Category: Thoughts

One of my favorite poems

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This is one of Frost’s most well-known poems, and perhaps one that is most often misunderstood by people. Now, I am all for the readers’ own interpretation of a poem because regardless of what we read, we relate it to our experiences. However, this poem is not about taking the less-traveled road. On the contrary, the two roads are the same. Many people focus heavily on the last line and assume it to be the main message of the poem. The title of the poem is “The Road Not Taken”. Simply put, the poem is about second-guessing or even regretting and wondering about the choices we made. This dilemma is something that people have thought about “ages and ages hence”. We can never know for certain what could have or would have happened if we made different decisions. The only thing that we can do is “Carpe Diem”.

Everything is a “Remix”

First, check out the series here. Then, check out this article from Brain Pickings.

One of the posts I wrote for my summer Teaching of English Practicum class was about how the lessons that teachers plan have been thought of and used at one point or another. The post is as follows:

“When I was planning lessons on my own and with Heidi, I found that almost everything has been done and used before by many others. With the internet, we can find ESL lessons on every topic imaginable. As language learners and language teachers, we have seen and used many of the same lessons that (always) work well (Alligator River anyone?). We have mixed and matched activities and thrown together lessons at the last minute. We have games and tricks that we turn to when we are out of ideas. So, where is the creativity and the innovation that people talk about? We have new ideas and concepts all the time and most of these ideas and concepts are based off of something that we have come across. The end product is always something different, and in a way, the same. This is where I tie in what we learned from Curriculum Design: we plan units, and lessons plan themselves. Everyone is capable of being creative. When we think of ideas to put in a lesson, sometimes we realize that wait, this is cool because I’ve never done this before, nor do I know anyone else who has! The truth is someone else somewhere else some time during or before may have already thought of and perhaps used the same idea. This does not mean that you are not creative or anything. Just take a look at history, hundreds of years ago in Ancient Greece, Africa, and China, they were thousands of miles apart yet they all thought about the meaning of life, gods, good and evil, ideal society, the cosmos, and so on and so forth. Now we see that the ideas they came up with have many similarities (not going into it).

The curriculum units and lessons are the same. Ideas have been floating around and probably have been used in one way or another. Even though people are completely different and can be on two ends of the world, our ways of thinking are similar (evolution hello!) I think as teachers, we have a limited amount of time and if we constantly come up with new things to do, our lives are over! So, we need to be smart and know how to adapt and change what is already there to use it for our own classes according to different contexts and teaching situations. I think this is where creativity and innovation come in combining different things because the possibilities are limitless.”

I still stand by what I said: Creativity is about remixing and renewing ideas and looking at things from different angles through different lenses.

Time Traveling? I don’t think so.

Do neutrinos really travel faster than the speed of light? Maybe. If you haven’t heard, check out some articles here, here, and here. The original study has been made public and is currently under peer review but if you’re interested, the PDF can be found here.

Many scholars in the field of astronomy and physics are challenging the merits of the study because neutral subatomic particles traveling faster than the speed of light would undermine Einstein’s theory of relativity, which would change the world of physics as we know it. Not that it hasn’t happened before (Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and so on). Anyways, until further experiments are carried out at the CERN LHC, sci-fi fanatics should keep those pants on.

Occupation: Beach Bum

I miss all the beaches where I could actually swim, body surf, surf, and enjoy the sunshine: Sitting on the sand with water dripping from my hair; feeling the heat of the sun evaporating the water on my body; seeing the traces of salt on my arms; listening to the rhythm of the ocean; enjoying life without a care in the world. The ocean has that kind of power on me. I have been to so many beaches that I have lost count. My favorite ones are definitely the ones in Hawaii. I MISS THEM!

Mamihlapinatapai

A look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start.

Your seemingly intrusive gaze speaks more than I can ever hope for. They say eyes are the windows to the soul but somehow, in some way, all I see is my mere reflection. Inexplicable. Inconceivable. Power that cannot be fathomed. I try to look away but fail miserably. Your enchanting, seductive, and irresistible smile has made me an insignificant insect manipulated by, and controlled in, the palm of your hand. I have lost. I have lost myself. I have become a lab rat in an endless maze chasing shadows and ghosts. Reality is drifting further away and I can no longer decide right or wrong, love or hate, which sounds romantic, in a weird way. So much to say, so little time. Unable to stay, unwilling to go. Mind, body, and soul, not sure which way I’d go. Waiting, and waiting. Wishing, and understanding. Will there be a happy ending?

We have to start somewhere, right?

Oscar Wilde once said: Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. Before jumping to conclusions, we must first ask ourselves: what exactly is worth knowing? Knowledge encompasses everything we learn through experience and education, and depending upon our philosophical bent, we may have different opinions about what constitutes experience and education. Education is, in and of itself, an experience. Our lives are made up of experiences and our experiences shape who we are and influence what we do and how we act, which in turn affect our choices in life. The choices we make are based on the knowledge we acquire whether through education or experience. This knowledge ultimately provides the basis for our thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Consequently, the more knowledge we possess, the better we will be at expressing these thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

Now, think back on your education and your experiences: Are there things that are not worth knowing? The following video is an RSA Animate of the talk by Sir Ken Robinson on “Changing Education Paradigms”.

Think about it.

Saint Valentinus

Seeing as Saint Valentinus, or Saint Valentine if you prefer, was imprisoned and beheaded for marrying Christians in the late 15th century, shouldn’t we have headless teddy bears to commemorate him? Besides, shouldn’t Valentine’s Day be every day if we really love someone? If we really want to show someone that we care for them, why not transcend the materialistic world and simply BE with them? There’s no need to waste time and money on cards and chocolate and roses and whatever else you buy on this so-called Valentine’s Day because they don’t really mean anything. Sure, I get that chocolate is sweet and cards are convenient, but shouldn’t we simply say what we feel instead of giving words to loved ones that were written by greeting card companies? People get paid TONS to come up with those words and phrases, so please, be original and write your own. It isn’t hard if you really mean what you say. Happy Valentine’s Day, I guess.