Saa, hajimaru da ze. ~So it begins.~

Current System Configuration: Number-Crunching Grade Machine with built in Grammar Corrector and Logical Fallacy Disposal Unit. (Checking information reports.)
Background Music: GONG by JAM Project from Super Robot Wars Alpha 3: To the End of the Galaxy. Heroic, hot-blooded and valiant. (which would make an awesome description of coffee flavor if Starbucks used it)
Breakfast: Muesli and yogurt
Lunch: Salami sandwich, Twister fries and cake
Dinner: Foccacia bread and olive oil

Greetings, dear readers, flamers and stalkers. Since this is my first post, I'd just like to make sure that it's clear what I want this blog to be. If ever I deviate from this "mission-vision", feel free to let me know so I can get back on track. Now since I have a lot to say, telling you what I don't want to say is the best way to narrow the scope of what you should expect in this blog.

The last thing I want this blog to be is an adolescent angst-o-matic through which I pour out my disgust at how weak Starbucks' espresso is or how little I'm paid for the work that I do. I'm no longer a teenager, so I guess that strikes out the "adolescent" part. However, the combination of being single and professional tends to brew a particularly nasty form of bitterness. I'd like to avoid this. Oh, the world is dark and evil, I'll give you that. But as early as now I'd like to hold onto my hope that there is something better at the end of it all, except for the purpose of sharing this hope with others.

Another thing I don't want this blog to be is a mushy collection of poetry meant to unburden myself of pleasant yet unspeakable sentinments regarding a member of the opposite sex. Don't get me wrong---catharsis is good, and so is falling in love. Nevertheless, you see enough of this online. I'd like to spare you from any more of that dangerously infectious substance called . I may mention the object of my affection once in a while, but if I begin waxing mushily poetic, please feel free to smite me with the Sword of Flame. I'd greatly appreciate it.

One more thing I don't want to anyone to catch me writing: religious condemnation. I want to eradicate the stereotype of practicing Christians as judgmental, oppressive/repressive and generally nasty people. I may be much more conservative than most of the souls who lurk on the Intercontinental Information Cluster, but I shouldn't force that on others. Of course I will become preachy from time to time, but anyone who reads such an article is free to accept or reject what I say. No hard feelings. If I go too far and seem to attack a particular school of thought, please apply slashing and burn damage by using the Sword of Flame.

Apart from these three taboos that I set for myself, you can expect pretty much anything from personal theological reflections to giant robot diagrams to anime reviews to silly anecdotes about my experience as a teacher.

Now, you might be asking yourself "what kind of freak is this guy, anyway?"

I go by the net nick "Aslan J. Cross," which is actually the name of the protagonist of a story I'm writing, Sackcloth Sun. Now please don't ask me to publish the story yet. In its current form it's decidedly horrible and cliche, and I don't want to embarrass myself by displaying it online. Nevertheless, Aslan is Turkish for "lion," and was taken from C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. (a marvelous piece of literature). Neither my real life person nor my character are anything close to the original Narnian Aslan, a divine Lion possessing perfect strength, compassion, love and beauty. I'm nothing like that, though that's what I'd like to be.

The same is true for my character, who has been recently recharacterized to be a dark yet hopeful figure, a man of blood seeking redemption in a time of great distress. This is to make him radically different from my real life self. I learned from my Creative Writing classes more than once that writing oneself into one's literary characters is not a good way to start. Hence the saying "Kill your babies." The "J" stands for "Josiah," the name of a righteous king of ancient Judah. He was instrumental in the revival of the nation and remembered as one of their greatest kings ever, though unfortunately the end of that era was not so rosy. But I'm digressing here.

I am one of the 80 or so million inhabitants of a marvelous group of 7,107 islands in Southeast Asia known as the Philippines. A great country, if you'll ask me---though we admittedly suffer from Chronic Government Incompetency (CGI) and Social Bi-Polar Disorder (SBPD, which is characterized by either complete apathy toward the system or total militant activism). We are a country with great potential but little unity. That's one of the things I'd like to help change within my lifetime.

Of course, I shouldn't go knocking on the government as much as I'd like to, since I'm on their payroll. I teach English in a reputable government-run High School. It's my first year to teach, and though at first it was quite overwhelming, I've been getting the hang of it by the grace of Elyon. I tell everyone that it's a hard job, but ultimately fun and rewarding. Hopefully this will give you an insight as to why your childhood nemesis (your English teacher) acted the way he or she did.

I'd like to go on, but I have papers to check and grades to compute. Before I end, I'd like to leave a few quotes from the information reports my students have been writing. Thankfully the problem isn't so much grammatical as it is logical. Wait, that can't be good.

Student X says, in a report about illegal logging (a rampant environmetal problem plaguing my beloved country):

"So next time we log illegally, think of the consequence [sic] that might be given to you..."

Okay, first off: I am not an illegal logger, neither do I own an illegal logging operation. To my knowledge, none of my family owns any logging ventures, legal or otherwise.
Second: My dear student, I sincerely hope that you aren't involved in illegal logging yourself.
Third: It's highly unlikely that any illegal loggers will be reading your paper anytime soon---which is unfortunate. They really need to get a clue.

Student Y says, in a "report" about littering within our campus (also a rampant problem, much to my chagrin. In a science school no less.):

"These litters [sic] also cause acid or dirty rains. When these litters still have fluids inside them (examples are the koolee cups and Coke cans) these fluids evaporate and cause dirty rains, and some students like bathing in the rain. Imagine the germs they might get, and these germs can cause some serious diseases."

My comments: "Only the water evaporates. The sugary concentrate is left behind as sticky residue....ACID RAIN IS CAUSED BY SULFUR DIOXIDE, NOT CARBONIC ACID FOUND IN COKE!" What's sad is that I'm not a science teacher and yet I have to correct "facts" like this. Student Y goes on to say...

"Even the toilets in the dormitory, which you expect to find clean are also dirty. This causes some people to prevent the urge to urinate, and not urinating causes the build-up of kidney stones in the body, which is again dangerous to your health."

At this I was aghast. Okay, Y has some logic to what he/she was saying, but there are just so many factors contributing to the development of kidney stones that you can't simply blame their formation on stinky toilets. I for one still use the toilets, as icky as they sometimes are. My comment: "You're really laying it on thick, Student Y. -_-;"

Students X and Y, my apologies for writing about your papers. I'm sure you're embarrassed--it's up to you whether or not you want to let your friends know that I was talking about you. I just think that letting the rest of the world know what NOT to write in their papers is beneficial to you, to other students and to teachers alike. To the two of you, so that you learn from your mistakes; to other students, to keep them from making bad papers; and to teachers, to spare them the agony of having to contend with papers like this.

Aaaanywaaaaay, I've gone on long enough. Expect another entry within the week, if I manage to defeat the beast called Dead Line by Friday. Saraba da. さらばだ。

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-Aslan+J+Cross-