In Keeping with Tradition, Here Are My New Year's Resolutions

I suppose it's tradition to have New Year's resolutions. I don't really put much stock on this tradition of sorts but everyone (and that's including me) has to have something he or she wants to change, right? And what better time to think of things I resolve to do or change than the time when everyone else is also doing it.

So, here are some of the things I'd really love to do or happen this year. 

Disaster Preparedness: How Ready Are You for a Super Typhoon?

After Typhoon Yolanda’s devastation in November of last year, another super typhoon is threatening our country. News of this bad weather has driven people into fresh panic. We have become more wary, and rightly so. Yolanda’s aftermath is still fresh in the minds and hearts of Filipinos. Some are still grieving their dead and reconstructing their lives and others are just beginning to get over and put behind them their horrible experience.

7 Medical Conditions and the Lies Told about Them

Back in the day (aka my childhood), mothers and older people I knew usually relied on personal experience and information gotten from their parents and other well-meaning people to cure common illnesses. The thing is, because there wasn’t Google then, people had no way of verifying—without seeing a doctor—if those passed-on information were true. And because they believe the information to be true, they usually spread on the misconceptions. 

Below are some of the medical conditions I heard people around me told lies about at one time or another while I was growing up.

 Liar!

Source

RAS Syndrome: Do You Have It?

Are you familiar with RAS syndrome? Have you ever, even just once, said “… ATM machine”? How about “… PIN number”? If you have, sorry to say that you’re plagued by RAS syndrome. But don't worry; it's not fatal. Contagious—maybe...

2013: The Year that Was

In the years to come, Filipinos old enough to remember the events would look back to 2013 and still remember the catastrophes that occurred that year. In the last quarter of the year, so near the Christmas season, two extremely devastating events would occur one after another: first was the earthquake that had a magnitude of 7.2 and the other was the typhoon that was considered to be one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded.

Eid al-Adha fell on October 15 in 2013. Schools were closed and some employees did not have work, which was fortuitous because the aftermath would have been more horrible and devastating otherwise.

The day started like any ordinary day and all was well until the clock struck 8:12 in the morning and very strong tremors were felt. The earth movement lasted for about 34 seconds. In the aftermath, people were left feeling confused and terrified, especially in the wake of the aftershocks that continued to plague the affected areas for days afterwards.

oDesk Freelancing 101

So you’ve decided to try your hands at freelancing. Naturally, oDesk would be among your top choices to market your skills and look for jobs. After all, oDesk is one of the top global marketplaces these days. Not to be a downer or anything, but don’t assume that landing jobs at oDesk is easy. There’s a very stiff competition, and some people somewhere are always willing to take on a job for a rate so slow it’s almost like they are offering their services for free. Contractors would also prefer to hire freelancers with experience and whose profiles are the Chuck Norris of oDesk. But take heart and don’t be disheartened. Those freelancers with 10,000 hours worked and 6/5 reviews have to start somewhere, right?

Divergent Roads and Friends Lost Along the Way

Have you ever suddenly, out of the blue, thought of dear friends you haven't been in contact with for years? Have you ever felt like a part of you was left somewhere your roads have diverged, probably lost to you forever the same moment you and your friend decided to follow different paths in life, and you were not even aware about it? Have you ever smiled a small whimsical smile and felt a heaviness in your heart thinking of the fun things you had with your friends in the past?

Becoming an Insomniac 101

Staying up until the early hours of the morning can be fun. Really. It does not beat cavorting with unicorns and bunny rabbits in a daisy field in La La Land, but it sure does have its uses. For one, it will surely—eventually—turn you into an insomniac. “What’s great about being an insomniac?” you ask. Aside from giving you dark circles around your eyes, thereby making you look like an adorable panda (if you think pandas are adorable, that is), it will also give you a chance to whinge because you have this splitting headache and you just need to bug everyone with your complaints about it. It will also give you a valid excuse to miss work because a splitting headache, no matter what caused it, is really a valid excuse for calling in sick.