English 101

English is not my first language—but I began studying it since I was five, as a part of school curriculum. I am proud of being a good user of one of the Universal Languages, and until this time, I never stopped learning the intricacies of this mighty Language.

A friend forwarded to my email this morning the stuff below, and I must say I give good credit to whoever is created this “humorous tool” for learners of the English language.

It is worth reading, have time of digesting how certain nouns really have confusing plural forms, har har har!

*ONLY THE ENGLISH COULD HAVE INVENTED THIS LANGUAGE**

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down, *
*in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes
off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

AND IF PEOPLE FROM POLAND ARE CALLED POLES THEN PEOPLE FROM HOLLAND SHOULD BE HOLES AND THE GERMANS, GERMS*

Inhale...exhale

I am gasping of fresh air...don't know why things are so absurd lately.

I have lot of issues to resolve and they are ticking like time bombs ready to explode soon.

I need to hurry, to run fast--but my feet don't cooperate.

My office loads are way too light....I've been blessed to have lighter loads lately, maybe the massive work demands would come in two weeks time, it's year end, anyway.

Big boss would be in the office tomorrow, hopefully things would be much better as we have maturing short term loan to settle, and new project funding requirement. 

Since my work doesn't cause any stress at all in the meantime...why then I'm afflicted with a heavy feeling feeling.

It's my fragile family, the biological one...

Even I want to avoid the thoughts of it...I can't help myself as I am part of a whole.

Why they are so immature, why they are so unreasonable, and why they have so much pride?

Or they are just plain stupid, not realizing the stigma of a broken family,  the impact of separation to the innocent ones that don't deserve at all of emotional tortures.

I want to save them, it's not easy I know, but I must do it, for no one else is there that cared too much--so help me GOD!

Immaturity

The news smashed my face this morning, like a rustic dagger.

How could pride and prejudice are so damaging?

Mostly of marital problems are caused of miscommunications or misunderstandings. Why I discounted, infidelity? For me it’s very political in nature. It defies human logic.

More often than not, the marital problems if not patched-up at the earliest often led to emotional and psychological tortures, then separation. The worst of its kind, the casualties are children that do not deserve the misery of a broken family.

Well, I am a married guy—and am not at all naïve when it comes on marital infidelities.  Marriage collapses, yes, but one can’t just simplify the reasons why it happens. Even love and trust are not assurance in the survival of marriage.  I believe pressures melt trust and love (and what I mean of pressures—they are jealousies, temptations, misunderstandings, finances, etc). And when both partners have inappropriate egos, pressures are extremely hard to straighten-up. It is the pride that makes marital problems worsen as there is no one to give way, to accept faults, and usually ends up on blaming games. When harmony lacks in marriage—there is no unity, how can you keep the marriage then? 

Obviously there are unresolved marriage issues that are supposed to polish out, but if partners are not willing to settle the issues, who would help them to settle the indifferences? It’s end game.

Why we are so idealistic? Isn’t it hard to understand that nothing works out if we are fault finders, just like in marriage, you can never attain perfection, only how to make your marriage life better.

Comfortably numbed

As to what extent one can measure the challenges that this life has to offer..?

There are no exemptions…even the innocent ones are being punished.

Life can be so simple…yet so complicated. Is problem cosmic in nature that once it strike life gets so messy? Or the problem itself is one’s twin in disguised since birth?

Sometimes the more you want to be stronger; the further you get weaker. Emotional torture paralyzes the brain, and you cannot escape the feeling of numbness which will lead you to drain of self-esteem. What do you think will happen if one becomes comfortably numbed?

People who are emotionally attached to you seldom know what it means to be connected.

Why total care is so elusive when you are dependent on something that you can easily grab? And love can really fill the feeling of emptiness? I don’t want to think that love is not intuitive. However, far-sightedness would result to overlook what is bare and essential to the eyes. And as we know, love maybe bare but our naked eyes do not see it; it is the heart. If I can just know what is inside the heart?

Ahhhh!!! Learn not to neglect the common. Everything is destined to last may it big or small.

Drained

This best described my mood for the past two days now.

Things seem so complicated, I feel so tired and fed-up, is it because I have a slight pain in my left foot..?

Why things need to get into your nerves? Why things counter-flow when you least expected them?

Such cause and effect theory works indeed at times.

If I can just control the ticking of clock and stop the world from spinning…

Wheh…too much stress—too little support.

Go on, never be a loser…this is a race worth fighting for.

There is always an exit; a light waits at the end of the tunnel. Don’t let your thoughts consume of obscurities.

Be wiser though in every move, each trial has always a lesson to draw.

Cheers though..!

Too tough

One of the bizarre rulings that a judge given (the following article is taken from The New York Times)

4-Year-Old Can Be Sued, Judge Rules in Bike Case

By ALAN FEUER Published: October 28, 2010 "THE NEW YORK TIMES"

Citing cases dating back as far as 1928, a judge has ruled that a young girl accused of running down an elderly woman while racing a bicycle with training wheels on a Manhattan sidewalk two years ago can be sued for negligence. 

The ruling by the judge, Justice Paul Wooten of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, did not find that the girl was liable, but merely permitted a lawsuit brought against her, another boy and their parents to move forward. 

 

The suit that Justice Wooten allowed to proceed claims that in April 2009, Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn, who were both 4, were racing their bicycles, under the supervision of their mothers, Dana Breitman and Rachel Kohn, on the sidewalk of a building on East 52nd Street. At some point in the race, they struck an 87-year-old woman named Claire Menagh, who was walking in front of the building and, according to the complaint, was “seriously and severely injured,” suffering a hip fracture that required surgery. She died three months later. 

Her estate sued the children and their mothers, claiming they had acted negligently during the accident. In a response, Juliet’s lawyer, James P. Tyrie, argued that the girl was not “engaged in an adult activity” at the time of the accident — “She was riding her bicycle with training wheels under the supervision of her mother” — and was too young to be held liable for negligence. 

In legal papers, Mr. Tyrie added, “Courts have held that an infant under the age of 4 is conclusively presumed to be incapable of negligence.” (Rachel and Jacob Kohn did not seek to dismiss the case against them.) 

But Justice Wooten declined to stretch that rule to children over 4. On Oct. 1, he rejected a motion to dismiss the case because of Juliet’s age, noting that she was three months shy of turning 5 when Ms. Menagh was struck, and thus old enough to be sued. 

Mr. Tyrie “correctly notes that infants under the age of 4 are conclusively presumed incapable of negligence,” Justice Wooten wrote in his decision, referring to the 1928 case. “Juliet Breitman, however, was over the age of 4 at the time of the subject incident. For infants above the age of 4, there is no bright-line rule.”

The New York Law Journal reported the decision on Thursday. 

Mr. Tyrie had also argued that Juliet should not be held liable because her mother was present; Justice Wooten disagreed. 

“A parent’s presence alone does not give a reasonable child carte blanche to engage in risky behavior such as running across a street,” the judge wrote. He added that any “reasonably prudent child,” who presumably has been told to look both ways before crossing a street, should know that dashing out without looking is dangerous, with or without a parent there. The crucial factor is whether the parent encourages the risky behavior; if so, the child should not be held accountable. 

In Ms. Menagh’s case, however, there was nothing to indicate that Juliet’s mother “had any active role in the alleged incident, only that the mother was ‘supervising,’ a term that is too vague to hold meaning here,” he wrote. He concluded that there was no evidence of Juliet’s “lack of intelligence or maturity” or anything to “indicate that another child of similar age and capacity under the circumstances could not have reasonably appreciated the danger of riding a bicycle into an elderly woman.” 

Mr. Tyrie, Dana Breitman and Rachel Kohn did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Office cartoons

We tend to curse our work place especially at times we are beating deadlines. It is normal so no need to worry. Suffocations, tortures, professional jealousies etc., are norms in our work place.

Okay, take time to relax and maybe you can relate with the office cartoons below:

Grounded civilization

The world is grounded, but no one is electrocuted.

Technology bridges the gap of almost everything in the world today. Reading this blog alone proves how a blogger in a certain area is capable of being noticed and read from different parts of the world.

Well, I presumed that technology paves way to have our civilization on its higher level. The following maybe a non-sense observation:

1. Application of Nanotechnology to almost every product (from food to child/adult’s diaper)
2. Sex change (sanity and madness)
3. Union Marriages (what is happening to the civilized world?)
4. Test tube babies and freezing of sperm cells from highly potential donors (male with blue eyes and athletic, according to one particular firtility clinic, the Finnish, Dutch, and Swedish males are the most in demand sperm donors)
5. Unstoppable rising of fuel prices in every corner of the world (while in Saudi Arabia its 0.15 U.S.cents per liter)
6. The rising inflations especially in Asia and the Middle East (keep instead a euro, than a dollar in your pocket)
7. USA finally adopts one of the real bases of democracy by having an African-American president, setting aside racism for a while.
8. World wide web (www) invades our privacies, homes, works, and controls or directs our lives (isn’t it online banking easier than queuing in the bank?). If before your favorite past time is reading books, now you're addicted to Facebook.
9. The wisest or dumbest inhabitants can become millionaire or billionaire by the click of the mouse through online gambling/casinos; and dog(s) becoming super rich in today’s era of hypocrisy and vanity.
10. And don’t be surprised if one day you have “10” look alike; you are simply CLONED!

A lot more…dare to add to the list…

The thing is if we are going to define simply the word civilization, it is liberation from what is primitive.

Okay, does it imply fine breeding, civility, or simply being cultured? Is ignorance in a civilized world a crime?

Well if you are a keen observer—you know what is the answer?

Maybe I am out of my mind if I’d rather be in the place where way of life is simple and laid back. I am in a world where everything seems in order, but people tend to race against time. Hypocrites abound and tired souls helplessly roam around.

Will somebody show me the entry point to real world?

Pop's Day

It's Father's day tomorrow, and as a father myself...need I say someone should pamper me on this occasion?

To all the pops in the whole wild world...rejoice, celebrate, we really deserve a break, aren't we..?

Pa, you know how much I love you, and I always will...without you I'm nothing in this world..!

The power out there

The struggle to live justly would always a struggle between evil and good.

You erred, the guilt lingers. Repeating the scornful ways are kissing the devil's ears, and consciously you're doing it again and again and again.

When we'll learn to read the hidden meanings of life. The message is not encrypted at all, if only it's easy to understand with what our heart says...

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Never surrender

In spite of problems that seem pinning us down at times, still care to smile instead of lurking out in a corner.

By doing so you'll find out the easy and better option to resolve the problem.

Life is short to just focus on adversities...trials will always be there. The thing is, there is always a way out to make your life happier.

Here I am...

It's sunrise again for this blog, after being inactive for a while...been away, apologies for the absence.

Got to concentrate on so many issues, and thanks God, things finally becoming lighter and better.

A lot of things came and left...

One thing sure, I'd never be carried away, would remain stronger, and wiser!

Knowledge power

Knowledge/skill + Experience + Common sense are things mattered in accomplishing whatever tasks commissioned to us.

A boss who relies on you has the mind set that you are competent enough to deliver results. We may perceive it as abuse of authority, but the thing is; if your boss does not trust you nor cannot count on you; you will not be in your job, right?

This morning an officemate forwarded the article below and it made me think that no one really has the monopoly of knowledge. I am not saying that we should be the “old man” in the story—but “let’s always give the best shot in every endeavor that we get into.”

THE GIANT SHIP

Ever hear the story of the giant ship engine that failed?

The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work.

He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do.  After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars. "What?" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!" So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer $2.00

Knowing where to tap $9998.00

“Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.”

How do we evolve?

Evolution defines as "the gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form.

How do you evolve at this stage of your life?

May it be your personality, career, interests, etc.

Each of us has always the itch to do something like selfless quests or selfish pursuits to fame. Evolution per se has something to do with a cliche belief that in this world., there is no such thing as permanent, except changes.

Are we really doomed to constant changes, or is it simply a question of being not contented of what we have.

Let's say for example the career that you want, or the kind of job you are having. Are you satisfied and feel happy at the end of the day on what you are doing?

An average person changes career three times, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor. What is then the deciding factor(s) that a person changes his/her job or career?

Will it be pure cravings of a financially rewarding job? Or is it the working environment making you feel like a programmed robot, bossy bosses,  or upper-lipped colleagues?

I salute highly successful people who left their jobs for humanistic causes, like bankers who became priests, missionaries, pastors, business tycoons who are philanthropists, and the rest who have the noble goals of serving or giving back selflessly to the needy what they have.

It's not all about monies...yes I believe so.

You can fake the smiles in your lips, but your eyes can't conceal whatever discontent in your heart for hey are the windows of your soul.

Talking to oneself

(photo credit: www.zazzle.co.uk)

When was the last time you talked to yourself?

It is called soliloquy (talking to oneself), an effective tool for actors to master their lines on certain acts or for speakers to rehearse their speeches.

At times, we engage in soliloquy, without knowing that what you’re doing is perfectly normal, a technique that directly or indirectly improves our personalities.

I was in college when I first encountered the term in one of my literature subjects. From then on, I used the technique when rehearsing a presentation, speeches, or scheduled interviews. Believe me, it indeed works and usually boosts confidence. Soliloquy is best practice in front of the mirror.

Speaking of mirror…

Yesterday while dusting off my life size mirror in the room, I noticed that my then “cute” countenance (as friends called me during my younger years har har har), already turned into a face of a man who is on his mid-thirties, and that an aura of adulthood is undeniably evident.

I have aged indeed I told myself…

When I was in my teens, what I wished was to grow-up faster and do things that adults were doing, like partying, drinking and smoking, etc. Then I got employed, and realized smoking and drinking would just a waste of hard earned monies. I still drink, only occasionally, or some calls it social drinking.

Now in my 30’s, I fancy the years to unfold slowly.  I wish that I am still in my 10’s or in my 20’s. A psychologist friend told me, it is but normal for persons who are in their later 20’s or 30’s, even 40’s to engage sometimes on cheeky things that they are used with. She cited that if young ones are vain, how much more the adults who may have the means to proper grooming?  And what about those in their 50’s, 60’s...? “Well, they are on the quest of the fountain of youth,” she quipped. In short, being vain, as long as it is not overtly excessive is healthy.  No wonder beauty/grooming industries worldwide generate billions in sales revenue annually.

We might age at a snail’s pace, yes. But, we can’t totally alter the natural flow of aging, nor forever hold our being young, gorgeous and strong.  However, moderation (to anything) is one of the keys to long life.

Worrying develops unwanted wrinkles and too much stress will shorten your life.

One day, the inevitable will come, and I told myself.., “It is worth leaving if life is productively spent.”

Caring gestures, sweet nothings and lies

(photo credit: www.masternewrmedia.org)

The emotional scar that one can get out of the imaginative tell-tales of unrequited love is a temporary ride on a seemingly flat world of deceit and hypocrisy.

Foolish as it may sound, the heart is dumb at times of caring gestures, sweet nothings, and lies...

You get inspired, the iota of happiness seemed so big to carry, and heavy enough to shrink self-esteem and sanity.

The loathsome reality of being ditched is frustrating, yet it is a humbling experience of being awaken to a possible one way ticket love affair. The timeliness of realization is a blessing in disguise, misery is averted and the road to Hades' den halted. The only draw back then is the wounded pride, and takes time to mend once again.

A lesson is drawn, while it is true that the end doesn't justify the means...

The heart is forever vulnerable, always at risk of being hurt, and yet never gets tired of falling in love.

I got to believe then, that when it's wrong, it is indeed false--and when it's left, it is not at all right.

Swimming in the vastness of a narrow bowl

 

(photo credit: Bro. Noly N. Berjuega, my cousin, who is a seminarian based in Ramsey, N.J. and an aspiring photographer)

The celebration of freedom manifests by the bird above.

And yet freedom is not absolute.

At times I swam in the vastness of a narrow bowl, ahhh...the uncertainties of daily survival is enough for me to cling stronger with my FAITH.

The stark reality on the complexities of life fails me to understand that the world would never be in order. Spontaneity is a rarity or simply one's rant of things that are too complicated to work out. Frightening thoughts of what if's, what if's, what if's...strike my inner self. It's more of a torture and numbs my fragile body, good I am impassive to pains. Fear is the silent anesthetic that weakens my spine, and paralyzes my senses.

Why peace of mind is elusive? Is it because the heart is full of deceit and beyond cure?

Why we tend to feel alone, despite a life full of love? Is it because we demand so much? Is  enriching our spiritual lives can fill the vacuum of emptiness alone?

Happiness can't be measured of contentment. Satisfaction is very much objective. You may be contented but not happy nor satisfied; you always crave and want more...

Pain, fear, peace, loneliness, happiness, love--mold our inner selves. Just don't let envy or jealousy, bitterness and hatred take over your existence, it will be your losing end. Never be blinded of what are lies. Advocate to what is just and fair.

Always have a rational judgment. Madness is real; happiness doesn't last long.

Existence is a game of survival regardless who you are, only a few or the fittest finishes the race.

An object in motion

(photo credit: http://weburbanist.com)

I stagnate lately, in fact my increasing weight can attest to that.

A good friend asks me why is it in spite my cool countenance my temper ignites easily?

Ironical isn’t it?

Patience..? I have lots…but I am no meek when a particular situation calls a rational approach. Yes, I admit my temper easily ignites whenever I come across jerks. Who wouldn’t be? If I do not have patience, then I’d always opt to physical fight.

Case no. 1—it was Friday, we were in a hyper mall, after buying foodstuffs from its grocery section we planned out to dine in one of the restaurants in the mall. Before doing so, we decided first to load the foodstuffs in the car which was in the parking area. My car was parked just a stone’s throw away from the main access of the mall, and even the security guard saw us rushing towards my car. After we dumped the foodstuffs, we headed back to the mall only to be informed by the same security guard that only families are allowed to enter, and since I was with a male friend we couldn’t enter the mall and dine. Stupid right? The situation pissed me very much and resulted to a heated argument with the security guard. I told him how on earth the other security guards did not inform us while in the grocery section (there were at least 2 guards spotted us), and even allowed us to enter the mall an hour back? He yelled back to follow his’ order, and leave at once!? But before doing so I argued the confusing policy of the mall, and swore not to set foot ever again in that mall.

Case no. 2—when you are driving expects once in a while to meet rogue drivers in the road. Driving in this part of the world is both a challenge and survival. Your typical day in the road comprises of being tail-gaited, cutting your way, and don’t be surprised to witness gross and deliberate traffic violations such as car racing of locals in the main thoroughfares, beating the red traffic light, obstructing left/right turns, swerving, unnecessary blowing of horns, using cell phone while in the wheel, stopping anytime without giving a signal light, etc. So, given two or three encounters of driving situations I enumerated while you are in the road, do you think you will remain composed? I bet, you would always end up cursing the reckless driver, either by saying FU_K or go to HELL!

I remain calmed at all times. You want a proof..? 

I learned somewhere that the real test of temper when your wife nags at you (it applies to married men), if your temper gives in, you will end up hurting your wife. You see, whenever my wife nags or throwing petty tantrums, I am always a giver. It’s hard though, but I think my wife is just simply needs my attention heheheh.

Well, each of us has each own limits. Our limits differ in a given situation, as in the case of how much patience you bear, or temper you can manage? The spontaneous flow of nature hampers when an alien force alters it, Newton’s first law says, “an object in motion tends to stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force.” Just like anyone’s temper, it ignites when ones calmness jeopardized by undesirable situations.