... and the Argonauts

Pearl Buck’s novel is rich in emotion and brimming with passion. But real rain and soil provides a balm no tome can capture.

I’ve gone through a number of reforestation projects these past few weeks; today’s farming seemed special. It was a wet week, and the gloomy morning did not disappoint my expectations. Heaven’s floodgates were open when we arrived at our tree-planting site; when a dry respite came, our group began the honorable task. A few minutes later, when most of us were absorbed at warding off ants and dirt, the sky renewed its teary tantrum.

Before the drenching, it was: prep the sapling, swat an ant, plop the plant into the hole, prick yourself on a thorny branch, curse passionately, kill another member of Hymenoptera, shovel-pat soil, get to the next plot, get a scratch from a sharp weed, pulverize more Arthropods, rub some dirt off, and repeat.

I didn’t mind getting rained on. It’s been ages since I frolicked with glee in the rain. And I had my gym clothes for backup. So I allowed myself to be at one with the wet moment. Never did I realize getting more than wet [under-] garments.

The biting cold and rythmic patter of rain on my back brought my consciousness to a heightened yet down-to-earth state - I began to see the physical discomforts as trivial and naive. I came to appreciate the harshness of nature (in a good and appreciative sense) and the spirit of humanity (cheering and laughing heartily at fellow brave, wet souls) in a profound perspective. Yin and Yang adjoined.

No words can capture my apocalypse - my enlightenment. This won’t make sense if you don’t experience being at one with nature yourself. During a rainy day, go out and do something you would normally occupy yourself on a sunny day. You’d be pleasantly surprised with what you’d gain at the moment. I was.

The earth has its own way of healing itself and healing us - the good earth.

‘Sink’ is different from ‘sync,’ okay? Fix the kitchen sync with a Dictionary.

From which planet does ‘21th’ come from? Did you pass your Ordinal counting in gradeschool?

From an adult, these beg a lot of questions and raised eyebrows. Have some shame, will you?

Am I too harsh? Don’t answer that.

Yelling at the top of the voice at someone during gravediggers’ hours. Is that being considerate? That person’s maturity is in question.

We’re all subjects to change, not the other way around.

Prejudice. Taboo. Mediocrity. Stagnation. We surround ourselves with walls bounding our comfort. Sometimes, we’re just too narrow-minded to accept change - I am no exemption. We may want to let our guard down when change is imminent: seek to understand what lies beyond the apparent; instead of focusing on a single picture, try to widen one’s perspectives - see the greater picture.

See this for starters: we shudder to think about an ‘apocalypse’ - disaster. But its origins in Greek simply mean ‘to uncover; to reveal.’ If we accept the original meaning of ‘apocalypse,’ wouldn’t we be glad, then, because whatever concealed truths would be made apparent?

Allow a paradigm shift. Study each circumstance as something new, not compared to a past instance. Change does not wait for us.

If your talk lasts for more than 15 minutes, do you think no one in your audience would notice your consistent mispronounciation? Well, for a pastor at church in the morning of July 31st, I did: true (through), pront (front), comport (comfort), solis (solace), por (for), debt (death), dough (do), sitting (setting), port (fourth), pood (food), sow (saw), looves (loaves), trolly (truely), appected (affected), day (they), obertorn (overturn), mesery (misery), pirst (first), cout (caught), debine (divine), pine (fine), tote (taught), plod (flood), meenee (many), peel (feel), beau (view), pace (face), true-out (throughout), rebelled (revealed), stedpast (steadfast), cay-bing (caving), pollowed (followed), pelt (felt).

You’d have to have sharp decoding and fast processing to fully comprehend and appreciate the intended message with these vocal relapses.

With all due respect, the intentions and motives of the speaker in subject are unquestionable, as is the profession. Since the ministry calls for one to share messages to multitudes, one must continually strive to attain a respected and exemplary stature of communication. It is an innate trait of critical persons (such as me) to be discriminating in such matters of interest - discriminate, not to demean, but to pay attention to detail. Isn’t it inherent in human to discern right from wrong? No one is exempt from lingual scrutiny - clergyman, engineer, lawyer, president, minister, sergeant, et cetera, especially one addressing a crowd. we show disrespect by not recognizing mistakes - respect comes in the revelation of flaws; awareness then becomes imminent; opportunities to improve are thus offered; we then bow in honor to the spirit of change for the better.

When I saw the same pastor take the pulpit at church this morning, I took out my pen and got something to write onto, and was rewarded even before I was at the ready: paytpul (faithful), taughts (thoughts), pellowship (fellowship), compess (confess), tenk (thank), opper (offer), itch (its), lest (least). There’s more: “as a forgiven sinners” (?); per/SO/nally (?).

Elders or youngsters, we’re all intelligent beings. So let’s not insult intelligence by not trying hard enough. Folks, we’re proud to have English as our second language. Let’s strive to better ourselves and to help others improve. That way, we respect our fellow countrymen and our heritage as learned people. Here are some things we ALL CAN DO for starters: talk in English at every opportunity; when in doubt about grammar, pronounciation, and whatelse in the acceptable use of English, please seek help and advice from a reliable friend or a dictionary; read, read, and read English materials - newspapers and magazines are fine if you’re not so much into paperbacks and hard-bound volumes. If able, join a group such as a Toastmasters’ club to grow your communication skills with the invaluable evaluations given for improvement.

One gauge in effective communication is mastery of the language. For how can two converse with comprehension if one has lingual issues? As beings gifted with high intellect and the skill in complex linguistics, let’s all strive to be better by being gracious to criticisms and open for improvement.

…To be critical or to accept mediocrity? To wallow in stagnation or to actively pursue growth?

Hummers are rad;
iPhones are cool;
Coffee is svelte,
Much more when brewed.

Scrumptious Neo-Japanese dinner @ Red Kimono, Cebu-Ayala: Beef Teppanyaki, Ginger Garlic Pork Steak, Chicken Teriyaki, and California Maki Sushi - all to myself (beat that)!
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My debut Trivia Night with Toastmasters’ District 75 Division C and I in Cebu City (Team Zombies: Taipan + Lexmark) - first place! Never knew it was that exhilarating. Leave some José Cuervo for me.
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Fun Friday.

I rant with principle. Therefore Matt Damon’s tutelage to a Reason.tv reporter after his keynote during Washington D.C.’s Save Our Schools event was spot-on. Reporter: the entertainment business goads one to work hard to have job security - the incentive; why isn’t this the case for teachers? Matt: it’s the intrinsically paternalistic view of things that are more complex than it seems - why else would teachers take a shitty salary and long hours unless they love what they do?

It isn’t job security that motivates real teachers. “That’s not the case,” as Matt points out. It boils down to passion.

And the cameraman, trying to back the reporter, after making a “statistical” comment that 10% of any professionals in a class including teachers were bad, got a wallop, too: “okay, but maybe you’re a shitty cameraman, I don’t know…”

Passion, not job security, motivates real teachers, and other real and true professionals.

Are the mysterious crop circles and patterns created by passionate beings or phenomena, then, be it extra-terrestrial or based on terra firma? A team of Physicists from the University of Oregon offered a theory that magnetrons (parts from a microwave and a battery pieced together) could be behind these circumstances. Questions: how prolific was this knowledge that it could occur in the 1970’s when these crop patterns started to appear around the globe? What would motivate anyone to shoot a magnetron towards fields of grain when the beauty of the supposed effects could only be appreciated from afar/above? How did anyone know of the magnetron’s supposed effects at that time when it should have been published in the name of science?

Well, Wallabies have offered their claims too: these Kangaroo-relatives, after having consumed copious amounts of poppy (which are natural sources of opium alkaliods), hopped about profusely in circles and pattetns, artistically coming up with these masterpieces in Tanzania. I didn’t know Wallabies could be so creative in a grand scale after being drug-induced. Nothing’s impossible if you believe and have profound passion, but this made my day. Thanks, Kingdom Animalia (special mention to Paul the Cephalopod who had a golden memorial).