I am yet to be convinced of the peculiarity and the importance of the ongoing fad of giving special awards based on strata-clustered votes in most award-giving bodies even in the Philippine blogosphere. For one, its doors are wide open for the lack of or for the limited criteria of making a “more justified” choice rather than a personal one.
While I ruminate on the merits of critical acclaim, popular appeal and the productive union of the two, I find it quite ironic that I, always shunning popular choice categories, am making a choice and I am voting for Joseph “Otep” Zablan’s blog “Libre Lang Mangarap” as my pick for the Blogger’s Choice Award in the Philippine Blog Awards 2009.
Otep’s blog is a far cry from being a literary haven. It is littered with misspelled words, disagreeing tenses and redundant non-words even when it is written in his native tongue. Sometimes, his posts lack coherence and form. But then, his entries are always engaging, with the unseemly pair of pomp in his optimism and the raw honesty of a struggling young man trying to find his own place. He acknowledges his fear of highfaluting words and sticks to his own standard: self-expression. He admits he is not a rocket scientist. He chose to fly rockets instead – in dreams like most dreamers do. This I believe is the endearing quality of his blog – dreams are woven free…
Maybe the inspiration that his struggles and dreams give has appealed to his many readers. Life may serve us with different color-coated chocolates, but not all chocolates are sweet. Along with the joy of having his little dreams fulfilled come failures and heartbreaks. Sometimes, he stubbornly wallows in the sickening taste of bitter chocolate for far too long but in his own time he picks himself up, takes his own sure strides and dreams again.
If this vote would make him dream more, why not? In our current times, perhaps we need more dreamers like Otep. Perhaps, the future will be much brighter and more colorful…
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)
sige, mabasa nga yan. mukang touching e. i’ll take it from you.
hi mark, i love the title of his blog. will visit his site soon.
i love the capture. hehehe 
i want them to melt in my mouth. hehe 
kitkit visit ka sa blog ko bibigyan kita ng welcome party hehhehe
wow parekoy na teary eyes na naman ako. huhuhu.
maraming salamat.
buti ka pa naboto mo ko
salamats uli. kakampanya pa ko baka may bumoto pa
i do agree dreams are woven free….for those who choosee to dream and pursue it!
nagvote na ako via text vote. at isa si otep sa mga binoto ko rin. hehe.
ganda ng picture! yum yum! hehehe..
oo nga libre lang ang mangarap..
teka teka, pano bumoto?
saka na comment ko sir..magpapa-check lang ng attendance..PRESENT PO!
we should dream. dream big. because it defines who we are, and who we can be. great post on this!
Great site Mark! No wonder somebody behind me always talks about your blog!
you are truly a photographer Mark, imagine how you made MandM so delectable!
PS…would you believe I first typed “nips”? Hahaha, I remember when I was at McDo before, I forgot the name of those soft ice cream with oreo or M&M and when I was asked what would I want with it, I quickly replied, “Nips!”
neway, best of luck to your choice, will visit the site, as it sounds very interesting.
Hanga ako sa laman ng sulat mong ito laan para kay otep na iyong binoto.
Ang galing.
wow dis is nicely written…
marami rin pala ang sumoporta kay pareng otep… hehe…
pero honestly, i also admire how otep faces trials and challenges in his life just to pursue his dream. i do believe na walang pangarap ang hindi kayang abutin.
Gandang umaga!
agree..
agree..
dreams are woven free..
at gaya ng pangarap eh ‘free’ din ang pagbablog kaya hindi natin kailangang malimitahan ng ating faults sa pagsusulat at mga personal na inhibisyon para maiparating natin sa mga mambabasa ang mga saloobin. we just need to be true as we are and mean every word we say. the same goes with our dreams; unless we really mean and work for them, they will never ever come true..
“otep” is lucky to get your vote. Considering your standards, as I remember, his blog must really be good.
I didn’t really follow the blog awards. But I think Prof Heckler got the Reader’s Choice. I read his blog.
Will drop by your otep’s sometime.
I am a regular reader of the Heckler…
Hmmm… My creative writing standards then do not really apply much to self-expression. Blogging is raw self-expression, although I am still stringent to myself when I write most of my blog entries…