THIS IS NOT A POEM

Time indeed is way too busy being time. It doesn't even mind that it has left me behind. I slept last night and woke up this morning, and suddenly realized that there’s no more waiting. For the days they zoomed to make up months. Twelve months to a year, oh how time flies! And now I’m here, wondering why I try my best to make these lines rhyme. Guess you’ll agree with me if I say that it seems like yesterday when the last one came our way. But this time I really hope my wish comes true at last. Fate please allow me 'coz I already have a pass! In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, oh it's nothing just a book fair, the biggest one we've got. It runs for five days; this year's starts today. Its name's MIBF, Manila International Book Fair. 

Haay, mukhang malabo na namang makapunta ako. Tsk tsk. 

THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: MINIONS

THE CHAOS (ðə ˈkeɪɒs)

It's always a blessing to learn something new, may it be as life-changing as discovering your true calling or as trivial as knowing why Bluetooth is called as such. And while many of us sometimes get temporarily blinded when we find ourselves caught up in life's noise and haste, there's still a "chaos" that is worth getting a glimpse of.

I'm talking about "The Chaos," a poem "demonstrating the irregularity of English spelling and pronunciation" written by Dutch poet Gerard Nolst Trenité (1870-1946), under the pen name Charivarius. It first served as the appendix to his textbook's fourth edition in 1920, Drop Your Foreign Accent: engelsche uitspraakoefeningen (English pronunciation exercises), but is now known to have a dozen versions. 

I'm no native English speaker, so I can absolutely say that this poem is a revelation -- that the pronunciations of words I thought were correct are actually incorrect, like of the word "indict" and the others in blue text color. So for the fun of it, I'm challenging you to read this "modernized, abbreviated version" of the original poem aloud, then check if your pronunciations are right by watching the YouTube video below. Let's see how you will fare.

The Chaos

by Gerard Nolst Trenite

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it's written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation's OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then say singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.

Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

Pronunciation -- think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won't it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It's a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.

Finally, which rhymes with enough --
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give it up!

AT THE END OF THE WORLD...

At the end of the world
I will be there with you
And we'll throw a party to celebrate
The things we used to do

Like living life, breathing air
Running your fingers through my hair
Oh, this isn't fair

At the end of the world
I will hold you so close
So we won't notice the destruction
Of all we used to know

We will close our eyes
As the waters rise
We'll float away and you will say
"Oh, isn't this nice?"

Ah, at the end of the world
We'll be together, be together
Ah, if I can spend it with you
Then the end of the world don't matter at all

At the end of the world
We will kiss for the last time
And we won't feel the earth collapse into
A mess of flood and fire

We'll be making love
As the sky above falls down over us
We'll be the luckiest ones

At the end of the world
I will be there with you
And we'll throw a party to celebrate
The things we used to do

At the end of the world
I will be there with you
And we'll throw a party to celebrate
The things we used to do

 

So strange. This song kept playing in my head all day.

 

(Lenka's "End Of The World". Lyrics from azlyrics.com.

SO TRUE!



Got this off a book I stumbled on in a bookstore the other day. Yeah, hooray for books with no plastic cover that always pick my curiousity! I did not take note of the book's title, but I'm quite sure the author's a Filipino. Just thought of sharing it here.

 

Whaddaya say?

TOGETHER... FOREVER?

While fate has been confining me in this lovelorn state, I do find it a genuinely happy thing to see people in love, may it be in person or on TV. I look at their faces and see them glow with inexplicable happiness. I listen to them utter words of promises to their special someone and I can sense the sincerity in them. I've always believed that such kind of love is bound to last. They must be really lucky to have found each other, I think to myself, only to find out later that the glow between them has petered out and the promises of forever are broken. Now I wonder, where has all of that lovely feeling gone?

Well, whether we like it or not, finding "the one" requires trial and error (though the romantic side of me insists on only one try and no error). Yes, it is saddening to hear of breakups, but it is oftentimes needed that men and women encounter a number of tries before finally finding that someone meant for them, or in the language of sentimentals, their "soul mate."

A soul mate, as the ever-reliable Wikipedia says, in current usage refers to "a romantic partner, with the implication of an exclusive life-long bond." Personally speaking, I don't believe that the word should always be attributed as such. Well, your best bud can be your soul mate, so is your mother or your sister, or anyone with whom you have a deep bond. So, in that sense, I think all of us have a soul mate, maybe even more than one.

Nevertheless, I can't help but be interested when my brother told me about this YouTube video explaining the Chinese philosophy on why wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger.

Cool, eh?

(Image from here)

WAITING IN LINE...

"Never compare your love story with those in the movies, because they are written by scriptwriters. Yours is written by God."

Dig the irony: Found this quote off someone's blog while Natasha Bedingfield's "Soulmate" was playing in the background. Haizt!

(Image from here)

GIRL POWER-INSPIRED ART

(If this post were something tangible, this would have been long covered with dust. Good thing it was not. However, being back-burnered in the Draft section for over a year, with me realizing it just recently, is something I now consider a mortal sin. And so I think publishing it (at long last) is the right thing to do. Ah, what a relief!Haha.)

Curiousity indeed is "the starting point of knowledge." One never runs out of new things to learn as long as the inquisitive mind finds its way to asking "what's out there?"

Such is what I and my chum Joja proved to ourselves when it was finally obvious that we had nowhere else to go, having "toured" around the TriNoma and SM North EDSA malls that late afternoon. Passing the uppermost level of the TriNoma mall for the umpteenth time, we noticed this alfresco area which turned out to be a mini park filled with lush trees and plants.

An added attraction was the fountain at the center. But a more prepossessing sight were these art installations in primary colors, strategically placed just a few steps outside the glass windows where folks can see them then and there.



A brief description of the art exhibit says that the artist, Filipino veteran sculptor Jose "Joe" Mendoza, fashioned his sculptures out of steel, which is deemed a "challenge" for him. In pursuit of looking into new mediums, he stressed that it will never be too late to do so.

According to its Web site, the Ayala Museum, in partnership with the Ayala Malls, has also curated public art installations at the Glorietta 4 Park, Glorietta 3, Greenbelt 5, Market! Market! Central plaza, Bonifacio High Street, and Marquee Mall made by artists Rachy Cuna, Lor Calma, Tam-Awan's Jed Alangui and Jordan Mang-osan, Bernardo Pacquing, and Norman Tiotuico. Collectively called the ArtPark, the six exhibits' aim is to bring art closer to the public.

Curious eh? Try dropping by the Ayala Malls to take a look at these art installations. You're sure to learn something new, take it from me.

ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON

I took a trip to the nearest nail salon and had my toenails (yep, just my toenails) painted with GREEN nail polish! Haha. First time! It's not the for-special-occasions red! It's neither the usual, safe colorless! Hooray for this newfound courage! Next will definitely be bright blue.

A-DORY-BLE

Dory: "Hey Mr. Grumpy Gills...When life gets you down do you wanna know what you gotta do?"
Marlin: "I don't wanna know what you gotta do."
Dory: "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."

Forgetful Dory! This newest addition to the list of my favorite movie characters just made the cut the other day, as it was just that day that I finally had the chance to watch the movie Finding Nemo in full. It's a bit embarrassing I know, considering that my much younger cousins already knew its story by heart long before they have entered school.

Brave, well-meaning and very funny even without trying to be, that's Dory. How I wish I was like her: always willing to let go of her apprehensions and trust in The Process, that whatever happens she will come out just fine. Well, I think I just need to pat myself on the back and say, "Keep swimming, dude. Just keep swimming."

DREAM PUSHERS VS DREAM STEALERS

Dream pushers are the kind of people you should surround yourself with.

They are like the correctly numbered dots in connect-the-dots drawings, properly guiding a child in his early attempt to draw basic things.

They are like the shady trees that provide a person shield from the stifling heat of the sun while walking outdoors, giving him a brief but much-needed comfort to be able to go where he wants to go.

They are like brochures that detail the specifications of a popular, newly released smartphone, priming a prospective buyer before he actually spends his hard-earned money to purchase it.

And they are like the gunshot that signals the start of a race, letting the runners know that they have to begin going forward and aim for the win. That with their sincere words of encouragement you gain faith in yourself and in your goals, and the will to succeed supersedes the fear of not making it.

Dream stealers, on the other hand, are the kind of people you should never get near to.

They are like your umbrella peppered with numerous small holes, that instead of being protected from the pouring rain, you get soaked up.

They are like the user manual of your spanking new, top-of-the-line DSLR camera that turns out to be written in a language you barely understand, rendering you disappointment with buying the gadget and confusion as to how to operate it.

And they are like quicksand you accidentally step into and swallows you up, and the more you struggle to get out, the deeper you dig yourself into it. That with their conscious effort to make you feel bad about yourself and your aspirations, you lose sight of the track you must get into, and the fear of not making it obscures the will to succeed.

It is not always easy to spot dream pushers from dream stealers. But you have to realize that in your hands lies what will become of yourself; you can't blame other people if you fail albeit you should be grateful to those who inspire you to continue treading the path to success.

(Image from here)

MY TWO-WEEK ONE-ENTRY-PER-DAY CHALLENGE IS...

Nah, I don't even want to say the word; let's just use the less harsh description "unaccomplished." My excuses? I mean, my reasons? Er, if you have read the post that serves as this "personal grail's" introduction, you'll know the answers yourself.

Still and all, I feel quite relieved with the fact that I was able to blog for consecutive days (*be positive, be positive* ringing in my head). Remembering how I fretted about what to write next after just posting my second entry makes me laugh at myself now. Pathetic me.

And so, to cap this one off, let me have this space to thank my ever-supportive follower and ever-staunch taga-comment (raise your hand, you know who you are, haha).

(This one's too short, sorry. Prepping up for the New Year celebration. Happy New Year!)

DAY 14: SEASON'S GREETINGS!

There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries. -- W. J. Cameron

May we all have a joyous Christmas! Have fun everyone!

DAY 13: HAIKU NO. 9

JUST DO IT!
You have things to do,
oftentimes you think you can't.
When will you do them?

DAY 9: MY FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH

I know I would never be able to come across this great and enormously influential (personally speaking) novel if it were not because of a dear friend who was generous enough to send me an ebook version of The Phantom Tollbooth earlier this year (indeed, thank you, Cath!). Curiously, I was made into one of its lucky readers and fans exactly half a century after the book was first published. See, it is never too late to discover wonderful things.

For me, The Phantom Tollbooth is all about appreciation of the world around us and knowing what really matters in life. Anyone would surely love and enjoy the allegories and the jokes peppered throughout the novel. Also, following the story of Milo and his trusted friend Tock as they make a tour from Doldrums to the Forest of Sight to the Valley of Sound and up to the Castle in the Air, meeting new friends and valuable experiences along the way, is like traveling to one's own enlightenment. This is truly a must-read for children of all ages.

I don't have a thorough review of the book. But what I have below is a list of my favorite The Phantom Tollbooth quotes.


"What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do." -- Princess of Pure Reason

"So many things are possible as long as you don't know they're impossible." -- King Azaz, Mathemagician

"Think of all the trouble it saves ... If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing...." -- Trivium, on being a monster of habit.

"You must never feel badly about doing mistakes... as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons." -- Princess of Pure Reason

"...But it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters." -- Princess of Sweet Rhyme

"Whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes around the world; when a speck of dust falls to the ground, the entire planet weighs a little more; and when you stomp your foot, the earth moves slightly off its course. Whenever you laugh, gladness spreads like ripples in a pond; and whenever you're sad, no one anywhere can be really happy. And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer. And remember also that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow." -- Princess of Sweet Rhyme

"...There's a lot to see everywhere, if only you keep your eyes open." -- Alec Bings

"A sound which is not heard disappears forever and is not to be found again." -- writer, one of the marchers at the Valley of Sound

"A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect." -- Humbug

"While it is wrong to use too few (words), it is often far worse to use too many." -- Faintly Macabre

"You see the way you see things depends a great deal on where you look at them from." -- Alec Bings

"Being lost is never a matter of not knowing where you are; it is a matter of not knowing where you aren't." -- Alec Bings


(Image from here)

DAY 8: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...

...not you. It is neither world peace (but I do want it year-round). Nor to spend the Day with my father (still, I'd forever be a nice kid just to have this). What I want is not that complicated yet more attainable, but requires me to fork out top dollar for. What I would love to have this Christmas is...


an iPhone 4s!!! The black one!

LOL.

(Image from here)

DAY 7: MINKY CHRISTMAS

First off, I want you all to meet our beloved two-year-old pet cat, Minky!


Yes, he may be annoying at times, but in most days he is a source of our joy at home. He loves to eat junk foods and ALWAYS makes sure he'd also have a share of what snacks we're eating. And so you have to tear them open as silently as you can if you don't want to share it with him. Damot!

Aside from sitting by the window, Minky loves sleeping, too. I guess I have to be glad about this as my cousin once told me that it means cats are happy with their owners if you can see them sleeping most of the time. What makes it all the more endearing, though, is that we would often see him catnapping under our mini Christmas tree since we set it up last month. He probably is happy too about it for this is our first time having such at home. I tried snapping a photo of him while he was asleep, but he sensed it and acted as if he was smitten by the tree.


Cute!

DAY 6: HAIKU NO. 8

THE MATTRESS LOVER

Can't get up; I like
the warmth beneath these covers.
I still want to sleep.

DAY 5: 'PLAY FOR GOOD'

I first learned about this newest Facebook game, WeTopia, from Ellen Degeneres on her show last week. I immediately got interested not only because it is an online game but also because it is more than just an online game. I mean, you can have fun while playing the game but at the same time you do something good in the real world. And so I thought to myself,"Why not translate the 'enthusiasm' I once had for CityVille to this one? I'm sure the fun will be twice over."

But as much as I wanted to get myself into this game that very moment, I opted to put it off. And I think I made the right decision for, according to what I've read online, the WeTopia website crashed after thousands of Ellen's fans (most probably) raided the site. Oh my!

I finally tried playing it last night though. I went directly to the website but, of course it is an FB game, so I had to log in to my account. I don't know if it was just because of my internet connection, but it took me forever waiting for the game to load.


Then, I felt my heart skip a beat when the screen finally went--


Just a few seconds into the game (which I forgot to print screen this time), I realized that it highly resembles CityVille (I don't know if they have the same creators though). Just like on CV, your goal here too is to grow your community by building establishments and residences, among many others. In accomplishing this, you will build up joy and from this "joy" you have gleaned, you'll be able to fund programs that help children particularly in Haiti (read: advertisements+FB credits by some players=WeTopia profits/2=monetary donations to nonprofit orgs).

Unfortunately, I did not get to play it that long. It took me four times building just my house as I was repeatedly told to refresh the page. I just settled to give it another try next time.

If you happen to be curious about WeTopia, visit the site here.

DAY 4: KARAOKE FUN TIME

I totally enjoy singing Karaoke songs and belting out my favorites, mostly comprised of those I know my amateurish singing can bear.

Testament to this, going to a KTV is usually a must-do whenever me and my friends go out for get-togethers; it somehow feels incomplete when we fail to do so.

It also serves as one of the key events during our family gatherings, where you can expect an aunt or an uncle telling you, "Oh, mag-praktis ka nang mabuti at nang maisali ka namin sa amateur singing contest sa barangay."

I've been missing doing it lately though, as we don't have a videoke microphone at home, friends are quite busy for get-togethers, and the next family gathering I can most probably attend is our New Year celebration.

There's no use being sad, I know. Because for now I just make do with YouTube's Karaoke videos. What I've posted below are just five of the songs I've made a mental note of, just in case. He he.











Oh, and I just want to say thanks to those who have uploaded these videos!*highfive*