Latte Fiction Part 1

I'm sitting on this beautifully hand crafted piece of chair in a coffee shop with a cup of latte on this coffee table. Typical and usual days of hanging out with your laptop inside a coffee shop. It is a tropical country but people like my age would spend most time hanging out in a coffee shop than wander in a mall and do shopping.

It was a boring afternoon. I decided to log in to a chat room and maybe look for someone to talk to. Then I got one, buzzing my screen three times.

"Hi! ASL?", he asked.

"Hello! ASL?", I said.

"I asked you first, why would you not answer first?"

"Why? Is there such a rule on that? I'm sorry, when I got here I didn't get to read rules or whatever."

His name was Craig. Our first meeting was on a yahoo chat room. I don't like him at all. But later on, I seem to like his rudeness.

"I like that in a girl. You are a girl, right?"

"Why are you asking? You don't talk to guys?"

Craig was persistent. He never give up. And so I fell in love. It was a great 4 years together. Those were the times that I've got to learn to live a life online. I am the type that don't like to listen to people telling me things even if they are right. I just don't want to listen. I am a self confess brat.

More of Me

Just sharing some pics of me.

Photos: Beach

Photography: Flowers

Last weekend I spent another day at the beach. I am not a beach bum but I would like to just go out there because the waters always make my mind at ease. I am also trying to make Thalassophobia go away. Yes, I fear the sea.

Other thing that I love about going to the beaches is that there are pretty flowers that you could not see in the city. You can see them somewhere but not everyday.

Promises are not Made to be Broken

I have been recruiting transcriptionist to do some outsourced work for me since I can not do it all on my own. The agreement was just verbal since they were a graduate of the school I am working with. Doing transcription jobs is part time for me. I don't do medical transcriptions because according Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( HIPAA 1996), recorded medical files are confidential and it requires a thorough editing and proofreading job. For some, they do it as a stay-at-home job but still I would like the quality over quantity. It doesn't matter if it pays a lot more than general or business transcriptions, what matter is I am able to deliver a quality service to the client.

Again, going back to the agreement made last week, I was happy to know that I got eight files and I only need 3-4 transcriptionists that can type fast, has a computer and internet at home and the attitude that once they accepted the agreement they would do their part of the deal. It turned out to be the other way around. I was left doing all the eight files and now I have another 7 files to finish until tomorrow.

I know we did not sign any papers on this. Trust doesn't have to begin with signing a paper, it starts with the word, YES.

The Many Uses of Twitter

When I offered to write this blog for my sister, Hunee, I don't think I knew what I was getting into.  "The Many Uses of Twitter."  I could write a whole wiki on this.  Let's start with some basics, then I'll leave you with some teasers of the more advanced features.  

If you don't already know(you need to keep up!), Twitter is a microblogging community.  What this means is that you are given a very small space(140 characters) to say what ever you want and the community and your friends can respond to it.  This also makes twitter a great place for conversation, because no one can get too long winded in an answer.  It forces a give and take style of communication, which is very healthy.  

Now if we look a little beyond the blogging aspect and the conversation aspect, you can begin to see so much more.  Because of the large community, it's a great place to poll people for answers, or to seek help if you are in a dilemma.  I've gotten just over 600 followers, so if I'm doing some research, as I was the other night, answers start coming fast.  I sent out a short survey:  "What is your blog about?"  Within seconds answers started coming to me.  I ended up with two pages of answers from people that range from close friends, to people that I had never really spoken to.  Needless to say that was more than I expected and I got a very good idea of what the casual blogger writes about.

If we want to take Twitter a step further, we can use other websites and applications to enhance it via it's open API.  Here's a short bullet list of some of the communities favorites:

• Twitterfeed - Let's you plug any RSS feed in, and then it autoposts these entries every so often.
• Twitpic - Allows you to share photos with your Twitter friends.
• Tweeterboard - Shows you who's most active in the Twitterverse.
• Tweetstats - Allows you to see personal statics about your usage.
• Twitterfone - Still very beta, but allows you to call an 800 number and talk, it records the message and then attempts to transcribe it as a tweet.

There are literally hundreds of programs like this that can help you enhance your twitter experience and build upon the way you use this very simple site.

You can post tweets via the web interface, IM, SMS, and through many third party client programs.  Twitter is very versatile, and simplistic in use, making it easy for anyone to use.  

Twitter can be used to promote things.  Take, for example, my current writing project, Twitter Travels, funded for the last 2 months almost entirely by Twitter users(or Twits).  Many people use Twitter for blog and project promotion, but to do only that would be limiting yourself greatly. 

On another note, Twits are trying very hard to make this online community a real life community.  Check out Greg Barnett's TweetUpLA, which I was privilegedenough to be able to attend.  It was a great success and he's going to be doing another in October.  

So as I said, I could go on about this forever, but I think this is enough for one blog post.  Maybe in a few days Hunee will let me do a sequel to cover all the many things I could not here.

Cheers,

Jack Lhasa

Jack Lhasa is a traveling writer, currently traveling the state of California.  He writes for Twitter Travels, as well as Loki Listens.  Jack Lhasa does many, many guest blogs and public appearances(Like I'm a superstar, right?).  Jack is always willing to meet you for a drink or lunch if you're close by.

Writing

I don't have idea why I write. Do you?

I simply want others to understand me through my writing. It sucks, I know, but I don't care at all. I just want to tell you that I exist and I got something to say. I am better for I have write whatever I stood up for.

I do believe that what you say and write should match for if you have said this and have delayed writing about this, soon other would have to doubt you. It is common to say for the betterment of mankind, but were you even better to yourself?

I just can't wait for Sunday. I love the beach, I love burning my skin, I love the water, I love the fun, I love the glasses, I love the food, I just love the beach. I'm gonna choose the green bikini top for now.

I have been giving too much and I'd like to give something to myself but I don't want to spend money from my wallet. For 5 times, I tried to click the Flickr Pro Account Purchase but I always cancel in the end. Since I like to have lots of pics posted since I am getting that camera I always wanted, would you like to pay for my Flickr Pro Account?

This is silly but I just want to let this thought out loud. Not really wanting to beg but if you would want to give, why the hell not.

Consider this as a rant to myself for I've neglected myself too much and I am supposed to love me or even have that little bit of crush for myself now.

Consider this post as another hit to my face. This is another wake up call. I have to give something to myself.