Happy First Anniversary, Blogger!!!

Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday, happy birthday

Happy birthday to me!!!

Yeah. I am now officially a year old as a blogger. Cool, huh?

When I started blogging a year ago, I honestly didn’t know if I’d be able to sustain it, much more so, enjoy it. Last Oct 15 (I didn’t actually realize it until WordPress greeted me Happy Anniversary), I got myself an imaginary cake (non-fat, of course), blew my imaginary candle (a big, fat one too), sang myself a birthday song silently (I was a bit out of tune), and celebrated my 1st year anniversary as a blogger (big deal)!

So what have I learned after a year of blogging aimlessly? Well, for one, I found out what my heart really wants. I almost gave it up last January, but somehow I realized that…. heck, I was enjoying myself. So why give it up, right?  I learned that you have to go with what your heart desires. Just write to your heart’s content, let things flow wherever the waters take you, and write about whatever crosses your mind. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! Ha!!! Lo and behold! Got bitten by the writers’ bug again.

Besides, there really was nothing much I could do then, having newly retired and all. Thought I’d be happy doing nothing and waking up late. Thought I’d be perfectly fine watching movies and eating my popcorn. Or slaving around, driving the wife and the kids to work. But the truth was, I was aching. Still aching to serve. And to tell my stories. And the lessons that go with them.

So on Oct 15th of last year, I found myself at the edge of the pool, wondering whether or not to take the plunge. A part of me was strongly opposed to taking on this time-consuming endeavor. But another part of me was still looking for a meaning, not content with the legacy I left behind in the military service. The rest is now history.

So here are some of the highlights of my first year of blogging. I’ve had 125 posts published. And I just made (drum rolls please……) 100 thousand hits last October!  (Applause, applause, applause!) To some, that’s really nothing much to crow about, but I’m mighty proud of that right now. The fruit of my toils, I must say.

Most of my blogs dealt with Sports (89 in all), with My Advocacies, Family and Friends, Military and Travel numbering close to 30 each. If you’re wondering why it doesn’t add up to 125, that’s because some articles are classified in 2 or 3 categories. My most-read blog last year was about the aftermath of a typhoon (Super Typhoon Pablo Makes It a Blue Christmas for Davao), with a then mind-boggling 800 or so hits. Last October, I wrote about the recently-concluded UAAP Basketball tournament (Tengs for the Memories, See You All Next Year!!!), and it got a whopping 5,293 views for that day alone! Isn’t that something?

Here are some of the most visited posts for the past year. Please feel free to

• On the UAAP Basketball Conference Season 76: ‘Tengs’ for the Memories, See You All Next Year!!!
• On the quest for peace in Mindanao ongoing: I Dream of Peace
• On the Bohol earthquake operation: Make Sure No Village Is Forgotten
• On the climate change issue: Changing Paradigms for Climate Change
• On women’s volleyball growth: It’s Aly versus Angeli in the Shakey’s V-League Finals!!! and Will the Sun(s) Come Out Tomorrow?
• On the Smart Gilas Basketball campaign: A Wake Up Call for our Gilas Gladiators
• On Boxing: Will Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Fight the Pacman or Not?
• On Dragon Boating today: Davao Does Dragon Boat
• On my Travels and adventures: Angkor Wat and The Struggle Between Seed and Stone

I didn’t go with what most conventional blogging experts profess – that you need to focus on a niche market. That if it’s Travel you want to do, or if you want to work on Sports or whatever, then you have to stick to it. Well, I’d probably get a failing grade for this, but for the life of me, I couldn’t move ahead with Sports and leave behind my other interests. So there. I’m stuck with a hodgepodge of interests, which gives the readers a surprise every time they get a blog from me.

Look at it this way, folks. It’s like going to your favorite restaurant, and you ask the chef to surprise you with a meal. Ever tried that? Don’t tell him what kind of meal. Any kind of meal will do. You trust your chef, right? So you can have a fish meal, a veggie meal, a sweat one, a sour one, whatever. Kind of refreshing really, not to have to decide what to eat.

This year, join me once again as we try new adventures in new environments. After getting myself wet, and then learning to tread water last year, I am now ready to take that dive. I have definitely learned enough after a year of blogging blindly, and I’m putting those lessons to good use.

Here are some other articles topping my charts: