Grubbs n Critters

January 12, 2015

#Blogging 101: A Letter For My Dream Readers

Dear Dream Readers,

WE have a lift-off!

Me for finally get off my butt to get this #Blogging-101 Assignment 3 with a letter to my dream readers done to reach out to bloggers out there and you.YOU, for clicking on my link and taking the time to read through my ramblings. Time which you could never get back (I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!).

But YOU, dear readers, you’ve got me completely speechless. You’ve got me to a place where I thought I could never be by simply checking me out, following me, immersing yourselves with my sometimes inane stories and leaving me with encouraging comments to spur me on. You took the time in between your busy (or perhaps not-so-busy because you are super bored) schedule; time you will never get back, to reach out and make me feel a little less abnormal. You took me to places which I thought would never be possible and you share my writing because you thought they are worth sharing. THAT, to me, is HUGE.

Who you are in real life I may never know, and whatever it is you are into, I know that you do not judge. You are here because you want to and you are here because there are bits and pieces of me you can truly identify with. Something that relates well to you, something that you may want to anonymously share and assuring you that you are not alone in this crazy world called life.

You are one that embraces the world with open arms, appreciates some brutal anecdotal truths of parenting and life challenges that are usually not discussed so openly (with the occasional profanities that comes with it) as well as one that sees diversity and social differences with an open mind. Above all, you don’t take yourselves all too seriously, yet are still able to inspire others to rule their own lives.

Whatever your interests are, you have found some solace and comfort in my little corner in cyberspace to enjoy the simple life of unintentional humour and imperfections as well as relishing the joys of good food and home-made dishes for your gastronomical pleasures.

You, dear readers, have inspired me. And for all of the above, I cannot thank you enough for being a part of my journey. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

This, has indeed been an adventure. I’ll never be a “Royal” but this is a priceless learning experience to live a “fantasy” for which money can’t buy. You guys, RULE!

P.S: This is me being originally lame. This video has nothing much to do with this post, but I love, love, love Taylor John Williams’ version of “Royals” that I just had to try to force-feed at the end. Enjoy! 🙂

#Blogging-101, #Lettertoyourdreamreader

#Blogging 101: Say Hello to the Neighbours

Category: Blogging 101

OMFG. Excuse my French, but I am going absolutely fucking bonkers:

a) I can’t stand it that I am several assignments behind this course and I.do.not.like.it. Not one bit. (I’m a task master by nature and it bugs me that I can’t get into things on time even though there really isn’t a deadline to these assignments)

b) I’m amassed in an avalanche of information – too many awesome blogs out there to sift out, and quite a bit of technical stuff to digest all at the same time.Too much for my little piddly brains

c)I’m trying to do all that in between kids who talk my ears off all day, my insane work demands, my own little time-out to cook, cleaning after cats who decide that it is now cool to be crapping outside their litter boxes when they feel like it, catching up on my language lesson, getting up-to-date with the news with some quality TV time – and trying to figure out how the hell Dynamo, the awesome magician does whatever he does, trying to have a little quality time with my husband and try to bloody sleep earlier!

But this is just me getting myself into trouble, and I know that it is for my own good. THIS, is a necessary trouble to get into because if there is one thing I haven’t done after all these years of blogging, it is to know my neighbours in the blogosphere. (My apologies, I just have been a little errant and insecure on that matter)

So, I have been trolling about. Yes, I do. And thanks to #Blogging 101 #Knowyourneighbours assignment, I feel like a certified (but legitimate) stalker with shame out of the window. I have been following about 20 blogs so far, and here are my round-ups of 5 blogs that I want to shout-out:

And Just A Touch of Crazy: I was drawn to the name of the blog. As I discovered soon enough, the author, Joy Curtis, is a Bi-polar sufferer. As she calls it, her blog is a bipolar-log and she aims to share her journey and experience on the ups and downs of life with bi-polar; a topic which I have a great interest on.

Chaméléon: A travel blogger. The photos she posted so far have been quite amazing and I am a sucker for nice photography because I suck at it. She was the first one I followed!

It’s a Nice Little Wine: Books, Wine and Food. Hailing from Western Washington, Kate does reviews on wines and some food that goes with it. Now, I know a handful of my readers are into wine, so this would be a great source for those who are on the look-out for great stuff!

Eat Play Clove: Food and recipes! My latest follower who has great recipes on her blog, they make me hungry! I love the clean lay-out on her blog and I thought the picture of cherry tomatoes on the header look so good that I might even give them a go (even though I hate, hate tomatoes!)

Such Small Hands: I happened to stumble on this one and she has a whooping almost 4000 followers already – so I’m not sure if she should be included in this list, but I’m just going to do it anyway. A humble blog and I love her writing – full of inspiration with a depth of genuine sincerity.

Last but not least ( I just have to add this one), I’d like another shout-out to a-real-friend-turned-now-blogger-side-kick who has inspired me, nudging me along to be shameless and get me this far: French Touch In Cebu. Like me, she’s raising a third-culture tribe in a foreign country and now sharing her life experience to the world. She’s cool and crazy, funny! She wrote a piece today that made my heart swell on the disclosure of big secret…which is this.

For months now I have been meaning to add a blog roll page, but somehow that has yet to materialise. It is something on my to-do list – once I get my act together.

And if you, my dear readers, are my real neighbours (i.e. living really, really physically close by, just for the record), I would be knocking on your door, bringing my grubs from baking or cooking to you personally, just to say hi! After all, my husband always say that I tend to cook for my entire apartment building when I’m at it, so there should be plenty of them to go around. 🙂

#Blogging-101 #Knowyourneighbours

#Blogging 101: Say Your Name

Category: Blogging 101

One of the talents I have unfortunately been bestowed with is the natural inability to come up with creative, punchy names, taglines or headlines interesting enough that even my cats could not be the least interested. If I try hard enough, it is likely that I come up with something sounding a little too clever or just trying too hard to be clever that it ended up with a bunch of made up words which sounds so very cleverly lame!

“Slice of Life” was my very first blog name because for months, I could not think up of something better or remotely me. I only went with it after weeks of going back and forth simply because I just wanted to start blogging. That would probably be the most ordinary blog name I have conjured up with and I stuck to it for years! Probably was a good thing I didn’t go public.

Getting to a blog name the first time round was already not an easy task for me. Deciding to get my own domain there after, felt quite intimidating and I thought, perhaps I’d better get it right and a little less ordinary. It was such a giant step to get a personal domain! What in the world should I name my damn, bloody blog?!

Clouts of words occupy my mind all.the.time; first thing I think about the moment I open my eyes and the last thing I mulled over before I head out to dreamland. It was hard to feel “settled” when I can’t seem to nail a few words to make up a blog name that makes sense for me and one that I can identify with me.

By then, I sort of know that the content of my writing would be skewing towards food and my 2 little terrors, and I started listing out different variations and word play to come up with something. Grubbs came about as an endearing term which I often use for food; I added an extra b to the word “grubs” as a reflection of my obsession with anything gastronomic. As for Critters, I had extra help; my husband suggested that, as that is how he sees our kids…as little critters. And so, Grubbs ‘n Critters was born from a joint effort with my ever lovely husband.

As for my tagline, I have always been so in love with beautiful quotes since I was a child and I already I knew I wanted some kind of a quote that reflects how I see life.

“Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans” pretty much describes how I define and live my life – I hardly ever planned for mine, and often had to take the road less traveled under circumstances. And I have been fortunate to get through life so far, with scars, but unscathed.

The way I see it, life cannot be planned. It comes to you and you embrace it as you should to make the best of it. You can plan all you want, but really, somehow life already has it’s plans for you.

Much like this blog; it has evolved and it will continue to evolve, and now rooted on a blog name that really reflects me. And like my life, my blog will always be a work in progress.

My destination: a world of possibilities.