Ever since I could remember, drug addicts have always been part of the news. Every day, there would be at least a single incident involving drug, drug abuse, or drug-related crime. It’s a really scary world we’re living in right now and it’s only getting scarier.

Especially now that I’m already a parent, fear has become more real for me than ever. I’ve grown to fear such threats not because I’m concerned with myself, but more because I’m worried about my wife and of course our son. Drugs threaten not just adults or teenagers, but even children nowadays. It’s a very alarming and pressing issue. This is why in the last few decades, drug rehab centers have been put all over the world to address this growing concern. But even if tons of effort are exerted in addiction treatment, I guess it would be impossible to completely eradicate the problem if we don’t strike at those who profit from proliferating these substances.

As a parent , I could only do so much. Even if there are so many violent and extreme solutions that I would like to use as a drastic solution to the problem of drugs, the truth is I could only pray that mateo grows to be a strong man - strong in build as well as in morals, so that even if he faces a world that is on a high, he will not veer away from what he thinks is right!

A few weeks ago, I saw a CSI episode on TV involving a teenager from an alcohol rehab. It was one of those usual episodes where the suspect ends up committing the crime because of the influence of alcohol.

Anyway, this post is not about how much I love CSI nor how much I hate that episode. This is about my stand on drinking. You see, I’m not a great fan of alcoholic beverages. I mean it’s true that I drink, sometimes during occasions and sometimes during special gatherings. But for the better part of the year, I don’t. Not at all. In fact, if not for these special times, I wouldn’t get to drink alcohol at all.

Why? It’s just that I don’t see the point in it. I don’t fully understand why people are willing to suffer the feeling of fullness in their bladder, or the loss of clear vision, or even the puking that comes with it. I mean, alcoholic beverages don’t exactly taste like ice cream or anything like that. On the contrary, they’re usually bitter or pungent or something in between. The only good thing I see in it is that it lets people lose their inhibitions. But even that is not purely beneficial. I’ve heard of too many drunken brawling to know that it can be as detrimental as it is beneficial. Even the CSI episode I just mentioned is a testament to that.

So why do I still drink on certain occasions? I do so because I just want to show that I’m capable of blending in, that I can handle myself well, and that I do not look down on people who drink. Understand that mine is a belief, a stand, not a declaration of truth or ideal. I don’t judge people on their preference just like I don’t appreciate people judging me for mine. I just hope when mateo faces the question of whether to drink or not to drink, he too takes the same stand as me.

Last December, when I was looking for gifts to give my family, I came across Kentucky Derby Party Invitations. Now, I know it seems like a very odd gift to give someone on Christmas, but here’s the reason for that.

First of all, the one I intended to give that to was my brother. You see, he’s in to horse-racing and it’s become almost an addiction for him. Although I don’t want to promote the betting, I figured that something connected to it would be the best present to characterize him. Second, it’s not just for Christmas. Since his birthday too falls on December, I wanted to give him a unique invitation.

Unfortunately, since my budget wasn’t enough to accommodate the invitations, I just opted to give him a shirt instead. Sorry bro!

Every month, aside of course from birthdays or on any special holidays, andrea and i would always greet each other Happy! on two separate dates - on the seventh and on the seventeenth - the date when we first officially became a couple and the date on which we officially became husband and wife.

Since yesterday was the seventeenth, that’s exactly what we did the moment we woke up. Now honestly, before andrea said anything about what she’d like to do that afternoon, I thought we could celebrate somewhere, perhaps dine out or just go malling because we both were on vacation already. I admit, cleaning the house and re-arranging our bedroom was definitely the last on my list of possible things to do, but that’s unfortunately what she said.

So instead of giving each other gifts, I gave her a broom and she gave me a mop. Then as soon as we finished lunch, we started sweeping and mopping the floor. We were really busy the whole afternoon that by the time mateo was ready for his afternoon nap, we were already done with our bedroom. Pretty weird celebration, huh?!

Finally, after a very long time, I can go back to posting. The rush of the school year finale is over and I’m expecting that it’s gonna be smooth sailing from now until the start of summer classes. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.

Anyway, since we’re basically free, andrea and i have decided to re-arrange a few things in the house. We want to pack away a few items here and there to make mateo’s roaming area a little wider. I started by storing a few articles inside those plastic easy-to-store-away-boxes. Andrea, however, suggested we keep mateo’s Emily crib away since he’s old enough to stay on the sofa bed. We’re still looking for more furnitures to get rid off so that the house will be more to mateo’s liking. Since we can’t do anything to expand the structure, we might as well adjust what’s inside. Haha!

Ever since I started blogging, most especially when I started doing paid posts, I realized that even though I’m content just to just write on my blog it is still necessary to have a lot of readers. I’ve also tried several ways of promoting my blog to be able to generate traffic and to get more readers. One of these is Buzzfuse.com, a surefire way of driving traffic to your blog. Now that this blog has zero PR, it could definitely use a lot of added marketing to increase viewership!

It’s been quite a while since I posted something here. This is because lately, I’m finding it more and more difficult to organize my thoughts into one coherent composition. You see, it’s almost the end of the school year and every teacher in the school has their hands full with several tasks - coming up with presentations, finishing up grades, tallying and choosing the students that deserve recognition for their year-long effort as well as those who need closer supervision and special intervention this summer.

So this is it for now. Until I get to breathe a little longer and easier, this will probably be how my posts are going to look like.

March 7, 2008. It’s been 8 years since andrea agreed to make me her boyfriend. Or to put in a more romantic light, it’s been 8 beautiful years since she said yes and agreed to love me back. Yes, it’s been that long already. And I, being the stupid, forgetful, pathetic creature that I am, forgot to even greet her this morning before I left for work.

Even though I know she was still a bit groggy (from having just woken up) to remember what day it was, it’s still not an excuse for me to forget. The thing is, I left the house with almost nothing in mind but work. Really pathetic.

I only remembered what day it was when I was already entering the date on a particular document that I was editing at work. I was too late that by the time andrea got to school, she already knew I forgot that it was our anniversary.

Continue reading »

I’ve always been a fan of board games. Ever since I was still in elementary, I’ve always loved playing Cluedo, Monopoly, and even the Millionaire’s Game. And then as I grew, I moved on to more engaging and logically challenging ones like Checkers and Chess. That’s why one of the first game boards that andrea and I ever bought was a 4-in-one. It’s a folding board that has provisions for chess, checkers, snakes-and-ladders, and backgammon.

Unfortunately, although I’m able to utilize the board a lot, I can still only play 3 of the 4 games that it can accommodate. Why? Because I don’t know how to play backgammon. That’s why I’ve never even touched that side of the board yet. Until recently, it’s the most untouched and most pristine of the sides of the board.

Lately, however, it’s not the case anymore. Because I’ve been practicing how to play backgammon. You see, after coming across Gammonish.com, I’ve been learning and enjoying the game I used to ignore before. In fact, when I’m not playing against online challengers, I’m usually trying out our game boards playing backgammon with myself. Sounds pathetic right?! Not really! I just can’t believe I ignored such an interesting game before. Never mind, because I’m making up for lost time now! Haha!

I’m so addicted to the game and the site that I’m even up to date with their latest press releases just like this:

Press Release:

With one download players can access the BackgammonMasters Game Lobby in 14 different languages including French, German, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Danish, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and now Bulgarian. To switch from one language to any of the 14 languages offered, players simply log in to the All-in-One Game Lobby and click on the country flag representing their desired language.

BackgammonMasters multi-language game platform includes Poker, Backgammon, 21 Blackjack and Perudo. By making the software available in so many languages, BackgammonMasters has attracted one of the largest community base of players online at any particular time interacting via real-time chat and simultaneously participating in their popular online games. In addition, in the BackgammonMasters Cashier, customers can make transactions in their currency of choice including USD, GBP, Euros and CAD (Canadian Dollars). The cashier will automatically convert the transaction into USD at no extra charge, with the best exchange rate.

All levels of players can find a seat at any of the numerous BackgammonMasters game tables. With each language added, players find that they are surrounded by a truly multi-national pool of game enthusiasts looking for a table to join. The company announced that the next languages to be added soon are Dutch and Russian with more languages to be added in the future according to demand.

BackgammonMasters recently launched a LIVE Customer Support service where players can get assistance from a live operator at the click of a button. This feature was first launched with support available in English, and will later be manned with multi language operators.

Game playing and promotions info is available on the website http://www.backgammonmasters.com in 14 different languages.
Learn more about BGM Blackjack and Poker by visiting: http://www.backgammonmasters.com/blackjack.html
http://www.backgammonmasters.com/poker.html

Released by http://www.gammonish.com source for backgammon news and information. For further information about 21 Blackjack and Poker see: http://www.gammonish.com/blackjack.html
http://www.gammonish.com/poker.html

A friend of mine once told me about a trick they use to check how visible or popular your site is. She said, if you simply search using a keyword or the title of your site on Google’s search bar, then it will automatically display your site depending on how well-searched your page is. For example, if you’re the third choice in the list of search results, then it implies that there are two other sites that outrank you based on the category or keyword that you used in the search. If you’re the second top option then only 1 other site is more popular than you in terms of the keyword you typed in… and so on and so forth.

So to check if the new PR would affect my visibility in Google search, I tried typing in the daddy professor on the search bar. It turns out that my blog still takes the first place in the search even though my PageRank remains zero. How come? Huhu!

No I’m not saying there’s something wrong with Google’s PR system. I’m just venting out steam because I’m still really annoyed with the recent developments. Huhu!