Tech love

Like I said in my last post, I welcome technology and enjoy it. What has it done to my life for me to feel this way?

Old School

I wonder why, in the midst of today's tech advances, the phrase "old school" has been going around a lot.

Building the "independent" status

Always cover your *ss.  That was the stern and sober advise I got from a friend who helped get me started in a new line of work, which would turn out to be my career till today. His admonition turned out to be words of wisdom that applied beyond the point we were then discussing. It has helped me throughout my journey towards working independently, also known as "freelance".  A dream and work scheme that I had for quite some time, and which sort of just happened to suit what would be my lifestyle.

Staying on Track

"Just claim it and it somehow becomes yours," a friend once shared when I asked how she bought the house she was dreaming to one day own. I wished it were that simple. 


Then she elaborated: she would pass the house day after day, claim it, then dream about it obsessively. Then it became hers... in a nutshell. Very Rhonda Byrne in "The Secret".  For me, though, more simplistic:  very Wayne Campbell in "Wayne's World": 

"It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine."

better late than never

I haven't had time to plan because the New Year's festivities combined with my allergic rhinitis really got to me. Nevertheless, in my head, I was formulating my personal goals and plans for the year. It's never too late and one doesn't really have to begin in January, or am I just rationalizing? Nah, I belong to the better-late-than-never crowd. So, technically, even if I had nothing down on paper, which is the ideal, I've had the following going in my head and setting my directions for the year (remembering, of course, the fundamental principle of setting goals that are measurable, realistic, and specific):

Who's name is that on your cup?

This is something I wrote seasons ago. I can let it go, but it's something I'm a bit finicky about and it continues to happen often enough for me to notice.  Like today. Short of ranting, let me re-post this edited version from my other web space.

A brother of mine gives the name Richard when he orders coffee at Starbucks. It's not his name -- in fact, far from it.  Apart from privacy issues (like not wanting his name to be shouted out in a public place), he uses it because his name is often misspelled or mistaken for another "off" name. Richard is safe, I guess.

reading time

Still on the fresh-start/new-chapter mode, I have to point out one observation. While I read a lot of books in 2010 (more of that in another post), it felt like I had less time for reading because it took me more time than usual to finish most of the books I did get to read.  Could it have been that...

• I'm becoming a slow reader?
• I'm losing interest in books?  *gasp*  Noooo!
• I'm overloaded with work?  Show me the money, haha!
• I'm becoming busier with homemaking and parenting? 

In fairness, these books happen to be long.  But that's another point altogether.

Resolutions: should I bother?

 

I needed two cups of freshly brewed espresso to begin day one of 2011. After a quick review of my previous years' resolutions and what had become of them, I made a mental note not to make a New Year's resolution.  Yeah, right.  Many of us do anyway, deep in our minds.  Secretly.  How can anyone pretend New Year is just another day? I can't. Just too much celebration and revelry. And there's something exciting about starting fresh.  But I have a problem with fresh starts sometimes.  Beginning a new year for me is like: