way, I went back to blogging and the rest as they say is history.



It was my second time being in Rosario Cavite, it was a bit different from the first time I was there about 2-3 years ago. I believe they were just starting to build SM Rosario by then for I remember the area where the notable SM City now stand is a large construction site which caused heavy traffic in the narrow public road of Rosario back in the days. SM Rosario was spacy, homey and green. SM City Rosario uses natural lighting (like many SM City malls) to reduce lighting and conserve energy. I was a bit surprised to find out that we are going to speak on an open area in SM City Rosario's activity area but I eventually snapped out of a possible freak out moment. I waited a little longer and the rest of the team arrived.





Azrael started with a very engaging and interesting introduction to blogging. His talk didn't fail to amuse me and the rest of the audience. Taking a cue from the blogging master himself, I then followed up with a discussion about how to start a blog. I discussed about the basics of setting up a blogger (blogspot) account since it is the best and free platform to practice blogging and that is what I am more knowledgeable about. I also provided tips and various warnings on how to go about with blogging. Iris then closed the SM City Rosario blog seminar talk with kinds of blogs and monetization.





The talk was later followed by a question and answer portion. The audience was so active and eager to ask questions that bogs their mind (and I wonder why... hmmm insert dubious and sarcastic expression here hahaha) about earning money through blogs which wasn't even elaborately discussed but was vividly tackled in our discussion. We managed to effectively answer all of the questions. What concluded the Q&A segment was a teacher asking about blogging issues like intellectual property rights and blogging issues, that too was answered by various examples and our own personal experiences in the local blogging scene.





What made the whole experience memorable as how the two teachers heading the mob of students thanked us for sharing our knowledge. They told us that they were interested to try out blogging. We then told them that blogging is for everyone and that we are glad to impart the wisdom we earned through the years. It was life giving another life. Like passing of the torch to a new generation whom will continue on what most have established, creating, populating, helping the local Filipino blogosphere and the Philippines in general.



Again a million thanks to Azrael Coladilla and Iris Rebao-Pulga for the outstanding quality photos taken here. If it is a bit blurry then it is taken from my busted but still working digital camera hahaha.

To see more of their photo coverage and their blogs you can follow them at facebook here:
Azrael Coladilla http://www.facebook.com/popazrael
Iris Rebao-Pulga http://www.facebook.com/irispulga

A Future of Blogging as a Career: Concepts, Ideas and Investments

I have been thinking the past few weeks, and thinking hard I did. What will the future hold for me, what opportunities can I take that could further develop my skills as a freelance writer and worker? Then it hit me, like a brick falling from a thirty foot story building! Okay that was a bit too much but a great blogging idea came to me. What if I do more!?!



I have already tried having multiple blogs in the past and so far I can conclude that all I can manage are four blogs at the time, with the two having the luxury to get regular updates than the rest, that being http://www.cmablogs and oh http://www.cmaquest.com. Though I know I can manage more, I am a bit restricted with my freelance work and proper time management. This is the main reason why I haven't been active in the past few weeks. I was getting my act together, focusing more on being productive and avoiding distractions which can really be tough sometimes. Luckily the distractions that comes along the way are some streaming videos which I can use as a material for work related write-ups. These same distractions have also inspired me to go even the distance and try the wildest of ideas, creating more engaging, informative, and entertaining blogs. To what the themes of these blogs that I am conceptualizing are still under development, but I am sure it would be something great (I think). I may find myself in something so big that I could no longer handle it alone, a company... that doesn't sound so bad. well, like they said if you are going to dream, then dream something big but in order for that to come to full circle then you must do something about it. That my friends is what I am planning for the coming weeks.

I don't have to be a seer, to see a bright future ahead of me. I just needed to extensively learn and properly manage my time and I may probably be of to a good start.

My iBlog 6 Day 1 Business Day Attendance

Last April 16, 2010 I experienced my first ever Philippine Blogging Summit (popularly known as iBlog) held at Malcolm Theater at the University of the Philippines Diliman. iBlog is an annual event for bloggers to understand and learn more about the multi-faceted world of blogging. Here is my iBlog 6 Day 1 coverage which focus on topics such as business, advertising and promotion.



iBlog 6, though on its six year was my very first iBlog event so I was really excited for it. The feeling that I will learn and grow more as a Filipino blogger through iBlog got me really excited. I left Dasmariñas City at around 7:30 in the morning which took me one and a half hours of travel time, thank goodness that I was not late.

Sa familiar faces like Flowell and Miss Janette who were busy setting up the stage for the actual program. Most of the attendees where people from PR companies, blogtrepreneurs, and other business-related organizations for iBlog 6 Day 1 was targeted for businesses and entrepreneurs wanting to understand how to tap blogs as a medium to promote their products and services. This was the schedule for day 1 on the 6th Philippine Blogging Summit:



Miss Janette Toral on the stage lead the first talk regarding blogging for business. An introduction and analysis of the factors that helps business through blogging.

Day 1 (April 16, 2010)

9:00 – 9:15 Opening Ceremonies (National Anthem, Welcome Remarks by JJ Disini)
9:15 – 9:35 Blogging for Business: Tapping Bloggers to Generate Buzz (Janette Toral)
9:50 to 10:10 Advertising in Blogs (Abe Olandres)

10:25 – 10:50 BREAK

10:50 – 11:10 SPONSOR talk (Ivy Jean Vibar)
11:25 – 11:45 SEO & Blogging to Promote Your Business (Francis Gary Viray)

12:00 – 1:30 LUNCH / NETWORKING

1:30 – 1:50 Measuring Blog Buzz (Carlo Ople)
2:05 – 2:25 Legal Concerns in Blogging for Business (Emerson Bañez)

2:40 – 3:00 BREAK

3:00 – 3:20 Blogger and Advertiser: What is the Win-Win Relationship? (Diana Paterno)
3:35 – 3:50 Online Attraction Marketing (Manuel Viloria)

4:05 RAFFLE and GROUP PICTURE

The speakers could only accommodate an hour or so of explaining their individual topics but that didn't get n the way of sending out the message to the audience.



Abe Olandes, author of Yugatech discussed his experience and knowledge on advertising in blogging. Building that reputation to be recoognized by advertisers, placement patterns of advertisements on a blog, pricing for advertisers, and many more were the topics discussed by the author of the highly acclaimed Yugatech author. Being a recognized name on the Filipino Blogosphere not just by bloggers but mainstream companies as well, Abe Olandes was the right man to enlighten the audience with the in and outs of advertising through blogs.



The question and answer segment after each talk gave opportunities to some of the audience to learn more about the topic through a series of relevant questions. Mike Abundo spearheaded the series of questions right after each speaker was over with their topics. His questions are more likely to challenge the expertise of the speaker which in turn could either make the speaker shine as a reliable speaker or the opposite.





The Philippine Online Chronicles or the POC, a partner of iBlog 6 featured the new evolution of reliable news and blogging through the site. A mash up of traditional and new media, the POC is your source of quality Philippines news and relative discussions online.



In between breaks, bloggers and other media organizations got to the chance to socialize. I later joined Don, Rina, Alvin, and Fritz, fellow bloggers which made learning more interesting. It was also my first time meeting up with the jolly Dani and Ian.



Targeted more on the PR companies utilizing the power of blogging groups is another interesting topic for the day which made me wished that the PR agencies which I knew of (who have invited us in the past) were present to realize a perfect set up, a win-win relationship with bloggers. Didi Paterno discussed this topic which was also tackled in Carlo Ople's discussion on measuring blog buzz.

Though not really targeted for the first time bloggers, I appreciated and learned from the first day of iBlog 6. iBlog 6 Day 1 topics and discussions inspired me to become a better blogger by utilizing a blog's hidden potential of promoting one's name or business, which in return will yield new and better opportunities for bloggers, businesses and entrepreneurs.

Dumping Disqus! Adapting Intense Debate and Proper Blog Comment Managament

If you have been into my blog a couple of days (or weeks) ago then you might have noticed that it will almost took you an eternity to see the whole content of my blog, CMABLOGS especially if you are browsing this on Mozilla's Firefox. The reason is the faulty Disqus blog comment management system.

So I began to look for problems on why my blog doesn't completely load all its content (including the rest of the posts and sidebar). My initial suspicion was my layout could have been at fault or probably one of myBlogger Gadgets might be the one causing the slow loading time of my blog. So I have disected my Blogger gadgets look at the html codes and javascripts I applied on my blog and noticed that all is fine with them. So my next suspicion is that the problem might lie on the blog layout itself.

I have tried changing the layout of the blog a couple of time in hopes that it would just be a problem with the layout, but in the end I was frustrated that all my efforts were put to waste because my blog still has the same problem. Just a couple of days ago I've noticed that I don't see the Disqus comment management system at the bottom of my blog posts, so what I did was visit the website and to my surprise the Disqus website also loads abysmally slow. This is when I finally found out that the root of all of my problem is located on Disqus' lame comment management system that I have incorporated on my blog for so many months now. Well I am half to blame this for not sticking to the default Blogger/Blogspot comment system, but if you are a Blogger/Blogspot user then you should already know how lame the comment management system offered by Blogger. This can be quite funny especially when Google have been expanding and offering so many new features to enhance the convenience of blogging and connectivity, but they completely neglect their free blog hosting comment system on Blogger. Well, maybe they will eventually enhanced that feature in the future but for now it won't really suffice the need to personalize and properly manage the all the comment one's blog receives from its readers. This is why I ended up using a third application comment management tool like Disqus which also failed for influencing the time a blog takes to load.

I gave them a still a day or so to fix the website for the site may probably just be temporarily done, but after a day or two the problem was still the same. No e-mails or announcements. Disqus has definitely a problem! And they should have released some statement, apologies via e-mail (or some other website because their site is down itself) to their users regarding the inconvenience of the failure of their comment management service but there isn't a single one, as we speak (as I blog).

Disqus is Down! Disqus has a problem! so I have switched to Intense Debate so Intense Debat do not let me down!

Thank goodness I have located the root of the problem, so what I did was erase every word/code with the word Disqus on it on the root html/XTML layout of my blog and finally adapting a seemingly more popular name in comment management system, Intense Debate. If you visit Disqus official website then ready your self for countless of wasted minutes before the site partially loads. I think Disqus will be shutting down or have been attacked so if you are having the same problem as I, then by all means revert back to your old comment management system (Blogger default) or adapt to a new comment management tool. A blog's comments section is an important part of a blog especially if you want to connect with your readers, it also gives your reader a mind-setting that their voice and opinion matters to you blog, which will also be good to a blogger to keep them coming back and attracting more potential readers.

Bloggers Come and Join the iBlog: The 6th Philippine Blogging Summit

Blogs are like stars in the bright clear sky, numerous! Each having their own place in the vast depth of cyberspace. Others are shining so brightly while some have just began its life. iBlog has been an annual event for new and established bloggers in the Philippines to cross paths to share and learn from each other about blogging. Whether you are a personal, photo, family-oriented, music, money making, general, entertainment, literary blogger etc. iBlog will help you get acquainted and become an effective blogger based on the category of your blog.



Join the iBlog: The 6th Philippine Blogging Summit for two days this April 16 and 17, 2010 at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman, from 8 am to 5 pm. Registration is free. All you need to worry now is the transportation and managing your schedule for any/both of the two day learning summit. Listen from fellow established bloggers as they share the different aspects and responsibilities of blogging in this age of information and technology.

To register and learn more about the key speakers for the two-day event you can visit iBlog's Official Website here:



iBlog: The 6th Philippine Blogging Summit
http://iblogph.org/

This would also be my first iBlog Summit experience so I am really excited to enhance and develop my skills and knowledge in Blogging. I wasn't able to atend the 5th Philippine Blogging Summit because of some issues but this year yours truly would be on both the events. So hope to see you guys there!

I think it is the right time to make contact cards. Numninumninum

Blogging Tips for Bloggers Running Out of Ideas To Blog

February 04, 2010 (Thursday) - Today I am helping out newbie and fellow bloggers who often experience mental or writing block on their blogs. This is how I manage to successfully overcome a "blogging block" with out straying away from the genre(kind) of my blogs.



Blogging Tips for Bloggers To Avoid Mental Block
Blogging Tips for Bloggers Running Out of Ideas To Blog

Post relevant blog posts or do not post at all - This tip applies to niche blogs or topic-specific blogs. For example you have decided to make a blog dedicated to food, isn't it weird if you post an irrelevant topic like car post? A good tip is to not stray off from your chosen genre of blogging. If you can't seem to blog anything regarding your topic then by all means do not post irrelevant posts. If you are a food blogger then stick to blog posts related to food, fahion is to fashion, etc. In CMABLOGS's case since I have chosen a more wider genre, which is a personal and events coverage blog. I may post freely any topics which is interested to me like hobbies, favorites, experiences, perspectives, and anything personal but to a certain limit for it is still indeed a public material and we do not really want the world to know our every action (though there are some whom prefer to do such spectacle). The second and majority of the post as well here in my blog are topics related to the blogosphere which I belong to, mainly blog events which I have been invited. This does not not mean that I will only blog about blogger related events, but some important community events which is worth blogging and sharing. Thus, being loyal to my chosen genre of personal and events coverage blog.

Set aside or prepare relevant blogging materials - One good way to avoid a writer's block or mental block in blogging is to set aside blog-related materials like magazine and newspaper articles for tangible materials. You can also bookmark a website that you find related to your blog. This isn't called cheating or copying other people's work but try to recreate or spice up these references as much as possible, or better yet recognize them as a source on your blog post. This is what I usually do on my infotainment and magazine CMAQUEST. I collect or use materials from websites I subscribed in and reshare them on my blog but with more relevant photos, trailers and information which is the signature of CMAQUEST.

Keep a note or any portable storage device in reach in case of ideas randomly comes in - The brain "is like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you're gonna get" (ain't that sound familiar?! hahaha). You will never know when an inspiration for a new material to be blog will be coming in, and in case it dod what wiill you do? This is why it is important to have a pen with pocket notebook or piece of paper to jot down those instant and random ideas which suddenly pops in. If you don't have any pen and paper, you can always save such ideas on your mobile device for reference when you finally arrive home.

Be in the Mood. Stay Fit and Healthy - How can you successfully put up the words and thought on your blog when you aren't even in the right mood or health to blog at all. Try to have the proper amount of rest, exercise or any means to stay fit and healthy. The brain can't fully function on a stressed out body so prioritize your health as well.

So there you have it! My first blogging tips series for fellow bloggers running out of ideas. Hope you liked and learned from this little sharing of knowledge which I impart with you guys. Thanks for reading and if you like and want to receive regular updates on my blogs, you can always subscribe to my RSS feeds or via e-mail.

Plans Before The Year Ends - Pile with Ideas and Concepts

November 06, 2009 (Friday) - Ahoy there fellow bloggers and readers of CMABLOGS. November is finally here and one month left to go before year ends, so I am doing some a little reflecting on the things I wanted to achieve before the year ends.

First off is a weekly web comics - an ambitious blog project...




I have one of this stories stuck into my head which is itching to come out and probably the time is just ripe to finally publish it online. The characters above are from my story "After Earth" (the working title) which I created as early on 2004. I have already set up the plot and the main protagonist and antagonist of the story in my head but the only problem is the execution. Execution in terms of how will I allocate my freetime for it (So help me God). Like any other webcomics out there, mine will be published on a weekly basis (either one or two page a week). I am still in the process of script writing and conceptualizing so this will probably be out really soon (or most probably by next year).

Another webcomics project (yup, not once but twice hahaha) would be a weekly short humor comics which is about my world and views on particular Philippine and international issues. I plan to make it a comical satire if my intellect allows it but it is going to be one of my baby blog comics project which probably be published by December this year.

And of course who wouldn't forget those piled up blog events which I haven't covered yet here at CMABLOGS. Though nobody is pressuring me about it, I think it is only fair to cover everything which happened this year before the year ends. It is probably my aspiration to finish pending tasks for me to finally take a breather.

So there you have it, some of the updates and plans which I hope will not be like the rest. Hope you can follow my new blogventures in the international and local blogosphere here at CMABLOGS. Do subscribe to get periodical updates and events that I've attended. So have a great day everyone. Chris A. logging off.

Back from a Blog Vacation - Back To Basics

October 29, 2009 (Thursday) - Ahoy there frequent visitors, followers and readers of CMAQUEST and CMABLOGS! It's been a while since my last post in both my blogs, well this is probably because I am in the path of self-discovery and to rekindle my passion for blogging (or most probably I just got lazy hahaha). Well after a month of inactivity, I am back with more eagerness to blog and more surprise under my sleeves (Uhm, wait I minute. I don't wear sleeves).



I am also planning to have my own web comics or comics blog where I will feature all my stories which are itching to be drawn and published. You see, one of my first love and hobby back in younger days was sketching and making comics (as seen in my DeviantArt Page). My first love became one of my greatest frustrations as I failed to take an art course back in college but I'm still not giving up and would still want a shot on it. Well, not maybe in a professional level like being an artist to multibillion comics companies but rather having my own domain where I can express my ideas and creations. One of my greatest fear back then (to why I never did that before) is art thief and concept theft. Art culprits who'll browse your art, comics, or concepts only to be stolen and claimed as it was their own. Imitation is the best form of flattery but theft is in a completely different level. But since I will not be able to professionally produced my own comics, to heck with the fear. I am taking the risk and will put my creations online. So bye for now and expect more updates from yours truly, Chris A. - Personal, Entertainment, Movie, Comics Blogger.

A Once in a Lifetime 999 Blog: CMABLOGS.COM - New Name for Life On A Pencil

September 09, 2009 (Wednesday) - This is a very special blog post because for some reasons. Well, this is posted on one of those once in a lifetime dates... the 9th day of the 9th month (September) of the 9th year since the millennium (2009) simply A Lucky 9.

What better way to celebrate this momentous date than to acquire a new URL name or address for my beloved personal and events coverage blog Life On A Pencil. Life On A Pencil now turns to CMABLOGS. Yep! You can now reach my blog via...



www.cmablogs.com

So why CMABLOGS.com?

If you don't know yet my very first blog dates back as early as 2007, and that is CMAQUEST which is my infotainment and magazine blog. CMAQUEST's name came from my Initials, Christopher M. Aquino and my Quest. That time I was just started blogging and it generally is a personal blog but after some personal issues I left that blog but the "call of blogging" was inevitable and so with a new found spirit I made Life On A Pencil back at 2008. This is where the real challenge began, maintaining a personal blog and an entertainment blog while I was studying back in college. We don't even have our very own computer that time, so I have to go to an Internet Cafe just to blog.

Fast-forward that to today, I am a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a home-based internet job and have (I guess) established myself as a good (that's one better way to put it) blogger. I have finally bought and gave CMAQUEST its own domain name and I promised myself that not long enough Life On A Pencil will soon follow. Finally the right time has come.



www.cmaquest.com

There are two reasons why I consider September 09, 2009 lucky. Well, the first one is like what I said earlier (the 9-9-9 thing), and the second is that two of my blogs can finally be easily accessed through their new (hopefully "catchy") shortened URLs of CMAQUEST.COM and CMABLOGS.

This is just one of those milestone but not necessarily mean the end.
Expect more blogging from yourstruly, C.M.A. a.k.a. Chris A..
For we've only just begun...



Hahaha sorry can't help but to play this song after that last statement. Featuring The Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun". Makes me also recall the 1408 horror movie.

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