Every Saturday members post photos based on a theme. The theme for June 30, 2007 is SWEET. Visit the BLOG ROLL.

There is sweet. And there is sweet. Yeah, I know my front torso is not really a sight to behold. Blame it on one of my comfort food:

How I love this chocolate bar, ever since I was young. Brings back memories of my father bringing this home to me. You see, back in the 70’s when I was a young girl, there are very few stores selling these goods here in the Philippines. Because my father works in a US Naval Facility, he is able to bring these chocolate bars for me.

One of the children’s favorite treat.

Caramel popcorn. Not so sweet but it would definitely satisfy one’s sweet tooth.

Pork tocino. Tocino is Spanish for bacon or cured meat. This is red, sweet pork cooked by boiling with a little water first. When the water has evaporated, put a little amount of cooking oil to bring out the flavor. Best eaten with garlic fried rice and fried egg. This is a classic Filipino breakfast or any meal food.

No matter how sweet these foods are, nothing beats this:

The sweet smiles of my two children, DS Julian and DD2 Tania.
DD1Trixie not in the photo.

There is a blogger meet-up on July 3, 2007 at 7:30pm. This is going to be at the Taste Asia near SM Hypermarket at the SM Mall of Asia. Over 100 bloggers have signed up. Dine or SexyMom helped me sign up for the event. To those who are wondering about SM Mall of Asia or MOA, it is said to be the 7th largest shopping mall in the world in terms of gross floor size.

I admit I’m a bit shy to approach people I don’t know in order to strike a conversation. Plus I am a bit conscious about my physique. You see, not only am I a little on the heavy side (heavy front more likely, :D) but I am not a fashionable gal. Maybe if I can afford it, I would be wearing designer clothes to events like this to boost my ego a little bit. But then, that wouldn’t be me at all coz I like casual dressing. No matter, still, I’m excited to go to this event.

SM Mall of Asia at dusk.

I admit I do not do backup on the posts that I write in the blog. I was devastated early this year when my blog was hacked. Why? I do not have a copy of my entries that’s why. Good thing the servers of my host provider were able to retrieve my files a few hours later. I lost two of my latest entries which I was not able to rewrite due to stress. This was the day we went home from the hospital after my son Julian was confined due to severe asthma. Stress level was way up high no doubt.

It is my husband who does the backup of my files every now and then. Lately, I have been thinking how important it is to backup my files just in case another crash happens. How does Brian do backup? He transfers the files in compact discs. Of course, these cds are accumulating fast and increasing in number. His hard disk is almost full and we don’t have plans to get a newer one. Would these file saving tasks never cease? Well, maybe it will, in due time because there is already Ibackup program, an Online Storage which provides online storage and backup of files. So what’s good about this? Its online features include online storage features where users’ online data appears like a mapped drive or a folder on their computer. This feature provides a drag and drop explorer interface to work with online data. Anywhere one goes online he/she has an online storage that offer the performance and security that Ibackup offers, anywhere, anytime (as long as he/she is online). A significant productivity gain is made because Ibackup’s desktop application outperforms others by 30-50%.

No need to clog your hard disk with your backup files and no need to sort through an assortment of cds to look for certain files for me.

A lot has been reported in the news about school violence. In fact, I have written a post about it. Click here to read the post. Lives have been lost, spirits have been broken. Am I talking about grave incidents like shooting and killing students and teachers alike? Partly. The school violence I am pondering about are those seemingly trivial and common place events like bullying, petty theft, teasing, gang-related activities, and a whole lot more. We perhaps have at one time, or maybe have not experienced these, or maybe our younger children haven’t experienced these yet but who’s to say they won’t? Now, I am not being negative here but then again, it is best to observe a trend about school violence.

Several decades ago, the behavior problems that besiege school systems seem petty: littering, cutting classes, swearing, not following instructions, hitting (punching, kicking), graffiti writing, pulling fire alarm, teasing and a host of other behavior not exactly acceptable in a school setting.

Several decades ago, the discipline problems that schools had to deal with are mostly running in the halls, talking aloud, cutting classes, not doing required school workload, gum chewing, cutting in lines, cheating during test and chewing gums. These violations seem a lot more manageable.

These days though, the offenses are bigger, stronger and more frightening. Those mentioned above still happen but a lot more has changed. How? School violence now include assault, not only to fellow students, teachers, school authority but even innocent bystanders are affected. School violence now includes carrying lethal weapons like knives and guns. School violence now also includes rape. School violence also includes verbal as well as physical fights.

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I think I have already written a post about this wonderful site: Project Gutenberg. Do check out the site and enjoy countless titles which, according to an article I have read a few months back, are slowly being removed from public libraries. Why? Simply because these timeless classics have not been borrowed and have been gathering dust in their shelves. How sad. Click here for the catalog.
Let’s see how many titles you can download and read…

Online shopping is one of the fastest growing trends in the virtual world. No need to wait in lines, no need to travel. With online shopping, one can save on gas, time and energy. Plus the prospect of a surprise package to wait for makes it all the more exciting. But what makes online shopping all the more exciting is that online coupons are also available. To avail of these online discount coupons, one has to get the promo codes. This would be especially good for those who love Gap products, Target merchandises, Staples or even Dell. Don’t we love these online discount coupons?