Five-For-Five Challenge

OK, so I joined the 5-for-5 challenge to see if I can force myself to stay on top of my weekly goals. The only way I can keep my life organized is lists, lists, lists. I actually have a little notebook full of running lists – school list, work list, this blog list, other blog list, personal to do list, shopping list and so on. I am now starting to think that I need to dedicate an hour per day to getting at least one of the “to-do” things of my list because the lists are only getting longer.

Yikes!

This is my list for this week:

1. Comment on 5 blogs per day 
2. Apply to 5 new jobs per day
3. Go to sleep at a normal hour
4. Complete the group project in psych class
5. Start making flash cards for the finals (booo)

Well, that should do it for now :) 

To read more about this challenge go to: five-for-five

What are some of the tasks you are having a hard time staying on top of?

A Case Of He Said / She Said...

Here is a little poem I wrote as a class assignment a few years ago. Even though it doesn't reflect how i felt at that time, but it does ring true to something I felt a few times before, as I am sure you have as well, at least once in your life. The topic was brought on by the notion of how what we hear (especially in relationships) differs from what was actually said to us. It works both ways. Since we all hear what we want anyways, good or bad, it often helps to clear things up. However, the poem talks about a different case of "saying what you mean", as in trying to interpret the things that are said during break ups in a way that tells us the damaging truth instead of a kind lie we were told. Girls are especially guilty of searching for a secret meaning behind every word the poor guy utters, we try to decode them and study them in hopes of figuring out how they really feel about us, when in fact what they say IS what they feel and what they mean, but that's a whole other post... So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, here is my poetic creation:


“It’s not you, it’s me…”

He said “I’m not ready for anything serious”,
I heard “I’m not ready for anything serious with you”.

He said “My work schedule is ridiculous”,
I heard “I simply don’t want to make time for you”.

He said “I love you, but I am not in love with you anymore”,
I heard “You were just an easy past time, I outgrew”.

He said “A girl like you deserves so much more”,
I heard “I’m tired of trying, its time to let go”.

He said, he yelled, he whispered “sorry”,
I heard, I felt, I cried “don’t worry”.

He said “good bye” and walked away,
I heard “forget me” and drowned in pain.

He said the words that broke my heart,
I heard my soul strings slash apart.

He said every excuse he thought I had to hear,
But all I heard is what I feared:

“It’s not me - it’s YOU, my dear…”


Have you ever felt this way or been in a similar situation?  Feel free to share :)

PS. Please do not steal and plagiarize my work, if you want to re-share the poem else where, please link back to my blog. It's not too hard for me to ran a scan on this poem, since I know that only 4 people have read it thus far. Be nice!

Tragic Explosion In West, Texas...

If you are just waking up here is a brief update on the current news, unfortunately, the news aren’t good – yet another tragedy to shake the country this week -  explosion at the fertilizer plant in West, Texas.

Around 7 p.m. (local time) a fire broke out at the local fertilizer plant in a small town of West, Texas. According to the eyewitnesses, 15 minutes after the first emergency personal arrived and most of the plant was evacuated, the plant exploded. The explosion was so large that even 20 miles away the local residents felt aftershocks and the initial seismology reports show readings above 2.0 on the Richter scale. Additionally, the residents described the explosion as a “nuclear bomb” and Oklahoma like- bombing, however, there are no reports of foul play and no one is talking about terrorism or sabotage. Currently, the emergency services are focusing on search and rescue operations of the collapsed and damaged houses. There is an ongoing concern about air quality due to the fumes released from the plant and some “difficult breathing” incidents were reported. Unfortunately, initial estimates predict a high death toll due to the magnitude of the blast and so far approximately 150 people were treated for injuries. Emergency and medical assistance is pouring into the town, as the local residents evacuate and look for a temporary residence. 

It is so crazy that it’s the second time this week a massive tragedy is plastered all over our news channels. I truly hope that the residents of West, TX recover quickly and effortlessly after this tragedy and I pray that those unaccounted for at the moment will be found safe and sound so they can be reunited with their loved ones.

Stay strong Texas!

My Source Of Free Images

When I started this blog, I knew I will have to use some images, but since I am trying to keep myself anonymous I couldn’t use any of my original photography. I really didn’t want to pay a ton of money to an image stock website since I am not making any money from this blog and I absolutely don’t want to get in trouble by using images from Google, as in other people’s images. Luckily, after some research I discovered this lovely website called “Pixabay”, where all images are free and can be used in any way you please, which is awesome. They have a pretty large selection and I haven’t felt like I couldn’t find a picture to represent my thoughts of a particular blog post yet. So if you are looking for a great resource to add to your blog’s overall design and feel, I suggest you check out Pixabay. Of course original photography is always best, but it is not an option for everyone. Yet it’s better to use stock photography than to steal other people’s work – don’t do it, there are better options out there.

Your turn: Where do you get the images for your blog/site these days?

The Boston Marathon Bombing...

April 15, 2013 will now mark the day another tragedy struck United States.  The news about a bombing at the Boston Marathon began to circulate the media a little after 3 p.m. (CST), soon thereafter every media outlet picked up the story and was reporting on the two explosions that took place near the finish line. The footage of the first explosion quickly appeared everywhere, showing the first explosion followed by a cloud of smoke. In the initial reports, this explosion wasn’t identified as a bomb, but once the reports of the second cloud of smoke began to come in, most newscasters stopped calling it a “possible explosion” and began using the words “bomb” and “bombing”. Honestly, after watching the first available video I didn’t realize the full extent of the injuries and the severity of the situation. The initial video didn’t have audio and was shot from a far, so the “boom” didn’t look too scary on my screen, which explains why people didn’t jump to conclusions right away. Unfortunately, the following reports and new pictures demonstrated a different story – there was a second bomb down the street and both were significant enough to shatter glass in nearby buildings, to injure 100 plus innocent bystanders and to kill 3 people (as per latest reports). At this point (12 hours after the bombing) no one has come forward to claim responsibility for this tragedy and no one has been named responsible by the state and federal agencies as of yet.

As I was browsing through the latest information on the Boston bombing, I came across reports that sent chills down my back, especially the statements of Newtown, CT residents who were invited to participate in the marathon as a tribute to the children lost in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre. The first 26 miles of the Boston Marathon were dedicated to the 26 children lost in the Connecticut shooting and some families who lost loved ones on that fateful day were seated in the bleachers at the finish line right across from the first explosion.  I don’t even know what to say here, except – I am so glad you all are safe!

On another note, something else I noticed in the post explosion footage is the reaction of the emergency personnel – when everyone runs away, they ran towards the blast. This never fails to amaze me, the bravery of these men and women who go against all their biological instincts and ran towards danger for the sake of others. We have witnessed the full extent of their selfless actions on 9/11, today and every other day that they have put other’s safety before their own. I truly believe that they don’t get enough credit for what they do on the daily bases, so THANK YOU and BLESS YOU.

Tonight, I really hope that the people injured in the Boston Bombing will recover quickly and effortlessly, while my heart goes out to those who lost their loved ones – you are in our thoughts and prayers!

Clothing Shazam-Like App?

Have you ever walked passed someone who was wearing an item of clothing you absolutely loved and had to have? Do you dare to go ask the stranger with excellent fashion sense as to where they got that jacket or that blouse? Well, I wouldn’t, all I can master up courage for is to snap a mental picture of that item in hopes of finding it later online, but chances are I will never find it. This happens to me quite often, especially while watching TV, and I can’t help but wish that there was an app for that…

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just point your phone at a person who’s outfit you like (as if you were about to take a picture) and your phone told you were the entire item came from? For example, imagine yourself watching a movie, when all of a sudden you see your dream jacket on one of the actresses – then you quickly grab your phone, position it over the screen and open this magical app that automatically tells you what store the said jacket could be bought from. Not only that, you also find out that the jacket costs $399.99 and it is still available in your size and now all you have to do (granted you have that kind of cash sitting around) is press an “order” button and just like that the item is shipped to you. Here is an example of how I think the app should/would work.

To make something like this work, all items of clothing would have to have some sort of “scanable” code system, which could be read from a far by a cell phone. Also, that means that any item you buy will also have such technology so anything you do own and have ever bough can be “scanned” in a matter of seconds, which is a thought that could freak some people out. However, all I am talking about is a simple fashion app that I would like to have active on my phone immediately so I wouldn’t have to waste any more time shopping around for a similar something that I saw on someone last week… 

Of course, such technology is not available to us yet, but it is very possible that one day it will be and when that day comes I truly hope I am rich enough to not acquire an extremely large debt through this oh-so-convenient app.  

I wonder what you think - Is this app idea too far out there and will never be feasible? Or is such technology right around the corner?

Why Have I Been M.I.A.?

When I first started this blog, I promised myself that I will post regularly, if not daily. Unfortunately, I had absolutely zero time to post here this week and I didn’t want to ramble out a post at 3 a.m. because I do not trust my sleepy self to produce coherent sentences. (It’s actually 3:00 a.m. right now, so I apologize for any gibberish you might read in advance). And I just forgot what I was going to write about…

Oh! I remember now… So the reason I was M.I.A. for the past week is my other blog and personal commitments. I have been working on a post for that blog for 2 weeks – seriously – it took me 2 weeks to actually publish it. When I first thought about starting a blog, I never considered that it will be THAT time consuming, not that I am complaining, but I just wasn’t mentally prepared. I have been reading about other bloggers and their process for providing content to the public, just to figure out if there is a better way to accomplish a decent post with less time. Some bloggers say that it takes them an hour or two each day to come up, write up and edit the post before they hit the “publish” button. Not me. I probably spend 1 hour just editing and tweaking the final look of the post before I let anyone else see it. I will share the stages of my process here; perhaps someone has an idea on how I can shorten it?

Step 1.

Scribble in a notebook topics and ideas.

Step 2.

Begin to write by hand and when possible, re-type and complete the actual text for the post.

Step 3.

Shoot pictures relevant to the content or pick out pictures from the thousands I already have on my portable hard-drive.

Step 4.

Photoshop the chosen pictures into perfection and edit them to fit into the blog’s theme. This is the most time consuming part. Depends on the topic, but 20 pictures can take me up to 5 hours of some serious re-touching. I am not slow with Photoshop, I just like things to be perfect and that is very time consuming.

Step 5.

Put everything together in WordPress. Again, this takes me forever and god-forbid I have a genius idea to “animate” the post, so I end up spending hours figuring out how to HTML something in that post. Keep in mind that I have no clue about HTML and everything is a trial and error process.

Step 6.

Final touches – featured image, excerpt, description, keywords, categories and so on. Then I make sure that everything looks good on the front end of the site and I finally hit “publish”.

Step 7.

I go back re-read the post, and then I fix any errors I might have found. Once I am satisfied I share the post everywhere I possibly can – forums, g+ communities and social networks.

At this point I have spent about 10-15 hours on a regular post. If I am doing a “how to” post with pictures, then forget it – we are talking about 48+ hours per post. You might think this is crazy, but with a slight case of OCD and perfectionism, I absolutely have to make the posts perfect to the best of my abilities and that takes time. The interesting part is  that I get so involved in the process that I often forget to eat and sleep, when I finally get up of the chair, my legs are asleep and frozen in one position (not a pleasant few minutes).

That is why I haven’t posted anything here lately – I was doing one of those 48+ hour posts which turned into a 2 week project. I don’t even know if that post will receive any hits or feedback, but my goal is to “help” someone or at least make someone’s life easier just by a little bit through sharing information or experience I have had myself with whatever.

What is your process for creating a post? Does it take you as long as me or have you found a better way of accomplishing your blogging goals?