where the moon shines

While going through my Reader yesterday, I got particularly interested in this piece that was on the Little Green Notebook:

What is it? Well, it’s a high chair for babies! The seat and the foot rest are fully adjustable so it grows with the baby. I think you can buy a more secure seat to attach here otherwise some sort of harness can be used to ensure that baby doesn’t fall off. On the Amazon page they show a photo of this same chair being used by a male adult.

Amir is growing so fast and perhaps it’s time he sits at the table with everyone else on the dining table. Not that we all actually gather round the table for lunch or dinner. See we now have a small table and we normally eat in pairs, one after the other. Hehe.

Know how most restaurants have a high chair, just in case any one needs it? Well, we had a family lunch last month at Romulo’s and they had none. Minus points. Maybe they don’t expect families to bring toddlers there for lunch/dinner?

Anyway…

I’ve seen other furniture pieces and I think – I want that in my house! Then I look at the price tag and I’m like – okay, maybe someday. Sigh. Like that high chair – click through and buy it in Amazon! Then send it to me

I’d always thought that we would have a family home where there’d be floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. We’d need rolling ladders to access some of our favorite books! Right now I don’t see that happening to this house. If we do get shelves installed, we’d put them high up because floor to ceiling would just mean half the books would be submerged in water should a disaster like Ondoy strike again.

This hot Saturday afternoon, I broke routine and did something I don’t normally do: attend a  seminar that promised to help me MAKE MY MONEY GROW.

Oh the idea of growing my money! Last year, I got to read Bo Sanchez’ very short but totally eye-opening book: My Maid Invests in the Stock Market… And Why You Should Too! So I’ve been thinking about investing in stocks, but months later, here I am probably poorer than the day I read it. Thinking about it isn’t the same thing as doing it.

Then sometime this year, I caught a rerun of a Pesos and Sense episode. I liked their Facebook page after the show, but again, it didn’t take me any step closer to investing.

A few weeks back, I saw the above image on the Pesos and Sense Facebook page. Minutes later, I filled out the registration form. I paid the PhP 495 fee on Tuesday. I attended the seminar earlier this afternoon.

Am I any closer to investing? I’d have to say YES.

The seminar was held at the premises of Citisec Online, a brokerage company, at the Philippine Stock Exchange Building. At the back of the room, there were sign up forms, which were quickly snatched up by attendees. I didn’t get a single one. No biggie, they’re available online. Citisec is also the company mentioned by Bo Sanchez in his book. The presenter, Aya Laraya, is also affiliated with the company.

But this seminar isn’t specifically about investing in the stock market. Other investment options were discussed as well. What the presenter tried to do was give us basic information to help us decide where to invest. Before he did that, he of course made a quite convincing case for why it is wise to invest your money NOW, and why yesterday was the best time to do it.

Am I any richer for attending the seminar?

Hmm richer in knowledge YES. But I think I could have skipped this seminar altogether, only because I am already convinced that I should invest in stocks. I do recommend this seminar to those who need more info, or even those who are not yet decided on what is the right investment for them.

Would I attend other seminars? If it was more specific to investing in stocks, then yes I would! And they are cooking up more seminars, this is the just the first in a series. For COL, Aya Laraya also holds seminars twice a week.

Today is video day on Where the Moon Shines. Yes it is. 

First up is a Pat Benatar video from the ‘80s, Love is a Battlefield. The movie 13 Going on 30 was on cable again this afternoon and I watched it, again. I also watched it last week when they showed it. I couldn’t NOT see it. Haha!

This song was a theme song for Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner). She and her 13-year old friends sang and danced to this video during their slumber party. It was seen on this scene here:

image source: Hollywood Jesus

I realize that the movie probably isn’t for everybody, but I honestly liked it. I’m a nice person, see.

Now the second video for today is actually an Ikea vid I saw from Patty Laurel’s blog. It shows many options for maximizing small space. I need this. We need this!

Amazing isn’t it? But I must admit, it takes a lot of creativity to achieve this. I wouldn’t have thought of all those possible configurations on my own. And I doubt if I could still recreate it without the aid of a professional. Ugh. We need a room makeover. Or if we eventually move to our unit besides my brother at San Benissa, we definitely could make improvements there. This is definitely an inspiration.

Seen any good videos lately? Link me up!

This showed up on cousin Nikki’s timeline an hour ago:

My thought bubble – I can so relate. Same thought while I was watching the Oscars.

There are so many good movies, but it’s so expensive to see all of them at the cinemas. You use up gas driving there. Parking fee. Lunch/dinner OR drinks and popcorn. And the cost of a movie ticket – wow. PHP 140 to PHP 220 for regular screenings, double if it’s iMax or 3D.

Because of the cost, we thought we’d just see a few movies on the big screen and wait til the rest come out on DVD. As it turns out, we miss the DVD release most of the time. Or, even if we already have a copy, we don’t get to watch it. Thanks to cable, I get to see some of the good movies I missed – a year later!

The movies is something I’d spend my extra cash on. But what’s extra cash? Where does that come from? In my case – online earnings. Yes, I make money online. But that’s not news is it?

Okay, so my blogs aren’t necessarily cash cows, but I do get a few dollars from sponsored posts every now and then. The thing that makes that plausible for my blogs is that I setup my blogs out of a desire to write and share. Earning from blogging eventually just happened. I don’t even remember if I first got offered ads and links or if I signed up with ad networks. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t invest time and effort on my blogs first.

So there you go, tip number 1 for making money online (via blogs): Develop your blog first. Content drives traffic, and traffic attracts advertisers.

Which leads me to tip number 2: Socialize. I don’t just mean be on Facebook or Twitter. Those definitely help, but reach out to fellow bloggers. Engage in their blogs and they will return the favor. Engage with your readers and respond to comments. I love comments (which is why I challenge myself again to leave at least a hundred of them on other blogs each month) and hope I get more, but I understand the lurkers too. On some days I write something that will just be so compelling and readers will comment, on most days though, they’d just breeze through. And that’s okay.

Apart from sponsored posts, link and banner advertising is another way for blogs to earn. I remember receiving an offer for a very simple text link on my sidebar for Where the Moon Shines. I got paid 100 USD for that. That was the biggest one time gig ever. I don’t get offers like that anymore. So sometimes, I think back on what I was doing right on my old blog and it always brings me back to tips 1 and 2. I should always remember those two.

Anyway… seen any movies lately? I posted some of my recent films at Between the Covers.

I’ve been feeling good about work lately – I get excited about projects that involve research and troubleshooting, and learning something new, yadda yadda yadda. Before moving to APAC, my call center life was all out tech support. My educational background is nowhere near tech, but it was something I found that I could actually do. Somehow, my mind was wired for it. Funny!

The last time I felt this energized about some product was when we supported this web host solution for small businesses. Everyday was like having to solve a big puzzle, chopped up in smaller parts. As then trainer my favorite job was creating job aids. I especially liked including screen shots. My current project for my two LOBs will involve creating job aids  

When I first learned that product, my experience in blogging with tblog and Bravejournal were useful to me. I could relate to the product. Later on, I also applied what I learned from work when I decided to go on and build a website.

Domain registration was a topic we had to become familiar with, and I appreciate all the information I got there. Supporting that business opened my eyes to how some consumers tend to be careless about specifics and terms of use, and how that can cause problems for your website in the future. Once registered, domains cannot be edited, so choose your domain name wisely. If you don’t provide accurate and up to date information upon sign up, it may cost you your domain in the future.

Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten all about it when I let my domain Verabear.Com expire on me. I had intended to get the domain released from my then registrar MelbourneIT and moved administration to something I had grown familiar with already – my current host, Dreamhost. By that time, I had already setup this WordPress blog on this domain.

Once you’ve locked in on the domain you wish to register, the next big step is deciding which registrar or reseller to sign up with. Of course, you must check if your domain of choice is still available. My favorite to run searches with are CentralOps.Net and Whois.Net.

A very important tip:

Use an email address that you will always keep. I’d stay away from another domain email address because if I lose that domain, I will lose that email too. If you ever forget your password or login credentials for your domain registrar, you can only prove ownership by accessing links they would send you via the original email address you registered with.

Anyway, I am sleepy and to bed I must go. Should you decide to register a new domain and setup your own website, tell me about it!