Opinion

Posts that contain personal opinion on a topic

Am I a writer? Yes, I am a writer!

Stein English, Opinion , ,

I love writing. For some reason, I find easier to articulate personal feelings, ideas or thoughts writing them down and thus have found in this blog an outlet to share those little personal treasures that I would probably not do otherwise.

But always wanted to test myself and see if I could write for money. How cool would that be? Do something that I totally enjoy and at the same time get paid for doing it!

I thought about trying it out  for a very long time but never really committed to it. Which translates into the intention of doing it was nagging me all the time but never actually tried… Until now…

Last week I got my first article accepted by a client and got paid!!! Yes, I admit it, this happened in the shady world of a content mill. Yes, I know, it was a short piece of a few hundred words and if you are familiar with the content mill dynamics you already know that the money I made will not allow me to leave my day time job anytime soon.

But that I actually tried instead of only thinking of “doing it some day” and someone considered the few words I put together worth some money is very satisfying and encouraging.

I will definitely keep trying. Who knows, maybe, just maybe, many years from now, with discipline and hard work this might turn into a more serious undertaking.

-Stein

De plagios, mentiras y presidentes

Stein Opinion, Spanish , , ,

plagioPues resulta que el señor Peña Nieto efectivamente plagio en un buen porcentaje la tesis que le otorgó el título universitario que hoy ostenta. Y pues resulta que la universidad donde curso esta carrera ha confirmado el hecho. Pero también ahora resulta que la casa de estudios ante esta situación no va a reaccionar de ninguna manera.

Pues… ¡a que caray! Parece que en México, si usted tiene el apellido correcto, o conoce a la persona correcta, o tiene el cargo público correcto las leyes y reglamentos, los valores y las buenas costumbres le aplican siempre y cuando no lo inoportunen demasiado. Al resto de nosotros, sólo nos queda ver como nuestro país se convierte cada vez mas en una telenovela mal escrita.

Que triste es ver que los líderes que hemos elegido (por que seamos sinceros, para bien o para mal, el pueblo voto por este señor) hace gala de los valores mas negativos que uno se puede imaginar mientras se salen con la suya sin enfrentar ninguna consecuencia.

Que impunidad mas bárbara. Mentir, insultar, robar, plagiar y burlarse del pueblo que los puso en el poder son la moneda corriente de la clase política de este País. Mientras tanto, el resto del pueblo tiene que trabajar duramente para medio ganarse la vida y mantener el indignate estilo de vida de estas personas.

Realmente espero que al menos la universidad que le otorgo el titulo al señor Peña Nieto rescate algo de la ética que le queda y al menos le pidan de favor, si no es muy problemático y tiene el tiempo que re-escriba esos párrafos que plagio o que por lo menos le de el crédito a los verdaderos autores.

-Stein

Winston

Stein A to Z Challenge 2016, English, Opinion ,

 

winstonSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill is one of the few characters in history that really inspires me. I know there are opposing camps when it comes to considering his contributions to this world and many, many different opinions regarding his personality.

All that aside, I believe that we all can agree that his famous speeches and writings show the ability that he had to transmit his message with clarity, force, and elegance.

Of all his work, there are two quotes that for me stand out and have been my favorite for a very long, time. I want to share them with you. Hopefully, you will find in them the same inspiration that I do every time I read them.

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

-Winston Churchill

 

“I am a man of simple tastes easily satisfied with the best”

-Winston Churchill

-Stein

Queen… in Chess

Stein A to Z Challenge 2016, English, Opinion , chess

 Long live the King! Long live the King! was the cry that could be heard around the entire chess board. For as long as you have a King, you are game! Loose the King, lose the game.

A few days ago I wrote a little bit about His Royal Highness here. But the King would not be so without royal companion by his side. The mighty Queen.

Her majesty is not the wait in the palace sewing while the King goes hunting kind of girl. Oh no! She is mighty as she is beautiful. She is agile as she is graceful.

The most powerful piece on the board, she goes wherever she wants and whenever she shows up, the enemy forces tremble and despair!

During the game you will see her in the thick of the battle, fighting along her trusted knights and rooks always encouraging the humble pawns to take a step forward for she is with them.

She will put the good of her kingdom and king before her own safety and is not uncommon for her to make the ultimate sacrifice to secure the victory.

Definitely and admirable piece, with great power and full of energy. Enjoys being in the middle of the board where the fight is taking place and can easily tip the balance of power with a single good move.

The King must count himself lucky to have such a great queen by his side!

-Stein

 

Pastimes

Stein A to Z Challenge 2016, English, Opinion , pastime


For most of us, these modern times do not leave a lot of free personal time. Even when we manage to salvage a few precious hours from our busy routines many other unplanned affairs claim for attention and we end up with very little time left.

However, finding the time to cultivate a pastime is as important as working out or sorting our mail. Why? A pastime is an activity we choose to do for enjoyment, it is our little personal retreat where we allow our mind and body to relax and realign.

Pastimes will come in many different shapes, but they all have a few things in common. They will help us to learn new skills, challenge ourselves and provide us with a real sense of achievement.

Over the years, I have “acquired” more pastimes than I should. But when I look at the long list of personal undertakings, they all have two things in common: learn and challenge. So I concluded that my pastime is in reality that, I like to learn new things and challenge myself.

Being it photography, scuba diving, playing the guitar, playing squash, reading or traveling (yes, this is the short list of my pastimes!) what I enjoy the most is learning new things and overcoming the challenges of each activity.

Also, developing new skills and keeping our brains engaged in something that we enjoy improves our overall well-being and performance at other activities.

So, you see there is little (if any) downsize to dedicate some of our valuable scarce time to a pastime but the benefits can be real big. I really encourage you to find sometime and devote it to that activity, project, plan that really fires up your passion and gives you the opportunity to achieve and relax at the same time!

-Stein

Onomatopoeia 

Stein A to Z Challenge 2016, English, Opinion

 Onomatopoeia. Wow! What a mouthful! Are you familiar with it? Yes, you are! Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you. Have you ever referred to the sound that things make? Or, have you imitated the call of an animal? Then you have used onomatopoeia!

The best definition I have ever found of the word onomatopoeia is: the forming of a word in imitation of a natural sound. Which means, you have been using them since you were a little boy or girl. Do you remember the Old Macdonald had a farm? Is full of them!

Oink, moo, quack are all Onomatopeia or words that imitate a natural sound. But wait, there is more! Bang, boom, zing and all those you read in the old comic books belong to the same family.

One interesting thing about these words is that different cultures refer to the same natural sound with diffrent words. Just look at this short list comparing English and Spanish onomatopoeia:

  • Bang – Pum
  • Arf – Guau
  • Meow – Miau
  • Chirp – Pio
  • Choo-choo – Chucu-chucu
  • Ribbit – croak

All languages have them and are a very good tell-tale of the culture. So there you have it! You are familiar with Onomatopeia and have been using them all your life.

Now, go brag to someone about it!

-Stein

    No

    Stein A to Z Challenge 2016, English, Opinion no

      

    No. What a simple and short word. And yet, so complicated. We all know what it means and when to use it right? Or, do we? How many times in any given situation you wanted, really wanted to say no and yet, you said yes!

    Maybe it was to your parents, a teacher or a co-worker but you ended saying yes and getting extra work or responsibility that you did not want in the first place.

    And the worse part? Well, you felt guilty, you know you should’ve said no, yet you said yes and you beat yourself for it. You tell yourself over and over that next time you will say no. When the next time comes, yes again! Feel guilty again, beat yourself and repeat.

    I know that too well, because I’ve been there more times than I care to remember. Always wondered what my life would look like if I could say no like there is no tomorrow. Until it hit me! 

    If I keeping saying yes to everyone and everything… There is no tomorrow! My time will belong to all those time suckers that I keep buying everytime I say yes when I know, I just know I have to say no!

    Everytime I say no to something, I “get” that time back to do with it whatever I want! And that is an encouraging thought. Still, learning to say no at the right time is a journey and for some of us a really long one.

    So, join me! Let’s learn together to say no when we mean to say no and yes when we really mean to say yes! I am sure we will all become more mature, smart and happier.

    -Stein