Wordle

During the first day of class, my English professor introduced the class to Wordle and did an activity along with it.

Wordle will take the words you entered and arrange 'em in some cool way and if you enter 'em (the words) more than once, the word will be bigger. Result is that you get this cool art!

I thought I'd play around with it with the tags I've used from this blog.
And here's the result:

Pretty cool eh? Give it a try and have fun with it!

http://www.wordle.net

30,000th Tweet

Tonight, I had the confirmation that I got no life.

How?

I just reached 30,000th tweet tonight.

So I went ahead and took about 50 minutes to tweet something huge. You can read it here. But I know that after awhile, Twitlonger will delete a post so here it is again for good measure:

For my 30,000th tweet, I'd like to stop and thank all my followers for continue to follow me and put up with my crazy amount of tweeting. You guys are some great group of people that I have ever had the fortunate to know.

Shout out to my friends from TS: @BMarieeXO @AnthonyMonroe @kayPHAYCE @AshleighAshler @Keruto_ @DollhouseDolly @You_AreTheMoon @EjMarie @whoadangsam @ibjennileeg @cummins_redneck @BrainDeadUnit @tr0ut @Nerse @KimMcCash @The44thDegree @moonchild91 @Merc_ @brent0n @kerplunknet @DuckyTheSex @KateMarshhh @therealmargaret You guys are truly awesome! :D

Special shout outs to these military folks that was constantly there when I need it the most. Through life's craziness, you guys made it easier. I have no idea how to thank you. Truly, from the deepest part of my heart. Thank you, @avgordsuprgddss @slhoppin @knottienature @wishsong1976 @usmcwife8999 @silvrstar @ASUMIDN @jlsemmel @traumleben @Armywife89 @armygirlnay @MyArmyWifeLife @MyArmyLife @tammymunson @5414Productions @armylovelife @MeganWrites1 @Armywives101 @ArmywifeJulie @DeltaWhiskey1 @whiskey_kitten @ArmyMom101 @Beth_Wilson @mommytaco @barnettashleyk @DAR_Smith @ArmyWifeBethany @sespi @navynest @sara0120 @SDcali4649 @HellcatBetty @Hopeful91 @WifeyofaSailor

Also special shout out to @md_oppenheimer for knowing the craziness of having SCI and constantly giving me pep talks to help me keep going. Thanks dude.

And lastly to @chemo_babe for being so strong. For constantly reminding me Mom's will to fight a horrible disease. And in ways, you remind me a lot of Mom. Your strength and will is simply amazing. Thank you, so much.

Again, thanks to all my followers! 30,000 tweets and still going strong. Also, confirmation of no life completed :P Thanks again guys!

So, 30,000 tweets. I can hear the people telling me I have no life.
I know I don't have a life. I tweet and blog about the laughs, the tears, the troubles, and the joys and milestones in my life. Sue me for wanting to release my pain and for wanting to share my happiness with the world and the people around me. I have "no life" and I am freaking proud of it.

Thanks again guys for reading my blog and my tweets. Can't say enough thank yous. You guys truly rock.

Every memory, pain, suffering, and joy are more than for yourself. We have friends and families to share every single moments with us for a reason. Because they, just like God, loves you very much.
-Mama

Week of September 19th, 2010

Three topics of discussion today

First I'd like to apologize to my readers for my inconsistency reviews and posts on Knuckles Reviews. Life have been rather busy and I have put off several things on my To-Do List in order to ensure that everything runs smoothly in this household. At the same time I am trying to help save money (good thing to do in this economy?) and have started to reassessing things (one of many things include cutting out cable and just have internet. I don't watch much TV anyways and everything I watch is online. Since we have Netflix, it's not the end of the world if we cut cable- but definitely will miss The History Channel and The Military Channel )

That aside, I have recently discovered a site called Shelfari. Shelfari is a site that let you place books you've read, you plan on reading, and you are currently reading on a virtual bookshelf. It let's the user rate and review the book and even let users join groups base off of which genre the reader likes to read or by a reader's age group.

That said, I had decided to remove the book section out of Knuckles Reviews and replace 'em with the virtual bookshelf that you'll see over at the Book Reviews Page over at Knuckles Reviews. (It took me awhile to settle on a new layout and then customize it. But I think that is the layout and design I'm going to settle with for now) If you click on the books there, it'll bring you over to my Shelfari account. I know there aren't that many books on there right now but I am currently trying to remember all the books I've read since junior high school, rate 'em, review 'em, and put 'em on Shelfari. You read me right, all of the books I've read since jr. high. So it might take awhile but hey, it's on my To-Do list, I'll complete it, eventually.

So don't forget that Knuckles Reviews is still there and if you'd like to review anything or want anything reviewed, you can always contact me!

Next order of business is in regards to this blog. I know I have been lacking at my posts and I apologize. I know I posted a blog about A Change but truth be told I haven't been doing real good at changing anything. I am not afraid to say that I failed at trying to change this blog around, maybe I'm just not ready for the next steps of blogging...

Anyways, if you know me, you know that September does not come easy for me. (Especially towards the end of the month) In order to deal with everything, I tend to pack everything into September so I'll have less free time. The more free time I have, the more I think. The more I think, the more I miss my old life. And that ends to lead to a huge depression hole that I am already trying to get out of. The depression hole truly does not need to be deeper or wider. So, the less free time I have during September, the better.

That pretty much explains why I haven't been posting a lot lately. Either that was an explanation or an excuse. Either way, I apologize again and truly hope that I will find the time to write more (hopefully my brain will collaborate and be in a writing mood) There is a lot of things in this blog that is kind of in a stalemate situation so hopefully, hopefully some time soon I can get the wheel spinning. Thanks for so understanding guys and thank you for reading my blog. Also a huge thank you for my followers and people who are still reading my almost 30,000 tweets since I joined Twitter.

Lastly, here's this week's Weekly Tunes, personally picked by my good friend Cody Allen aka Allen (and yes he is on Twitter, tweet at him and say hi!)

I Don't Have To Be Me ('Til Monday) by Steve Azar

New Business: Web Comics

My friend Kert and I were talking about jobs. We both agreed that we need a job and somehow got into the conversation of starting our own business. At first it was a general fun and games then came my somewhat genius idea:

Me: or you know what we can do. start a web comic site. like cyanide&happiness! all of their different artists are from all over the world! and they're famous!
Kert: omg yes!
Me: i mean it we should start! start small like on a blog or something and then go big with our own domain!
Kert: OMG YES!
Me: LET'S DO IT!
Kert: I'm totally down

I designed this using GIMP
© 2010 QKnuckles

So, what started as a jokingly idea is now coming together into something that is potentially amazing. Kert and I both have the means to actually start a web comics "business" and we're truly excited to start this process. Who knows, a two-man/woman team might grow into a squad someday.

Before we can get started, however, Kert and I need your help. We would like to hear your suggestion for a web comic title! Any suggestions would be great! No idea is too lame or no suggestion is too stupid! If you have a suggestion (or suggestions) for this web comic, please leave a comment or contact me!

A Change

This blog was written on Monday, May 10, 2010. I posted this entry after I've receive contact and permission from Mr. Michael Hyatt- CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers- to include his name and November 29th, 2009's entry "DO YOU MAKE THESE 10 MISTAKES WHEN YOU BLOG?" on this blog entry. Thank you, Mr. Hyatt for granting me permission.

I didn't know who Mr. Michael Hyatt is before I joined Twitter. I had heard about Thomas Nelson Publishers (largest Christian publishing company in the world and the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S.- (You can read and find out more about Mr. Hyatt's work, blog, and site here) but I had no idea who the CEO is. Well that is until I read a RT (Re-tweet for you people who doesn't use Twitter- which by the way why aren't you? Check out Mr. Hyatt's 12 Reasons to Start Twittering and start tweeting!) of Mr. Hyatt's tweets by one of the people that I follow.

And after several clicks, I found myself in Mr. Hyatt's blog and site MichaelHyatt.com and reading everything and anything I can written by Mr. Hyatt (subject varies from Leadership, to Productivity, to Publishing, Resources, and even Social Media) I was extremely intrigued by the blog posts he's written and extremely fund of his ways of sharing his leadership skills with his reader.

From that day on, I not only knew who Mr. Hyatt is, but I've subscribed to all of his blog spots through Google Reader and soon, follow him on Twitter

Over the weekend, Mr. Hyatt tweet about one of the blog he wrote back in November titled "DO YOU MAKE THESE 10 MISTAKES WHEN YOU BLOG?" I'm not sure why I missed that post but it caught my eyes and reading on about it, I realized my blog needs a change.

The 10 mistakes, Mr. Hyatt said are:

• You don’t post enough.
  
• You post too much.
  
• Your post is too long.
  
• You don’t invite engagement.
  
• You don’t participate in the conversation.
  
• You don’t make your content accessible.
  
• You don’t create catchy headlines.
  
• Your first paragraph is weak.
  
• Your post is off-brand.
  
• Your post is about YOU.
  

And well...I'm going to say that I've made A LOT of the 10 mistakes. In fact, I'm pretty sure I am making mistake #2 right now (Your post is too long) So, inspired by Mr. Hyatt's post, I'm going to make some changes around here. Meaning, from now on. I am going to try and make less mistakes on my posts. Wish me luck because I'm going to need it.

Thanks again, Mr. Hyatt, for letting me write about you and permitting me to talk and use your blog post "DO YOU MAKE THESE 10 MISTAKES WHEN YOU BLOG?", you truly are an inspiration, Mr. Hyatt. Thank you

Happy 101 Award

About two days ago, a good friend and one of my follower @mommytaco gave me this blog award. So a huge thank you to her It sure is an honor to be receiving this award

Since this is my first time getting this kind of an award, I guess I'm just going to copy and paste a lot of the things. Sorry for being such a noob!

The Rules:
1. Thank the person you received the award from.
2. Name 10 things that make you happy.
3. Share the love and contact the lucky winners!

10 things that make me happy are:
1. Football
2. Sarah and Dad- We keep each other strong in the most difficult days of our lives.
3. Nicole- Just reading that name makes me smile, hope she's doing well at OSUT
4. Twitter Family- Those who knows just want to say to cheer me up and those who knows what to say to make me cry also. I gained a sister and lost a Mom, but through Twitter I've gained many more Moms and siblings. You guys rule.
5. My chair- where would I be without you?
6. Internet- Without you, there wouldn't be Twitter or Hulu!
7. Army- even though I hate you sometimes, you still make me very happy/proud
8. Dosh- Best pet and service dog ever.
9. School- Yes I know, I'm a nerd.
10. Mom- no matter where you are, you'll always make me happy. You'll always be my Mama and I'll always love you.

10 blogs that make me happy:
The Official Google Blog- where would I (we) be without Google?
Knottie's Niche- My Twitter Mom that always knows what to say.
Empty Nest, PCS, and All the Rest- Another Twitter Mom that treats me as her own son and care about me more than I will probably ever realize.
Nadine- Someone who treats me like her own son and is on my "cooking advisory board."
Ashh- Well...because you're Ashh
Kert- Because often times, we share the same thoughts.
Lizz- The Azn sister I never have, you rule, Lizz.
Carlos- My brother in arms
Sara- Because Rigel and her are both awesome.
Erica- HellcatBetty- Because her words crack me up. She's part of the "Late-night" club and so much more.

Thanks again @mommytaco for giving me this award.

My Purpose In Life

When I write, I don't usually touch base on subjects that might seems controversy and subjects that would start unnecessary arguments and debates. Thus, I tend to avoid writing about religion and politics.

But something happened that caught me off guard last week I feel I must share with those who are willing to read it.

As I have said on January 8th, I had a great talk with my friend's Dad (a Pastor at a local Presbyterian Church) about religion and the differences between all these different "kinds" of Christianity. I think ever since I got to middle school, I've been pondering about God, Christianity, and religion as a whole. Though I am baptized into a Catholic family, I wonder about other branches of Christianity and just how different they are from Catholic beliefs.

So after talking to Pastor S, this strange feeling came over me. It's not a bad feeling at all, it's the same feeling when you helped someone across the street or when you donated money anonymously to a much needed organization. It's a heart-warming feeling. And I got the same feeling after reading the materials that Pastor S gave me.

With my parents' permission, I went to Church with my friends for last couple Sundays. Before the sermon, there's Worship (basically the singing part if you don't know what Worship is) then small prayer before the Pastor start preaching. Truly, I didn't feel like he was preaching to me, I felt more as if he's talking to me and laughing about daily happenings with everyone else who attended Church. Why I have never felt that way when I go to Mass, I'm not truly sure.

Anyways, for the last two Sundays, the Pastor talked about idolatry. And at the end of last week's service, my friend's sister (a 4th grader) handed me a booklet with this small activity that she and the entire family was doing. On one paged was to list your idols. Here are some of mine (thought of it on the spot):

1. Football
2. Success
3. Jealousy
4. Money
5. New and cool Chairs

And on the other page was the question that stomped me.

"What did God made you for?"

And like that, it felt as if God was talking right to me. "What did I made you for?" A forth grader whom I hardly know put me in my place like no one ever did before. I stared at the question for a few moments before Pastor S said, "She's got you thinking on your toes, doesn't she?"

I answered, "Yes, sir. She sure did."

I truly didn't know what to write because I truly didn't know the answer. So finally I wrote down:

I don't know what God made me for nor do I know my purpose in life yet. But I sure hope I can find out soon.

I'm not a man who is huge on religion. But I do believe in God and what He has in store for all of us. And strangely enough, it is only on Sunday when I truly think about Sean, about death, and wonder why with every answer about religion there is more that follows. I wonder about His ways and what He made me for. And last Sunday, through a 4th grader, I think somehow God was trying to tell me something.

I'm not sure what He's trying to tell me. But I'm sure ready to listen.

Off topic: I've gotten a lot of emails/IMs/contacts asking about this "Nicole" character. If you must know, Nicole and I have been friends since I can remember. We grew up together and our Dads knew each other since WAY back when (not to call 'em old or anything...) How close is my family with Nicole's? Well, Nicole and her Mom wished me luck before the game that day. Nicole and her Mom was sitting next to my parents on the stands and they drove my parents to the hospital. So that should give you a hint how good of a family friend we are.

After the surprise visit from Nicole, I asked her to come to the Pat Green concert with me and I asked her out. So that's who this "Nicole" character is, guys.

Anyways, thanks to those who have been asking how the concert went with Nicole and how we are doing. Again, the concert was great, you can read more about it on the bottom of my last blog.

I'd also like to take this moment to thank all of my readers. You may not be following me through Google Profile, you may not be constantly leaving me comments, but I know there are a lot of you lurking in the shadows reading my every blog. There's no way of saying how thankful I am you guys' support.

Truly, thank you for reading.

Random Thoughts

If you haven't noticed, my random thoughts are rather...long...

That's what she said...

ANYWAYS! Moving on....

1. Sorry for those who are just so eager to see/read my new blog and read/see my other blog that I'm going to start. Life's been pretty crazy right now and...well the plan to release the reviews blog didn't happen when I wanted to. I'm setting a goal for myself to have the reviews blog up by the end of the month. And hopefully this blog will be transferred over to Blogspot by the end of February.

If that doesn't happen, go easy on me will ya? I got 2 concerts to go to within the next two weeks. Then I got colleges visits coming up in February and March. So hopefully this entire blog ordeal can be over before I actually get to college!

2. Last night, just before I went to bed I tweet something that was kind of long/general but at the same time, for my good friend Elizabeth. Now I'd like to share it with you guys. Hopefully, that someday everyone may experience life through death. (When did I become so..."strange" with words?! I can still remember how I used to write...scary thought to look back at my old work)

When I was younger, I often hated the fact I'm part of a military family. Not because of the moving, not because of making new friends, but I was constantly surrounded by death. By the time I was in elementary school, I went to more funerals and memorial service than I can count. I knew what other kids my age didn't know. I knew that death isn't just about that "farm in the sky" or the fact that someone is "sleeping now." I was surrounded by death and I never really enjoyed it, I never really liked the idea. And truly, I constantly wish that it's something that we as humans can avoid.

But now, I don't mind it as much. Maybe it's because I've grown. Maybe it's because I've experience more than just death itself. I've experienced life through death.

Seeing my friends and people around my age crushed by the death of a close family member or a dear friend hurts me and in turn wish that there was something I can do for 'em. But I can't, they must experience life through death also.

Ultimately, I'm glad I got to experience death so early in life. I'm glad that with deaths brought me knowledge, experience, and the will to live life to the fullest by challenging and questioning myself, constantly.

If I can have one wish and one wish in the world. Is to let everyone experience life through death. Then maybe, death wouldn't be so difficult to endure. Then maybe, people may realize that death is not the end but rather, a beginning.

Take care of yourself, Elizabeth. And like I said to Sean, "It's never goodbye, it's only see you later."

3. For those who have been asking about my family and how Sarah is doing, all I can say is fine and ok. The drama earlier with my parents seem to have been put away (but hopefully it's completely solved)

Dad haven't been himself lately and I don't dare to ask. Maybe it's got to do with work, with Mom, Sarah, me, or other stress an adult got to handle. So, I leave that be. (Though we've had several good talks when we are outside smoking- strange how something so bad for you can also be great...)

Mom's been doing good (or great?) she spend the weekend in Las Vegas- LUCKY!- for the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) -DOUBLE LUCKY!- and just got back yesterday. I think she's still enjoy her maturity leave and the time with Sarah. She's going back to work soon though, so haha for her!

Sarah's doing great. Well as great as a sleeping, crying, eating, and pooping machine can be! Can't believe she's almost 2.5 months old! Sure felt like we just brought her home yesterday!

Dosh is doing fine. About a week after Sarah came home, I am convinced that Dosh no longer likes me. Or rather, have a new favorite pal, Sarah. (Dosh's been sleeping in the nursery ever since Sarah came home) Guess in a way I should be glad I got someone to look out for Sarah when I leave for college.

4. Picked up several books that looks pretty amazing. After I read 'em (I'm still currently reading "Cheating Death", by the way...) I'll be sure to do a review on 'em for you guys (the reviews will be on the reviews blog...which, look over at thought #1 for more...) and if you read the book already and think they are just so horrible, I shouldn't even touch 'em, let me know!

The Books are:

D-Day by Antont Beevor
Valkyrie: An Insider's Account of the Plot to Kill Hitler by Hans Bernd Gisevius
Moment of Truth in Iraq by Michael Yon
None Left Behind: The 10th Mountain Division And the Triangle of Death by Charles W. Sasser
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
From Baghdad to America: Life Lessons from a Dog Named Lava by Jay Kopelman- If you haven't read From Baghdad, With Love, you should! It's an amazing book! I'll be reading it again sometimes in the future (most likely before I read From Baghdad to America) and do a review on that also.
Shadow of the Sword: A Marine's Journey of War, Heroism, and Redemption by Jeremiah Workman

5. Got a surprise visit today at school from a good friend of mine whom I haven't seen since Freshman year. She's a brat also and with the PCSing and so on, we haven't seen each other for at least 3 years. (Nicole was one of my friends that truly stick around and helped me and my family out when I got hurt, she's a great person) It was sure a nice surprise to see her standing next to my car today when I got out of school.

Nicole and I talked and we did a lot of catching up on what's been happening for the last three years. Where each of us been, what we've been doing, and so on.

I told her my plans for college and she surprised me with "I enlisted". (She's the last person I'd thought who would enlist- her parents got a lot to do with it also) But she enlisted (31 Bravo) and shipping out soon.

I told her about Sarah and she hit me with a "I met her already, she looks just like you."

I said, "You look good." she answered with "You too and your chair does too."

I didn't want to talk about the chair or the accident but somehow she convinced me to. I think this is the first time I've ever talk so deeply about my injury with someone my age. And just as things get serious, she would make me smile about the crazy things we used to do.

We had an early dinner with Nicole and her family later on. It was great to connect with 'em and talking with 'em again. Sure hope we keep talking for a long time, hate to not being able to talk or keep in touch with such a good friend.

Overall, today's been a long day but it was a good day. A really good day.