Flowers, Cold night, Life

When I was in high school, I dreaded my English subject especially during my junior year not because of the teacher (despite the fact that she announced in class that I was the bitch who hated her) but because of those activities where we have to analyze the true meaning of poems, sonnets, haikus etc. I strongly believe that whoever started this notion that ALL poets/authors have some deeper meaning in their works must be cursed for infinity.

If the work was written during a tumultuous time in history and the subject of the work touches politics or religion or some important theme/subject I would totally understand that the author would hide deeper meanings in their work as to avoid persecution, punishment or even death. But what I really hate is when you have to analyze a work when the author is just describing a garden, a field, a cold night or the tiger’s fearful stature. The last phrase fearful stature is “special” to me, because I clearly remember this as the phrase that I was once asked in class to analyze what it means. I was speechless for a few seconds and just eventually had to talk gibberish about how I would be scared if I saw a tiger.

Did it ever occur to these people that what if the author just simply wanted to describe the flowers in the garden because he was bored and can’t think of anything else to write about? That it was just really a cold night and he had to write a long poem just so he could divert his attention and forget how cold it was. Why all these should have some deep meaning or should give us to the meaning of life?

Why do people always have the insatiable need to have an explanation for or know everything? Are we all shrinks deep inside?

Awkward

I was browsing through free tv shows in Itunes when I first saw “Awkward” a tv series about a teenager’s struggle as a “nobody” in high school, I couldn’t say outcast since she has friends although not the popular ones.
I found it very funny and entertaining at first and I could imagine how teenagers might be loving it but as I watch more episodes, I realized how I wouldn’t let my daughter watch this show before she is 25 or probably 30 years old.

It was still a culture shock for me, although I already know how American teenagers lose their virginity before they even go to college. Maybe because how the characters see sex as not a serious thing, that you can just go in an abandoned area (they call it sanctuary) in your school and freely have sex or make out. I have never been to the U.S. so I wouldn’t know how far or close the show is from the truth. It’s disturbing for me how parents would actually drive their teenagers to their party knowing there would be booze or ask her daughter if she already had sex with her boyfriend.

I personally know someone, a mother who allows her sons to do things freely (smoke, drink, go out late at night and all other things teenagers are so tempted to do) right before her eyes. She tells me because she wants them to be independent and think for themselves. She doesn’t want them to rebel against her and do things against her knowledge. For some teenagers, this would be a good strategy, that when they feel the independence that they are trusted by their parents, they would value that trust and will not do anything that will harm them or their future. But not all teenagers are the same, some would take advantage of that independence and would throw caution to the wind. Sadly though, the sons of this mother that I know fall to the second kind and it breaks my heart to see her sons destroy their lives and inevitably drags their mother’s life to their mess. When I try to talk some sense to her children, they (yes, including the mother) would turn the tables on me and point out how I made mistakes during my teenage years. Like common teenagers, I also made poor judgments but as I have also told them, I learn from those mistakes and take everything as a challenge or motivation for me to do things right and succeed. And by then, I have become the melodramatic meddler in their eyes (sometimes also laughed at). So I already gave up and see it as a lost cause and no longer try to somehow help them by giving my unsolicited advice.
My kids are just 4 and 6 years old, too early to know in what kind they would fall to, the ones can be trusted with independence or the other that is a disaster waiting to happen. I am not praying for perfect kids, just for the ones who may or may not make mistakes and if they do make mistakes, they learn from those mistakes and make themselves better each time.

image from mtv.tv

filipino accent

Russel Peters doing Filipino accent

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=XDORYXvLlD0&feature=youtu.be&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXDORYXvLlD0%26feature%3Dyoutu.be

The Storyteller

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Synopsis:
Sage Singer is a baker, a loner, until she befriends an old man who's particularly beloved in her community. Josef Weber is everyone's favorite retired teacher and Little League coach. One day he asks Sage for a favor: to kill him. Shocked, Sage refuses—and then he confesses his darkest secret – he deserves to die because he had been a Nazi SS guard. And Sage's grandmother is a Holocaust survivor. How do you react to evil living next door? Can someone who's committed truly heinous acts ever atone with subsequent good behavior? Should you offer forgiveness to someone if you aren't the party who was wronged? And, if Sage even considers the request, is it revenge…or justice? (from http://jodipicoult.com/the-storyteller.html)

If you are like me who until now wonders how Germans were “charmed” by Hitler or why many youth have joined the Hitler Youth group during the time leading to WW2 , but do not have the high intellect (or patience) to read on books that offer the psychological, sociological or political analyses of those times, this book could provide you an insight on what was happening in Germany during that time and what might have been running in the minds of the German that time. Although the story is fictional the historical details were well researched by the author (details of research can be found in http://jodipicoult.com/the-storyteller.html).


Don’t get me wrong, I am not neo-Nazi or anti-Semitic. I have just wondered if I was a German during that time, what would I have done? Would I have secretly helped Jews or blindly support the Nazis? It would be very easy to say today “Of course, I would secretly help the Jews!”. But as Josef, a character in the story have said, sometimes we would be surprised on what we can do.

It is on this same line of thinking that I have always wondered that if I was a Jew and was alive during the time that Jesus preached in Jerusalem, would I have believed him and proclaim him as my Savior? Or would I be one of those shouting “Crucify him!”. Again, (if you are a Christian today) it would be an immediate “Of course I would believe Jesus and accept him as my Savior”.

As they say, don’t judge a person, who had never walked on his shoes.

Updates for previous posts

Chinavasion

From my previous blog posts, I told you that I have returned a defective item to them. Thru email they informed that they will tell me once they received the item and once the replacement is ready to be shipped. After a month or so of not hearing anything from them, I e-mailed them inquiring if they have received the item and if they could now send the replacement. They responded back by asking if I have returned the item’s accessories as well. I confirmed that I have sent the accessories as well. They said that since a similar item is no longer available, replacement is not possible and they will instead give me store credits equivalent to the price of the item:

Bad points: if I have not followed-up with them, they would not give me an update on the return/replacement status
Good points: they were quick to provide the store credits

Cebu Pacific Air

Last time that I boarded a flight of Cebu Pacific air from Manila to Bangkok, I told you that I had a “problem” with the inflight meal that I have pre-ordered. So to my flight back to Manila last April 5, 2013, I made sure that there is note that I have inflight meal (I pre-ordered again)in my itinerary receipt. There were no problems with the delivery of my inflight. Although I have observed that a couple of foreigners were asking why they do not have meals. The flight attendant politely informed them that the meals were pre-ordered. One of the foreigners insisted that he clicked the option to order inflight meals. Although it seems that there is no note indicated in their itinerary receipt. After a few minutes of discussion, the foreigner finally gave up and told the attendant that its OK since he doesn’t feel like eating anymore.

Bad points: I feel greatly offended when they ask for my boarding pass for confirmation (after they asked for my name and if I ordered food) while with other passengers they just confirm the passenger’s name and/or if they have ordered inflight meals. Was it because the seat beside me is unoccupied and they are thinking I moved seats just to get the food?

Good points: nothing that I can think of

Pag-IBIG /HMDF (Philippines) housing loan eligibility

useful information I got from a customer service agent from Pag-IBIG/HMDF (Philippines) regarding your contributions and eligibility for a housing loan:

Good day to you,

We would like to inform you that members who have made at least 24 monthly contributions, an active member of Pag-IBIG Fund and has source of income/capacity to pay at the time of application, may avail of a housing loan from Pag-IBIG. For those member who has lapses in their contribution may not affect the eligibility of availing housing loan. The most important is you have updated your contribution up to the last month prior to the date of your loan application.