Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Are you beautiful? What is the basis of beauty? Who decides if you are beautiful?

There are so many commercials that 'dictate' what beauty is - there are whitening products that show the 'before look' of a girl who has dark complexion with the girl looking sad and the same girl looking so happy when she now have a whiter complexion; there are also commercials of lotions that promote 'instant whitening', commercials of beauty salons giving 'remedy' to a girl's 'dilemma' also known as kinky hair.

There are also television shows that display how 'ugly' women are condemn in the neighborhood, schools, and the professional world. These programs show that these discriminated women attempt to attain 'beauty' by having plastic surgeries and shaving their excess hair or some other drastic stuff. These tv characters are even pelted with eggs and tomatoes just because they are so-called ugly.

Because of these shows and commercials, many people are feeling the need to be 'beautiful' that comes to a point of exessive collagen and botox, apalling plastic surgeries, and getting pulled in all direction. But is there really a need to be physically beautiful? Because of the 'basis' of beauty and ugliness, many people are discriminated and somehow condemned.

Why is beauty such an issue? What is the purpose of beauty if your attitude is crude? What is the purpose of promoting beauty? They say being beautiful promotes confidence. But isn't it the other way around? Isn't it, providing the ideal beauty promotes discrimination and insecurity, hence creating the illusion of being beautiful is equivalent to confidence? Beauty is not a virtue, humility is. Why invest on beauty and vanity when at the end of the day, a person's beauty will turn into ashes.

Isn't it  quite frustrating if a person is only remembered by his or her beauty? Don't you want to be remembered to be more than just a pretty face?

Be beautiful inside, and it will reflect on the outside. Stop having comparison of beautiful and 'ugly' people, because the Lord never creates ugly, in fact the word never existed to the Lord!

To say someone is ugly is discrimination. So if you are against racism, then do not consider other people to be ugly.

Believe that you are beautiful, because YOU ARE.

Click the hyperlink to see What people do to become 'beautiful'.

Anjelica Huston, please?????

Dear Ms. Huston,

Hi! I am Justinne Punsalang from the Philippines. I am one of your BIGGEST fans. Please, please, please, please, have a book signing and book launching of your books A Story Lately Told and Watch Me here in Manila. I, as well as other fans here, am dying to meet you in person. Please consider this!

And when you come here, we have wonderful tourist destinations that you will surely enjoy. =)

PLEASE come to the Philippines!!!

Sincerely yours,
Mary Justinne Punsalang


To those who still haven't read Anjelica Huston's memoir part 1, order now on Amazon. You can actually order from Fully Booked, but you have to go to their stores personally. 

Anjelica's memoir is a wonderful book. It is highly descriptive that you feel as if you are there with Anjelica when she was experiencing those happy and melancholic events.

And coming out this November is the second part of Anjel's memoir titled Watch Me. It will be about her Hollywood life, her relationship with Jack Nicholson, and her wonderful marriage with her late husband, Robert Graham. I assume that it is as wonderful as A Story Lately Told.

Pre-order now on Amazon!

FRITH (Frasier and Lilith) Together Again

Whenever I feel like doing so, I create fanfictions. Most of the time they are about my favorite fictional couple, Morticia and Gomez Addams. But there is one fanfiction that is about Dr. Frasier Crane and Dr. Lilith Sternin from the television series Cheers, and I am going to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it!

Dr. Frasier Crane with then wife, Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane (c) http://manbehindthecurtain.ie/

"Mom, are you sure Dad knows about my recital on Friday?" Frederick, now 14 years old, very handsome – a split of his mother, Dr. Lilith Sternin and father, Dr. Frasier Crane, asked his mother.

"For the hundredth time, Freddy, yes," replied Dr. Lilith Sternin with a smile. "I called your father's home, Nile's home, and your father's office reminding him for the hundred and second time that there will be a recital on your school."

"But does he know that I will be performing?" Frederick asked.

"Yes," Lilith replied.

That day was Wednesday, two days away until Frederick's performs on stage for the first time. Lilith and Frasier were very excited and proud of their son.

You might be wondering why Frederick's parents have different last names and seem to live in two different places (in fact, they do, Lilith and Frederick live in Boston as Frasier lives in Seattle). It is because they are divorced. And today, Lilith is preparing to fetch his ex- husband from the airport in a few hours.

The phone rang and Lilith took it.

"Hello," she said.

"Lilith?" the voice on the other end said. "It's me, Frasier."

"Oh, hello Frasier," she said. Frederick, hearing his father's name, smiled with sparkling eyes. "Why are you calling?"

"I phoned to say that I am about to board the connecting plane to Boston," Frasier said. "And I'd like to speak with Freddy."

"Of course!" she turned to her eager son and handed him the phone. "He wants to talk to you."

The father and son talked for a few minutes before they said goodbye.

Lilith smiled at Frederick and said nothing but, "See?"

Both Frasier and Lilith had been asking Frederick about the recital. But he won't say anything except, "Wait and you will see."

As it turned out, he has a very right to keep it as a secret – the recital, which is a project in his Character Education subject, is about divorce. They will perform a musical with Frederick as the main character – the son of the divorced couple.

The recital touched everybody's hearts. Even the cold and stoic Lilith Sternin wiped a few tears from her eyes. But she showed no sign of tears when the recital was over and Frederick came to see them.

"It was marvelous, Freddy!" she exclaimed hugging him.

"Very well, son!" added Frasier. "So, do you want to dine out?"

"Of course he doesn't," Lilith interjected, even with Frederick in the midst of saying "Yes."

"He wants to eat at home –"

"But Lilith, he was about to say –" cut in Frasier but was interrupted by her again.

"Mommy is going to cook something special for Freddy," she said. "How does spaghetti sounds like?"

"I guess," Frederick replied looking at his feet.

"Great!" she cheered. "And home we go!"

Frasier looked at his son and said nothing. "Uh, Lilith?" he cautiously asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I be the one to drive back?"

She whirled around and stared at him. She handed him the car keys and said, "Alright."

On their way down the stair of the school, Lilith accidentally slipped and was about to fall. Fortunately, 

Frasier caught her. But then, as their eyes locked at each other, he lost his balance and fell. They locked their arms embracing each other as they roll down the stairs and had their eyes only for each other.

There was a big commotion when they reached the ground. That is when they realized how they were positioned. Lilith's eyes widened and immediately broke away from him.

He slowly sat on the ground as she fixed her hair, which was let down by the force of their fall. She looked at him and saw that his shoulder was bleeding.

She knelt in front of him and rummaged inside her bag for cotton and a bottle of povidone- iodine. She opened his shirt and poured some of the red liquid onto the cotton. Slowly and carefully, she dabbed the cotton on his wounded shoulder.

He hissed in pain. "You didn't change Lilith. You never leave the house without first aid."

"Well, you never know when they will be needed," she replied. She took his arm and dabbed the cotton on his yet another wound.

Because she was in a hurry while fixing her hair, some strands came to loose and fall on her face as she rummages inside her bag for a gauze and surgical tape. She tear the gauze using a cutter and folded it.

Frasier absently put her hair behind her ear. Lilith felt it and narrowed her eyes. Then she placed the gauze in his wound and sealed it with strips of surgical tape forcefully. Then she poured a generous amount of alcohol on it. He winced visibly in pain followed by a hiss.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Well," she began as she continues tending his wounds. "You shouldn't have tried to catch me –" she applied pressure on his wound. "If you didn't, you would not have lost your balance and hurt yourself." She finished by spraying an antibacterial solution on the wounds, making it sting with pain.

"Thank you, Lilith," he said looking at his tended yet stinging wounds. "And you're welcome."

She narrowed her eyes on him as she stood up, fixing her hair.

"Are you alright, Dad?" Frederick asked as he helped his father to stand.

"Yes, your mother's expertise is first aid is very… er – comforting," he replied. "Now shall we return home?"

On their drive home, Frasier was on the driver's seat, Lilith on the seat next to him and Frederick on the backseat.

Our house played on the radio and Lilith and Frasier looked at each other with smile on their faces. Frederick did not miss it. He gleefully smiled.

Few moments passed and they sang. Frederick smiled even more.

"Freddy, would you mind helping your father with the ingredients?" Lilith asked when they returned home. She put down her bag and started to remove her coat. Frasier rushed to her and took the coat by the shoulder and she shrugged it off.

"Thank you, Frasier," she affectionately said.

Frederick's eyes widened at the tone of her voice. He happily replied to his mother, "Of course!" Then he hurriedly ran off to leave his parents alone.

Lilith took her and Frasier's coat and hanged it on the hall closet. When she turned around, she somehow stumbled and started to fall bumping him hard and they both fell on the floor with the she on top of him. They stared at each other for a long time. Her usually cold eyes melted and felt warm – as if it was whenever they were together years ago, when they were still happily married.

He touched her face adoringly. She slowly smiled and leaned towards him. Losing himself with her smile and warm eyes, Frasier pulled himself up and they kissed – as if like yesterday.

Then somehow, the two probably realized their current relationship and broke away from each other feeling guilty. Lilith slid away from atop him and wiped her lips. Frasier sat up and rubbed his hands.

"I'm sorry, Lilith," he said. "I shouldn't have …"

"No," insisted her. Her eyes now cold again. "It's my fault. Sorry." Then she stood up to cook for dinner, leaving him embarrassed.

Frederick, who turned out to be behind the kitchen wall grunted in disbelief, before hurriedly running to the backyard.

Lilith, Frasier, and Frederick cooked dinner quietly. However, during the dinner, Frasier and Lilith started to talk again, as if nothing happened.

Frederick stared at his parents disbelievingly – first, they kissed, then gotten cold, and now, they are talking normally! Not to mention that they were very close during the recital and on their way home.

After dinner, the three cleaned up the table and washed the dishes together, like what most families do. Right after that, Frederick requested his parents to put him to sleep.

Normally, Lilith, and so would Frasier, would wonder why he asked to be sent to bed. Nowadays, he would not even allow Lilith see his room. But then his parents are acting abnormal, neither asked why. In fact, they both were happy about the arrangement.

"Dad, how did you and Mom meet?" Frederick asked.

"Well, we were in this seminar and I found your mother deeply… well, fascinating –" began Frasier.

"Really," interrupted Lilith.

Frasier smiled and continued, "Well, I find her… interesting. And so I asked her out. We went to Cheers …and –"

"Shh!" Lilith interrupted. "He's already asleep."

Frasier looked at his son. He bent forward to kiss his forehead.

"Oh, Frasier! You are bleeding again! Come over to my room, I have the first aid kit there."

And so, they went to the room. It was very neat, of course, and the room was in a light shade of yellow with hints of rose. On the night table sat two pictures, the first one was the picture of Lilith, Frasier, and Frederick, taken after his first birthday; the second was another picture of them, when Frederick was 13 years old.

Frasier sat on the bed and took a better look on the pictured, just as Lilith was returning with the kit in hand. She saw him looking at the pictures and blushed a little.

"We were happy during this picture," he said. She was not sure if he was asking or saying, so she said nothing and removed the dressing of the wound on his shoulder then started to clean it.

"This was after Freddy's birthday. Ah! I remember when Freddy splattered the cake you baked."

"Yes, and it took you how many hours was that? To clean him?" she replied with a smile. She carefully put an ointment on his wound.

He winced in pain. "It was only an hour! Oh, I remember the day Freddy was born."

"You weren't there."

"Yes, I know. How I dread that day. I shouldn't have helped that woman." He looked down on the picture. "Do you remember when Freddy started pre-school? When we enrolled him?"

"Yes. And the day he was christened. Sam Malone really never goes to a place without knowing and seeing a woman there. Even the church helper!"

"I suddenly remembered when you told me that you were pregnant."

"We have Carla to thank! Her crazy tactics!"

"And there's of course, our wedding –"

Lilith ignored his last comment. "Having a family really is fun. So many good memories."

"I miss my family," Frasier said looking at the pictures again.

"You have Niles and everyone back in Seattle."

"No, I mean, my own family. A wife and a child."

"You'll have –" she stopped, analyzing his statement. "What do you mean by 'child'? Don't you want a bigger family?"

"I do not think my wife will agree."

"As if you have a wife, Frasier,"

"I used to."

"Well then –" she stopped again, realizing what he meant. Before she could say anything, Frasier slipped his hand over hers. She stared at it for a moment before looking back at him with questioning look.

He stood up and kissed her on the cheek before bidding her good night. He left the room and went to the guestroom.

This is not one of my best write up, so feel free to comment on my work =)

Teddy Bear

My baby nephew Eidan Terrence P. Celones (aka Ted, Teddy, Dudong) was born last February 4, 2014 and somehow, it is only now that I felt like writing a blog entry about him.

My older sister, Ate Jam, was actually hesitant to divulge her pregnancy. It was only because of my mother's persistent questioning as to whether she was pregnant that caused my sister to finally admit that she was few weeks pregnant. When she was nearing her second month, Ate Jam experienced spotting so she took a two-week leave from her work in a BPO. Weeks later, she has to take a three-week leave because she got sick and had a yet another spotting. We thought that after that, her pregnancy will be fine, but as the cliche goes, "But wait, there's more!" On her 29th week of pregnancy, Ate Jam experienced pre-term labor which caused her to be confined for more than a week, take a leave from work for the rest of her pregnancy, and have a complete bed rest. We thought that Ted (whom I used to call 'Dudong' because Ate Jam and her husband Kuya Abel do not want to give the name of their baby) will be born prematurely, but thank goodness, Ted reached his full term, YEY!

Ate Jam in her 37th week of pregnancy

The night before Ted was born, Ate Jam, Momma, and I had a night out. I actually took a photo of her and posted it in my Instagram account (@ABA_JustinneP) which was of course linked to my Facebook and Twitter account (@ABA_JustinneP), not knowing that the next day, Ted will say hello to the world.

My sister was wearing my mom's dress, amazing!

Here's the story of how Ted came to the world. At around 4 in the morning, I was awaken by Ate's groans of labor pains and Momma's comforting words. Since I have a class by 7:30, I got out of bed to help my mom prepare my sister's stuff. If my sister was not experiencing labor, their conversation would have been funny (well, for me it was funny):

ATE JAM: Ma, masakit...

MOMMA: Saglit na lang, tinext ko na si Abel, malapit na daw siya.

ATE JAM: Stop telling me that! Wala pa si Abel, wala, wala! Stop telling me he's here, because he's not!

By 5 AM, they were already off to the hospital. I really wanted to come with them and see Dudong, but Momma won't allow me. Having no choice, I prepared for school and left the house at 5:30. 7:30 came and go, and my professor was still not in class. By 8 AM, the class received a message saying that he (our professor) will be coming in late. I was a bit mad, because my sister gave birth to Ted at 6:15 and I could have been with them. The whole day, I was itching to cut class and see my baby nephew, but of course, I can't (or I won't?). After class, I practically flew to the hospital.

Ted was still in the nursery when I arrived so together with my sister, I went to see him. He was (and still is) sooooooooooo cute, he was still small and his cheeks were pudgy.

Now, Ted is two and half months, he's quite a handful, actually. It takes three people to give him a bath and two people to change his diaper when he poops. I really want to have my OJT done in a site in Baguio, but I can't because, "Wala namang Ted dun, eh."  =)

Eidan Terrence P. Celones aka Ted, previously Dudong

Hi Dudong!

Celones Family!

Happy 1st month Ted! :*

"2 Month na si Teddy Boo!!" a grammatically incorrect message written by the staff of a famous bake shop

Ted and Teddy sleeping together =)

Ted's smiles are frequent but fade fast, to capture one is actually a happy moment. :)

Teddy Bear and Aling Jai (yes, that is what Ted will call me =))

Artistic Freedom and Self Expression

Honestly, I do not like classifying art into different art philosophies. I do not like comparing an artist (may be a singer, actor, dancer, painter, writer, or any other artists) to another artist. What is the purpose of comparison? Art is subjective, a stick figure can look beautiful for a person but hideous to another. And why should art be classified? Why should it box an artist's creativity? Why should an art be classified as Expressionism or Expressionism-Surrealism? Why can't it just be called as simply "My Art Form"? Art is a form of expression, and we practice freedom of expression! Limiting creativity is just like caging the freedom of expression... and that is a hypocrisy.

If dyeing my hair bubble gum blue or hot pink is my form of expressing myself, who should stop me? Is dyeing my hair now a criminal law? Does it kill people? Does it steal iPhones? Does it violate any natural law (well, except for damaging the natural growth of my hair)?

If I chose to pose like a model and cover myself in cloth and show by naked back, does that automatically label me a porn star? Or a prostitute? Or a model from a men's magazine? Given that the said picture will be a promotional material for a production, should that cage me from extending my creativity? No private part was seen, just a bare back. While shooting, the models were wearing clothes, it was just made to look like otherwise.

I cannot understand the purpose of letting us to be creative, but limiting us at the same time. Yes, explicity is not allowed and should be never allowed. But a creative shot? A dyed hair? We are in the 21st century! And the people doing these quote-unquote "prohibited" stuff are already of the legal age! We are already allowed to have boyfriends and girlfriends but not to express artistic freedom? I mean, come on! We are in college already! There should be rules but 'No exhuberant colored hair,' 'No complete uniform no entry,' 'No cross restroom-ing' (where excatly will LGBTQI persons go when they need to pee or poop, especially that the restrooms are not unisex?), 'No sexy poses on poster,' 'No sexy publicity materials,' etc. are just so illogical.

This is the stage in a young adult's life where s/he learns self expression! Depriving him/her this opportunity is just like depriving him/her the chance to know him/herself.

This entry might seem all over the place, since I cannot tell what is exactly happenning, but what I just want to say is that art is a form of expression, no one should limit a person's creativity since it is the manner by which a person reflects him/herself. Self expression can be seen by the way a person does art. Limiting creativity means limiting self expression, hence being a hypocrite to the society's freedom of expression.

But the real antagonist in this dilemma is the close-mindedness of the people seeing other people's creativity. Who on earth are you, creating stereotypes?

Fateful Day

Last year, January 28, 2013, was a fateful day and I am writing this blog to celebrate what happened last year.

I remember that day as if it was just yesterday. It was almost 12 noon and I was in my class when my mother suddenly texted me, asking if she can call me. I told her sure and she did call me. She said that it (the item will remain unmentioned and unnamed, as well as who sent it) arrived. I chidded her and said, "Weh, di nga?" Although I already am giddy with happiness. She said that what she just said was true, and the "Weh, di nga?" kept coming out of my mouth, obviously, I cannot believe the wonderful news. After the call ended, I skipped back to my class and whispered the amazing news to my sympathetic friend.

After the last class, I practically flew home to see me package. My mother was ever so kind that she did not open it, letting me do it myself. I was shaking with delight as I carefully opened the LBC-delivered parcel, which bore my name and my address. And inside it, was that wonderful item. It was still wrapped - brand new! I ripped the plastic covering and greedily opened the cover. Inside were three things - 2 circular things, and a booklet. I immediately used the 2 circular things, I was excited - I can't help it. =)

Until now, I am using those things. And as another way of celebrating that fateful day, I will use those delivered things over and over for the whole day.

Now, let me tell you how the package was delivered.

It was a December day when I posted my Christmas wish list on Facebook and included there was my yet-to-be-delivered package. The list was detailed and I made sure NOT to tag the will-be-sender because I do not want to make it look as if I am asking that person to send me the package, because I really was planning to hunt it myself. Anyway, the next day, before my COMM101 class, I saw a message in my Facebook. Boy, was I ever surprised.

January 26 came, and the delivery man delivered the package. Unfortunately, no one was at home. Fortunately, the delivery man was not able to have his document signed (to certify that he went to the receiver but there was no one home), so he came back on January 28.

Gosh! I know that you guys probably do not understand what I am saying because I am so trivial and all, but I promised the sender (as requested) that I will not divulge the information. So I am technically not saying anything. I just want to share a portion of what made my day happy. =)

To the sender, thank you so much! You really are the kindest and the best. I cannot believe that you would do such thing, you are amazing. =) God bless always!

Realization

After thinking deeply and taking into consideration the recent things I learned from a gender diversity seminar (which is another story), I finally got into the concrete conclusion that I AM NOT A LESBIAN. I only idolize older (this is comparing their ages to mine, of course) women not because I am sexually attracted to them, but because I want to be just like them. Of course, I also idolize male figures (preferably older as well), but people make it such an issue when I blab about my female idols.

Let me enumerate and explain (which to others might say ‘defend’) each of my idols:

1.       ANJELICA HUSTON. She is my first ever favorite actress. And I just LOVE HER! She is just a wonderful actress. Her portrayal of Morticia made me want to become an actress myself, despite my previous hatred for the idea, and made me concoct fictions, mostly about the Addams Family. She is also an advocate of anti-animal cruelty, which made me love animals more and hate those people who have pets but do not care about them. Despite many netizens bashing her looks, she remains surgery-free and says, “I’d rather be a blue-haired lady than a woman trying to regain youth by surgery and pulled in all direction,” and I idolize her even more for that. At the same time, I feel the same way. She might not look as youthful as she were when she first played Morticia or when she was Maerose Prizzi, but she has this beauty and elegance that we fans can see and are willing to defend to anyone who protests. She may not be the most known actress in Hollywood, nor the most Oscar-awarded actress (in fact, us Anjelicaholics find her underrated), but she is definitely a superb artist. She is also a survivor (read her autobiography A Story Lately Told), and I wish to be able to surpass the challenges I will face as bravely as she did. And lastly, she is a late bloomer, just like me. Oh, and I love her clothing choice ALWAYS. Probably because according to her, the key is wearing comfortable clothing. And despite her age, she remains chic.

2.       AYEN MUNJI-LAUREL. This woman is definitely GORGEOUS! She has this angelic beauty no one in the right mind can deny. I admit that I first fell in love with her because of her beauty when I saw her in a local soap opera (Amaya), but I got to know her better. She probably, if not really is, is the

kindest celebrity who ever walked the earth. She raised her children well, and it reflects. She is highly religious and she surpassed the hardships life gave her. Despite her stature in life, she remains down-to-earth and accommodating to her jolly, if not annoying (me being one of them) at times fans. She also shares this wonderful marriage with her ever-so-handsome husband, Franco Laurel (whom my friend Gleng Suzara also has a huge crush on). How I wish to have the same marriage in the future. She also has this elegant taste of clothing, no matter what she wears, she never fails to look as if she stepped out of a magazine. She made me love and appreciate the Philippine theater. Oh, and I almost forgot! She has this amazing voice that she doesn’t have to shout the highest notes (like many singers do) just to sound impressive.

3.       BEBE NEUWIRTH. Beatrice is just whoa. She’s not so young anymore but her body will make young men drool and young women like me go into an extensive diet and exercise just to try to have the same body. And having that body allowed her to do Bob Fosse-hard choreographies we witnessed in Chicago, and after her hip transplant, she can still groove. She is not the best singer in the whole world (comparing her to Mariah Carey, of course) but I really admire the set of lungs and pipes she have – can you imagine singing a high-toned song while dancing and still sounding wonderful – now that is talent. She is also a good actress; she already has two Tony’s and few TV nominations, who will say she’s not? Honestly, I would not have paid her more attention if she did not play Morticia Addams on Broadway but seeing her other works made me love her even more. And her beauty is… how do you describe it? I won’t say exotic but it is definitely not the usual American beauty. I admire her experimental taste in fashion but I do not usually agree with what she wears. If Anjel made me want to become an actress, Beatrice made me want to become a theater actress. She showed me the passion one can have just to do one live show. She doesn’t have many projects and as a fan, I demand the big studios and networks to show us fans more of our idol.

 


4.       MERYL STREEP. She’s such an amazing actress, Academy Awards  and nominations everywhere! And who would think that she is past 60 years old already?! She did Mamma Mia! when she was 59 and it was not reflected on the film.

 


5.       CHERIE GIL. One word to describe her, elegance. No matter what role she portrays, she always retains this air of elegance but that is not a bad thing. She’s a chic, despite her age. And well, she looks quite a bit like Anjel.

6.       DAWN ZULUETA. Pure beauty. Oozing with talent. And she’s kind, she recognizes the presence of her fans and she has this fans’ club which sends the fans an autographed photo of her when their birthday comes (I received one, yey!)

 


7.       CARLA GUEVARRA. I only saw her once (in The Addams Family A New Musical at Meralco Theater in which she played Alice Beineki) but I just love her. (Photo credits to @carlaguev from Twitter)

I did not say anything about idolizing actresses only, right?

8.       LIANA BARRO. She’s my Journalism 101 and 103 (News Writing and Investigative Journalism) professor and I just adore her. She teaches as if she’s only playing (which according to her is how she treats her work). Despite her fast-paced teaching and high-standard grading, I learned so much from her. She made me want to become a journalist someday. She’s always busy with work but she never fails to enjoy, party, and relax. I do not know if she knows this but she is a great inspirational speaker. She shares stories of her life, inspiring people like me, without intending to. And the students who passed whatever subject she teaches will surely be successful in life, just like she is. I believe she is highly-religious and family-oriented person. And the brain she has, my gosh, I think she knows everything!

9.       MARILYN BAROJA. She was my Physics teacher when I was in high school. Besides the fact that she is so brainy, I like the way she taught us – going beyond

the borders of the black board because there is so much to write, illustrating how to measure distance and other stuff on the tiled floor, keeping the atmosphere light despite the mega-hard to understand lessons in Physics, and encouraging the not-so-bright classmate/s of mine to try and participate in class. I promised her that I will be a Physics teacher and she keeps on reminding me that every time I visit the school T.T. I remember the time when I was the school’s representative to the Physics quiz bee and I was in 11th  place. I was crying over my loss and disappointing her when she said while laughing at me, “Ano ka ba Jai (my nickname), para ‘tong tanga. Tumigil ka na nga sa pag-iyak, baka isipin nila kung ano ginawa ko sa’yo. Ok lang yan.”

 

 10.   LILIBETH MAYOR. She was my Biology teacher when I was in high school. She is more of an aunt than a teacher. When I have problems, she’s there to listen. She would ask me to do something for her (may it be redoing her resume, creating a poster (which is still existing, I am proud to say) for the Bio Lab, doing an assignment of her sons Kiel and David) and I will refuse to be paid, she’ll say, “Ang kulit mo talaga.” But when she is insistent, a threat will come if I won’t oblige her. “Magagalit ako sa’yo kapag hindi mo ako sinamahan,” she said when I was too shy (?) to come with her when she ‘kidnapped’ me. She’s like a walking Biology encyclopedia. During class, everything is just a blast – we had jingles and we learn at the same time. Before, the jingles my classmates and I made for Biology were used when we took the UPCAT. Most of us did not pass but we still remember our Biology.

 


11.   RACQUEL CARACAS.  She was my Earth Science teacher and probably the most terror educator I will ever face. On our first day of class, she scolded us for having a dirty classroom (“Ambababoy niyo! SSC pa man din kayo,” she said.) Outside the classroom, she mother-like, she’ll treat you as her daughter and you can talk about anything under the sun.

I also did not say anything about real persons only, right?

12.   MORTICIA ADDAMS. PERFECT. Perfect life, perfect family, perfect marriage, perfect husband, perfect figure… she’s just the perfect woman! She’s the most beautiful, sexiest, and luckiest woman ever created by the imagination of mortals. She has this dark elegance that will make any man turn and stare and fall in love with her. And there is her marriage with Gomez – she adores him and he adores her more than his life. This is probably the reason why I am still single, my standards for a boy are not so high, just tall, smart, hardworking, kind, romantic, and caring; but my relationship standards are – to have a relationship as perfect as Morticia and Gomez’s. LOL. But the most admirable thing about Morticia is not her appearance, nor her husband and her family, nor her life, but her ability to live her life as simple as possible, as if she does not know how lucky she is. Sometimes, I pretend to be like her.

And lastly,

13.   EUGENIA TERESA “GIGI” T. GAVINO-PUNSALANG. My mom. My mom is not perfect, no one in the living is. But the sacrifices she made to raise my sister and I were enough for me to idolize her. She may be moody at times, I might get into arguments with her, but I love her very much. Sometimes I might not show the love and gratitude I feel for her but I am grateful to God for making my mom my mother. I might kid around and say I wish Morticia Addams will be my mother but I’ll never exchange my mom for anything. I am really scared of working, why? Because I will be away from my mom. I have been so depended with my mom for the past 18, almost 19 years, I do not know how to survive alone.
              My mom is so beautiful just like her mom (anyareh saken?!). She’s a great cook. She knows how to tighten her belt even though she already cannot breath. And most of all, she loves me and my sister so much that whenever and wherever we need her, she’ll do everything just to be by our side.

So you see? I just idolize these 13 women’s attributes making me idolize these women themselves. I just summed up my analysis after thinking over whether I am lesbian or not. So I really am not lesbian at any point.

Now the reason for me liking old (comparing again to my own age) people? Well, probably because they already experienced life and they already know what they are doing. They do not just blab around (just like me). And probably because I really am born in the wrong year, instead of 1995, maybe I was supposed to be born on 1985 or 1975 or something.