About Blogging…
I was tagged by my very dear friend Silverine. Doing this tag was a very interesting experience.
1. Are you happy/satisfied with your blog, with its content and look? Does your family know about your blog?
Oh yes, I am very happy and satisfied with my blog. I started blogging to write freely and without any restrictions. I wanted an avenue to express my thoughts without the constraints imposed by the technical writing process (which is what I do for a living). I wanted to write without curbing my instincts, flair, and style. My blog enables me to achieve all these goals. Yes, my family knows about my blog, but except for my brother nobody reads it.
2. Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or you just consider it as a private thing?
My policy is not to do anything I will feel guilty or embarrassed about. I won’t do anything that I am embarrassed about or that is against my conscience. I am not at all embarrassed or ashamed about my blog. I blog under my real name and my blog is part of my personal website. I write about many topics that would make sense only if the reader knows about me.
But I don’t have any problems with people using a pseudo name or pen name. The name is not important, the person is. I don’t need a name to know a person. It is the person’s ideas, view points and opinions that I am interested in, not his/her name. But I have met a few of my blog pals and I don’t think knowing the real identity of a person has made a difference.
I consider blogging as private thing in the sense that I write about the things that I want to write or issues that makes me think, brings a smile on my face, or disturbs or frustrates me. What I write is my personal opinion, but once I write and post it, it becomes public—something I want to share with others.
3. Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?
Yes. Writing many posts have helped in introspection, self-examination and self-reflection. Many readers have told me that I have made a positive impact in their lives, which is very gratifying. I have made a lot of good friends through blogging. I think all these have caused many positive changes in my thoughts and outlook.
4. Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?
I regularly read all the posts written by my favorite bloggers—about 20-25 blogs. I don’t read a blog just because a person has commented on my blog. I have never done blog hopping as the chances of landing on a blog that is interesting and appealing to me are very rare. So, I trust the judgment of my blog pals and try to read the blogs on their blogroll.
5.What does visitors counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it in your blog?
Visitor’s counter is not very important to me. I have put an invisible counter on my blog. The only interesting thing that I learned from the counter is that there are a lot of visitors who prefer to be passive readers.
6. Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?
Yes, I do. I have a profile of each of my blog pals. I have met a few of them, talked to a few of them and corresponded with a few others. Surprisingly, my mental picture—profile—usually fits. I think one can learn a lot about a person from his/her writings. But this is something that I do subconsciously and snooping is never the intention.
7. Admit. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?
Yes, there are many benefits for blogging. You get to know a lot of brilliant and smart people, get to know their view points, experiences and you get an opportunity to share your ideas and experiences. I repeat what I had written in one of my previous posts: I am glad that I started blogging as it has helped me in interacting with some of best and brilliant minds. I am glad that I have been accepted as a friend and I truly relish the friendship and camaraderie.
8. Do you think that bloggers society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?
Bloggers write about what is happening to their lives, what is happening around them, to their friends, colleagues, and relatives. In that sense, blogs are an extension of the real world and is no way isolated from it.
9. Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it’s a normal thing?
Constructive criticism does not annoy me. All other forms do—especially advice on what to do with my life, how I should live and behave and so on. I usually delete those comments and forget about it. But some comments really leave a very bad taste and it takes some time to get over the anger and annoyance.
10. Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them?
I don’t fear political blogs but never visit them or read them. But there are few blogs that deal with social issues that I follow regularly. These are not political, but they deal with issues that are not usually found in a personal blog. I have great respect for people who take time and effort for some cause—trying to create awareness, generate support and to improve the situation.
11. Did you get shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?
A blog is another medium of communication and like the other media it also can be misused. If somebody has used their blogs for some criminal activity, I will be shocked if they are not arrested and punished.
12. Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?
I really don’t care what will happen to my blog after my death. I have not really thought about it. I think, when the hosting company is not paid the renewal charges, they will close down my website and my blog 
13. What do you like to hear? What’s the song you might like to put a link to in your blog?
One of my all time favorite songs is The Temple of the King by Rainbow. It is a song from their first album Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow released in 1975. I first heard when I was in college and instantly fell in love with that song. I don’t know what is special about the song, but it makes me feel clam and great.
One day in the year of the fox
Came a time remembered well
When the strong young man of the rising sun
Heard the tolling of the great black bell
One day in the year of the fox
When the bell began to ring
Meant the time had cometh
For one to go
To the temple of the king
There in the middle of the circle he stands
Searching, seeking
With just one touch of his trembling hand
The answer will be found
Daylight waits while the old man sings
Heaven help me
And then like the rush of a thousand wings
It shines upon the one
And the day had just begun
One day in the year of the fox
Came a time remembered well
When the strong young man of the rising sun
Heard the tolling of the great black bell
One day in the year of the fox
When the bell began to sing
It meant the time had cometh
For one to go
To the temple of the king
There in the middle of the people
He stands
Seeing, feeling
With just a wave of a strong right hand
He’s gone
To the temple of the king
Far from the circle at the edge of the world
He’s hoping, wondering
Thinking back from the stories he’s heard
Of what he’s going to see
There in middle of the circle it lies
Heaven help me
Then all could see by the shine in his eyes
The answer had been found
Back with the people in the circle
He stands
Giving, feeling
With just one touch of a strong right hand
They know
Of the temple and the king
I hereby tag James, Sreejith, Anand, Anu, Thanu, Jagu, and Geo.
thanu Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 1:00 am
I would love to do this tag. Each bullet point by itself has enough to be a post on its own.
esvee Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 2:11 am
That song is one of my favourites too…
As for the meaning..i guess its something to do with Solomon’s Temple…satan..etc..Ii remember reading somewhere..satan holds the key to the temple of king and only those who have his mark can enter…. Rainbow songs had mystical elements,magic,dragons,dungeons etc.. (now continued by Dio ,who was the lead singer of Rainbow!)
take care
esvee Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 2:16 am
i googled and got this link ….
http://www.watch.pair.com/new-jerusalem.html
Hi Alex, your choice whether to publish the URL and you can edit my earlier comment also
James Bright Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 4:52 am
This is very revealing and I enjoyed reading. Happy to see these facts about you, Alexis!
When I started to read this post, I was thinking “my God am I going to get tagged..? And here I am..tagged again…! But no problem… I am so glad to take this tag as you being one of my dearest friends in the blogosphere and this particular tag is really worth taking…!”
Fleiger Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 5:34 am
Nice post… this is one tag which I really liked. I must thank whoever came up with this originally.
Makes you think a bit, doesn’t it? Writing under pen-name and under real name is a really big discussion topic, with pros and cons on both sides.
And of course, as me and silverine are discussing on her blog, awareness about blogs (that this is private writing place, rather like a public diary entry) is increasing, and that might change the comments/suggestions that are given on posts. At least, hope so…
Anju Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 6:41 am
“What I write is my personal opinion, but once I write and post it, it becomes public”
Absolutely…when you write a blog it is so personal…just jotting down of thoughts and then you publish it, just like you would air your views with friends and then you hope that it becomes just that, a part of a conversation with friends. Which is why I like comments that are like a part of the discussion. But some people completely miss the point and don the role of a literary critic with blogs
What people don’t realise is that our blogs is a part of a coversation of a larger circle of friends.
“But some comments really leave a very bad taste and it takes some time to get over the anger and annoyance.”
Happened to me too recently…took some time to recover
I think you know the details as you doubled up as my shrink :p
This is such a nice tag isn’t it…I see a desire to make things clear to readers and commenters that the our blog is a medium for free expression of our thoughts and feelings.
Great great thoughts!!!
Alexis Leon Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 10:55 am
thanu: Thank you Thanu. I really look forward to reading your tag.
esvee: Thanks for the link. Very informative…
James: Thank you James. You are a permanent name on my tag list. I always want to hear your views.
Fleiger: Thanks Fleiger. I think whether to blog under one’s real name or pen-name is a personal decision. I have been reading the discussion at Silverine’s Think Pad with great interest. But I don’t agree with your observation about the age and profession of bloggers. There are many bloggers older than 25 years and from a lot of other professions. Regarding the comments, I sincerely hope so.
Anju: Thank you for tagging me. I forgot to mention that in the post. It was a nice experience. Regarding the ‘conversation of a larger circle of friends’ and ‘annoying comments’, I completely agree with you.
Suji Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 12:38 pm
This is an interesting tag. Great to know about so many issues realted to blogging which we never consiously think about while blogging.
Sreejith Kumar Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 5:06 pm
One sensible tag….
This was very brilliantly done. As you have said, we all have an idea of what a fellow blogger would think abour certain situations and what their thoughts would be…. I am so glad to tell you that I could guess all of the answers you gave to the tag questions.
Thanks for tagging me… This would appear soon on my blog….
Fleiger Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 5:15 pm
Oh, I was talking demographically. From what I heard and saw in my blog-hopping days, many young people started blogging as we check out new gadget, as the next “thing” to do… Of course, how many continue seriously is another matter altogether…
Jo Said,
October 3, 2006 @ 11:42 pm
Very bold replies, Alexis!
Temple of the King – Tha’t s a very cool song. It was long lost and last week, I bought a 2 CD collection of classic rock songs and it was there!!!
Maya cassis Said,
October 4, 2006 @ 6:21 am
wow!the temple of the king.i heard that when i was in college too from a senior’s song collection
)
Didn’t know it was older than me.wow!lovely song and great attempt at the tag
Alex Said,
October 4, 2006 @ 10:47 pm
The temple of the king, didnt ring a bell, but the first line of the song did. I remember vaguely.
I am off to try listening to the song on the net.
Maya cassis Said,
October 5, 2006 @ 3:44 am
What site do you listen to music from?
For hindi,I go to http://www.apniisp.com
It’s real easy to download numbers from there.
I used to use kazaa,bearshare and stuff like that but that brought with it so many viruses.
Alexis Leon Said,
October 5, 2006 @ 9:22 am
Suji: Yes, it is a very interesting tag. Why don’t you take it? Would love to read your views.
Sreejith: Thank you. Waiting to read your take on this one…
Fleiger: That is true. Many people have multiple blogs each with one or two posts.
Jo: Thanks Jo. Yes, Temple of the King is a real cool song. Would you sing it?
Maya: Nice to know that you like the song. Yes it is a very old song. I don’t listen to music from the web. My brother has an excellent CD collection of old and new Hindi, English and Malayalam songs belonging to all genres. So I usually borrow the CDs from him or rip it and store it on my computer or burn a CD/DVD. If I like a song and it is not in his collection, then I buy it from iTunes or MSN music store. I am not comfortable with downloading music from unknown sources.
Alex: All the best
Sreejith Kumar Said,
October 5, 2006 @ 3:08 pm
Done!
anu Said,
October 5, 2006 @ 9:48 pm
hmmm.. u have written in ur no nonsense and balanced style..
)
loved reading it..
and txs for tagging me.. i shall enjoy doing it..
Dhanush Gopinath Said,
October 6, 2006 @ 9:48 am
Nice One Alexis.
I started blogging to write freely and without any restrictions.
I think that would be the reason for most of us, a place we are all uncensored but not un sensible.
For me it was for those kutti kavithas I started with, then as I explored the medium, work got me busy, until i rediscovered blogging last year and moved own most of my publications in my previous company’s internal newsletters to the Frustrations:).
I have a profile of each of my blog pals Dhanush – The Mafia Don ??
Song – If you like ARR hear Munpe Vaa from Sillunnu Oru Kadhal. Playing for the umpteenth time in my play list.
Cool Tag Alexis. Will pick up sometime. Busy these days. Till then enjoy my solo ride story
lalitha Said,
October 6, 2006 @ 8:50 pm
cool tag and very well written Alexis..enjoyed reading it. take care and have a good weekend.
Archana Said,
October 7, 2006 @ 4:19 am
Hi!
Here for the first time from Thanu’s blog. I read your story and I really admire your courage!
Interesting responses to the tag! Hmm, basically I did not want to join the list of passive readers on my first visit and hence this comment
!
Kusum Rohra Said,
October 7, 2006 @ 4:59 pm
Oh yes, I am very happy and satisfied with my blog.
Same to same me too
My policy is not to do anything I will feel guilty or embarrassed about.
Mine too
So, I trust the judgment of my blog pals and try to read the blogs on their blogroll.
Me too. That is how I came to read Anju’s blog, from her got here, then to Fleiger’s, Mind curry, GT
Oh I realised I am copy pasting everything
heheh Completely agree on most of the things here. Lovely.
Alexis Leon Said,
October 8, 2006 @ 10:51 am
Sreejith: Thanks, beautifully done.
anu: Thanks anu. Waiting to read your take on the tag…The solo ride story was very riveting.
Don Dhanush: Thanks.
lalitha: Thanks Lalitha. Hope you are fine and feeling well.
Archana: Welcome to my blog. Thanks for dropping by and for the comment.
Kusum: LOL. Great minds think alike
Jagu.. Said,
October 8, 2006 @ 11:01 am
Thank You Alexis for your Birthday wishes. Being 30 is not been as bad as I thought it would be
.. I am doing the tag.. Will post it in few hours 
. God Bless
Alexis Leon Said,
October 8, 2006 @ 11:19 am
Jagu: Not bad at all, especially with that beautiful and mouthwatering cake
White Forest? Looking at that the photograph was agonizing 
Ganja Turtle Said,
October 8, 2006 @ 11:57 am
“Temple of the king”…took me back to good old days of octavia, deep forest and festember, alex….wow!!
“I think, when the hosting company is not paid the renewal charges, they will close down my website and my blog” LOL, Alex…join the free bloggers assocation at blogspot!!!
venus Said,
October 9, 2006 @ 11:14 pm
Blog is a very personal thing, and it truely has no boundaries, you can connect to people 1000s of miles away!
I liked your song selection
very beautiful song!
chekku Said,
October 10, 2006 @ 1:26 am
Alex..i can bet ..your blog has definitely influenced positively on many readers…thats the best part of your blog..keep writing..
Alexis Leon Said,
October 10, 2006 @ 9:46 am
GT: Festember participant…Good. Free bloggers association is not for me as it has many limitations…
Venus: Very true. It is one among the very few rock songs that I like.
Mathew: Danke mein lieber Freund…
rathish Said,
October 12, 2006 @ 7:22 pm
alexis chetta.. shall i tag you…????
I wanted your permission before tagging you.
If you dont want to repeat a tag again in your blog…u can always
postpone this tag.And if dont wanna do this..it is also okiie…
The tag is 8 random facts about you.
It was nice reading yur blogging tag…But i couldnt understand one thing the logic of disassociating politics from social issues…dont they share a cause and effect relationship.
Alexis Leon Said,
October 14, 2006 @ 11:10 pm
Rathish: I will do the tag; just give me some time. The logic of disassociating politics from social issues or causes is that almost all the politicians are not worried about social issues or solving them. They just use the issues for their political gains.
ashok Said,
October 15, 2006 @ 12:11 am
hello sir.. i never gave so much thought about the act of blogging. reading this post actually made me think in a direction i havent tried before.
i have been off blogs for some time…looks like its going to be same in the near future.hectic schedules…no time to live.
regarding qn#12..i wonder if blogger will be running after my death.
Jaguu Said,
October 17, 2006 @ 2:20 am
YAY!! Finally done the tag!! Sorry for the delay!! I would be HOME in 5 days!! WOOHOOO!!
Geo Said,
October 18, 2006 @ 8:57 am
Ppl shd be banned from giving alexis a tag wherein he cant go on and on about ganja and toddy and all
just kidding.. great tag as usual alexis… enjoyed ur answers…
guess we have built a nice community of bloggers here… nice to see it being kept alive and growing.
S Said,
October 18, 2006 @ 4:17 pm
HI just wanted to verify if u are the same person who wrote a book on ERP?Had read the book for my academic purpose.
Good job.also wanted few other info related to it.If you dont mind that is..
Alexis Leon Said,
October 18, 2006 @ 7:26 pm
Ashok: Thanks buddy. no time to live…LOL Don’t worry, you will soon learn the art of surviving this madness
Jaguu: Thanks Jaguu. C u soon…
Geo: I completely agree with you. I should be allowed to write about my areas of expertise
Thanks buddy. And Yes, I think we have a nice community of bloggers here…
Anju Said,
October 18, 2006 @ 11:50 pm
Exkoos moi, but I distinctly remember a “food tag” that you have to do!!! ahem ??????
Alexis Leon Said,
October 19, 2006 @ 10:00 am
S: Yes, I did write that book among many other crimes
Anju: Yes, Anu had tagged me. But after reading all the other tags (esp. yours and Mathew’s) I didn’t do it, as you two have covered all the dishes that I was planning to write about quite brilliantly and delightfully. So I decided not to do that tag. My sincere apologies to Anu.