Monday, October 25, 2010

Thank You Mrs. Hoffman

I'm amazed at the process of growing older. If it didn't directly correlate to edging ever closer to my end of days, I would consider it one of the greatest aspects of life.

I don't miss much about my youthful self. Perhaps that was because I was frivolous and ignorant, and I stayed childishly pickwickian and unwise even into my 30s. I harbor no nostalgia or Proustian melancholy about the person I was.

I am especially happy to be rid of the educationally apathetic mind that I possessed all those years ago.

Indeed: What is best about growing older for me is that knowledge and intellectual excellence are becoming the most important things, and this is a fact I take much joy in. Understanding ideas, learning new subjects, expanding my horizons, gaining philosophical and epistemological insights, and better expressing myself are to me the true hallmarks of age.

It is with that nisus in mind that I contacted my former high school English teacher, Mrs. Mary Hoffman, and asked her to help me fine tune my writing into a high-speed, grammatically turbo-charged, chirographic communication hot rod. I sent her samples of my writing from this blog, and she responded with very time-consuming, very detailed, and very helpful hints regarding mistakes or shortcomings in my English technic (and also thanks for that one, Mary).

As I mentioned to Mrs. Hoffman, the saying is that "youth is wasted on the young," and I adduced that education, too, was a luxury wasted on the young. I would like to thank Mrs. Hoffman for this rare and valuable second seating in her classroom. I doubt any of you, regardless of your zest for learning, would dispute that what I am receiving is a wonderful gift from a truly dedicated educator.

Again Mrs. Hoffman: I sincerely thank you.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

writing a blog about life in a fishing village in S E Asia hardly calls for 'proustian melancholy',lol!Get over yourself dude.Wanna be important?Write the next WAR and PEACE.Epistemological insights,HA HA HA!!LMAO!!
The true hallmarks of age,failing eye-sight,saggy skin,loss of virility,cynical bitterness,memory loss.
Overcoming,staving off the inevitable,or not having these things occurr,are a sign of remarkable intelligence.an expanded vocabulary isn't.
A man is as intelligent as he is ever going to be at age 25.what is done with that intelligence determines his success,happiness level,station in life etc...
When people are constantly kissing your ass it can lead to all sorts of false beliefs about oneself,and all others.'Education is wasted on the young',NOT TRUE,A really bitter,cynical statement if ever one has been uttered.
The young may not appreciate education as much as a person who could have done better with his OWN.
A smart person knows how dumb he/she is and continues to learn all life long.There are millions of people just like that,everywhere.
Your ability to turn a guy you paid 50php w/his clankity,POS motorela into a privately hired motorcycle ride or 'private waiter'(coz no one else was in the restaurant)is merely charades perpetrated with an imaginative choice of words.turbo-charged grammatical chirographic, communication hot-rod,OH PLEASE!say u r kidding.

Jil Wrinkle said...

writing a blog about life in a fishing village in S E Asia hardly calls for 'proustian melancholy',lol!Get over yourself dude.Wanna be important?Write the next WAR and PEACE.Epistemological insights,HA HA HA!!LMAO!!

Why get over myself? I'm proud of the knowledge I've accumulated. In the last decade, I've learned to speak Thai, studied history, politics, philosophy, patristics, law, science, ecology, the environment, nature.

Who said I wanted to be important? If you equate knowledge with personal importance, then you overestimate the value of knowledge you yourself do not have, or you dismiss the value of knowledge as merely a kind of affectation or mechanism of social advancement that you don't want. Either way, it just shows a lack knowledge.

The true hallmarks of age,failing eye-sight,saggy skin,loss of virility,cynical bitterness,memory loss.

To use your words: A really bitter, cynical statement if ever one has been uttered.

Overcoming,staving off the inevitable,or not having these things occurr,are a sign of remarkable intelligence.an expanded vocabulary isn't.

My vocabulary is larger than the average person's because learning words is my hobby, and using words is my passtime. Based on your indicators of "remarkable intelligence", you again exhibit your pessimistic overstimation of knowledge that you yourself lack ("staving off the inevitable"... who can do that?), or the dismissal of knowlege as banal and picayune ("overcoming", as we all do, or try to do).

A man is as intelligent as he is ever going to be at age 25.what is done with that intelligence determines his success,happiness level,station in life etc...

I doubt you will find many people agree with you. I assume that is based on your own experience. You're shallow-minded to think that would apply even to a majority of people.

... 'Education is wasted on the young',NOT TRUE,A really bitter,cynical statement if ever one has been uttered. The young may not appreciate education as much as a person who could have done better with his OWN.

Interesting: First you say that mine is a "bitter, cynical statement" but then you agree that "the young may not appreciate education". Absolutely I could have done better with my own education. There are few people alive who wouldn't say the same.

A smart person knows how dumb he/she is and continues to learn all life long.There are millions of people just like that,everywhere.

So for all of your circular logic, you agree with me: Learning is something that one continues to do with age, and that is because age increases one's thirst for knowledge, which is my point. You really could have just left out the rest of your sophomaniacal rambling about how to be "important" and your rather hackneyed definition of what knowledge is, just typed this single sentence above, and saved yourself a whole lot of time.

Your ability to turn a guy you paid 50php w/his clankity,POS motorela into a privately hired motorcycle ride or 'private waiter'(coz no one else was in the restaurant)is merely charades perpetrated with an imaginative choice of words.turbo-charged grammatical chirographic, communication hot-rod,OH PLEASE!say u r kidding.

I don't know what you're talking about with the moterela. As for the private waiter, I assume you are referring to the hotel we were staying at that provided us a private dinner with our own waiter. It was our own waiter. Our table was a 2-minute walk from the restaurant, and our waiter stood in the corner watching us to make sure we had everything we needed, and did not leave until we were finshed eating. I don't know what else you would call that other than a "private waiter".

And your use of "say u r kidding": Among us "25-year-olds", we write, "Say you are kidding." Perhaps you might want to get in touch with an English teacher yourself.

Jil Wrinkle said...

I just thought perhaps you are referring to Driver Chris as the guy with the motorela to whom I paid 50 pisos.

First, Chris is a driver... thus I call him "Driver Chris." Just like I used to call my maid, "Maid Go", or my houseboy, "Houseboy Toom", or the owner of Kingston Lodge, "Owner Danny".

Second, Driver Chris drives a brand new Toyota... 2009, I think, though I am not sure of the make.

Third, we hire Driver Chris to pick us up, drive us somewhere, then have him wait while we are there, then drive us to the next place... et cetera.

Fourth, we pay Driver Chris much more than 50 pisos... though he is cheaper than a plain taxi, and when we have lots of bags and stuff to lug around, his trunk is much more convenient.

Jil Wrinkle said...

By the way, now that I think about it, I suppose I couldn't be faulted for pointing out your brainless irony of coming on to a blog post about someone working with his old English teacher to perfect his grammar and writing, chastise his ivory tower mindest, sesquipedalian tendencies, and accuse him of an overbearing sense of self-importance, then "LMAO" at his lucubrations and meditations upon classical studies, and then say "Wanna be important?Write the next WAR and PEACE" as if all of the things you were laughing at wouldn't be at all important in such an undertaking.

Twit.

Anonymous said...

there was no definition of intelligence,nor did I state that u wanna be important.u wrote a bolg using an exaggerated vocabulary to describe a lackluster subject.that was my point.picking apart my comment,inverting the order in which it was written,throw in what you think I meant, to support your argument is something anyone could do,un-impressive as it is,so I won't.you support my statement by saying you think you have a larger vocabulary than the average person,is it/do you?Congratulations on your lofty opinion of yourself.Condesending as your response was,i'll not be stooping to your level with any insults.What is it with you and the other blogger(u know the moron you won't mention).the second someone says/does anything you disagree with,out come the insults!LMAO!

Jil Wrinkle said...

In your own words.

there was no definition of intelligence...

"Overcoming,staving off the inevitable,or not having these things occurr,are a sign of remarkable intelligence."

nor did I state that u wanna be important...

"Wanna be important?Write the next WAR and PEACE."

picking apart my comment,inverting the order in which it was written,throw in what you think I meant, to support your argument is something anyone could do,un-impressive as it is,so I won't.

"'Education is wasted on the young',NOT TRUE,A really bitter,cynical statement if ever one has been uttered."

you support my statement by saying you think you have a larger vocabulary than the average person,is it/do you?

"Overcoming,staving off the inevitable,or not having these things occurr,are a sign of remarkable intelligence.an expanded vocabulary isn't."

Congratulations on your lofty opinion of yourself.Condesending as your response was,i'll not be stooping to your level with any insults.

"Get over yourself dude."
"Epistemological insights,HA HA HA!!LMAO!!"
"When people are constantly kissing your ass..."
"... as much as a person who could have done better with his OWN."
"A smart person knows how dumb he/she is..."
"... is merely charades perpetrated with an imaginative choice of words."
"OH PLEASE!say u r kidding."

What is it with you and the other blogger(u know the moron you won't mention).the second someone says/does anything you disagree with,out come the insults!LMAO!

Because it amuses me, and it amuses the people who read my blog. Since you "LMAO" like a giggling schoolgirl with a mobile phone instead of an adult with a keyboard and an education, it must amuse you too.

Anonymous said...

yes,it does occassionally.the part that makes me laugh the most though is your over-inflated opinion of your:self/vocabulary/writing skills.
as for the last set of insults,u kno they aren't true.
insults aside,you are still more entertaining than a frecnhman-faggott who pisses on the U.S.Marine corps uniform.