It’s been a long time since I last got hooked on an anime series. The most recent one I completed was called Death note. It’s a series with a very interesting concept. You see, Death Note starts with the main character picking up a peculiar notebook with the same title. And as the name implies, it’s a note that can kill people. The manner in which it does so is where the story revolves.

To give more background, the note is owned by a death god, also known as a shinigami (typical Japanese right!). It is a tool used by the shinigami in taking human life. You see, once the writer, presumably the shinigami, scribbles a name on the notebook, then the owner of the name dies after 40 seconds provided that the writer keeps the face of the person in mind while writing the name. If the manner of death is not indicated, then the victim, by default, dies of a heart attack.

The main character in the story (I can’t even call him a protagonist because the line blurs between the him being one and him being an antagonist), gets to pick up the death note, starts playing the role of God sentencing several criminals to death, and starts a gripping battle with the world’s most intelligent investigator.

It was just gripping. Well actually even that is an understatement. I saw the first few episodes and that was it for me. I could never think of anything else to do during breaks but to download the remaining episodes on my computer so I can watch them at home. And sure enough, after 2 weeks, I was done. That’s how addictive it is. I even suggested the series to two of my co-teachers and now they too are hooked.

I’ve always liked watching anime but this time it’s different. I didn’t just enjoy watching Death note. I was impressed by it.

Because I went to a Science High School for middle school, I was forced to take up a science-related course in college. But If I just knew that I didn’t really have to, I would have considered a field that was a little bit closer to money than Biology.

I still remember thinking about becoming a broker or a stock-holder and earning by investing and buying more and more stocks in the stock market. But since I didn’t how to go about becoming one, I never really played around with the idea long enough to motivate myself into being one. It’s only now, unfortunately, that I found out.

The sadder part is, if only I knew that it was this easy, I might have chosen a different path from teaching. The only problem though was passing the series 7 exam or acquiring Series 7 Books to pass the exam.

Now, I can’t help but wonder if I would have made a good stock broker… Hmmp!

In school, game consoles are prohibited. Students are not allowed to play with them nor even to bring them. The moment a PSP is sighted, it is confiscated. And it will never be returned until the end of the school year.

But this fact will not prevent the PSP from being a topic of discussions in school. During breaks, students (not just boys) will often be seen arguing about certain games and movies, all of which they played in their PSPs at home. Accessories, upgrades, new moves, they will all find more and more things to talk about regarding their beloved game consoles. It almost seems as good as bringing the actual thing in school anyway.

Why? I wondered. What is so captivating about the PSP. I’ve handled the various versions of PlayStations before. I’ve also had my share of playing the Gameboy. What could be so different from all of them that many people are going gaga about this new tech toy.

And so I went to SM to look at the console for myself. The PSP was bigger than a GB advance, but with a much more elegant screen. It had the appeal of a phone but with joypad buttons instead of a keypad. Its analog stick is a bit more discrete than in its predecessors, beautifully blending with the flat console and not sticking out like before. It was starting to impress me yet this were all still just hardware. I wanted to know what it could do aside from looking good.

So I tried it out. I was instantly amazed. The graphics of the PSP games were so much better than any of the games I played before, even better than those I tried in my laptop. It could also play DVD movies. I tried hiding a smile when the saleslady showed me. This is certainly a very interesting gadget, I thought. But just when I’m sure I’ve seen everything, the saleslady told me to switch on the wireless LAN button. What?!! It’s not just a game console, it’s also a like a WIFI laptop.

I was hooked. Now I understand why people are going crazy about PSPs. I can now sympathize with them because I want one for myself too. Now, if only I can confiscate one! Hehehe! Just kidding!

A lot of my students are so hooked on online gaming. They would spend hours in front of the computer playing different online games. I was mildly surprised that some of my friends are also constantly online to play. This time, they’ve gone a step further and are now constant visitors of an online casino. Since they love playing and going to casinos, they discovered the next best thing to playing the real thing. According to them, there are added perks too like being able to stay home while playing online poker. I can’t help but think that some of my students might be the ones playing in online casinos a few years from now. I just hope they learn to be responsible about it.

For quite some time, I’ve been considering selling my laptop, not because I don’t want it anymore or because it’s not as fast as it used to (it’s actually faster because it’s running on 512+256 MB of RAM now), but more because I need some cash on hand. You see lately, our expenses have been ballooning due to car emergencies, medical bills and mateo’s expanding needs.

Diapers, milk, even yogurts and oatmeals (for times when he wouldn’t eat anything) have unexpectedly raised our monthly groceries to almost double of our usual. Not to mention, our little babsy hasn’t completed his vaccines yet. Babies!!! Hmmm! But nevermind, because he’s worth every single peso and more.

Car aircon repairs, andrea’s unexpected medical concerns, etc., it’s just keeps on growing.

The big problem is, with all the increase in spendings, something has gotta give. And my guess is or rather my option is, the laptop. Although I love it, and I’ve come to depend on it in almost everything I do - lessons, presentations, records, letters, blogging, etc. - it is the only thing I see that we can dispense of. Unless of course, by some glorious miracle, we suddenly win the lottery… but then again that’s impossible because we don’t buy tickets.

I plan to use the money I can get from the laptop for paying off some bills. Then, if by any chance there is something left, then maybe I can buy the small Asus eeepc notebook to replace this old one. Huhu!

Anyone interested in buying?

I know some people who work in telecommunications and need to have clear voices over the phone. According to them, one of their biggest difficulty is getting understood and understanding what the other person is saying over the phone especially if they have different local accents. Some of their colleagues would choose to undergo accent reduction courses so that they are at least sure that they are understandable. It has done wonders for some of them and a friend is thinking of enrolling herself in one too. I told her about Executive Language Training, a language school providing English and foreign business language training. Their language courses are customized to different learning styles and professional goals.