Beng tagged me last month but I was so busy, I even had a short hiatus so in short, I wasn’t able to do it. Well here it is, better late than never right? Hehe

Btw, “My Desktop Free View“, is a meme/tag started by my friend iRonnie and here’s what he has to say about it:

Most people spend a considerable amount of time in customizing or in finding a desktop wallpaper that suits their taste. Sadly, our computers often remains… personal. Why don’t we brag to the world our good-find wallpapers and let them have a peek to our personality via our desktops?

I love wallpapers and I enjoy looking for new ones every now and then. I change my desktop wallpaper once in a while or when I get bored with the one I’m using and I also keep a collection of my favorite wallpapers.

Screenshot of my desktop computer. (Windows XP)

Screenshot of my laptop computer. (Ubuntu Linux)

It says to tag 5 persons, but I haven’t tagged anyone in a long time so I guess it’s okay if I tagged more than 5. So I’m tagging:

• Trench
• Aldrin
• Joni
• Jhay
• Allen
• Dexter
• AJ
• Teejay
• Deuts
• Ade
• Dre

My Desktop Free View Instructions:

A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun.

You can do a screen capture by: [1] Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key). [2] Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V). [3] If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

B. Post the picture in your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.

C. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.

D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.

People who joined My Desktop Free View:

iRonnie – I Set No Corner | Thess – Thesserie | Rebecca – Skippy Heart | Knoizki – A Dialogue With K | Dicey – Dice Six | Pao – Lifelog

Beng Hafner – Kauderwelsch | Bluepanjeet – OTWOMD | Melai – Manilenya | Kofi – 3 Shots Of Espresso | Marni – Midori-X | Nika – Clay Pots and Wooden Spoons

Marie – Vanidosa | Girlie – Hip n Cool Momma | KK – My Good Finds | Francine – Chez Francine | Sardonicnell – Tales of A Melodramatic Moron | Azrael – AZRAEL

Mauri – MAURISM | Emmyrose – Just Let Go | Kristine – The Mind of a Kristine Sendy | Tere – Journey in Life | JP aka Elmo – Ako si Eagleman! | Lotis – In a class by itself

Mindy – MindyTV’s Home | Caroline – Gagiers Striking Zone | Jojie – Spontaneity | Jeangr3y – Letters From The Soul | Kristine – All In My Head | Rhapsody – Rhapsody

Yenny – Me and Mine | Krisa – POINT & CLICK | Kengkay – Kwentong Kengkay | Taroogs – Taragis | Munchkin Mommy – Munchkin Mommy | Bursky – At wit’s end

Lutchi – My Two Cents Worth | Baby Rambutan – Baby Rambutan | Jenny – My 3 boys and I | Cheh – Moderately Confused Pinay in Deutschland | ZouL1380 – ZouL1380 | Katherine – Underneath

JP – I Digress | Jenny – Wandering Thoughts | Rho – RhoRho’s Flow | Issa – Snippets of a QuaintQuill | Selvo – Nomadic Thoughts | Charles – The Queer Chef

Ambo – Pinoy Ambisyoso | Alpha – My Blog | Darlene – My Life, My World | Liza – My So Called Life | Vicky – Vicky’s Blog Journal | Rainel – Whisper of a Rainbow

Gerry – Mental Calesthenics | Diane – A Handful of Surprises | Iska – ISKAndals.com | Kim Barker | Laketrees | Angie – The Simple Times In Life | Jen – Cellulitic Bliss

Redlan – REDLAN’S WEB OF ARTS | CheChe – Life’s All That | The Giddy Tigers – The Giddy Tigers | Pikey – Simple Tofu | Jenny – Slice of Life

Vicky – Vicky & Chloe’s Site | Arlene – LIFE’s What We Make It | Amor – Amor’s Personal Website | Albie – isanyoneoutthere? | Yen – Little Peanut | Leah – A Matter of Perspective | Cesanciano – spiCes

Caryl – A Mother’s Horizon | Che – A Place I Call My Home | Kelly – 100% Kelly | Rinnah – It’s All About The Spin | Consuela – My So-Called Ramblings | Bkworm – Imagination Is The Key To Freedom

PapaJoneh – Papa Joneh Hideout | Sasha – Tags n Such | Simple America – Simple America | Blur Angel – Ramblings of a 23 years old | Bless – Blessed Sanctuary | Labeille – Our Life Journey

Buge – Forgotten | Deden Amijaya – Love for All Hatred For None | Puteri – Puteri’s Musings | Duke – Confessions of an Expat’s Wife | Sha – Shalimar | Mel – Indulging in my Own Pleasures

Maeyo – just because | msaufong – SQ & Kiki’s Playground | Ferdz – En Route | Peimun – Peimun & Kendra’s little space | Celia – English Patis | Gracita – Eat and Be Married

Rachel – Heart Of Rachel | Adik – A.D.I.K. | Agee – The Treasure Seeker | May – little miss may | Belle – Simply Belle | ParisB – Paris Beaverbanks

Jesslyn – OneLittle2 | Jon – Chimeric Day Dreams | Barbara – Stray Thoughts | Carol – the Guru-Guro life | Joy – My Happy Place | Jun – jun.anteola

Jody – Scribbles of my Life | Makoy – Memoirs Of A Certified Blogger | Lee – Colours of my Life | Cmate – Mini Bites | Mik – A Life Inchoate | Jaypee – Blogging News & Reviews // JaypeeOnline

Let me know if you’ve joined this meme and your name is not included in the list so I can edit it ASAP. Btw, here’s some questions for you guys. Do you spend time looking for new wallpapers for your computer? Or are you the type who doesn’t care about wallpapers and just use a blank background or the default wallpapers? Share your thoughts!

The meme requires me to write down 3 things that makes me feel proud to be a Filipino.

1. Filipino ingenuity – Filipinos are known for their ability to improvise and re-invent things. Take for example the famous jeepney. The Americans brought their jeep and the Filipinos made it into a colorful, one-of-a-kind passenger jeep.

2. Fillipino adaptability – I think any country you go to, you’ll find Filipinos. We are known to easily adapt to other cultures and can easily learn and speak new languages.

3. Filipino hospitality – If not for the negative publicity that the Philippines get from terrorism, kidnapping and other stuff, I’m pretty sure that the Philippines would be a more popular tourist destination than it is right now. Tourists like it here in the Philippines because aside from our beautiful beaches and other tourist destinations, we Filipinos are very hospitable. We know how to treat our guests.

I’m not tagging anyone but if you feel like doing it, go ahead and be my guest. You can say that I indirectly tagged you. Hehe

Can you believe it? Tagged five times just for the month of January? Talk about starting the year! Hehe. The culprit for this last meme is no other than Dimaks. It’s a good thing you tagged me with something that’s easy to do. Here it goes,

Birthdate:

1. Date of conception: Your date of conception was on or about 1 November 1977 which was a Tuesday.

2. Celebrities who share your birthday: Brad Renfro (1982), Louise Brown (1978), Matt LeBlanc (1967), Walter Payton (1954), Barbara Harris (1935), Estelle Getty (1924), Walter Brennan (1894), Maxfield Parrish (1870)

I did something like this for my birthday last year. The list includes Filipino celebrities.

3. Top songs in your birth year: Night Fever by Bee Gees, Shadow Dancing by Andy Gibb, Le Freak by Chic, Stayin’ Alive by Bee Gees, Kiss You All Over by Exile, Boogie Oogie Oogie by A Taste of Honey, Baby Come Back by Player, MacArthur Park by Donna Summer, Thicker Than Water by Andy Gibb and Three Times a Lady by Commodores.

Name meaning:

1. What your first name means: Jehovah has been gracious; The grace or mercy of the Lord.

2. Your number is: 1

3. Your number’s characteristics: Initiating action, pioneering, leading, independent, attaining, individual.

4. Your Inner Dream number is: 9

5. Meaning of your Inner Dream number: You dream of being creative, intellectual, and universal; the selfless humanitarian. You understand the needy and what to help them. You would love to be a person people count on for support and advice.

Btw, this were the instructions.

What to do:

1. Please go to http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp and enter your birthdate (Month, Day, Year) in the text box provided.
2. Then click “Submit“.
3. Results will then be displayed containing lots of information about your birthdate. What to take from here? take your:
* Date of conception, scroll down a little bit then take the list of
* Celebrities who share your birthday and also the
* Top songs in your birth year

Ok that’s it for the birthdate thing. Now let’s go to the name’s meaning generator tool.

1. Please go to http://www.paulsadowski.com/Numbers.asp and enter your full name in the text box provided.
2. Then click “Submit“.
3. Results will then be displayed containing lots of information about your name. What to take from here? take your:
* What your first name means (sometimes no meaning is given so you may skip it if that’s the case)
* Your number and also
* Your number’s characteristics
* Your inner dream number plus the
* Meaning of your inner dream number

I hope this would be the last time I get tagged, atleast for the next three months. Common, gimme a break guys! Hahaha

5 things that happened because of blogging…

1. I was able to improve my writing skills and my vocabulary (spelling & grammar included).

Blogging on a regular basis has helped me improve my writing and check my spelling and grammar which I believe is also an important aspect of blogging.

2. I’ve made a lot of blogger friends whom I wish to meet in person someday.

I still wish I was able to attend that Blog Parteeh last Jan 27th. Oh well, I hope there would still be an event such as that when I get back to the Philippines.

3. I’ve learned more about PHP and CSS although I’m still not an expert.

Through constant tweaking and experimenting with WordPress themes and plugins, I was able to learn more about PHP and CSS.

4. I was able to save myself from boredom.

Aside from being bored and rather than watching TV or playing online games, blogging would be a better way of spending your free time. Benefits include my answers in #’s 1 & 3.

5. I was able to have an avenue to release stress and to express myself.

I’m the laid back type of person and I don’t get stressed that often but when that time comes, blogging helps me release the tension caused by stress and frees my mind from worry. You should try it too.

I’m supposed to tag people but this time I’d choose not to. You can tag yourself if you want to and just say that I tagged you, okay?

Anyways, here goes my memoirs of the past year.

What did you do in 2006 that you’ve never done before?

Got married.

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?

A job.

What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

April 2nd, 2006. The day I got married.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I became a dad.

What was your biggest failure?

Forgetting to back up my blog’s database.

What was the best thing you bought?

Nike Up Tempo Pro (basketball shoes)

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Some minor illnesses (cough, colds, sniffles)

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Can’t think of anything.

What did you really, really get excited about?

To see my son.

What songs will always remind you of 2006?

None. Closest would be > OK Go – Here It Goes Again. It’s not just the song but also the music video.

Compared to this time last year, I am:

I can’t exactly recall but most likely I was busy with the school yearbook since I was the editor/photographer.

What do you wish you’d done more?

Backing up my blog’s database. I could’ve avoided losing some of my best posts early this year.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Staying up late at night.

How many one-night stands?

None. I’m not a player, I just crush a lot. Hehe

What was your fave TV program?

Miami Ink

What was the best book you’ve read?

Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado (haven’t finished reading it yet though)

What was your greatest musical discovery?

None.

What was your fave film of the year?

Eight Below. I love dogs.

What did you do on you bday, and how old were you?

I went out to have lunch in Hometown Buffet with my wife and in-laws. 28 years old.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?

Jeans. T-shirt. Sneakers. Jacket.

What kept you sane?

my faith in God & my wife.

Which celebrity figure did you fancy the most?

Dwyane Wade (fortunate to see him up close & play live at the Staples Center)

What political issue stirred you the most?

None. I’m not really into politics.

Who did you miss in Manila?

My parents and friends.

Who was the best new person you met?

I don’t have an answer for this.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:

Make sure your loved ones know you love them, before it’s too late.

What was the nicest thing someone told you about yourself?

I get a lot of compliments and I don’t keep track of them. Hehe Just kidding, honestly I don’t remember.

The most touching experience you’ve had this year?

Getting married & having a son.

If you could go back in time to any moment of 2006 and change something, what would it be?

Nothing. Be thankful for your blessings & learn from your mistakes.

What are your plans for 2007?

Get a job, a better digital camera, hopefully a SLR. Better blog posts, more blogger friends and better ad revenue.

How are you different now that the year has ended?

I have more responsibilities now as a husband and as a dad.

What are your wishes for the new year?

Get the stuff in my wishlist. Hehe

I’m supposed to tag other people and I’m gonna skip those I tagged recently. So now I’m tagging Ajay, Trench, Karla, Ash, Joni, Marc & Verns (i’ll do your tag next).

Take your time guys, this one’s a lengthy one!