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Showing posts from June, 2013

50 Lessons I Wish Learned Early In My Career

The guy with crazy fashion style rarely has the winning ideas. Don’t be scared to share your ideas. There are planners and there are executors. The latter is rarer. Numbers matter You need to let the bad ideas out to make way for the good ideas to come out. No matter how hard you try not to, you will fail. So, just make sure you fail hard. The only thing worse than not being gossiped about is not being gossiped about. Thrashers, bashers and gossipers won’t get tired of bashing, thrashing and criticizing. So, it’s useless to try and stop them and utterly insane to pay attention to them. You need at least two sets of formal clothes. Travel as much as you can. 

Earning the Right Not to Give a Damn

One of the advantages of aging, having achieved something and having some amount of financial stability is the fact that you obtain the right not give a damn about what other people will think.  The other day, I went to have dinner with some friends. It was nothing special, we see each other regularly and just wanted to do some catching up. Two of them are doctors, one owns a chain of hardware and another an engineer. Clad in a shirt with a Gangnam-dancing Mickey Mouse, 5-year old jeans and 3-year-old pair of Chucks, I went. Even in my 20s, I was never fond of make-up. I was still a struggling employee then. I am not an employee anymore, I don’t see why that has to change. As our order starts coming in, a group of 7, in their early 20s come in, rockin and swaggin’. We wouldn’t have cared if they didn’t pick the table beside us. Their noise, clanking accessories and inability to lift the chairs when they stand up to leave their chair started getting into us.

"The Raid": Recommended Action Film

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Don't expect some intellectually stimulating plotline. There's no mind-boggling puzzle to solve. There is no open ended ending that will haunt you for the rest of your life. The Raid is pretty much what it is advertised to be, a violent movie... a beautifully made violent movie. Synopsis A team of police officers raids a building that is owned by a wanted criminal. When the criminal learns that they are being raided, he announces that whoever kills the intruders may live in the building for free. Apparently, the building houses Indonesia's most dangerous criminals. Things get complicated when the team learned the mission is not sanctioned and no help was arriving. It even got more complicated when one of the police officers turned out to have a special connection with one of the criminals.

To My Godchildren, Things Your Parents Won't Tell You

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I have more 20 of you and I may not be there often but here are some things your parents will most likely not teach you simply because... they are parents. They are supposed to guide you properly and teach you how to do good. I don't have that responsibility so I'll just tell you about reality. #1. Be good to your friends because you can't show your family everything There are things you can't do and be when you are with your family. It's just how it goes. Every family has certain set of rules or certain expectations. Your parents brought you up a certain way and they have values they want embedded in you. Sometimes, there are certain parts of you that don't turn out to be what they dearly want you to be. That's why you need friends. No family is perfect either. Sometimes they are a little fucked up and sometimes, they are fucked up beyond gravity. Those are why you need friends.

Do You Wish You Are Younger?

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"Why weren't I born in the 90s?" I was with a friend for over 6 hours yesterday and we did talk about a whole lot of things but that was the thing I remember the most. She was talking about this hot guy who was in his mid-20s and she is in her mid 30s. She can't help but envy those college student who has a "chance" with the guy. Let me get something clear. This hot guy she was talking about is an international celebrity. Not that you can't dream big, look at Katie Holmes. There is also David Beckham who declared he was going to marry Posh Spice when he was still unknown. Then there's Carolyn Bessett who told her friend she will marry JFK Jr. someday.  As bad of an example as it may be, the truth is that there is still some sort of standards when it comes to dreaming big in this sense.

How I Earn $500 a Month Online Without Selling Anything

I found a new way to make money online, Admailr, they put text-based ads on your newsletters and other publication. That’s how I pumped my monthly online earnings to $500 a month. Five hundred dollars a month is not much. There are others who do online marketing full time and earn more than $20,000. I’ll get there. I know I will but considering I started only this year, I’d say the $500 monthly is acceptable.  Unlike others, I am honest about the fact that it’s a lot of work. Since I quit my 8-5, one of the things I explored is making money online. I’ve tried different ways to make money. In fact, I continue to try different ways. Someday, I want to be able to drop all my clients and just rely on writing and other ways to make money. Now, I make just enough money for grocery and to afford eating out once or twice a week. Nope, not enough to pay other bills or send my sister to school, just enough for my food. Click here for New Writing Opportunities for 2013.

First Date Tips for Single Women in their 30s

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Go for coffee or snack If you are working, it will advisable to meet during your coffee break or lunch. That way, if you don't like how the date is going, you can bail easily because you have to go back to work. If you like how the date is going, then you can set a proper date or exchange numbers. Talk about work and hobbies One of the best ways to get to know someone's character is to know his attitude about work, his interests and hobbies. You'll know if he is the guy with ambition, honest, principled, the way he treats other people, the way he views other people, etc. At the same time, it's not too intimate and not too personal. You'll be able to gauge if he is the kind of guy you would at least want to get to know enough for a next date. It's also a good time to know whether he is the kind of guy that would share your interest, do the things you like such as traveling or whatever it is you are into.

38 and In Love for the First Time

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A friend of mine, 38 years old, from a very good family and has a stable job but never had a girlfriend. That changed early this year. He finally got someone who is formally committed to him. My friend has a girlfriend and he is in love... head over heels and very very happy. That's never a good thing. They are three months into the relationship. She has met his parents and he is about to meet hers in the next couple of days. There's nothing wrong with that. Then he raised something, the girl might move to another country soon and she asked him what would be of them. Our friend wants to marry her. Whirlwind romance are not unheard of and many have worked out but based on all our compounded experiences, it's rare and certainly not advisable.

The Point of No Return

The point of no return is an important part in any story. In fact, it is when the actual story begins. It is that part when the main character does something that will change his life forever. The main character, once he "crosses that river" will never be able to go back. Hence, the "adventure" of the unknown begins. It's no different from being in-love. Before the sadistic claw of love pierces your body, you will encounter a river, bridge, mountain, or whatever the hell it may be. It will be your choice whether you want to cross it or not. Before you actually fall in love with a guy or girl, you are still in that zone when you still have that ever important and immensely rewarding ability to think, understand reason and actually see reality. Attraction may already be there, you may already be giddy but your feet is still flatly on the ground. You are still sane. And you still have complete control on when you will cross that bridge. It is that moment befo...

Asian Film Recommendation: Secret

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Secret is a 2007 Taiwanese film that was written, directed and starred by the musician Jay Chou. Way to save some money which he didn't have a lot of as far as I understand. Synopsis Ye Xianglun (Jay Chou) met a girl in school to where he just transferred. The girl, Lu Xiayu (Gwi Lun-mei), plays a piano piece which she specifically told him not to play in the old piano in the music room. After a series of puzzling events, it was reveled that the girl is actually from 1979 and a student of the guy's father. She travels back and forth in time by playing the piano piece she found in the piano room. There's a catch, only the first person she sees when she travels forward will see her back. That's why she devised a way to make sure she sees the guy first. However, after several mishaps, she thought that the guy developed a relationship with another student so she traveled back to her time and didn't come back. Apparently, she died of asthma.