Philippines: Missile Target?!

             
               My brother sent me a message via facebook saying that the Philippines was one of the target places for missile launches from North Korea! I was alarmed of course specially because the country doesn't have the technology to detect when and where the missiles would hit.
               So of course I had to read about the article right away. When I finally got to read it, I was a little bit relieved. The article actually states that North Korea will be launching satellites into outer space and in order to do that they would need to use rockets or missiles to launch them. These rockets have boosters and it is estimated that some of the boosters will fall on Philippine territory.
               Unfortunately, the country doesn't have the technology to predict where the rocket boosters will fall and the dangerous part about it is the possibility of it falling onto populated areas. However, according to the article, the country will be asking for help from its allies like the United States to help in predicting the location.
               Still, I kept thinking, the country responsible for launching the rockets or missiles should be the one to clean up after themselves right?

Messages from Beyond

               If you were already dead, would you want to contact the loved ones you left behind? Or if you had a loved one who had passed away, would you want to receive a message from them? I know it sounds creepy but we also can’t help but wonder right? The living has always had an interest in the afterlife, mainly because none have ‘lived’ to tell about it. Ok, another lame joke but I think that’s primarily one of the driving forces that fuel our interest. Death and whatever comes after it is one of the greatest unknowns in the world and depending on culture or belief, different people have different points of view about it.

               I’m quite a scaredy cat really and yet I can’t help this morbid fascination with the supernatural. I thought about what it would feel like if someone I knew contacted me from beyond the grave and it gave me goosebumps, but I still keep thinking about it. Humans really are strange.

Based on an article I read about a guy who received an email from his friend who had already died a couple of months past, I realized that a person’s reactions to an experience like would vary greatly. My reaction might be different from the guy in the article and so would your reaction differ as well. Oh well, to each his own I suppose.

               I realize this might be serious post but I just wanted to put it out there and you are free to give your own comment regarding my post or the article which you can read here.

P.S. We really are in the age of the internet, the guy received the message from his friend who passed away via email. 

My Blog Badge

             
               I'm super excited to write this post! I know the title isn't really as creative as my other posts, but I didn't really put a lot of thought into making the title itself. I was just so focused and psyched on writing about my new blog badge. Which, I made by myself!
               For anyone who has some know-how about html, this isn't really something new and would probably just shrug it off but I know next to nothing about html's and stuff like that! You can probably tell by the way I'm writing right now that I'm really really excited. I'm literally bouncing in my seat! So without further ado, I present my Legally Kikay blog button/badge! Tadaaaaa!

               I had to search the web for tutorials on how to make the blog badges of course and really all I had to do was just follow them, but still! I'm just so happy that I was able to follow the instructions and actually come up with a super cute badge. That's my kikay side talking right there.
               I'm going to start collecting blog badges and I'm going to create a separate page for them. If you have badges from your blog, please do tell me about them so that I can collect them!
               If you wish to grab my badge as well, the link is available on the left side bar for you to grab and place on your site. I would be ever so grateful if you would do that! Thanks! 

Zombie Hair?!

               When God decided to give genes for great hair, my parents were unfortunately absent. So now, I am left to bear the consequences. I don’t know why but my previous posts on the struggles I’ve been having with my hair seem to have set off some sort of hair frenzy in me. So please don’t be surprised if I have consecutive posts dealing with hair related topics. Ok?

               I stated in my previous posts that I had curly hair right? Well aside from that, I also have fine hair (which might account for my susceptibility to hair loss) which I got from my mom. She also experienced hair loss though I haven’t asked her how she’s dealing with that. Hmm..I really should talk to my mom about that. To make matters worse, I also have prematurely gray hair(s) which I got from my dad’s side. I was in elementary when I started having gray hair for cripes sake! I’m quite sure it’s a genetic thing and not just an environmental factor because my younger brother already has quite a lot of gray hair. He’s had to resort to dyeing it because they were quite numerous already.

               *Sigh* I really don’t know what to do with this hair anymore. (Which, by the way, smells like garlic. If you want to know why, just click here.) If I’m not careful, I might look like this! *Gasp*

A 'Hair'-raising Journey (Part 2)

             
               Just an update on my previous post regarding the use of garlic oil on the scalp and hair to treat hair fall. I've strained the mixture to separate the chopped garlic cloves from the garlic and olive oil mixture and applied it to my scalp and hair. Suffice it to say, the smell is absolutely horrible. I'm not a very garlicky type of person so you can just imagine the intensity of the smell is twice or thrice than if I were someone who loved the aforementioned spice.

               But, I shall endure. All in the name of ending my suffering. Who knows, I might become a garlic lover as I continue using this.

               Now I just have to think about how to remove the garlic smell from my hair. Any suggestions?

A ‘Hair’-raising Journey (Part 1)

               I’m desperate. Desperate about my hair that is. I’m not vain about it since I wouldn’t really consider it as one of my redeeming features but it has come to a point where it might become my downfall. Or rather, my hairfall. (Yah yah, lame joke again, I know)

               I’m sure many can relate to my current predicament, specially the ladies. Falling hair is not something we want to admit to ourselves but the reality is that it is a very common condition. I didn’t have hairfall before. It began when I agreed to having my hair straightened (or relaxed) at one of the local salons in my hometown, because I hadn’t accepted yet that I was born with curly hair. Now I’ve accepted my curliness, but the wheels have fate have started turning and it is inexorably leading to a future where I hit middle age looking like an ancient crone because of thinning hair. Or even (gasp) baldness!

               With that grim future looming nearer each day, I have tried countless ways to stop falling hair. I’ve tried hair spa treatment, scalp massage and the like. My relatives suggested I apply aloe vera sap on my scalp but since I don’t have ready access to said plant, I was forced to find other more accessible means.

               After much searching, I came across a forum suggesting the use of garlic oil on the scalp and many have attested to its effectiveness. Since I don’t have access to ready-made garlic oil, I was forced to be resourceful and make garlic oil on my own. I looked for videos on how to make homemade garlic oil and I now have a jar filled with olive oil and chopped garlic. The instructions were to let the garlic sit in the oil for a couple of days before applying it to the scalp so that’s what I’m going to do.

               I’ll be posting an update once I have applied the garlic oil to my scalp. If you have any suggestions dear reader, regarding how to treat falling hair, I would really appreciate it.  

A Heart 'Pound'-ing Miracle

               Every woman has thought about it at some point or other in their lives. These thoughts can be accompanied by excitement, happiness, sometimes even dread or anxiety. I know I’ve had these thoughts myself.

               I’m talking about motherhood.

               Actually, to be exact, I’m talking about a specific aspect of motherhood, and that is the prospect of giving birth. I came across an article about a woman giving birth to a 14-pound baby boy and my imagination just ran away with me. I can be quite creative when it comes to imagining things so I started thinking about what it would be like to give birth to a baby that size. Suffice it to say, my imagination was full of blood and gore, with asses exploding and the, ahem, birth canal being blown wide open.

               This didn’t happen to the mom of course. The baby was born via c-section and I imagine it must have been quite sterile and tidy, with very little blood and gore. No exploding asses there.

               But really, whether it’s through c-section or natural childbirth, I salute all the women who have gone through this difficult, painful and dangerous process. Yes, it’s dangerous. In fact a woman is most vulnerable during childbirth. Thank you mom for giving birth to me and my siblings.

               As for me, I’m still not sure about what to feel about motherhood and all the trappings that come with it. Only time can tell I suppose.

You Be the Judge

               “I took a nap in a bog one day and woke up screaming. 3796 leeches, 2910 fleas and 1044 vampire bats were stuck to my bald head drinking my blood in ecstasy. How many bloodthirsty bloodsuckers were dining on my head?”

               These lines didn’t come from a gory vampire novel bent on turning our innards inside out. Nope, not at all. Guess what? They’re a math problem. For elementary pupils. In third grade. It turned out that these and a number of other math problems containing some violent and illegal topics were downloaded by a teacher online for a class. The teacher was fired.

               I was horrified when I read the article. I am a college teacher and the idea of elementary school children being exposed to these types of materials in school alarmed me. ‘There is already enough violence in the outside world; do they have to be exposed to it in school too?’ I thought. I immediately assumed that if kids were exposed to enough violence in their everyday lives, their future is placed in jeopardy and the chances become higher of their growing up and having the same violent tendencies that they were exposed to.

               I visited the site where the math problems were downloaded. The content had been taken down and replaced by an article written by the site owner who made the math problems. After reading his article, I understood his side a bit and what he was trying to achieve with those unusual math problems.

               From his point of view, math has been a constant headache for elementary school teachers (even college, I tell you) because it has two elements that children hate: it’s boring and it’s hard. So he tried to make the first fun so that even if the subject was hard, it would still be enjoyable. And there is no denying that children like gross and gory stuff. Just take a look at all the cartoons and movies nowadays.

               So I’m thinking, there has to be some middle ground. School authorities do not approve of those kinds of materials but children love them. How do we make these two meet?

Note: Post title was taken from the website where homework material was downloaded from. To read the full article about the teacher who was fired, click here.

Update to Caught in the Web

               While I was browsing through my facebook page, I came across this pic and just couldn't help laughing and remembering the post I made about how dependent I've become on the internet. Or how much of an internet introvert I am. Take a good look at the pic and I'm pretty sure many can relate!

So what would you be doing if your internet is down? Share some thoughts!

When “IT” comes...

               I was actually planning on writing about an article I just read the other day and I have made a resolution to always push through with things I plan. Unfortunately, mother nature has effortlessly managed to throw a monkey wrench through those plans. (I know, I know, I need to update my idioms) When mother nature comes knocking, there’s really no way to refuse, she ALWAYS, ALWAYS gets her way.

               In this instance, she chose this time to make it “that” time of the month. Women will be able to understand this right of the bat but with men, not so much. (No offense to the men though.) Unfortunately for me, “that” time of the month also means some serious pain for me. Any woman who has ever had dysmenorrhea can totally relate to this. All that puking and cold sweat..ugh.

               Any plan of writing a well-thought article flew out the window. All I could think of was the excruciating pain in my lower abdomen that reached all the way to my lower back. I can’t even remember the time when I didn’t have dysmenorrhea. I remember I was once hospitalized for 3 days because of it. I was throwing up everything that came down my throat and I was seriously dehydrated. The meds wouldn’t work anymore and I was curled up into a ball of sweaty misery.

               I have tried many ways to get rid of this condition. I’ve tried proper diet, exercise, hot water bottles. Right now the only thing that can stop it is to drink some pain reliever meds when the pain is just starting, because if I wait until the pain becomes unbearable, it’s no longer effective. But I also don’t want to become dependent on the pain meds because it might have some adverse side effects.

               Any ideas on how I can deal with this?

Giving Love a Good Name

               I’m sorry to say that the idea for this post’s title didn’t come from me but I felt that it just really fit the topic I had in mind. It’s corny I know, but, what the heck. Anyway, I’m just getting started.

               Whoever doesn’t know the rock band Bon Jovi and their namesake front man ought to be shot in the head. Well, maybe not in the head. (a foot maybe?) Being the face of a rock band, John Bon Jovi has been doing quite a good job in giving love, you guessed it, a good name! Get it? Giving love a good name? Har har..cheesy I know. But get this, he has been married to his first wife for twenty something years. Shocking, I know!

               Where I come from, reaching that many years being married to the same spouse is not new. I come from the only country in the whole world where there is no divorce. I am neither for nor against the concept of divorce since I’ve never been married, (and probably never will) and I cannot judge the reasons for those supporting or against the divorce law in the Philippines but I can say that it must be really nice to be able to stay in love with the same person for more than two decades, regardless of whether you’re bound by marriage or not. In my opinion, it’s the level of commitment that you’re able to keep that really matters. Just my two cents anyway.

               Do you know anyone who has been with the same person for decades already?

Note: For more info about Bon Jovi and his marriage click here.

Caught in the WEB

               
               Today I realized just how dependent I’ve become on the internet!  Arriving home coming from an appointment, I fully expected to be able to turn on my laptop and log on to the magic that is the world wide web. The bottom right corner of my screen always indicates whether I’m connected and online or not, as well as the number of bars for the wireless connection we have at home. Gray signal bars with a yellow dot on top of it (I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with that icon) was nothing new to me. It only meant a signal was available but the computer wasn’t connected to it.

               So I clicked on it and sure enough, there was a wireless network available, but not ours. So I went downstairs to turn on the modem and the wireless router and went back to my room, expecting to see the proper icon this time. Horror of horrors! That was not the case. I did see that I was connected wirelessly but there was no internet connection. I’m not really what you’d call a tech-savvy person but I had some (not a lot. You’ll see why later.) knowledge of basic networking, enough at least to attempt at fixing the problem.

               I rolled up my sleeves (figuratively speaking) and set to work. It didn’t really involve anything technical; I just plugged and unplugged the devices or restarted them. I got tired of trying to fix it, not from turning it on and off, but rather from the several trips I had to take traipsing up and down the stairs to check if I had internet or not. It never occurred to me to bring my laptop downstairs.

               Adding salt to an open wound, the software for the wireless connection is written in Chinese! This would have been no sweat if I knew Chinese but my knowledge of the language was zero percent. Negative even. It was already quite late, and I was already tired and grumpy and sleepy. (seven dwarfs?) I had to lay down my arms and surrender the battle. For now anyway.

               So here I am writing this as a way to let off steam. I’m not really sure when I’ll be able to upload this post, since you know… How about you? Any frustrating experiences with internet connection? Come on, share them. (to assure myself that I’m not alone in this, muwahahaha!)

Update: Up until now, there is no internet connection at home yet. I'm using the net at a different house.*Sigh*

My (Aptly Named) First Post

               
               I was browsing through the net and googling everything I could find on what to write as a first blog post. Majority of the things I read stated that a first blog post should introduce the author, a.ka. me, and my reason for putting up this blog. Since I have already revealed some deep secrets in my About section, I thought about explaining the reason for my blog title instead and what you, dear reader, can expect to see or read from my blog.

               I am a soon to be law student with forbidden longings to be hip and fashionable. I say forbidden because I have neither the money and later on, neither the time as well, to actually attempt at being a fashionista. I have secret longings to become a fashion designer and a makeup guru. But then again, what girl doesn’t?

               So please follow me as I attempt to balance these two extreme opposites of myself. In this blog you will be able to read various topics that I dabble in, and since I can go a bit crazy sometimes, (maybe even most of the time), you might find some offbeat topics. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy reading about them, feel free to leave your comments, messages and violent reactions to my posts.