MM #64 Planet Funk - Chase The Sun

This tune brings back so many memories – especially from university days.  A bunch of us were part of the Commerce student association and we put together a killer fashion show for 2 years in a row.

This track was a part of one of the shows and the collection that was being featured was very eclectic and super funky ! We put together a really creative ‘dance’ ramp show for this tune and it was a super hit with the crowd !

Have a great #MM folks ! and a fab week ahead ! Don’t forget to share your linky or your fave tune in the comments if you are not participating.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.   PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Can I Get Your Number Baby ?

Can I get your number baby, so I can show you what I’m all about ! That’s what comes to mind when I hear that line.  It’s off a Mariah Carey & Jermaine Dupri track. 

Lately – it seems that everyone wants to know the next persons’ ‘magic number’.  And by that – I’m talking about the number of people one has slept with.

In this day and age, where sex, virginity & chastity is no longer put on a pedestal; stereotypes apparently still exist.  A guy who sleeps with women in the double digits is considered a stud; ‘experienced’; hell he even knows what women want ! But heaven forbid a woman sleeps with more ‘3’ (her first, her past and her present lover) she is automatically labelled anything from ‘easy’, ‘loose’, ‘immoral’ (those are the nicer labels) right down to be being a whore and is totally slut shammed !!

WTF is up with that kinda attitude ? Does it really matter how many people you, me or your next door neighbour sleep with ? Who are we to judge someone on the basis of the number of sexual partners they have had ? For anyone that does frown upon it – who made you the moral police ??

I’m 29 going on 30 in a few months.  My first sexual encounter was at 17 – so assuming I’ve slept with one man a year for the last 12 years – that would bring my magic number to ‘12’.   Which I reckon is a fairly decent figure.  I’ve been in a few long term relationships; I’ve had ‘dry’ spells where there’s been no action in my life for months (even a year at a stretch); and the occasional hook up.  Does being with 12 guys (or more) make me ‘easy’ ? I f*cking hope not ‘cos that’s just bullshit !

Rather than asking my partners about their past sexual conquests – I would much prefer to know things like ‘have you been safe’ (read that as – you better be using condoms if you want to get into my  bed) ? Have they ever had any sort of STD’s ? Do they get checked regularly ? I think that’s a bit more important than how many people they have slept with (unless of course they are sleeping with people within my social circle – that I have a problem with)

One of my closest friends literally ooooooooooooooooozes sex appeal.  She can’t go anywhere without getting hit on.  She’s had her fair share of relationships, hook-ups, flings etc.  It’s not her fault that guys find her attractive or want to hook up with her; nor is it her fault that she enjoys sex.  Would anyone call her a slut ? F*ck NO ! (besides if anyone even tried they would get bitch slapped before they could even get the word out).

I also have guy friends who are quite happy to be with a woman who is *ahem* experienced.  It’s quite hot for them to discover the tricks that she might have up her sleeve.  I honestly believe that if a guy is a true to himself – he really doesn’t quite give a rats ass about how many men his girl has slept with as long as she’s not gonna sleep with someone else other than him whilst they are together. 

Are you the type of person who carves out notches on the bedpost to keep track of all those you have slept with ? Have you ever been asked about the number of men / women you’ve been with ? Have you ASKED your partner to reveal their number to you ?

Now that you’ve had a chance to answer these questions; did it make a difference to your relationship ? At what stage of your relationship did you ask these questions ? Do you think you could have missed out on a great relationship or romance ‘cos you judged someone by their number ?

My favourite blogger Simone Grant says that smart women agree that your number doesn’t matter.  And I applaud everyone who goes by that theory.  Insecurity can be a b*tch – so yeah people with insecurity or low self esteem may feel like they need to hide / falsify their number to their partner.  But seriously, think about it – why the hell would you want to even be with someone who is going to judge you by your past ? Shouldn’t they want to be with you because of everything that makes you the unique individual that you are!

Further Reading

1. Smart Women Agree That Your Number Doesn’t Matter by Simone Grant 
2. Should You Reveal The Number of People You Have Slept With by Simone Grant
3. What’s Your Number ? by Victoria Williams for TheFabV.com
4. Sexy Time : Why Numbers Don’t Matter by Ness Fraser for CollegeCandy.com
5. Why Does It Matter How Many Partners She has Had ? by Hugo Schywzer for TheGoodMenProject.com

Sexy Saturday : Bar Refaeli

Bar Refaeli is an Israeli model who started her career at the mere age of 8 months for a baby commercial and hasn’t looked back ever since.

Bar was the first Israeli model to appear in the 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue; and in 2009 was the cover model for their issue.  She has also appeared in ELLE (France), Maxim, and GQ (Italy).

 

Not only is this young women strikingly sexy, she also volunteers for a non profit organization ‘Project Sunshine’ that provides free services and programs for children with life threatening diseases; and ‘Ahava’ which is an organization caring for abandoned pets in Northern Israel.

She’s got my Sexy Saturday Vote ! What about yours ?

Diwali Greetings To All In Blogosphere

Whether you celebrate Diwali or not, I’m sure you’ve heard about this famous ‘festival of lights’ that is celebrated by Indians across the world regardless of caste.

Diwali marks the celebration of victory of the good over evil; and the Goddess Laxmi (Goddess of Wealth) is thanked for bestowing wealth & prosperity upon her devotees.

Whilst the entire concept and idea behind Diwali is great – I don’t like the way it affects the environment at all =(  Why can’t we just have an environmentally safe Diwali ?  I tend to voice this concern to whoever is willing to listen and I really hope it makes an impact (no matter how small).  With the way global warming is on the rise, just think about how much pollution we are adding to the natural environment.

If you can avoid the fire crackers; reduce the number of fairy lights and stick to using clay diyas – you’d definitely be helping the environment.

Wishing you all a Very Happy & Prosperous Diwali ! May you be blessed with all that your heart desires !

Related Articles

1. An Environmentally Safe Diwali – Is It Possible ? by Dazediva

2. Festival of Lights or Endangering the Environment ? by Dazediva

3. Celebrate An Environmentally Safe Diwali by Manisha Gutman

4. Crackers or Quakers by Ratna Khemnani

5. Firework Pollution by Madhumitta Dutta

6. A Must Read for Pet Owners : Dogs & Fireworks – Fear & Anxiety

WW #43 Cleaning the Pumpkin

This has got to be the best picture ever !! I always wondered how the pumpkins were cleaned out and the seeds removed .. and now I know what goes on behind the scenes in the kitchen !!!

Found this pic via another #WW participant Joyce Lansky who originally posted it on 18th Oct ‘11

What are you doing with your pumpkins for Halloween ?

Lego Project

Lego project is a quick little poem put together and inspired by Lego and turtle which were two words provided today.  How many other poets do you know who write about building a Lego turtle?

Lego Project

Giant personalized turtle
knotted conclusion an epiphany
dedication like a nocturnal priestess
patience thin like a summer breeze
this Lego commission delivered
as one killer piece of art

-Poem by Justin Germino

This poem included 13 random submissions (in bold) provided by the following Twitter players and was originally published on 29th June 2011:

• @floridafrecks (killer),
• @eileencan (priestess),
• @smartboydesigns (nocturnal),
• @dazediva (summer breeze),
• @persianpoetess (Epiphany),
• @ptaylor98 (patience),
• @fbigg (commission),
• @rajanbalana (Giant),
• @cindy091896 (turtle),
• @harleypan (Personalized),
• @newyorkbigapple (conclusion),
• @techwork_dk (Lego),
• @kathrynvercillo (Knotted)

Justin Germino is the author behind ‘Dragon Blogger’ and'Wanderer Thoughts’ amongst a few other blogs. He has created over 260+ ‘twitter poems’ via random submissions on twitter. He believes you only have one life and you have to live it. Follow him on Twitter @dragonblogger

MM #63 Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

I actually don’t know too many other tracks by this band but I really loved this tune when I first heard it in the ‘City of Angels’ sound track.   There’s something so soothing about the music and the lyrics are really quite beautiful.

The opening verse lyrics set the tone for the entire song .. and if you have seen the movie – then I'm sure you were left teary eyed when the song came on.

And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

This song stayed on top of Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts for a record-breaking 18 weeks, and was nominated for three Grammys the same year.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.   PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Sexy Saturday : Ian Somerhalder

Some might say he is a pretty boy but damn he is just a whole load of hotness.   No wonder DNA Models named him one of their Top 10 Male Models in 2006.

    

You may recognize him as Hamilton on Young Americans, or his more recent portrayal of Boone on Lost.  But I discovered him on the tv show Vampire Diaries where he plays the sexy yet devilish Damon Salvatore (the name just oozes sex appeal!)

When this hunk isn’t breaking hearts on the big screen, he supports the St Tammany Humane Society, an organization for animal shelter and welfare.   He is also one of many supporters of the It Gets Better Project, a project that has made it a goal to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.

 

He is also in the process of setting up The Ian Somerhalder Foundation, which he hopes will educate people on the importance of protecting the environment and animals.

A pretty boy hunk who loves animals ! He’s got my #SexySaturday vote ! what about yours ?

WW #42 Learning The Alphabet

I thought this was pretty cool … and I’ve managed to get most of the alphabet here .. having a bit of a tough time with P & Z !! what about you ? Were you able to identify words for every alphabet ?

Diva’s Guide : Posting Tweets to Your FaceBook Fan Page

Now we all know how to link our FB profile pages to our Twitter accounts and vice versa.  There are built-in apps for FB and Twitter that allow us to do this which does make life easier.  I found Tweetdeck to be a life saver when it came to publishing my company tweets to the company profile page on FB.  But the thing is, most of the above apps are for ‘profile’ pages !

I’ve spent the last few days trying various methods of integrating my tweets to my Facebook fan page but it’s been a futile effort ! The most I managed was to use Involver or Selective Tweets to publish to my FB Fan page however the drawback was that :

• Tweets were also getting published to my personal profile
• I had to use specific #fb hash tags which can be a pain to do
• I had to manually ‘publish’ the Tweets from the Tweets tab on the fan page

Today– I found the perfect solution thanks to my Twitter friend @spinsterlicious – who suggested that I use ‘HootSuite’.  Now seriously – how is it that this never once came up in any of the searches ! (and hence the reason for this post)

5 Steps To Posting Tweets to FB Fan Page

1.  Go to HootSuite.com

2.  Register and activate an account

3.  Add a Social Network

a) Your Twitter profile

b) Your Facebook account

• note at this point it will show your FB profile page and ask you to ‘allow’ access and permissions to Hootsuite
• click ‘allow’
• Log onto your FB account from the pop-up browser

4.  Once you see your FB account listed; you will also see all the ‘pages’ you subscribe to and also those that you are an ‘admin’ of.

• I’ve logged onto my company FB profile and can see the ‘page’ that I am admin off as shown below.
• Select the FB page that you want to link your tweets to by clicking the ‘+’ sign; which will then open as a new tab within the HootSuite application
• Start posting and scheduling tweets that you want to share on your FB Blog Page without worrying about all your personal tweets going on to your profile or the fan page !

5.  Add a Stream.

• Basically you will see a few tabs in the window which will show your Twitter profile, FB profile and FB fan page
• Adding a stream means connecting your FB fan page with your Twitter profile
• Select your Twitter Profile and the ‘type of stream’ you want i.e. all the tweets; or just the @mentions or only what you send out (I selected only ‘sent tweets’ for my company account)

And voila ! you are done ! I couldn’t believe how simple it was to publish tweets to just on my FB fan page ! All the other instructions I had seen were way too complex !

Have you got any other ways to publish your tweets directly to your FB fan pages ? Have you used HootSuite before ? If you did try out these instructions, do let me know your feedback :)

5 Ideas For Your Next Date

So you’ve got the first date done and out of the way. Everything must have gone well otherwise you wouldn’t be planning your next date, and it also means that you can let go of the stress you were feeling before and focus on having a fantastic second date.

While first dates can be lots of fun and very entertaining, they never feel as comfortable as the second date because you spend so much time getting to know the other person (which is what they’re meant for). Now that both of you know what each other like and dislike you can spend more time building on that foundation with fun activities.

Here are 5 ideas to help you start planning your next date:

1.  Dancing- Guys you may be hesitant on this one but I promise that if you suck it up and take one for the team your lady will appreciate it. Of course it’s always good to check with your date before you surprise them and show up at a dance club, but chances are the activity will be a hit! There are several different types of dancing that you can choose from as well. Some clubs play more salsa music, some hip hop, and others country, which means the choice is yours.

2.  Arts and Crafts- Having an arts and crafts night with your date is always a lot of fun. You can get several different supplies like clay, watercolour paints, coloured pencils, and crayons so that you can switch styles if you wish. You can make it your goal to either create a work of art together or make two separate projects and then exchange them as gifts at the end.

3.  Visit the Zoo- Take your date to the nearest zoo and spend some time learning about the wildlife there. Make sure that you check the schedule beforehand so that you are there to see the bigger events like when they bring out the tigers and show them off. You can visit the petting zoo and feed some of the animals. Remember that zoo’s aren’t for kids only. People of all ages can enjoy meeting and learning about all the different animals.

4.  Take a Bike Ride or Hike- If you both love the outdoors then going for a bike ride or going on a hike makes for a fabulous date. With your bike ride or hike it’s always fun to bring along some food and drinks so that you can have a picnic if you find a good spot. Be sure to keep the rigor of the hike and bike rides to a minimum so that neither of you reach the point of exhaustion.

5.  Do Some Service- A simple service project makes for a really great date activity. You get to walk away from your project knowing that you were able to help someone else and spend time with your date all at once. The project doesn’t have to be anything big… You could ask your grandparents or neighbours if they need help with anything around the house. They may have some simple electrical work like helping them plug in their new computer, or climbing the ladder to change the light bulb. Whatever it is they’ll be extremely grateful that you were willing to help.

Now that you have 5 great ideas for your next date pick one or two of your favourites and then go for it. Don’t be afraid to put your own spin on things if you are feeling inspired.

Web Design Phoenix handles the internet marketing for Bid Boomerang. Bid Boomerang connects homeowners with a qualified electrician in Mesa AZ.

MM #62 Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger

Just shoot for the stars
If it feels right
And aim for my heart
If you feel like
And take me away and make it OK
I swear I'll behave

There was something about the opening of this track that just got me smiling away.  It’s kinda happy, peppy and very very cheeky all at the same time !

Let’s make this week count folks ! It’s Monday and …

I don't need to try to control you
Look into my eyes and I'll own you

Have a fab week ahead ! and don’t forget to share your linky !

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.   PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Diva’s Guide : Creating a FaceBook Page for Your Blog

Do you use FaceBook Pages ? I’m not talking about ‘Groups’ but ‘Pages’.  I do and I actually have created a few FB Pages for various clients and my own company AKA : A Klass Apart BUT I’ve always wondered how to go about making a FB page for my blog.

I’ve always known it was simple, but I realized that unless you did your homework on this, most people are not able to find / select a ‘blog’ or ‘website’ feature when creating pages.

I’ve put together 5 simple steps that outline how to create your new FB page for your blog.

1. Log in to Facebook.

• To create a page, you must have a personal account. If you don’t have your own account, go to the Facebook home page and sign up.

2. Go to Create New Facebook Page

• From the category options, chose “Brand, Product, or Organization”
• Scroll down on the drop down menu and choose “Website”.
• On the next section, enter the name of your page. I just used the name of my blog. Click “Create Page”.

3.  Customize Your Page

• Add an image from your desktop that best represents your blog
• Start filling in all the relevant sections with the info that you want to share with your audiences
• Set up your blog RSS feed to show your new posts in Facebook.  You can do this by ‘editing’ the ‘Notes’ section and using your blog URL or the RSS feed link that exists on your blog.

(I would offer to give more step-by-step methods in doing the above but with the constant FB changes, its better left simpler)

4.  Become a Fan of your own Page (very important – if you don’t do it, why would anyone else ?)

5.  Pimp your new FB Blog Fan Page to Cyberspace. 

• Tweet it !
• Tumble it !
• Update your FB profile to let your friends know you have a Blog (unless of course you don’t want them to know)
• Blog about it so your readers can become your fan on FaceBook
• and watch your fans grow !

There you have it – 5 easy steps on creating your very own FaceBook page for your blog.  I’ve just set mine, ‘Dazed Reflections of a Diva’ up today – so do go check it out whenever you have a chance.

For More Tips and For Visual Step-by-Step Guides check out:

1. How to create a FaceBook Page for your Blog by StandoutBlogger
2. How to create Facebook Page for your Blog by QuickOnlineTips
3. How to promote your blog with Facebook pages

Sexy Saturday - Paul Wesley

I’ve recently started watching the TV show ‘Vampire Diaries’ and cannot get enough of the male lead - Paul Wesley better known to most as Stefan Salvatore !! (I think I have a TV crush !)

Wesley is of Polish origin and speaks the language as well.  He won the awards in the ‘Breakout Star Male’ and ‘Actor Fantasy Sci-Fi’ category for the 2010 Teen Choice Awards.

Wesley has not been seen much on the big screen but has maintained roles in various TV shows.  He also has the lead role for the ABC series ‘Fallen’ (which maybe I should watch)

The man is 29 years old with a body to die for !! I actually think my heart skips a beat watching this broody vampire on the flat screen !

He’s got my #SexySaturday Vote ! What about yours ? Have you seen the TV show ? What do you think about his character ?

What’s In Your Hand Bag ?

I’m not a fan of BIG bags – I like them – they’re cool – but everything gets LOST in them ! And today I came across a link ‘Top Ten Things to Have in Your Purse’ so I thought about writing down what I normally have in my hand bag.

I tend to carry medium sized bags – and every now and then – the smaller clutches (particularly at Indian weddings).

The Diva’s 6 Must Have Hand Bag Items:

Camera it’s small and compact but it still uses space ! and whenever I see something that catches my fancy – I can capture it for reference later.	Business Cards gotta have them and spread word about your brand and business; with my social life – I’m constantly handing these out !
Mobile Phone as if I could leave home without my phone !	Lip Gloss I prefer wearing lip gloss to lipstick – so always have a clear /sheer gloss with me
Debit & Credit Cards & Cash depending on the size of the bag, I can throw in a wallet – but if it’s one of the smaller bags, then I just throw in my cards and some cash.	House Keys the last thing I want to do is ring my door bell at 5 a.m and wait for someone to open the door !! It sucks to be locked out !

So basically – even my smallest hand bag – has to fit the above 6 items.  Depending on the bag size and my plans for the day – my hand bag can also contain

1. Perfume … if I’m out for the full day, the perfume comes along
2. Deodorant … I’ll admit I even leave one in my car for days I’m stuck outdoors ! 
3. Small Notepad & Pen .. always comes in handy but this is rare since NC tends to carry the notepad
4. Lighter … I have a habit of keeping lighters handy from my London days when I used to use them for my nightclub service promotions
5. Chewing Gum … leaves your mouth with a fresh taste
6. Wet Wipes / Tissue … always useful
7. Hand Sanitizer … especially if I’m going to work sites
8. Camera charger … yes I am guilty of actually carrying my camera charger with me; and yes, I take a LOT of photos !
9. Phone charger … don’t always have this, but when I need it the most, it’s never around ! so now I have a car charger too
10. Eye drops & Meds … I wear contact lenses and with the city being so dusty, I do need to splash in a few drops.  I also keep some migraine tablets handy in case I get one when I least expect it.

I’m pretty sure I can throw in more things in my hand bag but this is already a huge list !! No wonder I don’t like big bags ! I’d never be able to find all these things ! (having said that – I reckon I’m the only one who can actually find anything in my bag)

According to an article I read, the reason women carry so many things with them is because they are natural caretakers and always try to anticipate what they might need.  Which I suppose is quite true in its own way.

So what’s in your hand bag ladies ? Do you prefer a small / medium / large size bag to carry around with you ? What are your essentials ?  If you have your bag right now, empty it out and list all the items in your bag :P 

For all the guys out there (unless you have a man-bag / man-purse / briefcase / back pack– which you must share details of), what are you most likely to find in your girls’ hand bag ? Or do you just not venture there :P

Further Reading:

1. What’s In Your Bag ? Huge Purses An Emotional Crutch by Diane Mapes for MSNBC
2. What’s In Your Bag ? by Andy Rooney for CBS News

WW #41 Living The Dream

Soaring Crash

When writing today’s poem I had a few thoughts and scenario’s cross my head, but I wanted to get readers input on what they envision when reading this poem.

Soaring Crash

Riots ticking
a destiny kiss
limitation of trust
ticket to challenge
superstitious outcomes
soaring too far
like a wild aviatrix
eventually come crashing
down to the ground

-Poem by Justin Germino

Soaring Crash was inspired by the 10 words (in bold) provided by the following Twitter followers and originally published on 11th August ‘11

• @bloggergal1 (ticking),
• @r_arblaster (riots),
• @cyberganesh (kiss),
• @ptaylor98 (destiny),
• @dazediva (limitation),
• @madbeyond (aviatrix),
• @technicallyeasy (trust),
• @laraca44 (superstitious),
• @techwork_dk (Challenge),
• @eileencan (ticket)

 

Justin Germino is the author behind ‘Dragon Blogger’ and'Wanderer Thoughts’ amongst a few other blogs. He has created over 260+ ‘twitter poems’ via random submissions on twitter. He believes you only have one life and you have to live it.  Follow him on Twitter @dragonblogger

MM #61 Alexandra Stan - Mr Saxobeat

This is a brilliantly catchy and fun tune by Alexandra Stan.  She is a 22 year old Romanian singer-songwriter.  This particular track became her worldwide breakthrough hit, selling almost 1 million copies in less than a year and reaching the Top 5 in over twenty countries including New Zealand and UK; and the Top 30 in Australia, Canada and Billboard Hot 100.

This is one tune that is definitely part of my car playlist.  Happy Listening folks !

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.   PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Sexy Saturday : Anthony Gallo

The first time I saw Anthony Gallo’s pics – my jaw dropped to the floor and I thought – OMG. I. Want. NOW !!! He is half African American & half Italian, 6ft tall and about 170 pounds of pure utter sex appeal (and muscle too)

He has done several clothing ads for Phat Farm, Sean John, Pepe Jeans, Abercrombie&Fitch and has also appeared in Rihanna's latest video, Take A Bow.

Seriously though, I can’t get over that body !! Just look at it ! He is cut to perfection !! Just the kind of chocolate I could bite into !

Definitely got my Sexy Saturday vote !!

Cold Feet

Cold Feet is a poem about the man at the altar procrastinating so long that he loses the girl who walks out on him. 

Cold Feet

Jazz music unable to sway reaction
bike pedal simply stuck in idle
maddening state of razzle-dazzle
driving you almost suicidal

Many moments blink like popcorn
blueberry gowns and her in white
great wrench in life’s works
feeling now like some plight

No great processor of solutions
hooked in returning procrastination
love not some deciduous usufruct
so moment ends in desolation

-Poem by Justin Germino

This poem was inspired by the 15 random submissions (in bold) provided by the following Twitter players and originally published on 14th July 2011:

• @dazediva (dazzle),
• @newyorkbigapple (solutions),
• @eileencan (wrench),
• @harleypan (processor),
• @jenaramirez (deciduous),
• @giglogo (sway),
• @texasrhea (usufruct),
• @ptaylor98 (returning),
• @r_arblaster (blueberry),
• @laraca44 (Jazz),
• @kathrynvercillo (hooked),
• @techwork_dk (bike),
• @ditesco (procrastination),
• @metallmanx (desolation),
• @purple_froggy (popcorn)

 

Justin Germino is the author behind ‘Dragon Blogger’ and'Wanderer Thoughts’ amongst a few other blogs. He has created over 260+ ‘twitter poems’ via random submissions on twitter. He believes you only have one life and you have to live it. Follow him on Twitter @dragonblogger

WW #40 Bad Ass Dog

Do I really need to say anything about this ?? LOL !

Don’t forget to link up and leave a comment if you are participating in #WordlessWednesdays !

Is Your Life Insured ?

It seems like everyone these days is shopping around for whole life insurance quotes !! My parents talk about it, my relatives always bring it up, even my married friends have all started rushing to procure life insurance ! Last year my uncle from Australia was talking about funeral insurance !

A couple of years ago, on the advice of a financial advisor, I purchased a life insurance policy and it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Little did I know that there were so many terms and conditions that were applicable when it came to payment schedules etc.  It’s taken me a while to understand the different types of life insurance policies actually available in the market.

Just this morning, a friend of mine in the US told me that she was using a company called Aptus Insurance to get life insurance quotes online and then compare them against the various ‘types’ of life insurance policies on offer.

I’ll give you a quick summary since I’m no expert on the field but I suppose it’s important for all of us to at least be aware of what is out there :

1. Term Life Insurance: it’s considered as short term insurance because the policy is only effective for a specific period of time, i.e. a year.  It also needs to be renewed each year.
2. Permanent Life Insurance: offer both a cash pay-out and built in savings plan; and also offers many tax benefits.
3. Whole Life Insurance: is similar to permanent life insurance, and is generally a cheap and simple style of taking insurance.
4. Single Premium Life Insurance: basically you make a lump sum deposit payment and do not have to make premium payments for the remainder of your policy; and this type of insurance can also be used as a collateral against a loan.
5. Universal Life Insurance: is similar but more flexible than whole life insurance.  You can choose how much of your premium goes towards your policy and how much goes into your interest gaining savings account.
6. Variable Life Insurance: is the most robust and flexible policy available with a guaranteed minimum pay-out.

Wow ! That’s a lot of different types of life insurance ! Of course every country and insurance provider has other types of policies also available but like I said – this is just a gist.

I know most people my age haven’t even given a thought to life insurance policies.  I’m fortunate that my parents have secured my future by having purchased the relevant policies.  That also means that they have thought about how to provide my siblings and I with financial stability after they die ! My parents have obviously planned well in advance; but with me turning 30 in a few months – I’ve not even thought about securing the future of my going-to-be children.  Sometimes I wonder how we as the new generation will survive ?

Whilst browsing around, I came across the Insurance Information Institute which has a plethora of information that helps one understand what types of insurance are available and what they all incorporate.  Do check it out when you get a chance.

What are your thoughts on the subject ? Have you got your life insurance sorted out or have your parents done that for you ? Do you know if your parents / guardian has taken out a life insurance policy for you?  If you don’t have any life insurance, how likely are you to take a policy ?

I realize none of us want to think about death – but it is inevitable and we should start thinking about whether ‘our death would leave anyone in financial difficulty?’ … if the answer is yes (and it could be your spouse, partner, family, siblings, even children) .. then I suppose its time to look into getting some Life Insurance !

Further Reading

1. Are You Protected Enough ? in Business Today
2. For the Recently Widowed, Some Big Financial Pitfalls to Avoid by Ron Lieber for the NY Times
3. Tracking Down and Collecting Unclaimed Life Insurance by Paul Sullivan for the NY Times
4. Consider Keeping Life Insurance by Anne Tergesen for The Wall Street Journal
5. Scared to Death of Life Insurance