Starbucks Planner 2009

For coffee addicts, Starbucks Planners are rewarding must-haves. I have accumulated Starbucks planner last 2007 and 2008. But this year, I got none =(. Fair enough, I did not give much attention to acquiring one until the start of the year. I have no stickers since I have not been to Starbucks that much lately and the dream of having a planner won’t happen unless I buy. I was not aware that this time, there were only few stickers to be completed.

This year’s Planner is available in three colors, red, black and blue. I prefer the black one. I just don’t know if it’s still out for sale. Starbucks Planners are selling like hotcakes. They always ran out stock and you still have to reserve before having one. However, I will be trying my luck. hehe

Is there someone kind enough to give me that black one? haha

photo from Flickr

Narcissistic shrines on the web

I would like to share this article I have read from Manila Bulletin.

The evil that is social networking sites

Czarina Nicole O. Ong

Poor Narcissus. All he ever did was love. Love himself, that is. Narcissus loved himself so much, that when he saw his own reflection in a pool, he tried to kiss it and unfortunately drowned in the process.

No one is foolish enough to follow his example. Sure, people love to bask in their own limelight once in a while, but nobody would go as far as kissing their own reflection (literally, that is). But today, the big three W’s have sites popping up that encourage the narcissistic or the "love me" complex. They call them social networking sites, but calling them narcissistic complex sites would have been more apt.

How it all started

Deemed as the pioneer of all social networking sites in the Philippines, Friendster was first launched in 2002 and currently has over 85 million members, the majority of which are from Southeast Asia. Friendster’s VP for global marketing David Jones even says, "The biggest percentage of users is from the Philippines, clocking in with 39% of the site’s traffic."

Friendster’s appeal to Filipinos is phenomenal, and is soon followed by Multiply and Facebook. Each site is unique, boasting of features different from that of its counterparts. Testimonials are exclusive to Friendster, writing reviews are Multiply’s forte, while Superpoke and Mob Wars are Facebook’s babies.

These sites have been used not only as dating sites or friend finders, but also as a hub for trade and business. Multiply, especially, boasts of thousands of entrepreneurs, selling items ranging from clothes, accessories, and shoes to gadgets and cameras.

Clearly, people have found how to maximize the use of these sites. But human nature, being the predictable devil that it is, has also found a way to destroy it.

The bad side of the network

People would not be content with just browsing and posting pictures. The Pandora in every one (not just the girls) simply has to check other profiles too. And if one chances upon a better site, or just one which boasts of better pictures, then the seed of insecurity has been planted.

Because of this insecurity, people will go out of their wits’ end trying to upstage one another. This encourages the Narcissus in all of us. The more friends we have, or the better we look in our profiles pictures, then the more fabulous we are. That’s why a lot of people invest so much time and effort in beautifying their sites, sometimes neglecting their physical needs because of it. These sites then become subtle tools in telling the world, "Look at me! Love me! Envy me!"

But this isn’t supposed to be. The idea behind these sites is actually inspiring. Getting people to bond and discover more about each other through a single website is mind-boggling. But the idea has been abused; in fact, it has been distorted. And because of this distortion, what was supposed to have been another one of mankind’s greatest inventions is transformed into a disturbing, self-absorbed, and spite-inducing hub. If he were born today, Narcissus wouldn’t have merely drowned in a pool. In fact, he would have simply died of starvation while sitting on his computer chair, waiting for his thousands of pictures to be uploaded.

source Manila Bulletin

Very true isn't? Well then, are you Narcissistic?

Pagerank, a gift from Google

My new year started with a blast. As I was browsing the net, I came across page rank checker. I have read through several blogs the Pagerank update many bloggers were glad about. I felt a tinge of envy since I have been used to having PR0 in my blogging history hehe. Reluctant as I was, I still checked mine. However, this time, it was unexpectedly different. Yes, there was an eye popping news. This blog, This is so me, is now officially PR2. I have checked it several times thinking the site might lapsed a bit. With a deep sense of gratification, after several tries, there was only a single result, PR2. I was like "wow". I never dreamt of having it but here it was. I felt proud, happy and thankful. This was a good jumpstart of the year.

My love for blogging cannot be hampered with or without Pagerank. Nevertheless, I am so grateful to Google for this New Year gift. I am also thankful to all my readers and droppers. I owe it to you. Thank you so much!

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

Only a single day left before we 2008 finally ends. Another year of failure and success is bound to take its exit in our lives. A great deal of events had happened during the last 364 days of this year. I graduated, left home, had a small business, stayed unmotivated to work, annoyed with monotony As I looked back, waves of mixed emotions swept through me, happiness, melancholy, emptiness, distrust and the list goes on. It’s all but natural to feel these things. We are humans after all, sensitive to every stimulus inevitable for us to stumble upon.

This year has not been that good enough for me. Or is it just me who made it that way? I felt reprehensible of everything that happened. Life could have offered me more if I have not been complacent of what I am. Nevertheless, I am still thankful for all the blessings I have received. Maybe I was just expecting too much that I fail to recognize life’s little pleasures.

With a deep sense of gratification, I am finally pining for another year of chances. The gaffes I have committed in the past should not impede me from moving forward, instead, it should have serve as a motivation for me to do better, to be more responsible with my career.

I have no regrets after all the blunders I came across. It made me immerge as a better person. I have lessons learned and plans laid out. However, I should not live with either the past or the future. I should live with the present, should live with "now".

Life goes on. Let us not be stocked with the past and welcome another year of prosperity.

My christmas, my vote

My Christmas

Christmas was over. How well did you spend it? Mine was just as simple as eating together with my family as we wait for midnight. We ate, talked, and laughed collectively as we shared different tales of our own. It was most likely a simple reunion given that we lived separately since mom died. It was a perfect time to be reunited. More than the gifts, perfect crisp bills and foods, nothing beats family togetherness this festive season. The warmth cheers and sense of belongingness everyone felt during the once-a-year Noche Buena is incomparable with any material thing the malls can offer. Still, at the end of the day, it is not the quantity in your pocket that counts as the spirit of Christmas, it is the quality of time with your loved ones that is.

My vote

Before the holidays, I had a conversation with Ate Lainy regarding a contest of Kuya Jessie. I did not join it instead, I decided to be voter. The contest winners will be determined by popularity. Of course, This is so me votes for Lainy (woohoo).

I almost forgot that today was the deadline of the said contest. Thanks to my calendar hehe. I know my promise of voting you was long overdue Ate Lainy. I hope my vote helps. And to all the contestants, good luck!