That’s what I said on my first post for 2010.  Almost three months have passed, it’s time to check if I’m “performing” based on the resolutions I have set for myself.

1. Make new friends.
2. Learn something new.
3. Look for the silver lining.
4. Take more pictures.
5. Make a conscious effort to smile.

As for the first item, I would say that I’ve reconnected with very old friends.  So that would count.  After my high school graduation, I’ve lost touch with my classmates and schoolmates who I have spent a decade of my life with.  I recall having a large group of friends, barkada, as we call it and a few very close friends.  I haven’t seen any of them except for my best friend, whom I went out with last year. She flew back home for a short vacation.  She is based in China now, so we rarely get to chat.  As for the rest of them, I only see them in Facebook.  Even if I have had social network groups in the past, I’m still amazed with the way Facebook connects people.  I’m even friends with my favorite high school class adviser.  Cool, right?!

About learning something new, I would say that I learned a lot about cars, specifically Toyota hybrids.  As a researcher, I have no choice on what topics to study about, fortunately I’m not easily bored by the subjects I have to research.  Earlier this year, I even had to write about Feng Shui.  It was quite interesting to learn about something that I often hear about.

Now about that silver lining, I’m not yet sure what exactly I meant when I wrote that.  Perhaps I can count winning a couple of Manila Ocean Park tickets from Discovery Asia at a time when I had no projects, thus, no financial means.  I did sell those tickets though.

Most of the pictures I took for the first two months are dishes I cooked.  I posted some in Facebook but I’m seriously considering creating a cooking blog, or recipe blog of sorts.  I have yet to take pictures of myself though.

Smiling is indeed a conscious effort.  I would say that I’m a shy and reserved type of person by nature so I rarely smile especially at strangers… and that’s probably a good thing.  It is also difficult to smile while I’m still looking for that silver lining.

All in all, I still have a lot of things to work on.  But I’m still the stubborn procrastinator, and sometimes I think forever that will be.

Things change but people rarely do.

Here’s the list: (Winners are in bold letters)

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Mo’Nique ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire’
Penelope Cruz ‘Nine’
Vera Farmiga ‘Up in the Air’
Anna Kendrick ‘Up in the Air’
Julianne Moore ‘A Single Man’

I was only able to watch Precious, and I say Mo’Nique deserved this win. She portrayed her character very well, in fact I hated her in the entire film.

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical
Toni Collette ‘United States of Tara’
Courteney Cox ‘Cougar Town’
Tina Fey ‘30 Rock’
Edie Falco ‘Nurse Jackie’
Lea Michele ‘Glee’

I love the United States of Tara. The main character, Tara, has a dissociative identity disorder. Seeing how Tara and her family manages this disorder evokes all kinds of emotions in me. My own problems seem so insignificant compared to this family’s. It certainly provides a different perspective. I was also rooting for Lea Michele since I’m a fan of Glee but the series is a success, surely she’ll have lots of chances to win in the future. I can’t say the same for United States of Tara, actually I’m not sure if they have a next season.

Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV
John Lithgow ‘Dexter’
Neil Patrick Harris ‘How I Met Your Mother’
Michael Emerson ‘Lost’
Jeremy Piven ‘Entourage’
William Hurt ‘Damages’

I was rooting for NPH, I’m definitely a fan of How I Met Your Mother. Oh well, maybe next time. I was watching the latest episode a few minutes ago and I loved the production number about the suit.

Best Animated Feature Film
‘Up’
‘Coraline’
‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’
‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’
‘The Princess and the Frog’

Up is definitely a must-watch! It has that Disney/Pixar magic that touches your heart and makes you empathize with the main character.

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Michael C. Hall ‘Dexter’
Simon Baker ‘The Mentalist’
Jon Hamm ‘Mad Men’
Hugh Laurie ‘House’
Bill Paxton ‘Big Love’

I wanted Hugh Laurie to win but oh well… Maybe I should start watching Dexter.

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Julianna Margulies ‘The Good Wife’
Glenn Close ‘Damages’
January Jones ‘Mad Men’
Anna Paquin ‘True Blood’
Kyra Sedgwick ‘The Closer’

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV
‘Grey Gardens’
‘Into the Storm’
‘Little Dorrit’
‘Taking Chance’
‘Georgia O’Keeffe’

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy
Meryl Streep ‘Julie and Julia’
Sandra Bullock ‘The Proposal’
Marion Cotillard ‘Nine’
Julia Roberts ‘Duplicity’
Meryl Streep ‘It’s Complicated’

Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV
Kevin Bacon ‘Taking Chance’
Kenneth Branagh ‘Wallander: One Step Behind’
Chiwetel Ejiofor ‘Endgame’
Brendan Gleeson ‘Into the Storm’
Jeremy Irons ‘Georgia O’Keeffe’

Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV
Drew Barrymore ‘Grey Gardens’
Joan Allen ‘Georgia O’Keeffe’
Jessica Lange ‘Grey Gardens’
Anna Paquin ‘The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler’
Sigourney Weaver ‘Prayers for Bobby’

Wow! Drew Barrymore beating out Jessica Lange. Hmm… I’ll put this on my movies-to-watch list then.

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
‘Up in the Air’ Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
‘The Hurt Locker’ Mark Boal
‘District 9′ Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
‘Inglourious Basterds’ Quentin Tarantino
‘It’s Complicated’ Nancy Meyers

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin ‘30 Rock’
Steve Carell ‘The Office’
Thomas Jane ‘Hung’
David Duchovny ‘Californication’
Matthew Morrison ‘Glee’

It’s his third Golden Globe for the same performance, which is why I finally decided to watch 30 Rock. I don’t know why, but I don’t really like Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon character. Might be because I relate with her too much. Ha-ha… But that’s another story.

Best Foreign Language Film
‘The White Ribbon’
‘A Prophet’
‘The Maid’
‘Baaria’

Best TV Series, Drama
‘Mad Men’
‘Big Love’
‘Dexter’
‘House’
‘True Blood’

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV
Chloe Sevigny ‘Big Love’
Jane Adams ‘Hung’
Rose Byrne ‘Damages’
Jane Lynch ‘Glee’
Janet McTeer ‘Into the Storm’

I really really really wanted Jane Lynch to win this one. Sue Sylvester, her role in Glee affects me so much that it makes me want to punch her in the face… and I’m not usually a violent person.

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Christoph Waltz ‘Inglourious Basterds’
Matt Damon ‘Invictus’
Woody Harrelson ‘The Messenger’
Christopher Plummer ‘The Last Station’
Stanley Tucci ‘The Lovely Bones’

Best Director – Motion Picture
James Cameron ‘Avatar’
Kathryn Bigelow ‘The Hurt Locker’
Clint Eastwood ‘Invictus’
Jason Reitman ‘Up in the Air’
Quentin Tarantino ‘Inglourious Basterds’

I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t seen Avatar yet. Especially when I watched Titanic 4 times on it’s first week.

Best TV Series, Comedy or Musical
‘Glee’
‘30 Rock’
‘Entourage’
‘Modern Family’
‘The Office’

I just love Glee. Period.

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
‘The Hangover’
‘(500) Days of Summer’
‘It’s Complicated’
‘Julie & Julia’
‘Nine’

I did watch The Hangover, and I did think that it was funny. But I never imagined it would win any award. Well, maybe on the MTV Movie Awards…

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Sandra Bullock ‘The Blind Side’
Emily Blunt’The Young Victoria’
Helen Mirren ‘The Last Station’
Carey Mulligan ‘An Education’
Gabourey Sidibe ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire’

I watched Precious and I really think Gabourey Sidibe should win an award for it. But maybe there’s something to say about Sandra Bullock’s performance in this one since she actually won a Golden Globe. For the first time!

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy
Robert Downey, Jr. ‘Sherlock Holmes’
Matt Damon ‘The Informant!’
Daniel Day-Lewis ‘Nine’
Joseph Gordon-Levitt ‘(500) Days of Summer’
Michael Stuhlbarg ‘A Serious Man’

Sherlock Holmes… another movie I missed. Thank God for dvd’s.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Jeff Bridges ‘Crazy Heart’
George Clooney ‘Up in the Air’
Colin Firth ‘A Single Man’
Morgan Freeman ‘Invictus’
Tobey Maguire ‘Brothers’

Best Motion Picture, Drama
‘Avatar’
‘The Hurt Locker’
‘Inglourious Basterds’
‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire’
‘Up in the Air’

I’m still hoping to watch Avatar in IMAX. There’s still time, I think.

I read up about the issue and found out that the partylist 1-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA) made this proposal. I still don’t understand why they think that married women would find it difficult to be successful, that they should rethink their marriages, after a period of ten years. This is definitely… funny. The news articles I have read did not really indicate the specifics of the proposal so if you actually understand what their goal is, can you explain it to me?

Maybe there are other issues that need to be addressed? I found out that the group’s main advocacy is to empower women to be financially independent. So I don’t really see the connection. What issues did they think of to come up with that kind of a proposal? Didn’t they think that because of ideas and proposals like this, people don’t take women seriously.

I am single. I’m all for women’s rights and equality. I’m still in the process of trying to be independent. And maybe I don’t believe that marriage is for me, especially at this point in my life. But… I would not ever think that marriages should expire.

Time flies by when you’re having fun.

I didn’t realize it, but it’s already the 7th of January. I was supposed to make a year-end post but instead I will welcome 2010 with my new set of resolutions.

1. Make new friends.
2. Learn something new.
3. Look for the silver lining.
4. Take more pictures.
5. Make a conscious effort to smile.

Oh, and of course, I resolve to blog more often. I’m targetting at least 1 post each month. It is pretty low, but I just want to be more realistic. So anyway…

Here’s to more experiences, more learnings, and more blessings. Hopefully the events of the previous year will help us make better choices. May each and everyone of us feel more loved and more blessed every day.

Cheers!

When I first decided to become a freelancer, I knew that not receiving benefits (like bonuses, insurance, etc.) is a huge disadvantage that I have to accept. Last year I was still able to get a small part of my 13th month since it is based on the number of months I stayed with an employer. But now, I have to say good-bye to bonuses.

Well, that just means that I have to strive to be a better freelancer so that I can get more projects… and get more work done. That said, I better go back to work.

I also thought of how lucky I was that I work at home since I just read a Plurk saying that they are forced to go to work despite the typhoon.

At noon, Jay Leno was on tv when suddenly the cable went out. I remembered feeling relieved that I was able to watch Hugh Laurie before the cable lost its signal. After a few minutes, I received a text from my sister in California asking how I was. It was then that I learned that Marikina has been in the news because of the quick rise of flood water in several areas. I felt lucky that this part of Barangay Fortune is safe from flood. Just then I received a call from my sister at my mom’s (they live a few steps away from UERM) asking how I was. I told her that Fortune is located on high ground. She told me that the flood has almost reached the steps going up to the first floor. Luckily, they live on the 3rd floor.

At this point, I just received a somewhat-harsh evaluation from a client about my work performance for the past two weeks. I was busy trying to come up with a proper response. It took almost an hour of checking data from the project and going back and forth to Thesaurus.com for more appropriate words. All of a sudden my screen went blank. Dang! My laptop has no battery. I felt very frustrated because I have been working on that response and I wasn’t sure if it was saved as a draft. (The next day I found out that it wasn’t.) After a few minutes I got a text from my mom asking me how I was. She also said that Aurora Boulevard is now under 10 feet of water. The flood has reached the first 3 steps of the 1st floor and they were fearful that the water level will keep rising. The rain has not let up and it seemed that it will not stop anytime soon. All the while, I had no idea that many houses in Marikina are already being swept away in the river and that the situation was quickly becoming alarming. I was busy with work and the tv was already turned off by this time.

So there I was, no tv, no computer, my phone’s battery low signal blinking every 2 seconds. I learned from people who live nearby that villages in Marikina and Cainta are already under several feet of water. People were already on their rooftops waiting to be rescued. A relative who lives in Greenland said that they just parked the car a few minutes as they fetched their children in their home, a few minutes later they realized that the car has been dragged by the heavy water current and they had no idea where it went. It was only at this point that I learned the typhoon’s name, Ondoy.

Like a flash, Ondoy was wreaking havoc all over the Philippines. It’s a good thing that I have this tiny battery-operated radio where I listened to updates about the storm, stranded people asking for help, anxious people waiting for news about their loved ones. I was becoming more and more concerned as I heard news reports on the status of the flood in UERM. When I heard that the water level has reached the 3rd floor, I became more tense knowing that the hospital’s 3rd floor is in level with our 2nd floor. I kept texting my mom, my sister, my brother and my cousins asking how they were, but to no avail.

I made french toast to release the tension building up inside me. But I had no appetite at that time. A few minutes later, I made grilled cheese sandwiches.

Time passed by slowly. It was only 6 in the evening and I had nothing to do. I decided to go to bed to sleep but I kept waking up. My cell phone’s battery has finally given up. I had no idea what time it was. I remember waking up several times in the night and every time I looked outside all I could see was darkness. I just forced myself to sleep although my mind kept forming horror stories on its own. That’s the problem with having a wild imagination.

Morning finally came. Still no news from my mom. I decided to go to SM Marikina since I really needed to put in at least a couple of hours of work, and charge my cell phone’s battery. As I traveled to the mall, I surveyed the damage Ondoy left the city (and people) of Marikina.

After getting stuck on the road for two hours, I finally arrived at SM and found their basement parking muddy and closed for cleaning. When I got to Figaro, I was finally able to contact my sisters in California to let them know I’m okay. I was also able to get in touch with my mom. Gratefully, the water only reached their first floor. Our vehicles though were submerged in water but it is still a good thing that they were not dragged by the strong water current.

As of this writing, the death toll has gone up to 240.  All I could do right now is pray for those who lost their loved ones.  Thankfully the spirit of brotherhood is alive and well, as we provide to those who need food, shelter, and clothing. International organizations have been sending aid to the Philippines in whatever way they can.

There is hope for humanity yet.

I was initially excited when I changed themes, from Coffeecup to Arthemia. When I saw this theme last year on a client’s website, I started picturing my own blog and how it will look once I use this theme. I finally decided to change my theme on June, unfortunately I was hired for a 30-hour-a-week project that I simply had no time to fill this up with content. I left the blog on maintenance mode since then.

Fast-forward to three months later, I remembered that I still need to update my blog. I changed my blog title to Whiteboard, and promised myself that I will finally organize my posts. That’s why I like how the categories on this theme works. I’m not the most organized writer, in fact my blogs are all over the web, my posts are usually uncategorized so Arthemia will force me to organize my articles. After all, I can always use this as part of my portfolio when I apply for projects in Odesk.

I also realized that I need to practice writing once more. I am currently writing a screenplay for another project and my hiatus on blog-writing has slightly affected my productivity. I still have a lot of content to post and perhaps some retouches must be done which means brushing up on HTML and studying CSS. All of a sudden my To-Do-list is full! Learning something new is always exciting, don’t you think?

I have a mean streak. For more than 10 years, I have been providing customer service, that I know how service should be delivered. As a customer, I make sure that I get the service that I am paying for. It’s not that I’m intentionally being mean, but don’t you just hate it when you get stupid answers?

I can’t deliver a joke. A LOL-worthy joke is wasted on me. Apparently I don’t know how to build up a joke all the way to its punch line. That’s why I have this wry (read: sarcastic) sense of humor.

The caffeine is starting to lose its effect, yet I’m still knee-deep in work. This is what happens when you procrastinate.

I have been putting off making voluntary contributions but I have been planning to contribute as a voluntary member months ago. Now, I’m not sure if I still want to.

I went to the SSS website today. I knew that the website was sss.gov.ph. It was simple and easy to remember. Still I did not go directly to the site. I searched Yahoo! and found the same website.

http://www.sss.gov.ph/

So, I clicked on that search result…. Voila! This page appeared.

I would have appreciated a ‘Sorry. We are temporarily unavailable. Please try again after a few minutes. (or hours, or even days) That I would understand. But nooo…. Right on my browser is a page for Oracle Application Server. Perhaps I clicked the wrong link. I typed it on the address bar this time.

sss.gov.ph

The same friggin’ page. Okay, okay. Be calm. Maybe there’s another way to check my contributions. So I searched Yahoo! again. There you go! Apparently there is a TEXT SSS SMS-based information system where a member could check their total contributions, status of loan applications, etc. So I texted SSS using 2931 Globe access number (Smart’s is 288). After a few seconds, I received a reply that the service is temporarily not available. Hmmm… so maybe their system is down, if even the text inquiry service is affected. Unconvinced I decided to check the Philippine government’s website… maybe the SSS changed their link, or something.

www.gov.ph

Eventually, I found the link for SSS Member Inquiry System. This directs me to a registration page. I entered the data needed but I got to another problem. I was being asked for the status of my membership. If I select ‘Voluntary’, there’s a box where I need to enter the receipt number of my last payment. If I select ‘Employed’, there’s a box where I need to enter the SS. number of my employer. Another dead-end.

Oh well. I might just go and visit one of their branches. So much for the Philippine’s online system. Maybe I do need to go to their office and get the information I need. Still… that Oracle Application Server page bothers me. Is there not enough budget to replace that Oracle page with something more appropriate? I don’t believe that they think that not many Filipinos use the SSS online inquiry system because I was able to use it 5 years ago, without these hitches. So what’s their deal now?

Since May 2008 Plurk has been giving internet users a way of updating their friends (and fans) with a minute-by-minute account of their lives. It is instant messaging, blogging, and social networking all rolled into one. Just like Yahoo Messenger, AIM, or Windows Messenger you will be able to send instant messages (with cute new emoticons) to your friends. Similar to blogging, you will be able to send short messages containing links, photos, and even YouTube videos. Social networking comes into play because you can add a number of fans who can follow your timeline, and a set of friends who you can follow and who can follow your timeline as well. So long as the plurks (which are actually the messages) are viewable to the world, people in the plurkiverse (who may or may not be your friends) can post replies to them.

As the A-Team puts it, you are a celebrity! So no matter what you do, or how boring you think your life is, there will be people who will tune in to your social journal.

There are features in Plurk that are not available on their (considered-to-be) rival, Twitter. In Plurk, the plurkers (or subscribers) can post new messages with a given set of qualifiers. These are one-word verbs that can be used to represent a thought (ex. hopes, wonders, wants, etc.). Also, there is a list of supported languages for qualifiers that you can opt to use: Filipino, Italiano, and Bahasa Indonesia are just some of them. You can also suggest your native language if it’s not on the current list yet.

Karma is another feature. Every plurker has a Karma value that is recalculated everyday. The Karma value depends on several things: updating the profile, the number of plurks, friends and fans, and inviting more friends to Plurk. It is very important to know the difference of quality plurking from spamming. A high Karma value rewards you with exclusive features. For instance, a Karma value of more than 10 will earn you the ability to give a title to your own timeline. A Karma value of more than 50 will give you access to exclusive emoticons.

Because of the increasing number of members, along with their demands, add-ons and widgets have been created for its users that would quickly post the plurks without having to visit their own user profile. In the Philippines, PhPlurk has provided Plurk users with a way of updating their timeline just by sending a message from a mobile phone to PhPlurk’s gateway. They have created a gateway for the following mobile network provider:Globe, Smart and Sun Cellular.

Plurk is just one of the many tools in the internet that gives you a chance to connect with people, be it with family, friends, and even strangers. What are you waiting for? Start plurking.