Blog Morphing... More Changes...

I always have an eye open for new ways to improve my blog. I realize that I have an advantage over many other bloggers in that I have years of software design and programming experience to draw from to help me change, improve and morph my blog into one that's functionally and aesthetically pleasing... to me at least. :)

In case you haven't had a look around lately, I've done the following:

Changed from a Category Cloud back to a Category List.

Added a 3-column footer for administrative and less-blogcentric items.

Added a clustr map (May 2, 2008).

Added a Related Posts listing at the end of each post, listed according to category.

A By-Post listing of Archives.

A Poll of the Week - a new one every Friday!

For comparison, here's another look at the original template Erudite at Gecko & Fly I used and ultimately changed to get the template you see now.

My next project is to tackle advertising. It's going to be the subject of a whole new post. I have some definite ideas about how I would like to earn money via my blogs... what I personally would like to see and what will make me click to buy. What are your thoughts on blog advertising or ads in general?

10 Reasons Why I Blog

The Domestic Diva challenged her readers to post why they blog. Who am I to turn down this challenge? :)
Besides, many of you, my readers, may be curious - especially my Real Life friends who might be wondering why their usually private friend has opened her doors, bared her bum, and is airing out her laundry - albeit clean and sweet smelling! :)

In turn, I challenge all of my readers with blogs to post their reasons too.
If you do, be sure to let me know in the comments here so we can come and find out why you blog.

Okay, in no particular order, here we go...

1: I blog to express myself creatively.
I design my blog's layout, pick the pictures from outside sources, showcase photos I take, and be as funny (or unfunny) as I want to be. I create something out of nothing from the crap in my head.

2: I blog for the money.
Okay, not a heck of a lot happening in that department right now, but I am experimenting with blog monetization, trying not to turn off my readers or be an ad-whore. I would truly love to make this my fulltime work especially when the kids start all-day school.

3: I blog to be with the most important people in my life.
Blogging helps me connect with the outside world (whenever I want to), while I am physically at home with my kids watching them grow up.

4: I blog to meet people from all over the world.
I've met the most interesting people online through lifecandy and via twitter. I'm happy to call some of them friends.
Also, I firmly believe that learning about others in other countries helps you appreciate other cultures including your own.

5: I blog to be my own movie star.
I've always wanted to have my own IMDB page. Unless I find myself with a successful showbiz career, this is the closest I'll ever get to that dream. :)

6: I blog to document my life.
I used to journal in real life, and I've documented my kids' development too. I like looking back at old entries and revisiting memories. Since I type faster than I write, this is considerably easier and just makes sense.

7: I blog to satisfy my nerd side.
As my friend harmzie likes to say to me, "once a nerd, always a nerd". She's right. I still love to program. I think I always will. And with my blog, I can flex my coding chops. I just have to figure out when to stop!

8: I blog to practice my writing skills.
I used to write short story erotica. Now, you won't find that kind of material on this blog, but I want to practice and improve the skill of translating my thoughts to words, so when I get back to that kind of writing, it should be easier.

9: I blog to share with others the stuff I like.
This is to give people more insight into what goes on in my head and heart, as well as how I like to live my life. And hopefully, this will also help with #2 above.

10: I blog to prove mainly to myself that, including "Mommy", I am many other things.
This is one of the reasons why I don't just write about parenting. I have other aspects of me, and by living more-than-a-mommy life, I can remind myself of those other sides... and generate writing material at the same time!

Okay, now you! :)

It's All About You!

Image: "Dave Wants You" by Chris Owens

Today's post is all about you! For this week's 52WoC task, I want to know about YOU, my dear readers, the clever folk who come and read my pearls of wisdom. :)

So, please tell me...

1: Who are you? What do you like to be called? (Feel free to be creative with that second question.)

2: Where are you from? Which country do you live in?

3: What is your favourite colour?

4: What is your favourite song?

5: How did you find my blog?

Bonus Question: Do you have a blog? If so, please let us know the url, and we'll come visit!

Please give us your answers in the comments. Can't wait to hear from you!

The Blog Star Awards

For this week's 52 Weeks of Blog Community assignment, I give a blog star award to 3 fabulous women whose blogs have made such a difference in my life.

So, without further ado, I present blog stars to...

* Jami at Bionic-Beauty.com
* Mrs.Mogul at mrs.mogul - big city mama & pop culture addict
* April at April's CR Diary

Bionic-Beauty.com -
I found Jami's blog through Jen's Mythbuster Beauty a few, very short months back. I was first struck by the simple elegant design of her blog, but her honesty, candidness, and how she reaches out to her readers keep me coming back with each new post. A fellow geek, she's become a friend who brings out my fun girlie side by sharing her fun girlie side, and that's really cool!

mrs.mogul - big city mama & pop culture addict -
I don't remember how I found Mrs.Mogul, but I'm glad I did. I describe her as my "pop culture crack dealer". I visit her every day for cool stuff, her angle on the latest in celebrity happenings, and a peak into her fun world.

April's CR Diary -
I've been reading April's blog for over a year now. A smart and gutsy woman, April's efforts in maintain her good health have helped me in my own CRON practice. Her posts are insightful, candid, and have taught me to be fearless in the pursuit of good health my own way.

Many thanks to you! You and your blogs have changed my life for the better. Please keep it up!

Culling the Blog Herd

Image: Local goat herd

Would it surprise you that, in January of this year, I ran 5 very unique and diverse blogs?

1) an island living blog:
- primarily used to showcase my hula school, I continued it after I closed the school in 2006 because I enjoyed writing the island life articles more than teaching.
2) personal family blog:
- this is the blog I use to update out-of-town family and friends with pictures and news of the kids and other family projects.
3) my "affiliate experiment" blog:
- this was my first foray into the world of affiliates... started in '06... a fitness blog... I soon lost interest but just couldn't let go of the domain, so tried to make something of it, somehow.
4) a green blog:
- because I love finding environmentally-friendly stuff. I've had the domain since 2006, but wasn't sure what to do with it, until this year.
5) a CRON blog:
- I (try to) practice a calorie reduced way of eating, and this blog was my way of sharing this with the world... it's expanded since and eventually became lifecandy.

Confession time. I was killing myself trying to keep up with all of these blogs. Seriously, those of you who can maintain more than 2 blogs and take care of your kids' daily needs and sleep... please tell me, when do you go to the bathroom, shower, maintain your sanity?!!!

Of course, being my regular bullheaded self, I wouldn't back down at first, thinking that all I needed was better scheduling, getting into a "blogging rhythm", and just plain getting accustomed to being so busy. Roomie, a one-blog blogger, tried to advise me at first, but in time, I'm sure he became afraid that his increasingly crazed and sleep-deprived wife would greet his next helpful tip by pushing marbles up his nose. Meh, he knew I'd learn my lesson on my own...

Well, I did and thus began the Great Blog Hack & Slash of 2008. I asked myself the following questions...

Where's my passion? The first one to go was the affiliate fitness blog. That was easy!

Is it worth the time? The next on the chopping blog was the island living blog... very little ROI... few readers, and with my days of living on the Islands in the distant past, my memories - and writing material - were finite.

Can I cut back posting on any? I decided to keep the personal family blog for obvious reasons. But I decided to post family updates only on special occasions like Christmas, the kids' birthdays, the first day of school, etc.

Can I put any on hold for now? The more established of the remaining two blogs is lifecandy, but it still needs more work to reach the goals I've set for it. The green blog can wait... for now... maybe until both kids are in school. :)

So now, it's just lifecandy and me. I'm working toward posting everyday, a goal more realistic today... and I don't have to sacrifice sleep, the bathroom, or my sanity!

How about you? How many blogs do you have?

Setting Up My New Workspace

It's not ideal, but I love it!

After almost a year, we finally picked ourselves and our computer up off the floor and created a proper corner workspace, complete with... wait for it... desk and chair!

As you can see in the picture, among the essentials, we've set up our flat screen monitor (our gift to each other for our wedding in 2000 - it cost us a fortune back then!), games CD holder, my name board from my old cubicle at Nortel, and the absolute must-have: the picture taped to the side of the desk that Mini drew of her and her daddy.

The work surface used to be the table top of our old rickety computer tower. It's cantilevered off the wall so it looks like it's floating.
Made of particle board, it isn't the lightest (or greenest) thing, so the kids have been told explicitly not to lean on it. It probably won't fall, but we don't want to risk crushing our legs with a huge piece of particle board or losing our beloved all-about-the-romance monitor!

So, all that's left on the to-do list for this area are:
- replacing the desktop with a laptop
- putting the printer on... anything but the floor
- a good office chair
- a desk lamp
- an inspiration board

But as is, it's still infinitely better than the old setup, which you can see in this picture of Mini wearing her favourite black and white winter hat and playing on Webkinz.

Having a good work area is so important, no matter what you do!

So, how about you? Where do you work/blog/email? Do you have a home office, a corner of a room (like me!), or just anywhere?

Recommended Reading:

Setting up a New Home Office

Set Up a Healthy Usable Workspace

5 Steps to a Distraction Free Workspace

Sweet Spotlight on... Readers!

Photo: Huddle

As my 52WoC task for this week, I am turning the spotlight on you, my dear readers, namely those of you who've taken the time to take part in discussions, offer opinions, or just drop a line to say 'hi'. And I'm very happy to say that some of you commentors have become friends.

I think this is a great thing to do, in and of itself. Without our readers, where would our blogs be, right?! So, I'll be doing this Readers Spotlight thing periodically. If you comment, one day, you too will be featured!

For this post, I've selected 5 commentors who I thank for their support and participation by featuring them here and sending them some link love. Check 'em out!...

albert bannatyne/g.e. stove - A shady character I've known for years through Roomie... a good friend we just don't see often enough... very happy he reads my blog.

Arturo - A CRONisto, Ashtanga yogi, and architect... one of the most supportive and caring friends I met through the CR Society... hope to meet him in person one day.

Mrs.Mogul - A "thirty-bleh-bleh" wife and mum who used to work in the Biz... she's my pop-culture-crack dealer... her blog's on my daily must-read list.

myrtle - A gen-Xer, hula dancer, computer geek, natural health fan, wife, mum and sushi addict... sounds like me, eh?!... she's my non-filipino twin and my friend forever.

Zandria - A 20-something thoughtful and health-conscious lady... she's a savvy single through whom I vicariously live when my married-with-kids life gets a little nutty.

Thanks to you all for being a part of my bloggy life... and I look forward to hearing more from you!

Darling, How You've Changed!

Photo: Erudite at Gecko & Fly

A lot has changed in the short time since my blog went from a strictly-CRON diary to a life-improvement blog under the LifeCandy domain and persona.

I've made some fabulous friends, grown in my awareness of social issues, and enjoyed the various characters and events in the blogosphere. I've learned a lot about writing, increasing traffic, and the myriad ways of monetizing my site.

And I also pleased the geeky, creative control-freak in me by learning how to tweak and customize my own template, slowly morphing its look and giving it a (IMHO) much needed boob job!

The screen capture above is the look of the original Erudite template. Check out the demo. I liked the bones of the layout... but the rest really needed customizing. I'm not even sure its Erudite roots show at all!

So, how do you like these knockers now?! ;)

Poll: What kind of gum do you chew?

Photo: History of a Bubble Gum

As you all know, I'm not a big fan of sugar, but I LOATHE aspartame... and, kick my ass, it's everywhere! I didn't realize this until recently when my 5yo son started chewing gum.

For those of you wondering why I'm encouraging my son's gum habit, he's been cursed with my (and Roomie's) motion sickness genes, the poor little guy, and chewing gum keeps him from throwing up in my car. I'm not really concerned about him soiling the interior of my '91 Tercel. We could tell him to, as my brother-in-law would say, "throw up in your hat - your hat can go into the laundry, my car cannot", but I'd rather not have a 'puke hat' in my car, and I'd just rather him not feel sick at all. Gum has been our solution.

But try to find a sugarless gum not tainted by aspartame! It's been near impossible for us. I've even looked online. Nothing. So, we have resorted to giving him Bubblicious. They're big, so we cut them in half.
Frankly, to me, it's still not an ideal solution.

Hey... you may have one!

So, as my 52 Weeks of Community task for this week, I'm running a poll, and my question is... "What kind of gum do you chew?"

And if you have a good suggestion for a non-aspartame sugar-free gum, please let us know in the comments...

What kind of gum do you chew?
	regular sugar gum
	bubble gum
	sugar-free gum (with aspartame)
	sugar-free gum (with other artificial sweetener)
	I don't care how my gum is sweetened/I don't chew gum
pollcode.com free polls

Meme Addict Strikes Again!

Hi-ho! Kari posted this meme on her blog (nice redesign, Kari!) and has encouraged her readers to take it and run with it... so, since I'm a meme-addict, and as this week's 52WoC assignment is to link to Kari, here's mine... Feel free to take it and run too.

1. At what age do you wish to marry?
I want to marry at 25... oops, too late - I married at 30... gotta fix that time machine!

2. What color do you like most?
burgundy...

3. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
Any place where I can wear next to nothing and scream "I'm not getting dressed unless I get arrested!!!" Hopefully, the next words won't be "Oh, hello, officer."
Somewhere warm like the Mediterranean...

4. Which part of you do you hate the most?
My painfully-dry winter skin... it always gets really dry and sore during the winter, so I have to slather on the body lotion... I'm an island girl - I need humidity!

5. When you encounter a sad moment, what would you do?
I weep copious tears...

6. What are you afraid to lose the most?
My family...

7. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
Travel to warm naked place, invest in our retirement and kids' education funds, pay off debts to mortgage and loan sharks... just kidding about the loan sharks...

8. What’s your wish for the year ahead?
More good health, good fortune, and happy-happy stuff with Roomie and kids...
Less debt and boiling bum pustules... just kidding about the bum pustules...

9. How did you celebrate the New Year?
At home in my pyjamas watching Futurama surrounded by my family.

10. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
Not being more adventurous, enjoying life more, and saving more money when I was single.

11. Which type of person do you hate the most?
Control-freaks have a special place in my personal version of hell... and I used to be one of those people!

12. What is your ambition?
To be a more effective blogger, to make a living from blogging... and to be able to do 25 push-ups.

13. If you had one wish what would you wish for?
For my kids to have long and happy lives...

14. Name one of your body parts your hubby or boyfriend tells you he adores:
Hubby thinks I've got a nice butt... despite the pustules... ;)

15. What is the best gift you can give someone this year?
My time... it's a very rare and precious commodity...

16. List two of your Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions.
To get down to 24%bodyfat...
To learn to play poker...

17. What do you need to do this year in order for you to be happier in life?
Win a million dollars so I can finally get those loan sharks off the boiling pustules on my bum... sorry, just kidding...
I'd like to be organized so that I can get things done according to priority... I like life to be a well-oiled machine on autopilot. :)

18. What are the Top 2 things that you are most thankful for the year 2007 that made you even more happier for 2008?
Starting my blog, and Roomie's lovely job because now we can have summers together as a family...

19. What was the best lesson you learned in 2007 (be specific)?
I have to have some projects, hobbies and enjoyment outside of my family... some stuff to call my own... to preserve my own identity beyond that of just 'Mom'. Doing so has made me a more effective mother... I think so, anyway. :)

20. In this very moment, are you doing what you thought you’d be doing at this stage in your life?
No, thank heavens! Being in WAHM Heaven is infinitely better than being in Computer Engineering Hell!

Peace out! (omg, how old am I?... 16?! pffft!)

52 Weeks of Blog Community

One of the things I love about blogging is the social and community building aspects. It's much more personal so reaching out to other bloggers is so easy... a very one-to-one thing.

A really groovy blogger I've come to enjoy reading has recently started a project to promote this community-building. Shai has started the 52 Weeks of Blog Community. Each week for a full year, she'll be giving us tasks that encourage us to reach out to other bloggers. Cool, eh?

If you have a blog and want to join, just follow the links above to Shai's blog.

Hocus Pocus... Back in Focus!

I'm in love... with my blog... (shh, don't tell Roomie).

My blog and I have been very happy since we first got together in March 2007. It's always ready to listen and doesn't pout when I've been away for too long. And when I give it my attention, it rewards me with new visitors, loyal readers, and happy commenting friends.

But I've also done the one thing to my blog that one should never do in a relationship: I've tried to change the one I love into something it's not.

Instead of lovingly accepting it for what it really is - a blog about me and the sweet things in my life - I have, as of late, tried to make it "nichy" and unnatural. I tried to dress it in a tux, when it's really a "jeans and t-shirt" kind of blog. It's like slapping a hot dog suit on Gerard Butler... still very attractive on the inside, but, on the outside, just a little... off.

The result? I've begun to bore old readers and confuse new readers. Hell, I've even confused myself! How many times have I changed my "About" page?!!! All because I lost my focus, like that feeling of comfortable familiarity between people in a long-term relationship.

So, the past couple of nights, I lay in bed wide awake just thinking about how to get back that "lovin' feelin'"... and today, I found the answer in my old blog posts. There, I found, in my own words, why I first started blogging, what I wanted to blog about, and what "life candy" was to me.

"Then I thought about what candy is. It's tasty and makes people, in general, very happy.
This blog of mine is where I talk about the things in my life that make me happy or eventually lead to my happiness..."

So, it's back to the beginning, and that's where we'll be until my blog and I are as content as an old married couple.