Monday, January 31, 2011

Google Translate Fails and Meddlesome Folk

I just typed the word "pikon" in Google Translate and it insists that in English, its "harmony".

Oh, the irony.

Why did I attempt it? E kasi napikon ako. And I wanted to say it. But how am I supposed to, now? (Okay, so I'll tell the story.)


I posted this video on my Facebook page and said two things: That I've always wanted to be able to play the violin but have never learned it; and that I'm drawn to people (or videos of people) who play the violin (or in this case the cello) really, really well. Classical musical instruments being played by virtuosos have this unexplained effect on me: I start dreaming about being able to do the same, and feeling sad that I can't, and probably never will.

Well, there's this one guy who insists that I should try to learn to play the saxophone instead. He's told me before that he'd dreamt that we were all in a big band and that in it, I was playing the saxophone.

Now, I don't really have anything against that. When I think about it, it's actually nice that I was included in the dream, I mean, he's not a particularly close friend of mine. (Up until about four or five months ago we barely even exchanged anything more than the polite "Good morning." in church.) But he is a part of the praise and worship team that I serve in. To me it sounds as if he was really into the team (hey, he dreamt of all the members) even when we really didn't get to hang out with him much.

Things actually got hairy after I said "no" to his comment in jest. He insists that instead of trying to learn to play the violin which is, stop me if I've said it before, MY dream, I should learn to play the saxophone, which is HIS dream for me. I tried being really nice while still saying that: No, I want to be able to play the violin. That's when he dragged God into it: He tells me that there's nothing I'm going to be able to do about it, because he's already praying that I become a saxophone-player, and that if God says I should become one, I won't be able to refuse a third time. He even tries to shame me into agreeing with him by saying how great worship services would be if I was a song leader and at the same time I played saxophone, and that God will be real proud of me if I did. Way to go, dude! You're showing how it is to be encouraging! (Note to the sarcasm challenged: that last statement was, in fact, laced with LOADS of sarcasm.) Anybody else seeing what big nonsense he's making?

To be fair, he's (usually) a really nice guy, and I think we might even become friends someday. He's a great dad to his kid, a nice husband to his wife, and a talented musician. What I don't care for is his presuming to know better than I what I want to be able to do with my life. And this isn't even something I'm actually on the verge of doing any time soon, this is just good old-fashioned daydreaming, and along comes this person telling me what I should be dreaming about!

I wanted to tell him off on my profile page, but I held back. I didn't really want it to become too big a deal back in church. I just replied saying that I don't think its up to him to decide, but that MY dream is something between my God and myself. (Please, God, let that be the last of it. Make him stop!)

I'm planning to delete that post on my Facebook page, just so I can pretend it never happened.

Also, its hard to really vent when Google keeps telling me the word I want to use translates to something that means something else.

(Just to be clear: my mom responded to the same Facebook post and was her usual supportive self. She never interfered with my dreams, unlike some people.)

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