Unique Gift for Mom and Dad

“A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.” -anonymous

They call me a “homeboy,” but I didn’t mind. I love staying home more than staying in the office. Unfortunately, being a workaholic, I stay more often in the office than home. I work normally from 7am till 10 pm. I know that is too much. (Okey, that’s beside the point here. ) Hence, coming home from work is a much sought-after event in my day.

What I want is a comfy and healthier living home environment. My place is still a far-off on that ideal. But may parent’s home is.

Incidentally, mom and dad will be celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary. Whew! Yeah, 45 years of marriage. Now, what could be a unique gift that may have my personal touch in it and that will surely delight my old folks?

My brother already thought of a personalized doormat and a park bench to be placed on the front porch of the house. Certainly, that was a great idea. With that, I am left with something to think about to outdo him, of course. That is again beside the point. I similarly want something as unique as that.

My luck came when the postman rung the doorbell. I remembered, my parents are very well known in their community, thus they never bothered to place an address sign on the gate. That is a good gift opportunity. -a personalized etched address plaque to be placed on the front gate and a home address sign on the front door bearing their names. Ah! What a relief! That is truly a unique gift for their anniversary, at the same time putting a trademark seal on the house for which I would always call my first home.

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Boredom and painkillers

When boredom sets in, your senses go numb. you fail miserably in a lot of things for simply your mind is elsewhere.

Boredom is similar with painkillers. They don't heal the wound, but rather block our neurons' ending so that they can't send signal of pain to the brain. So, we do not feel the razor sharp scrapping our nerves unlike when we are in pain. In the same manner, boredom inflicts us. When its pangs has totally subdued us; we become insensitive to our surroundings, the presence of others and their feelings, especially at work.

What needs to be done? Simply break-out of it! Easier said, than done huh.

Steve Winn insightfully wrote:

We're terrified of boredom and simultaneously sunk up to our knees in it, a post-"Seinfeld" generation running as hard and frantically as we can to avoid a condition we increasingly regard as inevitable. "I heard you could die of boredom," goes a mordant line in a Neena Beeber play, "but I guess not." "Not so fast. As more and more people seem to recognize, the universal experience of being bored -- unengaged, detached, afloat in some private torpor -- may be far more precious, fruitful and even profound than a surface apprehension might suggest. As ordinary as gray skies and equally pervasive, boredom deserves its own sun-splashed attention and celebration. "

He goes on to argue that boredom is in fact an ally. We don't have to avoid it because it has its benefits. While the immediate solution I proffer is breaking-out of it, boredom can be utilized to harness your most creative side. Experience tells us that many great ideas produced through creative thinking were bred out of boredom. I remember Isaac Newton was not actually in deep thought when he mused about the law of gravity. He simply saw an apple fell on the ground and began formulating the universal law of gravity.

So, when boredom hits you again, do not allow it to take the effect of a painkiller, harness it and try doing other things.

As for boredom....I notice that it leaves me as soon as I am doing something that has got to be done. -John lay Chapman

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Politics and politicians

I share the sentiments of George Bernard Shaw when he said:

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.

Though I am so much interested on political affairs, I still remain indifferent on how a democratic form of government is run by politicians. I have always viewed democracy as a government by the mob, of the mob and for the mob.

I know there is no perfect form of government. The kind of government we have is always dictated by its leadership. Government models are ideals in papers and in principles, but in practice, they fail due to the powers that be; those that seat in highest places in government. As the presidential election looms in the US, speculations after speculations have driven the market indexes and prices to a crazy see-saw as usual. Why? Because, whoever takes the helm of the presidency will surely dictate where our economy is headed.

Politics is a necessary evil, I must admit. And so, in the coming election, my feeling is best described by J. Basil Boothroyd:

All I can feel about leadership struggle is let them struggle, and let’s just pray that when someone’s come out on top we shan’t get an instant paperback by a couple of political journalists telling us how it all happened.

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I need a vacation! Europe?

I have always fancied Europe. The richness in history, poetry in every places, the romance in the air, and the thrill are all present in one place or in any city, be it in Paris, Venice or Rome. A perfect vacation other than bathing under the sun in a beautiful beach somewhere in the Caribbean is a tour in the famous places of Europe.

How does it feel imagining the thrill of the audience, centuries back, watching gladiators fighting for their life inside the coliseum in Rome? Have you seen the movie: Gladiators by Russell Crowe? IMO that film depicted exactly what transpired inside that coliseum. Or how does it feel to personally admire the magnificent work of art by the legendary Michelangelo on the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel? Don’t you know that it took 4 years for Michelangelo to finish the work? And that afterwards, he developed a stiff neck that he had to endure for years. What a feat!
I always imagined myself canoeing with my sweetheart trailing the canals of Venice. Ahh! Daydreaming again. I really need a vacation, huh.

However, should you thought of touring the famous cities of Europe, do not forget to make your advance hotel bookings. Cheaperthanhotels.co.uk is the site to visit first. Browse and see that you have the perfect accommodations while you are en route, savoring the historical favor of Europe’s famous cities. They almost have a complete list of the hotels and other residencia places that will suit your needs, budget, and most of all a choice that is a stone-throw away at any of the landmark you want to visit.

Fatigue is catching-up with me. I definitely need that vacation. And I think, Europe it is.

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The Secrets of Developing Creative Thinking Skills : Part 2

"Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week."-George Bernard Shaw

The problem is knowing where to start. If you say to yourself as you look at your reflection on the mirror, there I am, at least, I think I am alive and still good looking; you start with a rather shaky premise. Or if you try to go on from there to try to understand everything around you in terms of your own being, you will end up with a system of thought which may well be brilliant but will certainly be inadequate. The secrets of developing creative thinking skills starts with these practical, often neglected, habits:

• Reading. Read a good book that inspire, like an unabridged biography of one of history’s great leaders or popular personality. Better yet, self-help books like the popular Seven Habits by Highly Effective People written by Stephen Covey or a book on reflections on various topics by any of your favorite theologian or philosopher. Better yet, read anything under the sun. Reading stimulates the brain. A wide reader is always ready to present new ideas and is better in arguments.
  

• Writing your thoughts. Write notes anywhere about what you have thought to be of something of importance or value. I have a collection of notes stacked in my drawers which I find delightful and refreshing to read form time to time. These musings where sometimes written in dog-eared pieces of newspaper I’ve read in the past, MCDonald’s’ cheeseburger wrappers or table napkins, chocolate and candy wrappers, and the like. If you’ve come across into a good quote that inspire or is amusing, write it down. It pays to carry a little notebook that easily fits in one of your pockets. Don't forget a pen, of course. ^_^
  

• Observing people. How they talk, behave, dress, eat, react to situations, etc, and make mental notes which you can transcribe later in a paper, better yet write them down immediately. Good thoughts come from these observations, and writing them down, preserve them for life. Not only of people, observe life and everything that is happening around you.

• Listening to others. By the way, even fools have something worthwhile to say. Caution though, don’t argue with them.

• Exchanging ideas with sensible people who can stimulate you to think creatively. Challenge their way of thinking in positive way or in a constructive criticism. Sometimes, your thoughts deserve a hearing. Although, I must admit, sometimes they don’t. Anyway, learn when to express your opinions. Do not simply agree or disagree, be ready to defend them. Robert Frost aptly said: "Thinking is not agreeing or disagreeing. That's voting."
  

Related posts:

• Secrets of Developing Creative Thinking Skills: Part 1
• 7 Steps to master the Art of Listening
• Delete it!
  

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Long Vacation at the Beach

I simply love the beach and the sea, no quarrel on that. I have always dreamt of owning a beach house and a yacht and retire early on my 40’s. Ahh! That dream seems to be too far-fetched –working in the urban jungle, and on call almost 24/7, is very frustrating. What I need is long vacation at the beach. No cellphone, no emails, no clients’ call, white sand, margarita, beautiful ladies in skimpy bikinis, and most of all –alone with my favorite books.

However, with my busy schedule, preparing for a long vacation is simply too cumbersome, and sometimes messy. Calling booking agencies, tourist outfits, and getting an economical flight to your vacation destination is a lot for a busy yuppie like me. I just want to pack my bags and my diving gears and off I go. I wish, it was that just as easy.

The good thing though, I stumbled upon HotelReservations.com. They offer vacation packages that match my interest, destinations and appetite for a hassle-free vacation. They can arrange a good vacation package for me in a beautiful beach resort in Honolulu, Hawaii. That’s a wonderful idea! I might as well visit my siblings there along the way.

The beauty at HotelReservations.com is, they don’t just book you on a hotel or a flight to your destination but you can actually browse and chose by city, amenities provided, or by specific address for hotels of your choice and they will take care of the rest. Better yet, they also offer vacation rentals where you can reserve a suite-type lodging that has self-catering facilities, such as a wet bar, refrigerator, microwave, a fully equipped kitchen, washer and dryer, etc. Just perfect if you are with someone or with your family. There are also daily maid service and other hotel conveniences on the package of your choice. The advantage of this type is, unlike hotels with per person pricing, there is a set price for an entire vacation rental with a maximum number of persons allowed. So, you can maximize your vacation budget.

I’d better start packing my bags. ^_^

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Blog with an Audience in Mind

First Blog Audience: Myself

I started blogging for myself. I never had the intention of publishing any of the articles and notes I have written for public consumption. What prompted me to publicize was the idea of sharing some of my motivational insights about work and life with my office staff.

Second audience: People within my sphere of influence

The radical shift from a private blog into a public one carries with it a huge responsibility. For one, I am no longer writing to express what I think and feel at the moment, having myself as my only audience. Two, I have to write in order to encourage, instruct or inspire my staff, friends and a few relatives as my added audience. Hence I started blogging with a different intent, more frequent and regularly, in a more formal tone, and post varied useful topics addressed to them. It was rigid, yet fulfilling in the long run especially reading their comments or reactions. I grew with them in the process.

Third Audience: People that I never met

Then a couple of months ago, another paradigm shift took place, I am no longer blogging for them either. Now the demand and responsibility is greater. Due to the unsolicited responses I received from other audience other than my staff, friends and relatives, I begun blogging with a larger audience in mind. Audience that I never knew, audience that I never met. That was a challenge that seems difficult to hurdle, but I headed for it with gusto. It was an exhilarating feat.

Implications of An Audience you never met

Blogging for a larger audience, honestly, thrilled me. That thrill bred another desire. I started craving for more unique visitors each day and at least a 4-figure number on my subscribers or feed readership daily. I thought, the task is easier as long as you write interesting topics. But I am wrong. And probably, for most of you know what I missed. Yeah, promotion of my blog. To get the number of unique visitors everyday, which you want to address with your post, will take you beyond just writing an excellent topic. Four essential and practical things you need to do:

1. Know your audience. Analyze your stats and see where they are coming from. Read their profiles, where possible, to know which demographic profile they belong.
2. Promote and market your blog. Linking with other blogs and joining forums is an excellent cost-effective means.
   
3. Optimize your blog for search engines.
4. Lastly, avail of the assistance of search engine marketing and promotion services to boost your feed readership or traffic. It will cost you of course to engage these kind of services. However, if you desire more than 4 figure unique traffic each day, you need to invest on a good SEO promotion and marketing outfit to help you increase your visibility and/or increase your online business profitability.
   

Now, if you are the type of blogger, like me, who simply wants a wider readership to share your thoughts on various subjects then try mastering the basics of SEO. Here a few excellent posts to help you out:

• 10 things I wish I had known 6 Months ago about Blogging and Earning Money Online
• How To Generate Free Recurring Blog Traffic To Specific Articles
• 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic
• How to get traffic for your blog

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The Secrets of Developing Creative Thinking Skills : Part 1

"All men by nature desire knowledge." -Aristotle

Sometimes I sit down and think about the fact that our world is rather ridiculous. Depending on how I feel at the time, my reaction varies from laughing to crying. Have you ever thought how silly it is that millions of us should be on a little planet spinning in space? We don’t know where it’s heading (except for the fact that if we don’t do something about global warming, this plane might turn into a Waterworld, like what was depicted on the movie by Kevin Costner.); we don’t get along with each other (history is riddled with hatred and wars), most of us have never seen much of the rest of the planet; and the majority of us don’t really care about it (huh, going back on the global warming issue.) Just so long as we have food in our stomachs, a roof over our heads and money in our pockets, and the latest cellphone money can buy, the earth can go on spinning crazy on its axis for all we care. We are struck with it, and on it, except for a handful of people who have taken desperately expensive trips away for a week or two.

However some people will not settle for those indifferent approaches. They are unwilling to live aimlessly caring nothing about why they exist. Ages and ages past, there has been a lot of people who paused from their business and think about their existence. We might call them the geeks of today. They don’t stare all day long in front of their computers and clicking on the mouse for something new to stumble upon in the internet –they are philosophers. They are people who try to work out principles that lie behind human conduct and thought. They endeavor to seek out meaning and knowledge and unravel the mysteries of our existence and the meaning of existence itself. We have a lot of things to learn from them today.

It is sad to note however, that in our scandal-filled society and celebrity-endorsed lifestyles, credible thinkers or philosophers are almost extinct or go unnoticed. Few and fewer people are engaging in creative thinking and muse about the goodness of people and life itself other than sex, money or fame.

What the world needs today are creative thinkers who think about the good of this generation and the next. We can start today. We don’t necessarily need to get a degree, or confine ourselves in a remote cave like a monk to engage into creative thinking and meditate. Philosophers before spend so much time thinking what other philosophers think, and deciding they think others are thinking wrong. We don’t have to take that path. For the more they thought in that direction, the more uncertain they have become. What we need though, is develop creative thinking skills and engage popular worldviews.

How do we develop creative thinking skills?

Related posts:

• 7 Steps to Master the Art of Listening
• Delete it!
• Slow Down A Bit

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Yuppie Diet: Eating the Right Kind of Food

Posted by Ronnie Ferez

My mom used to tell me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I cannot simply leave for school unless I eat my breakfast. Now? Well, she will be mad if she’ll learn that I have been skipping breakfast ever since started working and fending for myself. ^^,

I only eat two meals a day; one is a packed brunch at work between 10 to 11 am (breakfast and lunch in one) and another, heavy supper between 7 to 9 pm. In between, I drink lots of coffee and I bet my mom will be really furious about this dietary habit. I carefully choose the right kind of food I eat though, and take vitamin supplements regularly. I am in good shape in spite of this food rudiment, but I think, I could be better if I pay close attention with my diet and regular exercise. How about you? How your daily menu does? How do you stay fit?

If you are trying to shed those extra pounds or you want to gain some, or want to stay fit, there is a better and proven way, and it’s free! It begins with choosing the right kind of food you eat and how much you take. That’s right. Everything begins with the right kind of food you eat. Of course that is easier said than done. However, with the help myfitnesspal, keeping healthy and gorgeously slim is easy in three ways:

1. Keep tab of your calories by using an online calorie counter.
2. Keep an online food diary. Choose the right kind of food to eat, log them and know if they help you in your diet program.
3. Keep yourself informed by joining online communities that can lend you support in your health program and gain additional insights on how others like you do it well.

Now it is time to take my brunch.

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Musing on a Wordless Sunday

Staring at my computer on a wordless Sunday morning.

Looking through my lenses on a lonely wordless Sunday.

My wordless Sunday is almost over. Sigh.

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7 Steps to Master the Art of Listening

Don’t you know that more often we waste so much time talking when we should have been listening, and that we tend to waste more time solving a problem even before we discover or realize what the real problem is? Why? Because we simply love to talk more than listen and each one of us believes or wants to believe that he or she has been heard and understood –all the time. Problems at work, at home or anywhere could have been easily identified and resolved if only if we took the time to listen.

Listening is an art. Like any art, it takes practice to learn how to listen, that is, listening with the intent to understand the meaning of the person talking. It takes efforts and concentrations. We need to look past to what is being said to what the person is really trying to communicate and mean. It was observed that most people speak at about 100 words per minute. While our hearing channels can actually absorb almost 400 words per minute, and our CPU (our brain) can probably function 10X faster than that, leaving us actually large amount of time to think and digest what we are hearing. Hence, trying to talk in those times would mean diminishing your chances of understanding what is being communicated. Here are 7 steps to help you master the art of listening:

1. Try to anticipate what the person is going or about to say. Discern the speaker’s intention, and find-out what he/she really wants to say and mean.
2. Keep checking out the facts and illustrations you're hearing. Are they accurate? Are they biased? Are some facts (purposely) omitted? Are there exaggerations?
3. Logically arrange in your mind the thoughts of the person talking. This is a sort of editing what you are hearing in order for you to see the whole picture of what is being communicated. More often, people simply talk without organizing their thoughts.
4. Observe body language. People’s actuations and facial expressions convey a lot of meanings, and sometimes are more coherent and powerful than the words being spoken.
5. Listen to the emotion behind the words. The choice words, the inflection, the rise and descent in the voice tone could be indicative of an emotion, which is an integral part of what is being communicated.
6. Repeat what you are hearing in your own words, from time to time, to check out whether you are hearing accurately what is being said. Better yet, paraphrase in your own words what you have heard so that you will be on the same reference of mind with person speaking. Words are dynamic, and meaning varies depending on the context used.
7. If you are presiding over a meeting at the office or in any gathering, try to set aside time for simply listening to the input of others before you pontificate yours. In this way, you will gain the confidence of the people present in the meeting and they will be more likely to listen to you afterwards. Do this more often at the office and pretty sure, you will earn the trust and confidence of your people.
   

Alright, that’s quite a long list. Huh. I have probably missed a lot of good points, can you please add on the list? Now, let me listen to you. I will defer all my comments for this post here on.

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Dating For Yuppie Men Only

Yeah, you read the title right. I am not being discriminatory here but it pays if you read this post too.

Dating has become a game or favorite past time for most us (see the ‘us’ –I am very much included, I must confess). What can I say? We are yuppies! We are young educated city-dwelling professionals who are always on the move. We hate settling down. We love the freedom and the thrill of jumping from one relationship to another. We fidget when the relationship starts to plateau, and we start wandering around to shop for the next date. This should not be the case. Ladies forgive us.

The subject of dating and marriage frequents, if not dominates, nearly every conversation in a bar or during lunch break in the office. And what is appalling, more and more yuppie women perceive that there is a scarcity of good, quality men available to date. Is this true? I would usually joke about that there are at least 5 potential dates for women, but more likely the 3 are married and the rest are interested. Yeah, I digressed there. Going back, the issue really is good, quality yuppie men to date. Hear them out will ya.

Modern men dating habits and practices have caused some women to shy away from dating. Why? Because of our tendency to rush on a lot of things, especially on the ‘bed’ part. We fail to exercise courteousness, ‘knighthood’ or gentleman’s conduct, and patience. We fail to give or deliver what women want. We are always on the pursuit our own agenda rather than paying attention to what they want. You don’t have to have the special ability to hear women thoughts like Mel Gibson in his movie, “What women want,” in order to deliver what they expected. Just be sensitive. Compliment her shoes or her new hairdo. Pay attention to everything that she says. These may sound too trivial for us, not to them dude. Try it –it works.

Another major issue in the yuppie men dating scene is how to attract ladies and keep them interested. In the dating web site www.TheModernMan.com, Dan Bacon proffers 3 things on this dilemma (Read his full article here entitled: How to attract women and keep them interested):

1. Don’t try to impress women;
2. Develop the key personality traits and behaviors that naturally attract women,
3. Become a more interesting person.

Exactly. Trust me, those 3 simple things can make a huge difference. So the next time you go on a date, bear those things in mind.

Adding to what has been said, take a few lessons from your past dating experiences also, in order to determine what works best for you; while taking into account your personal beliefs and values about dating, courtship, love and marriage. If you need more advises or tips on dating or want to learn a few effective tactical approaches to a memorable dating, here’s a good dating site to explore.

Share your dating tips here or post your reactions and comments.

Related posts:

• Can a relationship survive without sex?
• 4 Things you should know that dating is not

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Next Generation Online Shopping

The best and most popular trend setters are not actually celebrities but yuppies. Oops. Wait. Before you writhe there in protest, hear me out first.

Yuppies are normally concentrated in the most urban communities and work in the business districts of cities where life is in a fast mode. Changes in trends are fast. And everything seems to be changing every day, that is; change in the ways in the ways of doing things or process changes, policy changes, changes in business ethics, technology, and business or executive fashion. The yuppies are in the forefront, and hence are always abreast with these changes.

In spite of the urban rat race, keeping abreast with executive fashion is a lot easier with them because of on line shopping. In that category, you have Tobi.com setting the pace. Here is an online fashion boutique that offers quality branded ready-to-wear for the yuppies, the like of Vince Sweaters, Paige Jeans, Diesel Jackets, and more. Fashion wears that are indeed suitable for everyday yuppie life. Not only that, at Tobi.com, you don’t simply click and order from their catalogues. You can also connect with their online stylist to help you find the most suitable and best fashion style to suit your needs and your taste. What Tobi.com actually offers you is “a personal high value shopping,” indeed, the next generation online shopping at its best.

So, you don’t have to be a celebrity to trend-set, just be a yuppie that is always abreast with the latest fashion.

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