Response to "Shari Cruz: The Blogger I Knew and Never Met"

Pseudo-response to the "eulogy" written by one of my most favorite bloggers, Marocharim. And so, I admit --- not for the first time --- that I'm a crybaby. I feel very dead appreciated.

There was this quaint computer shop at the back of Convention Center called ComShop, and by some strange accident, she “stalked” my blog.

It wasn't an accident. It was destiny. HAHA.

You know, I was bound to find your blog one way or another. People usually didn't bother to clear their private data, as my habit whenever I used a public computer.

Never wanted people to find out my, uhm, internet surfing history.

It sometimes embarrasses me that she once credited me for being a sort of “inspiration” to the success of her own blog.

But...you were! And still is! And you deserve all the credit I gave you, and even more. Your blog is just as personal as mine, just with more character and, uh, pizzazz. And your blog entries are always well-written and entertaining. Even my friends have found themselves hooked on your blog for some time now, especially during your Death by (Friendster) Degrees series days. Congratulations, by the way, for that honor thing you received. :)

If the blogosphere were Star Wars, I think Shari would make for Luke Skywalker, and I’m Darth Vader.

I seriously like R2-D2 better, but I guess Luke Skywalker is okay. =)

I can honestly say that I never really met Shari. Which is a pathetic excuse, since if we blogged at the same computer shop, joined the same political organization, and went to the same school, we should have known each other.

I can say the same, really. We've never really talked, eh? I can even go as far as saying that we acted like the other's invisible or something. I mean, we see each other, and then that's that. I see you making tambay either in the ACS kiosk, or the pathway from two-oh's leading to the library (may tawag ba 'ron?). But we never did exchange a word. Heh, ironic, really.

Honestly, if it wasn't for that Friendster link you put in your profile, I wouldn't have known it was you behind the blog. I wasn't terribly surprised when I saw your picture though; I was just intrigued because I thought you were always in the ComShop to play.

I think I speak for many bloggers when I say that when Shari won the Best Personal Blog award in the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards, she deserved it.

Awww...stop! You're making me blush. Haha. I may have deserved it, but a lot of people deserved it all the more. And look where that award --- that trophy --- that display --- got me now? *rolls eyes* Seriously, it's one of the reasons why I've decided to leave Misteryosa.com for dead.

One of my favorite “Misteryosa stories” was when Shari got in trouble because of me. When I “synthesized” a very unflattering metaphor involving Manny Pacquiao and Gloria Arroyo, Shari echoed it with her own take on the issue.

I will never ever forget that moment in my blogging life. Seriously, if receiving death threats from all over the world was serious trouble, the one I got myself into was so much more serious-er than that. Thousands of comments, almost all done by enraged fans of Manny Pacquiao who wanted to kill me. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo? Nah. Although I did see AFP IP addresses logged from time to time.

But I will always be grateful to her for saving my blogging hide on many occasions, and for serving as a source of inspiration.

Hmmm, I don't remember me saving your blogging hide ever. You've always managed to save your own hide by yourself. And...source of inspiration? Awww...making me blush again. Haha.

Now that I am living in Metro Manila, there are opportunities for me to meet Shari in person and to know more about one of my favorite bloggers in my very short list of blog links.

Last time I saw you, I stopped by UP Baguio to get my College Scholar...certification...thingy. You even told me I should have called you or something like that, right? Or was it when you were sitting alone in a bench along Acad Oval in UP Diliman? Hmmm...I don't remember.

In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing you some time soon. I still remember that glass of Jack Daniels you promised me, though I doubt it'd be at the same place you told me about.

Shari Cruz, or Misteryosa, or whatever you want to call her, is simply one of the best bloggers in the Philippines. Period. To see her leave is a challenge to any blogger out there to step up to the plate, and see if your fingers would match up to her keyboard… because I know that even my own fingers cannot.

Thank you, Marocharim. I'm pretty sure you're more than capable of stepping up to the plate. In fact, you're more than enough to fill in my place...whatever that place is called. I will still be reading your blog, and the blog of the others, and be a fan of you all.

And I'm just here, in Multiply, doing the crazy things I usually do.