MEENATAUR'S PITHOS

Friday, April 29, 2011

The Yellow Abakada Book and Henny Penny


I cannot live without books. is a description I have written in my Friendster and FB profiles (sounds like a pretentious egghead, but, never mind…). It was just recently that I found out it was once quoted by Thomas Jefferson. This quote sounded exaggerated (even geeky), but seriously, it is an honest description of my passion.
I read books. Voraciously. Fervently. Insatiably. I love to read. Anywhere. Anytime. Most of the time. All the time. I spend hours reading, mainly at night, until I fell asleep or until I was surprised to find out that it was early morning (when I’m into a very good one). I read anything and everything under the sun – from classics to contemporary, from novels to magazines, encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauri (yes, I read the entries, not just use them… something wrong?).
Why do I read books? As a teacher, I love reading because I want to be entertained and educate myself at the same time (the expected reply, safe and academic). But as Meenataur, I read books because I always find comfort in reading. After a day of work (where I sometimes have to squeeze out every trickle of thinking neuron from my brain), I read to find peace and solace, to get a grip on myself, to stop and pause and just have sometime alone. Books serve as anti-depressants and sedatives that calm me down. It even energizes me and makes me see points of views from different angles (the way an author describes the characters and their feelings in the omniscient pov) which aids me in my decision-making moments at work. If I stopped reading for a long time, my mind becomes sluggish (as if I’d just had a session with my friends and La Lola or DBar [giggles], or as if I was sleeping in the cabin of a ship amidst a thunderstorm, or as if I was in a tricycle skirting along a bumpy road, you get the point…).

(courtesy of rai'sgarage)
 I vividly remember when my love for reading started. I was about four then. My aunt used to read lots of books and magazines and I was so fascinated watching her lips move while reading (I thought she was praying). I also grew up seeing my father read the newspaper every day. So whenever they’re done reading, I’d pick up the material and stare at the page. I would look at the pictures and mumble, whispering nonsense sounds, pretending to read. When my mother caught me ‘reading’ the newspaper, she thought it was time for me to learn how to read. And so my journey began.

The first book I owned was the yellow Abakada book (a phonics booklet) where I first learned the sounds of the Filipino consonants and vowels (ba-ka, ku-bo, gi-ta-ra, pa-yong). I will never forget the sentence “Ang paru-paro ay pula.” because of the bucketful of tears I cried trying to decipher the words, while my mother hovered over me holding a yellow wooden ruler, shouting Mali! Ulet! (toink!) 
(courtesy of Amazon books)
Upon learning how to sound letters and words, the very first stories I was able to read were those from my grade 1 textbooks. I have memories of reciting the story of Henny Penny from my Reading book (Henny Penny is a hen. Henny Penny is a red hen. Henny Penny is Ben’s hen.) and a Tagalog story of a monkey atop the banana tree. When I was eight, a neighbor gave me a very old, coverless, dirty and battered book of stories in Tagalog. The very first short story (actually, it was like a novel to me because it was six pages long) I finished was the story of Beauty and the Beast (I’m not sure if the title was Si Maganda at ang Halimaw, but it was that sort). I felt that I was in a different world. I cannot put down the book, too mesmerized at the descriptions, too excited to find out the ending. It took me the whole afternoon to finish it, pretending I was asleep whenever my mother checked on us for our afternoon nap.

Beauty and the Beast
(courtesy of cghm.org)
 One day, it rained hard and our roof leaked, so most of the things in our room got wet including my precious but fragile book, which miserably turned into a big brown lump. But that tragedy didn’t stop me from reading; it just ignited my passion. And so, I became an English teacher (where I have to read a lot and read to the kids), then an editor (reading English grammar and literature textbooks to correct errors), and then a hopeful author (working on a textbook that teaches children how to read).

As of now, I have read more than a hundred novels and thousands of stories and countless poetry (and still counting). I love Jose Garcia Villa, F. Sionil Jose, Nick Joaquin, Amado Hernandez, NVM Gonzales, Jessica Zafra, Bob Ong… I love Poe, Twain, Dickinson, Whitman, Hemingway, King, Steele, Mead, Meyer, Brown, Riordan… I love Shakespeare, Austen, Shelley, Chaucer, Milton, Marlowe, Keats, Wordsworth, Rossetti, Carroll, Bronte, Tolkien, Rowling…
Sadly, one lifetime is not enough for me to read all the good books out there. I will be gone one day, but Henny Penny will never cease to exist, along with the immortal yellow book Ang Abakada.
 (And now eggheads, let’s have our first project. Read any story you like. Identify the protagonists and antagonists, the setting, and the plot. No copying and plagiarizing, understood?)

Thursday, April 28, 2011

SIMUNO AT PASIMUNO: Ang Wonder Ate


Wonder Woman
(image courtesy of tvacres.com)
Hindi normal ang aking pagkabata. Lumaki ako na maraming bawal – tumalon, lumundag, lumukso, tumakbo, tumambling, umakyat sa puno ng alatris, mag-chinese garter, mag-aylabyu tilibert, mag-shake shake shampoo at marami pang ibang larong pisikal at may pisikalan. 

Santan

Naikwento ko na ang tungkol sa paglalaro ko ng boka-boka. Isa lamang iyon sa mga pwede kong laruin, kasama ng iba pang ‘mahinahon’ gawain tulad ng paggawa ng palobo (bubble mixture) mula sa dinikdik na gumamela at tide, makipag-sumpitan ng munggo sa mga anak ni Aling Lydiang-sapi (isang bungangerang kapit-bahay na parang laging sinasapian ng masamang ispiritu), manirador ng mga nakakulong at kaawa-awang manok na panabong ni Mang Jaime (mga bata, bad yun!), magdala ng walis tingting habang nag-aabang ng dadapong tutubi (napakadaling makahuli ng tutubing karayom1 (damselfly pala sa English) ngunit napakahirap naman humuli ng tutubing pula at tutubing kalabaw (dragonfly), maghanap ng santan at sipsipin ang nektar, magpalobo ng Bazooka bubble gum (at pagkatapos ay idikit sa buhok ng kaaway kapag wala ng tamis, hehehe!), gumawa ng kwintas at pulseras na gawa sa dahon ng kamoteng-kahoy (na minsan ay ginagamit din pangkulot ng buhok), magkabit ng hikaw na gawa naman sa dahon ng kaimito, manghuli ng gagamba at paglabanin sa tingting, magpatanggal ng kuto at lisa kay nanay at Aling Gonyang at marami pang ibang mapaglilibangan na hindi ako kailangang pagpawisan.
 
Maraming ipinagbabawal na laro sa akin hindi dahil sa suminghot ng solvent ang nanay ko at pinagtritripan lang ako, kundi dahil sa isang sakit na tinatawag na epistaxis o pagdurugo ng ilong. Hindi balinguyngoy (na nangyayari lamang tuwing mainit) ang tawag sa kondisyon ko. Ang kalagayan ko ay dala ng pagkasira ng mga ugat sa aking ilong dahil sa ilang mga aksidente na kagagawan ng kapatid ko. Oo, wala akong ibang masisi kundi ang kapatid ko (maliit pa ang bunso namin noon kaya hindi pa namin siya nakakalaro).

Isang taon lang ang tanda ko sa kanya at kami ay palaging magkasama dahil number 1 fan ko sya. Bilib na bilib siya sa lahat ng ginagawa ko at lahat naman ng ipinagagawa niya ay ginagawa ko (of cors, Ate nga ako kaya kinakaya ko lahat). Incident 1: Minsang kumakain kami ng mani, ipinagyabang ko sa kanya na kaya ko ipasok sa loob ng ilong ko ang isang butil. Siyempre, hindi ako tumanggi noong hinamon nya ako. Sa kasamaang-palad, hindi ko na mailabas ang butil kaya’t dinala na ako ni nanay sa ospital. Incident 2: Pagkalipas ng isang taon, ipinamalas ko ulit sa kanya ang aking kahusayan nang ipasok ko na naman ang bead ng ponytail sa ilong ko. Nailabas ko naman ang bead, pero halos kalahating-araw na dumudugo ang ilong ko. Incident 3: Matagal na kami may secret magkapatid, dahil inamin na niya sa akin na siya si Kapitan Kidlat at inamin ko naman sa kanya na ako si Wonder Woman at ipinakita ko pa ang costume na nakatago sa drawer ng aparador. Kaya isang umagang maglalaro ng basketball si tatay ay sumama kami. Para mapanood ang laro ni tatay, tumuntong kami sa stage na ginawa para sa mga announcer ng liga na ginaganap sa gabi. At dahil mataba ang utak ng kapatid ko, naisip niya na iyon ay pagkakataon para patunayan ko sa kanya na ako nga si Wonder Woman. Pinatatalon niya ako mula sa stage hanggang sa ibaba na nasa 10-12 feet ang taas! Kahit nalulula, umikot-ikot muna ako bago tumalon, kaya tumama ang noo ko sa semento pagbagsak dahil sa pagkahilo. At muli na namang dumugo ang ilong ko nang walang humpay.

At doon na nga nagsimula ang aking kalbaryo. Sa tuwing maaalog ang ulo ko, dumudugo ang ilong ko (pero naging henyo naman ako dahil sa pagkabagok). Hanggang noong high school, madalas pa din ako mag-nose bleed, hindi lang dahil sa kakaibang kondisyon ko, kundi dahil na rin sa mga polynomials, tangents, velocity at maraming pang ibang kailangang i-compute. Hindi naman ako nagsisisi sa mga insidenteng nagpatunay na ako ay isang mabuting Ate. Kaya ako pa rin si Wonder Woman hanggang ngayon - maganda, matapang, mabait, matulungin at higit sa lahat, seksing-seksi…

Anong eeewwww? Walang kokontra! Ang kumontra hindi exempted sa pagsusulit ngayong araw tungkol sa simuno, ang gumagawa ng kilos at gawa o pinaguusapan sa pangungusap.

Tutubing Karayom
(image courtesy of focusonnature.com)

1 may kanta ako habang nanghuhuli ng tutubing karayom para hindi sila lumipad palayo: “Tutubing karayom, nahulog sa silong, tinuka ng ibon, natira’y bulutong.” Effective yan. Try mo. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET: Rhymes and Meter

(courtesy of tiempoderoller.com)

Rummaging through the jungle of old notes and books, I found an ancient journal, a proof that Psyche (my old pseudonym that is synonymous with pain in an era of tears and heartaches [wait, erase that last part, the harrowing memories are seeping through...]) existed. This was a sonnet I wrote for my hubby’s birthday (he was still my boyfriend then) a decade ago.
Life’s no heaven without thee’s existence
A desert where no trees or flowers bloom;
How sweet to live and love in thy presence,
So oft have I felt pains, nor tears, nor gloom.

So are thee to my thoughts as food to life,
Or as the rain showers to the dried ground;
My wounded heart, stabbed by life’s cruel knife,
Hath been healed in thy arms with warmth abound.

How can I then return in happy plight,
Ev’rything I gained within thy embrace?
There are thousand ways which I cannot cite,
Just let me love thee ‘til the end of my days.

With thee in my life, it was love I have known,
May God bless this day, the day thee was born.
11132000

I remembered that it took me two days to finish this sonnet, for I agonizingly tried to follow the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet (with little success) which is constructed from three quatrains and a couplet and is composed of iambic pentameters with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg. I can’t imagine the spurt of inspiration I had that time that pushed me to finish the sonnet.

And now eggheads, let's start our activity about today's lesson. Group yourselves into three and analyze the rhymes and meters of the sonnet above... Move!

Pangngalan: BOKA-BOKA AT SARANGGOLA



Noong bata pa ako, madalas ako maglaro ng boka-boka. Yun lang kasi ang pwede ko paliparin dahil hindi ako puwedeng umakyat sa bubong ng aming bahay at magpalipad ng saranggola dahil babae daw ako (isa sa mga turo ni nanay). Ang dalawang kapatid kong lalaki ay palaging namumutiktik sa pawis at nagaamoy-kabayo dahil sa  katatakbo habang nakikipag-kalembangan sa ibang bata (kalembangan - nakikipagkiskisan ng sinulid ng saranggola, ang maunang mapatid, talo), habang ngawit na ngawit naman ang leeg ko sa katatanaw ng mga nagtatayugan nilang saranggola (na ang ginagamit na kiling ay ang cherryball na wala ng tamis na iniluwa ko).

Pero hindi ako natutuwa magboka-boka dahil madali itong masira, gawa lang kasi sa papel (na kadalasan ay pad paper) na tinupi-tupi at nilagyan ng sinulid. Sa oras na ihagis ko ito, ilang segundo lang na lulutang-lutang pagkatapos ay mahuhulog na uli sa lupa. Minsan naman, kapag malakas ang hangin ay sira agad. Kaya't kapag nakatulog na ang nanay ko, kakaripas na ako ng takbo para magpalipad na rin ng saranggola.

Isang hapon, noong grade 5 na ako, nagpapalipad ulit kami ng dalawang kapatid ko ng saranggola sa isang bakanteng lote malapit sa aming bahay. Nakikipagpustahan kami noon ng kalembangan. Bilang mabuting ate, sumusuporta ako sa aking mga kapatid. Pinagsama-sama namin ang mga nakupit na singkwenta sentimos at pinambili ng leteng, glue at itlog.Tinulungan ko silang patibayin ang leteng ng aming pambatong saranggola, minarinate namin sa mixture ng glue, puti ng itlog at dinurog na fluorescent lamp. (Hindi ko pa alam noon kung gaano kadelikado ang ginagawa namin. Salamat na lang at buo pa naman ang mga daliri namin hanggang ngayon.)

At ito na nga, masusubok na ang tapang ng aming pambato. Bilang pinakamatangkad, ako ang tagahagis ng saranggola. Buong lakas ko ibinato ang saranggola pataas, sa sobrang lakas parang naihi ako. Kumaripas na naman ako pauwi sa bahay upang magbanyo muna at babalik din agad upang i-cheer ang mga kapatid ko sa kanilang 'laban.' Kaya lang, hindi na ako nakabalik at nakita kung paano kumalembang ang saranggola ng mga kalaban dahil pagdating sa banyo, natakot ako sa aking nakita. Tinawag ko agad ang nanay ko at ipinakita ang kinatatakutan. Ang sabi lang nya ay dalaga na raw ako. Hindi na pwede magtatakbo, hindi na pwede magbuhat ng mabigat, hindi na pwede makipaglaro sa ibang batang lalaki at marami pang ibang bagay na hindi na pwedeng gawin.

At iyon na nga ang huli kong pagpapalipad ng saranggola. Balik boka-boka na lang ulit ako.

Dahil ito ay unang leson natin sa Filipino, wala muna tayo pagsusuri, seatwork lang. Kaya kunin ang kwaderno at isulat ang lahat ng pangngalang makikita sa kwento sa itaas. Bilis na!
(Photo courtesy of craftzine.com)

TAG QUESTIONS (What's in a Name?)



Finding a name for this blog was extremely Gargantuan (meaning laborious, not the giant zombie Gargantuar I despised in PvsZ that hurls down Imps into my defenses, which I have to kill with a cherry bomb and jalapeno and sometimes with another squash if it is the red-eyed one and so, during Survival Endless mode, I place several cob cannons to strike it twice or even thrice, and blah, blah, blah… [sorry for the long afterthought, I was carried away…]).

As I was saying, while looking for a blog title, I have come across several phrases and titles which I thought might put my musings, reflections and ponderings in a nutshell. Opportunely, I’ve met new Minas en route - Minas Tirith, Meena Carmine, Carminative (kind of embarrassing when I found out what it meant) are just a few which topped my list.

For the very few sporadic readers of meenataur, here is a very educational background of the titles I almost considered for my blog. This information will be truly helpful in many of your day-to-day activities and endeavors, struggles, occupations, researches, dreams, social awareness programs, volunteer works and many other vital undertakings that may help shape the country and the world. Having doubts? Go ahead and find out the enormous significance of this knowledge to mankind.

MINAS TIRITH


Minas Tirith originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age. It is often referred to as the White City and the City of Kings.

Tolkien described Minas Tirith as built on a hill, called the Hill of Guard, right against the face of Mount Mindolluin. The city looked eastward over the Pelennor Fields, which were used for farmland, toward Osgiliath, the former capital of Gondor that Minas Tirith replaced.

The name Minas Tirith means "The Tower of Guard" or "The Tower of Watch" in the Elvish language Sindarin. It was originally named Minas Anor, "The Tower of the Sun", in connection with Minas Ithil,  "The Tower of the Moon". Minas Ithil was later conquered by orcs from Mordor and was renamed Minas Morgul, "The Tower of Black Sorcery".

MEENA CARMINE


Meena Carmine is a fictional character from Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Featured in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer, Meena is an astrophysicist working for the Earth Sphere Federation during the ELS Conflict. Meena overall is an intelligent and sexually aggressive woman. She doesn't hide her attraction to Billy Katagiri at all and intentionally uses her beauty and womanly charms to gain his attention. It's because of her forwardness that created a lot of unprofessional sexual tension during their work. While there are similarities to her genetic psuedo clone, Nena Trinity, she hasn't shown any signs of sharing Nena's murderous traits.

CARMINATIVE

A carminative, also known as carminativum (plural carminativa), is an herb or preparation that either prevents formation of gas in the gastrointestinal tract or facilitates the expulsion of said gas, thereby combating flatulence. Carminatives have been shown to decrease lower esophageal pressure, which on the other hand increases the risk of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) or 'heartburn.'

You are now enlightened, aren’t you? Fascinating, isn’t it? I was joking, wasn’t I? My mother named me after a flatulence-inducing mixture, didn’t she? The contracted questions at the end of the sentence are what we called Tag Questions. A tag question is a short question added to the end of a positive or negative statement. Now, get ¼ sheet of paper and let’s have a quiz…

(Sources: Wikipedia, intajia.sy, gundam.wikia)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

PARTS OF SPEECH (An Introduction)

NOUN: meenataur (derived from minotaur, a mythological creature), a name an officemate once called me and I had adopted as pseudonym whenever I write something (since I love Greek mythology).

PRONOUN: I am a SHE with a HE in life; a ME who is capable of loving ANYBODY even EVERYBODY...

VERB: common daily activities - read, read, read, work, read, read, read, eat, read, read, read, travel, read, read, read, think, read, read, read, plan, read, read, read, decide, read, read, read!!!

ADJECTIVE: a humble english teacher, a passionate editor, a hopeful writer...

ADVERB: always grateful, seldom angry, often confused, never weak.

CONJUNCTION: I have lots of ANDs in life, less BUTs and IFs.

PREPOSITION: a preposition describes relationships and I had lots - before, after, beside, behind...

INTERJECTION: my life is composed of interjections... ooops, err..., ugh!, whew! yeah!

(photo courtesy of AZLearning)