... The Personal Website of a California Latina

Happy New Year everybody! I’m super excited about the New Year. There are going to be some huge changes in my life that I’m looking forward to.

I made a few resolutions or goals that I want to achieve or keep in mind throughout the year.

One is to go for something that I have always wanted to do. I started it last year as a thing on the side, but I feel that I really need to put much more time and effort into it if I really want to get anything out of it. So, I will be doing that this year - wish me luck!

Me Video Blogging after a long night of watching fireworks lol!

I’ve made some online resolutions as well!

More Pictures. I’m going to make better use of my N95, take more pics and post them here!

Video Blogging. I’m going to try this again. In 2007 I did ONE video blog for the 4th of July and then just didn’t do another one ever again lol. I’ll try harder this year!

Changing things up a bit today. Not recommending or reviewing anything, just venting.

My life has been pretty hectic lately. And it’s not just with the school, work and other personal things going on around here that some of you know about… but it’s much, much more. Lately there’s been a lot of highs and lows, laughs and crying. Too much on my mind. Don’t get me wrong, my life is headed in the right direction. I’m doing everything that I planned on doing, I’ve reached my goals and moved on to the next step/goal. But some things might be changing. I was once so sure that I knew what I wanted… everything was planned and I knew what I had to do to get to where I wanted to be. But now… now that I’m here… I’m not so sure anymore. I’ve been thinking a lot, and reevaluating everything. And it’s not just one part of my life that I’m reevaluating. It’s everything. My personal life, my career, where I live..

When I say ‘where I live’… it’s because I’ve always wanted to leave the city I live in. It’s not the best neighborhood in the world (not the worst either), and well… let’s just say I had to cut quite a few people out of my life in order to better my life. And that led me into wanting to leave the city period… just leave everything behind. But what I didn’t realize is that I cut out a lot of good people in my life, too. I intended on cutting out the negative people in my life, but ended up cutting out mostly everybody… unintentionally… just because they had some connection with the negative people.

My escape was school, my escape was my boyfriend and his city. I was initially thinking that eventually I would like to move out to a nice city close to where he currently lives. We talked about it before. But now, I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to move out there. I might want to stay here. I might want to move to another state, like New York. I’ve always wanted to see NY. I researched it like crazy when I got out of high school, but just eventually forgot about it.

And the whole “where I want to live” thing is just scratching the surface… don’t even let me go deeper into my personal life. Things are changing everyday. What I wanted just a few months ago has drastically changed. I’m not going to go into all of it, it’s just too much.

I’m not so sure about things anymore. It seems like everything is up in the air. But it’s okay, I know that’s life… not everything is set in stone, and that’s fine. It’s just all so confusing. And I’m just trying to figure stuff out… once again.

In case you didn’t know, I’ve been streaming live on my webcam occasionally on Justin.tv (Justin.tv/AnotherMaria). I wasn’t sure if this was going to be something that I would want to keep doing, especially knowing that there are so many pervs on the internet, but I am actually meeting really cool and interesting people on there!

One day things got a bit crazy in the channel since there were about 130 viewers. I had a hard time keeping up with the chat and some weirdos ended up finding my channel! Keep in mind this was one of the first times I streamed live so I was kind of lost. Well, some kind users helped me out. I made a few of them moderators (mods) and they kicked unruly users out or banned them! Not only that, they showed me how to put the chat in slow mode so that keeping up with the chat would be easier.

Now when I get on, pervs aren’t even an issue really, and I just chill and chit chat with others on my channel - I really enjoy it! Even though I’m not used to it yet, eventually I would just like to leave the cam on even when I’m not on the computer. The problem is that others in my house who tend to wander into my room from time to time don’t want to be on cam! LOL. So we’ll see.

I have also checked out other sites similar to Justin.tv such as Ustream.tv, BlogTV.com, LiveVideo.com, and Yahoo! Live. I haven’t tried them out yet, so I can’t compare the sites. Eventually I will stream on those sites to see which one I like best but for now I am totally set with Justin.tv. It’s the people there that keep me coming back

I took this picture at Costco today. I thought it was so cute, 2 brothers and a sister staring into the meat department. My mom told me she overheard them talking about how huge some fish were, one claiming that it must be the biggest fish in the world.

I thought it was such a cute moment and wanted to take a picture. (I’ve been trying to make use of my N95 in that way). Costco was packed so carts kept crossing in front of me and I couldn’t get a picture but just as soon as I was putting my N95 back in my pocket it became clear and so I took this picture real quick and I’m happy that it came out decent!

I wanted to go to the mother of these children, show her the picture and tell her that I could email her the picture if she wants it. But I got shy lol! I just thought it would be nice to have pictures like this… you know… REAL moments… not fake ones where you ask everyone to stand together and smile for the camera. This was a real moment, something that those kids would look back on and laugh about when they are older.

I guess I feel this way because my parents hardly have any pictures from their childhood. My brother and I have some, pictures became more frequent as we got older. I only know of like one picture of myself when I was a baby. My uncle was the only one that captured my brother and I on video when we were very young. We’ve been meaning to get a copy of that as a matter of fact. I know when I have children, oh man, they are going to get tired of me and my digital camera! I want to capture as many special moments that I can, because nobody remembers everything, but at least there will be photos and videos to remind them of these times.

Hello! I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like to, but there’s a good reason for it - honest! For those who don’t know, I’m GRADUATING! I’m actually done with Finals and the commencement ceremonies start on Friday. Needless to say, I’ve been studying like crazy to make sure that I pass all my classes and graduate with no problems. I haven’t gotten my grades from the final exams yet but I’m feeling pretty comfortable with the whole situation. So I’m back

A lot has been going on with me. Sorry, I’m not going to type it all out. If you want to see what’s going on with me I recommend following me on Twitter or for even more of my updates Subscribe to my FriendFeed (this includes my tweets, Flickr photo, and blog updates). One thing I would like to mention is that I finally learned how to shoot a gun! My boyfriend and I were in a NRA (National Rifle Association) Basic Pistol course, and at first I was nervous but in the end I was so happy I took the class. We learned about the different parts of the gun, how to safely handle the gun, how to take care of the gun, and of course how to hold and shoot the gun! The instructor also told us about the different laws that apply to owning a gun and what not. It was very informative and I highly recommend this course for anyone who is interested in learning. I never thought I’d feel comfortable handling a gun - but now I do. Definitely worth it!

So, I have a list of things that I want to do/learn in my About Me page, and I just crossed out “Gun Shooting Lessons”

I’m so happy that I’m graduating. Not just because I passed my classes or whatever… but because now I can FINALLY focus on what I want to do… careerwise, healthwise, ME-wise (lol). Everything I’m doing from this point on will have everything to do with the career I want to get into, and I’m excited about that. I’m also not going to be commuting as much anymore and I think that’d give me more ME time… to just take care of myself (better) and take part in more things that I want to do (like blogging).

That being said! I don’t like my site’s layout, I made it in a hurry during my short Winter break, so during the summer I want to work on a new layout for the site. I’m also trying to “warm up to the cam” again because I would still like to video blog from time to time. I just see others do it and I think it’s cool But I get cam shy sometimes. So it’ll be a work in progress. Ok I guess that’s it for now, more blogging coming your way? Hopefully

* Update (05/31/08): I now use SnapTweet.com the most! SnapTweet makes it easy for you to Twitter links to pictures that you’ve uploaded to Flickr. I find this the most convenient since I was finding myself  sending pics to Twitpic and then to Flickr.  What I do now is send pics (even video) on my N95 to Flickr like I usually do, and if I want that picture to be twittered, I just add a tag to the photo to let SnapTweet know that I want that picture to be tweeted! It’s really that easy, just create your settings on SnapTweet.com. Here are some pictures I’ve tweeted through SnapTweet: snaptweet.com/anothermaria . All in all, I recommend SnapTweet if you use Flickr a lot, SnapTweet will make things so much easier. If you don’t use Flickr, then I recommend TwitPic. That is all, enjoy!

I’ve been putting my N95 to more use lately and like I mentioned in my previous blog I can upload pics from my N95 directly to Flickr. I’m also a Twitter addict and I wanted to share the pics I’ve just uploaded with my fellow twitterers. So what I did was upload my photo to Flickr, head to urlTea.com or TinyUrl to get a small url so I could tweet a link to my new Flickr photo. This was fine and all but I thought… there has got to be a better (easier) way to do this! And so I did a little search and there was!

First I found MobyPicture.com. I was excited! On MobyPicture you upload your picture via multimedia text / email on your phone and the picture can automatically be posted on sites like Twitter, Flickr, Wordpress, Blogger and more! Of course I just had my eye on Twitter and Flickr so I thought this site was PERFECT for me. I immediately signed up and entered my Twitter and Flickr information. I got my phone and sent my photo to the addy they told me to send it to and…. it did show up on the MobyPicture website but it was never posted on Twitter or Flickr. Boohoo

Then I finally got an invite for SnapFoo.com! SnapFoo also lets you send in your picture on your mobile phone through multimedia text / email and also sends a link to Twitter. They have a Facebook application as well and it looks like they plan on adding more services later since they are only in Beta right now. So anyways, I signed up and sent a multimedia text… nothing At all. Not even on their website.

I was bummed. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that the two websites mentioned above don’t work. They both have many members and the site seems to be working just fine for them, especially SnapFoo because I get tweets from people using SnapFoo so it’s obviously working for them. I don’t know why it didn’t work for me, I’m assuming it’s because the file sizes of my pictures from my N95 are too big… so maybe that’s it? Who knows. The point is that neither of them worked for ME.

Then one day I get a tweet from somebody I’m following, JChino. He was testing TwitPic, and it worked. So I thought hm, what the heck, I’ll give that a try. I go to Twitpic.com, log in there with my Twitter info and they give me an addy to send a multimedia text to. I tried it and…. *gasp*…. it WORKED!!! All you do is send a multimedia text with your pic attached to it and type your caption in the subject heading and BAM! It is posted on the Twitpic website and gets posted to your Twitter. I’ve been using Twitpic ever since. Feel free to check out my Twitpic page with all my picture tweets at twitpic.com/photos/AnotherMaria

Now I just wish twitpic would post to Flickr as well but we know that’s not happening. All in all, I recommend Twitpic, especially if you just use Twitter. But if you want to post the picture to multiple sites… give SnapFoo and MobyPicture a try. Don’t let my bad luck stop you from trying out those sites.

So anyways, today I was just thinking that it would be so cool if there was a VIDEO version of Twitpic and I tweeted that thought and another person I follow, MBoogie, gave me a website… Qik.com!!! You can stream video right from your phone and it supports sites like Twitter and Facebook! So I signed up, they sent a confirmation text link and I clicked on it and they said they’d be in touch. I guess it’s invitation only right now and they evaluate requests. So I’ve been waiting for that and GUESS WHAT…

I literally got the request approval a couple of minutes ago as I was typing this blog!

AnotherMaria streaming videos live? Or recorded videos? To Twitter?…

… More info on that later. But I must get back to studying for my finals (it’s finals week this week).. and I will explore Qik.com more later! I’m so excited!

I’ve been planning on posting a blog about facts I found out about tanning and even some product recommendations but unfortunately I just haven’t been able to! This quarter has been kicking my butt. And now that this winter quarter is coming to an end I’m trying to finish strong by studying like crazy.

Maybe, just maybe, while I’m taking a break I will do my little research on tanning and what not but as of right now I don’t think that will happen. I have two big papers due as well as 3 final exams coming up! So I’m getting ready for those. This is really important to me because I want to make sure I graduate on time! I have to make an appointment to see a counselor, too. Just to double check that I have everything in order.

But just to keep you updated YES I am still tanning and I am loving it! I look healthier. I’m not overdoing it, I go like once a week. The most I would go is twice a week. Hm what else. OH, I’m really going to try to post a random pic a day through Flickr since I can send pics directly from my N95 to Flickr. If I can find something I find interesting to take a pic of, that is. It would be cool if I could blog it on here too… I should figure that out.. later on… lol.. since I have to go workout now. So we’ll see about that. In the meantime, take care and have a great week everyone!

Those who follow me on Twitter probably saw my tweet about losing a BUNCH of photos that I had in my Yahoo photo album. I know it’s my fault, I guess Yahoo let people know mid year last year about them shutting Yahoo photos down but I just didn’t use that account anymore. But I should’ve known something like that was happening since Yahoo is with Flickr. Bleh! So anyways, I was bummed, but decided to use Flickr more and try to make sure nothing like that ever happens to me again! So I’ve been uploading pics here and there that I’ve been finding including theseee…

These pics bring back so many memories. I did them like between 2001-2003, I was going through a lot, and writing things out and music and creative things (like Photoshop) have always been very therapeutic for me so these pictures are a combination of ALL of those things. The words on my pictures are lyrics to songs. That stuff helps Anyways I never really shared them with anybody. I just kept it all to myself. But now that its 2008 (and I am doing much better thank you very much).. so I don’t feel weird about sharing them.

Hm what else, oh I’m in the middle of midterms right now.. I’ve been working on papers and studying.

And last week I went to a TANNING SALON! I was nervous lol, but I love it and I’m definitely going back. Silly me forgot to take off my bracelet and got a little bracelet tan but it’s not too obvious and I’m learning lol. So this whole tanning thing will be a regular thing for me from now on.. I’m not going to go crazy and tan every DAY.. probably once or twice a week. Awesome I’m going to find out more info about tanning and post it when I have the time. I just want to get some facts straight for myself and share it with the rest of you.

K, I need to workout now, laters..

Happy New Years Eve I received something in the mail today that just made my New Years Eve extra special.

Earlier this year I learned about DonorsChoose.org through BlogCatalog. DonorsChoose is a site where teachers ask for donations for specific items (such as books, chalk, etc). I ended up browsing the site and found a cause that I wanted to donate money to. I loved this site because I personally am a nerd like to learn and I feel that education is priceless! Growing up I know that the schools I attended weren’t as well equipped as other top notch schools but I definitely appreciated the teachers who went out of their way to teach and to make learning fun. So one day I donated, it was simple, and that was it.

I honestly forgot all about the donation I made… until today I received a thank you package from the classroom that I donated money to. It’s from a school in Louisiana and WOW… what can I say… I was touched. They sent a cute little package that included pictures of the students using the Leapsters (that the money was donated for) and cute little posters that the students wrote and drew on to say thank you Here are some snap shots of some of the things I received. I took these right now on my N95:

There’s just something about seeing what your money was used for… and seeing the people you helped. It’s an amazing feeling. I’m by no means rich, but I am going to donate to a cause that I’m truly interested in every year on DonorsChoose because like I said before, education is priceless… it is something that NOBODY can take away from you. What a great gift

Soooo…

I did end up getting a few shirts from my previous post. I ended up getting some vintage tees from DirtyShirty, especially since this one shirt that I’ve had my eye on ended up selling out… and I didn’t want that to happen again… so I went ahead and ordered shirts that I liked. And I got the shirts today.

This is me right now, after trying one of the shirts on. The colors are pretty bright, at least I know I’ll be safe crossing the streets at night wearing this one…

I’m a bit disappointed though. The designs are nice, they are ironed on… but the iron-on in itself is a bit messed up. Like the shirt I really wanted (Foxy Lady) has marker spots on it, and it looks like it has some scratches. And another shirt has like a random little black spot ironed on it… like it was accidentally ironed on there or something and is not supposed to be there.

I’m one of those people that really inspect things before buying it. And if I see something as little as a thread sticking out I put it back and look for another one. Well, I got 3 shirts from the site, and if I would’ve saw these 3 shirts in a shop… I would’ve put 2 of them back.

That’s the face I make while inspecting the shirts… LOL jk. Don’t mind me, I was just making use of the webcam.

But yea, all in all I’m not sure if I’ll be buying anything else from that site anymore…

Besides that things are still the same. Sad still. Geez! Sorry, I don’t mean to be depressing you all! It’s just the truth though. Going to be starting school soon and I’m glad because it will be a distraction… from other things.