Point-Of-View: Blue System's "Twilight" Album

Many may have question marks popping over their heads when they hear a band named, "Blue System". It is more of a Eurodisco-pop group than just a band.

Whoever knows the songs "Brother Louie" or "You're My Heart, You're My Soul" by Modern Talking should know its composer, Dieter Bohlen (who is also part of the guitarist and back-up vocals of MT).

And when MT split up in 1987, Dieter, who moves on in pursuit of his music career dreams, formed a new group called "Blue System". The group has rocked Germany and Russia as well, and other countries (mostly European) with its familiar Modern Talking disco-feel, only more masculine and sexy.

Dieter's husky voice made me feel awkward at first, the very first time I heard it. But I got more interested to listen to all the songs, its sexy words (some are too sexy), the naughty, or pleasant, or heavy, or playful, or strong appealed sound... oh, later on, I am already hooked on most of their songs!

So, in this blog, you will experience Blue System music and my point-of-view about one of their albums that I liked: Twilight.

1. Magic Symphony - "I hear a symphony of love, I see the stars, the moon above. I hear your heart, I feel your touch deep down inside."

The very strong, attention-grabbing introduction of violin mixed with synthesized beat. It is like classical music with a modern disco twist.

BS style is very like Modern Talking, except that it sounded more masculine and most of the themes are sexier, but not this one. This is more of an old fashioned classic orchestra meets the upbeat contemporary disco.

The lyrics, in terms of comprehensiveness, is a little bit mixed up. It doesn't form one exact story, but then, we can safely assume that it is about love, being in love and how it feels like (the chorus got that very well-said).

A very catchy song. No wonder this is one of the best of Blue System.

2. Love Me On The Rocks - "Are you ready?" 

Nadja sings as an introduction to this sexy, Eurodisco hit dominated by high-pitched piano and beats.

The music video shows that BS is in Russia, and I tell you, the song really fits. It gives me the Russian-feel, or as if I am in Russia. I always had the impression of Russian's hard and strong personality and this song has it.

The lyrics are sexually suggestive, not advised for parents to let your kids sing this. That's why it really seems to suit well played on discos.

3. Save Me - "Don't look back and don't look sad."

A different sound, but has the beats and high pitched piano that Love Me On The Rocks has. This horror-like-themed song can be sexually suggestive (because of all the sound of a gasping person), upbeat but relaxing (weird description, isn't it?)

Lyrically speaking, the song tells a story of a man who plays with love. He just goes to disco, go partying, and play around with girls. Save Me is such a dangerous word. It seems like what he says to lure women, or either to help him find a woman who can save him from whatever making him act like that.

4. Nobody Makes Me Crazy Like You Do - "Nobody makes me crazy like you do. Oh baby, I just can't say no to you. Oh, everybody needs a little love to live."

This started to balance the songs in the album. Twilight started out with heavy music, intense and wild suggestions. Now this song seems to shine like a sun behind the dark clouds.

It is a very cheerful, playful song about falling in love.

5. Madonna Blue - "Today we could been so good together. Love makes the world go round."

Next to the light twists in the album. Lighter than Nobody Makes Me Crazy Like You Do. In fact, its way too romantic. Romantic and the type that you'd love to listen at on sunset summers, especially that guitar plucking!

The lyrics are declaration of love for a girl that BS calls Madonna Blue.

6. Call Me Dr. Love (A New Dimension) - "Wake up, don't dream of me. Wake up! Wake up!"

The heavy beats and playful mix are back. This song is (lyrically) about being a lover, as usual with songs of BS. Other than that, it has a very orchestra feeling. Yes, it's the same classic-meets-modern-disco single. It's a very encouraging song, a manly motivation that he should be loved. The lyrics are just mere descriptions of how he meets girl, where he lives, how he lives and that the dreaming or just plain infatuation should stop and should be put an action to it, like making the first move.

7. Little Jeanie - "When you take my love, baby, how I cry for you."

This song has a less appeal or attraction to me. It isn't that heavy or light like the previous songs. More of the modern kind of Eurodisco music that we hear today than in the 80s.

8. Carry Me, Oh, Carrie - "A love enough for two, oh, babe for me and you. Carry me, Carrie.Carrie, take me home!"

The intro seems to water a dry flower into a full bloom. In other words, this one is a cheerful, light song. It makes me feel so hopeful with love, so in love and  totally good vibes!

It seems like the exact feeling when you realize that you have fallen in love. (I know it sounds too opinionated but then, this is a point-of-view blog and not that serious review thingy ha!ha!)

9. Big Yellow Taxi - "Feelings, they're hardest words to say. But my feelings grow stronger, babe, everyday."

Another upbeat, cheerful, and source-of-good-vibes song! All about love and wanting to give your best because you love that girl, and not even that good-story-telling taxi driver can keep you from wanting to go home.

10. Everything I Own - "If we should lose love, the pain is in my heart, is in my soul."

The playlist ends with the last on the list, the heavy beating single, Everything I Own. It sounds like a break-up story where the guy is ready to sacrifice, give away everything he's got to have the girl back.

THE WHOLE ALBUM:

Album Cover: Cool color, cool mixing. It's a 5/5 for me. One of the best album covers that Blue System has. Neat, simple, and attractive.

Tracklist: Cool arrangement. It doesn't make you feel too overdosed with heavy music or light music because the arrangement makes the two kinds of songs in this album balanced.

Songs: Not all of it is catchy to me; but that doesn't mean I consider this album a junk. Guess what? I love it!

My Top 5 Favorites:
1. Magic Symphony
2. Carry Me, Oh, Carrie
3. Save Me
4. Madonna Blue
5. Everything I Own


Sources:
Video -Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQvwcC2Il9s)
Lyrics - Metrolyrics.com

POINT-OF-VIEW: The Age Gap Issues of Teenagers

Well, teenagers— we tend to be experimental, confused, in search of a role model, be daredevils, cowards, freaks, digging deep to find our who we really are, whatever adjective you may think of that equalizes to trouble-makers.

Any kid who reaches the point of being a teen becomes more aware and conscious about their environment, specifically about themselves. I tend to call this a very emotional era among all the stages of human life, because anything can happen! You experience being a kid and being an adult at the same time. Now that really makes us confused.

The older people confuse us sometimes, they tell us we are too young to do anything fun, experimental, daring and harmful; but we are old enough to do anything boring or fun, safe and right.

There is nothing bad in obeying the elders. As they say, they have been there and done that, so they know what they are talking about, they are guiding us so we avoid ending up in a miserable life. But there are some point that they bully, underestimate, intimidate, discourage or worse, abuse teenagers. Of course, teenagers have the right to stand on their ground, but can be too afraid it will be interpreted as rebellion or talking back to the adults. Of course, threats can affect and traumatize teenagers. Sometimes, teenagers may be tempted too by the adults to do some unacceptable things, due to their influence. Why? Because we grew up in a mindset that adult people know better than us!

We hold nothing against adults, really, just some adults who take advantage of their authority, position or whatever they have that they can use to abuse, belittle, and step on teenagers. We teens love adults who know how to listen, how to have fun, who understands and at the same time, who really care about us.

Teens do not just get problems dealing with the adults, but also with the younger ones or the kids. In this tale, 90% of the “Bad Guy” title always goes to the older ones, of course, the teenagers. Why? It is a simple and redundant explanation that our parents give us— we are the older kids so we know what is right or wrong better than these young rascal siblings of ours. We shouldn’t slap them or beat the hell out  of them, but when these little monsters do that to us, our parents just say that we should just forgive them about it. You know, we always ask, “Where’s justice?”

Actually, I rarely see teenagers hang-out with little kiddos. Most of the teens hang-out with people 5 years older than them and about 2 to 4 years younger than then. I did not use any survey results to fish out this idea from my head, just mere observation. So, the question is… why.

It must be because kids and teens have a very wide gap about their interests. Adults have already surpassed the stage of being a teen, so there are big chances that teenagers can relate themselves more to adults than to kids. Furthermore, teenagers often set a goal to be a better adult, they act like an adult and try to make mature decisions, so who else should they hang out more with but people their age or adults!

But there are some adorable teens who hang out with little kids, mostly their siblings or cousins. These are the kind of teenagers who seems to be not in a hurry to grow up, either matured enough they bond a lot with little kids to babysit them. This teenager-kid friendship is fun and at the same time, troublesome. Little kids do not easily understand teasing and get easily upset when a teenage picks on them. Yes, teenagers can be mean like that to the youngsters but sometimes those teasing are just for fun, just to have some laughs. Can’t these little kids just take a joke? At the same time being in this kind of friendship opens both to discovering happy activities or some new computer game to play together. Competition may be inevitable!

Another trouble between kids and teens is the case of envy or jealousy— whether it is for the attention of the parents, gifts, or who always gets other people’s favor. Well, teens tend to think that everyone should be treated fair, older or not. While kids just don’t bother their selves thinking about that. Oh, the bad kids are too busy being selfish and the good kids are too busy with appreciating what they have and having fun.

Yes, teens do not just have issues against adults or little kids. Sometimes, we come to the point that everybody seems to hate us! Why does one teenager’s mistake affect all of us? One teenage pregnancy and we will suddenly see or hear comments that teenagers nowadays are this and that and blahblahblah. Sometimes I wonder why some cops or security guards always give dirty looks on us teenagers like we just came to the mall to start trouble. People, you are free to voice out your opinion, but do not apply that opinion to all of us. Some teenagers are making their mark on history for excelling in their academics or winning in the Olympics. Some teenagers are earning big being writers, some are bloggers, some are photographers, artists, musicians, singers, inventors… So hold your reins a bit and do not have this impression that teenagers are that bad in general. There are some good guys too.

Besides each one of us makes mistakes. Everyone just keep on putting teenagers on the hot seat because they are easier to control. They are younger, with less authority and power to fend themselves or talk back to the adults. Well, I hope you won’t think this is some rebellious message, but I am just trying to make everybody understand that we teenagers know what is right or wrong, but sometimes, we slip up too. Sometimes, we get confused or curious we forget what is right or wrong. Sometimes, we misinterpret the lessons or advices that our parents give us. Sometimes we face so many problems that we do not know is we should face it like an adult, or like a child. If we are to act like an adult, then we solve it on our own. Then we will be scolded for making the wrong decisions and that we should have consulted an adult’s advice. If we are to act like a child then we’ll come running to our parents and ask them to solve our problems for us. Then we will be scolded for being unable to make up our minds, to decide maturely or for being unable to avoid getting in trouble in the first place. In this stage, we always try to figure out how to show everybody that we are ready to be adults without giving adults the impression that we are being show-offs and disrespectful.

We shouldn’t hurry up being adults, but then, there is a pressure, and of course, that is what everyone expects from us, so how are we able to have some fun? We have fun like kids we start being called immature, we have fun like adults we start being called wild.

And a shout out to all the teenagers out there! We live in a world run by people’s standards— do not live among these, but live with hope, love and peace. With these, you can never go wrong. You will never think of hurting someone else because of love, you will never do anything out of insecurity because you have peace, and you will never stop being kind being in times of trouble, you always have hope in your heart. Do not be afraid to ask your parents. Just soften your approach and keep it respectful when you ask them things or tell them how your day went by. Sometimes, it is not always the adults that should always try to understand, but we should understand the adults too— why they don’t have time for us, why they are so strict… Whenever our parents are unable to help us, you may have reliable people to talk to, some adults like your aunts or uncles, your professor or your friends’ parents. You also have your friends and especially a God to pray your thanks, apologies and fears to.

Find little kids who are not just good enough, but also those who needs your love, care and guidance at an early age. Your little quirks, knowledge and what you learned at school and from the adults can change their lives into something better. Hang-out with the adults who supports you on your way to your dreams, those who will guide you about what  life may have in store for you. Find those adults that will influence you to be a the best adult and citizen you can be; those who understands your flaws and are willing to help you smooth it up.

Do not be afraid to stand your ground when you are being stepped upon. But choose your battles wisely. Every mistake doesn’t take you up to the next higher stair, but it builds a lower stair close to it so that you can climb on the next step easily. So never lose your hopes and don’t give up on your dreams! Always allocate some time for your loved ones, for your heart's desire, for being helpful and for being productive too. You got a lot of good possibilities (and opportunities) ahead of you!

The teenage dilemma seems to be an endless case. I don’t really know how to explain everything that will satisfy both parties— the teenagers and adults. But I always see to it to think positive and that nothing can go wrong if teenagers, kids and adults work together for everyone’s good. The Adults give guidance and care to the teenagers, and bonds and love the little kids; the Teenagers give respect and listens to the Adults, and give guidance and help to the little kids; and the Kids give respect and fun to the Adults and Teens in return for their love, guidance and help. All works together if we do not keep the gap growing, isn’t it? And the gap doesn’t grow when all of us stay close together.

(c) AnamarieSoya

Image Source: Google Images
Video: My Chemical Romance - Teenagers © 2007 WMG

FEATURE: NBS D-I-Y Calendar 2015

Another cool thing that I got to start the new year, 2015, with is this cool calendar from National Bookstore.

I actually forgot to inquire whether there is a required purchase bracket in order for you to get this free calendar; but one thing for sure is you don't need a Laking-National Card to have one to hang in your living room or bedroom.

My apologies if it was too late for me to post this. I don't think NBS is still giving away these calendars that must be only given to customers until supplies lasts.

This calendar is big, noticeable, neat, clean and clear--  you can scribble notes at when you got an important activity on a certain date that you want to mark on the calendar.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

1. National Bookstore directory
2. Each date has a picture of one of the products/supplies/books that you can find in National Bookstore
3. (My most favorite feature) It has D-I-Y (Do-It-Yourself) activities on the top of the calendar every month. These D-I-Ys will surely set your creativity on fire, make beautiful memories and a great way to bond with the family, especially the kids.

WHY YOU SHOULD CLAIM IT: Everybody needs a calendar! Yes, this one's not the type you can bring anywhere, but for the creative minds out there, this will make a great calendar that you can design and personalize each month, inspiring you to look at it every now and then, which also helps you to remind yourself looking at the marked dates in it for important appointments, isn't it?

(c) AnamarieSoya

FEATURE: Mercury Drug Suki Day Book 2015

There is something about journals. If you have the spirit of being a writer, you might have these urge to own pens, notebooks, specifically journals.... anything that you can use to jot down your thoughts, scribble important notes or record an important day a.k.a diary.

Well, in this blog post, Mercury Drug's journal for the 2015 is featured.

Just for 30 Mercury Drug Suki Points, you can claim this cool 70th anniversary journal!

It has a white carton case, containing the red hardbound journal. The pages are clean with a bit of rough texture, which is really good for writing (smooth papers always cause some ink scattered or smeared here and there).

This journal has the features like any other ordinary journals; but then, its difference from the other journals are very interesting, helpful and... cool! (Is it inappropriate if I use the term "cool" to it?)

SPECIAL FEATURES:

1. History of Mercury Drug
2. Mercury Drug's different programs, products and services
3. Mercury Drug directory
4. Different Health trivia along the pages
5. Discount tabs on the journal pocket for every purchase of different products from Mercury Drug

WHY YOU SHOULD CLAIM IT: Because it is a handy well-made journal, informative and keeps you updated about the nearest branches of this drug store. And you will have more savings on your purchases from Mercury Drug because of the Discount tabs that comes along with this journal.

(c) AnamarieSoya

POINT-OF-VIEW: MY CATCHY LIST - TOP 6 (JANUARY 2015)

So today, this will be a sort of stripped-off-the-diary kind of blog. I just want to feature this six songs that's so catchy that they have been stuck in my head for a long time. These are in random order.

My catchy list (random order):

* Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=725WlG1idPc

"I'll let you set the pace."

(Something 80-ish because of the nostalgic feeling it gives me. Oh, it has a very strong arrive to my ears!)

* Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0

"Don't believe me, just watch."

(Always.My.Last.Song.Syndrome. It gives me a summery feeling!)

* Blank Space - Taylor Swift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ORhEE9VVg

"So it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames."

(Actually, the whole lyrics are great!) ^_^

* Uptown Funk - Fifth Harmony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBtOWai3zbg

"Say my name, you know who I am, I'm too hot!"

(Just can't get enough of the "Uptown Funk", okay?)

* Rawhide - Dezperadoz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O26VZozdunc

"My heart's calculatin', my true love will be waitin', waitin' at the end of my ride."

(Love the original one too. But this version gives a modern twist and a rock blend to the country song!)

* Honesty - Billy Joel 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuFScoO4tb0

("You can't comfort me with promises again."

Of course, there should be something mellow to balance this too upbeat list hahaha! :D )

POINT-OF-VIEW: CHRISTOPHER PIKE

     A taste of adventure, suspense, and some deep philosophy— get it from Pike, bookworms.

     One of my favorite novel writers is Christopher Pike. His stories saw teenage life in a much serious matter in comparison to my other favorite writer, R.L. Stine. (Although you should take murders seriously, of course!)

     When I like light teenage characters, I read Fear Street or some other teen books. When I want more matured-thinking teenagers, I go to Pike’s stories.

     There is something about his stories you’ll love. Yes, it isn’t as time-friendly as you think. I usually take a day or two to finish one book but after you read one, ahh, you feel intrigued you want to re-read it again, but then again, you will get scared that you’ll get more intrigued and do it again. He always leave me like that with his stories— intrigued, puzzled, wondering. I kept on asking myself things related to the stories he wrote. A lot of what ifs. And for me, a great writer should leave me like that with his every story’s ending— stunned. Having all the details but still curious. It was like being inside a deep hole and being put down a long rope but I still couldn’t get out of it. That is Christopher Pike’s stories, in general, for me.

     How I started reading Pike’s stories are as intriguing as those books, I do not remember when but it was on my college days, of course. I just grabbed a book of his and read and then I liked it!

PEN NAME: Christopher Pike

REAL NAME: Kevin Christopher McFadden

ADDRESS: Los Angeles

PERSONAL TIDBITS: He like Astronomy (No wonder!) and meditating. He seems to have a close bond with his family. (Condolences to his dad who just passed away). He also got his pen name from a character in Star Wars.

HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH HIM: Check out his Facebook page. Someone else Admins the page but Pike himself takes a visit and uses the page personally to keep in touch and update his fans. (Believe me!)

GENRE: Adult, Teen and (some) children's books, Non-Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror

SERIES: Remember Me, The Last Vampire, Chain Letter, The Final Friends, Thirst, Spooksville, Alosha and Witch World (Most of his works are stand-alone stories.)

MY FAVORITE SERIES: Remember Me

HOW I’LL DESCRIBE HIS WORKS IN THREE WORDS: Enlightening.Thrilling.Intriguing.

HIS STORIES IN GENERAL: Always has in-deep and philosophical realizations from his characters.

ABOUT REMEMBER ME: Amazing series. It took me, literally, two years to decide reading the two Remember Me books that I bought. But then, I have to find the third book. It gives readers an insight about life and death. That's intriguing? It's more intriguing to be a traveler, to be a soul using someone else's body!

IN HIS WRITING: Pike is a very detailed writer. That's how you understand the plot so well, At the same time, that's why the twists get so twisted in your head! He is critical, philosophical and knows how to dig deep into his characters and their feelings to express it in the stories he wrote.

MY SUGGESTION: Should I suggest that he write something lighter? Something less mature? Nah. I think, I already love his varying style! I salute this guy!

MY TOP FIVE CHRISTOPHER PIKE SUGGESTIONS:

1. THE MIDNIGHT CLUB

          Five friends. Five stories. One destination— death.

2. DIE SOFTLY

          Why is it hard to read who she really is from her face?

3. STARLIGHT CRYSTAL

          Is it a travel through space or a travel through time? A love distanced by space… or time?

4. REMEMBER ME 2

          If given a second chance, you must remember what the chance is for. At least, try to remember...

5. GIMME A KISS

          What is real and what is what you just made up? Figure out before you forget what the truth really is.

P.S. I only suggest those what I liked best from what Christopher Pike books I have already read.

Sources:

Christopher Pike’s List of Books Series and Personal Tidbits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Pike_(author), The Midnight Club, About The Author (all of his other books must have some details about him and his astrology and meditating hobbies) and https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherPikeBooks

POINT-OF-VIEW: R.L. STINE

     There is something about the way he writes— it’s exciting.

     Thrill, horror, suspense. For children and teenage stories that revolve around these genres, it’s R.L. Stine you should try to check out. Well, my pure point-of-view about his works are here.

     The mastermind behind the Fear Street and Goosebumps series knows how to blend everything in one pot— terror, suspense, psychos, monsters and mystery. The mixture for a bloody spell that will leave you hoodwinked on who’s the real culprit and what will happen next?

     As a child, I grew up very fond of books. And it was a little too late for me to find myself holding a Goosebumps book and reading it. I forgot my first one, but hell, I really loved it. It made me read one Goosebumps after another! But since I cannot always pull my parents to buy me every series, the Goosebumps habit wears off. That is also when I started reading thicker books like Roald Dahl’s, Enid Blyton’s… Oh, by the way, on my first year in college, I can finally roam the shopping malls alone so definitely, I had my freedom to buy books too. That’s when the Goosebumps habit returned.

But hey, I started to fall out-of-place with Goosebumps. When I found my first Fear Street book, that’s when I realized that it is simply because Goosebumps is not for my age anymore! Funny that it’s too late for me to realize that!

     So that’s when my Fear Street adventure began. And oh, boy, I loved it more! Until my collection grew and it keeps on growing! (And I’ll keep it growing!)

     Since it is all about R.L. Stine, I made an easy to read review about him!

PEN NAME: R.L. Stine

REAL NAME: Robert Lawrence Stine

ADDRESS: New York City (Near Central Park, The ABOUT THE AUTHOR parts of Fear Street books say so)

PERSONAL TIDBITS: He is married to Jane and has a son named Matt. This writer has no idea where his ideas come from, but know for sure he has more scary stories to write!

HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH HIM: Check out his Wattpad and Twitter accounts! (Yes, I'm his follower too!)

GENRE: Adult, Teen and children's books, Non-Fiction, Horror, Suspense, Thriller, Mystery

SERIES: Goosebumps, Fear Street, Fear Street Saga Trilogy, Fear Street Super Chiller, 99 Fear Street: The House of Evil, Cataluna Chronicles, Fear Street Seniors, Fear Street Nights, New Fear Street, Cheerleaders, The Baby-Sitter I-IV, Halloween Night (Other works are stand-alone stories especially those from Point Horror)

MY FAVORITE SERIES: Fear Street Series

HOW I’LL DESCRIBE HIS WORKS IN THREE WORDS: Thrilling.Exciting.Surprising.

HIS STORIES IN GENERAL: Has psychos, murder, terror, suspense and mystery. Too redundant eh?

ABOUT GOOSEBUMPS: The series are  children-friendly(or maybe, I should have second thoughts about that, eh? Can every children take the scare?) My favorite Goosebumps is about this boy who has a doppelganger.

ABOUT FEAR STREET: My favorite series! I love how he created the world of Fear Street and how the characters in it relate (or not)with each other and with the places in Fear Street that they have been. Fear Street is all about the mysteries in this place and the people in it. Too many interesting myths, histories, beliefs, plots and of course, characters! 

IN HIS WRITING: He's my super man of thrillers. Stine definitely knows how to keep me hooked in a book. Maybe, these really fit on what age bracket you belong(KIDS = Goosebumps, TEENS = Fear Street)Even if some the themes in his stories seem similar,(the fact that there's always this person who wants to kill the other…) the difference in the twist is totally a great adventure ride.

MY SUGGESTION: Maybe, he should try to put more magic in the mysterious world of Fear Street, eh? Mostly are about murders. Why not something like "The Sleepwalker" where there's a hypnotist, “The Secret Bedroom” where there is a restless ghost and her ghoul parents... Those kinds of magic are what I am talking about.

MY TOP FIVE R.L. STINE SUGGESTIONS:

       1. SWITCHED

          Two girls tried to see if a Fear Street legend is true and will add excitement to their lives. Is it really true or some kind of hallucination that you can switch bodies with someone else?

      2. THE BABY-SITTER III

          She still thinks Mr. Haagen is still after her. Or maybe, she’s still after their memories, eh?

      3.THE SLEEPWALKER

          What with all the sleepwalks? Is it caused by a witchcraft or some unconscious guilt?

      4.  THE FIRE GAME

          A little playing-with-the-fire isn't that harmful eh? Not until it starts to back fire...

      5. THE SECRET BEDROOM

          What’s behind the door? Will Lea stop the urge to find out or let her curiosity kill her? Literally kill her.

P.S. I only suggest those what I liked best from what R.L. Stine books I have already read.

Sources:

R.L. Stine’s List of Books Series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._L._Stine

Personal Tidbits: Fear Street: Switched, About The Author (It can also be found in all of his other books)

Featured: Personalize-Your-Chrome (Offline/Online)

          Just tonight, I noticed Google’s new feature on Google Chrome’s internet browser. (Can you believe it? I started typing this spot-on! Then, one or two hours later, it’s uploaded!)

         When you click on the Google Chrome icon, it opens the internet browser window. On the upper right hand, at the top, in line with the Exit, Maximize, and Minimize buttons is the new feature of Google Chrome internet browser. It has a human head icon that when you click it, a little tab pops with a bigger icon.

          You’ll see the following on the tab:

     It is composed of:

      1.Icon – the big picture in a circle frame.
2. Name—your chosen name under the icon. Below the name is a request: Sign in to get your tabs, bookmarks, history, and other settings on all your devices.3.   Sign in to Chrome button
4.   Switch Person— It is like a social media site, wherein you can log out and change to another person’s Chrome profile. This is a feature for those two or more persons using one computer.
5.   Go incognito – This means private surfing, but not so private…

             Now, you just have to change the settings to personalize your own internet browser.

     1. CHANGING YOUR ICON

       Click on the icon right away if you want to change your icon.

         A box will open giving you choices which pictures to choose from and below these icons is a space provided where you can type your chosen name in a box.

          Click on your chosen icon, and type in your name then Save.

          But the easiest way is when you are online, you simply log in to your Chrome account and there it was. Your Chrome account's profile picture appears as your icon instead of choosing from the pictures presented on the screen shot above.

2.     PERSONALIZING YOUR SETTINGS:

ON STARTUP

            After saving, the Chrome Settings will appear to give you the chance to make your internet browser more personalized.

            On startup section is where you can choose what happens to the browser once you click the Google Chrome icon on your desktop or Windows Tab.

            If you choose Open the New Tab page, once you open your browser, a new tab will appear. This new tab is empty and therefore, you will have to type in the website to start off with your internet surfing.

            It will look like this:

                

               If you choose Continue where you left off, when you open the browser, it immediately shows or opens the last website that you’ve been into before you closed the browser.

               It goes like this:

                  If you choose Open a specific page or set of pages, you will have to input which pages you like the browser to open once you click it. Therefore, you will have to choose that option then click the Set pages link. A small tab will pop out, providing you the spaces where you should input links of websites (as many as you like!) that you want to appear automatically when you open your browser, then click OK.

                So once you open your browser, this one or two websites will open altogether automatically.

                APPEARANCE

Most probably, majority of Google Chrome users don’t mind about their browser’s start-ups but they feel it more personalized if they see it on the appearance of their browsers, so this is what the Appearance section of the Google Chrome settings is all about.

                There are two primary options for the appearance of your browsers. The first one is Get Themes and the second one is Reset to default theme.

                You already know the default theme of Google Chrome— white and blue. And when you open it, the tab shows Google and there’s an empty bar below it for typing in your searches and stuff.

                On Get Themes, you have to be online to activate this feature. Clicking this leads the user to Google Themes where there are lots of themes to choose from! From anime themes to colorful nature. You can browse, choose what you like, download it then install it. (That’s how I got my sweet and calm pinkish Google browser theme color!)

                And voila! Your own personalized Google browser theme!

                Show the Home button just means you can add Home on your browser’s bar, right beside the reload button.

                

                You can personalize your Home button, whenever you click it, you always go to that specific website that you consider your home, which usually is the site that you always log-in or open.

                Want to stay updated about the changes in the stock market but you always forget the url? Just click the Change link beside the New Tab Page below the checked Show Home button, choose Open this page then type in the website’s url on the empty bar beside it. Click OK.

                Clicking Always show the bookmarks bar adds another bar on your browser. So, it will look like this:

Without bookmarks bar

With bookmarks bar                

                This makes going from one favorite site to another more convenient because you will only have to click one of these bookmarks on the bar instead of opening another tab and typing one website link after another.

                SEARCH

                This feature is simple, you just have to choose which search engine you prefer to use in your browser.

                So if I choose Ask.com, it will be search engine to automatically appear on the browser when I typed on the empty search bar for a word that I just want to search or look up to on the internet. So when I press enter, results from Ask.com shall appear. That’s what also happens if ever your choose Google or Yahoo, etc, for a search engine.

                If you click Manage search engines, this is where you can add other search engine sites if ever it is not in the choices of search engine sites that you can set to personalize your browser.

               Click on Add a new search engine, then type the name of the search engine. In the picture above, it was on the first box that I typed Google. The second box asks for Keyword, so I simply put in Google, and lastly, the url of the search engine, so I put www.google.com. After that, click Done and you’ve added another search engine on your list.

                Then, you can make that website set as your search engine by making it default.

                Place your mouse’s arrow on the side of the new search engine you added. It will be highlighted in blue and a Make default button will appear. Click that and it automatically gets added on your default search settings list.

Finish and save your settings by clicking Done.

                PEOPLE

                Now, this is a little tricky for me because I am already too sleepy to tinker a lot about this section of the Google Chrome browser’s settings (and I know you are all aware that I am not some computer expert but a fellow user like most of the blog readers are) but I still hope this will be helpful.

                On this section, there appears your personal user icon. You can choose to check any of the following features.

                

                Look! Isn’t that the user profile you did earlier? The one named Alien (current). Yes, that means it is the current user of the browser while you are checking the settings.

                Enable user creation from the profile manager has the following features: Add a person…, Remove… and Import bookmarks and settings…

                On Add a person, you can add another user profile on your browser who can use it by logging in using his profile. It also undergoes the same process you have encountered in making your own user profile offline.

                Remove… is used whenever you want to remove the other user from their access of using your computer’s browser.

                

                Just click on their icon (making their user profile on the list be highlighted) then click Remove…

                There are Enable Guest browsing and Enable user creation from the profile manager options. On Enable Guest browsing, you pick one of the users and put a check on this option if you are letting this user browse on your browser. On the picture above, your user profile is Alien, and Jill is another user, maybe a friend or your sister. You allow her to browse on your browser when you checked on Enable Guest browsing.

                Now, she is able to browse but… not able to create another user on your browser for another person. But if you checked on Enable user creation from the profile manager, she will be able to create a user profile for her brother Jack.

                

                Once you sign in using your Google account, you will be able to control and keep track on what websites these users you added are opening or going to.

                

                You can also create a desktop shortcut for the user you added.

               The advantages I can see in this is it helps in preventing one user’s important bookmarks of websites be deleted by the other user because they only use one browser. This feature helps to separate their browser’s saved bookmarks, organize works of two or more people who use one computer, and can also help parents to limit their children from what websites might influence them badly online.

                Until here, folks! I won’t get too technical with something I don’t know a lot because the next part of this setting is the Advanced Setting where all about your browser’s privacy, passwords, languages, and other web settings.

(c) OriginalAS/AnamarieSoya

Point-Of-View: Love and Material Things

Seen this picture on Facebook? It was posted by Virgin Radio Lebanon page and I was a little blown away by the comments I have read. Well, of course, my little devilish side always crave on slapping people back to their senses.

But instead of joining the argument, I just shared the picture and there is where I put my comments about it that goes like this:

There is something trivial about love such as the relation of material things in it. Well, we obviously knew that not a material thing can equalize love, nor money can buy love. And of course, these do not guarantee that anyone who gives you an ice cream, flowers, necklaces or rings. But then, for all the true lovers out there, we tend to provide the people we love with these material things (or any other things) not to buy their love or blind them with money you've got or you can afford, but it is simply because you want to make them happy through these. Maybe it seems too shallow, but what we always target is the pleasant surprise in their eyes or the smile on their faces- that is how much we love them. We don't have to play saints, we have to admit that we live in this world and that somehow we also want a solid, material evidence of our love for them or a material thing that expresses our feelings, just like why wedding rings are made of, or necklaces or friendship bracelets. It does not equalize the love we feel, but at least, these makes our loved ones happy and feel appreciated, we want to make them feel that we don't regret and we are willing to spend money on them and these things become a solid representation of it, of our love, something that whenever we cannot express love due to distance or our absence, looking at these things will always remind them of our love.  

[I really have to make a long comment like this due to the comments in this picture. I don't know why people have to be so negative just to show off how smart they are when it is already the obvious that no material thing can equalize or guarantee love.  ]

(c)OriginalAS/Anamarie Soya