EDSA 25

What is the true spirit of EDSA?

I wasn’t there at that time to begin with, I just remembered how my mom and my grandmother told me how People Power was like during that time. Indeed, it was the most peaceful revolution the world has ever seen. Up until now, people around the world were inspired to unite and do something for their country especially if their country is at stake.

Thanks to the internet and some videos that I have watched in you tube together with the pictures and newspapers that recounts what really happened that monumental day, I can imagine how amazing the power of unity, prayers and hope can do.

The headline that says, “It’s all over” meaning, Corazon Aquino was then declared as the new president and former president Ferdinand Marcos was ousted, caused the whole nation to celebrate. Frankly, I was a little biased, although of course I can understand why people felt the way they do before, but as my mom and my grandmother recounted, life were easier, more productive, even to the extent of glorious during the Marcos era. The Marcos clan was so popular since they were like the Kings and Queens of Scotland.

Imelda Marcos, the wife of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has landed on Newsweek’s list of “greediest people of all time.” According to the newsmagazine, Marcos “saw it as her duty to provide ‘some kind of light, a star’ for the impoverished Filipino people over whom her husband presided. So she took $5-million shopping sprees to New York and Rome, reportedly owned the world’s largest collections of gems and 3,000 pairs of shoes.” But you know what, I can categorize Marcos as the Robinhood of our country, granted he “stealed”, but our country was also benefiting from it, our economy was,’t that bad during those times.

And what about the Marcos and Mubarak  comparison? I find it insulting. Tunisia’s Ben Ali, Egypt’s Mubarak and Libya’s Gaddafi are tyrants -- they could easily be compared to Marcos.  I don’t think Marcos is any way worth comparing to them. Yes, they both cling to power for how many years, but they are different people.

They say, after Marcos flee, it marked the end of dictatorship and and the birth of new hope and freedom for the Filipinos, is it really? or it just marked the start of greediness of other people to take over the weak? the people who are hoping for change? the naive way of thinking that there will be a change if we can just trust…but can we trust them?

FEBRUARY 25, 2011 Marks the 25th anniversary of Edsa Revolution, but honestly, where are we now? what happened to our country ever since the revolt happened back then?

25 years and 5 presidents later..are we really considered free? Idealistically speaking? are we learning and going to the right direction towards being a great nation?

The fact that second revolution happened when we ousted former president Joseph Estrada only proves that we are still back in our good old days, greediness is still out there..or maybe, it didn’t leave after all.

It may sound pessimistic but after how many years, the story never changed..it is still the same. The events occur and only the characters change…are we getting used to this?

I don’t want to lose hope..I still want to believe that our race is worth dying for….

I really wish the true spirit of EDSA will not only be alive today but everyday..

The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

I have watched the movie before I get to read the book and thanks to my friend who lend me I guess I’m really a devoted fan of Nicholas Sparks and what’s with him making me cry all  the time with the stories that he writes. I wanted to say so much about this book . . . but I guess it really doesn’t need that much said about it. It is quite simple really.

Do you believe in love?

Do you believe there can be a lasting, eternal love for one other person here on earth?
Nonbelievers.

It’s the most beautiful description of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl, then loses her again. It’s how every person wants to be loved one day.

The Notebook opens in a rest home. An elderly resident is telling us his story. He spends his days visiting a woman that often does not remember him. Each morning, he enters her room with a notebook containing memories of his life and love. He hopes that sharing these past events will jog her memory, but it is not to be. Yet, he tries each day and does not give up.

The second scene of the book takes place in October of 1946. Noah Calhoun has returned from the war and purchased his dream house in New Bern. He came into a windfall, bought the 1772 house, and restored it in an attempt to forget his past. We find out that his past includes a long lost love. This lady was his first and only love and she went away when they were teenagers. He has never forgotten her.

The Notebook then flashes back to Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson meeting and falling in love in the summer of 1935. Fifteen year-old Allie is visiting North Carolina. She is introduced to seventeen year-old Noah and likes him immediately. They spend the summer together sharing everything including their first sexual experiences. By the end of the season, it is clear that these two are in love and meant for each other.

However, Allie returns home and loses touch with Noah. Her parents have implied that Noah is not right for their daughter because he is of a different class. Noah writes to Allie often, but his letters go unanswered. He moves on with his life as best he can by enlisting in the service and going to war.

Let’s fast forward now to 1946. Noah is living in and restoring this big house all alone. Allie is 29 and engaged to a successful lawyer. She reads an article about Noah in the paper and decides that she must see him one last time. She tells her family that she is taking a trip to shop for antiques and heads to New Bern.

Once she meets Noah face to face again, it is clear that the passion they shared so long ago is still there. They spend two wonderful evenings together sharing magical experiences. However, Allie must soon return to her other life and the man she is about to marry. Will Allie return home to a safe, comfortable life? Will she leave Noah a second time? Or will she stay in New Bern, where her heart belongs?

The last quarter of the book involves an elderly couple and their undying love. It is the couple in the rest home to which I was referring earlier. The woman has Alzheimer’s disease and often forgets the life she shared with this other man. He doesn’t give up hope and tries to give her back her memory each day. The doctors and nurses are stunned and touched. This man’s undying faith sometimes fools the disease, and his love gets her memory back once in a while. Those moments they share are priceless and the author describes them well.

Are these two people Noah and Allie or another couple? Did Allie leave? Did she find her way back? I’ll never tell.

This book is a real tearjerker and I can’t really describe how wonderful it was written. How strong is their love that can survive one of them not having any memory of the other? Every day he goes to see his wife and read to her hoping that she will recall the words. Never does he say who he is. He wants her to remember on her own, and hear those precious words that he misses so much. “I Love You”. He never pushes too hard. Their love is one to be admired, even though it is fictional. One could only hope to live as long as these two, and have the passion and love that they felt from the beginning. I was praying through the whole book that she would remember..Although, at the first part  I have to confess, I was kind of annoyed with Allie. Why did she wait so long to find Noah? She was just about to get married before she figured out that she needed to see him again. Now, I suppose her place in post-war high-class society had something to do with it. However, in the rest of the book, she seems like a strong woman who says her piece. All of a sudden, when it comes to Noah, she obeys her parents? Please.

I believe it is probably my favorite book and it is truly the most loving of all love stories. If you’ve seen the movie, it is good, but is bereft of the beauty of the words and the full experience of the story.

If The Notebook sounds appealing to you, I also recommend A Walk to Remember also by Nicholas Sparks. It, too, is a love story that I happened to like.

Get it, read it, love it.

-xxx-

"What makes ME super excited about the weekends?"

I always look forward on weekends, it's not that I'm not excited on waking up everyday of my life even on weekdays, but weekends is what I really love. It's the perfect time for relaxation and other things that I might want to do, the thing is, I always want to spend my quality time especially the weekends on things that I really love and here's the video that I created to show some of those things. Enjoy!


P.S.


If you enjoyed this then why not answer the same question above?:) and join the super astig contest :) Here's how:


Visit  Azrael Coladilla's site :) 


Here's the Mechanics:

1. Blog, Tweet, Plurk or Post on Facebook the answer to the question, "What makes you super excited about the weekends?"

2. Add a photo or a video clip to make it super!

3. Post the URL link of your super entry as a comment to this site: 
(Reminder: Make sure that your post is not set to private.)

4. Super deadline of entries is on Sunday, February 6.

5. The Super Pwede winning entry will be determined by a panel of judges including (Azrael Cordilla) and representatives from Globe.

6. One (1) grand prize winner will get a Super Free weekend fun & pamper package worth P5,000 for you and a friend.

10 consolation prizes of P200 Globe Prepaid load will also be given out for you to experience Globe Prepaid’s Super Free Weekends!


So, what are you waiting for?:) GO! :)


Cheers,
Gracee