A Penny For Your Thoughts

Undignified…

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I am not quite sure if I ought to use ‘Undignified’ as a title for this blog entry, but recently, I had a conversation with an ‘in’ and ‘popular’ blogger who is the direct opposite of me as she enjoys the spotlight and the glamour the blogging world have to offer. She enjoys the attention that the world gives her and she also would do anything she can to earn more from paid posts from her blog.

Now, this blogger is an acquaintance of mine, and she asked me how much do I make from my blog per month, in which I answered, not much as I do not socialize with advertisers/ advertising agencies for an opportunity for blog campaigns and whatnot.I told her, the money that I earned from paid posts is not even enough for me to buy myself a tub of Haagan Daaz ice cream. Most of my paid posts comes from oversea companies like Paid Per Post that pays peanuts.

You see… I’m a bit of a recluse and I can be very selective in selecting advertisements for my blog. I have no interest in being attached to local advertising companies like Nuffnang or Advertlets. I found that they are very restrictive in many ways and if I were to write posts for them, I will be forced to follow their rules and regulation. (International advertisers from US and UK emphasizes on honest feedbacks and reviews…local advertising companies on the other hand, does not exactly encourage negative or constructive reviews…so there… enough reason for me to not be attached to them!)

This blogger was aghast cuz she told me that she could make up to thousands in a month just through blogging and it is such a waste that I did not fully utilize my blog for advertising purposes. She was offering me tips on how I can fully utilize my blog. I was not interested, even though right at the moment, some extra cash could in my pocket could be handy.

Why was I not interested? Because she told me I could only earn more if I ‘localize’ my blog and just concentrate on blogging on my niche. I am not interested in localizing my blog. Why should I do that? I have more international readers than local readers-coming from book review sites and novel writing sites and whatnot. If I were to localize my blog, it would be a complete rubbish as my international readers couldn’t possibly understand the articles!

I don’t mean to sound cocky, but I don’t feel comfortable to localize my blog by using improper English. I am who I am and you cannot change that. I will not, and will never change myself for the sake of others or for monetary benefits. I will only do that for myself whenever necessary. I want to be a better version of me. Not the other way around. I am a woman with principles, and I can’t exactly be bought.

I may write about sex tips and safe sex and whatnot, but that does not mean I am cheap. I don’t accept advertisements that encourage drinking liquor or advertisements that’s religiously offensive in nature and I hope everyone would respect that.

I may respond to my readers’ comments by using improper English or localized English, but that is only because I want them to feel welcomed in my blog  and be comfortable with me, not because I want to earn more money.

I do not wish to be restricted and I would like to go far. If I were to write, I would want to write something that is my own opinion. And I wouldn’t be very ecstatic in promoting or campaigning what I do not believe in or what I’m uncomfortable representing.

It is no secret that I do accept paid posts and earning from my blog… but if you’re telling me to go backwards or imitating others just to earn money, then no thank you. I’m not interested. I am not that undignified. I am sure most bloggers who utilize their blogs to generate revenues have their own principles as well, and their principles too, ought to be respected.

Cleffairy: Why bother imitating others and be a pirated version of someone else while you can be original version of yourself? And why succumb to peer pressure or rat race when you can stand out just by being uniquely you?

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot

Attitude, attitude!

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I don’t mean to sound uptight all the time, but you know something? I really can’t stand the behaviour… or rather misbehaviour of some people. I’m not exactly an angel or a saint and therefore, my patience and my generosity does have bounds.

You see… I’m an avid reader. You know… I read those printed rectangular thing… they’re commonly known to the world as books. I read an average of 10 books per week and my books are my treasure. They are very dear to me.

I like lending my books to people, especially to bookworms who knows how to appreciate what’s inside the book. I’m fine with lending books to people as long as they return it to me when they have finished reading or reviewing it.

But what I do not like is when people do not make an effort to return what is mine.Wait… ‘do not like’ is too mild of a description. Loathe and despise is a much more accurate description of how I usually feel when people made no effort to return what actually belongs to me.

Just yesterday, I have the urge to read one of my Enid Blyton book. It’s a classic and no longer in print. In other words, it’s a rare book. Very rare book. A collector’s item.

I remember that a friend has borrowed it quite some time ago. I’ve double checked in my personal library, and I was right, it’s not where it’s supposed to be and so I contacted this friend of mine and ask her to return it to me at the earliest convenience. I expected that my friend is done with the said book, considering that it’s been ages. But much to my chagrin, my friend made no effort to return it to me. I am not sure if she’s lost it or the book is no longer in good condition, but she kept delaying and giving me all sort of excuse…busy and no time and stuff. It made me wonder if my friend is really busy or just giving me excuse. 🙁

I really want my book back since I can no longer buy it from the bookstores as it’s no longer in print. I hope my friend would be compassionate enough to return the book to me, and if she had lost it, or the book is no longer in a good condition, I can still forgive her as long as she’s honest with me and I can take it as my misfortune.

I am not exactly a monster. Honesty is the best policy. I can tolerate honesty. If you’ve lost it, then just say it. And if it’s spoiled, you can be frank with me and we can arrange some sort of compensation. I can tolerate honesty. I’m not that childish or immature. What I cannot tolerate is people who do so many things to escape from being responsible and pretends as if nothing is going on. 🙁

I’m very disappointed. People may call me calculative, but it is my right to ask people to return what actually belongs to me. I may be able to forget it if it’s still obtainable in the nearest bookstore, but it is no longer in print. What else am I supposed to do? Dig the author’s grave and ask the author to write that particular book for me? Not quite practical or possible, since I’m not a necromancer.

Cleffairy: Isn’t it easier to be honest and be responsible than to lie, cheat and not admitting that you’re in the wrong? What good does it do to push the blame to others? Some people simply have no conscience and courtesy. If adults behaves this way, then how do we expect our children to be responsible for their own action? Or the future generation would be filled will people who have no moral?

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue

Prince William Divorces Kate Middleton After 5 Weeks

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I just woke up and when I booted up my PC to check my email and my friends status updates on FB, I saw that both my email(s) and my FB account has been infested with this news:

SOURCE: https://www.theonion.com/articles/prince-william-divorces-kate-middleton-after-5-wee,20648/

Prince William Divorces Kate Middleton After 5 Weeks

‘I Made A Terrible Mistake’ Says Heir To British Throne

LONDON—Barely a month after marrying 29-year-old Kate Middleton in a royal wedding ceremony watched by an estimated 2 billion people worldwide, Prince William announced Tuesday that he and Middleton have divorced and that the entire marriage was “a tremendous mistake in every possible regard.” “I really don’t know what I was thinking—we’re a terrible match, I don’t love her and never have, and, to be honest, I never really had any interest in being married in the first place,” announced the now unattached Prince William to a dead-silent British press corps. “People thought our wedding was some sort of fairy tale, but I assure you it was all just some ghastly ceremonial farce that got out of hand. I’m just relieved it’s over, frankly. And I’m glad I’ll never have to see that awful woman again.” Prince William then told the assembled reporters, “Well, see you all later,” smiled, and walked back into Buckingham Palace.

____________________________________________________________

Now… I refrained from commenting on this issue via Facebook despite the fact that the ‘news’ was everywhere and everyone seems to be talking about this. Facebook, to me is not the place to discuss such issue as people tend to get overly emotional instead of being rational. People are practically cursing the Prince over this issue without bothering to check the validity of the news.

I could easily dismiss this as untrue and just another spam. Below is why:

  • First of of, if you’re familiar with the royal press conference protocol, you would know that the Duke of Cambridge (Prince William) will not be allowed to make such statements publicly. In any case of divorce among the royal family, a spokesperson would be the one delivering such messages to the public, just like the divorce between the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles back in the nineties.
  • If you’re familiar with divorce procedures in the UK, you would know that divorce are not easy to obtained. What more a royal one. It take years for a royal to divorce to finalize, even a no fault divorce  or one with mutual agreement like Fergie and Andrew’s divorce. (Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Sarah Margaret Ferguson)
  • There ought to be the announcement of ‘official separation’ before the announcement of the actual divorce.
  • The source of this news is doubtful. Absolutely doubtful. just take a look at that website. It’s infested with gossip and insignificant news. How can this source be trustworthy source of news and announcements?
  • I could be rolling my eyes off my eye-sockets at the picture that has been used for this news on this website. Did you or did you not notice the red ribbon that the Prince was wearing? The ribbon symbolizes AIDS awareness. The Prince do not make it a habit to wear AIDS awareness red ribbon to any press conference or event unless he is attending an event related to AIDS awareness campaigns. I’ve been searching around, and I was definitely not wrong in thinking that there’s no AIDS awareness campaign within this month or the past few weeks. The last AIDS global and AIDS awareness campaign is in March 2011. That was ages ago.

I don’t know what’s wrong with this world. People easily believe in untrue words and seems to take delights in gossiping. Rumours tends to be treated as true. And let’s just say… I’m giving the news a benefit of doubt ( WHICH I AM NOT, because if I want news regarding to the royal family, I would go to their official website here: https://www.royal.gov.uk).

Even if I do believe this news, I wouldn’t go around calling His Royal Highness a royal pain in the arse or an asshole for divorcing Kate. Why? Well, it takes two to tango. The world tends to blame the men when divorces happens, and almost never symphatize with the men. It’s always the men who are at fault. It’s as if the women are completely a victim.

I am a woman, but I do not think so. I think there’s always two side of the story and one ought to not just listen to one side of a story. Feminist ought to damn me, but truthfully, when it comes to love and war, nobody is right or wrong. Everyone have their own reasons and their own excuse, but in truth, nobody really have. Same goes with marriage. It doesn’t matter if the marriage is a high profile marriage or not. It’s the same.

And outsiders should not judge other people’s marriage or a relationship based on what they see on the outside. Outsiders do not know what transcends between the couple behind closed doors. What the outsiders know… is just word of the mouth from just one side of the party. So, how is it fair to say that the man is always the evil one? You cannot really say so, for truly, not all women are good and faultless. Some women are conniving and evil too, despite of their soft and pitiful outlook. Nobody… nobody should be given the rights to condemn the action of others, especially when it comes to relationship and marriage, for truly, outsiders are just bystanders.


Cleffairy: When in doubt, always seek second opinion, and always, always remember that there’s always two side of one same story.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts

At times like this…

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May 2011 was like a roller-coaster ride. There’s ups, and there’s downs. It made me want to scream out of disappointment, frustration, horror, and many more negative emotions.

But as they say, life goes on, and I shall have to persevere, cuz for what it’s worth, I cannot change the world and the people in it. I can only change myself, and therefore, I shall have to take the world as it is, and not as how I wants it to be.

It’s been hard. Life is getting rather stressful and difficult to handle. Work, especially is rather overwhelming. It’s piling, and I’m getting backaches and merely 4 hours of sleep every day.

I know I shouldn’t complain for I am still lucky to have a roof over my head and warm dishes on my table and not to mention loving family and wonderful friends who would cheer me on and give me moral support unconditionally. I am forever grateful. And I am indeed very blessed in so many ways that I never thought possible.

But at times like this, I get rather wistful. I wish I’m still living by the seaside where I could take pleasure in the simplest thing like sitting on the soft, sandy beach while watching the sunset as the gentle breeze caresses me and my worries and the burden of the world… would slowly melt away from my tiny shoulder.

At times like this, I wish for a Clark Kent of my own. (I have the hots for Clark Kent a.k.a Superman. Bear with me.) A superhero in his own rights…an investigative reporter who reveals truth to the world with his writing and whose alter ego stood for nothing but justice.

And at times like this, I wish that my life could be as simple as it used to be. But then again, that is just wishful thinking. I could not perform any magic or time travel and therefore, my life could never be like what it used to be, and at the end of the day…before I go to sleep, whether I like it or not, I have to be honest with myself and accept the fact that Superman won’t fly to me when I call for help, and Batman wouldn’t come to my aid when I put up the Batman call sign. Spiderman’s spider sense wouldn’t tingle either when my enemy is about to gut me mercilessly.

I have to be my own hero. If I want to be saved, I shall have to save myself, and and while there’s no chance of me changing changing the world, I still can make my own history by simply being me and persevering. i must do what I’m good at, and make use fully of what God gave me.

And before I close my eyes and go to sleep, I have to forgive the world for being harsh and forgive myself for all the mistakes and for all of my foolishness. Only by forgiving myself…I shall be able to live with myself and move on.

Cleffairy:  One should not blame others when they are at fault themselves.We’re just human. We’re not perfect. We make mistakes, and while we don’t forget, we ought to try to forgive and move on and try not to make the same mistakes again in the future. It’s hard and always easier said than done, but it’s what we must do. It’s the only way we learn to be a better version of ourselves, is it not?

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A Penny For Your Thoughts

Public Toilet Is Not For Dummies!

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I am not exactly a good person. In fact, I am a very bad person. Bad enough that people could easily label me as an evil, conniving bitch. I’m fine with what people thought of me, really. I am a lot of things, but I’m definitely NOT a hypocrite. I know I am a bad person and therefore, I admit that I am bad. To me, it’s just a matter of perception. It is not about how people see me, but how I see myself. Besides, I have complains about almost everything in life and it takes very little to upset me.

Take this for an example. I was having such a great time on Sunday, being with people that I love and in places that I love, and I have to go and spoil my own mood by getting upset with things that I cannot control and could never, ever change. READ: PUBLIC TOILET and THE PEOPLE WHO ARE USING IT.

Let me ask you a question. What do you do when you have the urge to pee or poo when you’re in public places and you’d not exactly wearing adult diapers? I think you’d do what I usually do; find the nearest public toilet, pay the for the entrance fee and relieve yourself. That’s the most sensible thing to do, isn’t it? You search for public toilet for instant relief.

But what if instant relief is not exactly what you get when you stepped into the public toilet? What if instead of feeling relieved, you get much more uncomfortable and annoyed?

Imagine this… you desperately need to relieve yourself, but when you go inside the toilet, there’s only one stall available and it’s occupied. You wait and wait and wait only to wait even more because the person inside seems to have rocks for poo?

Well, to me it is fine if the person inside is having constipation and having difficulties passing motion, but what if the person inside is not actually using the toilet for whatever relieving purposes that public toilet is designed for? What if the person inside is merely sitting on the damn toilet bowl and yakking on the phone and refused to come out even after you knocked on the door repeatedly and ask the person inside to come out faster? Instead of coming out, the person inside tell you she’s ‘busy’ talking on the phone and tells you to wait until she’s done. Busy indeed. Busy not doing her ‘business’-poo-ing, pee-ing or whatever, but busy talking on the phone.

Good Lord! I hate it when such thing happened. I can actually forgive it if the person desperately need to use the toilet and really is relieving herself, but the act of hogging the toilet stall just so that she could have the pleasure of yakking on the phone with absolute privacy is unforgivable!

Seriously, if you want to have some conversation with your boyfriend and whatnot, would you please…. please… kindly get out of the toilet stall so that someone else can make use of the toilet… actually use the toilet for what it’s actually designed for; for relieving yourself.

I don’t care if you’re a snot of a teenage girl who will get into trouble with your mummy and daddy for conversing with your boyfriend in their presence or whatever… hogging the toilet solely for such purpose is definitely obnoxious and extremely inconsiderate.

The act of hogging the toilet just to talk on the phone is disgusting. And telling people off so that you can stay longer in the toilet to use it to talk on the phone is even more disgusting. It is not only inconsiderate, but very cruel. How could you even take pleasure at someone else’s inconvenience? If you’re really not using it…or does not have the urge to really use the toilet… please…come out and let the one who really need to use the toilet use the toilet instead.

Okay… so maybe the person who is hogging the toilet tells you off and tell you that she’s ‘busy’ doing her business and tells you to find another unoccupied toilet.

I was desperate and I think I would have definitely done what she have suggested if the only other toilet that’s available is within the vicinity.

Too bad my only chance at relieving myself is the one that she’s occupying, and she’s refusing to cooperate and giving nonsense of excuse so that she could stay in the toilet longer and talk to her goddamn boyfriend~! 🙁

So well, you’ll excuse me if I knocked on the door and demands her to come out now, wouldn’t you?


Cleffairy: Some people are very inconsiderate towards others. My only hope is that someday, somehow, someone will teach them a lesson that they won’t soon forget!

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Movies/ Entertainment, writing

Hindustan Movies and I

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Work is getting too much for me these days. The piling of projects is unavoidable, given the predicament I’m in right at the moment. A lot of things are cropping up at once, and some extra cash would be handy right at the moment.

Anyway, knowing that stress will do me no good, I would take a few hours break daily to watch some movies, just to unwind and clear my head. These days, I’m into Bollywood movies…Hindustan movies…Hindi movies… whatever you may wish to call it.

I find those movies very intriguing, and I think some of them really worth a mention or two. But I won’t be reviewing them here… cuz I’m still watching tonnes of them. (Apparently, I’m having Bollywood fever this week…last week was Regency romance movies… I watched adaptations of Jane Austen books til my eyes grew red >.<)

They’re beautiful… brilliantly done and most, are intriguing. They made me think of my own writing; not to say that my writings are beautiful, but some are full of contradictions.

You see… I have wonderful friends… bookworm friends like Mamarazzi and Littlemermy to beta-read my books before they are published. Usually I would give them an ARC or a digital ARC for review purposes. I allowed them to read my work before they’re published because they always give me honest opinions. And I love it to bits.

Mamarazzi recently commented on one of my work, ‘Change of Plans’. She said that I ought to have to explain about the feelings of the main male protagonist and one of the characters. She said, I ought to have explained why the man fell in love with the woman. She said, and I quote ” Not logical if he fell in love with her just for sex.”

Littlemermy on the other hand was not satisfied on why I did not make the main male character more heroic and she wonders why my female characters seems to be stronger than the male characters despite the fact that the story is set in medieval times.

Mamarazzi was right. And Littlemermy was right too.

I ought to briefly delve into the issue a little bit. But what both of them said makes me think and reflect; that sometimes, life itself is not logical too. And in response to Littlemermy’s complains about why the men are not exactly heroic and overly macho…well, let’s just say that in truth, men…are not always heroic, and I reflect that in the story.

Life, as I said… is not very logic. At least my life is not very logic. My life is…not exactly ordinary, just like the Hindustan movies I’ve been watching.

My life, like the Hindustan movies… is full of not only love and melodrama, but also lies, deceit, betrayal, evil monsters and wicked witches in the form of… uh…you know… ahemm… ‘outlaws’…. and many more. My life is not all dancing and singing. Thinking back…alot of things in my life are not logical and like those Hindustan movies that I’ve been watching, is full of contradictions too.

Sometimes… I do wonder if I’ll survive being in a Hindustan movie… o.O For what it’s worth, living my life is much more difficult than rectifying mistakes, grammatical errors as well as contradictions in my novels. You see… I have lotsa help with my novel… I have proof-readers to point out what I’ve missed and I can use spell-checker to help me with the errors in my novels, but in life, who would help me point out about the mistake that I’ll make when I couldn’t see properly and when I have poor judgment? I suppose nobody would, and I have to learn from my mistakes when it happened.

Cleffairy: Is watching – कुछ ना कहो and हम दिल दे चुके सनम. Have a blessed Sunday, everyone.

(Dear God, please let the Holy Spirit guide me and protect me from anymore mistakes and make me learn from my mistakes…I’m just a human and therefore I am weak and I do not have sharp eyes.)

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Food/Travel, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot

Those good old days are gone…

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Those good old days where you can buy lotsa things with Rm1 (Around USD0.35) is gone. These days, Rm1 is not much of a value anymore. But thank God, every now and then I manage to find something nice for just RM1; like this nasi lemak for an example. (Nasi lemak is a local Malaysian dish, consisting of fragrant coconut milk rice served with condiments of fried peanuts, fried anchovies as well as sliced cucumbers)

These… these are a gem, very authentic and it’s very hard to find these sort of nasi lemak in Malaysia these days. These nasi lemak are fully wrapped up with banana leaves. These days, we only have the modern version of it; all wrapped up in plastic+newspaper or in white polystyrene, and it’s no longer simple. The modern ones are usually served with lotsa things; fried chicken, fried eggs, etc and usually cost at least Rm5 (USD1.5) per pack.

For Rm1, I get these…. 1 cup of very fragrant nasi lemak with served with a side of fried peanuts, fried anchovies, a quarter of boiled egg and topped with some spicy hot sambal.

I couldn’t resist adding my own omelet to the RM1 nasi lemak. The taste? Heavenly.

But by the time I finished eating the nasi lemak… I wondered why I couldn’t resist adding my own omelet to it. Is it because I’ve grown fussy? Or it it because like the rest of the world, I’ve become complicated and I failed in the most important thing in one’s life; which is to appreciate and enjoy life at the most basic and stop trying to be complicated?

*SIGH* I suppose the world suit me now. It’s complicated, and so am I.

Cleffairy: Those good old days are gone, and they are never coming back.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts

File 1: The Disappearance of Cleffairy

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I’ve been going MIA since last week. Some of my online friends is rather alarmed when they no longer see me during my regular hour (which is not exactly regular for them…). They wonder what’s up with me, and why I’m harder to catch these days. Hard to catch me lurking around in Gtalk, hard to catch me in Fb chats, hard to catch me commenting in blogs, (save a few, that is)…

Well, I don’t have much explanation for those who wonder why I’m kinda hard to catch these days, except for that I’m abit busy with writing my novels and I’m not exactly in the mood to… you know… entertain people.

I’m very sorry if I make some of you worried, but I assure you that I’m fine, and I just need some time alone, that’s all. I always need time alone when I’m writing or doing work, anyway.

I also feel tired and rather unmotivated these days, and I don’t think I will make a good companion anyway. I need some space and peace to collect my thoughts. It will take more than just ice cream to cheer me up.

Food therapy does not really work anymore. Vigorous work out in the equestrian field with my favourite horses and playing chess with myself still works fine, though, so I’ll be doing that these few days. I don’t think I’ll be interested in anything but horseback riding or some water-sport for a couple more weeks. (Feel free to call me up if you wanna go horseback riding or joining me in my water-sport activities…but please leave me alone for a week or two if you want to drag me to accompany you for shopping and whatnot. I don’t feel like it right now)

So… ladies and gentlemen, if you don’t see me responding to your  messages immediately, please forgive me. And please forgive me for worrying you too.

Cleffairy: I seriously need a vacation. 🙁 But I can’t just leave with a moment’s notice! Argh~

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Down The Memory Lane, Food/Travel, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot

Simple yet satisfying…

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I know that this is probably not the healthiest meal one could have for uh… 3am quickie meal. After all, it’s extremely fattening with all those carbs and protein. Probably damn oily and is high in cholesterol too. But what the heck… it’s comforting and it’s nice. 😀 And I can afford to eat it without having to worry about growing sideways, so why not? It’s God’s gift to me, He must have wanted me to enjoy food and I should make full use of it.

I like to break the rules. Rebellious little creature I am, and you know what I did after I shove all these yummilicious rice topped with an oily omelet with a flood of spicy curry thickened with coconut milk and load of potatoes? Well, I washed it down with a glass of iced Vanilla Coke and went to bed and SLEEP.

God, that feels so good! Digesting my unhealthy food while I sleep. And you know what’s the best part of all these? NO DISGUSTING GREEN VEGGIES ON MY PLATE!

Cleffairy: I don’t like veggies. I hate them! Loathe them, in fact. All of my 26 years of life, my mum and dad NEVER forced me to eat veggies. In fact, they’re quite carnivorous too. Veggies, to me is an acquired taste, and I merely tolerate most green stuff. Don’t like my eating habit? So sue me! *blow raspberries* Nobody have the rights to dictate how I should eat my food, and when to eat my food and how to live my bloody short life. So buzz off!

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Down The Memory Lane, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot, writing

Do you remember who was your first?

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Do you remember who was your first? I am not sure if any of you out remembered who was your first. But I do. I remembered the first few people who dropped by my blog and gave me comments when I just started blogging.

When I first started, I never did expect anyone to even read my ranting and raving about Malaysian politic back then in Pak Lah’s not so glorious and sleepy era. I never did intend anyone to read my writing even, but people did, and back then, I was really, really surprised that they actually stumbled upon my blog and were actually hooked on it.

My first commenter was Warrior…the second one was Malaysianjoe, the third was Calvin of Calvinsoo Photography, a blogger turned photographer. Most of them are not active bloggers anymore, and somehow, I missed the good old times with them where we could discuss and debate about the happenings in Malaysia. I enjoyed their presence in my blog so much, as they made my brain twist and turn, and despite of being obscene and disgusting and plain chauvinistic at times, I enjoyed the intellectual discussion that I shared with them back then.

More often than not, we were hardly in agreement with each other on certain issues, but at the end of the day, it was pretty satisfying, because they gave honest opinion and never did hold grudge against each other, and keeps coming back for more. It was pretty refreshing. And they were never the ‘touch and go kind’.

There  were loads of comments from them for just one article every day. Such thing hardly happen anymore. These days, some people just leave their comments just so that their existence is known in hope that they will get traffic from there. Such thing doesn’t happen only in my blog I believe. It happens to almost everyone out there.

And then Pete came along.. Yes… Pete, the foodie blogger who is the only one who is still active among the four, and he introduced to me to the world of food blogging, and there starts my nightmare.

I have come to learn not to blog hop with empty stomach ever again since he came into my life. He never failed to tempt me with his home-cook dishes and made me laugh at his ‘American Friend’ jokes. That was when I was introduced to the fun side of blogging. I never did actually hang out in blogs that revolves around family, food or even diary-like blogs until Pete came along. In truth, I never really did knew that they even exists in the first place. I used to think that blogging is about expressing opinion on current issues not diaries or something of that sort.

As time goes by, more and more people came to my blog and left their trace in my blog, and the conversation in my comment box were not as intense. They are much more lighter, not serious, and perhaps it’s because I’ve really tone down a lot; for I no longer write about politics and current issues on daily basis.

Sometimes, what I wrote was merely for the reading pleasures of my readers, and I came to wonder if toning down is really worth it? Cuz somehow…intellectual discussion became very rare, and some readers could not really stomach honest opinion and gets sensitive rather easily, and some only likes beautiful things instead of ugly truth.

Things really do change, I guess. I’ve come a long way in blogging that sometimes, I am forced to reflect, and sometimes, laugh over certain matters that makes me a wiser person in whole.

Cleffairy: It is interesting to note that my first few readers were all man, and they came here, completely armed with opinions and suggestions.

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