Thank You For Smoking Movie Review

Mr. Nick Naylor was a lobbyist about a smoking campaign. He encourages everyone, including teens to smoke because he believed that smoking was not the responsible on number of deaths around the world. He was a separated man who lived alone on his apartment. He has a kid who he sometimes bring during his trips.

I wasn’t sure on how he actually encourage people to smoke. Because many people will despise him on what he is and will going to do. But he just always shrugged his shoulders about those things because all he wanted on his mind was to earn money and convince people.

He has two friends, if that is what they were thinking. The woman was a lobbyist about alcohol and the other man was on the field of firearms. They were seeing each other once a week.

The thing I liked about Mr. Nick Naylor was he always do what he think is right. The first thing I liked on his dialogue was when he taught his son on how to write an essay. We don’t literally need to write what was actually the topic, rather think about out of the box. The second one was when his son asked what if he was wrong about the things he think he is right. He just said, “If your job is to be right, you will never be wrong.” The third was his character on speaking. He has all the supremacy to give the people the idea that there is nothing wrong of what he is doing. The fourth and the most was how he handled everything right. He defended what he thought was right, especially the point of view of his captain.

I just don’t like the idea that a reporter used Mr. Naylor to get a scoop about why he is campaigning cigarettes. She sold sex to earn money. She disrupted the media.

On my part, when I am watching the movie, I thought about what if I try smoking? I just wanna try if some things will change on me. But I cannot because my brother will surely hate me.

I read everywhere and I heard a lot about this line: Cigarette is dangerous to your health. Doctors know that, so do every member of the family. But why they continue to sell cigarettes? Because of the big tax on every pack of it? And one thing, I saw many nursing students smoking during their breaks on Recto. It’s very ironic because they were the ones (a part of them because they were the family of doctors and scientists and chemists) who said smoking is the main reason on lung cancer and other diseases.

Back to the story, I was convinced on how Mr. Nick Naylor do his job. He was a well-speaker, well-informed, he knew every detail of his job, his campaign and everything about smoking. Before anyone could actually do a thing or two, he should know first its ups and downs, strengths and weaknesses, faults and correctness and its responsibilities on every word and move he make so that when he are on the lights, no one and no word could ever bring him down.

At the penultimate of the story, Mr. Naylor didn’t came back on his job even if he had defended all of his issues. LOYALTY should come first from the people we respect and admire the most. But his Boss doesn’t qualify faithfulness. He is a hard-bitched boss.

Even though I wasn’t convince of smoking, at least I realized the fact that smoking is not the major source of deaths around the world and I was informed about a person’s choice. Because first things first, when you do a thing, it is your choice. There are only people who motivates you, there are only place that influences you. But on top of all, you are the story-maker of your own timeline.

HRDM students like me should be inspired on how to talk and convince others. We should have a pack of authority to do and say what is right. We should light up the stick of confidence to what we are going to do, because it shows how persistent we are. We should taste both failure and success, because without failure, there is no thing such as success. And finally, we should blow the smoke of knowledge and learning to everyone so that they can smell what we know about the things we think is right and perhaps could share it with the second-smokers or non-smokers all over the world.

The One Minute Manager Book Review

The one minute manager contains three techniques to become an effective manager. The symbol, one minute, a digital watch, only represents that a short time can be made to make a decision or goal.

The first technique is the one-minute goal. The manager said that an effective manager can do goals on a single sheet of paper with less than 250 words on it. He actually believed that any goals could be sum up using short explanations. And he believed that a sheet of paper could actually discuss a certain goal. So all in all, the one minute goal setting is simply: agreeing on goals. This is done so that everyone knows what good behavior looks like; write out each of your goals on a single sheet of paper using less than 250 words. Limit the number of goals to three to five; encourage the reading and re-reading of each goal, which requires only a minute or so each time; conduct reviews to see whether or not the behavior of individuals matches the set goals. The discrepancy between the actual and the desired goal becomes the area for improvement; take a minute every once in a while out your day to look at your performance and see whether or not your behavior matches your goal.

The second technique is the one minute praising. There are at least three steps to follow. The first is to praise, which means a manager should appreciate what his man did right. So in order to do a very ‘well done’ job, a manager could touch his man, saying “you did great there”, “keep up the good work” and so on. In that way, an individual can put his confidence higher and do his work successfully. Secondly, the manager should specify what exactly a man did right, so he could focus well on where he should compliment an individual. Lastly, be consistent. Every time a man do a right job, a manager should keep on appreciating the work, so everybody could cope up well.

One minute praising works well when: a manager tells his people right from the start that he is going to let him know how he is doing; praises his people immediately; tells people what they did right and be specific; tells people how good he feel about what an individual did right, and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there; stops for a moment of silence to let him ‘feel’ how good he feels; encourage an individual to do more of the same; and shakes hands or touches people in a way that makes it clear that he supports their success in the organization.

Lastly, the one minute reprimands, which is a bit different from the one minute praising. It has four steps to follow according to Ms. Brown. First of all, a manager gives a reprimand as soon as he knows about a mistake. Then, he specifies exactly what the person did wrong. Third, because the manager didn’t involve personal feelings during reprimands, like doesn’t attacking the person himself but the behavior respectfully, which means it is more understandable on the both of them. Being fair is about everything makes a very good consideration, no blaming to the both of the party, but reprimanding to the behavior of the person. And the last one is being consistent. The one minute reprimands: reprimand people immediately when they do the wrong thing; tell the individual what he/she did wrong and be very specific; tell the individual how you feel about what they did wrong and in no uncertain terms; and stop for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence to let them feel how you feel. The second half of the reprimand: shake hands, or touch them in a way that lets them know you are honestly on their side; remind them how much you value them; reaffirm that you think well of them but not of their performance in this situation; and realize that when the reprimand is over, it’s over.

Reprimanding is never been easy. So it is better to reprimand first then praising. All of the people didn’t want to be scolded by their boss. But having a mistake is a way which makes reprimand visible. If a person doesn’t want to be disciplined, he must do the right thing and avoid committing mistakes again.

So to summarize all of my learning, I think one minute manager actually helps people to become effective manager. First, the one minute manager will give a goal, and the goal must be short but concise. Then when the manager will catch what his people do something right, then one minute praising enters the act. Lastly, if there is something wrong, the one minute reprimand looks to it.

I also learned that a manager should catch people to do something right rather than doing something wrong. Most of the managers tried to catch their people when they are doing something wrong and it makes the people feel wrong. The one minute manager reverses the technique by observing his people of doing something right. He said that the most important thing in training somebody to become a winner is to catch them doing something right, approximately right and gradually moving them towards the desired behavior. If the person does a thing according to the desired behavior, he could observe himself that he is actually doing something right. The manager never attacked a person’s value or worth, but only the behavior himself. He eliminates the behavior and keep the person.

The One Minute Entrepreneur: The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business Book Review

One Minute Entrepreneur tells a story of a young man named Jud who wants to change his way of life, from his mistakes to being a successful in the field of business and sales. He was once a young man who was caught acting in the stage of his teenage years, changed his view in life when he met some people who give him best advices and a notebook—putting one minute insights whenever he hears one.

I am very amazed by the fact that guys like him actually put insights in a single pad of note. He jots down every word that he thinks is useful. I somehow wants to be like him. So that on every seminars, pep talks and trainings I attend, I could be motivated everytime I write what they say.

One day, he goes to a seminar with a very intellectual speaker named Mr. Gardner. He also meet some speakers that worth jotting a note every now and then like Mr. Tremendous. He was called Tremendous because in his seminars, he always mention the word Tremendous, and people automatically nicknamed him.

He approaches Mr. Gardner because he badly wants to be trained. He wants to become successful in sales as well as in business. Mr. Gardner agreed, because he knew Jud would be very willing to be trained.

Jud is very excellent in terms of motivating people, so he become a speaker somehow on seminars. He likes to speak to people, motivate them and give confidence to them. He is sometimes confused but Mr. Gardner always talk to him on what he worries. Of course, he always put down on his notebook.

Jud met a woman named Teri who has the same personality, character, goals in life, almost all of the characters they have in common. He said Teri is gorgeous and a complete package. That makes me think that he should not let her go.

There are many speech marks that nailed my mind. These are so-called one minute insights. Some of them are:

What’s right is important than who is right. I think about it a lot of times and it does makes sense. We should know the righteousness of a single thing. Whoever who said that “right” thing, what about him/her? It doesn’t matter. As long as we know what is right, it doesn’t matter who is right.

Associate with people you admire and can learn from. We can always learn incredible things into the people we admire the most.

You never need to cheat to win. Yes. I think this is a universal quotes from exams to sports to everywhere. We can’t erase the fact that everyone was once cheated in their entire life. So, in order to arrange a life into a very good life. Start in no-cheating.

You can get everything you want in life if you help enough other people to get what they want. This is the other version of a famous quote from Confucius, “Do unto others what you want others do unto you.” We cannot live alone. So learn from helping others. We never know what others can do to us.

No matter how good you are, you’ll experience a lot of failure. Even Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein failed. But have they lose their mind and said quit? Sometimes, we can even experience more failures than success. But don’t let failures eat you.

There are also one minute insights that points on the world of business:

To create a successful business, you must first master the basics. To do a simple Algebraic expression, we should know the basic math calculations. Just like in business, in order for us to be a successful businessman, we should master the basics. All things started on a single event, organism or process before it complete into a masterpiece of life.

It’s not just about sales. It’s about positive motivation including self-motivation. Sales is one of the most difficult thing to do if you have no motivation yourself. To motivate others, motivate yourself. To pursue others, try to pursue yourself first.

On the entrepreneurial path, few people come into your life without a reason. I really somehow don’t get it. I read a quote that says people come and go for a reason. But on the entrepreneurial path, there is no reason at all. I think because on that path, a person meets many people, but few of them doesn’t care at all.

UP IN THE AIR Movie Review

The film started on several employees who are going to be fired. So this summed up the whole movie itself. But as I watched the movie, it is not only about firing employees, but giving motivational talking to them.

The universal sentence of Mr. Bingham,

Anybody who ever built an empire or changed the world sat where you are right now. And because they sat there, they were able to do it. That's the truth.

which Miss Keener also blabbered at first, became the motivational sentence of the entire movie. Which in the case meant that everybody else in the world experienced being so small. And when those empire builders became empire-builders, it meant anybody else could actually do the same, in the future.

My reaction about the whole movie was kind of motivational but lesser emotional. Motivational in the manner that even they’d been firing all day, all night, at the end of the conversation they’d been giving a packet which employees could find greater than what they’d been doing. Others are motivated, like, “It’s okay, I’d better flip the pages and discover something in my life,” while others thought it was a stupid decoration been tossing on employees’ faces just to add something on the line. Maybe, they’d created less emotions about “firing stuff” because we should be positive enough and not dealing with suicide on the bridge.

I was very disappointed because I was waiting how Mr. Bingham be fired (the real fired thing). And I wanted him to be emotional to that thing though he was not the type of guy. I wanted him to experience the position of being fired. And I was disappointed about his casual relationship with the woman there, finding out that she has her “real life”, already married. How can anyone supposed to handle that situation when you are getting ready for a complete realization about your philosophies in life, been walking-out of a seminar because you’d realized everything, and then finding out that you could be somehow true? Mr. Bingham could have been really not quitting the job unlike Miss Keener, at the end of the day he could say he’s right, laughing his ass off of not marrying someone because we are born just to die.

Learning that not all jobs are doing great for humans, they could be heartbreaking too. And that was the point of the movie. Miss Keener quit because she can’t possibly take it anymore. Learned also about that we should not carry all the people we knew, the famous backpack of Mr. Bingham, because it is a lot heavier to move forward when we have them, especially not realizing we should think of ourselves a whole lot more. Not because we don’t care about anyone, doesn’t mean we should forgetting about them. Mr. Bingham said moving is living. How can we live if cannot even move?

All in all, the movie is great and I will give it a total of three stars. Five minus one because there’s a pretty little liar on the movie, he brokenhearted Mr. Bingham and minus one because Mr. Bingham doesn’t cry, literally crying as in sobbing and passing out on tears.

Entrepreneurial Management teaches on how to make a business. Business needs people. And this movie simply shows terminating an employee to a business when they do not show enough productivity. Which means it literally helps improvement on a business by reducing the risks of hiring less-skilled employees.

Because this movie is so much related to our course, there are a lot of HRDM people out there I regret to inform that this kind of work is frustrating and heart-breaking. It is so difficult to see someone crying in front of you, especially when they beg you and you do not know them. And especially when you are a starter like Ms. Keener, you cannot handle things easily, terminating people easily, then all you have to do is to runaway. This job is for people who are tough.

To those people who are in the same line as ours, HRDM, I also regret to inform you that you might experience this on the future. To those who are thrilled to this kind of job, congratulations, you might be a ten-million miles flyer like Mr. Bingham. Just put some motivational factor in your baggage, as it enhance some things that might work when you could not handle things out. And you’re up to go.

Jumpstart: A Technopreneurship Fable Book Review

This book talks about a man who badly wanted to start his own company rather being an engineering manager at the Silicon Valley. Every person has their guts to become the boss. And Rajin was one of those men who wants to build his own. The book justifies how to become one, even if you have less of what being an entrepreneur has.

I learned on the book that it is somehow needed to give up all your plans and dreams in life for the other just to show how you really support that person. Being a risk taker is one of the main characteristics of an entrepreneur. But unlucky enough, some entrepreneurs who became risk-takers achieve pure failures in their ventures. It doesn’t mean that because a person is an entrepreneur, he or she should be a risk-taker, it all depends how he or she can handle the situation. There are lots of what ifs and why ifs in life, especially in this field. Others may also find themselves asking why they did those on the first place. Yet, many people succeed and continue to trust “risk-taking”.

Like Rajin, he became a risk-taker. He risked months of waiting and leaving his job just to meet the CEO of a particular company. But he failed on one thing, he doesn’t have a business plan. I realized that even if you have the most awesome and the most needed product of all time, you should know how to introduce it to the market, what are your strategies and your plans. We should seek other people like mentors who really know what to do.

Bob, whom Rajin met at a bar, helped him and taught him some things he should know about being an entrepreneur. He said that product was not enough to enter the world of business. But also knowing the revenues, capital, the market, the consumers and others.

The book also lectured about determination. Being an entrepreneur is a very difficult task, and it is a no joke at all. Entrepreneurs should be well-determined because a lot of people are expecting him, especially his colleagues and employees.

I like what Bob always teaching Rajin. The most beautiful quote he said was, “This isn’t for the faint of heart, Rajin. If you can’t live with fear and uncertainty, then I suggest you cut cleanly now.” It is not because he was frightening Rajin, but because he really wanted to shove Rajin that he was doing the right thing. He also talked about the money, which all entrepreneurs should not just think of. Bob said that he should be strong and tough and ask himself WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Because if the reason is strong enough, it can take anywhere you want to go.

I also loved the act of Bob giving boxes of pizzas to their engineers because he said if he want to keep them, and have a culture that values them, sometimes you have to do things for them. An entrepreneur should act his or her employees well so that they could do that in return.

Sometimes, the best ideas come from people you didn’t expect with. For all you know, the solution of the problem maybe in the hands of the newest employees. Share the blessings with your employees, your investors and your community.

I feel disappointed when Bob passed away after a few years of Rajin’s company success. Bob was the major factor why Rajin climb to the pedestal of success, and he wasn’t there. Rajin missed him because he wasn’t on his side by that time. And he wanted to share those moments with his mentor, Bob.

The last pages of the story depicts a young man who was on the half the same of Rajin’s start-up. By that time, he could be a “Bob” to that young man so that he could help and at the same time, do what his friend did to him, to become a successful technopreneur.

The book doesn’t only told about being an entrepreneur. But also being a good friend, taking risks, helping others, and not forgetting what others did, making a part of a person’s history.

Casio Men's PAW1500-1V, Casio Men's PAG240-1CR, Casio Men's PRW2500T-7CR Watch details

Casio Men's PAW1500-1V Pathfinder Multi-Band Solar Atomic Ultimate Watch Product Description

Casio Men's PAW1500-1V Pathfinder Multi-Band Solar Atomic Ultimate Watch is a 51-millimeter stainless steel round black watch that is made up of mineral dial-up window which resists scrapes. It is water-resistant that can travel down to 660 feet, perfect for men who goes subterranean.

Casio Men's PAW1500-1V is great for outdoor activities such as mountaineering, underwater escapade and even extreme sports that exceeds men’s limits. With its barometer, altimeter and thermometer features, one can detect time, weather and temperature, in just one click away.

This watch is a multi-band radio-controlled which means it can receive and transmit signal for up to six locations from Europe, Asia and America.

Other features includes five alarms, stopwatch, 29 time zones (30 cities), auto-calendar up to year 2099, 60-minute countdown timer, moon and tide graph and moon age data.

Wherever you are, you could be updated with the time. Casio Men's PAW1500-1V Pathfinder Multi-Band Solar Atomic Ultimate Watch greatly offers an extraordinary difference that not just a digital watch can give.

Casio Men's PAG240-1CR "Pathfinder" Triple Sensor Multi-Function Sport Watch Product Description

Want a multi-function but classy watch that suits your activities? Then this watch is apt for you. This multi-function sport watch is a black round buckle-type that is great not only as a plus-style but also for a better and high performance.

Casio Men's PAG240-1CR "Pathfinder" Triple Sensor Multi-Function Sport Watch is a 50-millimeter, resin-type watch that is made up of mineral, so worry no more about scratches. Many features are included that exactly highlights one’s directions. It has a triple sensor (barometer, altimeter and thermometer) that detects weather, temperature and atmosphere. It also sets five alarms, capable to go down under 330 feet, with world time (48 cities), auto-backlight, compass, stopwatch and countdown timer.

Because of its atomic timekeeping, you never have to reset the time. Thus, automatically sets time thru radio-controlled feature.

Casio Men's PAG240-1CR "Pathfinder" Triple Sensor Multi-Function Sport Watch perfectly puts men’s necessities into comforts. With just a watch, one can determine not only different time sets, weather or temperature but also discovers wherever you are. Exceptional features of Casio Men's PAG240-1CR never go out of style.

Casio Men's PRW2500T-7CR Pathfinder Triple Sensor Tough Solar Digital Multi-Function Titanium Pathfinder Casual Watch Product Description

Casio Men's PRW2500T-7CR Pathfinder Triple Sensor Tough Solar Digital Multi-Function Titanium Pathfinder Casual Watch is a 50-millimeter round silver watch that is made up of titanium. Its dial window type is made up of mineral, which is much scratch-free.

Its Triple Sensor is composed of Barometer which measures atmospheric pressures, Altimeter which determines altitudes and Digital Compass which indicates geographic directions. The Multi-band 6 atomic timekeeping feature is a radio-controlled system that controls and adjusts time with six transmission stations, three in Asia, one each in North America and two in Europe.

Casio Men’s PRW2500T-7CR Pathfinder Triple Sensor Watch has seven modes. The home screen, record mode, alarm, stopwatch, countdown timer, worldtime and radio control.  The home screen displays the barometric chart, day of the week, date, time and tide and moon data. The record mode shows the feet or meter figure, setting up of altitude and time and date data. Alarm includes five alarms and hourly time signal. The stopwatch displays hour time, setting time and current time. It has a split time feature that divides minutes into two or more intervals. The countdown timer has a 60-minute timer counts which beeps at the last ten-seconds or last five seconds. The worldtime composed of 38 time zones (48 cities). Finally, the radio control which shows the time the watch was last synchronized.

Other features include full auto-calendar up to year 2099, depth measurements, 24 chronograph measurements, water resistant up to 660 feet, built-in solar battery and Duplex LC display with full auto EL light selectable illumination duration and afterglow.

Men always pick up a type of watch that can summarize their needs, especially when they wanted to go on an adventure. Casio Men's PRW2500T-7CR Pathfinder is perfect for men who sought to explore the world, whether they are underground exploring caves or seas or beyond the skies watching the atmosphere, without anything but only a watch to be on their wrist.

Rimarim

You don’t know where you are but you are running. You don’t know what is happening yet you are running. You don’t know what creatures or people or things are after you and still you are running. You hunt your tiny breaths. You save your feeble strengths. You are tired. You are freaked. You are all fucked up. You don’t know what’s going to happen to you. You just like to escape through this chaos and get a life. You want to cry but you realize your tears have nothing to do to save you—to run away.

You turn to know who those people run after you but you realize you still don’t know if those are actually people. You just run and run and run. The roads are like infinite. The skies are dark. And you are alone. You have become more frightened by the fact that no one is with you to experience a very perfect torture in your life because you think everybody dumped you because you are selfish and you did many bullshits in the past. You start to cry and run and run. You are not a weeping person and here you are, bursting in tears like a child who has been bullied in grade school.

You want to run quicker but your strength becomes weaker. Too bad your strength does not help you anymore. You feel you are going to die in seconds. You wish that if you ever live, the first thing you would want to do is to sit on your couch wearing your pajamas; drinking your hot chocolate while reading a book in a cold, rainy night. You don’t want a mansion, a fabulous car or billions of money. You just need a life. That’s all. And something’s favoring you.

A light? Yeah! A light! Holy goodness I’m gonna live! Thank you!

You run the fastest to reach the light. You are laughing like this is the happiest day of your entire life, you will be saved. The Heavens save you!

You answered me! Yes! I don’t need money, or a big and fancy house! All I want is to liveeeeeeeeee!

You have reached the end of the light. The last time you are crying is because you thought you are going to die. But then...

A cliff? I thought it was something…

You walk near the cliff. You look below and you see nothing but fog and a clear sign of death. You laugh. You think you will live?

There are always choices. It’s either I just let myself attacked by those creatures or jump under this cliff.

What will you do?

You turn around to see who are following you. Now is your chance to take a glimpse after all those running. You step back. Your eyes freeze. You body is stunned. You are in terror.

Zombies? So they exist?! They actually exist? So this is a Zombie Apocalypse? Amazing! I thought they were just in movies or something! Whoah! Is this the time to be amazed? I’m gonna die!

You exchange looks between the Zombies and the cliff. You are making a final decision how you will face your death.

I’m gonna let those Zombies tear my awesome flesh! Right! I want to experience that excruciating pain. What will be the taste of my flesh and brain? I think it’s incredible because I’m so hot! I am so deliciously hot.

You close your eyes. You feel the warmth of air. You raise your hands. Your hair touches the darkness. Here they come…

The Zombies are on uproar as if they have not tasted like you for a long time. You feel scared. You change your plans.

You jump the cliff.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

You open your eyes. The Zombies are gone. There are no Zombies at all. The darkness tricked you. You realize you have jumped off the cliff. The air rushes excitingly on your body. You feel nothing but breeze. Your heart pounds heavily. You can’t breathe properly.

What an amazing death.

***

The wind drifts coolly. The water flows steadily. The trees sway as if they are dancing. The birds chirp. The skies are at peace.

You open your eyes. You are safe. You are alive. You stand up and breathe heavily. You breathe just to know if you are really alive. And you are.

You look above. You saw the cliff that you have jumped off. It’s not that too high but the last time you saw it was like seeing the cliff of death. You have bruises and light scars but you just ignore them. You don’t feel any pain. You feel nothing.

The darkness tricked me. So, you wanna kill me? Huh? Kill me! Kill me if you can!

You start to walk. You don’t know the place yet and you don’t know where to go. You are hoping you might meet someone here and find a way back home. You don’t seem hungry or thirsty. You don’t want to eat or drink, you just want to go back home. The last time you wish is that you can live and your wish was granted. Now, you want to go home.

You realize it is very hard to be alone. You miss your family. You miss your friends. You miss your cats. You miss everything and everyone. You are aching to experience all the things you have done with them. Again. But now you’re stranded. You can’t bring the past back anymore. How you wish you could bring back and undo all the mistakes you have done and say sorry to your parents and friends. But how? You are stuck here. Alone. Miserable. Dejected. How pity you are.

You heard something. You turn around but there is no one. You hear heavy and approaching barge—like footsteps that belong not only from a few people but hundreds of them. You turn around but you saw nothing. The noise gives you creeps. You are stunned. You don’t know where to hide. They found you.

Zombies again? They are not real! They disappeared the last time I jumped the cliff!

You run away from them. There are hundreds of Zombies after you. You know they are not real. They do not exist. But you are still afraid if they catch you. You want to hide but the path is filled with flesh-longing Zombies. There are zombies all around. You look at them. They are full of blood. They have ripped clothes and ugly faces and gross smell.

You run and you reach another cliff. The skies turn dark. You see nothing but them. You realize the same thing happened again. The Zombies. The cliff. Dark skies. Everything.

What’s with this place? Why are you doing this to me?!

You decide to wait the Zombies to come near you. You know they aren’t real. They are supposed to be gone.

They stand up in front of you. They are looking directly at you—sharp, deadly, insanely. The looks you have never imagined before.

You can’t attack me! You’re not real, you can’t be real!

All of the Zombies want to taste every bit of you but only few of them are able to run to you and attack you. They bite you on your face and on your arms. You are filled with blood now. You look at your arms. You can see your bones and your blood. You feel pain. You scream. You fall under the cliff. Your vision becomes blurry.

***

The wind drifts coolly. The water flows steadily. The trees sway as if they are dancing. The birds chirp. The skies are at peace.

You open your eyes. You are safe. You are alive. You stand up and breathe heavily. You breathe just to know if you are really alive. And you are.

You realize you are in the same place the last time you fell from the cliff. You look above. There are  no Zombies. They are not real. You are supposed to act that they are not real. You remember you were attacked. You touch your face. You look at your arms. There were no scars or bruises or blood. You are in the same shape the first time you are here.

It’s very weird. Zombies again? And the cliff. Everything happened again! But why? If I walk, Zombies will attack me again and I’ll reach another cliff and I’ll fall. Why this is happening to me?

You can’t ask yourself. You can’t ask anyone because there’s no one. You can think of many questions but there will be no answers forever. You cry. You are crying really hard. You want to go home so bad.

After you have wasted your tears to nothing, you decide to go for a walk. Who knows what another trip can bring you. Beside, there is something that urges you to walk and find the answers why this is happening. The surroundings are at peace now and you are serene.

You have reached an end point. There is something covered up there. You are curious of what is hidden on the end of the trail. You walk to to take a look at it. There is something buried there. You are frightened. You don’t know if you’re going to dig this or not but you are way too curious to know what’s under.

You dig the thing up with your bare hands. You dig until you feel something. You dig as fast as you can and you finally see what it is.

A corpse.

You remove the soil that hides the figure of the corpse. You remove all the soil that covered the face of the human.

You are shocked. You know this person. You really do. Now you know why you are here. Now you know why you are experiencing all of this.

You heard heavy footsteps. You know those are Zombies—zombies created by your illusion. They hunt you. They will crush you. They come for you.

You look at the corpse and you remember what happened to you before you were here. 

You were selfish.

You were greedy.

Egoistic.

Self-centered.
Heartless shitty head.

The Zombies. The Cliff. The corpse.

The Zombies. The Cliff. The corpse.

The Zombies. The Cliff. The corpse.

The Zombies. The Cliff. The corpse.

These things come playing to your mind.

The zombies. The people you loved.  Death.  The corpse. You. The people you loved.  Zombies. Death.  The cliff. You. The corpse. The people you loved.  Death.  You.

You can’t cheat DEATH!

Ang Konsepto ng Pagbabago ni Crisostomo Ibarra, Pilosopo Tasyo at Elias (Noli Me Tangere)

Ang Konsepto ng Pagbabago ni:

I.                    Crisostomo Ibarra

Galit at paghihimagsik ng kalooban ang nadama ni Ibarra nang malaman nyang ipinahukay ng kura-paroko ang bangkay ng kanyang ama at ipinalilipat sa sementeryo ng mga Tsino. Sapagkat lubhang mabigat ang bangkay at bumabagyo noon ay tinapon na lang ng sepulturero ang bangkay sa ilog. Labis na nagalit si Ibarra lalo na at napag-alaman nyang si Padre Damaso ang may kagagawan ng lahat.

Pagkaraang makapag-isip sya na walang maibubungang maganda ang paghihimagsik, nagpasiya si Ibarra na magpatayo ng isang paaralan para sa mga kabataan. Ang mithiing ito ay lalo pang pinasidhi ng makilala nya ang guro na nagkwento sa kanya ng kakulangan ng maayos na paaralan na hindi pakikialaman ng mga prayle upang ang mga bata ay maging interesado sa pag-aaral.

Ang balaking ito ay sinangguni nya kay Pilosopo Tasyo na nagsabing ang pagyukod kung dadaanan ng bala ay hindi isang karuwagan.

Ang konsepto ng pagbabago ni Ibarra ay sa kagustuhang maghimagsik sa una, nguni’t sa kanyang pag-iisip ay napagpasyahan nyang magtayo ng paaralan para sa mga kabataan. May mga mangila-ngilang karakter na tutol sa kanyang mithiin kung kaya’t napakaraming balakid ang kanyang naranasan. Hindi man nya naisakatuparan ng buo ang pagbabagong kanyang minimithi, may dahilan ang mga balakid na iyon upang humantong ang kanyang kaisipan na magbago sa kanyang mga balak sa buhay.

II.                  Pilosopo Tasyo

Si Pilosopo Tasyo ang takbuhan ni Ibarra sa tuwing may ikokonsulta sya dito. Isa na rito ang pagpapatayo nya ng paaralan para sa mga kabataan. Sinabi ni Pilisopo Tasyo na huwag nang ituloy ang pagpapatayo ng paaralan gamit ang sariling puhunan. Nguni’t itinuloy pa rin ni Ibarra ang kanyang balak.

Maagang nag-asawa si Pilosopo Tasyo. Sa pagkamatay ng kanyang ina at di kalaunan ng kanyang asawa, hindi nya na alam ang dapat nyang gawin sa hinaharap.

Maaaring sa iba ay baliw ang tingin sa kanya. Nguni’t sa mga nakakaunawa ay may mas malalim na kaalaman ang nasa likod ng kanyang pagkatao. Naging mahilig sya sa pagbababsa ng libro kung kaya’t napabayaan nya ang kanyang yaman.

Sa konsepto ng pagbabago ni Pilosopo Tasyo, ang libro ang naging armas nya upang mas maunawaan ang sakit ng kanilang lipunan. Marami man ang hindi nakakaunawa sa kanyang mga prinsipyo at paniniwala, alam nya sa kanyang sarili na mas lamang sya sa iba dahi sa mga kaalamang nagpapayaman sa kanya.

III.                Elias

Si Elias ay isa sa mga tumulong kay Ibarra mula sa mga babala hanggang sa pagtakas kay Ibarra. Sinabi ni Elias na wag ng ituloy ni Ibarra ang pagpapatayo ng paaralan dahil may nagtatangka sa kanyang buhay.

Ang mga kaaway ni Ibarra ay nagplano ng pananalakay sa kanya. Nabatid ni Elias ang balak na ito at agad na nagtungo sa bahay ni Ibarra. Iniutos nya na sunugin lahat ng mga bagay na maaaring magpahamak sa kanya at tumakas agad. Tinulungan ni Elias si Ibarra sa pagsamsam ng mga papel, hanggang sa nabasa nya ang pangalang Eibarramendia. Napagtanto ni Elias na si Ibarra ang taong nais nyang paghigantihan. Sa sobrang kalituhan sa kanyang natuklasan ay patakbong umalis si Elias.

Tinulungan din ni Elias si Ibarra na tumakas kasama ang kanyang mga kayamanan. May tumutugis sa kanilang dalawa kaya tumalon si Elias sa ilog upang paniwalain na sya si Ibarra. Pinagbabaril  ng mga iyon si Elias.

Sa kabila ng tama ng bala ay nakarating si Elias sa pampang. Nakita nya si Basilio at sinabing sunugin ang kanyang bangkay at ang bangkay ng kanyang ina. Sinabi pa nya bago sya mamatay ay may kayamanang nakalibing sa dakong kanyang itinuro. Sinabi nya kay Basilio na gamitin iyon sa kanyang pag-aaral.

Ang konsepto ng pagbabago kay Elias ay ang tanawing hindi man niya napagtagumpayang maisakatuparan ang kanyang mga balak, nagkaroon naman sya ng pagkakataong baguhin ang isang taong may prinsipyo sa buhay—gamit ang kayamanan ni Ibarra.