THERE ARE so many blogs that exist today but many of them do have anything useful to say. It's traffic that they want so they use tactics, good or bad, to drive people into their blogs only to be disappointed by the result of their query.

There are sites in the Philippines that are keyword rich. These blogs come up everytime you use popular search engines. But to your dismay, these blogs do not actually contain the things you are looking. Yes, the keywords are there but they don't actually contain valuable information that you could use.

It's all about money. But I couldn't allow myself to earn that way. That is misleading people and wasting their valuable time. I still believe that if you want to keep your visitors coming, you should always post things that would be relevant for them.

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Good news! Charice Pempengco is still making waves in the international music scene! Charice Pempengco joins David Archuleta and other stars in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade!

IM JUST so amused with myself. No, not really with myself but with how quickly I get to learn how to operate electronic devices even when it's the first time I get hold of such.

When I was in high school, I used to operate our copier. My teacher asked me to help her photocopy some handouts. She didn't know how to operate the machine so I came to help her. I just pretended that I know how but gladly, the task was accomplished just in time.

Other teachers would also ask me to install Printer cartridges. Although I didn't have a personal computer and never had experienced installing printer cartridges I also pretended that I could do it, learning the process while doing it.

One of my classmates also asked me to check what to do with the error messages he gets everytime he uses a particular software. I just explored his toshiba laptop, even if I hadn't had touched one before, and solved his problem.

Now, that I'm already a teacher, I always find myself solving problems that technicians get paid for. They would call me if there are software or hardware problems, which saves us from hiring a technician.

In return, I have one of the school's laptops in my custody. It's like I have my own laptop. That's the perk of being able to learn things quickly. The Acer laptop has a good bag but the Neo's bag is already torn. So, I bought one for it last week.

MONEY ISN'T everything. That is what we've always been taught. But nowadays, it seems that money is of utmost importance to most people. Everyone here seems to be in the grind to earn money. Lots of money, to tell the truth.

This morning, I had a talk with one of my co-teachers and she told me about their plans of going abroad and how far have they gone in terms of the paperwork. She told me that she's determined to finish her Ph. D. here so that she can expect good pay abroad. "What's the use of goind there if you're not gonna earn really much, " she told me.

Another friend confided with me about her business plans. I have business plans, too, so I found our conversation interesting. We talked about making great profits and building better homes for ourselves, owning real properties, cars, and going wherever we want.

So it all boils down to money.

I recalled our sociology class where I learned about Nouveau Riche. They are those who are rich not because they came from a wealthy family. But they got rich probably because of their hardwork, or luck.

That is what we all seem to want to be, Nouveau Riche. Others call it rising from rags to riches.

I don't think it is bad to aspire for something better. Maybe, all we need to do is to keep a healthy set of values in the process and probably, give back to those who have helped us or to help others rise, too.

One notable person I could name who can be considered Nouveau Riche are the Gokonweis. They are tycoons now. But as many of us know, John Gokonwei, himself once peddled newspaper and other stuff for a living. His hardwork and values turned him into a billionaire that he is now, owning large business firms, etc.

The Chiangs, too, of Southern Mindanao had humble beginnings. From a small store in the 1970's, they now own two big malls in General Santos City and Koronadal.

Although money is not the answer to all our needs, but our real happiness could start from there. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs begins with the physiological aspect. Having money in today's world is quite an assurance for the provision of our basic needs, which, if fulfilled, will allow us to ascend to the next level of happiness.