THE OLD AND THE WEARY...then came the SPICE GIRLS
7:25 AM
Do people in the world today completely left what was said to be in the past? Is the saying "what's past is past" really applies to us all? You can hear the generation nowadays refering to the things in the past as "old school". But what seems to be old school for them could have been what's hip and happening to the past generation. In the later years, it is finally our generation's turn to sound old school with what we think are new now. It's a life cycle of trend, and it's been happening already these days. I was watching this local music television show the other day, and they have this program where they show MVs (music videos) from the past and I was surprised to see that they had considered the SPICE GIRLS as old school. Really, I was shocked because the spice girls was still during my time. Does that mean I'm considered to be old school too? Hahahaha... Yeah that's right laugh your hearts out, I can hear you from here. But seriously, THE SPICE GIRLS??? Was it really that long time ago? Give me a break, they were a hit in the mid 90s people!
My point here is that we could start off with this topic if we know first what we consider to be a product of the past. How do we define something that was said to be from the past? Well, philosophically speaking, things can be said to be in the past when they have been ran down by the present.
You don't have to hate old things, I mean nowadays, old things are considered to be cool. Talk about vintage. People just like to reinvent things and make old things look new. They just add other elements to it but it's still the same thing. I for one is an avid follower of old stuffs. I used to think I was a reincarnation from the 1950s or earlier than that time. I adore classic movies for Pete's sake I watch TCM (Turner Classic Movies). I love classical music, really I do. I can name a whole playlist of my favorite classical music. I also love the jazz era, Billie Holiday and Aretha are my favorite jazz divas. I used to adore the fashion style of the 70s. When I was in highschool, I got a room full of smileys and daisy flower power stuffs with me. I even dressed up a s a hippie, oh and get this, I have a 70s collectible Barbie. I watched the Brady bunch for several times, even the partridge family. Hahaha... I enjoy every era that has marked its way. 30s, 40s, 60s...name it. One reason to that could be my love for fashion. Time really has been one of the strongest element for fashion.
I guess the time is near to change its leaf again to what's considered to be new for me could be something old for the next generation. It's all in the matter of time :)
Labels: litfili wk5
.......By Kat
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INSTRUCTION FOR COMMENTING ON MY ENTRIES
8:12 AM
Hey everyone, You might not be able to know how to give comments on my blog entries so I am now providing you an instruction. Unfortunately, I have no time to find the wrong script in my template for my comment link to be able to show up on my page. So instead, I made use of my TAGBOARD.You can use my tagboard on the left side panel when you give comments on my entries.You don't need to place your e-mail address, that one's optional. All you have to do is type ur name and your message. That simple. Have fun using my x-ray emoticons too. Hahaha..MORE BLOG ENTRIES TO COME :)SOME BOXCODES FOR YOUR POSTING OF COMMENTS IN MY TAGBOARD:(You might find these cool or lame. Whatever. Use it if you want to. Haha..)
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.......By Kat
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A CHOICE IS WHAT YOU MAKE...
5:57 AM
...and you always have a choice.Every person comes to a point where they get lost on what's been happening in their lives, so they stop and think... what will happen next? Most people also feel that they have become puppets or actors who have to portray certain roles and do as to what they’re told to do. As a result to that, they have less freedom, less liberation to chase their dreams and do what they want because they have these limits that stops them from accomplishing their goals in life. But the truth of the matter is, these things happen because you let them happen. It's not the fault of the people around you on what's been happening, it is you who has done that or atleast made it happened.
I have been taught by this world that we are the ones who make our own life stories. Each of us are our own authors and there's no one else who can write a story of your own better than you. I had been through hardships in my life and everytime I stumble, I tried to blame the people around me for what had happened. But as I grew up, I came to realize that there's no one else to be blamed for except myself.
You are a product of what you do. What ever result that comes is your own responsibility starting with the time when you DECIDE.Labels: litfili wk4
.......By Kat
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Define LOVE, people. Is it a week of wooing a girl? Or a half of a lifetime process?
3:39 AM
LOVE nowadays is hard to define. Rather, hard to distinguish for that matter. How do people get romantically involved these days? We are now living in a fast-paced life, and as the years goes by, the faster it gets. People rarely have the chance to find the right person, their ideal companion. With so little time we have, people tend to do things quickly. Everything has to be done in an instant.
Way back then, life is in a steady mode where courtship really is a big deal. Compare that today, and you probably have less to count on how many guys who still values courtship. Technology for one is one of the biggest influence in the society today. Technology made things easy, saves time and hassle-free. The effect of technology with relationships has a big impact. People use community websites, networking sites to find love interests, or so that's what they'd like to call it. People actually think that they could find love in cyberspace. I'm not saying that they can't but there's really a lot to risk with that. By having that kind of mentality, you can see that people are becoming more and more open-minded with opportunities and possibilities.
Filipinos are known to be true-blue romantics, just take it on the side of harana and on how a filipino really courts his love interest in a traditional manner. They really go through certain stages of courtship just to prove to the girl and her family that he is deserving. That's what makes the relationship more meaningful and at the same time it has its own benefits. What are the benefits you may ask? People get to know each other more and not just know the person in a shallow level. One thing why a relationship fails is because they never get to meet each others' expectations. When you rarely know one another, you fall into this "shallow love" at first which is what we call "infatuation". There's nothing wrong with being infatuated, it's part of the process of liking someone and eventually will turn into a deeper feeling which we can now call love.
When happens the time when you get to take out the layers of one another, some tend to get disappointed because they are now seeing the true person that he/she really is. When you don't try to accept the person for what he/she really is, that's when frequent quarelling happens and eventually will lead to a break-up, mostly a messy one.
That is one down-fall to what's been happening nowadays when it comes to building up a relationship. But i'm not saying that's applicable to everyone. Of course there are some lucky ones who giddily worships technology and are very thankful that it even exists in the first place. Not all people are the same, so not all situations are the same. It always depends on the person and how he/she thinks, and on their attitudes and outlook in life.
Labels: GONZALES, JOAQUIN, LITFILI WK3
.......By Kat
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The mats divide a family in two
12:32 AM
"Francisco Arcellana" the author of the week
All rise for Mr. Francisco Arcellana, having the spotlight as the litfili author of the week.
His works are mind-boggling, because his works are giving you reality but somehow his styles are still giving me that feel of fiction.
I'd like to point out two things on his first text, "The Mats". In this story, it shows again a Filipino trait of having the tradition on bringing home a pasalubong whenever they go someplace else far away from their beloved homes. When we take notice of the word PA-SALUBONG, it literally means to meet with. Pasalubong is a type of gesture for us filipinos to let the people know that they are remembered along the trip. You can find pasalubongs everywhere in this country because it already is a tradition,at the same time a trademark for us. You can find pasalubong kiosks in a mall, along the road or even at gas stations.
You can find evidences that Filipinos are fond of bringing and receiving pasalubong in advertisements. Such as print ads, tv commercials and billboards. But why is it that pasalubong has ben with us for so long and that we still keep the tradition alive? What is it that we get with pasalubong? It simply shows how thoughtful Filipinos can be. Which brings me to the next poit that i'd like to expound with the text.
Filipinos are evidently known to be thoughtful that even when a loved one has passed away, they don’t forget, and they still value that person as if their spirit still lives on them. In the story, the father brought home a pasalubong to every member of his family, even the ones who are gone already. This act brought up the conflict in the story, they all got surprised that the father still brought pasalubongs to the family members who are not with them anymore which made the father angry. I can see the father's stand in his situation, I mean his standing point is that if the people you love and cared about is gone, that doesn't mean you have to forget about them. It is your own personal choice, a freewill to do so.
But also, you just have to move on with your life and not bear the ache that you have with what you had with those people. You have to learn to make a balancing act in life in order to grow and to step forward. You can't be stuck in the same place all your life. However, when a person moves on, that doesn't mean they have to forget about what happened. A person can never forget, whether you like it or not, it will stay with you forever. It has already made its mark in your life. But every misery, mistake and pain in life is a blessing because it helps a person to be strong and it makes a person grow. So there should be no regrets in life, only lessons.
The second story is "Divide by two", where i've took notice of the so-called hiya factor among filipinos. . Filipinos have this certain trait that they are afraid to be embarrassed. The conflict in this story is the argument between two couples who are neighbors. But I think the deeper conflict in the story was the said hiya factor. For the Filipinos, shame is very important to them, pride and dignity stands in the way because of that hiya factor. They are very conscious with what other people might say. They care about what other people think on them, they care about keeping their face with pride. They care too much, that they are having a hard time trying to be frank and straight-forward. They tend to sugar-coat things which are very unlikely with Western civilization. I think by having that kind of trait as a Filipino can lead to communication conflicts, which for later brings more conflict with relationships between two or three or more people involved.
Labels: litfiliweek2 arcellana
.......By Kat
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FIRST POST EVER IN THE ENTIRE TERM OF MY LITFILI CLASS
6:28 PM
Forgive me for my late postings, the reason behind it is because my internet connection was giving me b.s. everytime I tried to post something on blogger. Good thing it was now fixed. I know that's not a reasonable excuse but I just felt that I really had to explain myself. Hahaha... Anyway let's start off with my first post ever! Yey! My first post! Thank you for taking time to read my post..and oh give comments to my postings okay? You get credits for giving comments too you know :)As far as I've remembered, the first post was about the two stories that we all first discussed on our first week. Whew...there seems to be a lot of "first" in that sentence. I'm being a blabber-mouth again, let me stop myself from talking nonsense. Anyway, the two stories talks about Filipinos and the filipino culture---values being part of the culture. The two authors give their own descriptions of what a Filipino family is composed of.
The first story was “My father goes to court” by Carlos Bulosan. The story depicts how the Filipinos value their family. The story also portrayed certain aspects of what a Filipino family is. Filipinos are known to be light-hearted and happy people. Unlike in western culture, they’re very stern and serious type of people. Filipinos dedicate most of their time to their family. It is very unlikely for a Filipino to miss a family dinner or a Sunday get-together. Even if every family member is busy with their work or school, they still try to find time for the family. On western civilization, they rarely had time to see each other even if they live on the same roof.
The bonding of a Filipino family is what binds them to be a close-nit group, and I think that’s what molds their characters into becoming happy, light-hearted type of people. Each Filipino is being influenced with their environment, and one main environment of every Filipino is their family.
In “How my brother Leon brought home a wife” by Manuel Arguilla, the second story, points out traditions of a Filipino family and country-style living. Traditions are very important for the elderly. Most of them rely on traditions because that’s what they believed to be important. Traditions mold them as their basis on every aspect in life.
One main tradition that was pointed out in the story is the Filipinos hospitality. Filipinos are known to be hospitable; I for one am guilty for this. I find myself to be a hospitable person, because whenever I have guests in our house, I try to make them feel comfortable in our home. I offer them refreshments even if they didn’t asked for one, I really try to make guests feel at home with my home. That’s because my mother taught me how to be hospitable. She trained me to entertain guests at an early age. She doesn’t tolerate me to hide from the people whenever we have visitors in our home; instead she exposed me and lets me deal with them. Same goes with me becoming a guest in a home of another family, I’ve learned to empathize and to reciprocate.
If I were to create a literary piece to describe a Filipino family, I would make a description to how it reflects my own family. I think what the writers portrayed in their works reflects reality of their own because writing needs keen observation with your surroundings. I find the descriptions of these two writers true becuase I for one find those values in my own self. Filipinos have been family-oriented since civilization was created. We like feasts even in simple dinner or get-togethers. We traditionally adopted spanish influence like during holidays (Yultide season is one example). We like having a fiesta and it shows our hospitality. It just shows how close-nit filipinos can be. Being happy people that we are is also a true trait of a Filipino.
We like to smile, we like to spend our time with our family that even if we are married, most of us still chooses to live with our parents or buy a house near our parents house or create a compound. That's a Filipino label for me. Hahaha... But I guess things are slowly evolving now and people are becoming more and more liberated and independent nowadays with the help of technology. We are all living in a fast-paced life nowadays and independence is part of it, it's a must. Maybe we are not really close-nit anymore but we still find time to spend even a little time with our family.
.......By Kat
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About me...
