Drowning . . . in the blues

The last few days have been difficult as I am drained of (almost) all my passion and sense of importance in relation to my work. The unending and overwhelming number of essays and written answers to be marked, corrected and commented on is the one excruciating dread I have as a teacher; its a constant and prime source of deep depression (one which I am presently downing in). I have begun to entertain the idea of leaving to do something less stressful and one that I'm passionate about but without anything remotely possible or available, I will have to bite the bullet and keep my head above these blue waters till passion and power is restored. Till then . . .

Got my own column (again)!

A student approached me today and said, "I read what you wrote in the papers today." Wondering what she was referring to, I asked her and she dug out today's copy of the Eastern Times and showed me page 4. To my surprise, there was my column, Peter's Write Words, with my first article 'Have you read lately?'!

I have been in consultation and contact with the newspaper and have been faithfully meeting their request but I was not informed that my proposed column had the green light and was going to be published today - what a surprise. And to think that if my student had not mentioned about it . . .

I'll be writing a weekly column on English and all that's related to it (the listening, speaking, writing and reading of English) - don't forget to get a copy of the Eastern Times every Friday from now on. Happy reading!

Here's a scan of the article if you missed it!

For the rest of you who can't get hold of the paper or won't buy it, read all my articles here . . . please.

Easter - Good news for sinners (like me)!

Here are some thoughts on Easter from Pastor Rick Warren which I believe explains so beautifully why I am most excited as a Christian when it comes to celebrating Easter (even more excited than Christmas):

Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness. Ephesians 1:7 (GWT)

There have been a lot of great religious teachers throughout history. They've all had good things to say, but what makes Jesus different from every other religious teacher throughout history is the fact that he died and rose again.

That's of critical importance because it's not the life of Jesus that saves you; it's not the teachings of Jesus that save you; it's his death and resurrection that open the door for your salvation.

The Bible says that justice demands punishment. If you do the crime, you pay the time. If you break the law, you pay the fine. If you get caught speeding, you get a ticket. If you break God's laws, you pay God's penalty and, according to the Bible, "the wages [for our] sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23 NLT).

In other words, somebody has to pay for all the things you've done wrong in life: either you pay or somebody else pays for you. And this is where God says, "I'll do it!" He steps up to the plate. Jesus Christ is sent to earth—God in human form—and he says, in effect, "I will pay for your sins."

When Jesus died on the cross for you, it showed two things:

1. It showed how much your forgiveness cost. The highest price you can pay for anything is to give your life for it. And that's what Jesus did. He gave his blood. He gave his life. It was extremely expensive. Grace is free but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus his life, but he paid for your sins.

2. It shows how much God values you. It shows how much you matter to God. Jesus died for you on the cross. It shows the highest price possibly to be paid was giving a life.

Thank God it's Friday

Today's Good Friday and I'm relieved that the death of Jesus is a historical fact attested by believers and non-believers alike. I am so glad the death of Jesus has dealt the death blow to man's (mine included) biggest problem: sin. Today my debt to God because of my failure to live up to his standards have been paid in full thus erased; my bondage to various destructive sins have been completely busted - I'm free from the bondage of sin; best of all, my guilt and shame and sense of filth due to sins committed have been washed away all because of Jesus' death on the cross (the pouring out of blood from Jesus' wounds played an important role). So what can I say except Thank God It's Friday!

The ideal eating guideline

Gotta get used to eating these guys . . . a LOT!

To NOT be overweight (after you realize you are one of those thousands heading towards obesity) I believe these simple rules that are almost impossible to obey are necessary to maintain a healthy weight and waistline. Here it goes:

1. Breakfast for a king - eat most and keep it healthy with lots of cereal, fruits and some bread
2. Lunch for a prince - a reasonable lunch (half of what you normally eat) with a piece of meat, lots of vegetables and some carbo (rice will do fine)
3. Dinner for a pauper - a saucer full of something similar for lunch.
4. NO meals in between. If hungry, eat what's promoted in Law 5
5. Eat TONS of fruit and vegetables (nuts too) - sounds like I need to be a almost converted vegan or vegetarian
6. NO fried stuff whatsoever, NO oils (or oily food) and NO fat (yes, that includes butter)
7. NO eating after 8 pm
8. Eat ONLY WHITE meat - de-skinned and de-fat chicken and lots of fish
9. Allow sometimes itsy-bitsy portions of sweets (chocolate included)
10. No seafood - cholesterol laden
11. Drink lots of PLAIN water and natural (freshly squeezed) fruit juices
12. Little or no sweet drinks and alcohol
13. Very little or no milk (non-fat milk if need to) or milk products (bye-bye cheese)

Ouch and oh!

Today the stitches on 2 of my toes that were sliced open by the blade of my bush cutter ( the accident happened some 2 weeks ago) were removed. The wounds are healing slowly but well. I only hope I would not stub my toe or have someone accidentally kick them . . . ouch!

I going through one of my seasons of depression with common symptoms like being heavy-headed, sleeping a lot and loss of drive - even so, as usual, I am sure it will pass and I'll be up and going again.

Got lots of exam papers (essays and commentaries as well as summaries and letters) to mark as the first term examination rolls in. With 3 classes under my belt, the workload is challenging . . .

Wah! So long already . . .

Just helped to create for my wife her blog and so I decided to have a look at mine. What a shock! I have not posted for almost a year - yikes!!! How do you guys write so much and find the time to upload daily a posting or more? Guess I have to do something but . . .