“I believe that God made me for a purpose… (the mission), but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.” Eric Lidell, Chariots of Fire
The first quarter of 2009 has made me reflect on the things that I was designed to do: things I do well and love doing.
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I am pleased
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I feel His pleasure whenever I have an encounter with words, be it reading a story or writing one.
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I felt His pleasure when I was bullying harassing coercing persuading my dormitory floormates to make time in their busy schedules for the Dorm Open House and annual Christmas Party presentations. My store of sardines and crackers were severely depleted, but 3rd Annex won Best Floor for the five years I stayed in Rm 11.
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I feel his pleasure whenever I’m in a camp. I feel it in all the activities: facilitating a small group, evading mosquitoes, doing special events, bonding sessions, washing dishes, feeding my students, session leading, or gazing at the stars, etc.
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I felt His pleasure last Thursday during our penultimate Philadelphia bible study meeting for this “semester;” aka the 3 hour laugh trip. Leading a group of hyper and dedicated students is something I look forward to every week. And yes, the topics assigned to each leader ended up being exactly what each needed to learn personally. Mine was on how the Holy Spirit Influences. Sakto.
I feel His pleasure whenever I sing alto with the Vesper Choir. Or just plain sing in tune… otherwise, I wince.Â
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I felt His pleasure when I got my grades for the first three semesters of MA classes. And everytime I finished a demoteaching session or got into a really good class discussion. Yes, I’m a nerd.
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I feel His pleasure whenever I reconnect with my younger siblings in the faith, especially the esbi and ivcf people. He is pleased whenever I can be an ate/mentor/teacher/sounding board to them.
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I felt his pleasure during the D3 graduation ceremony when our group proclaimed our group name and slogan: “Truth Seekers! We are always hungry for God’s Word.” Hehehe.
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I feel His pleasure whenever I’m involved in small beginnings, something new / pioneering / never-been-done-before. I feel it too when I share something important to me and people actually listen.Â
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And I am pretty sure that it is those times I have spent at His feet that pleases Him above all.
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“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
I first learned this song in elementary, then was taught the SATB version for our church and dormitory choir in college. For a certain reason, it’s echoing in my head right now.
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Sometimes it’s hard for me to understand
Why we pull away from each other so easily,
Even though we’re all walking the same road
Yet we build dividing walls between
Our brothers and ourselves.
But I, I don’t care what label you may wear
If you believe in Jesus you belong with me.
The bond we share is all I care to see
And we’ll change the world forever If you will join with me,
Join and sing, sing,
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You’re my brother, you’re my sister,
So take me by the hand
Together we will work until He comes.
There’s no foe that can defeat us
When we’re walking side by side.
So long as there is love,
We will stand.
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The day will come when we will be as one,
And with a mighty voice together we will all proclaim that Jesus
Jesus is King.
It will echo through the earth;
It will shake the nations,
And the world will see,see that
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You’re my brother, you’re my sister
So take me by the hand
Together we will work until He comes.
There’s no foe that can defeat us
When we’re walking side by side.
So long as there is love,
We will stand.
Requirements still due by April 1: EDL 205 take home final exam, second language acquisition research paper, sla/fla puzzle, observation field notes and critique.
Number of books borowed from CAL: 7; so that’s where all the EDL books are squirelled away!
Number of demo teachings done this semester: 3 (plus one showcase that should have been videotaped for the sake of blackmail posterity)
Favorite lesson plan topic: The Dead Parrot sketch as a springboard for euphemisms
Number of Saturday classmates i will miss: 18. in short, all of you.
Thing to do before summer enrollment: authorization letter
Classes enlisted for summer term: EDL 251
Schedule of summer class: 7:00am – 10:30am. Nocturnal me is not happy.
Number of job interviews this first quarter: how many months are there in a quarter?
Who is turning one? the little munster
Number of BS accomplished in the second semester: 3
Camps to attend this summer: 2 or 3. Let’s see
Places to go to this summer: Tuguegarao, Ifugao, Tarlac, Bulacan, Silang/Tagaytay, UP Naming Mahal
Currently admiring the expertise of: Meryl Streep, Hugh Jackman, Hugh Laurie and Kevin Kline.
Enjoying: Tim Horton, a pack of danggit (dried fish), and huge headphones that look like a remnant from my graveyard shift.
Current frustration: waiting in silence, promises left unfulfilled, musical theater, and ECHO camp.
Extra challenge: tambourine dance, technical writing, cockroaches and waking up in the early morning.
Must learn to love: early to bed, early to rise, kids, and fasting.
Must see: a dentist
Likes: wikipedia, my bed, Tim Horton and fascinating munsters who still cannot walk or talk properly
Dislikes: people who cannot take risks, people who judge others for taking risks, people who take risks without weighng of the nuclear fallout first.
Wishlist: a house like 144 Scout Limbaga, instant MA diploma, contact lens, resurrected hair and the absence of humid summer heat.
Response to send-to-all emails: silence. I know what I know and that I think I know that saying anything won’t help anyway.
I started drinking coffee before I could hold a cup on my own. When I was little, my mom would mix in just enough instant coffee to make my mug of sweet powdered milk turn as brown as my skin. I was fascinated by how the dark coffee powder would dissolve in a swirl. By preschool I was addicted to the wonderful smell of nescafe/cafe puro/blend 45/whatever (as long as it was caffeinated).
I never did appreciate fraps or iced coffee. I wanted and still want my coffee warm (midway between scorching hot and room temperature/lukewarm); enough for me to feel the heat through the cup without injuring my throat in my hurry to drink. After countless mugs and cases of a burnt tongue, I learned to the wait for the liquid to cool down enough for gulping.
In my high school and college years, coffee kept me going for all nighters and early morning classes. Maxwell and Nescafe were my brands of choice, largely because their 3-in-1 sachets were cheap and sweet. Due to my dormitory room mates, I learned the finesse required to make a good cup of instant coffee: it is an art form to make mud NOT taste like swill. And only Gift and I know the secret, mwahahaha.
It was also during college that I was introduced to the wonderful world of brewed coffee. After tasting my first cup of Dunkin’s brew, I switched my allegiances and never gave instant coffee another glance. It kept me awake longer, tasted waaay better even without sweetener or cream, and the aroma… sigh. Forget the clouds and streets of gold; my idea of heaven is one that smells exactly like a coffeeshop.
So now I’m on my fifth cup for this 24 hour rotation (3 brewed, 2 instant) and preparing for my 3rd demo for the month. So I hum along to this jingle in tribute to caffeine:
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Smells so lovely when you pour it,
You will want to drink a quar’t
Of coffee.
It’s delicious all alone, it’s
Also good with doughnuts.
Black coffee.
Coffee stimulates your urges,
It is served in Lutheran churches,
Keeps the Swedes and Germans
Awake through the sermons
Have a pot of it today,
I’m sure you’ll say it’s awfully
Good coffee.
They are wonderful musicians
Playing various positions
With coffee
When you play a violin
You don’t want beer or gin
Just coffee.
Coffee helps your pizzicato
Makes your pilot run on auto
Nice attack when you are bowing
Even when it’s snowing
Even if you play piano in a town in Indiana
Try coffee.
1. Be a teacher by day, musical theater actress by night (like a friend of a friend whom I watched last Dec 2007 in New Voice’s production of Into the Woods).
2. Put an end to illiteracy in the Philippines. Wave my magic wand and make books affordable and kids prefer them to the TV/Internet/PSP/RPG other brainsucking devices out there.
3. Give a serious speech in straight Tagalog.
4. Write and publish a novel.
5. Own and manage a coffee / bookshop. And “sample” all the merchandise, yey!
6. Wear contacts everyday.
7. Start a vocational / community home for adults with autism.
8. Exercise.
9. Travel and experience all the places I’ve read about.
10. Marry.
Hahahaha. Then again, it wouldn’t be marriage without the risks and pain and reality.
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3am na?! Got a demoteaching lesson plan to cram. Ciao!
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Addendum: I’d love to be able to perform this onstage. Patter songs are fun! And I love youtube for my free fix of Pirates of Penzance and other musical plays that will be staged here in Manila… only in my dreams.
Ample make this bed.
Make this bed with awe;
In it wait till judgment break
Excellent and fair.
Be its mattress straight,
Be its pillow round;
Let no sunrise' yellow noise
Interrupt this ground.
-- Emily Dickinson
quoted in Sophie's Choice (1982) a film by Alan Pakula. Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Paul McNichols.
The lyrics were mentioned in a novel I read so I looked it up in the Internet. I was happily surprised. =)Â
Now when I want a laugh, I watch Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan on YouTube… especially the pirates’ rendition of ”With Cat-like Tread.” Here are two videos from YouTube: the 1980 Delacorte Theater Performance (which I think has higher energy) and a clip from the 1983 film (with lyrics). Watch out for the Russian squats at the end! And yes, I love Kevin Kline circa 1980 now too.
Enjoy!
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PIRATES: (very loud)
With cat-like tread, (THUD!)
Upon our prey we steal; (THUD!)
In silence dread, (THUD!)
Our cautious way we feel. (THUD)
No sound at all! (THUD)
We never speak a word; (THUD!)
A fly’s foot-fall
Would be distinctly heard–
POLICE:
(softly) Tarantara, tarantara!
PIRATES:
So stealthily the pirate creeps,
While all the household soundly sleeps.
Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation;
Take another station;
Let’s vary piracee
With a little burglaree!
Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation;
Take another station;
Let’s vary piracee
With a little burglaree!
SAMUEL:
(distributing implements to various members of the gang)
Here’s your crowbar and your centrebit,
Your life-preserver — you may want to hit!
Your silent matches, your dark lantern seize,
Take your file and your skeletonic keys.
POLICE:
Tarantara!
PIRATES:
With cat-like tread
POLICE:
Tarantara!
PIRATES:
In silence dread,
(Enter KING, FREDERIC and RUTH)
ALL (fortissimo).
With cat-like tread,
Upon our prey we steal;
In silence dread,
Our cautious way we feel.
No sound at all!
We never speak a word;
A fly’s foot-fall
Would be distinctly heard–
Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation;
Take another station;
Let’s vary piracee
With a little burglaree!
With cat-like tread,
Upon our prey we steal;
In silence dread,
Our cautious way we feel!!!
Use a dead parrot. I found this to be very effective for my demo in our Second Language Teaching class yesterday. I opted to prepare a lesson plan for adults, so that my classmates won’t have to act like 6 year old kids for the rest of March. The dead parrot did the trick; the demo teaching millstone is officially off my neck for EDL 221! Just 3 more requirements and this semester is over.
Thank you, Norwegian Blue for inspiring me to go beyond textbook material.Thank you, Denner, for lending me your precious DVD which made me realize that Monty Python is funny but not rated GP. Thank you, Wender for the security escort ;-P. Thank you, Philadelphia pips for the pep talk last Thursday.
Thank you, o brother mine who resurrected my Internet connection under coercion. No thanks to the other brother who made it evaporate for more than a week when I had MA requirements due. Don’t worry, brat, I love you anyway.
And here’s my language lesson springboard for the week, revised for space considerations.
For the actual lesson plan… make your own.
Michael Palin as the Shop Owner and John Cleese as Mr. Praline.
THE DEAD PARROT SKETCH
John Cleese and Graham Chapman – Monty Python (1969)
The cast:
MR. PRALINE
John Cleese
SHOP OWNER
Michael Palin
The sketch:
A customer enters a pet shop.
Mr. Praline: Hello, I wish to register a complaint.
Owner: We’re closing for lunch.
Mr. Praline: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot that I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue…What’s, uh…What’s wrong with it?
Mr. Praline: I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad. He’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it!
Owner: No, no, he’s uh, he’s resting.
Mr. Praline: Look, mate, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now.
Owner: No, no he’s not dead, he’s, he’s resting! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, ain’t it, eh? Beautiful plumage!
Mr. Praline: The plumage doesn’t enter into it. It’s stone dead.
Owner: Nononono, no, no! He’s resting!
Mr. Praline: All right then, if he’s resting’, I’ll wake him up! (shouting at the cage) ‘Hello, Mister Polly Parrot! I’ve got a lovely fresh cuttle fish for you if …
(owner hits the cage)
Owner: There! He moved!
Mr. Praline: No, he didn’t! That was you hitting the cage!
Owner: I never!
Mr. Praline: Yes, you did!
Owner: I never, never did anything…
Mr. Praline: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) HELLO POLLY!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o’clock alarm call!
(Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)
Mr. Praline: Now that’s what I call a dead parrot.
Owner: No, no…..No, he’s stunned!
Mr. Praline: STUNNED?!
Owner: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was waking up! Norwegian Blues stun easily.
Mr. Praline: Um…now look…now look, mate, I’ve definitely had enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it being tired following a prolonged squawk.
Owner: Well, he’s…he’s, ah…probably pining for the fjords.
Mr. Praline: PINING for the FI-JORDS?! What kind of talk is that? Look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got him home?
Owner: The Norwegian Blue prefers keeping on its back! Remarkable bird, isn’t it? Lovely plumage!
Mr. Praline: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.
(pause)
Owner: Well, of course it was nailed there! If I hadn’t nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent ‘em apart with its beak, and VOOM!
Mr. Praline: “VOOM”?! Mate, this bird wouldn’t “voom” if you put four million volts through it! He’s bleeding demised!
Owner: No, no! It’s pining!
Mr. Praline: (shouting) It’s not pining! It’s passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone to meet his maker! It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed him to the perch he’d be pushing up the daisies! His metabolic processes are now history! He’s off the twig! He’s kicked the bucket, he’s shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!
(pause)
Owner: Well, I’d better replace it, then. (He takes a quick peek behind the counter) Sorry, I’ve had a look ’round the back of the shop, and uh, we’re right out of parrots.
Mr. Praline: I see. I get the picture.
Owner: (hopeful) I got a slug.
(pause)
Mr. Praline: Pray, does it talk?
Owner: Not really.
Mr. Praline: WELL IT’S SCARCELY A REPLACEMENT, IS IT?!
Owner: N-no, I guess not. (gets ashamed, looks at his feet)
Mr. Praline: Well.
(pause)
Owner: (quietly) D’you…. d’you want to come back to my place?
Mr. Praline: (looks around) Yeah, all right, sure.
