This secure, predictable life of an employee

I won't be able to update this blog for the next weeks or month.

'Mr. Ortega is shooting himself in the foot'

One blogger severely criticized my recent article published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Read it. Mr. Yaelski's words are worth considering. Read also the comment that I posted there.

Now I know my write-ups are actually read. I prefer criticisms than I-don't-care shrugs and I-can't-care looks.

By the way, what I learned from his comments is that I should be careful with the title I give to my article. When someone reads "Blogging myths", he would likely think the myths would be enumerated and then busted, just as what Mr. Yaelski apparently had in mind. So he must have been pissed off to find out it was just some trying-hard writer's personal opinion and experiences on blogging.

I myself had always felt there should be a better title, but I couldn't think of any while I was writing it. Two weeks or so after I sent it to the Inquirer, when I read my notes again, I thought the simple, trite "On blogging" would have been more appropriate.

Mr. Yaelski must have also taken offense when I criticized blogs for having "countless sentences that begin with 'I'." His reaction might have been different had I not inadvertently omitted one sentence in the paragraph. Notice the difference:

From Inquirer:

"Fed up with lifestyle columnnists writing about their selves and the parties they’ve been to? Don’t go to Blogger or WordPress for a breath of fresh air. They’re the perfect place to look for countless sentences that begin with “I”. (The columnists, at least, can turn a foot spa experience into a long, seemingly relevant essay, and their urban slang vocabulary is impeccable.)"

From my blog and my notebook:

"Fed up with lifestyle columnnists writing about their selves and the parties they’ve been to? Don’t go to Blogger or WordPress for a breath of fresh air. They’re the perfect place to look for countless sentences that begin with “I”. Bloggers, not excluding me, are a bunch of narcissists. (The columnists, at least, can turn a foot spa experience into a long, seemingly relevant essay, and their urban slang vocabulary is impeccable.)"

My notebook is always messy. I missed to include that sentence when I encoded and submitted the article on May 4. And that was actually the reason why I decided to post the piece here in my blog on May 9. I felt the sentence had a big impact on the mood of the whole article, which for me was satirical.

Now I just sound so guilty. Well, I can't help it. I feel like I owe Mr. Yaelski a response and I should explain my self to him. You know, not everyone devotes 700 words for me and for something I've done. It doesn't matter if it's negative. I think I should be flattered.

I'm also thankful to Mr. Yaelski because it was only my opinion that did not sit well with him. At least, he did not say I can't write. At least, he did not say my pen has better use as an instrument for picking my nose (though, of course, Mr. Yaelski seems to be so high-pedigreed as to utter such words).

Let me share to you, folks, this guiding principle of mine: Listen more to what people don't say than to what they say.

Mr. Yaelski accused me of being "self-serving and dishonest". I won't argue against him about that. That's his personal opinion, to which he is entitled. And that's based on his wrong interpretation of the second to the last paragpraph of my essay.

Every essay, story or poem is a writer's. His words are his being. I'm someone who shoots not only one of his foot but both feet. I'm someone who doesn't take the world so seriously and laughs at himself. Mr. Yaelski has something against that type of person. He's foaming in the mouth.

And so?

If Mr. Yaelski feels sorry for the Philippine Daily Inquirer for publishing my mediocre essay, then perhaps, if he is age-qualified, he should send his works to the paper, so that only pieces of very high quality would be published in the Youngblood section. I'll take it as a favor if he does that. (Seriously!)

When I read Mr. Yaelski's blog, I couldn't find his photo. I suspect I'm much more handsome than he is. At the end of the day, that's the more important thing for me.

I'm in!

This morning, I was accepted as publications something (officer or assistant, they're still thinking of what title to give to my position) at my alma mater.

Am I happy? Well, not really. I'm gonna be stuck! I'm never going to be a hobo!

But it's a decent paying job, and I surely need to stuff my wallet. So for now, Bohemian me is on hiatus.