B+

   So what does it take to be a writer? If you can write about stories of people and poetry and put into paper everything that you have been imagining in your mind, does that make you a writer already? Are you suppose to follow certain rules? If you don't have formal education or a degree in writing, is there a place for you in this profession? so many questions..

   My mom would always tell me bedtime stories when I was a kid, I guess that also contributed to my wild imagination, she would tell me about the usual fairy tales, only, she would make some changes in characters or adds some new ones to make the stories longer, coz even as a kid.. I guess I am one tough customer and can't seem to get enough of them, I would always ask for another story and not be contented with just one each time.
   I would pretend to be sleeping, but on the contrary, I have my own story continuing the moment I close my eyes. Most of the time of course, I am the princess and I would be wearing all those beautiful clothes and jewelry, I would also imagine my most hated playmate to be the witch in my own version of it.
   This went on for some time, only this time, when I reached adolescence, I not only think I am the princess in some far away kingdom, I also imagine my prince, in case you are wondering my idea of what a perfect prince would look like, he goes with the name of Leif Garrett.

      Leif with his golden locks fit the perfect prince for me, as you can see I have very good taste when it comes to imagining characters of my own story. Its so sad  to know however, that things have been tough with him, he was really a big star during my teenage years, I even watched his concert here in the Philippines, my very first one actually, bought his souvenir shirt, magazines, and my bedroom filled with his posters, I really want my prince around you know, serenading me with.. either " I was looking for someone to love " or " When I think of you ", life was so much easier back then....

   My imaginary friends seem to have left me when I met my true prince, well... he's not exactly the way I imagined him to be.. but much much better.  We got married, had a baby girl, a few more years we had a son, and soon after that another girl. Time passed by and I got really busy raising my little family and making sure everything goes well, and that my little treasures' dreams come true, that I totally forgotten about mine. There were problems along the way, just like the many obstacles that every fairy tale character must conquer and just like them we stood strong. That has been the routine most of my life, I am truly thankful for what I have, though it isn't much.

   One night I started dreaming again, I vaguely remember what it was, but the dream was surreal, in fact I can even feel the part of my leg that was bitten by that huge serpent, truly magical! and, as what I would normally do even when I was still a kid, I did all my best to get back to my dream and do what I was supposed to do... I wrestled the monster and cut its head off! and that's when I knew that, my imaginary friends are back!

     I have always wanted to be a writer, but never knew how, and never worked my way to being one. I have only myself to blame and no one else. I have a few people in my life who believes in me, and you know who you all are. You all gave me a chance to find myself  and what's missing in my life, and for that I am thankful too.

   In my pursuit and vow to learn, I encountered inspirational words from the so called "masters of the literary arts" ,  Here it goes...

   " I was writing for seven years before the book was published "    J.K Rowling ( Harry Potter )
   " Writing is an exploration, you start with nothing and learn as you go"  E.L Doctorow
   " The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek " Joseph Campbell
   " start writing no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on"  Louis L' Amour
   " I would rather risk rejection and fail, than never try, and live with regret " Dianne Rosena Jones
   " A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit " Richard Bach
   " Being a writer is like standing naked in the High street hoping people won't find you ridiculous" Graham Storrs

    These inspiring words helped in giving me hope that it's never too late to achieve my dreams, after all, everyone seemed to have started out with John Lennon's " you may say that I'm a dreamer.. but I'm not the only one" attitude, and since dreams are free for those who wants it.. I'll focus with these two characters as I try to work my way in achieving it..

  
  

  
   

Techie or Senti? What kind of a gadget person are you?

   Technology is constantly changing, you see an ad of the latest cell phone or computer, you spend weeks or even months trying to save for that much awaited gadget, and just right after buying it, suddenly you see another gadget that's either faster or better than what you just purchased.
   If that just made your day miserable, then you are indeed suffering from COTD, or more commonly known under Dearmum's dictionary as.. Chronic Obsessive Techie Disorder.
   Okay,  I just made that up! but don't be surprised if you see that come up on Wiki tomorrow after reading this blog.

   Anyway, who wouldn't fall in love with say a Smartphone? This device is a cell phone and a mini computer in one. It literally has a Processor and RAM that lets us do multi tasking like accept calls, browse the web, and play application games here and there. I even stumbled upon certain applications that lets Smartphones act as a hair blower, or a ghost tracker.. how cool is that?

Only problem is.. these high tech dudes have lots of activity going on, So...goodbye batteries!
Some of you might be thinking.. so what? just charge it then, of course! but what if there's no electricity? have you thought of that? hmmmm it's time for my old school babies to come into the picture.
                             

                                               These old school techs saved my day.

   Philippines sits astride a typhoon belt, which makes it so vulnerable to dangerous storms, so every now and then expect something around 20 storms to visit our country every year.  And just recently, typhoon Saola with its maximum sustained winds of around 120 kilometers per hour battered our country and left us with what every "internet addicts" are afraid of.. No Electricity!!

  So while this is the time where we look for ways to amuse ourselves with almost anything like playing those installed game applications on our phones, or chat with friends, whether we like it or not, our most beloved cell phones or laptops batteries will be drained, and since there's no telling as to when the electricity will be restored, these high tech dudes are useless.

   My kids literally gave me the loudest laugh when they saw me with my headphones on in my old Toshiba Walky, but that wasn't long until both their so called "precious" smartphones start to lose battery and are left with nothing but to stare and wait for me to let them use mine..

   Finally, when it's my turn for my "ultimate revenge", I pretended not to hear them and started humming to that music playing on my old tech gadget while texting unlimited to my friends on my old school Nokia cell phone, my Walky operates on two triple A's and could last for days.. they are left with nothing! sweet sweet revenge! but of course I was just teasing them.. a mother would always sacrifice her own for the love of her children, and on my usual grin.. I handed them over my old tech babies... while I tell them..be careful with those!

   So you see there's really nothing wrong with embracing what technology has to offer, why should we choose between new tech and old tech, when we can have both, all I'm saying is that, most good things really do last so don't throw them away!

   Anyhow, here are some additional tips on how you can maximize your Smartphone batteries:

   1) Find and use your phone's energy saving settings.
        - settings- about phone- battery use, and see what has been killing your battery life, from the screen   you will be able to see that the back-light is actually one of the culprits.
        - solution : on settings- display- brightness, and turn it down to the lowest acceptable level.
   2) Disable or remove applications that you are not using, turn off wifi, bluetooth, GPS.
   3) Plug your cell phone whenever you can, and if you can afford it, try setting it off while charging, it actually charges faster when turned off.
   4) Use simple ringtones and turn off vibration. 

   NOTE: Dearmum does not claim to be an expert on anything, all of the information mentioned in this article are based on personal experiences and research.