Happy New Year!

(Picture belongs to rightful owner) 

        Just wanted to write a blog post to say Happy New Year to my awesome followers and readers! Thank you so much for being a part of "The Life of a Zobot"! Each one of you is greatly appreciated! Have a very Happy New Year! Spend time with your loved ones and make the best out of it. Enjoy every last second of 2011 and make great resolutions for the upcoming year! I can't wait for 2012, can you?!

xoxo,

2011: Looking Back!

            2011 has been one great, crazy, and surprising year! I had really awesome moments with my best friend! We did everything from having lunch at different restaurants, having breakfast together, going to the movies, and sharing memorable moments together! Plus, I had a really interesting summer this year across the world to where I'm from and actually meeting family members I've never even known I had. It was a great experience with my family. Besides that, I can't believe how far I've come this year. I've come even further from the last. There has been a lot going on and everything has really changed from last year. Every year my life takes an unexpected turn. This year, the turn may have not made me the happiest, but it sure was worth it. I'm glad for the decision I made because if I hadn't made this choice, I don't think I'd ever find what being happy really means. 
            Anyway, other then my life experiences, 2011 was filled with many finished and unfinished projects. My novel "Life Without Borders" is an unfinished project that will hopefully be completed in 2012 if all goes well. My technology blog "It's Technologic" was a fantastic completely finished project that turned out pretty well in the end. Indeed, I am proud of it. (Note to my best friend :] ) Not to mention, the blog you're reading this post on "The Life of a Zobot"! This project was also a success. And, last but not least, small projects I've done through the year including a personal journal, lyrics and poems, and personal projects as well. All these projects took a lot of hard work and time and I did my best on them, finished or not. Shouldn't doing them be a reward on it's own? ;]
          2011 was a great year! Looking forward to all the delights in the year ahead! 
               

xoxo,

Christmas Eve, Eve!

                           

 I had the best Christmas Eve, Eve today! (The day before Christmas Eve) 

             I have stated that I don't celebrate Christmas in previous posts, but recently I've learned that even if it's not in your religion to celebrate any holiday whether it's Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or Ramadan, you shouldn't say that you cannot celebrate the holiday. Anyone can celebrate which ever holiday they desire to as long as they celebrate the holiday with a pure heart.  
            My day was almost perfect! I spent a lot of time with my best friend! We exchanged and opened presents together. That was such a sweet sentimental moment! 

       This is the best Christmas present I've ever gotten! I absolutely loved it! Thanks to my best friend!         
         Then later on we went to the movies to watch "New Year's Eve!" The movie was great! My best friend and I had lots of fun and I enjoyed the beautiful day we spent together! It was amazing, it truly was! Hopefully the rest of this Holiday vacation is as great as this day. I'm glad I got to spend an early Christmas & New Year's with my best friend! 

Happy Holidays to you all! 

P.S. Thanks to all who participated in the Holiday Blogger E-Card Exchange! 

xoxo,

Holiday E-Card Exchange

Blogger Holiday E-Card Exchange

       I thought of this great way to connect people online in a different way that allowed each and every one us to see each others creativity, while providing a kind gesture, and finding new blogs/sites to connect with. So, in honor of the holidays. I've put together a Holiday E-Card Exchange!


How does it work?
Just enter by filling out the form below, submit your e-card to thelifeofazobot@yahoo.com, add the holiday e-card exchange badge to your blog/site, and check your inbox on Christmas Day for a special e-card created by a fellow blogger!


     Every one that participates will receive a different e-card from a different blogger. It's an exchange, you never know whose e-card you might get!


    It's a great way to wish your fellow bloggers Happy Holidays! It's sort of like a secret Santa exchange except digital!


How do you enter?
1. Sign up using the form below.
2. Use any image software you'd like (Photoshop, Paint, Picnik, FotoFlexer; etc) to create a 150x150 pixel or larger (no less than dimensions provided) holiday e-card.
3. Include your first name, blog/site name, blog URL, a greeting, and personal message (optional) somewhere on your e-card.
4. Be creative! Add photos, festive graphics, crazy fonts, and more.
5. When you're done, save it as a JPEG image and send it via e-mail to thelifeofazobot@yahoo.com as an attachment.


Sign up here!




Grab a Badge!

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Thanks for signing up! Be sure to check your inbox on Christmas! Happy Holidays!

If you have any questions e-mail thelifeofazobot@yahoo.com.

xoxo,

Money, Shopping for Gifts, & the Economy

      Money is hard to earn these days with the economy and all. Finding the perfect gift for your loved ones couldn't be harder while you have almost no cash in hand. I have maybe about five people on my gift list, besides my family. Our family doesn't celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. If you didn't already know, I come from a Muslim family. (Yes, my secret has just been exposed) Anyway, when the holidays arrive, I still exchange Christmas presents. Even to my friends who don't celebrate it either. Last year, I hardly had any money to buy anyone a Christmas present. A group of my friends decided to do a "Secret Santa" thing and I saw this as a window of opportunity to get out of buying presents for everyone. However, I winded up feeling absolutely terrible when I got presents from them. 

         This year, I want to avoid feeling that way and trying my best to get everyone a present. Now the problem is where do I get the money? I have a few blogs and I definitely considered writing reviews and advertising. One problem though, my technology blog doesn't have many loyal readers yet and neither this blog. (I need a certain amount of audience in order to start monetizing my work.) I also considered selling the copyrights to lyrics I've written or selling some of my old stuff on eBay. One of my close friends gave me an idea too. I'm still thinking of how to make money. I don't have much time until the holidays though.

        The economy is no help for my mission. Time to face the truth. Everyone is trying to save money this holiday season to buy that someone the present they've been wanting. Any idea I have to make money, I could maybe make a couple extra bucks, but I won't make much. Besides that, everyone's probably out there looking for a way to save up to make someone really happy this year. 

        In conclusion, I want to make a few important people in my life very happy. They deserve it and I hope I really can. Got any quick money tips or tricks? Please feel free to share. 

xoxo,

Novel Stats

        As you may already know, I've been writing a novel for the NaNoWriMo contest. You may also know that I decided not to submit in my novel because I couldn't finish it in time for the contest deadline. I really wanted to be able to finish it. I was aiming for that huge 50,000 word goal. But, that doesn't mean it's the end of line for the novel. I'm still planning on publishing it! I'm still writing the novel and I'm also looking for a publisher. My current publishing options are PubIt! by Barnes & Nobles (eBook publisher) or Lulu (Self-Publishing). If you have any advice on where to publish a novel, feel free to share. ;]

My novel is going to be about religious views and how the only difference in people is the way they represent their hearts.

Here's the synopsis:
            Zaafira is the daughter of a lovely married couple, Michael and Zahrah. A family that combined two different religions, Islam & Christianity. This beautifully mixed family combines the nationalities of Spain and Saudi Arabia, residing in New York City. Zaafira is a 16 year old girl, going through the wonders of growing up and finding out who she is. Her parents gave her nothing but love, support, and a sense of home. Her friends allowed her to undergo experiences and allowed her to blossom into the person she was meant to be. However, through her teenage years, she begins to question why she had never met her Mother's parents, why her family moved to NYC and never talked about visiting their native countries, and why her Mother would never talk to her or teach her the meaning of being Muslim or Christian. She began to wonder why people didn't accept certain things in society.
           As she gets older, she becomes interested in writing and journalism. While studying for exams, being an intern for the New York Times, and getting ready for College, Zaafira meets an Atheist boy named Aaron. As she gets to know him, she realizes a pattern in her life. Zaafira has always been surrounded by people of different backgrounds, point of views, and ideas. Yet, she's never considered anyone different. In her opinion, everyone was human and the only variation humans had were how they chose to use their minds and how they chose to represent their heart.
I'm really loving the way my novel is turning out. I'm currently writing the second chapter.

Writing this novel has really given me an insight to certain things I come across every day and never really pay attention to. Writing this novel is allowing me to focus on actual details of my life.

        I recently read a few articles on how to be a good author and one of the articles said something that really caught my eye. The article said that in order to be a good fiction author, the best thing to do is write about what you know. This advice made me really think. I was planning to write a complete made up fiction novel without having any relationship to my life at all. Although, after thinking about it and trying it out, I realized how much more feeling I was able to put into the book by using names, experiences, and feelings from my life.

I really can't wait for the novel to be finished and ready to read!

xoxo,

Procrastination at it's Finest!

                       We all procrastinate once in a while. Except when you're me and you procrastinate all the time! I guess it's a natural born quality. This month, I had a lot on my plate and next month I'll have even more. I'm still planning to enter the NaNoWriMo 2011 contest, publishing that novel this year, and gaining more loyal subscribers to my blog. (Thanks to the 11 subscribers I have. You guys are awesome! ) Also, special thanks to the 13 people who subscribed to my technology blog. Anyway, with everything I have to do, I get easily distracted. 

                         For example, when I'm using my laptop to blog or write, I search the topic I'm writing about and find a great blog that posted something similar. After finding the blog, I'd probably scroll down to see comments, pictures, and other posts. Enter a giveaway (if the blog has one), find a sponsor site, or click on the blog of a commenter. When I'm using my phone, one notification can cause me to delay on what I'm doing by far. And even when I don't get a notification, I find myself constantly updating and checking Twitter and Facebook. My point is, I get distracted easily! 

How to cope with procrastination? (Here's what you can do & most likely what I SHOULD do) 

1. Use a task manager- Personally, I'm not a fan of task managing however, I've realized you don't have to schedule every single second of your day and waste all your time scheduling and not leaving time to complete the tasks.
2. Say no, give some things up- For me, THIS IS THE HARDEST THING to do because once I dedicate myself to something, I have to finish it no matter how long it takes or how much it'll stress me out. I need to learn to say no to some things I can't fit in my schedule and give up on things I can't finish on time. There's always next time. (Although, this lesson is still not effect with me because even though I've only written about 2,000 words of my novel, I'm going to do all 50.000 by the end of this month. Wish me luck?)
3. Make time for relaxation- Don't stress yourself out, take a break.
4. Do something fun- Take your mind off a really big project and give yourself a treat by doing something fun whether it's by yourself, with a friend, or your family- go out and do something.
5. Sleep early, Wake up early, & start your day right- (I really got to start doing that) Sleeping early means you'll get the rest you need for another great day. And, when you wake up early, you'll have tons of time to have a great day. 

That's all I had to say for today. Hoped this post was interesting and somewhat helpful! Thanks for reading. :]

xoxo,

NaNoWriMo 2011

For the first time, I signed up for the NaNoWriMo 2011 contest. What does that mean? NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's a contest held every year dedicating the month of November to novel writing. Starting November 1st and ending on November 30th, each participant gets exactly 30 days to complete an entire novel. Not just any novel though, a novel consisting of 50,000 words. I found out about this program from a Wordpress newsletter and decided to go for it. I'm currently writing a novel and being the procrastinator I am, I started 2 weeks after the contest had officially started. I got a lot of writing to do, but it'll be worth it in the end. Scroll down to check out my progress and web badge on the right. I'll keep updating the amount of words as I write. I'm really hoping to finish this. Wish me luck!

Tech Blog Launch

            
Guess What? I just launched my Tech Blog! What's that? I just launched my Tech Blog! November 5, 2011 is the official launch date. This blog is about tech reviews, opinions, ideas, and more. Check it out, subscribe, and comment. Click the image to go to the blog or click here. Thanks for reading.

xoxo,

Trick Or Treating

         When I was little, my Mom used to take me and my sisters Trick Or Treating every year. After school, we'd get dressed up and spend a few hours gathering up candy. We'd come home, empty out our pumpkin baskets onto our dining table, and look at all the candy we got that day. We used to get so much candy, our baskets lasted us until next Halloween. Even though we don't do much on Halloween because our family doesn't really celebrate it, it's still always fun getting dressed up to earn some candy.

         This year, I went Trick Or Treating with my best friend, my best friend's brother, and my youngest sister who I call my Munchkin. We Trick Or Treated for about an hour then stopped at a restaurant to eat. Our siblings played in the play area as me & my best friend got to spend some time together. I had a really nice time! Best Halloween Ever!

xoxo,

Managing Life & Priorities

 My life consists of a lot of elements put together forming my everyday life. Such as school, my best friend, my friends, family, and all the writing and computer projects I'm doing. I have a lot to do so I try to manage what I can as I go along. So far, this method isn't working as well as I thought it would. It's really hard to set my priorities when I have a million things to do in a day. Besides me having a lot to do, I am pretty lazy (Just being honest) and I get distracted easily so I hardly get anything done in time. Because of that, I hardly get as much sleep as I need and I'm not as active enough to finish my tasks the next day. It's an on going cycle that's been going on for months.

My projects for the next 2 months or so include me finishing up my tech blog which will be announced soon, finishing up my personal website, updating a few personal blogs, catching up on diary entries, (Tip: Keeping a Diary or Journal is a great way to let out your thoughts and feelings while developing better writing skills and organizing all the important and memorable moments in your life) and I'm also planning on entering the "National Novel Writing Month ( NaNoWriMo)" contest to write a novel of 50,000 words or more. Combined with school, friend events, spending time with my best friend, and family moments that you need to be there for, I have a load of lots to do!

I really am overwhelmed with all this. I really need to manage my life and priorities and make choices that allow me to do what I want, and make some time to have fun and just relax. Life's too short to keep trying to perfect it, life's too short to not take advantages of the good times, and life's too short to be serious and working all the time.

Manage your priorities and make every moment worth while. :]

xoxo,

Breakfast: the best meal of the day!

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast! Why am I posting about it? Everyone says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. ( I agree! ) Having a great breakfast is supposed to motivate you to starting your day off right and getting into the mood of having a productive day. To start off my day, I had Chocolate Chip waffles and a cup of Milk. ( Two of my favorite things ) I thought to myself that today, I will make the most of my day and finish up some things that have been on my to-do list for months. I started to think about what I had to and how I will do it. I started doing some of the tasks and winded up creating more tasks to do. So, it didn't work out as I thought it would. :[ Plus, I still need to finish a lot. But, hey at least I had a great breakfast to start off my day and get me motivated ( even though I didn't get much done. Besides, it was chocolate chip ;] )

xoxo,