If you remember my previous post where I ranted about my ‘signs of aging’ and how I am suspecting that old age is finally inching its way towards completely devouring me, I actually did a little research on what causes aging right after writing that. (Yes, I am THAT scared of finally admitting to being old, sigh).

And what I found out astonished me.

I learned that so many hormones are responsible for aging, but one particular hormone stood out from the pack: the HGH or human growth hormones.

The reason why this hormone plays a major role in aging is because HGH is responsible for practically all growth developments that occur in a person’s body. However, as one progresses in life, its steady secretion slowly wanes. And once this happens, that much dreaded horror (that I refer to as aging) starts to manifest.

Believe me, the after effects of this hormonal depletion are scary:

First, the appearance of wrinkles and the increased levels of fatigue. Who would want to look wrinkly and perennially stressed in any given day?

Second, the steady bouts of depression and mood swings. Oh my gahd, I can’t even begin to start lashing out at those two dreadful scenarios.

Third, low libido and sexual dysfunction.  Now, these two things I don’t need to demonize. Sexual dysfunction? What the?

I got so depressed after reading about these unfortunate developments, so I quickly searched for methods that can stall HGH from completely waning in one’s system. And I was a little bit relieved to discover that there are actually hgh releasers that can induce the production of HGH in a person’s body. These bad boys can often give you assurances that your aging process will not be as abrupt, and (that) you can still enjoy the positive benefits of having HGH in your system.

I would trade anything just to have those HGH boosters to stifle the damning effects of aging. Yes, I am that vain — because let’s admit it, sometimes, vanity is what keeps us alive.

Kidding.

Wow, the country is gripped with the mega lotto fever right now!

Thousands, upon tens of thousands, upon hundreds of thousands, are placing their bets, so they can at least have a chance to win the uber-inflated prize money.

I was watching the news earlier tonight, and I was amazed by the number of people who have been steadily placing bets on their lucky permutations of numbers. The number has swelled since last week that the government agency that’s tasked to oversee the lotto operations are running out of thermal paper that’s used for tickets.

If I am not mistaken, the overall prize money has ballooned up to more than 700 million pesos already, and as I am typing right now, it is still exponentially increasing.

I actually intend to place my bets tomorrow, with a budget ceiling of 200 pesos tops, because the waiting game (plus the randomness of the eventual outcome) is killing me.

Hm, I wonder though: what will I be spending my 700 million pesos for?

The holidays always manage to swoop in swiftly, sometimes without us even noticing it.

I know it sounds so cliche, but it seems like Christmas is always around the corner — and it is made apparent by the incessant playing of Christmas songs in malls (yes, they proliferate in the airwaves THIS early), the advanced advertising of Christmas discounts and what-not, and the cooling of the climate in general. Yes siree, the chills are the early manifestations that not too long from now, we will once again be celebrating this happy occasion with friends and loved ones.

I don’t know about you, but as early as now, I am already wracking my brain for the best Christmas presents. This has always been my thing, because I hate competing with last-minute frantic shoppers — because I find that when I slug it out with the rest of the frenzied shoppers, I often get tired from looking around, because I am not so big when it comes to big crowds (okay, I hate it).

It is precisely for this reason why I have opted to check out my gift options as of the moment, and one of the best gift ideas that I came across was amazon gift cards. These cards are one of the best Christmas options right now since these gift items are not exclusive to one particular product. Your gift’s receiver can choose from a variety of Amazon products that he/she can choose from, thereby guaranteeing a personalized gift item (something that seldom happens right now, what with the proliferation of generic gift options and in most departments stores and malls these days.)

Have you thought of the best gift option for your loved ones yet?

Sometimes, I get so many mundane thoughts that I think of the most bizarre and out of this world ideas. It is during these instances that I feel most creative, and err, weird.

For example, I have this huge crush on Anna Kournikova. First, because of her awesome tennis skills. Second, on her innate charisma. Third, on the enigma surrounding her. And fourth, because I just simply like/love her.

Because of this, I pondered on this thought: What will be the best gift that I can give her should we meet in the near future?

Flower? Nah, too cliche.

Chocolates? Probably, but there are a lot of choices. Sigh.

Or a diamond tennis bracelet perhaps? Hm. That might be a good idea, because apart from the innate charm of this particular product, it is also the best gift for women who are constantly on the go.

I might just give her that.

Snap!

And just like that, I’m back in the real world.

My youngest brother, who is in second year college, has been in seclusion for the past few days or so.

At first, this did not bother me, because teenagers usually do the most mundane things, but they come out okay. But I observed that he has been doing this for a prolonged time period, and I did not know the reason why he was holed up in his room for the most part in a day.

When I asked him about this, he simply shrugged it off and smiled. But when I saw the reason why he has been a loner lately, I went: ‘oh’.

It was actually because of his pimples (ah the magnificent age of puberty), and he wanted to cure it by staying out of the sun, and avoiding contact with the usual suspects, such as dust, dirt, and what-not.

I remember that I had the exact same ordeal before. I even remember spending a huge part of my allowance just so I can have the best acne treatment that can help me get rid of all those annoying pimples.

But I guess everyone undergoes THAT torment, and everything else that goes with puberty. What one needs is just ample rest, lessened paranoia, the most effective acne treatment, and lots and lots of prayers.

Agree?

I don’t care if this post is two days late. I am just so uber-proud of Manny Pacquiao!

He is the most popular sports icon to date, and I cannot simply describe the euphoria I feel every time he slays boxing giants and waves the country’s national flag in front of millions, no, hundreds of millions, of awe-stricken sports enthusiasts (or not even).

But the greatest thing about Manny is his humility. Even when he has consistently slithered his way into the top of the richest athletes in present time, he is still unwavering in his faith, and a good public servant (although I would prefer that he retire from the muddy world of politics).

I just have two thoughts on the match though:

1. The referee was a “profound idiot” (Nathanielsz, 2010) for not stopping the match early on in the game (because Margarito could have been blinded, given the extent of his wounds).

2. Aling Dionisia is a scene-stealer. For all the wrong reasons. Nuff said.

If you back read on some of my blog entries here, you will recall that I talked about a brother who is suffering from weight problems. If you try to read that post, which I made over a month ago, I stated there that he gained considerable weight right after his on-the-job training in the US, and that we desperately looked for diet options that can make him lose weight fast.

But NO! Even when we found several diet supplements for him, he did not stay long in using these particular diet regimens (SIGH) — and this is primarily because most of what he was on were artificial supplements. We later on learned that some of the components of these diet supplements are harmful to one’s health, and may even bring adverse side effects. (SHEESH)

In order to be sure that my brother does not get harmed as he tries to lose weight, a dietitian advised him to take a natural appetite suppressant instead, since there are lesser side effects (if any), and most of the ingredients have long been proven to be effective to most people.

We are keeping our fingers crosses, and our hopes up, that hopefully, this can be more effective for him.

Wish us luck!

My friend recently asked me to accompany him to the local mall because he wanted to look for laptop choices. At first, I hesitated to go, because my friend is rather picky, and oftentimes before, we would just be wasting our time when he wanted to make a purchase, because nothing made him happy.

But since I wanted to come up with my good deed for the day, I obliged and told him that I would go with him.

But true to his character, he never found a laptop brand that caught his fancy. The silver laptops he found to be too generic, the black ones looked sad (according to him), and the white laptops would easily get dirty. It was hopeless, and he was hopeless, I thought within me.

So I asked him: what particular type are you looking for, or do you have any idea of the kind that you want to have?

His response was short and sweet: he wanted to have something that was distinct and unique, because he wanted his purchase to be one-of-a-kind.

With his response, I had the perfect idea: We immediately darted off to the nearest internet cafe, and Googled the products that might potentially give him this distinct choice.

Once in there, we saw custom laptops that were in abundance. As a matter of fact, there were so many choices out there, that we soon realized that the mall was the wrong place to shop for non-generic laptops.

At least, by stumbling across this useful piece of information, we saved ourselves some time since it was practically futile to continue searching for those laptop types in the mall.

Good deed for the day, check!

Just earlier today, I was browsing through my old pictures, and I had a few laughs as I saw my pictures from high school until college.

Boy, is there much difference! I used to be very insecure with my weight problems — but no, it is not because I used to be fat. To the contrary, it is because for the most part, I have been skinny. It is only now that people believe me when I tell them that I am not an African refugee who is seeking asylum from dictatorial oppression.

I used to look like this in high school:

then in college:

and then the now (lol):

See the transition there?

I was skimming through the news last night when something caught my attention and, pardon the choice of words, crushed my heart.

It was a poignant dance and song number that was done by numerous kids who were being housed in a shelter in Manila, and that bit was their last desperate move to convince a certain government agency that they would become practically homeless should its plan of removing their shelter push through.

It was a very disturbing sight. Most of these kids had disabilities — some of them were even terminally ill with certain degenerative afflictions, such as cancer and other diseases.

I was perplexed as I watched these kids desperately plead for their lives.

From this pity, anger arose. I felt that it was unfair for the government to be doing this to helpless children who are not able to afford the treatment procedures that keep them alive and breathing. If only I had the money to help them, I would have gladly went there and donated a huge sum, just so they will not be deprived of a shelter.

Come to think of it really, the government ought to increase the benefits and the privileges of these kids. I know for a fact that there are several government programs that seek to emancipate these children and even adults with disabilities with some welfare privileges, such as stipends, periodic allowances, and what-not.

However, not all disabled people are aware that these aids are available for them.

It’s a good thing though that certain groups such as ssdi exists in order to make people aware of the privileges that they stand to exact from the government.

Through the years, SSDI has been helping a lot of Americans get what they stand to receive from the government in terms of welfare benefits that are due them.

If only there’s a government agency here as well that can do that, then I’m pretty sure that these kids will not need to beg for something that is supposed to be inalienable to them.