So I spent one afternoon with some girlfriends at Pen-pen (a fab restaurant at Tomas Morato managed by Ping Medina), and while we were having a grand time camwhoring with my Nikon D40 (yup, the one that blogging bought), I found myself beaming upon noticing that we all have something in common.

Pink.

There’s Camille’s hot pink Nokia 2310, Sheena’s baby pink Sony Cybershot (I sooo like!!) and shiny pink Sony Ericsson z610i, my very own Nokia 6630 now cased in pastel pink, Sheena’s heartshaped pink velvet bag, my hot pink Fifa Cup lanyard, and a pink phone case and Pat’s pink Gucci wallet.

There’s something about the combination of pink and gadgets that makes me kilig — but of course I already said that once before. Sometimes I just wonder.. will I ever outgrow this pink kwayzeeness?

I gotta start growing up. Pfft.

It came sooner than I thought! Yay!

After barely three months of drooling over Nikon D40, I finally got myself one. Yay me! I wasn’t really planning to get one yet because there are far more urgent things that I need to save up for, but my ever influential Ninong Dave (photography guru slash spiritual adviser slash supportive cousin) presented me an offer I couldn’t resist. I had to grab it, impulsive as it may seem. So Thursday night, I had my very own Nikon D40 in my hands. Woohoo!

Then again, you can’t expect anything from the first try. I’m still getting myself acquainted with Konks (that’s her name), and I’m uber-excited. And Click Happy is happier too. :)

With my cousin, Tracy, and Konks, The Nikon D40 that Blogging Bought.

Good for me, Konks came in time for the Digital Photographer Philippine’s Sampaloc Street Photoshoot 2 (slash EB) which happened last Saturday. It was the second event of the same kind, and I was there the first time also. Back then, however, I was using a Kodak point-and-shoot. Now in spite of all the pressure and frustrations that came with being a newbie, I couldn’t think of a better way to learn serious photography than learning first-hand from the best photographers in the land! So I clicked and clicked, learned about apertures and shutterspeeds, and asked a lot of questions!

The result — my 1 gig SD card bursting with high-quality shots, about 60% of which were blurred, 20% were overexposed, 15% were too dark, and just about 5% worth showing to the public. Haha. Oh well, there’s always a first. I’m sooo excited to learn.

So here’s my addition to the list of things that blogging bought — may it forever be cached in Google, along with the house, the car, the laptop, the mobile phones, the Canon 400D, and well, there’s a lot more I’m sure. Yay me! :)

If I wasn’t aware of the effects of linkbuilding, Google bombing, and SEO in Google’s search results pages for the keyword “Filipina“, I still would have joined this advocacy. How much more that I have a clear grasp of how powerful links and viral marketing can be in changing the image and reputation of a certain concept that has been widely misconstrued online. Hence, consider myself counted. This is Pinkseo, joining the flock. Filipina SEO represent!

Let me just say that I’ve lost count of the number of times I said in this site that I’m an advocate of women empowerment — of females being exceptional at what they do, excelling in their own fields and in their own rights. Precisely why this site came to be in the first place: my way, as a bewildered female newbie (and a proud Filipina at that) to make my voice heard in a man’s world such as this industry that I’m in.

Having said this (over again), you can tell that I share Miss Noemi and Miss Dine’s dismay on the misconstrued reputation of Filipino women online, as shown in the Google SERPs (search engine results pages) everytime one queries the keyword “Filipina”. True enough, to associate Filipino women with made-to-order brides and sluts is disturbing and unacceptable, when we can proudly say that our country is blessed with Filipino women who are loving moms and wives, world-class writers, bloggers, and webmasters, and successful professionals in their own fields.

So the goal is simple. To reshape the Filipina image online by making a specific website, Filipina Women’s Network (which defines the true image of a Filipina), overtake those sites that defines Filipina as anything less. But aside from our positioning in the SERPs, what’s equally important is to have as many Filipinas make their stand and have their voices be heard on their blogs. One blog post and one link speaks in gazillion decibels. Filipinas Unite!

Joining the campaign can be done in three easy steps. With initiatives by outstanding Filipina moms, Noemi Dado and Dine Racoma, here’s how to make yourself counted:

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