If you won a million dollars what would you do with it?

I'd give $100K to my church. I'd give $200K to my mother. Then I'll buy a house with $300-400K. I'll save/invest the rest.

Ask me anything

LOST Wins Two Saturn Awards

Just as I expected, LOST rocked the Saturn Awards with another Best Network Television Series win. Not only that, Josh Holloway won the Best Actor on Television award, even beating Matthew Fox! LOST's Season 5 DVD set also won the Best DVD Television Release. Congrats!!!

Fringe also grabbed two awards: Anna Torv won the Best Actress on Television award (beating, among others, Evangeline Lilly) and Leonard Nimoy won the Best Guest Starring Role on Television award (beating, among others, Mark Pellegrino). Fringe's co-creators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman also received the George Pal Memorial Award for their "unending imagination and dedication to creating amazing genre-bending blockbusters at the movies and on television".

Julie Benz (Dexter) beat Elizabeth Mitchell (LOST) and Morena Baccarin (V) for the Best Supporting Actress on Television award. Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul also beat LOST's Jeremy Davies and Michael Emerson and Fringe's John Noble for the Best Supporting Actor on Television award.

Avatar swept the film awards, including the acting honours. I think Inglourious Basterds' Melanie Laurent (Best Actress) and Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor) should have won their respective categories, though. Or is it just because I'm nuts about Inglourious Basterds? Hehe... And, oh, Inglourious Basterds won the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film award! Woot woot!!!

So if the Emmys ignore LOST, its awesome actors, or both, I won't feel so bad. I have more respect for the Saturn Awards now than for the Emmys because the former gives LOST the recognition it deserves.

What did you dream about last night?

I can't remember. All I know is that it was kinda weird. Big surprise. :)

Ask me anything

Formspring.me Rocks

Thank God for formspring.me. I just connected my formspring.me account to my Blogger account! If you've read the previous two posts, then you'd know I've taken advantage of this nifty little tool.

So if I don't have any decent blog posts to write, I'd just go to my formspring.me account and answer questions.

Mwahahahahahahahaha...

What would be the best workplace perk?

Telecommuting, definitely. Extreme weather (snowstorms and heat waves) can be a hassle when you have tons of work to do.

Ask me anything

Would you rather be a famous musician or a famous actor?

Neither. I prefer to be a famous writer.

Ask me anything

Kelly Clarkson & Chris Daughtry Should Collaborate... Seriously.

I had heard about Kelly Clarkson's duet with Chris Daughtry, but I hadn't seen it until now.

Check out the YouTube clip below!



Weren't they awesome? They sounded great together and "Fast Car" was an amazing song choice.

Now, I hope they collaborate on a song - or two or ten - for Kelly's next album or for Daughtry's next record. That would be freaking awesome.

Like I Didn't Know This

You Are an Insomniac

It's likely that this quiz confirms what you already know - you have insomnia. It's difficult for you to sleep well through the night, and it's having a bad effect on your life. You should probably seek treatment for your insomnia ... or at least try some home remedies. Consider giving up caffeine and sticking to a sleep schedule. Everyone deserves a full night of rest.

Are You An Insomniac?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Kelly Rowland Drops on September 21st

It's gonna be a busy late summer and early fall.

First, I have Basic Copy Editing from August 23rd to 26th. Second, the LOST Season 6 and LOST Complete Series DVD/Blu-Ray sets are released on August 24th. Third, the Fringe Season 2 DVD/Blu-Ray set comes out on September 14th.

Now, a much-anticipated album release: Digital Spy reports that Kelly Rowland's self-titled third album will be released on September 21st.

Ms. Kelly describes her new album as having "a modern Donna Summer feel with definitely more of a thump." Sounds interesting, ain't it? And have y'all seen the covers for her singles "Grown Woman" and "Rose Colored Glasses"? I'm digging the giant afro look!

I can't wait for Ms. Kelly's new album!

No Wonder I'm Insomniac

You Shine at Midday and Midnight

You're the type of person who has trouble waking up in the morning, but you're good to go after a while. And just when everyone else is going to bed, you make a comeback late at night. You have a lot of energy, and you tend to go at full speed. You thrive during the summer when the world is alive at almost any hour.

When Do You Shine?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

So Emotional

You Are an Emotional Artist

You're the type of artist who creates because you are moved. It's like it's not even a choice. Your art is all about expressing yourself, and to be honest, you don't really care about what others think of it. You are in love with the things that you create. Every piece of art you've made has great meaning to you. You don't beat yourself up if your art isn't perfect. If you're happy with what it says, then that's all you could ask for.

What Type of Artist Are You?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

iPad or Amazon Kindle?

Image by mikebaird via Flickr

The book nerd in me wants to know if I should buy an iPad or an Amazon Kindle?

Did I say I was a nerd?

Last week, I was in Best Buy at Bellingham, Washington. I was looking for a new digital camera, while my nephew was looking at SLR cameras. We went to the Apple section and played with iPads. Wanna guess which icon I pressed first? That's right: the iBooks app. It was fun going from one book to another. It's just like reading a physical book! Stephen King's Under The Dome was in the library and I almost started reading it. (I got the hardcover edition as a Christmas gift.) Do y'all realize how many more books I can read on the iBooks app? A lot more. I won't even have to worry about buying gigantic hardcover books, like the aforementioned Stephen King book and Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. But there's not much else that I want in the iPad (aside from the iBooks and watching TV episodes on a bigger monitor) so spending CAD $549 on it is nuts. I could buy a new BlackBerry phone with that amount.

On the other hand, the Amazon Kindle is strictly for reading books, newspapers, and magazines. You can even read your own documents. The original device is small enough for my needs, but I think the new Kindle is as big as the iPad. Plus I can download books quickly, thanks to the Kindle's global 3G wireless coverage. It costs USD $259 or approximately CAD $267, about half the cost of an iPad.

Regardless of what I decide to get, I would save physical library space (although I don't have an actual physical library) and my mother won't freak out every time I buy a new book from Chapters, Black Bond Books, or Amazon. Also, the books cost less than the bookstore list price.

Or maybe I should just stick to reading the plain old book?

Who's Got A Cure For Insomnia?

As I was writing about the possible correlation between my insomnia and my writer's block on Adrienne's Notebook, I saw some articles on the Zemanta content recommendations sidebar saying that chronic insomnia may shorten one's life.

Say what???

Well, that makes sense, if you consider the health consequences of poor sleep. But a 20-year population-based study claims that chronic insomnia actually increases one's mortality risk by at least 150% (or 2.5 times more).

Um, no, I don't want to die early. I don't mind dying, just dying early.

So, I decided to take action. I downloaded a free app named iRelax Melodies from the iTunes Store. So far, it has helped me sleep faster with the relaxing music it plays (hence, the app name). The sound of ocean waves - as if I were on a deserted Island as one of Jacob's candidates - unsurprisingly puts me to sleep faster than watching The Weather Network or reading books in bed. On early morning Wednesday (1:30ish), I quickly fell asleep and I felt way more rested when I woke up at 5:45 AM than on any other work day. Of course, it's only been two days, so I can't say it has cured my insomnia. But it's one step towards it.

So I guess I should say goodbye to the TV movies on The W Network or to Biography on A & E, eh?

Gleefully Sunny

You Are Sunny

You are an upbeat, positive person who refuses to get too down in the dumps. You realize that life is short, and you know you're going to try to have as much fun as possible! You try to laugh, play, and love every day. You believe that happiness is a choice. You take your responsibilities seriously, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself in the process.

Are You Sunny, Cloudy, or Stormy?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Glee gets a special mention in the title because tonight's the season finale!!!

Give Up The Funk!

After four weeks without watching Glee, I finally caught a new episode on its original broadcast. Last night's new episode gave me two new favourite songs.

"Give Up The Funk":


Such a fun song! I wanted to get up and dance the whole time. Loved it!

"Tell Me Something Good":


It got very hot in my bedroom when Will Schuester sang this song to Sue Sylvester. That Matthew Morrison is very sexy.

I'm still sad that last night was the second Tuesday night without LOST. *Sigh*

Gonna Be A Guru

The writing/editing jobs I like on iFreelance are scarce right now. I have lost three projects to other writers/editors - that's three more than the number of projects I've won. Once, I stayed up until 8 AM to finish a bid for a project that was approved less than 24 hours prior. I slept shortly after I submitted the bid. When I woke up and checked the status of the project, I discovered that it had been awarded to someone else!

That was depressing.

Since business is still kinda slow, I registered for a Guru account. I'm still building my profile, though. I started writing the profile overview tonight and I should be able to finish the final draft by Thursday. Take that, procrastination!

One great thing that came out of joining the website is that I got to write a slogan for the business. I even put it on the official website and my iFreelance provide profile!

Another great thing about Guru is that it uses a mandatory SafePay system, where the employer's payment is deposited into the freelancer's SafePay account. The freelancer can then withdraw the funds by requesting a cheque or by transferring the money into the freelancer's PayPal account. It's safer for both employer and freelancer, especially if the SafePay Escrow method is used. In this method, the employer pays the deposit into Escrow and releases the funds when the work is satisfactory. Mediation or arbitration is also available of the Escrow method is used.

iFreelance's edge over Guru, however, is that the former does not charge commissions when the freelancer gets paid. On my Basic profile, if I get paid USD$100, Guru gets 10% of that amount.

But a freelancer's gotta do what she's gotta do. I need to generate business, dudes!

Are you a freelancer on Guru too? How has it helped your business? What other pro or con can you add to the above?