pelf-ism is contagious

I have had a very slow week, in terms of writing, publishing, commenting and blog-hopping. In fact, I haven’t been spending as much time as I would love to on my blog because I have been too caught up with writing up my thesis. I have set myself a deadline which I hope to be able to honour so that things get done, and I could get on with my life. It definitely isn’t fun going to bed every night thinking about the unfinished thesis, and whether I would ever graduate with a Master’s degree next year.

Anyway, did you know that I was invited to guest-blog at Domestik Goddess some time ago? And because Jen writes about arts and crafts, she suggested that I write about crafty friends/bloggers I know. My first article, which featured April and her hand-made jewellery was published on Nov 1st. My second article would be published on Nov 15th, but I shall not disclose my second “featured blogger”

Ouh, and I have recently given my charity-based blog, The Giving Hands, a face-lift. I am currently using a simple-and-clean theme called Content Cream, by Mohsin @ Blogging Bits. I am almost done with the tweaking, so you know what to do now, don’t you? And I am working on trying to keep to a posting schedule (which has yet to be determined due to the current thesis-writing frenzy)

One more thing, Edrei was recently short-listed as a finalist for the 2007 Weblog Awards Best Asian Blog — how cool is that?! I mean, how often do you find a Malaysian picked up for such an award? So, do us all a favour, and vote for him, will you? The voting will run until Nov 8th, and you can vote once every 24 hours! So please make every vote count!

And now, some link loves for my top commentators:

• After a little “talking to” (I wouldn’t call it convincing because I wasn’t trying to influence him), littlebro, my ex-housemate, had finally decided to revive his blog, which had been left since 2 years ago. Check out this tribute to yours truly!
• Chen shares an East Malaysian signature dish — jungle fern!
• Does your Mum keep one of those very ancient irons at home? You know, the one that uses coal, and is drop-dead heavy it makes you think how anybody would use that to iron clothes? pearl has a picture of the classic iron!
• Is your blog dying? How do you tell if you are slowly (but surely) abandoning your blog? Wayne Liew shares some points on how you can ensure that your blog doesn’t die
• French blogger, Zhu talked about her experience as a receptionist in Hong Kong and why she wouldn’t get herself a handphone
• yenjai shows what you can do with the barcode sticker that comes with a new book.
• What do you do if you can’t lock the boot of your car? You latch it, of course! And Pelfy shows us an example of how you can do it (and attract all the attention)
• silveraven has some pictures of a “bastard cut“! *gulps*
• Diana13 compiled a list of articles with tips on how to increase your blog traffic, write better, save time, make money online and some photography and security tips.
• A group of Muslims are trying to clear some of the misconceptions about Islam. Visit their website AskMuslims.com to learn more about Islam.

Do you realize the usual guys are getting all the link loves every week?? Come on, drop by more often, leave me more comments (and loves, and hugs) and you could be on the list next week

Let me see.. The Breast Cancer Awareness Month is coming to an end, and I should be wrapping up my breast cancer awareness posts, but I still have another post to share with you. Oh by the way, I participated in an online campaign called Blogging for Boobs yesterday — have you read the post on breast cancer treatments?

Since we’re still on the topic of breast cancer, Blogging for Boobs generated an overwhelming response from bloggers all over the world. And in case you have some free time in your hands, read about what other bloggers have to say

Oh, just to let you know that I don’t write about breast cancer ONLY, in fact I’ve got a guest post up at Fresh Perspectives entitled How do you overcome blogger’s block? Coincidently, Edrei also touched on the same topic, so you might also want to check his post out — How to survive blogger’s block.

I attended the 5th Asia Pacific Ecotourism Conference at Merang Suria Resort yesterday and learned a great deal about responsible tourism and what-nots from the experts and tour operators. Err.. Is anybody interested in a campaign for responsible tourism?

There goes my short updates. Let’s proceed to giving some link loves to my top commentators:

• Diana13 also participated in the Blogging for Boobs campaign, and put together an article entitled New researches on breast cancer that discusses some current research and advances in breast cancer.
• Kristarella shares a true account of Lymphoedema, written by her breast cancer survivor mother as well as some information on Lymphoedema in a very easy-to-understand manner.
• How do you say “breast cancer” in Dutch? German? Spanish? Italian? Pelfy did some research for you in Breast cancer in different languages, go study them
• Have you EVER seen bananas that are pink in colour? Chen showed us a couple of pictures of pink bananas in her Photo Hunt entry last week. Apparently, according to Chen, these pink bananas are NOT edible.
• TenthOfMarch shares with his readers the theory behind how one can easily earn USD 1,000 from blogging every month. While his theories are somewhat fool-proof, I’d advice any new bloggers who are considering writing sponsored posts to carefully think about it before making the move.
• Andy Bailey, the author of the Commentluv plugin, is looking for a web designer who would help him redesign his site for less than USD 400. He wants a 3-column theme, widgetized unique sidebars, a space for promotion of featured products, etc. Are you a theme designer? Do you know one? Andy is giving out a USD 25 gift certificate to the person who recommends a designer who subsequently seals the deal!
• Wayne Liew shares some tips and ideas on what you can do to fill your blogging idle time.
• nimrodjo has a list of link exchange directories that might interest you.
• littlebro was my housemate in Kuala Terengganu for 2 years. He was an IT student, graduated this year (2007) and is currently working in Kelana Jaya. He doesn’t blog (though I’m encouraging him to), but if you’re interested, you may visit his Friendster profile
• pearl participated in the first Charity Makeover Marathon organized by Body Shop in Singapore. It was also Body Shop’s attempt to be listed in the Singapore Book of Records for the largest number of people having makeovers over 12 hours.

There we go, peeps! Till next week!

What do you do to reward your commentators for their comments and time? And what better ways to reward them than to send them some link loves every week?

Following are some link loves for my top commentators:

• Giddy Tiger encourages her readers to click away so that sponsors of the breast cancer site will pay for free mammograms.
• My sister, Pelfy shares some basic information on lung cancer and her thoughts on the “Say NO to Cigarettes” campaign in Malaysia.
• Diana13 finally completed her first meme ever!
• yenjai reveals a very funny kind of spam — one that tells you that you have reached a certain percentage of your monthly bandwidth. He calls it “idiot spam”.
• Wayne Liew shares some tips on the art of commenting to attract the attention and eventually some clicks to your site.
• Do you still feel the excitement each time somebody leaves you a comment? helen sure does!
• Mohsin is giving out a free back link to anybody who leaves him a comment and a link. What are you waiting for?
• Opal Tribble introduces a site that offers FREE services to help check your blog loading time and some other aspects, e.g. the number of images you have on your main page, their total size, etc.
• js finally shares some of the pictures he took while visiting Phuket last year!
• Guess who said this: “I am constantly surprised that people read what I have to say.” Michael Martine has the answer in Overheard in the blogosphere!

And because this is the first in the series, I’m throwing the following in as BONUS!

• Haven’t been laughing a lot recently? Check out these very funny classifieds! Remember, a laughter a day keeps gloomy days away
• Get your daily dose of funny jokes here!
• Can you sketch? Can you sketch like this person does?!
• How many types of watermelons have you seen? I bet you haven’t seen a square watermelon before!
• What are the most disgusting foods you’ve seen?

That’s all peeps, till next week!