Childhood Dreams and Goals-Fulfilled and Unfulfilled

The Japanese Bridge of Chateau Du Mer Beach Resort on Sunset, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

When I was growing up in the small town of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippines in the mid 1940's, I had several dreams and goals in life. One of my first dream after seeing a movie made in US was to see and visit( not reside) US and play in the snow. This dream was attained in 1960. My other dream was to live in a house surrounded by fruit trees, flowers and orchids. This dream was realized in 1996 when we built our retirement home in Boac, Marinduque. Another dream I had was to build a Japanese bridge across a creek( see photo above) populated by tilapias and other fishes. This was attained when we constructed the beach house in 1998.

As a child I never dreamed to be rich in money, but just earned enough to live comfortably. This was fulfilled when we immigrated to US and after I completed my Ph.D degree in 1964. Completion of this graduate degree was the most important goal and dream in my life.

My last dream in my childhood years was to have a residence with a circular driveway with a fountain in the center. This dream was never attained completely. However, this dream, was partially fulfilled when we built the Chateau Du Mer Conference Hall in 2000. The Hall had a circular driveway but no fountain. Building a fountain in the center was planned before construction. However, for practical reasons and lack of funds, this dream will probably not be realized unless I win a lot of $$ in the Lotto or at the Casinos.

Today, my goal in life is see my youngest grand daughter (now 10 years old) graduate in college and see my oldest grandson get married (now 23) and give us a great grandchild that we could pamper at our convenience.

Finally, I thank God for all his blessings for helping me attained most of my dreams and goals in life. Lord without YOU, I am nothing.

For additional details of my childhood memories during the Japanese-American War in the Philippines (1941-1945), visit http://theintellectualmigrant.blogspot.com `

Am I a Born or Made Writer?

I am not quite sure what the correct answer is, but I feel I am both. My early childhood has never been devoted to writing or art activities. It was science and mathematics that was emphasized in my early education. Later in my high school years, for some twist of luck, I was chosen by my English instructor to be editor of our high school newspaper. I was forced to write articles as fillers for the newspaper and was taught the basics of news writing and editing. I also started writing poetry in both English and our national language (Tagalog). During my high school years, I entertained the thought of taking journalism as a career in college. My parents however discouraged me, stating there is no money in writing and I will not be able to support a family. They wanted me to be a lawyer, doctor of medicine or a catholic priest. At their urgings, I enrolled as a pre-medical student at the University of the Philippines, Iloilo College. At the end of my second year, I learned I will never be a good doctor as the sight of blood nauseated me. I shifted to Chemistry and the rest is history.

My years as an undergraduate and graduate student emphasized science, mathematics and engineering. It was only after my retirement that I started blogging and learned that I enjoy writing. This is true also for my oldest son. He wrote a novel (Cloyne Court) after finishing law school and now is on his second novel. He told me he writes as a hobby and is a relaxation therapy for him. Writing to him is a good diversion from his hectic life as a prosecuting attorney here in Northern California.

There is a common saying that if you can talk, you can write. But great writing is a born talent and I believe can not be taught. The passion to write is born. People have different reasons why they write. A few writes for the sake of writing and can not survive without it. Others write to earn a living and work hard to be a successful writer, reporter or novelist.

So why do I write for Skrive.It and continue writing for my blogs. First, I enjoy writing. Second, to advertise my beach resort in the Philippines and last but not least is to get affirmation from readers and other writers that they enjoy reading my articles. Reading positive comments from others is an ego boost and makes me feel alive and useful during this stage of my life (retirement and old age). It kept away the feeling of boredom and uselessness.

Getting a monetary award is another ego boost, but I have learned this is no longer my primary incentives why I am writing for Skrive.It and blogging for my Googles Adsense earnings. I have also learned not to compare myself with the other writers/bloggers. I have my own style of writing and if I write from the heart, nothing can go wrong.

Most writers that I know write because they love writing. To them writing is just like breathing. These born writers do not work hard to create an excellent article, because their writing comes from the heart and their soul. Others write with a lot of work, training and pain. Good writers run in the family as exemplified by the family of Stephen King. Most writers however are made and only become good writers through hard work and constant practice. The most common traits of good writers are patience and persistence, whether their writing talent is inborn or just developed.

Allow me to quote Jan Bird a Face Book friend from UK and an excellent writer from her article, The Writing Bug. "Writing for me right now, is like love. It isn't something I do, it happens to me. It takes me completely by surprise when I least expect it and then it absolutely refuses to let go until it wants to. It's intoxicating and irrational".

This is how a born writer feels everyday of his/her life. Writing to inborn writers must feel like addiction or a compulsion that must be satiated.

How about you? Are you a born writer or a made writer? Do you agree with the statement that good writers can be made but great writers are born? I will be glad to hear from you!

Writing Styles and the Basics of Effective Writing

I did not major in writing or in English while in College. As a matter of fact, I only received a grade of only 85% in my high school English class. Compared to my 90% and 95% grades in History, Mathematics and Science, I could definitely recall that English was not my favorite subject in high school or in college. However, while in Graduate School, I took a class on effective and technical writing. What I learned from that class, I have applied in writing and are currently using that knowledge in my blogging activities.

Let me start with the three common styles of writing: technical, business and conversational.

Technical style is the writing style used for technical documents. It requires the use of especially clear and concise language. The style encourages short sentences and the absence of unnecessary words. The purpose is to ensure that technical information is easy to understand. The use of slang and double negatives must be avoided.

Business style is very similar to technical style, except that longer sentences are acceptable.

Conversational Style is identified by the use of personal pronouns, contractions and colloquialisms. Sometimes slang words are use to avoid monotony

There is no right and wrong writing style but what you use should be appropriate for a particular setting and audience. In other words know your audience and write for your audience.

Lastly, let me discussed briefly the three basics elements of style.

There are many elements in writing that contribute to an author’s style, but three of the most important are word choice, sentence fluency, and voice.


Word Choice: Good writers are concise and precise, weeding out unnecessary words and choosing the exact word to convey meaning. Precise words — active verbs, concrete nouns, specific adjectives — help the reader visualize the sentence. Good writers use adjectives sparingly and adverbs rarely, letting their nouns and verbs do the work.

Sentence fluency: Sentence fluency is the flow and rhythm of phrases and sentences. Good writers use a variety of sentences with different lengths and rhythms to achieve different effects. They use parallel structures within sentences and paragraphs to reflect parallel ideas, but also know how to avoid monotony by varying their sentence structures.

Voice: Voice is difficult to measure reliably. It is often left out of scoring formulas for writing tests. Yet voice is an essential element of style that reveals the writer’s personality. A writer’s voice can be impersonal or chatty, authoritative or reflective, objective or passionate, serious or funny.

Lastly to be an effective writer one must be direct, simple and forceful in your writings. Your writings must be clear with good grammar and no misspellings. If at all possible it must be in the active voice ( not passive) and could be easily understood by a 6th grader. Your writing is not effective if you write so that only a college graduate could easily understand it.

So my dear readers the above are a few of the basic things I learned on how to be an effective writer or blogger.

I Save Money by Snaking Our Toilet

The last couple of months our toilets had clogged twice. The clog was due to hardened stool of my wife as a result of the medication she is taking for Parkinson's Disease. The first time our toilet clogged, I had not heard of a gadget called the snake
so I called our friendly plumber and I paid $153 for the service of unclogging our toilet. I saw the plumber using a gadget and I asked him the name and he said the snake. I did some Internet search, and I found the following very informative video.



Yesterday, our toilet clogged again. I did not hesitate going to the hardware store and purchase the snake for $69.99 saving me over $80. The above video did help me and give me assurance that I can do the snaking myself instead of calling a professional plumber.
Finally besides saving $80 I have a personal snake I could use any time night or day~ Lessons learned: Never be afraid to ask!

Video About Marinduque-What I See

Have you heard of the Bulating-the mud people of Marinduque? The following video by Paco Guerrero is worth 40 minutes of your time. I enjoyed this video very much and sad to say, that although Marinduque is my second home, this is the first time I heard of the mud people of Marinduque.

Asian Parents One Liner Jokes

I am an Asian Parent. Some of the following jokes I can identify with. Even if you are not an Asian Parent, take time to read this and smile. I hope this is a good read especially if you have a bad day.

1 Why you get C? Your not C-sian or B-sian you are A-sian.

2. No more Honey! Honey comes from B's.

3. You Sick? Become doctor heal yourself.

4. Facebook? Why don't you Face Book and study.

5. No son you can't learn Spanish, All they say is "C"

6. You cure Cancer? What about AIDS?

7. You have Sex? Why not use A-hole.

8. You get 94 percent on test Good Job. If you were trying to disappoint me.

9. Occupy Wall Street? Why not Occupy Library?

10. Your sister get B on math test. Congratulations you are my only child.

11. It's Saturday Night why aren't you studying?

12. You get C-Section why not A-bortion.

13. If you want a girlfriend make sure her parents are lawyers or doctors.

14. Son: "To Be or not To Be" Father: You get two B's and you out of house!

Source: http://www.jokes4us.com/ethnicjokes/asianparentsjokes.html

Afterglows in the Sunset of Our Lives

The other day while looking at my old photo files, I found the above photograph. It is a sunset and its afterglow from the west balcony of our retirement beach house in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines taken five years ago. Looking at the photo reminded me of both Macrine's and my professional life in the US. Macrine retired as Manager, Quality Assurance Nurse from one of Maryland's Home Health Nursing Company.

I retired from FDA as a Chemistry Team Leader in the Center of New Drugs, Silver Spring, MD. Both of us had satisfying careers( I had received several awards, letters of commendation and appreciation, and an EEO award). So when we retired in the Fall of 2002, we often ask ourselves, if this is all that we can contribute to society and the community.

Since retirement is often called " the sunset of your life" stage, are there afterglows in our lives that we can be proud of. Yes, indeed! The following are examples of the afterglows in the sunset of our lives.

Eight years ago, Macrine received a letter of Appreciation and Thanks from then and now Governor Carmencita Reyes because of her involvement in MI, Inc Medical Mission Of Love, 2006. Macrine was president and over-all chairperson of the medical mission in Marinduque that year. Here's an excerpt from C Reyes letter of Thanks.

Dear Mrs. Katague,

I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for all the assistance extended by MI, Inc. Your association is one of our full-time partners in the delivery of health services particularly in the conduct of medical/surgical missions which benefited hundreds of Marinduquenos. Thank you so much for the support and assistance extended to our administration and to the people of Marinduque. Mabuhay Kayo!

In addition about seven years ago, Macrine and I received a Letter of Thanks and Appreciation from then Governor Antonio Carrion in our efforts to promote tourism in the island not only during Easter but also whole year round. The letter mentioned several of my blogs and articles that proclaimed my love for the province and encouraging other Balikbayans to build retirement homes in the island.

In 2009, my dream as a "citizen journalist" was attained when two of my articles was accepted for publication in HULIQ News. The first article was about Marinduque as the Ecotourism capital of the Philippines. The second was on the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan.

Last but not least: Just recently two of my thousands of readers of my seven blogs commented: " I have been reading your various blogspots and websites for about one week now. They are all well written and great reading. What I have been reading and following intently in your blog is your life story, very interesting and inspiring indeed. Please keep on writing and thanks for opening yourself up in your blogs."

A second reader also commented: I have been following your blog for quite sometime. I learned a lot about Marinduque and the Philippines. I specially enjoyed reading your childhood experiences during the Japanese-American War. Your contribution as an FDA employee to the burnt victims of the bombing in New York and the Pentagon in 2011 is indeed commendable and worthy of an award. Keep writing!

Will there be more afterglows in the future? I hope so. I would like to hear that our oldest grandson ( now 23) got married and gave us a great grandchild.( that Macrine and I can pamper whenever we want to.) In addition, we would like to hear the news that our youngest granddaughter( now 10) had graduated from college and that both Macrine and myself are still healthy to attend her graduation.

Lastly, Macrine and I thanks the Lord for the past, present and future afterglows in the sunset of our lives. Are you retiree? Any afterglows in the sunset of your lives you can share with my readers?

All You Want to Know about PD but are Afraid to Ask

Next month will be one year after my wife of 57 years( Macrine) was diagnosed with Parkinson disease, commonly called PD. She has been experiencing typical symptoms of the malady with involuntary hand tremors, slow body movement ( walking), unbalanced gait, softer voice, difficulty swallowing and had a couple of falls during the previous months. We have to purchase a cane, and I have to watch her almost all the time when she is awake to prevent another fall. Today however, she has not fallen and only occasional freezing in the muscles on her legs had occurred. Thanks to the two medications she is currently taking, Sinemet and Azilect.

Our doctor prescribed her Sinemet ( 25/100 carbidopa/levodopa) to be taken twice a day. During her first two weeks after taking the drug, she suffered nausea, vomiting, hallucinations and disturbed sleep, but her hand tremors stopped. As of today the nausea had stopped and the hand tremors controlled. She still walks very slow and her voice is very low and have a hard time swallowing. She needs my assistance in changing clothes, bathing and slicing her food into small pieces. She easily gets tired and from what I read in the Internet, there will be a time when the drug will no longer be effective. In the future as the disease progressed she will need palliative care and home nursing assistance. My wife's PD has a genetic component. Her father had PD and one of her aunts on her maternal side had also PD during their senior years.

Along with the Sinemet, her neurologist had also prescribed her a newer drug called Azilect Azilect is very expensive even if you have a medical insurance. I found out the other day that my Federal Employee Program with Blue Cross Blue Shield Pharmacy Mail Service Option will save me a lot of money. So starting yesterday I ordered my wife's PD drugs via mail order instead of buying direct from our local CVS pharmacy. Two whole sale pharmacy suppliers near us quoted me a price of $3,580 for 90 day supply of Azilect. Two other pharmacy outlets quoted me only 1,540 including our current pharmacy supplier CVS. My copay for the 90 day supply is $357. However, if I ordered it by mail my copay will be only $80, saving me $277 for 3 months and more than $1000 per year. It does pay to shop for your prescription here in the US.

Sinemet has several side effects as I mentioned above. However, one side effect that my wife suffers is constipation. Our neurologist gave us a recipe consisting of equal amounts( one cup each) of apple sauce, bran and prune juice. The mixture can be kept refrigerated for a week. Only 1 to 2 tablespoon should be taken daily. Of course several laxatives over the counter are also available in our local drug stores.

The following information from the National Parkinson's Foundation, I found very informative. This is the information that you want to know all about PD but are afraid to ask.

In the United States, 50,000-60,000 new cases of PD are diagnosed each year, adding to the one million people who currently have PD. The Center for Disease control rated complications from Parkinson’s disease as the 14th leading cause of death in the United States. Worldwide, it is estimated that four to six million people suffer from the condition. There is hope, however, as scientists work towards a cure and make progress in identifying the best treatment options for patients.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that progresses slowly in most people. The dopamine levels in the neurons are almost non-existent in persons with PD compared to normal persons. The PD drugs alleviate the symptoms by increasing dopamine levels. What this means is that individuals with PD will be living with PD for twenty years or more from the time of diagnosis with medications. Parkinson’s disease itself is not fatal, but complications could occur and can cause death. There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s; however, investigations on animal models, gene therapy and stem cells research are undergoing so those with PD can have a good quality of life.

Treatment approaches include medication and surgical therapy. Other treatment approaches include general lifestyle modifications (rest and exercise, stop smoking), physical therapy, support groups, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Recent studies have indicated that a treatment is better than no treatment. In other words, medications and therapies can modify the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Michael Fox and Muhamed Ali are the two world famous personalities known to be suffering with PD.

Reference: www.parkinson.org ( National Parkinson Foundation)