
Above the Rabbit HoleWednesday, January 2, 2013 | 0Superstar (s)!
The weather was fine today. It wasn't cold nor hot, neither so sunny nor so cloudy. For me, it's a fine day to go to the meadows and rest. I slept for a while.
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I woke up with a rabbit sniffing my hair. I stood up and looked at it closely. It's fur was pure white and its eyes were pink. Something was also dangling around its neck. It's a watch, I guess. It turned around and led me somewhere in the woods, then it disappeared. I saw someone in his mid-60's sitting by the river bank with his pen and notebook. He had a slender body and a curling brown hair. I don't know about how tall he was since he was sitting. Then he looked at me and smiled. He had beautiful blue eyes.
"Is it... Is it him? Seriously? Oh, wow! I guess this is my lucky day!" I thought to myself. There, I realized it was Charles Dodgson or better known as Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, my all-time favorite book.
"Good day, child! I believe my rabbit has brought you here. Come, come. Sit down. Let's have a cup of tea. It's my un-birthday, you know. You should greet me!" He was smiling widely as he told me to sit and offered me tea.
"Well, happy un-birthday to you, Mr. Carroll," I greeted him, "I feel like Alice here and you're the hatter." I chuckled.
"That might be true," he chuckled. "So child, may you please tell me your name?"
"My name's Gabrielle, but you can call me Gab," I answered.
"Must a name mean something?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Carroll, but I don't get your point," I answered him politely. I really don't know what he meant. A name must mean something because it defines oneself, but what? I don't understand.
He chuckled, "For example, Humpty Dumpty. It means the shape he is - and a good handsome shape it is, too. With a name like ours, we could be any shape, almost."
"Ohhhhh." So we had the same thing in mind.
"You must be at least half mad," he told me out of the blue. I don't get it, again.
"What do you mean 'half mad'?" I asked with curiosity.
"Ah, curiouser and curiouser!" he said. "You would have to be half mad to meet me."
"I guess you're right." Now, I understood. I'm probably as crazy as the hatter. Who would've guessed I'd meet him at this moment? Wait a minute. It's just once in a lifetime so I have to tell him all that I have to say.
"You're a good writer and poet, Mr. Carroll. I admire your works, especially Alice in Wonderland. And my most favorite poem is the Jabberwocky. I really find them amusing," I proudly praised him.
"A kind child, you are. I'm very grateful you liked my book. Good thing you were not like Alice who doesn't appreciate books with a lot of words," he winked.
"Oh, no, no, no. no. I would never dislike a book, ever, unless it's pretty senseless. But books make my imagination go wild, " I answered him with delight.
"Ahaha. Good answer. But let me tell you one thing. When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more, nor less," he just said randomly.
"I just noticed, mister, that you are very random," I honestly told him, "just like what's written in your book," I continued.
"Do you think I've gone round the bend?" he suddenly asked. "I'm afraid so," I answered, "but I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are," I smiled.
"You learned a lot from Alice, didn't you?" he asked while tapping my back. "I guess so. I like her a lot. She might be stubborn but she makes sense," I answered.
"Take care of the sounds and the sense will take care of itself," he told me.
"It seems impossible. I guess it should be otherwise," I was definitely troubled.
"Why, sometimes I've believed-" before he even finished, I continued what he was saying, "as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast."
"Then what are those things?" he asked to ensure if I know them all. "One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, Alice can slay the Jabberwock," I said them all.
"Alice believed in those things, though they may seem impossible. There's nothing wrong in believing. You might say it's nonsense, but everything's got moral, dear, if only you can find it," he sighed. "If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain?"
"Yes, indeed," I smiled. The rabbit appeared again, but this time, with an alarm going off. "Oops! It's already time!" said Mr. Lewis Carroll. I asked, "Time for what, mister?"
"Time to make your own adventures."
I woke up at the meadows where I left off. I see, all of it was just a dream. But what a nice dream it is! A bit random our talks may be, but Lewis Carroll had made my precious day. Oh, and good thing I didn't fall down the rabbit hole.
Labels: InformalTheme#4, ThirdGrading A Guide to SuccessSunday, October 7, 2012 | 0Superstar (s)!
Confucius once said, "Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." But in this generation where many countries suffer from economic crisis, most people don't consider that saying anymore. Choose a job where you'll get much money and you will live. That's how life goes these days. Many people didn't assess their interests and capabilities before choosing their jobs so many complain about how heavy their jobs are and how they didn't suit them. But in 2007, the Department of Education developed a career assessment test called National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) to prevent and reduce the occurrence of employee-career mismatch.
I consider this four-year old NCAE a big help to students, especially to those who have difficulties deciding what their future careers will be. This is the main problem of most of the youth today. Many don't even think about what they want in their future lives. And this is the reason why our country suffer from a large number of unemployed people. However, the government concluded that if people were to pursue what really suits their natural abilities, there will be less chances of failure. This examination can guide high school students, especially those in the third year level, to the path where there is a great chance of success in their careers. And since this examination speaks about aptitude and interests, there's no need for students to pressure themselves and have stressful reviews, so we will not consider this exam as a drag.
Besides the College Entrance Examinations, the NCAE deserves to be recognized, as well. Not only does it guide students to the career they are suited to, it is also one of the requirements when applying a scholarship for CHED and TESDA. This can be a great help for less fortunate students who deserve to go to college and make their future better.
Labels: InformalTheme#4, SecondGrading Until the EndSunday, July 8, 2012 | 0Superstar (s)!
Back when I was just an innocent child, I awoke with the stories of beautiful endings where the prince and the princess lived happily ever after. My mind was dominated with the thoughts of every love story has wonderful endings. And now that I've grown up, I became conscious on how life really works. Someone has to leave and someone should just learn how to move on.
Romeo and Juliet is a very tragic story where they both died because of true love. However, I know that it cannot be proved by both lovers dying. I consider that true love is a feeling where you don't hesitate to sacrifice anything for the sake of the happiness of the one you love. But what if the one you love has to leave? It's sad, isn't it? But you cannot change that fact. It's either you'll have to wait for the time to come for you to leave as well or you'll be impatient and take your own life immediately to be with your loved one as soon as possible.Well, the second option was what Romeo and Juliet chose.
If I were to revise the ending of that tragic event, I will make the readers feel the real tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. I would never remove the adversity of the story which is what Shakespeare wanted. I will just slow down the events and make it more heartrending than the sudden incidents that really happened in the story.
Act V, Scene III (Revised)
Before Romeo could go to Juliet's grave after he heard the news from Balthasar, there was something that hindered his flight so he got delayed. Meanwhile, Friar Lawrence was on his way to the graveyard but Paris was there along with his Page. They were talking about something but Friar couldn't hear it so he came closer to them but the Page saw him and chased him. Friar Lawrence outwitted the Page so he managed to escape from the chase. He returned to Juliet's grave but he was shocked on what he saw. Paris dug the grave and took Juliet out of it. Friar Lawrence never knew that Paris eavesdropped on him and Friar John so he found out about the vial and immediately went to dig Juliet's grave. Friar was too late. Paris went out of sight along with Juliet in his arms.
Juliet woke up seeing Paris. He didn't return Juliet to the Capulets. Instead, he kept Juliet to himself. He even took her for granted while she was depressed. And by that, I meant he raped her. She tried to escape from him many times but her plans never worked. Paris's eyes were all over her. She was dominated by sorrow. She felt filthy. She just locked herself in her room and didn't eat nor sleep. Her beautiful appearance was replaced by the face of many heartaches. She can hardly be recognized. But still, there was little hope in her heart that she could see Romeo even just one last time.
Romeo had escaped from Mantua with the use of his love for Juliet and his determination to see her. As he approached the gates of Verona, the Prince's army was there and he got caught. He was thrown into the dungeon. Friar Lawrence heard about the news and immediately went to visit Romeo. When he got there, Romeo's fists were bleeding. He was trying to break the walls by punching them but obviously, it would never work. Friar quickly talked to Romeo and told the truth about Juliet being alive. Romeo's eyes enlightened and he asked Friar Lawrence on her whereabouts. After hearing the Friar's answer, he immediately thought of a plan to escape and find Juliet. When the night came, he escaped and stole a horse from one of the soldiers. He went into the woods and there he found Paris's hideout. Slowly, he sneaked in the place and found where Juliet was. Juliet was facing the window, thinking deeply so she didn't notice Romeo's arrival. But when Romeo called her name, her sorrowful face turned into one that seemed like she won a lottery. She turned around and hugged Romeo. Romeo noticed that something changed about Juliet. She got thinner and she was not that beautiful anymore. But Romeo didn't care. He hugged her back tightly and had the most passionate endearment lovers could ever have. But suddenly, Paris went to Juliet's room and caught them. He was enraged with what he saw and dragged Juliet away from Romeo. Paris took his sword and challenged Romeo to fight. Romeo hesitated at first but when Paris threatened Romeo that he would kill Juliet, Romeo was aggravated and accepted Paris's challenge. Juliet was frozen in the corner of the room, just watching the young men fight. Her tears, on a spur of moment, fell from her eyes. Before her was Romeo's body, bleeding lavishly. And there, Paris was smirking, thinking about how he won the fight and how he finally won Juliet. Juliet didn't feel sorrow anymore after he saw the dead body of her most beloved. She felt hatred - hatred towards Paris. Paris killed the only reason for her to live. He killed the first and last man she loved. She immediately took the sword from Romeo's hand and tried to stab Paris but by impulse, he also flashed his sword and stabbed Juliet's heart. Paris released his sword immediately and caught Juliet's body. He burst into tears while holding Juliet in his arms. He cursed himself for what he had done. He said sorry for so many times while mourning over her death but it was no use. Juliet cannot be brought back to life. Nothing can be done to save her now. He has to live with what he had done and repent all throughout his lifetime. However, there was one thing he thought of to make Juliet happy as she ascends to heaven - to bury her beside the one that she truly loves, Romeo.
Paris went to the Capulets and confessed about what he had done. Capulet was so angry that he sentenced Paris to death. And he accepted it wholeheartedly. Friar Lawrence told the Capulets the whole story of Romeo and Juliet. Lady Capulet was very distressed about the tragedy her daughter had been through. And the nurse, her happy and garrulous attitude turned into sorrow and silence. The whole Verona grieved for the real death of Juliet. The Montagues also heard of the news and sympathized with the Capulets. Both families lost their beloved children because of their meaningless rivalry. And with that, they reconciled for the sake of their children's love for each other.
Romeo and Juliet will still remain in their hearts and they will be the symbol of the Capulets' and Montagues' comradeship. And at last, peace and harmony came to the city of Verona.
Labels: FirstGrading, InformalTheme#4 |
The Disclaimer ![]() Gabrielle Ann A. Barbudo | 14 | Cavite National Science High School | III - Nitrogen | 2 ∞ & --> Odd Symphony You gotta let go of the past 'cause it just doesn't matter. What matters now is what you choose to be. Music
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