Giving 'Em Away

My would-have-been comeback runs. My 143Go Run (Feb. 27) and Run United1 (Mar. 6). Yep, I gave 'em away.

My comeback runs were delayed. Thanks to my acute rhinitis that tagged along vertigo.

But instead of fretting, I did what I had to do: follow the doctor's advice. So I took a deep breath and surrendered my fate.

The next thing I did: contacted my runner friends with a breaking news - I'm giving away my 3K and 5K slots. NO CHARGE.

After a day of SMS and Facebook marketing, I was able to give 'em away.

Call me crazy for giving away my running slots for free.

But I think I will be crazier if I continued to hold on to my singlets - and cry for the comeback runs that never were.

And so with a smile, I really gave 'em away.

My comeback run may not be now, but it will happen soon. Or sooner than you think.

Sydney Has Arrived!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53326337@N00/1429257429

wrote this last March 29, 2010.

For two weeks now, I have been setting quality time with Sydney.

One might say that my current song is “Getting to Know Each Other,” because that’s what has been really going on. I am getting to know Sydney, day by day (or should I say, night by night).

I have read through his quick and easy guides, both in soft and hard files. I have been exploring his programs, and how cute he is. He has also solidified my love of color red, because that is his color. I find myself silly now that I am touching his keyboard and the letters are jumping, thanks to his multi-gesture touch pad that accidentally gets tapped by my travelling fingers. Sometimes, I just can’t help but stare at him – he’s just so, small.

I have even shared Sydney’s “mysterious” character in Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and Google Buzz.

Sydney, for those who are curious to know, is an Acer Aspire One notebook. He was a gift by one of my “lost but found” godmothers. Until now, I could not believe that she gave me a notebook as a gift for my 29th birthday. And to show my appreciation to the gift she gave, I named the notebook Sydney, after the place where she is currently residing.

And boy, what a gift Sydney was!

Ever since Sydney arrived, my night life was never the same. And it should be.

For one, Sydney was a dream that I never thought would come into my life. It’s true that I posted a picture of a laptop in my dream board. But I never imagined it would jump out of my board – literally. In fact, Sydney’s better looking than the one that I posted in my board.

Now that Sydney has arrived, I have to more seriously focus on the reason why I dreamed and wanted him. I posted in my dream board that my laptop will be an instrument for earning passive income and communicating with friends. Moreover, he will encourage me to open him and type any idea that pops out my brain.

Syd (his nick name) will help me achieve these two big dreams and to rekindle my love for writing. That’s not all – Syd will also help my brother expand his creativity, aside from my parents knowing the basics of e-mail and keeping in touch with people dearest to them (one of them is of course my generous godmother).

It’s not going to be easy, for I have a bigger responsibility now. It would mean more time to teach my parents. It could also mean I will be delayed in typing my thoughts because my brother might spend time with Syd for some days. It would also mean more trips to the malls to avail of the free Wi-fi (or bigger prepaid costs if I access the Internet in the house). But it is a responsibility that I have to take. I know he’s God’s gift to me, but Sydney will just be an instrument – I still have a bigger part to play.

I can’t wait how Sydney will help me transform into a more responsible person. I can’t wait for him to bring out the best in me. I will see it unfold; and I’m excited about the new me.

Sydney has arrived.

My life will never be the same.

Hyperlink to False Promises

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53611153@N00/316668966

wrote this last March 9, 2010.

 I have wanted to access a hyperlink that discussed online placements. According to the news that superceded that link, it promised more income earning than the eight to five job. I saw the hyperlink from a friend’s Facebook status.

For months, I kept on reading the news article that I copied and pasted in MS Word. For one, the man on the street interviewed was a Filipina from Iloilo. Based on the interview, she was just like any of us – trying to make ends meet, especially now that we are still experiencing the after effects of the global financial crisis. When she found out about the possibility of having an online job (or work at home placements), she grabbed the chance and is now earning U$ 5,000 per month.

“U$ 5,000 a month? Ka-ching!” the cashier inside me said. That is roughly Php 230,000, presuming that the peso-dollar exchange rate is Php 46 to U$1. In a year, I could be Php 27.6 million richer than any of my alter-egos and relatives.

And so I tried to click the hyperlink. Bad move – the hyperlink is blocked by the office Internet. I frowned in disappointment. I promised myself that if I get tot read what’s in the hyperlink and be successful, I would quit this day job and I will never return. Never!

Months passed and due to workload, I forgot the existence of the hyperlink. If I do get the chance to read the article again, I would find myself staring at the hyperlink. I felt that I am not given the opportunity to earn more because I can’t access it.

Then, I resigned and moved to another job. I again happened to read the article and saw the hyperlink. The cashier inside me said, “Maybe it could be opened here.” I placed the cursor at the hyperlink and pressed the left click of the mouse. And then, the unthinkable happened – another window opened. This is it! Pathway to richness, here I come!

It was a long marketing speech of how easy the job will be, and with commitment and persistence, earning money will also be easy. Training for the job will also just take a few hours, and one can start working. You know what the job position is? Auction Listing Agent for E-bay. Sounds interesting and looks good in resume.

As I continued to scroll down, I found out there was a catch: I need to pay almost U$ 200 to get access to the training certification program. Sure I could get it immediately once I started the job, but U$200? Where will I get that? I thought this was another hindrance to my opportunity to earn more.

While I was pondering on this thought, I saw that online marketing mentor, Jomar Hilario (www.jomarhilario.com), was available to chat. I took courage to greet him and told him everything about the hyperlink.

“Hahaha. Did you pay your employer for you to get hired?” he replied. Honestly speaking, it was like a cold water poured in my head. I immediately replied, “No.” He said, “Ask your friend if he or she really earned. If not, then it’s a hack. You don’t even know them!”

From then on, I removed the news article file that I saved in MS Word. I erased with it the hyperlink that I used to stare on, with hope that it would help me earn more. I can’t imagine how fast technology could keep up even with “easy money” scams.

Be careful of hyperlinks that give false promises.

My Life - in 140 Characters

(wrote this last March 1, 2010)

After months of contemplating, I finally decided to have a Twitter account.

Yes, I now belong to the millions of Twitter-ers in the world, who try to summarize what they are currently doing in one hundred forty characters.

I found out about it last year, the time when actor Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN on a one million followers game. I got curious, and so with the help of a social webbie friend, C, I got my first Twitter account.

I deactivated it after three days.

Well, I guess, curiosity died down fast. I told Carla about it, and she just nicely said, “Okay.”

But after careful thinking, I now knew why my Twitter account only lasted for three days. One, I was too busy with my work – to document my life in one hundred forty characters would be impossible. Second, another friend, Sir Ken, “forced” me to open a Facebook account weeks before, so I was still getting to know its features (weeks after submitting myself to Facebook, Sir Ken was surprised to know that I knew more about it than him). Third, since Twitter was known to be a social site for the famous (with friends considered as “followers”), I thought that I won’t be able to find my niche there. I mean, you would rather follow Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore than me, right?

This year, I realized – if I want to grow my internet business, then I need to promote it, even on Twitter. And it’s not because it’s the “in” thing now – I think every body now has been luckier to have a medium where one could express his or herself. The World Wide Web has become an interactive diary of sorts, so why not use it to say what you feel?

I pondered on my three reasons and reviewed them. First on my “busy-ness,” I got a new job that hopefully, doesn’t require much work load in a day. Second, I’m now in the ehem, “expert” level in Facebook. Third, who cares if I’m not as famous as Ashton and Demi? I am a wonderful human being! And besides, following them, among others, would be quite interesting.

So I registered to be a Twitter-er – again. And to solidify myself in this side of the web, I declared in my URL how iluvAnnKristine.

As of this writing, it’s been almost a week since I have registered. Not much a surprise, I only have one follower (thanks, Carla) against the twenty plus celebrities I am currently following. It’s a nice feeling that I get updates from Tyra Banks, Ellen Degeneres, Ryan Seacrest, and Ricky Martin, among others.

But I know that someday soon, people will start to follow my life – in one hundred forty characters.

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You may follow the author at www.twitter.com/iluvAnnKristine.