ERIC’S SONGBOOK

2007 is finally here!  This year, I optimistically hope and ferevently pray that God will bless my family and friends with good health, unconditional love, untarnished sprituality, unbounded success, perennial happiness, surpassed personal goals and financial prosperity.  May this year be a prosperous one for all!

Again, Happy New Year!  God bless you all and take care!  Everyday is a new day, make each day count!

U2 - Beautiful Day

The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There’s no room
No space to rent in this town

What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now
Was a beautiful day

Addendum:  Below is a list of some things to look forward to this January:

• Eragon, Night At The Museum, Blood Diamond will hit local theates.
• Classes resume on January 8.  I will be teaching COMCALC and QUATECH again. 
• The 2007 Grammy Nominees Album will be issued on January 23.  Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, Gnarls Barkley, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beyoncé, John Mayer, Carrie Underwood, Justin Timberlake have scored mulltiple nominations this year since they are considered frontrunners of popular music in the past year.
• Norah Jones‘ latest opus, Not Too Late, will be released on January 30, and hopefully, earlier in the Philippines.  This album features the brand new single Thinking About You.  Being a big Norah Jones fan myself, I must have this one in my collection.  I haven’t heard any artist who makes music so soothing to the ear for easy listening.

Last Christmas Eve, I have started watching Friends.  Currently, I am enjoying the 2nd season already and it is keeping me good company throughout the long break.  I guess, I have gathered enough experience that made me capable of relating to the characters’ travails and adventures in all facets of life.  Before, I was watching them from a point of view of a 16 year old filled with angst.  Now that I am 27, I think I began to appreciate the series even more.  To my surprise, I even have the Friends soundtrack (that I have unearthed from my collection), both cassette (which I bought in 1995) and CD (which I bought a few years ago from Odyssey Festival, a brandy new copy that sold for P280).  My favorite track in this album is a song by the band Toad The Wet Sprocket called Good Intentions. Listening to it has brought good memories of my teenage years.  My life has been defined by pop and alternative music of the 1990s.  Something in that decade is nostalgic to me that it makes me feel so amazingly good and young again. 

Good Intentions - Toad the Wet Sprocket

It’s hard to rely on my good intentions
When my head’s full of things that I can’t mention
Seems I usually get things right
But I can’t understand what I did last night

But life gives little relief
Give us reprieve
And when everyone is cold as ice
I clinch my fists and close my eyes
Imagining the world outside
But I can see that I’m not blind

I bought my boxed set of the 2nd season in SM Megamall last night and I was able to find a rare used copy of Janet Jackson’s 1986 CD Control in Odyssey.  If the music of the 90s makes me nostalgic, the 80s makes me feel like a kid.  I remember listening to the dance hits What Have You Done Fore Me Lately and When I Think You plus the ballad Let’s Wait Awhile, without me knowing it is Michael Jackson’s baby sister doing the amazing dance moves and vocals.  Yup, that was Janet Jackson before the lovemaking rhapsodies, facelists and the Superbowl fiasco.

Speaking of friends, my good old buddy since 5th grade and his family are undergoing the same thing I have underwent a couple of years ago.  I hope and pray that God will bless you and your family with enough strength and courage in your trying times.  Faith and the company of good friends go a long way in life.  Take good care always.

I’ll Be There For You - The Rembrandts

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s DOA
It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear,
When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month,
or even your year, but…

I’ll be there for you…
When the rain starts to pour
I’ll be there for you…
Like I’ve been there before
I’ll be there for you…
‘Cause you’re there for me too…

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Johnny Mathis

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
With the kids jingle belling,
And everyone telling you,
"Be of good cheer,"
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
There’ll be much mistletoeing
And hearts will be glowing,
When loved ones are near.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

So this is Christmas.  There are many ways people say it, express it, or even celebrate it.  I am fortunate enough to be blessed with the strength and the courage to go through one frenzied year.  When I started working as an Assistant Lecturer in DLSU, all I wanted was just enough teaching units to support my needs.  Never in my wildest dreams have I dreamt of presenting a research paper, making it to the finals round of the Students’ Search for Outstanding Teachers, starting my PhD., being given an Academic Director position of the Interdisciplinary Business Studies program in school, or even getting sent to Cebu for a research project.  I am truly grateful for the Lord’s blessings that I feel humbled because I know I am just a fallible human being.  I remember that not too long ago, I have spent penniless Christmases as well as nursing my dad whose health was failing.  These things reminded me of my humble beginnings. Back then, I was just struggling to keep myself afloat…to survive.  Despite all these fleeting things, I am truly grateful for the gift of family and friends.  As a teacher, I learned to live modestly.  I have little use for much extravagance in life but I do believe in the value of thrift and hardwork. 

All these material things are just transient in life.  Sooner or later, I must yield to change.  Just like what I have said in my previous entries, change is the only permanent thing in this world.  I hope and pray that the coming year God will bless my family, friends and me with good health, long life, and contentment.   

So what have I been up to lately?  I bought gifts for family and friends.  I got my course cards in my graduate studies (I didn’t ace them but a Term GPA of 3.000 wasn’t bad either).  I got my 5th consecutive Outstanding ITEO evaluation (a 4.702 out of 5.000), spent enough money on VCDs to keep me company throughout the holidays.  I am really planning to buy Thomas Harris‘ latest novel, Hannibal Rising (I saw one last copy in Bibliarch Makati), a story explaining the origin of Hannibal Lecter.  The silverscreen adaptation of which hits theatres this coming February.  In addition to this, I am keeping my eyes glued on starting my Friends VCD or DVD collection sometime soon since I have lost my interest on finishing the fourth season of Lois and Clark.  The plot is skating on thin ice after they tied the know.  Now I remember why I didn’t follow the series as avidly as before, when they just starting.  Yesterday, after getting my course cards and loot of Christmas gifts in school, I went to Waltermart in Makati and I saw a VCD collection of the first season of Friends for P550 but I settled for Eminem’s The Re-up CD instead.  Such opus teams Eminem with the hottest rap artists of contemporary hit radio.  The current single in heavy rotation is You Don’t Know.  Finally, I was able to get my Starbucks Planner a few days ago.  I also got my last payslip of the year and my year-end tax almost gave me a heartattack.  Being in a profession which is deemed to be marginalized by some, and yet heavily taxed, is so unfair.  As an educator, I believe that I have done more good to society aside from paying taxes.  I do not seem my hard-earned money go anywhere.  What’s even worse, I can not even match the taxes that I have paid with my savings because if I do, that means I go hungry and bills will remain unpaid (and that is considering a life without recreation).  Something is terribly awry with the tax system.  The burden of society is passed on to the most productive group of people in the form of taxes.  What’s even worse, I paid the tax levied on our home for 2005 and 2006 which amounted close to P7,000 a few days ago.  Such amount could’ve gone for personal consumption this holiday season or savings instead.  But once you need the money, no one really cares for you.  You end up saving your own @$$.  Sad, sad, sad world.  If only I could get my hands to immigration papers right away in pursuit of a better way of life.  Just like what I say to my students term in and out:  Ako po ay isang dukhang guro lamang…isang aliping saguiguilid.

Anyway, I have no further plans of dampening my well-deserved holiday.  Time to unwind, have fun, enjoy the fruits of one’s hard labor and the company of family and friends… so play that party music!  A MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY 2007 to you and your family!!!  After a year of working hard, it is time to celebrate and….

GET RIGHT - Jennifer Lopez

You’re lookin’ just a little too hard at me
You’re standing’ just a little too close to me
You’re sayin’ not quite enough to me
You’re sippin’ just a little too slow for me
No doubt you playin’ real cool homie
Got me thinkin’ what is it you do for me?
Trippin’ a little more than I should be
So let your self go and get right with me

[Chorus x2]
I’m about to sign you up, we can get right
Before the night is up
We can get right, get right
We can get right, right
I’m about to fill your cup, so we can get right
Before the night is up, we can get right, tonight, rite
We can get right

Christmas is fast approaching.  Another year has gone by.  I warmly dedicate this next song from one of my all-time favorite singer/songwriter, Babyface, to all of my friends.  Simply titled, You Were There, this song helped me get through a bad year in my life.  Released in late 1998 and to anyone who has gone or is going through a featured in the heartwarming film Simon Birch, as well as the album Christmas with Babyface, this song goes out rough and tough time during the holidays.  May you find comfort and strength in the company of your friends and family this Yuletide season.  If only I could offer the world more than my services as an educator, I would give everyone peace, love, contentment and good health underneath their trees this season.  Merry Christmas!  May you have a prosperous 2007 ahead!

You Were There - Babyface

Time passes, the world changes
But I’m still the same ole’ kid
And your jokes still bring me laughter
As if you still were here
And it hurts
When I smile
‘Cause my heart still remembers
When you were around

[HOOK]

Finals is almost over.  I think there is no other title fitting to celebrate my 100th post in this blog account that coincided with the hectic final exam week.  I was finally able to compute and distribute the grades of more than 100 students and yes, it did make me feel like 100 years old.  The stress is so overwhelming that I can barely catch my own breath at this feverish pace of things in school.  Now all I have to bother myself with is my final examination in ECO517D (Linear Algebra) due for presentation on Saturday.  The title of my paper is Estimating Price/Earnings Ratio using Gross Profit Margin & Sales Growth of Selected US Stocks.  Learning multiple regression in a crash course proved to be a challenge beyond words but I am hoping for the best on Saturday.  Only God knows how this one will wind up. 

100…a measure of perfection.  The past term has been hectic, sure.  And that is an understatement.  After all, I just came home from grading 6 paper presentations today in a marathon.  I guess, the past 14 weeks in school made me more unyielding to whims of students, I learned to be stricter and more callous.  And I think it is a sign of progress!!!  When I started teaching six years ago, God, was I so naive!  Now, I am more pragmatic when solving administrative matters and answering queries of persistent students.  I hope there will come a time that I give grades in binary (0.0 or 1.0) and be identified as one of the terrors in DLSU. Suddenly, they are now my personal idols, seriously!  Eventually, I hope the day will come when less and less students will enroll in my classes than the current perceived image that I project that COMCALC and QUATECH is a walk in the park if I will be teaching them.  In the first place, why are there terror teachers?!?  It is because of the attitude of students in general.  The irresponsibility irks me.  The rowdy side comments annoy me.  The pessimistic attitude towards Mathematics dampens my passion and energy to give my all.  Now, I understand why I had tough teachers back then.  Gosh, you will never fully empathize with someone unless you have been in his/her shoes and it is the undeniable truth.   When I was 22, I would adjust grades just to pass everyone but now, I point out that this is the result of the computation, that 59.49 will never merit a 1.0 in COMCALC and a 69.49 will never earn a 1.0 in QUATECH.  Furthemore, it violates rules of mathematics: 69.49 is a distinct and separate point from 70.  The same goes for 59.49 with 60. To wit, experience is the best teacher of all, no doubt.  And before I relentlessly fume to one-hundred degrees centigrade…(finals week seldom catches me in a good mood)

Last Monday, I was able to baptize my taste buds with the legendary doughnuts of Krispy Kreme.  After checking 80 COMCALC papers and running a proctoring schedule from 8 am to 6 pm just drained all my energy.  May baon pa akong 38 huling pagsusulit sa KWATEK na iwawasto sa bahay.  Honestly, my mom and I got lost in The Fort just to find the supposedly legendary and iconic benchmark of all doughnuts.  Upon reaching the store, around 8 pm, I was surprised to find my old org mates back in college and my former PRODMAN genius student also queuing up.  It shocked me to know that the price of a freaking piece is P38!!!  (Damn, are those doughnuts made of gold?!?)  And after eating two pieces the following morning while enjoying the arduous and masochistic task of checking erroneous Linear Programs made me so thirsty for water.  Yes, they are delicious but I guess it is dangerously too sweet. 

Last Saturday, I was able to get Mary J. Blige’s Reflections (A Retrospective) from O in The Powerplant Mall.  It is a collection of all her hits from 1992’s What’s the 411?  to last year’s The Breakthrough, which earned her a nomination for Album of the Year in February 2007’s Grammys.  After 14 weeks of stress, this is one song I wholeheartedly and sincerely dedicate to myself thanks to this CD. I am truly looking forward to a peaceful Christmas break ahead.  Why choose this song?  Cause I have had it with parents asking me to change their sons/daughters grades after course card day!!!  Life in school is never easy, both as a student and teacher.  One must strive for perfection all the time.  Living in a very judgmental world, the way I see it, people never settle for anything less than 100. 

No More Drama - Mary J. Blige

Intro
So tired
(Mmm)
Tired of all this drama
(Oh yeah)
You go your way…
(Ohh)
I go my way
(No more, no more, no more)
I need to be free
Ohhh…
So tired, tired, tired of all this drama

Outro
I’m so tired
I’m so tired
So tired
Tired of all this drama

Another year is soon coming to a close.  Time flies like a fleeting shadow.  Before I get to the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I have final exams to contend with both as a teacher and as a student.  So what else is new?  This has been always my life ever since I entered DLSU in 1997.  I just can’t wait for my sweet escape to the holidays.  No papers to check, no phones ringing, no books and reports to read, no theses to grade, no memos to write, no queries to reply to.  Just me pigging out in my room enjoying my loot of CDs, VCDs and DVDs.  I still have the entire 4th season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman to watch.  After all, I was able to muster enough funds to procure a Sharp 12" TV set and a Philips DVD player for my room, fruits of twelve months of hard labor.  Thanks to QUATECH and COMCALC! :) Sometimes I wonder, why is it that most people I know seem to effortlessly procure such durables while I have to invest blood, sweat and tears in derivatives, integrals and linear programs to buy things for myself?!?  Come to think of it, it has taken my 7 years of work to buy stuff of my own.  Perhaps, my next target is a laptop, then my own car, then my own house….that is if I am still sane and alive from working and still in the Philippines, if I am still teaching.  Who knows?  Life is full of surprises–at some point, it is full of random walks and error terms which are not normally distributed.  Due to the growing demand for my services at work, I just have to unwind for a few minutes or so.  Lately, I am enjoying the Christmas blends of Starbucks.  Technically, I am six stamps shy of getting the leather-bound 2007 planner.  My tastebuds just have this strong affinity for its Toffee Nut Latte.  As of writing, I just came from SM Harrison Plaza to purchase Gwen Stefani’s sophomore effort, The Sweet Escape, which features the Neptunes-produced club banging track, Wind It Up. 

Before I forget, I have an addition to my Christmas wishlist:  a CD of Shawn Colvin Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection.  Released in 2004, this opus chronicles Shawn Colvin’s hit making career from 1989’s Steady On to the Grammy Award winning composition, Sunny Came Home in 1998.  It will be my target the next time I find time to go to Fully Booked in The Powerplant Mall.

A toast to a great (yet busy) holiday season ahead!

Feliz Navidad by Feliciano

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero año y Felicidad

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart

Addendum:  I just got home from the Faculty Association’s Christmas Party…I won P500 in the raffle! I won the same prize last year.  Yesterday, I was able to get another P500 as Christmas gift from the university’s Credit Union.  I have plans of putting them aside as seed money.