Wishing on a Falling Star Gets Honoured!

Whether it's simply a phase I am currently going through or the fact that my birthday is coming up and I'm feeling the extra year prematurely, I am more sensitive than usual nowadays. It does not take much to get me started regardless if it's a sad or happy moment! Watching TV is a drag right now as even happy endings can make go awwwww how nice, followed by a tear or two! ;)

When Matthew told me he had a surprise for me at his blog, I was immediately intrigued. He was going away for a vacation and left me a note, reminding me to check his blog during his absence as a surprise will be waiting for me within the next few days. I was wondering what my surprise was and waited patiently for it to appear on his blog. All sorts of funny thoughts were going through my mind while waiting and I even anticipated a fluffy cat or a genie to pop up from his blog yelling SURPRISE! LOL!

I finally saw the surprise Matt had for me at his blog on Monday, and needless to say I was all sentimental and teary after reading his post on Honoring Wishing On A Falling Star. I've received several reviews and mini mentions on Mariuca before, but this one takes the cake! Matt's review on my blogs made all the effort and time I've put into my blogs worthwhile. His sincere words made my blogs feel extremely appreciated and loved, unlike any other way before. The way he captured the essence of my blogs was near perfection and it was so beautifully worded, it moved me to tears!


So I'd like to thank Matthew for this wonderful MTMD Blog Award of Excellence, which was created to honour not only the excellence of a blog, but the excellence of the blogger. I am truly and deeply honoured by this award and the high recognition you have placed upon my blogs. That was a wonderful surprise indeed and it totally made my week! This award will encourage me to strive further in making Mariuca and Mariuca's Perfume Gallery a better read and community hangout for all my blog friends and fellow Mariucans, so THANK YOU again. :)

In his blog today, Matt also made some excellent points on commenting. His post on Commenting Best Practices is a must read, especially for Entrecard droppers. In his post, Matt was discussing Where Entrecard went wrong with SezWho and the three major errors with this partnership. According to Matt, "The intent of EntreCard's partnership with SezWho was to incorporate a rating system into participating bloggers' comments sections to increase the quality and relevance of comments, provide an incentive to make quality and relevant comments, and thus by simply engaging bloggers with each other to drive more traffic to participating blogger's blogs. In theory, it sounds brilliant. But the discussions that have taken place, especially on Mama Flo's and The Monkey's blogs, and even EntreCard's own blog have been telling..." You can read the rest of the post here.

Among others, Matt also mentioned his thoughts on how the blogosphere is wide enough to hold both relevant and non-relevant comments for your blog posts, which is something that I totally agree with. Like I told Matt, sometimes you get a reader leaving a comment on your post simply to say hello or to leave you a tag, or ask you a question about your blog template, or even a direct advertiser showing interest in placing their ad on your blog. For me, I appreciate that - having readers, new and old alike, going out of their way to stop by my blog and leave a comment for me. It shows me they're interested in my blog, or they care and have me in mind enough for them to say HOLA! :)

I love my relevant comments just as much. To me, they signify the fact that my readers actually take time to READ my post and when they have something to say about it, my post gets some love. Either way, the most important thing is to appreciate your readers, whether they drop off relevant or non-relevant comments or hellos, simply because they are the ones that bring your blog to life! For me, they're one of the main reasons behind the success of any blog. And on that note, I'd like to invite all my friends and readers to stop by Meltwater.Torrents.Meanderings.Delta. and check out Matthew's blog. Show Matt some comment love the way we Mariucans know best - both relevant and non-relevant! :)

PS. Matt, I love the Wishing On A Falling Star picture so much, so I had to have it here, thank you! :)