Are you happy with the new Zodiac signs?

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st-portolan

I caught on the horoscope just once in my life. I was around 14 years old when I had this huge crush on a guy I met in a class party that I hosted at my home. He had whispered sweetly to me that he’d give me a ring. I waited eagerly for his call the next day. While browsing through the news paper, my eye caught on the Horoscope section. I can’t remember the exact words but it said something about a “phone call”. Right after I read the horoscope, the phone rang indeed and it was my huge crush. Perhaps it was just my luck that day. My crush didn’t call me back after three calls and with it , the horoscope stopped working for me.

Maybe I was looking at the wrong Zodiac sign.

All these years I thought I was a Gemini. When astrologers said that the sun is in Pisces, it’s really not in Pisces. I always thought our astrological sign was determined by the position of the sun on the day I was born. Everything I thought I knew about my horoscope is wrong.

New is astrology has had issues from its inception. (Aside from the fact that it tries to link personality traits with positions of the stars.) Ancient Babylonians had 13 constellations, but wanted only 12, so threw out Ophuchicus, the snake holder. Libra didn’t even enter the picture until the era of Julius Caesar.

According to the Minnesota Planetarium Society, here is where the real signs of the Zodiac should fall. Get ready for your world to change forever.

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces: March 11-April 18.
Aries: April 18-May 13.
Taurus: May 13-June 21.
Gemini: June 21-July 20.
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17. (Yep, this one is new — read all about the Ophiuchus way of life here)
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

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Never an Empty Nest in Cyberspace

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Good news for any mother dreading the empty nest: A little bird told us it’s not so bad.

skypetalk
“Adolescence is perhaps nature’s way of preparing parents to welcome the empty nest.” -Karen Savage and Patricia Adams

The pitter-patter of footsteps appear to be slowly fading now. ““Mom, I’m home” is just an echo down memory lane. Times like these make me wish that the house is still alive with the noisy chatter and delightful squeals of little children. The girls are all done with college. One is now based in Australia, and my eldest daughter may soon move in to her new condominium once the development is completed.

I always believed in instilling independence in my children, so I thought it best for them to experience semi-independence by living in a dormitory. When L was a college freshman seven years ago, she moved in to her dormitory in Quezon City even if our home was just in Makati City. Oh, the withdrawal pangs! The impact of the empty nest left me in a teary sentimental disposition during the first week. Although M, my second daughter, was around, this was the first time a child left for a long period of time. Pretty soon, both girls were both residing in dormitories. As Butch, my husband, and I sat by the dinner table, he held my hand and sighed ““We’re alone.” I hugged him and could only mutter to say ““This is a preview of our empty nest.” This temporary transition, though uncomfortable, did wonders to our marriage since we had more time to go out on dates and get involved with our advocacy. Along the way, I found out that the empty nest is really not that bad after all as I discovered real-time tools for communicating with my daughters.

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The once homeless and recovering alcoholic Ted Williams on a second chance in life

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God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me. ~Author Unknown

alg_ted_williams_before_after
(Before (as homeless alcoholic) and after
Photo credit: NY daily news)

I am so touched with Ted Williams’ story. Williams’ story is “the epitome of how dreams can come true in the internet age”. And yes, practically overnight. What makes it even more touching is he left a life of alcoholism and drugs two and a half years ago.

I am such a sucker for stories that deal with the theme of “second chances”. Two days ago, the web got introduced to Ted Williams, a 53 year old homeless recovering alcoholic. The Ohio area man held up a sign that read he had the “God-given gift of a great voice” and he was willing to share it with anyone who could donate some change. In exchange for a few coins, his patrons get a treat to sound bites of his bottomless, buttery, baritone voice.

I’ve seen homeless men on the side of the road in my recent US visit and it often piqued my curiosity on the words they scribbled down on that piece of paper. It must have been Ted’s lucky day because a kind patron encountered Williams on the highway , uploaded a video of Williams using his golden voice. The video turned out to be viral hit on YouTube with 9,871,461 hits as of January 5,2010. As a result of the video’s success and the former homeless man’s perfect voice, the Cleveland Cavaliers offered him a job as a full-time announcer for the Cavaliers and even offered him a house.

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It was Chronic Calculous Cholecystitis with Choledocholithiasis

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butch-and-me

What a mouthful of a tongue twister! Chronic Calculous Cholecystitis with Choledocholithiasis simply means Inflammation of the gall bladder with dislodged gall stones. That was the diagnosis when I got my medical certificate after being discharged from Medical City. The operation itself called for Open Cholecystectomy with IOC, Common Biliary Duct (CBD) Exploration Tube drainage. I stayed in the hospital for 8 days.
gall-bladder-operation
Everything happened so fast on December 22 at the emergency room of the Medical City which is close to our home. I didn’t realize surgery was an option. This pain I was told is due to bilary colic, a dislodged gall stone causing me pain. My liver, pancreas enzymes, were elevated. My blood sugar shot up to 379 due to body stress. My surgeon said he will try laproscopy with open surgery as the last course of action, However, he changed his mind after assessing my lab results. Open surgery was decided late at night of December 22 due to my elevated enzymes.

Since I wasn’t prepared for my surgery, it gave me little time to research on my ailment. All of the materials online were from medical bulletins or rehash of previous web content. I decided to share my personal experience to add to all the medical materials scattered online for those that need more information on gall bladder removal and common bile duct exploration. Remember, this is my personal experience and will vary depending on lab results and the overall assessment of the doctors.

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Everyone is gifted – but some people never open their package

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““I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.” Albert Einstein
gifted-child1I had the chance to meet gifted kids from Philippine High School for the Arts (PSHA) when my two girls joined the Manila Children’s Choir in the late nineties. Among my daughter’s circle of friends was Jourdann Petalver and a couple of kids with powerful soprano voices. It was during rehearsal breaks that I got to know more about their life at this exclusive school for gifted kids in the creative field of music, art, writing, dancing and others. I often wonder what have become of them and even of PSHA. If there is one great thing that Imelda Marcos did , it is the promotion of culture and arts and the nurturing of gifted children. I believe parents should be aware of options of their gifted child and the road they travel as they hone their gifts.

The second part of the third part report on “Dilemmas on the ‘Different'”focus on the gifted child. (The first part was about Down’s syndrome.) Part 2 is authored by PCIJ Fellow Rorie R. Fajardo tells the story of the students of the Philippine High School for the Arts, a charmed circle that by all accounts belongs to the two percent of the country’s population that is deemed to be gifted.

Dilemmas on the ‘Different’

The Gifted Give Back

By Rorie R. Fajardo
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Second of Three Parts

THE MOMENT they stepped into the campus of the Philippine High School for the Arts or PHSA in 1988, Roselle Pineda says that she and the other freshmen were made aware they were being trained to be the country’s future cultural leaders.

““Medyo mayabang pakinggan (It may sound like I’m bragging),” says Pineda, now 34 and teaching at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, ““but this makes you realize at the start that you are scholars of the people, the cream of the crop, and therefore you have the duty to give back something to the people.”

Then again, PHSA is no ordinary school. As its name implies, it specializes in the arts, and it takes as students only those who are deemed gifted in writing or in either performing or visual arts. It is, in fact, the creative counterpart of the older Philippine Science High School or Pisay, which caters to youths with ““high aptitude for sciences and math.”

Both schools are government-run, but they are certainly what most public high schools are not. Both boast of the latest equipment, well-trained staff and solid faculty lineup, and a healthy teacher-student ratio. There are no overcrowded classes in either school, and if there is a class that is held under a tree, it would be because teacher and students suddenly felt the urge to commune with nature or take in fresh air, rather than because of a missing roof or, worse, the sheer inexistence of a school building. Aside from free tuition, free board and lodging are available. Each student gets a monthly stipend as well.
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Don’t give up on the child

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Having Down syndrome is like being born normal. I am just like you and you are just like me. We are all born in different ways, that is the way I can describe it. I have a normal life. Chris Burke

special-childrenMy late father was quite active with St. Martin de Porres, a school for special children. As a young child, my dad often told me how much smarter these special kids (in comparison to regular kids like myself) are for maximizing their brain potential. Some of us are just plain lazy to actually maximize our true potential. I found that out myself as I got older and wiser.

Earlier today, Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism sent me an email about a three-part report on the dilemmas we face when dealing with ““different” children, or the ““special” and the ““gifted” ones among them.

It is by now de rigueur, and politically correct, to avoid referring to them as ““abnormal” — a word laced with the bias of the majority who are supposed to be ““normal.” Societies in both the developed West and the developing East have since launched programs and services catering to the special needs of these children. However, if a nation has only limited resources, should the community devote more to the special children, or to the gifted? Indeed, how could we know how best to care for them?

But more than just a question of logistics, to the families who nurture and care for these children, many other dilemmas unfold daily – burden, blessing, joy, pain all the same most of the time. And in between, too, these families have to contend with people who respond differently, sometimes harshly, to children who are “different.”

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Seemed like yesterday when UPCAT and ACET results came out

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update January 3: UPCAT online posting will start at ten pm; posting of list at admissions office will come later.

Update 2: UP Officials say UPCAT results will also be posted outside the UP Diliman Office of Admissions before 12 midnight. (via GMAnews)

Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. ~William Haley
up-diliman

For some reason, I am getting referrals for ACET ( Ateneo College Entrance Test) and UPCAT ( UP College Admission Test). Then now I recall at this time seven years ago, it was a nerve-wracking moment for my eldest daughter, wondering if she made it to the better universities. Well, daughter number 1 made it to Ateneo de Manila. My last experience with college entrance exams came when my daughter number 2 passed UP Diliman in 2005. Waiting was agonizing. What made it worse was the servers often crashed making it a more frustrating experience. My daughters felt that their future seemed brighter if they studied either in UP or Ateneo. Indeed, studying in Ateneo or UP opened doors for them and it was their choice to enter it or not.

I bet most parents are facing the same uncertainty as I once did many moons ago.

I visited the UPCAT Results site and found out results will be posted at the Office of Admissions tomorrow, January 3, 2011. UPCAT Results on the web can be viewed through the UPCAT 2011 Results Online or its mirror sites(s) below:

STICKBREAD SOLUTIONS
MVS
PREGINET

ACET ACET results

La Salle test results – DLSU Freshman (Applicant) Inquiry Form http://enroll.dlsu.edu.ph/dlsu/freshmen/freshmen

UST results– http://www.ust.edu.ph/index.php/admission-in-ust.html

It can be heartbreaking not passing your first choice but you will still do good given the opportunity to do your best in another college.

Just remember that “an educational system isn’t worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life.” The object of education is to prepare you to educate yourselves throughout your lives.

Good luck to all those that applied to UP and Ateneo. Congrats!

Cheers to a New Year 2011, another chance to get it right

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“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” T. S. Eliot

new-year-2011Despite the challenges that our country face in 2011, I am excited of the possibilities and eager to start things rocking and shaking. Around 15 minutes before 2011 came in, Butch and I ate our traditional media noche such as our bam-i, a Cebuano noodle dish for long life, buko fruit salad, embutido, and sparkling juice.
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Flashback 2010: A good year that was

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“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” – By Hal Borland
singapore-new-year
Lauren views Singapore cityscape December 31, 2010

Tonight’s New Year’s Eve celebration is the first time that our children are away from home. It will just be the two of us. Butch and me, well the two cats and my trusted two helpers. The last couple of days were rough on us especially the cancelled family vacation to Singapore, my surgery and being away from my kids for the first time in my life. Yet all that is in the past.

I will affirm the good things for the New Year 2011. I will offer a prayer, wait and expect good things to happen to me and my loved ones. Whenever I wonder what is coming, I tell myself the best is coming, the very best love and life have to offer, the best God has to send. I open my hands to receive to claim it and it’s mine.

I see the best in my mind and envision what it will look and feel like. Then I let it go without obsessing over it. Instead I become excited and express gratitude for all that I have achieved this year, all that I am and for all that I will become.

I am thankful for all the blessings for the year 2010…

1. Having the opportunity to interview 7 presidential candidates and empowering myself to understand the electoral process by being in it rather than just being an observer.

presidential-candidates

2. Getting a part-time contract to work with Vibal Foundation as their associate editor for the features section of the Philippine Online Chronicles. It is my first paid work since I left employment to be a full time mother in 1987. (I always thought companies stopped finding you useful when you reach over 40. I should know. I tried getting a job.)

with-vibal-foundation

3. A siblings’ reunion in San Francisco, in happier times, not funerals. I miss them a lot. We are so close even if we are continents apart.

my-family

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