Fashion Blog Finds

Today, I did some blog-searching over the net to find inspiration from other bloggers and to just sneak around in their world. I've found blogs that are REALLY so fabulous and adorable I couldn't help but get jealous! If my blog is compared to theirs, mine will be like a tiny seed and theirs will be like a tall, sturdy, tree already!

I'm not really into fashion, but  I really adore these blogs that I came across with.

Camille Tries to Blog

I don't know if it's just me or Camille is just one hot Siren blogger!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="169" caption="Camille, owner of Camille Tries to Blog"][/caption]

Her blog is really "high-fashion." She posts about her latest fash activities and ultra-feminine looks. I'm not really a trend guru but if I can rate her style I'd label it as classy and glamorous. Check out her blog giveaways too - super expensive items! I just sooooo wish my blog can be like hers someday!

Female Network

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Actually, Female Network is not just a blog - it is a site sponsored by Summit Media (the leading publisher of popular Philippine magazines). I definitely love this site. It's very informative, girly, and fun to read! It has categories of almost all things that interest girls like fashion, beauty, relationships, etc. It offers tips from simply taking care of your body to repairing a broken relationship. And what I really adore about this site are the freebies and contests! Seriously, I can spend the whole day reading posts in this online network. If you are a smart gal, then you'd really love this!

I ultimately like one of the site's posts about single women. You can check out the link and read the post about songs that reveal the power of being single.

Bookmarked

Don't give me that look - I know this one is not a fashion blog, but I just think it deserves to be in my list here today. This blog is all about books. It is owned and managed solely by Blooey Singson , a self-confessed book addict who claims to hoard tons of books wherein she can almost make a house out of it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="960" caption="Click image to visit the site"][/caption]

I know there are gazillions more blogs out there which are just sitting pretty in the nooks and crannies of the Internet (like what Chopstick Lady is doing). I know I wouldn't be able to explore everything - but taking a peak from time to time of what bloggers before me are doing with their blog gives me the inspiration to just continue my writing interest.

If you've got blogs to share, do give me a quick message!

That's it - till next blog-spotting!

Note: All pictures used in this post belong to the blog owners. A direct link to their site is available upon clicking the photo.

The BIG Move

 

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Chopstick Lady is perhaps my nth attempt to really maintain an online space where I can share my interests and rant about anything in my life. Since the great volcano of blogging erupted, I found myself attracted to the lava and ashes that having a blog grants to an aspiring writer. However, I'm always having a hard time maintaining a blog, especially since I have a lot of interests and I'm a slacker sometimes. Good thing, I decided to put up Chopstick Lady and declared to myself that from now on I'm going to place all the things I want to write about in this small space. Well, goodluck to me and I hope this blog is for good!

Moved items: these posts are from my previous blogs

First and Final WP Blog (Or so I thought)

The Story Behind “My-Then” Blog

Fighting for Literature Amidst A Sea of Trash

Book Review: The Broker by John Grisham

 

 

Do check out my related links below. If you are experiencing the same blogging issue as mine, perhaps you can get some inspiration from these posts about seriously keeping an online journal or blog.

Please share!



 

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First and Final WP Blog (Or so I thought)

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Note: C'mon, yet another forgotten blog? This is another of my past blogs that I'm now moving in here. Read my words, I just ate them all up! lol

This is it. Yes, precisely the last and final blog that I swore to myself I will ever make – at least until Worpress lasts.

I’ve created two other blogs in WordPress already, and two more from other sites but they were all shaken into nothing because I’m just so downright “slob-ish” to update any of them.

My first blog was supposed to be a guide about “freelance writing” as this happens to be my work. But I was too busy with my freelance work that I couldn’t even give a second of my time to update the poor little, deserted, spacious site.

Secondly, I created another blog entitled “I love Classic Books” dedicated to my love for – I’ve named it – classic books. I promised to myself that I will update it weekly and that I’ll never let it wither unlike the sad predicament that my previous site embraced. Unfortunately, I am one freakish liar to myself and so again my little I-love-classic-books site turned into where’s-your-classic-book site drama.

But then, let bygones be over. Right now, I am quite positive (fingers crossed) that I will stick to my words and dare live up to my promises that this “My Favorites” BLOG will survive – at least even for a year!

So what’s the catch with this site then? I’m planning to make this a bit of a drop box of all my favorite pieces in the world. Perhaps largely about classic books and what I have on my bedside table, a little about the products I use, and a fair amount of what’s on my mind.

I hope this works – because I really love to blog about things but time is one arrogant master, it’s so frugal to me . . . But it seems like I am on the guilty side of things, actually.

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The Story Behind "My-Then" Blog

Note: This post is from my old blog - iloveclassicbooks. I'm making a move here in my new blog though but I do wish to share this story about why I came up with that blog before.

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"Books. . . What for?"

Never will I forget this line from one of our recited poems back in fifth grade - back from the time when the Internet was still flourishing, when our minds are swept by words bound on books and not on mere computer screens, when our eyes get so excited to read another installment of Sweet Valley High and not from some cheap teen-age shows that don't even add up to one's vocabulary and back when books have been more essential than reading fashion magazines. Where were those days?

Indeed, my time is through - but the passion that I have for books will always haunt me till this very day.

Confessions

I am not an avid reader. I must say, that though I love books - I have read roughly just quite a few. But I am a self-confessed classic books fan. I love to read books that lived years before me, thrived centuries ago, and were known to men for ages. I don't know what mystique lies within these kinds of books - but I must say, that I am clearly smitten.

Favorite Book

Among the classics that I will really love is a book I've read in high school written by Harper Lee, and which, by the way, is the only book she's written; "To Kill A Mocking Bird". I remember reading it for the sake of passing my book report. But eventually, I've realized, that I loved the whole story and writing something about my experience upon reading it was magical. I never really did a book report for the sake of passing my requirements, I made the report because I want to write in words the feelings that I felt after reading the piece - and until now, the report is still with me, and all the preserved feelings are still there kept in each word I've written.

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Neglected Passion

Though I love classic books, there came a time when I was too busy --- and I never read any book for how many years. . . . Until one day, I came across a book sale.

Revived

I searched through piles of books in one of the book sales of a prestigious bookstore here in our country. I found one that caught my attention. I didn't really paid enough credit for the title, as it says "Don't Know Much About Literature". For me it was like, "Yeah, no big deal." But when I opened the contents, I was automatically caught by it - it's all about classic books. I checked the price and saw that it costs only P50, maybe roughly 1.19 USD. I bought the book. And started reading it.... Then I realized, I miss reading. And so I kind of made a resolution to myself that I will change my long-forgotten wordpress blog into something useful. . . Something that will make me constantly thrilled to pursue my passion, and here it is. Here I am, determined to write about classic books!

Perhaps

Perhaps one day I might get too busy again that I will fall short of the resolution I've made now. Maybe I'll even find other book "genres" that I will like. . . . But one thing's for sure - once a classic, will always be a classic. Wink.

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Fighting for Literature Amidst A Sea of Trash

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Just a simple piece of what's inside my mind right now - "If I ask a sixth grade about who Carlos P. Romulo is, will he/she give out a sensible answer?"

During these days it seems as if children, or should I say - the younger generation, is quite so much amused with the liberal flow of information that hugs them in this new age of the great Internet.

I noticed that my fifth-grade niece would answer her assignments using 'Google" instead of the encyclopedia. Well, basically, I can't blame her. The .001216567 seconds that it would take for her to get an answer from the big G is of a large difference as compared to the perhaps 2-3 hours (of searching through piles of pages) that using the encyclopedia snatches off from her time.

Perhaps Google is indeed, the universal encyclopedia now. . . And I'm guilty of using this tool too. But I am quite alarmed at how children nowadays deliberately depend on everything regarding their research and school-works to the Internet.

I mean, yeah, the web is much faster as typing and clicking will take just about a fraction of a second to accomplish while scanning and eye-searching will take about an hour or so - BUT - there is actually more danger in using the Internet as a source for academic projects than using books.

Information in the Internet can just go in and out. Whatever info that's glued on a web-page is not actually screened by ANY particular body or organization. Using the Internet as a source of information is solely upon the discretion of the user. The user is the one responsible to "filter" any information that he/she may snatch up from the Internet as either true or not, reliable or just downright fabricated. The thing is, children are also USERS of the Internet, but they don't have the proper skills yet to decipher whether something is indeed significant or trash.

In this particular sense, parents really do have to perform a very important role. I really do suggest that parents should supervise their children in terms of using the Internet.

And as much as possible, children, in their primary stages of education should USE published books. Books are really reliable as these printed papers have gone through a lot of editing before being published.

In addition to this, I think that children should be introduced more to classic books rather than to vampire stories and adult novels.

Gosh, do these kids even know how to locate books in the library? Use the Dewey Decimal System? Use library cards? Or do they even have one?

Just a final note: What will happen to the future of literature, if the world's REAL hope for the future don't even appreciate it?

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Book Review: The Broker by John Grisham

The Broker

Author: John Grisham

Released: January 11, 2005

I am not particularly a John Grisham fan. In fact, out of all his books, I have read only his "The Client" and "The Broker".

One thing that's very familiar with John Grisham's books is that all of them almost have the same first word in the title - "The". Example: The Summons, The Rainmaker, The Street Lawyer, The Brethren, The Firm, etc.

I don't know if it is one of his creative writing styles but I find it really redundant. Anyway, as far as I know John Grisham is a lawyer.

Now, so much for that short intro about the author. Let's get down to the main scoop of this post - a review of his work entitled - The Broker.

First Impressions

I never really intended to read this book. But, out of boredom, I simply managed to sneak through my aspiring-lawyer-brother's room and searched for a good read. My brother has lots of books, and I could tell that he reads those. But this one, a soft-bound, green-colored book stole my attention. He didn't read it! Well, I haven't really noticed it enough and I thought that he had read it, but the cover seems to be so "new". I got intrigued and I simply grabbed it and walked out of his room, now holding a "The Broker" book.

Plot

Note: Seriously, I hate laying out any plot. This is one part of a book review that I really dislike. I hate naming characters, sequencing what happens next, etc. etc. . . .

So, to make the story short, I will be very brief about the plot. Besides, what's the use of revealing everything out? I'd be killing the suspense. Go read the book and find out the whole story.

Truth be told, at first read - I never could understand the plot. The story starts in the oval office of a US President who is about to leave his position as a new one was recently elected. Then this President, along with his adviser and a CIA officer, decided to pardon Joel Backman. Joel is the principal character.

So how did the story go?

In a nutshell, the whole plot goes like this - - - (And this will be very, very, very brief..)

Joel Backman was pardoned by the president after being imprisoned for being involved in an issue which compromises the country's security. Joel Backman tried to sell an espionage software which is so much powerful and dangerous.

After being pardoned, he was deported to Italy where he struggled to adapt with the culture and learn the language. What Joel didn't know was that the CIA chief influenced the President to pardon him to see who kills him. In short, the CIA used Joel as a bait to find out who built the powerful espionage software involved.

To cut the long story short, Joel managed to survive and go back to his hometown and - of course, fix everything.

(Yeah, I know the way I presented the plot sucks - but I'm really not into summarizing everything, so please bear with me.) See wikipedia for the plot.

My Review:

Personally, I didn't like the book so much. The story was quite dragging for me. Almost half of the whole story only talked about how Joel managed to survive living in a foreign country (Italy) as a normal person whereas back home (US), he is someone powerful.

The love story part was not even highlighted that much. Perhaps Atty. Grisham isn't really into these kind of stuffs.

I read the pages as fast as I could because there was no excitement or whatsoever. Everyday in Joel Backman's life in Italy seemed to be so monotonous and boring.

However, upon reaching the last few chapters of the book - probably about one-fourth of the whole story - everything twisted. I loved the chase and disguise. Joel struggled to flee from his "handlers" and he was able to come back home in one piece.

Towards the end of the story, I got a little bit of an adrenaline rush - thinking of whether Joel will die or not. Did he die? It's for you to find out.

Unfortunately, the end of the story didn't really make me so much happy, but at the same time it also didn't make me so sad. In short, it was a so-so.

Perhaps a 3.5 out of 5 stars will do.

Moral:

One thing I've noticed; the moral of the story wasn't really evident. But upon reflecting about what happened to the life of Joel Backman, I've realized the subtle clues behind the story - that fame, money, and fortune aren't worth the price of family and freedom.

I want to hear your thoughts too. Answer my poll and leave some comments.

[polldaddy poll=5089315]

Oh, by the way, this title landed on the number one spot in the New York Times Bestseller list. At least, it topped the charts.

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Books Aren't Just for Nerds

Have a craving for words?

Not everyone may be a bookworm, yet it will definitely not hurt if once in a while you drown yourself over literature's treasures rather than advancing another level on a video game.

Books are very important. Education never existed if it weren't for the written accounts of great men before us. Civilizations never flourished. Histories would have been forgotten. (Okay, I know you get the point, I don't have to push it.)

So if it happens that you don't LIKE books or even reading, it's about time to think twice. Although you don't have to make a major major change from who you are to a major major book nerd - you can at least read even just a couple of good books out there.

Printed or not? 

Although technology  has more or less substituted books with kindles and laptops, published contents are classics that couldn't be replaced no matter what. The advent of kindles nowadays has again revolutionized how people read and appreciate literary works and written contents. Well I don't have any problem with kindles, it's just that - I like reading more when I'm holding a book. For me, published materials are still better finds than contents flashed on a screen - plus, I hate getting dry eyes!

Book me up!

Truth be told, I'm not really a book-eater, bookworm, or whatever you call a person who reads a lot he can't even take a shower; I'm just a person who appreciates reading literary works and books about personality development. If you're like me, then perhaps you'll love to browse through my Books Category.

We read to learn. . . So learn to read!

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