Hello, just testing this once again.

I read some of my previous stuff and it seems as if I used to write much better than I do currently. That's a bummer. Or maybe I just had a lot more time, or maybe just a lot more things to say.

Can't imagine it's been almost 2 and a half years since the last one. Well, my main blog is still vandarkala.i.ph. I want to move back here but it's such a hassle. Moving anything from one place to another, or changing in general for that matter, is never an easy thing.

Emerald Pastures is back on-line but at a slightly different address.

Click here --- > Emerald Pastures

Or go here --- > http://vandarkala.i.ph

Hello everybody,

I'm in Cebu right now. I had the chance to meet Tessa and Ariane. It just so happened that Floi's, so we all kind of hung out a bit at this club called Vudu.

Anyway, you're all also wondering whatever happened to Emerald Pastures. Unfortunately, some changes occurred with the host so I'm trying to fix it right now so they'll migrate all of the data that I had to whatever platform they're using now. I'm not sure what's going to happen with the URL but I'll keep everyone informed.

Apparently both my blogs have been listed as semi-finalists in the Philippine Blog Awards. I've been without internet connection for so long that I didn't even know. I just learned about it this morning through a friend who actually reads my stuff. First I thought Emerald Pastures was the only one that made it through but when I checked, even Dalvi, which I don't think is a very good blog at all - was also in the list.

There are 142 semi-finalists. I'm not even going to hope to make it to the finals as I'm sure there are many out there that are better blogists.

Sigh...

If you're really interested in what's been going on, please go to http://vandarkala.i.ph/mt/emeraldpastures

Here's the new one. Any more comments?? I'm still more inclined to the proposed layout because it carries a lot more substance that the current layout. Let's say there's someone who doesn't know a thing or two about making web pages or blogging and he just so happened to come across this site, he's much more likely to understand the proposed layout over the current one.

New proposed

Oh, and here's some pictures from my birthday. :)


Drake modeling his toy


Kyla mesmerized by the TV


Kyla and me

Please tell me which is better and why. Leave a comment or email me. Take into consideration the overall look, style, colors, fonts, etc. Also, take note of the tag lines and the positioning of the login and password as well as the domain search and free trial button. Finally, also go over the content. You might want to ask yourself the following questions: Does it attract me? Does it entice me? Does it make me read through it and consider? Does it make me interested? More importantly, if I didn't know diddly squat about the internet, would I understand the product that is being offered?

Thanks thanks thanks

This is the proposed home page layout




This is the current home page layout

More pictures from my birthday!!



My birthday cake



Kyla lounging on the new day bed.

*** post edited *** have edited the pics for your conveniece.

Birthday Pics


Here're some of the birthday pictures. Not my pictures of course but my niece Kyla and nephew Drake who had the honors of blowing the candles on my humble humble cake.

I don't have an image editor in this pc so you have to bear with me on these pictures because they're kinda dark but most especially with the first one where you'll probably have to tilt your head to the right a little to appreciate it.

These were just taken with my sister's phone which, unfortunately, at that time, I think wasn't set up to take bigger resolution. demmit.



Kyla blowing the candles



Kyla again



Drake wanted to blow the candles this time

August 30 2004

I just signed my first O.R. a few minutes ago. I didn't realize I was even authorized to do that. Apparently I am. I was so dumbstruck I didn't even bother to read what it was for, not that I suspect it was for anything that I shouldn't have signed. The girl quipped something about me being a manager. That was sort of an ego boosting moment for me but then again, if that truly is the case, I'm one clueless manager.

I turned 23 a few days ago. Yet another year had passed. The door was ajar as it always is when I wake up and the heat had already crept into the living room. Nothing was particularly different. Everything was the way it should be or as I expected them to be. Everything was unremarkable. Just as every other birthday that's come and gone in the past few years. There were no birthday gifts waiting to be un-wrapped neither was there a celebration being prepared nor did I have plans of my own.

I slept earlier than usual the night before, so my phone was already full of messages from well-wishers and friends in the morning. They were the usual people with a few new ones - friends, acquaintances and co-workers I had met and made in the 365 days between birthdays. I was looking forward to a birthday spent in relative comfort since birthdays only fall on weekends once every several years. I expected this peace to be dinstinctly obliterated as soon as my nephew and niece arrived.

There was some food, of course, but just your regular fare. Nothing fancier than a regular meal you'd have in a day at work. My family rarely eats at home and if we do, we rarely ever eat at the same time. So it is, in some ways, a chance for us to do something together. A lot of other families might have this sort of thing occur every night at dinner or at least on Sundays, we have it when there is an occassion for it. Then again, the only indication that this was a birthday at all was a cake and a few boisterous jeers and cheers.

The other day, a good friend asked me if I was still basking in the after-glow of my birthday, this being the week immediately after. Unfortunately, there is no after-glow and there never was. My birthdays have always been rather low-key. Sometimes I just prefer it that way, other times I just don't make the effort to see people or prepare any activities. I also like the idea of keeping my birthday to myself just to see who remembers. It's not an absoulte and clear indication of whoever cares for you but, just the same, it tells you who cares enough to keep track of birthdays. Somtimes, it might just surprise me who does. This year wasn't full of surprises.

Being 23 doesn't feel any more different than how I felt a day before my birthday or any of the days before that for as long as I can remember. In time I will feel the changes as my life on this earth steadily wears aways my body but I suppose that I am still on my way up to that place people call the prime of my life. In concept, I do feel older, in that at 23 I've already had so many experiences outside the comfortable and familiar environments of home and school having graduated a bit early and having been introduced to the nuances of the real world even earlier. And, yet, when you or I really think about it, 23 is so young. I haven't even begun to taste the bittersweet offerings of this life. I do realize, however, that time slows down for no one, and while I easily enjoy youth for the moment, it just as easily will slip away, inexorably and inevitably. That's why I am pressured - pressured to excel, to succeed and achieve everything that I've ever dreamed of achieving, and at the same time enjoy myself and my youth while doing it - as is anybody else who knows the true meaning of fulfillment. I know it sounds so idealistic but I pride myself in the fact that I've remained true to my values so far after college when others become disillusioned. But, as my friend said, she too felt invincible when she was 23, who knows how I will feel when I'm much much older?

It's funny, really, how people feel so much older than they really are or think that their experiences in life have made them so much more mature for their age. (It's even funnier how some people keep saying "matured" and not "mature", the former being a verb and the latter an adjective. While it is still technically correct, in terms of common and proper usage it isn't. Just a side note.) In a way, people want to be perceived as mature - it being such a wonderful virtue - but are we really? Sometimes we judge ourselves either too hastily or in much too good a light. Having realized this, I have to admit that I might be more mature than I was before but not nearly as mature as I would like to be. Again, in time, this shall come to pass but for the moment, I will have to do with what I have learned so far.

P.S.

I did receive gift. Just yesterday. The same friend who asked about basking in the after glow of my birthday had some food delivered to my office - a rosemary chicken sandwich, iced tea and a "my little oscar" cake. For that, many thanks. I also received a journal, custom-made with brown pseudo-parchment paper, a couple of weeks before.

I will post pictures from my birthday soon.

Please visit my new site:

The Human War Experiment

For a few more quick laughs, you can also check these two:

Chona

Very Secret Diaries

The first one is sort of the complete opposite of Caffeine Rush and the second is a parody on the Lord of the Rings series.

You guys have got to see this journal. This is just about one of the funnies reads you could ever find. And you have to see the comments too. The guy has a post that has 180 comments.

Caffeine Rush

August 13, 2004 17:37 PST

Friday the thirteenth

It's been so long since I lasted posted anything here. Actually, it's only been eight days but it just seemed so long. I've been focusing more on Emerald Pastures, which is more about good content and crisp writing for me than anything else. It does focus on a them that is centered on my discovery of the Ortigas area but I feel as if it is slowly diverging to other topics.

I hope whoever is reading this can visit the other one too. Anyway, somebody pointed out to me that the date isn't being published. I tried tweaking the template set up but can't seem to get it right. So I suppose I'll just do it the more barbaric way and type the date myself.

That's it.

Here's the complete list of all my sites.

Dalvi
Photo Gallery
Letters to Angel

This one's new

Emerald Pastures

The question:

how can we stop the new proposed tax bills???

The answer:

First you must ask, should we stop them? The problem with people is that when they hear tax, they automatically don't want anything to do about it. Fact is, these taxes are the ones that keep the economy going, it helps the government perform its duties. Of course there is corruption, but with everything else being equal and just, tax is a good thing. We should ask ourselves first what value this tax can offer us. What is it for? Who will have to pay? Has it been properly justified by the law-makers? If we find that there is no reason to have a new tax or scheme implemented, then that is that time we act to stop it.

The question:

Birth Control Bill - Would the government kill children if the mother had a multiple birth? (from a pinoycentral member)

The answer:

Of course not, it is absurd to even think that.

I believe they are creating a program that will give incentives to those who follow it. An example would be higher tax exemptions for couples with up to 2 children or additional benefits in SSS and Pag-Ibig. In some countries, couples actually have to pay higher tax if they have children or if they exceed a certain number. This could also be implemented. In fact, I believe the tax-penalty should be implemented to dissuade couples from building large families. It is an unfortunate fact of life that only those who can afford to have large families should be the ones who can. We cannot keep on depending on an already battered and unreliable government to sustain families that are needy. I am all for this program. Not only will it discipline couples to practice family planning but it is a definite and aggressive answer to the growing problem of over-population and all issues that go hand-in-hand with it.

The question:

What would you have done with the Angelo dela Cruz Issue?

The answer:

Certainly there is not one easy answer to this situation, in fact we are faced with a vast array of dilemmas and each one has to be considered. That is politics. It is especially difficult to gauge the correct course of action whenever a human life is involved, more so when this is weighed against political imagery and money matters. These are cases where the concept of the greater good comes in handy. We have to ask who will benefit, how many, what kind of benefits will they receive, etc, etc. The situation is hard enough as it is, determining the greater good could complicate things. In the end, the decision has to be made and made quickly. However, I for one would have to chosen to stand my ground. But that's another story.

God's new rules...