Someone’s

Portrait (in fail, brushpen)

Education[s] II

In which we prepare the syllabus in black and red –

– and vandalize the calendar with green and yellow and blue.

Education[s]

I.

Been looking at the hundredth draft of my EN002 (Writing in the Discipline) syllabus for this school year and I’m still stumped. I’m weighing priorities, trying to remember the various teaching disasters I committed last year.

Meh. So many lessons to squeeze; so many methods to reformulate; so many modules to revise. Think, Jay. Think. Use your imagination.

Staring at the new blank paper, I don’t know where to start. Perhaps I’m just distracted is all. Damn this unfavorable weather.

II.

Taught my mother how to use the laptop last night. I used my old Acer laptop — which is now six years old (amusingly considered as vintage in laptop age, ha!) — and it was just way too slow. I was supposed to reformat the old dog but my sentimentality prohibited me from doing so.

My mother complained of its turtled tempo. She raised her head and pretended to snore each time the pixel hourglass appeared. I joked around saying that perhaps while waiting for Windows to load maybe we could chat a little and talk about childhood; while waiting for Microsoft Word to open maybe we could cook rice and eat dinner.

——-

“It’s like using a typewriter,” I said while observing her fingers tapping the keyboard. She was like a child playing the piano for the first time — clunky rhythm, awkward beats, but the eagerness to learn was definitely there.

“This one’s the Caps Lock, while that’s the Tab button. We all know the spacebar, and you don’t need to know about the alt and function right now.”

“Email? Oh, you have to open the internet first, and open your own email account.”

“We don’t have a printer, ma. Just save it in my flash drive.”

“Facebook? Uh, I don’t think our net’s connected. Open dad’s account? Wait, wait, it’s not that simple!”

——-

Circle is Complete.

Randominity 3

Just  a quick update. We just had our department meeting this afternoon. I thought I saw five new faces, new grads. I was thinking, “maybe I could invite them and the others to write poetry or short stories.” That way we can create a subcircle of new teachers who dig literature and other artistic endeavors within the department.

——-

Chicharon from Cebu: delectable. I salivate at the very thought of it.

——-

In connection with our meeting, I’m starting to [re]formulate the syllabus for my Mythology (101) class. I was hoping to get a softcopy of the old syllabus from my colleague but unfortunately her hard drive was nuked by some virus. So I decided to design the syllabus from scratch.

To meet the standard requirements specified by our Chair I’ll automatically include Greek/Roman Mythology and Norse Mythology, both of which are a little easy (and hopefully fun) to teach. I’ve been a fan of the Greek/Roman mythology since kindergaten, and I’m a bit familiar with some of the Norse  gods. Thank god for Marvel and Neil Gaiman.

Of course, I’ll teach Asian (Japanese to be specific) and local mythology. I’ll include modern mythology (superheroes) at the end of the semester. I hope this works.

——-

And yeah, I’m planning to incorporate Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings in the syllabus. Oh wait, maybe I need to add Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. Argh! The possibilities, the possibilities.

——-

As for En002 (Writing in the Discipline), I’m not going to pull off a repeat performance. In fact I’m totally revamping the whole subject. The revision should hopefully flow well with the learning curve of the incoming animation students.

——-

Trial of the Month (or the year perhaps?): Chief Justice Corona. Everyone was glued to their seats as they watched the trial on television.

Dude is found guilty. I guess we can sleep soundly tonight.

——-

Excited to teach again! Yeah!

Chronicling a New Skin

where do we begin the shedding of a new skin
where do we leave the last flake of the old skin

Something to –

– relieve stress. Thank god for At The Drive-in

 

Sorsogon, 2012 (or the Daughter of the Sea II)

You held your yellow flip-flops with your tiny, ivory fingers,
and let the sand massage your feet as the waters welcomed you.

I gazed upon your fragile frame — balancing yourself
with the movement of wave and wind, of wave and wind,
of wave, of wind.

They flow with you, within you,
like how such silent hands protect
a deity, or the daughter of the sea.

Precious, I thought, but something more.

I walked towards you
with a concealed smile.

Salamatonon[on].

[Salvosa 2012, Second Draft]

Essentials: Black

I’ve just realized that all my tools essential for survival, creativity, and sanity are colored in black. Such a fascinating coincidence.

mygel 5.0, iPad2, HP laptop, Ideos mobile phone, Moleskine journal

White’s Wisdom

… but in the dark and dirty old training rings and in the makeshift cages, whatever light is generated, whatever excitement, whatever beauty, must come from original sources — from internal fires of professional hunger and delight, from the exuberance and gravity of youth. It is the difference between planetary light and the combustion of stars.

E.B. White, The Ring of Time

Hierloglyphs and Artifacts

So while we were preparing the accommodations of our guests for the Pagsurat Bikolnon 2012 last month we stumbled upon certain artifacts and writings from an apartment occupied by Chinese volunteers. Having been a student in a Chinese school back in elementary (useless trivia about me no. 003) I could still guess the meaning of some of the writings on the table, but I had a hard time pulling the big message together. Somehow I blamed myself for not paying attention back in class; somehow I should have at least mastered Mandarin. Oh well.

They were written beautifully with a pencil, taped on the surface. Perhaps they served as reminders, or not.