Feeling cool

Today I finally had time to go to the hairdresser to have my hair trimmed. (Actually I escaped during office hours to avoid the crowd at the end of the day. Shh!) It was simply getting too long for comfort considering the hot summer we're currently having. (Of course I can always put it up but that was getting to be too much of a bother as well.) Now that it's cut to just above my shoulders I can quickly tie it in a ponytail to keep it out of the way or just leave it down. Either way I'd still feel cool and comfortable.

Feeling "Moody"

I spent most of today setting up a site on our university's Moodle course management system for the course that I am handling this summer. Although it was the first time I had worked with a CMS, I immediately got hooked exploring and experimenting with its many features and tools. Now I'm seriously considering using it for my courses in the future.

Feeling guilty

When I arrived at work earlier today I saw one of the priests in our parish standing in the parking lot . I went over, greeted him good morning and inquired if he was waiting for somebody. He replied that he was waiting for a jeepney ride to some part of town but it was taking a while for the jeepney (parked there in the parking lot) to leave because the driver was still waiting for more passengers to come. After exchanging a few more words with him I took my leave and went to my office. Later I realized that I should have offered him a lift. I suppose I was too anxious about getting to work. Sigh.

Up, up and away

Now this is one cool video: a real-time video of a shuttle launch as captured by a camera atop the shuttle. It's scary how you can go all the way up there in the upper atmosphere in just two minutes. But at the same time one can't help but stare in amazement at how the landscape quickly shrinks as the shuttle pulls away, clouds eventually dotting the view. And then there's the shadow of the exhaust trail. Whoa!

Family show rated PG

The television set at the McDonald's restaurant today was tuned in to a popular noontime game and variety show. The scene shown on the screen was very typical of noontime shows here: the host quizzing contestants while in the background were several skimpily clad ladies dancing as if they were in a bar. What I can't understand is why all these game shows are widely advertised as "para sa buong pamilya" (for the whole family) when you have ladies so obviously dressed and behaving inappropriately. Would any conscientious parent invite ladies dressed like that to dance at their child's birthday party?

The sleeping dog

During my walks outside campus, I would always see this old white dog with patches of grey fur snoozing away on the floor of one of the tiny stalls that line the main road just outside campus. Today for a change I saw him awake and slowly walking along the sidewalk. Then I notice that he has cataracts in his eyes. Poor thing. He paused outside another store and sat down. Perhaps he'll be settling down soon once again to take another nap.

Mini obstacle course

On my way to pick up some documents from an office outside campus earlier, I found myself having to step aside several times to dodge water dripping (we had a terrific downpour during the lunch hour) from eaves extending halfway over the sidewalk and avoid stepping on several "booby traps" on the sidewalk left behind by stray doggie-woggies.

"New" on the menu

There was a poster at KFC advertising the latest addition to their menu called Spiral Salad so I decided to order one for lunch. It turned out to be nothing but a rehash of their Caesar chicken salad with about half a cup of flavored pasta (either spiralini or gemelli) added--which I suppose is sufficient to justify the additional Php10 charge. Nothing great but good enough for a change.

Strange headgear

That's either a crown (courtesy of the Rolex logo in the background) or David Nalbandian's hair standing on end--perhaps at the sight of who's standing at the other side of the net! (It happens to be Roger Federer, a Goliath in the world of tennis. Haha.)

Chicken meat without the chicken

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Perhaps in the future neither will be needed because there's a $1M prize for the first to grow chicken meat in vitro in the lab. The idea sounds cool but at the same time feels weird to me. I can't seem to explain why. Meat that was never an animal in the first place? Hmm. I suppose that will mean goodbye to dark meat. Then maybe eventually chickens will no longer have to be domesticated--if we can grow meat in the lab, why not chicken eggs as well?--and will be left to fend for themselves in the wild.

Two happy tennis fans

As Rafael Nadal hit a running forehand to clinch a thrilling match against David Ferrer, I heard a double clap come from the direction of the masters bedroom. There was no mistaking that that was the sound of my mother exulting over this come-from-behind victory (6-1 7-5) of her favorite tennis player--just as I rejoiced earlier (with a fist pump) over Federer's triumph (5-7 6-2 6-2) over long-time nemesis David Nalbandian.

Food savior

My tummy started grumbling for some nourishment late this afternoon so I went out to buy some snacks to munch on. To my dismay, the food stall nearby didn't have much to offer while the other at the opposite end of the building was already closing for the day. I had no choice but return to work with my empty stomach. But just as I was about to enter the hallway leading to my office I was approached by an ambulant vendor who was trying to get rid of the last of some nilupak that he had in his bilao. In the end I made both my stomach and the vendor happy.

A bountiful harvest

This morning our department held a testimonial ceremony for our graduating students. Among these were six --which, by the way, included identical twin sisters--who were graduating magna cum laude--the most ever in a single batch in the history of our department--and three were graduating cum laude. Needless to say our students were evidently proud of their achievement while we instructors were likewise delighted with this unusually talented batch of graduating students.

To catch a worm

I've always avoided using my flash drive on computers other than mine at the office or the two laptops that we have here at home. But when I presented our department's curricular proposals last Tuesday I had to plug my flash drive into somebody else's laptop at the meeting in order to show the presentation slides I had prepared. Aware that other computers in campus are notorious for harboring undetected viruses, I plugged my flash drive into this laptop which has an updated anti-virus software installed. And voila, a worm!--which luckily the anti-virus software was able to remove. While I can finally breath a sigh of relief, I have resolved that next time I have to share or use my files elsewhere I'll just email them to whoever is in-charge.

A fellow arachnophobic

I laughed when I read story #2035 over at One Sentence: I walked into the bathroom, saw the large spider in the tub, and decided a shower could wait. That sure sounds like me. Sometimes though--depending on how large the spider is, of course--I just grit my teeth, step into the shower stall and hope the spider is more afraid of me than I am of it. One can't afford to miss a shower in this country's hot muggy weather!

Missed queues

About a quarter of an hour after twelve noon I walked to KFC to buy lunch expecting as always to stand in line for at least ten minutes before my turn came to order. It was therefore a shock to find that there were no queues at all! Such a phenomenon would usually occur well before or after lunchtime. What it was about today, a typical class day during the summer term, that caused those queues to disappear I have yet to figure out. Hmmm.

Dead people pics in email

My family came to know a young priest who was here at our parish for a few years and although he was eventually assigned to a parish in another country, we kept in touch via email. He recently broke the news that his sister, who happens to be a religious herself, passed away in their native country. I sent him my family's sympathies just earlier tonight but he immediately responded by sending a series of emails with photos of his sister's funeral and body lying in the coffin! Now, I'm not too comfortable seeing dead bodies. It is of course all right in the case of relatives or friends but if they are total strangers that's a completely different matter. So this was extremely unpleasant for me to say the least. (I viewed the first few emails but simply filed away the rest without opening them.) Besides, is it proper to send pictures of dead people?

Changing body measurements

Thanks to the stress of working on our department's curricular proposals, I must have lost some pounds or at least a few inches off my waist and hips: I can slip on my pants more easily nowadays! I have to yet to confirm that fact though using a tape measure and by standing on a weighing scale. And seeing that I've written about my Flickr photos getting Explored and one of my blogs getting Blogged, I believe I better measure my head circumference as well to see whether that has increased by an inch or so!

Federer blog Blogged

Okay, another discovery: my Federer Express blog got listed on Blogged.com. And there's more. It received a 7.5 rating (equivalent to "Very good") from the editors of that blog directory. Gee. Not bad at all. To think that I just set up that blog for the fun of writing because I sort of miss writing and e-mailing bulletins to my friends at the TAA (Tennis Addicts Anonymous), our fictional club, when I was back in Singapore.

Valentine rose Explored!

Yipee! I have just discovered that another of my photos on Flickr made it to Explore. It's currently ranked 300 among photos uploaded on 15 February 2008. I recall having to take several photos before I hit on an angle and perspective that seemed to work best. Thank God for digital photography, else I would have gone through one or two rolls of film!

Well fed and fed up

After finally getting rid of our curricular proposals this morning, I treated myself to a Big Mac for lunch only to remember that we were served hamburger sandwiches during the meeting as a late morning snack. Anyhow, it was a welcome change after having chicken for lunch practically everyday. But I felt I had eaten enough for the day so that when our admin staff had some sotanghon, spaghetti and pan de sal brought to the office late this afternoon to celebrate his daughter's graduation from college I skipped eating the usual merienda and just brought home sotanghon to eat for my dinner.

A long name

Among the list of names of students graduating this semester is one with five first names--a bizarre blend of Spanish and Greek names--constituting a total of 33 letters. The people engraving names on the diplomas will sure have a h--- of a time trying to fit all that on the certificate! I also wonder what the poor fellow's signature looks like.

Over the hill

Na, I am not referring to my age (I am getting there though) but rather to the curricular proposals I had been in-charge of for the past few months. I have just seen them through the final processing stages this morning during a major meeting which virtually assured that they would be approved at the highest level of the administration. It was one of the many things I had long been waiting to get rid of, so to speak, before I could more or less settle down and begin to enjoy the less hectic summer term. Of course, I have just caught sight of a few more hills looming in the distance but I have decided not to worry about scaling those for the time being.

In my shopping bag

I'm back from shopping and here's what I have in my shopping bags. First from the office supply store: an assortment of plastic envelopes, two plastic document holders, a small mesh envelope and a few ID cases. From the hardware store: a pack of AAA batteries (they didn't have any rechargeable ones for my recharger), two packs of surgery/dust masks and a pair of magnetic photo pockets (70% off!). There's also my Swatch watch with its new battery. And finally a rare find in the so-called "classical" sections in local CD stores: a 2-CD set of Prokofiev's five piano concertos performed by one of my favorite pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy (I was tempted to buy the soundtrack of Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd). So much for my short shopping list.

My "short" shopping list

I'm going shopping with my parents today and have on my shopping list just three items: rechargeable AAA batteries (for this confounded optical mouse which has drained three pairs of AAA batteries in two months), a battery replacement for my Swatch watch and a few new ID cases (to replace my current one which has cracked and gotten torn). If I had shown this short list to my sister, we would look at each other knowingly and laugh. How many times have we drawn up a short grocery list and ended buying much more after being lured by temporarily reduced prices of "necessary" items!

How do they look?

I was channel surfing earlier and came across this reality makeover show called How Do I Look? on the LifeStyle channel. In this particular episode a high-school girl about to enter college was being persuaded by her mother and sister to get rid her frumpy look (she was wearing clothes handed down to her by her grandmother). While the resulting makeover did improve her looks, I personally felt that both the mother and the sister--and perhaps even the host of the show to some degree--each needed a makeover themselves. (Since I look to the elegant simplicity of Audrey Hepburn's style as an ideal my standards are rather high.)

Pet hippo

I have just finished watching a documentary on Animal Planet about a hippo that was rescued adopted by a retired game warden and his wife as a pet. I was so amused and touched by the cute endearing story especially after seeing how the hippo grew to be a member of the family: playing with the family dogs, sleeping out in the veranda on a mattress covered with a blanket, eating coffee, doggie treats and sweet potatoes, getting aromatherapy from the warden's wife and all sorts of luxuries and privileges any beloved pet would have.

Now you see him, now you don't

A colleague recently complained that some of his thesis advisees who were due for graduation last semester had gone as far as seeing him at his house to consult with him. I simply said, "Really?" But to myself I thought, well, if he had reported to work at the office everyday his students wouldn't have to look for him at home!

Small food business

While talking to one of our instructors at his office earlier this afternoon, I noticed on the shelf near his desk a large oval Tupperware container filled with all sorts of individually packed commercial cookies and biscuits. Since this particularly healthy instructor is well known in our department for his fondness for food and cooking, I began to tease him saying, "Oh ho! I see you have a stash of goodies here in your office!" Just then another instructor entered the room, picked out one of the packages of cookies, handed some cash to the instructor I was talking to and walked out. It turns out that the instructor was selling the cookies to augment his meager income as an instructor. Not a bad idea.

Holy See anthem

I'm watching CNN's live coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the White House. The band there is to play the national anthems of both the United States and of the Holy See. I didn't even know that the Vatican had a national anthem! I was half expecting something like Pange Lingua or the Te Deum.

P.S. After a bit of searching online, I found some info about the Pontifical Anthem.

Exciting egg sighting

We're all excited here at home with the discovery of a single egg in the nest outside the bedroom window here. For a few days we thought that the nest had been abandoned. But yesterday afternoon, I saw the bird which had been building the nest over the last weekend fly over and settle down in the nest. Then this morning, I climbed onto the bed to get a better view into the nest and there it was: one egg, about an inch long, pink with brown speckles!

Disappointing failures

I gave a removal exam this morning to a handful of students who enrolled in my class this past semester but received a conditional failing grade. I felt really sad though after grading their papers because every one of them failed! I was really wishing they would pass and it cut me to the quick to see them just meekly walk away after I broke the bad news to them later this afternoon. Just when they were so eagerly awaiting the results! Contrary to what most students and other people think we instructors generally don't delight in failing our students.

It actually pours

We actually had not one but two downpours today. There was one just before lunchtime which didn't help improve conditions because it became hot and muggy instead afterwards, thanks to the hot noon sun beating down on the pavement. Luckily we had one more downpour later in the afternoon which did cool things down a bit. So now there's a refreshingly cool breeze blowing through the bedroom windows.

When it rains it pours

We received more sad news today: the father of a family friend passed away this afternoon. My father was supposed to buy a mass card after serving at this afternoon's mass but with all the deaths we've had in the past week or so the parish office has run out of mass cards!

Peace and Hope

One of the recent Blogs of Note is this blog written by two friends on opposite sides of the border at the Gaza Strip. The courageous and thought-provoking blog provides a window to the uncertainty of life in that war-torn region of the world and makes me all the more grateful for what we here in our country are blessed with. My heart goes out to these two friends and the people there who seek nothing but an end to the war and peace in their land.

Some peace at last

Today I can finally breath a sigh of relief. I have graded exams, submitted all my grades, read and reviewed my advisees' papers and have given them the clear to graduate this semester. And, at least for the time being, I'm also done with paperwork and many other things related to my administrative position. My mind is freer and I can now relax a bit and recharge for the next onslaught of duties and activities.

New on the menu

When I went out to eat lunch today, I discovered that McDonald's finally added something to their menu: Cheeseburger Deluxe. It's their basic cheeseburger topped with a lettuce and mayonnaise instead of the usual catsup, pickle and onion. Though slightly more expensive than the regular cheeseburger it was at least something different. I still wish they had retained their McRice burgers though.

Cloud chasing

This morning on my drive to work I noticed on the road ahead a clearly delineated shaded area although there are no trees or buildings along the road. That's when I realized that the shadow was cast by a cloud. I drove on toward it hoping to get away from the hot sun. However as soon as I reached the shaded portion, it seemed like the shadow dissolved and I couldn't tell whether I was in the shadow or not. Then farther down the road I spotted the end of the shadow and some seconds later I was back out in the sunshine.

Two poor students

This morning I was approached by a student who wanted to know the final grade of her younger brother who was enrolled in one of my classes this semester. She explained that she had come to campus to find out what her grades were as well as those of her brother but that her brother could not make the trip himself because their family could only afford to pay for the bus fare of one person. On hearing this, I immediately felt sorry that she had to bring home with her the sad news that her brother would in all likelihood be receiving a failing grade.

A working holiday

It's another Monday and yet another holiday, Araw ng Kagitingan being this coming Wednesday, 09 April. As in most cases during a busy semester, it isn't much of a holiday for me since I still have work to do. The only difference is I don't have to report to work at the office.

On gravedigging

It took my father and I longer than we thought to dig a grave for our poor pet cat. The spot we picked was such that we had to go through a layer of tough fibrous roots from the nearby palm. Then we hit a layer of stones--apparently gravel leftover from the construction of our house--which was what mainly slowed us down. Finally we came upon a layer of dark compact but softer earth. Despite the grim purpose of our task I just thought it was interesting to see the composition of the ground in that area of our lot.

Another funeral

We received sad news from the vet this morning: our pet black cat died during the night while confined at the clinic. Our cat showed signs of some kind of internal infection which was apparently in an advanced state since she was already passing urine mixed with blood and pus. My father and I went to pick up the body this afternoon and buried her in the general area near the lower gate of our lot that has become a burial ground of sorts for our pets.

Deaths in the community

This week our community has been saddened by the death of five of its members including the 92-year-old mother of a professor, to whom my father has been taking communion every Sunday for the past few years. She passed away early Tuesday morning soon after being administered the last sacraments. A renowned retired professor from another college at our university also passed away around the same time. Then just this morning we received news that another well-respected professor passed away after a short bout of pneumonia. He, like my father, had been serving as a Eucharistic lay minister at our parish. Despite his advanced age--he was 80 years old I think--he remained very active until sometime the middle of last year when he suddenly got confined to bed after overexerting himself one day and was subsequently diagnosed to have bone cancer.

A bird and its song

The bird that sings tunes is back in our garden. I have no idea what kind of bird it is as I have never been successful in spotting it among our trees here. But I have heard it sing short tuneful songs which seem to change every year. Some years ago, I remember distinctly that it kept singing a motif of descending notes that went C Bb A G F. I was fascinated because it wasn't the usual twittering of most birds. Just earlier this morning I heard it sing E A F#.

"Missing" cat

When I arrived home from attending the afternoon mass earlier this evening, I noted that our sick black cat was nowhere to be seen. (Our other cat was on top of the cage in the laundry as usual.) She was not waiting in the driveway as usual nor was she in the back yard. I began to get worried and looked all over for her but had to give up after a futile search. Only when my parents got home much later after attending Holy Hour at our church did I learn that my father had brought our cat this afternoon to the vet's for a check up and that the vet had advised that she be confined at the clinic overnight for observation. What a relief! I had thought she had gone to hide herself in some obscure corner as many sick animals tend to do.

Sounds English to me

I have long been curious about the traditional Latin mass and my interest has been further peaked after getting the chance to provide accompaniment to Latin songs during mass in the past Holy Week. Thus when my parents mentioned some months ago that the First Friday masses at our parishes were now in Latin, I decided to try attend one just for the sake of experiencing a mass in Latin. (I'd probably lose track of the mass with all the unfamiliar words but who cares?) Unfortunately with my busy schedule at work I haven't been able to do so. That is, until today when I managed to get off work early to attend the 5:30pm mass with my parents. But to my disappointment the mass was said in English instead because a priest other than our parish priest presided. Sigh.

A note about Fluegel's B-Flat

Apparently a lot of websites produced their own joke this year to commemorate April 01. My favorite has to be the one at NPR where some writer reviewed a brand new composition called "B-flat" by a fictional sub-minimalist composer named Simon Fluebel. I just love how the hilariously elaborate praise highlights the ridiculous simplicity of the one-note composition.

Surprise delivery

The book (My Sister Therese by Celine Martin) that I ordered last year from Catholic book center at the local mall has finally arrived. (Sadly the book center has closed down since.) To my embarrassment it was personally delivered once again to my office here by the Carmelite seminarian who attended to the book center. Although it has been four months since he said I would receive it, I understood that he had been away at the seminary since December and only just got out for vacation. To think that he had to come all the way from his hometown to bring it himself!

Indoor birdwatching

I have just discovered something better than those eagle webcams on the Internet: there is a bird's nest being built among the branches of the Song of India plant just outside my sister's bedroom window. What a great opportunity to do some birdwatching from the comfort of our home! We have seen a small brown bird with an orange throat come once in a while to perch nearby but we can't tell if there are eggs already in the nest. But I guess we have to be as unobtrusive as possible as we do our birdwatching through the window lest we scare away the parents and cause them to abandon the nest.

A growing pile

Eep. I've been so engrossed in reducing the pile of work I have this week--eight hours are just not sufficient to get everything done at this time of the semester--that I've fallen behind in reading news that I subscribe to in Google Reader. Having not read an article since last Monday, the number of unread articles has grown to 212! And I'll probably finally get back my evenings by the end of the week yet. Hmm. At least the upcoming three-day weekend (07 April being a holiday) might help me catch up.

A return after the exodus

One of the things I dread about the end of the academic year is the usual exodus of young instructors seeking greener pastures outside the academe. Just last week an instructor--the sixth one in the past month--approached me to let me know that she would be resigning after her contract ended this May. For someone in-charge of assigning instructors to teach the courses we offer each semester, this is the ultimate nightmare. One prays that enough fresh graduates will apply and fill in the vacated teaching positions. Else, who's going to teach all our courses? Still, it's difficult to replace instructors who have honed their craft over a few years.

Anyway, my fears were somewhat allayed today when one instructor changed her mind and decided to stay on. That's definitely very comforting news!

The first of April showers

We finally got a spell of rain this morning after several weeks of dry weather. Even if the showers lasted no longer than a quarter of an hour--not sufficient to water the plants in our garden--the resulting cooler air was refreshing for a change after the stifling weather we've been having these past few weeks. The only ones who probably had something to complain about the brief rains were the workers repainting the buildings and road markings on campus.

Weather as entertainment?

I never noticed this before but there are articles on the weather appearing in the Entertainment section of Google News--something I find rather curious. (Perhaps an April Fool's joke?) I suppose the weather nowadays is so wild and unpredictable that it can be considered entertainment to see what happens next.

Earth Hour quote

A number of cities around the world participated in Earth Hour a couple of days ago. While there are people who don't believe in the significance of making contributions no matter how small nor are willing to make small sacrifices toward a larger cause, somebody involved in promoting Earth Hour explained its potential effectiveness rather nicely:

It shows that everyone can make a difference collectively by making small changes in their daily lifestyle. Turning off the lights is not a dramatic thing. It's a small action that collectively makes a big difference.

April Fool's idea

I'm supposed to post by 4pm this afternoon (a self-imposed deadline) the pre-final standings of my students in one of my classes and indicate as well who are exempted from taking the final exam this coming Thursday. It just came to me that I could post all their standings this morning--so many have been hanging around outside my office waiting for me to post--but show that they all got a failing grade as an April Fool's Day joke. Haha. Ah, my poor students ...