Flickering Smile

        The portrait was painted by Leonardo da Vinci about 500 years ago. It was originally called La Gioconda. This is thought to be the family name of the woman in the portrait, although no one is quite sure who the mystery woman is; the name Mona Lisa came later. It's also said that once he'd finished painting it, da Vinci was even more captivated by the portrait than by the lady herself. Leonardo apparently took the portrait with him on his travels to Milan, Rome and France. Now the Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre art gallery in France. Every year the picture attracts millions of visitors who love to stand and ponder the lady's beguiling expression. Is she smiling at us or not? Looks can sometimes be deceiving.
            What’s the deal with Mona Lisa’s smile? Harvard neuroscientist Margaret Livingstone is pretty sure she’s solved the puzzle. Presuming nothing, Livingstone reasoned that the famous portrait’s flickering smile is caused by the way we see. Our eyes use two separate regions to see. One is the fovea, a central area used to see colors and pick out details such as fine print. The area around the fovea is better at detecting motion, shadows, and stark, black and white contrasts.When we look at a person’s face, according to Livingstone, we usually focus centrally on the eyes. Gazing at Mona Lisa’s eyes, our less accurate peripheral vision notices the mouth, picking up shadows from the cheekbones. The shadows play visual tricks, hinting at the curve of a smile. But when we look directly at the mouth, our central vision doesn’t see the shadows, and so the smile suddenly disappears. As our eyes scan different parts of the portrait, Mona’s smile seems to fade in and out.            Did da Vinci intend to create this flickering smile effect? Perhaps, In any case, he was genius enough to paint shadows subtle enough to astound viewers for half a millennium. Meanwhile, Mona Lisa will keep smiling. Moreover, not.

Yellow Ribbon of the Past

                How do we define a hero? Some might define hero as the one who defends the lives of the innocent, uphold truth and justice. Some define hero as the one who died saving others, while others define a hero as the one who is willing to sacrifice everything to the good of others, a man or a woman who has the gutts and the will to defy the authority, defend the weak, retrieve our independence, and other heros who brought Pride and Glory to our country. The presence of a woman in the past changed everything and directed our country to its turnabouts.

            August 1, 2009 we will always be remember the life of Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. Corazon Aquino is a simple woman, a mother, a wife to the great Senator Ninoy, she is one of the women at that time who had to endure the hardships, the tribulations during Martial Law rule, we all know that Ninoy was a political prisoner back in the days of Marcos, she had to endure the years without his husband's warmth and embrace, during their last years together they shared awesome memories in the States . Everything ended when Ninoy Aquino was killed by an assassin, everything fell apart.

            She came back in the Philippines as a grieving wife, and garnered the sympathy of the whole nation, this is the moment where our ancestors, our parents, those who are older than us are awakened by Marcos' oppression. During the wake, Cory was a picture of strength, the yellow ribbon that time was hope for everyone. The whole nation rallied behind her and the opposition in years leading to People Power 1, with her 'power' and help she brought back democracy to the country, released our political prisoners, and for once we did something that will surely last in each and everyone’s heart , to unite, to care not only for ourselves and others. During her Presidency, even though it was haunted by coup attempts she was able to weather the storm, and finish her reign and of course re-establishing what was lost during the Marcos Era democracy.

            How could one not call her a “Hero”? A wilful muse that was able to conquer the reign of violence to the Filipinos. A woman who sacrificed a lot to stand for her countrymen and country. Everyone knows her story, everyone values her presence. Thank you for everything you’ve done. The Yellow Ribbon will continue to reign its power in our country especially in our hearts.

“I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life.”

-Corazon Cojuangco Aquino 

The Depth of Inferno

            We all feature hell as something so terrible, freaky and most of all scary. Did you ever wonder what’s in it? Is it just an empire of fire, home for demons, and shelter for sinners? If we look further to it we will notice that it is a world of REPENTION. Sinners with their punishments given a chance to repent their sins and correct their mistakes. Brutal punishments that corresponds to every sin. According to  “Dante’s Inferno” hell was divided in circles. Each circle correspond a sin of a person. Every sin was arranged  and leads to the depth of Inferno, Satan. A burning fire that will surely burn through the soul of a sinner.

          

               Circle1 Short tempered. Students nowadays were easily angered. A single flaw of their classmate or any person around them, they will burst out and brag about the simplest things. Sometimes because of this, they utter things, which can easily hurt a person. This attitude may lead to insensitivity of the student to the person around him/her. The punishment for this sin is a person must be hanging in a rope with their mouth sealed by their own hands. To prevent this sin, one must learn to be sensitive to the feelings of other people.

            Circle 2 Sloth. Students often postpone required readings and assigned preparations, making it hard for them to understand their classes the next day. Gradually, lectures and discussions that were once interesting start to seem boring and irrelevant, and the temptation to skip classes becomes greater and greater, especially when the classes are in the morning. The punishment to this sin is lying on the ground face down and will be surrounded by raging fire. To prevent this sin you must find a motivation to enhance your ability to focus.

                     Circle 3 Greed. Greed drives us further apart; it creates a caste system with the industrialized nations at the top, and the second, third and fourth world nations occupying the lesser orders. In short, a system destroys the very values we pretend to donor, if not fully observe. Greed is one of the few forces strong enough to tear apart such a highly developed society as ours. The punishment for this is, the sinner will be whipped by demon while they are lying on the ground facedown. To prevent this sin, one must think straight and learn to give and share to the persons around him.

            Circle 4 Envy. It is a fact of life that when someone succeeds, other people and become envious. For every successful person on the planet, there are hundreds or thousands who are not and who say, "He doesn't deserve to succeed. It should have been me. I deserve it more." It starts very small and then grows something bigger. As it grows it becomes very powerful and can be very damaging, as a whole people should know that life is only what we make it.

            Circle 5 Violence. What is violence? By most authoritative accounts, violence, including school violence, is the use of physical force to cause harm.  Survey discovered that one out of 12 students stayed home from school for fear that someone would hurt or harass them . Violence also hinders the learning process. Students cannot concentrate on learning and the educator cannot focus on teaching if they have fears for their own safety or have to spend most of their time disciplining.

            Circle 6 Gossiping. Gossip undoubtedly destroys friendships, marriages, business, and sometimes causes people to kill themselves and others. That chatty talk about other people's intimate matters is now a favourite pastime around every school and workplace. If asked, most of us would say gossip is a bad habit, yet our culture treats it lightly. 

            Circle 7 Pride .  Pride is the confidence to stay true to the person you are no matter the circumstances. Some say that pride is the feeling they get when they do something for someone else, or when they achieve a well fought for accomplishment. It's like the feeling a person would get when they cross the finish line first, or when one would be rewarded a trophy for academic excellence.

            Circle 8 Dishonesty. Dishonesty in academics is very common from grade school through college. The desire for students to cheat seems to increase as they get older and progress in grades. Some students do not understand what cheating consists of. Fraternities, Sororities, Athletes and students who consume alcohol are more likely to cheat than other students are. Dishonesty in academics is and has been a problem for decades. 

            Circle 9 Lying.  Lying could hurt a person more than what you think. Not only would someone feel bad about himself, but others would start to dislike him/her. He would  blame himself for what happened to his life. What I mean is, if someone had never lied, then he’ll feel that his  family and  friends would still trust him and talk to him like they used to. Lying would gave someone a very bad reputation. 

Not like the Movies

Dear he-who-can't-be-named,

               You know, when I was a kid, I never stopped watching fairy tale movies. It draws me in whenever the Princess acts as a "damsel in distress" and a prince will suddenly enter the picture and save her. I love the part when the prince is charming, gentleman and most of all strikingly handsome. A perfect movie, that's what I always wished for. A perfect story that will end with happily ever after, but then I was brought to reality. I tried my best to make my own fairy tale but then, I failed. It was not like the movies after all.

                 The scene when we first met was wonderful. We became classmates and learned to be friends. I always look up to you as my prince, but then I learned that I was wrong. You have a girl that you could call a princess of your own and it pains me a lot. Time passed and I always felt the same towards you. I know it's a little cliche, but don't get me wrong I know someday it will be gone, vanished with the wind. 

                  It's hard for me to feel like this, burdened by the feeling that I can't ignore. Wanting to produce my own movie but you cannot be my co-star nor my leading man. I know it's cheesy but please bare with me, sorting out my feelings were never  easy. 

                 As of now I think that I already made my movie. I want to thank you for being a part of it. Like every movie there should always be a closing remark and that is the part where I'll take a step back and let you go. 

-MAOD-

Hero in her Uniform

There are countless definitions of heroes today. Is it a superstar who used his fame and fortune to help the needy in his hometown? Is it a firefighter who sees no danger in all circumstances just to save lives of people? Is it an Overseas Filipino Worker who is ready to bare the pain of being alone just to provide his family a comfortable life? But what really makes a person a hero? Words was never enough to express hardships conquered by our teacher, so I will dedicate this essay to one of the teachers I know and the person who was part of my life ever since I first came in this world and she’s none other than my aunty Magdalena Celis.

            Ever since I was a little child I became fond of her. She used to take me with her everywhere she goes and one of it was of course in school. My aunt was a teacher in Naic Elementary school. When I was still a little child I always use her classroom (2-Daisy) as my so called “Tambayan”. Being in the school most of the time  I never failed to notice how skilled she is in pouring knowledge in a student. I also noticed her temper as it was being tested by some student who never fails to annoy her. I also the discovered some new part of her that I never knew when I was a kid. Years have passed and I became a grade 2 student. I was assigned to be one of her students. I can say that, that year was one of my bests in school. It is because when break time strikes I will rush to her table and get some food without any payment for I know that she would pay it for me. Result? Complete allowance until the end of the day with a lot of food on hand. It is not only because of free foods, it is also because of knowledge and values that she thought us.

                 What else can we think of when teachers are mentioned? Their understanding, hardships, advices and care for us students. And of course, lectures, new lessons, quizzes and assignments! Those memories when they came about to tell stories and jokes with us students. Their “sermons” to us during times when we were disobedient, or lazy to pass our assignments. It’s their continuous patience and hard works for us that make them our hero. What could be in a school without our teachers? There would be no students as well that in fact, students will not be able to go to school and learn what they are supposed to learn. There will be ignorance. Having our teachers we were able to learn and understand things easier and quicker. Because of their teachings a lot of people have reached and accomplished their goals in life.

            Teachers don’t only teach theories to us but they are also sources of moral teachings. Inside and outside the campus, our teachers are our models. In relation to health and wellness, the teacher is expected to have and project a good state of both mental and physical health. Teachers are treasures in our society; let us help them be at their best so that they too can help bring out the best in our children, in their students. Our second parents, our teachers have helped a lot in the contribution of our success. They will forever be a treasure. This teacher’s day was a good way of expressing gratitude to our beloved teachers whom are the reason why we have accomplished most of what we have accomplished until the present. However, we should not only express our warmest thanks to our teachers during the 5th day of the month of October but it should always be done.            

   

To Be or Not To Be

                                                              

                                                                     To be or not to be,

      Living in a world of serenity

        Shadowed by the wisdom one seeks

      Unheard voices one speaks

            Mistakes, I've made plenty,
                    In this life of mine,
                      And I burn my bridges,
                      Here from time to time,

   Sometimes I forget,

                That I know I regret,
                  But I still don't believe,

               That my path is set,
                   

                    I will change, I will survive,

                 I will never grieve,
                   So the choice is yours,

                   Whether to discard or believe,
                 For I am not dead yet,
                 I am not in the ground,
               And in life I may be lost,
                  But someday I will be found.

Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors turns out to be precisely what the title promised. It is a story about magic and illusion in a faraway country. The Comedy of Errors shows how a series of confused identities eventually leads to chaos in a community, and just how deceiving appearances can be. The reader is witness to the madness that rapidly takes over suspicious minds, and finally, the much-awaited reunion of one family. It is a farcical comedy, a fantasy in a distant country, which simultaneously arouses in the audience some degree of sympathy and compassion for the characters.

At the first act of the story, the conflict seems to rise. Being the reader I was able to think of the questions that can be asked and will be answered in the further scenes in the story. Like, what happened to their lost family members after the unpredictable tempest? As the plot rises before my eyes, my questions were answered one by one.

Confusion never left my mind for I am thoroughly confused on the two Dromios and Antipholus. Some events took turn without me understanding it. I have to re-read some part again so that I will be able to figure out the meaning behind it.

The novel was remarkably confusing but meaningful in its own ways. The story showed purity of love toward the person you care for, importance of family above all and most of all believing that one day dreams do come true even after being challenged by a raging Tempest.