Glee

This is pretty much my newest obsession. Glee. It's my favorite new show. It adds all the elements that I love in a TV show. It has comedy, it has drama, it's realistic, yet it pokes fun of that realism and most of all, it has music.

Yes, that's right, it's high school musical meets boston public? lol. I don't know. I might have to find a better comparison. In essence, Glee is about a group of students who are part of a Glee club. They're all a bunch of misfits who come together to form one amazing talented group of people. Here is the synopsis of the show from their Fox website:

From Ryan Murphy, the creator of "Nip/Tuck," comes GLEE, a new comedy for the aspiring underdog in all of us.

The series follows an optimistic teacher, WILL SCHUESTER (Matthew Morrison), who - against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach - attempts to save McKinley High's Glee Club from obscurity, while helping a group of aspiring underdogs realize their true star potential. It's a tall order when the brightest stars of the group include KURT (Chris Colfer), a soprano who hits a high note in fashion; MERCEDES (Amber Riley), a larger-than-life diva with a voice to match; ARTIE (Kevin McHale), a geeky guitarist who rocks and rolls; and TINA (Jenna Ushkowitz), a punk rocker who hides behind her stutter and blue hair extensions.

Will is determined to do whatever it takes to make Glee great again.

Will's only hope lies with two true talents: RACHEL BERRY (Lea Michele), a self-proclaimed star who is convinced that MySpace and show choir and are her tickets to fame; and FINN HUDSON (Cory Monteith), the popular high school quarterback with movie star looks who must protect his reputation from his holier-than-thou girlfriend and "Cheerios" head cheerleader, QUINN (Dianna Agron), and his arrogant football teammate, PUCK (Mark Salling).

Everyone else around him thinks he's nuts. He's out to prove them all wrong.

Will is determined to do whatever it takes to make Glee great again, but his only ally is fellow teacher and germaphobe EMMA PILLSBURY (Jayma Mays). Everyone else around him thinks he's nuts - from his tough-as-nails wife TERRI SCHUESTER (Jessalyn Gilsig) to McKinley's scheming cheerleading coach SUE SYLVESTER (Jane Lynch) - but he's out to prove them wrong.

Here's a little sneak peek at Glee. Enjoy.

Excited

Excited to hike up Mt. Maculot. :P

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The Woman in Yellow - a tribute to Corazon Aquino

The Woman In Yellow

By: Jan Paolo Recarro

I didn’t know her. She was a nameless face. Her name did not invoke any thoughts for me. In essence, she was nobody. She was simply, the Woman in Yellow. That’s how I saw her then. Give me credit though; I was born the year of the EDSA Revolution. I left the Philippines too young to appreciate or recount anything I learned about Philippine History in school except of course for Jose Rizal. This Woman in Yellow was the image that would occupy my mind when hearing her name. Yet, when this woman passed away, a surge of emotions started to fill within me. I started to feel regret, regret that I had not invested more of my time to get to know this woman. I felt saddened, saddened by the loss of an icon, I felt inspired, inspired to know, to learn, and to make a change. Tita Cory, as many had called her, is as much as an inspiration to me as she had been to Filipinos, and others the world over. My very little knowledge of her comes from, and thanks to, my parents’ stories, stories that were invigorating and awe-inspiring. My dad talked of the times of Martial Law. He spoke of the crimes committed and the corruption that ensued. I could imagine the freedom of our country being diminished day by day, and the only hope for it was shed in the tears of its citizens. My mother spoke of the days she marched in rallies alongside others who were seeking change and those whose hopes had not yet diminished. She was just pregnant with me then. I didn’t realize it then, but I myself was part of that historical event. I was in the heat of it all, be it while in my mother’s womb. The stories were recounted to me through the years, but I did not find much interest in such topics. The Philippines that I had known as a young teenager had been that of a hopeless, diminished, poverty-stricken country. And I strongly felt that no one had done or can do anything to change that. I felt my parents were providing me with a blunt one-sided view of the country that they loved, a country that I, at the time, had no wish to return to. I tell you now I couldn’t have been more wrong. As I grew older I started to feel a renewed a sense of patriotism to the country that welcomed me to the world. It was the country of my ancestors, of my family, of my early childhood. I started to read books, stories, watch documentaries, and googled and wiki-ed the Philippines and its telenovela-like history. It was right out of a bad soap opera plotline. The stories that caught my attention and drew me closer to loving the country I now call home were those that were told to me by my parents; the stories of Martial Law, of Ninoy Aquino and former President Corazon Aquino. Ninoy Aquino became my hero. He became everything that I always hoped to be: successful, driven, passionate, loving, commanding, with journalistic tendencies and with a political idealism that many may have viewed futile and yet had the will and courage to stay the course. He was a political prisoner, something that I had, shamefully admitting now, always wanted to become. Moreover, his wife, the revolutionary leader of a passionate people, became more of an inspiration. I never had imagined the people of the Philippines to be of the passionate nature, loving their own. And yet, this Woman in Yellow, she was able to unite a crumbling opposition, inspire the citizens of a torn, shattered country to come together, and bring back democracy to the country that wept for it.

For me she symbolized what I did not think the Filipino had in them. She symbolized courage, a peace-loving nature and a pride for one’s own. To this day, she is a symbol of those things and many more. Behind her, Filipinos stood their ground against a tyrant who committed crimes of humanity against his own people to befit his own musings of the country he had come to pillage and destroy. She was an inspiration to us all, even myself, a young self-loathing cynic at the time. This Woman in Yellow, soft spoken and calm-mannered, it was she who gave me a free country to be born in. It was she who gave us a free country to love.

I will never forget what her and her husband has done for me, for my family and for our country. Today, regardless of where my travels have taken me, regardless of where I grew up, regardless of my citizenship, my passport, regardless of the friends I gained, the values, the morals, the language I speak, regardless of where I am or will be in the world, I can shout out loud to the world, because of her, that I am proud that I am Filipino, born and will die a Filipino.

My sincerest thanks and gratitude goes out to you, the Woman in Yellow.

What Hurts The Most?

This weekend I had a really good conversation with some new friends. After a few equations solved here and there, we put our books away and just got to talking. Someone brought up losing someone and never being able to see them again after having breaking up and stuff. Mark was saying that for him, the hardest thing, what hurt the most for him was breaking up with his girlfriend and never having the chance to see her again. It hurt him not to know how she was doing and whether or not they could still be friends or even still be together. Mark’s ex-girlfriend is now in the US.

Janine said that what hurt the most for her is seeing the person she loved with somebody else. Jose said that the feeling that the person you love has moved on and you haven’t is what hurt the most. It’s like they were able to forget about you and yet you can’t sleep without having dreams about them.

Those are all quite true. Everything they said was true. It all hurts. But for me, what hurts the most, is having the chance of something great, screwing that up, and everyday having to be reminded that what you used to have together will never be again. Having to see that person that you love everyday, having to talk to them everyday, and knowing that their feelings are no longer there. They’ve moved on and everyday you’re reminded of that. You try to let go and yet because they are there, not knowing how much pain they cause you just by their utter presence, you can’t.

You struggle to find the means to move on. Look away and try to involve yourself with other things. They think you’ve moved on too. They’re wrong of course.

That’s what hurts the most. Being with the person you love almost every day and not being able to say how you feel, not being able to express how you feel for fear of how they would react. They are part of your everyday, yet they are not part of you. You stay friends and not more than that. Everytime they flash that smile towards you, you don’t know how to react. They ask for a favor, you do all that you can to please them. You try to impress them, in hopes that they’ll notice. But in reality, you lost your window of opportunity. It’s come and gone. It was a once in a lifetime deal and you screwed it up. And everyday, the forces that work around you throw it at your face.

Whoever it may be that works the forces of love must be vindictive. They aim to either please you or to hurt you. So to whoever is controlling the lines of love, let me tell you this. You’ve succeeded. You’ve succeeded in making me love like I have never before and now you are succeeding in making me hurt like I’ve never have.

This is more painful than a knife through the chest. This is a constant pain, a needle that slowly but surely is piercing through my lonely heart. It carves a niche and never lets go. It’s torture.

I hope one day, I too can move on like you have. I wish I too can feel nothing when I see you. I wish that the thought of you doesn’t bring back memories so diffcult to let go.

-JP