I don't quit till I've had it. But when I've had it... it's more definite an ending than the end of the world.

If you want to change the favicon on your Blogger (Blogspot) page, you’re not alone. Many people want a well customized page for their blogs, whether those blogs are professional or personal. And yes, the Blogger favicon is that little icon right beside your blog name whenever you open it in a browser:

 

I haven’t changed mine yet because I’ve recently changed my template and I still don’t have the time to think of a proper icon. However, I’ve changed my favicon before and I know that some of the guides on the Internet don’t actually work.

Below is the step by step guide on how to change a favicon for your Blogger (Blogspot) blog:

1. Create your own favicon. You may use programs like Adobe Photoshop to create your own favicon. The size of your favicon should be 16 x 16 px (pixels). Save it as a .png or .jpg file. It would also be more convenient if you named it “favicon.”

2. Upload your new favicon to any photo hosting website, such as Photobucket. Copy the direct link of your uploaded favicon. If your favicon is a .png file, the direct link should look something like this:

http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/osososo/favicon.png

Note: it will NOT look exactly as the above link. Simply note that the link ends with “.png” if your uploaded favicon is indeed a .png file. If your uploaded favicon is a .jpg file, then the link to it once you’ve uploaded it would also end in “.jpg.”

3.  Log in to your Blogger account. This should bring you to your Blogger dashboard.

4. Click “Design” underneath the blog that has the favicon you want to change. That will bring you to the “Page Elements” part of the Design tab. Right beside the “Page Elements” is the “Edit HTML tab.” Click on that:

 

5. You will now find yourself looking at a lot of code that doesn’t seem to make sense. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place. Before anything else, click on the “Download Full Template” link. This should back up your blog (which you should always do when editing your HTML!). Save the XML file.

6. Next, press the CTRL button on your keyboard. While you’re still pressing the CTRL button, click on the F button on your keyboard. That should bring up the “find” field on your browser. Type this into the search field:

<b:skin>

7. The <b:skin> tag will then be highlighted in the code on your browser. Right above it, copy and paste this code (this is the code that should prompt your blog to change the favicon):

<link href='type the link of your new favicon here' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

Change the red text to the link of your favicon (see step 2 of this guide). If, for example, I were to type in the link of my make-believe favicon above, the new code would look like this:

<link href='http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/osososo/favicon.png ' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

9. Next, click on the “Save Template” button.

10. That’s it, you’ve successfully changed your favicon on Blogger (Blogspot)! Try viewing your blog and you’ll see that the favicon has changed. If it doesn’t appear immediately, try refreshing several times as it might take some time before the new favicon appears.

Let me know how this works for you. Hope this guide on how to change a favicon on your Blogger (Blogspot) blog has helped you!

I’ve been reading on natural pain remedies because I’m suffering from a pain syndrome myself (an entirely different story). But the Internet is so full of recycled babble and hearsay that most of the articles on natural pain remedies and natural pain relief seem to be based on anecdotes and unfounded theories. However, I did find one blog that publishes write-ups on natural pain remedies based on research.

And it’s just funny that it’s a blog, not a website. In fact, most websites I’ve come across don’t even publish their sources. So I’m pleasantly surprised that the blog Natural Pain Remedies actually mentions where their articles came from.

I’ve been looking at different journals from medical websites and most of the information on natural pain remedies or natural pain relief will be too complicated for the masses to understand. The research protocols, terms, and the nitty-gritty of journals will be lost on people who did not take up medical courses. But Natural Pain Remedies does everyone the favor of dissecting those studies and serving only what we all need to know about natural pain relief.

Well, such a blog on natural pain relief deserves a mention here, doesn’t it? ;)

Okay, here’s the deal: I work more efficiently outside than in my own room. I often find myself in a coffee shop, laptop in hand, working till the wee hours of the morning while sipping coffee and getting high on dessert. Today, as expected, is no different. Thank God there’s a Gloria Jean’s coffee shop in Dagupan City.

 

I expect a lot from coffee houses like Gloria Jean’s. After all, they do have a name to protect. So, I was surprised when the male barista held my cup by the rim, with his fingers dipping into the inside of the cup. I was on the verge of having a mini stroke when I saw him toss the cup unceremoniously on the desk. Yes, the cup was on its side, rolling around and possibly gathering all the microbes on the desk.

I asked the barista to please handle the cup by the side, instead of by the mouth. He smiled and followed my instructions. I asked for non fat iced latte, but low fat milk was the closest option available.

 

My iced latte tasted okay. It looked too pale and perhaps a little too milky; as an iced latte lover, I feel that it should have perhaps more of the coffee and less of the milk. The barista also taped the cover onto the plastic cup, saying they ran out of covers for the small cup (you can see the tape on the picture above). Sigh, I had to painstakingly remove the tape to stir in my sweetener.

I also ordered a chocolate mousse cake. It was fine, except that it wasn’t as fresh as I wanted it. A barista said all their cakes that day were baked just the night before. Perhaps it was the crust and the icing that threw me off; maybe the cake was kept too cold. The icing was starting to crust and the brownie base was getting too hard for me to enjoy.

Gloria Jean’s in Dagupan has free WiFi. Their crew was nice enough, perhaps nicer than I expected. The store was in need of maintenance as the paint on the tables and chairs were starting to chip. But overall, Gloria Jean’s in Dagupan City is still good enough for a lazy afternoon and a nice cup of coffee.

It’s worse now. Part of me has quit long ago. And then there are people who give me hope, which makes things unacceptable.

“Hope is like acid on my wounds.”

I sound so bleak, I know. I just don’t see why someone has to suffer for my sake. I’m not like other people who enjoy being the cause of someone else’s misery. No, I don’t like being pined for. I am no Helen of Troy and I do not envy her at all.

 

I just want to be happy without having to leave someone else behind. I have hurt too many people. ENOUGH.

 

Why it hurts me more when someone is in pain because of me, I’ll never understand. Perhaps that’s the price I have to pay for being born with the ability to read people’s faces. Everything comes with a price. Yes, nothing is ever truly free.

 

I would rather be just like everyone else. I don’t want to know when someone is lying to me. I don’t want to know when someone likes me even when they’re mum about it. No, I’ve had enough of that. Where’s the thrill in knowing, in living a life where guessing is no longer part of what makes life so exciting?

 

And then there’s this. I’m so scared I might hurt someone that I’d rather sabotage my entire life to make sure it never happens again. No, no more people crying for me. No more people crying because of me.

 

Please, please. I am starting to feel like the devil’s favorite daughter. And yet I don’t want to be alone.

 

But who can weather the storm that brews inside of me? Who can stand my fire? Who can survive me? Who would even dare try?

 

I lose my mind trying not to think about it.

Again, a recap of stuff I’ve posted on my Facebook wall. It has taken a beating lately, especially because I’ve been throwing scraps of my thoughts onto it.

I am the queen of the universe and you are all my servants! Bwahaha! Ok, I should seriously stop eating chocolates while drinking coffee…

Yes, I'm single! Why, are you double?!

They ask me why I have a blog. I say it's because I have a brain.

Do I dare go to the mall on Christmas Eve? Translation: "Do I want to commit suicide via stampede?"

If it's too good to be true, maybe it's because you're not good enough to deserve it.

A truth told without tact is arguably better than a lie told without remorse.

We always have a gut feeling about the people around us. If we get bamboozled or cheated on, maybe it's because, in part, we ignored that gut feeling. Nobody, not even the village idiot, is completely clueless.

Priorities. Before you set them, make sure you're one of them.

An educated guess is better than an uneducated certainty.

On commuting: When you're about to stay in your seat for 6 hours, you better make sure you're sitting beside someone who at least smells human.

I’m so happy that pessimists all over the world are shaking their heads, whispering fiercely behind my back, plotting to get rid of me because I’ve messed with the balance of their negativity.

Can't sleep? Call somebody really boring.

If we could "unlike" people on Facebook, the world would be a more interesting place.

When you have so many user-friendly friends, who needs enemies?

So, explain this to me: why do so many people post bad bikini pictures on Facebook? It's way too self-incriminatory.

Lies are just like really ugly clothes: I don't buy 'em.

If we could "backspace" people, imagine the possibilities...

Guys, like us girls, also have hearts. It just so happens that the heart is not their biggest organ.

Just when I thought the world is as it should be, I realize that my cat just farted.

‎"Nobody can keep you from the one person you wanna be with." -- favorite quote of Stalkers Anonymous. Let me guess... you're a member.

I have had it with men who pee in the streets. The world is not your bathroom!

Facebook nonsense. Moments. Milestones. They’re all the same, yes?

Wanted: Writer/ blogger for hire

Here are the job requirements:

• Unique blog post/ article which hasn’t been published previously anywhere, with a minimum word count of 1500 words. The article will have the following topics: "Insider Tips," "Why go," "What to eat," "Where to stay," & "What to see/ do." You should be writing on a city that you’ve actually been to or visited in the past 3 years (2008 to 2010).
• There should be about five pictures (high resolution) to be inserted into the article and appropriately titled. It would be wonderful if the pictures are your own, but you may use creative commons (from Flicker or Wikipedia) as long as there is proper attribution to the source.
  

If you’re a blogger or writer and you’re looking for a blogger writer job, this just might be what you’re looking for. Post a comment if you’re interested. :) If you haven’t read the details of this job, click here.

It seems that the best relationships are the ones that foster selfish growth. Yes, you got that right: selfishness is the new criterion for a good relationship – but not in a bad way.

 

A psychology professor, Dr. Arthur Aron, held experiments involving couples. He asked couples to describe themselves and their respective partners using adjectives (I’m patient, he’s forgiving, we’re both quiet, etc.). One week after, the couples were asked to come back. They were shown the adjectives they used to describe themselves and their partners and were asked to identify which ones were used to describe themselves and which ones were used to describe their partners.

The couples were quick to identify the adjectives that described both them and their partners. But if an adjective described only one of them, they were slow to remember which trait belonged to them and which belonged to their partners. It seems that people in a relationship found it hard to tell themselves apart from their partners.

 

Don’t think that this means people lose track of who they are when they get into a relationship. The experiment above showed how people grow out of their comfort zone and into their partner’s world.

In fact, people tend to “carve” their partners into the person who can make them grow more as people. This tendency is described as the Michelangelo effect. And according to recent studies, the more fulfilling relationships are the ones that actually foster this “selfish” growth. The more that someone feels like a better person with a partner, the more he feels that the relationship is a sustainable one. This may sound selfish, but this selfishness is not bad at all as it actually takes into consideration the other person. After all, they can hardly separate who they are with who the other person is. They take on their partners as part of themselves, albeit perhaps unconsciously.

So, I guess unconditional love goes out the window now. But hey, this new point of view on relationships is something I can so get on board with. The more you like yourself when you’re with someone, the more you like that someone. Yep, makes sense to me.

Wanted: Writer/ blogger for hire

I’m looking for a writer or blogger for hire. I need a blogger or writer who can make a travel blog post about any of the following cities:

1. Dubai
2. Dublin
3. Edinburgh
4. Hong Kong
5. Jerusalem
6. Johannesburg
7. Las Vegas
8. Lima
9. Madrid
10. Maldives
11. Mexico City
12. Maui
13. Monte Carlo
14. Moscow
15. Munich
16. Napa Valley
17. Orlando
18. Oslo
19. Punta Cana
20. Saint Thomas in Virgin Islands
21. San Diego
22. Seattle
23. Seoul
24. Seville
25. Siem Reap
26. Singapore
27. St. Petersburg in Russia
28. Tahiti
29. Tel Aviv
30. Tokyo
31. Toronto
32. Turks
33. Caicos

 

Read the project requirements here. 

Wanted: Writer/ blogger for hire

I’m currently swamped with work and I need someone who can write articles. I’m looking for article rewriters and bloggers, but I can’t promise that I can provide work everyday. Right now, I’m looking for someone to write an article about travel. If you’ve traveled outside your country in the past three years (or if you don’t live in the Philippines), you just might be whom I’m looking for. :)

Read the job posting here.

Writer Wanted UPDATE:

There is a NEW “wanted writer” ad listing! This specific listing is available only for those living in the Philippines. You can check the details here.