Foreword: Wonder + Blog

Asecond wave of  thoughts: Maybe I write better under the influence? There’s bourbon in the kitchen. I might start emoting the words more. Or is it the smoking? Inhaling the words has always helped. But I proudly quit five months ago. Asking for the perfect words, but the almost-perfect show up instead; another wave of thoughts rushes in. Maybe I am not ready for weekly writing.

I go online for advice, bump into Woody Allen in one of those quotation pages. Woody, how do you do it? He simply tells me: “I have no idea what I am doing. But incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.”

This is how my friendship with words started. I had to write a persuasive essay back in college. Good writing can only come from strong convictions; my strong convictions at that time were of atheism. So there I was, a naive 18-year-old freshman, in a school run by Jesuits, reading before a room full of Catholic believers, about how the existence of God makes absolutely no sense. Miraculously, I was the only guy who got convincing applause.

I went on to write a second essay for another professor. He told my lazy ass that I should be careful not to waste a gift. Three months later, I got “honorably dismissed” from school. This left me with an uncertain future, no direction and too much time on my hands. Battling teenage-life crisis, I discovered the wonders of starting a blog. It was the most self-absorbed thing, but I loved it.

I have a friend who’s been writing a column for the past so many years. She was kind enough to give me an honest opinion: “Weekly writing is hell. You are judged for everything from punctuation to your sexual history. The well dries, the money is sh*t. Wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

The blog is where I taught myself to write. This kid of eight years ago was a brash and hormonal one. I was ready to grab any kind of outlet to get rid of all those frustrations. Kids are encouraged to post self-promoting photos, like the one of me holding a camera against a mirror, air out personal thoughts, hit the “publish” button, then get instant love and attention within minutes.

What made me click with readers was the fact that I had no concept of holding back.

I deleted my first two blogs because they literally contained my innermost thoughts and desires. It was like committing harakiri, before a packed Araneta Coliseum crowd, then demonstrating which loin hurts and which one tickles. After building a solid readership for two years, I stopped.

I send a text message to a close friend. Someone you can trust with your life. “Why am I starting a column?” She replies, “To have more conversations with people. Think of it as more of a two-way thing, not just you sharing your thoughts.”

This blog will have at least one amazing photograph per entry. Most are from local photographer friends, some stolen from the Internet, some taken by the enthusiast in me. I have three kinds of cameras: a gorgeous Pentax film camera more than two decades old, a handy yet powerful digital camera, and a high-resolution phone camera, for those hard-to-shoot places. You can definitely expect a variety of things.

There will also be a lot of topics to get into. I have a Morato restaurant and bar with my mom and sister, as I am a lover of everything gastronomic. I am also a student at SKD Academy taking up culinary arts, as I like being a student as much as the boss. I have a learning center with my dad in Xavierville, as the learning process is a meal I devour three times a day. Aside from working in the acting industry, those are my major interests at the moment. There’s a lot more to come.

I’ve also been welcoming a lot of changes lately. After missing the last two elections, it was my first time to register as a voter. I also took on my first-ever advocacy, Tik Tok Campaign for Climate Action, ironically four days before Ondoy visited the archipelago. So if you know of an advocacy close to your heart, please eagerly approach me.

I’m not ready to start a column, but maybe I am ready to start a blog. Except this blog will be more wonderful with words, served with photographs captured by the wünderkind. So if you’re the type to Google these terms — young and bright, genuine conversation, expanding minds, real Tapica people — this kid is always eager to meet new and exciting people.

You know where to find me. Ping Medina. Wonderblog.