Initial Thoughts on "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"

I just finished the book. :) Halfway through it, I already had a lot to say but my thoughts are disorganized. They come and go. My fingers cannot catch up so I'll just try my best to write my initial thoughts as of the moment.

First of all, I liked the book. I can't say I love it but I do genuinely like it. I don't know if it counts as much since I usually like whatever I'm reading. Hey, why would I buy it (or ask for it) if I wasn't interested? Anyway, besides that I still liked the book. At first I was skeptical because I am past the stage of reading childrens' books. My Maddisson Finn days are gone. I outgrew Nancy Drew. Nonetheless, I liked the way this book was presented.

Presentation. Big font. Short chapters. Illustrations. Lots and lots of cartoons. There are pages when the cartoons were a distraction but overall, they added fun. They lessened the burden, the pain, the depth of the issues discussed. The writing was good. Coming from a first person perspective of a teenager, it was honest. Straightforward. As I told my friend, the writing had no pretensions. It didn't try to be philosophical or hide meanings between the lines. It was direct, as a child would be.

Famous quotes from writers were here and there and some characters had their wise-man moments but it didn't make the lines feel forced. It seems to me there were there to put some serious in the book. There were a lot of social issues present in the novel but they didn't burden me so much. The writer gave me the choice to take it as face value and move on to the next sentence. It was my choice if I wanted to dwell on the sadness, on the inequality, on the problems. That made me feel good.

The story started as a story of an outsider and I had my fears as to the flow of the story. Will the bullying continue? Will the differences between white and native American persist until the end? Is he fighting a war that cannot be won? Fortunately, they didn't. This is not a story about how an Indian is ostracized. It is not a malicious story about how whites are all racist and take away all the opportunities. Of course some of these were mentioned but it wasn't the focus.

This is a story of hope. Of good things. Of chasing dreams maybe, not so much since we only saw a year of Junior's life. Is it about identity? Destiny? Family? Community? Part-time. Of everything.

P.S. I though "Indian" in the book meant people who lived in India. I only realized it was Native American a few chapters till the end. See, I was interpreting is as I wanted to. I'll ready it again sometime. I might have more (and maybe different?) insights then.

New Year, Back to Blog

It's been so loooong. I haven't got a planner yet so no resolutions so far. Aaaaand somehow I want to steer clear of committing to too many things at the start of the year. Mostly because I couldn't keep them until the end, partly because I might just be jumping into the bandwagon. 

2014 had a lot of messy parts for me. The new year holds so much promise I wouldn't want to ruin it.

So anyway, back to blogging? Oh yeah baby! I have nothing in particular to write about as of yet but I do have a lot of things to catch up on: reading, watching, travelling, sleeping, mostly SLEEPING. Haha. Getting back to doing what I like might inspire me to write again. My entries won't be long and draggy and preachy and trying so hard to mean something. I think I'm past that stage. This blog is not supposed to please anyone anyway. It's originally not for anyone to see, actually.

There it is. My first post for the year. Hopefully it won't be the last.

Happy New Year!!!

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran: Teachings and Paintings (1 of 3)

This is part 1 of 3 posts I will make regarding The Prophet. When I was reading the book, some lines caught my attention and thus I wrote them in italics. I have been debating in my head whether I should comment on the teachings or just write them. I chose to do both, or whatever I feel like writing on the topic. Some are my opinions on the matter but most of what I'm writing are my interpretations of the teachings. The following are only about the first few teachings. I think as much as I need time to reflect and write, the lost reader also needs time to understand the philosophy.

On Leaving

Almustafa was glad that the boat of his men found his whereabouts but along with that happiness is a sadness, of leaving a place he has lived in for a long time. Although he suffered pain and suffering in an unfamiliar land, it already became a part of him. Despite feeling attached, he knows that it is time for him to leave and live.

who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret?

A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave its wings. Alone must it seek the ether.

And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun.

As he descended into the city, the people saw his ship and realized his imminent farewell. They left their work and gathered around him wanting him to stay. It was evident in their words that Almustafa and the people of the land cherished each other but did not openly show nor say it. He wanted to leave but they would like for him to stay. Almitra, the seeress who was the first to trust him, asked that he impart his wisdom before he leaves.

On Love

love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation

He says that one should yield in to love and its many difficulties. Love is not just pleasure and bliss. It involves hard work and vulnerability of self. It will hurt you and make you doubt. It will shake you in your core. And only in allowing love to strip you will you come to know of it. Only then will the happiness be true and complete.

And think not you can direct the course of love, 

for love, if it finds you worthy,

directs your course.

The love discussed was not just eros but all three: platonic love, romantic love, and agape. It wasn't just the shallow infatuation we feel nor the bodily desires that make us attracted to a person. It was love as love. Going with the flow and understanding more as we get hurt and grow. Thinking not only for one's self but for the other too. Grateful for yesterday's love, thankful for the love today, hopeful for what love will bring tomorrow.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

On Marriage

Gibran, as well as most of the people, believe that marriage is a relationship until death. However, he does not treat marriage as a contract or a bond between two people. Similar to all his other teachings, marriage involves going with the flow of life. It is two people who share in each other's life but lives their own. Marriage does not have to mean that two people have to be beside each other at all times, have the same goals in life, or depend on each other completely. They are different people who choose to face life together.

let there be spaces in your togetherness 

On Children

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

On this topic, the writer again shows his view on how people's lives are their own. He says that children are brought into this world by the parents but they are not owned by the mother and father. He gives advice that parents help hone the children but not to impose on them because they have their own thinking. Moreover, he writes that the future of the children are in the tomorrow which the parents cannot even dream of visiting. Towards the end, he likens the children to an arrow and the parents to the bow. The bow gives direction and stability for the arrow to reach its goal, but lets go to set the arrow on its own path.

On Giving

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

Almustafa starts off this chapter claiming that giving possessions is only a small part of the act. It is giving of the self that constitutes the most part of giving. For him, keeping too much of one's possessions for tomorrow is only out of fear of needing them, not so much the importance of the thing itself. He then goes on to writing about the different kinds of people based on why they give and how much they do. 

The rich who give little of their possessions only for recognition which makes it unwholesome and as opposed to that the poor who give so much of what they have. The people who give with joy and gets joy; and the ones who give with pain and are baptised. Lastly, there are individuals who do not seek joy, who do not think when giving, and who do not feel the pain of losing in order to give. These people, he says, are the best of them. 

All you have shall someday be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors

Another advice he makes is of giving without being asked, of actively searching for people to give to. The author is against the popular way of thinking that only the deserving should receive. He supports this by citing that nature gives in order to live and to help others live. Holding back only makes them wither. More importantly, he makes a good point in questioning why the giver should be higher than the receiver when both are part of Life. Why is there a need to assess a person's worth, to rid him of his pride, to strip him of his self-confidence? Gibran asks the giver to first assess if he is deserving to be a giver of life. He also asks the receiver not to feel the weight of gratitude because in doing so, he is doubting the generosity of the giver. 

On Eating & Drinking

since you must kill to eat, 

and rob the newly born of its mother's milk

to quench your thirst,

let it then be an act of worship,

As much as we hate how zombies, vampires, sharks, venus flytraps, and viruses kill in order to sustain their lives, we also do the same. Some people falsely claim that since we are 'higher beings' we are entitled to end the lives of those with less brain activity. I agree with the four lines above in saying that since we kill life in order to live, we should put importance while on the dinner table. Preparing more than enough and having leftovers is bad enough when you think of others who have less and are starving. What's worse is being picky and letting one's mood affect the appetite. Wasting food because of bad cooking skills are also a disappointment, but one that can be avoided. Today there are more and more people showing an interest on food as evidenced by the many blogs about it. Hopefully, it's not just the plating they put importance too.

On Work

For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, 

and to step out of life's procession that marches

in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

Work is this context should not only be seen as labor with pain but growth, progress, development. The writer believes in a person's purpose being set when one is born. And in working does one fulfill it. In participating in work, an individual contributes to life. He then goes on to point out that work must not be done merely as routine or obligation. It must be done with love. It should be done by immersing oneself in it, putting your self in your work, doing what you love, and doing work wholeheartedly. Only by working with love will the product be good. Forced labor brings forth substandard products and even rejects. The author advises those who do not work with love to not work at all. They will only ruin other people's work. For him, it will be better for them to take alms, alms from the people who work with joy and give.

Work is love made visible.

On Joy and Sorrow

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

Joy and sorrow come together. They are on scales weighing each other out. Since they are opposites they must be. For as long as one feels, he takes joy or sorrow from every thing. I take joy in reading and sorrow in the lack of knowledge. One may feel sorrow in sickness and joy in health even thought at times we take being healthy for granted and do not show feelings of joy.   

you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow

that is giving you joy

Gibran further mentions that balance only comes when one is empty of both joy and sorrow. When others claim that there are circumstances when we feel indifferent, then this must be emptiness. A lack of attachment towards the situation. However, I cannot cite an example since I still cannot claim that I already felt this indifference. There is always joy or sorrow for me no matter how unattached I am to the object of observation. 

***

Every time I read the parts I have to write on, I go back to reflecting. I end up taking a longer time digesting Gibran's words and putting it against the way I live that I need to take breaks in writing. For every one line I write on this post, I have gone back how many months in my life. What I wrote did not capture the whole picture of my reflections and musings but I hope that the lost reader can find something useful in the lines.

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran: Introduction and Overview

I lay down no rules of conduct. 

Do whatsoever you will so long as you do it beautiful. 

~ Kahlil Gibran

I bought this book as one of the required readings when I was in third year high school. I read it for an exam but did not fully digest its teachings. At that time, I did not understand a thing about philosophy. Like all teenagers, my understanding of life and the world were too shallow and superficial.

As part of my quarter-life crisis, I started the task of rereading all the books I've bought or read since I was a child, as long as I still have the copy. That includes the Nancy Drew series, John Grisham novels, and readings from school. The goal is to gain a new understanding of the literature I read before. There's a chance of gaining new perspectives but there's also the risk of disappointment and the whole thing becoming a waste of time. It doesn't matter since I will only be doing it during my free time.

So, the first book I reread which will have the honor (hhm? well let's just accept it) of getting blogged is Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. My copy was published by the New Dawn Press and contains 96 pages of teachings and paintings. The introduction was brief in telling the reader what to expect from the book: Gibran's take on the many aspects of life among them marriage, laws, prayer, and eating. It also enumerated some of the Lebanese philosopher's  works throughout his 58 years of life which included The Prophet Trilogy.

The book tells the story of a man, Almustafa, who was living in the city of Orphalese for 12 years and is finally going home with his fellow sailors who fetches him. Before he boards the ship, he reminisces on the time spent on the island and bids goodbye to the citizens through a lengthy conversation. The conversations, and thus the book, were divided into chapters based on what aspect of life was being discussed. I will reiterate and comment on these on my next posts.

Thoughts on The Fierce Wife's Ending

I just finished watching the whole series and the movie today. It was a really long TV series (23 1-1.5 hr episodes) and a short movie(1hr 48 mins). Last year or the other year, I was able to watch almost half of the series already when we borrowed the neighbor's DVD collection of it. However, I got tired of it halfway and only recently decided to watch it again.

Its story was good and mature. It dealt with marriage, divorce, extramarital affairs, relationships with age gaps, family, self-fulfillment, and of course the pursuit of happiness. 

The reason why I gave up watching it before was because I got too frustrated and disappointed and mad at Wen Rui Fan and Li Wei En. Their behavior during the first half of the series were just too hateful. I read online that people would curse the two actors during and outside filming. It was proof that the program was widely popular and the actors were good in portraying the characters. Even when it was shown across Asia, the reactions were similar. The audience empathized with the difficulties of Xie An Zhen, Wen Rui Fan, Li Wei En, Lan Tian Wei, and the others. 

After a year or so, I decided to watch it again. I needed closure hahaha and I read that it was a really good program. There are times when I felt the scene was a filler or the lines were preachy but then every TV series has them. The flow of the story and the characters more than make up for the program's deficiencies.

When I watched the final episode, I was convinced that An Zhen chose Tian Wei. It was downright rejection when she told Rui Fan "I can't go back". Moreover, her constant reading of Tian Wei's columns and her smile at the end had more meaning. It can mean two things (just friends or more than friends) but at least it was not an explicit no.

At the start of the movie (a continuation and ending of the series), I was more convinced it would be Tian Wei. There is no way one would stick postcards from a suitor on one's ref without any romantic inkling. In addition to that, she seemed happy and comfortable with Tian Wei (they had way more scenes too) unlike the awkward and forced meetings with her ex-husband. 30 mins through the movie, it was pretty much settled it would be Tian Wei but fine let the director attempt to convince us Rui Fan has a chance.

1. almost begging for one more chance through a product launch

- An Zhen forced a smile so it's a no

- Alright, she was touched by his words but not enough though

2. Meng-meng's speech at the school

- An Zhen also forced a smile and was feeling awkward

3. Kang De's endless hardsell for Rui Fan and An Zhen at the birthday party

- Honestly, it was over the line. He should know his limits. 

4. Rui Fan buying and almost giving the ring

- The look on An Zhen's face was like saying "Sorry but please don't because you know I don't want to anymore"

Anyway, I was very much relieved when Rui Fan didn't give the ring and when he told Meng-meng to let go in the end. Finally, he realized that he can't be with her again, that her happiness is with someone else. It took him four years to realize. Wen Yu Meng too, it must have been really painful for a child.

For Wei En, I'm glad that she let Rui Fan know of Oliver's (the son, not the cat nor the stuffed toy) existence. Finally, she redeemed herself to me when she decided to raise the child on her own but not keep the secret of who his father is. Telling An Zhen was the right thing to do as her cousin, and also as the former mistress. 

The climax was very corny, unrealistic, and predictable but it was another fun element of the movie. Finally, these two people can be happy together. It was a happy ending for everyone. Rui Fan as a father to both Meng-meng and Oliver, Wei En as a mother, Ho Ai Lin as a strong independent woman once again, Hao Kang De and Wen Rui Xuan with Zhuang-zhuang in a complete happy family, Lan Tian Wei and Xie An Zhen as a happy new couple. Even the minor characters had happy endings.

The movie was a nice ending to this story. It was light and tied up all the loose ends episode 23 left us. I have so many more thoughts throughout the show but the movie confirmed my predictions. It provided closure. It was the end.

* As usual, I just grabbed some photos off Google images. :)

Filipino vs Spanish vs Portuguese

When I was a kid, we used to buy lots of canned goods such as sardines, corned beef, luncheon meat, and tuna for a number of reasons. One, it can be eaten when we run out of food in the refrigerator and we're hungry. Too, we can eat it when the maid's not at home and/or when no one wants to cook. Three, they're cheap compared to buying microwavable dishes. I think there are more reasons but I can't remember every one of them. 

Anyways, we always bought sardines from the Philippines because they're cheap. I used to really like them especially the spicy ones. However, I grew up and saw all the other sardines on the supermarket shelf from different countries and I began to wonder how different they really are. Is it just called spanish sardines because it's manufactured in Spain? Just recently, I decided to buy three kinds and taste all of them. I bought a Ligo sardines from the Philippines, a spanish sardines that I can't remember the brand, and a Zaragosa Portugues sardines. 

 

Ligo sardines was the worst of the three. It only had three pieces inside and its taste reflected its price. The sauce was spicy, the kind of spicy that's constant and somehow overpowering. The sauce was thick and there was a lot of it. I'm not so sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing though. Oh! On the plus side, the fish was fat.

Next I tried the Spanish sardines. I was surprised at how many pieces fit in that little bottle. There were about 12-15 sardines inside. The fish was thinner than Ligo and still had its tail :)) It was bathed in a sauce made of oil, chili, and some other spice. The chopped chili and part of the oil gave it its spicy taste. It was not overpowering though. It only hints once in a while. 

For the Portugues one, it also contained around 10 or more pieces in one bottle. There were no chili in the corn oil that surrounded the sardines but it was still a little bit spicy. The least though, out of the three. It had the thinnest fishes and had still had scales which I didn't enjoy. However, I still liked it better than the Ligo.

I only tried three kinds and they may not even be representative of each country's sardines. Based on these three, I liked the Spanish sardines the most. It suited my taste best. There were enough for the three people to get full. The sauce didn't look unhealthy and the spiciness was just the right amount for the fish. 

*Again, all pictures are from the internet because I forgot to take photos of the ones I tried. I was too focused on comparing them, I think.

On Celebrities' School Life

I was too lazy to go out these past two weeks so I ended up spending my time either watching TV, sleeping, playing Sims 3 or reading and rereading. My grade school and part of my high school years were all about the Harry Potter Series so I decided to read all seven books again.

While reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, my attention was grabbed by the fame of Harry especially how people treated him, looked at him, and even the way they uttered his name. It's not so surprising since they considered him the savior from all the terrible things You-Know-Who did before. Even when he was with the Dursleys and wasn't yet aware of his fame, people bowed to him and shook his hand. His experience at the Leaky Cauldron was like a surprise handshaking event but it was probably due to Hagrid boasting. As soon as he boarded the Hogwarts Express, students started whispering and treated him differently. Wherever he walked people pointed; whenever he enters a room, students whisper. Although there are countless times these happened in the series, Harry did experience a normal school life (if we remove the parts where he risks his and his friends' lives in order to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named). He can walk freely, eat freely, sleep freely, study freely around his schoolmates. It might be difficult to agree with me here but my focus is on Harry as a celebrity school boy and not as a wizard battling against Voldemort. 

Moving from fiction to reality television, I recently saw how some of the Girls' Generation members were treated in their respective schools. Sooyoung and Yuri experienced what we would expect a celebrity to go through in a mall: chauffeured to they stick to themselves, they bring their manager, they don't go to crowded places. In one of the episodes of KBS Star Life Theater, it was shown how both girls had to quickly buy food in a small convenience store and go back to their classroom in order to avoid the crowd getting bigger. When I watched it, I felt sad for them because they couldn't enjoy the life of a normal college student.

Here comes Seohyun in the next episode who took a taxi by herself to school, waited by the school benches for her friends, walked and attended class with classmates, lined up in the school cafeteria for omurice, and ate in the patio tables of the cafeteria. Her life looked so normal that I realized that although the fame does make one well known, a celebrity can live an ordinary life like us. She can move as freely as the school hearthrob. Sure some guys asked to take pictures and for some autographs but they didn't swarm around her. She had space to breathe.

From reality television, it might be even better to share actual encounters. I remember passing by Robi Domingo countless times in school and looking back once, sometimes not even. I saw the Magalona sisters registering for classes without the paparazzi or fans outside the door nor the school gates. The Younghusband brothers trained in school one summer but only took pictures after training and only with a few people. I didn't bother much about celebrities in school because I considered them as ordinary students like me. They go to school to attend classes, not fan meetings and are thus treated like students and not celebrities. 

In my opinion, it really depends on your attitude, the friends around you and the atmosphere of the place. With Seohyun and Harry, they had friends around them so even if people whisper or take pictures, it wasn't much of deal really. They had protection which people didn't treat as bodyguards or managers. Their lives went on normally in school. Sooyoung, Yuri, and other celebrities may share the same suffocating school life but at least it's not as bad as when they go for guerilla dates or concerts. I can't say for sure if it's their attitude or their fellow schoolmates' attitude but for me, it should start from them if they want to live a normal school life. Bringing a manager or a filming crew or even just dressing up too flashy invites people to treat them as famous celebrities and not as students. Who am I to judge though? It is possible they just got used to it or they might have actually wanted it.

* I just grabbed the photos off the internet :)