claudiapena.com

okay, so I went through and very thoroughly back up my sql, but then came step three: ftp back up. So here is my question: if I already exported my content through WP on line, zipped my sql over to my hard drive in different versions, do I still have to do it through my ftp program? Also, this Synchback program is $30, is it worth its money? Should I be switching from my Core Lite to FileZilla? Last question, is it really necessary to delete old word press files…don’t they just update automatically? Please read instructions below or go to http://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress. Bang, bang, duuu bu duuu…AAAAGH! (Please let me know if you can see something weird on the website.)

Okay, before I put my friend Jonathan through hours of loading and unloading bonding time, how do you update your word press personal domain if you have Go Daddy? I have found out the the only way is to get the new WP version, download it, over ride the old, make sure nothing is lost…well, I would prefer to write/sleep/walk a dog/do my hair for three hours instead. Any suggestions? If not, I’m packing my bags and heading to Future Quest.

If you know me, you know my head will be feeling like the “stick figures on crack” video by the time the transfer is done. All I can say is the pr for the Chacarron song has mad skills and he/she needs to be the one to promote my book when I publish.

I have a poem in the back burner, so do not fear this is still a poetry blog. Memorial day combined with laughing Zebras, difficult life decisions and starting a new job, have slowed my blogg’n roll but not for too long. (Yes, I said Zebras laugh.)

I do have to thank bloggers and readers for their loyalty and contribution. I don’t blog for the money or the recognition; I blog for the art so I am very happy that you enjoy it. I made the top 130 most popular emerging blogs from Reflective Thinking - Taking the 8th Habit Challenge. Thank you so much. Besides the bloggers that I mention here I am also a huge fan of:

1. Ross, Quotes in Can, see below
2. Bluepanjit, a very cool Catholic blogger On the Wings of My Dream
3. Codswallop has 100 free rousources for free lance writers you should check out
4. Milca always has very insightful articles
5. Hem thank you for trying to make me more computer savvy
6. Surjit, always thoughtful, in Gurushabad
8. Bobby Revell, nice vocabulary in the explicit linguistic section
9. Yvonne Russell, I haven’t even been able to through all her tool box, so lots of resources
10. TekSavvy in Reference Maunde for some very cool info

Even though this blog has been around for a while, I have to mention Stuck in customs, for the excellent photography.

Locally: The Catholic Church has made a program entitled Virtus educating adults on child predators, which I attended. The program is free and a must for anyone coming in contact with children. There is interview with a child molester who worked in many classrooms and bragged about having well over 500 victims for the 26 years he wasn’t caught. One of the molesters had kept track of one of his victims who, as an adult, had drug and alcohol problems, dropped out of school, violent and frequent relationships. The worst part is that the predator showed no remorse about it. I honestly wish that this was shown to every single public school teacher. A child has the right to be a child, SO act if you suspect something.

And now, I shall close with a lovely little friend who attacked me…

As Ross, from Quotes in Can would say about this and her very extensive collection of quotes, “The artist in you oozed out when your eyes took notice of this!” LOL! Thanks for making my every day brighter to all the bloggers mentioned.

I was having a self congratulatory moment but this really cool blogger, Steli Efti, tagged me for the “ 3 Things You Love” and I couldn’t turn him down. So here it goes:

1) 3 Things You Love in your Boyfriend/ Girlfriend or Husband/ Wife

* Hmm…since I have no bf right now: my freedom (Ditto)

2) 3 Things You Love in a Friend

* Honesty
* Humor
* Loyalty

3) 3 Things You Love in a Book

* easy to read style
* the curve of the story flows but isn’t given away
* I learned something

4) 3 Things You Love in a Movie

* a great style of writing
* a complex protagonist and well acted humor
* rich well crafted images

5) 3 Things You Love in a Blog

* Useful and interesting content
* well written content
* the AHA moment

6) 3 Things You Love to Talk About

* the English language
* “i feel”/relationships
* philosophy/art

7) 3 Things You Love to do in Vacations

* explore
* meet the locals and learn
* sleep

3 Things You Love to Eat

* Colombian tamales or lentil soup
* Tapioca goes great with any of the Indian foods
* Coffee or tea, a must on some days a treat on others

9) 3 Things You Love to Happen in Your Life

* publish my book
* become more tech savvy=shift in career
* everything God has in stored for me

10) 3 Things You Love in 1 Million Love Messages

* Love in all its aspects shown honestly
* the freedom of poetry from the most basic driver of emotion
* many are “i love you, self.” That’s kinda cool!!! When is the last time you sent your self an OMG, you are so cool and beatutiful, I love YOU, dudett…perhaps not in those exact words, but it’s worth a try!

Participate if you want to participate. Tag! You are it!

I must say a big thank you to OneBlogADay.com for their May 10th interview. I also have to thank Milca at ewritings.com for opening up her post on April 28th with my poetry. Thank you so much!

I apologize I have been running behind on my postings. Much link love expressed for Robert Revell for including me in his blogs: Womangodsmasterpiece.com and the Revellian.blogspot.com. The imaginary diva has also included me on her blog roll who by the way has some really great wordpress tips on her website. Speaking of cool women, I also have to give link love to Stage Left, bella della for the link love and the invitation to an awesome birthday party. Finally, a man that made me pop out my dictionary, my Tom Waits musicology, my camera and finally my itunes gift card: Chimeric Daydreams. I love the fog pics!

I will end with a really cool writer introduced to me via Tish from SerenityQuest.com, Anais Nin. Nin says: “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.” Darn! Why can’t it come with a warning of bitter aftertaste or hurling action? I guess that’s what trains the palate.

For the Texans: (If you are in the US, be on the look out for this bogus bill coming to a school district near you and fight very hard against it.) SB 1643, will essentially tie student’s test scores to my evaluation, my paycheck, as well as my job.

During my first year of teaching, I got so sick and tired of my stinky kid in the classroom being both stinky and without homework that I decided to pay a “surprise” (they never had their phone on) visit to her house. It was marvelous seeing her dad pop open his third can of beer watching the latest boxing match on a flat screen huge tv. That was also the year, I had the fourth grader that took the principal’s car for a ride and start a neighborhood “party” in which more than 5 police cars arrived after school. Because of my pretty face and a promise I made to God, they were miraculously infused with knowledge the day of the test and passed. Wake up!! I was in my classroom from 5:30am until the janitors kicked me out from Monday to Saturday. Even with that, my students, who came from an all Spanish classroom the year before, were hard press to pass the writing or reading portion of the test.

Teaching is a rewarding job because of all the hurdles teachers jump demonstrating perseverance and hard work to their students. SB 1643 will restrict teachers to a workbook approach hitting solely on TAKs and will essentially take the curiosity and fun from learning.

This bill will also foster a very hostile and uncomfortable climate between administration and staff. Think about it, the principal may not be the bad guy but if your numbers are bad, that is going on your permanent record. I can foresee alot of the teachers just walking out and saying, “Well, you are going to fire me anyways.” Or maybe, like Half Empty says, they might just load one teacher with all those special kids. There is nothing that a public school teacher will be able to do about it.

This bill will promote stress which will make cheating on the test an extremely happy option. (Especially when teachers don’t want to loose all the education, money and hard work they’ve put into that teaching license.) Do we really want to repeat the ugly headlines on the Houston Chronicle? It’s counter intuitive.

This bill unfairly and disproportionately affects minorities. It takes at least four years to make a decent teacher who is happy and knows the material. Well, the place where most young teachers start is the inner city, which has many of the above mentioned problems in minority homes. So as the child goes further into their academic career, they fall lower each time so that each successive teacher will have to get that good teaching gene infused. Think of both the teacher’s and student’s moral. Bad.

So please either paste my post or the following line, to the Texas Senate:

Ms. Shapiro, SB 1643 is not a bill that would benefit anyone and I will ask that you retract it. I am a (Texan/citizen/supporter of education) and I will make sure to tell all my friends about it so that they can retract their support as well.