The Backpack

motion.
moving through the greens
  and the browns
like a diluted mixture
of water colors
faster
thriving through
     the grays bottom below
(with stones flying
     hitting the leaf spring)

humid.
remembering tatooine
my shirt soaking
like a notebook
     clinging to its wet plastic cellophane
dreaming
trying to take me
through the highs and lows
sleeping and rocking
sleeping and rocking

fear.
like the chassis exploding
     breaking into a multitude
of parts
disturbing
my ribs are giving in
     my heart is bursting
bursting.

home.
finally home
     (for whatever it means)
    i thought of it through
the next eighteen kilometers

ng i’m waiting for kat here in the computer lab… we have this orientation for the acoustic song competition… i even wonder why its called acoustic (a music term misconceptualized these days)… i’m listening to switchfoot’s album- Nothing is sound… how i love this group!…  by this time, my friend is resting, she just gave birth  to a beautiful  baby  girl…  new beginnings like me… it has been a month since i was hospitalized for typoid ileitis… i don’t really wanna talk about it anymore but i would really want to give back all the glory and honor to God for giving me a second life… i still have a lot of things to do in this world… like blogging… hehehe… Now, i’m back to life… palakasan 2006 is fast approaching and i’m handling  seven events…  whew… i’m really  back to reality…

Kat is back…

I’m handling a wide variety of competetions- from photography to painting and poster making to bandstorm and acoustic events to cheerdance and collage making contests… i hope i still have the energy to do this… hehehe

Ok, my officemate Kat is about to tell me something… till next time…

i will be attending a party this friday and its gonna be formaline (hehehe… dats how jaja calls it)… the kids i’m handling at the NGO (ages 14-17) are gonna be wearing a tuxedos and gowns… and the teacher?… hmmm… i have this pink longsleeve polo which would look best with a white necktie… a concept i got from watching koreanovelas… hehehe… vain!

Anyways, i went to iligan’s usual shops or department stores but i haven’t found any signs of a white necktie… i saw a rally instead near gaisano… students raising banners that reads- OUR FUTURE IS NOT FOR SALE!… then they sang "Awit ng Kabataan"… i really don’t see the relevance… hehehe… Anyhow, i went to Novo and bought 2 bags of Chinese pop beans(dats how we call it coz we don’t know how to read the chinese texts… hehehe) … still no sign of a white necktie…

In the evening, we had an overnight  beach outing at Magoong… i missed my friend’s company… but what i really wanted was an early sleep with the heavy downpour of the rain as background music last Sunday (yes Cla, it was also raining in Mindanao that night)… But the outing was good… We printed lots of Sudoku puzzles to answer… the sad thing is we haven’t solved any… hahaha… but i answered the ones in the Inquirer…

Last Monday, i went to all the ukay-ukay place that i can find… still no sign of a white necktie… i thought of wearing a short sleeve polo instead but i might be underdressed for the occasion…

My problem is not really that big… hehehe… but do u have a white necktie?… hehehe

The summer is almost through. Here’s a list of the movies that I saw during the break…

I only watched sa big screen twice only… I saw…

Ice Age 2- Well, the animation is good with its mission impossible intro of that annoying character (ancient squirrel). I don’t know why I find that character irritable now, he was supposed to be funny during part 1. Sid, the sloth, is still funny with his humming and his unforgettable line- “it’s catchy!”. Overall impression, well, people always say that nothing beats part 1, for this movie it was just okay… I enjoyed the characterization of the female mammoth who thinks that she is an opossum… I still like the seriousness of Manny and the soft-side of Diego (conquers his fear of water… hmmm… sounds familiar… my officemate Ryan… hehehe)

Eight Below- story bout Snow Dogs… I can’t really relate much to them… Its not that I don’t love animals… it’s just that I don’t like the plot… hehehe… Sorry Bren… But, hey the Leopard seal scene was good and the lead actor’s love interest was beautiful… I think her name was Moon… she’s so exotic on the ice… hehehe…

And the movies I watched on my computer:

Garden State- one of the best movies I saw in months… The story is very simple yet thought-provoking. The character of the lead actor (I forgot his name, he is also the producer-director) and Natalie Portman was very original. Its actually a humorous film but the humor is very different in a good way. I was laughing all the time… I don’t know if it was the story, the acting or I was just bored… but it was good.

The Squid and the Whale- one of those Sundance films… My friend from

Leyte

thought that I was watching an animated film… hehehe… The story was set in the 1980’s and it tackles the issues of divorce and how it affects the couple’s two sons. The intention of the writer is good but there are just some scenes that leaves me disgusted… maybe its just the fact of life… the human nature to its dirtiest form… not just the graphical sexual representations but also the battling of emotions… not a too feel-good movie…

Blue Moon- Ya, I watch Tagalog Movies this days… I am just intrigued of its winning in the latest Film Fest Awards and its Palanca Award-winning script… i was surprisd that the movie was not lengthy… i thought it was going to be an epic-like… like The Legends of the Fall… since it spans three generations of men in the family- eddie, christopher and dennis. the screen play is good… the starstruck stars’ acting needs more practice… the ending has a twist but i sensed it from the start… hehehe… but its a good filipino film.

More movies to come!

the next eighteen kilometers

motion.
  moving through the greens
      and the browns
    like a diluted mixture
of water colors
  faster
     thriving through
  the grays bottom below
(with stones flying
    hitting the leaf spring)

humid.
  remembering tatooine
    my shirt soaking
like a notebook
  clinging to its wet plastic cellophane
dreaming
    trying to take me
  through the highs and lows
         sleeping and rocking
  sleeping and rocking

fear.
   like the chassis exploding
breaking into a multitude
      of parts
disturbing
    my ribs are giving in
            my heart is bursting
bursting.

home.
  finally home
(for whatever it means)
        i thought of it through
the next eighteen kilometers.

I’m applying for jobs right now, and every time they ask me about what I did for one year aside from taking my MBM- I told them that I was a computer education teacher. Well, for inquisitive interviewers they would dig deeper and ask like- what grade levels were you handling and what lessons do you each?… then, I would show a huge smile then answer- Hmmmm… I’m handling kids ages 5 and 6… technically that makes me a kindergarten teacher. I’m working with this NGO for almost 3 years now. We reach out for indigent children by giving them supplemental education aside from their formal schooling and providing programs that would enhance their holistic development until they turn 21. As for the computer education of the kids, we have a 3-year contract with a company that provides computer units, books and of course- computer teachers. But sometime July, we have 19 new kids who are not part of the contract- and so our project director asked me if I can handle the computer class for them. My initial reaction was excitement but then I tried to imagine myself on the actual setting- and I start to think- hmmm… preschoolers… wouldn’t they be a rowdy batch? Well, before I would kick off on August, I did a bit or a lot I mean of research about how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) would affect the programs in early childhood development. To my surprise, there are actually many researches already conducted about these topics. Some excerpts (if you would be interested) are concepts of fine motor skills that can be measured to the child’s merely maneuvering of the mouse or phonetic skills learning though the use of creative softwares. I will not really be writing more about my findings in my lesson planning here because that would really be very boring unless if you are taking up masters at the UP Child Care and Development… hehehe… but rather I will write about my kids and what I’ve learned from them: Red My student who reminds me of myself. He has these chinito eyes and always wears a broad smile. He has this fear of showing his emotions to others. Whenever his classmates would come running and sometimes hug me, he will just stand on one corner and watch from afar… very opposite from his cute outward appearance. I’m also really learning to express my emotions now to the people who are close to me… even to Red. John The most talkative in the class. He doesn’t follow whatever the crowd is doing like for instance during the singing of action songs. Whenever the class is silent because we are doing some drawings in their workbook- John would just blabber about all the new happenings in their neighborhood- he always wants to be noticed. In this way, he reminds me of my being a super conformist and a crowd pleaser at times. Some staff at the center suspects John to be the next big drug lord… God forbid. Regine The smartest in the class. But the thing I admire about Regine is that she is not only bright but she also has good EQ. She is very caring to her cousin Marlo (who is also in my class), a skill which is not typical to a six-year old. Regine reminds me of how wit can impress the crowd- especially in the Filipino culture where bright kids in the family are well-loved and can really be a show-off to our neighbors and officemates. A concept that I would like to refute since the emergence of multiple intelligence- which in some ways I also have regrets in my formative years because I lacked participation in the athletics and spent my time instead on studying and home works and my love for drawing. Regine really has a bright future ahead but I would like her to explore many things rather than confine herself in the walls of her academic subjects. Deluxe My most special kid in the batch. I first observed her during one of our drawing sessions where they were supposed to color a maze. Deluxe had this black crayon and she was repeatedly doing strokes to cover the entire maze until its very black that you can no longer find a trace of a maze underneath it… My first impression was- Whoa! Gothic! Hehehe… During the first months, Deluxe will not say a word in my class so I thought that she was deaf and mute… but as the months go by, she started interacting with only one classmate- Nadel. I also realized that to understand a person, you really have to know his story. Deluxe is raised by a single mom, her father left them. As the months go by, Deluxe starts to improve in her drawing (she still does the same strokes but now she chooses green or red). She still interacts but with Nadel only. Whenever Deluxe sees me today, she greets me and hugs my one leg… It’s really hard to grow up without a father. I have 15 more students and 15 more stories to tell. I will be leaving them this June and I know that I will be packing a suitcase of memories. There is really something mystical about preschoolers. Their love for you is truer and demonstrative in a very innocent way. Whenever they see me and shout in a chorus- “Teacher L.M.”, I just show my broad smile just like what any kiddie mascot would do… I’m sure gonna miss them!

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
www.bytowninternet.com/glossary

A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog.
www.conceptwebsites.com/SEO/common-terms.htm

The name "blog" is a truncated form of "web log" according to Rebecca Blood’s essay "Weblogs: a history and perspective." Blog is used to refer to sites that can best be described as mini sites or mini directories, populated with the site owner’s personal opinions. Blogs are now popular for business use as well.
www.thewebdivision.com/glossary.html

My roommate reads it as B-log… Well, for all its worth… i opt for an intro post to be informative… hehehe