once upon a time...

you put your right hand in
you take your right hand out
you put your right hand in
and you shake it all about
you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around
that's what it's all about!

i think this is the longest yet that i've gone without blogging... this time it wasn't for lack of anything to blog about though, more of deciding where to start and what to leave out and when to put a post together. i still don't know where this is gonna go... we'll see. =)

school-wise i've been hanging in there... i still feel pretty apathetic about the work i have to do, although we're almost done with week 6! i mean i get it done, and i guess i'm doing well, but there's no heart in it. the classes i'm taking this term are definitely easier than the ones i took last term, but i seem to be subconsciously making things more challenging for myself. and by challenging myself i mean procrastinating. as with all my bad study habits, they seem to pay off which makes them all the harder to shake off. problem with this one, though, is that this habit in particular is creeping into a lot of other aspects of my life... where the consequences are considerably worse.

my most interesting, thought-provoking class this term is definitely psychopathology. it has made me see - really see - how behind every disorder is a human being like you and me who is probably as afraid, disgusted and/or disturbed by whatever it is that has robbed them of themselves. and it scares and angers me that children as young as four are being diagnosed and medicated. in my opinion the side effects of the medication that is forced upon them is little better than the symptoms of the disorders they may or may not have. what makes it worse is that there is close to no research done on psychiatric medication for children, so much so that prescribing medication is often a guessing game. problem is, the person guessing isn't the one who ultimately wins or loses.

every thursday there is a fellowship at the ucf house (where i'm staying - i love it here), and we have a mini class/discussion after dinner. last week we discussed evolution and creationism - all i'll say about it here is i'm glad i was brought up and have developed into someone who dares to disagree and question, and that for me, on both sides of the argument God, a divine being, a higher power must have had a hand in the origins of our existence. which leads to a whole host of implications for life, death and everything in between and beyond. you're free to disagree. today, in conjunction with valentine's day we talked about rayah, ahavah and dode - three hebrew words for "love", and the differences between them. i'll say more in another post. it was good.

every tuesday i have student staff training at the children's center where i work, and this week's theme was music. this guy who does children's events taught us some action rhymes and songs as well as gave us some pointers about what children really like and what would get them going. who knew the same songs and rhymes could also get a roomful of college students going too lol. i have so much respect for anyone, whether 4 or 24 or 64, who willingly participates in an action song whole-heartedly and enjoys it. i think these people are more mature than the people who think they're too mature for action songs. it was a lot of fun.

it's been really gorgeous over the past few days... it's nice seeing the sun for a few days in a row for a change. the sun makes me happy. =)

so rony (from indonesia) was teaching amanda (from portland) an indonesian folksong/nursery rhyme kinda thing a couple of days ago:

topi saya bundar (we say bulat),
bundar topi saya,
kalau tidak bundar,
bukan topi saya!

translation:
my hat is round,
round is my hat,
if it's not round,
it's not my hat!

and it so happens that that song is sung to the tune of "burung kakak tua", so i decided to share too:

burung kakak tua,
hinggap di jendela,
nenek sudah tua,
giginya tinggal dua!

of course, then i had to translate for amanda:

a parrot,
sat on the window,
grandma is old,
she only has two teeth left.

and they lived happily ever after.

the end.