How's this for U.S. intelligence. Winnie Monsod was summoned to the U.S. embassy for fingerprinting, because she is on Washington's list of suspicious persons.
Ironically, she was planning a trip to the U.S. in her capacity as adviser to the U.N. (for which she goes to the U.S. twice a year).
How's that for "intelligence"?
Anyway, Monsod's theory is that the U.S. has been using lists of "suspicious characters" taken from ... (get ready for this) ... THE MARCOS ERA!
Am watching an Oprah episode about how women should become more involved in their family's financial management.
Interesting. From all the Oprah episodes I've watched, it appears to me that there's a subtle difference between the traditional gender roles within an American family and in a Filipino family.
In terms of financial management, I've always understood the Filipino wife's traditional role to be the holder of the purse. The image I've always had in my mind of Filipino family financial management is this: When a husband gets his salary, he immediately turns it over to his wife. The wife, in turn, budgets the income and gives her husband (as well as her children) their allowance. The wife is also in charge for household expenses: budgeting for and buying groceries, paying the bills, etc. In short, as far as I know, the Filipino husband has the responsibility of earning the money, the Filipino wife has the responsibility of managing it. Moreover, the wife, though she might not have a full-time job, usually also has a "sideline" to augment the family income: a small business based at home--a sari-sari store maybe, or a carinderia. (Once again, I'm talking about traditional roles; of course, not every single couple manages things this way.)
I'm not sure how spousal roles regarding financial management are traditionally viewed in other cultures such as in the U.S. Oprah probably isn't a very good gauge of an entire culture, but I find it interesting how often Oprah seems to imply that most women simply spend their husbands' money ....
I'm happy. I've been spending the past few days checking my students' last paper. After a semester of ragging my students about grammar and style, their papers have dramatically improved. I think the single most important factor was my request that they submit, along with their paper, a typewritten outline of their essay. A few of my students themselves acknowledged how much the outline helped. Apparently, some of my students had gone through their entire scholastic life without ever outlining an essay except when required for English class. "Ma'am, malaking tulong pala pag nag-outline ka; napipilitan ka mag-isip." (Duh!, I wanted to say. There's a reason why your English teachers asked you to write outlines; it wasn't simply because they wanted to make your lives more difficult, you know?)
But I am glad. I've been reading B- and even B-plus papers from students who have been averaging lower than a C since the beginning of the semester. It just goes to show how far a little bit of extra effort--a little more patience with one's self, a little more discipline--can go.
Some of my students have been feeling bad about the grades they've been getting this semester, resigning themselves to the notion that they just aren't cut out for the subject. But I hope that the results of their final papers show them that no one in my class is stupid, that all they need to do to get better grades is exert a little bit more effort, and that the effort really does pay off in the end.
I do believe that thinking is a skill, something that can be improved upon with practice. People aren't born good thinkers. They become good thinkers with practice. I hope my students realize that they too, can become better thinkers, through hard work.
(Related thought. After this semester's exams, I also want to tell many of my students: If a teacher is tough, it isn't because s/he is simply trying to be a "hard" teacher; it's because s/he believes in her students' potentials and capabilities, and knows they can perform well. That's why s/he is challenging them to do just that. As Fr. D once said: "If you push students, they will perform.")
1. How many TVs do you have in your home? Two. One in the master's bedroom, one in our helpers' bedroom. We also have two other really, really old ones that have long since died ... and can no longer be fixed.
2. On average, how much TV do you watch in a week? I probably actually watch about nine or ten hours of TV a week; one hour a day on weekdays, plus an additional hour or two each weekend. But the TV is on a lot more than that. Sometimes I leave it on CNN or Discovery Channel while I'm working on the computer, and just glance periodically at what's showing. Other times, I can happily surf through the entire cable line-up for an entire hour, without really watching anything.
3. Do you feel that television is bad for young children? Depends on the show, of course!
4. What TV shows do you absolutely HAVE to watch, and if you miss them, you're heartbroken? I used to have an answer for that: "Star Trek: Voyager." But I've already watched the whole series, and I don't have a new must-see show.
5. If you had the power to create your own television network, what would your line-up look like? Interesting question. No idea.
I was reading the 2BU article (will look for the link later) about the Generation Why forum. Emily Abrera and Jessica Zafra both said something about how today's youth (Generation Y) have a pop culture shaped by consumer trends.
Interesting. (In contrast: My parents' generation was shaped by politics and activism.)
But now, here's a question for people my age ... what was OUR generation shaped by when we were younger? Grunge and rock bands?
(1) the strength to survive exam week
(2) cheap airfares
(3) blogs that keep me in touch with my barkada daily (well, half my barkada anyway)
(4) cable TV
(5) bumping into so many old friends at last weekend's bonfire
(6) my relatively okay health despite the fact that I walked in the rain yesterday
(7) students who inspire me
(8) my Labs!!!
I mean, geez ... Here I am, working my butt off for this school, making this school my entire LIFE, living off a tiny salary so I can give these students some semblance of an Ateneo formation ... and what do I get?
"HINDI KA ATENISTA."
Pucha naman e.
So what IS a "true Atenean"? How IS a "true Atenean" measured?
By the level of his rabidity in supporting his school during basketball games? By the number of times he walks around a mall in an Ateneo jacket? By the amount of pride he feels wearing an Ateneo jacket?
"HINDI MO KAMI NAIINTINDIHAN KASI HINDI KA ATENISTA."
Pucha.
I sincerely thought that most people saw being an Atenean as being a man for others, as living by the First Principle and Foundation (at least in spirit, despite the fact that most people don't know the the words of the First Principle and Foundation), as living "for the greater glory of God" rather than for one's own glory, as "seeing God in all things."
But apparently some Ateneans think that being an Atenean is, first and foremost, feeling the PRIDE of having bragging rights, the PRIDE of beating DLSU at basketball, the PRIDE of wearing an Ateneo jacket .... (What does that mean, this thing about the Ateneo jacket? The pride of bearing the Arrneow name? Why? What does that name mean? What does it mean if you have the word "Ateneo" emblazoned on your back? Does that mean you're better than anybody else?)
My question is: Is this the way MOST Ateneans think? Is this the way these Ateneans WANT the rest of us to think?
You know ... if it is ... I must honestly say, I don't know what I'm doing in this school. If it is, then Mr. Proud Ateneo Jacket Wearer is right: HINDI nga ako tunay na Atenista, because I don't know if I want to be part of that.
"HINDI MO KAMI NAINTINDIHAN KASI HINDI KA TUNAY NA ATENISTA."
Pucha. And I guess he's more Atenean than I am because he graduated grade school, high school, and college from that school. Unlike me, right?, who is "just a teacher."
Pucha talaga.
I swear, I really am hurt.
I mean, okay, if this is the way people think, I should just leave. Heck, why should I butt in where I'm not welcome ...?
Update: It's the day after, and okay, I feel a bit better already. I just needed to vent last night.
Second update: Disclaimer .... As I said in my comments, drama lang yung mga rhetorical questions ko na, "Is this the way MOST Ateneans think ...?" at yung "I should just leave." Nagpapa-cute lang ako. :) Alam ko namang hindi. Heck, boyfriend ko, true blue din 'no! :P hehehe!
Just watched Hallmark's rerun of the last Neelix episode on ST:Voyager. The scene where Tuvok "dances" for Neelix is one of my favorite scenes in the entire series. Sob .... :(
I just checked sitemeter today, after a long time, and my average daily visits to the sites have shot up by more than ten since the last time! Wow! I wonder how that happened ...!
I checked my therowster mailbox today, and read a letter from an angry co-alumnus who said I wasn't a true Atenean. He had actually written the letter awhile back, but I was only able to read and reply to his letter today.
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The main body of his letter:
i am _____, ateneo de manila GS '93, HS '97, BS '01.....
for true-blue-blooded creatures like myself, winning the championship is everything. i was in second grade when we last won the championship back in '88... olsen racela was a rookie then, and danny fransisco was our main man. i had no idea then of what was at stake, but in retrospect, it's no different from last week. last week, the blue eagles ended their 14-year title drought. we all know what happened. my question is, why do YOU have to be so stuck up about it? can't you relax a bit and just be thankful for this victory?
for one whole year i have bragging rights na champion ang ateneo. and it sure feels DAMN GOOD to have those bragging rights. what makes me feel better is that the only losses that la salle had came from blows dealt by the bluees. IT ONLY TAKES ATENEO TO BRING LA SALLE DOWN! you don't understand how it feels whenever i wear my ateneo jacket and walk around the mall. you don't understand.
yes, the babble guy's prayer during game one was a bit off-the-scale... but it's over. we won. it's that simple. perhaps his delivery was too harsh, but i couldn't agree more with the substance of what he was saying. he was saying that it's time for a victory... IT REALLY IS TIME FOR ONE. pero hindi mo kami naiintindihan dahil...
i really didn't like what you said about the memo regarding excusing the players to prepare for finals. that was way overboard. the blue eagles will be on studio 23's breakfast on wed. they couldn't make it today kasi daw THEY HAD CLASSES. you see, the eagles are students more than they're basketball players. that is what makes them different from the green archers. classes first before TV interviews. diba ganoon naman talaga dapat? the memo was asking for just a little bit of consideration so that they could prepare for the finals. wasn't that too much to ask?
you don't know the sacrifices the team went through when they were quartered for four days. they spent these four days away from their families and friends, they had to focus on the task at hand. it was their sacrifice - a sacrifice that paid well. but then again, hindi mo kami naiintindihan dahil...
HINDI KA ATENISTA.
i don't want to start a verbal battle with you. i just want to say na kaya ganyan ang attitude mo kasi hindi ka atenista. teacher ka sa ateneo. nagtuturo ka sa ateneo PERO HINDI KA ATENISTA kaya hindi mo kami naiintindihan. kahit nag-college ka man sa ateneo o hindi, that still doesn't make you an atenean. hindi mo naiintindihan na para sa mga atenista, it's a sweet victory. it's sweeter and it sure feels better than the sum of la salle's four crowns. but then again, hindi mo kami naiintindihan.
baliktarin natin ang bola. kunyari may kaibigan kang taga-la salle. sobrang down siya kasi talo sila. tapos sabihin mo sa kanya "okay lang yan, basketball lang yan." anong sasabihin niya sayo? "hindi mo naiintindihan kasi hindi ka lasalista. hindi mo naiintindihan kasi hindi mo alam how it feels to win four then loose the fifth."
same banana.
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This was my reply:
Hi _____.
I'm sorry that it took me so long to reply. I only checked this e-mail account today, after many weeks.
I respect your opinion and your disagreement of my opinion. However, I would like to clarify a few points which you may have misunderstood.
First, I want to clarify that I AM thankful for the victory. I am a basketball fan myself and I've attended many of the games. I attended the bonfire last Saturday just like many other Ateneans. I am also impressed with the team and grateful for the hard work that they went through for the school.
However, I am less than pleased with many acts that certain administrators have been engaging in over the past few weeks, especially in the context of what I personally believe to be our primary role, which is to be an educational institution, forming its students according to certain values and principles.
Second point of clarification. Please check the date of the letter which I wrote. I wrote it an hour after the first game, three weeks (I think) before we won the championship.
Third point of clarification. In your letter, you said that, "i really didn't like what you said about the memo regarding excusing the players to prepare for finals. that was way overboard." I just want to clarify the context of my statement. Some teachers have been pressured by certain administrators to excuse the cuts of the varsity basketball men's team. Many faculty members do not mind excusing students from class for a variety of reasons, including representing the school in different events. However, many faculty members WERE bothered by the fact that some adminstrators singled this particular event and this particular team out among all the other teams, even going to the extent of calling up some teachers personally to make such requests. Many faculty members feel that in effect, these administrators come close to institutionalizing unfair treatment among students, not to mention that they themselves are violating the guidelines laid down in the student handbook emphasizing that "there is no distinction between excused and unexcused cuts."
To put it more concretely: This semester I had a student who almost overcut. This student is a working student, and an emergency arose at the office, which caused him to be absent for more than two weeks in a row. This student, recognized, however, the rule that there is no distinction among excused and unexcused cuts, and made the necessary sacrifices at work to make sure that he would not overcut.
Now, what makes his cuts any less important than the basketball team's cuts? Is being tired from practice a better excuse for cutting than having to work to help put one's self through college?
I am not saying that the basketball team should NOT have been excused from classes. It is, after all, the teacher's prerogative if he/she wants to excuse any of his students from class. I AM saying, however, that it is quite unprofessional of the administration to pressure teachers to favor one group of students among all their other students in counting cuts.
I do love this school. I love the principles of its spiritual father, St. Ignatius. I love the formation that we strive to give our students. This is why I chose to work here rather than do something more financially-rewarding. This is also why I hope that the administrators themselves remain true to the principles of St. Ignatius that we try to witness to our students: the First Principle and Foundation, the Two Standards, the Three Degrees of Humility.
Nevertheless, I'm sorry that you feel I'm not a true Atenean. Then again, I'm not sure what you mean by "True Atenean."
Best regards,
(signed)
Update: valkyrie and ganns also have a few thoughts to share. (thanks for the support, guys!)
First, let me emphasize that I find it adorable that Ordo's kid bro (who is no longer a kid) is on Candy mag's cutest guys list. How cute. And I hope he has a happy birthday.
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That having been said ....
I'm not too happy with this trend in Philippine media, of creating, at a younger and younger age, a rich, elitist, "social" sector of society.
On the one hand, I guess it cannot be helped that there will always be a group of people in the upper-crust of society.
What bothers me, however, is that Philippine media is affirming and even celebrating the existence of such a social hierarchy.
When I was a child, society pages were, of course, already filled with stories of the country's elite--mostly members of the super-rich, landed clans--but the stories were limited to gossip about the clan patriarchs and matriarchs.
Turn to the society pages of a newspaper today. Not only do we have columnists like Maurice Arcache, filling us in on society gossip among the fifty-somethings ... the columnists, instead, are becoming younger and younger. You have Tim Yap, society columnist for the Gen Y to Gen X crowd, whose barkada gets paid hundreds of thousands to attend parties, to make those parties "cooler."
And now, Candy magazine is trying to create high society for pre-teens, littering their pages with names of "cute boys" from the top five rich, elitist schools....
It used to bother me that newspapers would waste so many pages on the concerns of a handful of people whom the rest of the country doesn't really care about. But now, teenage magazines are starting to do the same thing, targetting their features only to a gaggle of few thousand teenage girls who go to certain schools and who therefore hobnob with a particular crowd.
I know I'm not really one to talk, since I'm a graduate of those schools myself, but I can't help but feel that this kind of publicity only reinforces the false notion that many alumni of my schools have, that the world revolves around them, and that they are the most important people in the country.
I'm excited about Hong Kong. I'm going there at the end of the month to attend my niece's baptism. :)
At first, I felt a bit hinayang (English ought to develop a word for hinayang) about the trip. I used to live in Hong Kong, and I just visited the place again two years ago, and since I'm not rich enough to be a jetsetter, I was thinking to myself, "If I'm going to fly a plane anyway, I wish it could be to some place where I hadn't been before, para sulit." Not that I wasn't excited to attend my niece's baptism; of course I was happy about that too. :P It's just that I love to travel, and any chance to ride a plane for me, in my mind, should be an opportunity to do some real travelling.
But then I checked the newspapers and the Internet and found that just for a little more, I could make this trip "different" from all my previous trips. During my trip to HK two years ago, our family took a tour. It was interesting, because I had lived in HK for four years and had gone there again a few times after that, but on that tour, I saw more of the city than I had in my entire life, and I saw it in an entirely different way as well. Well I found out through research that there were quite a number of interesting tours to other places in Hong Kong; the side of Hong Kong I hadn't seen all those years living there.
So that's what I want to do this trip. And I'm doubly happy because it looks like M is most likely coming along! :)
I've been playing around with ideas for what to teach next semester. G is going to touch on globalization, because of everything that's going on in the world.
A few months ago, I had already decided on starting with Marx, and then with various critiques of and reactions to Marx, culminating, of course, with our love-love-holy-holy philosophers. But now I'm not so sure.
I'd never heard of job sharing until I saw a feature about it on the Lifestyle Channel today. It seems like a really good idea, and I wish the idea would catch on in the Philippines!
The idea is really simple: two people "share" a job by splitting work hours between them. Of course, they also split the pay and the benefits.
The feature said that in the U.S., more and more women are exploring the option to be able to better balance work with managing the home.
Click here or here for more info, and here or here for success stories. :)
I've been feeling rather out-of-sorts these past few weeks. Partly because of stress from work, partly because of the pressure brought on by the whole Ateneo-DLSU hoopla, partly because of stress from home management responsibilities. The lack of inner peace has been affecting my mood, my demeanor, and the way I've been dealing with people.
This past week or so, that turmoil has been translating into a longing for spiritual consolation. "Seek and you shall find." This morning, in my inbox, I received a message from an old friend who talked about, among other things, the daily SpEX retreat that she's currently on (a retreat that I myself have gone on several times in my life). She shared her spiritual joy about her "First Week" (Ignatius' designation of the first part of the retreat).
My heart has started singing again (or, well ... softly humming, at the very least). :)
Funny discovery. To my schoolmates: direct your browsers to www.www.brownpau.com.net. I typed it by accident while looking for brownpau's website, and was confused for a few seconds .... :P
I was really incensed yesterday because M received a rather rude e-mail from someone-whom-I-shall-not-name. Background: After M's and my controversial letters about the ADMU basketball hoopla, we received several letters--some in agreement, some in disagreement. One letter in particular, written by someone who did not agree with the opinions that we shared, led to a rather lengthy exchange of messages ....
No problem, obviously, with that. We are all free to have our opinions about various issues. The problem, however, began to arise when the person's messages became increasingly angry, and increasingly rude.
M's own letters remained very civil and cordial, and finally, after one particularly rude and angry message from the person, M decided to stop replying (as, I guess, most people would have).
All this happened a week ago. You all know what has happened since then. We won the championships, jumped up and down in celebration, had a lot of fun ....
But YESTERDAY, M received yet another message from the person. Still angry, and still rude.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the message. And I couldn't understand why this person was so angry! It was ironic because this person included in the message a thread of the previous exchange, and it was obvious--even from an objective perspective--that this person was unnecessarily attacking M personally (when he had been civil from the very start), and was actually bordering on irrational.
I wrote to one of my mentors' about it (as this mentor had been following our "ordeal" rather closely), and he just reminded me that some people do tend to get irrational about certain issues.
Sigh. I just think this is so sad. I'm still a little annoyed, but less so.
I've been trying to understand, since yesterday, where this person might be coming from ... but it isn't easy to understand ....
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Anyway, still on the basketball issue. I've been hearing various comments from people who, while they share in the joy of winning the seniors' basketball championships, feel bad about the fact that certain higher-ups in school are creating a grossly disproportionate amount of hoopla about it--disproportionate, that is, compared to the victories of other teams.
Someone I know, a member of the Blue Babble, said, "Well, I guess we just have to accept that this is basketball country."
I agree with him, but only to a certain extent. I agree that this is basketball country. And I agree that it is difficult to change people's preference for basketball over all other sports. In fact, I don't even feel the pressing need to change it. I myself love watching basketball a lot more than, say, fencing.
Likewise, I can fully understand when people watching TV, certain alumni, and even the school body feel particularly jovial about this win. Nothing wrong with that. I myself have been joining the celebrations.
But I do think there is something wrong when the administration itself formally and visibly exhibits an inordinate preference for the basketball program over other sports programs, especially this being an educational institution. Everything we do as an institution is pedagogical, even celebrating teams' victories. What message does this send our students when we who form the formal educational institution bend over backwards for one team soooo much more than any of the others? What are we teaching them through these actions? I think that these are questions that constantly, constantly need to be asked, and I feel sad that they aren't being asked enough.
Simple example. The basketball championship could have been a great opportunity to celebrate the victories of all the teams. At around this time every school year, there is a tribute in school for all the athletes. This year's basketball victory could have been the opportunity to encourage more alumni to attend this tribute ... and sure, no problem if you even have a special speech celebrating in particular the Blue Eagles' win.
That, however, is not what is happening, and not in a very tasteful fashion either. Apart from the fact that higher-ups have already sent a total of six memos within the last weekv (two today alone!) singling out the men's seniors basketball team over all the other teams, even the celebrations are further dividing the athletic teams. In a single memo, the administration announced both the celebrations for the basketball team . . . "and oh, by the way, we're also pushing through with that small thingy for the rest of the athletes."
Okay, maybe there's no ethical basis for my stand, but I do think it is quite tasteless. Even if you do look at the basketball program as a show of school spirit and nothing more than that (i.e., not a pedagogical tool, not a formation program), I think that such moves might fall into into the danger of being divisive rather than unitive.
I dunno .... I just find it rather sad.
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Something that made me even sadder is this. I talked to a few students about my thoughts over merienda, and they seemed resigned to the fact that the basketball players are stars, on a different level, a notch above the rest. They seemed resigned to the fact that basketball players get benefits--not just financial, but academic as well--that nobody else does.
"Hey," said one student, "at least we're not as bad as some other schools."
But are we not? When I was younger, I used to believe that with all my heart, but now I don't anymore.
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At any rate, I did realize one thing. Many of these students were feeling the thrill of watching a basketball game for the first time. I guess that's something I didn't really take into account before. When I was in college, I watched as many basketball games--particularly ADMU-DLSU games--as I could, and I watched them live. So maybe I'm a little more jaded because of that. I've already experienced--many times--the thrill of witnessing school spirit firsthand, while for a lot of these people, it's a completely new experience, and very awe-inspiring for them.
Well, I don't want to detract from their experience (and maybe that's why I shouldn't be talking to students about this, but rather, to my fellow-alumni and colleagues). But still, I hope that the issues don't die. I hope that people--especially those in power--seriously reflect on them and make decisions that will truly be "for the greater glory of God."
My two favorite international sports events are the SEA Games and the Asiad.
I love the SEA Games because of its small size; it's almost like watching an intramural event in school, or even a family reunion/sportsfest. The playing field is more level, and the Philippines actually has a chance in most of the competitions. Also, my years travelling South-East Asia when I was a child gave me an appreciation for this beautiful region that we belong to, and the SEA Games reinforces that.
I love the Asian Games because whenever I watch it, I always find myself in awe over the diversity of this region. As corny as I am, the Asiad's parade of nations never ceases to amaze me.
Background: I often get irritated (to put it mildly) by Western-produced shows and documentaries that understand "Asia" to mean only East Asia: China, Japan, and maybe a few South-East Asian countries plus India. (I vividly remember, on a trip to the U.S., walking into a hairdresser's salon, owned by a Korean woman. Her husband, a Caucasian, commented, "I find it interesting that you decided to have your hair done here. My wife only does Asian hair." I said, "Oh, but I'm Filipino." The man replied, "Ah, well yes, she does Filipino hair too." I'm not blaming him for his ignorance; I myself am rarely conscious of the distinctions between Slavic and Mediterranean Europeans. Nevertheless, the incident just goes to show that despite the fact that our world is getting smaller, there is still so much to learn about one another.)
The Asian Games reminds us Asians that "Asia" refers to little more than a geographical region; there is really no such thing as an "Asian culture" or an "Asian people" (regardless of how those constructs are marketed across even Asia itself). Simply on the basis of ethnicity alone: you have the Caucasians from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the other states of the former Soviet Union; you have the Middle Eastern people; you have the South Asians from India and Pakistan you have the East Asians from Japan, Korea, China; you have the Malay people from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia.
The Asian Games also reminds us of the task we have of learning to get along as one world. If we Asians, with our incredible diversity and differences in religion and culture, ever learn to live in harmony with one another, then maybe there shall be hope for everyone else in the world as well.
In the meantime ... good luck to all our athletes in Busan! :)
Actually, my mom should answer this one. (heheheh!)
1. What size shoe do you wear?
7 or 7-1/2.
2. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Not very many. Less than ten, including sandals. And only three which I wear regularly (the others are for special occasions).
3. What type of shoe do you prefer (boots, sneakers, pumps, etc.)?
Shoes where my feet feel snuggly. The more comfortable, the better. I don't like open-toe shoes that much.
4. Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Why are they your favorite?
The ones I'm wearing right now. They look a bit like Bulldogs. They're very comfortable--as comfortable as sneakers. Yet because they're leather shoes, they still look smart.
The thing I look for most in a shoe is comfort, especially given my job, since I'm on my feet for at least three hours a day. I can't even wear my high-heeled boots for two days in a row; they pinch my feet.
5. What's the most you've spent on one pair of shoes?
Gee, I dunno. I don't think I've ever bought a pair of shoes that cost more than P2000. My most expensive pair of shoes right now is probably my pair of Avia cross-trainers. If I remember correctly, they cost less than $40.
Haven't had the chance to blog till today, but ....
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!! Wheeee!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, that was fun! :) M and I watched with FD and ME. It was funny, because all of us were in blue, and we were cheering together with the crowd on TV. (Incidentally, ME's family is split: her father and brother are Lasallians and were wearing green, watching in a separate room. Heheh!) After the game, we even stood up and sang the Alma Mater song.
Afterwards, we met up with more of M's friends, then we trooped to Ateneo for the post-game celebrations.
Wheeeee!!!!!
Of course, I also got requests from my students for a free cut today. Apparently some other teachers gave free cuts in celebration of the win. I didn't though; I explained that if I did give a free cut, we wouldn't have time for a review lecture. Besides, I reasoned to some co-teachers: Isn't it more celebratory to be in school today, talking about the game with friends, rather than to be at home?
Anyway, I'm happy ....
In the meantime, the controversy hasn't completely died down. M still got mail about his letter as late as today. In the meantime, I know at least two teachers who are in a dilemma regarding what to do about their varsity players' absences in the face of pressure from _____ to excuse them .... And a friend of mine (a student) on the arnis team, although he was happy about the win, couldn't help but sulk about the disproportionate support given to the different varsity teams. ("Eh bakit kami; lagi naman kaming nanalo a! Kami nga, hindi lang sa UAAP. Kung anu-anong competition ang pinapanalunan namin!") Sigh .... :( I hope the issues don't go up in smoke along with the fireworks ... but I'm not very optimistic about that. :(
I've made my peace with the Lasallian dude. :) Turns out he's a Xaverian. I told him I'm an ICAn and I know where to kick Xaverians where it hurts (I wrote this in jest of course). He said, I must be referring to his head, because it's the part of Xaverians most filled with hot air.
Di ba't tayo'y narito upang maging malaya
At upang palayain ang iba?
Ako'y walang hinihiling
Ika'y tila ganon din
Sadya'y biglang laya
Ang isa't isa
Ang pag-ibig natin ay
walang hanggang paalam
At habang papalayo
Papalapit pa rin ang puso
Kahit na magkahiwalay
Tayo'y magkasama
Sa magkabilang dulo ng mundo
Ang bawat simula ay
Siya ring katapusan
May patutunguhan ba ang ating pagsinta?
Sa biglang tingin
kita'y walang kinabukasan
Subalit di malupig ang pag-asa
Whew, the Lasallian replied again. His tone was less harsh this time. As a matter of fact, his reply to M was quite polite!
Anyway, M showed me this today. Cute:
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An Athlete's Prayer
It was right before the big one and the football player said
"Excuse me guys for just a sec while I go bow my head."
And in the quiet of th room
The football player prayed,
"Oh God if nothing hear me now
I know that fate is made."
"So help us Lord to win the game,
It's the big one, man, you see,
If we lose this game that's it for us,
Please do this, Lord, for me."
And as his body knelt in prayer,
He lookd up in the sky,
"And while I'm here, and have some time,
I need to ask you why?"
"They say you never help teams win,
Just do it once I pray,
We will pay you back in kinder deeds
Or in another way."
"The reason I can't help you win,"
The Lord just then replied,
"Is as you're asking me to win,
So is the other side."
"I'm everybody's father and
I must not take one side,
So games are played all on our own
Or they would all be tied."
"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't pray,"
He answered him with care,
"You can pray that players don't get hurt
And that all the calls are fair."
"And then I won't just watch the game,
I'll bless it with my care,
Because dear son you need to learn
That life's not always fair."
And while the player heard his voice,
He bowed his head in prayer,
"I pray for fairness," said the boy
"And for your tender care."
"You shall be blessed," the Lord replied,
"Your team and you the same,
And now will you excuse me boy,
I cannot miss this game."
After that last letter from the Lasallian, I realized something.
If this is the kind of shit someone can get from a community as small as the ADMU-DLSU crowd, and regarding something as small as this ... how much more difficult must it be for people within government, for example, who try to voice out their opinions?
Sigh. I told M this morning, "You know, we're simply two very idealistic people, maybe too idealistic."
I'm just soooo NOT surprised now why nothing ever happens to do this country.
Regarding that letter from the old 50s/60s alumnus. I am SOOOOO tempted to write him and say, "Geez, sir. I never knew that people weren't allowed to have an opinion. Last time I checked, we were still a democracy."
I mean, REALLY! Why the fuck are some people just so irrational? I mean, heck, if someone doesn't agree with me, fine. But argue with me using reason, for heaven's sake. Instead of quoting Homer Simpson and calling people "losers" for not thinking in the same way that they do. Instead of resorting to insults. Instead of trying to repress other people's voices and ordering them to shut up, or ordering them to think the same way that they do.
I mean, geez. For crying out loud.
What is so awful is the fact that at least one of these people is a freakin' academician herself. I would've expected more from her: some semblance of respect, at the very least, for other people's opinions, even though she may not agree with them.
I've actually gotten these several times before, but they're so funny I just have to post them here:
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Women can learn a lot if they would just study these! There would be so fewer problems! We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are their rules! Please note... these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!
1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.
1. Birthdays, Valentines and Anniversaries are not quests to see if we can find the perfect present yet again!
1. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.
1. Sunday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.
1. Don't cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then you're stuck with her.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
1. We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on the calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.
1. Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?
1. Yes, and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that last for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
1. Check your oil! Rotate your tires! Please.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.
1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us. We refuse to answer.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we.
1. The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Get over it. And quit whining to your girlfriends.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
1. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as navel lint, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. It is neither in your best interest or ours to take the quiz together. No, it doesn't matter which quiz.
1. BEER is as exciting for us as handbags are for you.
1. Even we too have siblings who love as much as your siblings, try to respect their love.
1. Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know we really don't mind that, it's like camping.
Hey, Ganns is right! I only realized it now! My hits have actually gone up since this whole controversy started!
Anyway, I am going to be EEEEEVVVVVIIILLLLLL and rant about the latest message in my mailbox. (Warning: What I am about to do is evil and mean and irrational of me, and you may want to stop reading at this point.)
Sent by a Lasallian:
- Hello, it is just a basketball game. Passions run high, emotions go wild. But in the end, it is just a basketball game... DLSU may win the game (alright, DLSU WILL win) but who the f*ck cares?!!!! After the dust has settled, all DLSU will get are bragging rights, and moe than half of the people will forget about this in a few weeks anyway.
- If you're so uptight about the behavior of one arrogant cheerleader, or whoever yanks your chain, then why don't you bring this up in the proper forum re: the jesuit higher-ups and if they must, punish the bastards. THEN discuss it within your community.
- And if you think that Ateneo is going to the dogs because of certain "behaviors" of some individuals during a freaking basketball
championship match, then I have 2 sords for you- REALITY CHECK! Has it occured to you that maybe, JUST MAYBE, not all Ateneo graduates are upright, good moral standing, socially responsible, blahblahblahblah individuals?! Why don't you spread your chainmails bitching about Atenean polticians bleeding this country dry? Or Atenean businessmen refusing to pay the proper taxes? Or Atenean lawyers that are more crooked than some of their clients? Sa mga diyan kayo mahiya, di sa mga batang estudyanteng mainit pa ang mga dugo...
- And if anyone of you are regretting the day you joined Ateneo, i heard there's an high-paying job for people like you in DeBeers, they stick a coal up your a$$ to make diamonds.
=====
As a matter of fact, I did understand the guy's point, and if he had said it any more civilly, I might actually have gone through the trouble of engaging him point for point in a more rational way, but the tone of his letter just made my blood boil. And so, what follows is my reply. For your pleasure, I have included--unitalicized, and in parenthesis and boldface--the words I was THINKING while I wrote it, but which I did not actually type
Dear _____,
Just a few quick points:(Not that your crass letter deserves a reply, but we must be compassionate especially to the less fortunate.)
(1) The letters that Mike, Jo-ed, and I wrote were not simply about the Babble captain's prayer. All three of them discussed the prayer as symptomatic of a larger problem which many Ateneans--especially those on-campus--have noticed over the last few months (or maybe longer than that). If I understood correctly, Mike's letter was about the meaning of sportsmanship, Jo-ed's was about humility and the propensity among Ateneans to think of themselves as better than graduates of other schools, and mine was about certain questionable practices that the alumni and administration have been engaged in, in the pursuit for UAAP glory.
I'm sorry if you (being the dumb-ass cretin that you are) failed to see the larger context in which the letter was written. My own letter was filled with allusions to certain memos sent by offices in the administration that, naturally, I cannot expect people off-campus (like you, butting mindlessly into something you don't know about) to understand. There have, for example, been memos sent out to the entire academic community about the senior's men's team bringing "glory" and "honor" to the school, which in the same breath, pressured faculty members to make adjustments to one varsity team among many. By making those allusions, I was hoping to alert the readers of my letter within the Ateneo community to the actions of the alumni and the administration, and read that letter in that context.
(2) This leads, then, to my second point. You do not understand the genesis of my letter (and I am not surprised). As I told Lit in my response to him, my letter was intended for a very specific crowd: my friends, some of my co-teachers, and a few administrators whom I personally knew, who were in the power to do something about the matter. In fact, the morning after I sent that letter, I immediately received a response from the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs who explained that his office had received many complaints about the prayer, and that the young man was going to be spoken with personally.
As you can see, then, my own letter was intended to alert the academic community to an in-house issue, meant to be kept within the family, and to be dealt with also within the family. (So shut up, if you can't say anything sensibly.)
However, e-mailed messages have a way of circulating to the entire metropolis. My own "mistake," probably, was forwarding my letter to two other venues: one particular young-alumni e-group called the "atenegenx e-group," and to a colleague of mine who was a little forward-happy and sent the letter to everyone in his address book. From those two sources, the letter began to be forwarded to mailboxes everywhere, to people for whom it was not originally intended.
In retrospect, however, I do not completely regret the fact that the message has reached so many mailboxes. The letters have opened the door for many related and crucial issues to be discussed. Among some of my students, for example, the controversy surrounding the letters have given many members of other varsity teams the opportunity to complain about the disproportionate financial and emotional support accorded to other athletic teams.
-----
I personally do not appreciate the tone of your letter, nor the reference to my a$$ (which, to my utter joy, you shall never have a piece of). Nevertheless, I hope that you now understand the context of the letters, and their genesis (if it is even possible to get anything into that thick skull of yours).
Sincerely, (signed)
=======
M's response to him was so niiiiiice and so civilized and so sensible (with just the right amount of sardonic wit) and I am so proud of him. I was soooooooo tempted to tell the guy to go ... jump into an aquarium of piranhas. (But then I figured he might not know what the word "piranhas" mean ....)
Sorry. Okay, I know I'm being irrational, but I just need to vent ....
Comments by YACCS.
