The dialogue continues...

Notes to the blog....

Two former students and followers of the blog have written short notes that I would like to share with you…

They are simple and beautiful in their simplicity...
I don't have a liking for pompous people and people who are show offs...I use to admonish the fashionably late students and called them Madam Pompadour...
I do not like people who want to be at the center of things and always think that it is them who count and all the rest must accommodate their whimsical immaturity...
I love to put up with people who are eager to learn...even if they are difficult to teach...I love the challenge...But people who act as if they know it all... are very hard to live with ...

Madam Pompadour...Fashionably late...

People who are opinionated and disagree with everything…Those who are immature and think that disagreeing is equal to knowing more…make life miserable for themselves and all the rest...

They think...; "I disagree; therefore I know more…"without realizing that this type of reasoning is a logical fallacy that immature people adopt… Poor puny people…They don’t realize that it is just SHOWING off…

I had a student, a female, and she had a showing-off syndrome…She wanted to be noticed and to be commended on everything that occurred in the classroom… She did not want to let it go…She did not want to let others have their turn…and the boys noticed her…they flirted with her…and she was happy...for that...

Flirtatious happiness...

I had a friend. One day I noticed his elder brother was very emotional and weeping…I talked to him and inquired what happened…Actually I was concerned about my friend … “I was at a friends,” he said, “and no one paid attention to me… I was alone and neglected and lonely…” I knew that my friend’s elder brother had an insatiable desire to be the center of attention in every gathering…My friend and I always joked about him…teased him… 

                                                      

I am the center of the universe she/he said...

Well...He turned out to be harmless… But he never yielded his egocentric views to anyone…

The female student that I alluded to above…turned out to harm herself and the boys who were “attracted” to her…
After all, the flies are attracted to honey or just feces… But she was to wrapped up in herself to notice the harm that she was spreading around... and in doing so harming herself too...

I was annoyed, but did not have the option to neglect her… She was always in-your-face presence…So I learned to live with it…After all, that’s what teachers do…

...And then the teacher learned how to live with the situation...even if 2 + 2 = 5 she insists...

The two former, now that I am retired, students are very smart and humble guys… and I liked that…They were a GOOD presence in my classroom… and I enjoyed it… They were well spoken and cultured too, considering their age…and I am sure both will be successful…                         One of them will be a teacher. That’s his aspiration…and I know that he will be a good one…The other will be an engineer. That’s what he is learning…and I know that he will be a successful one…

One wants to be a teacher....and the other an engineer...

 Note 1

I read the post you put up yesterday. Both Satish Kumar and Bertrand Russell are very inspirational and have an impact on many peoples’ lives. I enjoyed reading about them and I'm intrigued about their views and their ways of finding world peace. You mentioned they are your heroes and you admire them. Then I thought about myself… I don't really have any specific people that have brought such an impact on me to call them a hero.

………….

I love the posts and the views that they bring. Keep them up.

I delayed this email long enough that you posted a new post talking about your anger about the violence in the world and that the "world leaders" are too stupid to stop it. It is a shame that all this is happening around the world... there is not much more to say. People are scared to say what they want to say... all they do is repeat what people want to hear and reject beautiful minds like Kumar and Russell and Swartz.

It is a shame.....

Again the posts are great and very helpful, thank you for them.

...and note 2

Dear Mr. Kevork,
 
Thanks for adding my note to the blog I'm glad I am able to contribute to it. In order for us to write for the blog, you mean for us to post comments under atricles, right? Unless you mean write our own articles sharing our thoughts for others to see, in which case I'm not sure of how to do.  I will spread the blog to whoever I know or find would have an interest in it as it has a lot to offer.
 
I can't believe that it's only rained 3 days since you've arrived in Los Angeles, here it's rained almost once a week on average and was showring for almost 2 weeka straight in May. Once I have the chance I'll come visit LA and I'll be sure to let you know about it, though I don't know how long it will be until I get the chance, but me and family would definitely like to go to California one day.

Once I have the chance I'll come visit LA...
I will love to see you too...

Also, I forgot to tell you in the previous e-mail. Although I didn't get around to dropping by Pocock since I last saw you, I did however get the chance to go to the visitation of Mr. Tyndorf where I had the opportunity to greet and speak with a great deal of my former teachers (not that I was there to socialize).  Although Pocock's staff has changed a lot recently there were still plenty of familiar faces. It's just unfortunate that Mr. Tyndorf retired just last year. What's worse is that he was the fourth person in relation to Pocock who has passed away this year (two other teachers and a student).  At the visitation, me and my sister had the honour of speaking to the wife and family of our former principal and found out some interesting things about him. It turns out that he also went to Uof T engineering and knew all the chants and traditions engineering students did there which was great to know  because although I didn't know him that well, we had more in common than I had previously thought. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer also very recently and was so unlucky that he didn't even have time to react to it, let alone enjoy his golden years of retirement. He loved the children and lived a good and happy life his wife told us, and although his eyes were closed at the moment of his passing, his heart was open.
 

Henry Tyndorf....Philip Pocock High School Principal

The visitation had me thinking about a lot of things after attending it. Besides reminding of the privileges I had enjoyed in high school, it taught to really treasure every moment with those you care about because life can be too short at times, and if you don't take your chances to enjoy the people you love dearly now, then you might not get lucky enough to get those chances again.  So enjoy your loved ones now, otherwise, life can get busy and pass by so quickly and you get so caught up in things that one can forget to spend time even with those he cares about most. 
 

It's something that I thought I would like to share with you, as you have always promoted the idea of love and care within your family
 
I will always keep smiling sir, especially to the people that care about me and smile back.

I hope more of the readers of the blog will get in touch...                                                                

I hope more readers will send me feedback…After all; good and positive criticism will make the blog posts better…and I am a person who likes GOOD and POSITIVE and HONEST criticism…
But, please…not the show off type…like that female student that I mentioned above…

After all, I dislike show offs...It actually stinks...

I do not appreciate show-off