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| Thursday, April 14, 2005 |
| MY LIFE ACCORDING TO ME (A Digital Book) |
Blog Review Series No. 6
Content: Excellently Exquisite and Full of Honesty.
Design: Highly Viewable. 
This blog reminds me of a few books that I have read in the past, mostly “The Joy Luck Club” of Ms. Amy Tan. Like Ms. Amy Tan’s runaway bestseller, “MY LIFE ACCORDING TO ME (A Digital Book)” is about growing up and then finding out how bittersweet the things that we are about to encounter in the real world once we are finally out there, being caught in a spiral of ups and downs. On one side are the tears that we shed, the hurtful words that we hear and the uncertainties of the future and while on the other, the elevating wisdom of independence, the saccharine taste of success, and the realization of our full selves. Reading through it from the beginning towards the most recent entries is like a breath of fresh air in summertime, and is similar to watching a flower bloom right in front of you, from a seedling towards the very moment that it brandishes its buoyant petals. For this alone, Teacher Sol has done some feat not easily achieved by anyone, anywhere.
Teacher Sol is a Filipina teacher in Washington, USA, working in the land of milk and honey and where eking out a living is a whole lot more redeeming than here in our shores. Yet, things weren’t always well in the life according to Teacher Sol, where in order to reach her relatively good status now, she and her husband Reiner had to struggle through dire circumstances like an elopement that finally allowed Reiner to escape the encompassing and stifling stranglehold of his ultra-stern Mom, an unplanned pregnancy (which turned out to be divinely in the end), cramped and shoddy apartments, unreal “mangoes” and unsubstantial earnings in their early marriage lives. You’d think by this time that this online melodrama is a little tragic and dim but the truth is, it is the rosier days of the main characters and the many light moments in this digital story that truly shine as the epicenter, just like any fairy tale stories where we forget entirely about the witches and the warlocks, the poison apples, the cruel stepsisters and the itzy bitzy spiders while we always remember how finally in the end, the Prince Charming finally kissed the princess from a kingdom far, far away.
In the beginning chapters, when Teacher Sol was still a bouncy girl out to see the world, we are entreated into the sun kissed beaches of her hometown and the giggly days of her childhood days. Just like any girl, Sol celebrated her friends and blushes at the crushes she had in school. A couple of entries in her diary magnified the honesty of Sol’s general narrative persuasion, a certain kind of truthfulness that allows us a rare glimpse of a tender soul. Particularly, she wrote:
March 21, 1987 (9:00 pm)
Dear Diary,
Today, we had our Recollection/ Retreat at the Cathedral and it turned out to be an exciting day for me too. I feel “clean” again spiritually after a day of purging. It’s a good feeling. Also, I was sitting beside the boy that I like the whole time and our classmates were teasing us.
And then:
April 9, 1987 Dear Diary,
Today is our Graduation Day. I got a medal. During the Baccalaureate Breakfast, Tetet, who was sitting beside me whispered that he was looking at me. J I had mixed emotions; sad because I won’t be here anymore next year, but excited with the new school and new friends that await me in Colegio de Sta. Isabel. We went to Naga the other day to enroll and buy my school uniform for next school year. Most of my friends confirmed that they are going to attend my party tomorrow in my grandparents’ house in Labo.
Oh young love. Only if love always comes to us like when we were just tender in both mind and heart---so innocent and so very well-meaning.
Then Sol grew up and began to struggle the usual pains and joys of adolescence and in CHAPTER 3…Page 1, the story cranks up a major notch, marking the beginning of the end of innocence for her, as Sol found out unexpectedly that she was pregnant, nearly collapsing from a stairway and returning home immediately instead of proceeding to take a very important school examination. She panic a little and had to reaffirm and reaffirm through further checking until finally she and Reiner decided to face the newer realities that they had found themselves embroiled in and bowed to outlast any difficulty that comes their way and nothing was the same again from then on. The odds were all against them---both having no job and Reiner still in college, and worst of all, they had to elope and live in some cramped apartment while Sol was heavily pregnant. In the end, these odds were no match for both Sol and Reiner. There seems to be a strong redemptory character of the love that binds them together and even in their darkest moments, they always found the resolve to rise from seeming despondency. In their first Christmas together, they “made something out of nothing” by decorating their place with recycled materials. That’s the stuff they are made of.
"MY LIFE ACCORDING TO ME (A Digital Book)" is a classic story of perseverance and about winning in life in the face of steep adversity. It’s an inspiring tale of how love conquers everything, a whole life experience that challenges us to see ourselves deeper and see if we can measure up to all the things that we believe in and to all the dreams that we aspire for. It’s the stuff heart-warming movies are made of, only that Teacher Sol’s life is not fictitious at all and for that alone, the reader should continually be grateful. And knowing how everything turned out so well for Teacher Sol, we all can learn a lesson or two from her.
The design features of "MY LIFE ACCORDING TO ME (A Digital Book)" is highly viewable and allows a very comfortable reading where its purple background serves its content fairly well. There is no shortage for pictures here and in fact, it’s one blog where the pictures tells a whole story of their own, being well selected and timely.This site is best appreciated if one goes back to its early entries and tries to redo the digital life from beginning until the most recent entries. It’s one whole life that hums like a self-contained windmill, having a vibrancy of its own and an inner strength like no other; and because it is well-written and thoroughly elaborated, it is always a joy to go through its content, like taking a train ride through a rustic countryside---so many things to discover, so many sights to see and so much honesty to be felt. GO TO >>> "MY LIFE ACCORDING TO ME [A Digital Book]" |
posted by yusop @ 7:26 PM  |
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| 2 Comments: |
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MAJOR TOM, thank you for a very well written review of my DIGITAL BOOK. People from all walks of life, from navy men to DH in Hong Kong, who have access to the ineternet are consistently following on my entries. I am getting an average of 85 page views per day. You and these people who give me good feedbacks about my stories are my inspiration, you all give me more appetite to write.
Everyone makes mistakes. Several times I did, but I always look back, reflect, and learn from those failures and mistakes. My DIGITAL BOOK, www.teachersol.blog-city.com, was created because of a learning process. In my experiences of failing and the subsequent self-examination of all the reason why the failure accured, I have written a book about my life. I hope you learn a lot from it too.
TEACHER SOL
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Teacher Sol's digital book is one of a kind. And what makes it truly inspiring is the fact that it’s not an invented story but rather a true-to-life account of how pain and beauty blend together to create a wonderful, amazing, and outstanding existence in this otherwise boring world. Teacher Sol is one remarkable woman! Read the digital book to refresh your insights and perspectives on life and love, growing up and responsibility, handling unexpected events and making smart decisions - but most of all, read it and realize that a happy life is not the absence of challenges and adversities but a continuous process of learning and re-learning, stumbling and standing up again after a fall.
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| Yearning for good blogs that are worth your short and precious whiles? This is the blog reviews straight from Mars as Major Tom continues to roam and monitor the Earth beneath---Even under the giant waves of the Seven Seas. |
| About The Author |
- Name: yusop
- Home:
- About Me: I am Mr. Yusop B. Masdal, 52 years of age and works as a government employee at the
Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) with the designation as a Legal Assistant II. I had
graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Laws (Llb) from the Western Mindanao State University
(WMSU) in 2001. My other degree completed is Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA)
from the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU) in 1995. Also, I completed a Master’s
Degree on Organizational Management from WMSU in 2011.
I had been a journalist in my younger years, starting as TV Journalist in ABC TV 5. When I was
in college, I was the Editor-in-Chief of the college publication of ADZU called the Beacon
Magazine and joined several journalism conferences. I was also a college professor from 2007 to
2011 teaching the subjects for Asian Studies courses in WMSU.
- See my complete profile
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MAJOR TOM, thank you for a very well written review of my DIGITAL BOOK. People from all walks of life, from navy men to DH in Hong Kong, who have access to the ineternet are consistently following on my entries. I am getting an average of 85 page views per day. You and these people who give me good feedbacks about my stories are my inspiration, you all give me more appetite to write.
Everyone makes mistakes. Several times I did, but I always look back, reflect, and learn from those failures and mistakes. My DIGITAL BOOK, www.teachersol.blog-city.com, was created because of a learning process. In my experiences of failing and the subsequent self-examination of all the reason why the failure accured, I have written a book about my life. I hope you learn a lot from it too.
TEACHER SOL