Brownie Points

 

The recent days have been bright, bright, bright, as one could imagine. Yep, that’s how it is being in a tropical country, yo! The sun rays permeate and light up everything – from the dark corners, to the clotheslines at the back of one’s house, to the streets and avenues, yes. Did I say that the roads are scorching hot? Yes, they are. It’s summertime over here, folks. Once a person is out of the air-conditioned room, he is sweating from his head, to his neck, and of course, at the armpits, haha.

 

Summertime, clothes dry faster/ craftrooms.blogspot.com

 

To say it is humid is to understate things,  a whole lot. Somebody said that there are two seasons in the Philippines: hot and very hot. That’s a joke, of course. It’s actually wet and dry. But hey, there are months here when things are wet, wet,wet. Kiddin.’  There are months when the rains fall without let up. Storms do visit us like an arduous suitor – here now and here again, later. But that’s a fact. We get an average of 19 storms a year. That partly explains the resiliency of Filipinos – we’re used to rebuilding, haha.

Anyway, as bright and hot as the days are, am illumined and gladdened by the fact that there are actually a couple of souls who read my blogs. It is an experimental site, as I said to some online friends a few months ago. It isn’t like I don’t write in English in real life, I do.  But for a long time, I did not take pride in it, to be honest.  Most of the things I’ve written so far are related to Economics, politics (governance, development, regulation) and hundreds of  business letters, haha. I’ve written mostly behind the scenes.

So, when the idea of doing a blog in English occurred to me, I was unsure as to what to put in, seriously. I thought, if one’s going to write a blog and in English at that, she must have a bunch of friends who would read and follow the same avidly – via Facebook or other social media. Thing is, most of my friends are now busy raising their kids. They’re not into blogging, as writers or readers or both. And old-fashioned me does not have a Facebook account. Thus, I didn’t think this site would be patronized – by friends and strangers alike. It turned out, I’m wrong, one way or the other.

Happily, more than three people bother to drop by here, every now and then (Huge thanks, you, lovely people! Lab, lab, lab ;)). Some leave their marks via Like, some even ask thought-provoking questions and some leave cheerful remarks. These are beyond what I hoped for or expected. Back then, I thought I’d be left alone for the most part.  But that was false thinking, I can see now. In blogging, there appear to be brownie points. Yeah! Why didn’t I think of that before, huh? And one does encounter different sorts, at different time zones, haha. 😉 She comes across serious writers, as well, who also happen to be diligent readers.

Too early for this but I ain’t returning it. *wink*

Coincidentally, one of them is Mars of the positive toxicity.  She’s a Filipina in her early twenties. We have not met personally, yet. I tagged her once and the grateful daughter of the quilt that she is,  she has nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award. Some repayment, huh? I would have liked to pull her hair and call her attention to the fact that I’ve not written anything here that deserves accolade. But she seems to be the kind that’s hard to convince. So, am not gonna try. Am not going to return it, either. It doesn’t happen everyday, see? Thus, I am accepting it, with all the smugness I can muster (I copied that one),  and, with all the gratitude – thank you, Mars. May your blessings multiply and may your writings get better and better… 🙂

 

Seven Random Things:

 

1. I am afraid of the camera – afraid to hold it and afraid to have my photos taken. My sibling likens this to tribesmen’s fear of having their souls taken away when the apparatus clicks.

2. I was a tall, thin girl for a long time – string-bean Tina type.  Several years and several pounds later, several people could hardly recognize me. It’s the same me, only thicker in the middle, huh?!

3. I am seriously aggrieved by a flying cockroach – just like Mars, I hold that crawling cockroaches are facts of life, but flying ones are a different matter altogether.

4. I drink coffee three times a day. I would have wanted more but one needs sleep.

5. I take long walks whenever I can. When I was younger, it was jogging.

6. I buy sauteed peanuts off the pushcart whenever I do marketing.

7. I used to have a site (blog) in Tagalog that talks about life in the countryside in the days before most Filipino bloggers were born, ahaha. 😉

 

I have tagged most of these people before, but I guess it’d be fun to check them out once again:

 

• NadiaMasood
• ApronHeadLily
• The Tale of My Heart
• Renx Kyoko
• Yearstricken
• Munchow
• Canadian Art Junkie
• StoriesbyWilliams
• Bagotilyo
• Sinister Pink
• LadyFi
• Barking in the Dark
• Personal Concerns
• Five Reflections
• Earl’s World

Thank you for reading this far. ;)/ browniepower.com

Thanks for reading. Have a good weekend ahead, folks! Many happy returns… 🙂