It has always been a rather “touchy” but funny issue when you hear of guys who would take care of themselves more than what is in the norm. Guys who would take more time grooming themselves with something more than just a comb and gel and those who would actually put moisturizer and under-eye cream on their faces to improve their everyday look! But guys who do these things used to be called GAY, even if they really weren’t, but when shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” came out, it revolutionized the way the modern man looked, and it totally changed the way a lot of men and even women behaved.

Metrosexual was the new buzzword at the time, but now it’s a word people use and recognize everywhere. Guys who would take longer than women to prepare or have daily routines of grooming like putting wax or clay on their hair or even shave that almost-uni-brow or arch off their eyebrows, aren’t always labeled GAY anymore. What a relief! Ha ha! Now we’re, err… THEY’RE called metrosexual… and it’s a much better term, right?

So with the maturity of the modern man and woman, a lot of magazines and shows have popped up educating the public on how to better themselves in terms of how they look and act even more. And while channel-surfing this morning, I chanced upon a very appealing looking show called “The Duke” on AXN. The show’s tagline… “So what makes a REAL man?” Indeed, what does?

The talk show is hosted by a Singaporean girl named Eunice Olsen and the 2 Clunks (apparently means clowns and hunks, hehe) who finished 2nd in the Amazing Race Asia last season, Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez. Both are ridiculously funny and are “typical” of the modern man today. The show was very entertaining, to say the least, and it explores a vast majority of topics like politics, sex, finance, wellness, but more importantly about the finer things in life in a smart, sophisticated, and stylish manner. And the Duke, as the same suggests, is about men that stand a class above the rest. And who wouldn’t want to be in that class?

The show premiered on AXN last February 9, 2009, and airs every Monday at 8PM (SG/PH time).

I also never really ever noticed what kind of handbags women carry around with them. A bag is a bag, right? Obviously, not. As oblivious as I was back then (back then being fairly recently, around early this year), now I can’t help but instinctively look at what kind of bag a girl carries around every time I’m at the mall, or anywhere else for that matter. And in terms of handbags, Louis Vuitton is definitely one of the most popular brands here in the Philippines, and seemingly everywhere else in the world. And yeah, they really ARE that nice.

Because of that, I kind of noticed that almost everyone who goes to the mall totes an LV bag! So I started asking myself how that’s possible considering these handbags literally cost an arm and a leg to own. And these girls I see who own them really don’t seem to quite have the means to have one, if you know what I mean.

But since there is this place called Greenhills, the proliferation of these fake LV bags has boomed. So now anyone can own a “genuine-looking” Louis Vuitton handbag at a fraction of the actual price! Meaning if the real thing costs around Php 60,000 (or $1,200), you can get a fake one for a mere Php 4,000 (or $85!). And the greatest thing about it is that very few people can tell that it’s a fake! So for a sourgraper like me, who worked his ass off to be able to buy a REAL one for his fiancee, I want to spread the word on how YOU can TELL if the person you see in the mall is carrying a real one or not, and how YOU can TELL if the handbag you’re buying is the real McCoy!

Next: How You Can Tell…

Ahh, the eternal question… how to be truly happy.  Of course, there really isn’t one answer, but depending on your life situation, at least one of these six points might just hit the mark… and that should be enough, right?   This was inspired by an article I read in “Good Housekeeping” (yeah, yeah! hehe), and there were a few points there that were quite applicable and really helped me.  So I hope to be able to do the same thing for the readers here.

Sadly, I’m part of the darker, gloomier side of things, thus the title of the blog.  I guess the situation I’m in now won’t allow me to be happy… just yet.  But I am optimistic that very soon, everything will fall into place.  Here’s what I have in my Happiness Loot Bag: I have a great job that I love, but I’m annoyed at how I need to be hands-on with everything for something good to happen.  I’m my mom and dad’s favorite and they would do anything for me, except support me in the most important event in my life.  My fiancee is the love of my life, but we sometimes argue like crazy about the smallest, most irritating things.

My happiness inhibitor is that I easily get dragged down to that sad state when people who are closest to me are really down.  It indirectly affects my mood because no matter what I do about it, I can’t seem to alleviate the situation.  So even if I try to be happy when I open my eyes every morning, it just won’t work. I’m a pretty optimistic and realistic person, which is the best mix in my opinion.  You don’t sell yourself short but you don’t expect miracles to happen either.  So I think I still have hope in trying to achieve the happiness that I’m longing for.  And there really are strategies that can help you along the happy road to life, and here are six of them:

Read More…

I am fairly new to the idea of being paid to write about something online.  When I purchased my own domain name a few days ago and started doing my blog, I wanted to do it for the sole purpose of being able to talk about things I love and being able to share it with anyone who would chance upon it.  After looking at other blogs,I started to see that I could actually be doing that and also get a chance to be paid fairly well for it.

A friend of mine advised me to try PayPerPost, and told me that it was a good way to earn a little money on the side, while being able to write about things you like.  So it got me curious, and I took it upon myself to try it out.  After reading what kind of opportunities there were, I wanted to find out if I would be able to write about something that was being offered.

I had also read rather lengthily, that there are quite a few bloggers who don’t believe in PayPerPost scheme, and some even say it is doomed to fail.  I totally disagree, because if you are a blogger, which usually says that you like writing about many different things, then it would be practically impossible for you not to want to write about something new.  The idea of reading up on something you know very little about, and then writing about it, expands your knowledge on that topic.  It also gives you a chance to want to know more about something and that is indeed something worth doing.

I would disagree on the premise of other bloggers that you would be “selling out” because you are writing a review or an opinion about something merely because you are being paid to do so.  That is just not the case.  There are many different topics you can choose to write about, which means that you aren’t being forced or coerced to write a positive review about something you don’t like.  That is why you are shown an array of opportunities in your page in PayPerPost, so you can aptly choose which particular topics you would want to write about.  If you don’t want to write about it, then don’t!  It is by no means a mechanism that forces you to write about something you don’t want to.  And that is the beauty of PayPerPost.  Sure, you get paid to blog about something, but what’s wrong with that?

In the end, it’s just like playing basketball in the NBA.  NBA players love playing the game, and the bonus they get from it, is that they get paid to do it.  What could be better than that?  It’s just like this.  Bloggers write about anything and everything under the sun, because that is what they love to do.  Being paid to do it does not undermine the truthfulness of what you have written.  It is merely a bonus. And that’s why PayPerPost is a great idea, and that’s why I’m part of it.

blog ethics

Eww. Haven’t we all gone through this particular stage in our lives? You get close to a guy or a girl, of the opposite gender of course, then have these mixed feelings inside about how you feel as you get to know them much better. You slowly start liking them, then start missing them, then you ask yourself WHY you feel that way. And because your life just isn’t challenging enough, you want to complicate it further. So you start giving nice things to each other, say sweet nothings to each other, and see each other as much as you can. But hey… you’re just friends. These are normal things close friends do for each other. I’ve heard a friend of mine say this to me a million times. Yeah right.

Now let’s see… the act of delusion. Take a good look at this picture for a minute. Now take a good look at yourself, and the situation you’re in. Does it look vaguely familiar? If it does, and you are in this state, you would most likely be afraid of two things.

First, you’re afraid to get hurt. You’ve played the scenario in your head already. You gather up all the courage you have and ask him how he feels about you, because something inside tells you that it MUST be something different… something special. But what if he doesn’t feel the same way and it’s all just in your head? The mere possibility of being rejected sends an eerie chill down your spine.

Second, you’re afraid to lose him. Just like the two lovebirds above, the fear is that when you expose your true feelings to someone and it is rejected, you not only lose your friendship, but lose him altogether. And for many people, that is an unacceptable option. They would rather live in the fantasy world they are in now, just to be able to enjoy the fleeting closeness that they have gotten so used to. Letting go of that blissful state is something they would never risk.

But what good is there in that kind of fear? Given that there is a slight risk, but would you rather pretend than risk truly knowing what could be? When the time comes that some hot princess takes your precious prince away from you, the realization and regret you will have will be but all too late. And it has happened time and time again, to countless, countless people all around the merry world.

Personally, I could never live with such a question mark in my head. The “what-if’s and what-could-have-been’s” of life must be answered and can be answered. All it takes is a little courage for you to be able to take that leap of faith and then you can know for sure. What do you lose anyway? Your pride? Pride is for fools especially when it comes to matters of the heart. You should never be a fool because of pride, but you could always be a fool for love, right? Hehe! My fiancee had sent me something before called “Love’s Risk.” And it says, rather appropriately to end this topic…

“Love is the greatest of all risks. It is not reliable, it is not cautious. It is not sympathetic and it is merciless. It strikes the strongest of mind, and brings them to their knees in one blow. The risk of love never depletes, it grows stronger and more dangerous with time. It consumes your every thought and desire… and every breath you take. It is the fire that fuels you, to do more than just pass through life. It urges you instead, to live. No matter what the outcome, having felt love, you will never be the same. It may scar your heart and your soul, and leave you with only memories of forever. Or it may cause every day of your life, to feel like there is no need for tomorrow. Love is worth it. It is worth the risk. For in all of life, love is truly the only risk worth taking.”