Is It Worth It Doing Paid Posts?

It’s been a question which many of us bloggers have been asking ourselves ever since blogging for money became a fad some time ago. Does having paid posts on our blogs corrupt the ‘purity’ of blogging? I know that it’s quick and easy money and no wonder many bloggers don’t have the heart to reject an opportunity from certain ‘blogging for money websites’.

Hah! If I were offered $20 to write a 100-word post, I don’t think I could pass it up! $20 is like RM60. Even a job at Kumon only pays RM4 an hour. This is RM60 and I can definitely write the article in less than an hour.

But then, in truth, people don’t enjoy visiting blogs that are full of paid posts. I know I don’t. People visit blogs to read the real stuff, real experiences and not fake opinions on some products that they have never and will never use. Some bloggers even write one paid post after another! I thought the rule was to write a non-paid post after a paid post. Hmm, some people are just too greedy, it seems.

Think about it. Having paid posts in your blog actually drives your readers away. Well, maybe it’ll attract the ones who do paid posts too. Maybe they are there for another reason, which is to spy on how you write! It’s not easy to write about bad credit or mortgages or other serious topics.

So, what do you think? I used to do paid posts for this blog but unfortunately, this blog received no more opportunities! =D Since then, I stopped writing paid posts in this blog. Anyhow, if someone were to offer me $20 to write a 100 words article on some product, I would have to say that I wouldn’t mind at all! See, some things are just too hard to say no to.

Horrible, Healthy Housework

Oh what the heck? I'm so in the blogging mood right now and my topic for today will be 'Housework'!

You heard that right? What could there possibly be anything to say about something as mundane as housework? Well, I'll share with you my experience of doing housework and the benefits it could bring.

We all know that if you clean something, it'll be clean right? I'm sure most people like to see clean things. I can't possibly imagine anyone who prefers dirty things like dirt, grease and cobwebs.

Anyway, my point is when you do housework, your house will be clean! If you live in a clean home, it'll be a pleasant and happy home. There will be no disorder, no mess, no tripping over stuff lying about the floor, no disgusted look on guests' faces, etc. Of course, if you knew that guests are coming, you'll quickly do some cleaning here and there, right??? Maybe you'll only clean where you think the guests are more likely to see. Hehe!

Besides having a clean house, you'll get your exercise when you do housework. For example, you'll be exercising your hand and arm muscles when you wash the dishes, scrub the bathroom, sweep and mop the floor, etc. As for leg exercises, well, cleaning the bathroom again, jumping up and down to clear cobwebs on ceilings that are low, bending and squatting when sweeping under your beds and lots more. Housework is absolutely diversified!

Truthfully, I don't fancy doing housework myself. I know that it brings a lot of good but I'm just too lazy sometimes. My mom will tell me to sweep the floor, mop the floor, clean my room, etc. Only when I'm in the mood, then I'll gladly help out with the housework. And guess what? I like to see the results. A cleaner home!

What do you people think? Do you like housework? Hit me with comments!

The New Pink

Oh wow! I didn't know that pink could look so good...hehe! I've been scouring around the internet for nice-looking, arty templates so that I can use it for this blog. The previous 'Music is Life' blog was nice but I think this built-in template is better and more convenient for me. It doesn't take long to load too.

Yeah, my RSS feed is looking oh-so-fine. Everything is working perfectly, I think. And, I've never been more happier with my blog's layout!

Do you know about Blogskins.com? Over there, anyone can upload their work and self-designed templates and anyone can download them to use it on their own blogs. I've seen lots of really nice layouts and wish I could use them for my blog. Unfortunately, there's either something wrong somewhere and I don't want to use them. You know, you just want that perfect layout so you'll never complain later! That's what I was looking for.

And now, I've just discovered this pinky layout. I'm not really a pink kind of person, I'm more of blue, but since this pink looks nice, I might as well use and keep it! Hehe! Everything looks neat, nice, and most importantly, in order.

I'm feeling quite guilty now cos I'm not studying. That's what I should be doing now actually! I have a test on Thursday. Truth is, I'm a little bored of studying. I'd rather go online, read blogs, update on my dying blog, and if I can, I just want to read my story books. I have a huge stack just waiting for me. But if I start reading, then I won't be able to stop. And if I can't stop, then I won't be studying for any exam! =(

So...I guess this is the end. For now. Who knows when my next post will be. Maybe next week, or on Wednesday, or tomorrow or even 10 minutes later! Nothing can be predicted when it comes to me. LOL!

The Over-Achiever

Have you noticed that young people or students nowadays have a long list of extra-curricular activities? I know that the more extra-curricular activities you have, the higher the chance you’ll get a much-coveted scholarship, right?

I was at a students’ forum the other day and one girl introduced herself in the Introduction section. She also mentioned that she’s something like an extra-curricular addict and listed out all her achievements. They were assistant head prefect, sports house captain, president of some club, secretary of another club, and a list of other posts she managed to snap up during school.

Compared to hers, my list of extra-curricular looks darn pathetic. Even if I had combined 5 years’ worth of activities, they still wouldn’t match up with hers! Haha! That was a mere exaggeration. But I did participate in a few activities though I got bored of them later on partly because very few of friends were interested as well.

Anyway, that girl’s schedule must be pretty tight. Does she have time to study or do anything for herself? Yeah, I know that youngsters nowadays have tons of energy to do lots of things but I find it really hard to believe.

Well, it can make people envy you if you’ve been extremely active during school. But then, I doubt if they had set apart some free time for themselves. Do correct me if I’m wrong, though!

Movie Review: A Walk to Remember

I guess some people who watched this movie cried during the sad parts. A Walk to Remember is based on a book written by Nicholas Sparks.

Landon Carter (Shane West) and his group of friends were up to no good one night. They caused a new student to hit his head and injure himself. But only Landon was caught and was punished. He had to tutor some kids, do community service, and join the drama club. It’s during drama practice that Landon got to know Jamie (Mandy Moore) better.

Jamie is the reverend’s daughter. She’s prim, proper, and unpopular. Even if she were the last girl on earth, Landon would never think of dating her. By the way, Landon needed help with his lines for the drama they were practicing and he asked Jamie to help him. She agreed to help on one condition, that is, he should not fall in love with her. Landon laughed and said that it wasn’t a problem.

But their friendship lasted only for a while. He embarrassed her in front of his friends and she didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. They still went for drama rehearsals but barely spoke with each other. When they passed each other in the school hallway, they don’t look at each other too. But then they’ll still look back to check on each other. =) Without the other person knowing, of course. Hmm…I think it was only Jamie who turned around to check on Landon.

Anyway, the day of the drama came. Jamie looked so stunning that Landon was completely taken aback. He even took the opportunity to kiss her while they were acting. That made one of Landon’s girl friends jealous.

And then after drama day, he kept chasing her, telling her that he had feelings for her and that she shouldn’t deny her feelings for him too. There was a lot of fighting, crying, pushing away, but they became a couple in the end.

What Landon didn’t know was that Jamie had a deep, dark secret. Well, don’t we all? The reason Jamie told Landon not to fall in love with her was because of that secret. She’s not sure if Landon could deal with it.

A Walk to Remember is a sweet, heartrending and tear-jerking movie. it’s not your normal teen flick but you’ll like watching it all the same. Plus, I like the song ‘Someday We’ll Know’ sung by Mandy Moore and Jonathan Foreman.

Movie Review: The Kite Runner

I have just watched The Kite Runner and I think it’s a very powerful movie. A beyond powerful movie! I have to read that book later!

Anyway, The Kite Runner tells the story of two young boys who are the best of friends. One boy is rich, Amir, and the other boy, Hassan, is Amir’s father’s servant’s son. But then, they set aside their differences and enjoyed hanging out with each other, like what friends normally do.

Hassan is the most loyal friend that you could ever find. He’d do absolutely anything for Amir but Amir is too selfish and thinks only for himself. The truth is, Amir is a downright lousy friend and poor Hassan can’t do anything about it.

When Hassan was being bullied by some older boys, Amir only hid and watched poor Hassan suffer. And all the time, Hassan had been defending Amir. The older boys told Hassan that Amir only played with him when there’s nobody else around to play with but Hassan was too loyal.

My heart went out to Hassan during that scene. If I could, I wanted to punch Amir in the face for not helping his best friend. This movie can really bring out the emotional side of you but that’s the right to do, isn’t it? Amir should have helped his friend. One of the older boys even raped Hassan. Now, that’s just terrible. The older boys looked down on Hassan because he’s only a servant’s son.

After that, Hassan and Amir never played with each other again. Amir even had the audacity to accuse Hassan of being a coward! Now that’s too much. Why did Hassan ever bother to stick with this selfish fella?

Well, soon the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Amir and his father escaped to the United States and they stayed there for many years. Amir graduated from college and wanted to become a writer. Yeah, he was always writing stories too when he was young and he would read to Hassan, who probably didn’t know how to read then.

Amir fell in love with a general’s daughter and got married. They’ve tried to have kids but they weren’t successful. One day, Amir got a call from Afghanistan. It’s his father’s friend whose health was deteriorating and he asked Amir to return. When Amir got back to Afghanistan, he received shocking new information from his father’s old friend. News regarding Hassan that would change his life forever, I presume.

Friendship, betrayal, loyalty, cowardice, war, cruelty, kindness, compassion, regret….that’s what The Kite Runner is all about. It’s a wonderful, incredible movie and I strongly recommend you to watch it.