Mar 8th, 2008 by Admin |
Talking about comic books, here’s one special series that stands out among the multitude of comic book titles: The Sandman.
Described by the late Norman Mailer as “a comic book for intellectuals“, the Sandman graphic novel series written by Neil Gaiman is the only comic book ever included on the New York Times Bestseller list.
The only comic to ever win the World Fantasy Award, the Sandman series was compiled into 10 graphic novels and written between 1987 and 1996.
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series is one of the classics of the comics world. Much like an English major confessing that they’ve never read Shakespeare, when you tell people you haven’t read Sandman they give you horrified looks and instantly volunteer their collection. And, much like the bereft English major who has never encountered Hamlet or Macbeth, when you do get around to reading Sandman, get ready to be enthralled.
Sandman is a smart series. It is complex and thoughtful. Like all the best stories it’s about consequences and challenges and change.
This post is dedicated to the memory of my good friend, Ian Kwan, who introduced me to the world of Morpheus by graciously lending me his amazing graphic novel collection.
Mar 7th, 2008 by Admin |
Now that I think about it, I just remembered that my younger brother, Lorenzo, was chosen for the AY Foundation’s National Discipline Award (Yuchengo Group of Companies) when he graduated in high school at Kong Hua School.
The award, by the way, is given to deserving secondary school students all over the Philippines in recognition for their noteworthy examples of discipline in their respective schools and community.
It was a pretty cool award considering that all I got when I graduated high school was a recognition certificate for being active with the Boy Scouts.
My brother passed the Nursing Board Exam several months ago and is currently working at the Cagayan Medical Center. The picture above, Enzo with Mom and Riza, was taken during his pinning ceremony.
Mar 2nd, 2008 by onyx |
My sister, Aida, the eldest and only rose among six siblings has always been recognized by our family as the achiever. Though I oftentimes thought that she was more like the overachiever to me considering my accomplishments or lack of it when I was following her footsteps then. She was pretty well-known in both grade and high school not only for her academic accomplishments but also for being active and excelling in extra-curricular activities.
As her younger brother, I couldn’t help but be proud of having such a popular sister. I still vividly remember looking in awe at the sheer number of medals she racked up and kept crammed in her aluminum box. But while I did some wishful thinking about how I was going to get myself some of those medals, I wasn’t driven enough to really make a serious effort to make that a reality. Probably because I was in a state of contentment then.
Anyway, my sister studied under a college scholarship program at the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu and graduated with flying colors. My aunt, Rosemarie, also sponsored her studies at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) where she made Dean’s List during the 2003 spring Semester. Unfortunately, following that shining example and qualifying for a scholarship was a feat that the succeeding male siblings including myself were not able to duplicate until our youngest, Manman’s turn came.
Manman got an impressive 96 Percentile Rank in the National Career Assessment Exam, proceeded to get 95% for General Scholastic Aptitude in the Ateneo de Cagayan-Xavier University Entrance exam, and promptly qualified for a full academic scholarship program. As thanksgiving, we went to church and lit a red candle to thank the Almighty. Afterwards, we took my brother to Candy’s, a nice posh restaurant at Limketkai Center, and treated him to dinner along with my mom and Riza, my wife.
Way to go kiddo! Looking forward to seeing you maintain that scholarship and finish college with honors like Achie did.
