No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
- Khalil Gibran
The Lord has once again shown me favor and gave me the chance to raise my education up a notch. I have recently become a student pursuing a masters degree in civil engineering in one of the universities in Cebu City.
One of my teachers, the college dean nonetheless, shared to us, not only his extensive knowledge in numerical methods, but also his learnings in life as well. He shared to us what the author Khalil Gibran wrote - the one you read above.
My teacher says and I qoute "I have seen the whole spectrum of teaching, and this is by far the best..." referring to the passage above. He says this is teaching principle.
I will make the same passage a guide to my learning and to my teaching in the future.
I really like to have a desktop, but if you guys want to give me a laptop, I would more than gladly accept it.
My Not-So-Big-Time Christmas List:
September 5th, Friday, was the day “Kape ug Kanta” was revived. It was also the day of Two Copper Coins' first gig.
I really do not know how to look back to that day. So many things happened around and within me.
I could look at it as a disaster. I was the (unofficial) organizer of the event and I totally forgot to prepare the sound system. People were asking me where were the speakers and other equipment. It was scheduled to start at half past seven in the evening and it started some minutes after nine. For almost two hours, people were asking me, “What time will we start?”
So few people came. My girlfriend was pissed with me the whole stretch of the “show.” My good friend Koren was there to watch us perform but instead ended up watching my irresponsible persona fail and falter.
I could also look at it as a selfish act. The idea of me and the other guys of Two Copper Coins performing has taken the better part of me. The major reason I forgot about preparing for the event was that I was so excited and so busy practicing for our performance. Until now I continue to ask myself if I exerted a considerable amount of effort to revive “Kape ug Kanta” to bring back into existence a good venue for young Christians to hang out, or to provide a venue for me to perform.
It was supposed to be all for the glory of God. The event. Two Copper Coins. All these came into being to praise and glorify the Almighty. I failed to look past myself and look up to Him.
But of course, I could look at it another one of God's intricate plans. Despite my failures and questionable motive, it all worked out in the end.
Lord, I'm sorry for my selfishness. May you be glorified in everything that I do.
We hope to make “Kape ug Kanta” a regular activity of the young. And we strive to cling on to the purpose of honor Him, and Him alone.
Many a times have I found my self staring at the computer screen and wanting to write something for my blog. So many things have already happened since I last posted something. So many thoughts have bounced around the ever expanding borders of my mind. So many words have gone unwritten.
It seems I am at a loss for words. And I can't write even a single decent paragraph.
Then I was suddenly dragged to a not so distant past. It was during my final summer term in college, when I had as one of my subjects something call EL 33 (English Language 33). The course is technically termed “Advanced Writing.” And my teacher was an old woman.
I thought she was so uncool. I was so occupied with wishful thinking I had a different teacher – somebody younger who can dance with the class's beat, that I never saw how good her ways were.
We spent a lot of time watching movies, listening to music, singing and reading; we seldom write. Her principle was simple:
Read, read, read (or watch movies and listen to music) a lot. Write a little.
I'm taking her advice and do a lot of reading. And I have realized there are a lot of good stuffs in books and life may be too short to enjoy all of them.
Psalms 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.”
Agnes and I have decided to do business together on something we both love to do – photography. And we are calling it “Be still.”
For your photography needs (for various occasions) contact us through mobile phone numbers: 09062262260 & 09162780068, and email addresses: agatay_cyf@yahoo.com & apc.ampong@gmail.com
We are based in Cebu City, Philippines.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus means unconquered.
I first came across this poem in my third year in high school. And I thank my adviser and English teacher Ms. Eltagon for that. (I haven't heard from her for ten years now)
Looking back, this poem has influenced me in more ways than one. “Adamant thoughts” is a product of “unconquerable soul.” However, I would never make my soul too unconquerable. In fact it has been conquered – by Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Here is a background of the author, courtesy of wikipedia.
At the age of 12 Henley became a victim of tuberculosis of the bone. In spite of this, in 1867 he successfully passed the Oxford local examination as a senior student. His diseased foot had to be amputated directly below the knee; physicians announced the only way to save his life was to amputate the other. Henley persevered and survived with one foot intact. He was discharged in 1875, and was able to lead an active life for nearly 30 years despite his disability. With an artificial foot, he lived until the age of 54. "Invictus" was written from a hospital bed.
I have, in the past few years, been a fan of the band Switchfoot. I have downloaded some of their songs which I play regularly. Their alternative rock music is so cool and their Christian-themed lyrics are way cooler.
As most people, I have favorites among their songs that I have taken their other songs for granted. This morning I listened carefully to a particular song. It is called “Let That be Enough.” I’ve heard it many times before that I came to like the melody. But today, I took extra time and effort to listen to and feel the lyrics. And boy it is so great. Here is part of it:
And all I see
It could never make me happy
And all my sand castles
Spend their time collapsing
Let me know that You hear me
Let me know Your touch
Let me know that You love me
LET THAT BE ENOUGH
Yesterday, at four in the afternoon,
I am currently looking for a new room to rent. My current room is a nice and cozy place. But I have to move for very important reasons.
Late last year, a good friend of mine – Anthonny, was looking for a room or apartment to rent. He searched almost everywhere in the city and was often times met with signages that say: “Rooms for Rent. Ladies Only” or ”We Accept Lady Lodgers” and others of similar contents. Out of his frustrations, he jokingly asked me, “Asa nalang man diay tang mga laki puyo ani, bro?”
When she figured out how lost the class was, she threw a few questions. They were to help us answer the previous one and she addressed them especially to the ladies in class. She said “If you are alone in an alley at night and a Black American woman comes your way, how would you feel?” There was a brief silence in the classroom when Prof. Wasilewski continued to ask, “But how would you feel if it was a Black American man (male) coming your way?
The answer to the first question became clear to us all. It was gender. Gender was the one factor as to why the brother has not even come close to what the sister has achieved.
I call it "Morning Perch."
Before I left for
People who know I have been to
A few weeks ago, as I was paying some friends a visit, I mentioned in one of our conversations something about my experience in
If you guys have noticed, I haven’t been frequenting my blog lately. The thing is that I had a report which is more than two weeks behind schedule. I had been working on it for the past days.
Finally, before leaving the office yesterday, I finished the paper. This morning, I submitted it to our client who was becoming quite anxious about it. They had been our client for quite some time now. I just hope my rather irresponsible slow action on the last job they had for us will not put a dent on the good relationship between our companies.
By the way, this report is on design and the first one of its scale where I did most of the work. And it will undoubtedly thrust me into more advance works in the field of hydrology. I’m quite excited.
I just realized today that, like most people on this planet, I don’t know how to deal with rejection. Yesterday, my boss asked me to layout a cover page for one of the projects we are currently working on. So I honed my skills in layouting and graphic arts, and came up with something I haven’t done in my layouts before.
It looks cool (I think). And not just that: I have reduced the intensity of the color of a large part of the page to save on ink (without reducing the overall appeal of the layout). I also found a way of printing that saves ink further. It takes almost twice the normal printing time though.
I showed him the layout this morning. He commented rather negatively on the new style I was using. He had me print the cover page so he can see it better. He said the faded effect of half the page is not doing well. He wanted a brighter hue (I’ve always noticed his preference to true-color pictures in layouts). At this point I got a little confused. The reason why I had it “custom faded” (I borrowed this term from Bobby Bolivia, the used-car dealer played by Bernie Mac in Transformers; wait, it was Sam Witwicky who used the term first, but it was Bobby Bolivia who said quite assertively), aside from the fact that it looks cool, is that the style uses less ink. Our company is an engineering consultancy firm that promotes environmentally friendly and cost effective ways of dealing with stuffs. Do you now see the irony and the dilemma? Hehehe…
Through Bumps and Waves
By: Paulster
070712
My life has been a bumpy ride
And I have taken all the wrong turns
From dead ends to pit holes and cliff sides
I'm going slow yet the rubbers burn
When the roads get slippery and wet
And my eyes cannot see through the haze
Friends are those who keep me on track
Those who cheer me on to finish the race
And tell me to trust in God’s amazing grace
At times, my life is a rough cruise
A vessel sailing on a storm-tossed sea
With a broken mast and no paddles to use
I’ve been adrift and floating aimlessly
As the waves grow higher and stronger
And the wind leaves me shivering to the core
Friends are those who wrap their arms around me
Saying: “Together we can reach for the shore
Because God’s love is mightier even more”
I and my brother got on a bus on our trip from Santander to Cebu City yesterday. We bought two tickets: a regular ticket for me and an SP (student privilege, discounted ticket) ticket for my brother. The conductor, upon hearing “SP”, immediately asked for an ID. This is pretty normal. Bus companies may have learned from the past that many of those who were availing of the privilege are not really students. Many people get SP's just to save some peso and make a fool of the bus companies in the process. Hence, not so very long ago, they started asking for ID's.
To my surprise though, the conductor did not peruse my brother's ID. He just looked at the ID my brother got out of his pocket. He did not even touch it. Had he looked at the ID, he would have known that my brother graduated early last month and that technically, he is no longer a student. In fact, he is in Cebu right now searching for a job (and trying to get in to law school at the same time). We saved some peso. Good riddance!
About halfway to Cebu, an elderly woman got on the bus and sat right beside me. She asked for a Senior Citizen's discount from the conductor. He then asked for an ID. The woman said she forgot to bring her ID. She ended up paying the regular fare.
How can he not give the lady a discount? He gave my brother a discount without even checking his ID. Yes, my brother can pass for a student. But so can I. I could have tricked him if I wanted to. However, it was very much obvious that the lady was old and therefore deserves the privilege.
I can't blame the conductor though. Asking old people for their Senior Citizen ID Card (and not all old people have ID's) before giving them discounts is one of the loads of crappy things about this country.
ID's are proofs – of being a student, of being a member of an organization, of being an employee of a company, and of many other stuffs. When you are old, you do not need proofs! So why can't we just give old people their rightful discounts? To hell with Senior Citizen's ID's.
by paulster
080502/080505
The universe is big,
But dreams can be bigger;
Don’t waste time, think,
Always remember:
Great things are wrought
By adamant thoughts!
Falling is often certain,
But it forges the will to rise;
Take heart, stand strong;
Quitting is unwise;
Never hope for naught,
Live on with adamant thoughts!
The world is hostile
But the truth is a strong ally;
Have just a little faith,
God’s love will never die;
Know that the battle is fought
With adamant thoughts!
I just got a text message this morning that the youngest brother of my grandfather passed away.
I spent five years (my college years) in
Let me give you glimpse of my time spent with my Lolo Roger:
Of all siblings my grandfather (Lolo Aureo, the father of my dad; he passed away a few years back; I represented all his grandchildren in speaking of our memories of him on the day of his burial) have, Lolo Roger was the one closest to me, probably because he was the youngest and no doubt the coolest of them all.
During my earlier years in college, Lolo Roger worked in the Business and Finance Office of the
But what I will miss most are his stories when he was younger. He has sung in amateur singing contests in
He was riding a bicycle with a friend and was asked to pull over by a police officer (a rather dirty one). I can’t exactly remember this part but the cop extorted them for some money. They managed to outsmart the officer and were able to escape. Later that night, Lolo Roger had himself listed for an amateur singing contest at a park. When his turn to sing came, he went to the center of the stage ready to sing his winning piece (he has won several times before in similar contests). But as he started to sing, he noticed the same police officer watching him right in front of him. Scared of the cop, he started trembling real hard. His performance that night became the worst one he has ever had. Right after finishing the song, he left the contest without even knowing who won.
I am not much of a story teller so you might not find my retelling of the story funny. But believe me, when I heard him tell the story over and over again, I was laughing my heart out.
In his younger years, being the youngest, he also stayed with my grandfather, Lolo Aureo for a few years. Lolo Aureo was the eldest and therefore stood as second father to his siblings. Lolo Roger looked after my uncles, aunties and even my dad. For some reasons, my dad and I never really had conversations about his childhood. Through the years, though I never really expressed it, I developed a yearning for such stories. My Lolo Roger became my source of stories about my dad and his siblings. He even had stories about my Lolo Aureo, stories I never heard from my dad, uncles, aunties and grandmother before.
When I graduated from the university and was on my way to being a full-fledged civil engineer, he talked to me about his parcel of land in Guindulman,
I and my girlfriend have been planning to visit the beautiful city of
Lo, I love you. And I will miss you.
Recently, I was reading the October 2006 issue of the Reader’s Digest. I came across something far cooler than cool. It is called REMOTE VIEWING. It is something used in military intelligence agencies in
Remote viewing is basically “psychic espionage” and remote viewers, psychic spies. What do viewers do? They just get cozy in their headquarters and are armed with a black-inked pen and a bunch of letter-sized papers. They are given coordinates of a place and are asked to “visit” that particular place, which they termed as the “target,” without leaving the headquarters. They “look” around that place and “look” for something fishy. And their “visions” are strikingly accurate, describing colors, textures, shapes and other perceptions. They also make sketches. And often times, these sketches are drawn to scale.
Science has no concrete explanations for remote viewing. This is probably why there are a lot of skepticisms towards this rather amazing ability. Explanations offered by remote viewing experts include the existence of a cosmic (?) “matrix” (the term is used in remote viewing long before the movie). This metaphysical “matrix” is said to contain various sets of information. It is some sort of a database of psychic information. Remote viewers are then those people gifted with the access to these data to allow them (or their minds) to “see” beyond walls and beyond borders. They can even “see” through barriers impenetrable by any radio or whatever signal known to man.
Other similar abilities are utilized by police investigators to solve seemingly unsolvable cases. This has been featured on TV. I also happen to see some episodes and they sure are amazingly cool. They even make the hair at the back of my neck stand.
The pioneers of remote viewing say that anybody can do it. It just takes conditioning of the mind and lots of practice. If you want to know more on how to do it, visit www.irva.org (you may also click on “Remote Viewing Site” on the right hand side of this page under “cool clicks”).
I really want to learn to do it. I just have to convince some friends to assist me in sessions. If I ever learn it, you’ll know. (laughs an evil laugh)
Today is a national holiday. It is that day of the year dedicated to the labor force. It is also a day where people (especially those who are in the labor force, those who by their dripping sweat feed their families) let their grievances heard. The streets have been their medium for such outcry.
As I was driving by the
I always find myself thinking
Of that dinner at Gerry’s
Something makes me keep coming
Back to that time and place
Was it the food on the platters?
Or the way she held her silvers?
Her fingers danced so gracefully
When she tapped the table lightly
Maybe it was the glass of drink,
Or the way she sipped her tea?
As her lips kissed the glass’ brink
And then spoke a few words with me
Perhaps it was something in the air,
Or everything about her hair?
It seemed to flow like silk so grand
When she stroked it with her hands
Probably ‘twas how we chattered
But it was her eyes most likely
And the way both of them glittered
As she stared away blankly
When finally we said goodbye
And we all went our own ways
I didn’t seem to know why
I hated watching her go away
I have not seen her for months now
Still, I wonder why and how
My mind is filled with memories
Of her and that dinner at Gerry’s
