Thursday

students vis-a-vis multiple intelligence

everyone is intelligent

i truly believe that

i just hope that those
who got grades that
unkindly but honestly
said - you are not intelligent

please...
...do take it
... with a grain of salt

remember,
a grade is a measure of "something"

consider this alternate
meaning other than -

"you are not intelligent"

maybe that something
that you were measured
is not your thing...

thus the honest prognosis
brutal it may seem

but it does not mean
you belong to
public school's
row four
the one beside
the trash can

it only means
that that's
not your thing

so, stand up
look to the skies
life is beautiful

the pain and the joy
is really not that different
once you look at it
from the query

"what can I learn from this?"

both situation offers
the same opportunity
for learning.

know thyself.

lastly
to borrow from
mr jerry maguire

help me help you
discover
where you're
intelligent

it's magical
to move forward
from that
position of strength

know thyself

pulp fiction

loved the movie

but this is not about
mr jackson and mr travolta
mr tarantino or ms uma
mr willis? no.

it's not about them
it's about you

yes
you

fellow learners

what if
you know
that in
3-4 weeks
all your efforts
will lead to
a heart breaker

"lima"

no
not the city in
south america

it's lima
the english
for...

you know
what i mean
right?

what would
you suggest
to increase
your chances
to hurdle
"tatlo"

tell me
i'm listening

truth and science

related
but different
continents apart

science is the tool
the current tool
towards truth

truth that's around us
ever since

even if science hasn't grasped it
truth is there

truth is there
waiting for us

to be aware of it
to be embraced by it

Wednesday

what if?

What if?

... we take the calls of global warming
... as we did the calls on cigarette smoking

Consider,

... we knew that cigarette smoking
... is dangerous to our health
... as the government or the general surgeon said
... we saw the pictures
... we saw love ones slide
... as they succumb to the ill effects
... it's hell

... but did we stop?
... did the next fellow in the room stopped?

... we all paraded our smarts
... the ad man said this is a lifestyle choice
... they might even won an award for that
... most actually followed the lifestyle choice drum
... the ad man was selling

... but did the lifestyle choice reasoning
... change the fact that
... that it's dangerous to our health?

fast forward,

... what if that debate
... the topic, the role that put Mr Crowe
... in Hollywood A-list
... is all but a prologue
... to the greatest debate

... global warming
... that's a fact

... are we to parade our smarts here, too?
... as we did with cigarette smoking?

... are we also going to argue that,
... that going green is too pricey?
... as the corporate man argues?
... so much of a lifestyle change?

Well, the next years will show...
if we have we learned anything...

Lifestyle choice...
Free will...
Nice = )
Responsibility, too = )






Monday

luna and amorsolo

Lady Serendipity
winked and smiled...
at me!
Last sunday.

...it was something else.

this was our third inside Ayala museum
we were just walking around
experiencing the new artworks

and then it happened
on the 4th floor
in capital and bold letters
"Luna... then Amorsolo"

Whoa!

The Wink and the Smile
of Lady Serendipity

I gazed...
I imagined...
... gasping!

They are human
... too.
but not usual...
... inspired
... focused
... they saw something else

Had the ability to capture
what they saw
what they felt
... and putting it out
... beautifully
... for eternity.


I read about them
...but it was distant
you know = )

something
...i had to do
to get a 100 = )

but to see their works
this close... this intimate

was an invitation
for tea?
for coffee?
for a chat
... a talk?
... should I dare say - banter?

no.

it was more of
a seasoned man
talking to an up and about.

and i listened.
... intently.

Thank you, Senor!

Sunday

special

got a class.

they are not the most "intelligent..."

as one could quickly say.
they are not the "smartest..."

as one could unconsciously say.

they are - special!

usually have one in a year...
one that starts slow...
but once engaged...
whoa!

leaps and bounds
it's a joy to experience
it's a joy to behold

it's an undeserved gift
it's a thrill ride
it's rain in summer time

special...

still can't comprehend it
still can't explain it

i don't know where it came

i just say,"Thank you..."

but here's what embraces me
...must be musings
...from a place science
...can't touch
...can't see
...can't hear
...can't explain

that what seemed ordinary
is usually not

it's special.

"stay open!
...lightning,
could strike!"

and the story unfolds...

Friday

Eve

to be blessed by a woman like you...

fascinating...
captivating...
humbling.

my world
... is better
... is warmer
... is humane
... is easier

... has meaning
... has purpose
in a hollywood kinda-way = )

thank you for being you
thank you for making me, me
in hollywood kinda-way =)

Alaishu, Beb.

Thursday

Anakin

"We never really taught..." - Michael Douglas character
"What?" - student

True...

All he ever hope was...
that the student finds...
the path as exciting ...
as he did...

But at the end...
it's up to the student.
... to walk,
... to see,
... to add,
... to the adventure.

and hope that the next
finds the adventure
... as daring,
... as exciting,

- that the next adds
... to the story,
... to the adventure,

A wiseman once said
"If you taught hard, you really did not teach."

The greatest lessons learned
are the lessons we learned
... by ourselves

and time stood still

True...

Wednesday

of spurs and of jazz

I love this game!

I got a decent J
Been playing since I was 5

In the mean streets of Tondo
where I grew up
when you were a kid - you play!
That's it.

A ritual passage of sort
From home to the streets
From a kid to a young adult
The court is the first witness

I follow the games
But my teams where eliminated
... in the first round =)

But the Warriors was something else
That whole series against
the much favored Mavs
... is for the books.

enjoyed it... loved it
... in a lot of levels of the game

I always go for the underdogs
They are more interesting
... to watch
... to study

growing up
where I grew up
I can relate
It is in the blood
... rage
... wrath
... passion
... abandon
... focus
... discipline

I hope I hear jazz music in the finals
... but that's a long shot
... but it can still go in
... you know =)

whatever...
win or lose...
they will be better...
next year...

that's the beauty of the underdogs
... you learn

Tuesday

moments to life

Defining moments

... when Tatay taught me about the English words: sky and heaven
... when he taught me simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
... at the age of five
... before I entered kinder

... when Nanay fetch me from kinder when I made a boo-boo in class
... when she brought and fetched me for 3 weeks from a school an hour away
... when she told me they (Nanay and Tatay) loved me before I was born
... when I was having my 20's struggle

... when Ms Elefante made me feel welcome in the first day in school
... when Ms Pascual told my Mom that I can get better
... when Ms Santos trusted me to run some errands for her
... when Ms Pacumbala called my attention that I wasn't acting myself

... when my elementary school gave my name to take an Acceleration exam

... when Mr Jordan opened my eyes to the social challenges
... when Ms Borre showed me she can write with both her hands at the same time
... when Ms Filoteo talked to me when I, uncharateristically, did poorly in a math quiz
... when Ms Matias told me about the meaning of modest
... when Mr Terrado picked me to join them in the Baguio summer camp

... these moments where negligible in terms of length
... but these moments formed me

... I thank my parents for what they've done

... I thank my elementary teachers
... Thank you for doing your job
... Thank you for going thru your usual day

... Thank you, po!

Monday

Epiphany 1.0

Truth is around us
It is awareness of it
That is expanding

Once awareness expands
It's called a discovery
... a breakthru
... Journal-ready
... eureka
... metanoia
... a paradigm shift
... change of mind
... inspiration

And in our current
politically correct state
Science is the strategy
to go about awareness

But it does not
necessarily mean
Science is the only way

It only happens that
It is the most conservative
and accepted way

Like magic was = )

Friday

An Englishman in Lawton

"American?"
"No. British!" was the quick retort.

I like what this gentleman symbolizes.

From the press that my country gets from cable news
Seeing Edward holding a city map
Navigating and wandering the streets of Manila on his own
Is a welcome sight.
A pleasant suprise

He shared...

He is retired
Life's role was that of an accountant
He swung by the Philippines
From Singapore
Wanted to go to the famous rice terraces
Wanted to embrace the experience of seeing
The green rice stalks turn to gold
And see the farmers harvest a year long wait...
a year of hard work.

"I just can't figure out how to get to the LRT station."
"I see it on the map but I don't see it," as he points.

He is tired.
Being in tropical Manila in mid-May
for an Englishman is no joke.
It's an achievement

He's been walking around since 9am
Seeing the sights
Had coffee in historic Manila Hotel
Took photos along the cobble-stone roads of Intramuros

Doing all of this with a two-year old map
Is being adventurous to put it mildly

"I see. Well, I am going to Makati and I'll be riding the LRT, too."
"You can walk with me if you like?"

"Thank you very much!"

We talked as we walked.
It must have been less than ten minutes

I apologize for how unruly we can be in lining up
"Well, it's the same in Britain."
I smiled as we squeeze ourselves into the train.

I said to him that the EDSA station is
the 2nd station from this
"It was nice meeting you.
Hope you enjoy your trip to the mountains."

I alighted in Buendia

I guess for an Englishman,
figuring out the streets of Manila
can be a challenge
Even if you are armed with a map
It can still be seen as chaos = )

But every nation passess through this chaotic phase.
It only happens that Britain had it a few millenia ago
When television and the Internet was not yet around










Thursday

Elvis is in the building and his name is Bono!

Elvis and Bono
What is not to admire if one is to talk about music?

The Pan of their respective generations

Elvis, the first definitive crossover artist
A "white man" singing with a grunt and a soul
The man that personified, for the first time, the term - "He is the MAN!"

Bono, the rockstar with a conscience
Who is unafraid to show it and is actually doing something about it.
Time Person of the Year

I knew about Elvis thru the Jailhouse rock
The crying man in the chapel
The lounge singer belting and leaving everything out in American Trilogy

With Bono and U2, when I heard, "There has been too much talk about this next song.
Maybe, many too much talk. This song is not a rebel song
This song is Sunday Bloody Sunday..."

...the passion
...the fire
...the courage for being themselves
what is not to admire?

If Elvis made the cool blues accessible
Bono did the same for G8

Hopefully, the next generation of economists is more Bono than Keynes
More about the driving force behind Smith's classic - Wealth of Nations
Less of the vanity and audacious certainty that comes from econometric models

I just hope the next economist build on Bono
As Bono build on Elvis in being a rockstar

Before Elvis
There was nobody bigger
There was no rockstar path
No ghetto superstar path

Elvis was making the path

That's it.
2am rumblings














Tuesday

Ishikawa

The call is back.

Broadcast talking heads are once again seeking
- Election Automation!
Nothing wrong with that.
In fact - it's about time.

Congress, this time, took head
The Vox Populi, Vox Dei...
They passed a bill last January
But too late for the May elections
Well, at least - an improvement

But if we start to only embrace
that automating elections is the silver bullet
then, our thougths are dangerously limited
DANGEROUSLY LIMITED!

Automation is just one of the variables in the solution
Automation will not run by itself
Someone still has to push the "buttons"
Someone still has to design the automated process
Someone still has to oversee the whole process

I just hope that whoever is the MAN/Person for the job
Will also embrace that Filipinos are different
That the Filipino electorate is different from Americans
That the Filipino electorate is different from Europeans
That the Filipino electorate is different from Japanese

My point - please do not just buy and install...
Please do not just plug and play...

Our culture is not like Windows' Vista
Our culture is not like Macintosh's Jaguar (?)
It's something else

We are different
As everybody is

Can we customize?









Monday

"like a promise in the year of election..."

More than 42 million

That's the expected number of voting Filipinos
This day, 14th May 2007, is the day.

To some, it will be a day of victory
To most, a day to declare -
"We were cheated!" = )

Tired and weary news
We seem to have a factory for that ...
Or was it already outsourced over here? = )

I must have heard it
"The critic can be elected,
but it does not necessarily mean
he will get the job done..."

True?

Here's the heart of my heart on this
Can a politician or a leader
Trumpet for a change, not what is wrong,
but what is right about us?
Is it really that unthinkable to build on what's right?
Is it really that unthinkable to build on our strengths?
Were our parents wrong when they nurtured what's great about us?
When they we raising us?

Hmmm, maybe all we need is a hug = )
Research have said that we all need
4 hugs to survive
8 hugs to maintain our balance
10 hugs to grow

But what is "hug" in a Philippine leader's "To-do list"?

I once read that for a country to be great
Young men and women must plant trees
Whose shade they will never ever see

I think that's more than a hug
It's like "trying to throw your arms around the world..."















Friday

a first

The 11th of May 2007.

My very first blog.
Thanks to Beb,
I am drawn to this 21st century "possibility"
as current pundits comfortably puts it

But I'll embrace it as hope.