An Epiphany

A couple of days ago, I met my grandparents after a very long time. Upon seeing their happy faces, I was filled with happiness too. They have gotten a little older. There were a few wrinkles added on their faces (I really hope that I wasn’t the cause of those lines) but the way they smile has never gotten older. It was the same smile that I remember when I was a kid. It was a smile of pure joy just by the sight of someone who has been a part of your life. Looking at them made me feel home again.

On my way back to my apartment, I kept on thinking how happy I was and I want to do something that would sustain the smiles I have seen earlier. I want them to smile for something that would make them proud. I want to let them know that all their hard work didn’t go to waste. Since I’ve created this blog, it hasn’t been really successful. I had a lot of plans on how to make an interesting blog. But somewhere along the way, I’ve given up on constantly writing on this space because I just thought it is hopeless. My original purpose for this blog is to make money out of it. But I have found other ways to make money on line so my attention has been divided.

After that incident, I have come up with a new idea for a blog. This time I wouldn’t write for money’s sake. I would write for memories, for the people I love, and for the future. I have carefully sketched in my mind my new ideas. I hope that I can make it work. I hope that this would be the start of something great. Something that will last and something that will grow. Most of all, I hope this would be something that would make people smile.

The Quest for the Ka-Ching Online

For over three weeks now, I have been researching every corner of the world wide web on ways to earn money, trying to know what sites really pay and keep their word. So far, I really can't say I'm having any luck.It is an arduous task. It's like I'm back in school researching for a term paper but the difference is that I just couldn't copy paste.haha..Just kidding.I did not do any plagiarizing back in college.I'm just saying that it's easier to write a term paper and get an A or a 1 from it than making your way to the world of money making on line.

So far, even though I haven't really gotten my first pay out on any of the programs that I am in, I am just glad to know that there are actually a lot of opportunities that can help you on line. Best of all, there are a lot of people who are willing to help the best way they can so you can share their success stories.If you want to know more about their stories, on how they have struggled to earn a steady income from the internet please visit this link:

http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1493512.aspx?p=1#2_17030795

It is a discussion from myLot, a very fun and successful pay per post site. These people really helped me a lot on how to find my way in this business. I have learned that it is too soon to give up.Some of them invested time, just time (no money involved), about 3-4 months before making a steady income. Nobody can really get rich overnight.It takes a lot of work and patience and help from other people.

I was once a skeptic too in all these money-making online but when I signed up at myLot, it opened a lot of new doors for me.Now when I go online, all I can think about is making money.So I guess it's a bonus to do something you like and get paid for it.

If you want to know more about how things work on line, I really recommend myLot.A lot of smart and experienced people will be willing to lend a hand. You can even start your own discussions on things that you want to know and don't understand.Believe that's what I've been doing.Before, I have no idea about online programs that will pay you, now I know a lot of them that I really don't know where to start.Like I said, I didn't reach any pay out yet.But I'm trying everyday to earn a few bucks.

So what are you waiting for.It's so easy to sign up.It's like Friendster but its just better coz you get paid.

Click here to sign up:

http://www.mylot.com/?ref=TifaLockhart

Wrong Choice Of Weapon

I was very excited to watch Jackie Chan's and Jet Li's movie The Forbidden Kingdom and right now I'm not sure if my excitement was all worth it. I am a big fan of Jackie Chan and every time he has a new movie, I would definitely not miss it. I love the way he choreographs his stunts. His very creative and resourceful and along with that his very comic too. In this movie, I didn't see much of his creativity. Probably because the setting was limited or he was not given much freedom in terms of the stunts. As I was watching the movie, I was hoping that there would be something different that would happen soon but I just got disappointed. I even got more disappointed when the credits started to roll and there are no bloopers. Any movie that has Jackie Chan in it must always have bloopers at the end of the movie that should be the law of the universe. Anyway, even though it was quite disappointing I've learned one lesson - never use your hair as a weapon. =)

AMERICAN IDOL (PART ONE)

If I would be the fourth judge and would be sitting next to Simon Cowell, there are a lot of things that I would like to say to each of the contestants of American Idol. I'm sure we all do have lots of comments when we watch the show. It's just that we don't get paid for it. As for me, I'm not even included in the voting population because I am not from America. I know a lot of people are watching all over the world and sometimes I would even think that they can change it to "World Idol" or "Universe Idol" and each of the countries in the world would have their own contestants.
Season 7 or this year's season is the only season I have watched for some reason (it accidentally rhymed..hehe). I don't know where I've been for the last years but I guess I was busy watching Charmed, Will and Grace, and MTV shows that I didn't have the time to discover this amazing talent show. It is not only filled with aspiring, talented people. It also an intriguing show. It's like the show has developed relationships between the staff, the judges, and the host. Let's say for example Ryan and Simon. I really don't know what's going on behind their witty but bitter comments to each other (if somebody knows, please enlighten me). I know Simon is a person that you'd love to hate so probably that is one of the main reasons. I'm not sure why but I actually love Simon and would rather hate Ryan. Not really hate but I favor Simon more than Ryan.
Well, enough of the controversies. I almost forgot I wrote this in the first place. I just want to write what I think about the contestants...

(To be continued due to writer's block..)

How to Improve your ACCEnt ( for those who want to work in a call center)

Graduation sashes of gold, green, and maroons, blank papers assuming the role of as diplomas, music with the beat of victory, happy familiar faces, and mixed emotions of sadness and hopefulness. Sadness due to the fact that you no longer have excuse to ask for money. So you count on hopefulness to bring you to a good-paying job as soon as possible. These are some of the images and emotions that I distantly remember when I graduated in college. Since this time of the year is the time for graduation and looking for jobs as well, I thought it would be best to bring it up and share what I know about preparing yourself not for the real world but for the world of the call center. I assume that most of the graduates would consider working in a fast-hiring company with excellent pay which the call center definitely provides (not all though). Some graduates though may not consider the call center industry much appealing or maybe some are just not confident enough with their English grammar and pronunciation. So they opt to put an X mark on the Customer Service Representative on their list of possible jobs and consider other normal day jobs with of course normal salaries. I am not saying that the call center is the only option for making money after college. I am just trying to emphasize that if you want a job right after graduation and want to earn decent money, being a CSR would be a good option. For those who share my perspective, I would like to help you out on how to practice your English language and if I am ambitious enough, help you out to at least sound like an American. Just for the record, if you want to apply in a call center, it doesn't necessarily mean that you must have an American Accent. They don't expect you to sound like CNN reporters or Paris Hilton. You just need to sound fluent not flawless. This means that you don't stammer and grasp for words and most of all you must not have that thick accent. They prefer it slim and thin. So consider learning to slim down your accent like an aerobics or a work out. Remember that you might sweat a lot. I'm just gonna share with you the steps that I have learned on how to speak English fluently and it is up to you on how you are going to work it out.

So here are the steps:

STEP 1:
LOVE WHAT YOU LEARN!

First of all, before learning anything in general, you must love what you learn. So i you want to learn to speak English, you must ignore the notions that you will sound "maarte" and that you will be like a stinky fish and will feel like you've betrayed our national hero. You are doing this because you don't want to be a bum. Thus, you are actually a responsible citizen who will be contributing to the country's economy through paying your TAX!

STEP 2:
THINK IN ENGLISH!

Once you've come to love how Americans sound, the next step would be to think American which means that you should always think in English. I am telling you that this is very effective. When I was in high school, I was an MTV fanatic. It was my ultimate dream to be a VJ or DJ. I just thought they sound cool and they get to do a lot of talking. So I tried my best to sound like them. I was always alone at home so I had a lot of chance experimenting. At first I would just imitate the exact words that they say like MTV's Most Wanted phone numbers, email and address. But later on, I got ambitious and wanted to say more than contact infos. So I tried to imitate them when they introduce music videos but I would always stammer not knowing what words would be appropriate to say. I thought to myself that if I speak my own dialect, I don't stammer. I realized that the reason that I don't stammer besides the fact that that was the dialect I was raised in is that I think in my own dialect. The words would just automatically come out of my mouth like most of us do because we speak what we think. From then on, I had an epiphany to always think in English. So every chance I get like walking home from school, I would recall the events of the day in English. It was a good practice. It also helped me out in expressing my thoughts in class clearly. Unfortunately though, I did not become a VJ or DJ. I became a call center agent instead which is not that bad I suppose. At least I get the chance to say websites and phone numbers and I do get the chance to talk a lot.

STEP 3:
WATCH AMERICAN SHOWS

Since you've trained your mind to think in English, it would be now easier to understand it as well. It is important to know this because you will be talking to Americans from different states with different accents. You will hear people who sound like Larry King, Ellen Degeneres, Chris Tucker, and Jackie Chan. So considering this, I would highly recommend you should watch late night American shows. You can also watch TV series like Desperate Housewives, CSI, and Alias. Watching Rush Hour 1,2, and 3 is also a must! =) Observe the way the characters speak, interact, and make comments. Take note of the idiomatic expressions that they use as well. It may come in handy during interviews or when taking in calls. I guess it is also more effective to watch comedy sitcoms like Friends and Will and Grace. If you get their jokes and laugh, then you're on the right track. Just make sure you're not pretending to get the joke even if you didn't understand a thing. But of course, if you're already taking in calls and your American customer cracks a joke that you didn't get, just laugh, pretend that you understand, and hope that you'll get away with it without being noticed.

STEP 4:
READ! READ! READ!

Reading English materials is very important too. This will enhance your vocabulary skills. It really doesn't matter what you read as long as the grammar is correct. If you're the type of person who like reading, then this is hassle free for you. But if you're the type that considers reading more painful than a chemo therapy, don't fret because there are other ways to read. You can probably try reading the newspaper. You can read the Entertainment section and check your horoscope. Skip the Tagalog Comics. You can also read Archie or Marvel or Manga or the writings at the back of your favorite junkfood. Just right after you've picked the reading material of your choice, read them aloud. Make sure you're not in the bus, subway, or public toilet while you're doing this. You may do this before going to sleep, during commercial breaks, or when you're taking a dump. Seriously, by reading aloud, you will be able to assess how you sound and what vowels you need to work on. While you're at it, be mindful of the grammar as well. You need to match your accent with a decent grammar to make it believable. For a much more dramatic effect to achieve your goal, you can also record your voice. This will serve as your reference on your progress.

STEP 5:
BE PATIENT!

Being patient is always a virtue. You can't do all these overnight. It takes a lot of effort, guts, and practice. Like I said earlier, it is like an exhausting body work out. But you'll know in the end that all the sweat is worth it. You'll know it on your first payday and you will be surprised how good you are as a responsible tax-paying citizen.

myLot..my home

If you think that Friendster is the best thing created in the world wide web, think again. I have deleted my Friendster account for personal reasons and when I did I thought there's no place in the web where you can get updated and connected. But not so long after, I accidentally discovered myLot.com which I think is the friendliest and the most sensible site that I have found. It allows users to start, respond, comment on the long list of discussions from different interests. Let's say you want advice on something like buying a new laptop or what site would be a good place to start your blog. All you need to do is start a discussion and a lot of good and sensible people will give you a worthwhile advice. And on top of that, by posting and by starting discussions, you get to earn a few bucks as well. Since I am just a new member my earnings is not something to brag about. But I have researched well enough to know that myLot does pay you for your hard-earned money. On the other hand, what is best besides earning money in mylot is you get a chance to earn friends from around the world that are really worth keeping. Definitely it is a win-win situation! As a fresh blogger who needs to learn a lot of things about the web and blogging, I am thankful that helpful sites such as mylot exists. I consider it as my cyberhome.

AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE AN INTRO

There are many things that we keep in our closet. I think by looking at someone's closet you can tell what type of person he/she is. It's like looking inside a bigger bag/purse/briefcase. Well, much much bigger. In our closet, we keep almost all our belongings that we wear. We keep our clothes, towels, lingeries, and even our shoes. It is almost an appendage. But I think there are other things that keep in our closet too that our eyes don't see. In there, we also keep our thoughts and our secrets. Thoughts about how we perceive ourselves and secrets and dreams on how we want to be in the future or in our fantasies. Our thoughts and secrets neatly folded or hung. Sometimes in an array of different colors or sometimes just in occasional hues of black and blues. We are the only ones who know what lies beneath our closet. What it contains, what it explains, how it works and what it represents. Sometimes you also let your husband,your wife, your lover, your sister, your roommate share that secret as well. Now I'm gonna share mine too and thought to share it to everyone. My closet though is a lot different than a typical closet. For one it doesn't have doors and drawers. It's just blank cyber pages waiting to be filled with words, words of expressions, of emotions, of complaints, of praise, of encouragements and of course the occasional nostalgia. I'm hoping that this closet will not remain close. I want it to be open to comments, suggestions, and discussions. Maybe I should call this openset (if there is such a word..hehe) but it would not sound as poetic as open closet (at least to me in this context). Well, what else can I say? My closet is open! Feel free to walk in!

PS
It is actually strange that I'm talking about closet because right now I don't have one. Just recently moved. Probably that's why I'm ranting about it because of the lack of it.