OUR Blog Addict of the Week is Sajid A. Kamid of Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

Could you tell us something about yourself? How old are you and what are you currently doing? When and why did you start blogging and who got you hooked?

I am 31 years old, a native of Cotabato City, Mindanao. A Ph.D. student at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. I will be studying here until 2010.

I started blogging in August 2006, the month when I had to take my departmental entrance exam.

I wasn’t sure about my purpose in blogging at first. It was merely a diversion from my anticipated heavy academic endeavor. But then later on, I realized that maybe I should finally engage with the Web community more openly and with a sense of purpose this time. I thought that maybe through blogging I could enhance my writing skills and more importantly, interact with the Web community and thereby gain more friends and exchange ideas and opinions.

Although in the electronic world, my blog readers (well, not that much for now) are after all, real people behind their computers. And that makes very special sense to me as a person. Every time I post an entry and then get comments, they bring smiles to my face and delight to my days. Also, my knowledge and ideas get polished. Blogging also encourages me to be more sensitive and heedful so that I can respond to the comments accordingly, given the time available.

Who got me hooked?

Sometime in April 2006, I was asked by some Filipino friends here in Japan to join a photo blog community, which I did but I did not stay there for long. First, I did not have my digicam that time and so posting photos became a big burden for me with my camera phone. Then sadly, I think the site shut down for reasons I did not bother to find out. But the last comments I heard was about server problems, speed and the persistence of spams. Slowly then, I tried my luck with WordPress. And yes, I mean a free account on WordPress.com. It’s a good thing that I am getting impressed day by day by the enthusiasm of the WordPress team.

What makes a blog better than a regular website? Did you try putting up your own site before you started blogging?

A blog is obviously more dynamic than a regular website. With the intense interactions through inter-blog comments, the flow of communication is always alive. Much more if the blog entries are very interesting. And with this, I think a blog is more aggressive in terms of sharing ideas and knowledge.

Being a not-so-financially blessed person, I once tried putting up a website using those old free webspace providers but eventually, I got tired of it. The pages you can create and manage as a free account holder are very static and the use of interactive applications is very limited if not totally forbidden. The guestbook was still popular at the time and I felt it was boring as time passed by.

Would you say that blogging is very addictive? How many people have you convinced to also start blogging?

Yes, blogging is very addictive and yet, educational too. Moreover, it requires time but that depends on your time management skills.
So far, I have not yet tried convincing other people to engage in blogging. But maybe one day I will consider it.

How has blogging made a difference in your life?

Blogging made me more cautious with regards to giving ideas and comments. As much as possible, I don’t want to appear like a mere website hopper hoping just to attract visitors to my site. I got to be sensible with the topics and give comments accordingly. This applies to real life — you have to be within the context of things. Also, blogging encouraged me to read more. Plus of course, I get to polish my writing skills.

What blogging software do you use? What makes it better than other blogging services?

Right now, I am under the umbrella of WordPress.com. I haven’t tried other blog services yet but so far, I am doing very well on WP.

What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had in the blogging world?

Several years ago, I had the unripe impression that blogging was just for those teens who discussed their teenage crushes and celebrity idols. But as I became familiar with it, I realized that it’s different now. Blogging has gone far beyond the teenage crazes and went onto more realistic dealings with life and its issues. You name it, the blogging world has it. So, I think the memorable experience I have is the beautiful realization on what’s really going on in the blogging sphere and its takes on life and community as a whole. And I should not forget that I have acquired a bunch of friends through blogging.

If you have to pimp your blog to readers, could you tell us in 100 words or less why they should visit your blog?

Well, I am a newbie in the blogosphere but I make sure that I do my best in writing my entries. As you can see, I will be spending about four years here in Japan and I have the utmost excitement to blog about my daily takes and experiences in the Land of the Rising Sun, where a large proportion of it will be about my being a foreign student. Life here so far is getting interesting everyday and I would be more than happy to share that to my additional future blog readers. And of course, there is always the fun and surprise side of things. This, my future new blog readers are about to learn from my entries, as they pay me a visit at http://skamid.wordpress.com/

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Thanks, Sajid! And to all those who’d like to be featured, just leave a comment and your URL so that we can check out your blog. Or e-mail joeyalarilla@gmail.com.

We’ll feature a new Blog Addict every Friday, so keep visiting

Who knows? The next Blog Addict of the Week could be you.