I did something to my hair

I sooo love my long curly hair.

 

A disaster happened.

 

So I did what I did to my hair.

 

I wish it would grow soon.

Repost: Panic! The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are led by idiots.

REPOSTED from Poli's blog.

http://redcritic.multiply.com/journal/item/79/Banks_have_Holidays_too

Panic! The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are led by idiots.

While statements are delivered to calm anybody that this was 'voluntary' suspension of operations, my opinion on those statements are simple: Bullshit! Bank holidays are executively mandated. This is not voluntary. 

The BSP told a bunch of banks to stop. And some other banks supposedly "voluntarily" closed up shop. However there is no reason for any bank to close except for weekends and holidays. No reason except that idiots lead the BSP.

Bank holidays were created to stop bank runs; an event when everybody, all the savers and investors and everyone else with a stake, pull their money out. Banks never have enough cash on hand (actually there is never  enough cash. A bank can and does lend/invest money up to 10x what they actually have. Banks are able to use imaginary money. How? Long story; suffice to say it's how Imperialism is set-up). So when a bank run does happen, banks are torn to pieces and everybody gets money; but in this stage there is no real money. So everybody gets a whole lot of nothing.

Bank holidays do not stop banks from running. It stops everyone from getting their money out of the bank. This gives banks a chance to recoup their losses by giving them time. Time for the bank's debtors to pay up. Time to invest the teeny weeny real capital they have left. Time to pray for a miracle (or World War III).

So yeah, when thEN money comes back (pray). The banks really will open once again.

So here we are in the Philippines with a bunch of banks that got "holiday'd" or "suspended operation'd". An event which should not have happened (yet). 

So why?

Simply the most obvious answer: Capital dried up. An event which makes me believe that the BSP are led by idiots. I know they're already greedy douches but financial idiots!? It is a central banks job to monitor all it's little banks and make sure they're healthy. Why didn't they catch this one? When the financial institutions went belly-up in the US, did the Federal Reserve tell them to take a holiday? No. Did any of them "suspend operations". No. Because bankruptcy is not a reason to stop doing parts of a lucrative business, which could get them out of bankruptcy. (Bankrutcy is just a legal way of saying we can't pay debts; not we can't do business) The Fed bailed them out. Or, more importantly and more normally, it forced mergers and acquisitions before bankruptcy could happen, in order to expand individual bank's pool of capital.

Did the BSP force the rural banks to combine before this happened (which it should have done before any holiday)? No. And the suspension of operations makes me believe that the banks involved voluntarily shut down because the BSP was too slow to do anything about capital shortage. The BSP did not do their jobs correctly and created a panic situation. Idiots.

Repost: an unknown kesso vs. Edward Cullen

Actually, hindi ko kilala si Kesso. But since this post really gave me hell of a good laugh, irerepost ko siya with copyright from my able writer-former classmate-thesis groupmate-friend, Rowena Cahiles. Hehe.

Posted by whenzki on Dec 12, '08 10:24 AM for everyone

siya si clarence aka kesso. ang may pakana ng list na ito. ewan ko ba kung dahil sa sobrang kabadtripan niya sa twilight kaya niya nagawa ito. hahahaha. pero effective kase may mga chicks na gusto na siya idate dahil dito. oha! baka kayo gusto niyo na rin siyang idate! hahahaha.

peace tayo clarence! :D

Edward Cullen would say: “You are my life now.”
Kesso would say: "My life is for you now... And for forever."

Edward Cullen would say: “The Lion fell in Love with the Lamb”
Kesso would say: "I fell in love with you. Bigtime."

Edward Cullen would say: “Your hair looks like a haystack but I like it.”
Kesso would say: "Your hair looks like haystack, and i love you."

Edward Cullen would sing you a song he wrote for you while playing the piano.
Kesso would sit beside you, won't sing. Would stare at you. And would tell you he loves you. A lot.

If you die, Edward would kill himself cause life without you isn’t worth living.
If you die, Kesso wouldn't kill himself because he knows you wouldn't like it.

As you leave the house Edward Cullen would say: “Come back to me, love.”
Kesso would be the one to be at the girl's house because it's more gentlemanly.

As you come back to the house, Edward Cullen would be welcoming you by playing the piano with a song just for you.
Edward sucks. Kesso wouldn't let the girl and just watch her while playing the piano? He'll let you in, holding your hand and telling his Mom you're there.

Edward Cullen would make you breakfast everyday.
You would cook breakfast for Kesso. He would eat it with you and would tell you it's the best breakfast he ever had each and everyday.

While you are both out for dinner, Edward Cullen wouldn’t even notice the waitress was a female.
While you are both out for dinner, Kesso would notice every female in the restaurant and would tell you that you're way gorgeous than any of them.

Edward Cullen, while driving, would keep one hand on the wheel and the other attached to yours.
Kesso, while driving, would keep both hands on the wheel so the trip would be safe. But he would hold your hand and kiss you on the cheek when the traffic lights turn red.

While far apart in different places, Edward Cullen would say: “It’s like you’ve taken half myself with you”
While far apart in different places, Kesso would say: "I miss you. I know you're far but you're still here in my heart."

Edward Cullen would sing until your nightmares went away.
Kesso would be by your side. And when your nightmares wake you up, he would stare at you, then hug you, and then he would kiss you on the forehead. And smiles. He knows you can't sleep so he would talk to you, laugh with you even though he hasn't slept yet because he is watching you the whole night.

Edward Cullen only does it with one.
Kesso only does it with the one he loves BUT wouldn't insist.

Edward Cullen buys you a car.
Kesso buys a car for both of you and would fetch you everyday.

Twilight

 

"the baseball scene was nice.. and the baseball scene.. plus the baseball scene... and the baseball scene too. the baseball scene was nice. basta un muna masasabi ko." - arah and diana sa gym kanina.

well seriously, I really loved the baseball scene. it's like a counterpart of the quidditch match scenes in HP. i can't give a review, i'm too humble to criticize, and besides, ayoko pa mabugbog. hehe. moreover, i haven't read the book so I can't say anything yet. (aside from noticing its very predictable plot.shhh.. ;s)

 

Faculty Room

Arah, monica, diana, karla, tin

Sometimes though, the people around you can remind you that life is very beautiful.

It's Just It

I'm tired.

I'm bored.

and I'm not happy.

I only hear the buzzing sound of the aircon.

No music.

No shadows, no light.

If you see a subject phrased this way in your inbox, what would you do?

"mary.albert44 [nusphilippines] Which Educational Do You Want To Choose? Let Me Know"

I would roll in the dust and break my neck.

It is a spam message that caught my eye and helped me to have a good laugh!

 

ü

Greetings of Victory...

Sarap maging champion. hehe. kahit benchie lang saya pa din. ü

Release of LET Results

Start:	Nov 16, '08 8:00p
End:	Nov 17, '08

I PASSED! Whoooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mt. Daguldol - Part II (Sidetrip at Naambon Falls)

I never felt closer to the Earth.

never seen anything so beautiful. It was like water being sprinkled like stardust down the God-chiseled side of the mountain. We spent one hour in that part of the mountain, a special treat for us who gave all of our energies for this trip.

Mt. Daguldol, Part I

Some of the pictures on the way and on the summit. more to come!

On the way Mt. Daguldol

The second mountain that I climbed in my entire life.

It included an hour's walk in the sand...

School is Cool

Some shots of a young sunshiney teacher.

Life is a beach!

Bangin at iba pa

Pag tumalon ka sa rumaragasang agos ng tubig, hindi mo na maikukuwento ang lahat ng nangyari pagkatapos.

Pag lumipad ka nang inaakala mong ikaw si Superman at wala ka palang pakpak, given the law of gravity, babagsak ka.

Naranasan mo na bang tumawa ng napakalakas, hanggang sa maubos ang hininga mo at biglang maluluha dahil alam mong pagkatapos nito haharapin mo ang mundo mag-isa?

Kanya kanya lang tayo. May iba't iba tayong pamamaraan upang maranasan ang extremes ng buhay. In the middle of all this, you'll realize that you have to be alone and that alone, you'll find what you need to find.

Maturity, achieving it. That's the greatest puzzle that I have to solve. how come na sa lahat ng mga pinagdaanan ko sa buhay, di ko pa rin ito nabubuo?

I need comfort. I don't know where to find it.

I want to go far. Far enough that the only person who will find my way back is myself.

Struggle. Contradiction. Kelan ko ba pinag-aralan na i-handle ito?

Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)

Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)

Mary Schmich Chicago Tribune

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97... wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are NOT as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing. Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch. Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone. Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth. But trust me on the sunscreen.

Slow Me Down

Artist : Emmy Rossum
Album :
Title : Slow me down


Rushing and racing
and running in circles
Moving so fast, I'm forgetting my purpose
Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning
Getting nowhere

My head and my heart are colliding, chaotic
Pace of the world
I just wish I could stop it
Try to appear like I've got it together
I'm falling apart

Save me
Somebody take my hand, and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flys by
I need you to slow me down

Sometimes I fear that I might dissapear
In the blur of fast forward I faulter again
Forgetting to breathe, I need to sleep
I'm getting nowhere

All that I've missed I see in the reflection
Passed me while I wasn't paying attention
Tired of rushing, racing and running
I'm falling apart

Tell me
Oh won't you take my hand and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flys by
I need you to slow me down

Just show me

UPCAT!!!

12 reminders to UPCAT takers

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:50:00 07/28/2008

On Aug. 2-3, around 70,000 students will take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT).

Of the country’s premier universities that include Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, the UP is reputedly the most difficult to get into because of the large number of students taking the UPCAT.

Here are some tips to students that may help them pass the UPCAT:

1. Prepare not only mentally but physically and psychologically. Always think that you can do it.

2. Go to the restroom before the test starts so you do not waste time during the test.

3. Check your seat as soon as you arrive. If you are left-handed, ask for a chair fit for a left-handed person. Ask for a change of seats if water is dripping on your head, the air-con is directly facing you, the sun is in your eyes or whatever else makes you uncomfortable.

4. Scratch paper will be provided. If you write extra big letters, you may need more scratch papers. Ask the proctor for more immediately.

5. Read the directions carefully.

6. Look over the exam and plan your strategy for answering it. Budget your time. For example, if a sub-test has 60 items and you are given 70 minutes to finish it, allot 60 minutes for answering and 10 minutes for checking and reviewing. See to it that you are answering one item per minute. If you are too fast, like three items per minute, you may be answering incorrectly.

7. All items have equal points even if others are harder to answer. Answer first the questions you think you know very well. Mark on your answer sheet the items you did not answer, but be sure to get back to them and erase the mark after you have answered.

8. Make intelligent guesses for questions you really do not know. Eliminate ridiculous choices.

9. If in the middle of the test you feel tired or sleepy, stand up and stretch.

10. Tests are not perfect. Do not waste your time pointing out to the proctor items you think have some kind of error.

11. Many proctors make unnecessary noises. Try to ignore them as much as possible.

12. Do not leave until the proctor says you can, even if half the group has already left. Use the extra time to review your answers. Rossana Llenado, Contributor

 

UPCAT Q & A
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:51:00 07/28/2008

• Who may take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT)?

All applicants for admission to UP who are high school seniors expecting to graduate at the end of school year 2008-2009 or are high school graduates who have not enrolled or are not currently enrolled in any school and have not taken the UPCAT before.

• Can students who did not graduate from regular high school but have passed the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) for college admission take the UPCAT?

Yes, graduates of DepEd-accredited schools and those who have been declared eligible for college admission after passing the PEPT are eligible to take the UPCAT as long as they have gone through the application process.

• How much does it cost to take the UPCAT?

The UPCAT application fee, which is nonrefundable by the way, is P450 for Filipinos with annual gross family income of more than P100,000 and resident foreign applicants studying in the Philippines.

• Are there exemptions to this fee?

Yes, you don’t have to pay it if your family’s annual gross income is P100,000 or less (present 2007 ITRs of earning members of the family or BIR Certification of Exemption). If you’re among the top 10 graduates of your high school or among the top 10 students graduating at the end of SY 2007-2008, you also don’t have to pay the fee. Ask your high school principal to certify this.

• What should my high school grade be to qualify to take the UPCAT?

There is NO minimum high school grade requirement in taking the UPCAT.

• How long is the UPCAT?

It is a five-hour test, so bring something to eat and drink.

• Is the UPCAT in English?

It uses both English and Filipino.

• What is the UPCAT designed to measure?

The UPCAT is supposed to measure English proficiency and reading comprehension through the Verbal Test (VT) and knowledge in mathematics and science through the Quantitative Test (QT).

• When is the UPCAT this year?

You either take it on Saturday, Aug. 2, or Sunday, Aug. 3, at the UP campus designated in your permit.

• If I fail the UPCAT, can I take it again?

Sorry, the UPCAT is a make-or-break test. It can be taken only once.

 

Ito, pabasa ninyo sa nanay at tatay ninyo:

The UPCAT: 15 ways parents can help
By Llenado Rossana
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:52:00 07/28/2008

Every year for the past 13 years, I have been speaking to parents to help them understand what their children go through in preparation for the UPCAT and other entrance exams, giving them advice on what they can do to help kids perform well.

The college entrance exam may be the most important test a person will take. The bar or board exams may be taken again if one fails, but UPCAT or the entrance tests of the other top universities can only be taken once.

Some parents think that a child who studied in a top school from pre-school to high school will automatically be admitted to its college. Wrong. Sometimes, only 60 percent of a school’s graduating class get into the college.

Top schools accept only the best in the whole country regardless of which high school they come from. The selection is based in large part on the entrance exam.

Parents who prioritize education provide ample guidance to their children in preparing for the entrance exams. The results of these exams will more or less determine the road their children will take.

Family support is very important. Show your child that the exam is important to the entire family so it will become important to him/her as well.

What can parents do?

The power of prayer is truly amazing so lead the family in a prayer for patience, concentration, and determination.

Prioritize college entrance tests over other activities. The college entrance exam can only be taken once.

Visit the venue with your child before the exam. Determine the best route to the building, but find alternate routes as well. Locate the comfort room nearest your child’s exam room.

On the eve of the exam:

• Make sure your child is well-rested and gets eight hours of sleep. Avoid activities that will tire him/her. Do not let the child sleep too early or too late. Lack of sleep ruins concentration while too much sleep can make him/her groggy.

• Let the child prepare his/her things—shoes, clothes, bag—for the next day. Girls with long hair should tie their hair during the exam. Long, flowing sleeves may get in the way. Dangling earrings, bulky bracelets and long nails may pose a problem during the test.

• Do not let the child study some more at least 24 hours before the exam. It is a mistake to push children to study until the very last minute before the exam.

• Watch out for weather bulletins, especially typhoon announcements; floods, transport strikes, political unrest and other unforeseen events. The UPCAT will not be cancelled even for storm signal No. 3, so you must have a back-up plan for getting the child to the exam venue.

• Make your child eat and drink wisely before and on the day of the exam. Do not give anything that might cause allergy or indigestion.

On the day of the exam:

• A quick shower will refresh your child’s mind and make him/her feel energized.

• Make sure the child has a good breakfast.

• Make sure he/she has at least six pencils with erasers, a small ruler, the test permit, ID, jacket, fan, snacks and drinks (if allowed), and an analog wristwatch.

The extra pencils are to make sure he/she has a spare when one breaks or when his/her best friend needs one.

The ruler will ensure that the child is answering the correct number. Halfway into the exam, his/her eyes may be too tired that he/she may overlook some questions.

Without the test permit and ID the child will not be able to take the exam.

The jacket will come in handy if the room is too cold. Make sure the jacket opens at the front so it can easily be taken on and off as needed. The fan may be useful if the room is hot.

Snacks and drinks must be easy to handle—nothing sticky, wet, big or noisy. Heavy stuff is also not advisable. Sandwich and juice may be sufficient though water and gum should be best.

Make sure the child wears an analog wristwatch to keep track of time. A digital watch may have a calculator function and will not be allowed.

• Advise your child to wear his/her most comfortable outfit. New clothes or shoes that have not been “broken in” should be avoided. The child may not be able to move freely in new clothes or shoes, thus affecting his/her test-taking.

• Make sure the child is at the venue 30 minutes before the exam. Being too early might cause anxiety while less time might make him/her panicky.

• Psyche the child up! Tell him/her to do the best that he/she can. But assure him/her that you will always support and love him/her no matter what the results of the exams are.

• Try to be with your child on the day of the exam. Many parents will be there waiting. It may affect your child psychologically if he/she thinks he/she is the only one whose parents are not there.

(The author is a recipient of the Working Mom Award and other honors from local and international organizations. She was recently named one of the Philippines’ 75 most admired persons. These tips are part of the three-to four-hour seminar Ahead Tutorial & Review conducts for parents.)

Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Heto mula sa http://oyiejavelosa.multiply.com/journal/item/11:

Napakalapit na po ng UPCAT, mga kapwa 4th year. Isang linggo nalang po ang naliliban bago natin kunin ang most important test of our pre-college lives. Para dun sa mga mag-eexam nga next week, i'm posting some tips and notes about the UPCAT that we should all be aware of.

*note: nakita ko ang tips na ito sa superhelios (http://superhelios.com).*

1. Kung hindi niyo alam ang sagot, LEAVE THE ITEM BLANK. Please lang, huwag kayong tumulad sa akin na kahit 50-50 pa rin ang pakiramdam sa tanong eh pinipilitan sagutan. Basta if you are 70% or up sure, go! Effective ito, dahil yung friend ko kalahati lang ng Reading Comprehension ang nasagutan pero 90% ang grade niya dito.

2. Kung feel manghula, B or C lang ang isagot. Huwag letter A kasi bihira talaga ang A na sagot. PERE please, huwag na lang kayo manghula. :) Hehe, mas nababawasan yung chances niyo pumasa kapag nanghuhula.

3. Kung UP Los Baños na ang second choice niyo, huwag na mangamba pa. You’re 50% in sa UP, especially kung Avo-Darwin ang section. Malaki ang chances lalo na kung nag-rarange sa 89 pataas ang GWA niyo from 1st year to 3rd year. Promise!

4. Kapag minani niyo yungang dalawang subtest, lalo na ang Math and English… 50% in ka na rin sa UP.

5. Magdala ng chocolate. Food for the brain yan. :)

6. Magdala ng water. Pero wag masyado uminom. Baka mag-CR ka niyan ng madalas. Sayang yun sa oras.

7. Bring at least 4 pencils. One for each subtest. Siguradong pudpod ang pencil mo after one subtest.

8. Magdala ng eraser. Huwag humiram sa katabi. Maabala siya. Hehe.ü

9. Believe! Ikaw lang ang makaka-assure sa sarili mo na magagawa mo at kaya mong lagpasan ang UPCAT.

10. Pray. Do your best and He will do the rest.ü

Other tips I found were these...

• Gumamit ng No.2 Mongol for kids pencil. Mas mabilis kayong makakapagsagot kasi ubod ng laki ung pencil.
• Be at the designated testing area an hour before the test para hindi kayo masyado ma-stress pag nakita nyo na yung test mismo.

Eto naman yung iba pang mga bagay-bagay na kailangan natin malaman..

*note: galing din po ito sa superhelios (http://superhelios.com) kaso comment lang sya ng isang nagngangalang "Ziella"...Ate, kung sino ka man, maraming salamat po!*

• English:
  -walang vocab
  -sentence completion
  -chronological arrangement
  -identifying errors
  -comic strip
  -grammar
• Math:
  -Algebra (marami ito!)
  -Trigo (konti lang ‘yan!)
• Science:
  -Chem (lalo na yung mga inaral niyo nung third yr!)
  -Physics (5-6 questions lang yan. super dali lang for you. newton’s law lang!)
  -NatSci (basic lang ito pramis!)
  -EarthSci (more one landforms, rocks, tectonic plates, earthquakes)
  -Bio (systems ng katawan)
• Reading Comprehension:
  -magbasa lang kayo ng books mga two weeks before exam para mahasa kayo magbasa ng mabilis!ü wag na kayo mag-review kapag malapit na exam. orasan niyo sarili niyo. dapat mga 2-3 pages mga 5 minutes niyo lang babasahin.

And there you have it! Sana po may mga natutunan kayo! Kung meron pa po kayong ibang nalalaman na importanteng mga bagay-bagay, paki comment nalang po sa post na ito.

Let's pray din po para sa ating mga kaibigan and of course ating mga sarili na ibigay sa ating ng Diyos ang ating munting pangarap na makapasok sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas.

[added 16 June 2007]
Ok so nakapasa ako. Sa kasalukuyan ako'y freshie ng UP under the BA Political Science program. I'd like to add a few things:

• I took 5 college entrance exams last year dahil sa takot na hindi pumasa sa U.P.. I suggest mag take kayo ng 3-5 exams din just to broaden your choices. 3 would be ideal, 5 would be overkill [one i just did! haha! :D].
• Of the 5 exams i took, the UPCAT ranked 3rd na pinakamahirap [hardest to easiest: DLSUCET, ACET, UPCAT, UA&P CET, USTET]. Feeling nyo lang mahirap kasi may tremendous stress and anxiety itong kadikit. Di ganun kahirap ang UPCAT, pero kamon, 60000++ kayong kukuha nyan! Pagalingan talaga!
• Read the comments below, madami akong sinagot na tanong dyan.
• Bring a light, waterproof jacket or windbreaker. Nung nagUPCAT ako umuulan e. Chances are uulan din during UPCAT season kaya magdala kayo ng jacket na pwede nyo ding itago pag hindi kelangan. Posible ding mapunta kayo sa isang airconditioned room [thats what happened to me], kaya it's good to be ready dahil sobrang lamig dun [i wasn't ready..ehehehe].
• Basahing maigi ang accompanying papers ng UPCAT form. Malaking problema pag may namiss kayong deadline or something. A couple of my friends did kaya di sila nakapagUPCAT.
• Magpass ng Form ng maaga. Siksikan yan sa deadline.
• Makipagdaldalan sa katabi bago magsimula ang exam. nakakareduce ito ng stress.
• Ipaaccomplish kaagad sa school registrar yung isa pang form. Sa dami ng applicants , ilang araw bago mo yun makuha kaya ipafillup kagad.

 

Poem Reversioning... It struck me in a different light

We are not Two People
(Inspired by Muriel Rukeyser's Effort at Speech between Two People)

by Myself

He will not speak to you. Your hand in midair
Hanging still. Purple-cold as blood grew tired
To flow. While he drools over the death of
A rabbit.
Laugh at the girl who went under a chair.
Unbelievably, she is turning three.
He is very happy.

Did you ever think of those white sails, sister?
Count the years back, until the day before
You walked the Earth, they were there, sky high.
No embracing arms, but your own woman.
He lives there, happy. His own man.

He will not speak to you. Your purple-cold
Hand chips off away. He stamped his feet
Went off and left: what should have happened when
You were nine. No auditory nerves on
A black painted sound producing woodwork.
Every hour, minute second clicks away.
They call it time. It does not stop for tears.

Love lamps in evening corners, they are light
Amidst fear in the lives of all. Like his.
Keep closed, reserved. Saves power to shine more:
A quiet poem, but speaks. You are the lamp.

Hello. This is me. Grow to know me.
I would be watching the sunset then if
I happened to be by the window, even;
I am not alert: I wanted to watch
That vision. Through your eyes, through your soul.
I will be unhappy, if upon leaping
The clouds, the light, the redness of the horizon
Grey, black, dark, under the ground
I would scramble to my feet:
            Grow to know me!
I loved. I wanted you to know me.

Sister, what are you now?
Searching for him in the crowded street?
He was surfing by the waves, like a child
Frolicking in the sands.
I was there, no ignition.
So everyone, silent, moving…
I took your purple-cold fingers from the ground.
I followed you. Here, take it.
I am here, in the mirror.
Speak to me.

Rainier Maria Rilke on Nothingness

Orpheus, Eurydice, Hermes

Rainier Maria Rilke

 

That was the strange mine of souls.

As secret ores of silver they passed

like veins through its darkness. Between the roots

blood welled, flowing onwards to Mankind,

and it looked as hard as Porphyry in the darkness.

Otherwise nothing was red.

There were cliffs

and straggling woods. Bridges over voids,

and that great grey blind lake,

that hung above its distant floor

like a rain-filled sky above a landscape.

And between meadows, soft and full of patience,

one path, a pale strip, appeared,

passing by like a long bleached thing.

And down this path they came.

In front the slim man in the blue mantle,

mute and impatient, gazing before him.

His steps ate up the path in huge bites

without chewing: his hands hung,

clumsy and tight, from the falling folds,

and no longer aware of the weightless lyre,

grown into his left side,

like a rose-graft on an olive branch.

And his senses were as if divided:

while his sight ran ahead like a dog,

turned back, came and went again and again,

and waited at the next turn, positioned there –

his hearing was left behind like a scent.

Sometimes it seemed to him as if it reached

as far as the going of those other two,

who ought to be following this complete ascent.

Then once more it was only the repeated sound of his climb

and the breeze in his mantle behind him.

But he told himself that they were still coming:

said it aloud and heard it die away.

They were still coming, but they were two

fearfully light in their passage. If only he might

turn once more ( if looking back

were not the ruin of all his work,

that first had to be accomplished), then he must see them,

the quiet pair, mutely following him:

the god of errands and far messages,

the travelling-hood above his shining eyes,

the slender wand held out before his body,

the beating wings at his ankle joints;

and on his left hand, as entrusted: her.

The so-beloved, that out of one lyre

more grief came than from all grieving women:

so that a world of grief arose, in which

all things were there once more: forest and valley,

and road and village, field and stream and creature:

and that around this grief-world, just as

around the other earth, a sun

and a silent star-filled heaven turned,

a grief-heaven with distorted stars –

she was so-loved.

But she went at that god’s left hand,

her steps confined by the long grave-cloths,

uncertain, gentle, and without impatience.

She was in herself, like a woman near term,

and did not think of the man, going on ahead,

or the path, climbing upwards towards life.

She was in herself. And her being-dead

filled her with abundance.

As a fruit with sweetness and darkness,

so she was full with her vast death,

that was so new, she comprehended nothing.

She was in a new virginity

and untouchable: her sex was closed

like a young flower at twilight,

and her hands had been weaned so far

from marriage that even the slight god’s

endlessly gentle touch, as he led,

hurt her like too great an intimacy.

She was no longer that blonde woman,

sometimes touched on in the poet’s songs,

no longer the wide bed’s scent and island,

and that man’s possession no longer.

She was already loosened like long hair,

given out like fallen rain,

shared out like a hundredfold supply.

She was already root.

And when suddenly

the god stopped her and, with anguish in his cry,

uttered the words: ‘He has turned round’ –

she comprehended nothing and said softly: ‘Who?’

But far off, darkly before the bright exit,

stood someone or other, whose features

were unrecognisable. Who stood and saw

how on the strip of path between meadows,

with mournful look, the god of messages

turned, silently, to follow the figure

already walking back by that same path,

her steps confined by the long grave-cloths,

uncertain, gentle, and without impatience.

 

(I cant find a copy of a better translation.)

blank

Not wanting to talk to anyone; not finding a connection with anybody; not seeing anyone who can understand how you really feel.

Lahat ng bagay corny. Lahat ng tao ayaw mo makita.

All faces I can recognize, but I believe them to be still unfamiliar.

I am alone. So getting used to be alone, I ve grown to actually disdain any attempt to intrusion.

Enjoying the dryness of the room, and the indifference of his eyes, I urge myself to look away and force my mind to be blank.

Feeling the loss of a will to live.

Nothingness: my new way of life.

 

(Saw him today.)

St Scho Faculty retreat and St Scho West Grove Visit

2-4 June 2008
St. Scholastica's Center for Spirituality, Tagaytay

One Lesson learned: give time to meditate and let your thoughts flourish...

St Scho New Teachers' Exposure trip

photos courtesy of the tanggapan ng kalinga

Destinations: Correctional Institution for Women and Santissima Trinidad Parish Community

PUP Magna cum Laude on the state of PUP Education

Chalk + Talk = Physics?

The weak condition of science and math education in the country is a reflection of the underdevelopment of our economy and the skewed priorities of government.

BY REYNALDO V. LUNA
Prometheus Bound/Manila Times
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 19, June 15-21, 2008

The economic growth of a country requires the development of skilled science and technology practitioners to serve the needs of a thriving domestic industry However, without a local industrial base, there will be no impetus to have an adequate number of technologically-skilled manpower.

The weak condition of science and math education in the country is a reflection of the underdevelopment of our economy and the skewed priorities of government. The training of graduates in science and technology should be towards the development of a local core of experts and not towards the continuing labor export. Adequate support should be provided to educational institutions, especially the state colleges and universities.

A case in point is the BS Physics program, which I recently finished, at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). Ten years ago, I was offered to take up the course, with only a few freshmen enrollees and even fewer graduating students from the course. More than seven out of 10 freshmen Physics students did not choose this course willingly. Most took it because there were no more slots in other colleges or were advised by the school registrar. Our learning was through "chalk and talk" discussions with very little exposure to hands-on physics.

During our first and second years, we were able to use the remaining instruments like Vernier calipers, micrometers, beam balances and stopwatches; and standard experimental setups like the force table for studying vectors.

But as one advances to the third and fourth years, more and more experiments on higher Physics subjects are left to "chalk and talk" discussions as no equipment was available. The students move on even without exposure and familiarity with standard physics laboratory equipment. In my own field, acoustics, there were no oscilloscopes for experiments that are vital in visualizing sound waves.

Advanced experimental physics courses become a gedanken or thought (imagined) experiment. One discusses the concepts and the procedure; and the instructor just provides the data for the students to analyze since no setup could be used.

Although students had been paying laboratory fees, there are no computers for our numerical analysis subject. Programs on paper cannot be tested to compile since there is no space to type it in. Some students are able to test theirs on their home computers but those without one found it hard to grasp computer programming and were uncertain if their program will run correctly. Even the professors use the computers and projectors at their expense to be able to teach the class.
Before 2006, there was only one professor who handled nine subjects for Physics majors. This led to uneven focus on some of these subjects, undermining the understanding of the students regarding those subjects. New faculty were hired to bring new ideas and expose students to new physics researches but they eventually left the college because there were better job offers outside PUP.

Yet some alumni are bringing hope to PUP. Those who finished their Masters degree are returning to teach. They become thesis advisers and coordinators. They teach advanced courses and help widen the horizon and perspectives of the physics students with seminars and trainings to develop scientific skills.

Despite obsolete and outdated facilities and materials, students find other ways to gain knowledge and expertise by attending conferences, trainings and congresses. Student theses are being compiled and exhibited on cabinets to highlight a tedious and painstaking period of research. PUP physics students continue to bring pride and honor to the university in contests, winning the Champion and First-Runner Up slots in the 2008 Technological University of the Philippines Luzon-Wide Physics Contest.

The state of the physics program in PUP is a direct result of how the government has misprioritized education. Even with the recent incentives for students to enter science and mathematics, the corresponding support structures in universities, such as laboratories, teachers and classrooms, still need to be augmented. The BS Physics in PUP needs better physics laboratories, more qualified instructors and research collaboration with well-established institutions to reach its goal of becoming part of a recognized center of excellence in physics in the country.

The situation is not one to deter the PUP student. With our strong tradition of upholding our right to education, we actively participate in actions to promote quality and free education. We continue to strive and make science meaningful both to ourselves and to others. Manila Times/posted by Bulatlat
 

Mr. Reynold V. Luna, a new physicist member of AGHAM, teaches Physics in PUP and is taking up MS Physics at UP Diliman. He is the 2008 PUP class valedictorian and graduated magna cum laude in May.

Kahapon mga MaScians, bukas mga Kulasa

I learned that would just need to change your attitude towards life to really find yourself in it. Contentment cannot be found if you are not willing to accept and appreciate the things that you have.

After several weeks of turmoil due to a lack of direction, I finally found my place in this world and a vision for myself as a young educator. Teaching is a vocation. It might be fun, but then it would entail a lot of sacrifices. But it is a commitment and the sign of the times that I face right now calls me to join the profession. Yes, itinuloy ko ang pagpasok sa mundo ng pagtuturo. I applied in a several schools and St. Scho got me in. I submitted my application 2 wednesdays ago, went back for an interview with the English coordinator and demo lesson Friday after that, then the ff tuesday and wednesday, I was interviewed by the asst principal and took the exam respectively and got hired on Friday. Monday until today, I and some newly hired teachers joined the faculty retreat in St. Scholastica's Center for Spirituality in Tagaytay.

Magtuturo pa lang ako, at di ko pa masasabi na guro na talaga ako. I haven't even met my students in St. Scho but I kept on asking myself, who can they be, what would be my encounters with them be like, how can I make them learn from me? Kaya ko ba sila turuan gaya ng mga MaScians? Speech II (Lateral Thinking) at Speech IV (Debate) ang mga subject na ituturo ko. Actually, I'm having doubts about my effectivity in these subjects because my oh my..these are not so simple to me and not too familiar. I only had 1 sem of debate and 3 days of formal training in debate bago ako magAWOL sa DebSoc. 

Well I'm willing to learn and make a way to give my future students the best that I can give. I still cling to my philosophy of education that education must be a part of a social transformation. And teaching young minds to be critical and teaching young people to become responsible citizens would be the best place for me to find the contentment that I have been looking for. I might not become their best teacher but I am sure that I will give them my best.

A Bend in the Road

I learned that would just need to change your attitude towards life to really find yourself in it. Contentment cannot be found if you are not willing to accept and appreciate the things that you have.

After several weeks of turmoil due to a lack of direction, I finally found my place in this world and a vision for myself. Teaching is a vocation. It might be fun, but then it would entail a lot of sacrifices. But it is a commitment and the sign of the times that I face right now calls me to join the profession.

 

More pictures of our grad day and baccalaureate mass

Wala pa ung mga mas makasaysayang pictures. hehe abangan na lang

New Nephew

Vladimir Richard R. Directo
May 8, 2008

He's the new blessing in our home. I am looking forward to going home every weekend just to see him. Simply watching him brings serenity to my disturbed soul. I love this baby very much.

Tribute to Ka Bel

Start:	May 22, '08 6:00p
Location:	Philippine Independent Church, Taft Ave., Manila

NUSP mourns the passing of Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran


The National Union of Students of the Philippines mourns the passing of Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran.


We once again reaffirm our highest regard for Ka Bel who throughout his life championed the cause of the poor and marginalized in Filipino society. We recall with pride having bestowed upon Ka Bel the degree of honoris causa during Ka Bel's year-and-a-half-long illegal and arbitrary detention by the Arroyo administration, for "outstanding service to the Filipino students and the Filipino people." The student union unanimously decided to bestow such a symbolic representation of its support to Ka Bel because of his unwavering commitment to advancing the rights and welfare of the Filipino masses to which he had dedicated his entire life to.


His lifelong crusade is one that we student leaders shall continue to emulate.


The NUSP calls on all its 600 members nationwide to honor the memory of Ka Bel by continuing to fight against oppression and tyranny, graft and corruption and to advance the welfare of the millions of Filipinos who remain voiceless and powerless.


Long Live the Spirit of Ka Bel!

NUSP mourns the passing of Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran

NUSP mourns the passing of Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran

The National Union of Students of the Philippines mourns the passing of Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran.

We once again reaffirm our highest regard for Ka Bel who throughout his life championed the cause of the poor and marginalized in Filipino society. We recall with pride having bestowed upon Ka Bel the degree of honoris causa during Ka Bel's year-and-a-half-long illegal and arbitrary detention by the Arroyo administration, for "outstanding service to the Filipino students and the Filipino people." The student union unanimously decided to bestow such a symbolic representation of its support to Ka Bel because of his unwavering commitment to advancing the rights and welfare of the Filipino masses to which he had dedicated his entire life to.

His lifelong crusade is one that we student leaders shall continue to emulate.

The NUSP calls on all its 600 members nationwide to honor the memory of Ka Bel by continuing to fight against oppression and tyranny, graft and corruption and to advance the welfare of the millions of Filipinos who remain voiceless and powerless.

Long Live the Spirit of Ka Bel!

 

Tribute to Ka Bel at the Philippine Independent Church, Taft Ave Mla, 6pm, May 22, 2008

Affairs of the Lips: Why We Kiss

 

• (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=affairs-of-the-lips-why-we-kiss)

Key Concepts

• A kiss triggers a cascade of neural messages and chemicals that transmit tactile sensations, sexual excitement, feelings of closeness, motivation and even euphoria.
• Kisses can convey important information about the status and future of a relationship. At the extreme, a bad first kiss can abruptly curtail a couple’s future.
• Kissing may have evolved from primate mothers’ practice of chewing food for their young and then feeding them mouth-to-mouth. Some scientists theorize that kissing is crucial to the evolutionary process of mate selection.

Researchers are revealing hidden complexities behind the simple act of kissing, which relays powerful messages to your brain, body and partner.

When passion takes a grip, a kiss locks two humans together in an exchange of scents, tastes, textures, secrets and emotions. We kiss furtively, lasciviously, gently, shyly, hungrily and exuberantly. We kiss in broad daylight and in the dead of night. We give ceremonial kisses, affectionate kisses, Hollywood air kisses, kisses of death and, at least in fairytales, pecks that revive princesses.

Lips may have evolved first for food and later applied themselves to speech, but in kissing they satisfy different kinds of hungers. In the body, a kiss triggers a cascade of neural messages and chemicals that transmit tactile sensations, sexual excitement, feelings of closeness, motivation and even euphoria.

Not all the messages are internal. After all, kissing is a communal affair. The fusion of two bodies dispatches communiqués to your partner as powerful as the data you stream to yourself. Kisses can convey important information about the status and future of a relationship. So much, in fact, that, according to recent research, if a first kiss goes bad, it can stop an otherwise promising relationship dead in its tracks.

Some scientists believe that the fusing of lips evolved because it facilitates mate selection. “Kissing,” said evolutionary psychologist Gordon G. Gallup of the University at Albany, State University of New York, last September in an interview with the BBC, “involves a very complicated exchange of information—olfactory information, tactile information and postural types of adjustments that may tap into underlying evolved and unconscious mechanisms that enable people to make determinations … about the degree to which they are genetically incompatible.” Kissing may even reveal the extent to which a partner is willing to commit to raising children, a central issue in long-term relationships and crucial to the survival of our species.

Satisfying Hunger
Whatever else is going on when we kiss, our evolutionary history is embedded within this tender, tempestuous act. In the 1960s British zoologist and author Desmond Morris first proposed that kissing might have evolved from the practice in which primate mothers chewed food for their young and then fed them mouth-to-mouth, lips puckered. Chimpanzees feed in this manner, so our hominid ancestors probably did, too. Pressing outturned lips against lips may have then later developed as a way to comfort hungry children when food was scarce and, in time, to express love and affection in general. The human species might eventually have taken these proto-parental kisses down other roads until we came up with the more passionate varieties we have today.

Silent chemical messengers called pheromones could have sped the evolution of the intimate kiss. Many animals and plants use pheromones to communicate with other members of the same species. Insects, in particular, are known to emit pheromones to signal alarm, for example, the presence of a food trail, or sexual attraction.

Whether humans sense pheromones is controversial. Unlike rats and pigs, people are not known to have a specialized pheromone de­tector, or vomeronasal organ, between their nose and mouth [see “Sex and the Secret Nerve,” by R. Douglas Fields; Scientific American Mind, February/March 2007]. Nevertheless, biologist Sarah Woodley of Duquesne University suggests that we might be able to sense pheromones with our nose. And chemical communication could explain such curious findings as a tendency of the menstrual cycles of female dormitory mates to synchronize or the attraction of women to the scents of T-shirts worn by men whose immune systems are genetically compatible with theirs. Human pheromones could include an­drostenol, a chemical component of male sweat that may boost sexual arousal in women, and female vaginal hormones called copulins that some researchers have found raise testosterone levels and increase sexual appetite in men.

If pheromones do play a role in human courtship and procreation, then kissing would be an extremely effective way to pass them from one person to another. The behavior may have evolved because it helps humans find a suitable mate—making love, or at least attraction, quite literally blind.

We might also have inherited the intimate kiss from our primate ancestors. Bonobos, which are genetically very similar to us (although we are not their direct descendants), are a particularly passionate bunch, for example. Emory University primatologist Frans B. M. de Waal recalls a zookeeper who accepted what he thought would be a friendly kiss from one of the bonobos, until he felt the ape’s tongue in his mouth!

Good Chemistry
Since kissing evolved, the act seems to have become addictive. Human lips enjoy the slimmest layer of skin on the human body, and the lips are among the most densely populated with sensory neurons of any body region. When we kiss, these neurons, along with those in the tongue and mouth, rocket messages to the brain and body, setting off delightful sensations, intense emotions and physical reactions.

Of the 12 or 13 cranial nerves that affect cerebral function, five are at work when we kiss, shuttling messages from our lips, tongue, cheeks and nose to a brain that snatches information about the temperature, taste, smell and movements of the entire affair. Some of that information arrives in the somatosensory cortex, a swath of tissue on the surface of the brain that represents tactile information in a map of the body. In that map, the lips loom large because the size of each represented body region is proportional to the density of its nerve endings.

Kissing unleashes a cocktail of chemicals that govern human stress, motivation, social bonding and sexual stimulation. In a new study, psychologist Wendy L. Hill and her student Carey A. Wilson of Lafayette College compared the levels of two key hormones in 15 college male-female couples before and after they kissed and before and after they talked to each other while holding hands. One hormone, oxytocin, is involved in social bonding, and the other, cortisol, plays a role in stress. Hill and Wilson predicted that kissing would boost levels of oxytocin, which also influences social recognition, male and female orgasm, and childbirth. They expected this effect to be particularly pronounced in the study’s females, who reported higher levels of intimacy in their relationships. They also forecast a dip in cortisol, because kissing is presumably a stress reliever.

But the researchers were surprised to find that oxytocin levels rose only in the males, whereas it decreased in the females, after either kissing or talking while holding hands. They concluded that females must require more than a kiss to feel emotionally connected or sexually excited during physical contact. Females might, for example, need a more romantic atmosphere than the experimental setting provided, the authors speculate. The study, which Hill and Wilson reported in November 2007 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, revealed that cortisol levels dropped for both sexes no matter the form of intimacy, a hint that kissing does in fact reduce stress.

To the extent that kissing is linked to love, the act may similarly boost brain chemicals associated with pleasure, euphoria and a motivation to connect with a certain someone. In 2005 anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers University and her colleagues reported scanning the brains of 17 individuals as they gazed at pictures of people with whom they were deeply in love. The researchers found an unusual flurry of activity in two brain regions that govern pleasure, motivation and reward: the right ventral tegmental area and the right caudate nucleus. Addictive drugs such as cocaine similarly stimulate these reward centers, through the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Love, it seems, is a kind of drug for us humans.

Kissing has other primal effects on us as well. Visceral marching orders boost pulse and blood pressure. The pupils dilate, breathing deepens and rational thought retreats, as desire suppresses both prudence and self-consciousness. For their part, the participants are probably too enthralled to care. As poet e. e. cummings once observed: “Kisses are a better fate / than wisdom.”

Litmus Test
Although a kiss may not be wise, it can be pivotal to a relationship. “One dance,” Alex “Hitch” Hitchens says to his client and friend in the 2005 movie Hitch, “one look, one kiss, that’s all we get ... one shot, to make the difference between ‘happily ever after’ and, ‘Oh? He’s just some guy I went to some thing with once.’ ”

Can a kiss be that powerful? Some research indicates it can be. In a recent survey Gallup and his colleagues found that 59 percent of 58 men and 66 percent of 122 women admitted there had been times when they were attracted to some­one only to find that their interest evaporated after their first kiss. The “bad” kisses had no particular flaws; they simply did not feel right—and they ended the romantic relationship then and there—a kiss of death for that coupling.

The reason a kiss carries such weight, Gallup theorizes, is that it conveys subconscious information about the genetic compatibility of a prospective mate. His hypothesis is consistent with the idea that kissing evolved as a courtship strategy because it helps us rate potential partners.

From a Darwinian perspective, sexual selection is the key to passing on your genes. For us humans, mate choice often involves falling in love. Fisher wrote in her 2005 paper that this “attraction mech­anism” in humans “evolved to enable in­di­vi­duals to focus their mating energy on speci­fic others, thereby conserving energy and facilitating mate choice—a primary aspect of reproduction.”

According to Gallup’s new findings, kissing may play a crucial role in the progression of a partnership but one that differs between men and women. In a study published in September 2007 Gallup and his colleagues surveyed 1,041 college undergraduates of both sexes about kissing. For most of the men, a deep kiss was largely a way of advancing to the next level sexually. But women were generally looking to take the relationship to the next stage emotionally, assessing not simply whether the other person would make a first- rate source of DNA but also whether he would be a good long-term partner.

“Females use [kissing] … to provide information about the level of commitment if they happen to be in a continuing relationship,” Gallup told the BBC in September. The locking of lips is thus a kind of emotional barometer: the more enthusiastic it is, the healthier the relationship.

Because women need to invest more energy in producing children and have a shorter biological window in which to reproduce, they need to be pickier about whom they choose for a partner—and they cannot afford to get it wrong. So, at least for women, a passionate kiss may help them choose a mate who is not only good at fathering children but also committed enough to stick around and raise them.

That said, kissing is probably not strictly necessary from an evolutionary point of view. Most other animals do not neck and still manage to produce plenty of offspring. Not even all humans kiss. At the turn of the 20th century Danish scientist Kristoffer Nyrop described Finnish tribes whose members bathed together but considered kissing indecent. In 1897 French anthropologist Paul d’Enjoy reported that the Chinese regard mouth-to-mouth kissing to be as horrifying as many people deem cannibalism to be. In Mongolia some fathers do not kiss their sons. (They smell their heads instead.)

In fact, up to 10 percent of humanity does not touch lips, according to human ethology pioneer Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, now head of the Max-Planck-Society Film Archive of Human Ethology in Andechs, Germany, writing in his 1970 book, Love and Hate: The Natural History of Behavior Patterns. Fisher published a similar figure in 1992. Their findings suggest that some 650 million members of the human species have not mastered the art of osculation, the scientific term for kissing; that is more than the population of any nation on earth except for China and India.

Lopsided Love
For those cultures that do kiss, however, osculation conveys additional hidden messages. Psychologist Onur Güntürkün of the Ruhr-University of Bochum in Germany recently surveyed 124 couples kissing in public places in the U.S., Germany and Turkey and found that they tilted their heads to the right twice as often as to the left before their lips touched. Right-handedness cannot explain this tendency, because being right handed is four times more common than is the act of kissing on the right. Instead Güntürkün suspects that right-tilted kissing results from a general preference that develops at the end of gestation and in infancy. This “behavioral asymmetry” is related to the lateralization of brain functions such as speech and spatial awareness.

Nurture may also influence our tendency to tilt to the right. Studies show that as many as 80 percent of mothers, whether right-handed or left-handed, cradle their infants on their left side. Infants cradled, face up, on the left must turn to the right to nurse or nuzzle. As a result, most of us may have learned to associate warmth and security with turning to the right.

Some scientists have proposed that those who tilt their heads to the left when they kiss may be showing less warmth and love than those who tilt to the right. In one theory, tilting right exposes the left cheek, which is controlled by the right, more emotional half of the brain. But a 2006 study by naturalist Julian Greenwood and his colleagues at Stranmillis University College in Belfast, Northern Ireland, counters this notion. The researchers found that 77 percent of 240 undergraduate students leaned right when kissing a doll on the cheek or lips. Tilting to the right with the doll, an impassive act, was nearly as prevalent among subjects as it was among 125 couples observed osculating in Belfast; they tilted right 80 percent of the time. The conclusion: right-kissing probably results from a motor preference, as Güntürkün hypothesized, rather than an emotional one.

Despite all these observations, a kiss continues to resist complete scientific dissection. Close scrutiny of couples has illuminated new complexities woven throughout this simplest and most natural of acts—and the quest to unmask the secrets of passion and love is not likely to end soon. But romance gives up its mysteries grudgingly. And in some ways, we like it like that.

 

Reposted from Raffy's blog