Ben had better not do this in the future...

Books galore

Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore? - Henry Ward Beecher

In the last few months, I've tried to avoid bookstores. There are just too many books I want to buy and not enough money to buy them. Mr Beecher is so right. It's pretty difficult for me to go into a bookstore and not be tempted to grab at least one and buy. I've still got quite a bit of unread books in my shelves but I just cannot help buying books.

Which is why I'm thankful for second-hand book shops like Booksale and Books For Less. There are books that I want to have, even if they've passed many hands and burned many eyes already. At least there, I don't have to dig too deep into my pocket, which to be honest has been to shallow of late. These days, I've been trying to find P.D. James books (Thanks for the recommendation, Te!) so friends out there, those few who may actually read all these ramblings I have, if you find one, text and let me know.

Still, there is something about a new book. In the past, I've never had any qualms about shelling out a bit of money for a book. Sadly, circumstances have changed. I take that back. I've got an adorable little kid now and I know I'd rather spend my money on something that will benefit him (come to think of it, books, especially good ones, will come in handy some day). But you know what I mean. Looking around at Powerbooks, Fully Booked, National Bookstore and a A Different Bookstore is bittersweet these days. Still, once in a while, I can't help myself and I take out the wallet and bring out the cash (or the plastic, which I really should stop using). The smell of a new book can be pretty euphoric. It brings some kind of high so I just love smelling new books.

Right now, I'm trying to decide how I can satisfy my book fetish. I was thinking maybe P300-500 bucks a month on books, but nowadays that sounds extravagant. Hmmmmn, this is going to occupy my thoughts for a while.

Off-topic: Watching the Oscars yesterday, I was glad to find out that The Departed won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Not that I've seen it (I will just watch the DVD). But I'm a big Brad Pitt fan (that is actually an understatement!), and he was heavily involved in the making of that movie. I believe he owned the rights to the Infernal Affairs for production in the US. Prior to the awards show, I already knew that if the movie wins Best Picture, he would not be named as a producer (as per rules of the PGA and the Academy). But I was disappointed when none of the winners (Graham King, Martin Scorsese, William Monaghan) mentioned him in their acceptance speeches (at least I didn't hear his name mentioned). So it was nice to read that Graham King has expressed his annoyance and said that Brad also deserved credit. Just thought I'd note it.

Also, I thought I'd make this blog a little less text heavy by adding either pictures or something else once in a while. Today, I thought one of my favorite comic strips will do again. Take it away, Calvin and Hobbes:

Somehow, I've always known I'm not too smart

Yesterday, I was chatting with my nephew Jovin and he happened to lead me to an essay by Isaac Asimov titled What Is Intelligence?. Here it is:

What Is Intelligence, Anyway?
Isaac Asimov

What is intelligence, anyway? When I was in the army, I received the kind of aptitude test that all soldiers took and, against a normal of 100, scored 160. No one at the base had ever seen a figure like that, and for two hours they made a big fuss over me. (It didn't mean anything. The next day I was still a buck private with KP - kitchen police - as my highest duty.)

All my life I've been registering scores like that, so that I have the complacent feeling that I'm highly intelligent, and I expect other people to think so too. Actually, though, don't such scores simply mean that I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers by people who make up the intelligence tests - people with intellectual bents similar to mine?

For instance, I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not possibly have scored more than 80, by my estimate. I always took it for granted that I was far more intelligent than he was. Yet, when anything went wrong with my car I hastened to him with it, watched him anxiously as he explored its vitals, and listened to his pronouncements as though they were divine oracles - and he always fixed my car.

Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man devised questions for an intelligence test. Or suppose a carpenter did, or a farmer, or, indeed, almost anyone but an academician. By every one of those tests, I'd prove myself a moron, and I'd be a moron, too. In a world where I could not use my academic training and my verbal talents but had to do something intricate or hard, working with my hands, I would do poorly. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in and of the fact that a small subsection of that society has managed to foist itself on the rest as an arbiter of such matters.

Consider my auto-repair man, again. He had a habit of telling me jokes whenever he saw me. One time he raised his head from under the automobile hood to say: "Doc, a deaf-and-mute guy went into a hardware store to ask for some nails. He put two fingers together on the counter and made hammering motions with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He shook his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk brought him nails. He picked out the sizes he wanted, and left. Well, doc, the next guy who came in was a blind man. He wanted scissors. How do you suppose he asked for them?"

Indulgently, I lifted by right hand and made scissoring motions with my first two fingers. Whereupon my auto-repair man laughed raucously and said, "Why, you dumb jerk, He used his voice and asked for them." Then he said smugly, "I've been trying that on all my customers today." "Did you catch many?" I asked. "Quite a few," he said, "but I knew for sure I'd catch you." "Why is that?" I asked. "Because you're so goddamned educated, doc, I knew you couldn't be very smart."

And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.

This is a very interesting and very humbling essay. It got me thinking back to those IQ tests that I had to take before. I never really felt confident taking those tests. In the back of my mind, I always thought I'd never do good on them. Well, I guess I passed a number of them since I somehow made it through college. I never really took the time to find out about scores and such though so that I don't know really what my IQ is...I had never been interested to find out, I guess.

I cringe at times when I here some people make fun of others because they are supposed to be dumb or didn't go to school or they're not academically-minded. And to be honest, I too have been guilty of doing that at some point, and regretted it afterwards. These days, I'm careful to make such pronouncements.

Like Asimov said in his essay, in a world where I cannot use what I know, I'd be a complete moron. The farmer who never stepped into a school knows far more than me about soil and what to do to make them productive; the mechanic who fixes my car knows far more about how to make the blasted thing run and what to do when it doesn't (unlike me who I'm sure will raise my hands and kick the wheel if ever I get stuck somewhere with a car who won't move), the dressmaker who never fails to amaze me with what she can do with a piece of cloth will always be more creative than me. There are so many of them out there who are smarter than me.

The joke the mechanic told Asimov is something familiar. I've gotten similar jokes in the past. Perhaps it is a measure of my "intelligence" that like Asimov, I always give the wrong answer. Those trick questions...my answers are always wrong.

Helloooooooooooo....

Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows. - David T. Wolf

More than a month and a half later...here I am again. I hope to be able to post regularly from now on (yeah, right!).

On that note, the quote above does seem to make sense. I mean older people (with potentially more experience) tend to be conservative and cynical. I know I'm not quite as idealistic as I used to be, but I think there's still a streak of idealism left in me. I haven't lost hope that is, although I have to admit, there is also a bit more of cynicism. Still, I want to hold to whatever idealistic thoughts I still hold to, if only to give me hope. No sense going through life being a cynic and a pessimist. Thankfully, I an easy going person so my complaints about life notwithstanding, I'm still a pretty happy person.

So what have I been up to? Up to my neck with work, but as usual, no one to blame but me (see November 27, 2006 and September 8, 2006 posts). Fortunately, I'm just one article down, and I have made up my mind to finish by tomorrow (not least of the reasons being it's my deadline tomorrow). I've been trying to improve my work ethic, but somehow, my brain just works best when I'm pressured, as it is now. I only took a break because I was getting tired of writing about chicken and pigs.

Next month, I'm off to Bangkok for 4 days to help cover the VIV Asia exhibition (a huge livestck and poultry show, but still nothing like its European counterpart, I heard). But what I'm looking forward to (despite my hate for flying) is a trip to China in April. As usual, it's work related (not that I'll be able to afford to travel there on leisure anyway), and I'll be leaving April 21 and coming back to Manila April 26 (or 27 depending on where I will be leaving China from). There is a congress of Asian pig veterinarians in Wuhan, in Hebei province. Quite some way from Beijing and Shanghai, one of which will be my point of entry and exit. I figured I could stay an extra day just to see some sights. China has always been one of my dream destinations, so I'm excited that the dream will be fulfilled this year, even if I have to attend a piggy convention to do it.

Then in June, Ben and I are going to Kuala Lumpur. One of my bosses have very nicely invited us to stay at her house so I took her up on her offer. We'll be joined by Carrie and Terrie, and Karen might fly in too, although she'll be staying at a hotel. Anyway, the four of us (The Coven) have wanted to travel together for a long time now. We've done it before, but just within the Luzon. A couple of years back (or is it more?), we almost got it organised that we'll get together in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, but unfortunately, things fell through for me. So now is our chance. I'm soooo excited!