Technically I am long over due--

Technorati Profile I just joined Technorati today; why didn't I do it before? Oh yes I remember now..... I went to the sight one day a couple of months ago and it was down. I just never bothered going back.

Spanish Phrase of the Day--Complements of My Facebook Page

En boca cerrada no entran moscas---Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut

Too much web helps to keep my spanish up--Introducing Facebook

I know my post titles can be a bit of a conundrum sometimes but that is the way I like it ;).

Not too long ago I joined Facebook because a contact of mine invited me there. I like the place a little too much now I think :S Although I am not like some of those people who live, love, and long for anything MySpace and Facebook related. I like to keep my life exposed to a minimum. I don't invite or accept invitations from everyone in the world to be buddies at these places, I keep my buddy list to a very modest number, and alot of my info is set to private. In fact I never wanted a MySpace account because I did not like the publicity I would see and hear about it. I only recently got an account there because I have too real life buddies who love MySpace and that is one way I keep in touch with them. My MySpace profile is pretty dead through I just joined and that is pretty much it. No fancy pages or anything, and if I can convince them to come to Facebook I will probably disable my account. I don't know what scares me about that site, it just is not my favorite place to interact. I know that there could be plenty of weird people lurking at Facebook as well, but it just does not scare me as much as MySpace and it seems to have just a tad bit more class.

Well anyway I added an application at Facebook that allows me to have a new Spanish phrase a day displayed on my profile. I loved this idea, because when I was in school I majored in Spanish with a minor in Asian studies, I was able to study Chinese reading and writing for a year. That was like a dream to me, I've always loved languages. Every since I was about 9 yrs old, I've pretended that I could speak Spanish. I would walk around the house answering my family's questions or asking them questions in Spamish (that's made up Spanish). I don't know what first attracted me to the Spanish language or Asian languages either. I just took an interest to it. That is why I was so surprised my mother was shocked when I decided to change my major to foreign language during my college career. I've always wanted to know at least 6 languages. But since I've been out of school I have not been keeping up with my studying, and I have forgotten a majority of the language I did learn. That is why I decided to add the Spanish phrase application. Just a fun way to learn a new phrase everyday. I will post it, every time I post here. ......

Other languages I would love to learn: Arabic, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Tagalog and Swahili

Decisions, decisions and acting upon those decisions--Back To School

Well I have decided that I will try to return to school in January for the spring semester, (with the summer semester being the latest) at just about any cost. Whatever it takes, I will try and go back GOD-willing. I have to give myself a deadline now or it may never happen. I made this decision after I had to go and apply for a second, albeit seasonal job earlier in the week. I said to my mum, "I can't do this anymore, I have to bite the bullet and figure out how to get back in school." I am just sinking further and further into dead-in jobs and even though I can't really can't afford the tuition right now (I was trying to work more to be able to afford going back), it is not helping that I am taking on these dead-end jobs that are not even able to cover most of my expenses.

Besides that every night I go into work at Wally World it is just depressing. I hate the way the management talks to the associates; they talk down to us. They feel that their position gives them warrant to treat people like crap, and they think you don't know much, if anything at all. Sometimes I want to remind or inform many of my overnight assistant managers that I too was once in their place at my previous retail job. I was an assistant manager, and a darn good one if I do say so myself. My old boss and many of my old co-workers would vouch for that. I didn't make the associates feel like peons either. I was always willing to get down in the trenches and do the same work that the regular sales clerks did, as well as keep up with my other managerial duties. My main reason for leaving was because I was paid crap for all my hard work. At Wally World some of the management are some of the most laziest, conceited, and corrupt people working there. It takes everything for me to have to go to work some nights.

On another note, I have an interview with the seasonal job place on Monday, and it is a strong possibility that I will get the job, considering I passed the 2 assessment tests and the fact that they would probably hire a monkey if given the opportunity. This is mainly because during the "holiday season" they are overwhelmed. So I will be back into my mode of working two jobs again...aah it was fun having some free time for the past 2 months, but it is back to business. The good thing about it is that it will only last through the end of this year.

In a way I could kick myself, because my progress with my bags has slowed down, and I am somewhat confident that if I just complete my first round and market them a little, I can have a little success. Not necessarily on a grand scale, just a small humble one is fine with me. I have a few people who have been waiting for quite some time for me to launch the project. I can be such a procrastinator at times. I have to speed the process up back again, but time will be even more scarce now if I get the second job. I just have to re-evaluate and re-focus myself. I feel like I desperately have to get my situation in order.

I can't stand the fact that I am not able to repay my parents and do something big for them. I hate to see my mother not doing exactly what she loves to do, or my dad who has been in a position where he could not work for the past couple of years (he has an respiratory illness which makes it hard for him to go back into the construction industry). My mother has her degree in a field that she is interested in, but her job was not completely fulfilling her passion. She would love to open up a youth counseling center, and or her own restaurant as she loves to cook. I really wish that I could be able to fund her dreams. That would make me extremely happy to know that I could do something for her, that would not be able to compare to her efforts in raising me and my siblings, nurturing us in her womb and giving birth to us, but hopefully it would express my love and appreciation in a small way....Wow I am getting teary- eyed just thinking about it. That is one of the moments that will go into my list of moments in my life that will make/or have made me cry tears of joy. You know maybe I don't show it enough or express it enough, but I really love you mum. She still has not seen or read my blog, but one day I hope to let her read it, so she can understand how I feel.

Saying goodbye to my dear Samsung, while going on I. VAC.

I am going to go on a I.VAC. for the next few days. but before I go....

Today I became sad at the thought of my cell phone/mobile phone. Why you ask? because I no longer have service on my mobile phone :( I can't afford to keep it right now. I know this is a little superficial, however I had the same mobile number for years, and I had finally settled with a company I like; you know the one that features that Welsh actress as their spokesperson. (Ok clearly I am talking about T-Mobile in case you didn't catch that)

[Conversation with cell phone provider: me-"But if you leave how will I cope? What will I do?" cell phone provider-"Frankly W. we don't give a d*#!mn"]

I really didn't abuse my phone usage either I would use it mainly for emergencies, and I would talk long distance with some friends, but I wasn't the type of person you see on the cell phone talking about nothing. I hate to hear this conversation: "Hello?" "Nothing, I'm in the store (on the bus, at the library, in class, at the movies, having dinner with a friend, at work)" This is followed by a five min. conversation about nothing, and then the recipient hangs up, only to repeat this conversation again 2 mins later with a new caller. Or my favorite conversation: "Hello?" "Nothing I'm in line at the store" *1minute of silence* "say something!" *3 sec. pause* "No, you say something"

Oh and my personal favorite is the type of people I encountered when I was working my other retail job. The type who wanted to run a conversation on their phone, and complete a transaction with you at the same time. Then five minutes later they want to come back to your line and refute something on their receipt that you told them was not on sale while they were having their conversation on the phone. But of course even though they nodded their head that they understood, in reality they were too preoccupied with the phone conversation.

Well that was not me. I was a responsible user :) Nevertheless I won't be any more, at least for a while until I can get on track. *sniff* I'm going to miss you my dear little Samsung *sniff Ok as I said this is a bit superficial, but I am not really a superficial kind of person, so please grant me at least this one moment...

On other note... I am trying to make a video interview with some ordinary folks that I will eventually put on Yahoo Videos GOD-willing, the topic of which I will mention later if I ever finish the video and editing it. Don't expect great things out of this though, because I am not some bigshot movie-maker or anything, or even a wannabe one either. The problem is some of the folks that I have interviewed so far are not giving me detailed honest answers. why do I say this? because I have talked with some of them off camera and they have made the complaints and things to me, so I thought I could capture some of that. I haven't so far but I am hopeful someone will give me the gritty truth.

I will refocuse my attention to my bags this week and I have a couple of other obligations regarding sewing promises I made to other people. So i will bid adieu....

Downfalls of being poor: Episode 1---No Health Insurance

Some of the downfalls of being "poor": DOWNFALL #1.

You can't afford health or dental insurance--- a few years ago I burned my foot by spilling a big pot of boiling water on it-ouch...and I went to the emergency room they cleaned it up gave me some ointment and told me to come back in two days to make sure that it was healing fine. I returned 2 days later and the doc looked at it and told it was healing nicely :)....Do you know how much this two day spa treatment cost me? $USD 1000.00 :S I had no health insurance and to pay it all out of pocket, while I was still in school and was making about $6.00 an hour. It took me a couple of months but eventually I paid it off. When I made assistant manager at the old retail job, I decided too get the company health insurance, even though I was making only a little more and really could not afford it, but I decided to bite the bullet and sacrifice that extra $130.00 a month but I soon found out that the deductible was much more than I could afford with what I was making so the insurance became an extra deduction out of my paycheck. Then the dental insurance was completely useless, it would not even cover my extraction of a wisdom tooth that had become abscessed, and I had to go to the emergency room because the left side of my face had become swollen. The emergency room doctor told me that I had better get the tooth extracted, because the abscess infection could spread to other parts of my body--pretty scary. Then he told me I should just stop spending my money on frivolous things and pay the money to have my tooth extracted lol I wanted to hit him for that comment. I didn't have the money to spend on things I needed, never mind frivolous things.

I frantically tried to think of an idea to come up with the money, and finally I realized I could take out $500.00 from the mere $750.00 I had in the 401K that I had at work. Just a year before the incident the company elected to open a 401K for me, because I had been there for over 5 years and reached the required age of at least 21. They deposited a little money for me, so I thought why not put a little money like 5% of my paycheck into the account every payday. Big decision for me; not making too much to begin with. But I am happy I did because I was able to take an early distribution on the money (paid a $50.00 fee for that when I did my taxes) and get my tooth extracted.

Emergency room visit for abscessed tooth: $USD 300.00

Antibiotics: $USD 80.00

Fee for early distribution from 401K: $USD 50.00

Cost of procedure: $USD 500.00

Feeling alot of the pain of my tooth being extracted, because 5 shots of numbing med. did not numb me until 5 minutes after procedure was over.....priceless.

I am not that stupid; I am not that smart

Warning: Easy questions ahead (email me for an easy tip concerning this link, before taking this quiz)

I want feedback....

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What's is financial freedom really??

I came across this video today and I thought wow this is true financial freedom! This family may not make alot of money by society's standards, but they are truly wealthy. They are living debt free and are able to afford the basic necessities, even with a large family. The problem is for most people in America with are living with some form of debt (excluding mortagage!). So the real key to financial freedom is being debt free. aaahh what a feeling to be debt-free... Link

About Vera Bradley & Others

Vera Bradley I believe is one of the designers who really helped pioneer the use of fabrics other than vinyl, leather, and leather-look in making handbags. Her bags are mostly quilted cottons. She has allowed people to understand that a nice quality handbag can be made out of many different textures. Other designers who use odd materials to produce interesting handbags: ~Whiting & Davis for their use of metal mesh in their handbags ~Ecoist for their use of recycled materials such as candy wrappers. They have some really cool bags. ~ Wendy Stevens for her use of sheet metal and leather combination, her bags look like works of art you want to display them in a museum. (You can purchase one if you can afford it ;) at www.guild.com If you like to do your part whether it is helping the environment, helping tsunami victims, or helping African women crafters make an income, these are some companies whose products benefit these causes: http://www.ecoist.com/ www.eco-handbags.ca www.laga-handbags.com www.lucuma.com www.ethnicsupplies.co.uk/

Too much hype? Maybe, but don't sweat the technique.

I just figured I would say this. When someday, hopefully soon, I am able to start selling some of my designs online, I am not predicting that I will be the next Isabella Fiore. Not everyone will like my designs. That's why there are so many designers out there, because different people like different things. I just hope I will have enough people who like them, that want to buy them, so that I can make a little extra money on the side. I am humble in my aim, and if it turns out better than I expect, then that is great; if not then I know I have tried to succeed at least.

Breaking Free

Every since I was about 12 years old I have kept a sketch book with designs of clothing I wanted to make, but my idea to start designing and producing handbags started in 2002. I saw an emergence in the handbag industry where alot of stay-at-home moms and just regular women were producing whimsical looking handbags and the consumers were loving it; being able to buy something that was quirky,that only a few other people owned, or maybe no one else owned it at all. I saw some people making good extra income doing this, and I also saw people who made it their sole-source of income, and became quite successful with it too. The problem was, some of the results were not that appealing, while there were some skilled seamstresses out there, some sewers' bags looked homemade and others lacked originality and designer quality. People figured if they picked a cute fabric, that was all that was necessary. Nothing set their bag apart from the next person's. I would see some people who would purchase Licensed and Trademarked fabrics, such as Philadelphia Eagles, or Mickey Mouse, and make a bag out of it; nothing special just a sack with the logo all over it and turn around and sell them online. Not only was this Trademark infringement*, and if caught you can be subjected to various penalties, but the bags were, in my opinion boring, because they lacked any design elements. I decided that I wanted to get in this market too for extra income, but I wanted bags with a uniqueness all my own. I wanted different designs etc. so I started sketching; anytime the mood struck me; whenever I saw something that would inspire me, I would sketch it quickly; on receipts, candy wrappers, you name it. I did not want to lose the idea. Eventually I started keeping a miniature sketch book with me just for my handbag designs. But alas as I said back then I was stuck at my main humdrum low-paying job and I was always trying to work as many hours as I could to keep afloat (although it wasn't working). I just ended up burnt-out, still in debt, and still could not afford to go back to school. So my idea of having a side business...was pushed aside. Turning Point: Last year after being fed up with our old neighborhood, but realizing how hard it was to be able to move, I kept telling my older sister (who was visiting at the time) "SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE, SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE" I repeated this to her several times. I felt so completely suffocated. That is when I heard 2 things that made me start taking action. The first thing was something I was always familiar with but somehow I felt Like I was hearing it for the first time when I actually listened to it. There is a Canadian singer/songwriter named Dawud Wharnsbury Ali and he has a song that tells a little about some of the lessons learned from the story of Yusuf (arabic translation for Joseph) in the Quran (sura/chapter 12). One of the verses from the song goes: ["The words of Allah* are clear to the world, With Hardship Will Always Come Ease." "The beautiful story of Yusuf has so much to fill our lives." "A lesson in forgiveness and brotherhood we cannot compromise." "The power of patience and the fire of hope, must burn in the hearts of the wise."] ---After listening to this song once again it was like I had finally heard what he said at that moment. I actually paid attention to the words. The second thing was as I stated earlier in a previous post, I went to a business seminar with my mom and one of her co-workers, and the speaker asked the audience " Why are you working to make someone else dreams come true? Because when you go to work for someone else, you are working to acheive their dreams." It was like I was being hit in the head with a big "Duh!" sign. After really reflecting on these two things, I started to slowly make changes, I pursued the post office job, and after letting that go, even though everyone told me I was crazy for doing so (see earlier post "How did I get to this point?" for my reason), I decided to get more serious about my handbags while still holding down my job at Wally World, and while I am not progressing at a rapid pace, I am making movement, which is something I have put off for awhile. I am emerging-slowly but emerging nonetheless... Note* most Licensed and Trademarked logo fabrics, state that you are only allowed to produce goods for home and private use and not for resale. Allah--arabic term for the creator of all existence. Can be loosely translated into the english term GOD

Not Your Ordinary handbag/What's in Your Closet?

Be & D handbag USD$695.00 Be & D handbag USD$3300.00 Bottega Veneta USD$2780.00 Isabella Fiore handbag USD$625.00 Isabella Fiore handbag USD$655.00

Some handbag designers I like are: Le Sportsac, Whiting & Davis, Moschino, Be & D, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Lulu Guiness, Cole Haan, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottegga Venata, Micheal Kors, and Paul Frank.

Two other more notable designers are Liz Claibourne, because when I was growing up my mother would always mention her as a designer, she has very classy items that are not as extremely expensive as some other well known designers. But my all-time favorite designer whose work I think is the most innovative and orignal is Isabella Fiore. She combines folk-style, class and an artistic vision that can be a little over-the-top for some designers, but she pulls it off nicely. I think that these designers are some innovators in their field.

*Disclaimer---Since, as I have stated previously I am not rich, I have never purchased any of these designers' bags (with the exception of Liz Claibourne), and any that I may own were given to me. Even if I were rich I hope that I would not make it a habit to spend thousands of dollars on an article of clothing or accessory, when there are so many other worthwhile causes that I could spend the money on.