Looking for some inspiration… and found Anderson Cooper <3

Today is Thursday, 22 March 2012. Today is one of the freest days of my life at work and I intend to do something worthwhile. I know, I know, the messed up room, the books to read and my first year students' grades are barely hallway done.. but I'm just quite overwhelmed with the fact that I'm not going to beat some deadline with utmost urgency makes me so heady, I'm practically on seventh heaven. All that to dos are waiting for my precious attention and soooooooon they will surely have it… But on top of my list is a class report I should be doing for my masters in Reading… It's a whole chapter on Teaching vocabulary for READ 201(Teaching Reading in the Content Areas). That can't wait but I'm still quite reluctant at leaving my computer and closing this blog post.

I ran into Anderson Cooper, all over gain, and still is mesmerized at this gray fox's incredible eyes, you-smile-and-i-melt like butter on a heated pan feeling, and all that silly crinkling of the corners of his eyes, made that segment with Kathy Griffin just hillllllllllllarious and fun. I'd like to shove her off the screen and take the seat myself. The part when he put his hand under his chin and smiled like a high school boy is sooooooooooo cute. How can one man be gray-haired, impeccably intelligent, and cute, and just simply manage to look hot however, whenever. Thank God for this. Hehehe

 

So that I may not forget, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7SHmOqIS5E&feature=related

 

Shakespeare on Day 1

"To have shared such a passion- a favorite film of hers on our first day of class is something." ~Shentep Zpere

 

We sat and waited out almost 3 hours watching a film adaptation of a Shakespeare play - Merchant of Venice. :D

 

informative - yes;

literary - very much

touching - jeremy irons on a death sentence still managed to look hot. :)

braindraining- maybe a modern, easy-read version of the screenplay will do...

 

sadya tani except for the poor audio...

a must watch again..

 

i love this Shylock monologue though. i got it from some Shakespeare website

I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2576941337/

Ironman 2011

I spent one night over a friend's house. She together with her husband- they're one of my favorite people in the world. For the sincerity, for simply being real, I love them both for being like that. She is the closest thing to being a sister to me when i used to work in a language school. Amazing is an understatement. Whatever i needed to learn as being a professional, and responsible woman, i seem to have gotten lots of sorts of advice from her. This time, she is offered a job to be consultant and supervisor in an online language school for a year. I am very happy and excited for her. What with the fact that she's going to meet a lot of people, and still do what she loves very much- baking. It is fantastic. To drop by her place was one of my plans before christmas but i had gone too busy it was impossible for me to do that. So i decided to spend one night with them as I have been away for ages so I thought I need to spend time with them to restore me, and catch up on conversations long overdue. And so was the case, I stepped into a luxurious home with barely a week's time for clean up short. Even so, I enjoyed being there, the smell of baking banana bread while having endless talks of one too many sensible things about politics, movies and technology. I love this couple very much. I wasn't spared from ironman or I should rather say, I was dawn into iron man, apparently their favorite movie to date. He will cosplay this character, In fact in January.
Tony stark is ironman played by Robert Downey jr. Pepper Potts is the secretary turned CEO played by gwyneth Paltrow. How truly unique indeed. Ironman is that character all endowed with arrogance, money, and good looks. It's easy to love him than hate him though. Apart from the fact that he is the good guy in the film, the audience is left as the omnipotent viewer. He speaks too fast in the film making me flinch for a few minutes. I just couldn't have missed every punch line he delivered only if he spoke slower and clearer. Downey played the character with so much bravado that he could leave girls both in the film and viewers sighing and giggling at his one sec look of once over.
He did display his irksome side when he threw that party with barely dressed girls. No other superhero could have shown such uncontrollable ill manners.
But I love him. They got me to love him and is great.
Together with Thor,captain America, avengers should be another blockbuster I'm going to see certainly.

Dodie smith (1896-1990)

After that bloody, flowery, fateful day in school, I decided to splurge on books and was more than appeased after grabbing hold of the Starlight Barking by Dodie Smith. This is the sequel to one hundred and one (101) Dalmatians, a movie that has caught up the family fancy because of themes that drive home and names not quite hard to forget. Who would ever forget the frightening Glenn Close in her cruellade ville character? She had 2 stooges assisting her in her most extraordinary whims, quite unforgettably the characters who played villains in the much-loved family classic Home Alone series. To say of that movie is a pleasure since the scenes were as vivid as Cruella de Ville's magnificently tailored gowns. What with flamboyant combinations of red , black, and white or cloaks made from leopard or tiger fur. Meanwhile, in this book,Cruella has gone from animal fur coat to clothes that clank. Apparently plastic caught her fancy. However she got into that , the story didn't mention.
Dodie smith in fact is a genius who brought us into the world of dogs with her remarkable classic. Pongo, his dog is her inspiration in this story- turned movie.
Dodie smith, this time has brought the reader into a a whole new dog world where humans have become utterly insignificant even as far as being called as pets by the dogs they own. What fascinated me about the story is the character Dodie smith endowed upon each dog. Each major cast has been given human personality making the reader feel like and totally forget that they're dogs altogether.
Pongo- the brainy, logical dog who claims to have mr dearly as his pet.
Missis- the metaphysical dog, wife of Pongo is intuitive and metaphysical. She gives me the picture of that loving and tender housewife submissive to her husband

Cadpig- in the limelight is a confident Dalmatian who takes her post as the prime minister mascot and is therefore extremely important in tv appearances; has almost reached stardom as she is seen on tv with the prime ministr quite often.
Then there's patch, the great Dane, and roly poly the childish.

All these human like characters that had been together in conflict and later Harmony as the story approaches climax and resolution which is in fact coming into terms with the one controlling everything- Sirius the dog star. He made all dogs feel important and asked them to give up the world and come with him.
To me it makes the reader feel like trying to
Love and want what they have.
It's one amazing Christmas story and I'd love to see it in film especially the swooshing to paris by roly poly.

It'd be great to find I capture the castle too. It was out in 1998, and I should bump into its paperback very soon :D

Of course, lexical that i am, I couldn't simply leave out the
words sprawled on the pages especially if they leave n impression to me. Some of which are quotable, dramatic or simply descriptive. Here are some of them:
1.there are lots of complicated things inside the tv; there are lots of complicated things inside our minds.
2. I'd rather know the worst about him than imagine it.
3. It was like the noise dogs make when they relax in comfort after a splendid walk, only it was much, much more happy.

Indecisions

Ernest Hemingway has to be one of the greatest literary genius I have the fortune to come across. It is an assigned reading in class which I really didn't take seriously. Why didn't I ever? I should have known. A clean well lighted place, the old man and the sea, and this time hills like white elephants. This story Is about a young man and a young lady having an out of ordinary conversation in the most enugmatic, extremely unusual places- the train station.Understandably, my classmate us assigned to topic present it in the framework of comprehension skills. His was an impeccably well though out presentation alongside activities which we breezed through painlessly. Painlessly truly it was that our teacher has unexpectedly decided by all means to delve deeper into its insights to use pedagogically sound strategies in class and hopefully in our own classrooms as well. Asked to tabular present the 5 level reading guide question by Williams gray, we noiselessly scribbled our our homework on the board from literal to creative levels. Williamh gray purports the levels of questioning:
1. Literal
2. Interpretative
3. Integrative
4. Applied
5. Creative
Having done the board work, we proceeded to discussing the literal level which tool 2/3rds of the whole morning. The setting we realize as we listen to her discuss us it by far the most important part of the shirt story."hemingway wouldn't have put these words, chosen them carefully without out. Nothing is accidental. It was there because they convey meaning.
As it turned out, the setting us the most outstanding part of the story. It was set on a train station between Barcelona and spain. A couple is seated across a valley with hills beyond that look like elephants. The story uses dialogues, shirt ones not using referents for the speaker. Hills like white elephants is a figurative language used to describe something useless. All throughout the conversation, both characters did not declare explicitly what "it" means but it can be inferred that the lady is pregnant and that the young man is suggesting or simply bringing up the idea of abortion . To abort or not to another the baby. This is one big decision the young kaftbus about to make. The story ended with her still contemplating and finally realizing that she has to decide on her own.
I love the story in a sense that it uses simple language, and the fact that Hemingway gas once again impressed me with a relatively simple yet gripping story that left me pensive abx meditative. Still too I am quite amazed at his ability to explain ambiguities on life and yet leaving the reader with profound thoughts. Imhappytgankyoumoreplease.

Reading: the best thing my mom and I have in common

I have just finished one of Roald Dahl's best book book ever written-Matilda. I must say that I've run into this book several times in Booksale but didn't have the slightest inkling to buy it. Last Saturday though, I gave in to my instincts as soon as the book flayed in front of my nose and without a second's hesitation, I was holding it dearly in my arms together with two other good reads I have picked up in the book shop. And positively blissful to say that it was amazingly priced at ta da... Drum roll please... 45php! What an excellent bargain! Another Roald Dahl was staring back at me- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which me have second thoughts. I decided to choose the former thinking that the book has had a motion picture out that my big bro have already seen on star movies. Of course I couldn't have forgotten the time he brother and I sat through that movie at home. Then, halfway through the movie, we were practically craving for chocolates staring dry-mouthed at Willie Wonka lead the children through his enormous chocolatey factory. We would have surely eaten up just about any chocolate there is any second then that even tootsie roll couldn't have been saved. But to no avail! So, that accounts my justification of not buying that Roald Dahl.
But what I really intend to tell you is the fabulous story of Matilda- a genius little grub who shared the same thing that I love-reading. Born to parents who shouldn't have parents made this star character of ours truly an extraordinary one. It is rather fascinating that in her young age of 4, she was not quite so feeble at all. She has practically devoured classic books, can do math with hardly a wink, and the most astounding thing of all, she's able to move things. The latter has been a precious skill to her that also saved the distraught Ms Honey, a kind lady teacher in the school where she goes. She has made a fantastic work of art out of her life through the people that she's read about and the wondrous things that she came across with while buried in books. However she came up with the brilliant idea of sticking glue on the inside rim of his father's hat, how she managed getting the blond dye in his father hair treatment gave me and my mom a good laugh.
My mom finished reading the book before I did and she loved it. Actually she finished it in half a day. I'll be coming back to booksale and get the books that I and my mom would enjoy... Roald Dahl- im falling madly in love with you. I'll surely get the other novels.

Constructivism in my classroom :D

I am infinitely grateful because I am fortunate to be doing the job I love- teaching English. I teach in a state university here in my city. Today I am feeling a bit under the weather since it's my time of the month so I haven't been feeling particularly positive about the day. While discussing the rules in Active/Passive Sentences I was extremely astonished at the sentences my students used as examples:
1. Selena Gomez's dignity is ruined by Justin Bieber.
2. The death of Michael Jackson was not easily accepted by his fans all over the world.
3. A secret will be revealed in the next episode of Nasaan ka Elisa.
I sat wide eyed feeling slightly amused at my students' effort of trying to connect their reality to the learning process.
To me these three sentences speak volumes of the principles I learned about Constructivism in my graduate studies. It stipulated that learning must learner-centered and experience-based. Furthermore, the learning-teaching process must be anchored on the learner's reality so that meaningful learning can be achieved. I shouldn't be surprised about professors caught having casual, almost friendly conversations with their students during free time. This is becomes a venue for healthy academic exchanges resulting to more useful understanding of students' needs, interests, and even values.