Malditang Librarian

There’s this encounter with a feeling-close relative that still pops up my mind from time to time even if it was a long time ago. Since my mind keeps on replaying thoughts and imagining things I should’ve said or done, I’ll pick it apart again. There’s this notion that there is virtue in ‘accepting criticism’. But what if the person doing the criticizing… doesn’t really have a say on the matter? What if they have a version of you in their mind that isn’t really what you are and they have the gall of imposing their version of you in their heads? What if they don’t really know the details of your life for the years you haven’t even met? As if they know you better than you know yourself? Another problem is since they’re the ones doing the criticizing, you should shut up and listen and just take it, and when you answer back and tell your side of the story they’ll call you defensive. If they are so open about their criticism, then why don’t they also accept my criticism that they shoul...

Source: pexels.com I just finished a draft of a thirty-page teaching module I will be paid for writing. It is still far from complete, but now I can heave a sigh of relief after weeks of research and trying to write it. I realized how difficult writing is! I was trying to apply for online jobs involving writing, but I failed in one of my applications because I couldn't write on the topic they gave. When this opportunity came, I grabbed it so I can test myself if I can tackle these kinds of writing projects. When I was given the task and the deadline, the first step I did was research on Google. My, was I overwhelmed with the search results! So many information, so many useful data, so many reliable (and not-so-reliable) sources, but so little time and it felt like my brain couldn't process everything! So I closed the browser first and shut down the computer so I can think clearly. Being online tempts me to click and click, that in the end hours pass, I have read a lot, ye...

I just wanted to post something I wrote after I resigned from my first job in Manila. It was also the first time I experienced burnout. I certainly feel better now than I did then. I am in my second (and last) year of graduate school and I'll focus first on this one before fully focusing on my next job search.

It's Back-to-School season again. Are you just an average student? Are you the type whose grades are always near-failing due to your many activities? Or are you the top-student in the making, with your almost-Machiavellian pursuit of honors and high grades? No matter what your standing is or what kind of student you are, most of us want to enjoy school life while minimizing failures and incomplete grades as much as possible. No matter how stressful it seems, there is a way to find balance. Decide what your goals are in studying, and meet them. When I started college, I decided that I want to be in the Dean’s List. I never cared much for extracurricular activities as long as I have time to read good books. It's you who sets your own priorities. Be clear. 1. Be organized.  Even if it's just your phone calendar or a more complicated and detailed planning system, it helps to have a tool to remind you of events, exams, and project schedules. After experimenting with so ma...

Nowadays, librarians are in high-demand in the Philippines. There’s a lot of institutions looking for librarians, and there are few licensed and professional librarians. However, due to budget cuts and saving, some institutions only require the bare minimum to meet the requirements. Most librarians or fresh graduates of library science often find themselves as ‘one-man librarians’. They may or may not have assistants, but essentially, they work alone in their library. They manage the library, acquire and organize its books and resources, keep the books and chairs in order, and serve the clients. In my first official job, I was a one-man librarian in a small college library. Due to the situation and the burn-out I felt, I eventually quit. In my experience of being a one-man librarian, I often compare it to being the only waiter (and cook) in a restaurant. You take the order, you cook the food, you serve it and take the money. You clean up after the customer and buy the supplies y...

Pixabay 1. Your notebook and pen. The notebook and pen may be the most important invention in all of civilization. The notebook and pen is enduring even through technological change: portable and light, trusty information storage without faulty back-ups or batteries running out. Take notes while listening in class or doodle while pretending to listen in class. Research shows that our brains remember more when we write things down. 2. Yellow pad. Quizzes and exams for class still use the classic yellow pad. Write your essay drafts for requirements and exams. Have your own yellow pad, so you don't waste time still asking for some from your classmates! 3. Handy highlighters. Don’t you just love highlighters? A fresh set of candy-colored pens to make your readings less boring. Highlighters help us focus in studying so you don’t miss he most essential points and concepts. A little color and creativity helps our memory remember what we studied. I personally like using the ne...

I would just like to share this essay I wrote for a finals exam for the subject Group Dynamics. The question is: The 21st Century is highly digitized, given the fast-paced expanding growth and development of technology-meditated communication (internet, social media, etc.). Assess and evaluate your technology use and expound on the advantages and disadvantages of its use to your interpersonal relations with others. Cite personal or work-related example/s and explain the dynamics using any of theories, philosophies, principles, processes, and concepts in Group Dynamics. In the 21st century, social media is now an undeniable part of our life. It has changed how we communicate and our relationships with people. Now that more people are using smartphones, we can talk with other people no matter where they are in the globe. With free data and faster  internet connections, communication is getting even cheaper and easier. As a millenial, I've tried and I'm using various ...

I've been reading the blog of speaker Chinkee Tan  for some time now. His insights on money and how we spend it hits me most of the time and inspires me to save rather than spend. When Victory Church invited him to speak for free yesterday night, I didn't miss the opportunity to attend. I'm glad I did! He was previously an actor alongside comedians such as Randy Santiago and Bayani Agbayani, but he left showbiz to pursue business. Mr. Tan delivers lessons on money in a real and funny way, the audience was bursting with laughter most of the time. Its worth it to hear Mr. Chinkee Tan speak at least once in your life, I think writing doesn't come close to how well he speaks and how funny he is in real life. Here are the lessons that I've learned from him: We all want to be wealthy. We all want to provide for ourselves and our families, and enjoy life. Though most of the time, we have problems with money and debt. We want to enjoy life, but the money doesn'...

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, New York: Penguin Books, ©1959 “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” I was about 2/3 reading Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Though I admit I find it quite dreary and boring, it was tiring me to scan blocks of text and the drama was not stirring me anymore. So I downloaded another batch of eBooks, started reading Shirley Jackson's horror novel  The Haunting of Hill House yesterday. I just finished it moments ago. You may be familiar with the author's name, as she wrote ...

This is our last project for our summer classes! This is for MLIS 608: Advanced Reference and Information Services under Ms. Ana Mae Cantel. This is just a simple video of simple transactions in the Reference section of a library, and to introduce the Henry Luce III Library. We are not video experts in any way so we did what we can with our smart phones. The audio isn't that good (we know) and we just placed subtitles for clarity. We shot it all one afternoon, and thanks to the work students who volunteered to act for our output. At last, Summer classes is over. I can say that this has been the most stressful summer, even if its just two subjects but being in graduate school made it a lot harder! But we made it, me and my classmate Connie. Thanks!

Yesterday, there was supposed to be a meet-up with some classmates from my college batch. Only two of us showed up. Another didn't feel so well after a trip. The one who told us to meet didn't show up and only told us the last minute that she was going somewhere else. I felt a mild annoyance, because this person doesn't always show up when she says she's going to, that I now feel that you can't trust her to keep agreed appointments. It feels as if she doesn't respect other people's time... I was about to finish our last output for a subject yesterday but moved it for today because I wanted to see them. Well, I don't think I'll be able to trust her if she plans something, though she's still my friend. Though I did get to see one classmate and we ate mango pizza at SouthPoint at SM City. Today, I met with my only classmate (there's only two of us in class) to finalize a simple video presentation about the Reference Services in the Library....

Some thoughts after my first trip abroad... traveling, though quite expensive, is a great educational experience. You get to experience things in another culture and get to compare your own. You realize a lot of things, and you go home with a new appreciation of the world and your unique nationality and country. It makes you realize that the world is so big and there's still so much to see and know. At least for me, it made me think that I don't want to die yet until I see Rome, Israel, Egypt, Europe, or Greece. Going to a progressive business center in Asia, I found that I was tired after just three days. I got to see the wonders of capitalism: all man-made buildings, monuments of architecture and engineering, people crowded into so little space. I went to a famous amusement park, all artificial buildings designed like cartoons, perfect sights and facades mimicking animated fairy tales. I smile, and recall much younger days when such a place would be so believable. But be...

At this point, I think this blog isn't sure what's its going to be about. I was about to post a review of the excellent novel The Circle by Dave Eggers, a dystopian novel of a hi-tech social media company trying to take over the world's privacy. I was reading it while in another country, and its odd that even if its the sort of thing you post all over social media, I wanted to keep it to myself. I feel so non-existing, and I'm planning to take the quitting social media thing seriously. But I'm still here. "All right. Mae, we have to change how we interact. Every time I see or hear from you, it’s through this filter. You send me links, you quote someone talking about me, you say you saw a picture of me on someone’s wall.… It’s always this third-party assault. Even when I’m talking to you face-to-face you’re telling me what some stranger thinks of me. It becomes like we’re never alone. Every time I see you, there’s a hundred other people in the room. You’re alw...

Last June 1-4, I went out of the country for the first time! I went to Hong Kong for three days and two nights. My grand-aunt was planning to go, so I just went along. It was exciting, but after three days I realized that the Philippines is better! At least, its a great learning experience to be in another country and culture, you realize that the world is still so big. This is not the last time I will go to this place, I'm planning to go back to visit the places we didn't go to due to limited time. I missed the Night Market, Ocean Park, Thousand Buddhas, and our plan to go to Macau was canceled. The best thing about travel is it makes you more hungry to see more of the world. But I have to admit that aside from marveling at the sights, first-world roads, buildings, bridges, and tunnels, I didn't really 'feel' the place and I couldn't relax there totally, life seems to be always busy and people are in a hurry. For me, its better to take a vacation in a beach h...

The sky was heavy with solid grey clouds and made the sunset shine so bright as if the sky was on fire.  Yesterday, my contract for my current job ended. I was absent from work for my last day because we had a seminar that morning for a class and we were the organizers and speakers. I was nervous talking in front of Psychology majors, talking about leadership , of all things. Its just good that the big requirement for that class is over. We had lunch along with the teacher and those who attended our small event. Our teacher will transfer to another university on August, and his undergrad students just found out and there was a silent, emotional moment during lunch. He has been in our school for a very long time and was a good mentor for many students. It means that our summer class under him was also one of his last classes in our university. Even if it was a short time, me and my only other classmate in the class learned a lot from him. The subject, Group Dynamics and Interp...