English Corner: Spelling

Almost everyone in the Philippines owns a cell phone - from the sophisticated executive to the street vendors. In this day and age, it is a necessity. Thankfully, the cell phone has made communications easier and conveying & receiving messages are literally at our fingertips. Why, even children 7-8 years old use cell phones.

The down side to this is the deterioration of spelling & grammar of everyone, especially the youth. Acronyms replace full spelling in an attempt to squeeze in letters in one "send". English teachers are up in arms, parents are worried, and students...do not care.

I have made a quiet resolution to use full spelling as much as I can afford the time. When sending text messages to students, I spell out the words. Non-negotiable.

Just like using the right utensil for eating, impeccable English proficiency is becoming rare among Filipino youth. Let's help do something about it.

Tumblers by Tes

My friend, Tes Tirol, came up to me and told me about some ballet tumblers she designed & asked if I wanted to help sell them to ballet students. I've been extremely busy (when was I ever not???) and so I diplomatically said, "Ok, let's see it."

Her husband, Rean, brought the tumblers and, lo and behold, oh, they are the prettiest ballet tumblers I have ever seen, in pink & lavander hues.

And, what's more, they're only P300 each!!! Steal, really.

Ssssh! Tes has other products soon to be out in the market, too. I told husband & wife to hurry up because I was not quite done with Christmas shopping.

If you love ballet items, just email Tes: tes.tirol@gmail.com.

Love the tumblers, Tes! Can't wait for the rest of the items!

Philippine Ballet Theatre's ANDRES

Philippine Ballet Theater presented "Andres", the story of one of our Philippine heroes, Andres Bonifacio set to dance. It was shown on the last weekend of November at the CCP Main Theater.

I enjoyed the show, seeing it from the eyes of a Filipino. Admittedly, the younger dancers were "young" in their acting, perhaps, not having experienced too many moments of angst enough to capture the pain of our countrymen of old. Nevertheless, the tableaux, not just the literal one, did its job.

I was proud to see my student, Charmaine Bianca Perez, now several performances more mature. Her technique, of course, was flawless, as is so Bianca.

I was disturbed that the audience was not as numerous as the show deserved. No matter what justification goes behind the scenes, the many empty chairs speak for themselves.

Congratulations Philippine Ballet Theater. May our countrymen love the Philippines and our culture because of your efforts.

Persona

I often listen to different types of speakers - motivational speakers, preachers, teachers, et al. I listen not only to what they are saying but also to what they are not saying. I wondered once why the same statement said by one speaker uttered by another means differently, registers with more depth, hits home a little more by more than just a sliver.

For instance, I have a mentor who tells me to read my book pretty much in the same way the next professor does, tells me to lock up to have quiet moments to recoup & re-charge, and tells me to my face what is possibly wrong with me at the time, hitting bull's eye about the deed but never demeaning the doer. And it dawns on me that the difference is the life beneath the words.

If that mentor tells me to read a book, she has read two or three. If she tells me to lock up for quiet moments, she has basked in the stillness of quietude. If she tells me what is wrong, it is because she has been that way herself and overcome.

That is why some speakers hit home. They live the lives they preach.

Simplify

My younger son, Nathan, is, thankfully, an orderly boy. It took him a long time answering his Kumon sheets on his diagnostic entrance because he wanted to make sure the numbers were well-written. He insists that his pencils are sharpened before we do home-school, and cleans his table squeaky clean before and after working. It is really an easy task to teach and manage him. Recently, he piped in, "Mom! We have to 5S our home!" I had just heard about 5S from my husband who, explained to me that it is a system that puts order in an environment so that everything is in place and that there is a place for everything.

I have begun, at my younger son's cue, to simplify my home and, one by one, remove clutter. Moreover, I resolved to simplify my life on a bigger scale, and weed out the inessentials, if one could call it that. Sometimes, I tend to think that everything is important. When I review my day before I turn the final lights off, I realize that 40% could have been trashed.

I haven't figured out what 5S means in detail. But, it has helped me dramatically. Perhaps now, I will have the time to stop and smell the flowers on the way to the ice cream store.

Who Am I?

We are never without the urgent. Bills demand to be paid. Tick lists have a way of getting longer than one is quick to do. Appointments gatecrash into each other. And we are left in a frenzy, never having time to do the important, the relevant, the significant.

This is why it is necessary to come back to the basic questions: Who am I? Why do I exist? Why am I here? The answers determine what we should do, priorities we should keep, and those things we should weed out.

Nature fulfills its raison d'etre simply by being. They do not even possess half the faculties humans do. Shows us how we learn some of life's best lessons from things around us. Sans words.

God Hears

When everything seems to cave in, when the noise level rises above decibels no human can tolerate, and when the tiredness numbs and we are devoid of words...God hears the sighs uttered from the heart. And you know what? Believe it or not, we hear His whispers, still and small.

Peace.