The Mockingbird and The Watchman
So here’s the thing: some time last week, the booksphere erupted with the news of Harper Lee releasing another book.
HARPER LEE. The author who has lived so close to anonymity in spite of her BRILLIANT “To Kill A Mockingbird” becoming an instant classic and home library staple. The woman who never wrote another book. The auteur known for her simplicity and quietness.
Harper Lee in 2007
PHOTOGRAPH BY ROB CARR/AP
I, along with the reading half of the populace including our ultra hipster aunt Babeth, exploded with joy. Naturally, I immediately pestered Le Beau to get us copies of Go Set A Watchman on its release date July 14. I was so giddy until I read article after article speculating that Lee’s agent and publisher might have pressured her to release the manuscript. Here and here and here.
Supposedly, Watchman was written before Mockingbird. Publishers then liked Mockingbird so Watchman took a back seat. So many people questioned “why now”, “are you sure” and “did she really decide on publishing” that it actually dampened my enthusiasm.
What if they’re right? What if these people just took advantage of her simplicity and naivete that if I bought and read the book, I am effectively feeding their greed? But I really want that book. Mockingbird is one of the reasons why I fell in love with reading in the first place. It is the only book I refuse to buy for myself because it’s my library and my bookstore book. You know, walk in a library or a bookstore, pick out a book to read while you’re there. That’s Mockingbird for me.
I think I almost chewed off my lip, actually rethinking about making Le Beau line up for that book, when I read this editorial from the New Yorker.
Harper Lee and the Benefit of the Doubt by Lee Siegel
Allow me to share a few excerpts that pretty much summarized my internal debate about this whole debacle:
Somewhere in the hysteria that has greeted news of the sequel there is an acute awareness of artistic value, of the past and of what we owe the past, and of an individual’s precious singularity. When all the hysteria dies down, and those fine sentiments come to the fore, “Watchman” might well receive the same gift that Atticus Finch gave to Tom Robinson, and which Lee, in such a trivial context, once gave to me: the benefit of the doubt.
I’m sure I want to read the Watchman, I really am. I hope these rumors and loud speculations are soon put to rest, even for the feeble reason like a less guilt ridden future purchase. Harper Lee is one of the most admired authors of all time, and her success and life could easily be the model and envy of many. It would really hurt — LIKE TO THE CORE — if anyone tries to tamper with that.
Life Lessons from That Thing Called Tadhana
I first heard about this movie a couple of months ago, when the ultimate fangirl Adah decided to immerse herself in independent film. One of her best picks at the tenth anniversary of Cinema One Originals is exactly this movie.
Normally, I would watch indies turned commercial to see what’s the difference from its festival screening. Antoinette Jadaone’s distributor sure is a good one.
There are so many blogs that sprout overnight, from top 10 hugot lines from the movie to reviews left and right, but I hope to indulge you with lines from the film applicable to life in general.
The Kuripot Challenge: Dollar-Friendly
I have seen so many versions of this challenge, I don’t even know which one to follow. Kuripot Pinay was great in taking it up and Minimum Compliance upped it a notch by adding more denominations. But really the idea came from two people: the ultimate fangirl and friend Adah, and my new sister-in-law Aidel. Talk about straight As.
Aidel is a very prudent person, so when she first shared the challenge, I thought to myself, “Here she goes again, bookmarking in public the things she wants to read in private.” But when Adah and I were planning a quickie out of town trip and she mentioned she will have an extra P27,000+ by the end of the year, I asked her to define extra. Loud and proud, she said, “I’m doing the kuripot challenge.”
That was the sign I needed, so I decided to do that as well, even though I already started some time ago shelving a portion of my salary in investments. Then Le Beau commented that the challenge was too difficult.
It wasn’t though. It was merely kicking off a good starting point to create the habit of saving. Traditionally, Filipinos will spend first and whatever’s left, they will MAYBE save. Or people in general actually. With the challenge, though, you are given a deadline to meet a specific savings point.
And I will never forget what Mo Twister tweeted to me before when I commented on his spending capacity — that you must increase your saving capacity first.
So, like the loving fiancée that I am (teehee, fiancée), I added lower denominations to the kuripot challenge, making it applicable to dollar too:
Same rules apply. Pick the denomination you wish, and build from there. Adding the same amount weekly, you will end up with a minimum of $1,378 and as much as $68,900, assuming your obligations are not that burdensome.
I guess this is also my subtle way of advising my cousins abroad to start a saving habit for their kids too. They can earn their dollars through extraordinary chores (ordinary being putting away toys, extraordinary being choosing toys to give away), and by the end of the year, they will actually have enough savings to invest in something bigger.
Again, as advised by Minimum Compliance, you can always choose to step down a notch or two should that week be riddled with unusual expenses. You can also break it down to daily savings, still following the weekly target amounts. This calculator comes quite in handy.
So what’s the ending to this story? Le Beau making his own piggy bank and contemplating which denomination to start with. :)
Are you ready to take on the challenge? Catch up and sound off below!
REVIEW: Boyhood (2014)
Le Beau’s flight back to NJ was quick, albeit bittersweet, but one of the first things he told me when he got home was this movie, Boyhood. Filmed over the course of 12 years, Boyhood shows the ups and downs of growing up in the eyes of a child. With my weekend spoiled by an illness, I had some time to burn, and I must say the perspective was the perfect view.
Spoiler alert, spoiler alert, you have been warned.
the salt of your skin 