I’ve always been interested in the crafting aspect of life and it extends to games and fantasy worlds. I love collecting materials and ingredients and then turn them into something more valuable. I prefer a peaceful existence, distancing myself from combats and guild wars. I can picture myself living in small but beautifully crafted cottage in the forest, surrounded by huge oak trees that shield my home from extreme heat in the summer and from the strong winds brought by the chilly winter. I can hear the steady stream of flowing water from the nearby, where all kinds of magical forest creatures stop by for a drink of refreshment. Whenever the wind blows a soft whistle, it forms a wonderful melody with the rustle of leaves and the chirping of birds nested on the thick and high branches of the majestic oak trees that surround my home.

One can usually see me walking around the forest, poking and peeking on thick shrubberies and searching for ingredients I can use for my potions and crafts. I am always looking around for herbs and spices to use on the rejuvenating snacks and breads that passersby purchase for their long journeys and training. I also frequent the clearest area of the river to get the fresh cool water for my fruit juices. Novices in training love to purchase them because they’re cheaper and pack a punch even if they’re in small vials.

Passersby who are quite hungry but have no coins to spare, usually offer materials they gathered in exchange for some food and temporary shelter. I do accept these materials, especially the fabrics and threads, as well as precious stones and gems. I love to sew in the afternoons after I’ve finished all work in the kitchen, so I create comfortable and sturdy clothing that I sell to other passersby. In the weekends, I love to spend some time creating talismans from the precious stones and gems I received. I wrap each of them delicately with a silver transparent thread that I weaved from the air and water during each months full moon and attach it into a cloth neck strap that people can wear comfortably around their neck during their journey. This protects the stones from harm and allows its powers to protect its bearer each time he goes into battle.

That is how I envision my life in Taborea. Peaceful and content, thriving with happiness from the ability to do what I want. We all need a little magic in our lives, this one is mine.

I have been always drawn to digital art. It started with 2d and 3d characters on the games I played and eventually moved on with adoptables and pet site art. I still spend a lot of time browsing through finished digital artworks in DA and wonder how people can do them. I spend some time each week trying to learn more about the tools of my trade which consists of Photoshop and Paint Tool SAI. I still feel that I need to learn more and I am considering applying in a digital art school once my budget allows me to.

I found out about First Academy of Computer Arts a year or two ago through Google while was searching for a school that offered web design and PHP courses. I even went on to inquire through email about their courses back then but wasn’t able to actually attend their courses because I was still finishing school then. Last year, I learned that one of my classmates took a course there and she recommended it highly when I mentioned I was interested. I’m glad I stumbled upon their website again now that I am focusing my career into pet sites and adoptables. I find their list of courses interesting and I am highly interested with their multimedia arts offering since I would like to learn more about concept art. Here are a few examples of their students’ works:

Basically what I found is that they offer the following main courses:

3D Arts that includes 3D Modeling & Design, Texturing & Rendering, 3D Animation and 3D Effects.
Multimedia Arts that tackles Concept Art (2D), Digital Animation and Basic Motion Graphics.
Print Media which contains Graphic Design, Graphic Illustrator and Page Design & Layout.
Web Design which includes techniques in Photoshop, xHTML, CSS, and Dreamweaver.

They also offer several workshops in case you have a specific area you want to focus on. In case you are interested to find more information First Academy and their programs, you can check out their website, www.firstacademy.net or call 898 27 24 to 26 and ask for Ms. Ciel C. Luy their Marketing Manager. The school is located 2F Saville Building, 8728 Paseo de Roxas corner Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Makati City.

I figured this would be another awesome SM experience since it will be the first time I will really get to know Batangas-based bloggers (or would-be bloggers). I already met some lovely people last year when we had our WordPress Pinoy‘s EB’s when Ate Kengkay and Ate Beng came to the Philippines.

SM (or what I usually called Shoemart when I was still little) has been part of my life even before I started to go to school. I remember fondly going to SM Cubao a lot when I was little because my grandmother on my Dad’s side lived in Cubao. We’d stroll around the mall to find new toys that caught my fancy and just spend some family time together on Sundays there.

A few years passed and I started going to school in Tanauan. I always got excited when the month of May would roll by because it was time for new school supplies. It meant we would go to SM Cubao and shop for school supplies there. Then when they opened SM Southmall, shopping became easier for us because it was nearer. Dad started working in Alabang that time so we would visit him in Southridge, then we’d head off to Southmall after he was done with the things at work so we can eat and shop around.

A few years later, more malls popped and since ATC was nearer than Southmall, we’d opt going there. I missed SM by then but it was easier to go to ATC and Festival especially when the rush-hour starts. After a few more years, Robinson’s Lipa came and I was hoping we’d get an SM there as well because I grew up with SM. So when SM Lipa was opened, we were really happy that we can go there again as a family.Whenever we had extra funds, we would go out and eat together in SM. These were taken in Flavor’s of China and the other 3 ones were taken at the food court on another family bonding:

Then here are a few snapshots of our team’s get together in Yellow Cab and Greenwich early this year:

These are just part of my awesome experiences in SM malls. I have a lot more of them stored in my hard drive and my old school film photoalbums but it will take so much space. I had my birthday a couple of years ago in MOA with two of my friends and I’ve had other meet ups with blogger friends there as well apart from lunch and dinner dates with my sister.  SM has been a part of my life and will continue to do so because my life’s journey has been made more special with the memories I’ve had in SM malls.

To all the other Octoberians, Congratulations!

Since graduation day is less than a month from now, I have started the employment hunt. I do know that I want to pursue baking (I really love it) but to be able to continuously experiment on recipes I need to have ingredients. As we all know, the main ingredients of cakes and other baked products are flour, butter, milk and eggs. It’s quite expensive so I have to find a stable source of income so I can fund my passion. I’ll try freelance writing again and hopefully it will be enough to fund my mass baking sprees. I kid you not. When I get the itch to bake, I prepare several batches for taste-testing and our neighbors benefit from it. People at home are already sick of eating my baking experiments that they have stopped wanting cake.

Wish me luck on my hunt. Hopefully I get lots of writing opportunities so I can pursue my baking.

If that isn’t exhausting enough, I also have to physically move from my town to school and vice-versa. So there is not much time to devote in earning income on the web like I do during vacation. So far I have found that passive income is a good source of extra cash if you’re a patient individual. I don’t earn oodles of it daily but once you get a steady stream of small trickles of cents or pennies a day at the end of the month, you will realize you just earned some good money without actually doing anything. Its money you get without having to worry at the back of your mind if you did this or that, or if you were able to meet a clients deadline or not. It is quite a stress-free source of income.

I’m not denouncing income opportunities that require active participation from individuals. I like them as well because it pays generously per task done compared to small trickles of money but for busy students like me earning money without investing so much time to it is a welcomed blessing.

Christmas in the Philippines is a warm and festive occasion, a time for family to get together and celebrate the year and commemorate Jesus Christ’s birth. Although Christmas is warm whenever we are in the presence of our families, the weather tends to get cold when the so called Ber months arrive (September, October, November, December) and it lasts until the first few weeks of January. The Philippines is a relatively warm place since we are a bit near to the tropics that’s why the cold breeze during the Christmas season is quite welcomed by Filipinos. Its the nearest to winter we can get.

Here in Batangas, even the days are cold. When we go to the malls, its colder outside than inside the mall. Nights can get a bit chilly even without having electric fans running at home. So having a thick, soft blanket to wrap in when the wind blows is one of the best things one can have during the holidays. Its also nice to sit in a couch wrapped in a blanket while reading a book. One can even use it while reading a book on the couch. I love being wrapped in my blanket the most when I have colds and my Mom brings me hot chicken soup to ease my runny nose and sore throat. I have this favorite blanket and it was given by my aunt who lives in Alaska. Its thick and the fiber used is really soft so I love cuddling inside it when the wind blows at night. Its very warm and inviting and just wrapping myself in it makes me sleep. Its like being lulled into sleep, like a child laying in its mother’s arms.

That’s why its a great gift to give our friends and loved ones. There are lots of varieties to choose from, from the fibers and threads used, to the textures and designs of each one. Blankets are personal gifts. You can decide which blanket suits a person you know just by touching and feeling the blanket. Each one has its own personality like people do. It might seem simple but people find happiness in seemingly small and simple things. I know I do.

I started back in August and I can truly say I had fun in working there and I did meet a lot of people that I wouldn’t normally meet. Although I think I got burned out by the tasks and the fact that our teams got changed lot in a span of a few weeks, so I had lost the feeling of having a real team. I am also going back to the university this coming term wherein I am hoping to finally finish my remaining 18 units. I do hope the term goes by like a breeze so I wouldn’t feel so constricted and bored.

My blogs have suffered a lot when I left to work and I suffered as well because all the writing I was able to do was coding service tickets. I need some writing time again because all those months spent in taking in calls and documenting them has made my brain feel unused. I need to start writing again and I think a good way to do it would be to start on a simple writing project! Since its the holidays, I think it would be a good writing exercise to write about good simple gifts that can make the holiday gift-giving tradition a memorable one. I’ve given myself the task to think of one gift each day and write about it. I’ll try to choose at least 12 gifts, or make it 24 for each day of December until the 24th.

I think it would be easier to write about simple things that I wouldn’t mind giving and receiving for the holidays. Its usually the thought behind the gift that counts for me so a hefty price tag is not needed at all. Hopefully this exercise will help my brain to get used to writing and thinking again because it needs to get conditioned in time for my classes back at the university this coming January. Wish me luck!

I miss blogging terribly not only because of the freedom I have with regards to my schedule but also because of the different people I’ve met and gained knowledge from. With my current line of work, I’m learning many things too but I am not meeting a wide range of people that I get to do when I am living online.

Having a stable offline work is good in terms of monetary rewards. I can count on receiving a salary every 10th and 25th of the month and I will be able to receive from benefits when I reach my 3rd month there. However I’m feeling really stressed out in my job right now. My head hurts a lot these days and I don’t have the energy I had back when I still worked online. I also have less time to spend with the people I love and seeing my old friends. Since I started working, my whole life has changed and though I met lots of great people who I consider as my family already in that company, I don’t feel happy anymore. I think of the job as a burden now. I get nightmares at night (or morning) when I get home to sleep and when I wake up I still worry about my job. I don’t think the money I am getting from it can compensate for the stress I am experiencing daily. In fact I don’t look forward going to work. I have been dreading the time that I have to leave our home and ride the shuttle to work. I know in my heart that I am not happy anymore.

Though if I leave, I would not have a steady income that I can rely on. I would need to work double time on my blogs again (plus maybe sell some baked goodies) so I can be assured that I can make ends meet. Its so frustrating that what makes me happy can’t sustain my needs at the moment. I want to resign but I can’t resign just yet. Life is so annoying at times.

]]> http://www.bloggingpinay.com/2008/10/06/real-work-can-be-a-pain/feed/ 0 http://www.bloggingpinay.com/2007/11/18/my-journey-to-learning-effective-blog-monetization-and-seo-begins-today/ http://www.bloggingpinay.com/2007/11/18/my-journey-to-learning-effective-blog-monetization-and-seo-begins-today/#comments Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:33:41 +0000 Nika Catbagan http://www.bloggingpinay.com/2007/11/18/my-journey-to-learning-effective-blog-monetization-and-seo-begins-today/ I start this blog with the goal of understanding and learning SEO. Hopefully after some months I’ll be able to understand it better and I’ll be able to gauge my progress through the development of this blog. From the articles I’ve read, SEO results does not happen overnight, and it usually shows after 3-6 months time. So if by that time this blog is still relatively unknown and it doesn’t generate much organic traffic, I’d know I failed in understanding and implementing SEO.

I’ll also be using this blog to widen my views and my knowledge. So stuff related to love, life, sex, money, humor and technology will be blogged here as well, aside from my SEO journey.