Me encanta musica de español porque puedo aprender nuevas palabras y puedo tratar de entender las canciones.

Esta cancion es de Julieta Venegas y es acerca de despedirse. En una semana, necesito despedirse a California. Voy a Denver, Iowa, New York, Boston, Washington D.C. y despues…GUATEMALA. Viernes es LA ÚLTIMA VEZ.

Lyrics

Alguna vez te dije que me quedaba para siempre
y lo pensé, aunque ahora quizás no te lo parezca
pero no hablaba por hablar
era el momento y el lugar
y esta pena que siento ahora,
lo sé, que no me dejará igual

CORO
Porque, hoy es la última vez que hablo contigo
hoy es la última vez y no puedo explicar éste final

Notas lo que te digo ahora hablas si porque me duele
creen mis ojos que alguna vez cuando nos mirabamos
pero lo dejamos pasar
perdimos la oportunidad

CORO
porque hoy es la última vez que hablo contigo
hoy es la última vez y no puedo explicar éste final..

hoy es la última vez que hablo contigo
hoy es la última vez y no puedo explicar éste final..

hoy es la última vez que hablo contigo
porque hay tantos por pensar que todo lo podíamos arreglar..

“El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.”

– Benito Juarez

Ahora, estoy estudiando el pretérito y el imperfecto. Estoy confudido. En inglés tenemos sólo uno pasado y es mas fácil.

Por ejemplo…ayer fui al mercado para comprar algos cosas. Compré leche, pan, y varias frutas. Fácil. Pero cuando quiero decir…Tuve (tenía?) una novia quien era (fue?) muy bonita. Ella tenía diecinueve años y estudiaba (estudío) negocio. DIFÍCIL!

Yo no sé cual, especialmente cuando estoy hablando con otras personas. Pero, voy a aprender. Voy a aprender.

Books, like movies and music, have a strange way of influencing who we are and how we look at the world. It seems a bit foolish to think a book can have this type of an impact, but if you’ve ever read a book that has opened your eyes to something you never knew before, then you understand what I’m talking about.

Honestly, I feel sorry for those people who have never read a book that has expanded their minds and even changed their lives. Because I have read many.

Below is a list of 50 books that have impacted me in some way, and either changed the way I live, think, or even look at the world. They are ranked by the impact they’ve had on me…more or less.

1. Tuesdays with Morrie
2. The Alchemist
3. The Book of Learning and Forgetting
4. Ishmael
5. Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago
6. Buddhism Plain and Simple
   
7. A Child Called “It”
8. A Long Way Gone
9. The Rose that Grew from Concrete
   
10. The Pact
11. Fast Food Nation
12. Othello
13. Travels with Charlie
14. Beloved
15. To Kill a Mockingbird
16. 1984
17. The Miracle of St. Anthony
    
18. The Grapes of Wrath
19. The Catcher in the Rye
    
20. Diamond Cutter
21. A Man Named Dave
22. Am I Blue?
23. Go Ask Alice
24. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
    
25. Siddhartha
    
26. Middlesex
27. The Diary of Anne Frank
28. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
29. Romeo and Juliet
30. Catch-22
31. Slaughterhouse-Five
32. Invisible Man
33. Native Son
34. Give a Boy a Gun
35. Night
36. Morning Sun on a White Piano
37. Maus I and II
38. King Lear
39. Breath, Eyes, Memory
40. Fahrenheit 451
41. The Sound and the Fury
42. A Room of One’s Own
43. The da Vinci Code
44. Midnight’s Children
45. Childhood’s End
46. Three Cups of Tea
47. How to Think Like da Vinci

If you watch this entire video, it will inspire you. One father. One disabled son. And one extraordinary story. I can’t imagine how much different our world would be if the news focused more on stories such as this, rather than the negativity and ridiculous drama it focuses on now.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO PAY ATTENTION TO.

I wouldn’t consider myself a Christian anymore than I’d consider myself a Muslim or a Buddhist. I believe every religion has positive things o offer, but also things which are negative. I do my best to study and absorb the positive things, while ignoring the negative.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the Bible.

“Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth.”

- 1 John 3:1

“A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

- Luke 12:15

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

- Matthew 5:43-48

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

Are you passive, or are you active? A passive person watches as the world goes by, and never really takes control of his or her life. This person believes that what happens, happens and it’s going to happen whether they do anything about it or not. Que sera sera.

On the other hand, an active person not only speaks up, but also ACTS when things aren’t right, or when things need to be changed. If you are active, and you consider yourself an activist, you are not a victim of the world because you are in control.

Now, activism can be achieved in large ways, or minor ways. You can be an activist like Martin Luther King Jr. and speak out against racism and segregation, or you can do little things as well.

Below you will find an e-mail I sent to CafePress.com after ordering a group of t-shirts from them. Initially I bought about seven shirts from them, but after realizing what kind of company I was giving my money to, I decided to write them a letter, and inform them that I would be sending all the t-shirts back, unopened. Here is the e-mail. We’ll see if they write back.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Dear CafePress,

I currently have an order that’s being shipped and I’m considering returning it before I even look at the shirts.

Here’s why.

I originally purchased the shirts because I thought to myself, “This is a company that isn’t just out to make money. They actually have a conscience too and even want to help the people of Darfur.” After I saw this site of yours:
http://www.cafepress.com/darfur_crisis I was eager to purchase this shirt and more.

Then, as I was looking for other shirts, I started seeing things like these shirts:
http://www.cafepress.com/buy/SPEAK%20ENGLISH/-/cfpt2_/copt_/cfpt_/source_searchBox/x_0/y_0
One shirt even goes as far as to say, “SPEAK ENGLISH, or GET THE FUCK OUT.” Now, maybe I’m crazy, but it seems a bit hypocritical to be promoting the end of a genocide on one continent, all the while you’re promoting racism and bigotry on another one.

Obviously, I’m only one person and I can’t stop you from promoting hatred, but I can’t take my business elsewhere. I have been pleased with the service, but I want you to know that as soon as I receive the t-shirts, I’m sending them back.

Respectfully,

Corey Topf
_____________________________________________________________________________

“Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth.” – 1 John 3:1

Necesito escribir mas en español. Es muy importante que practico mucho si quiero aprender esta idioma. Muchas personas creen que pueden aprender una idioma leyendo o estudiando la idioma. No es la verdad. Necesita leer, necesita escribir, necesita escuchar, y necesita hablar muchisimo.

Es un boco chistoso porque todavía estoy aprendiendo íngles y yo sé que no es posible para saber una idioma en dos años. Puedo aprender partes, y despues de dos años espero que puedo hablar con la gente, pero voy a hacer muchos errores durante estos dos anos.

Ahora voy a escribir cada día. Tal vez voy a escribir mucho, o tal vez voy a escribir un poquito. Hasta entonces, viva en el momento!

This song relates almost too well to what I said about wanting a new computer. This is easily one of the simplest yet most powerful songs I’ve ever heard. In such a short song there is a ton of meaning and truth.

look at all those fancy clothes
but these could keep us warm just like those
and what about your soul, is it cold
is it straight from the mold and ready to be sold
and cars and phones and diamond rings, bling bling
those are only removeable things
and what about your mind, does it shine oh
are there things that concern you more than your time

gone going gone everything gone give a damn
gone be the birds when they dont want to sing
gone people, all awkward with their things
gone

look at you out to make a deal
you try to be appealing but you loose your appeal
and what about those shoes you’re in today
they’ll do no good on the bridges you burnt along the way oh
you’re willing to sell anything gone with your hurt
leave your footprints we’ll shame them with our words
gone people, all careless and consumed
gone

gone going gone everything gone give a damn
gone be the birds when they dont want to sing
gone people, all akward with their things
gone

I have the most ridiculous dilemma in the world right now. Part of me wants to buy a new laptop, and part of me doesn’t. Part of me is being seduced by materialism, and part of me can’t stop imagining the people suffering in Darfur, or reminding myself that people all over the world don’t have enough food or clean water.

But you know…as I’m sitting here right now, thinking about all of this and truly reflecting on it, I think I may have come up with my answer. I will not be seduced by this culture. I keep telling myself that I don’t want to be changed down to my computer, that I don’t want to sit for hours staring at a screen, and now I won’t. As I prepare myself for a new culture in Guatemala, this is my first big step dismissing the very worst aspects of American culture.

Besides, at the end of my life, it will not please me to know that I had every fuckin’ version of Apple Macintosh laptop ever made since 2003. What will please me are the things I DID with my life, the PEOPLE I INTERACTED with, and the SIMPLICITY with which I lived.

It’s so easy if we truly THINK. STOP and THINK.

Thankfully, I have done just that tonight.

When you look at things differently, you begin to think about them differently. It’s a simple concept, but one we should consider more often. LOOK AT LIFE FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES!

This little town in Cinque Terre, Italy changes dramatically because I’m viewing it from a new perspective. Simple yet crucial.

This picture was taken in 2006 in Semuc Champay, Guatemala. The camera’s ability to catch the rays of the sun is one of my favorite aspects of photography. There are many situations when the lens is far more powerful than the eye.

The first time I heard this song I almost didn’t play it all the way through because it was so weird at the beginning. But after listening to the whole thing, I couldn’t stop playing it. Who knows how many times I’ve heard it now, and I still can’t get enough of this song. Life truly is wonderful, meaningful, and beautiful!

Lyrics:

It takes a crane to build a crane
It takes two floors to make a story
It takes an egg to make a hen
It takes a hen to make an egg
There is no end to what I’m saying

It takes a thought to make a word
And it takes some words to make an action
And it takes some work to make it work
It takes some good to make it hurt
It takes some bad for satisfaction

Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la

It takes a night to make it dawn
And it takes a day to make you yawn brother
And it takes some old to make you young
It takes some cold to know the sun
It takes the one to have the other

And it takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
And it takes some fears to make you trust
It takes some tears to make it rust
It takes that dust to have it polished

Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la

It is so…

It takes some silence to make sound
And it takes a loss before you found it
And it takes a road to go nowhere
It takes a toll to make you care
It takes a hole to make a mountain

Ah la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la life goes full circle
Ah la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la life is meaningful
Ah la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la

It is so…wonderful…
It is so meaningful…
(Fading repetitions)

“There’s beauty in the breakdown.” One of my students (Lurvin) exposed me to this band towards the beginning of this year. I love the flow of their music and the feeling it produces.

Lyrics:

drink up, baby down
mmm, are you in or are you out
leave your things behind
’cause it’s all going off without you
excuse me, too busy you’re writing your tragedy
these mishaps
you bubble wrap
when you’ve no idea what you’re like

so let go, jump in
oh well, whatcha waiting for
it’s alright
’cause there’s beauty in the breakdown
so let go, just get in
oh, it’s so amazing here
it’s alright
’cause there’s beauty in the breakdown

it gains the more it gives
and then it rises with the fall
so hand me that remote
can’t you see that all that stuff’s a sideshow

such boundless pleasure
we’ve no time for later now
you can’t await your own arrival
you’ve 20 seconds to comply

so let go, jump in
oh well, whatcha waiting for
it’s alright
’cause there’s beauty in the breakdown
so let go, just get in
oh, it’s so amazing here
it’s alright
’cause there’s beauty in the breakdown

Imagine if this was the type of music we heard on the radio each day. How often do we hear truly positive, inspirational music? This is a song that inspires me, and I try to listen to it at least once a month.

Lyrics:

I can change the world
With my own two hands
Make a better place
With my own two hands
Make a kinder place
With my own two hands
With my own
With my own two hands
I can make peace on earth
With my own two hands
I can clean up the earth
With my own two hands
I can reach out to you
With my own two hands
With my own
With my own two hands

Im gonna make it a brighter place
Im gonna make it a safer place
Im gonna help the human race
With my own
With my own two hands

I can hold you
With my own two hands
I can comfort you
With my own two hands
But you got to use
Use your own two hands
Use your own
Use your own two hands

With our own
With our own two hands
With my own
With my own two hands

This poem is best when it’s read aloud. It flows well and it can work almost like a fast rap. I wrote this in 2005 during my first year teaching.

Poetry is not simply words
placed side by side,
it’s a way of revealing
not concealing,
what we hold on the inside.

And poetry is not just a rhyme
you throw together from
time to time,
it’s way to express the stress
slapped on our chests
keeping us from rest.

The truth is…

The truth is…

If you don’t feel what I feel
then it ain’t real
If what I write leaves you bored
and not restored
then I might as well have closed the door
before you even came through.

Cuz poetry ain’t meant to be glossed over
and forgotten as if it were rotten.
Poetry is meant to move us
and make us see what’s true.

My life would be different if I didn’t look the way I do. We can lie about this, but the truth is, if I were obese, my life would be different. If I had atrocious acne, my life would be different. If I looked like Gael Garcia Bernal, my life would be different. Thinking about this inspired the poem below.

If I didn’t look like me
would you treat me differently?

If my skin was a shade darker
if I stood a few inches taller
if my hair was a little bit longer
would any of this really matter?

Because I wonder if you like me for me
or because you simply enjoy what you see?

If I wore baggy clothes
if I put a piercing in my nose
if I painted my fingers and my toes
would I still be the person everyone “knows”?

If I put on a few pounds
if I made funny sounds
I can’t help but wonder
would you still want me around?

Because I think we lie to ourselves
about the importance of looks.
We judge everything by what we see
especially the covers of books.

We smother our faces in make-up
we throw jell onto our hair
yet when someone laughs at our appearance
we lie like a child in trouble
and claim we don’t care.

So yeah…I think you would treat me differently,
if I didn’t look exactly like me.

I think it was January of 2007 when I first learned about the Invisible Children in Uganda, and this is a poem I wrote in their honor.

Writing poetry is easy
when you have pencil and paper
when you have books you can read
and you’ve got what you need.

But write a poem when you
can’t spell your name
you don’t know who to blame
because your life’s been filled
with nothing but shame.

So this is a poem
for those who can’t write
for those who can’t fight
for those who must hide out
in the middle of the night.

This is a poem
for those who are scared
for those who aren’t spared
because the wealth we have
ain’t shared.

This is a poem
for the children who are dying
as governments keep lying
and we keep denying
that there’s anything we can do.

Yeah life may be hard
but writing poetry should be easy
for me and for you.

This poem was written in 2006 and appeared on the 8th grade DVD that year. The power of the poem is its simplicity and truth.

I’m not so good at giving advice
because I’m wrong
much more than I am right
but I do know this to be true:
select your friends carefully
because you will do as they do.

I made friends with thieves
in my younger days
and of course I copied their ways.
I stole, I lied, I cheated
no matter how badly I was mistreated.
They showed me acceptance
even gave me attention
in return, all I had to do
was serve detention after detention.

Then I made friends who were smart
who cared more about school
than pretending to be cool.
I read, I studied, I listened
my life finally had a goal, even a mission.
In time I went to college
where I got my degree
I became a teacher of children
now I help them learn poetry.

But things could definitely be different
now that I ponder my past
had I kept friends with bad company
my dreams would have faded fast.

So once again, here’s my advice to you:
choose your friends wisely
because you will do as they do.

This was written in 2007 during our poetry unit at Jehue.

I am poetry
I confuse people
but I also make them think
I amuse people
and make others want to drink

I am poetry
sometimes shallow
sometimes profound
sometimes frustrated
by what I have found.

I am poetry
and stronger than I appear
because words aren’t weak
when you make them clear.

I am poetry
and I exist in different forms
to break the norm
to calm the storm
and to provide some relief
from a life filled with grief.

I am poetry
and I don’t pretend to please
my goal is to inspire
or at least light a fire
and push people higher.

I am poetry.

Para aprender una idioma, no es facil. Pero es vale la pena. Ahora, estoy estudiando espanol porque me voy a Guatemala en dos meces. Dos meces! Aye. Es un poco tiempo para estudiar y aprender, pero el verano pasado vivi en Mexico y he practicado con mi hermano y mi amiga Gretel.

Tambien voy a escribir aqui para practicar mas palabras y oraciones.

La tema esta noche es, mi pasado:

Naci en Sioux City, Iowa en 1981 y mi familia estaba normal, mas o menos. O menos…no se. Mi papa se movio cuando tenia un ano, pero el estaba tonto. No yo estaba enojado porque tenia muchos amigos amables y hermanos divertidos.

Atendi la universidad de Iowa en 1999. Que una buena experiencia! Las personas, la escuela, la lecciones. No soy la misma persona porque atendi la universidad. Soy mejor: soy mas inteligente, soy mas alegre, soy mas saludamente, y mas.

Ahora, doy clases de ingles en Jehue Middle School. Mis estudiantes son mi familia, pero la siete de junio estaba mi ultimo dia con mis estudiantes. Todo el dia estaba llorando porque es muy deficil para decir adios. Estoy emocionado pero estoy muy triste tambien.

Y pronto, me voy a Guatemala donde empezare una nueva vida. Asi es la vida!

I need to be honest about something…I think it’s healthy to cry. In my opinion it creates closure, and it helps us experience a moment fully. Laughter and tears are both powerful, but while we laugh often, at times I don’t think we cry enough, despite the fact that both are incredibly cathartic.

I CRIED.

This year, on the last day of school, I cried more than I ever have before. I cried in 1st period, then in 2nd, almost the entire period in 3rd, in 4th, and finally in 5th.

I cried because I worked more for these students than any students in the past.

I cried because these students worked so hard for me and showed me an immense amount of respect.

I cried because we helped the people of Darfur and actually took action about something.

I cried because comments like this were left on my board, “Mr. Topf, if more people cared like you do, then the world would be a better place.”

I cried because I may never see some of these students ever again.

I cried because I wanted to show how much I cared about each and every one of them.

I cried because of the impact they’ve had on me.

I cried because men do cry, and men do care, and my students need to know this.

I cried because of the poem a student wrote to me.

I cried because my students were crying, which showed they cared.

I cried because of the students who were involved in Jaguar Productions and Jaguars Basketball.

I cried because I’ll remember this year for the rest of my life.

I cried because I’ll remember this moment for the rest of my life.

I cried because I will probably never teach at Jehue again.

But I also cried because I couldn’t be happier to end my experience at Jehue with a group like this.

Love is Not Illegal
in the Ghetto

There was a student once
who refused to shake my hand.
He was afraid of love from a teacher
and this I can understand.
For he had learned that toughness
and hatred are what make a man.

In his eyes men fought wars,
and worked on cars.
He learned this from a father
who was constantly behind bars.
The ghetto had taken his love
and spared him only the scars.

There was a girl too
who pushed my love away.
Love scared her to death,
and it still does to this day.
Because she sees love as temporary
and knows it won’t stay.

She learned early on that men lie about love
to get what they desire.
In her eyes my love was not real
I was simply another liar.
Once again the ghetto
had extinguished love’s fire.

But this is a poem about other students,
more in fact.
Who not only accept my love
but also give it back.
They are like that rose in the concrete
growing from the crack.

Because these students are beating the street
and overcoming negativity.
They focus on the love
and not the animosity.
Nothing will stop these students
from attending a university.

Now don’t get me wrong
these students experience drama too.
They’ve had haters, lost love,
and found friends who were not true.
Yet they handle their drama with maturity
so you wouldn’t have a clue
that they are so similar
to you.

It’s time then, for me to thank these students
I shouldn’t have to say your name
you know who you are just the same
And you don’t show me love for recognition or fame.

I want to say thank you for the little things
like shaking my hand before class
like saying hello and smiling
whenever we’d pass.

I want to say thank you
for the important things as well
from following your dreams
to sharing things that were difficult to tell.

I want to say thank you
for overcoming the stereotypes
for being yourself
and ignoring the hype

I want to say thank you
for all the love and respect
What you’ve given me
Is much more than I could ever expect.

Finally, you need to know this:

No group of students has inspired me
the way that you do
And by giving you all that I have
I hope I’ve inspired you too.