Some of you might not know this, but, I was once a web designer. I am now more into blog designs, especially after I fell in love with Wordpress, and I'm now working on a Wordpress design project for a blogger friend. I don't want to reveal the details yet. Not 'til I'm done with it. But, let me briefly share with you my first projects as a web designer.

When I got promoted to Quality Specialist in the second call center I worked for, I was requested to start an internal website for the program I was handling. That was my major project. And, yes, I made it using only Notepad and Photoshop. But, it looked really professional... well, for my taste. Here's the layout. I grabbed it from my DeviantArt gallery, which I haven't updated for the longest time.

I actually had a few more projects after that, but, most of them were collaborations. I really thought web designing will be my calling. But, I got really intimidated by the web designs I've seen that during my last web design project, I suggested to my client that we use a ready-made web template instead. I knew when that happened that I'm not really meant to be doing web design. I can do personalizing of websites, but, starting from scratch, I didn't want to pursue anymore.

I mean, c'mon. With the vast resources on the web today for your web design needs, you can really save a lot from designing your own websites. I mean, if your time permits it, it's easy to learn simple web design. I managed to memorize all the most commonly used HTML tags, which is why I prefer to design websites using only Notepad and Photoshop back then. I'm not even into programming or coding back in college. Once you learn even just the basics, you'd learn how to setup your own website just using web templates.

I found this website where they offer 6,000+ website templates, flash templates, corporate ID kits, Flash photo galleries, etc. - Dream Template. All their website templates come with fully valid XHTML / CSS slicing so it'll be easy for you to edit them to your liking. I use Adobe ImageReady to manage slices of the web templates I design myself and/or buy from these websites so you can also try using that.

Dream Template offers a good deal for web designers out there. If you sign up with them and choose the Premium membership option, you'd get access to 9 more sites where you can get free vectors/icons, stock photos, Wordpress themes for blog designs, and more!

I've browsed through their web templates and found this particular design very refreshing:

This flash template is perfect for photographers who want to put up their own online portfolio:

So, if you are still unsure of the design you want for your website, sign up to Dream Template and check out what they offer.

For now, I need to go back to working on my first Wordpress blog makeover project for a blogger friend. Will post about it once it's done! :)

As you can see on the sidebar on the right, I'm still looking for more viral posters to help me win in Sulit's blog contest – Definition of Sulitizen. And, I mentioned that you can win one of the gadgets pictured on the banner on the side just by being one of my viral posters.

I said I hope that at least one of us wins a prize in the weekly raffle. And, guess what, ONE OF US DID!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Lisa of

Earn Money Online!

You just won a Playstation Portable (PSP) from the weekly raffle!!

Please email me at admin (at) blankpixels.com. I need more information from you.

Here's a screenshot from the announcement over at Sulit. Click on the image to see the actual thread.

We still have 2 weekly raffles so you still have time to send in your viral posts for me. Again, to support my entry, click here or on the banner on the sidebar.

I hope I win one of the weekly raffle prizes. But, if I don't, I hope I'd be in the Top 10 for a chance to win an Apple iPad, Nintendo Wii, or a Nokia 5800 in the finals. There'll be a voting period from September 16 to 20 so I hope you can vote for me if I do make it. One lucky voter would win a Nokia C3.

All the prizes are gadgets. I know, some might prefer cash prizes. My partner prefers cash prizes now so we can buy stuff like patio furniture covers because it's been raining cats and dogs in the past weeks. We moved some of our furniture outside 'cause our home's undergoing a renovation so we need to protect them from the heavy rain. Our old tarps are okay for now, but, we need something better. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the prizes that Sulit's giving away. I love gadgets! I just hope I win something. That's all I'm asking. :)

To all my viral posters, THANK YOU and let's all wish each other good luck. I hope one of us wins again! :)

I'm turning 30 in October and I hate to admit it, but, I haven't really lived my life. There are days that I feel I might run out of time to start "living", but, I just brush off the feeling 'cause it'll only bring me down.

I remember watching The Bucket List starring Morgan Freeman as Carter Chambers and Jack Nicholson as Edward Cole. They were both diagnosed with cancer. Carter prepared his "bucket list", things he wanted to do before he passes on, and Edward helped him achieve everything on his list.

I never really thought about writing my own bucket list because I feel that doing so is a bit morbid. I don't want to think about anything negative, but, I'm starting to realize I have to so I won't have any regrets when I finally reach the end. At least I know, I've lived my life the way I wanted, right?

So, here's the first thing on my list:

To travel around the Philippines!

In my almost 30 years of living here, I've only been to a couple of places in the Philippines. Most of the times I traveled was when I was still younger. I guess it's because of busy schedules and my own procrastination which caused a lot of my plans to travel around the Philippines to be postponed multiple times.

I'll try to scour for photos from my traveling around the Philippines. I wasn't really into photography yet so I hope I could still restore some of them so I can share with you the places where I've been.

I remember in 2008, my brother and his friends went backpacking, drove and travelled to different beautiful places in Region 1 in just FIVE (5) DAYS. I want to do something like that. Y'know, just drive around, bring our bikes with us and just mount them on Yakima racks on top of our vehicle, and go where the wind takes us. Argh. That'll be a lot of fun, right?

Here are some of the photos my brother and his friends took when they went travelling. They went to Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte, and travelled to different tourists spots there, including Bell Tower, Baluarte, Fort Ilocandia, Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud, Paoay, Batac, and Vigan. Argh. I so envy them.

Wanna guess where these were taken?
(Photos after the jump)

If you want to download the July 2010 Philippine Nursing Licensure / Board Exam (NLE) results, scroll down at the bottom of this post for the links. I am providing the alternative links just in case you're having a problem downloading it from the Professional Regulation Commission's (PRC) website.

I've blogged about my brother passing the Nursing Licensure Exam (NLE) last year and it was one of the best days of my life. I am so proud of his achievements. He actually passed another board exam a few months ago. So, he is now a Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife. Awesome, huh? Well, he got his intelligence from his ate. *ehem*

Now, one of his friends who took the July 2010 Nursing Board exam, passed. Out of the 91,008 who took the exam, 37,679 passed. And I'm glad she's one of them:

Congratulations, Jonna! I know, last time was a disappointment. But, I believe everything happens for a reason. :)

(Board Topnotchers and download links after the jump)

This is in Miss Philippines candidate to the Miss Universe 2010 pageant, Venus Raj's defense over the "major major" mistake that a lot of people are fussing about all over the internet.

Obviously, if you think that her saying "major major" and that being a hit now is CUTE, this post is not for you. This is only meant for those who are mocking Venus Raj over that mistake.

Before I even say anything, you have to watch Venus answer again:

"... In my 22 years of existence, I can say that
there is nothing major major, I mean, problem in my life..."

Okay, I had to emphasize on the phrase "major major, I mean, problem".

If you ask me, Venus Raj was nervous and most of us, when we experience that much anxiety and happiness all at the same time, we tend to repeat words or even forget what we wanted to say.

I don't agree that she meant to say "bonggang bongga" or "malaking malaki" when she said "major major". It was a mistake out of nervousness. If you ask me, she simply repeated the word "major" instead of just saying "major problem". That's why she said "I MEAN" after "major major".

But, no. We Filipinos can be a bit harsh towards our own people.  A lot of us started laughing and mocking her for saying "major major" without even listening to the words after. If you listen to her accent, she didn't speak English in Pinoy accent.