Pinay WAHM

from Yahoo.com Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII. Amazing Sand Drawing @ Yahoo! Video

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I certainly hope NOT! But with the way North Korea is acting, there might be one. According to the news, war with North Korea cannot be called NEW because technically the US is still at war with them. Why? Because the last war didn't really end...it was just: PAUSED? Ha!What exactly does this half of a nation want anyway? World domination? Back in the 1990s, I got the chance to teach and talk with a lot of South Koreans that came to the Philippines mostly to learn English. Most of my students were young men fresh out of the military training. They were mostly in their 20s then. Apparently, when they reach a certain age, young Korean men were required to go to the military school to prepare them for something unexpected, a civil war with the north. In some ways I fee bad for them because they didn't have a choice. The only consolation they had at that time was their family sending them off somewhere to take a break. Right now, there's about 28,000 U...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I like to read the news online every morning. I also tune in to our local TV network to watch [more like listen] to the news around here. I don't think there's been any good news being shown on TV. As for the online news sites I visit, the headlines are all so depressing. Plane crash where all 228 passengers are all now presumed dead, movie star found dead of an apparent suicide , shootout where 16 people were killed ...sigh. I could go on and on and on and I'd probably run out of space here and I wouldn't be done enumerating all these depressing news. What is happening??? What am I doing now? I turned off the TV and put a Taylor Swift CD. The little one is now singing along with it. It's lovely hearing her belt out the songs. I know that the news will be as depressing tomorrow...but that's how life is nowadays I guess. Ok...enough venting. I'll just sit here and listen to the little one....

Friendster & Facebook are only 2 of the social networks I'm a member of. I blogged a couple of days ago that I started getting in-touch with my 'very first' students through Facebook . It's great getting messages from them and seeing how much they've changed through the years. It's also through these 2 networks I am able to find some old friends & acquaintances from my former lives...my college classmates in St. Scho and my dorm mates in Pope Pius XII. I am still looking for some people I used to hang out with especially in Pius but it's proving to be difficult. Anyway, as I was browsing the news this morning I came across this article in Yahoo . It's a study saying that half of all friends in these social networks are replaced every 7 years. Really? I am actually surprised & a bit sad reading that. I know we move on and lead our separate lives, but what happens to lasting friendship? Well, according to the study these social networking s...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's one of the headlines in Yahoo News this morning. It says that in the next 10 years, schools here will need about 200 thousand, yep, 2 hundred thousand or 200,000 teachers for these 2 subjects. Why? Because of retirement, overcrowded and people teaching out of their field. Ha! When I first came here, I actually considered teaching. Of course. That's the only thing I knew then. I filled out an application for the county and got not 1 but 2 forms from them in a matter of days of sending the application forms. Why 2 I have no idea. I was not able to pursue the application because I got pregnant. I have no plans of applying again in the near future BUT if worse comes to worst, why not, right? I just hope the schools here get the much needed Science and Math teachers soon. Why? Because sooner or later, the little one will be attending one of these schools.

Yep, that kimchi. I had a lot of Korean students when I was tutoring in the Philippines. My students were mostly adults and a lot of them were mothers who were in the country because their husbands had businesses around the country. One of the things they would bring us, their tutors, were jars of this pungent vegetable. At first I didn't really like it. Aside from its smell, it's a bit too spicy for my taste. But I learned to like it especially if I eat it with fried fish and rice. Yum... Anyway, I was browsing Yahoo and I saw this picture where Korean volunteers were making kimchi to donate to the needy in preparation for winter. Here's the picture... Like I said, I like kimchi now but I cannot imagine how it must have smelled in that place where they were preparing that much kimchi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Randy Pausch , the Professor who became famous because of his " Last Lecture " died today, July 25, 2008 at his home in Virginia. He was 47 years old. In September 2006, Mr. Pausch was diagnosed with the incurable pancreatic cancer. He became a worldwide celebrity because of the lecture which according to him was originally made for his children. But once it hit the net, the lecture became an inspiration to people from all over the world. I watched him at the Oprah Show twice...the original telecast and the replay. His outlook in life was really a breath of fresh air as it's very inspiring. He also co-wrote the book "The Last Lecture" which stays as one of the top seller since it's publication in April. For those who have not watched "The Last Lecture", I found a You Tube video of and I'm posting it here for you to see. Take time to watch it. It's really inspirational. From: Yahoo , You Tube , CMU

Yep, that Bill Gates. One of the richest in the world will be jobless by tomorrow. He is spending his last day at Microsoft today. Oh no, another jobless person! I wonder how he will spend his last day at work today. After today, he will focus his full attention to philanthropy. Anyway, I got this email from a friend yesterday. I also got this a long time but I think it's good time to post it now being today is his last day at 'work'. According to the email, he gave a speech at a high school and enumerated his: Gates' 11 Rules. Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it! Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As it turned out, the fainting spell that happened last week to Senator Edward Kennedy was not a result of stroke but a seizure. The bad news is the seizure is now being blamed for a malignant brain tumor known as glioma found on his left parietal lobe. According to the news, no kind of treatment has been decided yet as that will be done after some more series of tests. Their spokesperson said that the Senator is in good condition overall and that he is walking around the hospital around the hospital. He would remain in the hospital for a couple more days for the tests they still have to on him. Just recently, Senator Kennedy pledged his support to Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama by endorsing Sen. Obama's candidacy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...at the airport!! Sus! And I think they're FILIPINOS! I'm not sure if I should laugh or what. Why do I think they're Filipinos? Read on... A family was en-route to Canada. They had to catch a connecting flight to Winnipeg. But guess what??? They had to repack their bags at the airport!! WHY??? Overweight baggage! Sounds familiar??? Yep, something too familiar to Filipinos I'm afraid. Anyway, because they had to repack their bags, they were running late. So they were all in a hurry to make it to the plane. One thought the baby was with the others. Who's traveling with the baby??? The mother, the father and the grandparents....at least 4 adults...and the baby was not with anyone of them. They were seated separately so they didn't realize the toddler - 23 months old - was left wandering at the departure gate at the airport! The baby was not given a boarding pass as he was supposed to sit on the adults laps. Geezzz!!! All these...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ...is resigning over the sex scandal he's allegedly involved with. Yet another public official in hot water for letting his personal needs met. Did he admit to it? Indirectly. Spitzer apologized for something without actually mentioning it instead calling it a 'personal failing'. So what happens after one 'confesses' something of that magnitude? Call for his resignation of course. Well I didn't but his constituents did. I am not really familiar with the governor simply because he's not the governor in my state. From what I have read so far, he's been in office since January 2007. They are saying his victory made history because of his historic margin of victory. I guess he is going to be remembered more now because of this new 'development'... Now late night TV show hosts have another person to make fun of. Ha!

==================================== Well, if you're in anything related to the housing industry, probably not. This is what those in outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas are saying. Having been directly affected with real estate roller coaster ride for the past few years, I can only agree with that. Just a few days ago, the project manager of the house we are having built was FIRED from her job. Not enough work for the builder so they had to do the cost-cutting strategy of firing those they believe are not useful in their business right now. According to the economists at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, the US is on its way for a full blown recession in 16 years. Surprising? Not quite because a whopping 57% believe that we are in recession already. So What are these industries they are saying will not be affected if the big "R" indeed happens [or is happening already]??? Education, Energy, Health Care, Environmental Sector, Security and International Busin...

======================================= Work-related stress to be more specific. And I thought it's just a popular saying. Now it's been "proven" that, yes, work-related stress can actually kill a person. Well, that's based on a findings on a study that been's going on for years. Who was involved in the study you may ask?? Me! Not quite. They actually had 10,000 British civil servants. I wonder if the result can be applied to us here in the US. Anyway, the most affected by this are people who are..get this, under 50. Oh now I can't wait until I turn 50, then I won't be included in the and I can stress myself as much as I want to. Hehe. Do you think factors brought about by stress contributed to this findings? Of course. Those who are stressed have the tendency to drink, smoke and eat more. I didn't think a study is needed to know that. So now you know. Stop chasing those opps or you may just end up in the hospital....kidding... Source: Yahoo News

This is the newest project of Apple, Inc . that their CEO Steve Young just launched. Look how thin it is. It's about three quarters of an inch thick rather thin. It is an aluminum-clad laptop called : MacBook Air . Hmm...is it because it as light as air, maybe? I really like things that look sleek and thin like this new laptop but I'm not so sure about this one. I'm afraid I might get a paper cut if start using this one. I'm not sure how much this one will go for but basing it on the prices of Apple laptops, it wouldn't be cheap. So for now, I'm sticking with my thick but kinda' dependable lappy. I'll try that one when I have a couple of thousands that I don't really need. Source: Yahoo News Picture from: Apple, Inc. Website

======================================= Like she's not busy enough, she's now the proud owner of... OWN as in Oprah Winfrey Network . Yep, she's done it again. Can she get any richer after this?? Oh well, I guess there are still a lot of avenues that she still wants to explore and owning her very OWN network is of them. Actually, she used to be part of Oxygen. But she begged off after realizing that they're not on the same page. She used to have a show there....Oprah after the Show or something like that. Anyway, she's probably trying to prepare in case, just in case, she doesn't feel like renewing her contract for the Oprah Winfrey Show come 2011. Can you imagine life without her show? No more "Oprah's Favorite Things"! So be prepared, be ready because the big "O" is going to conquer television. Oh wait, she already did that. I meant as an OWNer of her very OWN network! Source: Yahoo

======================================= Yep, after 13 years of peace and harmony, AOL and Netscape are DIVORCING ! Starting next month, February 2008, AOL won't support Netscape Navigator anymore...to each is own is their drama now...LOL. According to the news, Netscape can still be dowloaded but AOL won't be releasing security as well as updates for the browser anymore. Who is to blame on this separation? Microsoft of course. It used to be that Netscape was the toast of the town. That was in the 90s. But it didn't take long for Microsoft to notice Netscape's success so did they do? Develop their own browser, Internet Explorer and distribute their IE browser for FREE !!! Now, why didn't Netscape think of that when they started their browser? No idea here. But they eventually did the same but it was too late. What can Netscape do to survive. Sell it to AOL for $10 Billion!!! Not bad, eh? And that's how AOL and Netscape got together. Unfortunately, even that can...

She's at it again...hogging the headlines. It seems that everywhere I go, be it Yahoo or Newsweek or some other online entertainment news magazine like People , the former Pop Princess, Britney Spears is on the headline for the past 48 hours. Why is that? Well, because she just added another 'oooppps' in her life full of 'ooopppps'. Yep, "Oopps, she did it Again". What is wrong with her? Too much money maybe? All I can do is shake my head everytime I see her name in the news because there is a pretty good chance that it's not something good. She had a very charmed life. Everything was [still is, I think] on her fingetips....at her beck and call to say the least. So what went wrong? I guess too much of everything at such an early age. Honestly, I wish she gets help ASAP. She has 2 kids that she brought into this world...if anything, those 2 kids alone should straighten her up. I have never been a fan of her...never bought her CDs nor watched her movi...

So how many people do you know drive while they're talking on their celfone? Unfortunately, we know one too many. I'm glad that some states actually banned this practice. I just hope that the other states follow suit until the whole country is free from it. Some people may claim that they are careful drivers but that's not acceptable. Fortunately, I have not come across news [or maybe I just didn't pay attention] where someone got hurt because either the victim or the other driver were talking on the celfone. Personally, I believe that a person driving under the influence is not any different from a person driving while talking on the cellphone. They are both hazards on the street. Anyway, I just thought about this after reading this news - study/research - at Yahoo. It says that "Cell phone users tie up traffic: study". Here's an excerpt from that news. Prior studies have equated the risk of driving while talking on a cell phone with driving while drunk....

List of banished words or phrases [for 2008] compiled by Lake Superior State University's, also called bad English list. • perfect storm • Webinar • waterboarding • organic • wordsmith/wordsmithing • author/authored • post 9/11 • surge • give back • `blank' is the new `blank' e.g. white is the new black ...hehe • Black Friday • back in the day • random • sweet • decimate • emotional • pop • It is what it is • under the bus Source: Yahoo News

Hmm..interesting. After blog advertising, now comes Mobile Advertising . Yes, advertising using your cellphone. Well, this is still very much into its beginning stages but it has potentials, don't you think? They are saying that 80% of Americans alone, have cellphones so I won't be surprised if this so-called Mobile Advertising actually explodes in a few months. I guess I would have to activate my cellphone again so I can take part on this new 'thing' in town. How does it work? Well, right now a wine company offers discounts to their products if you snap and send them a picture of of their ads in newspapers. And a company called, SnapTell Inc . is the one helping different merchants on doing this kind of advertising. Simple eh? So, are you in or are you out? Me? Not quite sure yet. I'll see where it leads then maybe, just maybe, I will join in. Fair enough? Source: Yahoo News