About

1. Negrense ako ya (I am a Negrense … that means I come from Negros Occidental); but it is more accurate to say that I am from Bacolod City.
2. I was born in Manila but was schooled and raised in Bacolod City and that’s where I am now home-based.
3. I turn 50 next this year and I have no qualms telling people my age. 2008: Now I’m 51.
4. I like books but I can hardly find the time to read them (I am a sloooow reader). 2008: In fact, I rediscovered reading in late 2007 and since then, I have consumed – yes, right word – about 8 books since Dec., 2007.  I think that’s not really bad for someone who reads only after midnight when all the other chores (from school to housecleaning) are done.
5. I love doing things with my hands: typing, cross-stitching, doodling, writing (I am also fascinated with calligraphy and tried learning it but I think I am now too old to give it as much time as I should), cooking and even doing minor house repairs.
6. I have belatedly learned to appreciate cooking but everything that I cook comes with a warning: “Fit for my consumption only”.
7. I love teaching, I love teaching, I love, teaching. If I were asked what my greatest achievement is, it is that I stuck to teaching for nearly over 20 years without losing my mind.
8. I once wanted to be a doctor; not just a doctor, but a good doctor like my father. Though I had many angry years quarreling with his refusal to “have another doctor in the family”, I have long ago dismissed this “twist of fate” with the usual excuse, i.e. perhaps I was never meant to be a doctor. I also wanted to be an architect (this still fascinates me and I can stare at buildings and houses for long periods of time which would sometimes make my friends wonder if I had turned catatonic).
9. I never dreamed I’d someday be a CPA and a lawyer. I took up accounting studies by accident: the dean refused to sign my enrollment form unless I majored in accounting. She said she knew I’d someday be a good CPA. She was both right and wrong: I did become a CPA but I never practiced public accounting.  After passing the board exams, I chose to teach – that, too, was an accident and another long story. I planned to be a lawyer (partly to make up for my “sins” as a bad student) but by the time I passed the Bar, I missed teaching so much, I accepted the first teaching offer made to me after the Bar and never looked back.
10. Dreams I gave up: to write a good accounting textbook, to finish my graduate studies, to put up my own ad-free radio station and to someday live in Alaska.
11. Dreams I still nurture: to conduct accounting classes or tutorials “live” via the internet, to take my backpack and go on a biking tour of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and the nearby provinces (Bohol and Cebu) and to set up a free or almost-free accounting school (and a really good one!) so more and more people can become good CPAs.  2008 update: For health reasons (cervical spondylitis), I have given up my dream of going on a biking tour of Negros.  I also think that my dream of teaching via the internet (so I can reach more) would be more attainable if I just teach, period.  I have realized that, because of economic conditions, very few people will have access to the internet even by 2010 … which means that if I want to be able to reach more, I must give up computer technology in favor of the conventional method of teaching.  This is very frustrating but it’s reality.
12. I have an eclectic taste in music so my iPod has playlists ranging from the classics to alternative, from bossa nova to rock, from electronica to pop, from folk/country to R&B’s hiphop. In other words, I can listen to anything except metallic rock.
13. I am not much of a TV person; in other words, I can live without it.
14. I am a night person who can get by with just 4 or 5 hours of sleep.
15. I look forward to quiet moments ( just the sound of my tapping on the keyboards and nothing else, sometimes not even music.)

Added January 6, 2007 …

1. What is my greatest dream for the Philippines: that more and more children will have access to good education; that more and more children will have access to a good library so they will appreciate reading instead of watching TV.
2. I don’t like people who are loud especially those who think that their latest acquisitions or the number of zeroes in their bank accounts would interest other people.
3. I don’t like strong perfume on people. This gives me a big headache.
4. If I don’t have anything urgent to do, I can spend more than 10 hours surfing the internet.
5. Though I once wanted to be a doctor, you’d need more than 10 horses to drag me to one. First, I hate waiting in a clinic; second, I don’t like being poked everywhere and being asked questions I don’t know the answer to.
6. I started to appreciate vegetables (and eating them in large quantities) only in my mid30s after a major operation. Now I can eat practically anything except okra. 🙂

To be continued …