Getting some pleasure out of blogwalking (Part 2)

   This is an entry by KakNgah.

   [I try not to post too often so that KakYong's entries have time to settle down on the front page of our blog. But for some reason I'm a bit active recently... sorry KakYong! You better write often too, haha.]

   There are several things that I look for when I blogwalk. In other words, there are certain qualities or elements that attracts my attention and draws me to become a follower (other than the reason that the blog belongs to a friend). These are more or less the things that I look out for:

   1. Blogs that are used as a medium for da'wah
   This is probably one of the most important elements that I look for. I am still new to the blogging world, and I am also rather rusty when it comes to writing, so I truly admire people who are able to write and at the same time spread da'wah about Islam in their writing. It is a truly noble act, and I hope that I can someday be good at it too. For now, I am still learning, but I assure you there are many out there who 'blogda'wah' really well (came up with term myself, sorry).

   2. Blogs that promote good use of language
       (i) English
   - Being an English teacher, I cannot run away from the fact that English attracts my attention very easily. I mean, I teach the language, so I can't help looking out for blogs that use English as their medium, whether in all the entries or in just a few. I encourage anyone who writes in English no matter their level of competence. However, I cannot help but be attracted by writers who use flawless or nearly flawless English. Grammatical sentence structure, not forgetting to include the necessary articles- stuff like that. My own English is quite ordinary, and I have a lot to learn but I guess I know the basics, at least well enough to tell whether a person is a good writer or a bad one by the way he/she writes.

       (ii) Malay
   - I may be an English teacher, but I truly admire people who write well in the Malay language. The truth is language fascinates me, and if I were any good in Arabic, French, Mandarin, Japanese, etc. I'd explore blogs written in other langues too. I love how some people write so well in Malay. I used to think of English as more interesting than the Malay language, but now I find that both language fascinates me. The problem is I seldom write in BM (being used to English during my 6 years of training as an English teacher), but I hope to learn to do it well.

   3. Blogs that contain delicious recipes as well as photos of the production
   - I love, love, love baking! Even though I am not very good at it. The problem is some ingredients are quite expensive, and not exactly easy to find. There's also the fact that our trusty Kenwood broke down some years back, and now I make do with a cheap one that Dad bought. I'm also seldom at home, so it's hard to find time. Anyway, I'm hooked to blogs that contains recipes, especially ones of baked goodies. I could dedicate several entries on some of my favourite baking blogs and websites! I've made several attempts at posting some entries on my own baking adventures (which you can find under baking blues), but let's face it, I am a complete amateur. I wish I could start a food blog, but I'm not good enough to do so.

   4. Writers who have unique and interesting ways of presenting their ideas
   - There are some writers who don't exactly write using proper English or BM, but they still write really well in that they know how to be funny and interesting. There are several blogs that I visit regularly who actually write using their dialects- which I quite like especially when they use the northern dialects. It adds some humour into their writing and I really like it.

   Apart from that, some bloggers are good at choosing photos or pictures to accompany their writing, and I like it. I like looking at pictures. Especially ones that are of good quality, but I'm no judge. I'm really bad at choosing pictures myself. Like I said, I have a lot to learn.

   5. Writer is a female
   - I don't know why, but somehow male writers don't attract my attention. One reason is because I'd like to avoid any form of communication with males (especially ones that I don't know personally), which I often do through comments. Sometimes I might read what they write especially if it's Islamic, but I try not to comment. I try, haha. Besides it's easier and of course permissible to become friends with a female writer (seeing as I'm female myself).

   So that's basically some of the things that I look for when I go blogwalking. My opinions are probably of no interest to anyone, but that's what I think. There are some things that I dislike too, when I blogwalk, but I'm too lazy to write about that. Two things that I can highlight though is:

   (i) Blogs that contain obscene things which includes pictures and words. Rasa extra geram when it's from those who call themselves Muslims. I hate people who use swear words, I really do. Just as much as I hate people who smoke.

   (ii) Blogs that put up music on players with no pause option. I don't hate or dislike these blogs, it's just a bit annoying when I'm listening to something else on my own laptop. It gets even more annoying when I open several blogs at the same time, and all  of them play songs. I guess they mean well... but I dunno.

   Well that's it for now. I wonder what KakYong looks for when she blogwalks. And KakCik too, I guess, but she never writer. Huh.