salamangkero

When I was young and the suburbs we lived in wasn't quite... civilized, our family doctor was, like, 2-3 hours away. Sure, my mom would take me there is anything life-threatening crops up but for simple fevers, my mom relies of ice baths... well, baths isn't quite an accurate word, suffice to say that it involves rubbing alcohol and a bit of water on a basin of ice blocks and a washcloth. For flu, there's crushed oregano leaves mixed with calamansi juice, If it gets worse, we go to the local healer. In our country, it's called an albularyo: it's a bit like a Native American medicine man, only, there's less dancing and chanting and dead animals. There's mysticism but his outfit certainly is quite normal. When we go there, we always bring one white candle, which I give to the old man. He would then rub some oil on me; the smell of the oil is far from unpleasant but I do remember that it came from a jar with some fine white roots. After that first rub, there's a second rub but it comes from a different bottle this time. The roots in the first one always seem to be the same but the second one varies a bit each time. Sometimes it's leaves, sometimes it's roots, it could be dark green, dark brown or bright yellow. Anyway, I'll sit there while the old man goes into this shed. He would return later with a lump of wax in his hands. He'll give it to me and tell me to put it inside my pillowcase before I sleep for x number of nights. My mom would remind me that evening and tell me not to crush it much for the next few nights. And, strangely enough, I get better in a few days. When I grew older, I learned that the practice was called pagtatawas. Traditionally, tawas, or alum, was melted and dropped into a pool of cold water. It would form images of whatever afflicts the victim. In my case, the diagnosis was nabati, (literally "greeted") by whatever image forms (rabbits, dogs, plants, whatever) Well, as I found out, they used the white candle for it, as an alternative to alum. (What? I was 2 years old back then! How was I supposed to know that the long, slender candle I brought with me and the flat rabbit-shaped lump I got were one and the same?) Anyway, I learned later on that the treatment was, supposedly, the same one used for curing kulam (witchcraft voodoo-thingy) So... what happens when things get more serious that a simple flu? We ride some, walk some and, generally, exhaust ourselves reaching the family doctor. You could very well imagine, then, my relief when a real doctor moved in next door

Wow... it seems there's a lot of hatred in the world. Like that Black-Eyed-Peas song goes, Where is the love? Well, I, for one, certainly don't know where the heck it is But I sure could add to this little hate-list. And unlike some people who confuse pure, dark hatred with mild annoyance (Oh, how I hate the cold, the spiders and the sound of my alarm clock) I really do mean it when I say I hate the following: 1. Narrow-minded people - No, I don't mean your local parish priest or your stern principal. I mean people who simply are incapable of making adjustments, those who, by sheer stubbornness, make it impossible to reach a compromise. Know of any preacher who will stop at nothing until you concede that you're wrong and he's right? No, scratch that, know of any forum member who lists Bible verses, point by point and simply assumes the Bible as the truth, the light and all? Know someone who bombards other forum posters with quotes and misquotes and cannot leave well enough alone, much less, agree to respect other people's beliefs? Yeah, I hate that member 2. Hypochondriacs and uber-activist minorities - Do you know of people who'd bawl their hearts out just because you corrected them? "You, you heartless, insolent jerk! You're doing this just because I'm a woman!" Gawd, how many people do you know who use their minority status as a crutch? Reminds me of a MAD TV episode where a girl attempted to cut a line. When told that she has to fall in line, like everyone else, "Oh, so you're sending me to the back of the line because I'm black?" I won't admit to being a non-judgmental person, however, I do think that I am a rather understanding individual. You could imagine, then, how much it irks me to be accused a racist, sexist, homophobic, discriminating lout when I am trying to discuss something else entirely. Gah, people with persecution syndrome. 3. Posers - Self-confessed bookworms, bibliophiles, emos, audiophiles, geeks, nerds, metrosexuals, hardcore games, et al. No, I don't have anything against you and your interest with books, slashing, music, math, science, vanity or games. The trouble begins when you simply cannot shut up and prattle on about it. So, what is the best book for you, "Ohmygawd, Harry Potter! Wheee!" or "Ohmygawd, Lord of the Rings! Wheee!" Uhm... so, you're a bibliophile, huh? Aside from HP and LOTR, what other books do you like? "Uhm, well, I dunno. Basically, anything else by JK Rowling, I guess..." What do you think of the works of Mark Twain or Edgar Allan Poe? "Uh... who are those guys?" God, there sure are a lot of people who buy books simply because everyone else is doing it. There are some, too, who buy songs simply because the artist is so popular. And a lot of people trying to call attention to their being emo. Correct me if I'm wrong but I really think that a true emo does not care what other people think of him/her. They don't slash to get attention; they cut because... well, they have their own reasons. The point is that slashed wrists are not battle scars to flaunt. Okay, how about geeks and nerds? Oh, sure, we have made lots of contribution to Wikipedia, we read XKCD, we can totally relate to The Big Bang Theory, we know that the LHC is down for the winter and that somewhere out there in space is the Great Attractor, we converse in Klingon and, oh how we can go on and on listing our achievements. And yet, there are those whose chin glands you can press for pride whenever someone calls them weird or strange. It is the same with the fake emos, fake geeks and nerds crying out they are misunderstood because they are deliberately trying to be un-understandable. Know any people who have self-diagnosed themselves with obsessive-compulsive disorders? Or those with a comprehensive list of the strangely made-up phobias they have? Self-confessed hypochondriacs? Fashion-obsessed men? (Not to be confused with genuinely fashion obsessed men, these are just idiots who are trying their hand at being shallow like... uh, Britney Spears) Yeah, I hate people like that. 4. Poor people - Oh god, how insensitive of this f*c<ed up elitist. Well, lemme rephrase that as people who choose to be poor. No, wait, that includes people who do it for the sake of their personal beliefs like monks or ascetics. Argh, lemme rephrase that again as people who don't like being poor but choose to be poor. There. Sounds strange, huh? Well, do you know of anyone who laments how hard life is, how the prices of gasoline rises and yet she juggles two credit cards? Have you ever saw anyone who begs online because he just could stop himself and his wife from making babies, shopping with credit cards, choosing a house fifty miles from work and buying a gas-guzzling chunk of rolling chrome? Well, in my country, we don't have that, thankfully. What we do have are squatters: people living in shanties composed of plywood, cartons, sheet metal and moldy fabric all held together with spit and glue (nails and ropes, actually) situated beside railroads, on once-empty lots or under bridges. The do lament how the government does not do anything to alleviate their situation, indeed, a lot of them eat only twice a day, or less. Yet, somehow, I cannot help but wonder why they have snazzier mobile phones that I, why they have cable TV while I don't, why they sleep nicely with an airconditioning unit while this poor programmer had to make do with an electric fan or why they have such colorful hair (all shades of brown and blonde) while this ordinary citizen grumbles with the black hair he's born with. Oh, all right, I am a rather jealous person, if that makes you happy, but I still just couldn't help but wonder myself silly how they could have the gall to wail about their food, amidst the luxury they enjoy. Meh, maybe this silly old programmer just has mismatched priorities, albeit. Oh, and for those people really, really slow, lemme slow down too: I... was... be-ing... sar-cas-ti...c And, uh, yes, I don't like the sound of my alarm clock either but I don't feel anything for it. Well, annoyance, maybe, but not actual hatred. And, uh, I like cold mornings and spiders, though

I'm currently reading The Shadow Rising, the fourth novel in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. It is, basically, a very long high-fantasy series about, well, the end of the world in some alternate universe. Yes, there is magic and yes, it has a healthy amount of species in its bestiary. Oh, did I also mention it has a lot of made-up words? According to xkcd, the more made-up words a novel has, the lesser the probability is good. I mean, it doesn't have to take a great deal of imagination to deduce Trollocs came from Trolls and Ogier were Nonetheless, I do find it amusing and somewhat entertaining. I mean, losing sleep by reading it is a bit better that losing sleep over... interesting this on the net *wink, wink* Although I must point out that it does seem like there's a whole lot of fan-service. And by fan-service, I meant naked women. And by naked women, I mean, detailed descriptions. And by detailed, I mean... oh, good lord, my allergies are acting up again Oh yeah, one good thing about it is that it has a rather... organized system of magic. For example, magic wielded by males are fundamentally different from that wielded by females. Females have to "embrace" what qualifies as mana; they have to let it take control of them. Males, on the other hand, have to "seize" it and tight-fistedly control it, for once it comes, it comes as a strong torrent. A circle, that is, a group of channelers (or mages, in common tongue) can only be initiated by women and it will only work if at least half the circle is comprised of females. On the other hand, an all-female circle can only have a maximum of thirteen women. There are five primitive elements: Water, Earth, Fire, Air and Spirit (kinda reminds me of Captain Planet) Males are generally stronger in channeling Fire and Earth, women, Air and Water. Spirit is usually wielded with equal ease between the two sexes. Oh, anyway, I suppose I have said too much already so... there Ah, one more thing, those vivid descriptions are not limited to lewd moments. I am rather thankful that I can, at least imagine the setting as the author paints it. And did I mention the books come with a pretty map of a conveniently rectilinear continent?

I'm not too sure of L-Carnitine, aside from what I hear in the media about its fat-burning properties. Over here, we have multivitamins and fruit drinks with "fat-burning" L-carnitine.A quick Wikipedia search, though, revealed to me that, aside from being the highly commercialized fat-buster, it does help maintaining bone mass, has antioxidant properties and improved glucose disposal for diabetic people. Its most common sources are red meat and dairy products (Whoopeee!)I'm not sure about improving sperm "mobility", whatever that means, though.Your doctor is right, results may vary with each individual. If you're looking to improve bone mass, sole dependence on L-carnitine won't produce the same results as calcium supplements. You might want to consult a professional to evaluate what you really need

Ah, this is quite nostalgic. This takes me back to those days when I was young and stupid (No offense, heehee)No, back then I was already a cute, healthy, little agnostic, minding my own business when I was, er... recruited into a coven practicing witchcraft. I said, "Paaah!" or something like it but they somehow managed to entice me with promises of research and, well, I was a rather geeky type back then. I had no reservations about D4Mn!nG my soul to hell because, of course, as an agnostic I didn't believe in it.Anyway, much of it is pure foolishness, hubris and a bit of wishful thinking on our part. We'd try to call the wind and if a leaf or two so much as twirls, falls or flutter, we'd be giddy with excitement. One of us claimed to see ghosts... she had a personal pet, one from some Japanese era. (Considering that it was the height of the anime craze back then, that she is known to have really low self-esteem and that she could be an attention grabber at times, I paid her little heed, which was just as well) We also played the Ouija, but I found that all of us were faking fools who were moving the planchette ourselves. We got several zany messages from spirits that way. Two of us learned to read Tarot, one got into crystal-gazing and I studied reading runes. (What? It may or may not be useful but it sure as hell is fun)In any case, I'm not ridiculing the craft. Far from that, I'm just showing one side of the coin. I was a sparkle-blinded idiot back then. Now, I believe I am sane enough to look back and say that "Paaah!" I should have maintained in the first place. However, there had been two incidents that were... unexplainable.We were trying to play with fire. Literally. We set a piece of paper down and concentrated on making it burst into flames. Nothing. We decided to focus on a corner of that paper, trying to make it smolder. Nothing. Frustrated, we would have given up but one of us called for one last try. I crumpled the (D4Mn) paper, laid it down and muttered something... rude and vulgar about the paper. We stared at it for minutes until we grew tired and one of us lost her temper. This is getting us nowhere, she said, uncrumpling the paper but she was cut off when we saw that smack in the middle of the sheet was a burn hole as large as my thumb. (I have rather feminine hands so it's not a large hole, actually, but the burn marks were clear) There was the hole surrounded by a ring of black, which turned to scorched brown and, eventually, the white sheet.The second one was a practice on telekinesis. We were, again, frustrated at our attempts to bend a metal spoon by its neck (y'know, that part where the handle narrows before widening into the bowl of the spoon itself) Remembering that trick with the paper, we guessed (yes, dears, guessed. Our research methodology is called trial-and-error-until-frustration) that perhaps it won't work if we're able to directly see the supposed outcome of our... efforts. We wrapped it in paper. Crumpled paper. Then we focused.I thought I was just hallucinating, that I was seeing things due to an increasing headache but I thought I saw the paper lump move. We stared at it some more and, well, this time, it did move as though the spoon was getting bent inside. I pulled back from the circle in shock and, if my memory serves correct, I think all of us did pull away from the... moving lump of crumpled paper. When we did unwrap the spoon... it was, well, bent. Not just a few degrees, like what you'd get if you bang the spoon hard enough on the stair, no. It was a rather decisive bend that anyone trying to eat with that spoon would have to hold it like a ladle.In any case, yeah, I suppose there are people out there who can use magick. I really doubt I am one of those and I attribute the earlier two incidents to one or two of my companions back then. (Paaah! Certainly not the one who can see anime-styled ghosts)We were four back then and my element was supposedly Air. I would have wanted Water, which was cooler, but, come to think of it, I never really liked damp, closed spaces. I have terrible difficulty breathing inside a car, which was left out in the noontime sun for quite a long while, making the air conditioning system blast suffocating heat while around me, all the other passengers were sweating and irate, but generally breathing fine. When I was a kid, I really enjoyed going to school early, 'coz it means the bus can go at a higher speed on the road, for lack of obstacles, which means the cold morning air could enter the windows and whip across my face and billow out my hair behind me. No, I wasn't gay then, just... a kid. One who comes to school with a pair of frozen ears ^_^In any case, I'm rambling. Whatever connection I may have had with magick back then, if I ever had it, it's probably gone now. Ever and anon, I still cast runes but mostly for entertainment. I dunno why but, I suppose, there comes a time when everyone has to grow up and some have to realize that there's nothing special about them... magick-wise, of course

I beg to differ. First kisses are nothing too magical. It's something you'd want to remember for the rest of your life, before the kiss. After it, however, you'll end up going meh. No sparks and all that.Well, maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that that first kiss will end up with someone magical. If he/she does not leave you sooner or later, then good for you! The both of you. However, don't expect too much. It is a fact that most people don't end up with their first kiss. It's nothing about you or him or her; I believe it's just a matter of probability. There is a high likelihood that the two of you (both kisser and kissee) will find someone else.If you have your first kiss at a much, much later age, say, thirties and upwards, though, I'm not so sure anymore. It's hard to collapse the probability wave functions for someone doing something for the first time at an advanced age :lol:Well, I know I sound very negative but, uhm... for what it's worth, try to make it special nonetheless.My first kiss was with my best friend. I was chatting with him, well, more like babbling and, well, he shut me up. In a nice way. Er... you get the gist. D4Mn first time someone also shoved his tongue inside my lips. Fool jerk literally took my breath away with surprise. It was not an unpleasant kiss, on hindsight, but it was terribly... unexpected :DSo yeah, I suppose you should also be warned

There's something I was wondering about... When your high school best friend told you how he felt, was he aware that you are already with someone else? If he already knows, then, in my opinion, he is a jerk for not caring about what you feel and the dilemma he'll be putting you through. No doubt, if he is your friend, he will not tell you something that will cause you undue pain, which is not to say best friends necessarily sugarcoat their words, only, why would he tell you that? What does he hope to achieve by telling you that he feels something for you? If he says he just wants you to know the truth, then he's a jerk. There is nothing for you to gain from knowing that truth. If he's smart, he will have considered that but if he's just thinking of relieving himself of his secret, of his burden, then he's quite a selfish jerk. If he hasn't thought of that, then even worse, he's an idiot. To be hounding danger by playing fire with someone already married. Total lunacy. If, on the other hand, he did not know when he told you, then your luck really sucks, sister. It's called fate, missed chance, destiny, bad timing, unserendipity or a whole plethora of other things. I suppose that the best thing you could do would be to politely, but firmly, say no. You have fallen in love with him, before, but you should have also taken your feelings for him into consideration when you married your husband. The fact that you have married your husband should, supposedly, show that you have thoroughly thought it out and decided to get married (and pregnant) rather than wait for an off-chance that your best friend will court you. Sad to say, sweetie, that slim chance just happened. I do feel sorry for you. I've been in such a quandary myself, though my solution back then was to choose no one. You, however, have a complex condition. Sure, you can walk away from your best friend but you cannot just walk away from your husband and child. In any case, sister, marriage is a lifelong vow. I may be gay but I still hold marriages as a lifelong vow, if not a sacred one. I have little respect for people who, in our language, "sails down two rivers" so, for your sake, I do hope you make the right choice. Personally, though, I think you have already made a choice. I don't want to be Matrix Oracle-ish but there you are. Married and pregnant. All that's left for you to find out now is why. It won't be a pleasant answer but you'll have to learn to live with it. Live with yourself

To be fair, I'd have to say I have never been to India, so I don't know exactly how food there tastes like.My mom does make curry, though, and so does my sister. My mom has a tendency to put plenty of coconut milk while my sister goes wild with the curry powder. In any case, I like chicken curry ^_^I once read a book, The Conch Bearer, and its setting is in India. My mouth watered in the same way the main character's mouth watered over onion pakoras and spinach dal. I tried wiki-ing it, discovering that pakoras are very much like tempuras.I once saw something on the grocery shelf called chiken kolchapuri. It looked really delicious on the box's label so I decided to try it. When I opened it around dinner time, it has a strange smell. It's not an offensive smell, just new, actually. I tasted a bit of the sauce and it was spicy but rather tolerable, methinks. I microwaved it and sat down to dinner with rice. The first spoonful was hot, both temperature-wise and taste-wise. I could smell a bit of some spices although, for the life of me, I could not identify what those were. The second and third spoonfuls saw me halving my glass of iced tea. Somehow, it didn't even work; my tongue is burning and beads of sweat formed on my forehead.After dinner, with a burning mouth, I had the vague notion of drinking milk. It did work somehow as the burning subsided. I felt hot and warm and exhausted so I laid down to rest a while. I do remember that I will only rest awhile because I needed to do something online. I woke up, however, and discovered I was out for four hours! So, I resolved, that's it for Indian food. No more Indian food for me, aside from Mama's curry.And lassi, too. I've read about it; something yogurt-like and fruity, I suppose. It sounds safe enough

Of all the people in the world, beggars rank near the top of my hate list. This is a rather common phenomenon. It might interest you to know that, here too, in my country, people are blaming the government, the president, specifically. They claim that they have no food on the table because the president is doing such a fine job of... Well, their reasoning stops there. They can't quite outline why the government is to blame but they know that the soaring prices of goods and poverty is, somehow, the direct result of the president's doing. Y'know, that reminds me of the time when I wanted a third sibling. My other siblings and I asked our mother and she looked at us in the eye. To my sister, she asked, "Will you help me wash and bathe and maintain the baby?" To my little brother, she asked, "Will you share your toys with him and be a good model?" To me, "Will you help me raise the funds for the kid's college years?" And to my dad, "Will you work for an additional mouth to feed?" What's the point, you ask? Well, for starters, let's just say that some people do happen to breed like crazy. I dunno, perhaps some rabbit genes from the genetic pool have somehow wormed their way into the DNA. Over here, we have families with 7 children and, guess what? They blame the president too! Isn't that such an amazing coincidence? I've also read an article in the New York Times, how a little plastic led to a load of credit. There was this woman who juggled two credit cards. For that, she worked two jobs, but she seemed happy anyway. She can buy what she wants, which tend to be expensive clothes, she's not hungry and she manages to pay for her house. However, an unexpected illness of a family member and the loss of one job had her eating into her savings and selling her possessions. Now, she's forced to move out of the house. What's the point on this story? Too many people are too complacent, thinking good times will last. Thus, they live life on the edge, with little margin for error. Never mind that you are not an extreme cyclist; I don't mean that edge. It doesn't take a sportsman to make a financial blunder. Oh, how Prometheus would have wailed at some people's lack of foresight. My Mama, I am proud to say, was a rather pessimistic person. She imagined the worst-case scenarios, financially, and adequately prepared for it. Hard times have befallen us when we had to renovate the house, pay for a new vehicle and, well, study. We didn't go begging, though. My dad didn't take a new job, my mom did not seek employment. What happened, eh? Well, my mom loaned our savings to business people for a small interest and, eventually, we did return to a, comparably, opulent lifestyle. We don't have maids or household help because, in our opinion, we can do the work ourselves. What's the point? Money does not necessarily come from working hard; sometimes it comes from working smart. So, you have a wife. What does she do? Is she also employed? Does she manage to make money from home? Does she have any talent, like cooking or crocheting? Even blogging? Oh, scratch that. Where do you live? Do you have any possessions that you don't really need? Some furniture that have outlived their usefulness? Do you have a TV? How about cable? Do you need cable? Y'see, there are tons of ways to make money and begging is just about the most despicable and dishonorable of it. You know, that is another problem. People want a lot of other people to visit their site. People want traffic, people want clicks and hits and page impressions. And yet the site has absolutely nothing of value to its visitors. By "hits" we're not giving money, right? Or are we? What of our bandwidth? Our time? The electricity used by the CPU? And what for? A beggar's site? If you want people to flock to your site, you have to offer them something else. Something valuable enough for them to spend some of their time to check out. People just don't go to a website for nothing. Maybe you could make something that is not available elsewhere. Prayers for hurricane victims? That's humanitarian, but not valuable. Every other site is also exhorting others to pray to their respective gods. The Bears lost? Over a hundred blogs have something to say about that too. Thanks to Jim Reagan? Who is he and is he worth knowing? Of what use will it be to your visitors knowing you have manages to weasel 2 bucks out of someone? If, on the other hand, you weave out your sorry tale for the world to see, like, how you suddenly decided to have 4 kids, buy a house and a car all at the same time, then perhaps you might get a few visitors like me. If you can, post tips and hints on what you're doing to cope with the rising prices (aside from begging) that will, somehow, be of value to other who are also experiencing difficulty dealing with reality. What I want to say is that if you're going to have the audacity to beg people to come to your site, you should, at least, offer them something worth their time. You might wanna check out this site. It has Google ads but it doesn't beg. It's content is far from original but it does have some traffic. If you're going to stuff your site silly with advertisements (as if it's not far too loaded now) then you might as well have killed your visitors. People don't randomly go to sites simply because they wanted to see advertisements. Likewise, advertisers would not want to pay for an ad space in some obscure, unvisited corner in the Internet. Also, have some professional ethics, man; you just casually say that your ad space is 2 cents per impression then just as suddenly blurt out it's a good deal. Why don't you let your advertisers determine for themselves if it's a good deal. Imagine what would happen if every company out there had adverts like "Wanted: Web Developer, willing to work at least 10 hours a day for $583.28 per month." It's not an effin' McDonald's menu that you have to shove the figures up front on people's faces. Then again, I guess beggars are beyond the bounds of professional ethics. I am so trying to control myself from ranting but, seriously, dude, if you're still going with what you're doing, here are a few useful advices, unsolicited but also much needed: 1. DON'T F*C<!NG BEG! 2. Offer some content. Jokes, stories, anecdotes, heck even insightful blog posts would do! Anything but a poor excuse for a blog. There's too much advertisement and barely anything sensible. 3. Fix your layout. It's really crowded and the advertisements are overwhelming the viewer. 4. Don't present your poor excuses for your current predicament. However, if you really have to, have the decency to present it in detail. Everyone's having problems with gas prices, why should your current situation stand out? 5. I loved the picture of you living on the streets of Chicago, superb roleplay! It looks almost realistic, until you realize "Here is a man with 4 kids, paying for a house and a car. And credit cards! God, how could I forget?" It would probably have been enough to make President Hillary Clinton weep blood and give you a blank check Peace, brother. I'm not implying that I think you are detestable to expect to earn something from nothing. I'm saying you're lamentably pathetic

How much is a pinky worth anyway?In any case, I do think rather highly of myself and, with what the world is experiencing right now, I'm having mixed feelings about a million for a pinky. Well, just think, is a million worth:1. Losing a finger and, with it, a few points of agility and dexterity2. Gaining awkward stares from the people you are conversing and shaking hands with3. Feeling incomplete since, unlike people born with certain defects, you have had memories of a finger attached to your hand.Just something to think about :)My sister also probed me with this question once, only, replace the finger with a private part. I said no and counter-asked her if she would accept any amount for half of her... chest. Like me, she vehemently said no too :)Something came into mind, though. I don't have much use for hair right now since it's not flirting season yet. Anyone know a wigmaker with good rates, say, a million an ounce?

It seems one of you guys are into fitness only for appearances :)Personally, though, I don't think any of the two is better. Your friend is building up body mass and, in the process, gains larger arm muscles. Yes, girls (and some guys) find it hawt but that's not all to it. Your friend will be able to lift heavy weights for a limited amount of time. His arms can generate a higher force for a few instants. In close combat, this will allow one to deal injury or, in a pacifist manner, disable or subdue the attacker. These are, to me, advantages to be considered.On the other hand, you have trained endurance (or stamina) If your friend scores girls with his looks, you, on the other hand, will be able to last longer, if you know what I mean It's probably not something that people will talk about openly, though You won't be lifting objects as heavy as your friend can, however, you can perform the same task more times before tiring. You may not have much by way of close combat, however, you will be able to maintain running away from danger.In my opinion, though, I never cared much for upper body strength and, instead, focus on endurance and flexibility. It is my belief that any sufficiently agile person can easily beat a strong fighter, not that I'd like to test it out The only downside is that endurance or stamina is not something that is easily visible. If, or when, you do get a girl (or a partner, whichever) you can, at least, rest assured it's not solely based on how big your biceps are

That's funny, I never had that problem with my past boyfriends :)Seriously though, I think it is only right that whoever last used the toilet seat should leave it as they will. I've read an article about a man's 10 wishes to his wife and there was one saying, "I wish you'd learn to work the toilet seat. We want it up, you want it down."I mean, what kind of idiot just sits down on a toilet without checking for the seat? And what kind of bigger idiot falls into the toilet?

Invisibility comes first to mind, though I must say, it depends on the type of invisibility. If it is something innate only to me, I probably won't like that. I do not wish to get naked just to be completely invisible. On the other hand, if it is like some type of invisibility field that can cloak object like my clothes or anything I hold on to, that'd be cool.If I couldn't have that "cloakfield-type" invisibility, I suppose I'll just settle for speed. It'd be almost the same, with a few minor differences. Heck, heaven knows how much I need fast legs on the way to work.Now, remember, guys, you didn't see me, you don't know me, we never talked about this. And two weeks from now, nobody's gonna rob the Gotham City bank, got it?

Considering that you have Microsoft Windows XP on your system, I think good old CHKDSK may be enough.To detect(and repair) bad sectors, try:CHKDSK Z: /ROf course, replace Z with the appropriate drive letter

In my opinion, a lot of those moneymaking sites are, more often than not, scams. I find that, for most of these there are two strategies being employed. 1. Pyramid scheme - yeah, we all heard it. I recommend, you join and for every person you recommend, I get something... a virtual dollar, if you will. Of course, these only works for the first few members of the community, who, more often than not are the same owners of the site/service. Now, think about it. People make money by selling something someone needs. In the case of capitalism, though, it's a bit more complex: you make money by selling something you have a lot of and you have to convince people that they need it. Most of the time, they don't but there comes a time when they'll eventually find some use for your magic 4-in-one blender or your cheesegrating-iceshaving-laundrywashing, titanium-teflon food processor. Now, how about clicks? Or profile views? Can you really imagine selling your friends, contacts or acquaintances' memberships to anyone? Why would anyone bother paying you for something they don't remotely need? Put yourself in your master's shoes and you'll find that the only reason he's bothering you to get more members is because he, too, has a master bothering him to get more members. Honestly, I find pyramid scams to be stupid, ridiculous and not something to be engaged in by thinking people (seems like we don't have much of those nowadays. 2. Online surveys - I think getting paid for answering online surveys pretty much defeats the purpose of online surveys. I think it is also a rather grave insult to statisticians. See, the reason for surveys is to get a very varied sample. However, by subscribing to these online surveys, you ensure that the entire population is represented by those with Internet access and those subscribed to the survey engine. I think the problem is that since the release of Adsense, online moneymaking strategies have been hyped up. A friend recommends a "really, really good" service to you. Ask him, has he received any payment yet? Oh, never mind that, he says. It's "really easy", all you have to do is answer a "few" surveys everyday. You don't have to waste more than 15 minutes per day. It's a payoff for virtually zero investment! So, has anyone really received any payment off these sites? I'm on Adsense, then again, I know someone who did receive something from Google, unlike some (or most, if not all) of these online scams. Then, I suppose, the problem, even with legit services is that people are in such a big hurry. Like, "Yay, I'm on Adsense now. I have a blog which is visited by my close friends and some strangers. I post my ads on my blog. Now, I should receive a hundred bucks within 2 months, right?" Gah, everyone expects to make money on zero effort, zero investment, it's no wonder so many are disillusioned and sarcastically say, "Yeah, online business, meh! Get a job. Get a real job, and all that. Nothing like hard work." Yet the fact still remains that some people do make clean money online. Perhaps, the word "online" is a rather loaded term. A lot of people (on broadband, albeit) usually think, "Oh, online! Therefore it's free! Oh, online! Something I can do after work! Something easy" Oh, how many a man hath fallen to sour-graping after giving up something so "easy"

Ah, true, that.I have a co-worker with Tourette's Syndrome and, I suppose, his first few days in the office had... affected pretty much everyone. He was blinking his eyes ever and anon, as well as snorting, well, softly. A soft snort-like sound caused by air forcibly expelled through the nostrils. No, not a sneeze it sounds more like a scoff, but with none of the gestures associated with a normal scoff.Anyway, we work for an IT company and, well, he almost got in trouble. Not with me, though Our bosses had been commenting on a new project and asked, in jest, "Who of you are experts in Java?" A scoff. "Now who of you are experts in PHP?" Another scoff.Unknown to me, one of our co-workers was already thinking, "Why... this pompous jerk... conceited b4$+4rd..." and was just about to come to blows. It was only later he was told of Tourette's syndrome (and much, much later when I heard the story) :)In any case, before I knew of his condition, I thought... "What a weird boy... (he looks kinda cute...) I wonder what's up with him... (Does he have a boyfriend/girlfriend already?) Must be ADHD... (He's probably single...)" When I brought up the topic to my friends (no, not the ones between the parentheses) they were... flabbergasted that I was insensitive enough to call the poor kid weird. That was how I learned of Tourettes, just a few months ago >_<

Hahahaha, what an interesting question and one, I daresay, not too often touched upon by too many forum members.I'd say, it's pretty normal for a guy of a young age to watch porn everyday... along with the other activities that accompany it As a person ages, I think, he's supposed to mellow down and his... drive, wane. I mean, porn is quite a enjoyable entertainment, pleasurable even, but there are other things out there in the world that does not involve watching 2D images of men... and women. I mean, yeah, for now, go ahead and indulge yourself. If you think you are addicted to it, then it's probably fine. The time for worry would be the time when you no longer concern yourself with addiction and take it as a matter of life. It's a healthy diversion, methinks, but when it comes to the point where it is all but essential, then that is, I suppose, the time you need to seek serious help.Or get a life, methinks

I believe that animal testing is a vital part of product manufacture. I mean, if we did not test vaccines on animals first, the human population would rapidly dwindle... although I'm not sure that's altogether a bad thing. However, I do not favor animal testing for products are trifle as cosmetics. They are shallow, pointless and completely non-essential products the human society will be able to live without. I suppose it also depends on the type of animals. If we tested vaccines on mice, then that would have been perfectly fine since mice are easy to breed (rabbits, even more so) and maintain. If, however, we start talking about tests done on endangered species, then you probably won't find me taking it all quietly. All in all, I'd say, animal testing should be done only for certain animals (those that are easy to breed and maintain in captivity) and also only for certain products (those that are meant for non-trivial purposes)

Ah, DotA, oh DotA... the scourge of many a youth... Hahaha, well not really, more like the scourge of many a weak-willed youth :DI do remember my college days, when I played DotA with my thesis mates almost every afternoon... and my grades took a plunge. At the risk of sounding like a prude, be careful kids, DotA can be addictive if you do not have the willpower :(Anyway, it's a really fun game and, even after three years, it's still played by a lot of people... my officemates, for example :)As an overview for those who have wandered here and do not feel like wiki-ing it up, players can choose to play on one of two teams: Sentinel and Scourge. The team itself does not matter much, the map is especially made to give neither team an advantage over the other. Sentinel base is at the lower left corner, Scourge is at the upper right. These two bases are connected by three lanes: the top lane runs on the north and west side of the map, bottom lane goes right along the east and south side, the middle lane goes through the diagonal.A player can choose to play as one of over 80 heroes. Each hero has (over 90% of the time) four skills. Both bases also have an array of shops from which one can purchase items to complement his/her hero's stats or skills. So how do you earn the gold? You can:1. Kill enemy heroes2. Kill enemy creeps (more on creeps later)3. Kill neutral creeps (random monsters) that spawn on the map ever and anon4. Destroy an enemy structureAdditionally, when you kill anything or when anything is killed by an ally within a certain range of you, you earn experience, which ultimately, will level you up. You can achieve a maximum level of 25.Now, on each of these three lanes, there are "factories" or unit-producing structures on both bases. Additionally, both have three defensive towers extending into the lane, for example, the Sentinel has three towers on the east side of the map, three on the south and three on the lower half of the diagonal lane. Each base also has a "core", for Sentinel, it is called the World Tree, for Scourge, it is the frozen Throne. The core is also protected by two towers. When the core is destroyed, the game ends.Now, back to the factories, every now and then, these will spawn computer controlled units that will start walking along those three lanes to the enemy's base, attacking any enemy units it comes across. The goal of the game, then, is to "push" at least one lane right into the enemy base and destroy the core.I think that's pretty much it. The main difference between this and most other Warcraft maps is that you control only one hero for the duration of the game, instead of building up an entire army. This makes for a fast-paced game that generally ends between 30 minutes and 2 hours :)For the other other DotA players here, what heroes do you play?I find that I generally suck on melee heroes so I usually choose ranged ones, or those with ranged skills. Examples are Ogre Magi, Dark Seer, Death Prophet, Tormented Soul, Lord of Olympia, Lightning Revenant, Keeper of the Light and Dwarven Sniper. I especially pwn with Lightning Revenant and Dwarven Sniper using SandY, Yasha, Hyperstone, Hand of Midas, Agility Power Treads and either Assault Curiass or Radiance

I am a non-believer of creationism but, personally, I am against not teaching creationism altogether. Of course, it shouldn't be taught in a science course, because it is not science at all. Science is all about systematic study of phenomenon observable or verifiable with observable evidences. Creationism is, well, rather unsystematic as it does not explain the existence of fossils beneath our feet nor does it explain why the galaxies are moving away from each other. However, consider the scenario where children are not taught the arts at all. Actually, you don't have to imagine, just think that a lot of children today do not know Ali Baba (he who ruined the forty thieves) or Rumpelstiltskin (he who, today, dances, tomorrow bakes and tonight, the queen's child, takes) The only Alladin children knew was aided by a blue Disney genie (he had two genies, actually) the only Rapunzel today's little girls know was a doll from Mattel equipped with a magic paintbrush (no, silly, princesses do not defeat evil stepmothers by themselves) Heck, I don't think anyone born from this moment forward will know exactly how many dwarves Cinderella has (None ) As it is, interest in the classical arts (dance, opera, literature) is rapidly dwindling. I don't care whether people knows Jesus (or accepts him as their savior) but I do find it rather painful if people do not know of Noah, Solomon or Moses, in the same way people have to ask who David Copperfield, Prometheus or Odin was. The way I see it, a lot of people seem to think that Shiva is a female ice elemental, Thor is a Marvel superhero and that the Greek god of war is actually named Kratos. I think that creationism, well, no, religion, is a rather important part of our culture. Sure, you may be worshiping different deities in different parts of the world but, hey, it is part of what shapes us. Especially for children, I don't think you can instill morality in them simply by prattling off a philosophical discourse outlining the disadvantages of killing humans. I mean, they're kids! Their minds do not work in the same way adults do. The best, or perhaps the most practical, way of imbuing them with civilized manners is through a story. Tell them how humans were exiled from paradise because some woman ate an apple and shared it with her spouse. Teach them how wisdom is really important by regaling them with stories of Solomon. As it is now, I wouldn't be surprised if children dealt with daily life by jolting the hell out of anyone who opposed them with their Pikachu. Perhaps I digress by arguing with religion instead of creationism. Still, I stand by my point that we should teach creationism/religion. Teach it elsewhere, yea, just not in science classes

I used to write a lot back then. When I was in high school, I did feature writing and some editorials for the school paper. When I was in college, I wrote for leisure, although I still wrote reports for the college paper. In my later years in college, I have turned to blogging but now, after the whirlwind of job-hunting, landing a job, fitting in and, well, working, I find that I have not written for quite a while. My last blog entry was dated January 2008 and my last piece of prose, even further into the past. Please don't ask when I last wrote poetry :)Now, I'm trying my best to get out of this immense writer's block. There had been a lot of false starts but it seems I have lost the ability to see a piece through. Have you, other writers, any advice?

I've watched Hellboy II: The Golden Army, last weekend. I cannot exactly compare it to the first one, see, the first one had somewhat nice visual effects, like summoning Anung un Rama into this world, Karl Ruprecht Kroenen's mangled face while the second one has a lot of other... species, like trolls, elves, tooth faeries, goblins and a whole lot more. Personally, I prefer the second one. There is not much action going on, if you call the slaughter of BPRD agents action, but I liked it because there is much more fantasy. It, somehow, paints a magical world beyond what human eyes can see; in a way, it is a lot more magical than the "occult" workings of the Nazi and Rasputin in the first film.Oh yeah, I especially liked the Angel of Death. I think it's a "she" but it seems to speak in two voices: one male and one female. Those who have watched del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth might recognize some similarities in The Golden Army :)Well enough of that, as any further rambling from me might end with spoilers for those who cared

Wow, I never thought there'd be so many tea-drinkers in Xisto! I never really liked caffeine, but when time comes that I need a quick boost, I used to be a coffee guy. However, noting that subsequent cups brought me less energy, I stopped caffeine intake for a week and switched to tea. My mom is a tea drinker as far as I can remember. Every now and then, I try some of her tea but I found myself preferring the deeper taste of coffee back then. Now, I'm pretty much drink coffee only rarely and go for tea. I like Lipton's Yellow Label black tea and, I guess, Darjeeling tea. I mix this with lots of sugar (I have a sweet tooth), a bit of milk and a dash of cinnamon. This, I drink to get me going every morning. I have also tried Lipton's chamomile infusion and iced tea but I dare say that I have tasted better chamomile tea and that Nestea makes better iced teas My mom once received a few bags of chamomile tea. She says she didn't like chamomile so she gave them to me. I gave it a taste and it was, by far, the most relaxing drink I've ever tasted. Again, I put in lots of sugar but the taste of chamomile going down and the after-scent going up was just... wow, soothing. Alas, i was too young then to both remembering the brand of that tea. I'm still searching up to now My mom also once brought home a couple of bags of hibiscus infusion; the tea had this really deep red color. It had a really strong, sweet smell, a bit like women's perfume, I guess. A bit of sugar and it was heaven. Again, it's the after-scent that did me in I have also tasted green tea, this time, from my uncle. I didn't really like it because it tasted so... herbal. It feels like I'm drinking grass juice and smells like, well... grass. There are, however, other variants of green tea here. C2 Green Tea by the Universal Robina Corporation, is a bit sweet enough for my taste (although I must say it tastes diluted lately) Other C2 iced teas are flavored in apple, lychee, strawberry, kiwi, forest fruits and the ever-reliable lemon. I must say I liked the forest fruits and kiwi flavors, though they are a bit too strong for my taste. There also is a Chinese cuisine fastfood chain here that sells iced Nai-Cha. It does taste as grassy as green tea but the bits of black jelly, evaporated milk and sugar makes it quite a refreshing drink, although a bit too sweet and heavy. One thing I'd like to know is, aside from caffeine dependency, does tea have any other adverse effects? I vaguely recall my mom talking to me about her latest condition that the doctor advised her to abstain from tea for a while. I was wondering if something so healthy might not, after all, have some dangers unknown to us?

I'm a gay guy and, while my countrymen are becoming more and more accommodating towards people of the third sex, I'm afraid there still is a problem for some guys to even befriend non-straight guys. (Funny, I don't see them having any problems chasing after non-straight girls) In any case, for people like me, I'd like to point out that the probability of getting a date online is much higher than getting one in the offline world. The advantages of online dating work even more for homosexual or bisexual people. Generally, online anonymity serves to lower people's inhibitions. Where, in real-life situations, some people would have been flogged to death or humiliated just for asking another guy out on a date, in the Internet, the worst that people can do would be to troll you in the forum threads, spam your inbox or flame you in the chatroom, whereupon you can just as easily assume a new identity with a different nickname. Also, online dating can be less riskier, in a way. If a gay person asks a guy out on a date, there is the distinct possibility that the guy might be homophobic and agree to date the gay guy, only to beat up, rape or, worse, blackmail the poor homosexual. With online dating, people can take their time chatting, getting to know each other, without the (immediate) need for actual contact. Of course, the risks still also come up when online dating leads to something more... offline. Furthermore, just as web groups have bound people together by interests, so has it also done the same for online dating (and this goes for non-homosexual relationships too) Some people who prefer dates with blue eyes can actually specify exactly what they are looking for. Others who are looking for a good listener or a great conversationalist can, to put it crudely, "window-shop" among the online profiles. However, that's pretty much it. I'd like to point out that, while I said the probability of getting a (non-straight) date online is much greater than getting one offline, the probability of getting a meaningful relationship online is much, much lesser than an offline one. The very same anonymity that can protect people can also be exploited for deceptive purposes. People have been known to post face pics that are not theirs. Even more common are those who post body pics that are not theirs, but let's not get into that. Others can also lie about their age, weight, height and, well, just about everything. Additionally, people are, by nature, influenced by appearances. Very few indeed, are those who would hook up based solely on emotional bonds. Despite what many people say, a lot of us are mere humans who, somehow, are still looking for a cute one, a beautiful one, a handsome one or a sexy body. Many are the online relationships that have, somehow, fallen apart simply due to disappointment felt when people met up for real. That said, though, I still believe that, for non-straight dates, at least, you're probably better off starting with online dating first, before moving on to actual meet-ups. Then again, that is just my opinion

There are, in the world, many people who believe in the certainty of a single end: that, whatever we do, the entire planet will die, whether it be due to global warming or the sun turning into a red giant, the end still remains the same, which is the non-existence of life on Earth. Thus, many companies work on such short-sighted goals, after all, would it really matter how our planet dies if it is ultimately going to die anyway? What use would it have been to "go green" when the demise of our Earth is quite inevitable? It is my belief, however, that what matters is not the end of the world but the events that happen in the time between now and the end. If we are to believe that nothing matters since the end is still the same, then the whole lot of us might as well commit suicide en masse, seeing that we're all gonna die anyway and, whatever we do, we cannot prevent our death, right? Wrong! See, the way I see it is that, yes, we are going to die, however, the longer we live, the greater opportunity we have to potentially affect other people's lives, hopefully for the better. We are not saving the environment for hypothetical children that may or may not exist, no thanks to the miracle of the condom. We are here, minimizing our carbon footprint and going green for humanity, in general. I think that, if we, humans, decided to give up war and worked towards a common goal, we might actually do something significant between now and the end of the Earth. I have yet to watch Wall-E, however, I am thinking that, if we, as a species, ever advance far enough then, perhaps, by the time this planet is swallowed up by the sun, we'd already be enjoying fresh mangoes over in some advanced spacecraft, not quite unlike Battlestar Galactica Alright, that is science fiction, for now, but what I'm saying is that we are preserving the environment so that, in the event that we need to leave the planet, we can take as much of our "home" as we could with us. Let's face it, would you rather leave the planet because the sun was going red giant or because the sun was perfectly healthy but, oh, we have just depleted our resources and turned this blue sphere into a harsh, inhospitable desert? I know I'd be dead by the time humanity finds the need to migrate from Earth, but that is not reason enough for me not to care. Personally, though, I think humanity, as it is right now, is a scourge to the Earth's other life forms and some pruning and trimming down on the human population might be in order