We all know I'm a big fan of technologies and gadgets... so when I read last week in the New York Times that one of the more innovative genetic mapping companies (23andme) had reduced the price of its Genetic Mapping service (which many companies sell for up to $2-3,000) from $999 to only a few hundred dollars, I decided it was an amazing amount of information and education to be able to get access to for that amount, so I took the plunge and signed up.
A day later, FedEx delivered a Spit Kit to my house, which requires about 10 minutes of spitting into and mixing together with a solution, and your DNA sample is ready to send back! And off it went to Los Angeles, California to a laboratory today. Funny enough, the FedEx Pak they provide specifically says "do not send liquids" on it :)
So in 6-8 weeks, I'll know where my ancestors are from, whether I'm genetically lactose intolerant, whether or not I love broccoli because I can't taste the bitterness in it, and whether or not I'm a bit more likely than average to get certain diseases or be susceptible to certain conditions in my lifetime, along with dozens of other interesting facts. For less than the price of a university course in genetics, I can view and learn much of the world's most up-to-date knowledge on the relationships between genes and personal/medical conditions personalized to my specific genetic data. How cool is that?
You can make a case against "messing with your life" this way (I had an interesting discussion about this with someone just the other night), but I think that given the great power we have as humans to be intelligent and understand life in a way that no other species can, we then have a responsibility to use it to maximize the potential of our lives. Right? I guess it's also just a bit of an extra motivation knowing that you're slightly more at risk than average to do something about it! (from 1-2 times more or less likely than the generally population, in most cases)
I'll check back in with the results in a few months!
'Children are like that one beautiful woman who men pursue in order to deface' and that is why i am here. Since 1997, I have looked into the nature and extent of commercial sexualization of children, in other words, child pornography and child trafficking. On a positive note; it is great to have met such good people around the world that have offered encouraging words that have kept the fire burning. The goals of my project are: 1) find and seek information that the public and victims need in order to combat child porn more effectively. 2) find and seek present attitudes about the commercial sexual exploitation of children 3) find others to work with, as well as victims to interview, that want to work on this issue 4) discover the differences of how each country combats child porn, in their NGO work and legal codes, for future change and collaboration.
Yes, I write, and quite often most often in books that I keep on my shelf. Mr. John Flanagan, your title does not appeal to me. You call yourself a judge, but you are nothing to me, nothing but another animal on this planet, after his own selfish intentions. You ask me lists and lists of questions which I answer for you, honestly. I traveled quite a distance to talk openly about a subject which is very important to me, which deserves attention and that is child pornography.
You work for yourself and my opinion I think you do not like what I have to say. You may think that because you are a judge, you are somehow better that everyone else, that you can slide documents under the rug. You are mistaken. LIght shines upon everything that is hid, eventually. Even if you try to hide something, it will be revealed.
I am glad that you asked me to come and speak with you, and that you came and talked with me. Your purposes are still unclear, even though I believe that it is only to keep me from speaking, only when a person like you tells me no, it only makes me do the opposite. So keep saying no. I am sitting here smiling. As a child victim and a witness, wouldn't my words be of interest to you?
Do you know what Social Anthropology is? You say I have abandoned the topic of archaeology. Clearly you have read nothing that I have sent you. I want to see what how people handle this subject in the courts today, in countries today, yes in the past, in the arts, and in the arts now, but how are we handling things now, how do we protect our children now? You are a unfair judge and no matter what you say, I will write about child pornography as long as possible, and tell the only story I know.
I headed off in the morning to the Australian Science and Math School, hosted at Flinders University. The school is only a few years old, and is built with an open concept -- no classrooms, but instead a number of large spaces with desks and chairs that reconfigured in many different ways to foster teamwork and collaboration. We had a large group - about 50 teachers and school leaders, and had a really interesting day -- when I showed the "Are you listening?" video, a whole bunch of students gathered upstairs in the area overlooking where I was speaking to watch - I think they were really curious that so many teachers were learning about their way of using technology!
After a fantastic dinner by the water with a group of curriculum developers, I headed to sleep -- because I had to catch a 6:40am flight to Canberra!
I made it to the nation's capital early in the morning, and it was freezing! 0 degrees but it warmed up as the sun rose... I had a few hours to fit the gym and have lunch before heading to Canberra University -- the group in Canberra decided to have an evening workshop (4-9pm) with dinner. Although everyone had a full day of work before showing up, we still had a lot of active participation, and after wrapping up at 9 and getting back to the hotel around 10, it was time for sleep for another 6:45am flight back to Sydney for the last workshop of the trip!
Arriving in Sydney in the morning, with my 32kg on-the-dot bag faithfully appearing on the carousel, I headed off to Parramatta right on time, and arrived 3 minutes before the workshop was to begin! We had the biggest crowd of any session -- around 60 people, and so a lot of the interactive sections took a lot longer than usual, but they had great ideas and a large group of schools approached me after and wants to deeply engage their entire district with TIGed, which is exciting! After wrapping up and chatting with a bunch of the attendees, I was off to one of my favourite hotels in the world -- the Westin Sydney, to relax, enjoy their great gym, and have dinner with Jenny, who had the whole series of workshops organized, to debrief on the experience (yum, Tasmanian lamb!). After that, I met up with Jarra and Nick, and headed to Micky's for dessert (Banana Pancakes and Ice Cream!) to catch up and for me to celebrate the completion of 10 sessions in 11 days in 5 cities!
I'm writing this now on the flight to Vancouver -- I managed to get right to sleep after lunch on the 10am flight, which will hopefully mean I can work through the North American day and head to sleep at a proper time tonight. Saturday, we head to Quebec City for the World Youth Congress to meet TIG members from all over the world. I've also agreed to head to Brisbane on the 19th to speak at the Queenland Government's e-learning summit, and after that, I'll be ready to just settle down at home and enjoy the rest of the summer in Toronto :)
Now that I've been away a full week, I forced myself to carve out some time to reflect on the intensity of the time so far before kicking off the second stretch.
As always, our summers at TakingITGlobal are quite busy -- generally for the education "industry", most conferences are held during the summer when teachers have school holidays. This summer, as a follow-up to my keynote at last October's ACEL (Australian Counsel of Educational Leaders) conference (which was apparently quite good even though I was quite sick at the time), I was invited to be a "Traveling Scholar" for ACEL, presenting 5 full-day workshops on TakingITGlobal to school leaders and teachers across Australia. In addition, I started off the trip by keynoting a leadership conference at Melbourne Grammar School, and today keynoted the International Middle Years conference in Adelaide... so I've made quite good use of two weeks!
Sunday - Wednesday: Melbourne
After the trek from Toronto to Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, I knew the first thing I needed to do to keep my sanity was to spend a good amount of time at the fitness center at the Westin. What a great idea - it helped me refresh, have a fantastic swim in the beautiful infinity pool, and after a brief stroll that was quickly canceled when the rain started, I got to sleep at a reasonable hour.
On Monday, I woke up nice and early and arrived at the charming greened campus of Melbourne Grammar, one of Melbourne's oldest and most respected private schools. To their enormous credit, they had invited students from a broad cross-section of Melbourne to attend the conference, in addition to a grade of their students. I was brilliantly introduced by one of their capable students, and my keynote was well-received - with more questions from students than we had time for. Following the keynote, a panel including a futurist, scientist, and Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson, who cited my presentation several times as they discussed issues of leadership in the 21st century and challenged students to act on the issues they felt challenged by. In the afternoon, I ran several hours of hands-on workshops guiding a small group of students through the TIG site and beginning the Guide to Action as a tool for action planning.
Tuesday morning, I visited Kilsyth, a suburb of Melbourne, and ran a 3 hour workshop with a group of teachers across that region looking at TIG and especially with an interest in Health education... it was a good challenge because we didn't have Internet except for a very slow 2G connection, so I was able to get well prepared and experiment with some activities for the following days' sessions!
That evening, I traveled to Mooney Valley Racecourse (home of Australia's best race - the Cox plate, worth $3 million!) and presented our work at TIG to about 150 principals, who also had some great questions, and I enjoyed meeting a teacher who grew up in Mississauga and had spent his recent years enjoying and exploring Australia's wilderness.
On Wednesday, I spent from 9 AM to 3:30 PM with an enthusiastic group of teachers and principals learning about TIG, exploring global issues, and understanding how to fit our programs and ideas at TIG into the curriculum and everyday use in their classrooms. I also shared our Best Practices on Global Education resource with them... and then I was off to the airport, heading to my next destination: Tasmania!
Thursday - Saturday: Hobart, Tasmania
On Thursday, I woke up and did it all over again, in a beautiful setting amongst Lemon trees at Lateare Gardens in Hobart with a fire burning to keep us all warm and cozy from the cold outside! I think the goals of what we do at TakingITGlobal really connected closely with some people - one teacher was literally in tears sharing how wonderful she thought what we did was... it's really a special opportunity (as exhausting as it is) to be able to share our work with people that are also dedicating their lives to helping young people develop. I think sometimes we all forget the power and opportunity we have to impact the lives of others - and I feel like a few people really felt reconnected to that opportunity, which is really an amazing opportunity to be able to stimulate.
After a short 2 hour break to refresh and do some e-mail, I headed off to the Hobart Yacht club, where I addressed about 50 high school principals, who weren't able to attend the day's workshop because they were having a leadership retreat. I had to pack 90 minutes into a 30 minute before dinner speech, so I think it was overwhelming, but many of them were quite excited by what we do... and I had delicious local Salmon which was a bonus!
The next day was my main day off. I decided not to head off to my next destination right away, but to stick around in Hobart and see some of the beautiful wildlife Tasmania has to offer. So I signed up for a Tasman Island Eco Cruise - having no idea how much of an adventure it would be! After a scenic bus ride to Port Arthur, one of the main convict colonies from the 1800s, we boarded a powerful boat (675 HP) that they describe as a 4x4 of the sea. Initially the ride was quite smooth - and we discovered some caves and amazing rock formations on the coast. The "swells" were only about 1 meter, and so it was just like jumping waves on a boat at home.
However, once we got out to the Tasman Sea, things got a lot more interesting. The waves and the winds were coming strongly from an unusual direction, and 2-3 meter waves and swells gave us quite a ride! I had chosen to sit in the 4th row (moved from the 2nd) and for close to an hour, we jumped waves and it felt like we were on a roller coaster as we plunged down after riding a wave.... but I stuck with my seat - a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
We arrived at two areas with Australian and New Zealand seals, and at a cove where dolphins chased our boat around until we had to leave - amazing to lean over and watch them at the water and bow of the boat jumping up playfully! A number of albatross with their huge wingspans also provided us with an amazing show - watching them fish and gracefully glide across the sky with nothing around us but huge rock and menacing water... or what looked menacing in my book. In 1998, however, the water was so rough that in the annual Sydney-Hobart race, five boats sank and six sailors were killed.
On Saturday morning, before heading to the airport, I spent a few hours enjoying the Salamanca Market, with hundreds of stalls offering delicious local treats and art and coffee and everything needed to pass a few hours and take in the culture of a place!
Sunday - Monday: Adelaide, South Australia
Now I'm here in Adelaide, where this morning I keynoted the International Middle Years of Schooling conference, and was again introduced by a fantastic student duo! I gave out dozens of bookmarks afterwards, with many many people promising to check out the site and connect their students into TIG. I was also followed by an excellent presentation by Professor Erica, who gave a talk on creativity that linked really perfectly and built on top of many of the themes I covered.
Tomorrow I'm off to the Australian Science and Mathematics School to do another day-long workshop, and then heading to Canberra the next morning... I'll be sure to check in soon with more! And I'll be editing this entry in about 2 hours with photos once they upload.
After having spent more than five months in Nepal, and witnessing devastating poverty, Christian Kroll, felt a strong desire to help people in need and founded OneCentPerSearch in May of 2008.
The 24-year-old German wanted to give everyone the opportunity to support causes they are passionate about, regardless of their own financial situation. For this reason, he started OneCentPerSearch after finishing his studies in business administration.
The goal of the OneCentPerSearch team is to achieve a high market share in the multi-billion dollar search engine market so that OneCentPerSearch can help as many people as possible.
Remembering my Father, Rodney C. Lopez
(Draft of Eulogy to be rendered either by Video or to be read by my sister-in-law, Amethyst Hazel Lopez, on the occasion of my father's Funeral on June 26, Thursday, in Manila)
Live from Las Vegas (sadly)
Hello, for those of you who don’t know me or probably do not recognize me anymore, my name is Rhona Cristy Gelle Lopez, and I am the only daughter and youngest child to Rodney Casimero Lopez.
I really wanted to travel back there to join the rest of you in saying goodbye to my father, but lots of circumstances are in the way, and I know that at least my mother and brother need their own closure soon on this.
So I have painfully decided to not come for the wake and funeral there in Manila itself, and this Video and Online Eulogy, which is made with the help of my fiance, Mario Santamaria, here in our Las Vegas home & office, is my own contribution to this event.
If this sounds rather scripted in English, which just happens to be the language of my work here in America as a TV Producer & Marketing Professional for the past 7 years, it’s only because I am also very overwhelmed with emotion right now, and having a script is the only way I can communicate without just losing it right in front of all of you.
Beyond The Wheelchair & My Dad’s Behind-The-Scenes Approach
I am speaking now because I have to say that for the last quarter century, the last 25 years, my father has been relatively invisible because of his wheelchair-bound state.
I want people to know who my father was. I want people to know that he has always been an important part of my life, and he had achieved so much personally & professionally, making a great difference in a lot of other people’s lives & businesses too.
I want people to know that I am proud of him, and I will desperately miss him.
My First Teacher
Let me first start by saying that I have always been a Daddy’s Girl. My first memories of my father are of him being very doting. He would sing me lullabies he’d make up & practice from work. He would let me play with his wavy black thick hair, that I apparently have also inherited.
He was also very much a natural teacher, teaching me how to read, using these huge horizontal flash cards he probably imported from England, because while one card says “Daddy”, the other card said “Mummy”, w/c is British for mother, but my own mother did not want to be associated with something in bandages, so my Dad literally changed the letter U to an O, so I grew up calling my parents Daddy and Mommy.
To train me further in reading, when he would go on seminars on behalf of the University of the Philippines’ School of Urban & Regional Planning like those in the old Sulo Hotel, he made me look for his nameplate, saying if I didn’t read his name and title right, he’d get lost. Thankfully I’d get it right every time, he was an excellent, patient, & detailed teacher.
My Dad was also a very hands-on father, with very clear ideas about the kind of Values and Ethics my brother and I should have. He would personally drive us to and from school and co-curricular activities.
Lopez, Rodney Lopez (aka My Charming & Dashing Father)
He was always a charismatic guy, even at a young age I can tell some of my lady teachers were vainly attempting to flirt w/ him, and my little fellow students liked hanging around him.
In speaking of a bit of vanity, my father always had a huge collection of handkerchiefs that I started using too as a kid to mimic him, and for some reason he always used Pulbos or Talcum Powder on himself – maybe he thought he was too tan.
With my early childhood being in the late 70s & early 80s, my Dad always favored the Bukas Kuwelyo look, or open collar, one button undone – a classic style that I also inherited too.
My father was also an awesome Ballroom Dancer. My mother recalls how all her spinster high school friends would ask to dance with Daddy during their high school reunion. My Dad was ok w/ that, and so was my Mom – theirs was a very mature and secure relationship.
The Consummate & Versatile Professional
Yet, for all his GQishness, my Dad has always been the macho rugged architect. My father recalls literally growing up in caves during WW2, and he actually studied not only Architecture from German priests in Cebu’s University of San Carlos, but I believe he was also working on a Civil Engineering degree too.
He liked to joke that he was on the Top 20 Architecture Board Examinees of his licensing year by luckily landing as Number 19. He had wanted to be a Commissioned Military Officer, but at the time his chronic hypertension was still considered a major disqualifier, so he instead traveled the Philippines working with the government on many infrastructure projects, including I believe the Mactan International Airport.
I believe my Dad when he said that once some provincial judge tried to get him into a shotgun wedding with his daughter, my father was a catch!
Later on in his career he made buildings funded by major international aid agencies such as JICA, or the Japan International Cooperation Agency. He was also working on the continuing development of the town of Bacoor, Cavite. He had the full credentials & experience of someone who could have easily become an Undersecretary for Public Works.
He always used to tell me especially while I was in college at Ateneo that it is one thing to set up physical structures, it’s another thing to make human communities really work.
My father encouraged me to pursue the Development Studies degree that combines Sociology & Economics, because he sincerely believed that I had what it took to balance the human and the technical or financial to get things done. He also believed that there were better ways to develop communities beyond just government or private funding. He really wanted me to Innovate, not just Duplicate.
Man of Great Vision, Man of Down-to-Earth Practicality
My father also always wanted to expand his own horizons too. This explains why in our family basement library I found books of his from the Rosicrucians, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Dale Carnegie courses, Norman Vincent Peale, and more. My father was always a life-long learner and critical thinker.
When something did not obviously fit with him or work out - such as that Jehovah’s Witness requirement of 15 minutes of daily ministering no matter how un-compelling & annoying one can get – he learns & moves on, he’s never into obsessive dwelling. This probably also explains why teaching & nurturing comes naturally to him too.
From him I learned for example to just brush or blow off dirt from dropped food, using the 5 second rule. He was also very much a do-it-yourself guy, making his own candles during blackouts for example.
I also distinctly remember once when I fell off a tree and my left leg got pierced by a nail, he drove all the way from University of the Philippines in Diliman to pick me up from my Paranaque nursery school, and he held my hand as that wound was treated.
I still have the scar, but I remember more from that my father being there for me, rather than me getting stupidly injured in the first place.
As a child I guess I was already such a thoroughly English-speaking character at a young age that somehow I landed in the Foreigners’ Class of Colegio San Agustin Makati Pre-School, and my father encouraged me to make friends w/ anyone regardless of what they look like, what their parents look like, what all these families did for a living or what countries they’re from, and so forth.
He thought me very early in life to not be shallow about relationships or goals. He thought me to be pleasantly surprised, as well as wisely discerning.
He also made sure that I wasn’t just going to turn into a hermit or snob by getting me to use school buses, and thanks to that many of my life-long friends came out of there.
He also got me into Sunday School, and he even led a Junior Worship with me.
Amidst all this, my father was still a hard worker, not just in the office but even at home. He had a great big drafting board in our home basement, along with all these neat-looking instruments, and he was a bit of an insomniac, which is another trait my Dad and I share.
I recall many nights staying up late with my father watching Martial Arts TV series, eating Purefoods Hotdogs with rice, and when we tired of the TV, we just looked at the bright night stars.
From Bachelor to Family Man with the Right Woman (my Mother)
My father is also an inveterate romantic when it comes to my mother. They actually met while they were working on developing subdivisions – she was part of Accounting, he was with the Drafting. What started as some mutual friends claiming that one liked the other actually came true and stuck.
Now two passionately excellent & intelligent workaholics finally found each other and settled down in their mid-30s to have their own family together, and the romance, for all its kitschness or kabaduyan, never really ended.
In fact, one midnight as a 6 year old I woke up looking for my parents, and I found them in our living room, drinking bubbly champagne. I asked what was going on, and they said it was their 12th Wedding Anniversary, June 27, 1982, and they explained to me what love was, what marriage is, and their hope for me that if it is meant for me, I would also be blessed with a great marriage & family of my own as an adult . . . .
25 Years Prior – How My Dad Fought Back Against Coma & Death to Keep Our Family Together
Roughly six months after that, after enjoying a wonderful office Christmas party the night before, I was sleeping in the kiddie bed of the master bedroom when at around 4 am on a Sunday morning, December 12, I was awaken by a loud thud.
My father was in a seizure, and my tall strong mother managed to drag him down to the car. I did not understand at all what was going on. I thought they were playing a game.
It was only when relatives from both sides of my family started coming to the house, and when I started hearing the words Stroke, and Hypertension and Blood Pressure and ICU did I gradually understand. My macho, intelligent, charismatic, doting professional father was very ill, and initially I was not even allowed to see him because I was only 6 years old at the time – you had to be at least 7 years old to be in the ICU or Intensive Care Unit.
But somewhere down the line I was admitted in there, and somewhere down the line my mother was up front with me and my then 11 year old brother. Our father might die. Our father has all these tubes sticking out of him, and he might never wake up. We might need to turn the machines off.
My Kuya Nonoy cried. He was old enough to fully understand. He was already around when my Dad had his 1st stroke some years before my birth. People say my Dad at least quit smoking after that, and I got conceived & born.
My early childhood was spent seeing him drink that Aspirin-based anti-hypertension medicine. At the time there were no Lipitors, Benicars, Vytorin, Cholesterol-Lowering Honey Nut Cheerios, or other daily preventive remedies – it was just plain Aspirin whatever or nothing, which we now all know in hindsight were no where near enough to avoid certain medical mishaps . . . .
All that said, in my innocence, I only asked that we pray. And we did, and just when the plug was about to be pulled, my father raises his finger.
He manages to wake up, and he is still my father, but physically he was never going to be the same. His Architecture practice would have to end. His drawing arm has been paralyzed, as well as another leg. At least he can still think and clearly talk.
And it was from this clearly thinking & talking father who just
happened to be in a wheelchair that I learned even more. He informally but consistently tutored me on anything from World History to Math to Science and even Entrepreneurship.
We also would watch the same telenovelas, TV movies, news programs, boxing matches and more on the TV together, and what was interesting about that was instead of just being wordless zombies in front of the screen, we also tended to talk out loud about what could happen next in the plot, or he starts being the sensible Architect all over again, saying things like “How could that Ark support all those animals? Did they have any toilets? What degree angle was that”, and so forth . . . Think sharply or don’t think at all might as well be our shared motto.
My father also taught me to love animals, especially dogs, which is why even here in America I have my own dog, Lexi. This is also when our long-time spotted dog Tweety finally died in 1999, both he and I cried a lot.
Dogs to him were more than just pets, they were his loyal, unconditional, reliable friends, his security.
Not Just Any Excuse-Seeker or Malingerer; A Great Man wiho just happens to be Infirm, Not just an Infirm Man
He also taught me dignity in treating other people fairly too. For example, without fail he would have some cash tip money for the mailman that delivers his pension checks.
Technically my father could just say he’s disabled on limited income himself, but my Dad always believed in compensating even if only modestly professionally rendered services. He was just never into the slave-driving haciendero mentality.
My Dad also got me to sell Ice & Ice Candies to nearby construction workers, talking about the value of the cottage industry, and also a little bit about Marketing, my core vocation. Ice sells faster when a clean cute little neighborhood kid sells it.
He also taught me to save & invest money, to not spoil or go into debt myself on quick treats when I could be gaining more wealth. Living here in the ever-indulgent USA, I realize that not every parent can effectively teach or model this. My father did.
My father was also always the Court of First Instance or Appeals too. Dads mean fun, mothers mean business, but sometimes the roles get reversed. Having an older brother of course there were sibling fights my Dad broke up.
My father was also always a gracious audience to whatever I was doing, may it be piano playing, monologue acting, and even Writing, another core vocation of mine.
My father several times had cried for me and kept on telling me not to give up on myself or think that I was worth nothing when my young adult years endured significant physical pain from carpal tunnel surgery, as well as the psychological stresses & abuses that started accumulating from some unhealthy personal & professional relationships during my first tough years in the workplace.
Sometimes, my father would express that his wheelchair-bound condition may have limited some options & opportunities for me & my brother. Sometimes as I got older he’d tell me that he wishes he was well enough to fully work so my Graduate Schooling may be paid for.
For me, I care more about the fact that my father was always behind the scenes influencing my decisions & actions throughout my growing years.
One would think that after losing use of half of one’s body that bitterness & rage would dominate the rest of one’s remaining life.
In my Dad’s case, to be fair he always had a bit of a passionate temper about work, values, and the like even way before his 1st stroke, and this passion for excellence & accountability still stayed with him through the very end that around a year ago, one of our newer housekeepers had to ask me if my father had always been Strict.
Funny, here in America I’m also known for being a passionate hard-ass too, it must proudly run in our veins and family. My Dad never taught me or my brother to just be corrupt or mediocre.
My Dad was only human to at times feel pain & regret, but then he brushes it off and was still there for me and the next generation of Lopezes, my brother’s 3 daughters and one son.
My Mom and my Dad were also always a team, always complementary to each other, always equals, and always consulting each other about business, family, health, and more.
Other lesser men who have had strokes or tragedies tend to dwell on these too much, tend to blame others, sue others, feel entitlement, or start getting lazy or become malingering con artists thriving on pity.
Still My Father Even Long-Distance, Even As I Made Mistakes
I unfortunately realized a little too late that my first husband was of that overly self-serving pity machine mold, and that marriage had to end – and my father, before a lingering aneurysm started to blot his memory, took my two-hour long distance phone call from me in California years ago about my impending divorce, and he supported my decision to move on, and to find myself & free myself in my new home country, away from stereotypes & negativity.
And for good measure, Dad used humor to cheer me up, and at the risk of possibly offending some people, I do have to say one of the ways he cheered me up as I was getting used to not having my 1st spouse in my life anymore byt parodying the his country of origin's accent rather too well.
Dad said I should never lose so much respect for myself to the point of having to listen to my former husband or his family & friends keep on lecturing me about how things are/should be done, or how women are treated “In My Country”, “Do They Think You Owe Them Dowry?”, etc. He reminded me that I am in 21st Century America, not in their old country or mores . . .
My father I think also managed to live so long after that massive 1982 stroke because of his amazing sense of humor.
He love cracking one-liners out of nowhere, and sometimes he ends up laughing so much about a joke he has in mind we never really get to hear the whole joke, he’s just laughing a lot. I got that habit too.
My late grandmother, Honoria Gelle, my mother’s mother, apparently also always appreciated my father’s sense of humor and can-do spirit, which is why she actually liked staying at our modest Better Living bungalow.
There’s something to be said about sons-in-law and mothers-in-law who actually get along that way.
My father was always a diplomatic and gracious person. Like many husbands he may not have always liked the rather irritating to toxic attitudes or behaviors of some of his in-laws or other people, but he at least had the grace to never be petty, or never demand special treatment or consideration.
He still taught me to respect my elders no matter how “trying” they can be, he taught me the value of agreeing to disagree and move on, for even based on his own example, life as a whole is really just too short to spend on pettiness . . .
All this being said, I am extremely broken-hearted about his passing. In the more recent years, my father’s memory with regards to me practically erases the part about me ever being married or even moving to the USA.
The last time I spoke w/ him, it was during my 32nd birthday, and he thought I was just working in Manila. Still, he remembered enough to know it was my birthday, and that Mother’s Day was also around the corner, and he promised that he’s going to make sure he and my Mom would have a great dinner together for that . . .
I was planning to come to Manila on business possibly this December with the Ayala Foundation & Community Share, but I guess my Dad’s time to finally walk in heaven has come.
I wish my fiance Mario would have met him. I wish my next wedding and marriage, he would have led me down the aisle. I wish I could have given him grandchildren. There is so much more positive going on with me over time that I wanted to share with him.
Dad was the only person who ever called me Inday. What I would give to have him call me that just once more.
But for now, he is at peace, joining his own beloved parents.
The Rodney Lopezes and their Last Hurrah for Daddy
My brother and I are grown, respected, resilient, and accomplished adult professionals in two continents because in great part my father showed us both that life, dignity, or values does not have to end or be ever compromised with physical infirmity.
Rodney Casimero Lopez was my father.
Daddy, I love him very much. I miss you very much. I miss eating merienda like Taho, fried bananas, and champorado with you. I miss how you crumple all the newspapers before I get to read them each morning because you never liked wearing reading glasses anyway. I miss how you keep on trying to guess the winning Lotto numbers. I miss the thought-provoking discussions we would have about anything & everything like religion, politics, or even just movies.
You’re the only other family member like me who remembers every single movie actor & line. I think I got my monster memory for both visuals & auditory stuff from you.
I will definitely also miss you asking yet again for another Polo shirt for your birthday.
I hope you are walking again now, and I thank God and you forever for staying alive for 25 more years being my father and being my mother’s husband.
It makes all the difference that you held on so long. I am so sorry that I nor this man who will be my new husband and father to your next batch of grandchildren could not come home sooner.
I'm speaking tomorrow at PUSH, an interesting conference here in Minneapolis, MN
The first session that just wrapped up was quite interesting - Chandran Nair took us through a look at the world's problems and how many misconceptions there are about what can solve them. What I found striking was the comparison of world problems to spending on trivial/much less meaningful things:
Health & Nutrition ($13B) : Petfood Spending in the USA ($17B)
Water and Sanitation ($9B) : Ice Cream in Europe ($11B)
Education ($6B) : Cosmetics in the USA ($8B)
Jonathan Greenblatt, one of the co-founders of Ethos Water, also gave us a compelling look into the world of Water and how simple and cheap ($25/person) it is to solve. The one thing I don't get - on a $1.79 bottle of water, Starbucks (which acquired Ethos) donates 5 cents (10 cents in Canada oddly). They were founded on the basis of donating 50% of profits... I can't believe profit on that bottle of water is only 10 cents! (considering how much cheaper other bottled water is). Anyway, he now works with a new magazine - GOOD - which has a unique subscription model of giving away the $20 subscription fee to a charity of your choice.
How can this not inspire you with hope that the messages that captivate our friends in the U.S. voting this fall can be positive and not just negative? Messages that excite with the possibility of a positive future, not try to cast fear and uncertainty as the reason to select a person.
I'm very proud of them for ending the video with the simple message of "vote" - resisting the urge to squeeze it beyond need towards the candidate.
After having spent more than five month in Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, Christian Kroll felt the strong desire to help those people, who can't help themselves, and founded OneCentPerSearch in April 2008.
With OneCentPerSearch we give everyone the opportunity to help people in need, regardless of their own financial situation.
My apologies for this very geek-specific post. If you don't have a Dell m1330 laptop, you can ignore it!
My Dell XPS m1330 is my favorite laptop yet (I think it's my 10th in 10 years!), but Dell and Microsoft have made it far too hard to re-format it cleanly without Windows Vista Blue-screening on every second boot (caused by the AHCI setting in BIOS, but not providing AHCI drivers during install). It took me awhile to figure out how to do this properly, so I thought I'd share to help the rest of the Internet figure it out.
2) Run the file with a "-a" from the Windows commandline, which will put those files into the "C:Program FilesIntelIntel Matrix Storage Manager" directory
3) Copy the files from the "Drivers" or "Drivers64" (64-bit Vista) directory onto a USB Key
4) When you install Vista from the DVD, pick the "Custom" option, then click "Load Drivers"
5) Click "Browse", and point to your USB stick. Load the drivers from it.
* Anger is the condition in which Tounge works faster than the mind.
* You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future.
* Love and you shall be loved.
* God always gives the best to those who leave choice with him.
* All people smile in the same language
* A hug is a great gift one size fits all, it can be given for all occasion and its easy to exchange
* Everyone needs to be loved especially when they do not deserve it.
* The real wealth of a man is what he has invested in eternity.
* Laughter is God's Sunshine.
* Everyone has beauty but not everyone sees it.
* Its important for parents to live the same thing they teach.
* Thank god for what u have, Trust god for what yo need.
* If you feel your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.
* Man looks at outward appearance, but lord looks with in.
* The choice you make today will usually effect your tomorrow.
* Take time to laugh for it is the music of soul.
* If anyone speaks bad of you,live so none will believe it.
* Patience is the ability to ideal your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
* Love is Strengthen by working through conflicts together.
* The best thing parents can do for their children is to love each other.
* Harsh words break no bones, but they do break hearts.
* To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it.
* We take granted the things that we should be giving thanks for.
* Love is the only thing that can be divided without being diminished.
* Happiness is enhanced by others but does not depends upon others.
* For every minute u are angry with someone, you loose 60 seconds of happiness that you can never get back.
* Do what you can, for who you can, with what you have.
I'm generally a big fan of Rogers - I feel they are probably the best and generally most innovative of the telecom companies here in Canada (Bell, which many people have terrible customer service experiences with - my experience has been the same - and Telus is stuck with CDMA, which doesn't roam well, so that's not good for people who travel.)
The one thing that never ceases to annoy and frustrate me though is their IVR phone system. It's probably been 3 years that I've been calling and every time I get through, I complain and ask them to note it down. They always acknowledge that everyone complains and they say they're working on improving it, but it never happens.
I don't know how they can get it so wrong compared to other industries (airlines, banks, etc.) or even their U.S. competitors like Verizon which have great phone systems! Here are the steps to get to Wireless Customer Service for example:
1. Say "Wireless"
2. Say "Talk to a Representative"
3. Say "Account Changes"
4. Say "Blackberry" or "Phone" (how does this make any sense?)
5. Punch in your Phone Number
6. Be greeted by a representative, who then asks for your phone number again?! Then you have to verify your name, postal code, and DOB. What a waste of time... they should just instead let you pick a PIN and then use that instead.
The best part is that this happens even when you dial 611 from your phone! It could easily detect your number from caller ID and not even bother to ask you anything.
There's a great site called gethuman dedicated to frusturation about IVRs and phone systems, and they've developed a Gethuman Standard for well-designed phone systems. A key point from it:
"# Callers should never be asked to repeat any information (name, full account number, description of issue, etc.) provided to a human or an automated system during a call."
The day that Rogers implements a proper system that does justice to their innovation in so many other areas, I will officially call them a company I love.
The Xabbel team went to the village where the Sonam Lama’s family is living. Sanistar – the village of Sonam Lama is located 12 kilometers away from Kathmandu. This village has just a few houses, which are made of clay, wood and mud. The small house of the Lamas has temporary thatch roof. It seems like they don’t have enough room for their four family members.
Sonam also has a grandmother she is more than seventy years old and cannot do much on her own anymore. That’s why his parents have to take care of her.
Sonam’s father Mr. Dipendra Lama is working in a hospital as a caretaker since 11 years and he earns around US$ 60 per month. This is just enough to manage his household expenditures. Sonam has a happy family, but they simply don’t have enough money to provide him good education. Thanks to your searches at Xabbel this has changed now.
Every living being has some rights. Humans are considered the most superior among all the living beings. All the human beings have certain rights. They have rights to equality. All human beings are equal regardless of Race, religion, sex, caste. They have equal rights. They have same rights to education, voting, health etc. No human should be discriminated on the basis of race, caste, culture, religion. Xabbel is a charitable search engine which supports these issues ie " Promotion of human right"
Still in this 21st century there are lots of discrimination prevailing in our society. But there is still the lack of awareness. People have no idea what are there rights and how to fight for there rights. It also may be because of the lack of proper education in the society. There are many places where there are no schools and colleges and even if there are schools and colleges then there are no teachers.
Government seems to take no actions regarding these issues. While I am talking about these issues people may think that this happens in the developing countries only but the thing is that it is the same in the developed countries too. But the rate only differs.
ITs not just an issue of a particular country but its an global issue. As world is becoming a global village. We are becoming one. So wait a minute and think about this issue. How it is affecting us and the people around us.
After the trek from Toronto to Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, I knew the first thing I needed to do to keep my sanity was to spend a good amount of time at the fitness center at the Westin. What a great idea - it helped me refresh, have a fantastic swim in the beautiful infinity pool, and after a brief stroll that was quickly canceled when the rain started, I got to sleep at a reasonable hour.
On Thursday, I woke up and did it all over again, in a beautiful setting amongst Lemon trees at Lateare Gardens in Hobart with a fire burning to keep us all warm and cozy from the cold outside! I think the goals of what we do at TakingITGlobal really connected closely with some people - one teacher was literally in tears sharing how wonderful she thought what we did was... it's really a special opportunity (as exhausting as it is) to be able to share our work with people that are also dedicating their lives to helping young people develop. I think sometimes we all forget the power and opportunity we have to impact the lives of others - and I feel like a few people really felt reconnected to that opportunity, which is really an amazing opportunity to be able to stimulate.
