What's going on?

What the frog? That’s the first words that came into my mind when the principal told me that I would be pulled out from my advisory class. It’s not that I like being an adviser in fact I hate the administrative and the stress that came with it,and I was already used to being a floating teacher (or what other principals called special assignment) for almost most of my public school teaching (not really career) job. 

When I was given the advisory class, due to lack of teacher, I guess, I was hesitant to accept the task because I have forgotten most of the administrative works it involved. But just like anybody else who was below the food chain, I had no right to complain and to bargain. I had to obey what had been assigned to me and let the irritation simmer down and then vent it (like in a blog) and let all the negativity die naturally.

What’s my disappointment? I was disappointed because even though the class formerly assigned to me was the last section ( in public schools the last section is usually referred to as the problem section), I have become attached to them: relationship was developed.

This is the difficult part of teaching for me because despite my strict looking façade, I’m really a softie inside and I get easily attached to people especially children (not, I'm not a pedophile or something). I suppose I have to learn how to deal with this by detaching myself from my pupils, but this is almost impossible especially if you’re dealing with pupils who are hard up both financially and emotionally. I mean some of them are already calling me tatay. 

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Anyway, life is a bitch and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Think Tree: Working with a bignay-pugo material

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This is a bignay pugo (Antidesma bugnius), the new bonsai material I recently acquired. Bignay is a fruit bearing tree native to the Philippines and is a popular material for bonsai enthusiast. It is also known as bugnay in Ilocos and isip-isip in Pampanga. It is a robust, easy to grow tree.  

I am deciding which is the viewing point among the four photos and judging from the photographs, it is obvious that the four-trunked-clump style will not work because the trunks are too close to each other and are blocking each others view. I am thinking of cutting the other three smaller trunks leaving the main trunk. The strong point of the tree will be nebari or the root which will need more development that I would then expose, the uro (the big hole near the base) and later the development of the main branches and secondary branches that will result to a classic broom style bonsai.

Below I removed the other trunk to see if it would look better. 

This is better. Of course, bonsai is all about patience. I'll let it sit for a while and think about my plan for a time because once the other trunks are removed, it will take a long long time to grow them back.