Writer’s Block: Happy Rizal Day
*dusts off the cobwebs*
Sa aking mga masugid na taga pagsubaybay, kamusta na kayo?
Leche, ang korny ko. Sorry ah, napasobrahan lang ng kakapanood at pakikinig kay Lourd de Veyra.
Many times I’ve tried to keep up with this blog and like the many attempts I’ve made to successfully compose a decent story from start to finish it always ends up with me giving up half way. Hm, maybe this explains why my life is still in shambles. Stagnant and degenerating. Well, that could be considered an exaggeration but really, if I don’t do anything with myself right now I might as well…
…I don’t want to think about it.
Kung hindi nga naman magkanda leche-leche and buhay mo, hindi ka pa gagawa ng paraan para makaraos ka sa kamalasan na sinampal sayo ng panahon.
Hay naku. Ganyan talaga pag manganda, maraming problema.
In the immortal words of Emilie Autumn, ‘God hates hot chicks.”
So today we commemorate the death anniversary of one of the greatest people to have graced this earth with their presence. Jose Rizal. It has been 115 years since they tattered him with bullets on the execution grounds of Bagumbayan. I find it incredible that he still managed to turn his mangled body upwards to face the sun as he gasped his last breath.
Rizal was a true creature of the mind. He had an ardent passion for knowledge and he hungered for it like a glutton would wolf down food and drink without cease.
He never did encourage the notion for a bloody revolution as a means of change to the degenerative society that ate its way into the hearts of many a Filipino at that time.
How ironic is it that one becomes a symbol of something that is contrary to what he promotes. Tragic.
Browsing through Facebook some minutes ago, I stumbled upon this trailer of a documentary on the life of Rizal: http://joserizalthefirsthero.com/
(Sandali, ma iba lang ako ha, but is that Rico Blanco I’m seeing as Rizal or are my eyes fooling me? :P) Anyhow, this looks promising.
It allows us to see another side of Rizal. The Rizal we never knew. Ruthless would NOT be one of the words to describe him and yet the documentary assures us that there is yet more to Rizal than what we already know.
Curious, curious. Sadly, I checked the info on their Facebook page and looks like this would only be a private screening.
:( BOO. Come on, what about the ones who doesn’t reside in Manila who are itching to see this? You people in Manila get everything. :P Lucky buggers.
Disappointment aside, I really do hope I get to watch this one way or another. Back when I was still in college, we were having a film-showing on the life of Rizal (Cesar Montano version) and there was this particular line that struck me to be very resonant(although this might not be the actual quote): “Isa akong manunulat. Kalaban ko ang lahat pati na ang sarili ko.”
I am a writer, I am an adversary to everything even to myself.
Rizal was an ambitious man, he was driven. It was one of the qualities that I admire in him the most.
Now if only I could have that imperturbable drive to fuel myself to overcome the countless misgivings that have settled in me for the past years. Rizal means more to me that an iconoclast of history.
My Rizal teacher asked me once what he meant to me and I answered,”I’m quitting school at the end of this semester because my parents don’t have the money to support my education anymore. My aunt, a doctor in New Jersey, who originally financed my schooling withdrew her support when she knew that I failed Pharmacology and had to take it up again. I felt that it was unfair of her to be so rash in her decision. My aunt knows how hard up we are for money. My parents could barely keep up with the expenses in the house. She feels cheated out of her money because I failed to pass one subject. The tribulations of Rizal pales in comparison to the troubles I have now. Rizal had more, so much more in his hands. And yet he pushed on. I am taking this as an example. Rizal accomplished extraordinary feats because he persevered. This drawback in my educational plans have opened opportunities for me to think on what I really want to become. When I think on what Rizal has achieved I come to realize that fact that it was simply his determination that allow him to succeed. So what is Rizal to me? He is a paradigm. And if he can overcome ordeals with an iron will, well, perhaps I can too.”
- 5 months ago
- 10
Sebastian had sex with a nun.
He should only have sex with Ciel. :((((((((((((((((((((((((((
- 11 months ago
- 14
Iloilo (Part 2 of… still undetermined)
“Iloilo Doesn’t Mean Cleaning the Rear End”
It has always been a puzzle for me why Iloilo was called as such. For people in the Central Visayas, at least for a Cebuano/Bisaya-speaking person like me, “Iloilo” would sound funny. “Ilo” in my hometown means the act of cleaning up after defecating. (A funny translation of Iloilo would be “Wash your poopoo twice” just kidding) As a child my grandpa made a fool out of me by explaining that people in Iloilo are very clean individuals (which is true by the way according to how I see it in the way they keep their city clean) that they always wash their “lubot” (ass) from time to time.
It was the wise Mr. Nick Mana-ay, a colleague at the office who eventually explained to me the etymology of the word Iloilo. My good friend google and Wikipedia helped too! Here’s what I found out from them:
Hispanicized corruption of irong-irong, Hiligaynon for “nose-like,” referring to the shape of the delta formed by what are now called theIloilo and Salog Rivers on which the settlement of the same name thrived. The name originally only applied to the town (now city) of Iloilo (rendered in Spanish orthography as Yloylo or Yloilo), which serves as the capital of the province.
Lame excuse. It had to take almost 9 years before I got a perfect explanation of the etymology of the word. haha
- 11 months ago
- 3
I’ve fallen in-love with Iloilo (Part 1 of…still undetermined)
“First Time”
There is so much to say about Iloilo. So much to be in-love with.
The first time I stepped in Panay was when I joined the Regional Press Conference’s News Writing Contest way back in grade school. As I have very faint memories of the whole time I was here (or probably a suppression from all the anxieties of the contest), I could only remember that we stayed at the Iloilo National High School for a couple of days. Because I was with people who I barely know (We were a mix of students from major elementary schools in San Carlos City), I didn’t had the chance to roam around the city. In fact, I still find it funny whenever I recall that the only view of Iloilo that stuck in my mind was the fountain in front of the Provincial Capitol.
The next time I visited the place was during our psychiatric nursing exposure at Pototan, Iloilo. Since we need materials for our therapies, we needed to come to the city most of the time. After graduation, I, again, went back to Iloilo for the filing and actual taking of the Board Exam. It wasn’t what you would call “lagaw” but on those brief visits I’d like to believe that I have fallen in love with the place.
A month after the licensure examination, it was unexpected that I would be coming back to this magnificent city. Now, I’d have to say, I’m still “visitor” or a visitor so to speak despite the fact that I have spent most of my days for the last four months.
- 11 months ago
- 4
