lazy Summer Days

The recent release of Iron Man 3 made me go back to some things I did as a kid. During summer breaks, my siblings, my younger cousins and I were sent off to the house of our aunts for a few weeks. Every year we would review collections of comic books.

We had two aunts. One collected the American comic books sent by her husband for her four boys. They included DC, Marvel and comic adaptations of classic novels. We devoured them. Then there was the second aunt who collected Tagalog comics for her teenage girls. At her house, six youngsters (including I) each claimed a corner and spent an afternoon pouring through those stories and trying to piece together a novel given in several installments.

Sometimes, we would do things as a group. We would climb the fruit trees in our family's yard and collect the treasures high up in the branches for a sumptuous late afternoon snack or an early evening story telling session. We started our climb behind the guest house or behind the big house. Then we would use the roofs to move from one tree to another and stuff the fruits in our pockets or in our mouths if we dared.

It was in the morning that laziness got tested. We had a routine. We start the day by putting away our pillows and sleeping mats. Then we got a breakfast of hot chocolate and pan de sal. Then the work began.

After putting away the dishes, we had to clean up a section or portion of the house. Somebody wiped off the dust of the glass jalousies on the windows. Somebody dusted the furniture. Another would sweep the floor. Yet another would take care of the ornate frames and door decors and vases.

When the house was done, we turned our attention to the yard. Having lots of trees around,there would definitely be  a lot of fallen leaves and over ripe fruits. We gathered them all up and made a pile. Then the bigger boys would scoop this up to be thrown to the refuse pit.

Then we had to look after the pigs. My aunt took care of a whole piggery with at least two bulls and lots of mommies and of course the growing piglets. We bathe them. We cleaned their cages. All the garbage went into the refuse pit again. that made for wonderful fertilizer eventually.

After all the hard work, it was time to rrelax. A river ran through the property. When we got rid of our tools, we would race to the river for a cool splash. We would stay there until we were called back to the house for lunch about two hours later.

Let the Games

I have been playing computer games since the late 1980s. At work, I used them to road test new machines. Games like Solitaire and Spider were also convenient means of introducing mouse operations to newbies.

At home where I had a desktop, I spent many evenings with Mario and that little game invented by a Russian. Needless to say, my electric bill doubled.

Many parents may frown at their kids spending so much time playing. To them the wasted time could have been better spent studying and doing research. I agree that excessive gaming is not a good thing and may lead to addiction. As in anything else, moderation and discipline should be applied.

However, I have to tell these parents that they should not totally rule out games. There is a lot to be said about learning from games.

• Games can help improve hand-eye coordination.

• Games can introduce kids to concepts. Kids would be more appreciative of the idea in the relaxed environment of a game.

• Games can show kids real life hazardous situations without exposing them to the actual dangers.

So will you stop gour kid from playing¿Wwhy not look for good games instead. Once in your life you were also a kid.

This is Me

Why do people insist on putting an apostrophe in my name?  Does anybody ever spell Dennis as Denni's?  Why then do people assume that Gladys should be written as Glady's

This was funny at first but sometimes it does get on my nerves.  Everybody would appreciate being identified correctly.

Thanks.