I've been tagged!

Thanks to Kendi. It's my pleasure for I love books! :)

One book that changed your life.

I think probably The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck. It taught me to look at life more realistically and to discipline my vices.

One book that I read more than once.

Pilipino, Isa Kang Alipin! by (I forgot his first name) Garcia

One book you would want on a desert island.

The Bible. :)

One book that made you laugh.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, many times.

One book that made you cry.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck siguro...

One book that you wish had been written.

Wala ko'y mahuna-hunaan...

One book that you wish had never been written.

Wala pud ko'y mahuna-hunaan...

One book you are currently reading.

Daghan man... The Enduring Questions by Fr. Michael Moga, The Examined Life by Dennis Helming, and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. I'm about to begin Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

One book you have been meaning to read.

Daghan kaayo ko'g daghan basahun... kung pwede palang dunganun nako basa tanan... These are mostly audiobooks... Mere Christianity and all the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and other books by Douglas Adams, Saint Augustine's Confessions, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and then The Da Vinci Hoax by Carl Olson and Sandra Meisel...

I don't know who to tag... anyone who reads this is welcome!

Next book, please

I am done with the book. I have to say again that I really loved it!

Now, what's next? Northanger Abbey? :)

A review of the book from Amazon:

Though Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen's earliest novels, it was not published until after her death--well after she'd established her reputation with works such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. Of all her novels, this one is the most explicitly literary in that it is primarily concerned with books and with readers. In it, Austen skewers the novelistic excesses of her day made popular in such 18th-century Gothic potboilers as Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers all figure into Northanger Abbey, but with a decidedly satirical twist. Consider Austen's introduction of her heroine: we are told on the very first page that "no one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine." The author goes on to explain that Miss Morland's father is a clergyman with "a considerable independence, besides two good livings--and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters." Furthermore, her mother does not die giving birth to her, and Catherine herself, far from engaging in "the more heroic enjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush" vastly prefers playing cricket with her brothers to any girlish pastimes.

Catherine grows up to be a passably pretty girl and is invited to spend a few weeks in Bath with a family friend. While there she meets Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor, who invite her to visit their family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Austen amuses herself and us as Catherine, a great reader of Gothic romances, allows her imagination to run wild, finding dreadful portents in the most wonderfully prosaic events. But Austen is after something more than mere parody; she uses her rapier wit to mock not only the essential silliness of "horrid" novels, but to expose the even more horrid workings of polite society, for nothing Catherine imagines could possibly rival the hypocrisy she experiences at the hands of her supposed friends. In many respects Northanger Abbey is the most lighthearted of Jane Austen's novels, yet at its core is a serious, unsentimental commentary on love and marriage, 19th-century British style. --Alix Wilber

You can actually view movie clips from both the 2005 version of P@P and the 1995 one by the BBC over at Youtube.com. Some people say the BBC version is better and more faithful to the novel than the big screen version.

The disadvantage of ebooks

"Darcy had walked away to another part of the room. She followed him with her eyes, envied everyone to whom he spoke, had scarcely patience enough to help anybody to coffee; and then was enraged against herself for being so silly!"

Lol... if only I'm reading from a book and have a marker in hand, I would be busy highlighting such lines as above...

"Black paradise"

That is how a village leader describes the present state of Guimaras island. I saw a video footage of the place in ANC, and it does look like a "black paradise". It is so disheartening to see such a beautiful place ruined by one of the environment's worse (if not the worst) enemies.

Greenpeace has issued a statement.

The high cost of oil! I hope Petron and the owner of the tanker will take full account of the disaster. But the government's role is more important here. They should enact laws that would prevent oil tankers from plying routes that are near marine reserves, or better yet, allow only those tankers which are spill-proof to travel in our seas.

But ultimately it's really high time for us to shift to alternative sources of energy, because we can't ignore the issue of global warming.

Terrorist

Today's PDI Editorial is enraging. To quote this guy Palparan:

"My order to my soldiers is that if they are certain that there are armed rebels in a house or yard, shoot them. It will just be too bad if civilians are killed in the process. We are sorry if you are killed in the crossfire."

Can the Arroyo administration let him get away with that kind of statement!?

Oh wait, I forgot, he's Gloria's "hero" right? No wonder there's no stopping the killings. I've heard in the news this afternoon that another militant was gunned down in Luzon today. Yesterday another member of a cause-oriented group was shot in his own house also in Luzon. The administration is basically giving these people license to continue executing people for their mere political-orientation. And now the infamous Palparan is extending his terror tactics (for let's face it, they are terror tactics) to hapless civilians. Shouldn't the cold-blooded general then be rightly called a "terrorist"? The people have more to fear from this insane man.

Great novel

I'm now about to begin chapter 44 of Pride and Prejudice. I really love how Jane Austen writes. She is so fluent and her words are so pleasurable to read. I really love the story so far. The characters are very interesting; very intelligent and complex. I admire how "character" and "civility" is highly valued and praised in Austen's time.

I'm looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation of the novel. Now I'm sorry I missed it.

Pride and Prejudice

I am now listening to (at the same time reading) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The dialogues between the characters are pleasurable to listen to because they are full of wit. But half the time I can't understand what they're saying hehehe... But I love the story so far...

A close encounter

I just had a very unpleasant encounter with a stranger this afternoon.

My brother and I, together with my mother, dropped by Central Market in Talisay to buy some fish. My brother and I parked alongside a row of parked cars and we waited there. Some minutes later a taxi cab pulled over behind us. Some minutes later still, a jeepey-type vehicle pulled over across us, so that our vehicles are now doubly parking. Then a few more minutes later a black car appeared behind us. He couldn't pass through, so he signalled using his sirens (he had sirens). I assumed he meant to signal the jeepey, since I arrived in the place first. The jeepey moved slowly to allow the black car through. When the black car was beside us, it stopped. Its window was rolled down. The driver was a middle-aged man, and beside him was an elderly person. The driver then said to me, with his voice slightly raised, and in perfect English...

"Can''t you park your car properly!? You're blocking traffic!" Or words to that effect.

I was taken aback. My blood pressure shot up, and I was too fuming mad that I was at a loss for words. The man stared at me for a few moments then slowly drove off to a parking space several meters ahead. But as he did, I managed to shout back, "You're wrong!"

My mother then came, not knowing what just happened, so we drove off. Then I saw the guy again. He was out of his car, with his companion. They stood several meters before us, and as I turned the car towards the highway I rolled down my window so he could get a better view of me shrugging my shoulders and raising my hand in exasperation of not knowing how to respond to his rudeness. In fact, I think the man is truly arrogant, and I believe he is truly wrong to accuse me of not parking properly. I was not blocking the traffic, it was the jeepey, who parked across us despite seeing that he was double parking.

I truly felt like giving him the finger, but somehow reason prevailed over emotion...

Mars series

I'm done with A Princess of Mars, and I really liked the story. The ending gave hint to a sequel so I googled Burroughs' name and found out that it actually is a series of books...

A PRINCESS OF MARS, 1917
THE GODS OF MARS, 1918
THE WARLORD OF MARS, 1919
THUVIA, MAID OF MARS, 1920
THE CHESSMEN OF MARS, 1922
THE MASTER MIND OF MARS, 1928
A FIGHTING MAN OF MARS, 1931
SWORDS OF MARS, 1936
SYNTHETIC MEN OF MARS, 1940
LLANA OF GATHOL, 1948
JOHN CARTER OF MARS, 1964

Wow, that's a lot. I'm happy to learn that you can actually read all the sequels online. Visit this site. It also has etexts of Burroughs' other works, including the Tarzan series.

Now I'm trying to decide what book to listen to next.

Mars and audiobooks

A friend of mine from SFC texted me several weeks ago with this message:

"Planet Mars will be brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will culminate on August 27 when Mars comes to within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on August 27, 12:30 AM. It will look like the earth has two moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Share this with your loved ones and friends as no one alive today will ever see it again..."



I checked the net if this is true and I found these articles in this website:

Will Mars be close in August 2006?

Can Mars appear as large as the moon?

Apparently, it's a hoax, spread through email since 2003, when Mars was close to the Earth, but not as close as to appear the size of the moon. It only looked like a star.

On average, Mars is approximately 139.5 million miles away from Earth.

In contrast, the moon is a scant 238,700 miles away, on average.

For Mars to appear as close as the moon is to Earth it would have to at least be about 500,000 miles (since the diameter of Mars is about twice that of the moon's) close...

So much for my initial excitement...

Anyway, incidentally, I'm listening (yes, listening) to this novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs called A Princess of Mars. This after having "discovered" this awesome website that offers audiobooks of novels, shortstories and poems for free! -- Librivox -- much to my excitement and delight.

So now, I'm in love with the spoken word. It has renewed my interest and perhaps passion in literature and reading. It has sort of opened for me a vast, new, and exciting world... the world of audiobooks... Following through the links from the site I was led to other public domain sites offering a wealth of other works in audio for free. For example, I found this great blog in which the author on a regular basis does a reading (podcast) on various Catholic literature, plus more! --

Maria Lectrix: Six days a week of public domain audiobooks — mystery, history, adventure, devotion — for people with Catholic tastes.

These sites are truly Heaven sent!

United 93

Probably the most powerful, most moving movie I have ever seen in my life (with the exception of The Passion of Christ)...



Watch it!!! It's now showing in the theaters.

The most moving scene in the movie for me was when the passengers of the flight began calling their families and friends on the phone telling them, "I love you, I love you..."

Indeed, that's all that matters in this life. That's all that matters in the end... Love.

The film's official website.

Three babies

Our clinical duty in a birthing home in Labangon ended this morning. We thought we were going to finish the week with only a single delivery! Fortunately, two patients arrived last night in labor. The first delivered her baby on the same night, while the other had a prolonged labor (she gave birth to her baby this morning). Both newborns are girls. So that's a total of only 3 for the whole week! According to Nang Lolly, the owner of the birthing home, who is also a midwife, it's busier there on most weeks. Last week they had 7 deliveries.

So we spent most of our free time studying... and eating. If we stayed there a week longer, manambok siguro mi, kay wala mi lain buhat kundi manglinkud og mangaon... Also, idle chit chat, that came down to such levels as...

Ate Janice: "Naa ra ba kunoy ungo dire maglakaw2x magabii. Ghost nga mag-scrub suit, bonnet og mask..."

Me: "Ghost nga conscious sa sterile technique."

Then we'd burst out laughing.

The week after next, we'll report to the district hospital in Danao. Hopefully, things will be busier there.

PDI Op Ed on the NLE scandal

Manila Standard Today's headline reads: Nurses can’t take oath. Some 17,000 board passers can't take their oaths because of the said leakage. Luoy kaayo sila. I'm sure majority sa ila walay parte sa cheating. That's the unfortunate part of this whole issue; it would be very difficult for the NBI to track down who really benefitted from the leakage, so the PRC's likely action would be to nullify the test results of all those 17,000. Tsk tsk tsk.

Today's Philippine Daily Inquirer editorial also talked about the NLE scandal:

Honor

THE leakage in the nursing board examination held last June 11 and 12 again brought to the fore what has gone wrong with many of our institutions: Core values, like honor and honesty, are dealt with like ordinary clothes, to be worn or discarded at one’s convenience. As Inquirer columnist Raul Pangalanan put it in his July 21 column, “It is nothing new for us to hear about another scandal, another leakage, in a government licensing examination.”

One can’t help being reminded of the string of other scandals tearing our society apart. And to be sure, there is outrage and serious concern. But the voices that shout in exasperation and protest are, more often than not, dismissed by an apathetic majority, not unlike the voice of the minority in Congress being drowned out not by reason but by the tyranny of numbers.

The reaction of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to the reports about the leakage in the nursing board exam has been, to say the least, half-hearted, swinging from denial to disinterest. “After an initial investigation by the Board of Nursing, the board concluded there was no apparent leakage,” the government agency tasked to protect and uphold the integrity of the professions in the Philippines declared a week after the board exam. The examination system is “nearly foolproof” -- it has been “so streamlined that leakages are now things of the past,” the PRC asserted. Then it proceeded to release the results and to schedule the oath-taking of the “successful” examinees.

The haste with which the PRC made these twin moves did not escape criticism. And it only raised suspicion that the PRC was moving to outmaneuver its critics, by making their protests academic.

Thanks in large part to the persistence of a few concerned nurses, educators and examinees, the PRC did conduct an investigation into the leakage. And last July 20, it filed administrative charges against the two members of the Board of Nursing to whom the leakage of some question was reportedly traced. In the meantime, the PRC asked them to voluntarily go on leave. It could not place them under preventive suspension because both are presidential appointees, the PRC explained. And there has been no word from Malacañang until now.

Simply put, government action has so far failed to measure up to the urgency and significance of this case.

The quality of nursing education has long been on the decline, authorities admit. One clear proof is the passing rate in nursing board exam, which has fallen from 80 percent to 42 percent. Indeed, for many years now, the passing rate has not gone above 50 percent, according to Marilyn E. Lorenzo, director of the Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies. The result is that we are fast losing our reputation as a producer of “world-class nurses.” Chair Carlito Puno of the Commission on Higher Education has said, “I am the first to admit that the quality of tertiary education has gone down in general, including nursing.”

The decline in the quality of nursing education has been blamed on the rapid increase in the number of nursing schools (not to mention the “excessive political meddling” in the accreditation of such schools), lack of hospitals to provide students clinical experience, unqualified deans, lack of experienced teachers -- even grades for sale.

Such weak school preparation, coupled with a strong determination to pass and find employment, makes cheating very tempting. The leakage of the examination questions is, therefore, in a sense a “manifestation of a deteriorating and highly commercialized nursing education,” as one nursing school official put it. (Italics mine)

The leakage, of course, affects not only the examinees and practice of nursing in this country. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has warned that this puts in question the credibility of the government’s entire system of professional testing and licensing, and thus tarnish the image of all Filipino professionals, many of whom are practicing abroad.

The nursing exam leakage may appear less grievous than the charges of election fraud against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the P728-million fertilizer scam, but there is more at stake there than the government cares to acknowledge. Whether the leakage happened by design or by mere negligence, what is clear is that some people no longer deserve to sit in the Board of Nursing. This a matter of honor -- and not just for them, but for the entire nation.

The real casualty of this scandal is not only the 17,000 NLE takers whose eligibility to practice nursing is currently being questioned, but, to a larger extent, the reputation of all professional nurses in the country and overseas.

And I really agree, what's wrong with most of our institutions is that there is not anymore the core values of honor and honesty. In our school for example, and in most schools I bet this is also true, cheating has become a commonplace thing. Students cheat everytime the opportunity presents itself. Makatawa na lang ko usahay, kay it reminds me of that old song, "Honesty... is such a lonely word, everyone is so untrue..." I'm not excusing myself because I, too, have been a little less than honest a few times (or more!). But, I've always tried to avoid it na... honest! Pero seriously, it seems honest students today are hard to find, like endangered species. That's why it doesn't seem to shock us very much that the leakage happened, because everyday in school that's the reality, people cheat (especially those motivated by the drive to finish nursing in haste, so that they can start working abroad; these folks will do all that is necessary to pass nursing, nevermind "ethics" and all those silly inconviniences). Some teachers can even be bought! Our moral sensibilities are not really offended because... there's really nothing in us to offend.

And doesn't this whole issue closely mirror the situation with our country's political life? Look at Gloria, the whole issue of her being involved in the massive cheating in the previous elections hasn't yet been settled (she's not willing to clear her name through an impeachment proceeding; one wonders why, since someone falsely accused of a crime would normally readily seek every opportunity to prove her innocence). And what about the fertilizer scam? It seems she continues to be mum about it. And what about the fact about the rising number of killings of members of the Left and the Media happening under her administration which she has largely if not totally ignored? We go on about our daily lives as if everything's fine. All these dishonesty, this total lack of honor in our institutions, doesn't all these happen because we, the people, ourselves don't have these core values inside us, or don't hold them in high regard?

This will blow your mind away

World eBook Fair... Free access to about 1/3 million collection of eBooks from July 4 to August 4!!!

Psalm 27: 4-5

One thing I ask of the Lord;
this I seek:
To dwell in the Lord's house
all the days of my life,
To gaze on the Lord's beauty,
to visit his temple.
For God will hide me in his shelter
in time of trouble,
Will conceal me in the cover of his tent;
and set me high upon a rock.

First labor and delivery

We were able to witness and handle our first labor and delivery yesterday. The experience was truly wonderful. The mother began her labor at around noon, and by three her baby was out. It was a boy, a healthy baby boy. He came out head first, and he even opened his eyes a couple times the moment his head came out. He looked so cute. We placed him in his mother's pelvic area. I did the suctioning (removing the excess fluids from the mouth and nose with the use of a bulb syringe) and the cutting of the umbilical cord (it would've been nicer if the father did it, but he was not with us inside the room at that time). He was coughing and crying sharply, and it was a good sign. The poor little fellow was just adjusting to his new environment. Then we placed him in this small tub and cleaned him up.

Welcome to the world, baby Nash.

On the Middle East conflict

Letter from Noam Chomsky and others on the escalating conflict in the Middle East:

The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The following day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner - and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis - there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.


That this "kidnapping" was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural resources - most particularly that of water - by the Israeli Defence (!) Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has befallen the Palestinians, on the land alloted to them by international agreements, during the last seventy years.


Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones. The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories of missile rip bodies apart horribly - who but field commanders can forget this for a moment?


Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.


This has to be said loud and clear for the practice, only half declared and often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it must be unceasingly and eternally recognised for what it is and resisted.


Tariq Ali
John Berger
Noam Chomsky
Eduardo Galeano
Naomi Klein
Harold Pinter
Arundhati Roy
Jose Saramago
Giuliana Sgrena
Howard Zinn

On the Nursing Board scandal

Raul Pangalangan on the NLE scandal:

"That is why the scandal in the nursing board exams riles us so. Whoever leaked out those handwritten notes shortchanged all those honest students who took the exam on their own. Yet, unless the actual culprits and individual cheaters are found, the only proper course of action is to set aside the results of the tainted examination altogether. Its integrity has been breached, its results are not reliable. To compel the honest to retake an exam they have already passed -- that makes them the innocent victims of other peoples' greed and cunning. That is sad, but that is a legitimate price to exact. To allow the cheaters to be board-certified and to profit from their crime -- that leaves the public unprotected from the incompetent and rewards the dishonest with honors undeserved."

Making it (and excelling) in nursing

Nigawas na, I think it was yesterday, ang results sa Nursing Licensure Examination last June. Congratulations to all the new RNs!!!

Sadly, no one from our school made it to the top 10 (in the previous NLE, 2 of our graduates managed to land in the 8th and 9th place). Surprisingly, 4 of those in the top 10 came from Southwestern University! Dili man nga wala tay bilib sa ato mga friends in SWU, but it's quite a surprise since it's been a while, I think, that they garnered top spots in the board exams. Congratulations to you all! :) As expected, some of the topnotchers came from Cebu Doctors' University, Velez College, and Cebu Normal University. I didn't see anyone from Ateneo de Davao, or Silliman... I think the Silliman graduates didn't take the board last June...

A friend asked me this afternoon if naga-aim ba pud ko nga maka-top inig board namo puhon... hahaha... as they say, char! Layo ra sa tinuod, pero kinsa ba dili ganahan ana di ba? Pero realistically, lisud naman gali ang makapasa, ang maka-top pa kaha? This guy we know who took the NLE, he graduated Cum Laude, but he didn't make it to the top. There are probably many factors to consider why some people make it to the top and why some don't. Of course, innate intelligence is one, then of course, hard work during those years you are studying, and then there's the time you spend preparing for the NLE. Some take it a couple of months after graduation. Some wait for many months and review intensively.

Well, I don't have innate intelligence, although I could work really, really, really hard. Then, I can review for 8 or 9 months... hehehe.

The girl who topped the board last year is now our clinical instructor, and a classmate of mine asked her about her "secret formula"... hehehe. She merely said that she has always been a "naning" since she was a student. She would always read, read, and read. It is said that she has read two volumes of a Medical-Surgical book (cover to cover, I guess). I don't know if that's a significant feat. She would opt to stay at home to study than to go out with friends to make suroy-suroy.

I think that's one significant characteristic of someone who has successfully become a knowledgeable and skilled nurse (of course, all nurses are knowledgeable and skilled, but others are exceptionally good in their profession) -- he or she always reads and reads. Reading man gud, I think, trains the mind to think critically. And, I think, in nursing, "all that is needed" (not to make it sound easy, of course!) is for you to master those concepts and principles about health and wellness, illness and disease. "All that is needed" is for us to be more familiar with those concepts, those "frameworks" that make up the multifacted discipline that is nursing, and we can more easily understand, appreciate, and remember the great body of knowledge that make up the science and art of nursing.

It remains to be seen if my theory is correct hehe.

Reporting in class

My main problem when it comes to reporting (orally) in front of our class is that I always have a "stage fright". You might think that I'm too old for stage frights, that with my age I should have developed the calmness that comes with maturity. But I have never outgrown that tendency. Well, I suppose most people never *do* outgrow their fear of the crowd no matter how far they advance in age.

But I noticed that the more you have mastered your material, the more confident you become in delivering it...

Another problem that I have is that I have difficulty delivering my material in simple terms. That's the *key* idea, I think, reporters should remember. It's about keeping it simple, explaining the material in the simplest, most concise and understandable terms possible, so that your classmates can easily absorb the lesson. I seldom think in simple terms, though, so that it is reflected in the way I report - it ends up a bit confusing, and I could see it clearly in me classmates' eyes. Sometimes I wonder if what I'm doing is clarifying the lesson or simply showing off my verbal skills.

I have many among my classmates whose reporting styles I admire. They do it in the most personal and down to earth manner, not the detached, nerdy kind of way (wherein the reporter's style is so impersonal and "cerebral" that he/she appears like a talking textbook). I think I should emulate these people. Magbinisaya ta kung mao na ang paagi nga mas masabtan nato ang lesson...