My Socially Constructed Reality

Every night, a local network airs a frustrating game show -- DEAL OR NO DEAL. It's a game show created by a Dutch-based company, Endemol, the same company that created the concept of Big Brother game show. I've tried watching several episodes of DEAL OR NO DEAL. And every time I watch, I feel that the station doesn't want any player to win. The station doesn't want to make the contestants happy. Imagine, for two consecutive nights, players have been so desperate that they got low amounts -- P30 and P250 respectively for the last two contestants. Oh well, I can't blame the station, nor the so-called "banker." -- some players are so eager or maybe hopeful to bring home a large amount -- a million or so. But not accepting the deal makes the players feel so disappointed because they end up with few centavos to bring to their families. Last night, Kris Aquino, the host, had to apologize to the celebrity-player for being so disappointed for getting P250...

No PB; no increase; nothing; tons of works to do. Sometimes I feel like quitting. It's so surprising why nobody around seems to ask why . . . I'm not used to this kind of environment. It's difficult to shut up when you know you don't get what you deserve. I know I'm not a mediocre worker, and I don't just sit and do nothing the whole day. Should I not be given a chance to ask WHY? On the other hand, SPIRAL OF SILENCE is working. I couldn't voice out my opinion since nobody else does. How pathetic. Work like you're blind and deaf. Work like losing this job means losing your life. NO WAY! Maybe there's a right time and right venue. I am searching for a clue from the immediate boss but she's totally clueless. Well...

Classes were suspended for a couple of days due to continuous rains caused by typhoon Glenda. Until now, elementary and high school students still have no classes. For college students, particularly here at AUF, today (supposedly last Monday) is the start of the three-day preliminary exams.

I couldn't believe it. My ABMC III students couldn't spell simple words like OCCASION, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, Alzheimer's disease, surveillance, ACCOMMODATION, vogue, GRAFFITI, epitome, argument, ALLOTTED, etc. I had Comm10a (EDITING) class yesterday, 5-6:30 p.m. We were talking about ACCURACY in Newswriting -- ACCURACY in terms of spelling, of story details like people's names, of dealing with trademarks when writing, etc. Then I thought of testing how good they are in spelling. I asked them to spell 25 commonly misspelled words. (Right minus wrong answers) And I was surprised because most of them got a score of less than 1 (negative). I actually was supposed to skip spelling test because I thought that kind of test would just be a waste of time. I was assuming they knew how to spell simple words correctly. I was surprised with the result. Really. I realized I have to do something about their spelling weakness... They need a spelling booklet if they want to survive ...

Teacher: Why is communication important? (A student raised his hand) Student: Ma'am, communication is important because we always interact with people. We are very communicable. :-)

A FORWARDED E-MAIL WORTH PUBLISHING: When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her. -Sacha Guitry By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. -Socrates The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, "What does a woman want? -Sigmund Freud Two secrets to keep your marriage perfect 1. Whenever you're wrong, admit it, 2. Whenever you're right, shut up. -Nash A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong. -Milton Berle First Guy (proudly): "My wife's an angel!" Second Guy "You're lucky, mine's still alive."

Prelim exam starts on Monday and ends on Wednesday -- that's the sked for the GE subjects. For the first time, I am not busy preparing test papers for English 1 or English 4. Finally, I don't have to teach English subjects. This sem, I don't have any English subject to teach to students from other colleges. But I got five professional subjects -- five subjects, four preparations. Okay lang. I still think that is better than having two or three preparations but dealing with non-Mass Comm. students. ********************************************************** I wanted so much to attend the Cinemalaya Film Congress but I couldn't just leave my class. I even wanted my third year MC students to attend the conference but the university has a policy that no seminar or affair should be conducted before and after the exam week. Besides, I didn't have enough time to process the papers needed prior to attending conferences/ seminars. Sayang. **************************...

Things have never been so good lately. First, my daughter has to be brought to the pediatrician because of minor skin problem. Then, my son had to be brought to a doctor for suturing of a three-cm cut on his head. Then last weekend, I had cough and flu. All those health problems made me realize that the best thing we could have is good health. Everything suffers at the absence of good health. Pag may sakit, sira ang quality time with family, sira ang budget, sira ang plans for the week. Plus, I couldn't hug and kiss my kids when I am sick. Mahirap talaga. Mas mahirap naman pag ang mga bata ang may sakit. It hurts me so much to see the kids cry of pain. But one thing is sure: these health problems made me think that God is just waiting for me to call on him. I realized that only my faith can save me at the end of the day. I must thank God my family and I are all healthy now. Well, I expect to experience more pain --- labor pain when I give birth. Iyon na naman ang kin...

1. Wicked Web just closed last month. Everything happened so fast. My aunt felt bad about spending so much and not earning from Dennis' management of the Internet Cafe. The computers were now sold. Beth expects a goodwill of P300,000 or more since Vien didn't finish the 7-year contract. Wicked Web existed only for about 18 months. Well... that's destiny-- it's life. 2. ISPEL SEX and KITIL, the documentary productions of my ABMC students batch 2006, won in the National Filmmaking Contest sponsored by Pro-Life and National Commission for Culture and the Arts. We attended the awarding ceremony at St. Paul University in Quezon City on June 30. 3. I didn't enroll this trimester. I want to focus on finishing the MOdule ENGLISH WITH NEWSPAPER which I am doing with Sir Umaly. (I want to finish it this sem!) 4. Another reason for not enrolling: I got tired of professors who don't really care. They just get our class cards, give us research works, give us ...

I haven't blogged for quite a while. I miss blogging. I truly miss writing. I couldn't find time to blog because of tons of works to do.