Year 2013 arrived with good and bad things: new ideas for my fanworlds, a stronger bond to my sister and my fiancee, for the good side. Less money, an influenza (ugh!) and a hint of depression that I’m fighting back with as much strength as God permits. And alas, looks like I lost contacts with a few good friends. That really sucks, but I pray that one day our paths will meet again. You never know.

I wish I had funds to put up a display banner for my novels and fan-worlds. But it’s already hard enough to spare enough money for all the domain renewals and the little advertising I do (VERY little, because I mostly use the free options, you know) so I really can’t afford such a luxury.

Anyway, if you’re working on a budget that’s bigger than mine — but are unwilling to compromise on the quality of your display banner — a neat solution could be offered by MonsterDisplays. Click this link to see an example. Trade shows are actually a big way to sell your products, so it’s important to pick the best possible display banner available to show off your wares. The best is that you can get live help if you need it and, if you are not available to take their calls, request a call back and a representative will give you a call. There is so much help offered on this site, and the prices are low enough that they won’t break the pocketbook. Follow this link to learn more.

Another thing: did you know Honey-Babe.net is turning 6 years old on March 21st, 2013? Ahah, that’s true, babes. This blog and Sweet-Loves.net are two of the oldest domains I own. I hope I can see them turn ten years old one day. Seriously– and perhaps I’ll have a baby of my own on that day. Double celebration. ^_~

Happy 2013, sweethearts! See you around the Web.

Big mistake. Really.

I would have proceeded at a faster pace, get unstuck early on, get more study aid in addition to that provided by Simone and our classmates. Truly big mistake.

No need for help with English — because I’m a freelance writer — as much as help with learning math (because my background is nothing great in that area).

Yes, I find it hard to make connections between math definitions and theorems and their practical application. Sometimes it’s textbooks fault, some other times it’s teachers rushing over the topic; other times, though, it’s just my mind. I’m not used to think logically. I’m mostly a creative, I manipulate words and pencil lines pretty easily, but I do not so with mathematical abstractions.

It’s frustrating.

Simone always helped me find a way to visualize what I learn, and I’m very thankful for that. But sometimes it’s just not enough. For some reason, my brain resists the attempts at getting abstract concepts to flow smoothly among my neurons. LOL. Perhaps one day I will find a way out of that.

Because I LOVE mathematics.

And I will have to drag myself to take some tutoring course in basic mathematical thinking.

Even a Coursera course. It will do.

Actually, I was enrolled in a math thinking course at Coursera.org, but I didn’t get to finish the course because I was too busy with work and too depressed by other things. Heh, depression’s a nasty beast; it makes life harder to live. But that’s skip that (I’m not confortable with talking about my depressions).

There will be other courses. But I pray that my neurons finally open up to mathematical abstraction, this time.

Yes, I *pray* to God for that. Because it’s painful, more than you could imagine.

(Rant-ish, I know, but thanks for reading ’till here).

Such a stressful day! You know I adore my Characters’ blogs, but I’ve been rebuilding a gazillion and recovering or rewriting so many posts that I came down with a nausea. Ugh.

I just watched a Star Trek TNG episode to relax, and had a lovely chat with my Simone and our daughter Mandi. Such a relief! Actually the whole week has been stressful for me. I have a backlog of work to get done, blogs to catch up with, some studying and new magazines to read in order to tailor pitches to send sometimes next year.

In the meantime, I did have a look at cute exterior shutters I could install when I get married and move to my temporary house– mom’s second house, adjacent to grandma’s. I don’t like the current shutters: they’re old, faulty and full of spiderwebs. O_O Eek! I have a spiderweb-phobia and it’s NOT fun. Anyway, I’d love to buy the shutters you can see here on the right. Cute, aren’t they? ^^

We had a small earthquake a few hours ago. About 2 points in the Richter magnitude scale. Just two seconds, but it wasn’t fun. I feared to get hit by the lamp above my head (yes, there’s a big one hanging from the living room ceiling, where I work). No big deal, though; it didn’t carry damage or deaths. It just startled us all a little.

Well, I’m better off to work so I can go to sleep by 1AM. Gawd.

Goodnight.

Guess what? Little cooking-addict Luana created a custom sandwich via the Wonder bread's Sandwich Wonder-izer and just named it "OnionYum". LOL. Lacks some creativity, doesn't it? I would have done better if my family stopped talking at me. I really wish they would respect my online time, especially when it's also work time (because I'm also working in the meantime). But let's skip over that. My sandwich was a 406 calories piece filled with onions, turkey and cheese, and it you remove the turkey, it's still a delicious onions and cheese sandwich that's good for vegetarians, too. ^^

Here's the nutritional table Wonder Bread calculated for OnionYum:

I adore The Sandwich Wonder-izer! Hehe. It makes it fun an easy to create a lunchbox sandwich for school.

Here's the ingredients I used:

• Two slices of Wonder SmartWhite for KIDS (that means, a whole portion)
• 1 serving of yellow mustard
• 1 serving of smoked turkey breast
• 1 serving of raw red onions (yum!)
• 1 slice of Cheddar
• 1 serving of French Fried Onions

Et voilà! Easy, no? And it's delicious— I tried the same recipe with home ingredients once, to take to university for lunch. Onions are particularly appetizing.

A last word about Wonder Bread

Living in Italy can be wonderful under certain aspects, but a little frustrating under others. We don't have a Wonder Bread brand here, but I wish we did. Our brands are good but they seem less attentive to health issues. You know what happens when money is involved… Anyway, Wonder Bread ended up in my top 'to-try-absolutely-once-I-get-to-travel-to-the-US' list. I can trust a 90 years old company that's always cared about its customers. Particularly, one that seems to produce such a soft, nutritious and delicious (the pictures made me drool!) healthy bread. The SmartWhite for KIDS I selected for my OnionYum sandwich has only 50 calories per slice, a glass-of-milk amount of calcium plus vitamins and minerals essential to a kid's growth. And it's 100% whole wheat bread.

Wonder Bread has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WonderBread if you wish to follow it (I do!) and a Twitter account at @WonderBread.

Ah yeah! Let me know what you did create if you get to try the custom sandwich via the Wonder-izer! LOL. I'm curious to try new sandwich recipes!

How sweet! Miracle-Gro® and the Gardenieres joined together in a gardening venture just for us fans and gardening hobbyists. Grandma Wanda's going to enjoy the opportunity!

In case you don't know, the Gardenieres are gardening enthusiasts who work under the lead of the fabulous gardening master William Moss. You should visit their website and look and the projects they're working on! Stuff to fall in love with. <3

And Miracle-Gro® is a delightful online store for potting mixes and soil nutrients. You can visit the Miracle-Gro Facebook page if you wish. I'm a fan, so you'll find my name there, hehe.

I was never into gardening but watching my grandma and aunties grow their vegetable and flower gardens turned me into an enthusiast: I love reading about garden lovers' real-world experiences, their lovely tricks to help their plants grow in health and beauty.

One project I'd like to undertake (with granny's help) is Rose Bush Pruning. I watched granny do that in the past, but it looked too hard to me, as if it was an art of its own (it is!). Well, this year I want to give it a try. See how it works. It will look like being a child again, after all, because I used to spend plenty of time in the garden as a child, with granny. Oh, I miss my childhood and its curiousity!

Here's a lovely video about a Gardenier who shows how to create a potted herb garden (aww!):

I want to ask grandma if I can help her in November. Find beauty in the Fall, at last.

My beloved Simone has a Galaxy S2. So I want the S3 and get rid of my stupid BlackBerry (an old 2007 model).

No, I mean it seriously. Did you know that old BlackBerry’s emit over 1.20 SAR (radiation) to your head? When I found out I also realized THAT was the cause for so many headaches and horrible migraines I’ve been suffering from over the last year.

Simone’s Galaxy S2 emits only 0.23. I don’t know how much the Galaxy S3 will emit, but I’m sure.

The price should range between €250 and €480. I hope to find a good discount when the time comes. Next year S3′s should get cheaper. But even if it stayed at €400 or so, it would be fine— I can save up that amount in 7 months, no sweat.

What kind of cellphone brand did you choose?

Have you checked its SAR rating?

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Another nice option for non-winners is the possibility to get all bids done back for free, so it’s like you have never spent them before. I think this is honest and an incentive for people to use the service.

DealDash is really risk-free. It even offers a 100% money back guarantee if winners (or regular buyers) are not satisfied with the purchase. That’s incredibly honest!

Look, I found a few interesting DealDash YouTube reviews to watch:

• Dealdash.com Review Deal Dash is a great Penny-auction alternative
• DealDash: The fair & honest, risk-free alternative to penny auctions
• DealDash – I LOVE IT!

I’m absolutely jealous of my daughter for having a chance to personally bid on DealDash auctions. However, I’m so glad she’s going to help me by bidding on beloved items for me. I’ll be glad to cover internation shipping costs, just as long as she can send my items over.

Sometimes I hate living in Italy. I do.

I have a new Beloved online friend. Her name’s Janine and her beautiful site is Le Gum. Go visit her, mmh?

I’m so deadly tired. Influenza isn’t very nice, you know? My head explodes and my throat and nose are awful. Plus, I can’t speak; yeah, my voice is gone. AND it looks more like a ‘light’ bronchitis. Ugh. I hope it will be gone soon. I miss Simone and I have so much work to catch up with. *sigh*

Recently I’ve had a bad time with a particular writing gig, and now I’m glad it’s over. Sometimes, even though we do our best, things turn against us. Yes, no matter our best intentions. I guess it’s time I start developing a tick skin, and anyway, I got paid. In cash and reputation. That’s what really counts.

October is gonna be a month full of domain renewals. I have about 35 (or more?) domains expiring and I don’t want to give up on any of them. I gave up on two .info’s last month, but I wasn’t really using them, nor I was so fond of them, so a couple of subdomains will do the job. Not a big loss, and about $22 saved for important renewals.

Starting from October, I will no longer be an active University student. I will stay enrolled, I’m keeping my student ID and password, but I’m no longer paying tuition. I can still take exams up to the February 2013 session, then all I’ll be allowed is attendance to lectures, because lectures are public. Better than nothing. I plan to be back, one day; I have 8 years to do that, but that’s plenty of time.

In the meanwhile, Coursera and Udacity will keep me company.

Last time I visited Famous.com – about six months ago – I didn’t pay too much attention to the variety of shoes they had in the listing. I was just looking up what was new in the shoe world, to see if there was anything inspirational to look for at the local store in my town, which was way cheaper than it is now (you can hear disappointment in my writing, can’t you?).

However, now that I visited Famous Footwear again, their variety of styles caught my interest and it’s not going anywhere– I may just buy there, in the future, when my current shoes are worn out. Hehe. It’s kind of sad they aren’t already, because they’re having this incredible back-to-school promotion – 15% off + BOGO (Buy One, Get One Half Off) – that would make for a cool shopping experience.

And well– isn’t a BOGO + 15% off Famous Footwear Coupon just something cool? The back-to-school (to university, in my case, for how shortly) shopping would come easier, especially for people on a low budget like myself and my closest friends. There are never a lot of money around, so every time I run into coupons I’m just plainly delighted by the opportunity. Hehe!

So, the best thing to do now is to print the coupon and redeem it in-store before August 18th, because the offer will expire soon and it’s too good to waste.

Another interesting thing about Famous.com is their FREE Rewards Program inclusive of discount offers upon signing up, some little perks and 1-point earnings for every $1 spent, up to $100 a year. Plainly amazing, in my book, especially since the coupon’s 15% off becomes a full 20% off if you are already a Rewards member, or if you signs up for the Rewards program.

Questions: Do you have a favorite shoe store? Do they have a rewards program and cool discount offers?

But that doesn’t mean that the technology is, in itself, bad.

Peer-to-Peer technologies are NOT connected to piracy. They have never been, they aren’t, and they will never. It’s people who make a bad use of them.

Image copyright: theuntz.com

Do you know who this guy is?

He’s DJ Pretty Lights (Derek Vincent Smith), a singer who in 2011 used the peer-to-peer file sharing technology to distribute his music and grow his audience and fandom exponentially! He partnered with BitTorrent to achieve this goal and increase the reach of his music. Amazing, isn’t it?

To cite a wonderful article I read this morning: “500,000 to 700,000 people install BitTorrent & µTorrent’s software everyday. That’s a huge audience to put an artist in front of…”

6 Ways To Make A Legal Use of Torrents and Download Networks

• Don’t download pirated content— There’s plenty of alternative free, open-source content in the basket! — No piracy torrent usage, or any other P2P technology of the kind, or even Mediafire & co., is the way to bring these wonderful networks back to their good reputation. So let’s only download legal content, free content and open-source materials. It’s a great push toward the restoration of these services’ reputation.
• Do share your freebies, short stories, novels, music and videos via torrent and download networks. — DJ Pretty Lights did it, and it works! You’ll reach a wider audience if you distribute your content for free via torrent or direct download. If you want to sell something, giving a part of it (a few novel chapter, some tracks and a video or two) you’ll earn a big fandom even before your content is published for a fee.
• Always make a “free download edition” of your works to tickle your clients/readers/fans curiosity! — Sample chapters, sample tracks, freebies… all the good stuff that can help you build a horde of fans while you’re still working on your products.
• Promote and rate open-source content on torrent and download sites— Search engines, directories and review sites allow you to promote, rate and review products you use. Do it for free goodies! That’s going to push legally distributable content to the top ranks, instead of pirated content.
• Share free, public domain and open-source content with your friends, family, classmates and colleagues— If you’re in school, you could share some free video lectures from the Khan Academy, for instance, to help your classmates review Math, History and other subjects. Also, check out the Ocwconsortium.org to find other good free learning material to use to review or in classroom.
• Use download and torrent network that promote free content— For instance, my favorite among bittorrent search engines is BTDigg.org, a service that helps finding useful free torrents, downloadable via magnet link.

That’s just six ideas, my dear friends, but it’s a start. A good reputation, for a service or a technology, only depends on its users.

Let’s join forces?

Gawd, I’m suffocating in here. My living room is really horrible in summer, especially when all doors are closed. Not an air breath! And computers keep on heating up and shut down at random times. I can’t wait to go on holiday at the sea, in Abruzzo… I’ll have less time to dedicate to work (of course, since it’s *vacation*!) but I’ll do it in a healthy environment, at least. Not this mess.

And I want Rabbit Air in my bedroom. *sigh* Air purifiers are what I really long for right now. I’m melting on my textbooks, paper work and netbook. It’s like a nightmare.

But let’s switch to a happier topic now (oh, I need it!).

My new favorite ice-cream flavor is vanilla with pistachio. I know that sounds totally random, but I’ve *never* liked pistachio before, so this is a complete surprise to me. I tried the new flavor at my fiancé’s: his mom had several ice-cream varieties stored in the freezer, and something inside just told me I had to go for vanilla (which I love) and pistachio (which I used to hate)— well, an empty glass and a happy stomach can tell you how much I enjoyed it. LOL

In other news, I’m probably going to reach a total of 330 domain names by end of the year. Ugh! I hope I’ll have enough money to renew them all. I guess I should sell some– or give them away. But getting a few bucks back wouldn’t hurt.

But I still have a youthful face. Thanks goodness. :3

On the 17th of June (or was it the 18th? I can’t remember, ugh!) I ate a delicious lunch at “Il Sole” (The Sun) restaurant here in Genzano with Simone and my sister Barbara. Really, it was only the three of us, because my other friends were all busy, but I had made plans to see them later in the week, so it was fine. We spent a lovely time at the restaurant, not just eating a lot of our favorite food, but chit-chatting about our lives and laughing at a bunch of jokes my sister and Simone seem to pick out of a magician’s hat every time. xD LOL. They have humour in their DNA!

On the 27th I met Silvia (did I tell you that we’re back to a good friendship?! I haven’t? Bad, I’ll have to make up for that ) and she gave me her birthday present: a wonderful A3 sketchpad and a set of colored markers! Adorable, and useful. *_* On June 29th I met with my fiancé and together we spent some time with my best friend Cristina and her boyfriend. Then, on June 30th, I went out with a friend from the comics school, Barbara.

Overall, it was a quiet birthday event. I didn’t want anything fancy this year because — let’s be honest — I’m not as young anymore. But my fiancé, my sister and my friends are always good to have around, so any excuse is good to hang out together! Ahah.

Did I tell you about Coursera.org?

It’s a free online no-credit college/educational platform offering a lot of courses from top universities (Stanford, Princeton, etc.) in various subjects, and some of the subjects do use a Video Conferencing option for Live Seminaries too. I joined in late May and I’m totally hooked on it! Plus, it helps me to master a lot of subject I have at university, so that I’ll be able to successfully pass all exams once I’m back to my courses in 2016 (or later).

Registration is free, if you want to try it out.

The camera here on the right, instead, comes from the  Cook and Wiley website, all dedicated to video conferencing rooms and tools. I added it here because it’s relevant and because it inspired me an interesting idea: renting a video conferencing room, one day, to offer my own free art and blogging courses as recorded video seminars. What do you think? I’ll have to master my spoken English first, but I’m confident I’ll be able to handle it. I know I have something to offer to other young aspiring artists and writers out there.

My favorite type are programmable slow cookers – yes, you heard it: programmable. They keep food warm and tasty on the way and they’re perfect for a last-minute meal before we get back home from a vacation.

I was always fascinated by this kind of electrical appliances: our stores are filled with the fanciest cooking pans and toasters, but I like programmable cookers the most, because they can make the difference out of home— I hate relying on sandwiches and hamburgers all the time, and it’s not even healthy, uhm? Yeah.

One of my favorite recipes for a programmable slow cooker is Caribbean Chicken: it takes circa 3 hours to prepare and cook, but it’s delicious if you eat it with rice andoasted vegetables. *yum* :9 You can find the recipe on Recipedose.com, if you’d like to try it out.

Aside from all that, I’d like that you check my blog again tomorrow, as I’m going to post my 27th birthday entry. I’m getting OLD, ahah! And yes, I should gift myself with a programmable cooker, but I have no money to buy one right now. I could only try one out at a friend’s, in the past, but unless my dad hides one in the kitchen, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait that I get married to buy one. My parents are pretty jealous of their kitchen and cooking tools, so… nothing much I could do. Initiatives of this kind are usually turned down because “there is no more room for another cooker here!”. LOL ^^”

Tomorrow I’m going to my town library to do some research for work. I’ll renew my library card while I’m there, so I can borrow books again. WOW! I haven’t renewed my card since I was 13, so that’s… fourteen years ago. And it feels like yesterday. Time really flies fast.

This is a sponsored post from BloggingAds.com

Resign? Well— no. I picked the wrong word: I’m going to put my studies on hold. That’s a different procedure: it means the possibility to re-enroll within 8 years from the interruption, by maintaining all exams done. It’s a very good option for students who are forced to leave college/university for a number of serious reasons. If it’s your case, too, just make sure your university has this option.

Why would I leave university, albeit temporarily?

I guess I could give you three answers:

1. my parents
2. my freelance work
3. my old nervous breakdown after-effect

The first item in the list is unavoidable. For how much I tried to convince them, my parents stay fixed on their position: there’s no point in paying tuition (even half tuition, since I pay half myself) to a low achieving student, even when the student would die out of love for those hard, never-studied-before subject she feels so attracted to. But the economy is harsh, and there are other two children that need to study, take a driving license and other courses, so there’s no coming back: Luana’s the one who has to stop studying. After all, isn’t Luana so old already? She’s almost 27, isn’t she? That makes her old enough to stop studying and focus on work. Getting rid of studying would also help her remove some of the stress, wouldn’t it?

Yes mom, dad, it would… but where you got the stress removed, like a cyst, a bleeding hole has remained.

Now, about the second item: it’s a matter of time management, and the reason sometimes I wish we could count on more than 24 hours a day. Unlike many people like to think, freelance work requires a lot of time and energies, but a university student life does too, so there’s a clash of priorities… sometimes work wins, sometimes university does.

I always tried to balance both work and student life. I find it exciting, a way to explore more deeply into my potential; it’s like having a desk covered with paper sheets about all the possible topics and subjects you love, having them all under you eyes, so that your mind can work on finding connections, solutions, new ideas, a new spin on old ideas.

The ‘problem’ – no, it’s not really a problem – is that I need to get my freelance business going if I want to get married within four or five years, so that needs to get priority over my studies. LOL, I could have continued studying even as a low priority activity, but see item #1 for more information.

Finally, we come to the third item… and that’s where I could shed bitter tears.

It’s true: my mind is fragile. I’m keen to depression, panic attacks and nervous breakdowns. I burn out easily, and I need to revise continuously because I have a bad memory (blame it on hypothyroidism and anxiety). I like to do many things, but I have to keep control over the way my mind flows… the moment I feel it begins to hiccup, I have to stop. It’s frustrating, it makes me cry. Back in high school days, I went through a terrible time of depression and alternate nervous breakdowns that lasted for almost four years. That time left its after-effect. I’m still not completely over it.

The interesting thing is that I recently found out that my performance in all areas improves when I tell myself I’m great (a booster for a low self-esteem person) and I let my mind take over and go super fast— I get hyperactive, my memory improves, I multi-task efficiently, I get new ideas and I find new interesting spins to old ideas. In this state of mind I once found a connection between two mathematical concepts while watching a Disney movie,  a connection that revealed to be an already existent theorem.

What’s incredible is that it all works in the background of my mind. If I were to do this consciously, I wouldn’t be able to.

So, all this to tell you why I’m about to interrupt my university studies. It’s going to be tough… but I’ll do everything I can to lighten the burden; that includes:

• attending public lectures when I have a free day (I’ll have to find an excuse to tell my parents, though)
• continue working on university projects I really like on my leisure time
• continue challenging myself with new notions from time to time

I need it to feel alive. Simone is going to help me with it.

Yes, I did— the old NLH no longer exists, the name was available, so why not?

I have plans for that domain:

• it will belong to a Robocity character, Rasert Loff
• il will be used as a hosting and networking community… for Robocitans
• it will contain hosting and Internet marketing reviews
• it will offer a 200MB FREE hosting package to anyone requesting it

Poor domain, it’s too bad it got such a bad reputation. The domain in itself didn’t deserve it, you know? Unfortunately, people can ruin things‘ reputation too. Alas.

How have you been?

Pretty busy on this side of the screen. But happy.

On March 4th Simone and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary! *_* I will soon post an entry about it on Sweet-Loves.net!

Hi babes! Long time, isn’t it?

I hate it when it happens, but time hasn’t been kind to me lately. I have more things to do than available daytime hours! It’s incredible! I can tell you: I’m fully booked, at least for a month and a half. Perhaps I’ll need another two months to complete my ongoing site projects.

Wondering what am I doing to keep me ‘that’ busy? Uhm— let’s see:

• I was commissioned an 80-page length book to translate (English-to-Italian)
• I applied at a web hosting niche site as a freelance writer and I was accepted — I’m starting this week!
• I paid my second semester tuition for university and it’s going to be my last semester for a long time— so I’m trying to study hard and enjoy it until I can!
• I was commissioned 35+ sponsored reviews since February 10th
• I continue to work as a cartoonist (volunteer position) for CreativeWritingInstitute.com
• I continue working on my art commissions from DeviantART.com
• I continue working as an article writer for IlGeek.com (Italian niche blog)
• I’m working on my online portfolio— which I need to optimize to attract more clients
• I’m developing more story ideas (fiction and nonfiction) to submit to print and online magazines that accept freelance submissions
• I took up a free English test at the Wall Street Institute school of English of Albano Laziale (RM, Italy) to see which English level I’m at. I’m not sure I’m going to enroll there, but I’m looking around for opportunities (I seriously need to develop my spoken and listening skills!)
• I’m working on my novels and short story anthologies when I have some free time.

There’s a lot on my plate, but I do enjoy it all. It only leaves me with less time for personal blogging, that’s all. I won’t stop blogging though, so don’t worry… lil’ old Luana will stay to bug you for many, many years to come.

Ahah!

Hello babes, I have a pack of news – kind of obvious since I’ve been on and off over the last two months, but still… – and one of them is related to Walgreens, a prescription drugs supplier I mentioned in my last entry.

The news pertains to the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club, which is having another special offer for both individuals and families drug supply coverage, risk free, for a small annual fee – $35 for families (including spouse, children under 22 and pets) and $20 per individual. Subscribers get more discounts, of course, but I think this is a generous offer of its own. I wish it as cheap here in Italy too! Another nice thing is that, when you purchase Walgreens brand products, you get bonuses in your account. Really cool!

So, if you wish to learn more about the program, and take a look at the 8,000+ general medications and discounts (even the flu shots!) Walgreens has available, I suggest you follow Walgreens on Twitter (so you stay up to date) and that you ask questions directly to Walgreens on Facebook. Getting in touch is the best way to solve problems.

Now, the remainder of the news. ^^

Snow and a really bad weather messed up my personal and university life. I’ve been confined home for days  – terrible! >.< – and university is closed because reaching it by car or bus is too dangerous. There’s still a lot of snow in Rome, up to 60 cm. Crazy. O_O

It snowed here in Genzano di Roma too, but not that much. We had a lot of ice though.

What else? I miss Simone. Badly. I haven’t seen him since this snow nightmare started. I can’t wait for all the snow to be gone so we can commute again! Go to university and hugs my beloved sweetheart once more. Yes, that’s all I want.

I’ve been writing a lot of late. My novels and short stories, but fanfiction as well. I’m writing mostly in Italian: I love English but it’s time I dedicate some energies to my native tongue too. I don’t wish to get rusty, ahah!

I don’t know what else to write… I really need my blogging muse to come back and inspire me. Gah. I’m stressed these days, perhaps that’s the only real issue.

Good morning, babes. Today’s entry is going to focus on a sad news I learned about a few days ago. You may end up finding it weird that I actually care about a dispute between two companies, but trust me: when you’ve learned to love the initiatives a certain company does, seeing it in trouble takes your heart as a whole. It’s unavoidable.

It’s Walgreens and Express Script to be engaged in a controversy. And I am on Walgreen’s side.

You see, Walgreens had been through a number of negotiations with Express Scripts (its middleman to distribute Walgreens products) over the past year, but none of them went through, and Express Scripts’ verdict was to remove Walgreens from its pharmacy distribution network. It’s a big deal, one that Walgreens is trying to fight with discounts on annual memberships at its Walgreens Prescription Savings Club.

The fact is… that the issue does not just affect the companies and their internal politics… it affects customers, patients living on prescription drugs. Try thinking of yourself in need of certain drugs that your doctor wants you to buy from the Walgreens brand, and your local community pharmacy doesn’t have them anymore because distribution was interrupted. What do you do now?

That’s the real issue at hand… and it’s why I’m on Walgreens’ side and I’m writing this post. In its life, Walgreens has done a lot of good for people, starting with low cost drugs, extremely cheap annual memberships (what’s a $5-$10 for a year of drugs you need to live well?), the Way to Well Fund™ to bring sanitary information and medicines to the poorest communities across the US, plus Walgreens’ support to US troops through the Tricare health program. It’s ethically horrid to cut distribution to a humanitarian company of this kind.

I’ll tell you: I look forward to a quick resolution of this dispute, in favor of Walgreens. Or at least, that Walgreens can find another great middleman that will take its effort and humanitarian initiatives in consideration.

I added Walgreens on Twitter a couple of days ago, and just placed a ‘Like’ to Walgreens on Facebook last night. A tiny way to show my support. It needs some, really.

This post is a quickie because my connection is pretty poor today. There is an ongoing issue with my ISP since yesterday, which I hope is going to be fully solved tomorrow. >.<;

This week I donated a few bucks to four organizations I support wholeheartedly: one is NaNoWriMo (you all know about it ), another is Attachment Parenting International, a support association for parents to promote attachment to their kids. Another one is Wikipedia, to which I donated 10 Euros, while another 10 Euros went to UNICEF. Not a lot, but even a dollar can make a difference when it adds to donations from another million or more people.

If you wish to donate to these organizations, here’s where you can send your help:

http://www.attachmentparenting.org/help/donate.php
https://store.lettersandlight.org/donations
http://www.supportunicef.org
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Fundraising

Another – small – thing I wanted to tell you is that if you run into one of my  imaginary daughters  – Asha (asha.bellachino.net) – and you see that I gave her a pair of ZENNI eyeglasses… well, just know that I often do that to my Characters. ^^ I fall in love with something and I adore that something? Well, I’ll assign it to a fictional character! Ahah, that happens mostly when I can’t use/afford the object in question. In this case, since I don’t need prescription glasses, I’m having one of my daughters need it. ZENNI makes cute girlish styles, which suit Asha pretty well. She’s a teen, after all.

Okay, I’ll go ahead and post this up, which I hope it will be followed by a longer post in a few days. Good night! :*

I have to admit there’s yet another reason, though: I rediscovered the ancient pleasure of keeping a paper diary, which I didn’t anymore after 2005, when blogging replaced it completely.

Until mid November 2011.

I had just finished reading two novels by Kate Morton (in Italian translation), The Forgotten Garden and The Distant Hours, in which book and writing lovers talk often about their diaries, how these diaries are passed upon their descendants and how significant they are to them. I absorbed those emotions like a sponge does to water: there I found my old pleasure again; writing my heart and mind out on a paper diary.

Now I write on my diary almost every day, but never shall I forget about my blog(s). Now that I feel strong enough to be back to my old busy routine, I’ll be here more often– and share some thoughts from my paper diary too. Yes, I have no issues with that. ^^ My heart is an open book.

I’m kind of behind with my online work and with university readings, but I’m catching up on everything. For now, here’s my deadlines:

• Sunday 4th: hand in article for Education.com + 2 pencil sketches for CreativeWritingInstitute.com
• Monday 5th: submit short-story ‘See You Later’ to InTheSnake.com
• Tuesday 6th: finish taking notes from my Logic Networks book and slides
• Wednesday-to-Thursday: send art commissions updates to 3 customers
• Friday 9th: catch up on AI readings (uni)
• Sunday-to-Friday: finish and hand in package of SEO articles for IlGeek.com

I’m sure there will be more in the future, but so far my week is going to be pretty full. Without mentioning reviews and articles “on the go” that I get at least every other day.

Regarding NaNoWriMo, this year I didn’t even reach the 20,000 words with the influenza getting in the way, but at least I have a new story (Aresha)to work on in my spare time. I love working on my novels to relax, hehe.

Last but not least, some new projects for Honey-Babe.net:

• Honey Babe MB – Yes babes, my forum!  I accept board suggestions (email me or comment).
• Luana Spinetti’s Private Library – I’m still not sure about the choice of library management script, but so far it’s nice to experiment with it. I own a thousand books or little less, so cataloguing is a must! With it, as a complementary site, I’ll be working on Authors.VV.cc, a list of my favorite authors.
• Ask Luana! – Yes, my Ask Me page! Go ahead and ask, sweeties!

And now, I’m better off returning comments and write a review and an article I owe to my clients. See ya! 

I’ve also fallen in love with more domain names, you know? In fact, I bought several this week.. Ahah. Anyway, it’s too soon to list them here; I will plug them up shamelessly when I have a few pages up on all of them.

I hope to have a longer update to share tomorrow (and time to return comments too!). Gonna sleep now, with a super-tired body (flu is terrible!). *yawn* Bye!

1) The Smart Professor
This is a professor that most college students want to be like. This professor can talk about nearly everything under the sun. They have interesting, engaging lectures that everyone participates in. This is one of the best professors that you can learn many things from.

2) The Friendly Professor
This is the professor that everyone loves. Their classes are always full and they give the best lectures. This professor works hard to remember everyone’s names and always has office hours. This is a great professor to have when you are considering someone to ask for a letter of recommendation. Stay in touch with this professor.

3) The Absentminded Professor
This is the professor that comes to class late, forgets when class is, but is very intelligent. These professors are entertaining and you can usually buy yourself some time when they ask about the deadline for an assignment.

4) The Boring Professor
This is the dreaded professor. No matter what he/she is lecturing on, they can make it boring. It makes class painful. However, a lot of the times, this professor is an expert in their field and you need the class for your major. Try visiting with this professor after class, they might be a boring lecturer, but a really cool person out of class.

5) The “Prepare You for the Work-Force” Professor
This professor is one that you will encounter in your higher level courses. They will want to prepare you for your future career. They will require you to produce resumes and cover letters. If you are a freshman, try steering away from these kinds of professors. They are extremely valuable to seniors and upperclassmen.

Professors are a very important part of college. Take the time to ask other students about professors that you are considering taking a class from. Once you are in the class, make sure that you get to know the professor. You will have a more successful college experience if you do.

About the Author

Chloe Tren is a freelance writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps many find the best online colleges for them.

I’m going to send a survey message to all my hostees sometime this week, to probe their happiness with my little web hosting service and to see if there’s anything they need and that I can add to the Network. Anyway, I’m updating the hostee and hosting rules page this week, so it should be easier to understand and follow, as it was a bit outdated (last update dated late 2008).

In case you’re not happy with my little service and you need another (paid) host, please read the hosting reviews and news listed on Webhostingfan.com. There is plenty of information for you to use there.

I’ll  be around this week and take care of your needs. Follow me on Twitter too, @luanatf.

So, THANK YOU to Kya, Jennifer, Iris, Misaki, Isi, Meaghan, Lissa, Olivia, Kitty, Shukaku, Jaa, Amanda, Zoe, Ariel and Rae for respectively hosting the following Characters of mine:

Eve @ eve.bubble.nu
Seana @ seana.moon.nu
Jeyor @ pure.snowbubble.me
Sarina @ sarina.littledancer.net
Chromia @ chromia.hyrule.nu
Mana @ mana.sky-song.org
Arina @ arina.secretkiss.org
Kae @ kae.faded-aeterna.com
Elien @ elien.candyholic.net
Danielle @ danielle.so-pink.org
Mexier @ mexier.nekonette.com
Jahi @ jahi.hyouri.org
Gigatron @ gigatron.unwinded.com
Chromestar @ star.daintyhearts.org
Speedfire @ fire.innocentsky.com
Rider @ rider.snowblush.com
Reisi @ reisi.haneuri.net

I deliberately chose not to mention domains hosted for free by other wonderful people — because I will do in another post. Still — thanks!

A Medicare program for our grannies

Thought of concluding this post with something helpful.

I found a medicare plans guide (Medicare is a US government health insurance program run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) for seniors to balance finances and good health, and I thought of sharing the link (up here) for anyone living in the US. You may be young and not needing that, but it’d be good if you could pass the link along to your grandparents or older relatives.

I’m selling 3 domains: ilovesnuggles.com – fixxi.info – adeep.org, $2/each or $6/all Contact me!

A week of influenza — no, two weeks! — really drained my energies. I tried to keep up with work and subjects no matter the headache and the stay in bed, but now I feel even more drained. I need a full day of relax soon, hehe.

I’m taking care of a few very special domains I bought recently, which include:

stardrops.net
heartdrops.info
lovesnuggles.com
fadingkiss.com
dulce-splash.net

… and many more.

I remember these domains from the past, and I was surprised to see them available. So happily, I bought them. ^_^ Can’t wait to really begin working on them!

Also, I’m soon taking on Beloved.nu, so anyone who was hosted there in the past and wants to reapply, can contact me. Thanks.

I’m considering trying out audio books. I never liked the idea before, but when I feel tired reading turns into a difficult task, so I need to fulfill my reading needs… some other way. Audio books are revealing pretty interesting so far — well, from what I read about it online, as I haven’t tried for real yet. Can’t wait to get started. Must choose a book first though, maybe Asimov’s.

Well, I’m back to watching my Star Trek DS9 episodes now. ^^ They keep me company when I’m confined in bed, hehe.

See you tomorrow with another update.

I’ve been considering the purchase of a new phone. No, better – a TracFone.

I know you must have heard enough of TracFones already, since they’re a trend this year, but I really can’t be blind to their cuteness and Senior Value: when I’ll be old, I still want to use my cellphone without problems! Hehe. ^^

Really, Get into Everywhereness with TracFone! Heh, sorry if that sounds advertorial, but that’s my opinion on the phone. I love it!

Wanna see a video testimonial?

What is it that I like so much in a TracFone?

Oh, that’s easy!

First of all, with only $119 I get unlimited minutes.

Secondly, I can call internationally to over 60 countries at no extra cost.

Oh, and what about unlimited text messages and web access?

Now, tell me if all that doesn’t sound appealing. Hehe. I’m gonna buy a TracFone as soon as I get a chance to fly over the US and stay a few weeks. That’s gonna be my local phone, yep!

I know the day of my trip to the US is going to come in a very long time… Not my fault: my parents don’t want me to fly overseas even though I’m 26 already…. *sigh* But that won’t be forever, right? Once I get married, in a few years I hope, I’ll be able to achieve my goal. There are precious people I long to meet in that beautiful country!

Yes, it truly is, especially if you consider that I lost count. Ahah! XD I’ve been buying and selling domains since 2007, when I used to rely on a very low budget. Now, I have at least $150 a month I can spend on domain names — or alternatively on books, clothes and computer accessories… sometimes e-courses too!

Looking at promo codes on sites like Retailmenot or Domainpromocodes made me wonder…

Why do I keep buying domain names?

Answer #1 ~ Because of a Domain.
There are domain names I’ve loved for an entire life. They used to belong to bloggers and friends I had in the past, whom are now on different domains or have quit blogging for eons; or alternatively, domains I had floating in my mind before they were finally registered. In all these cases, each Domain I bought had something to remind myself, a piece of my life — or one of my Characters, which fit perfectly.

Answer #2 ~ Because of Domain Coupons.
Take the current Network solutions promo code, for instance — it allows to buy domains for only $6.99, which is a steal price compared to the $10-$15 of many registrars. Domain deals are always something that touch an inner button, that pushes me to buy those domain names I’d been thinking of. By using coupon codes, sometimes I manage to save up to $20 per order, depending on how many domain names I purchase.

Answer #3 ~ Because of the Pleasure of Domain registration.
This is something more visceral, I guess, like a fetish… Of course, I keep it under control, but sometimes I have to admit registering a new domain names is more similar to eating a delicious meal than performing a simple operation: the sheer delight of pushing buttons and completing an order. I don’t know… it might just be another form of shopaholic-ness. ^^”

Guess what? I even bought Apple-Crunch.org, a memorable domain that used to host a beautiful forum community. I used to be a member there, so many good memories… Now I have one of my Characters managing it, turning it into a beautiful fairy tale. Certainly better than leaving it in the hands of domain spammers, no?

My grandmother is coming to visit in two-weeks and I only recently told my wife that she was going to be making a trip to stay with us. I know that my wife likes to have advanced notice on things like this but I had totally forgot she was even coming. My wife always explains that there are a million things that she has to do in order to get the house ready for my grandmothers’ visit. I feel like she stresses about too many little things but there is no way in the world I would ever tell her that. I simply apologize for not giving her more advance notification and then I get out of her way and let her clean everything that she feels like cleaning. The good news is she only gives the house an extreme cleaning when she knows people are coming over and if I had more courage I would give her a couple false alarms ever month or so just so the house would be cleaned thoroughly. I know that my grandmother is gong to think the house is spotless because she doesn’t really care about those things and I also know she’s going to really get a some use out of our new satellite TV, simply by referring me to Satellite Tv Texas. Since then I’ve been nothing but happy with our new line of programming and our amazing customer service.

Today’s my brother’s and sister’s 20th birthday!!! They’re real grown-ups now. ^-^ *big sister’s pride*

Work and University

I’m doing a lot of both lately. I’m attending classes almost every day, and working every day too, between lectures, on breaks and then home, at night before sleep. That leaves little room for relax, but since this big amount of work comes in only once in a while, I need to take full advantage of the opportunity. There’s gonna be time to rest on days off and then on weeks when there’s only little work to do.

Last month I grossed $669.73 between articles, reviews and advertising. I saved around $200 for my tuition fund from that amount, then spent the remainder to renew over 30 domains, purchase books I need for work (freelance writing guides, Writer’s Market, freelance community subscriptions, etc.), lunch out with my fiancé and send small donations. Money well spent after all. I like to invest.

Since the Nolimisthost.info issue of last year, I’ve been at loss for months. On some months I’ve been almost in red too. >.< Gladly I developed the guts to bid on more and bigger online jobs and got published on a couple of prominent online publications like TheSexCipher.com and FreelanceSwitch.com. My collaboration with Bosmol.com is paying in terms of readership for now, but I’ll get paid as soon as I reach my 6th article. Not bad. I wish that paid more, but $5/article is not an amount to spit on. It’s still a big help.

This month I look forward to submitting an article to Smithsonian.com and Entrepreneur.com. They’re big magazines, so wish me luck! I hope to get my ideas accepted, but even if they won’t, it would have been still worth trying.

Little things: Watches

All of mine are battery dead at the moment. The problem is that I don’t know where to buy those tiny button-like batteries to make them work again. >.< I’m even considering the purchase of a Nixon Tide watch, which I adored the very moment I discovered its dedicated webpage. The Nixon 4220 is my favorite. You can see a photo here on the right. I know it’s manly and kind of tick too, but I love its robustness and its resemblance with Sci-Fi movie wrist communicators. Ihih. Actually, all I care about is that the metal won’t cause an allergic reaction on my skin, as that’s a very annoying downside of metal objects with me. Bad enough, since I love technology and robots so much. *sigh*

When I was eight I wanted to be a pediatrician.

The birth of my siblings had caused the sudden change: from a talented artist, I wanted to enter the medical field and take care of children. It took a few years to get that ‘obsession’ off my aspirations.

Having nurse parents (both!) didn’t help; their library was full of medical books, encyclopedias, manuals and seminary reports. I went through all those mysterious pages — and scared the heck of my life — and still wanted to be a pediatrician.

When did I change my mind then?

Oh, that was when I realized (or better, I was told) that I had to study medicine for several years and work on corpses too. Ugh! That realization signed the end of my childhood dream chimera job.

I’d be a liar, though, if I said that was the end of the fascination children had on me. Every time my parents went to the scrub store or at the hospital and I followed along, I felt both fascinated and eager to be of help. Yes, making children happy was something very special to me. If I couldn’t do it as a pediatrician, I would still do it in other ways. By taking care of my siblings, for instance, or by becoming a nursery school educator. That of becoming an educator was another chimera that accompanied me to the teen years… but was it a real chimera? Still nowadays I know that, if I ever need to find a quick job one day, I’d candidate myself to be a nursery school educator. That’s why I studied Psychology, Sociology and Pedagogy for five years, after all.

I’m an artist, a writer, a translator… and potentially an educator too.

Thanks to http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/ for the inspiration.
Thanks to Scott Bauer, U.S. Department of Agriculture for the picture.