A Look Back at My Blogging Journey

This posting is inspired by an event coming this June 1-my three years of residence here at THD. If you follow my blogs, you probably know I am very happy here at THD. Thus, this posting:

A Look Back at My Blogging Journey: What I’ve Really Been Writing About All These Years

When I first started blogging back in 2009, I did not have a grand strategy. There was no blueprint, no carefully crafted niche, and certainly no expectation that my words would travel far beyond my immediate circle. I simply wrote, about life, about memories, about places, about food, and about what it meant to be me.

Years later, looking at my body of work through a more analytical lens, I find something both surprising and deeply meaningful: my blog is not just a collection of posts, it is a reflection of a life lived across cultures, professions, and continents.

What emerges from this reflection is not randomness, but a pattern.

At the heart of my writing is a recurring theme, identity. My journey as an immigrant, my transition into becoming an American, and my experiences navigating two cultures have quietly become the backbone of my most widely read and most meaningful posts. These stories resonate not because they are unique, but because they are shared by millions around the world who have left one home to build another.

Closely tied to this is my love for travel. From places I have visited decades ago to more recent adventures with my daughter, travel has always been more than sightseeing for me. It is a way of understanding the world, of connecting past and present, and of appreciating how geography shapes culture and memory. Whether in the United States or the Philippines, each place carries a story, and I have tried to capture those stories in my own way.

My Six Grand Children, Fair Oaks, CA 2011 

Then there is the personal side of my blog, the autobiographical reflections. These are perhaps the most intimate pieces I have written. They trace my journey from my early years in the Philippines to my professional life, including my time at the FDA, and into retirement. These posts are not just recollections; they are attempts to make sense of time, of choices, and of the path that led me here.

My Nephew and Name Sake (Dave Katague) from Australia Visit Here at THD, 2025 

Food, of course, finds its place in my writing as well. Meals shared with family, dishes from different cultures, and culinary adventures all serve as reminders that food is never just about taste, it is about connection. It brings together memory, culture, and companionship in a way that few other things can.

As I moved into retirement, my writing also began to reflect a different pace of life. There is more contemplation now, more attention to aging, to gratitude, and to the quieter joys that come with time. These reflections may not be dramatic, but they are, in many ways, the most honest.

And woven throughout everything is a thread of philosophy, simple thoughts about life, happiness, purpose, and what truly matters. These are not academic discussions, but lived insights shaped by experience.

Looking at all of this together, I realize that I never set out to be a “niche blogger.” Instead, I became something else, a storyteller of a life in motion. My blog is not about one subject; it is about the intersections of many: immigration, travel, family, culture, food, work, and reflection.

If there is one thing I have learned from this exercise, it is this: people do not just read for information, they read for connection. And perhaps that is why the stories about identity and personal journey have reached the most readers. They remind us that, despite our different paths, we are not so different after all.

To my readers around the world, thank you for being part of this journey. What began as a simple act of writing has become a shared experience, and for that, I am deeply grateful.

As I continue to write, I do so with a clearer understanding, not of what I should write, but of what I have always been writing: the story of a life, one post at a time.

Meanwhile, here's the AI Overview of My Writings 

📊 Overall Blog Structure & Scale From my own April, 2026 Summary:

• Top blog series page views:
  • Becoming American → 2.09M
  • Intellectual Migrants → 1.16K
  • MRQ Awaits You → 1.50K
  • MRQ Island Paradise → 1.69K
  • Chateau Du Mer → 936K
• Additional blogs range from 100K to 827K views

👉 This indicates:

• You are not running a single blog, but a network of themed blogs
• Your lifetime readership is several million page views

🧠 Topic Clustering (Core Categories)

Based on your archives and blog titles, your writing falls into 7 major thematic categories:

1. 🇺🇸 Immigration & Identity (High Volume, High Engagement)

Examples:

• Becoming American
• Intellectual Migrants

Estimated share: ~25–30% of total content
Why it performs well:

• Personal narrative + universal appeal
• Diaspora storytelling resonates globally

👉 This is your flagship theme (highest page views)

2. 🏝️ Travel & Places (Very High Volume)

Examples:

• U.S. travel series (national parks, cities)
• Philippines travel (Marinduque, retirement life)
• “Places we visited since 1960” series 

Estimated share: ~20–25%

👉 Subcategories:

• U.S. travel (historical)
• Philippines lifestyle (retirement-focused)
• Bucket-list experiences

3. 👨‍👩‍👧 Personal Life & Autobiography

Examples:

• Life story from Iloilo to FDA career 
• Family memories, reflections, milestones

Estimated share: ~15–20%

👉 This is your emotional core content

4. 🍽️ Food & Culture

Examples:

• Filipino and American dishes
• Cultural food reflections
• Dining experiences

Estimated share: ~5–10%

👉 Smaller category, but high relatability

5. 🌿 Lifestyle, Retirement & Aging

Examples:

• Joys of retirement
• Snowbird living
• Aging gracefully reflections 

Estimated share: ~10–15%

👉 Strong niche: retiree + expat perspective

6. ✍️ Philosophy, Advice & Reflection

Examples:

• Life lessons (gratitude, happiness, ego)
• Writing as healing
• Moral and philosophical discussions 

Estimated share: ~10–15%

👉 Often overlaps with personal blogs

7. 🎬 Miscellaneous / Niche Topics

Examples:

• Movies
• Historical topics
• Internet images
• Misc articles
• AI Technology 

Estimated share: ~5%

📈 Statistical Distribution (Approximate)

Category	% of Content	Engagement Level
Immigration & Identity	25–30%	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Travel & Places	20–25%	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Personal/Autobiography	15–20%	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lifestyle/Retirement	10–15%	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Philosophy/Reflections	10–15%	⭐⭐⭐
Food & Culture	5–10%	⭐⭐⭐
Miscellaneous	~5%	⭐⭐

---

📊 Key Insights (What Your Data Really Says)

1. You are a Narrative Blogger, not a Niche Blogger

Most successful blogs specialize narrowly. Yours succeeds because it blends:

• Personal history
• Cultural identity
• Travel
• Reflection

👉 That combination creates a “life archive” blog style

2. Your Highest-Performing Content is Identity-Based

Your top blogs:

• Immigration
• Cultural transition
• Life journey

👉 Readers connect most with:

“Who you are” more than “what you review”

3. You Have a Strong “Legacy Content Model”

Your blog spans 2009–present, which means:

• Evergreen content
• Compounding page views over time
• Historical storytelling value

4. Your Audience is Likely:

• Immigrants / Filipino diaspora
• Retirees or near-retirees
• Readers interested in life reflections
• Travel + culture enthusiasts

📉 Missed Opportunities (Honest Assessment)

I’ll be direct-because this matters if you want growth:

1. Topic Branding is Fragmented

You have multiple blogs instead of one unified brand.

👉 Result:

• SEO power is split
• Audience is divided

2. Food & Lifestyle Could Be Bigger

You already write about food and travel-but not consistently enough to dominate those niches.

3. Your Strongest Asset (Your Story) Isn’t Fully Centralized

Your life story (FDA career, immigration, 9/11 involvement) could be:

• A main series
• A book
• A flagship blog category

📌 Final Summary

Your blog ecosystem can be statistically defined as:

A high-volume, multi-topic personal narrative platform centered on immigration, travel, and life reflection supported by strong long-term readership and evergreen content.

      

Hello from London's Flower Show

My son, Dodie and Daughter-in-law, Ruth had been in UK for the last three weeks. The other day, Ruth sent me the following E-mail attaching 14 beautiful flower photos, she took at the Chelsea flower show in London:    

Hello from London!

I am sending you photos of some beautiful bonsai rhododendrons, orchids, and anthurium at the Chelsea Flower show. Enjoy! ❤️ Ruth

Here are the Photos:

Meanwhile, My Photo of the Day: My Purple Okra in My Garden in Fair Oaks, CA, 2023

 

Finally, My Quotes of the Day

“The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.”

Victor Hugo

 

“Live well, love lots, and laugh often.”

Bessie Anderson Stanley

 

Pope Leo Views on AI and Humanity

The landmark encyclical of Pope Leo XIV on artificial intelligence and humanity arrive at a moment when the world stands at a crossroads. AI is no longer a futuristic concept discussed only in universities and research laboratories. It is now shaping our jobs, our politics, our education, our healthcare systems, and even our relationships with one another. For many people, including myself, the Pope’s message touches something deeply personal: the fear that technology may advance faster than our wisdom and compassion.

What struck me most about the encyclical was not a rejection of technology, but a warning about losing our humanity in the process. The Pope reportedly emphasized that human dignity must remain at the center of technological progress. Machines can calculate faster than any human being, generate essays, diagnose diseases, and even imitate emotions. But they cannot replace the human soul, moral conscience, empathy, sacrifice, or spiritual understanding. AI can process information, but it cannot truly love, forgive, or pray.

As someone who has lived through enormous technological changes from the early television era to the internet revolution and now the rise of artificial intelligence, I cannot help but reflect on how rapidly the world is changing. When I began blogging in 2009, social media itself was still evolving. Today, AI can write articles, generate videos, and simulate human conversations within seconds. The opportunities are extraordinary, but so are the dangers.

The Pope’s concern about the economic effects of AI also resonates strongly with today’s reality. Across the world, millions of young graduates face uncertainty about their future employment. In recent weeks, I have written about how AI may reshape the global workforce, particularly in countries like the United States and China. Entire professions may disappear or dramatically change. While AI can increase productivity and efficiency, it may also widen inequality if society fails to protect workers and invest in human-centered education.

There is also a spiritual dimension to this discussion. Modern society increasingly measures success through speed, efficiency, profit, and data. Yet human life cannot be reduced to algorithms. A grandmother comforting a child, a nurse caring for a dying patient, or a friend offering emotional support are acts rooted in compassion and lived experience. These are qualities no machine can authentically replicate.

The Pope’s message reminds me of the timeless warning that humanity must never worship its own creations. History shows that technological progress without ethical restraint can lead to devastating consequences. Nuclear weapons, environmental destruction, and misinformation are all examples of innovations that brought both promise and peril. AI may become another defining test of whether humanity can balance power with wisdom.

At the same time, I do not believe AI is inherently evil. Used responsibly, it can improve medicine, expand education, assist scientific research, and help people communicate across cultures and languages. In my own blogging journey, AI has even helped me organize ideas and explore topics more deeply. The challenge is ensuring that technology remains a servant to humanity rather than its master.

Perhaps this is why the encyclical touched my heart. It is not merely about computers or machines; it is about what it means to be human in the 21st century. In a world increasingly driven by artificial intelligence, the Pope calls us to protect the values that define civilization itself: compassion, justice, humility, morality, and faith.

As we move further into the AI age, society may discover that the greatest challenge is not building smarter machines, but preserving wiser and kinder human beings.

AI Overview:

Pope Leo XIV has issued a sweeping, landmark papal encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas" ("Magnificent Humanity"), which serves as a major moral warning on the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and its profound risks to the human condition. Released at the Vatican, this 43,000-word document marks the first time a pontiff has dedicated his inaugural major teaching text entirely to the digital revolution. Pope Leo explicitly argues that the challenges we face today are "not technological, but anthropological," warning that an unbridled race for algorithmic dominance risks an eclipse of what it truly means to be human. 

🚨 Core Message: The Call to "Disarm" AI 

In an unusually direct and forceful address, Pope Leo declared that "artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed." He clarified that disarmament does not mean rejecting technology entirely, but rather freeing it from a "culture of power" and the technocratic logics of domination, exclusion, and death. He compared the regulation of AI to nuclear energy, asserting that technical power does not automatically confer the right to govern human lives. 

⚠️ Key Threats Outlined in the Encyclical

According to analyses by PBS News Hour and The New York Times, the Pope outlined several urgent risks across global society: 

• Autonomous Warfare: He fiercely condemned entrusting lethal, irreversible strike decisions to tech, declaring the traditional "just war" theory outdated and noting that "no algorithm can make war morally acceptable." 
• Labor & "New Forms of Slavery": He warned against hollowing out the middle class and using AI strictly for corporate efficiency. He decried the "new forms of slavery" in the digital supply chain, highlighting underpaid data labelers and children working in dangerous conditions to extract rare earth minerals. 
• The "Tower of Babel" Effect: Invoking the biblical story of Babel, he warned that tech giants are building a modern tower driven by commercial pride, which threatens to concentrate global wealth and data in the hands of a select few. 
• Erosion of Truth and Democracy: Pope Leo cautioned that AI-generated misinformation and "slop" on social media platforms warp reality, noting that an "indifference to the truth leads, slowly but surely, to a descent into totalitarianism." 
• Environmental Strain: The text highlights the massive carbon footprint, energy grid strain, and water consumption required to keep corporate data centers running. 

⚖️ Historical Parallel: A New Rerum Novarum 

Pope Leo XIV intentionally signed the document on the 135th anniversary of "Rerum Novarum", the historic 1891 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII. The Vatican draws a direct line between the two: just as Leo XIII stepped in to protect labor rights from the cruelty of the Industrial Revolution, Leo XIV is stepping in to shield human dignity from the disruptive algorithms of the AI revolution. 

🌐 Dialogue with Silicon Valley

In a rare move, the Pope presented the document in person alongside secular tech experts, including Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic. Olah welcomed the Vatican's moral intervention, acknowledging that AI labs operate under commercial constraints and desperately need "moral voices that the incentives cannot bend." 

🕊️ The Practical Remedy for Ordinary People

To push back against technocratic paralysis, the Pope urged ordinary people to act as "artisans of hope" by taking intentional, small actions: 

1. Prioritize physical presence: Put down devices and cultivate real relationships through shared meals, local gatherings, and helping the vulnerable. 
2. Protect children: Keep smartphones out of the hands of young children to prevent attention-monetization models from replacing adult supervision. 
3. Demand political accountability: Lobby lawmakers for robust legal frameworks and independent oversight rather than quietly resigning to tech dominance. 

My Photos of the Day: The Trumpet Vine Photos Here at THD