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The Story of the Gingerbread Man (Parody) - BAQUIRAN

Once upon a time, a little old woman and a little old man lived in a little old cottage on the top of a flowery hill, which was surrounded by golden fields, forests, and streams. The little old woman loved to bake, and one day she decided to make a gingerbread man. She shaped his head and his body, his arms and his legs. She added juicy raisins for his eyes and mouth, and a row down the front for the buttons on his jacket. Then she put on a cinnamon drop for his nose. At last, she put him in the oven to bake.

The kitchen filled with the warm smell of spices, and when the gingerbread man was crisp and brown, the little old woman opened the oven door. Out jumped the gingerbread man, who ran away, chanting, "Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man!" The little old woman ran, but the Gingerbread Man ran faster.

As the Gingerbread Man ran through the flowers and down the hill, he met a duck who said, "Quack, quack! You smell delicious! Stop, little Gingerbread Man! I would like to eat you!" But the little Gingerbread Man immediately eats the duck and runaway singing again.

When the Gingerbread Man ran through the golden fields, he met a pig cutting straw. The pig said, "Oink, oink! You smell delicious! Stop, little Gingerbread Man! I would like to eat you!" But the little Gingerbread Man again quickly grabs the pig’s tail and eats the whole pig.

In the cool shade of the forest, a lamb was nibbling leaves. When she saw the Gingerbread Man, she said, "Baa, baa! You smell delicious! Stop, little Gingerbread Man! I would like to eat you!" But the little Gingerbread Man grips the fur of the lamb, shaved it and eats the whole lamb.

Up ahead, the Gingerbread Man could see a rippling river. He looked back over his shoulder to see the little old woman running after him. "Stop! Stop!" cried the old woman. But the Gingerbread Man laughed, and continued toward the river.

Next to the river, he spied a fox lying on the bank. He sang to the fox, "I've run away from the little old woman and eaten the waddling duck and the prancing pig and the leaping lamb. I can eat you, too! Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man!" But the sly fox grinned and said, "Wait, Gingerbread Man. I'm your friend! I will help you across the river. Jump onto my tail!" The Gingerbread Man looked behind him to see the little old woman, getting closer. He jumped onto the fox's fluffy tail, and the fox swam out into the river.

Halfway across the river, the fox said, "Gingerbread man, the water is deeper than I thought. Hop onto my back so you won't get wet!" The Gingerbread Man hopped onto the fox's back. After a few more strokes, the fox said, "Gingerbread Man, the water is getting even deeper. Hop up onto on my head!" "Ha, ha!" laughed the Gingerbread Man, "She'll NEVER get me now!"

  "You're right!" shrieked the fox, and he threw back his head back, tossed the Gingerbread Man into the air, and let him fall back into his mouth. With a mighty CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, the fox ate the Gingerbread Man all up.

The little old woman walked back home and decided to bake a gingerbread cake, instead.

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"The Hose of the Spirits" Analysis - BAQUIRAN

Summary

While Esteban is off in the mines trying to make his fortune, Rosa is accidentally poisoned in the place of her father, Severo del Valle. Rosa dies. Clara, Rosa’s younger sister, is so shocked by the events that she stops talking. Nine years later, Esteban has made a fortune with his family property, Tres Marias, thanks to his hard work and to his exploitation of the local peasants. On top of exploiting their labor, Esteban exploits all of the young girls of the peasant families, notably Pancha, for his sexual satisfaction. Esteban also has sexual relations with prostitutes, including Transito Soto. Transito and Esteban become friends, and he lends her money to move to the city. He pays a visit to the del Valle home. Esteban and Clara become engaged and marry. They move into the big house on the corner that Esteban built for them. Ferula moves in with them.

About a year after they are married, Clara and Esteban's first child, Blanca, is born. When the family travels to Tres Marias for the summer a few years later, Blanca meets Pedro Tercero and they fall in love. Over the years, Ferula and Clara have developed a deep friendship. Ferula's feelings for Clara border on passionate love, and she and Esteban develop a rivalry over Clara's affections. One morning, Esteban comes home unexpectedly and finds Ferula in Clara's bed. Esteban kicks Ferula out of the house. As she leaves, Ferula curses Esteban to eternal loneliness.

Blanca and Pedro Tercero's love grows as they mature, and they soon realize that Esteban would disapprove if he knew. Blanca and Pedro Tercero continue their romance in secret. Several years later, they are exposed to Esteban by Jean de Satigny, who is trying to ingratiate himself with Esteban so he can become either his business partner or his son-in-law. Esteban makes Blanca leave Tres Marias and tries to kill Pedro Tercero. In his anger, Esteban hits Clara. Esteban becomes very involved in the Conservative party, runs for Senate, and is elected. Esteban and Clara eventually return to a civil, if silent, relationship.

A few years later, Blanca gets pregnant. Esteban tells her that he has killed Pedro Tercero and forces her to marry Jean de Satigny. About six months after they are married, Blanca discovers Jean de Satigny's unusual sexual practices and leaves him. She gives birth to her daughter Alba as soon as she arrives home at the big house on the corner.

According to Clara, Alba is born lucky. She is raised by her entire family, inspiring great love in all. Although she thinks that Jean de Satigny is her father and that he is dead, Alba meets Pedro Tercero and establishes a friendship with him. To the great sadness of everyone but herself, Clara dies.

To everyone's surprise, the socialists win the elections. Esteban and the conservatives do all they can to discredit the socialists, including preparing to a military coup. A few months later, there is a military coup. Pedro Tercero goes into hiding in the big house on the corner. Esteban is at first pleases with the coup but soon realizes that it results not in the conservatives' return to power, but in the establishment of a military dictatorship. He is powerless to do much other than to help Blanca and Pedro Tercero escape to Canada.

The colonel at the head of the dictatorship abducts Alba. He turns out to be Esteban Garcia, Pancha and Esteban Trueba's grandson. Before she died Pancha told Esteban the story of his ancestry. Esteban slowly made his way up the ranks of the military, in the process acquainted himself with Esteban Trueba and his family, especially Alba. Under the guise of finding out where Miguel is, Esteban Garcia exacts revenge on Alba for his grandmother's mistreatment. Desperate to find Alba, Esteban turns to Transito Soto, who runs the Christopher Columbus, a brothel-turned-hotel. Thanks to the connections she has established through her sex work, Transito is able to repay the favor Esteban did for her years before, and she assures that Alba is returned home. Alba and Esteban have just begun to write the story of their family when Esteban dies. Alba carries forth the project, pregnant with a child whose father is either Miguel or one of the men who raped her while she was in detention.

  Author · Isabel Allende

Genre · Magical realism

Language · Spanish

Time and place written ·  1981, Venezuela

Date of first publication · First publication in Spanish, 1982. First publication in English, 1985.

Narrator · Alba and Esteban Trueba

Climax · None, although there are many moments which appear to be a climax, notably each birth and each death

Protagonists

            Clara -  Severo and Nivea del Valle's daughter, Esteban's wife. The key female figure in the novel, Clara is the connection between the Trueba and del Valle families. She holds her family together through her love and predictions. Clara marries Esteban because she understands that it is her fate. After he hits her she never talks to him again, but she maintains a civil relationship with him until her death.

                Alba – She is Blanca and Pedro Tercero's daughter and Clara and Esteban's granddaughter. She devotes her life to her family and to her love for Miguel. Alba becomes the object of all of Esteban Garcia's hatred.

               Blanca - Clara and Esteban's first born. Blanca falls in love with Pedro Tercero at a young age and throughout her life defies her father to meet with him as often as possible. Blanca is forced to marry Jean de Satigny. Blanca leaves Jean just before giving birth to her daughter by Pedro Tercero, Alba.

Settings (time) · The twentieth century

Settings (place) · Tres Marias and the capital of an unspecified Latin American country

Point of view · The point of view switches between the first person of Esteban and a third person omniscient narrator who turns out to be Alba

Falling action · Chapter fourteen, The Terror, when Alba is abducted by Esteban Garcia, and Esteban Trueba realizes how much damage he has caused

Tense · Past and future

Tones · Calm and dispassionate, even while presenting extremely violent, passionate, and unbelievable events (characteristic of magical realism)

Motifs · Class struggle; political upheaval; women's roles and rights; the power of writing; fate and free will; genealogy and inheritance; revenge

Symbol

The Big House on the Corner

Esteban builds a big house on the corner that on the surface is straightforward, if somewhat ostentatious. Similarly, The House of the Spirits can be read as a traditional romance novel, following a single family over several generations. However, Esteban’s house ends up full of complicated and impractical additions. The title of the novel underlines the association: The House of the Spirits refers both to the book as a whole, and also to the big house on the corner, which is always full of ghosts and spirits.

Important Lines

"I set my curse on you, Esteban!" Ferula shouted back. "You will always be alone! Your body and soul will shrivel up and you'll die like a dog!"

--- Ferula and Esteban are siblings. Cursing a brother shows great anger and a never forgiveness.

  “You can't find someone who doesn't want to be found.”

--- That someone you are looking for will never show up, so why find someone who doesn’t want to be found?

   “This is to assuage our conscience, darling" she would explain to Blanca. "But it doesn't help the poor. They don't need charity; they need justice.”

--- This is true when it comes to a country or should we say heads of the government that does not give proper justice to the poor and tends to let the poor be poorer.

   “Land is something one should never sell. It is the only thing left when all else is gone.”

--- All memories are stored in that land.

“Just as when we come into the world, when we die we are afraid of the unknown. But the fear is something from within us that has nothing to do with reality. Dying is like being born: just a change”                                                               --- When we are born, we tend to cry or be afraid for the strange people, same as when we are scared of dying. 

  Lessons Learned/Theme

The Struggle between Classes

The characters come from two opposing classes: the landed aristocracy and the peasants. The two classes come into conflict because upper one owns the land that the lower one works on. The House of the Spirits supports the view of the peasants. The novel gives us an idea about how peasants can prevail from land owners. There should be equal rights among people to prevent struggles and resistance.

The Power of Women

The protagonists of the novel are all women who work in different and subtle ways to assert their rights. Experiences particularly central to the lives of women dominate the minor as well as the major events in the story, such as the detailed descriptions of each childbirth and the abortion, as well as the presentation of physical and sexual violence against women.

The women rarely explicitly condemn gender inequality. All of the women in The House of the Spirits are strong women who do not bow to mistreatment. They choose subtle responses the situations, though, instead of outright revolt. If violence and activity are male traits, gentleness and passivity are female ones. The women in The House of the Spirits effect more long-lasting and drastic changes than do any of the men. The women’s subtler methods of teaching literacy and basic healthcare, setting curses, and refusing to speak are far more effective in exacting permanent change.

The Importance of Genealogy

The family name or genealogy to which each character belongs determines her or his class position. In the novel, it is less whose genes you share and more the last name you carry that determines genealogy. At the birth of each child, the question of last name is raised. Despite Esteban’s efforts to make genealogy by name the only type of genealogy that matters, his refusal to acknowledge some of his biological children ultimately comes back to haunt him. Illegitimate children should be acknowledged and loved because these people are deserving of acceptance not only of having a family but to live peacefully and complete.

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Perfection

    Entering my own world, alone I become,

Mind is seriously focused at the outcome,

Wanting everything polished to perfection,

Every detail, every part, every section.

  There’s no room to fail, to neglect or to crash

Either to distraction to turn into bash

No halfway, no partial, fragments invalid

Detail by detail everything are to lead

  Wasted time, wasted effort equals default

Perfection is what is desired not to bolt

Giving up, quit or render are not my words

Pure, sure, full and whole are to state no to erred

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It’s All Worth It - BAQUIRAN

    I think my head is going to burst,

Terribly tired with all these hard work,

Pushing self to the limit,

Because I believe it’s all worth it.

  Exerting my best in all I do,

Risk, compete and push through,

Compete to oneself, aiming to be better,

Peak of wisdom pursues to conquer.

  Perseverance is the key to open the new door,

Door that leads to variety of opportunities at store,

Store offering wisdom as precious as ore,

Ore found deep on minds core.

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Some Time In Summer - BAQUIRAN

    Experience the summer magic,

Unravel the power been long concealed,

Be not afraid, it’s not tragic,

Astound for wound of days gone by be healed.

  Be brave, fearless, bold and daring

Taste the sweet sugar kiss of summer heat,

Welcoming, accommodating,

Have fun and let yourself dance to the beat.

  The midst of March you won’t forget,

Remember the witty faces you have met,

Leave the locale with no regret,

Kind of vacation you’ll repeat, I bet.

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Unwind - BAQUIRAN

    Busy life and occupied mind

Paper, stapler, computer and drawer

Are all and nothing less to find

Never had time preparing to pamper

  It’s time to breathe and have a break

Relieving the stress, avoiding pressure

Do not ever forget to brake

Tired being tired never had self closure

  Crazy people will surround you,

Like waves in the ocean that flows freely.

Stop standing there like a statue,

Let those feet tap their work and get groovy.

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A Child’s Day - BAQUIRAN

  Born with nothing at all

All for something to crawl

Crawl fearing to fall

Fall as hard as a wall

  Jump in, run on, and play

Play ‘til end of the day

Day won’t end no way

Way of time to be gay

  Here comes a glass of milk

Milk to set up a blink

Blink with blanket of silk

Silk of comfort to sink

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“The Tale of Ciena’s Life…” - BAQUIRAN

  For the eighteen years of her life, Ciena has become a full grown woman. But before reaching the legal age let us know how her life goes by. She was born on February 25, 1996 at her home town in Silang, Cavite. She weighs 2722 grams. She was the fourth and last daughter of her parents. That day was a very special day because the Last Supper Worship Service is happening. Just after the last prayer, her mother’s water bag broke. Immediately her uncle brought her mother to the clinic. And that’s how she was born.

She was named Ciena because the other term for the “Last Supper” is Santa Cena. She got her second name, Rose, because his grandmother’s name was Rosita and all her siblings have Rose in their names.

Ciena is a simple and quiet kid. She loves playing outside with her cousins. She loves eating that’s why she’s so cute growing up. She went to kindergarten at the age of five. Doing good and kind in school doesn’t make her parents in trouble. Two years later she went to elementary. She becomes a little naughty that time. She tried to break her classmates pencil and in return her classmate broke also her very small pencil. But at the end of the day they just laugh about it. One embarrassing moment that happened to her is when she pooped during a class. At the second grade, she transferred to another school because there’s one student whom she doesn’t like and she wanted to be with her cousins in the same school. There she experienced her first camping. She loved it because she loves exploring things. At the third grade she transferred again to her old school together with her cousins. She really loved her two cousins. And all through their elementary years they are in the same school and sometimes at the same section.  The graduation day comes; she received awards not only in academics but also in extracurricular activities.

It was the start of her first year in high school; she discovered she had a period. And she didn’t know what to do. It was her first class in the morning and she was bloody all over her white skirt. She decided to go to the clinic, called her mother and goes home. At the second year of her high school life, she and her group mates are required to get a frog, dissect it and get its skeletal system without breaking the structure. In her third year in high school she was assigned to be the general manager of their restaurant project. She loves doing it and she does well in it. She also experienced modeling as Gaea for their mythology activity. And on the fourth and last year of high school, she took the troubleshooting class, she became the treasurer of her section and she experience teaching grade one students where she really don’t want doing it because the kids are so naughty. The graduation comes; she received awards and she made it to the top ten of the whole batch. The only regret she did is when she transferred school in her grade 2 year and didn’t receive a loyalty award.

In her studies, she never failed to make her parents went up to the stage during graduations. Although she never had a chance to be taught by her parents, she did well on school. She knows that her parents trust her very much and didn’t need to be spoon fed to everything she’s doing.

Ciena was almost always assigned to be the leader of every group she’s into. Her members trust her and know that she is responsible for every task. She got an award during her elementary being the most responsible student of the camping they did. But she like being alone when doing things. She barely asks someone for help. In fact she was the one being approached by many for help. She loves helping but not to the extent that her whole time will be spent.

Let go now to her college life. This is the first time she will be away from her home. This is the time where she could use her being independent in life. She has to do household chores. She entered New Era University and enrolled at the program BS Accountancy where she doesn’t even know what is it about. Her first year in college went well and nervously entered the second year where she know that every year that would pass, she will experience a lot of hardships and stresses. Before the end of the second year in college, her birthday is coming. She was so busy that time because she was the only one preparing for her own party. I told you earlier she wanted things to be done alone. The day come, it’s February 25, 2014, her eighteenth birthday. This day was very special because all her loved ones are coming. The party went well, it was simple but solemn. And then she entered her third year in college, continuing her hard program. Still hoping and praying for a better future.

During her life in the city, not only her being independent was improved but also her faith to God. She realizes the changes God has brought her until now. She is now more dedicated in doing her duties in the church.

This is what Ciena’s life has been happening. It was simple. She looks forward for pursuing not only her dreams but also her dream for her parents and family.

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My Ideal University - BAQUIRAN

After graduating from high school, students are curious of what life would be entering college. Many college orientations presented good characteristics of their own university. But is it what really the university offers or is it what the students want and need in a university?

“My ideal university” what comes first into my mind when I hear this, is of course to have excellent, skilled and good mannered professors. This is why we entered college, to learn from our professors not only by what’s written on the book or required by the program but also to learn from the experiences of our professors. Good mannered attribute by professors need not to be very formal, I want professors who can laugh at their own mistakes, who can put their own feet into their student’s shoes, and who can be a friend to anyone.

Aside from good professors, the facilities of a university is a big characteristic that should be one that be focused. My first concern is the classroom. Good ventilation is what I would look first. It’s really hard study when you feel irritated and sweaty. Another is good chairs and good board. It would be nice if the chairs and the boards are turned into modern designs and clean looking. Proper room labeling would make an easy search for the students. If the building has four floors and above, it’s tiring going up, so it’s better to have multiple elevators that the students can use. My other concern is the canteen. I hope that if the building is huge, there should be at least two canteens located at different floors. Also not only good food is what a student need but also the affordability of the prices. The library is where students locate reference books; it would be very useful if the books are updated and complete. Approachable librarians and library staffs would make the students more studious and wouldn’t make the students fear the library. I’m not a big user of a comfort room. So whenever I really need it, I want it always clean and smell good. Also, toiletries such as tissues, soaps and sanitizers should always be available.

These are just some qualities that students would want to have in their university. With these, students would be proud of where they studied after they went to this university. These qualities requires time, effort and of course money to establish. So students should expect some disappointment where ever they’ll be studying.

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DEBIT

Never call an accountant a credit to his profession;

a good accountant is a debit to his profession.

-Charles Lyell

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I miss Tagaytay. Milk tea for everyone? #subimontea #cousins #waybackhome (at Subi-MonTEA Tagaytay)

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They're studying, I'm drinking and youtubeING... LOL! #accountingbreak #refreshingmind #coffeebean #iceblended (at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf)

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Finally! I got to visit the new Starbucks in Tagaytay.... With my whole family... Sulit na sulit ang holiday!!! #starbucks #independenceday #cavite #insta (at Starbucks Coffee)

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As we pass by the visayas avenue... This ice cream cookie sandwich caught our attention!!! Yum yum yum!!! 😏🌚🍦 #icecreamcookiesandwich #dessert @lanceaslee (at Ice Cream Store Visayas Avenue)

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Mangoes are the best in Summer!!! #refreshing #dessert #sweet (at ForestSide Villas Quezon City)

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Breakfast!!! #hashbrown #toastedloaf #meatballs #nuggets (at ForestSide Villas Quezon City)

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Good Morning March 1 !!! Breakfast is ready!!! #tortangtalong #siomai #coffee #nomorningclass (at ForestSide Villas Quezon City)