My new blogsite is…**drum roll please**….anrym501.blogspot.com

So, i’ll see you there!

]]> http://anrym.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/hmmm/feed/ 0 anrym http://anrym.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/lifes-lessons/ http://anrym.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/lifes-lessons/#comments Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:15:08 +0000 anrym http://anrym.wordpress.com/?p=64 ]]>

Today, I happened to visit a friend’s blog about the song “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen). I’ve heard it perhaps a million times already but everytime I play it, I am still moved by the message just like the first time I ever heard it =) It has life’s lessons that are surely noteworthy. What a brilliant writer Mary Schmich is!

Here’s the lyrics:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’97… wear sunscreen.

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If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

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The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

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I will dispense this advice now.

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Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

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You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

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Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

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Do one thing every day that scares you.

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Sing.

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Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

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Floss.

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Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

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Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

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Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

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Stretch.

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Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

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Get plenty of calcium.

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Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

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Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

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Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

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Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

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Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

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Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

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Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

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Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

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Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

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Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

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Travel.

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Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

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Respect your elders.

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Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

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Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will look 85.

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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

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But trust me on the sunscreen.

hmmm i just made a solution – put “period(s)” to achieve the space a want for every paragraph…so i’m posting here again…though, i will probably go back to blogspot…will let u know then.

Kiwi fruit

Who wouldn’t like to eat the Kiwi fruit? I love the green ones (kinda sour) better than the golden ones (sweet) though. The latter tastes like Philippine chico which I don’t like.

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Feijoa

This has a similar taste and look as guava but better. I like our guavas back home but I just don’t like the teeny-weeny hard seeds that aren’t friendly to my teeth. Feijoas are softer in texture so it’s perfect for me. Love them heaps!

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Strawberries (and the picking too):

I have had a taste of strawberries before back in PI and I didn’t really like it that much. Baguio/Bukidnon strawberries are kinda sour. Strawberries here are big and sweet! Oh, I love NZ stawberries…and not to mention the delightful smell hmmmm…yummy!

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Pink Salmon

We can’t have a week without this. Never mind the price; it has the healthy and hearty benefits anyway. You can opt to buy just the head and have your tinola/sinigang, that would be affordable.

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Red Snapper

This is a common catch if you go fishing here in NZ but it’s somewhat expensive if you buy it through a fishmonger. Still, it’s worth it! You can bake, fry or whatever you feel like doing to the fish, it’s all gooooddd!

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NZ beef

Of course! NZ is known for its countless healthy cows. They don’t just produce cheap and truly “fresh” milk, they also make tender and juicy beef. No need for a pressure cooker and say goodbye to that odd smell of beef. Yes, NZ has premium quality of beef meat! Two thumbs up for bistik (steak) and pochero (stew) lovers like me!

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Yet, my fondness for lechon, talangka, bagoong, lapu-lapu fish, tuna panga, sweet mangoes and countless mouth-watering Pinoy foods is incomparable! Lami-a gyud (certainly delectable)!!!

Have you tried reading an article or story that after a paragraph, you just realize that you don’t get it? And then you read it again but it seems that your mind isn’t working? When you give directions and you say right while your hand points to the left or vice versa? Ever confused “before” and “after”? Missed to see misspellings or grammatical errors after a couple of proofreading? Misread words? Sometimes, you can’t seem to multiply numbers automatically? (what’s the use of calculators anyway hehe)

I’m totally GUILTY of all of the above. If you can’t empathize with me then you must be superior/gifted. Good on you mate! But for those who know what I’m talking about, don’t worry! We’re normal!

Good news for us: we’re not really stupid. Language is just NOT a natural process like eating and sleeping. We need to LEARN to count, talk, write, read and consequently understand…and the learning doesn’t really stop when we finish elementary, highschool or college. As long as these errors don’t disturb you to function normally (like passing your course), it’s not something to be alarmed about.

If it does affect you big time, then you might have learning difficulties. Nevertheless, don’t despair; you can learn to cope up with the problem by learning some techniques/strategies…I’m writing about this because a lot of people aren’t aware of the disability yet and as an advocate, I’m kind of bound to give information about it in my own little way.

Back in PI, I happened to work as a Resource Teacher for kids with specific literacy needs especially for remedial reading/writing. No maths please, I need remediation on that too LOL. Yes, you probably have heard of the word “dyslexia”. You can even hear it from an 80’s song “Dyslexic Heart” – well, figuratively used though.

In a nutshell, dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by problems with reading, spelling, writing, speaking, or listening. The condition has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence. In fact, you should have at least an average IQ before you can be considered to have the problem. Many are even very intelligent but have serious troubles in:

• Understanding sounds in words, sound order, or rhymes
• Identifying single words
• Spelling
• Transposing (reversing) letters in words
• Handwriting
• Reading comprehension (understanding)
• Delayed spoken language
• Confusion with directions or handedness (right-versus left-handedness)
• Confusion with certain concepts, such as “up” and “down,” “early” and “late,” and so on
• Mathematics

There is indeed a discrepancy between their IQ and achievement.

To reiterate, people with dyslexia are NOT dim-witted. They just think differently and can see things in a different and unique perspective. To some extent, this may even be a gift or advantage. Some famous people with dyslexia include Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy, Tom Cruise…the list can go on.

So, don’t be too judgmental about anyone who has a disability because you’ll never know; he/she may discover or contribute something extraordinary to our society; or even if he/she cannot do something phenomenal, he/she has the same rights as everybody else – especially to live in this world without discrimination.

Only the brave dare look upon the gray-

upon the things which cannot be explained easily,

upon the things which often engender mistakes,

upon the things whose cause cannot be understood,

upon the things we must accept and live with.

And therefore only the brave dare look upon difference without flinching.

~Richard H. Hungerford

Are you brave enough?????

At 10, I wished I could let the time fly so I can be in high school and enjoy parties like my older sisters.

At 15, I wished I could let the time fly so I can be in college and live away from my parents to enter the university…then I can enjoy more independence.

At 18, I was elated to be entitled of more freedom and control of my life. I can do some things without needing my parent’s consent. Yet, I wished I could still let the time fly so I can finish my studies, work and earn money…then I can have total independence.

At 21, I finished a degree, found work and earned money. I achieved total independence indeed.

But as time goes by, I reckoned that independence comes with countless responsibilities – bills to pay, food to eat, career plans and so on. Life became apparently complex…then I began to miss the time when I don’t worry about anything but play.

Now, from time to time, I wish I could go back to be 5 again

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

When I see children laughing, screaming and running with boundless energy, I am compelled to remember how fun it is to be a kid. I can still vividly relive the joyous moments when I created paper dolls, playhouse and pretended to be someone – a princess, a mom, a baby, a teacher, a wicked witch or any character I could imagine. Games like block jack (hopscotch), German soccer, “shatom”, Chinese garter, patentero, “bahaw-bahaw” and “buwan-buwan” are some of the popular games we used to play in PI. Petty/nonsense arguments, teasing and name-calling with playmates also made the memory funnier…By and large, my childhood was happy.

Below is a simple poem I made; dedicated to all the children in the world. May every kid enjoy his/her childhood for it passes only once.