Posts (page 2)
Let's make a list. What are 20 things in your life that you're grateful for?
Inspired by wyndslash.vox.com.
Oooh. I love lists! It's been a while since I've counted my blessings. And maybe I should do this after that 3-day blackout ordeal we had here in Metro Manila as a result of Typhoon Xansane (Bagyong Milenyo).
- I'm grateful for my life in Christ: for living life to the fullest!
- The Bible and its sufficiency. (I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound too religious but when it comes to being grateful, these two are on the top of my list)
- Dan, my husband - his brilliance in writing, talent in drawing/painting, passion in filmmaking... your sharp wit, dry sense of humor, audacity in dancing inspite of having two left feet, and our endless stimulating conversations from unschooling to doctrines. Priceless.
- Chuck, my precious son - our 7-year-old who's a pokemon-lover, gameboy addict, power mark reader, and a joke collector. I've never been in a more rewarding, exciting and challenging role in my whole life. He's such a gift to us, and we're thankful everyday for that.
- Our humble Townhouse - it's not our own but we're able to afford the rent and has a fairly strategic location (near the market, a 24-hour store, drugstore, mall, and my family's place).
- Electricity - I've never realized how dependent we were on Meralco (Electrical Company) until that 3-day blackout ordeal. If that solar-powered roof is available here in the Philippines, We'd definitely work to have it instead.
- Ample supply of water everyday.
- Internet connection at home - I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to have a computer without internet connection now. I'm grateful for Smartbro, our ISP, for their good service.
- Being a stay-at-home. It's definitely harder than your 8-5 job, but by all means fulfilling!
- Unschooling - it has brought joy and character in us (me and my family) and has radically changed our views in parenting and control.
- My dearest friends - Iza, Chrys, Coco & Totel, Dennis, Lui, Kat, Bhibe & Raymond, Meng, Mervyn, Armand, Anna, Neng & Jace, Von, May & Jay - even if I don't see them around often, I treasure their friendship, support, and love :)
- Balisalisa and Litang Family - my side of the family.
- Abbey Family - Dan's side of the family.
- Dan's job. I'm grateful because I know he's doing what he loves, and is a part of the industry he gives a 'damn' about.
- Victory Family - I know I have struggled with a lot of disturbing things written on various websites against the movement, but I'm grateful everyday for my spiritual family. The sacrificial and authentic lives of these people dear to me have a more direct effect on me than those people who I don't even know caught up in scandals.
- My love for books and reading.
- Open Source - I'm grateful for Linux (I use Fedora Core 5 by the way), OpenOffice, kde, Drupal, and a lot of other open-source programs. I'm also grateful for the geniuses behind it.
- Tea - while Dan abhors 'Earl Grey' tea and prefers the plain black tea, I'm now into those flavored tea I couldn't get enough of.
- Living in the Philippines and being a Filipino. I'm also grateful that UP (University of the Philippines) has, in some way, taught me to have a love and hate relationship with my country (if you know what I mean!).
- My Vox Neighborhood - while my husband and I have a lot of things we don't agree on, vox is one of the few things we agree on: like our frustrations with our vox invites (why can't anyone here in the Philippines accept our invites?!); enlightening, funny, and witty posts; and most of all, interesting people.
I just read a commentary by Aniceto M. Sobrepeña on "Making education a national priority" in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. While I accept that the government and private sector should prioritize the quality of Philippine education, I don't completely agree on his approach. Before we can even dwell on the possible solutions to the state of Philippine education, I think we have to ask what exactly is its goal.
What is the goal of education?
I reckon that in the general scheme of things, the goal of education is to produce responsible and productive citizens, skilled and competent in their chosen professions. Education is the key, learning is the process. In this line of thinking, we can ask the right question: How will the government and private sector make sure that learning really takes place among the students?
Mr. Sobrepeña proposes "a goal that focuses on performance and on students actually and measurably learning better" (emphasis mine). He proposes that schools make a goal of raising their standard grade to the "path of 75" with the campaign line "No school below 60." I know there's nothing wrong with this, it's a reasonable proposal. What I don't understand is why everybody focuses more on a student passing and 'getting high grades' than actually learning or having the initiative to acquire knowledge.
From an unschooling standpoint, I already have reservations on the "testing approach". Albeit testing is one of the many methods that can show whether a student is progressing or learning, it is still flawed. Tests will often only tell you how well a student studied or memorized facts before the test, it does not guarantee you that the student will remember it months after he's taken the test. I clearly don't see the point if the goal of every student is just to pass tests and get high grades. I don't think that's true learning.
I believe the government and private sector should focus on true learning and nurture, instead, the self-government of a student. When I say 'self-government' it means the self-discipline or self-will of students to study. Students should be given the freedom to decide to want school or to want to study in school and learn. If the students who are in school today are studying in school out of their own volition, meaning they weren't forced, then what they're learning is meaningful to them and excelling is easy. Here's an analogy: a person decides that he likes cars and wants to know more about them. He will learn how to drive a car, know what's the fastest, or most popular, or most expensive car, know the difference between a sedan and a suv, know what kind of parts to buy for his car, etc. Does learning take place easily? Yes, because it was his own decision to like cars and know more about them. This is the same with academics. Learning (definitely and almost always) takes place when it is meaningful and relevant to a person.
What's actually difficult is creating that environment for the students. An environment that nurtures students' love for learning and self-will to excel. And I think that's where Mr. Sobrepeña, the government and private sectors should be focusing on, not on just passing grades or getting high marks.
This photograph was taken and manipulated by Dan Abbey (my husband). His entry about this photograph can be seen here. This is a photograph of Chuck holding a knife. I couldn't agree more with its message.
I've always been an activist by heart. Like Dan, I believe that children should be loved more, given attention more, heard out more, and understood more. They shouldn't be controlled with fear but disciplined with love. There's a vast difference between those two.
We, as parents, sometimes don't realize the effects of neglect to our children. But it's what this photograph simply shows - it's a matter of life and death.
Neglect can destroy a child's life.
Show us something that tastes great.
"Tuyo" means dried salted fish in english. In fact the word "tuyo" in Filipino means 'dry' itself. Here in the Philippines, tuyo is believed to be a poor man's dish since you can buy it anywhere for a cheap price. Also because it is 'preserved' and can be stored in an inexpensive way. It is distinctly Filipino and is like a 'cultic' breakfast dish (almusal) here in the Philippines. When you cook it, it evokes a strong 'fishy' smell that only Filipinos (or a few foreigners, like my husband for example) enjoy. My family and I are crazy about tuyo. It tastes great with vinegar (suka) and tomatoes (kamatis) and of course, rice (Filipno's staple food).
Show us your camera smile.
How to deal with the camera's attraction:
- smile
- make a face
- stick your tongue out when necessary
- arch your eyebrows
- laugh
- try to look scary at the same time
- open your eyes and don't be scared to blink
- have fun!
- True love :: DAN
- Age :: time
- Stern :: catholic nuns in a parochial school
- Elastic :: rubber
- Rustic :: old and simple
- Enhance :: beautify
- Jackson :: five
- Inherit :: legacy
- Devious :: mischievous
- Scapegoat :: an excuse
A combination of two things kept me from blogging here in vox. My website + Drupal = spending hours on end in front of the computer tweaking themes (or layout design), and modules (or plugin). Drupal has its own lingo alright, and once you're immersed in the Drupal world, you're so used to saying it, and using it, and spreading it. haha! Yes, I highly recommend Drupal because IMHO, it's just the best CMS.
There are so many reasons why it is. Its flexibility, site-wide search, multiple-site support with a single installation, etc. In short, it's powerful. In short, there's almost nothing that this CMS can't do. Haha, speaking like a true fan. Come to think of it, I've been talking about Drupal non-stop (to my husband, in my blog, with my friends who couldn't care less) it's like i've gone past the dating stage with Drupal and am now entering this intimacy stage. And the more I know what it can do, how much it can achieve, and how complicated it can be, the more I fall inlove with it.
It's either these symptoms are common to Drupal users or I'm just totally whacked.
Who's your favorite movie villain?
I can't settle on just one so I picked the top three.
DR. HANNIBAL LECTER (Anthony
Hopkins) in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
T-1000 (Robert Patrick)
in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (I'm sure Dan will agree to this)
AMON GOETH (Ralph Fiennes)
in SCHINDLER'S LIST
