Archive for ‘Science’

10/31/2009

On Early Marriage

Yes, Mr. Bob approved my thesis. LOL, yesterday we had to write them up on the board again, and he tackled mine first.

Mr. Bob: So… where is this one going?
me: … You’re asking me what I mean to cover?
Mr. Bob: Yes.
me: Ah. Well… I was going to cover.. the science and stats behind guy and girl wiring, the dangers of premature heart-giving and the resulting emotional divorce, ask why would you go shopping for what you can’t buy, and even worse, why go shopping for what you don’t intend to buy in the first place, explore the question, “Do you love me because you need me or do you need me because you love me?” and –
Mr. Bob: Ok. Ok, that’s plenty. You’re good to go. *pause* I thought you were going to talk about Facebook or something…

What???? What does Facebook have to do with the dating game as the average American teen knows it to today only being a training ground for divorce??? I am not that shallow. Doesn’t he know that from my bashing The Pursuit of Happiness’ “I’m An Adult Now?”

Lol. Jk. Gotta love Mr. Bob.

Anyway. Mother sent me some related links and a thread. Wanted to share share =)

A Case for Earlier Marriage

While many sit wringing their hands over the seeming demise of marriage as an institution and the concomitant breakdown in sexual ethics, none are willing to state the most obvious reason — it is being delayed too long. [...]

[...] studies fail to reflect the reality that pre-marital sex, pre-marital pregnancy and cohabitation are not decreasing as the age of the unmarried increases. [...] Studies also cannot take into account physical, psychological, social and spiritual risks to persons during this extended non-marital period.

Against Eternal Youth

[...] well-meaning parents of the 1950’s confused vulnerability with moral innocence. They failed to recognize that children encouraged to be childish would jump at the chance, and turn childishness into a lifelong project. They were unprepared to respond when those children acquired the bodies of young adults and behaved with selfishness, defiance, and hedonism. [...]

Fifty years ago, when the average bride was 20, the divorce rate was half what it is now, because the culture encouraged and sustained those marriages. But if we communicate to young people that we think they’re inherently incapable of making a marriage work, they will surely meet that expectation. [...]

During those lingering years of unmarried adulthood, young people may not be getting married, but they’re still falling in love. They fall in love, and break up, and undergo terrible pain, but find that with time they get over it. This is true even if they remain chaste. By the time these young people marry they may have had many opportunities to learn how to walk away from a promise. They’ve been training for divorce. [...]

It’s not youth that passed us by, but adulthood.

The Cost of Delaying Marriage

[...] My late mother-in-law, who married at 20, told me that in her college circles in the mid-1950s, a man who took a woman out for more than three dates without intending marriage was considered a cad. Today, the man who considered marriage so rashly would be thought a fool. Likewise, a woman. [...]

A 20-year-old bride is considered as pitiable as a 30-year-old spinster used to be.

And the thread which I’ve been watching — and have been very amused =) I love the 4real moms.

How old were you when you got married?

11/05/2008

There Will Be Tears (a.k.a. Yes, Aliens Have Arrived)

Oh I cried last night. And I’ll tell you straight out.

I didn’t cry for myself. I cried for all the babies.

And I’m crying again now.

The babies… the children… no, no, no, not blobs of nothing… but LIFE… murder…

Maybe I am angry at the lack of understanding of the core values of the Church, of the non-negotiables.

Maybe I am angry at all the lies that were told, and all the truths that were pushed aside.

Maybe I am bitter, disgusted…

But God is still God.

I am not angry at God. And I am not bitter towards Him. And I am not disgusted with what He has willed.

I am only thinking of what an amazing Kuya said… We Are The New Jerusalem.

Are we in exile, then? Does America need to hit bottom? Does America need Obama to teach us how much we need God, and how foolish we have been to turn our backs on Him? Is this Babylon? Is this Assyria? Maybe.

I’m not sad for myself. I don’t mean to make it sound like I’m not growing anymore, but I think those who know me best will understand what I mean when I say — I weep for those who have to find themselves in these next four years. I weep for all the innocent children who go to school, and whose teachers have more influence over them than their own parents. I weep for the families who have fought so hard against the tide, fought to keep their families intact, fought to pass on that understanding of the sanctity of Life to their children. I weep for the unborn.

What is that prayer I learned while I was in AZ? “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn child that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.” Think of all the children who will be spiritually adopted by the faithful in the next four years. Think of the numbers.

Can you imagine… FOCA… but no. Don’t go there.

Anti-Catholicism is still the only tolerated — accepted — prejudice today. Ready for the persecution? No, don’t tell me I’m overreacting. Persecution of the Church has never ceased, and you can’t suppose it won’t get worse these next four years? But it’s our road to heaven. For that, I am thankful.

Yes, yes, there’s still something to be thankful about, there always is. See? I’ve not gone off my rocker. I simply can’t unload everything I wish I could unload into this post.

But here. I will share with you one of the thoughts that I comfort myself with, and I hope you will, too, if you have need of comfort — Yes, Aliens Have Arrived.

You’re reading the words of one, now.

‘For in the sin of the first man, Adam, we were expelled from the homeland of paradise and sent into this world of exile, and thus we live in this middle earth as if we have no homeland here…’

I find it so easy to forget that this world is temporary. I find it so easy to forget that I don’t belong here. But I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, and I know I need to hammer that into myself. I think last night did that for me in a way that nothing else that has ever happened to me has done. Yes, I’m an alien. Silly, silly me, I don’t belong on this earth. I belong in Paradise.

How appropriate was our assigned reading last week in English class.

‘… our Lord has kindled for us many spiritual lanterns that we must light up for ourselves with heavenly piety and holy doctrine, so that no one will remain in darkness of heresy who wishes to see the light of truth. What are these lanterns that our Lord has given to us to enlighten the dimness of humankind’s infidelity? They are the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, the bishops, the priests, and the many other divine teachers of God’s church. And we have great need to observe the right doctrine and the holy examples and obey the holy gospel with fear and fasten it firmly in our hearts…

‘We cannot always have laughter… I well know that everyone desires to see true joy in middle earth. But it is not, was not, nor ever will be… we should seek true joy where it is… in Christ himself in… the kingdom of heaven… the Lord himself says… “In hoc mundo pressuram habebitis. Mundus hic gaudebit; vos autem tristes eritis, sed tristitia vestra convertitur in gaudium.” “You will have oppression in this middle earth, and middle earth will rejoice in this and you will be sad. But you will be free from sighing, for it will turn again for you into joy.” …

‘… we should be very thoughtful and very sorrowful as long as we are here in our efforts… so that we may again rejoice in the heavenly home of the celestial kingdom. Nor should we ever consider the labor and trouble here in the world too long, because it comes to an end. But the rewards never come to an end that are gilded for us on behalf of those troubles…

‘… while we are here living, let us ask the mercy of God, so that he might send us out thus in the love of eternal life that we might the more love the eternal homeland than this present life and always think the more about the life to come than about the one we lead here. These are the days of toil and labor as we ourselves may understand in the manifold torments that daily fall on human kind in tempests because of our deeds.’ ~ unknown homilist in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality by Robert Boenig

I also remember something Mrs. McIntyre told me about… The grandfather of a teen from their homeschooling group had died, and while I was in AZ, we went to the wake. Mrs. M told me afterwards what the grandmother had said… that she knew that that day, she was blessed. Blessed. Isn’t that beautiful? Blessed in her sorrow, in her grief, in her loss, but by heaven, she was blessed.

There will be tears… but — and this makes me smile — we are blessed. We are blessed with this cross.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

God bless the faithful. And God help America.

07/31/2008

Tabs… and a bunch of comments.

1. Oh bleh. Social pressures indeed. So homeschool them! Teach them to be confident about who they are as a person! You’ll find they’ll break less easily if they know that it’s what’s inside that counts. Haha aren’t I so heartless? I really have no sympathy for these kids. I didn’t get a cell phone till about a month before I turned 17. I never felt deprived. Maybe a little *urgh* when someone would go, “Can I have your cell?” “Well… here’s my home phone, just ask for me.” “Oh.” and then they’d never call me, because they felt shy about asking for me. Lol. But geez, that’s undermining parents’ authority and basically teaching kids that they should be scared of parents rather than be respectful of them. I don’t think kids should have cell phones before they fully understand their parents’ authority to be monitoring them. The kid has a cell = mom and dad don’t have to know who they’re talking to. Bleh! Or maybe I’m just the weird one. I got off the phone at 12:45 AMish and went to Mum’s room and talked to her till about 1:30. Lol. Took me a while to get to this point, I suppose, but I don’t regret it.

2. Now I really do have to read this. The movie was a bit dragging, but I loved it.

3. Don’t miss the essential Circulation Note. rotflwtime.

4. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. She is so amazing!!!! I love the 4real moms!!!!

5.

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH I still haven’t started on my essay for Saturday!!!!!! Hahahahaha. Ah well. Back to school, then…

07/23/2008

ooh look what i found

07/16/2008

Culture of Death

Nope, this isn’t one of those profound, beautifully-worded, sound-in-logic, everything-you’ve-never-wanted-to-face but it’s-forcing-you-to-face-it, life-changing essays or something. It is, however, research for the, hopefully, profound, beautifully-worded, sound-in-logic, everything-you’ve-never-wanted-to-face but it’s-forcing-you-to-face-it, life-changing essay that is on the way. I think.

07/15/2008

*FURIOUS*

BLEARGHH.

http://www.andthesethygifts.com/2008/07/14/can-you-believe-this-defund-planned-parenthood/

02/26/2007

original recipes!!!!

i am very proud to say that i have come up with SIX!!!!!! original (meaning wheat-less, egg-less, dairy-less) allergy-free dessert recipes. *bows*

hahahaha!!! *wink*

the best part about coming up with these recipes is when the people in my family who suffer from food allergies LIKE it!!!! and i can totally understand how it is for them, because i happen to be one of them, and so, i can sympathize.

my original recipes are as follows:

Allergy-free Lemon Cakes
Allergy-Free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Allergy-Free Chocolate Honey Cake
Jumbo (Allergy-Free) Oatmeal Chocolate Raisin Cookies
Allergy-Free Chocolate Cinammon Sugar Cookies
Allergy-free Marbled Chocolate Strawberry Brownie-Cake

02/19/2007

Valentine’s Day and Youth Camp

So…

Thursday night, daddy came home. WHEEE!!! Mom went to pick daddy up, and then they ate out, so we kids stayed home and watched movies (and I made pork chops)… until we got a call! from mom to be ready to go as soon as they got there. So… we got ready to go… and their surprise for us was that, we slept at Holiday Inn! It was mom and daddy’s gift to us for Valentine’s day. So we watched TV and ate chocolate… watched the food network and the history channel. So I got in about an hour and a half of science, and then nearly three hours of history (I stayed up till who knows what time watching the history channel with daddy; learned about Kennedy and Nixon). School work!!! WOOT!!!! Ain’t it great? HAHAHAHAHAHA.

We got up early and ate breakfast downstairs, then we went home and I started cramming my talk. Hehehe. It wasn’t hard; I didn’t have to do any research besides looking up a couple Bible passages. I just used stuff that I’d learned already from The Great Bible Adventure, Life of Grace, and from reading the footnotes in my Bible. I took a break and chatted with Ate Mary for a bit, and that was heartening and encouraging and all. I wish she’d been able to come, but it’s ok. There’s always next time… Anyway, I finished before lunch (Salamat sa Diyos!!!), and I went sledding with daddy and the kids for a bit afterwards. Daddy and I took turns with the camera, and I got to go down with all the kids. AND THEN I WENT DOWN THE HILL WITH DADDY!!!!!!!! which was pretty awesome, hehe!!! Woulda been fun if we’d wiped out, but we didn’t… but it was still awesome. LOL.

Paco and I got dropped off at Tito Leo’s house at around ten to eight. On the way… Oh, I dunno… deja vu, I guess. I saw Wilkes-Barre and Italy. Our service team meeting went very well… ehm, for the most part, anwyay. Gabe explained our duties, Paolo went over the sched with us, Ate Candice gave us a quick summary on speaking God’s Word, and we had our tongues’ workshop. So I learned about being what I was expected to do as a facilitator and we had mock pray-overs just to get things straight (which was where things got a little… awkward and uncomfortable in some places, but I shan’t go into that). Paolo stressed the importance of EATING QUICKLY during breakfast and lunch and breaks, so that we could have a LONG DINNER. And I forget the rest of it. Because that was the only part that was MAJORLY stressed, and so it was all that stuck with me. I ignored the rest of the schedule except for the part with my talk. LOL. And then, the tongues’ workshop, which was more for Gabe and Mariel’s benefit; we who’d been able to attend had already had a mini-workshop the week before during CLP. Overall, I suppose it was a very satisfying night. :D

Mummy had packed the bento box for me, and so while everyone was having doughnuts, I had… SUSHI!!!!!!!! a-WOOT!!!! That I’d prepared myself. *sigh of contentment* Then, Tito Leo drove us girls (except for Kim; she went home) over to Mariel’s house and we got some sleep (definitely less than ten hours ;-).

So, yeah; me, Gabriella, Candisse, and Mariel… HAD FUN!!!! and missed Kim a LOT… We recorded ourselves… having fun. LOL. We were singing/dancing to High School Musical, Avril, and Kuya. We were being really really really crazy. ‘Course, the videos aren’t going online; they are only for our personal documentation. But they were great. We were jumping up and down and yelling (with consideration for the others in the house, so I don’t suppose you could really call it yelling, because we were just… yeah.) and dancing and rolling around and falling over on purpose and begging Gabriella to join us in front of the camera (which, girls, turned out to be not in the frame of the camera; I was too low) and saying random names and diving all over the place and… yeah. Great night. Haha. And then we went to sleep and woke up at like 6, but went back to sleep and woke up again to get up at around 6:30-ish.

Paolo had, the night before, STRESSED the fact that we NEEDED TO BE THERE BY 7:25 AT THE LATEST!!!!!!!! So, yes, we were there on time. We had breakfast (all of us together), and while the others ate more doughnuts — among other things, but that’s what stuck with me, lol (pero hindi naman nakaka asar masyado) — I had RICE and the pork that mum sent with me. *sigh* One simply cannot live without rice. Doughnuts are just… NOT filling. :P Hahaha. Oh! Unless. UNLESS. They come FRESH and WARM from Krispy Kreme. (I MISS KRISPY KREME!!!!!!)

We went downstairs and had our morning prayer and worship. Gabe on bass, Mariel on electric, me on acoustic… and I think Paco and Candisse and Kim joined in eventually? I mean, while we were practicing first. And then we went on…

Participants arrived in the middle of it all, I gather…( don’t know; I was just downstairs until all that came before everything started were there. there were a couple that came in the middle of the first talk…) we had a total of six participants; Gloria, Gwen, Morgan, Frances, Alexis, and Karen. So… I got introduced to them (by Gabriella and Kim) and we were all screaming with pleasure (well, not all of us…) because there were a total of seven homeschoolers at that camp….. WOOT!!!! Me, Paco, Gabriella, Kim, Morgan, Gwen, and Gloria. AWESOME-NESS!!!!!!!! We brought them down and taught them some songs for worship, and then we sang…

Then, the intro was given… and then Kim gave the first talk, with Gabriella sharing. Ehm… a bit emotional. (Which wasn’t at all bad, of course; it really… I don’t know… but it had a really good effect, I think.) We had our discussion, which went well…. I took Gloria and Gwen and Karen, and Gabriella was with us. Mariel took the other three. Now that I think about it, I think we were split up by age… but I can’t be certain, because aren’t Gwen and Alexis the same age? I think.. Ahem.

Then, we had an ice-breaker… ‘over the mountain’? Wheee it worked. Pretty much the same concept as ‘do you love your neighbor’ just a little different. I think it was mostly the service team that ended up in the middle, but… eh, it wasn’t bad. Only… Paolo kept on saying his name and the last name was kinda starting to get old… HAHAHAHA. Eh, it was fine. :D Masaya naman, so.. that was good.. and then.. well, we had a break, at any rate. I was anti-social and went over my talk… and then I was prayed over and then I gave my talk… here it is…

I. Intro -

Living a Christian life on our own is impossible. Only through the strength that we have in God, the strength that we have in Jesus, can this be possible. When we hear of how great God’s love is for us, I think, many of us genuinely want to respond to Him by loving Him back and living a live that’s pleasing to Him, but it’s difficult to live a life that’s pleasing to God, if we don’t have a personal relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. And so, like any relationship that we have, with friends, with family, to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we have to know who He is. So, who is Jesus Christ? Well. What do we know?

II. Who Is Jesus -

A. impact in history

Well, first, let’s take a look at His life, and how He has affected our history. First of all, we know that He was born in a stable some 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, in Judea, which is in what is now Palestine. So the first glimpse that we have of Jesus is in a stable. Ok? A stable, a place where animals live and sleep and eat and do everything that they need to do. This is where our Savior was born. In a stable. Take Bethlehem next. Bethlehem was a very small, poor, unimportant town. In the Bible, where they list the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel and how the land was split up and everything, Bethlehem didn’t even make it on the list, because of the fact that it was so small and so unimportant; it wasn’t even worth mentioning.

Then, there’s the fact that Jesus grew up trained as a carpenter. He was not a king as other Kings were; ruling their people from a distance. There’s something that separates a king from his people; because a king grows up rich and wanting for nothing, he can never fully understand what his people go through. Jesus isn’t like that. He is a King who totally understands His people, both the poor and the rich. He is God, and that is power at its highest point; no human could ever reach that high, and nothing can go higher than that. But He also understands what it is to be poor; when He became Man for our sake, He did not choose to live in pomp and splendor and riches. He truly Lived! among His people. He lived in a community, knew his neighbors, the way you and I do. And so He understands our needs, our hopes, our fears, our dreams. He truly became one of us.

Around the age of 30, Jesus’ public life began. For three years, he traveled, preaching the Love of His Father. He genuinely cared for those who were lost, for the sinners, for the sick, for those who were unclean, for the ordinary people.

Jesus was charged with blasphemy, and was also seen as a political threat at the time, and so He was crucified as a criminal at the age of 33.

So you’d expect that like any religious or political leader of the time, Jesus would have been forgotten, faded away, maybe? But He hasn’t. After 2000 years, He’s still being talked about, argued over, sought for in terms of understanding, respected… 2000 years later, for us, for we who believe in Him, look at us, 2000 years later, we still call Him our King. No other person has had so many books and stories about them. The book that we accept that tells His story, the Bible, is still the #1 best seller of all time. Then there’s how History has been split up into B.C. and A.D. We’ve all been taught historical dates with B.C. and A.D., haven’t we? B.C. stands for Before Christ, and A.D. stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for In the Year of Our Lord; we’ve been taught historical dates that have been split up according to His life, it’s just been recognized that that’s how dates are split up.

So, yeah, Jesus is… everywhere. Literally in every sense of the word. So, you know, there’s just so much that’s said about this guy, so what was He really like?

B. misconceptions

I mean, there’s just so many misconceptions, people portray Him in so many different ways. So let’s take a look at some of the things people have to say about Him.

Some say he was a weirdo, a freak, even. I mean, really, some guy just starts telling you, “Love your enemies.” and “If someone slaps you, turn the other cheek.” I mean, really, if we’d lived back then, ‘course there’s more than just a small chance that we would’ve been weirded out.

But, obviously, weird as some people might think Him, there was something about Him that attracted people. Mark, Chapter 1: 16 – 20, reads, “As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they left their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther, and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.” And so, for them to just get up and leave their life behind; because, I mean, they were fishermen. This was their trade, this was their life, everything that they knew. And they left it behind to follow Jesus.

Some people call Him weak, because He allowed Himself to be tortured, gave in to all the persectution.

But let’s think about that. First of all, what got him there? Obviously, there had to be some reason for people to think Him worth torturing. So He must’ve done something that some people thought was bad. And Jesus openly stood up against the known authorites of His time. In Matthew, Chapter 23, which I’m not gonna read, because it’s quite long, but Jesus criticized the scribes and the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites. And now, the scribes and the Pharisees held a great deal of power at the time. These are the people that brought charges against Jesus that resulted in His death.

Now, does this make Jesus weak? Well, first of all, who said that He had to criticize those people that were in power. It takes a great deal of boldness and courage to openly criticize people in positions of power. He didn’t have to do it. But He did. He preached and stood up for something that made these people angry, because they felt that His teachings threatened their position. He didn’t have to do it. He is certainly not weak. There were many chances for Him to be weak, but he proved to be strong, in that; He chose to preach the Good News, even though He knew very well the dangers of doing so. He did NOT lie his way out of the charges. And who can call a person weak, for having a chance to get out of a brutal death like that, and didn’t take it. He ACCEPTED it, He accepted His death. Willingly.

Some say that Jesus was confused or unsure of Himself. But He wasn’t confused. He knew exactly where He was supposed to be in any given moment. He knew where and when He was to be captured and sentenced to death.

Some say that Jesus was an unsuccessful leader. But, like I said, after 2000 years, He is still our King. What King has ever been known to reign 2000 years, and then some. He’s not done. Christianity’s thriving.

C. the best way to know Jesus

So, if we are finding it difficult to know what to believe and what not to believe about Jesus, why don’t we focus on what He tells us about Himself.

See, Jesus claimed to have qualities that belong only to God. Matthew, Chapter 28, verse 18 – “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” So, He claimed to posses all authority in Heaven and Earth. Only God has that authority. We see that nature reconized this authority that Jesus claimed to have, when in Luke, Chapter 8, it tells of how Jesus was in a boat out on the lake, and there was a storm, and the waves were tossing the boat around… and He calmed the sea. He rebuked the wind and the sea, and they were still.

Second, Jesus forgave sins. You have to understand how strictly people in that time believed that God alone has the authority to forgive sins, which is perfectly true. And so Jesus claimed to have this authority also. (Luke 5: 17-26)

Jesus claimed to be a judge. That is a right that is exclusive to God’s supreme authority. (John 5:21 – 23; 27)

Thomas worshipped Jesus when He saw that Jesus had risen from the dead. (John 20; 24 – 29) Worship is for God alone, as we know from the First Commandment.

Lastly, Jesus claimed to give Life. (John 5; 26) Only God has that power. It’s all about power and authority. Jesus claims to have the power and authority that we know belongs only to God, and so if we are to believe in these claims, then we accept that Jesus, while He was fully Man, He was also fully God.

III. our response

So now that we have a basic idea of who Jesus Christ is, through what we know of Him through the Bible and the way He has affected our world for over 2000 years, how do we respond?

Jesus Christ claimed to be the Son of the Most High. The Son of our Creator. The Son of God. That is a majorly serious claim. It’s either blasphemy, or it’s the Truth. Jesus’ claims are so different from the claims of others; for example, Buddha, Mohammed, they never claimed to be THE Son of God. And so, Jesus’ claim being so serious, we need to honestly consider if we truly accept them, or if we reject them. Because that choice, if made in the depth that it needs to be made, will affect our whole lives. It will affect everything that we are.

And while we’re on the subject, the one thing that we cannot do, is to not accept that Jesus is the Son of God, but STILL think that He’s a good person. You just, you can’t. Either you accept that He’s the Son of God, and a totally wonderful person altogether, or you don’t. And if you don’t, if He is NOT the Son of God, then He is a blasphemer and you can’t get any worse than the claim that He made, so if He’s not the Son of God, then a good person is the last thing that He could possibly be.

So, if we believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, that He IS God, was fully God and fully Man, we cannot just… leave Him in the corner of our lives like some people do. Jesus, ultimately, God, CAN relate to us. He understands what we go through in every aspect of our lives. And so, knowing that He can relate to us, to follow Him as our Lord and Savior, we need to accept the personal relationship that He offers us every day of our lives.

IV. personal testimony – hand it over to Candisse

V. conclusion

THE WORLD’S GREATEST CHARACTER

Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three,
Once lived and died for self; one died for you and me,
The Greek died on a throne; the Jew died on a cross;
One’s life a triumph seemed; the other but a loss.
One led vast armies forth; the other walked alone.
One shed the whole world’s blood; the other gave his own
One won the world in life and lost it all in death;
The other lost his life to win the whole world’s faith.
Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three.
The Greek made all men slaves; the Jew made all men free
One built a throne on blood; the other built on love
The one was born of earth; the other from above
The one won all this earth to lose all earth and heaven;
The other gave up all that all to him be given.
The Greek forever died; the Jew forever lives.

So… God Loves You. He loves each and every one of us and calls to each of us by name, because He wants to be friends with us, He wants to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us. He knows the depths of our souls. He wants us to know Him.

And then we had our discussion… oh, wait. I can’t remember if we had the angel game before or after my talk…

TAPOS!!!! Hehe it was shorter than I thought it would be. Ok, anyway… another discussion… same people, ‘cept Ate Candice was with us this time around. Which was good; her sharing was very inspiring, and I love how she illustrated her relationship with Jesus. Lovely. I need to remember that..

Another break. Well, lunch. I had chicken. And I was anti-social again and sat in the dining room talking to Tito Herman, Tita Laura, Tita Doris, Tito Leo, and Tito Joe. Oh, Kuya Mico was there, but he didn’t say much… and I think he’d already eaten. And then Paolo left. *wah* Oh, I think we taught more songs somewhere in the middle of it all. And all the participants learned easy, so it was fun. It was mostly fast songs… only a few slow ones here and there.

Kuya Vin gave the third talk (WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PAOLO’S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahem. lol. he went to a bowling tournament. no one blamed him. wel… kinda. jk jk!!!) and then, instead of discussion, of course, they did the letter-writing, and some went to confession at All Saints. (Oh, Mariel and Gabriella took the ones ten and under upstairs and gave them the talk separately because some of the stuff we were dealing with was a bit too heavy for them. And then they joined in for letter writing.) I stayed behind (most of the girls [girl service team] stayed), and I had the time to conduct a one-on-one, and also to have a nice long talk with Gabriella. Mariel also did a one-on-one at that time, and then I jammed for a bit with her and then by myself… Having a talk with my sisters and jamming other stuff was a good break from everything… and the younger ones were downstairs playing 8-ball I think? So they were fine…

Everyone came back from confession, and Mariel and I conducted two more one-on-one sessions, jammed with Kuya Vin (once he’d gotten back from.. buying guitar strings? with Gabe), checked that participants were doing their letters, and handed out the sheet-thingies to-be-filled-out… what were they? oh right! contact… info. er… yeah. And hung out with… ppl. We were on break. I think Gloria and Alexis were building a two-foot high snowman. :D

We had some games… the fruit game was awesome!!! APPLE!!!!!!! And Morgan and Gwen showed us the Tornado… (“Hurricane” – Paolo)

We started working on our programs with our teams. AHHHHHHHH that was SO much fun. It was Karen’s idea to have a sort of charades-with-sound. And then we had to think up movies. THAT took us a WHILE. Haha. But that was a good thing, because by the end of it, we were all much more comfortable with each other (my team was the same as my discussion group), and we were all cracking up and just having a heck of a good time. We were all rather… hesitant… and a bit rebellious.. about having to give a presentation, but in the end, we just had SO much fun. I’m glad we did it.

The service team had a quick worship and meeting, and then we prayed over Gabe. We had dinner (a LONG one, just like Paolo wanted), and then we practiced a bit more. Oh, Mariel and Gabriella and I took the participants aside for a bit during dinner… After dinner, we all hung around, and practiced a bit more and finalized stuff, and then while Gabe and Paolo were practicing their performance, I hung out with the girls (service team; participants were downstairs having fun) and some of the adults, and we were just talking about music and stuff.. good times. “… so, darling, save the last dance for me…

We came down, I think we taught a few more songs, and then Gabe gave his talk. We didn’t realize that Karen was missing until the middle of it, so Gabe just contuned and some of the service team went on a search for her… search found her asleep. (I guess she was knocked out from all the excitement.) So Gabe finished his talk… and that was where things stopped going… as smoothly as they had been. Shan’t go into detail… but we sorted things out… and there was a lull in action and it was a bit awkward, but we got it all right in the end. A few more personal talks, pray-overs were conducted, and then came the PROGRAM!!!! Which was awesome.

Kim, Mariel, Alexis, Morgan, Frances, and Candisse did a silent skit. It was good! Their skit was related to the talks and how we cannot do much on our own, but with God’s help, nothing is impossible. It was very good. Morgan and Alexis were the ones that needed “help” and Kimberly was trying to “help” them on her own, but it didn’t work, and then Mariel came along with “God’s Message” and the ones that needed “help” were “helped.” And then, yes, Kim explained how the idea behind it was that we cannot do anything by ourselves, but with God’s help, nothing is impossible. (Sorry to sound repetitive; I just thought it was SO good.)

Then, Gabe and Paolo performed two songs as a sort of intermission. I recorded the first one, but not the second. The first was a “sort of tribute to YFC” and then.. I dunno exactly what the other one was supposed to be. But it was good, they were both good. Hilarious. (Did I mentioned that Karen’s parents were watching? They’d come to pick her up.) LOL.

Paco went and performed Jin Do, which I recorded (counts as P.E.!!!! and my talk counted as Speech… HOMESCHOOLING ROCKS!!!), and then it was our turn…

So the first one scene that we “charade-ed” was from LotR, where Gollum was arguing with Smeagol… and then the second scene was not exactly a scene. The five of us just kinda stood in a line and I started singing “you must be swift as a coursing river…” and we had this hand action thingy, and then they (the audience) guessed it before I could go on. Hahahaha. And then they simply would NOT do the third scene until I sang something, which drove me nuts, so I was cooperative and indulgent and sang the Reflection song, just the first stanza. Which satisfied them, and then the next scene was from Titanic. Karen was kneeling and Gloria was standing behind her, and Gabriella and I sang My Heart Will Go On, and we hadn’t gotten past the first line when it was guessed. Eh, I guess we picked easy ones, eh? Hehehe. Anyway, fourth scene, Gloria and Karen held Gwen tight (they were soldiers), and Gwen goes and says, “WEDDINGS! I love weddings!!! Drinks all around!!!!” and then she would have gone on, and I was supposed to be Norrington… but, heh, yeah, it was guessed pretty quickly… Eh, it was fine. I had fun.

And then… did we teach more songs? or something… but, yeah, whatever we did, we had our Praisefest and just let ourselves go and… yeah. No words to express the feeling. Just.. beautiful.

And then we hung out until bedtime… and that was interesting… Jon was paying me compliments left and right and it was freaking me out… I was beating on people as usual… Gabriella and I had a talk… Paolo ‘apologized’ for something but then when we shook hands it turned out that his hand was freezing cold and wet from the snow so I went and got him for that… Gabe was running away from me/helping Jon with compliments… yeah.

Oh, compliments from Jon; “You’re beautiful.” (about six times over. Yeap… that was just.. .wrong… ahem.) “You’re hair shines like the hair of the magical unicorn in Terabithia.” (whoa?! Besides. It’s not like he’s read the book or even watched to movie. That was pathetic. But hilarious all the same. And just plain freaky.) “Your eyes are as clear as the water in my toilet bowl.” (now, THAT was so Jon, so it wasn’t freaky at all. It was somewhat relieving because the other compliments were just so freaky.) Oh, and he apologized to me for all the times he was mean or hurt me. (WHAT?!)

And… yeah. We had fun. Recorded stuff. Lotsa Stuff. Took Pics. Good times.

And then Alexis, Candisse, Gloria, Mariel, and I went to Mariel’s house… and slept there… tried to. I ended up sleeping in the other room cuz I couldn’t sleep. Alexis was scaring everyone. I was half-asleep and all of a sudden I hear “CANDISSE!!!!!” and screams and squeals of “DON’T DO THAT!!!” and such.. but eventually I fell asleep… they were all still scaring each other. Oh, Paco had come down to say goodnight while I was taking a shower (Paco slept upstairs with Gio; Gabriella, Kim, Gwen, Morgan, and Francis slept downstairs at the De Velas; Paolo and Jon and Gabe slept in Gabe’s room, I guess), and when I came out, everyone was going on about how I just HAD to love that kid!!! cuz he came down to say goodnight to his Ate (they were all majorly impressed with the “ate”), and he gave them all weapons to protect themselves, and left one for me.

So… we got… even less sleep than the night/day before. About six hours. I guess it was alright. We had breakfast… and Mariel was talking about how Paco’s alarm clock didn’t wake him up and so she had to go wake him, and Paco protested, “I was sleeping like a dead man!!!” and after further questioning, “A dead man still twitching!!!” which just made us all… crack up. LOL.

We had morning worship at the De Velas, and then Mariel gave the fourth talk and Ate Candice shared. Mariel did great!!!! We passed out identification cards and letters from parents next. (Hmm, off to the side, there were a few things that came up that were somewhat… amusing. I suppose all these “shan’t go into detail” things that I’m mentioning are just notes to myself so that I won’t forget.) Then, we had break, and hung out and ate and stuff… Gabe got his ID, too. (He didn’t get one last year….!?) and Paolo printed out names to glue on and everything… (muttering something about “wasting trees, should just do this all on one page…” so on. All in good fun, of course. [Correct me if I'm wrong??? :D Salamat...] And then.. yeah.) and we all had fun… until the parents arrived and we had our closing prayer and worship and everything.

Mass was at Good Shepherd’s. It was perfect, too; Paolo and Tita Flor gave us Holy Eucharist. We all sat together in a section.

Then, lunch/service team meeting at Kenwood Mall. Pictures and fun… We discussed what we’d been through and plans and suggestions and improvements for future… Covenant Orientation is to be sometime in May, or earlier. Next Youth Camp tentatively first weekend in August. Our next household is this Sunday during CLP. Mariel and I are to head two lower households. We have yet to discuss how the new YFC-ers will be split up. Week after that, we’ll have our first household with them. All of us together for the first one, and then we’ll be split up thereafter, I gather. YFC GAs are to begin… sometime. Households will be every week for me and Mariel. High household and lower households to be alternated week by week.

After it all, Gabe left for practice (at Evan’s? I guess) and Mariel and Kim and Gabriella and Paolo went ’round the mall, I think, and Kuya Vin joined us for sledding. We had such fun!!! I went down with Ate Candice and Baby Rain by turns, and Rain just had so much fun playing in the snow!!! I recorded mum and dad sledding, and then mum recorded me going down with daddy. Aaackk my legs were hurting from climbing up the hill so many times!!!!!!

The Tolentinos joined us for dinner at our house. We jammed and talked about YFC plans and the Pinas and stuff. Yummy dinner by mommy!!!

The Tolentinos left, and then we spent some family time together. We had our prayer and laughed over stuff. Good way to end the day.

And I thank the Lord for giving me what I need right when I need it. I had glanced at the time, and I realized that Gabe and Mariel and Paolo were all at the concert… and then we went and prayed and Mum said thank you for me and Paco choosing to stay home and be with the family. And I was ready to break down, I was just so happy that I made that choice. Goodnight to everyone, and then I went downstairs to use the laptop…

and ended up chatting with Devin!!!!!! WHEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was just a totally wonderful weekend. Dev and I played 8-ball until I had to go and sleep. *another long sigh of contentment*

So.. here we are. All caught up on blogging and I think I’ll go have some chocolate. LOL!!!!

02/05/2007

Starfish Dissection

Well, I was able to determine that my specimin was a male. It was pretty freaky… I didn’t get that many pictures. So now I understand how they breathe and how they feed and why it’s not smart to smash them up and throw them back in the ocean. :P It was very… amusing. The dissection book, I mean.

06/12/2006

stuff i’ve learned from What Einstein Told His Cook

- sugar and starch are in the same category, carbohydrates, because even though they seem very different, they're both basically glucose, and the body uses both for fuel.

- what is labeled as "raw sugar" in stores, isn't "raw" at all. real raw sugar is "unfit for human consumption," says the FDA. real raw sugar is wet, brown sugar that's mixed up with yeasts, molds, bacteria, soil, fiber, and plant and insect debree; this raw sugar has yet to be refined. "raw sugar," the kind that is labeled so and sold in stores, is not "raw" in the sense that it is refined. it's just stating that it is less refined than the sugars plainly labeled "refined sugar." "refined sugar" simply goes on step farther than the "raw sugar" in terms of the refining process. "refined sugar" goes through the washing, re-dissolving, boiling, re-crystallizing, and centrifuging one more time than the "raw sugar," so the "raw sugar" goes through it twice, and the "refined" sugar goes through the refining process three times. and btw, the syrup that's flung out of the centrifuge is molasses, and you get different grades of this, because the more times the sugar is refined (like i said, up to 3 times), the darker the syrup gets.

- brown sugar isn't any healthier than white sugar. white sugar is white because all the molasses is totally gone. brown sugar still contains some molasses because it hasn't been through the refining process as many times as the white sugar. brown sugar simply stops earlier in the refining process than the white sugar does, so all the molasses hasn't been removed yet. (note, however, that most brown sugars now are manufactured by just spraying molasses onto the white sugar, instead of stopping earlier in the refining process. but Domino and C&H still make their brown sugar the traditional way.) – "granulated" sugar means that it's made up of granules or grains, each of these is a single crystal of pure sucrose. "superfine" or "ultrafine" sugar, sometimes called "baker's sugar," is made up of tinier crystals, and so it dissolves more easily; it is not yet strictly a powder. "powdered" sugar, on the other hand, is about 3% cornstarch; the companies have to add cornstarch to prevent the powder from caking up because of the moisture it picks up from the air.

- brown sugar turns hard from loss of moisture.
(off to the side note; they used to pave dirt roads with molasses in mhlume, swaziland, and the author of this book would like to say that our roads would last longer if the public works department used molasses. *grin* i'd like to see that.)

- beet sugar and cane sugar are chemically identical, but some people who have had plenty of experience in making fruit spreads insist that the sugars don't behave the same. *grin* i can't say anything. anyway, while you might be using white beet sugar without knowing it, there is no such thing as brown beet sugar. ok, ok, i'll say why… there are impurities that cannot be removed from the molasses that comes from the beet sugar during the refining process, therefore it must all be removed and so there is no such thing as edible brown beet sugar.

- sulphur used to be used to lighten the color of molasses and to kill mold and bacteria. (not anymore)

- cane syrup is clarified sugar cane juice that is boiled down. maple syrup is sap from trees that is boiled down. treacle is a name in great britain for what we know as either molasses or cane syrup, depending on how dark it is. sorghum is not made from cane or sugar beets; it actually comes from a grass-like stalk that's mostly used for hay. but some varieties of this plant have a sweet juice that can be boiled down into syrup.

- you can actually dissolve about 5 cups of sugar into just one cup of water. welcome to the candy world.

- caramel candy is made by heating pure sucrose to higher than 365°F. it is at 365°F that it turns into a colorless liquid, and on further heating, it grows darker and darker. (*grin* and to my fellow YFC-ers? the marshmallow is NOT supposed to catch fire. that's the impatient way to toast a marshmallow… you guys were teaching kimberly wrong!!!)

- the US imports about 60% more sugar than it exports. the sugar we import, however, usually comes from countries that aren't exactly reliable in terms of crops (and besides that they're politically unstable and aren't exactly fond of America), so the US wanted to find an alternative that would satisfy the sweet tooth(s) of Americans, so they turned to one of the biggest crops in the US; corn. so corn isn't really sweet and it doesn't have much sugar in it at all. but chemists can actually make sugar out of the starch in corn. the result, however, is only 60% as sweet as actual sucrose. (so now the author would like to say that as corn sweeteners don't taste quite the same as the sugar from sugar cane and sugar beets, and as manufacturers have switched to corn sweeteners for economical reasons, the next time you're in a sugar-cane-producing country, buy some Coca-Cola and compare it with the flavor of the American "Classic," and "for heaven's sake…" don't call it Coke.

- i cannot summarize this part because it's about how chocolate is made and it makes my mouth water, so i suggest that you read it for yourself, and be very careful when you're writing not to confuse cacao with cocoa

05/05/2006

dick’s, home depot, and maraschino cherries

Well, last night we went to Dick’s and Home Depot and now Paco and Migi have made up a new song that goes “Tsetseburetse, tsetseburetse, tsetseburetse, equals… hindi sensible!”

And today I was reading What Einstein Told His Cook and I learned how they make maraschino cherries… They bleach the cherries white with sulfur dioxide gas, and then they’re dyed either green or red, then flavored with oil from bitter almonds and then packed in syrup. Yuck. If I’d known that that’s what it takes, I wouldn’t eat them. But they do look so nice against the white cream on a black forest cake…

04/26/2006

pics… Anatomy of a Rose

We-e-e-ell… I’ve been looking for pics of stuff I read about… and I simply cannot find a picture of Lisianthius nigrescens which is supposed to have black petals…

So here are links to the pics of the stuff I’ve been reading about… I read something about earwigs and lacewings, it just mentioned them along with a bunch of other pollinators… something about their color sight still being investigated.

I found the descriptions of a young vs. an old Bauhinia monandra interesting, how while the flower is still young, the petals are white, and there is a red spot in the middle of the central flower, but as the flower ages, the entire flower turns pink and the petals curl back… so here, I suppose, is a younger one and an older one.

The book gave a very brief narration on how the Passion flower was named, so here is one picture I found of Passiflora incarnata. Read something random on the Mojave Desert. Another random note, here’s a picture of the voodoo lily. I kind of see why this is called a lady’s slipper, though I think it only looks like the toe…

Huh, I think it was more my foodie side than my flower side (if I even have one) that prompted me to find a picture of American wild ginger in flower. Ah, I thought the name was.. cool… but lol it didn’t look anything like what I expected… meet la reina de la noche.

I simply cannot find a picture of the century plant in flower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It says that the century plant does not flower for its first five or ten or fifty years. I guess people lose interest and then… apparently, no one has a camera when they need one. Oh well… On last picture to top it off… Morning Glory. And boy, I wish I could take pictures like that…

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