Anecdotes: We are all storytellers. Everyday we love telling and listening to stories.

Anecdotes: Everyone is a storyteller

Here are examples of anecdotes of fine qualities from famous men and women.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Lesson: We are all storytellers. Everyday we love telling and listening to stories. Stories come in anecdotes, fables, parables, folklores, humorous quips, and simply short accounts of an experience or about the surroundings. But how good are we in this art of story telling? Our aim is to hone this talent and to express it well.

Jose Rizal and the moth. He wrote My Last Farewell with the symbol of the moth which singed into the flame – martyrdom. Abraham Lincoln, Father of American Anecdotes. (See Anecdotes of Lincoln in this Blog)

Left: Ernest Hemingway, novelist and short storyteller, Nobel Prize awardee. Guy de Maupassant, French short story writer. His works are wide read in school in different languages.

Camilo Osias books were extensively used in the elementary schools during the Commonwealth and Post Commonwealth Period. Story telling is an art. Strive for the “state-of-the-art of story telling”

It is characterized by
• Witticism
• Humor
• Inspirational, positivism
• Informative and educational
It is a combination of these elements that make a good story, depending on the topics and application.
Application
• As a speaker/ resource person
• Presiding in meetings and conferences
• Informal gatherings /parties
• Writing, news, features
• Broadcasting – radio and TV
Stories are used as tool in
• Driving a point indirectly, diplomatically
• Hitting the nail on the head, so to speak
• Friendly advice and reminder
• Admiration of a person, institution or place
• Tapping a shoulder in words, kudos, congratulations

A good story / anecdote is never
• Moralism (Even a homily should strive not to proselytizing
• Criticism, esp. on persons
• Bulgarism – kind words, discreet, dignified
• Familiarism – not all too familiar topics
• Fatalism – bato bato sa langit syndrome
• Propagandism – like politicizing
Selected Anecdotes of the Great

Christopher Columbus waited for seven long years for the King of Spain to decide on his plan to search a new land West. The King of Portugal refused to help him. Henry the VII refused. Charles VIII of France also refused. All hopes gone … then the queen of Spain through Juan Perez her chaplain, sent money to buy clothes and hose, to see the Queen. Queen Isabella received Columbus. Condition to be promoted to Admiral and entitled one-tenth of all the wealth, He was refused. A messenger overtook him. And Columbus once more went to the Court . Got the nod of the King and Queen but actually cost them nothing. Port of Palos under displeasure for unpaid taxes and liable of heavy fines. Palos was ordered to provide Columbus his needs. Three ships and men from the town. Came the Pinzon brothers provided Pinta, Nia and Santa Maria.

Magnetic North – is not the true north, and its direction varies from different places on the earth’s surface. But Columbus told the worried crew that it’s not the compass that is wrong but the north star which moved from time to time. And the sailors were satisfied – and they headed into the unknown. It took five long weeks to see land. West Indies (Columbus believed it was part of India) part of Cuba.

David Livingstone – After 4 and 1/2 years no news about him, thought to have been dead, a young man by the name of Stanley was sent by an American newspaper. There at Ujiji, he found Livingstone. Stanley took off his hat.

“Dr, Livingstone, I suppose?”

“Yes,” he said with a kind smile, lifting his cap slightly and shook hands. It was one of the most famous meetings in history.

Dr David Livingstone telling stories to natives in Africa about David the boy. Everyday for 6 weeks Goliath was challenging the Israelites to a duel. David arrived carrying food for the soldiers. David was not afraid and said, “Who does this great boaster think he is?” His brothers scolded him. But Saul the king heard him. David offered to fight Goliath.

"But you are not even a soldier."

"Back home I took care of my father’s sheep... fought lions, bears. I chased and killed them."

"But put your armor first." It was too big and heavy. David took his staff and sling, picked five smooth stones from a stream, and walked confidently to meet Goliath.

It was Goliath's last laugh of his life.

Florence Nightingale – In the night hours, sometimes long after midnight, Florence used to walk through the quiet wards to see that all was well, carrying a little lamp to light her way.

Such was her love for her patients. And soldiers loved, even the rough soldiers, used to kiss her shadow as she passed. Thus she was called The Lady with the Lamp.

Florence Nightingale tells stories of courage and hope to wounded soldier in a hospital.She received the highest award from Queen Victoria – a diamond brooch with “Crimea, Blessed are the merciful” engraved on it. ~

Napoleon Bonaparte took the crown from the hands of the Pope and he crowned himself as Emperor of France Dec 2, 1804 church of Notre Dame. He owed the crown to no one except himself. His mother shook her head and murmured, “If only it lasts.”

After a series of victories, even after the battle of Trafalgar (combined Spanish and French fleet defeated by Nelson), he tried to govern all of Europe.

He met his defeat at Waterloo in the hands of the Duke of Ellinton. Today, Waterloo is the inevitable downfall of a person.

Joan of Arc did not use her sword. Sher led the attack on New Orleans with shining armor and banner, and rallied the French forces. On seeing her army, the English soldiers were terrified - The Maid, The Maid! Believing in witchcraft, they fled headlong.

Wounded by an arrow in the shoulder at Tourelles after New Orleans, the French soldiers retreated, until she reappeared. And the French won.~

Joan of Arc kneels before an angel that urges her to liberate France from the English invaders.

NOTE: These anecdotes were purposely contracted as outline for speech or similar presentation. The reason is to discourage reading before the audience, and allows spontaneity and flexibility in telling the story.

BOOKS: Guide to Philippine Flora and Fauna (14 Volumes) "The Philippines is one of 18 mega-biodiverse countries of the world."

Guide to Philippine Flora and Fauna 

Book Collection of the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Flora refers to all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring native plants. The corresponding term for animals is fauna, and for fungi, it is funga. Bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora as in the terms gut flora or skin flora. Wikipedia

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Narra tree (Pterocarpus indicus) is a symbol of many things. It is tall and symbolizes the lofty ideals of the Filipino people. It is tall, strong, enduring and signify the persistence of the Filipinos in their demand for freedom. While other trees are bent or uprooted by storms, the narra usually withstands such disaster. It is the national tree of the Philippines.

Carabaos (Bubalus bubalis carabanesis) are a genetically distinct population of swamp-type water buffaloes from the Philippines. The carabao is the national animal of the Philippines. It symbolizes strength, power, efficiency, perseverance, and most of all, hardwork. Internet

The Philippines is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, possessing more than 12,000 different species of plants, 560 recognized bird species, 180 species of terrestrial mammals, 250 reptiles, 400 species of coral, and 1,000 different fishes.

Excerpt from 
Country Profiles // Main Details
Philippines - Country Profile
Biodiversity Facts
Status and trends of biodiversity, including benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services

The Philippines is one of 18 mega-biodiverse countries of the world, containing two-thirds of the earth’s biodiversity and between 70% and 80% of the world’s plant and animal species. The Philippines ranks fifth in the number of plant species and maintains 5% of the world’s flora. Species endemism is very high, covering at least 25 genera of plants and 49% of terrestrial wildlife, while the country ranks fourth in bird endemism. The Philippines is also one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots with at least 700 threatened species, thus making it one of the top global conservation areas. The national list of threatened faunal species was established in 2004 and includes 42 species of land mammals, 127 species of birds, 24 species of reptiles and 14 species of amphibians. In terms of fishes, the Philippines counts at least 3,214 species, of which about 121 are endemic and 76 threatened. In 2007, an administrative order issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources established a national list of threatened plant species, indicating that 99 species were critically endangered, 187 were endangered, 176 vulnerable as well as 64 other threatened species.

This unique biodiversity is supported by a large variety of ecosystems, landscapes and habitats, most of which are also greatly threatened by human activities. According to the FAO definition, the Philippines has 7.2 million ha of forest ecosystems, comprising approximately 24% of the total land area. It is however estimated that, between 2000 and 2005, the Philippines lost 2.1% of its forest cover annually, representing the second fastest rate of deforestation in Southeast Asia (second to Myanmar) and seventh in the world. The country’s agricultural ecosystem is also noteworthy. The Philippines is part of the center of diversity of rice, coconut, mung bean, taro and yam, as well as the center of origin and diversity of bananas in Southeast Asia. Yet this agricultural biodiversity is nowadays experiencing general decline, as is the land area devoted to these activities. 

(Acknowledgement: Country Profiles Philippines - Country Profile: Biodiversity Facts (Internet)

Valley of Life

 Valley of Life

Dr Abe V Rotor

Watershed, a wall mural by the author, St Paul University, QC

If a child asks, “What is a valley?”
Forget what you may have read -
valley of death, valley of sorrow;
valley is the life of the mountain,
more so, that of the river below.
It is a watershed, it is a trough,
where clouds gather and fall as rain,
where trees and beautiful flowers grow,

and life in its glory and diversity,

where Heaven and Earth glow.   avr

5 Paintings and Photographs of Nature with Verses. “Truly the schemes and wonders of Nature are illimitable.” — Charles Darwin

5 Paintings and Photographs of Nature 

with Verses

“Truly the schemes and wonders of Nature are illimitable.” — Charles Darwin

Dr Abe V Rotor

                          1. Vortex - Eye of a Storm

                                  Vortex - Eye of a Storm in acrylic, AV Rotor

Beware of the beautiful with fangs of fire;

like the eye of a storm and woman's ire ~

2. Fire in the Fire Tree

                                          Fire Tree in acrylic by the author c.2009

Rage with fire, burn the sky, bleed the heart,

Fire the kiss of life, fire the kiss of death;

And when your petals fall, so with your seed,

Fire the kiss of death, fire the kiss of life;

And beauty the brief passing of time and grief.~

3. Butterfly Remains

Butterfly Remains, relief painting by the author

I soaked some leaves with shades of green,  

 pressed them on canvas while fresh;

I wanted to create at the center a bird's nest;

instead, butterfly remains can be seen.

4. Invisible Wall

     

Aquarium Pet and a Butterfly, At Home, Lagro QC 

Fish to butterfly danger in the open

     harmless between a wall; 

Humans behave like friend to friend 

     between an invisible wall. 

5. Sunset
Photo and Verse by Marlo R Rotor

Old Quirino Bridge across Banaoang Pass, Santa, Ilocos Sur 

Sunset:

call it beauty,

the color of war,

and death itself;

it is enough,

the passing of day.

the coming of night. ~

TALISAY and AMIHAN Indicators of Autumn in the Tropics (3 parts)

TALISAY and AMIHAN  

Indicators of Autumn in the Tropics

(Amihan is when the weather in the tropics becomes cooler and 

the leaves fall off the trees. - avr)

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and 

color are their last days." - John Burrows

Dr Abe V Rotor

Part 1 - The Beginning of Autumn

• 

Onset of Autumn in acrylic by A V Rotor 

The leaves are still green but autumn is here,

litter on the forest floor turns red and yellow,

and cracks and tickles under my feet bare.

Oh, how seasons change pure and mellow!   

Part 2 - Ode to the Talisay

- the Autumn Tree in the Tropics

 

Talisay (Terminalia catappa)

You bring the autumn where there is none;

only monsoon have we, wet and dry;

you lose your crown before the rains come;

and at harvest time, you weep and cry.

Your ancestors left home eons ago

as the continents drifted apart;

divided by the cold and warm sea

surviving them here in this part.

You carry their genes of four seasons,

deciduous without winter snow;

emerging with new crown in summer,

and amihan* is your greatest show.~

Part 3 - Embroidered Leaf of the Talisay

                      

Tattered Christmas Tree in autumn, 

     deciduous to the Season's call;

Nature is reborn, the world rejoices, 

     creatures all, big and small.

            NOTE: Photos taken by the author at the Living with Nature Center, 

                       San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

 *Season of cool winds, Siberian High, October to December 

**Terminalia catappa, also known as Country Almond, a large 

                            tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae,

Painting: "Childhood is Forever"

Painting: "Childhood is Forever"

“For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.” –John Connolly

Early childhood experiences from birth to age eight affect the development of the brain's architecture, which provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior and health. A strong foundation helps children develop the skills they need to become well-functioning adults.  (Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Director Harvard Center on the Developing Child)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Art Instructor 

Childhood is Forever, in acrylic on canvas by Hannah Hediko P Laurente and Harish Hamiko P Laurente, in 3 sessions, under the tutorship of the author at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.  August 2024,

Childhood is... 

• Childhood is a time in our life when everything seems perfect and wonderful. 
• Childhood is a world far away from the real world free from burdens and tensions.
• Childhood is a period to learn and master the essentials of life and living.
• Childhood is the full and harmonious development of personality in a family environment.
• Childhood is living in an atmosphere of happiness, understanding and love.
• Childhood is time to enjoy bedside stories, family anecdotes, and life updates. 
• Childhood is pure bliss, light moments, treasured memories, captured innocence.
• Childhood is wishing to be older, and when in old age wishing to be  younger.

Full view of the painting (20" x 28") with details shown in succeeding images.

                    Man - Child of Years Ago*

This is a beautiful world to the young:

     Faces clouds make, and kites fly high,

In kaleidoscopic colors of the sun. 

     While nests on trees sweetly cry.

If not for the fish and Siberian breeze. 

     The fields sleep, save a songbird;

But the clock doesn't stop in hammock's ease -

     A chime's urging to be heard.

Not enough is summer, transient is the game

     That starts with glee and ends with sigh

As the season ends; but it is not the aim

     Of the sky to make children cry.

Freud and Thoreau - these great minds before saw

     What  makes man, child of years ago,

Wading in a pond or climbing a bough, 

     His kite rising to heaven's glow. 

  

Details: A flock of white doves playfully takes care of their fledglings and chicks in their nests, among kites hanging in the trees.  Right, treetops serve as playground and home of many creatures like gecko lizard and wild bees, as well as foothold of ferns, lianas and orchids.  

"White doves are symbolic of new beginnings, peace, fidelity, 

love, luck and prosperity." (A Dove's Love)

 

 

Promenading is a pastime in a beautiful scenery, a happy moment communing with Nature.  Right, wild fowls, reptiles, amphibians, fish and other living things abound in a pristine and unspoiled environment.  They comprise the natural landscape and ecological system.   A pristine environment is synonymous with “untouched,” a place where human hands have not intruded into the natural progression of life, and not corrupted by civilization.

                                                Loafing

Oh, how we love the fields like farmers do,

But not our classmates in school though;

And Nature more than our teachers know

What the sun and rain in childhood sow.*

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”- Sir John Lubbock 

Fishing is but a hobby, a kind of sport friendly to nature.  Here a fisherboy is not a stranger to the wildlife* indigenous to the place, indeed a manifestation of a friendly and harmonious relationship bound by a primal treaty of man and nature. 

Fisherboy** 

By a stream on a rock ledge many a dream grew with the water flowing, the clouds rising, the breeze whispering in a nearby tree, its shade creating images of art and fantasy.

Hours lazily passed, but how short was a day fishing, from sunrise to noon and back again when the fish would return, the bamboo pole suddenly becoming heavy with a big catch.   

Other boys join the cheer, the louder the bigger the fish was, or fading with a whimper when it got away, and it was always "the big fish that got away," an adage of every fisher folk.

Away from town, away from school, away from home for a while - this freedom in innocence and adventure, the elders would call laziness, stubbornness and aimlessness in growing up.

Boys don't know the difference grownups want them to be, but wait for their own time, when childhood yields to the demands of the world, the world though big is "prison" to grownups. 

They too, were children before - the "man in the boy" comes later when there are no more big fish to catch, the tree has overgrown the rock ledge and other boys are longer around. 

Like birds migrating and returning, season after season in Vivaldi's refrain, and Mozart's lament, life goes on in rhythm, but time couldn't wait, while dreams sought for reality. 

There are many fish in the world, the biggest to catch always a dream - fame, ideas, wealth, sacrifice, honor, popularity - aiming at these to the end, in triumph, surrender or defeat. 

Years later a man in gray hair appeared, he saw a familiar boy fishing, his thoughts seemed far away, his fishing pole bending to his excitement, then snapped - it was the big fish that got away. ~

Wildlife is integral to the world's ecosystems, providing balance and stability to nature's processes. The goal of wildlife conservation is to ensure the survival of these species, and to educate people on living sustainably with other species. - National Geographic Society

 

Workshop attendees include parents of children participants, as well as older art enthusiasts who comprise a separate but similar art workshop sessions at the Center conducted regularly by the author upon requests from the community, organizations and schools, such as the University of Northern Philippines.  

 

Growing Up With Art**

Kids' World Apart from "Kids"  

Take a break from computers and the mall,

     confines of the small; 

break the wall of idleness, go for the ball

     fast and make a goal.  

Solve the puzzle, some genius await you

     for all you know;

left to right of the brain and back will show

     a wider view of you.   

Take the road rough, look ahead, move on,

     from the bandwagon;

it's your adventure, and follow the sun,   

     sunrise to sundown. ~   

             * AVRotor, Don't Cut the Trees, Don't UST 2010

         ** avrotor.blogspot.com Living with Nature

Painting Dreams. “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” - Vincent Van Gogh*

Pangarap Art Workshop for Children

Painting Dreams
“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” 

- Vincent Van Gogh*

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author conducts children's art workshop at the 
Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

There was once a girl in the meadow
Gathering flowers for the rainbow,
Matching their colors to the tiniest hue,
Whereupon a shower made them glow.

There was once a boy with new shoes,

Down the street he went heralding the news; 

Everything dissolved in a hazy view,

Whereupon one day rode he down he avenue.

There was an old man walking with a cane;

He saw the girl with flowers in her hair;

He saw the boy whistling down the lane,

And asked where go they beyond their lair.

"I don't know," said she; "Neither I," said he.

The world is wide, why bother where we'll be;

'Til the winds blew and the flowers faded;

And soon and far enough the road ended.

But the old man walked on and on;

At his feet lay flowers strewn on the road,

and saw footsteps without shoes shine

In the sunset draped by a shroud.

This the children painted in kaleidoscope,

In versions a thousand thoughts can blend;

For dreams do make for what we hope,

Lest pride makes that hope in deeper end. ~

* For Van Gogh, painting was not just about creating 

a visual representation of something but rather about 

expressing the emotions and impressions that he 

experienced in his dreams and imagination.

 

PAINT YOUR DREANS means to make your dreams come true.
 

“Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.” – Ai Weiwei

Scenes at the Living with Nature Center.  

“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced” – Vincent Van Gogh

“Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.” – Andre Gide

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” – Leonardo da Vinci

“A work of art which isn’t based on feeling isn’t art at all.” – Paul Cézanne