Fifteen Styles of Poetry that I Know

Today, I learned a new word-an acrostic poem. Learning a new word is exciting and I thank my friend (VV) who is a budding poet and writer for this new knowledge. This experience inspired me to do some internet search on the types and styles of poems. I found an article that is very informative and was written by Gary Hess. In his article he listed 55 types of poems or poetry. Some of the types or styles I have never heard before. Allow me to quote 15 of the types that I have heard before as follows:

A Chateau Du Mer Acrostic Poem by Vic Vizarra

1. Acrostic
Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line form a word or message when read in a sequence.

2. Ballade
Poetry which has three stanzas of seven, eight or ten lines and a shorter final stanza of four or five. All stanzas end with the same one line refrain.

3. Blank verse
A poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter and is often unobtrusive. The iambic pentameter form often resembles the rhythms of speech.

4. Elegy
A sad and thoughtful poem about the death of an individual.

5. Free verse (vers libre)
Poetry written in either rhyme or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern.

6. Haiku
A Japanese poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five morae, usually containing a season word. .

7. Limerick
A short sometimes vulgar, humorous poem consisting of five anapestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables, rhyme and have the same verbal rhythm. The 3rd and 4th lines have five to seven syllables, rhyme and have the same rhythm.
type of writing.

8. Ode
A lengthy lyric poem typically of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanza structure.

9. Quatrain
A stanza or poem consisting of four lines. Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme while having a similar number of syllables.

10. Senryu
A short Japanese style poem, similar to haiku in structure that treats human beings rather than nature: Often in a humorous or satiric way.

11. Shakespearean
A 14-line sonnet consisting of three quatrains of abab cdcd efef followed by a couplet, gg. Shakespearean sonnets generally use iambic pentameter.

12. Sonnet
A lyric poem that consists of 14 lines which usually have one or more conventional rhyme schemes. .

13. Tanka
A Japanese poem of five lines, the first and third composed of five syllables and the other seven.

14. Verse
A single metrical line of poetry.

15. Visual
The visual arrangement of text, images, and symbols to help convey the meaning of the work. Visual poetry is sometimes referred to as a type of concrete poetry.

I hope you learned a few words today.

Reference: 55 Types of Poetry Forms by www.poemofquotes.com

My top 25 Favorite Quotes for Inspiration

There are several hundreds of quotes for inspiration and motivation published in the Internet. However, the following 25 quotes inspires and motivates me when I feel down, depressed and useless. Do you have a favorite?

1. Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force - that thoughts rule the world.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. I intend to live forever, or die trying.
Groucho Marx

4. Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
Helen Keller

5. A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.
Bruce Lee

6. Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.
Eleanor Roosevelt

7.

8. Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.
Salvador Dali

9. I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.
Donald Trump

10. We learn our virtues from our friends who love us; our faults from the enemy who hates us. We cannot easily discover our real character from a friend. He is a mirror, on which the warmth of our breath impedes the clearness of the reflection.
Jean Paul

11. Dreams are necessary to life.
Anais Nin

12. Just as a flower which seems beautiful and has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of the man who speaks them but does them not.
John Dewey

13. Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.
John Dewey

14. Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress.
Herbert Hoover

15. Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.
Michael Jordan

16. Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them.
Mia Hamm

17. Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.
Napolean Hill

18. In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
Bill Cosby

19. The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination
Carl Rogers

20.

21. Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain.
William Faulkner

22. A man lives by believing something: not by debating and arguing about many things.
Thomas Carlyle

23. The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
Bertrand Russell

24. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
Vince Lombardi

25. Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.
Emily Dickinson

Source: famousquotes.123.com

Senator Corker Plans to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff Crises

Do you think Senator Corker Plan will solve the Fiscal Cliff?

Senator Bob Corker, a freshman Republican senator from Tennessee has proposed a $4.5 trillion plan on how to avoid next year Fiscal Cliff. His plan is for a 10 year period which included a less inflation adjustment for Social Security, and a gradual increase in the Social Security retirement age to 68 and the Medicare eligibility age to 67. This plan will affect millions of senior citizens and to me this is not acceptable.

Another item in his plan is to include $749 billion in higher tax revenue by capping itemized deductions at $50,000. This proposal will affect the wealthy taxpayers the hardest. I agree on this plan.

According to the news, no Democrats has offered any support. His plan however is very specific which is very rare in Capitol Hill. I commend Senator Corker for his initiative and effort.

Senator Corker also offered a broad outline of the 242-page measure on the editorial page of Monday's Washington Post. A more detailed summary circulating on Capitol Hill contains a fuller description, including higher Medicare premiums for upper-income earners and new revenue from Medicare co-payments and deductibles.

This proposal will hit Federal workers with higher contributions to their pensions and would receive an $11,000 voucher payment to finance their family's health insurance, saving taxpayers about $7 billion a year. I like this proposal.

Do you agree with this proposal?. Do you think this will solve the coming Fiscal Cliff? What are the specifics of the Obama plans? I will welcome any comments.

The Fiscal Cliff and Higher Yaxes Next Year

The Fiscal Cliff and your Taxes Next Year

Do you know that if Congress and President Obama do not agree on a compromise about taxes, you the average taxpayer will have to pay on the average about $2000 more of taxes next year.?

This is due to what newspapers are calling the Fiscal Cliff. This will occur because several popular tax credits and deductions along with the low tax rate will expire by the end of the year. So if Congress does not do anything before the end of the year, the taxes we will owe next year will average about $3,500 more per household, according to the Tax Policy Center. This means that the middle class tax payer are most likely to see an increase of $2000 in their taxes.

Other items which may increase your tax liability next year are:

1. Expiration of low capital gains rates and higher Dividends tax rate

2. Payroll tax Holiday will be over

3. Reduced Savings for Child care will take effect

4. Estate Tax rate will increase from 35 to 55%

5. Alternative minimum tax income exclusion must be approved retroactively

6. Higher income taxpayers who itemized will have a 3% reduction in their Schedule A Claims

7. Start of taxes related to Obamacare law

8. Reduced in Defense Spending

The whole country will be affected if this fiscal cliff occurs that economists are predicting another deep recession. However, California would be hit especially hard. A study by Professor Stephen Fuller at George Mason University shows that these cuts would cost California 230,000 jobs - 135,000 from the defense industry and 95,000 from non-defense sectors.

For additional details Read : http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/fiscal-cliff-affect-taxes.asp

My Contemporaries are Dying-Dr. Teyet Pascual, Ph.D.

PASCUAL with Mrs Imelda Marcos-Photo from philstar.com

Several months ago, I received news that two of my high school contemporaries had died. There were no fanfares or a national press release about their death but just an announcement in FaceBook. Last week, however, one of my classmates in Chemistry from University of the Philippines died and his death was front page in the National Inquirer-The Philippines National Newspaper with a wide readership worldwide. His name was Dr. Eleuterio “Teyet” Pascual. Dr Pascual was one of my ten classmates that graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry in 1955, at the University of the Philippines(UP), Diliman, Quezon City. He also had obtained a Ph.D degree from Switzerland.

During our 50th Chemistry Reunion in 2005, Teyet invited the Chemistry class of 1955 for a pre-reunion party in his condo in Makati. I was not able to attend, but four of my classmates did. I asked all those that attended of their impression about the party. All I heard was about the décor of his condo. I was told all the walls was filled with art work including the ceiling in the bathroom, that guests felt they are in a museum. Pascual did not attend our 50 years of Chemistry reunion. However his coffee table book, the Paintings of Juan Luna was on sale. I was planning on buying one, but at that time I had run out of pesos, plus the price of 5000 pesos( about $120), I considered exorbitant at that time and could be put in good use with other gift items instead of the coffee table book.

The other day, when I read the three articles about his life and accomplishments, it reminded me of my own mortality. It appeared that a few readers were jealous of his accomplishments, based on comments on the articles about his life, his friendship with Imelda Marcos, the Macapagals and other the rich and famous in the Philippines social and political life.

Some of the antiques in Pascual Collection- Image from traveleronfoot.wordpress.com

Here's an excerpt from one of the articles, written by Thelma Sioson San Juan, including some comments from other readers. I will not mention the names of the commentators, but the comments are very, very interesting, indeed.

Teyet Pascual: Another ‘man of gentility’ leaves


MANILA, Philippines—Dr. Eleuterio “Teyet” Pascual: Filipino collector, style arbiter and a power behind the throne.
Why? What’s the story about Teyet? I texted back our editor in chief after she sent me the message early last Tuesday morning that I should write it. Is he preparing another stop-the-press type of event worthy of the news page, I asked.
That was when I was told that Teyet had died early that Tuesday morning, Nov. 20. He woke up at three in the morning and told his household staff that he could hardly breathe. They rushed him to Makati Medical Center where he died a few hours later, apparently due to cardiac arrest.

The news of his sudden death spread fast—on Facebook, in text messages, at social gatherings—among artists and the culturati, the café society (or what remains of it), the high society, the old political order, the society snoops, or even just among friends who had had unforgettable lunches and dinners with him, or people who merely knew of him.

Pascual held no position in government or in big business, not even in a culture institution. Yet he was famous, his name denoting not only prominence, but also a certain power that was quite hard to define, partly because it was something he hardly wielded yet he held—behind the scenes. Pascual was one of the country’s foremost art collectors, a patron of the arts and culture, a social arbiter the past three decades.

The following are some comments, I found revealing and interesting including my own.

1. This article reminded of emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned. there is just too much poverty in the Philippines to gloat in this. fortunately, in the final analysis, you cannot take it with you.

2. Art collector or art thief?!!!!

3. I just wonder if Teyet supported charitable organizations for the alleviation of less privileged Filipinos

4. Why is it a number want to portray themselves as "Holier than Thou" and when we criticize people as if we are the only righteous people here on earth. I may not know the Marcoses and number of their friends but let us not condemned their friends as well. Is it a case of "inggit" because the person was rich? If the had committed evil things let them answer it before God. The least we can do is try to live uprightly if not morally. (Inggit means jealousy.).

5. Can anyone be spoken of as "good" if he keeps thieves, murderers, and liars as his closest of friends? And don't anyone dare tell me that Christ did such a thing, because the good Lord sought to CHANGE those people, not BECOME one of them.

6. "Manila society." HA! You mean the Manila inbred that is so deep in delusion that they can't discern a Marcos from a Cojuanco from an Arroyo from an Aquino... Oh wait, they're inbred so they must all be the same.

7. Another Marcos crony bites the dust, and the world is a little brighter for it.

8. Now I understand why Midas Marquez was so fanatical in defending a corrupt Thief Justice. He must have inherited it from his uncle, who was also loyal defender of a corrupt regime till the end ... must be running in their blood.

9. It's immaterial if he was a gay, the question is what good ,humane, charitable and patriotic he had done to his country and people. Nothing, except as a keeper and a consultant to the ruling class, particularly to the Marcos and Cojuangco family on how to amass art collections acquire, obviously, especially the Marcoses, using stolen money from the coffer of the nation. What a distorted value system the Philippines have now.

10. When I visited Teyet in his Pacific Plaza residence more than a decade ago, it was to interview him about his plans for the wedding of Mikey Arroyo to his distant cousin Angela Montenegro. It was an experience like no other for me. Right at the entrance, I was mesmerized by what I saw. As I later wrote in my lead, ““Elegance is not the only word that comes to one’s mind when entering the home of art collector Eleuterio Pascual. Madness too, as one strains to look up at the ceiling and wonder at the sight of masterpieces that should perhaps be kept in a bank vault.

Last but least is my comment as follows:

11. Dr Eleuterio Pascual was my classmate in Chemistry at the U of the Philippines ( 1951-1955). I remember him to very friendly. During our 50th Chemistry Alumni, he gave a pre-reunion party in his condo in Makati. I was invited but was not able to attend due to a schedule conflict. This was an invitation that I always regretted, since I was not able to see his art collection in person. I only saw his coffee book ( Juan Luna Paintings) that was for sale during our reunion in UP. May his soul rest in Peace, Amen

Finally may I ask “Who among you my dear readers had a classmate whose death made front page in a National Paper”?

My Favorite 10 Quotes on Aging

The following 10 quotes about aging from famous names and personalities of the world are my favorites. These quotes, I believe should be an inspiration to all senior citizens of the world. If you are a senior citizen, I hope that you are aging gracefully. Do you have a favorite quote in this list?

1.“I had to wait 110 years to become famous. I wanted to enjoy it as long as possible.” Jeanne Louise Calment (1875-1997) – This French woman is the oldest documented living human.

2.“You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.” Woody Allen (1935- )

3“Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.” Coco Chanel (1983-1971) The fashion icon.

4.“Do not try to live forever, you will not succeed.” George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

5.“By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything. You only have to remember it.” George Burns (1896-1996)



6.“He who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition, youth and age are equally a burden.” Plato (427-346 B.C.)

7.“At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don’t care what they think of us. At age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.” Ann Landers (1918-2002)

8.“Because I could not stop for death – He kindly stopped for me.” Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

9.“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” Robert Browning (1812-1889)

10.“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” Betty Friedan (1921-2006)

Source: seniorhealthmemos.com

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping

Black Friday Shoppers

Last Thursday, just after our thanksgiving dinner my two daughters went shopping. This was their very, very, early black Friday shopping spree. I may even call it early gray Thursday shopping day. If you live in the US, Canada or UK, the term Black Friday should be in your vocabulary, But for others, it may not mean anything. So this article is for all my readers from 164 countries besides US, Canada and the UK who are not familiar with the terms black Friday and cyber Monday.

The day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season has been called Black Friday. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season.

It is not an official holiday, but many non-retail employers also observe this day as a holiday along with Thanksgiving, giving their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers.

The name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. The use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975.

It was common for retailers to open at 6:00 a.m., but in the late 2000's many had crept to 5:00 or even 4:00 for the last 10 years. But it was not until 2011 that this was taken to a new extreme, when several retailers including Target, Kohls, Macy's, Best Buy, and Bealls opened at midnight for the first time.

This year, Walmart led several other retailers in announcing it would open its stores at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, prompting calls for a walkout among some workers. This walkout was on the news last night.
Walmart Riot this Black Friday

I did not shop last Friday, but plan on shopping on-line this coming Monday. This coming Monday is sometimes called Cyber Monday. The term was invented in 2005 by the National Retail Federation. The term is now popular all over the world. I plan on shopping on Overstock Clearance site, Amazon and other sites for my Christmas gifts.

How about you? Did you fight with the crowds last Friday? Were you able to buy a bargain Christmas gift? In my entire life here in US, I had only shop once during a Black Friday event. It was an experience I will never forget. To me it is not worth it. I will shop on line this coming Monday in comfort and no crowds pushing me. Happy Shopping to All!

Photo Memories of Our Golden Wedding Anniversary

Dave and Macrine, Christmas, 2011

The following are some of the photos taken during our Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration in 2007 in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

My Favorite Quotes for Our 52-Year of Thanksgiving

Today is our 52 year celebrating Thanksgiving Day here in US. It's a day when my wife uses her real china and silver for a formal dinner-table setting. The following are some of my favorite quotes for this day. We thank the Lord with all our hearts and soul for all the 52 years of Thanksgiving Day, that my family had enjoy.

Here's some quotes for your dessert, just in case you did not have enough turkey or honey baked ham.

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.”
― Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance

“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.”
― Jon Stewart

“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.”
― Erma Bombeck

“I like football. I find its an exciting strategic game. Its a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving.”
― Craig Ferguson

“Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for -- annually, not oftener -- if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians. Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in the course of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man's side, consequently on the Lord's side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual annual compliments.”
― Mark Twain

“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.”
― W.T. Purkiser

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual…O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”
― Henry David Thoreau

Thanksgiving was nothing more than a pilgrim-created obstacle in the way of Christmas; a dead bird in the street that forced a brief detour.”
― Augusten Burroughs, You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas

“The funny thing about Thanksgiving ,or any big meal, is that you spend 12 hours shopping for it then go home and cook,chop,braise and blanch. Then it's gone in 20 minutes and everybody lies around sort of in a sugar coma and then it takes 4 hours to clean it up.”
― Ted Allen, The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes

“There is no Thanksgiving back in the old country where I come from. You know why? Because being thankful is a sin.”
― Craig Ferguson

“I know there is poor and hideous suffering, and I've seen the hungry and the guns that go to war. I have lived pain, and my life can tell: I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights and the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives.”
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

“Let us give thanks to God above,
Thanks for expressions of His love,
Seen in the book of nature, grand
Taught by His love on every hand.

Let us be thankful in our hearts,
Thankful for all the truth imparts,
For the religion of our Lord,
All that is taught us in His word.

Let us be thankful for a land,
That will for such religion stand;
One that protects it by the law,
One that before it stands in awe.

Thankful for all things let us be,
Though there be woes and misery;
Lessons they bring us for our good-
Later 'twill all be understood.

Thankful for peace o'er land and sea,
Thankful for signs of liberty,
Thankful for homes, for life and health,
Pleasure and plenty, fame and wealth.

Thankful for friends and loved ones, too,
Thankful for all things, good and true,
Thankful for harvest in the fall,
Thankful to Him who gave it all.”
― Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moore

Source: www.goodreads.com

Calling All Filipino-Americans For Action

Calling all Filipino Americans-I Need your Help!
If you are a Filipino-American I am asking for your support in urging and lobbying President Obama to appoint Filipino-Americans in senior level positions in the Federal Bureaucracy in his coming second term. You can do this via your local or national Filipino-American Associations or e-mailing directly the White House. The White House has set-up an e-mail system ( typed in Google search, E-mail White House or E-mail Obama) that will directly connect you to the White House. You have up to 2,500 characters to send your message.

I did this the other day and still waiting for a response. In my e-mail I stated that three of the groups that assured the reelection of President Obama were the Latin Americans, Asian Americans and Women. I reminded the President of these facts even if he is no longer qualified for a third term. Women, Minorities and Asian -Americans specifically Filipino-Americans are not well represented in the senior levels of employment in the Federal Bureaucracy.

I also informed the White House that I know personally of two women who are well qualified for Federal Appointments, since both of these women are now occupying high level positions in the State of California. The first woman has Hispanic roots and the second woman has Filipino ancestry. These two women are willing to relocate themselves and their families to the Washington D.C. area in spite of the poor climate ( compared to Northern California), if they are offered a high level positions in the Federal government.

My family and I have resided in the State of Maryland for 12 years. So, I know what I am talking about when I compared the climate and weather in the tri-state area of Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. with that of the Sacramento area.

Finally, if you know of a Filipino-American who is qualified for a high level positions in the Federal Government, let me know. I will add his or her name in the list that I will send to the White House. Include a short biography of your nominee, reasons why you are nominating this person and positions desired in the Federal Government. I am planning to send this list by mid-December. Thank You!

Personal Note: I am a retired Federal Employee(FDA). At the time of my employment with the Food and Drug Administration (1990-2002), I attained a GS-14 level position in the Center of New Drugs Chemistry. At that time, as far as I knew, I was the first Filipino-American who attained the title of Chemistry Team Leader with first line supervisory responsibilities in the history of FDA.

Host a Thanksgiving Dinner for 10 with Minimum Hustle

In my article last week, I indicated that there will be only 8 people( the previous years, we have always more than 20 guests) who will be able to attend the Thanksgiving Dinner here at the Katague Residence this Thanksgiving Day. I also indicated that my wife was planning to roast a duck that we purchased from Seafood City instead of the traditional Turkey. However, after my daughter suggested that we just purchased our Turkey Dinner, since there are only 8 of us, my wife and I decided it is a good idea. So, I ordered the Turkey Dinner on line from Raley's, the other day. All I have to do is pick it up on November 21 after 12 noon. So here is the package that I ordered. It cost only $59.99. Heating and Preparations will take only from 1.5 to 2 hours. It will serve from 8 to 10 persons.

Raley's Traditional Turkey Dinner

All the ingredients necessary for a special holiday dinner: a pre-cooked oven roasted Butterball turkey, exquisite side dishes, rolls and a delectable dessert.
Heating & Preparation: 1 1/2 to 2 hours

All Fresh Side Dishes

Fully-cooked Butterball Turkey (hormone free) – 10 to 12 lb.

Cornbread mix herb stuffing with carrots onions and celery – 28 oz.

Fresh creamy mashed potatoes – 5 lb.

Fresh homestyle gravy – 24 oz.

Fresh broccoli cheese and rice casserole – 32 oz.

Cranberry apple sauce – 10 oz.

Bakery fresh butter and egg rolls – dozen

9" pumpkin pie

In addition to the above, we have already purchased a 5 lbs honey baked ham. My wife will also be preparing her favorite recipe of Chicken Macaroni Salad.

So, if you are lazy to cook and are expecting not more than 10 guests, buying a pre-cooked turkey Dinner with the side dishes is the way to go.

Note: This Thursday ( November 22), is also my youngest son 50th Birthday. So along with the above, I ordered a Birthday cake ( a carrot cake with cheese cream toppings and filled with fresh strawberries) for only $19.99
I promise not to overeat!

Again, Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Unusual, Funny and Sexy Images from the Web

An Airplane Hotel- Photo from travel.spot.coolstuff.com
The following are some of my favorite photos from the web. I do not own any of the photographs, so if you have any copyright issues, please inform me immediately. I will be delighted to remove it from this posting. This is indeed a good illustration of the saying, a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Enjoy and feast your eyes on the photographs. Some are funny, the others sexy and the rest unusual.

Indeed, I could smell it for miles

A sexy tree in my backyard?

It is my dog, not my ?

Come on, let me look!

Nice and well-placed Picture

Do you Know where this statue is?

Is this tree for real?

Are you brave enough to participate in this Event?

These are pigs, look closely!

Would you like a tree like this in your Garden?

is this photo just came from the Photo Shop?

This gourd plant is easy to grow in the tropics.

As a gardener, I love this photo from the rest of the photos in this posting.

Getting Ahead of the Wedding Night Festivities

Which photo is your favorite? Comments, anyone?

Note: I do not own any of the photos above. However, I have no intention in infringing on your photograph copyrights.

A Brief History of Blogging

Image from Wikipedia

Do you know that the first on-line diary was created in 1994? But it was not until 1997 that the term weblog was coined. It was coined by Jorn Barger. It was then shortened to the word "blog," by Peter Merholz, in April of 1999. Then, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb. To blog MEANS "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog". He also created the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms. Today, the words blog and blogging is used by hundred of millions all over the world including myself since 2008.

Slowly after that, blogging rapidly gained in popularity. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools, Open Diary and SlashDot:

Open Diary was launched in October 1998, and soon grown to thousands of online diaries. It became the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries.

On the other hand SlashDot, was launched in 1997 and became a popular blog site for tech "nerds". Later Brad Fitzpatrick, a well known blogger started LiveJournal in March 1999.

In July, 1999, Andrew Smales created Pitas.com. It was an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a website. This was followed by Diaryland in September 1999. The website did focused more on the personal diary communities.

In August 1999, Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) launched blogger.com . In February of 2003, Blogger.com was purchased by Google, Inc. After the purchase, Googles Adsense was launched the next year and now is the most popular and successful venture in the advertising business for Google, Inc.

Permalinks, blogrolls and TrackBacks made it easier for personal web pages to link to each other. Together with weblog search engines, it allows bloggers to track the threads that connected them to others with similar interests. This was the start of commercial blogging, also known as professional bloggers. They either sell a product directly to readers or via an affiliate company or advertise a business.

Today, hundred of millions of personal as well as commercial ( professional) blogs populates the Internet. In 2008, it was reported that there were 112 million blogs all over the world. This does not not include the 72 million from China. The two most popular blog hosts here in US that I know are blogger.com and wordpress.com.

Do you have a personal blog? Can you tell me why you are blogging? Do you blog to sell a product, advertise a business or just for FUN? I will be delighted to hear from you!

Facebook Apathy and Indifference

Apathy and Indifference to Social Media

Last week,I was experimenting on how many of my more than my 700 FaceBook "friends" and relatives will respond to a personal favor regarding my articles (lenses) on www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/chateaudumer.

In my status posting in FaceBook, I requested that I need at least 20 Likes in any one or all of my 29 articles published in the squidoo.com writing site. The 20 LIKE clicks will allow my articles to be filed in the completed lens section of Squidoo. This is important because a completed article will have more exposure to readers. The more readers and page views your article has, the more likely your readers will click on your ads for a small income if you are lucky. To me the small ads income is not important from the squidoo site. What is important to me is to know that I have readers that enjoy reading my lenses and find my articles informative and interesting.

Are you curious of the results of my experiment? As expected only 8 friends and relatives responded positively to my status request as of this writing date. The rest of my 692 FB "friends" can not care less. I could feel their apathy and indifference. I think I know the reason why not too many responded to my request.

The readers of FB and other social media sites are over saturated with information, request for games, request for likes, bombarded with photographs and other information that they are not interested in. In my personal case, when I read FB, I just scan the articles, photographs and if I really like the articles or photos I will read it, make a comment or just click the like button. Otherwise 99% of all the information on my FB page I just ignored.

I am a little bit disappointed that I have only 8 real friends in FB, but it is the reality of life and I must go forward and hope for better results next time when I ask a favor from my relatives and friends via FaceBook. If you are reading this blog and feels guilty of not responding to my request, it is not too late to visit my url mentioned at the beginning of this posting. Thanks for reading this post and an advance Thanksgiving greetings to you and your love ones.

Again, my special thanks to Vic V (from Northern Virginia) and Dave C (from Malta) for the first two responders to my plea for a LIKE click on my articles in the squidoo.com writing site. May your tribe increase, indeed!

Dungeness Crab Season Opened in San Francisco Yesterday

Image from business.week

According to the local news in the Bay Area, The first boat load of Dungeness crab arrived in the Fishermans Wharf yesterday. The catch was small but the quality of the crabs were good. The price agreed by the commercial fishermen and the distributors was set at $3.00 per lb which was higher from the agreed price last year of only $2.25 per lb. With this quick agreement, Dungeness crabs will now be available to consumers soon in the area outside the county of San Francisco. I checked our local Relay store here in Fair Oaks this morning. They have not received their supply, but is expecting it next week for the Thanksgiving holidays. However, they have available frozen crabs meat claw for about $9.00 for 8 oz. My grocery man here in Raley informed me that his guess for the price of fresh Dungeness Crabs will vary from $4.99 to $6.99 per lb.

Since I have a cravings for another crab omelet today, I decided to purchase the crab meat from the Dungeness Claw for our dinner tonight. The recipe for the Omelet is identical to the one I posted just recently in my blogs. THE ARTICLE is titled "What did I do to deserve this Treat: AT, http://lifeinus1960present.blogspot.com dated 10/25/12. The only thing different in the recipe is that instead of shredded cabbage, my wife used bean sprouts. I purchased bean sprouts for only 0.99c per 8 oz. bag at Sprouts Farmer's Market a couple of block from our residence.

We just finished dinner and the Crab Claw Omelet with Bean Sprouts was EXCELLENT. With the omelet we have steam rice and Hawaiian sweet rolls along with a glass of Johanesberg Grey Reisling wine. For dessert we have chocolate cake and coffee ice cream.

If you have not cooked a crab omelet, visit my blog, http://theintelectualmigrant.blogspot.com dated OCTOBER, 25, 2012.

Have You Heard of James Deen?

Have You Heard of James Deen- The Actor?

Not the James Dean- the actor made famous by the movie, Rebel Without a Cause in the 1960's. But James Deen- the current highest paid actor for the American Pornographic industry.

I have been a resident of the US since 1960, but this is the first time I heard of James Deen. Evidently, I am not watching porno movies. According to the news a couple of weeks ago, James Deen is not only an award winning actor, but also a teenager idol. His name as a female teenager idol has been compared to Justin Beiber. I was curious of his life story and here's a brief summary, I found in the Internet.

He was born in 1986 and his real name is Bryan Matthew Sevilla. James Deen is just his stage name. He not only acts but also directs. He started acting when he was only 18 years old. He is Jewish and his ambition since he was kindergarten was to be a porno star. In 2009, he was named the “ male Performer of the Year” by Adult Video News”.

Today he has a fan-following of thousands among teenage girls and is described as the “Ryan Gosling” of porn. He will be co-starring with Lindsay Lohan in Paul Schrader's 2013 film “The Canyons” written by Bret Ellis.

The first time I heard of him was last September when he attended a press conference opposing Los Angeles County measure B. This was an initiative requiring condom usage in the porno industry in US. James Deen questioned the constitutionality of the measure. The following video tells more about Mr Sevilla career. It appeared that from porn star he is moving into main stream movies. Good Luck to You, Mr Bryan Sevilla.

Have You Heard of James Deen- The Actor?

Not the James Dean- the actor made famous by the movie, Rebel Without a Cause in the 1960's. But James Deen- the current highest paid actor for the American Pornographic industry.

I have been a resident of the US since 1960, but this is the first time I heard of James Deen. Evidently, I am not watching porno movies. According to the news a couple of weeks ago, James Deen is not only an award winning actor, but also a teenager idol. His name as a female teenager idol has been compared to Justin Beiber. I was curious of his life story and here's a brief summary, I found in the Internet.

He was born in 1986 and his real name is Bryan Matthew Sevilla. James Deen is just his stage name. He not only acts but also directs. He started acting when he was only 18 years old. He is Jewish and his ambition since he was kindergarten was to be a porno star. In 2009, he was named the “ male Performer of the Year” by Adult Video News”.

Today he has a fan-following of thousands among teenage girls and is described as the “Ryan Gosling” of porn. He will be co-starring with Lindsay Lohan in Paul Schrader's 2013 film “The Canyons” written by Bret Ellis.

The first time I heard of him was last September when he attended a press conference opposing Los Angeles County measure B. This was an initiative requiring condom usage in the porno industry in US. James Deen questioned the constitutionality of the measure. The following video tells more about Mr Sevilla career. It appeared that from porn star he is moving into main stream movies. Good Luck to You, Mr Bryan Sevilla.

Preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner Next Week

First Thanksgiving Dinner in the US, 1960 in Danville, Illinois

Three weeks ago, my wife and I sent invitations to all our close relatives in the area for a Thanksgiving Dinner and Reunion, 2012 next week. We were expecting about 20 guests, but as of today only 8 will be able to attend. My oldest son and his family will be out of town. My niece and sister-in-law will be in Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. My other sister-in-law, will be working. My other sister-in law will be spending her thanksgiving day with her husband family.

Because of this low turn-out this year, my wife plans on roasting a duck instead of a turkey. In addition we will have the usual honey baked ham, chicken macaroni salad, pancit noodles, green beans salad, sweet potato, and other filipino delicacies, and a 50th Birthday cake for my youngest son. My youngest son is single and will turn 50 this coming Thanksgiving day.

Time indeed flies and this year thanksgiving reminds me of our first Thanksgiving Celebration here in US in 1960. An excerpt of an article that I wrote in my blog on that day is as follows:

"It was November,1960 when Macrine and I and our oldest son, Dodie(who was only 2 years old then) experienced our first Thanksgiving Celebration in the United States. That year, I was a graduate student of the University of Illinois at the Medical Center in Chicago. The Chicago Hospitality Center along with YMCA and Christian Family Movement(CFM) invites all foreign students in the area to spend a thanksgiving weekend to the homes of volunteers in small towns of Illinois away from the crowded city of Chicago. Some of my foreign student friends were reluctant and did not accept the invitation, but I had an adventurous spirit so with great anticipation, Macrine and I along with Dodie went with 12 other foreign students and their families to Central Illinois.

Our host for that weekend was Mrs. Johnston, a widow from Danville, Illinois. She lives alone and her beautiful bungalow house right in downtown Danville. We left Chicago in the morning, had thanksgiving dinner ( turkey and all its trimmings)in late afternoon. This was followed by a program in the evening at a local community center, where all the hosts met and socialized with other invited students from Korea, Iran, Mexico, Japan, Chile, South Africa, Egypt and the Philippines.

The next day we had a grand tour of the area, the farms and then to Springfield, the capital city of Illinois. The tour of the area and Springfield was the highlight of our two days break from our hectic schedules as a graduate students.

So, did I like the roasted turkey? Nope, that was first time I had turkey. In the Philippines we do not celebrate Thanksgiving and I had never tasted turkey before. I did not like the pumpkin pie either. What I enjoyed was the oyster stuffing, vanilla ice cream and the cranberries sauce".

Today when my wife and I remember our first thanksgiving day in the US, it reminded me of the article I wrote for the CFM Newsletter that year as follows (excerpt only):

" As the first couple of CFM and Interfaith group in our diocese, we will do our very best to reciprocate, promote, and encourage hospitality programs to foreign students and scholars in our area. We believe that opening our homes and our hearts on weekends and holidays, is one of the best ways of promoting world peace and understanding. Let us then make it possible for foreign students and scholars get the true picture of America and its people. Let us give them the opportunity to share with us our way of life. Let us get busy as a group or perhaps join other groups in order that we can show to the future leaders of the world, how sincere, friendly and aware we are of other human beings in other parts of the world. This is one of the many ways we could be more Christlike, we believe".

This year I am thanking the Lord again for all the good things and for the past 52 years of our Thanksgiving Days here in US. The Lord has given me and my family so much good things here in US. To all my friends and relatives, May God bless you and your love ones this coming Thanksgiving Day!

Jessica Sanchez Confirmed to be Joining Glee

Jessica Sanchez Confirmed to be Joining Glee The last couple of weeks, rumors had been circulating in the news that Jessica Sanchez, American Idol 2012 runner-up had been invited to guest star in TV top rated musical show, Glee. This news had been confirmed this week according to an article by Janet Nepales a reporter for Philippine News based here in Los Angeles, California. According to the article, the writer had talked to Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee. Mr Murphy indicated that Jessica will probably be in two to three episodes, probably on Episodes 16, 17, and 18. Mr Ryan was asked by the reporter, what will be the role of Jessica in this top rated TV musical. Mr Murphy commented that with Jessica's voice, he wanted her to be in every episode. But Jessica busy schedule made this impossible. Mr Murphy also hinted that Miss Sanchez will possibly be the big voice star in the other competitive choir often times featured in a few episodes of the show. Mr Murphy however did not confirm that Jessica will be the love interest of the leading actor Cory Monteth's character Finn in the show. Just in case this is your first time to hear about Jessica Sanchez. She was a runner up of the 2012 American Idol TV show. She is only 17 years old and resides in Chula Vista, California. She has Filipino and Mexican ancestry. Jessica is included in my top 20 Filipino-American Pride that I posted in my blogs as well as the Pu.blish.us writing site just recently. She has just collaborated in a music video with the Black Eye Peas, another Filipino-American musical icons of this decade. I wish Jessica luck and congratulate her on being asked to join Glee- one of my favorite TV shows in the dancing and singing category. As a Filipino-American, I am indeed proud of her achievements.

Are you over 75 and still Blogging?

If you are, I would like to be friends with you. We have something in common. And at our age, to be able to blog and be active also in social media sites, it is a reason to celebrate. Everyone, young or old bloggers had a reason for blogging. I have already stated my own reasons in several of my blogs. But in case this is your first time to read my blogs, the main reason why I blog is because I love to write and second to advertise my small beach resort in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines.

The last summary of demographics (Age) of personal bloggers showed that gender wise, the percent between male and female is about the same with slightly higher female percentage(50.9% vs 49.1%). Majority of personal bloggers are from the US, followed by UK and Japan.

According to data published by sysomos.com, the most active bloggers are younger people who have grown up during the blogging "revolution", which started about nine years ago. Bloggers in the 21-to-35 year-old demographic group account for 53.3% of the total blogging population. This group is followed by the generation just behind them - people 20-years-old or under are 20.2% of the blogging landscape. This group is closely followed by 36-to-50 year -olds (19.4%), while bloggers who are 51-years-old and older only account for 7.1%. There is no specific data on bloggers over 75 years or older. I would guess less than 1% is a probable number.

Thus if you are over 75 and still blogging you are a rare breed. I would like to be friends with you. You can reached me via my personal blog and autobiography at http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com or via my Facebook Account under David B Katague. I am looking forward to hear from you! Happy Blogging! Note: this invitation is also open to all readers of my blog.

Seafood City Trip-Cured my Cravings for Fresh Fish

Yesterday after one year of not grocery and seafood shopping at Sea Food City, my wife and I decided to drive about one hour to Sea Food City near Elk Grove, and south of Sacramento, California. We invited our Italian neighbor, since she had indicated she wants to buy fresh fish and vegetables to get ready for her thanksgiving celebration. My next door neighbor had been to this oriental grocery store about a year ago and she knows there is always fresh fish in that store. In our case we go to the Filipino store near us ( only 20 minutes) every other week for our Filipino Food needs called Peenoy Grocery and Video Store near the former McClelland Air Force Base. We buy filipino dishes, desserts, seafood products and can goods at the Peenoy Grocery store. My favorite dishes are the blood pudding ( dinuguan), pancit (noddles), barbecued pork and filipino sweets( bibingka and puto).

Our trip to Seafood City yesterday felt like I was just in the Philippines. The store has a big fish market section as well as a fruit and vegetable section carrying all kinds of Philippines and oriental vegetables. The fish market has more that a dozen fresh fish and also a frozen section. In the fresh fish section, there were red snappers, ocean white fish, squids, live blue crabs, prawns, shrimps, golden pompano, and several other species of fish that I am not familiar with. In the frozen section, there were salmon, tuna, dungeness crabs and several other kinds of frozen sea foods popular to the oriental taste buds.

The store was not too crowded, but there was a 30 minute wait if you want your fresh fish cleaned and degutted. My wife and I purchased a 3 lb red snapper with the head intact which cost us only $10. We purchased prawns and live female blue crabs also. Besides the seafood products, we purchased a duckling, beef bones for soup, egg rolls, and pork knuckles and feet ( for the Kari). The store clients were about 99% oriental and/or with Filipino Faces.

Besides our white Italian neighbor, I meet a few Caucasian men tagging along with their filipino wives. One white guy was next in line to me, when I was purchasing cooked Filipino dishes in the Filipino restaurant( Grill City) inside the store. He was asking the sales lady if they have chicken or pork adobo. The sales lady answered negative and I saw disappointment in the white guy face. The guy said that he and his wife drove about an hour to the store to have adobo for lunch. I felt sorry for the guy so I told him that the dish I am buying "humba” is almost like adobo but has a sweet sauce. I told the sales lady to give the guy a sample to taste. The guy tasted it and like it. He ordered the dish and I was happy to see him enjoying his lunch. That was my good deed for the day.

In this shopping compound besides the grocery and fish market, there is Filipino Bakery Store( Red Ribbon), Chowking and Jollibee ( fast food restaurants), a travel agency, a bank, Max Fried Chicken and several other stores catering to the Filipino and other oriental residents of Sacramento and Elk Grove, California. Again, if you feel nostalgic about the Philippines all you have to do is visit Sea Food City and enjoy its ambiance, and purchased Filipino Food and groceries. Our grocery shopping to Sea Food City yesterday felt like a one hour mini tour of the Philippines. Here's a short description of Seafood City from Wikipedia.

Seafood City is a Filipino supermarket chain in the United States with branches in California, Nevada, and Washington. Seafood City Supermarket specializes in Filipino food and products while offering a growing selection of imported Asian goods as well as popular American staples. As its name suggests, Seafood City also provides shoppers with fresh seafood, as well as quality meat and produce. In some of its locations, it acts as a marketplace and serves as an anchor to many known Filipino businesses such as Chow King and Red Ribbon. In other locations, Seafood City also features locally-owned Filipino video rental stores, immigration offices, travel agencies, and restaurants. Here's a short video of Sharon Cuneta, Philippine actress singing a commercial for Seafood City. Again, may I reiterate that our trip to Seafood City yesterday cured my longing for Filipino foods and nostalgia about the Philippines. Except for its location, Seafood city in Mack Road and Highway 99 is clean and well stocked with Filipino food and delicacies, fresh fish and vegetables at reasonable prices.