Posing

Street Children

Fish in the Sea

An Online Community Dedicated to Collaborative Learning

I came upon Wikiversity by accident. I was researching course materials for technical writing when I found this interesting website that promotes open (free) educational learning to everyone. Much like Wikipedia, this site was built to store information on different topics.

I like the concept of free learning for everyone. I think everyone is entitled to education and this site is one good step towards that goal.

Imagine having students logging on to their computers and access their daily classes online. A lot of university classes are already taking this mode of learning, specially distance learning education (where students from one country can take courses from a school in another country). This wiki site has a grand goal to make learning available for everyone at no cost. I think it is possible if there are a lot of professors who would be willing to contribute their knowledge to the site, sharing what they know for free.


Currently, the site is still underdeveloped. A lot of information from different subjects are still missing. It would be nice to have a free online learning site that contains modules and lessons to aid its readers in learning.

I think the wiki site can use online quizzes or exercise questions, much like other LMS courses. These lessons can become more interesting and entertaining with additional learning exercises, videos, forums, and other tools that encourage student participation.

Shot Glass

Book Review: Leaper (by Geoffrey Wood)

I came across this curious novel at Booksale. Leaper talks about the "misadventures of a not-necessarily-super-hero". Based on the cover, the book is about a neurotic coffee barista named James, who suddenly discovers that he has a super power. 

Flipping through the first few pages of the book, I saw how James discover his ability to teleport or "leap" from one spot to another. He found himself transported to the house of his ex-wife and struggled to make sense out of the whole predicament.


Based on my initial impressions, I thought the book was a good read. It had everything that I like in a story -- a quirky protagonist struggling to make sense of his new ability and what to do with it. The humor and snappy dialogue made the story even more entertaining.


After buying the book and making through the next couple of chapters, I got to learn more about James. He has been coping poorly with life, thanks to his divorce. His ex-wife took away everything and all he has left was his job at the coffee house and his apartment. The super power that he discovered made his situation even worse.


I did not expect the author to take the next few chapters to another direction, which was different from the typical superhero stories that I read before. It turns out that James was a non-practicing Catholic and wondered if his new power was given to him by God. I did a little research on Geoffrey Wood, and it turns out that he is a Christian writer and most of his works revolve on faith and religion.


As I continued reading the novel, I learned that it was God who as the one responsible for James's newly acquired power. I part of me cringed, thinking that the story would become one of those preachy religious parables that promotes Catholicism and religion.


Despite his sudden renewal of faith, James's situation continues to deteriorate. He loses his job, alienates his friends, becomes a fugitive, and gets arrested. I noticed that the humorous writing (which was present in the first few chapters) had been replaced with a grim and darker tone. With everything gone, James only had his faith left and learned to trust in God.


The novel had a satisfying ending (I won't spoil it for those who want to read the book), but I am not sure if the book would have the same impact for non-Christians. Wood took the risk in using God as the source for James's leaping power. The superhero story eventually became a spiritual journey of man who rediscovers his faith and reconciles with his own failures.


I find the book a worthy read. It's been a while since I came across a good Christian-based fiction. Despite living in a Catholic country, I noticed that we do have a lack of worthy Catholic stories and novels. Most that I encountered fall into two extreme opposites -- bashing the Church (and God) or blatantly praising them. For me, a good Christian-based fiction is a story that uses religion and faith to explore human nature, from its flaws and imperfections. Such stories don't have to end with people singing and praising God, but religion can be used as a catalyst to either help resolve or to heighten the conflict. It is still the protagonist (and not religion) that makes the choice and finds an appropriate ending for the story.

New Year at Tagaytay

It was a bad decision to go to Tagaytay on New Year's day. But we thought it was a nice idea to spend the holiday outside the house. We thought it would be easier to manage the kids when we are out of the house. But things have a funny way of getting back at you when you least expect it.

Our trip going to Tagaytay was tiring but enjoyable. Jen's younger brother and his wife joined us on the trip. They just returned from Singapore to spend the holidays with her parents. We talked on the road and played with the kids. We made a stop over to SM Dasmarinas to have lunch at Max's restaurant. There were a lot of people there and strangely, the department store was closed for the holiday.

We left the mall and made our way up to Tagaytay. It was around 3pm when we arrived. There were a lot of people and cars near the junction. We noticed that both sides of the main road was packed with cars. Traffic was slow moving.

We decided to have a short snack at Josephine. The restaurant was packed with people, but we loved the ambiance. Aside from the actual dining area, customers can enjoy the scenery outside.

We ordered Bulalo, palabok, halu-halo, and blue marlin with mango salsa. The food was okay for its price. I guess the main attraction of the restaurant is its ambiance and its panoramic view of the lake. Jen and I had to take breaks in our meal, to feed and take care of the kids. Aaron loved the cold weather and kept dragging us outside to look at the volcano.

It was almost 7pm when we left the restaurant. Traffic was still bad outside, but we were determined to leave Tagaytay. We spent three hours on the road, trying to entertain and put the kids to sleep. It wasn't an easy task. Both of them demanded attention and would cry out when we appear to be ignoring them. But after an hour and a half, we managed to put them to sleep.

Note to self -- don't bring the kids to Tagaytay during holidays, you'll be stuck in traffic and you'll get even more exhausted taking care of the kids during the trip.