(Some of you might be going, "Gabi? And Fashion?" I don't blame you. I'm a closet fashionista, that's what I am. And besides, GUTSY isn't your typical fashion group. Go check the website to find out what our cause is.)
Working with Blogspot has made me seriously think of relocating there. The template is more user-friendly.
Next, I've also joined the Philippine Organization of Classical Singers. Expect big things from this new group, folks!
I'm also giving a talk on Friday to graduating college students, I'm supposed to motivate them to consider teaching as a career. I've only got 15 minutes!!! What to say, what to say, what to say? Fellow teachers, please help me!
There! Update done! :) Hopefully I'll have a more intelligent one soon.
Posted by Gabriela on Jul 3, '10 9:59 PM for everyone
The first month of the new school year is always an extraordinarily busy time for me. Adjusting to a more hectic pace after two months of "slow-motion" living, and for me, learning to handle the new responsibilities that comes with being a (preschool) class moderator, has meant very little time for reflection.
Which is why last Wednesday was a welcome break from the tyranny of Work. Though I did not physically attend the Inauguration, my family and I watched P-Noy on television as he gave his speech. As our favorite priest, Father Mario pointed out, Noynoy did not speak in a grandiose, oratorical manner, but he more than made up for it with his sincerity. Father Mario narrated during his homily how he had been present at Quirino Grandstand that day. Upon hearing the words of the new President, he turned to the lady beside him and said, "My God! He means business!" The lady's reply was striking: "Father, we should ALL mean business."
The over-arching message that I got from the inaugural speech was this: Change must come from ALL of us. The President said as much in his speech, when he asked all those present to make the vow to themselves and to their countrymen, that no one will be left behind in this quest for change.
Below are some excerpts from his speech, the parts that really touched me:
"...I am like you. Many of our countrymen have already voted with their feet – migrating to other countries in search of change or tranquility. They have endured hardship, risked their lives because they believe that compared to their current state here, there is more hope for them in another country, no matter how bleak it may be. In moments when I thought of only my own welfare, I also wondered—is it possible that I can find the peace and quiet that I crave in another country? Is our government beyond redemption? Has it been written that the Filipino’s lot is merely to suffer?
Today marks the end of a regime indifferent to the appeals of the people. It is not Noynoy who found a way. You are the reason why the silent suffering of the nation is about to end. This is the beginning of my burden, but if many of us will bear the cross we will lift it, no matter how heavy it is...
We are here to serve and not to lord over you. The mandate given to me was one of change. I accept your marching orders to transform our government from one that is self-serving to one that works for the welfare of the nation.
This mandate is the social contract that we agreed upon. It is the promise I made during the campaign, which you accepted on election day.
During the campaign we said, “If no one is corrupt, no one will be poor.” That is no mere slogan for posters—it is the defining principle that will serve as the foundation of our administration...
The first step is to have leaders who are ethical, honest, and true public servants. I will set the example. I will strive to be a good model. I will not break the trust you have placed in me. I will ensure that this, too, will be the advocacy of my Cabinet and those who will join our government.
I do not believe that all of those who serve in our government are corrupt. In truth, the majority of them are honest. They joined government to serve and do good. Starting today, they will have the opportunity to show that they have what it takes. I am counting on them to help fight corruption within the bureaucracy.
To those who have been put in positions by unlawful means, this is my warning: we will begin earning back the trust of our people by reviewing midnight appointments. Let this serve as a warning to those who intend to continue the crooked ways that have become the norm for too long...
Our goal is to create jobs at home so that there will be no need to look for employment abroad...
...If I have all of you by my side, we will be able to build a nation in which there will be equality of opportunity, because each of us fulfilled our duties and responsibilities equally.
After the elections, you proved that it is the people who wield power in this country.
This is what democracy means. It is the foundation of our unity. We campaigned for change. Because of this, the Filipino stands tall once more. We are all part of a nation that can begin to dream again.
To our friends and neighbors around the world, we are ready to take our place as a reliable member of the community of nations, a nation serious about its commitments and which harmonizes its national interests with its international responsibilities...
Today, I am inviting you to pledge to yourselves and to our people. No one shall be left behind.
No more junkets, no more senseless spending. No more turning back on pledges made during the campaign, whether today or in the coming challenges that will confront us over the next six years. No more influence-peddling, no more patronage politics, no more stealing. No more sirens, no more short cuts, no more bribes. It is time for us to work together once more.
We are here today because we stood together and believed in hope. We had no resources to campaign other than our common faith in the inherent goodness of the Filipino.
The people who are behind us dared to dream. Today, the dream starts to become a reality. To those among you who are still undecided about sharing the common burden I have only one question: Are you going to quit now that we have won?
...You are the ones who brought me here... I offer my heartfelt gratitude.
I will not be able to face my parents and you who have brought me here if do not fulfill the promises I made.
My parents sought nothing less, died for nothing less, than democracy and peace. I am blessed by this legacy. I shall carry the torch forward.
My hope is that when I leave office, everyone can say that we have traveled far on the right path, and that we are able to bequeath a better future to the next generation. Join me in continuing this fight for change.
Thank you and long live the Filipino people!"
(This linkcontains the transcript and video of the Inaugural speech, and its English translation as well.)
Last elections, I voted for Gibo, but I must say that I heartily approve of our new President's actions. If his first few days in office is merely an indicator of good things to come, it makes me very optimistic indeed. :) Go Noynoy! Go Philippines!
Posted by Gabriela on Jun 6, '10 1:13 AM for everyone
In 51 hours, I will be standing in front of a new class of freshmen music majors, starting my third year of teaching.
In a week, I'll be doing the same for my very own preschool advisory class. The familiar faces of my old high school/ grade school students will greet me as I walk down the hallway, only they will be much much taller after only two months of summer! And I will be shocked at how some of them will have to peer down to speak to me.
Ask any teacher, and they'll tell you that for them, the New Year starts not in January, but in June. There is that powerful sense of expectation, of rebirth, of regeneration... and it comes not with the fireworks and half-devoured quezo de bolas, but with the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the crackling sound of brand new notebooks and textbooks, the echo of students' laughter in the hallway. For the UP College of Music, it starts with the strains of Westlife, The Corrs and Alicia Keys heard in the corridor, outside the classrooms where students congregate, jamming to non-classical music while waiting for their professor to meet them for the first time (the chance of which is something like 1 is to 4, haha!).
I look back on the past two months of easier living, on the mornings where I had time to savor my cup of (decaf) coffee while listening to Mozart or Renaissance polyphonic music on YouTube, and am glad.
In the 10 months to come, I shall say goodbye to one hour more of sleep, one more novel read during weekends... but shall have the ineffable joy of interacting with hearts and minds so different from my own, which shall become as dear as my own... and truly, no amount of R&R can compete with that. :)
Ah... the life of a Teacher. There is nothing quite like it!
Posted by Gabriela on May 21, '10 11:21 PM for everyone
Sometimes, all it takes is a helping hand given at the right moment. One semester can make the difference between a student continuing and eventually finishing his studies at UP, or stopping his schooling in order to work. The trouble with the latter is that they rarely get the chance to complete them.
It is because of this that our NGO, Ex Libris Philippines, organized our "Concert For A Cause" fundraising activity last May 21, 2010. We're now looking for beneficiaries for our scholarship project. We seek undergraduate students who need financial assistance to continue their studies at the University of the Philippines for the first semester of A.Y. '10-'11. (Partial and complete scholarship grants for one semester will be granted based on the applicant's need)
Do you know of any deserving U.P. student of good moral and intellectual standing (preferably no INC's or 5's, with a GWA of 2.00 or higher), who REALLY NEEDS this one semester tuition fee grant? If you do, please send their contact information and any other pertinent info (e.g. references, mini bios) to Gabriela Francisco gabitwin@gmail.com (09209470835) or Tata Franciscoteachertata@gmail.com (09209470861) (or any other Ex Libris Philippines member you know).
Thank you so much! Please reply if you know someone---anyone---an orgmate, collegemate, friend, or classmate. A UP student who you think is deserving, and who really needs the financial aid. Just a name (or several names!) and contact number/s will do---and of course, a few sentences (personal recommendation) will be a great help. Please forward this to your teachers/students, family and friends; perhaps they may know of people who need this scholarship. Thank you so much!
For interested applicants, please submit the following:
4 pcs. 1x1 ID picture Copy of parents' most recent ITR Copy of TCG (a CRS printout of grades will do) 3-4 names (with complete contact info) for references
Posted by Gabriela on May 5, '10 10:26 PM for everyone
We are Lester Pascua’s friends.
We come together to give a voice to his story.
Five unknown men, brandishing baseball bats and hidden by masks, viciously attacked our friend, Lester, in Katipunan at the night of April 29. As our friend Lester was walking to buy dinner, these men mercilessly, and without any provocation, attacked him. They ganged up on him and beat him to a pulp. As if their treachery and brutality was never enough, they soon drove off in a silver Vios (plate number ZMD 300) to escape.
As his friends, we continue to receive persistent reports that this crime was a fraternity-related hit gone wrong. Knowing that our friend Lester was never a fraternity member in UP, and had no known enemies, only heightens our suspicions that this was a case of mistaken identity. In our eyes, Lester was an innocent person caught up in a senseless act of vendetta.
Even as we still piece together what really happened in this case, and we trust our authorities in their investigation, we still condemn – in the strongest terms – this barbaric act. If it was indeed true that this was a fraternity hit, these men who attacked him are no different from criminals. These criminals, whoever they are, must not go unpunished.
We are angry that these things can actually happen in our streets. We are indignant that these hoodlums think that they can get away with their crimes. Nonetheless, we are united by our demand to exact justice.
As Lester’s friends, we come together as one to bring attention to his case, and never stop until the criminals who have done this to him are punished.
If you believe in what we stand for, please repost this note and tag your friends.
LET US SHOW THESE CRIMINALS THAT WE DON'T TAKE THIS SITTING DOWN.
(From left to right: Doris Maddaford, Jean Ting, Ma'am Lilymae Montano, Joyce Tan, Sir Laszlo Nemes, Ma'am Daisy Marasigan, myself, Krystl Buesa and Herbert Yonathan)
Each year, the Kodaly Society of the Philippines holds an intensive two week course on the Kodaly method of teaching music, with Conducting and Musicianship classes as well as Methods, Materials, Practicum, and "extras" like Philippine Music, Asian Music, Vocal Techniques and Recorder classes. The lecturers come from the UP College of Music and the Ateneo, and while they are all excellent, the teacher who contributes most to the course's effectivity is our beloved Hungarian mentor, Dr. Laszlo Norbert Nemes. (Hungary is renowned for its excellent music education system. How excellent? Well, their high school students transcribe Bach fugues for dictation. And their children's choir can sight read Bartok choral pieces.)
I have been fortunate enough to benefit from the mentorship of many excellent teachers during my undergrad years, but Sir Laszlo is altogether in another dimension!! Never has there been such a personification of excellent musicianship, gentility of soul, good humor and a generous, loving nature! Discounting the fact that my solfege/dictation skills have greatly improved under his tutelage, he has also taught me much by his example of kindness and humility. He is, quite simply, a teacher's teacher.
Forgive me, none of my raving can do justice to such a wonderful human being as Sir Laszlo. Being his student in Musicianship and Conducting for the past few weeks has been, quite simply, the best two weeks of my life, both as a musician and as a teacher.
It's quite humbling to realize just how far I still have to go in terms of Musicianship, but it did a world of good for me and my classmates (among them was Ma'am Isay Pineda, who was my former Theory teacher during my undergrad).
I will always remember the early morning Musicianship classes where we sight-read and harmonically analyzed excerpts from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro." We also had excerpts for dictation. What bliss!!
And who can forget the joy of singing in a choir composed of some of the most beautiful voices our country has to offer? We did William Byrd's "Haec Dies," Zoltan Kodaly's "See the Gypsy Munching Cheese," Franz Schubert's "Salve Regina," and for our Conducting class we did Thomas Morley's "April Is In My Mistress' Face," Orlando Gibbon's "Almighty and Everlasting God," Edward Elgar's "As Torrents In Summer" and Benjamin Britten's "Deo Gracias" from A Ceremony of Carols. All sublime masterpieces!
I heartily recommend this two week course to all musicians, conductors, and music teachers. It is quite intense, as there is a great deal of homework to accomplish. But the rewards are well worth the sleepless nights and stressful days. :) No matter how stressful things got, I always woke up with a smile on my face, ready and eager to face Sir Laszlo with the Mozart arias memorized in solfa syllables. And I'm armed with a wealth of pedagogical techniques and lesson plans.
The Kodaly method is, I believe, the most effective one there is. Singapore is already getting Dr. Laszlo to train its teachers, they will be implementing the Kodaly method in their education system very soon. I wish the same would happen in the Philippines.
What attracted me to Kodaly was the philosophy behind the system, which is very patriotic (use of the finest folk songs, use of the Mother Tongue, etc.). Upon further study, I am convinced that its emphasis on the voice as the primary instrument, its use of relative do solfa (compared to fixed do solfa), and its developmentally appropriate teaching sequence is superior to others. What's even more nice about Kodaly is the fact that it can appropriate elements of other methods, like Dalcroze.
But I digress. Back to the main topic of my blog entry: Sir Laszlo.
During the lunch break on our last day (which is known as The Day of Important Conversations, because it's the only day that we course participants are no longer cramming our homework, hehe), Sir Laszlo spoke to my batchmate Joyce and I. He truly believes that the best music teacher is someone whose level of musicianship is that of a performer. Food for thought!!
Tomorrow, I go back to my workplace, to my summer students, recharged and re-energized with the burning desire to share my newfound knowledge. I can hardly wait!! :)
Posted by Gabriela on Mar 31, '10 12:42 AM for everyone
(Please click on poster to enlarge)
Our NGO, Ex Libris Philippines, a SEC-certified, nonstock, nonprofit organization of book enthusiasts, is raising funds in order to help send deserving but financially challenged UP students to school. Our last two fundraising projects held March 2007 and April 2008 have funded the education of seven deserving students at the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
We are now holding our third fundraising project for our NGO's Scholarship Project. This year's fundraising project is a Concert for a Cause, with performances by faculty, students and alumni of the UP College of Music. All funds to be raised will go to the Scholarship Project. The concert will be on May 21, 2010, Friday, 6 p.m. at the UP College of Music, Nicanor Abelardo Hall.
Treat yourself to a night of music and magic, and help out in a good cause, too! You'll be helping send students to school. Please also help spread the word to your friends and family, and invite them to come as well!
Tickets are at Php 300.00 each. For tickets, please contact Tata Francisco at 0920-947-08-61, or Gabi Francisco at 0920-947-08-35. You can also email us at teachertata@gmail.com, or gabitwin@gmail.com.
By simply forwarding this email to your friends, you'll be helping us A LOT already. Please help us spread the word about this Concert For A Cause! Thank you so much.
Posted by Gabriela on Mar 26, '10 10:42 PM for everyone
The graduations begin, now. Some students get medals: bronze, silver, gold.
Some students do not get any medals. . . . Some are not allowed to march. . . . Some are not allowed to graduate.
It is really a time of joy and sorrow, a time of laughter and tears, an emotional time.
Education is the complete and harmonious development of all the physical, mental, and moral faculties of man. The end product, at graduation, is not the medal, or even the diploma. It is the boy, standing on his own two feet. it is the girl, coming down the aisle with her diploma, to kiss her daddy.
Every teacher who has ever gone into a classroom knows that the best boy in the class, the best girl, is not necessarily the one who gets the gold medal for academics.
There might be a girl in the class who has many friends. She loves everybody, and everyone loves her. When they need something, they come to her, because they know that she will give. . . . There is no mark for that.
There might be a girl who is selfish as sin, who has no friends. No one comes to her, when they are in need, because they know that she will not help anyone. . . . there is no mark for that.
There might be a boy who is a natural leader. He has a sense of humor, and courage; he likes his family; he likes the school; he is at peace with God, with his friends, with himself. . . . there is no mark for that.
Another boy might be all mixed up. He hates his father. He hates the teachers. He is planning to kill himself, tonight. . . . There is no mark for that.
We give the marks for mathematics, for English, for history, for physics, for chemistry, for biology — but there are other sides to a boy, and to a girl.
At this graduation, the end product is not the medal. It is not even the diploma. It is your son. It is your daughter.
If he has learned to be a man, if she has learned to be a woman, that’s enough.
That’s a superlative, already.
What teachers make
This beautiful story came to me from the son of my staff through the internet.
The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with the education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”
He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” To stress his point he said to another guest, “You’re a teacher, Bonnie, be honest. What do you make?”
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make?”
“Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for 5 without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental. . . . .
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn’t everything. I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.
Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn’t everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. . . . You want to know what I make?
Posted by Gabriela on Mar 19, '10 11:23 PM for everyone
Speech Delivered at the LSG Candle Lighting and Indignation March against Midnight Appointments
Speech delivered by Simoun Salinas, USC Councilor-Elect and ALYANSA Vice Chairperson for Education, Research, and Training, at the Law Student Government (LSG) Candle Lighting and Indignation March against midnight appointments by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on March 19, 2010.
As law students, we all know that repetition is the key to memorizing and understanding statutes or provisions of the law. Read the provision. Understand it. Read it again. Repeat ad nauseum.
We also know that it has been a while since the members of the Supreme Court have relished the law school experience. Apparently, it has been a while since the members of the Supreme Court, especially the 9 assenting justices in De Castro vs. JBC, have taken the time to realize the necessity of precision of language in our Constitution.
Therefore, in the hope that, as we repeat this simple provision in the Constitution, maybe they will hear our collective pleas for reason and our collective indignation. To the Supreme Court, we say: “Article 7, Section 15 of the Philippine Constitution states that “Two months before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, the President…shall not make appointments….”
Again, we repeat: “To the Supreme Court, we say: “Article 7, Section 15 of the Philippine Constitution states that “Two months before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, the President…shall not make appointments….”
Then again, maybe repetition will not be enough. Maybe now, it’s time to unleash our weapon of unified indignation and communicate our anger to the erring interpretation of the Bench.
Thus, this outrage against the bastardization of our Constitution must not only be heard; it must be felt, realized and concretized. This outrage against the bastardization of our Constitution knows no limit or boundary. This outrage knows no party lines, no affiliations, no organizational biases or ideologies.
Therefore, I encourage everyone present here, and the entire nation to continue to express their outrage and the indignation in any way possible. Express this outrage with as many fellow students, workers, lawyers or Filipinos as you possibly can. Take this outrage to the street. Take it online. Take it to the family, at the dinner table. Maybe then, if we keep on saying it, repetition and collective action can make a difference.
With that, once again, we said it before, and we will never tire of repeating it ourselves, in the interest of understanding, in the hope that they will understand:
No to the midnight appointment of the Chief Justice by GMA!
Posted by Gabriela on Mar 6, '10 9:29 PM for everyone
I first heard of this spiritual classic when I read"The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage" by Paul Elie (which deserves a longer entry all its own). The latter book was a 500+ page biography of four great Catholic authors: Flannery O'Connor, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy and Thomas Merton. They wrote to change lives, seeking to draw others to the Christian faith the same way that these four converts were led to salvation through literature.
After reading "The Life You Save...," I was filled with immense curiosity about these four amazing people, whose lives demonstrated immense grappling with faith in post-war America. The lives of Thomas Mertonand Dorothy Day, in particular, captured my imagination, and I immediately sought books by these authors.
The Ateneo library had several well-thumbed copies of Thomas Merton's "Seven Storey Mountain," and for good reason. I imagine that many young men in generations past have read the very book I'm now holding, so that they may learn of the kind of contemplative life one might expect when joining a religious order.
Merton was born to a family of artists in France. Baptized an Anglican, he was brought up with a cosmopolitan education, living in various European countries and soaking in everything that the modern world had to offer. He gorged himself on movies, jazz clubs, women, wine and song. He studied in Cambridge but moved to Columbia University in New York after fathering a child in England. His life pretty much fits the stereotype of the brilliant aesthete. Immersing himself in Kafka, Marx and Joyce at first, he eventually moved on to Hopkins, Blake and Eliot, and eventually Augustine and Kierkegaard. He speaks of his love for Blake as "having something in it of God's grace."
I am in awe of how Merton was able to capture the emotional drama of a lost soul seeking God. I felt his pain, his anguish as if it were my own... I rejoiced when he finally converted and was filled with curious longing at his descriptions of life as a Trappist monk in the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky. It is no wonder to me that this book is said to have sent thousands of young men to monasteries.
Here are some quotes from Merton's autobiography:
"...This is the pattern and prototype of all sin: the deliberate and formal will to reject disinterested love for us for the purely arbitrary reason that we simply do not want it... Perhaps the inner motive is that the fact of being loved disinterestedly reminds us that we all need love from others, and depend upon the charity of others to carry on our own lives..."
"The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything."
"It is that Sacrament (the Eucharist), and that alone, the Christ living in our midst, and sacrificed by us, and for us and with us, in the clean and perpetual Sacrifice, it is He alone Who holds our world together, and keeps us all from being poured headlong and immediately into the pit of our eternal destruction. And I tell you there is a power that goes forth from that Sacrament, a power of light and truth, even into the hearts of those who have heard nothing of Him and seem to be incapable of belief."
"Corruptio optimi pessima...The greatest evil is found where the highest good has been corrupted."
"If the impulse to worship God and to adore Him in truth by the goodness and order of our own lives is nothing more than a transitory and emotional thing, that is our own fault. It is so only because we make it so, and because we take what is substantially a deep and powerful and lasting moral impetus, supernatural in its origin and in its direction, and reduce it to the level of our own weak and unstable and futile fancies and desires."
"Souls are like athletes, that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers, and rewarded according to their capacity."
"I (used to) believe in the beautiful myth about having a good time so long as it does not hurt anybody else. You cannot live for your own pleasure and your own convenience without inevitably hurting and injuring the feelings and interests of practically everybody you meet."
"I had enough sense to know that it would be madness to look for a group of people, a society, a religion, a church from which all mediocrity would absolutely be excluded... but God loves them, and He will not withhold His light from good people anywhere."
"Consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover each time, and can still produce men and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us? ... The quietness and hiddenness and placidity of the truly good people in the world all proclaim the glory of God."
"No idea of ours, let alone any image, could adequately represent God... but also, we should not allow ourselves to be satisfied with any such knowledge of Him."
"All our salvation begins on the level of common and natural and ordinary things. Books and ideas and poems and stories, pictures and music, buildings, cities, places, philosophies were to be the materials on which grace would work."
"Virtues are precisely the powers by which we can come to acquire happiness: without them, there can be no joy, because they are the habits which coordinate and canalize our natural energies and direct them to the harmony and perfection and balance, the unity of our nature with itself and with God, which must, in the end, constitute our everlasting peace."
"There are ways that seem to men to be good, the end whereof is in the depths of hell. The only answer to the problem is grace, grace, docility to grace."
"Why should anyone be shattered by the thought of hell? It is not compulsory for anyone to go there. Those who do, do so by their own choice, and against the will of God, and they can only get into hell by defying and resisting all the work of Providence and grace. It is their own will that takes them there, not God's. In damning them He is only ratifying their own decision -- a decision which He has left entirely to their own choice. Nor will He ever hold our weakness alone responsible for our damnation."
"There is nothing wrong in being a writer or a poet... but the harm lies in wanting to be one for the gratification of one's own ambitions, and merely in order to bring oneself up to the level demanded by his own internal self-idolatry."
"The logic of wordly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men!"
"That contact (with God) is something which we all need: and one of the ways in which it has been decreed that we should arrive at it, is by hearing one another talk about God."
"He is much more anxious to take care of us, and capable of doing so, than we could ourselves. It is only when we refuse His help, resist His will, that we have conflict, trouble, disorder, unhappiness, ruin."
"The beginning of love is truth, and before He will give us His love, God must cleanse our souls of the lies that are in them."
And there is a lot more. This book is a spiritual treasure trove! I wish it were available in our bookstores.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The academic year is almost up, and with Summer comes more free time... something which I have little of, and I have to seize precious moments for reading and contemplation. It annoys me that the busier my external life, the emptier my inner life becomes... but it is the one that truly matters. I look forward to reading more Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day this summer!
There is a movie about her already, entitled "Entertaining Angels." I understand that her cause for canonization is open to the Catholic Church. :) I want to watch this!
Posted by Gabriela on Feb 6, '10 5:59 AM for everyone
Been terribly busy the past several weeks so I haven't been able to update my blog. Hmmm... I think decent entries won't appear until end of March, early April, hehe. In other words, when school ends and summer starts.
The things I'm busy with are the usual culprits... M.A., work, plus a host of big activities that our school is participating in, namely: the PSAP Inter-school Competition, the biggest one of its kind in Paranaque... and our school's 16th Foundation Week, one of the highlights being our Theater Club's production of Anton Chekhov's The Boor and Ime Aznar's Terengati. Every day is a mini-battle to get lesson plans done as quickly as possible, to do my darndest to teach while combining content + life lessons + F.U.N. in the lessons, and to sneak time in to rehearse for the play and the upcoming competitions.
I know of some schools that do not encourage their students to compete in Singing, Oratorical, Declamation, Impromptu-Speech contests... the heads of these schools claim that it takes time away from teaching academic content. But then again, we return to the everlasting question... is that really what our students are in school for?
Each school has a different answer to that. I'm very proud and happy with ours. Regina Maria Montessori encourages its students to be holistic and well-rounded, with majority of our student body being involved in one or two varsity teams, as well as extra activities like the Theater Club. We believe that the more important life lessons (such as discipline, perseverance, and the ability to handle pressure/competition gracefully) can't be learned in the limited classroom activities.
Research has proven that the Creative Arts are an important part of education. I could name several studies, authors, and years of publication that list down the specific knowledge, skills and values transmitted... but suffice it for me to say that I have witnessed, firsthand, the transformative power of the Creative Arts on students.
Let's take Teatro Regina, our school drama club. I have seen shy students blossom into confident young men and women after being given roles in the school play, and I'm so THRILLED and EXCITED to see them perform in a few weeks' time! I have seen students with seemingly irreconcilable and clashing personalities bond and become as close as siblings after spending countless hours rehearsing. I have seen them struggle, and I bear witness to their daily triumphs over fear and insecurity. For indeed, the success of our Drama Club lies not just in its ability to deliver a high-quality performance (for the short-term, maybe). Years from now, I'd like to think that these students will treasure their memories of Teatro and remember the life lessons they imbibed. I'd like to think they are more hard working, more professional and disciplined, more passionate about life as a result of joining Teatro.
This is late, but I'd like to congratulate RMM seniors Ashley Petallano, Dancille Villarey and Angelique Nebreja for passing the UPCAT! :) From one Reginian to another, GOOD JOB GUYS! Keep up the great work, and continue our alma mater's tradition of excellence and service!
Congratulations also to the UP Voice and Music Theater Guild for a successful performance at the Philippine Opera Company's 4th Soiree last Saturday! :) Here's to even more successful shows in the future.
Posted by Gabriela on Feb 2, '10 9:04 PM for everyone
Dear Friends,
Teatro Regina, the theater club of Regina Maria Montessori, would like to invite you to our 2010 student production featuring two one-act plays, Anton Chekhov’s THE BOOR and Ime Aznar’s TERENGATI. Our showdates are February 24, 26 and 27, 2010, at 9:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. Through our plays, we seek to hone the talents of our students and enable them to learn real life lessons through the art and the discipline that is theater.
Chekhov’s The Boor is a romantic comedy that involves a vain and hypocritical young widow, and a no-nonsense, rough man who will not tolerate her female manipulations. Aznar’s Terengati is a Filipino adventure tale, a retelling of the Manobo love story between a beautiful sky maiden and the mortal Terengati who falls in love with her. He undergoes numerous trials and adventures in order to win her.
Your coming will greatly encourage and support our young student actors and crew members, and also encourage them to continue their theater experience even after they have left elementary and secondary school.
Tickets are at Php 150.00 each. Should you have any further inquiries, or should you wish to place orders, please feel free to contact us at the numbers listed below.
Thank you, and we hope to see you in our performances!
Sincerely,
Gabi and Tata Francisco (Directors / Club Moderators of Teatro Regina)
Gabi: 0920-947-08-35, Tata: 0920-947-08-61 Work Phone: 820-02-80/81
Posted by Gabriela on Dec 31, '09 5:37 AM for everyone
2009 has been a most difficult year for our country, and for the people around the world who have been stricken hard by the global recession. But I feel that it is best to focus on the positive happenings rather than the negative, as it is better to face the New Year with hope than dread.
I'm very grateful to have been given another year of health and happiness. Since I turned 23 last week (Gurang na ako!), below are 23 blessings from 2009, for which I am most thankful. (Note: These aren't listed in any particular order.)
I'm grateful for...
1. The 2 weeks of enforced voice rest I had to undergo as a result of getting laryngitis. You know the saying, "You don't miss the water until the well runs dry?" Well, I didn't fully realize how precious and delicate the human voice is, until that nasty wake up call. It was extremely stressful for me, at the time, as I had to beg off singing engagements and I hated to do so. But I learned so many precious lessons along the way. I've consequently made adjustments in my lifestyle, such as switching to decaf coffee and using my voice more sparingly when I teach. I'm happy to report that my voice box is doing just fine today. :)
2. The first meeting with Meewa! :) Dear, is there really no chance of you and your family ever living in Metro Manila again? Hehe.
3. My job... one that is draining yet exciting and allows me to learn and grow as a person every day. I am especially thankful because it allows me to keep coming back to my beloved CMu!
4. Passing the Licensure Exam for Teachers!!?! Our oathtaking ceremony was one of the proudest moments of my life. Now I can truly say, "I am a teacher."
5. Discovering Nutella. 'Nuff said. :)
6. Discovering Cafe Mary Grace in Serendra, the site of several book sessions with Ex Libris Philippines. Too bad it's so small, it's very difficult to get seats as it's usually full of hungry clients! But if ever you get the chance to eat there, DO drop by. You won't regret it.
7. The graduation ceremony of friends and college-mates that I was able to witness and be part of. Our whole lives are ahead of us!!!
8. Witnessing the love lives of friends and learning from their godly examples... learning to be patient and joyful in expectation.
9. Books. They comfort, uplift and nourish my soul, even when I can't use the piano or am surrounded by people and can't sing. And of course, this includes my book org, Ex Libris Philippines, and the incredible people in it! Looking forward to an exciting 2010 with you guys!
10.The Rockwell Powerplant Fire in April that taught me never to take safety for granted, and to respect the incredible faith and courage of my Father.
11. Being able to study part-time in a beautiful, working-student-friendly environment, where I'm able to observe a whole new culture that deepened my appreciation for the one in UP.
12. Being able to register for elections!! Yay!
13. The Boy Scout experience in Makiling. Life-changing.
14. My twin sister, my soulmate, who has joined the faculty at RMM, and is now my seatmate and co-teacher.
15. The fourteen hours that I got stranded in the midst of Ondoy. It was the ultimate lesson of seeing the proverbial glass as half-full.
16. Friends... some of whom have gone far away but still exert a great deal of influence on my life. I am a better person because of you guys!
17. Music... most especially the voice of Ian Bostridge, whose lieder albums are fast becoming the soundtracks of my life.
18. My students. I really do believe that I'm learning more from them than they learn from me.
19. The new Casio keyboard that replaced our 25 ++ year old one. Now the RMM Choir can make more beautiful music during the mass!
20. My beautiful family!!! Including our two rottweilers.
21. Facebook! And multiply. They allow me to keep in touch with friends and relatives abroad.
22. Avatar and 3D Imax theaters! Life is more beautiful!!!
23. My "bilbil," because it means that I have more than enough to eat. :) Now my 2010 resolution is to eradicate it.
Happy New Year everyone!!! *toddles off to gaze at the fireworks from our glass ceiling*
Posted by Gabriela on Dec 23, '09 5:28 AM for everyone
"Joyeaux Noel" is a movie inspired by true events during World War I. On Christmas Eve of 1914, soldiers from opposing sides met in No Man's Land met peacefully to celebrate the birth of Christ.
The first video shows the most powerful scene in the movie, while the second features the movie's theme song, "Hymne des Fraternises." Both are very beautiful and powerful, and I couldn't hold back tears when I watched them.
Truly, they embody the meaning of Christmas.
Here is the blurb on the 'homepage' of the first video:
"The "Christmas truce" is a term used to describe several brief unofficial cessations of hostilities that occurred on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day between German and British or French troops in World War I, particularly that between British and German troops stationed along the Western Front during Christmas 1914. In 1915 there was a similar Christmas truce between German and French troops, and during Easter 1916 a truce also existed on the Eastern Front. The truce began on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The Scottish troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols.
The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were calls for visits across the "No Man's Land" where small gifts were exchanged — whisky, jam, cigars, chocolate, and the like. The soldiers exchanged gifts, sometimes addresses, and drank together. The artillery in the region fell silent that night. The truce also allowed a breathing spell where recently-fallen soldiers could be brought back behind their lines by burial parties. Proper burials took place as soldiers from both sides mourned the dead together and paid their respects. At one funeral in No Man's Land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from the 23rd Psalm: The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
The truce spread to other areas of the lines, and there are many stories of football matches between the opposing forces.
In many sectors, the truce lasted through Christmas night, but in some areas, it continued until New Year's Day.
The truce occurred in spite of opposition at higher levels of the military. Earlier in the autumn, a call by Pope Benedict XV for an official truce between the warring governments had been ignored.
British commanders Sir John French and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien vowed that no such truce would be allowed again, although both had left command before Christmas 1915. In all of the following years of the war, artillery bombardments were ordered on Christmas Eve to ensure that there were no further lulls in the combat. Troops were also rotated through various sectors of the front to prevent them from becoming overly familiar with the enemy. Despite those measures, there were a few friendly encounters between enemy soldiers, but on a much smaller scale than in 1914."
I hear the mountain birds
The sound of rivers singing A song I've often heard It flows through me now So clear and so loud I stand where I am And forever I'm dreaming of home I feel so alone, I'm dreaming of home
It's carried in the air The breeze of early morning I see the land so fair My heart opens wide There's sadness inside I stand where I am And forever I'm dreaming of home I feel so alone, I'm dreaming of home
This is no foreign sky I see no foreign light But far away am I From some peaceful land I'm longing to stand A hand in my hand ...forever I'm dreaming of home I feel so alone, I'm dreaming of home.
Posted by Gabriela on Dec 21, '09 10:55 PM for everyone
There are so many reasons why I love Christmas break. One of the top reasons is that I have leisure time to indulge in my personal Music fests, utilizing YouTube for all its worth as I listen to old favorites and discover new ones.
My latest musical find is the pianist Freddy Kempf.
His rendition of Beethoven's "Pathetique" touched me the most. And I'm now a fan!! :)
Here are excerpts from an interesting interview of his that I came across.
Interviewer: You seemed to feel entirely “at home” on stage during your concert in The Hague – is performing live the best thing about being a musician for you?
Freddy: For me music is the stage. I find it so wonderful and so exciting. I know that there are many different types of great musicians. I would never neccessarily claim to be one of them! My aim is simply to touch someone in the audience and give them as intense as an emotional experience as I can. I feel that it is now only through music, because of the constraints and pressures of normal life, where we can experience these “fantastic” emotions – the feeling of love that Robert (Schumann) had for Clara: the feeling of desperation that Schubert must have felt towards the end of his life... These composers documented their feelings in their writing and for me it is a dream to try to communicate this emotion on the stage to the audience.
What’s your view on the classical music scene at present? Is there a crisis?
I think that in some countries the government, because of their own personal education, may not realize how important the Arts are. In that case they may not be putting enough stress in promoting the Arts. However in other countries the government has seen how important it is and are doing a big effort to make sure as many people as possible can enjoy it. I think classical music in many places is doing far better than it has done before.
Do you feel that Crossover Projects are “part of the solution or part of the problem”? Or to put it differently: Should the worlds of Classical and Experimental Music remain seperated from each other or open up?
Again I think that there are too many sides to this to give a clear decisive answer. I feel that if someone is playing a classical instrument like the ‘cello or the flute they are only doing “crossover” stuff if they’re not playing the normal classical repertoire. I think one of the great helps to classical music is where people do play the core repertoire but manage to reach people that don’t normally listen to it.
True or false: People need to be educated about classical music, before they can really appreciate it.
Can’t answer! Some people may be able to appreciate Mahler 5 on first listening, others won’t understand it at all. I think that like anything – wine, food, football, partners – we learn by experience. We can love something straight away but usually we appreciate more the more we learn.
I was browsing in FULLY BOOKED the other day and came across two great "musical books:"
Temperament by Stuart Isacoff: How Music Became A Battleground For the Great Minds of Western Civilization --->
Clara by Janice Galloway --> It is a novel about Clara and Robert Schumann. I've scanned it and I love how she starts each chapter with a line from "Frauenliebe und Leben," the subject of a previous blog post. She also sprinkles it with musical excerpts, in some parts it reads like a Forms and Analysis paper! :) I'm very excited to read it!
Posted by Gabriela on Dec 5, '09 10:46 PM for everyone
STRANGER:
–noun
1.
a person with whom one has had no personal acquaintance
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The first thing that was said to me by the people in the CMu office when I reported for work last week Tuesday was, "Alam mo na ba yung nangyari kay Regalado Jose?"
In truth, I was mentally preoccupied, running through my lesson plan for the Diction class that afternoon... so I didn't hear the sentence properly, and I thought they were asking me if I had seen him. It took about five seconds for it to hit me... Professor Emeritus Regalado Jose was gone.
(Later, I thought: no wonder the people in the office seemed so gloomy and depressed! It was reminiscent of the atmosphere after Ondoy.)
The sense of sadness that overwhelmed me was inexplicable, especially since he was a stranger to me. Don't get me wrong, OF COURSE I knew who he was, he was a living legend in the Piano Department, and even as an undergrad I heard of the mythic tales told of him, summarized in this CMu web page. He was a stranger to me, in the sense that I had never gotten the chance to be personally acquainted with him, or to talk to him.
But I knew of him only as a famous musician. I did not get to know him as a man... not until last Friday evening when, after work, I made the trek from Paranaque to Mount Carmel, New Manila, where his wake was held.
I entered the room a bit timidly, as I was alone and knew no one. I was greeted by a weary but wonderfully warm and welcoming woman who introduced herself as the youngest daughter of the Maestro. I introduced myself as well, and shyly confessed that I had never been a student of her father's, that I had never gotten the chance to be acquainted with him and that he never knew of me, but that I wanted to pay my respects.
She was so kind! She led me to a chair, and made me feel so welcome that before long, I found myself talking easily with her.
For some reason, her eyes filled up and she shed tears after I told her my simple story. She said she was touched that I had come, and told me stories about her dad. I think she sensed my regret at not ever having known him, and regaled me with stories of the maestro... of how he was the best Father a daughter could have... of how he would always go home at noon to have lunch with his family, regardless of how busy he was... of how he would drive her and her five siblings to school and pick them up everyday... of how he was THERE for them, for every important event in their lives... of his being the most approachable teacher and how he started teaching in UP at 19 years old... and didn't stop teaching up until his death.
And as she talked, my respect for her father grew more and more.
Here was a man who "had it all"... a successful career, a great family... but between the two, undoubtedly, it was clear to me which triumph was greater.
Here was a man who raised his children well, so well that his daughter would be angelically caring and warm to a perfect stranger who came at her father's wake.
As it turns out, I wasn't the only stranger who came.
Before me was an old gentleman, who had likewise never been personally acquainted with the Maestro, but faithfully attended his concerts for over forty years.
And a few minutes after I came, two gentlemen filled in the guest book and paid their respects to the family. I found out they were the Maestro's piano tuners!
They didn't stay long, but like me, they felt compelled to bid farewell to this simple man, whose skills and talents were such that he could have had a successful concertizing career abroad if he wanted (in fact, I later found out that he was offered a place at the faculty of Peabody)... but whose love for his country and for UP was such that he went back to Manila, and became an institution in its musical community.
I wish, oh how I wish!! that I had gotten to know him, and talk to him. As a father, a husband, a pianist, a conductor, and a teacher... the man behind the name proved to be so much more than the sum of his outstanding career. And though I cannot claim to have received mentoring under him (how I envy those who can!), my own life has been touched, in the same way that those strangers who paid their respects to him were affected by his life, though they had never exchanged words with him.
I am comforted by the knowledge that he passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, and the knowledge that his legacy will live on for as long as there are music lovers in the country.
Posted by Gabriela on Nov 30, '09 2:15 AM for everyone
I join the millions of Filipinos who mourn for the Ampatuan massacre victims. :( A lot has been said about it, but for me, the best-written piece was the one by Patricia Evangelista. She captured the horror of it better than other statistic-bearing columns.
The horror. The living nightmare. Things will never be the same.
I was in a semi-daze for several days following the tragedy. Oh, how to explain what I felt? It sort of felt like I had shrunk, like my soul had dried up. Like a candle lit within has died. Out of self-preservation, I acted. I shall tell what I did, although the full import of my actions hit me after I had already done them.
Firstly, I was driven to wear a scent. You see, I normally spritz on some eau de toilette only during very special happenings like the rare dinner and night out. But somehow, I felt compelled to spray some all over, twice or thrice during the day! It's as if I was trying to banish the darkness by smelling good things, sweet and innocent things, like flowers and baby powder.
I found my olfactory savior in Durance's eau de toilette (Rose).
Secondly, I attended a concert.
How to explain the near-desparation I felt when I received an invitation to attend the Litany for the Coming Messiah: An Advent Concert for Organ & Oboe to be held at the Union Church of Manila?
I HAD to attend the concert!! I simply HAD to!!!!
I stumbled across this quote from "The Little Book" by Selden Edwards the other day, and it makes me realize WHY I felt the overwhelming urge to watch the concert:
"Music's principle function is to organize the details into harmonies that are intended to make us forget that there is randomness all around us. It wards off the chaos." (emphasis mine)
And indeed, last night's concert brought both catharsis and healing to the wounded souls who attended.
The programme was as follows:
Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546 (J.S. Bach)
Schmucke dich, o liebe Seele (J.S. Bach)
Pastorale, Op. 19 (Cesar Franck)
Toccata in B minor (Eugene Gigout)
Praire (Alejandro Consolacion III)
Litanies (Jehan Alain)
Improvisation (Alejandro Consolacion III)
3rd Romance for Oboe and Piano (Robert Schumann)
Concerto for Oboe : 1st movement (W. A. Mozart)
Suite Rural (Alejandro Consolacion III)
The organist, Alejandro Consolacion III, was in superb form last night and thrilled the audience when he improvised on the wedding anniversary date of one of the couples present: March 27, 1982. He must have improvised for about twelve minutes, I've never witnessed anything like it!
The oboist, Franz Miguel Ramirez (who shall forever remain my dear "Mikko"), was beautifully accompanied by Mary Anne Espina on the piano as he gave his flawless performances, interpreting the Mozart concerto with a slightly daring "Romantic" edge, but always with impeccable phrasing and with such musicality that his playing brought tears to my eyes more than once.
Of course, the crowd favorite was the organist's own composition, the Suite Rural. He wrote the Prelude after the Visayan lullaby, Ili-Ili Tulog Anay. The Habanera was the Ilocano song, Osi-osi, while the Chanson was the Pangasinan love song, Malinac lay labi. He finished off with Pen-Pen de Sarapen written in Rondo form.
Truly, as Sir Eudy said in his pre-concert speech, musicians have a ministry of their own, and it is a mighty, powerful one. Last night's beautiful music DID ward off the chaos that threatened to overwhelm me, and for the first time in several nights, I slept peacefully. :)
