What does it mean to teach?

Being a Fine Arts graduate with nary a course on teaching, being accepted to the academe as a teacher was never a career I ever dreamt of having.  I have always seen myself as a Graphic Designer in some acknowledged Advertising firm or a well-known painter independent of any organization without a care in the world of what my place is in a capitalistic society. However, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I ended up to be a teacher. I may attribute it to karma for I was the teachers’ nightmare when I was still a student. Nevertheless, I was asked to teach and had to accept and embrace it for that was how the dice rolled. With neither experience nor proper training, I was left with nothing but my sheer guts and with the most basic sense of logic I could muster. I plunged ahead and taught middle school Art thinking it would be a walk in the park.

 

When confronted with a task unprepared for, what one can do is to search within the deepest recesses of his/her psyche and remember the things that transpired during one’s learning years.  What did my former teachers do right and what did they do wrong?  How did I learn? How much time do I prepare and how much time to I allot for every project and concepts to be learned?  How would I know that the students have learned what they are supposed to learn?  What concepts are important for them to know?  Which among the concepts are more important?  These are some of the questions that beleaguered my then young and inexperienced self.

My first impression of teaching was that I am supposed to be the source of all information.  I am the know-it-all, come-to guy who has the answer to every query my students have, be the solution to their problems, etc.  I cannot say “I do not know” for that would only mean I am not a competent, learned man which I am supposed to be.  I should be a sage of some sort, almost a prophet to some degree.  I am way above the children for I know things they do not know and it is my duty to teach them.  After a year of surviving the classroom, I began to doubt my concept. Several years after, I confirmed it. I knew I was wrong - totally wrong missing the mark by more than a mile!

I could not be the source of all information for I do not have a brain that works like a computer.  My memory could not retain as much information as a computer can.  Even if I were the champion of some trivial game show, there are still a ton of things I will not know.  And to think the questions coming from children are far from ordinary.  Sometimes, they are not even related. Oftentimes, they ask questions coming from nowhere, you would be amazed and just wonder what this or that child was thinking in order for him/her to ask such a question.   I had to research a lot, study my lesson so that there would not be a child’s question left unanswered.  And that is only about the subject I teach.  It was then that I realized it’s alright to say “I don’t know! Maybe we can both look it up and compare notes tomorrow,” or “why don’t we make that your assignment for tomorrow?”

I thought that because I was the master of the subject I teach, I could teach it with my eyes closed.  Never have I thought that there were complexities that would arise based on the different personalities of my wards, experiences based on the social strata where the students come from, demographics, among other things.  I would have to watch my language, make sure that my words are not too complicated and have to be within their learning level.  Most of all, I learned that teaching is like acting onstage.  You have to enunciate, make yourself interesting and be understood at all times. Otherwise, I will just be a blabber of inconsequentially irrelevant information.

I had to find ways of teaching the same concepts based on the age level of my students.  And this is not only because of the fact that I had to teach the same subject to students from Grs. 1 to 12.   That was the easy part.  The harder part was to teach it to the same Grade level, of practically the same age but of different learning levels for chronological age does not equate to the same learning ability.  I should make lessons that would not be too hard for slow learners but not too boring to the more intelligent ones.  

Another impression I had was that the students should learn how to accept what I was saying, hook, line and sinker.  I was wrong.  Most of my wards are just there because they have to. Society dictated that they have to be in school.  This is where I learned about the word “motivation”.  I should make my lessons appealable to these kids.  Short of begging them to do their tasks, I had to find ways that would make them work.  A teacher could not make a student learn.  Not by force or bribery. They have to “like” it like a candy appeals to them.  A teacher needs to make learning fun and that is a relative word.  Fun is not a word that has an accurate meaning.  It changes according to age. 

Another life learning lesson I have about teaching and which is probably the best one of them all is about respect.  One cannot demand respect, it shall be given to you, if you know how to play your cards right.  One cannot impose respect from another individual even from a toddler.  One has to earn it.  Try to impose getting respect from someone, you may be able to on the surface but this is all gone when you turn your back. 

I can go on and on but I know everything will lead to only one message.  The comparison between my pre-conceived ideas about teaching is very far from my actual experience in the classroom.  No one is prepared enough.  The challenge the classroom brings is limitless and change from time to time.  I have been teaching for nearly thirty years and in all those years, I still continue to learn.  Now that I am nearing retirement, I will not be ashamed to admit that I have spent half of my years of teaching as a learning phase just to know the ropes hoping that at least, one or two in my class learned something from me. 

The Visit

"The Visit"

Oil on Canvas

42" X 42"

Thom Daquioag, the latest GSIS overall winner in painting this year is the latest addition to the school. He is now the curator of the new Spark Museum of the school and also the coach of a number of students attending a special art class.  He invited me to join an exhibit sponsored by Galerie Anna and I complied.  This is the product of about a total of four days work which spanned two weeks because I am working only on weekends and during the time I got home from work.  Anyway, it is currently on exhibit at the Art Center of the SM Mega Mall and opened on Oct. 5 at 6 pm.   It will be on exhibit until Oct 19, 2013.  

Joining the big league

               When I received word from my colleague, Ms. Heidi Padua, asking if I were willing to be a part of LASSO (Lasallian Schools Supervision Organization), I just gave her a casual nod and a perfunctory wink, as I am wont to do thinking that was cute, but not knowing what I have gotten myself into, again.  Then as it really sank in, I said to myself, why not? I can squeeze one more assignment now that I am a little lax with my time.  This was not possible several years ago.  Not only was I a teacher and consequently an administrator, a weekend artist who has to paint and write if only for my own fulfillment, but most of all,  I am also a husband and a father to four growing teenagers with raging hormones. My children have all graduated now and have joined the work force as working class heroes finding their own niche.  So, yes, I do have some extra time.  It was then that I received a call from no less than the Luzon Superintendent verifying from me if I did give my nod. He gave me the name of the school I was to supervise and the name San Francisco stuck in my head.  “California? I was hoping you’d say USA,” I jested. 

                I attended the first Supervisor’s meeting on July 16, wearing an enthusiastic smile with my school uniform. Not knowing what to expect, I eagerly listened to what transpired during the meeting, making sense of what was going on and amazed that I was a part of that august body.   

                I had several qualms during my first visit at Nasugbu.  Nobody knew me from Adam as much as I did not know anyone from there.  All I knew was that the people running the school were a nun and a priest.  A nun for heaven’s sake!  I have grown up with them during grammar school.  I have good memories of them but perceiving them as the “authorities.” That somehow made me feel a tad uncomfortable knowing that I should always be at my best behavior or “I will hear from the Mother Superior!” 

                So, how does one start? Neither had there been an official endorsement coming from LASSO nor was there a turnover ceremony, albeit unceremonious but quite reassuring nonetheless.  So, armed with nothing but again what I perceive to be a charming smile and hopefully a pleasing personality, I introduced myself as the one replacing the former supervisor.  No, I was not asked for my credentials as I feared I would be.  Instead, I was welcomed wholeheartedly and pleasantly, I might add, by the people in charge.  We talked like comrades-in-arms who have not seen each other for a long time.  Smile turned to laughter and I was warming up.  I nonchalantly interviewed them, asked them what transpired during the month and what their plans were for the coming weeks.  We had lunch and a few hours thereafter, I was on my way with pasalubong in tow.  It was then that I knew, this endeavour will be pleasurable and I will be looking forward to my monthly visits.

                The school is very simple, rural and, to a point, nondescript to someone who looks for the intricate operations of a big school.    It does not know the hassles of bureaucracy that sometimes even stands in the way of progress.  It is run like how a mother runs her home.  She asks her children to help clean the furniture, sweep the floor, feed the cat and other mundane chores while she attends to the more important matters.  The school may be small for now but it has the entire community under its wings.  Parents help care for the school as much as the personnel do, for after all, it is where their children learn the intricacies of life.  It is quiet, its air fresh, surrounded by billowing clouds and vast land that  hides in fear from neither the sun nor moon.  Looking at the surroundings and the people with their unabashed, sincere smiles, I know that I am home.  

Last summer, I enrolled in a chinese painting class taught by Mr. Caesar Chen.  My purpose was basically to discipline my hand and have a more fluid and simple composition. In this class, I learned about the four gentlemen in Chinese painting, notably plums, orchids and the bamboo.  There is still a lot to be desired but these are some of the products of that class.

 Composition 1

This is my first try to paint on a round canvas.  It was a lot of fun but it did have its unique challenge, especially when painting the edges. This is also the one where I thought of incorporating the well defined hand(s) in my succeeding paintings.

The Seductress
Oil on Canvas
30 X 30
(Cynthia C. Alberto)

I am particularly proud of this one.  I have incorporated a detailed face of a woman.  Something I have not been doing before.  I have always been more at ease with drawing male faces, if ever I did faces.  Too bad I took the picture with my ipad on poor lighting.  It is much more beautiful in the original than this one.  

How Time Flies

I couldn't be any happier.I have been blessed!

Twenty years ago, I was a young father taking my first child to school. While I was not a really a nervous wreck, still, I was a bit jittery thinking how my daughter would cope in a new environment.  Added to that is the pressure of knowing that she was only staying in her classroom, safe under the care of a teacher, for half the day and will be spending the other half waiting for me in my office (that included having to stay late for meetings).   I was at a loss at what I should do. I have to work and at the same time take care of my kid.  Like any normal Filipino parent, my first option was to order  her to sleep the afternoon away sans the usual motivation parents say to their young children,  "sleep so you can grow faster."  And yet, I couldn't.  I never believed it as a toddler anyway. So, I let her be, left her there to study her lessons, if she would.

My eldest daughter was the one who experienced having to commute the long ride from my home to school which was about more than an hour away. She would amuse herself by singing songs not ordinarily sang by girls her age to the amusement of fellow commuters. I remember her singing songs I often listened to like songs from the Swing Out Sisters, Basia and all those jazz performers, and Lisa Loeb.  The rainy season was the worst. We, together with other teachers who lived in the same area, would queue in Edsa, waiting for a jeepney. The mornings were lighter as we rode with a neighbor up until EDSA, take a bus from there going to Magallanes from where we rode the school bus..    There was a time when the public bus we were riding lost its brakes and collided with another bus.  I wasn't fast enough to hold my daughter at the sudden impact and she bumped her head on a railing.  She suffered a lump on her head. But as a true trooper, she never cried.  Nevertheless, I couldn't help getting angry at myself having allowed that to happen.   The following year, we bought our first car, would you believe,  a super old Taunus.  I would like to make believe that it was an old vintage car and have other people thinking I was a young Don Corleone.  But who was I kidding? It was nothing but just plain old - antiquated valueless piece of junk body and engine!  As the saying goes, "Beggars cannot be choosy" and I was just lucky we had a ride.  The good thing about it was that I was just learning how to  drive.  So, the greatest advantage was that  if the other drivers could not get out of my way fast enough, I will let them hit that old junk of a car which was solid as steel and feel sorry for their vehicle! I had nothing to lose.

Anyway, two years after, it was my second child's turn to be in school.  What I remember vividly during the first  day was that I couldn't find him when I picked him up.  Guess where I found him - up on a tree hanging up there like a monkey.  As the years rolled by, and before it hit me,  the third one was already hopping into the car on the way to school with breakfast in tow. Another two more years after, the last one joined us. I now had full custody of my four kids answerable for their safety to a wife who would undoubtedly raise hell and high water should any of them got hurt.

 Each of  them had different complications. The second began to take up violin lessons and boy did he practice.  Every time it was time to go home, I just had to listen and trace from where that "Mary had a little Lamb" or "Long, Long Ago" tune was coming from and voila! There he was. It was not, as the saying goes, all for naught.  He became the concert master in school, the only guy from CSB who auditioned for the DLSU orchestra, got in and even became its concert master, too.  My wife and I made sure that the whole family watched every performance he had which continued even when he finished college.

The third one was a cute darling.  Our young actress, she was the diplomat who could charm her way and before you knew it, you would practically end up begging to offer what  she wanted to have.  There were two incidents that got me and my wife crying of laughter when she was in the lower grades.  Both instances involved her teachers, her assignment vs. her wits.  I could no longer recall the exact chronological order of these two events but I think the first one was when she was in grade 1.  She was supposed to bring a bottle that had a sprouting mongo seed which she planted, watered and took care of.  Come presentation day, she forgot the same.  Fearing to get a failing mark, she took a bottle displayed by the window and had it checked by the teacher.  Voila! a 90!  The second time was when she was when she forgot the handouts in a subject.  What happened was the teacher asked them to read their handout silently.  When she couldn't find the handout, again, fearing that she would be scolded, took out another handout for another subject and pretended to read.  She got away again.  My wife and I were unanimous of not scolding her. In life, one has to live with cunning sometimes.  We knew she was a survivor and we cannot fault her for that.

Another two more years and the last one joined her. Again, the remaining two had more time on their hands as they had to stay in the office the whole afternoon.  What would children their age do when an elder is away? Play! They would hide underneath the sofa and play until they got tired and fell asleep. I never knew what their sleeping arrangement was for it was a small sofa that I had in my room.  They hinted at it a few weeks ago as we were on our way home after I picked them up coming from different locations. One was sleeping underneath. Presumably the youngest.

Now, the youngest is all brawn and a little  rough on the edges. He is the politician in the family.  While his siblings outgrew the need to hang out with friends, he was the one who went out of  the house to join the neighborhood rascals.  He is the sportsman who was good at any sport he got interested in.   He has more tricks and shenanigan ways than the rest of the three combined.  When he was about 5 years old and was in Sr. Prep school, a co-teacher approached me to complain that he scratched her car.  I apologized and offered to have the scratch fixed. She said it was alright as she understood boys.  What a relief that was.  I did not know where to get money to have that fixed.  Another time was when another teacher told me that she caught my son getting into a fight with a friend the day before.  He was caught holding a rock in his hand . She immediately asked the two to break it  and make up.  It would have been a real nightmare if he had caused injury at the time.  Well, in fairness to my youngest, he was like a precious stone which was very coarse and an uneven surface that had to be polished.  Well, I think we did.  Soon he will prove to be a diamond beginning to sparkle after it has been cleaned.  Still a little rough on some edges but hopefully would turn out to be  flawless in the end.

I carried  the four  of them for a total of eighteen years.  For all those years, I could hardly be on my own enjoying the company of friends after work.  How could I?  I had to take them home to the wife who, by the time we got there, had already prepared dinner and ready to help me carry each one of them into the house as they were fast asleep.  It was as if I was sentenced for life for a crime I did not commit.  I was young  and still full of hormones enough to last drinking sessions until the wee hours of the morning.  This was the reason why I reveled at the time when there were no classes and none of them was with me.

And then, one by one, they left.

As the front seat was vacated by the elder, the younger one took over until no one was left.  How time flies and it flew very fast.  All of them had graduated college and are now working.   The eldest is now the manager of two branches (with another one coming up sometime in August) of a hair salon originally from Canada, after a long stay with a car company as a Marketing Specialist.  The second one, while still engaged in his love for music, resigned from his present company, a well-known communications provider,  because he has decided to join his friends in putting up their own business.  He is just finishing the 30-day notice.  The third one is now a sales agent for another car company and is doing good with her sales.  The last one is working as well.  He is one helluva good looking dude as he goes to the office in a suit! He currently works for a company that recruits and hires executives for other companies whom he interviews.

Lastly, we have finished paying the mortgage for the house and the car we bought last year.  Now, we are looking to purchase another property maybe out there in Tagaytay or any nearby town for our retirement.  It mas still remain a dream but we have dreamt big before and we saw its fruition.  Why not dream another big one again?

Yes, time flies so fast I don't know where it went but I sure have all these  memories up in my head.  The good and the bad ones, the happy and the sad.  All I can say is that in all the times we have been together, I never had to talk (and I would not have) with their teachers to ask for favors and cut them some slack.  As a matter of fact, I managed to let them be, have them come to a school as if I didn't work there and have them experience the closest they could that normal children whose parents are off working somewhere else had.    I am proud that in spite of my shortcomings, I, together with my wife, am able to raise my kids the way we wanted to.  The test of time whether or not we were successful in raising them is not yet over.  We will have to see how they will be as parents themselves.  And yet, half of the battle has been won.  From the looks of it, we have done a fairly good job!

I am happy!

Look Ma, They're singing my song!

I have never missed my mom more than today when they performed the song  I wrote for this year's retirees.  These retirees have been working for our organization with an average of 25 years altogether.  One of them has served for 41 years even.  Talk about commitment.

Marites Panaligan, who did the music and with whom I have already written two songs earlier, just by sheer magic, once again read my mind and wrote the melody just like the way I wanted it written.  After we had composed the song, we talked about selecting who to sing the song and we were unanimous in choosing another music teacher, Ms. Marce Flores, who sings with passion and intense emotion, to sing the song.

Anyway, the reason I miss my mom is because the song is written in her genre.  Yes, she sang kundimans, a type of Filipino love song which is more like a serenade. My mother used to sing with my aunt in a radio show (that was way before the tv was invented) and would probably even sing songs my grandfather wrote (he was a judge, a violinist and a composer although I have yet to see a single song that survived.  My grandfather died when my grandmother was carrying my mother in her womb). 

Anyway, hoping that I could keep a copy of the performance, I am posting it here.  And here it goes:
my song

Painting and other things

Once again, school is about to start.  I  have been going to school regularly since last week for the new teachers pre-service training.  I even hosted one of the sessions with the new teachers.  It has been a tight schedule ever since.

I have started taking up Chinese painting with Mr. Ceasar Cheng who holds classes at the 4th floor every Saturdays at the Fully Booked in Taguig.  It is a wonderful experience and I am beginning to paint in a different style which is more spontaneous but clear and impressionistic way.

My thinking is that Chinese painting would liberate my inhibitions with paint, especially, with watercolor,  which to my observation of the masters like Alvaro Castagnet, is more impressionistic than anything else.  I have always been bound to fuzz on too much detail when doing watercolor and I don't like what I have been doing with the medium so far.  With Chinese painting, I become more loose with the medium and hopefully, would see things more in a painterly way.  Should I learn to do what I have set out to do, I would probably have the guts to join my former classmate, Buds Convocar, and his group the Philippine Plein Air Painters Association, who meets every last Sunday of the month for a painting session.

I have been painting in oil more frequently now.  While I am still developing my style, I think I am making progress towards that goal of perfecting my art.  I have now incorporated detailed hand(s) on my work and probably a face to suggest the importance of these two functions in our lives.  I still do not know where this will take me but I am going ahead with this plan.  I kind of like what I am seeing so far.  Given a few more months, I will master a technique and develop my own style.

I have also written my third song which I collaborated with Ms. Tess Panaligan who did the music and the arrangement of the song.  This song is for the retirees this year. In my mind, I would like to peek into the minds of those who are about to retire.  What would it be like when after a long period of time, suddenly, everything shall stop?  Will it be a sad event knowing that you will be stepping for the last time on the grounds of the institution you have learned to love? Will it be a sad moment knowing that you will be set apart from your friends? Your friends who have shared your glories in the past and those who have witnessed you at your most vulnerable moment?  Or will it be a joyous occasion knowing that it will be a cessation of a seemingly invisible bondage?

My idea of the song is that to an outsider, retirement would seem like an end.   Using the usual imagery of dusk and dawn to signify renewal and death, I opined that no matter what time of day, they share the same face.  It will be upon those that perceive the fading out or fading in of  the sun to make what they think of the spectacular view of either sunrise or sunset.  The song goes like this:

Paalam muna mga kaibigan

I

ang sabi mo'y takip silim

ang tingin ko'y bukang-liwayway

habang puso ko’y naninimdim

sumusukong pakaway-kaway

II

oo nga't ako’y palisan na

at kayo nama'y paroon pa

malayo pa ang dapit hapon

ng aking buhay na sinisinta

 III

di pa’ko titingin sa mga bituin

habol sa aninong likha ng dilim

nais kong inyong pakaisipin

meron pang talang pwede kong abutin

refrain

 masdan nyo’t iisa ang mukha

ng dapit hapon at  madaling araw

di ba’t pareho lang agaw dilim?

pahupa man o sisilay pa lamang

ang araw ay muling isisilang

tulad kong hihiwalay sa kadiliman

 IV

oo nga’t heto na’t dumating

at umiba na ng tutunguhin

sana nama’y di malimutan

halakhak, luha na aking iiwan

 V.

Paalam muna mga kaibigan

Maliit lang ang mundong ginagalawan

Pasasaan ba’t tayo’y magkikita

Kung hindi man dito  o ngayon

Maaaring bukas sa dako pa roon.

For those who do not speak Tagalog like my American friends, I did a very loose translation and it goes like this: 

So long for now my friend

I

You say sunset

I see sunrise

My heart is crestfallen

As I wave goodbye

II

Though I am leaving soon

And you’re still finding your way

Twilight is still a distance away

In my seemingly exhausted life

 III

I won’t be staring at the moon just yet,

Running after shadows created by its glow

All I ask from you is remember

There's a star I still have yet to reach

Refrain

Notice that dawn and dusk

Share the same face

They both exude partial darkness.

Whether the sun is setting

Or is just about to take a peek

The sun shall be born again

Just like me who shall rise  from the dark

 IV

I know the time has come

For me to change my course

I hope you won’t forget

Laughter and tears I shall leave behind

 V.

Farewell for now my friends

We live in such a small world

I know we shall meet again

If not here or now

Maybe tomorrow in a faraway land

Never been as pissed!

Last night, my son, Mickey, played violin in a concert... sort of.  There is this group of companies to which his organization, a telecommunication provider called SMART, owned by a guy named Manny V. Pangilinan and every year, they have this MVPO (O for Olympics) where each company sends in delegates for competition.  This yearly event is culminated in a concert where delegates from all the companies perform at the Meralco Theater. They have a beauty pageant, a spin off from American Idol and lastly, a British Got Talent type of show.  Anyway, Mickey was chosen by his company to perform in the last category.  He was quite happy because the company gave him some cash for his get up.  Since Kim is a fashion stylist, he asked her to dress him up and she did help her Kuya to prepare for the performance. 

Last night was the big night and there we were, seated at the aisles as we arrived late and the theater was filled to the brim, eagerly awaiting for his turn.  All the companies sent in a huge delegation.  The first one, PLDT, did the opening act of The Lion King, the second was a group who sang Lady Gaga's Born this Way but with a different twist, a mixture of arrangement from a Jazzy tune a la Manhattan Transfer and all the that... Everything was going fine and everyone was having a good time.  Until, I saw a lone figure with a violin. Okay, picture me and my wife, holding our breaths, excited.  I put my iPad on record and aimed it at him so that I wouldn't miss a note, especially those bends and slurs and vibratos I hear when I heard him practicing a day before.  He was introduced.. and I was thinking, here goes...He started to play... but after a few notes, the lapel mike attached to his violin started to malfunction.  He kept on playing.  I was waiting for anyone, the judges, the organizer, anyone, to stop the performance, fix the technical problem and have him play again.  After all, it was, albeit a friendly competition, still a competition, right? Nada!  They let him perform like that with the audio problems.  I was devastated!  Kim who was seated not far from us was shouting "AGAIN! AGAIN!" to no avail.  I wanted to go to the technical crew and shout at them, strangle the technical director but I restrained myself.  I had never been a stage father.  I let my children deal with their own problems to prepare them for life.  But I am really pissed off.  I know how it could be frustrating to practice hard and perform and for naught.  I never expected him to win considering the kind of judges ( a movie director/writer, an actress and a gay columnist) and the type of crowd who were just there to have a good time. His performance is not the type who will lord it over the typical sing and dance routine and magic, but I would have wanted him to have a fighting chance nonetheless even if it were only for bragging rights ( I have always been competitive, I guess).

During the interview portion, one of the judges jokingly said, "I think someone sabotaged your performance! But I liked what you did with the arrangement of that Rolling in the Deep song. While I hardly heard most of the song, I loved it." 

Oh well, here I go ranting again about one of my children's misfortune.  The good thing is Mickey's fine with it. He said he already won with that  garment package. hahaha. Well, if he's happy, I am.  Especially knowing that he did his best.  He told me he did not miss a single note and knowing my son and his gestures onstage, I know he didn't and I am proud of him no matter what.  Congratulations, my son!

The World Is Yours to Conquer

One of the greatest obligations parents have towards their children is giving them a good education.  My wife and I produced four and we are proud to say that half of our obligation to our children is now complete. To some people, it would seem like we have accomplished what we ought to do rearing four children.  However, I believe that graduation from college is not the end of our obligations.  The true test will have to wait until they become parents themselves and what they would become in the future.

Today marks a very important day in our lives as parents with our youngest having finished college.  Not only that.  On his own volition, he applied for a job at the Philippine Airlines and got accepted.  We don't exactly know what it is he is going to do at the company but he has his eyes on being a flight attendant eventually. Neither my wife nor I have interfered with our children's choices.  All we want is for them is to finish their studies, get a stable job and live life happily.

With all our children employed and working, we can rest assured that they will be okay come what may as they will be self-sufficient. While I know we will come to their beck and call at anytime they may need our help, we know that they will persevere.  We think we reared them to be independent as early as grammar school. WE never pampered them. We never even helped them with their assignments once they reached puberty. 

AS I have said to his older siblings, I say this again to our youngest, Coby.  The world is at your feet and life will be good to you if you treat it right.  Always strive to be happy.  This cannot be had with material riches (although it will make life easier) or extreme want for anything worldly.  Often, this too much wanting only turns to greed.  What you have to do is to live honestly and simply while aspiring only for the best.  Aim high and keep trying until you get what you want.  Be proud with your accomplishments sans the arrogance.  Make sure that every task you set out to do is accomplished well.  Always have a clear head and keep your feet planted on the ground.  

At any rate, we congratulate you for a job well done.  We love you very much. 

my latest creations

"The Struggle"  

Oil on canvas  

20" X 30"

I just completed this one last Sunday.  I have been trying to incorporate texture into my style by using impasto technique (thick layers of paint)  on some portions.  

Tess and I have done it again. We completed another song this time for a visiting Brother from Mexico.  The thing is while he hails from Mexico, he has also stayed in Japan for more than three years.  Hence, he speaks three languages, English, Spanish and Japanese.  My idea was to incorporate all these languages into one song.  English for the body, Spanish for the refrain and a counterpoint of Japanese towards the end.  I plan to also incorporate guitar works especially for the refrain so that it would have a hispanic air.  It came out okay. I hope he will like it when we finally perform it for him when he leaves in March.  We'll see...

A new year, a new beginning

A new beginning.  That has always been what I wanted every start of the year. However, all these years, it seems like nothing much have improved.  No that may be not true at all from the viewpoint of outsiders. If I am to look for changes, there has been a lot but they come unnoticed.  There's the renovation of the house, the new car (well, although not brand new, it is a far much better car than the ones I've been getting), the kids, except for the youngest, are working now.  Really, there are so much to thank for but still, I am not satisfied.  There is this hunger for more personal improvement I have to contend with.

Last year was by far one of the luckiest years for personal growth.  It was last year that I got to travel to the States, first in LA, then a few days after, San Francisco where I also experienced the first hassle at an airport. Next stop was in Ladner, BC in Canada and be reunited with Arlene's daughter, Trudy and her family and visit Arlene's grave before I went to my final destination, Kaslo to be reunited with my niece, Romella Moss.  It was also my first to travel by bus in Canada. A long drive across the Canadian Rockies, all ten hours or so of mountains and rivers from Vancouver to Nelson where I was picked up by Romella and her family, Laurie and Cez.  It was a wonderful trip, full of experiences and getting to know other people.

This was also the year that I managed to publish an anthology book of students' artworks.  It turned out good although the sale wasn't.  For some weird reason or another, I am amazed that not all parents are excited seeing their child's work in print.  What it tells me is that these parents do not appreciate the Arts and probably find it superficial, if not totally a waste of time.  They do not see the importance of the subject and would rather join the mainstream of pounding their children with a lot of Math, Science and English, subjects that most academicians themselves find more important.  Well, if I am to look at the list of prospective buyers, I have had at least 130 orders for the book except that majority of these orders failed to pay when I announced that payment could already be done at the accounting office.  (Brother Dennis wanted the project to pay for itself and decided that it will be pre-sold before going to ptint)  It may be due to the fact that they are just waiting for the actual book before paying.  I will have to show them the book on my return but only after I have distributed all copies that have been paid.  I am still short of about Php56,000.   It's a good thing that Broden bailed me out.

This was also the year that I saw and heard one of my works being sung.  Yes, my first song!  What happened was I was approached by Gladys who asked me to compose a song for Broden's birthday.  I talked to Tess and asked her what she had in mind.  Come vacation time, after several days of imagining the lyrics, the form and content of the composition, I finally sat down on Dec 29 and after a few hours came up with my first draft.  Several more hours of poring over the song, I decided to finalize it.   Yesterday, Dec 5, at around 10:20, I met with her and the chorale and heard the song being practiced.  Well, it came out okay.  Next project, a musicale with Tess.  A very big project and very ambitious but I can make this happen.

I think I have done at least 5 paintings this year.  Three of them are in Canada now.  The other will be on exhibit at the Lasallian Congress at DLSU.  It is to open next week, if I am not mistaken.  

Looking forward to what will happen in 2013.