Sunday, October 29

(3) Ways

How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.

I shall love you, in other ways, as I translate your
(1) thoughts into an admirable article – as your Writer.
(2) manuscript into publishable pages – as your Editor.
(3) rough draft into an enviable book – as your Publisher.
(4) technical into popular language – as your Rewriter.
(5) training needs into visible skills – as your Facilitator.
(6) demo needs into one-day wonders – as your Nerd; a
Computer
Wizard, I can be an invisible worker for you.
(7) problems into solutions. as your Consultant.
And I shall but love thee better after edit.


(2) Windows

I love what I do. Let me tell me about
the 7 things I can do in that magical world of
Microsoft Windows & Microsoft Word -- and the
Wide Wonderful World of the Internet.

(1) Writing – I do write-ups and write-downs. Write-ups:
I do an interview and an article comes out in 24 hours. That fast. Write-downs: I read your article or manuscript and an abstract comes out in 25 minutes. That fast. (2) Editing – Edit while you wait if you like, in your office or home (if you have a computer), or right where you are (if you have a laptop
). (3) Publishing – I can turn your manuscript into copies ready for distribution or sale within 3 months. (4) Translations – From rough to polished English; from Tagalog to English and vice versa; from Ilocano to English and vice versa. (5) Workshop facilitation – I can do a workshop on (a) writing, (b) editing, (c) newslettering, (d) book publishing, (e) files management. And any or all of that using the personal computer (PC). (6) One-Day Wonder – I can do a short workshop or lecture-demo on creative writing, creative editing, creative newslettering, creative book publishing, files management for 100 people – with the aid of 1 PC and 1 LCD projector. (7) Consulting – As long as it has anything to do with words and ideas and it can be typed on the computer, I can help you. Online or onsite, it's your choice. You know what? The first time we meet, no commitment necessary: Advice is free. Try me!

(1)
Who, Me?

In other words, like I'm Writer #700
(features) of the American Chronicle.

I have so far published 6 articles in the American Chronicle; no rejections, no pink slips (Click the link below to read). As a writer, I have been writing since high school, and that was 50 years ago. I'm 66 this year. Technical subject, popular subject, I've done them all, from A (Animal Husbandry) to Z (Zone Alarm). In other words, writing was my first love; it has always been. And do I revise what I write? Of course! I'm not perfect. Do you know how many times I revised this page? More than 200 times (the first 257 hits in my counter). As a translator, who is a writer in disguise, I recently translated into English (and wrote a book besides) Jose Rizal's valedictory poem which I retitled 'Adios, Patria Adorada' (Adios, Beloved Patria) - if you want a free copy, email me (see top right column for the address). I also love to translate technical papers into popular articles - there is that feeling of achievement that goes with it. It's a gift.

As a blogger, I have so many blogsites, each one an extension of myself and my many interests. Would you believe 22? Variety is the spice of life in the Internet, and in an Ilocano like me. In other words, your concern has probably already interested me greatly.

As an editor, I have been founding editor of a color magazine (Habitat, a quarterly), newsletter (Canopy, a monthly) and a technical journal in forestry (Sylvatrop, a quarterly) for the Forest Research Institute (now ERDB) of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (now DENR). I have edited so many theses (highest grade: 1) and dissertations (highest grade: 1.25, University of the Philippines). I am currently the Editor in Chief of the Philippine Journal of Crop Science. I was the one who made that 3-year late technical peer-reviewed journal into an up-to-date publication. I also masterminded the creation and databasing of extended abstracts of this 30-year old journal, the abstracts beginning in March 1976 and ending at the current year, 2006. It's all in 1 CD, my idea. I also created the website for it: CROPScience Philippines.

As a photographer, I learned professional photography on the job for the publications I was editing. To improve my skill, I studied the works of masters (painters) like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Van Gogh while I was teaching at Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. At that time, 1968, they already had an excellent library at Xavier. In other words, I'm a good student myself.

As a teacher, I am a BSA graduate major in AgEd, UP; I wasn't too proud of that. I passed the very first Civil Service Teacher's Exam in 1965, 80.6%; I was proud of that. I taught high school (UP Rural High, Pampanga National Agricultural School, Asingan High School), and I taught college (UP Los Baños, Xavier University). I wrote my own syllabi in Floriculture, Horticulture, Olericulture, Scientific Reporting.

As a copywriter, I worked for Pacifica Publicity Bureau when it was still on top (no thanks to me). My good friend Orlino 'Orli' Ochosa and I learned a lot from Nonoy Gallardo and Teddy Bernardo, thank you very much. Orli gifted me with Edward De Bono's book, Mechanism Of Mind, and that changed my mental state from critical to creative.

As a computer wizard ... Ah, here I'm a self-made man, so God is not responsible for my mistakes. I can do word processing and practical desktop publishing with Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Word mostly: brochure, newsletter, book, annual report, proposal. Today, I can make Word XP jump through hoops (not to mention
Windows XP). Stylesheet? Outlining? Columns? Mixed columns? Table? Sections? Table of Contents? Just a minute. Missing files? Give me 0.28 second. It's been a trial-and-error thing, but I've been a teacher willing to teach myself. And you can learn from my mistakes: no tuition fee necessary. You didn't ask, but as a father of 13 with 1 wife, I have had quite an education! I thank God for them, for today, for the computer, for the Internet - and for my country.

24 March 2006

(4) Have you?
Find yourself here:

__/I have a manuscript for a book but no book.
__/I have had this idea for a book for like 10 years.
__/I have a beautiful proposal and but I can't write it.
__/I have the tapes of the seminar but no proceedings.
__/I am the Editor and we are behind by 3 years of issue.
__/I have dissertation I can't seem to finish.
__/I have an annual report to edit but I don't have the time.
__/I have staff who should know better.
__/I have 2 days to write my project report.
__/I have a training program and no training manual.
__/I can't translate technical to popular language.
__/Q: Who is the most important man in the company?
__/A: Everyone.
__/I have a newsletter that won't come out.
__/I have problems finding my files.
__/I have no problem with scientific names but they have.
__/I have a book of 20 chapters of 20 styles of writing.
__/I have a great opportunity to speak but not a great speech.
__/I couldn't use the computer if I had to save my life.
__/No funds (You). No proposal (Me).

25 March 2006

(5) Word
The Word According To Frank.
Rumors of war (nuclear).
Rumors of coup (unclear).
Iraq is in civil war.
The Philippines is in a war of civilians.
The disgust is with the noisy minority.
The decision is with the noised-out majority.
The noise of the people is the noise of God.
You call it People Power.

25 March 2006

(6)
Nostalgia

Yesterday, I was walking at Crossing (Los Baños) and I noticed for the first time piles of CDs labelled simply MP3, each at 60 pesos, or just a little more than 1 dollar. Now I don't wonder why I hear so many old songs -- I like that -- and even the young singers are singing oldies and goldies -- I like that even better.

27 March 2006

(7)
Don't Fight

AIDS: AIDS is not the enemy – lust is. Crime: Crime is not the enemy – the criminal is. Corruption: Corruption is not the enemy – the corruptor is. Over-population: Over-population is not the enemy – uneven distribution of wealth is.

Writer's block: Writer's block is not the enemy – a critical mind is. Poverty: Poverty is not the enemy – iniquity is. Terror: Terror is not the enemy – the terrorist is. Disease: Disease is not the enemy – deteriorating conditions are. Illiteracy: Illiteracy is not the enemy – lack of access to education is. Squatting: Squatting is not the enemy – ambition for the good life is. Persecution: Persecution is not the enemy – the persecutor is.

Prejudice: Prejudice is not the enemy – the bigot is. Criticism: Criticism is not the enemy – the critic is. Erosion: Erosion is not the enemy – the eroder is. Low wages: Low wages is not the enemy – the low wager is. Over-spending: Over-spending is not the enemy – the over-spender is. War-mongering: War-mongering is not the enemy – the warrior is. Messiah politics: Messiah politics is not the enemy – the politician is. Unemployment: Unemployment is not the enemy – lack of entrepreneurship is. Election cheating: Election cheating is not the enemy – greed is.

Crass commercialism: Crass commercialism is not the enemy – the crass commercialist is. Military adventurism: Military adventurism is not the enemy – the military adventurer is. Intellectual dishonesty: Intellectual dishonesty is not the enemy – the intellectually dishonest is. Microsoft domination: Microsoft domination is not the enemy – Microsoft is. Intellectual piracy: Intellectual piracy is not the enemy – the intellectual pirate is. Pornography: Pornography is not the enemy – the pornographer is. Religious fanaticism: Religious fanaticism is not the enemy – the religious fanatics are. Sensationalism: Sensationalism is not the enemy – the sensationalist is.

Yellow journalism: Yellow journalism is not the enemy – the yellow journalist is. Communism: Communism is not the enemy – the communist is. Abortion: Abortion is not the enemy – the pro-abortionist is. A weak economy: A weak economy is not the enemy – uneven distribution of opportunities is. Negativism: Negativism is not the enemy – the negativist is.

The pests of the crop: The pests of the crop are not the enemy – the cropper is. The barrenness of the soil: The barrenness of the soil is not the enemy – the cultivator is. The odds: The odds are not the enemy – the bettor is.

Criminality: Criminality is not the enemy – instant gratification is. Scientism: Scientism is not the enemy – the scientist who has a closed mind is. Godlessness: Godlessness is not the enemy – Man who considers himself a god is.

5 April 2006

(8) Quo Vadis, Gringo?

Coup vadis, Senator? For all your plotting, get understanding. While you're trying to evade capture by the Philippine police, don't try and evade logic.

With this, I'm challenging you to improve play in your own Game of C. For the challenge, I want you to read a book, play a game, read a paper.

Quo Vadis is a book on Christian and courtly lives written by a Polish Nobel Prize winner. It is for those who love high office but hate high crimes. It can be profitably read by anyone who loves change.

Quo Vadis is a game on political management by the Dean of computer game designers who happens to be a German. It is for those who like to be always in control. It can be delightfully played by 3 to 5 players who love company. A coup is a game. You'll love this game.

The Messiah is an online article but is really a mental game. I know because it was the one who designed it. It is for those who want to save their country from iniquity. It can be played by anyone and alone.

More.

(1) Quo Vadis is a book first published in 1896 in Poland (Amazon.com/). It is a famous novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz, a Polish writer, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905. It is one of the best-selling novels of all time. But watch out: The hero of the story, Marcus, a Patrician in Nero’s court, is converted from decadence (corruption) to Christianity by a lady believer, Lygia. When Rome sinks deeper into the mud of her own immorality, in desperation and/or madness, Nero burns Rome and blames the Christians. The book describes the last days of the Roman Empire. It reminds you of the present days.

(2) Quo Vadis is a computer game devised by Reiner Knizia and published by Hans Im Gluck, for those who want always to be at the top. This is a Game of Control. You are in the Roman Senate. You have 8 Senators with you. You work out the committees; you can advance only if you control the spaces in a committee. That calls for any or all of these Cs: compromise, collaboration, charging, concord, cooperation, concurrence, contribution, collection, connection, containment. You have to cut deals with one another in order to advance. Bob Rossney (gamecabinet.com/) describes it: It's a game of being clever. You can get shut out if you are not paying attention. You can be tempted with short-term gains that force you to defer long-term ones. I say: Coup is your last gambit, not the first.

(3) The Messiah Phenomenon is an article I have written for and has just been published by the American Chronicle. I wrote it with you in mind.

8 April 2006

(9) Messiah!
I challenge you to play my game. I call it Messiah! You pretend to be the Messiah of your country and you look for all the signs of a true Messiah within the article. See if you can find all 19 of them. It's the new game in town! Especially if you are from the Philippines. Click on the link below for Amerian Chronicle to read me.


8 April 2006

(10)
Genius in residence

I am a genius in residence - in Los Baños. You are your own genius in your own residence, or office or elsewhere. Now, if your genius cannot deliver, try my genius in writing, ghostwriting, editing, publishing, photography, interview, column writing, feature writing, creative writing, proposal packaging, annual report preparation, newslettering, book realization, popularization of science -- as long as it has to do with words & ideas, I can help you. Post a comment and you're really sending me an email.


9 April 2006

(11)
The Impossibles.
Tell me about the impossibles.
The article you can't write.
The book you can't organize.
The newsletter you can't finish.
The interview no one can do.
The speech you can't begin.
The rewriting you can't imagine.
The term paper you can't organize.
The proposal you can't package.
The report you can't enliven.
The files in your PC you can't find.
The photographs you can't improve.
The campaign that doesn't take off.
The biography that is in limbo.
Let me hear you say something is impossible.
So that I can tell you nothing is impossible.


9 April 2006

(12) I Will Be tHere.
Since 0500 AM (Monday, 10 April), for the last 7 hours I have been listening to only one song via the PC, to
Steve Curtis Chapman's soft guitar ballad 'I Will Be Here' -- I had intended to listen to that song the whole day. Yes, it's crazy, but I've not been this enthused by a song before, and I'm 66 for crying out loud. I heard from my son Jomar that he is coming to the Philippines for an evening of non-gospel gospel music on the 7th of May at the PICC 7-9 PM. I will be there.

To tell you the truth, I was never interested in Steve Curtis Chapman before, although I can see from the files in the family's hard disk (search by Google Desktop) that this soul singer is all over the place. Soul singer? I mean he sings with soul, into your soul. I say his music is non-gospel gospel music because he just sings what's in his heart. He doesn't preach, he doesn't teach – he just tells you what he thinks, what he feels. Look at that song:

I Will Be Here
Steve Curtis Chapman

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
and the sun does not appear
I,,, I, I will be here.
If in the dark, we lost sight of love
Hold my hand and have no fear
I will be here.

I will be here
When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind
I will listen.
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to crying
Through the winning, losing and trying
We’ll be together
I will be here.

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I,,, I, I will be here.
Just as seasons are made for change
Our lifetimes are made for years
So I,,, I, I will be here.

I will be here
You can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we’re older
I will hold you
I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I,,, I, I will be here.

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and the One who gave you to me
I will be here.

Just as seasons are made for change
Our lifetimes are made for years
I,,, I, I will be here.
We’ll be together
I will be here.

10 April 2006

(13)
Don't apologize.

When you're emailing or blogging or speaking in a forum or meeting, don't ever apologize for not knowing more than you know – the impression I get is that you haven't done your homework, and you don't want that, do you? Just go on and say what you are prepared to say – you leave me the impression that that's all you want to say at the moment. Good enough. But if you want a better impression from me, do your homework!


11 April 2006

(14) Essentialism
I just invented that term, and I'm offering it as a philosophical view of life opposite that of existentialism, which has been espoused by Jean Paul Sarte and Martin Heidegger and Albert Camus, and which declares that the universe has no meaning or purpose by itself, and it is up to anyone to create his essence and shape his destiny. I say essentialism is finding meanings in relationships.

11 April 2006

(15)
The Best & The Brightest

(revised 23 April 2006)

We Filipinos have plenty of those.

We beat the Americans and British in their own language in public speaking and debates.

We re-invented the cell phone into an ubiquitous, practical means of communication.

We have many very beautiful women for a small country. Some of them have won international beauty contests: Miss Universe, Miss International.

We have the greatest poem of martyrdom in the world: 'Adios, Patria Adorada' by Jose Rizal.

We are the whale shark capital of the world: visit Sorsogon or Albay.

We have the poem that created a miracle in US Congress in 1905: The Americans would not allow the eventual self-governing of the Filipinos until one of them read aloud Rizal’s 'Adios, Patria Adorada.' They could not deny his sublime thoughts, superb language, - and it was only in an English translation, not a very good one at that.

We have the First Asian Great Soul: Jose Rizal. His campaign for social change in the Philippines and in Europe using non-violent methods predated Mahatma 'Great Soul' Gandhi by 22 years!

We invented People Power, in 1986, ousting a dictator. We re-invented it in 2001, ousting a corrupt and incompetent leader. After 1986, many countries liberated themselves from tyranny using little or no bloodshed. And it would not be farfetched to say that the earthquake of People Power was what toppled the monolithic structure called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Remember the USSR?

We have the most beautiful volcano in the world: Mayon, in Albay. It has perfect symmetry. Mt Fuji is beautiful, but it's boring, monotonous. Mayon is captivating and often hides her face, like a beautiful woman does. Mt Fuji hardly speaks, like a woman who has nothing interesting to say. Mayon is fiery and speaks her mind, all the more becoming more interesting to pay attention to, to love.

We have the most stunning rice terraces in the world, in Ifugao Province, Northern Luzon. All rice terraces are what the Unesco says they are: 'a landscape of great beauty that expresses the harmony between humankind and the environment.' But those of the Philippines are unsurpassed for being picture-perfect. If they were a woman, what entices people is the sex appeal.

We have the strongest natural fiber in the world: abaca.

We have the most diverse tropical rainforest. Our dipterocarp trees are much sought-after in the international market, what is known as Philippine mahogany: apitong, bagtikan, tangile, guijo, yakal, lauan.

We have the mot diverse sea life in our coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is so-called because of its sheer size (area), but in biodiversity, it cannot compete with ours because it is in a temperate region and only the tropics can host so much diversity in plant and animal life.

We are the #1 producer of coconuts in the world.

We have some of the most beautiful species of fish in the world.

We have fireflies. Do you know what fireflies are? They are little fairies.

We have the most delicious mango in the world, because of our geographical location, because of the soil.

We are the most hospitable Asians. Fr James B Reuter calls us 'the most lovable people in the world.' We are. (2nd sentence added 1 June 2006).

We are the most peaceful Asians.

We have many delicious fruits that are inexpensive: mango, banana, durian, rambutan, lanzones, duhat, santol, starapple, tamarind, papaya, watermelon, melon, jackfruit, pomelo,

We are rich (still) in natural resources: fish & shellfish, wildlife, wild plants, gold, natural gas, edible frogs, field crabs, bamboo, countless herbs for medicinal purposes, disease-resistant plants, tourist spots, plenty of sunshine, plenty of water - many countries don't have these.

We have some of the best athletes in Asia and the world, where height is not an advantage: billiards, bowling, boxing, golf, lawn tennis, swimming, marathon, chess, karate, cycling, fencing, rowing, gymnastics etc.

We have some of the best computer programmers in the world. That explains the world-class animation we are seeing right now in our telenovelas.

We have no divorce law. Do you know what that means? Society is protecting the women from being made toys of men of pleasure.

We have a beautiful tradition of respect for the elders. That means we value experience, knowledge handed down from generation to generation.

We are the most resilient of all races in the world – how else could we survive the oil crisis repeatedly?

And what do we do to some wise guys (or gals) who would be king (or queen)? We suffer fools gladly!

15 April 2006

(16)
Music Maestro!


Did you know that the Philippines' own Gary Valenciano singing 'I Will Be Here' is featured in a website that is a personal homage to Ms Imee Marcos, daughter of First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos? (She will always be referred to as 'First Lady' as if she owns that title.) Visit http://www.angelfire.com/ and see for yourself. I didn’t know that, until I searched for that song and the composer and original singer of it, none other than Steven Curtis Chapman. It doesn't mean I'm endorsing Imee or the songs featured in that fan website; it only means I'm endorsing Steven, who is coming to town (Manila) this first week of May 2006: For details, click the link below. Steven Curtis Chapman is the Dean of Christian music makers (he's a composer as well as a singer): He has won 50 Dove Awards, many more than any other Christian music guys or dolls in the United States or elsewhere.

15 April 2006

(17)
Your church or mine?


Having done a 1-week research on the gospel music artist Steven Curtis Chapman (for an article I have already submitted to American Chronicle), and having read a question about whether a non-believer can go to Heaven or not, assuming there is a Heaven, I'm not about to answer the question according to the tenets of the Roman Catholic church, of which I profess to be a member. I may have all the answers to all your questions about faith, and even 'if I speak with human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal.' New American Bible

24 April 2006

(18)
Existentialism


Steven Curtis Chapman talks to himself, to God (or listens to His words in his heart), to his family, to neighbors; he also reads – for inspiration, for insights into what is begging to be sung about. When he lost his voice once, lasting 3 months, he took time to read more books and they influenced his thinking, two in particular: 'Rumors Of Another World: What On Earth Are We Missing?' by Philip Yancey (Zondervan Sept 2003) and 'Don’t Waste Your Life' by John Piper (Crossway Books May 2003). He lost his voice and found other voices.

Steven must have learned from Yancey that some people seek to take apart while others seek to connect and put together. Reading on Yancey and his ideas on the Internet, I myself have come to realize that much of American life today is rooted in EXISTENTIALISM. The existentialist philosophy 'places emphasis on individual existence, freedom, and choice' – I quote from MLCE (no date, FortuneCity.com/). In contrast, I can say that what Steven has been doing is seeing the whole, sensing the parts as they relate to the whole, stating the message, especially the relating – a revolution in songwriting by itself. I shall call it here ESSENTIALISM.
With Piper's book, Steven says: 'I grabbed it on my way to Seattle, read it on the plane and before the trip was over, had written about 8 songs' (Sparrow Records, Biography). You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over.

Excerpt from American Chronicle 'The Gospel Whisperer' by Frank A Hilario

25 April 2006

(19)
May 1: Make Mine A Holy Day


The US Department of Labor says May 1 was declared a holiday as 'a yearly national tribute to contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.' Good idea! Now, therefore, since the Philippines' Labor Day celebration is a carbon copy of the US model, if you celebrate it any other way, you are desecrating the ideal of the worker. If you celebrate May 1 by demonstrating against the government, you are dishonoring the day. If you celebrate it by demonstrating for the government, you are honoring the source of policy for declaring the day as with honor.

30 April 2006

(20)
Can anything good come
from the opposition?

Those whose fondest wish is for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign or be removed from being President of the Philippines can do better than fantasize. By opposition I mean those who would have nothing to do with GMA (including those media warriors who profess objectivity) and do not see that their politics of distraction & deconstruction punishes their countrymen - as well as insults the intelligence of the Filipino people. To those ladies & gentlemen who think highly of themselves, I recommend that they go and listen to Steven Curtis Chapman this Sunday, 7 May 7 PM at the PICC and get their politics right. Steven tells David Kuo in an interview (beliefnet.com):

'You know, ultimately politics isn't going to provide the answers. There is certainly a great opportunity for those in powerful positions to make a change for positive things. But as I've said before in 'Heaven In The Real World,' the answers don't lie in the right laws or the right legislation or even the right people in office. Ultimately, our hope is the hope of God's power at work evident in the lives of those who claim to be his followers and believers.'

Amen to all that!

30 April 2006

(21)
Orphans of opportunity

Steven Curtis Chapman will be in Manila 7 May and perform at the PICC Plenary Hall at 7 PM; the concert is for raising funds to care for the elderly (in a place called Anawim – 'the lost and the forgotten'), to build houses for the homeless (in a place called Gawad Kalinga – a project which, because of its outstanding success, is becoming 'The Culture of Nurture'), and to help families adopt orphans (in a foundation called Shaohannah's Hope). I see here a romantic tale where a Presbyterian (Steven attends the Christ Community Church in Nashville) is working hand-in-hand (and ear-to-ear) with Catholics (FiSH Magazine). So, I'm worried more about the orphans of opportunity, those who have been abandoned by politicians who like to play a game called Power Play.

30 April 2006

(22)
What's in a name?


What's in a name? That which we call 'Shaohannah' by any other name would smell not sweet, would not mean 'laughter' (Shao), would not mean 'gift of God’s grace' (Hannah). Shaohannah is the first adopted daughter of the Chapmans; she is an orphan from China. She is now 6 years old. Since then, the Chapmans had adopted 2 more daughters from China, and had set up Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation for helping families adopt orphans in the US or abroad. Her full name is Shaohannah Hope Yan Chapman. Steven describes the scene when his family 'took her in' (from FamilyChristian.com):

'When I saw my wife take Shaohannah and take her into her arms, and it really was like that scene in 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.' It's like your heart (expanding). And you can see it happen. You can see her go from an hour before, crying, saying, 'What if I can't love her as much as I do my other children? What if? What if? What if? What if?' and put her in her arms and it's just like, 'This is my daughter. This is flesh of my flesh. It’s part of me.' And God just does this miraculous thing. Our whole family, it's like we took her in, our love for her took her in but love took us or she took us in too. Our love for her – we were taken in as well.'

30 April 2006

(23)
Adopt a miracle!


When a family adopts, it's the mother who is the most excited, and the most worried. That's because she feels she is the one who is mainly responsible for bringing up that child. Such feeling, if not knowledge, comes naturally, biologically, psychologically. The childless couple feel unfulfilled if they cannot bring up a child into the world; the family who love themselves enough not to be threatened with the coming of a new member feel fulfilled that they have become a bigger family, an extended family. But the mother has angst.

Steven Curtis Chapman, talks about the qualms, saying (Ashli O’Connell, 22 January 2006, tpe.ag.org/):

'My wife can relate to a lot of the fears that adoptive mothers struggle with - can I really love this child as much as I love my biological children. She says she can't believe the miracle that took place the day the girls were placed in her arms. God supernaturally creates a family in the same way He makes us a part of His family. That's why it's such a miracle.'

Go ahead, adopt a miracle!

1 May 2006

(25)
Earthly love, earthly glow


In 2003, Steven Curtis Chapman released his 13th album, and it was 'All About Love' – I rather think Steven timed it to be #13 because it's all about love and 'the Christian music industry takes a dim view of earthly love songs' (Lisa Zhito, 'Love Story,' January 2003, Barnes & Noble.com). Lisa asks Steven, 'What do you think of that unspoken rule that Christian artists shouldn’t do love songs?' Steven says:

'I don’t know that anybody would say that's off-limits as much as we probably don't go there because it's not what’s expected. It seems like as you're writing songs about your spiritual life, and especially recently, with a lot of music really moving towards worship themes, it's become even less of a theme you'd hear in Christian music. We just don't write about our horizontal relationships with one another as opposed to the vertical relationship with God. I don't know why that is.'

Some people separate the spiritual from the earthly. In the US, this is not surprising because of the way earthly love is treated – a human right, so that you have the right of a child to education and the right of a woman to her body and so on. Steven has a different view from most Americans, including Gospel songwriters. He says:

'I really feel like this record is as deeply spiritual in every one of the songs as every record I’ve ever written. I write music out of my experience of and exploring God’s grace and where God shows up in my life. There's no place in my life where I have seen more profound relations of God and His presence and my need for Him than in my relationships, and particularly in my marriage.'

So, is a kiss spiritual, and romance, and passion?

'That’s what I'm most excited about with this record. I feel like it does operate on the level of realizing that God has given us all of our human experience – the power of a kiss, the feeling of romance and passion – as an expression of Himself in our lives. It is a deeply spiritual thing going on.'

Earthly love, earthly glow. It is not a human right – it is a divine gift.

1 May 2006

(26)
A discerning moment


Steven Curtis Chapman remembers the defining moment in his life 'when the Gospel of Jesus Christ became amazingly clear to him' (Shannon Baker, 'Father’s Love,' 29 December 2004, Baptist Press, bpnews.net/). That was when he, his wife Mary Beth, and their children Emily and Caleb and Will Franklin adopted Shaohannah, from China, as part of the family. Steven says of it:

'Until we adopted Shaohannah, I didn't fully understand the depth of what Jesus has done for us. I was hopeless, without a future, without a name ... then Jesus came into my life, gave me hope and a future. He gave me a new name.'

That was when Steven suddenly realized: 'I am adopted!' Adoption is the Gospel of Jesus Christ; it is the 'visible Gospel' (John Piper). 'Adoption is the perfect picture of what God has done for each of us in making us His children through Christ.' When we adopt, we are living out the Christ in us.

After three adopted daughters from China, the Chapmans set up Shaohannah's Hope, a non-profit organization to help families adopt children in the US or abroad, providing information and financial help. They want others to share in the delight of discovery that we are all adopted in the first place. Being adopted is not a curse; it is a blessing from the heavens.

(28)
Whispering hope


So I call Steven Curtis Chapman 'The Gospel Whisperer' in my American Chronicle article (click link below when you’re ready to read him according to me). I call him that because he doesn't shout it -- he just shares it; he doesn't attack those who do not believe like he does – he just talks about it; he doesn't speak in tongues – he just sings in the language of everyday life.

Jim Mueller asks him about his newest album, #14, 'All Things New' ('A conversation with Steven Curtis Chapman,' 2004, growthtrac.com/). Steven says:

'God is whispering to us, and sometimes screaming – through creation and all that goes on around us – He desires to renew all things including our hearts, minds, and relationships.' So God is a Gospel whisperer also. He is whispering hope.

How did Steven come to write the songs in the album? He had seen degeneration. He had begun noticing that the car was wearing out, the house needed painting, the bread was going stale, and he saw 'plenty of reminders all around' that things were 'declining.' And out of that sight of degeneration, he had the insight of regeneration. 'We look at God's truth and who God is and see He’s committed to renewing all things and making all things new.'

Hearts, minds, relationships. How about his old relationship with Mary Beth, his wife? Steven says:

'We've been married twenty years this October and I can honestly say my wife and I have never been more in love.'

'What about romance?' Jim asks. 'Is that still a reality for old married people and a houseful of kids?'

Steven says, 'We need to keep ourselves aware that we have to make time for ourselves. Even when I was making this record, Mary Beth came out and spent some time with me in Los Angeles. It was a special getaway time. We’ve been blessed to be able to do that.'

You don’t say!

'With three older kids, they can baby sit and give us a night out. We can escape to our favorite restaurant, grab a meal and gaze into each other's eyes – even if they're bloodshot and sleepy.' They can be whispering love.

(29)
The Zero Challenge
To Steven Curtis Chapman


Steven Curtis Chapman has in my list (check out the link below) more than 150 songs with complete lyrics, the most number compared to all the websites I have seen, and they are legion. The songs are on many different subjects, and they make a good study by themselves as literature in song. Isn't he the Emily Dickinson of song? I have written a 'crazily long and rambling article' (in the eyes of Kristine Steakley, who herself has a crazily long title for a blogsite) on Steven Curtis Chapman ('The Gospel Whisperer,' American Chronicle; check out the link below), so I have seen how good he is, and how inventive, ingenious, inspired. I would like to say Steven's range of reach goes from A to Z, but I can't: He doesn't have a song with a title that begins with the letter Z (not to mention X). So here's my Zero Challenge to Steven: Compose a song about Zero. What about zero? I leave the songwriter in Steven in peace. I have faith that he will come up with something good, something very good, even excellent, beginning with Zero and ending way beyond. The possibilities are endless, stretching to infinity.

(30)
The Xerox Challenge
To Steven Curtis Chapman


Here's my other challenge to Steven Curtis Chapman: Write a song about the Xerox, the ubiquitous machine that multiplies good and bad materials at 4 pages per minute or faster. Remember the original Xerox machine, with its ink smelling awful? It was so successful anyway it gave birth to an English verb: Xerox. Later, the Xerox gave birth to the plain paper copier and, lo and behold, the PPC is a non-smelly, classier, smarter, faster, cheaper device.

Like the PPC, SCC is classier, smarter, faster and chipper than the original Gospel music makers. You can xerox Steven Curtis Chapman, but you can’t copy him. He’s an original.

(31)
WOrDOg & The Word
According To Bill Gates


This one's dedicated to BILL GATES' WORD, better known as MICROSOFT WORD, warts and ALL. I love ALL.

Yes, 'WOrDOg' sounds like 'bird dog.' That's intentional. If you ask me, that's a good name for a new blog in Weblog, Inc: WOrDOg. You write it like that, two eyes wide open. The way it looks describes exactly what I have in mind and want to say about two things, obviously: Word and Dog. Strange bedfellows, unless you're talking about a talking dog. I'm not. I give you my word I’m talking about Bill Gates' Word and the faunal species animal scientists like to call Canis lupus familiaris when they don't want to familiarize the layman in you with the species who owns the original canine teeth. A different species themselves, scientists like to talk among themselves; they're too technical. Me, I'd like to talk to you and not be technical. I'm a dog when it comes to digging out the treasures of BG's Word from the ground up. In other words, let me introduce myself, I'm a brand new species I have had the privilege of recreating and calling myself with a new name: WOrDOg.

Will Bill Gates be pleased? Probably not. They don't even allow dogs in Microsoft, unlike in Google. Long ago, it was dog eats dog when it came to the business of Netscape, that which started BG browsing, but that was as close as Microsoft could stomach the smell of that four-footed species. I'm afraid of dogs myself but, you know, to get rid of your fear, you have to confront it.

And why am I plugging a software that doesn't need my plugging, when I know that there's OpenOffice.org 2 that gives me WRITER and it's ALMOST AS GOOD as BG’s Word? The keyword is ALMOST. I love the idea of open source, but I love more the idea of a software that does my bidding, a software dog that I can make jump through hoops. And that's BG's Word. (Right now, you can make BG's Word jump yourself. Open an old Word file and, before doing anything else, press Shift+F5. Didn't work? Open another old file and try again.)

Are you the top dog or the underdog? I am WOrDOg, and I am both. Welcome to my blogworld. WOrDOg intends to teach you, or enthuse you, whichever comes first, about:

(1) Sometimes my love for BG's Word, the most powerful word processing software in the world. It will be my pleasure to show you how I came to think that this is so.

(2) Sometimes my unlove. There must be some lesson there somewhere, if only we can find it. And if BG's Word comes, can Bill Gates be far behind?

Now then, what you will be getting is THE WORD ACCORDING TO FRANK.

(32)
Bill Gates,
The Future Is Now


If you haven't seen it yet, I will let you peek into the power of Bill Gates' Word by showing you a glimpse of Word 2003 (but also true of Word XP and Word 97) auto-format feature. Open your (or somebody else's) BG’s Word. Do this: Open a new (blank) document. Note the cursor at the leftmost of the first line. Now, press Enter – but do NOT press Tab after Enter. Type this paragraph:

BILL GATES, THE FUTURE IS NOW. I’M TRYING TO MAKE IT ALL MAKE SENSE. YOUR POTENTIAL INSPIRES ME TO CREATE A WEBLOG TO HELP YOU REACH IT. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY? DID YOU CHECK OUT THE LATEST WINDOWS XP PATCH LIKE YOU SHOULD? IT JUST WORKS. CLEAR, CONFIDENT, CONNECTED: BRINGING CLARITY TO YOUR WORLD. EASY AS THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG!

Don't press Enter yet; instead, after typing DOG!, press Space, then press F4 repeatedly. See what happens? The sentences jump quickly onto the space one after another. That's auto-type. BG's Word isn't a lazy dog.

Now, position your cursor anywhere on the BILL GATES paragraph, click the right button of your mouse, click Format, Paragraph, Special, First line, OK. Magic! That gives you an indented first line. Now, with your cursor after the exclamation mark (!), press Enter. Do you notice what happens? The format called 'First line' is repeated automatically for the next paragraph. That's auto-format.

Next, type this sentence:

FIVE PUZZLED BOYS WATCHED SIX QUIET GIRLS KISS JUST ME, FRANK.

(That's Frank Hilario's version of the sentence that has all the letters of the alphabet in it, a pangram, for practice typing. According to Wikipedia, the THE QUICK BROWN FOX pangram is used to test typewriter and computer keyboards because 'it is coherent and short' and is favored because 'it describes a neutral, bland event which is unlikely to offend anyone.' Me, I don't want to be neutral; I don't want to be bland; sometimes I don't want to be short. So, I offer my FIVE PUZZLED BOYS pangram instead – while mine is much longer, it's more earthy, more exciting, more ridiculous and therefore more fun. Also, my pangram has my name on it. I invented that before the Age of the Dinosaurs (Typewriters) disappeared from view. Please note that it has NO DOG in it. I'm not that fond of dogs. At home, I walk the dog once in a while, but I'd rather walk an extra mile – I need the exercise.)

The first line format is still there, right? Press Enter at the end of the PUZZLED BOYS sentence paragraph. What happens? The paragraph format is repeated.

Go back to the BILL GATES paragraph. Now, select the words BILL GATES and click the icon B to make it bold. (Bill Gates makes bold moves too.) Then move your cursor to any letter of the word POTENTIAL and click the icon I to make it italic. (Bill Gates is always looking for potential business.) Move your cursor to anywhere on the word QUICK and click the icon U to make it underlined. (Bill Gates is sometimes quick to grab an opportunity.) So you have BILL GATES, POTENTIAL, QUICK in enhanced font formats. Bill Gates should be pleased.

Then, move your cursor to my PUZZLED BOYS sentence. With your cursor anywhere on the sentence, click Format, Paragraph, Spacing Before, type the number 12, OK. What happens? That's a magic double Enter. After the period in the sentence, press Enter. The spacing before is repeated.

Now, anywhere on the page, press Ctrl+A (Select All), then press Ctrl+C (Copy), then press Ctrl+V (Paste). Repeat Ctrl+V several times until you have several pages of text. Click View, Normal. Scroll to the first page and position your cursor on the first letter of the paragraph where you can see an automatic line breaking it or lying below it, then press Ctrl+Enter on that beginning letter (either a B or an F). That's a Manual Page Break.

Did you know that the first line indent, the spacing before and the manual line break are THREE OF THE MOST IGNORED COMMANDS IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORD? Everyone I know is guilty of this, including my children. (A prophet is not without honor except in his own country.) People don't ask what they can do to make things easier for them. I always say: 'If it's difficult, you're doing it wrong.' What people do when they want a first line indent is press Tab; what they do to create a spacing before is press two Enters at the end of a paragraph, line or sentence; what people do when they want a page break is press Enter, Enter, Enter, Enter, Enter!

You think that's no bother? Think of typing 100 pages; you have 1000 paragraphs all beginning with an Enter and all ending with two Enters. That's extra 1000 Tabs and 1000 Enters. That's a lot of time and effort wasted. Then, when you revise, as you will, you will Tab every paragraph you add and delete an extra Enter for every paragraph you delete. Not only that, you will either delete all those extra Enters to create another 'automatic' page break, or add extra Enters to create such a break. If in one revision you need 10 Enters per page to add or subtract, then for 100 pages, you will need to make an additional 1,000 Enters or 1,000 Deletes. And that's only for the first revision. And I'm giving you just a few examples of the unknown travails of working with a word processor without knowing the basics of it. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing most people are not aware of.

Suppose you want to change the basefont and the font size of all the paragraphs in that 100-page book and the boss wants it done in 30 minutes, new page breaks included? You will do it in 3 hours at a hurried pace with a harried look if you don't know Templates and Manual Page Break. Since I have mastered both, I can do it in 3 minutes flat.

My BILL GATES and PUZZLED BOYS examples are just a few little illustrations of the power of BG's Word. Now you have a good idea why as a writer (not to mention an editor and desktop publisher), I so love the word 'Word' because it reminds me of BG's Word, which is my favorite power tool, even if Bill Gates is NOT my favorite genius (Steve Jobs is). What you don't know until now is that in turn, BG's Word reminds me of the Bible. I'm a Christian; BG's Word is powerful in its own right, but that's two words, and it's of this world; you can imagine the power that comes with a single word, out of this world: BIBLE, which in turn reminds me of the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us: GOD. With God, His will is our command; with BG's Word, my will is its command. All's right with the world.

With one BILL GATES pondering the future, one DOG jumping and five BOYS puzzling, welcome to my Word-Wide World!

(33)
Constructing With &
Deconstructing Word

Been there, done that. With Bill Gates' Word (that which everybody else likes to call Microsoft Word, or Word XP, or Word 2003), considering the writer and editor and desktop publisher in me, I have the most incredible software in the world. And I have the experience to prove it, the publication to show for it. It's the Potter to the Clay. BG's Word: On one hand, I can construct with it; on the other hand, I can deconstruct it. Like so:

(1) Constructing With BG's Word

As of the 1st week of May 2006, I have been for the last three and a half years the Editor in Chief of THE MOST ADVANCED SCIENCE JOURNAL IN THE WORLD. I refer to the Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS), which on the 6th of May came out with its December 2006 issue; since the next issue is April 2007, that makes our journal PJCS advanced by a year, or 365 days. A world record, I believe. And you know what? We did it with BG's Word.

It was something impossible to do: Get hold of a technical journal that is a thousand days late and make it up-to-date in no time at all - immediately. Not too fast! I knew what the journal needed was a one-man-band: a competent editor who happened to be a competent writer who happened to be a competent desktop publisher. I had always been a writer since high school; I had been editor for years – now, which program should I use to be a better and faster desktopper myself? It took me a year to find out; in the end, I returned to an old flame. I tried Adobe PageMaker and I found out, like many a beautiful woman, she was too complicated for me. I tried MS Publisher, and she was beautiful and less complicated but still too slow for me. She didn’t excite me enough. So I chose MS Word over PageMaker and MS Publisher. I wasn't too sure, but I had been using MS Word since the People Power Revolution in my country, and so I thought she would make me the happiest man on earth. She did.

Because, suddenly, there was MS WORD XP - SHE HAD EVERYTHING I HAD ALWAYS WANTED ON MY DESKTOP, including a way to drag an object across a page or across pages. MS Word XP was a perfect match to my needs. Later came MS Word 2003, and she was even more perfect. I was in heaven. And so we made our journal not only up-to-date but well-advanced than all other journals in science in all the world, including the United States. To top it all, with all the shortcuts I know using MS Word, all the while I have been enjoying my desktop work, I became like a lover at play, making love to the page. After that, knowing and feeling good enough to exult, I created an information base (iBase): http://cropsciencephilippines.blogspot.com. I created that iBase in about a week, all 100 MB of it and, looking back, it looks like I had been lusting all the way to the knowledge bank.

Before this, did you know that Word XP is not simply a word processing software but a very powerful, very versatile desktop publisher? I affirm; I confirm. Word 2003 is even more so. I don't know about Word 2000 - I jumped from Word 1997 to Word XP, and it was like I jumped from the 20th to the 21st century. I've been using BG's Word since Word 4 (remember WordStar 4?) - no graphic interface yet - so Word XP is like 7th Heaven. If you are new to Word 2003, today you shall be with me in Paradise.

Always using text files from BG's Word, often importing photographs from Adobe Photoshop, occasionally copying graphs and tables from BG's Excel, I have with our PJCS singlehandedly created the only technical journal in the world that has adopted Word 2003 as its own desktop publisher, designing the cover and inside pages, formatting texts, layouting tables and graphs and images, revising and correcting and printing camera-ready pages, entirely with this software. You better believe it. If you have doubts, visit the website I told you above and read your heart out. Blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed.

I created that blogsite actually in March 2006. The reason you can see a monthly archive dating back to January 2004 is that I simply changed the month and the year before I saved each and every post so that I can have many monthly archives. Total uploaded files are about 100 MB, and I wanted to distribute the pages for less bulky browsing, never mind the false '2004' as year of posting. Each entry in each post has the correct date entry anyway.

There is in fact an even earlier blogsite that I created and have all but forgotten till now: http://wordpro.blogspot.com. This blogsite says you have my word: BG’s Word is a world-class desktop publishing software. I posted the message ('Setting world records with Microsoft Word') 26 August 2005 yet, some 9 months ago, a month after I started my own blogging. Which means BG's Word is in an advanced state of composition.

With BG's Word, formatting columns is not a problem anymore, even mixing single columns with double or triple columns. I do it all the time. Click Format, Columns, Number of columns and select or type the number you want, OK. Be sure you are on Print Layout (click View, Print Layout if you are not).

Can you drag tables to anywhere within the document? Now you can. For this, you have to learn the art of the DRAWING CANVAS. I can't discuss it here now, but I can tell you one thing: with that artist's canvas, you can insert a table and drag it to anywhere you want, and all the time parting the waves of text you meet. You can also resize it, either make the box around it disappear or enhance it or embellish it.

Why this affirmation of a particular software that is particularly hyped already? (What you have so far seen is only the tip of an iceberg, a sexy iceberg.) A more pertinent question is: Do I admire Bill Gates? (He didn't program BG's Word, did he? He didn't even program DOS, or MSDOS for that matter.) Do I own Microsoft stocks? (I don't even own Microsoft socks.)

I'm WOrDOg. I just love BG's Word and I love the word 'dog' - which characterizes my behavior toward BG's Word. What my experience shows is that you have to have dogged persistence, not canine devotion to BG's Word, not listening only to expert advice, but having a devotion to discovering for yourself bones buried anywhere in the back and front yard. Sometimes I do have dog day afternoons, but all that comes with the territory. I am the first and best example of the dawning of a new plain truth that Being A Dog Is A Man's Best Friend.

Bill Gates must be pleased.

What about quality of images embedded in BG's Word when a document is printed camera-ready? No problem. If your image has high quality in the first place, BG's Word will show you high quality - you can resize it simply dragging any corner of the image. (Lesson: Use a high-quality digital camera.)

But really, I can do more than resize an image with BG's Word: I love it so much I have taught myself to deconstruct the software itself.

(2) Deconstructing BG's Word

I'll take Bill Gates' Word anytime and bite it to pieces, with gusto. Logical and illogical pieces. I salivate when I consider what BG's Word can do for me - more when I consider what I can do to BG's Word. And I can do plenty. I can change the menu so that you can no longer recognize it. It's easy if you know Tools, Customize. (Right now, I have added to my BG's Word menu these items: Options, Saves, Math, XFactor; that is, Saves for all Word windows open (I'm a multi-Word user); Math for Tools, Calculate; XFactor for Tools, Customize.) So, to deconstruct BG's Word, let me present to you what I shall call here The ChaosBrains Menu:

@LETTER @THESIS @BOOK @JOURNAL @ NEWSLETTER @REPORT @CHAOS @BRAINS

where @ is the specific icon, CHAOS comprises my research, notes, drafts and my mild and wild ideas, like this one, and BRAINS contains a separate document template (doTemplate) for each ChaosBrains submenu.

Each doTemplate of mine will automatically assign margins, mix of columns, basefont and character spacing, heading levels with fonts and sizes and spacings, drop caps, drawing canvases big & small, text boxes of all sizes and shapes and settings, running heads and page numbers, page breaks and section breaks ... the works.

And to each BrainChaos submenu, I will reassign all the commands I think I need, my favorites naturally, a few of them being: Search & Replace Format, Previous Edit, First Line Indent, Hanging Indent, New Windows, Save All, Autotext, Autocorrect, Table Autoformat, Format Columns, Insert Page Number, View Outline. And, of course, Styles and Formatting (Templates).

Now, about commands, if you ask Word 2003 to list all the commands, it will give you a list of 1,071 commands (click Tools, Macro, Macros, Macros in, Word Commands, ListCommands, Run). The list is incorrect; for instance, it simply puts down 'Templates' as one command. This is BG's Understatement of the 21st Century! If you ask me, Templates (it used to be called 'Stylesheet') is the most astounding and the most useful single feature of BG's Word (starting with BG’s Word 4 that I remember). And yes, Templates is one of the open secrets of BG's Word being an excellent desktop publisher in itself; Templates makes BG's Word the quickest, the most versatile, the most compliant (if you know your macros), the most efficient to use. After 20 years of dogged use, I should know, or help me Word. To Templates, my word is its command.

You understand why I'm enraptured with BG's Word, because of its power to transform itself, or turn itself into something new or entirely different. With the magic spell of BG's Mouse, I can construct and deconstruct BG's Word itself by itself. That’s more than macro power: that's user power. BG's Word enables me to be the POWER USER that I want. 'Stay with me flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love' - that's from the Song of Solomon.

But that's only because I'm WOrDOg, a doggedly persistent user, a discoverer of bones in the ground and skeletons in the closet. Top Banana BG's Word is now too complicated even for Bill Gates, even for John Dvorak. A word by way of reminder: In a hierarchy, the top banana has risen to his level of incompetence.

Ultimately, any software should make itself EASY FOR ANY USER AT ANY LEVEL - meaning, there should be no learning curve at all. All I'm saying is that BG's Word - as well as any other pretender to an intelligent word processing/desktop publishing software - needs a paradigm shift like I DON'T need a hole in the head!

(34)
My Bio


I'm WOrDOg. My name is FRANK A HILARIO and I live in Luzon, the biggest island among the 7000 islands called the Philippines; I'm a Filipino and I speak Filipino as well as I do the language of the full-blooded Ilocano that I am, but in effect my brain lives in the United States of America, since I prefer to think and write in the language of the ones who colonized my country in the late 19th century. I like green bucks but not green jokes. So, I am a strange bedfellow to me and myself. Some of my countrymen call my propensity for things American COLONIAL MENTALITY; I simply call it CONGENIALITY.

I'm a farm boy who wanted to take up journalism in college and ended up becoming a teacher and passing, to be sure, my country's Teacher's Exam, 80.65%, which isn't so bad, in fact it's good. So, from the 20th to the 21st century, I have been teaching myself by myself, well, word processing and desktop publishing and tweaking MICROSOFT WINDOWS and MICROSOFT WORD at someone else's expense (HE'S A BILLIONAIRE anyway, if you know what & who I mean). As a teacher, my best student is me. So, for instance, I have taught myself up to guru level and gleefully been using Word 2003 - which I prefer to call Bill Gates' Word or BG's Word -- to productively one-man-band (rewrite, edit, desktop-publish) a highly technical journal, the PHILIPPINE JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE, so much so that this journal is now one year ahead in its issues. That's worth a Guinness Book of World/Word Record. (Check this out if you don't believe me: http://cropsciencephilippines.blogspot.com. And I'm talking of BG's Word as my desktopper, not Adobe PageMaker and not Microsoft Publisher or some other software that other editors and layout artists would swear by. I of course also taught myself, well, blogging, and you can see for yourself if you check out all the links you see when you visit my http://aromalight.blogspot.com. In fact I have more blogs than you can see.

I'm married to one woman, and intend to be so for the rest of my life. When people ask me how many children I have, I reply, only one. Only one? Only one – one dozen. I am that prolific. (But don't ask me about birthdays.) I am that prolific also when it comes to writing. That explains why I have so far written and published nine long feature articles in as many diverse topics for the AMERICAN CHRONICLE – here's the URL if you want to check me out (and find a bit more about me): www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewByAuthor.asp?authorID=700


Note well this: I have more than 20 blogs (I prefer to call them BLOGSITES) and hundreds of posts (I prefer to call them BLOGS). To paraphrase Omar Khayyam:

My moving finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

Above all, remember this: I am the fellow who when he writes, most of the time he uses BG's Word; sometimes he uses pen and paper – sometimes he uses his head.


(35)
Blogs of quiet desperation

Bloggers like me lead lives of quiet desperation when they can't (don't know how) to post images on their blogsites, images they themselves select right where they are (folder). I just learned how to do it a few minutes ago, and this is my third photo post (for the first two, visit this website I created: http://ricedevphilippines.blogspot.com) last night. When I woke up this morning, about six, Wednesday, 24 May 2006, I had the hunch: Maybe Picasa (Picasa2) has a way to help me blog a photo without too much trouble. And it does! Click that photo, click Create, Publish to Blogger, type your text – and you’re done. 3 cheers for Picasa! (Well, I have 3 photoposts.) The one you saw before this, that of Steven Curtis Chapman, was by my son Jomar - I just cut-and-pasted it.


(37)
UP Beloved:
A Great Revelation

photo by gomi at flickr

The University of the Philippines (UP) was created on 18 June 1908 by Legislative Act 1870 with Murray Bartlett as the first President. I want to celebrate the birth of UP by pointing out and improving on a historical mediocrity concerning our UP Beloved.

Today, 2 June 2006, I was looking at somebody’s proposed program for the induction of officers of a UP Alumni Chapter in Manila and suddenly I noticed that the Tagalog translation of ‘UP Beloved’ has been all along lacking in content and ideas. It seems to me the work of an intelligent but lazy translator, or of one whose translation was done too fast it couldn’t be but careless.

Some people like to sing ‘UP Naming Mahal’ and I like to sing ‘UP Beloved.’ - I don't. After this, I would also like to sing ‘UP Naming Mahal.’ This is the old translation:

U.P. Naming Mahal
U.P. Naming Mahal
Pamantasang hirang
Ang tinig namin
Sana’y iyong dinggin
Malayong lupain
Amin mang marating
Di rin magbabago ang damdamin
Di rin magbabago ang damdamin.

Luntian at pula
Sagisag magpakailan man
Ating ipagdiwang
Bulwagan ng dangal
Humayo’t itanghal
Giting at tapang
Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan
Mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan.

Just reading it and you will say, why, it’s a pretty poem, and it is; it’s a nice song too. Now, if you compare it with the original (see below), you will appreciate it when I give it 2 stars (**) out of a possible five stars (*****).

I shall now use my RISC Rating judging a translation (see my blogsite http://indiosbravos.blogspot.com for more details on my RISC formula):

Rhyme. ‘UP Naming Mahal’ on the whole is Good.

Ideas. ‘UP Naming Mahal’ is Bad. There are at least 16 major ideas that the translation ignores and that are in the original: alma mater, united, joyful, loyal, sing, we, ever, be, echo, watchword, give out, password, songs, rare, sing, message. That’s unforgivable because the original song is very, very short. The original is exactly 75 words; 18 words omitted out of 75 means that the translation omits 24% of the words. Too many.

Style. ‘UP Naming Mahal’ is Good. You can’t really translate English style to Tagalog style without something missing in the translation.

Content. ‘UP Naming Mahal’ is Poor. These concepts or thoughts are not translated at all: ‘for thee united,’ ‘joyful voices,’ ‘echo the watchword,’ ‘give out the password,’ ‘sing forth the message.’ You can’t miss in a translation very important things such as these. And don't forget that if you choose to ignore ideas in the original, that's how much content you are not translating.

Other comments. ‘Di rin magbabago ang damdamin’ is a mistranslation of ‘Loyal thy sons we’ll ever be.’ In fact, it is an idea not found in the original. ‘Pamantasang hirang’ is quite inadequate a translation of ‘our alma mater dear.’ It does not translate 'alma mater.'

Now, here is the original UP anthem in English, from a poem by Tiogenes Velez:

U.P. Beloved
U.P. Beloved, thou Alma Mater dear
For thee united, our joyful voices hear
Far though we wander, o’er islands yonder
Loyal thy sons we’ll ever be
Loyal thy sons we’ll ever be.

Echo the watchword, the Red and Green forever.
Give out the password to the Hall of Brave sons rare.
Sing forth the message, ring out with courage
All hail, thou hope of our dear land
All hail, thou hope of our dear land.

And here is my own translation (2 June 2006):

UP Naming Mahal (Frank A Hilario '65)
UP Naming Mahal, Inang Diwang Hirang
Sa ‘yo’y kaisa, ang tinig masaya.
Saan mang marating, dako pa roon
Anak kaming laging tapat
Anak kaming laging tapat.

Bantay ulitin, pula’t lunti kailanman
Susi’y bigkasin sa Bulwagan ng Tapang
Ulat sambitin, giting awitin
Mabuhay, pag-asa ng bayan
Mabuhay, pag-asa ng bayan!

‘Bantay’ is poetic license for ‘bantay salita’ (watchword). ‘Susi’ is poetic license for ‘susing salita’ (password or keyword). I have to invent words. The trouble with Tagalog is that the vocabulary is limited as well as that the words that are there are too long even for simple ideas.

All in all, I daresay my translation is at least 95% close to the original in rhyme, ideas, style and content. Whether you accept it or not is beside the point – the point is that the old translation is not worthy of UP.

The Great Revelation: 'Ang tinig namin / Sana'y iyong dinggin.' That's supposed to translate 'For thee united, our joyful voices hear.' There is no expression of unity in those Tagalog lines, only a plea to be heard, that is, a plea for freedom of expression. Typical UP, not enough UP. This is an affront to Tiogenes Velez, who wrote the poem that became the lyrics of the song; this is an affront to the rest of us.

Now I have one good explanation as to why the Philippines is not united - Why, even in the University of the Philippines, the State University, which should set the example, which has given us many leaders of the country, we have been singing an anthem that completely ignores unity!


(38)
Armed and dangerous
"Palace favors arming journalists - Gonzalez' is the news story of 23 May 2006 (inq7.net/) written by Tetch Torres Lira Dalangin-Fernandez. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that such a proposal was taken up in a Cabinet meeting, 'following a rash of killings of journalists' in the Philippines. I say that's solving a problem by changing the problem. Will the killing stop because the journalists are now armed and dangerous?

Our Filipino journalists are in fact already armed to the teeth, with something that is more dangerous than a gun that spits bullets. Let us not add fuel to the fire. They are already dangerous to themselves. They are armed with ISMS. NegativISM. AdventurISM. SensationalISM. Yellow journalISM. To make the world safe for Filipino journalists, let us require them by law to be armed to the teeth with another ISM, the Ilocano variety: ISEM, which means SMILE. Smile when you say isem. Today's pastoral SMS (text) from Fr Reuter says: 'People in the wealthy nations have money, but they don't smile. The Filipinos have no money, but they smile.' Filipino journalists should learn from their own kind. They should learn not to look the other way but to look at the bright side of life. They should remember that when one journalist points with one finger at someone, three fingers are pointing at him, or her.

14 June 2006


(39)
How to solve corruption
the easy way: Do it yourself!
This is a photo of the cover of the book Total Misconduct by Samuel Clark (Disclosure Publishing, totalmisconduct.com/). It is a true story, the author claims. The book blurb says, 'The book police officials don't t want you to read!' The book presents a detailed account of corruption and official misconduct within the police department of Newark, New Jersey. That's as American as you can get.

That's thousands of miles away. Corruption is everywhere in the world. It started in Paradise, remember? The serpent corrupted Eve who corrupted Adam. When you say the Philippines is the most corrupt country in Asia, or the second, or the third, do you know exactly what you are saying? No you don't. Or, which is the same thing, you're wrong. The problem is corruption everywhere in the world, correct. But, tell me truly, which side are you: The Corruptor or The Corrupt? It takes two to tango. Corruption is a two-way street, not one-way traffic. The reason we have corrupt Americans and corrupt Filipinos is that we have corruptor Americans and corruptor Filipinos. When a driver gives a policeman 'coffee money,' that's corruption. When we apply for a license and we promise (and deliver on our promise) to give a little extra for someone's effort at having our papers processed expeditiously, we're as good as our word but that's corruption. When we 'reward' a BIR agent for 'helping' us with our income tax problems, that's corruption.When we award a bid to the 'lowest' bidder for some financial or other considerations, that's corruption. When you pay people to attend rallies and demonstrations, that's corruption. Corruption is help expedited. I think the only one we don't corrupt is the priest or pastor or preacher, because we can't really pay for sanctifying grace to come on cue.

There must be a lesson there somewhere for all of us. And of course there is. For that, we borrow from the slogan of the World Wide Fund which tells us how to stop the illegal wildlife trade, 'When the buying stops, the killing will too.' To solve corruption, we just rewrite that a bit: 'When the corrupting stops, the corruption will too.' Problem solved!

14 June 2006


(40)
The Mona Lisa
of the 21st Century
I shall call her The Mona Lisa Girl. The first word that came to mind a few minutes ago when I saw this image at flickr (untitled, by picturebuzz) was: stunning.The next word was: 'Mona Lisa.' It is the most pleasing, most meanings-full, most refreshing, most inspiring photograph I have ever seen. This one is untitled, her mother's Mona Lisa, and in black & white; Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is oil on wood. Nicolas Pioch (WebMuseum, Paris, ibiblio.org/) says it is the lady's 'enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof' that has given the painting universal fame. I can say the same of this image, a photo-painting, a work of art, a work of heart.

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows, if you didn't notice (I don't like painted eyebrows in any case). The Mona Lisa Girl has them, unpainted and unretouched, and they add to the look of natural beauty, of vibrance. The Mona Lisa looks alive, they say; The Mona Lisa Girl is alive. The Mona Lisa looks at you; The Mona Lisa Girl looks at life. The Mona Lisa was a favorite painting of Leonardo da Vinci; The Mona Lisa Girl is mine.

15 June 2006


(41)
The adventure
of a lifetime
Voltaire says: Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly. I got that in the 'Quote of the Day' in my Personalized Google Homepage today. I say: Agree! And then if you do right by your spouse, you're not a coward anymore. Truth to tell, I wasn't a coward when I got married, but the first time I realized that I was a father, I got scared to death. I suggested to my wife to drop the baby. Just like that! She had the moral courage not to follow my advice, thank God. That baby now has her own baby, my first granddaughter. (In case you're interested, I had confessed that sin to a priest years ago.)

Courage, I now realize, must have something to do with the willingness to take responsibility for one's action, no matter what. Will you throw your wife to the angry waters or carry her across to safety? ('Waterfall' by Koleslaw, flickr.com/). That's all up to you. Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) was running scared all his life; he never got married - he had only the nerve to love and run. Marriage is a commitment; Voltaire was committed to his intellectual development but not to the institution of marriage. He was prolific, writing plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works and thousands of letters; he defied authorities, but he was not brave enough to sign his name on a piece of paper called the marriage certificate - and he was not courageous enough to honor the man whose wife he stole.


(42)
Can anyone teach
Web design without
being technical?

I want to learn how to create my own Web page(s). So I type this Google line:
“web design” “how to” “do your own”
(one line, typed exactly like that, including the double quotes) and I get ‘Thoughts on Web Design by Elliot Chabot (lawguru.com/) dated 19 April 19 1999, among others. I like what I see. The first words are: ‘Web site design – part art, part science, part philosophy, part mechanics. What follows are some of the lessons learned from the development of the US House of Representative Internet Law Library. It is a mixture of some of the common lore of the Internet, suggestions that others have put into print, and some items discovered through trial and error.’

Intelligent.

‘The first key to a successful Web site is to decide on the goal of your site. What is your purpose? What is your vision? The clearer your focus, the more likely you are to achieve it. The vision for your site is the foundation on which it is built. Strong sites call for strong foundations.’ xxx ‘The more original, useful material your Web site includes, the greater the likelihood that your Web site will be a success.’

Okay, I’m sold.

‘For those of you who would like to be able to deal directly with HTML codes, you might want to look at:

A Beginner’s Guide to HTML by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

HTML 4.0 Specification by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The W3C is one of the primary standards bodies of the Internet.

I press Ctrl and click with the mouse pointer over ‘HTML 4.0 Specification’ and I find it too technical – definitely not for beginners. I press Ctrl and click over ‘A Beginner’s Guide to HTML’ and the screen says, ‘NCSA’s “A Beginner’s Guide to HTML” Bounce Page. ¶ ‘We’re sorry, but NCSA’s “A Beginner’s Guide to HTML” is no longer active.’

Arrrrrk!

I click on one of the alternative sites, for W3Schools, and I get ‘HTML Tutorial.’ I read; I understand, but I also I know I’m not getting what I want: I want to design a Web page – I know I have to learn HTML, but don’t tell me about HTML until you have taught me how I can design a page for myself, and how I can change that design. When I say ‘Web page,’ I mean the whole screen, not just a segment of it. First things first. Image by Weave, flickr.com - that's what I mean by Web design, Web page. With HTML as your first tutorial, you are assuming that I am not a tabula rasa – well, I am. That’s why I’m a beginner, you understand? A beginner knows nothing, nada, zero, zilch. Has my Beginner’s Luck run out before I even got to it?

I try the other links: “How to set up a website that works.” It doesn’t work on me. It’s just trying to sell Web design services. I click on “Bellcrest Web Design” and it gives me ‘Frequently Asked Questions,’ among them: ‘Why should I pay a Web designer when I could get my friend to it for free?’ And the answer is: ‘With today’s WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors, most anyone can build a Web site. Not everyone can do it well.’

If I have seen a discouraging word, that’s the one. You see? They are not being helpful; they are just trying to tell me: Hire us! How do they know that 1 million of the rest of us can’t do it better than all of those programmers combined once we learn to do it ourselves?

Can anyone teach Web design without being technical? If no one can, I will, eventually, but first I have to learn it the hard way: technical. I will surf again for “practical Web design” – or I will just have to do it on my own, meaning grapple with all that technical language that only programmers can understand. Well, I’m back to the old adage: If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.


(43)
Jasmine Trias: #3 in #3
She's #1 in my heart

I watched the GMA7 show last night, 22 June 2006 Manila time, and I forgot to take notes! Blame it on age (66), but also blame it on why, it was so absorbing and inspiring I had tears in my eyes (I'm male, I'm sentimental - I'm a writer). I browsed the Internet too a few minutes ago and I was reminded that she was #3 in American Idol #3. In the TV show, 'The Jasmine Trias Story,' I learned that she was about going, going, gone ... when people, probably mostly Filipinos, began texting (SMS-ing) American Idol that they (the texters) wanted her to stay and so she was voted into the top 3. (Official photo from American Idol) The Philippines is not the text capital of the world for nothing. Based on the TV show, she lost because of a bad throat: tonsilitis, laryngitis, sore throat whatever. (I personally thought it was bad judging.)

I would like 'The Jasmine Trias Story' to be replayed (and replayed) because I like the story and I missed many quotables. As a writer, I feel that the story was very well written: if a writer can make another writer cry, he must be very good. Still, I can share three lessons. One (from my wife): How to be a good father (I know I am not a good father). Two: How to go on: Jas' father (I didn't get the name) was telling her that he was not a good father, he was not a good husband etc, but one thing he knew: His daughter was beautiful and had talent. Win some, lose some. 'Don't disappoint yourself,' he told her when she lost a contest. Three: How to succeed: Jas lost the audition for American Idol the first time. (I don't know if there was a second time.) Jas was going to give up on American Idol. It was too much for her. When American Idol 3 came to

(44)
The Lady President Who Can:
Dr Emerlinda Ramos Roman


She could; she can; and she thinks UP can and we can. We believe her.

They urged her to run for President of the University of the Philippines because they thought the job was meant for her and that she could beat the odds. And she did. She became the 19th UP President, the very first lady to occupy that position.

She has the academic credentials. She is a product of UP Rural High. She graduated with a BSA degree from UP Los Baños in 1972, masteral degree in Agribusiness Management from UP Diliman in 1977, and a doctorate degree in Business Administration also from UP Diliman in 1989.

She has the experience. In between, she taught business administration and through the years held different positions: faculty regent in 1995, University Secretary in 1988-1991, Vice Chancellor in 1985-1988 and Chancellor of UP Diliman in 1991-1993, 1999-2002, and 2002-2004. She established the Diliman Interactive Learning Center (DILC), Center For International Studies (CIS), Computerized Registration System (CRS), and Research Dissemination Grant Fund (RDGF), which energized the international publication and presentation of papers by UP faculty.

And in those many years she won several awards, including Outstanding Professor, Outstanding Alumnus for Public Service (College of Business Administration), Outstanding Alumnus for Academic Administration (UP Los Baños), and Outstanding Citizen of Los Baños Award for Academic Administration (Municipal Government of Los Baños).

In her term as President, she is enervated with her belief that UP can maintain its stature as a center of excellence and culture, that UP can strengthen its position as the leading university in R&D in the country – a national university in the 21st century – and eventually in the region, that all UP campuses can develop to the stature of UP Diliman, and that UP can develop as a community of scholars with academic credentials comparable with those in the best universities of the world.

She can write and she can edit. She has published papers on, among other subjects, management control, human resource management, administrative policy, and organizational behavior. She has written these books: Cases on Strategic Management in the Philippine Setting (UP Press), Metro Manila In Search Of A Sustainable Future: Impact Analysis Of Metropolitan Policies For Development And Environmental Conservation (UP Press). She has co-edited three books assessing the leadership of three Philippine Presidents.

She can count many significant achievements: faculty development and faculty welfare programs, academic program improvement, modernization of Diliman’s laboratories and learning facilities, research productivity improvement, and technology infrastructure development in UP Diliman.

She believes in a UP that can continue to be both home and haven for those who can dedicate themselves to asking questions, those who can be honest in their search for answers and those who can go on and not expect honor or gratitude but only the opportunity to do more.

Her most immediate challenge is: Can she defend a controversial new charter that will redefine UP as a state institution generating its own resources without necessarily becoming commercial? We believe she can.

Know that as a manager, she is a consensus builder who will listen graciously and silently to all sides, but she can be forthright when she needs to.

She thinks she can inspire UP to reengineer its own bureaucracy to get rid of a lot of inefficiencies in order to provide better and more efficient services to its constituents.

She is going to be the Centennial President of UP in 2008, and that is where she thinks we can contribute. We can help raise funds to help elevate the University of the Philippines to world-class status.

With her, we can all dream.

By Frank A Hilario, 7 June 2006,

3 July 2006