What People Don't Understand about Freelancing

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Working at home, on your own time, without the hassle of having to be with other annoying people are some of the top perks of freelancing. Of course, there's also the fact that you don't have to bother about battling the traffic and the great compensation which makes it really great.

Sadly, there are also tons of disadvantages about working freelance. For one, a lot of people have no idea how it works. Some think that you're just sitting in front of the computer the whole day and doing nothing, when in fact that is already the very thing that's feeding you. What's worse is when these clueless people think that you can use your skills and computer knowledge for favors for them without a fee. But as the Joker says:

This is one thing that people should totally understand about freelancing. Freelancers earn from their skills - from the things they are good at. So, asking a favor to make you a website about your dog for free just because you guys are friends is not cool.

Some might be thinking, "but were friends!" or "we're relatives!" All the more reasons to not do it, douche bag. It's just like asking your friend who owns a restaurant to give you free meals every time you visit their establishment. A freebie or two or even a discount is just okay, but free meals, especially if you're asking for a fucking buffet is something only the biggest asshole would do. Someone shameless may also abuse the supposed one time offer and go there for every meal.

Again, some may argue, but it's just a favor. Friends do favors for each other all the time. Well, in a way, yes, but largely, no. Especially if you will be taking his time and resources that he could use to make more money and have him do something for you with him getting nothing in return. It's not a wise business move, and freelancing is basically a business venture. Being self-employed means one has to rely on your own shit to make it through the day. One's skills and knowledge are his capital and "products" in what he's offering to the market. Doing shit for free is not something a freelancer should do, because that's just plain bullshit.

Of course, there are some exceptions, though. The very first thing that comes to mind is when it's for a cause that the freelancer believes in. Everyone has one, and doing something great for the cause is already a big contribution. Aside from this, I really don't see other exceptions. Unless it's for your mom. You always do free stuff for your mom.

Why I don't think I'll be Buying a Kindle Anytime Soon

30 Rock on Kindle! LOL

The best hoe posted a link on my Facebook wall about Kindle Fire yesterday. Being former literature majors, we are big on books. This is why a Kindle with the features of a tablet is a very interesting product. She wants one, and I must admit, when I first learned about it like a week ago, I did, too. Who wouldn't? It's just $199!

The thing is that I never really thought about buying Kindle in the past because it doesn't have backlight. The Goof and I are lazy fuckers so we usually end up reading in bed. Most of the time we already shut the lights off when doing this (I know, it's bad for the eyes) so we don't have to stand up and turn them off when we're already sleepy. This is why we've always needed readers with backlight. Personally, I've been reading ebooks off my cellphones since 2007 or 2008, when I got that Motorola phone with a pretty big screen. I first did that with the Goof's old Palm Pilot in 2005, and all of those gadgets have backlight. This is why I can never get a classic Kindle, because it won't work for me.

Kindle Fire promises an entirely different thing, though. Again, it has the features of a regular tablet, which is a good thing. However, it also has a good amount of disadvantages, and one of which is its small memory capacity. I'm not big in understanding technical shit, but from what I understood when the Goof explained that we can't get one, it is that it requires owners to use the cloud technology something, which (from what I hear), puts your stuff on the Amazon server so every time you need to access it, you'll need a decent internet connection.

Being in the third world, our internet is shit. So if I ever get Kindle Fire, I will need to be patient, which I am not, in any way. I'm also kind of worried that the servers will detect that my ebooks are not from legal places because I'm a cheapskate.


It's kind of sad, really, not being able to get Kindle Fire. It's easily available and cheap, making it quite a great purchase if not for the cons I've pointed out above. So, what am I to do? Opt for other alternatives like cheaper tablet PCs. We're eyeing Lenovo Ideapads, because they're also pretty affordable and we can just install ebook readers in them. That way we can get more bang for our buck.

Why am I always so nostalgic?

Back when people listened to the radio, you kept a tape handy in your boombox at all times so you could capture the hot new hits of the week. The intro would always get cut off, and the DJ would chatter over the end. You also ended up with static, commercials, and jingles, but all that noise just added to the field-recording verisimilitude. The radio tape puts you right back in the original time and place when you first heard the songs. You are there, my friend.   

 from Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

I may not be that old, but I get to remember the time when I did this. I may not be that much of an expert in music, but I will always remember a specific point in time when I did this. The memory I have is always associated with my cousin. It was one afternoon when I was like 11 or 12. We were chatting and then this song played and I just had to press record in the cassette player my cousins had in their room.

I try not to be as sentimental as I possibly could, but from that moment on, for some weird reason, I've always felt that this was our song, my cousin and I. Yes, there's the Coyote Ugly soundtrack, too, but this was my song to her. We were young (she was a couple of years older, but still young), and we had our whole lives in front of us. I've always known that we will be together for as long as we possibly can, despite having disagreements and shit thrown in our way.

Now, my cousin is getting married and I am taken back to the time when we were young and we were still neighbors, seeing each other everyday. I really miss how she would fuss about boys while I also do the same, although I now refuse to remember who the boys I fussed about back then. She would also tell me about how some bitches from church (we have to admit there are tons of those in every congregation) are trying to ruin her life (an exaggeration, but we were teenagers - okay I was a tween - so it's just a normal description of things). It's a fucking cliche, but things were really simple back then. And now she's getting married.

As expected (and demanded, mostly, by me), I'll be her maid of honor. I don't want to get all mushy and shit, but I do kind of miss her already. I've seen it before, once you get married, you're all to your new family. And since she'll most likely move to Singapore after the wedding, I won't be able to demand shit from her as easily as I can before and now.

Of course, I'm happy for her. There's no doubt about that. I could even dare to say that next to her, I am the happiest about this turn of events. She has been looking for the right guy since she was, what, fifteen? She has been out there dating for as long as I can remember, so I am exceptionally happy about her finding a great guy. But I also can't help to be sad, thinking that things will change for good after her big day on December.


So, I guess I just have to make the most of it. I will have to plan a night in and maybe watch Coyote Ugly with her one last time before the wedding.