The Perks of Being a Freelance Writer

Freelance writing is really not what I planned to do because of the little money that goes with it.

But because of some circumstance at my office work which caused it to closed, I have to get some source of income. Enter freelance writing.

I heard a lot about the job before trying it. Some says it is one of the most fulfilling jobs, while others consider the lack of enough income in freelance writing as a disadvantage. But why not try it? I told myself.

Although my experience in freelance writing is quite short – I used to be employed at an office job, doing office works such as copywriting and copyediting – I have been able to evaluate my experience and come up with what I call the perks of being a freelance writer list.

1. I am relatively free – Of course I am still required to work every day at my own table in front of my laptop in order to earn money for daily living. But if I feel like not doing anything for the day (Bruno Mars’ The Lazy Song playing in the background), I don’t have to come up with lame excuses just to file for a leave. I am my own boss and I monitor my own attendance.

The setback – Being free entails some responsibility. If I abuse the benefits of being free by slacking, there is a tendency that I might develop bad working habits, which is not healthy in earning money for a living.

2. I have control on how much will I earn for the day – Most freelance works are quota based. So how much I’ll earn depends on how many pages or articles will I be able to submit. It depends upon me and the ability of my brain to compose articles until it signals “idea overload.”

The setback – I have to accept that some days are different from the other in terms of being in the zone for writing. I often experience the “writer’s block” at some point, and there are really few strategies to fight it.

3. I can decorate my own office as I wish – Because I am my own company and I don’t have to adhere to any rules or regulations, I have the freedom to put my favorite action figures in my desk or post a poster of my favorite athlete at my wall. It’s my office; I have the right to personalize it according to my discrimination.

The setback – I am also the one assigned to clean my office and pay for the repairs and electricity. But again, with good benefits come some setbacks, right?


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How Writing and Gaming Are Alike

Writing and gaming has a lot of similarities. If you are fond of hitting the keyboard on your free time, you'll definitely relate each one with one another. For me, I consider the following as my points of comparison.

1.) Start and End

Every game has progressions. From the start to the end, there are different levels and difficulties. Nonetheless, when you developed a mastery of each level you discover patterns which enable you to finish the next challenges.

Writing also has this sort of progression. From the start, you feel clueless about what to write, but when you got your creative juices flowing, you will be able to construct each paragraph with certain ease, until you reach the end of your article.


2.) The hurdles along the way
The challenges in a game are there to make it more exciting. Without them, there'll be not enough fun, and a game will not be worth the time you spent playing it.

Overcoming certain challenges gives you a sense of accomplishment. Thus, in every game, difficult obstacles are always a welcome addition.

In writing, you call this the Writer's Block. Sometimes, you'll find yourself stuck in mid sentence and clueless on what word to follow. To solve this puzzle, you use certain tools like dictionaries or thesaurus and exhaust all possible resources you can get. And after you solve the tricky part, you feel a sense of fulfillment, knowing that you have accepted a challenge and conquered it.

3.) Moves and mastery

In most games, there are certain move patterns that you have to memorize in order to perform special movements. These give you a particular advantage against your opponent, be it the CPU or another player. The more complex the joystick combination, the more effective the result.

Writing also involves a lot of patterns and certain formula to solve them. When you master how different type of sentences are constructed and when you have learned and remembered several vocabularies, you gain a certain type of power to finish paragraphs and the article itself with ease.



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How Men Differ from Women When it Comes to Decision Making

To say that men and women have lots of differences is an understatement. In everything they do, there seems to be a huge gap in the way they think and make choices. Often, this lead to quarreling and debate on who is the better group of individuals.

Well, of course   the answer on who  is much better at what would always be subjective, but for the sake of fun, let’s make a comparison between the two sexes.  

1. Shopping – Before going to the mall, men are already decided on what to buy and the factors to consider before purchasing a certain product. It takes men an average of about 15 minutes to decide which item to choose. And when they have bought it, they are confident that they have made the right decision.

Meanwhile, the opposite sex spends an average of 45 to 60 minutes (or more) when shopping for an item. They seem to be overwhelmed by the idea of picking the perfect one among the group of items they are presented with. More amazing, when they finally got what it seems to be the right one for them, they often have second thoughts and go for other options.

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2. Reconciling with enemies – It only takes simple non-verbal cues for men to reconcile with their fellow men. Often, there is not much of an exchange in words. And a simple gesture like a pat at the back is often enough to send the message of reconciliation.

Women take time ― a lot of it ― to settle things down when in conflict with the same sex. Much talk and reasoning are often involved in the process. There is also a lot of drama involved. And things often get emotional for quite a while.

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3. On choosing which clothes to wear – Men often go for what is comfortable. They consider comfort as one of the major factors in deciding what outfit to wear. Also, it only takes a look or two at the mirror before making a final decision on clothing.

The opposite sex are more meticulous when it comes to fashion. They want to emphasize a lot of things, especially their assets. Sometimes, they also tend to get others’ opinion or approval before deciding what outfit suits them. Being at ease is not also a major factor in dressing up. For as long as they’re in proper fashion, women can get away with the idea of comfort. 

Five Practical Things We Are Not Allowed to Do in School that Can Actually Help Us Learn Better

There are certain rules we are told to follow at school from day one. They serve as guidelines to maximize our learning experience ― we are told so ― a set of do’s and don’ts we are required to be reminded of every time.

Nonetheless, most of the time, these things hinder proper learning instead of helping us do good on our future jobs. The problem? How certain skills can be applied in the workplace is often disregarded in making these certain set of rules.

1. Don’t Use Notes During Exams

What’s the sense of this rule other than to hinder us from learning how to take functional notes? At work, we need to take notes and learn how to USE them at what we are doing. Unfortunately, application is sometimes disregarded for the sake of memorization. But what’s the sense of memorizing something if you can’t apply it properly? I vote for open notes during exams!

2. Wear Uniforms

I’m sure most of us have seen men who don’t know how to properly tie a necktie at work. The reason behind this dilemma? We are constricted to wearing school uniforms instead of being allowed to dress on our own. At the early age of schooling, we should already be trained on how to dress properly in the workplace, as well as for different occasions like meetings, seminars, etc.

3. No Erasures

Most of the time, teachers pay more attention to neatness than to content that we are restricted from making erasures and correcting our errors. But face it. In the real world, we use a certain type of software for writing. And if we make a mistake, it only takes a single stroke of the backspace at the keyboard. So what’s the big deal on erasures in paper works? These corrections only show that we know how to check/recheck our work and correct our errors.

4. Memorize Formula

Have we gotten already the sense of memorizing long formula? They are there to be understood not to be memorized, so what’s the sense of spending time to remember them? Are we just supposed to understand their usage based on real-world problems? In the first place, we go to school to learn how we can use knowledge in real-life situations not to memorize texts.

5. Don’t Be Absent

We take leaves to relax and renew our mind so that when we go back to work we are already rejuvenated. Students deserve this right also. Why not allow them to go on a vacation (up to a certain extent of time) and relax for a while? Or take a rest if they are sick? After all, studying is still a stressful task that requires students to be in proper condition.

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How People Use Facebook Today

Social media has been a huge part of people’s lives. They check their Facebook accounts every now and then on their computers to be updated on what their friends are doing and to share what they are up to. And if that’s not enough, they buy phones which they can install apps that let them update their status on the go.

With the increasing time they spent in social media comes the evolution of how they use or view them. Many can be viewed as funny or amusing. Here’s my list:

1. A god

“God please help me pass the examination for my job application.” Yeah, I’ve seen many status updates like this on Facebook. I wonder if users who post prayers like this think that God has an FB account or just really don’t know how to pray (see: Matthew 6:6).

2. A vanity wall

When our friends have gone in an outing, we expect to see pictures of them and the place they have been to. Unfortunately, instead of this, they post vanity shots (Mostly close-ups). Sometimes, they even forgot to include some scenery shots (Face palm).

3. A hate wall

Some friends on Facebook love to post hate messages for their enemies. Usually, this leads to two scenarios: 1. Their friends send private messages asking if they were the culprit and them saying it was just nothing (Then why post it???), 2. The culprit, who is not a friend of the poster, hears from a third party what his victim is taking about and fires back hoping that another third party inform his victim about his reply.

4. A way to convince themselves

If some people want to lose weight, why don't they just work their way to it instead of posting “Today I will eat healthy and exercise” EVERYDAY. Are they just trying to convince themselves?

5. A way to brag about everything

Children use to brag about their new toys to their friends, but when they grow up, they get away with their childish ways. Makes us wonder, “Are most FB users children?” From their new device to their charity works, some friends just can’t help to blow their own horn.

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Seven Things We All Miss About Friendster

Social media has definitely been part of our lives. Every day, we give time to check what our friends are up to or update them of what we are doing.

For this reason, different social media sites have appeared all throughout the years. One site, in particular, had standout among the rest, Facebook.

But before we got addicted in posting status updates on the Mark Zuckerberg-made site, there was Friendster (which shut down in May 2011 and reformatted as a social gaming site).

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Here are the things we sure all miss about the classic social media site:

1. Testimonials

Oh, those lengthy texts that our friends post in our walls to show how much they value our friendship. Who cannot miss testimonials? And I’m sure we all can remember the simple rule that when we are given a testimonial, we are also required to post one to our friend’s wall.

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2. Glittery texts

Speaking of testimonials, I’m sure we are all witness to the evolution of texts in Friendster. From posting just plain texts, we all discovered that putting testimonials in our friends' walls can be made more special by adorning them with colorful gifs.

3. Customized background

Social media wall had never been more personalized than during Friendster times. Although Facebook today has a way of customizing our page (timeline photos), owning the whole page by posting our choice of background and style was a sure miss for us former Friendster users.

4. Slam book-type profiles 

We share them all during those times. From our favorite colors and quotations to our favorite bands, music, and books, we were proud of telling others many things about ourselves and our personalities.

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5. Much personalized space       

Through customized backgrounds, friends’ testimonials, and slam book-type profiles, it was easy to identify whose wall we were looking at. Our walls were then a representation of our personalities. 

6. Old Friends

When we migrated from Friendster to Facebook, we left some friends that were considered then loyal to Friendster. Time had passed and we lost contact with them, and when the old social media site shut down its service, we don’t have any way to keep track of some of them.

7. Sentimental value

There’s this certain attachment with Friendster that we all can’t let go during the “transition” times. It was where we first learn to stay in touch with our important friends, be open with our feelings about them, and be proud of our own personality. In spite of different social media sites that had taken its place, I’m sure that Friendster will always have a space in our hearts.

From someone who grew up during the 90s

Unique and Funny Things You Can Only Find at a Japan Surplus Store

Whenever going to the mall, I’m sure we all can’t help but stop at a Japan surplus store when we see one. Why? Maybe because of the curiosity in finding a unique product amongst the hundreds located inside. From the simple garden tools to the colorful party products, the store seems to have everything you are looking for.

For curiosity sake, I myself decided to enter this Japan surplus store at our town. It’s fun to see a variety of items which you can’t usually find at an ordinary store. And surprisingly, the price is cheap. (The one I located has a price range of 66 to 88 pesos only!)

I listed some of the one-of-a-kind products I’ve discovered inside the store I visited.

#4 Giant Hangers

Oh, seriously? This is the first time I’ve seen hangers as big as these. According to the label, these are towel hangers. I never thought that a separate hanger is needed for towels, as if the ordinary ones aren’t enough, and that you can actually hang them horizontally. The only problem? It may be difficult to find a space huge enough to hang these gigantic hangers.

#3 Pompoms

Cheering competitions? Well, the store has enough stacks of pompoms to provide each member of a cheer dance team. And these are way more appealing than recycled stuffs used to make pompoms. Great find, eh?

#2 Bike horn

I’ve been in different bike stores but had not found a “classic” bike horn similar with the one pictured above. And with an 88 pesos price tag, this should be a must-buy for any bikers who would like to achieve a vintage appeal for their bikes.

#1 “Eye” glass

Need an eyewear that can make you look cool? Why not try the “Eye” Glass. Aside from making you look like a person from another dimension, this thing can also conceal your eyes if you want to disguise as awake when actually you are sleeping.

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