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Monday, January 26, 2009
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This just jumped from my mind as I was chatting with Joyce and I know that this may sound like a re-phrase of somebody else's words but I guarantee you, I feel this is one of my originals:

We don't look into the past to dig and bury ourselves in history,
we look into the past and learn from it to propel ourselves to our destiny.
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
My IPOD hanged

WOW... i can't tell you how frustrated I am right now.
I just got my IPOD back from Joyce and guess what? It hanged.
I'm sure it's not her fault. It's a design problem (I'm almost positive :-D). This is the second IPOD and the first one just turned up dead... I don't know why. Now this IPOD seemed to have a longer lifespan but... unexpectedly it just hanged. I cannot reset it.. I cannot do anything but wait till the battery drains. We are talking about 4-5 hours of waiting.

I'm reading this book titled, Do You Matter? by Robert Brunner Stewart Emery and they were talking about how Apple thought about the design of IPOD. How they thought about what would the customer feel when he/she opens the box and how they thought about the buttons and all those stuffs. And I thought," wow, now that's a company that really want to appear that they care for the customer". Now, I wonder if they thought about what would the customer feel when they have this very expensive gadget and it suddenly hangs without any way of fixing it other than draining the battery or going to the Apple Store? I tell you what, they don't have to worry because I'm gonna give them a feedback, "I feel so frustrated and so unsatisfied I just want to return this thing and get a smaller mp3 player that delivers the results". I googles the keywords "my ipod hanged" and guess what? There were a lot of people who also suffers from this same issue. Some just consider it normal for an IPOD. NORMAL? The customer is paying a lot for this and we call it normal? You know what really bugs me?
#1 I cannot return this gadget. Why? because I am in the Philippines and I think the policy is just replacement (as long as my warranty is still good)
#2 Even if they will replace my IPOD with a new one, the time I used in organizing and putting album covers to the song are priceless.
#3 What if my warranty expires and my IPOD will just drop dead? Apple Care anyone?

Recommendation:
1. Do not buy an Ipod. Settle with an mp3 player that does the job. I used to have Creative mp3 player and it's still functioning well after using it for 3 years. I bought an Ipod because of bigger space but it turns out to be a very bad choice.
2. Do not be a victim of the Apple Hype. I have three words for you - "It's just apple."
3. If you are tempted to buy an Ipod, try to settle for USB-type Ipods. I guess they are more durable.

I hope I have influenced some buying decisions. Have a nice day!

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Monday, January 19, 2009
caligynophobia


The word of the day is caligynophobia.:) I don't know if you heard of this word before but its a very interesting word because it means "fear of beautiful women". I believe I used to have minor case of this type of phobia because every time I get around beautiful women, I feel so uneasy and miserable confused. I feel like I need to do something but I don't know what it is. I feel rattled sometimes and most of the times I just can't talk.:)

I remembered the first time I courted a girl in high school, her name is Sheryl or Cheryl (I forgot) and I really find her beautiful and I every time I see her, my heart would pound like crazy and my palms would sweat like a faucet. So one time, we were in the library and I decided to declare my undying love to Sheryl and so I went up to her and said, "Hi". I want you to focus on those two-letter word- HI. Because that's the only sensible word I could remember telling her. My jaw locked and all I can say were gibberish words. Its as if a big fish got stucked in my throat. I cannot move my lips. I cannot open my mouth to form sensible words. I just froze in front of her. She was there looking at me probably astonished by the fact that I cannot even talk. Probably because of pity, she decided to kick things off by asking the questions. She asked me if I liked her to which I nodded. Then she asked me if I never had a girlfriend to which I nodded again. Then she asked me if it's the first time I courted a girl to which I nodded again.:) Then to end the boring courtship, she said, "My mom won't permit me to have a boyfriend. So... sorry." After hearing those words, I bolted out of the library with all her classmates wondering if I was mad. I was not mad, I was just confused on what to do. I could not talk and I could not negotiate. Fear just got my throat.:)

In college I had an opportunity to be seated with this seemingly sophisticated and beautiful lady, alias "Marko's girl". She probably is a fun to watch because I could not talk to her. I can only count in my two fingers the time when I spoke with her.:) And those are the times when she asked me if we had an assignment and if I have a partner for the mini-thesis to these questions I answered, "YES". The second answer was a lie.:) I did not have a partner I want her to be my partner but I cannot afford freezing in front of her while making the thesis.:) There were many instances when I froze (sometimes almost to death) when I am with a beautiful lady. It's probably the insecurity, the low self-esteem, or because of the way my family brought me up. I was told not to have a girlfriend until I graduate in high school so it probably suppressed my feelings somehow. Whatever the reason is, I can't really pin-point why I had those feelings. The important thing is, I got over it somehow.:)

How? It was when I had my first girlfriend. When she said it's OK to be her girl I feel a bit of confidence in myself. I realized that I am not really ugly and I really have something that is likeable to some women. I remembered that I realized how amazing it is to have a girlfriend. I feel so blissful to love and be love in return. My first girlfriend was an amazing lady she bear a lot of my flaws and hurts in the past. It was along those times that I feel better to be me and I feel that I can talk to anybody. I realized that I have some talent that others might be interested as well. I realized that if I can keep my girlfriend interested in our conversation for hours then I can at least be interesting to some people. I have put it to the test many many times and it was then that I realized that I do not fear beautiful women anymore. Much of the change that happened to me happened in the inside and then it changed some things on the outside like the way I present myself, the way I talk to people, the way I act, and the way to look at people. The change is inside-out and not outside-in.

If you have a case of caligynophobia, I suggest that you find your niche and trust yourself. You may have under-estimated yourself so look at your strength more than your weaknesses. Lastly, continue to improve yourself and the way you present yourself, it is said that you only have around 5 seconds to make an impression so when you meet a person make the best 5-second presentation of yourself. Again the change should be inside-out. You have to change your thoughts on who you are and not how you look. The how you look will follow from the who you are.
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Thursday, January 08, 2009
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I am big believer of not beating myself up. I believe that, by the end of the day the sure person who will be there for you is yourself. Yeah, of course there is God but He is a Spirit so allow me via these grounds to count Him out. In the end of the day, God can tap your heart but you're gonna have to make a choice to pick yourself up. So in these grounds I believe I should not beat myself up too much or be too hard on me.:) Hey I'm only one and if I can't defend myself from me then who else will?

Today, I felt a tinge of grief because of some actions that I did in the past that I knew is gonna hurt me in the future. Now I am in constant (nearly constant) pain because of it. I tried blaming myself but then I don't want to blame myself too much. I also tried thinking and re-thinking and in the end I am still in pain. The natural tendency of man is to move from pain to pleasure. So now, I'm thinking of what type of pleasure I want to go to. I have thought about it and I found that I really don't know what type of pleasure and I probably just wait this out and allow time to mend what I did. I have not prayed as well for many weeks now and I guess this also added to the burden that I felt in my heart. Bottom-line is, I am going to wait this out, bury myself in work and dreams, try to stay as normal as possible and wait for the type A, energetic, melancholic, focused, enthusiastic, and positive me to take shape in the whole process. I have to admit I never thought I'll be back to be this emotional. This primal emotion has plagued my high school and college years and somehow it subsided when Joyce became my girlfriend. Now it's a bit back and I am fighting this off. So with this let me quote Gandalf in Lord of the Ring: Fellowship of the Ring, as I he stood against humongous fiery demon called Balrog, "You shall not pass!!!!"
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Thursday, January 01, 2009
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The year has officially ended! And I am excited because I can now move to a new time where I can use all the failures and all the wrong decisions or the indecision in the past and turn it to my advantage. I know that the economic forecast is not good but God is good and He holds me in the palm of His Hands.:) Looking back, the LORD has saved me and delivered me out of darkness in to the light. All my success I can attribute it to the LORD so this 2008 the LORD has caused me to prosper. Now in 2009, I believe the LORD will still stand in His WORD and His promise and I am forever grateful.:) Happy New Year once again.:)
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Monday, December 29, 2008

I just finished reading The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. I learned about this book from the works of Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, and other authors that I respect. I saw this book in National Bookstore and PowerBooks many times and have avoided reading it. Primarily, because it sounded so instructional and secondly, the book's title made it look like that this book is only for managers. As a "not-manager" it made me feel that I will not relate to this book (but I was wrong). But then I kept on hearing Ken Blanchard's name and The One Minute Manager being referred to by some authors I really respected. I also enjoyed reading, "Who Moved my Cheese" by Dr. Spencer Johnson so I ended up reading it. And I did not regret ever taking time to read it. The content is very simple and workable. And it's delivered in a story-type format so it's not boring and it did not sound so instructional.

The book started with a young man wanting to find an "effective manager" but failed to find one. He often meet "autocratic" or "democratic " managers who he refers as "half-managers". Until met a manager who has very interesting management style. The manager calls his style One Minute Management. Let me share to you the three secrets of the One Minute Manager:
The First Secret: One Minute Goals
The Second Secret: One Minute Praisings
The Third Secret: One Minute Reprimands

If you want to know more about them then I suggest you buy the book.:-)
The One Minute Manager also explained why these secrets works. This book are for people who are handling people like managers, supervisors and teamleaders. I can relate this book to Top Performance by Zig Ziglar where Zig really got my attention when he talked about giving feedback, praising and reprimand. So if you've read Top Performance you will love The One Minute Manger.

This book is a gem so I encourage managers and teamleads to read this book.:-)
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Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life


Change is happening and it will happen whether we like it or not. We might wake-up one day and we will realize that our "cheese" has been moved. And the question is, "what are we going to do about it?" Cheese is a metaphor for something we value. It could be our job, our lifestyle, our relationship, the economy, friends, organizations, our goals and aspirations, and etc. These things or circumstance might cause these things to change and it is our job not to be caught off-guard when these things happen. This is the gist of what I think this book is trying to address.

I can relate this book to the New Reality Workshop that I attended to and I found this more thorough since it focuses on the subject of change. More importantly the book deals with the behaviors and beliefs when under-going change. Truly, when you change the belief then you change the activity. When you change the activity you will change the result and the productivity. This is truly a wonderful book by Dr. Spencer Johnson.

This is just a 47-page book that you can read in less than an hour. You can buy this in almost any bookstore the hardbound will cost you around P500-700. The softbound should be around P250-450. So I recommend that you buy this book.
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Saturday, December 27, 2008
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I don't want to write any negative posts but I am forced to because I feel so guilty.
I consider myself a positive person but maybe sometimes negativity has its time.
So here goes my negative post:
I hate myself a bit, maybe because I feel I'm not punished as should? Or maybe because I
don't feel as emotional as I should? Or maybe because I think I'm too calloused to feel the weight
of the pain I've caused? Guilty and calloused. What an oxymoron right? Somehow I want to see myself in pain but I can't harm myself. Maybe I love myself that much. There are just so many contradictory thoughts in my mind that if I listen to them I will get confused myself. I am not miserable but I want to be. Maybe my time has not come yet? Or maybe I should just go ahead and forgive myself?
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Wednesday, December 24, 2008
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This December is really something.
In just a span of 3 weeks, there so many things that happened to me: CE Theater, Saigon, travel, flirting, new business ideas, new plans, and a BIG heartache.
Yes, this month, I did a miserable thing, I hurt the person I loved the most. I will not go into details but when I said hurt, I really mean hurt. I let my emotion took over and let it lose a disaster. I consider myself a logical person but this time I did not use my mind just my heart and it cost me a lot. I used to take pride of something, now I am like the dust of the earth good to be trodden under everyone's feet. I regretted it so much but just like the wind the blows I cannot take it back. Where can I find absolution save from death?
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Friday, December 19, 2008
December

Hmmm.. where do I begin? There are just so much to say.
This December has been a memorable month.

I'll never forget it until I'm 80 or something.:)






























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My other girlfriends.:)

A and M, I'm glad to have met you.:)
This year, we had great time together. You know how I feel for you guys.

M, I will adapt you if you will still be here on the 24th. hehehehe..
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This is an overdue post my friends have been looking for this shot for quite awhile now. So, A, M, and A her it is.:)

Joyce,
I want to keep you here. Right here in my arms. I love you.:)
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Every moment is a moment

















If my eyes were cameras I would take a thousand pictures of you so I can capture every moment, every smile, every tear, every laughter, and every joy.
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Friday, December 12, 2008
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Table topics: What is LOVE?

Josiah: I did not grew up with a father. He died when I was just 4 years old and my mother did not re-marry. I did not have much memory of him but I did remember a few things. Few things like, when he comes home from work I get very excited because he usually brings me some snacks. Or if he don't have a snack with him, he would bring me to a snack bar and buy me bread and softdrinks. It made me feel so important.I also remember that when somebody asks him if I am his kid, he would always say, "Yes, he is my only boy." And while saying this, you can see the pride in his eyes and you can hear the excitement in his voice. This made me feel so special. And when he was about to die, he scolded me and he got so angry at me for no reason. I cried and cried and run away. Later on, I learned that he died after seeing me go away. My sister told me that his last words to my mom and her was to take care of the family. He knew he was going to die and he does not want me to see him die. He wants me to have a very wonderful memory of a strong father.

Now what is love? I believe love is when you make a person, your kid, your spouse, your parents, or your lover, feel important. I believe love is when somebody asks you, if the person is related to you in some way, you say it in with pride in your eyes and excitement in your voice. You can say, "That's my mother!", or "That's my father!" or "That's girlfriend!", "yes, that's my boyfriend!", "That's my girlfriend!", or "That's my kid!" I believe love is when, even in your last breathe you want the person will have a great memory of you.
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Monday, October 27, 2008
Taken June 30, 2008

I realized I haven't posted this here.

It was June this year when we decided to have a "theme"
on what to wear on Wednesdays. We had neck-tie day, formal day, and this one.
I forgot what was the theme for that week but I did remember it was a lot of fun.:)

I call this X-men 2008 cast.











This one is a sitcom material shot.

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Friday, October 10, 2008
To Love a girl...




















Please support my new album - To love a girl..
featuring the my very own composition:
"10 thousand ways to love you"
"Half-heart"
"A piece of you in me"
"You are right"
"Touch of heaven"
"Music in my soul"

And revives like "When you saying nothing at all", "Twinkle-twinkle", and leaving on a jet plane.

Plus my a music video of my tour around the world.

This is my first acoustic release so please support it.

(photo by Kathleen)
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