My not-so-late Christmas wishlist

My Manila Bulletin column on A Blogger’s Wishlist For Christmas appeared two weeks ago, and am reprinting it here. Our peer, Melo Villareal, has an ongoing blog promotion on Christmas wishlists and am joining coz I want to win the 2009 Starbucks Planner, even though last year’s remain unused 😀

Here it goes:

It’s the time of the year again! Christmas is synonymous with wishlists and we do this for a couple of reasons: remind ourselves in choosing which stuff to spend our bonus on, guide our loved ones as to our preferences, or serve as a raincheck for future purchases.

The difficulty with blogging is that it’s a technologically-dependent field. You’d almost always need your own computer, high-speed internet connection, cameras to aid in your photo-documentation, software as needed, and other gadgets you see your blogging contemporaries using. This is what makes blogging pressure-filled. You gotta keep up with the Joneses, so to speak.

Don’t get me wrong. One can survive in blogging by owning just the basics. There’s even talk of a blogger earning a lot of money from his site, but has to bike his way to the nearest internet cafe. Still, it’s better to be equipped with the best, and that is why I crave for the following things:

1. A new cellphone, either a Nokia E61 or the new E63. Don’t know why, but I just like the look of this mobile phone, after attending the line’s launching in Singapore this year. The fact that it has wi-fi and a decent camera is an added plus.

2. The new Macbook. I’ve never been a Mac user so owning one is a dream come true for me. I already have the new Macbook THERE but it is not yet HERE with me, if you know what I mean. Counting the days. I have my Benefactor to thank for, in advance 😉

3. Photography lessons. I need lessons since I can’t be bothered with reading my professional camera’s manual.Plus, it’s always good to learn from experts in the field. I still don’t know if I have to take professional classes, per se, or just bug my photojournalist friends to teach me how. Photography is up there on my list of interests so this is high priority for me.

4.A new blog theme. I just know that I need to improve the canvas on which I write on, so yes, a new design is coming soon 🙂

5. A reliable web host.This is not a wish already since I got the web host I can count on. I just pray that the people of the US-based Laughing Squid continue with their reliability and 99.9% uptime. Having come from the nightmare of a few local web hosts who gave me downtime whenever I looked, I realized the utmost importance of a hosting service which can impeccably deliver. What good is an awesome theme and content if your readers can’t see it because your site is down? Ouch.

6.A new iPod. Time was when I had an iPod Touch, until it was stolen away from me. How I mourned for that one, considering its sentimental value. Now, I am just dreaming of a handier, more compact iPod Nano in bubblegum pink. It should be easier to bring along since it’s smaller, and I need to cut my losses.A blogger has to take a break sometimes, and the better way to do this is to listen to music (and podcasts!).

7 Viva social networking! In the beginning, there was Friendster. After which there came Facebook, Twitter, a little bit of LinkedIn and now, Plurk. It just keeps on getting better. The benefits of all these are new modes of expression, more friends, and learning more of this platform called micro-blogging. If tomorrow we wake up and find out that there’s a better service than Plurk, at least we’ll be assured that it’s more interactive than the last.

8.More travels and explorations.Trying out new tastes, discovering little nooks and crannies, continually learning… these are all a blogger’s best friends. So I say yes to more food, places and expetiences explored in 2009, in the hope that there’d be greater, more wonderful things to be shared to our readers.

Get the geek on!