About

Basics

Hi, I’m Tina. :) My real name is a bit too long that I don’t really use it except for formal correspondences (if you’re curious, it’s Kristina Ana Matanguihan), so please, just call me Tina. I’m 21 years old (born March 17, 1986), living in the Philippines with my elder brother, my mom, my dad, four cats and two dogs.

I’m a graduate of De La Salle University - Manila, College of Computer Studies, with a degree of BS Computer Science specializing in Instructional Systems Technology. Long story short, my course is all about integrating computers in education, just like IT integrates computers in the business. I used to work as a Marketing Officer for one of the telecommunications companies in the Philippines, but after lots of drama and prayers and rants, I took the risk and now I work as a Web Content Developer for IBM Business Services. I also work as a contributor for Didache yearly, as well as help in organizing and promoting concerts of Christian artists in the country for One Mountain Top Inc. I’m happy to be doing what I love in a place where I know I will be taken care of and would bring me places. What places? Well, I’m not really clear on this just yet, but I do know that I want to travel the world, hear confession from the Pope, go on (a) mission trip(s) and have a family within this lifetime.

I’m a bookworm, and I am currently on a challenge to read 50 books in a year. I think that’s highly possible. :D I am also a wannabe frustrated striving writer, and I dream of publishing a novel (or two, or three) someday. This is why I love participating in the National Novel Writing Month so much. And speaking of that, I am the current municipal liasion and administrator the official Pinoy National Novel Writing Month (PinoyWrimo) community, where I have met some of the most creative and talented group of writers. :) Music also plays a big part in my life and you will almost always find me listening to something or using a song to describe what I am feeling…but in spite of that, I do not sing nor play any instrument. I want to, but sometimes I think I’m tone deaf. ^^;

Because of my degree, I’m an advocate of education and I believe every person has the right to a good education. I’m trying to get this passion into action, and I hope to be able to send a kid to school when the time (and finances) come. I’m also a self-confessed geek, and while I’m not much into gadgetry, I admit to love tinkering with code and debugging them. I like learning and trying new things, but not the extreme and death-defying ones because I don’t have the “thrill gene” to go through it. Other than that, I also like having heart to heart talks with friends, going out on road trips and food trips, travelling, shopping (well, occasionally), writing in my journal, and getting caught in a book sale with cash to spare. :D

OTHER INTERESTS

Aside from books…blank, unlined notebooks (I’m particularly partial to Moleskines :D), colored pens/pencils, anything with stars, sunflowers, cats (I plan to buy a Siamese cat when my brother gets married), tigers, gtec pens, baking.

FAITH

I’m a Christian — Roman Catholic to be specific. I believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, that they are three persons in one God. I believe that Jesus came to die for us to save us from our sins, and that He rose again three days after His death to fully conquer death. I believe in the power of intercession, especially of Mary and of the saints. I believe in God’s love, that it is enough to satisfy us, and that my call as a Christian is to love everyone as He has loved me.

PLACES TO FIND ME
Multiply. LiveJournal (friends only). Friendster. Twitter.
PinoyWrimos. The Writing Project. Bitesized Fiction. Godchicks. It’s all about him ♥. Mission Sydney.

Site Info

It was the year 2000 when I started being a geek to tap into the world of HTML. I started out in Angelfire, then to gURLpages, then to Geocities and finally got hosted by a friend on her domain. A couple more hostings later, I convinced my dad to buy me a domain so I could finally have a space to call my own online. Refine Me is a personal blog that aims to do just exactly what the name states: an attempt to capture my moments of refining, from the normal, everyday and mundane moments to defining noteworthy moments in this oh-so-short life. Oh, and it’s a place for my to practice being artsy too. :)

I’ve been blogging since 2001, back when blogs were known to be journals and Blogger has no commenting system and is always down. :P I own a couple of other blogs but none of those that earn big bucks (see up there). I’m happy blogging the way I do, but I wouldn’t mind earning bucks (hence the Google penalty of the domain because of my paid links. Heh).

Powered by Wordpress and hosted by Dreamhost, validates as XHTML 1.0 Transitional (most of it anyway) and runs (mostly) error-free CSS. :D

More nitty-gritty details about the domain here (yes, it’s updated :D).

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