I was thinking of an activity for my 2 year old son. He’s already in toddler school. But I needed something to keep him busy and interested other than that. A sport would be great, or Art class, and there’s Music class, too. There’s a lot to choose from.

He’s supposed to begin his swimming class last week but due to bad weather I decided not to take him outside.

We got him listed at Bert Lozada Swim School. The BLSS is the only  institution in the Philippines with expert instructors, a trademarked program, and a child friendly environment to enhance your child’s learning experience. BLSS is a member of the United States Swim School Association, and some teachers are certified by the Australian Council for the Teaching of Swimming and Water Safety. BLSS was founded by a famous name in Swim School, Mr. Bert Lozada, since 1966.

This 20th of September, BLSS presents Family Escapade. I knew of the activity some weeks ago because Animomedia’s one of the partner-sponsors. But we became so busy that it slipped off my mind and I forgot to post an article about it. Well, if interested you could go check them out now! It’s fun, educational, and FREE. But a pre-registration is a MUST.

There would be talks for parents, FREE swimming lessons, pool games, cooking demo, arts and crafts, magic shows, face painting, and so much more.

Lets make our kids safe and responsible, teach them to love swimming and be comfortable around the water. Thus they could develop other skills, and bring out their confidence to excel in whatever activity they would be interested. Making sure your child understands water safety is responsible parenting. Pushing them on sporty activities and physical fitness, such as swimming, is healthy.

When we got home after the successful WordCamp Philippines 2008, I was chilling. I had a fever and suffered from back ache and body pains. I couldn’t put the blame on the weather because it was just an ordinary day of not bad, neither good, Manila climate.

I would not want to sound like an ungrateful guest because I am truly happy to be there. But the freezing auditorium made it difficult for me to appreciate the talks and digest. It was not like home when you put the temp down you could easily pull a blanket. I wasn’t able to stand the coldness even with my jacket on. But then I still manage to post a smile for the picture taking session. My friend and fellow developer Kyameel says she got sick, too. And my husband’s coughing and suffered of running nose for days after last Saturday.

But a photo with the famous Matt was a huge consolation.

And these are the mighty bloggers: (who didn’t get sick?!!) **list from JehzLau

The New Media Coverage:
0. The Best and Most Memorable Blogger Event in the Phils by Jehzeel Laurente
1. I Got Wordcamped! by Tess Termulo
2. The First WordCamp in Southeast Asia by Adrian Jeric Peña
3. My WordCamp Experience by Master Betong
4. WordCamp Philippines by Hannah Rika Villasis
5. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Nina Fuentes
6. Matt at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Binary Silver
7. Matt Mullenweg Highlights from WordCamp Phils by The Bachelor Girl
8. WordCamp Philippines Report by Fear the Spork
9. WordCamp Philippines Shirt Please by Evenly Piece
10. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Alrenz Cabasa
11. WordCamp Philippines 2008: A Success!
12. WordCamp Phils, 1st Southeast Asia WordCamp by Ana Katharina Pena
13. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Aftermath by Zero Blade
14. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Mae Paulino
15. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Green Bucks
17. WordCamp PH 2008 and Afterparty by Carlo Reid
18. WordCamp Philippines After-Party by The WordCamp Philippines Blog
19. WordCamp Philippines 08 by Project 365 Days
20. WordCamp 2008 Philippines by Karla Redor
21. Live Blogging from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Spilled Lustre
22. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Aja Lapus
23. Experiencing WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Here’s to Life!
24. WordCamp Manila Blow-by-blow by Jonel Uy
25. Just got home from WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Jayvee Fernandez
26. Bloggers’ Event: WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Ada Lajara
27. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Winners and Bloopers by Funny Sexy
28. WordCamping 2008 by Billycoy
29. Ernie Meets Matt Mullenweg by AJ Matela
30. Matt Mullenweg, Volunteers, and WordCamp Phils by Misteryosa
31. The WordCamp in Philippines by Mark Aethen Agana
32. Matt Mullenweg by Animo Hosting
33. WordCamp Manila 2008, I was there! by Sha Ang
34. On WordCamp 2008 and Meeting Mr. Wordpress by Diventare.org
35. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Experience by Regnard Raquedan
36. WordCamp Philippines Status Report by AWB Holdings
37. Live from De La Salle CSB, Marocharim is at WordCamp! by Marocharim
38. For the Love of Wordpress by Kristina Ana Matanguihan
39. WordCamp Pilipinas Success by Ikabon
40. WordCamp 2008: For Healthy and Wealthy Blogging by Hitokiri Hoshi
41. WordCamp 2008 Philippines Success by Arvin’s Thoughts
42. WordCamp, Meeting Matt Mullenweg by Miss Wicked
43. Meeting Matt at WordCamp 2008 by Urriza.net
44. Finally, WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Estan
45. Toothache Vs. WordCamp Philippines by George Putong
46. Notes and Photos, WordCamp Philippines a Success by Tonyo Cruz
47. Some WordCamp Philippines Afterthoughts by Undercover
48. Live Blogging in WordCamp by Pageman
49. My WordCamp Experience by Junele Malaga Caravana
50. WordCamp Philippines A Success! by Wordpress Philippines
51. Bakla Goes to WordCamp Philippines by Bakla Ako
52. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Micaela Rodriiguez
53. WordCamp 2008 Philippines: It’s a success! by Joyceish
54. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Fitz Villafuerte
55. A Personal Evaluation of WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Danny Arao
56. An Event Which I Failed To Attend by Dexter Panganiban
57. The Wordpress WordCamp Fever by Pinoy Web Listing
58. WordCamp Philippines by Batang Yagit
59. Philippine WordCampers 2008 by Sabrina Lajara
60. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Roanna Roro
61. On Meeting with Mr. Wordpress, Web Standards and Other Stuff by Shari
62. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Highlights by Sophia Lucero
63. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Mong Palatino
64. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Rowjielogy
65. I was WordCamped by The Industrious Time-Waster
66. HURAH! for WordCamp Philippines by Migs Hipolito
67. WordCamp is on today at De La Salle - CSB by AIM CSB
68. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Updates by Teacher Julie
69. My WordCamp Philippines 2008 Experience by Icezorg
70. I was at WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Gail Villanueva
71. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Ramblings by Sarah Cada
72. Weekend Snapshots #6 WordCamp Philippines by Joni Ang
73. My WordCamp 2008 Experience by Paul Villacorta
74. Success! by WordCamp Philippines Blog
75. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Tina Elaine
76. On Being a Remarkable Responsible Blogger by Scrumptious Anime Blog
77. Word-F’N-Camp! by The Deranged Writer
78. WordCamp Philippines 2008 - a success! by The Mindanao Bloggers
79. WordCamp Philippines, below expectations by Kevin Georg Paquet
80. My WordCamp Experience by The Grape Bunch
81. WordCamp Philippines 2008: Wicked! by Andrew Dela Serna
82. WordCamp Philippines 2008 Video Highlights by Buddy Gancenia
83. WordCamped by La Dolce Vita
84. The WordCamp that was by Oliver Robillo
85. WordCamp Philippines 2008: A Blast! Rein Winds
86. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by On the 8 Spot
87. WordCamp Philippines 2008: Awesome! by i.PH News and Updates
88. WordCamp: Developing Wordpress Plugins by Markku Seguerra
89. A Day of Firsts! by Sablay.Org
91. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Aileen Apolo

The Old Media Coverage:
1. Wordpress developer previews new version in RP by Inquirer.net
2. Wordpress enthusiasts meet for WordCamp by GMANews.tv
3. Wordpress Developer lauds RP blogging community by Alexander Villafania
4. Wordpress Creator on the future of RP Blogging Community by Inquirer.net

Some WordCamp Photos from WordCampers:
0. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Jehzeel Laurente
1. WordCamp 2008 Photos by Jayvee Fernandez
2. First WordCamp in Southeast Asia by Hannah Rika Villasis
3. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Tess Termulo
4. WordCamp Philippines by Ada Lajara
5. WordCamp 2008 by Regnard Raquedan
6. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by AJ Matela
7. WordCamp at Benilde by Normz
8. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Micaela Rodriguez
9. Wordpress Philippines 2008 by Shari
10. WordCamp Philippines by Sofimi
11. WordCamp Philippines 2008 by Andrew Dela Serna
12. WordCamp Candy by Flair Candy

We’ve just met Matt Mullenweg yesterday. And today my husband introduced me to another Matt. Not personally though, he sort of introduced Matt Harding’s videos to me. I was awed and I totally envy this man.

Where the hell is Matt?

I’ve always wanted to travel around the world. And Matt Harding’s so favored by having a job that would let him go to different places. He’s just an ordinary Joe who loves to travel and used up all the money he had saved for his trips. Until it ran out. But the videos of his silly dance became popular online. And someone contacted him to do a sponsored video for them. So he got funded to make a new video of his bad dancing on  different countries in all seven continents. I’m not sure how many videos he made, but found quite a number of his funny dancing videos.

Matt Harding proved that it’s really a small world after all.

WordCamp Philippines 2008 was a success. It was great meeting other developers, and learning a thing or two from them. The camp was not solely for programmers and developers but there were the bloggers as well, ofcourse. I’ve learn some bits and pieces from some programmers I happened to sat beside with in the sessions, who shared their expertise and how-do-they-do-it stuff and all. The talks were enriching, especially Hans Koch’s on SEO.

And to top it all, it was amazing to meet Matt Mullenweg in person, and hear him talk. To those who didn’t know, Matt’s the founding developer of Wordpress.

  me, my husband, and the genius behind WordPress development _Matt Mullenweg

The whole activity was well planned and organized by the Mindanao Bloggers. And there were cool prizes and give-aways for everyone, too. Mig tossed me a cool foldable USB keyboard from one of the many sponsors, Smart Bro.

My father was a chain smoker for a long time until he quitted some years ago. We used to call him ‘The Dragon’ because you’ll always see him puff smoke. And even if he does not have a cigarette, I would still see smoke. Visions that is because we were so used to seeing him blowing and fluffing with his cigarette.

Until he got so sick. For all we thought it was lung cancer or Emphysema. But it was not. He had Colon Cancer. He may have or have not gotten the cancer from smoking but he stopped. After under going chemotherapy for  6 months and colostomy, he survived. Prayers and his discipline on healthy living makes him well again.

Cigarette smoking is not a fad people should follow. It’s a vice one should stop indulging into. It’s a crime against yourself, and the people around you who breathe the air you funked with your smoking. Yellow teeth and bad breath is unhygienic. Bad smelling clothes and hair is definitely not neat.

Nicotine is not the only harmful component in cigarettes. The burning of tobacco and other additives produced a mixture of harmful compounds. Then there is tar, which is made up of thousands of chemicals, that includes known carcinogenic chemicals. All of them are unhealthy and could be deadly. Some of these causes lung cancer, heart illness, emphysema, and other bones and skin diseases.

Here’s a list you might want to check out. Would you want them running in your blood veins inside your body?

1) Cyanide: used in Cyanide Fishing, partially stunning the fishes and causes them to die instantly. And in Mining, as well as electroplating, metallurgy, jewelry, and photography.
2) Benzene: also known as Benzol, is an organic chemical compound that is a flammable and colorless liquid.
3) Formaldehyde : is a compound in the form of gas that has a very pungent smell. Also used in embalming to disinfect and temporarily preserve human remains.
4) Methanol (wood alcohol): is the simplest alcohol that is also known as methyl alcohol.
5) Acetylene (the fuel used in welding torches): is an unsaturated chemical compound that is also the simplest alkyne hydrocarbon.
6) Ammonia: is found everywhere in the environment but is very toxic in combination with certain elements.

Also, cigarette smoke contains some of the deadly and poisonous gases such as nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide which can be very harmful for a person’s health.

Cigarette Smoking is dangerous to your health.

In some cities, and my home Davao City, cigarette smoking in public’s banned and they have strict city ordinance and penalties for offenders..