Lobo's Lessons

Does anyone remember this song back in the day? I think I just started college... Only Heaven Knows (Sung by Rick Price) She's always on my mind, from the time I wake up 'till I close my eyes she's everywhere I go she's all I know though she's so far away it just keeps getting stronger every day and even now she's gone I'm still holding on so tell me where do I start 'cause it's breaking my heart don't wanna let her go chorus: maybe my love will come back some day only heaven knows and maybe our hearts will find their way only heaven knows and all I can do is hope and pray 'cause heaven knows my friends keep telling me that if you really love her you've gotta set her free and if she returns in kind I'll know she's mine so tell me where do I start 'cause it's breaking my heart don't wanna let her go chorus why I live in despair 'cause wide awake or dreaming I know she...

Ahh... Isn't that one of the loveliest things you've ever set your sights on?...A truly irresistible combination of heavenly gastronomic delight... Piping hot succulent Baked Fish Pasta.. Light and crispy Garlic toast... Thick and creamy mushroom soup... Tantalising to the eyes, and totally enslaving to the weak of mind (I mean that in the kindest way to such people as myself, when it comes to delicious food), the food taunts me... I am powerless to deny its power... The pasta calls out to me...I obey... I slowly dip my fork and spoon into the heavenly mix, and as I twist the pasta round and round my fork, it releases a mouthwatering scent... The promise of infinite pleasure... I bite... I chew... I pause... Ahhh.... Heaven... If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then I have pledged my undying love to you... Only to you... Vivo's....

I was going through some stuff the other day, and I found a small collection of photographs belonging to someone I used to know... It really brought back memories.. I didn't have many pictures of her left... One of her and her friend.. One of her at the hairdresser... And one she took of herself..she looked really thin in the pic.. I wonder if she was eating ok at the time... Funny things, photographs... How they magically transport us back through the sands of time... Sifting through the meaningless maelstrom of images until we finally see meaning in them... How each sound reverberates through space and time, echoing in the vast caverns of the human mind... Faint, and barely discernable... the images start to become clearer.. like an old film reel projector whirring to life... I sit and watch those images in my mind, a lone solitary figure in a huge ampitheater... pitch black, except for the moving images on the silk screen... Funny things, photographs... Spend...

As I mouse over the sign "SIMPAN" on the UTM marks website, I hesitate.. could it really be over?... My finger trembles for a while, both from lack of sleep and an overdose in caffeine... Like a Gulf War veteran, vivid images of dazed days and sleepless nights overwhelm my senses... oh the horror... the desolation... the senseless destruction... the red pen in my hands bleeding dry, as the blood red ink pours itself onto tons and tons of paper pages... oh the horror... Suddenly, I am back in my room in UTM... The clock reads 8:47pm... Way too late to be at the office... How I long for the comfort of the bosom of my loved one... This tour of duty has gone on for too long... (Soundtrack: Soldier of Fortune by Deep Purple) I press the mouse button... After what seems like an eternity, the grades come to life... I blink in a daze... I blink again, and comprehension registers... I have given my students their due... Time to get mine... At long, long, last... my nightmare is over.....

Barriers to learning English By : Shenton Thomas De Silva JOHOR BARU: Efforts to raise flagging English language proficiency levels in Malaysia are being hampered by children's poor reading habits as well as the cultural factor. That is according to an English Language lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, who cited the two stumbling blocks as sources of frustration for many English teachers in the country. Abdullah Mohd Nawi, from UTM's Faculty of Education, even went so far as to say that English books may soon be phased out in the country within the next ten years. "Students nowadays will not read any literature that does not directly feature in their exams. "If they do pick up a book, it is either a comic book or manga. "The sad truth is that students do not read any of the good and substantial reading materials available," said Abdullah. Asked whether the poor reading habit among Malaysians was a cultural phenomenon or a symptom of the education ...

“Sebenarnya ini bukan sekadar soal seorang gadis bernama Sufiah, tapi ia soal Islam yang dihina dan diperlekehkan. Bagi saya, apa yang berlaku ke atas Sufiah adalah agenda terancang pihak Barat untuk menjatuhkan maruah Islam" - Metro (4/5/08) Aku saban hari terfikir, mengapa jika ada apa-apa berita mengenai orang yang beragama Islam yang tersilap atau 'terpesong', secara automatic ia akan dianggap sebagai agenda Barat untuk menjatuhkan maruah Islam? Mengapa setiap sesuatu bencana yang melanda umat Islam dianggap perbuatan Barat yang durjana? Mengapa setiap sesuatu yang dilakukan 'menjatuhkan' martabat orang Islam? Tidakkah orang Islam sendiri sedar bahawa di atas perbuatan mereka sendiri, 'martabat' yang mereka agung-agungkan itu sebenarnya bagaikan satu 'fantasi' di mata dunia? Aku termenung... Kusut fikiranku... Apakah systemic disfunction yang wujud dalam umat Islamku yang tercinta hinggakan mereka tidak sedar bahawa kelemahan itu wujud dalam di...

KJ: It seems that a complaint was made about you by your TESL students. Me: Really? What was it about? KJ: The complaint was that you just let the class rep give the marks... What's that about? Me: Errr... I think they may have got it wrong... The class rep does not give the marks... I give the marks, but i refer the class rep because as the director he would be in the best position to know what goes on... KJ: You've really got to be careful... Students nowadays have no qualms about going up to the very top to voice their complaints... You're still new... It would be a shame if anything were to happen... Me: (nodding) I understand...

Here it is ladies and gentlemen.. the motherload... Muuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaahahahahahahahaha!!! The power at my fingertips... The ability to give As and Bs at a moment's glance without looking back! The power is indeed intoxicating... must fight... must... resist... beware the dark side... Must...be...fair...to...students...nnnggggggggggghhh!!! Whew... I beat the dark side this time... but for how long?... jeng jeng jeng... Let's burn the midnight oil baby... we got a lot of work to do...

A whole semester seems like a lifetime at the start, but passes by so quickly it seems but like a dream... A speck of dust in the sands of time... And so it comes to a close.. A semester of fun and laughter .. A semester of learning and exploration... We sure had fun didn't we guys? :) I hope you take the knowledge that you gained from me and use it to light the way for the future generations ahead... Share the passion... Share the joy... Share the gift... Make every lesson in your future careers a lesson to remember! Make me proud! TESL: We Hit The Ground Running!

No one can describe how proud I was of my brother... 6 years my junior... All grown up... The moment when they announced his name in the hall... I stood up and clapped, and a dozen other lecturers and professors clapped in unison, all wondering who this whizzkid was who got the single standing ovation of the entire convocation... I smiled... That was my brother... The kid I loved to pieces as a teenager... I was his idol... his mentor... his elder brother... The young adult I watched grow apart, as he struck his own footsteps in the sands of time, no longer stepping in mine... It was a painful realisation... A lesson I had to learn... but I knew he had to walk his own path... Choose his own destiny... Where I would only exist as an observer... And so I observed... how this boy became an adult... and how this adult became a man... And so I clapped, even as the clapping of others ceased... A solitary man in glistening robes... clapping for the man who was his pride and jo...