WordCamp Philippines 2008

I found out about WordCamp Philippines 2008 through Anna. The people behind this exciting event are the Mindanao Bloggers (a non-stock, non-profit entity).

It is sponsored by:

• i.PH: the Domain for Individuals
• Free Online Flash Games
• Wazzup Manila Philippines
• Real Estate CRM
• Real Estate Website Designers
• Orange County Real Estate
• Auto Insurance Quotes
• Lane Systems Inc.
• RedMedia
• Orange County Business Lawyer

AND they have just confirmed the venue…and guess what?! It’s going to be at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde!!!

I’ve wanted to “delve deeper into the WordPress codex” for ages and this is the perfect opportunity!

Here is the list of tentative topics:

• Blogging 102 - Basics & Beyond
• Other Ways to Use WordPress
• Video and Mobile Blogging
• Cascading Style Sheets
• Blog Monetization
• Migrating to WordPress
• Organizing / Optimizing Your WordPress Blog
• Advanced WordPress Management
• Developing WP Plugins / Best Practices in PHP Coding
• Designing WP Themes
• WordPress & SEO
• WordPress E-commerce Site
• Configuring & Deploying WordPress MU
• Developing WP Aggregator Sites
• WordPress Security / Anti-Hacking Techniques
• WP Development Ethics
• Microformats

So… if you’re interested, please check out the site and register!

Young and Happy

I seem to be having a lot of “interesting” conversations with kids these days.

I watched a movie with my sister Peewee and Chestnut earlier. There was a happy couple in one scene and Chestnut squealed (yes, squealed), “Just like you and Jim!” LOL.

…

After a while, Chestnut came up behind me, gently stroked my hair¹ and said:
Chestnut: You look different.
Me: What do you mean?
Chestnut: You look young…and happy.
My first thought was to say, “Why?! Did I look OLD before?!” Instead, I said:
Me: That’s because I am young and happy!
Chestnut: I’m young and happy too!

AND I’ve been blogging about Jim a LOT. It’s just that I miss him so much…and it helps to blog about him otherwise, I’d be moping around, thinking about him every single minute and not getting any work done!

What else..what else..?!

I watched the UAAP basketball games yesterday — with Ate Peewee² and my cousin Clarenz. La Salle won!!!

Oh, and I reformatted my hard drive! I thought I had everything backed up but I forgot to export my bookmarks. Even worse, I’ve forgotten quite a few of my passwords - I forgot to check my Firefox password bank before I deleted everything. argh. But I’m enjoying having my laptop in it’s out-of-box state (except it looks a bit battered on the outside - just a bit!)

Anyway, I’m going to work on the original themes for the main site and this blog as soon as I get Photoshop reinstalled.

Good night everyone!

Setting an Example

My four-year old godson Jaize Darren was here yesterday — I haven’t seen him in months and he seems so much older now..and still as inquisitive as ever! “Ninang,¹ what’s this / what’s that?” AND He kept asking about Jim. “Ninang, why does he have blue eyes?” LOL.

Then his dad, my cousin Jason, told me that Darren now has a girlfriend. haha. I think he was just looking for the perfect opportunity to tell me about his girl. LOL. Here’s what happened next:

Dinnertime.

I sit next to Darren and ask for a kiss.
He smiles but turns his head away.

Me: “Aww… Why won’t you give me a kiss?”
Darren: “I have a girlfriend.”
Me: “Hey! I thought we had an agreement. You can’t have a girlfriend unless I meet her first!”
Darren: “Yes, but you never come over to our house.”

His dad and I exchange looks. I wink at my cousin, laugh then go back to eating.

After a while, Darren starts telling me about his girlfriend.

We finish eating.

Darren walks over to me, raises his arms for a hug…
I bend down and he gives me a kiss.

haha! I grin. I’m still number one in his book!

Hmmn… It’s really nice to see that my cousin has started to straighten out his life. I guess he finally realized that we’ve given him all the help we could possibly give… Now it’s time for him to help himself. His son really looks up to him and I guess that’s one of the other things that pushed him to set priorities. He has another child to think about now. His youngest is just seven-months old. She’s a lovely baby.

Anyway, what I really wanted to blog about was this:
Darren’s words (”I have a girlfriend.“) really struck me. I’m so proud of him! He knows you’re not supposed to go around kissing other people when you’re “in a relationship.” My cousin has always been known to be quite the ladies’ man. Come to think of it, ALL of the men in my family are, in my brother’s words, VERY friendly with women. But I know Jim would disagree — he has a different concept of that term. Lookie:

Jim: Oh hun, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant I got the most beautiful one of them all, only a ladies’ man could have done that.

Okay, he’s my boyfriend. He’s biased.

Anyway, I guess my cousin has finally settled down. He’s faithful to his wife (they’re not actually married but they will as soon as they have money saved up — they have two kids to worry about and they’re definitely more important than planning a wedding), he provides for his family, and he’s given up most of his vices.²

My brother has too. He and his girlfriend are planning to get married, probably in 2010 — they’re still saving up for a house.

So here’s to reformed rakes! We all know their fate. They love only once and when they do…they can’t imagine being with anyone else.

Wait, that’s not exactly true is it? Let’s see… Imagining… Well, “they can look but they can’t touch.” You know what I mean. LOL.

See, I’ve never cheated on any of my previous boyfriends. I never even dated two guys at the same time. Even if you aren’t “officially” together, it’s just not right.

One of my professors told me, “If you’re going to enter a new relationship, you have to make sure that this new person is better than the one before. Because if he isn’t, why did you even break up with the first one? There must be some improvement or you’ll never be happy.” Then he went on to talk about fidelity.

I always think back on that conversation… For me, honesty and trust are the two most important things in a relationship because “Love cannot live where there is no trust.”

I truly believe that Jim is the most wonderful man I have ever met. I couldn’t AND wouldn’t cheat on him because then I’d have to find someone better than him. Before we officially started “dating,” there where some guys I liked enough to date (though I never did because I was too busy with school). I think about them now and I’ve realized that the things that attracted me to them are qualities that Jim already possesses. And on top of those qualities, there are so many other things..little things that he probably doesn’t even notice, that make me like him more. Why would I want to find someone else? He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.