Dispatches by Adrian Conoza

I have three words for Haiyan, or Yolanda, which  deeply  struck the Philippines, actually Visayas: strong , short , but most of all saddening. For the first time I felt a heavy sadness and awe when I saw the pictures of destruction, the piles of debris, and the agony of people in Leyte and Samar on television. Really depressing.  After the typhoon, lots of help came, from both the local and international. Telethons are held. Concerts happen for the cause. Celebrities auction their things. Foreign aid, which amounts to billions, is given (we hope that they wouldn't go nowhere).  But how about me? , I thought last Sunday. Shouldn't I give something? Shouldn't I give to Red Cross or somewhere else? Shouldn't I donate? I lament the situation, but shouldn't I donate? Yet, unlike others, I don't get much money, though I admit I have savings.  Thankfully, last Wednesday our school called for donations.  But at that Sunday evening, the thought crowded my mind. What co

Aren't there things, pictures, or whatsoever that may bring some flashbacks, then you realize they aren't that good flashbacks? As if you have already thrown something, then it just throws back to you? Aren't we supposed to leave our past, except its lessons, and live at the present and hope for the future? Most of us just do that. Then, why at some point what we had already deleted seemed to have a back up? That made me this. (I Want To) Flee From Bitterness I came from a complex past and I got through it—life's so fast Pain and other else I just felt I'm thankful I didn't melt Hours and days stepped history Growing— thriving —up I see Times have gone by but feeling a sting when it's gone—why? When I threw the bad in the bin why should it go back in? If the hurtful and unfavorable was swept then why those same things I get? I want to flee from this bitterness Never arrive in circumstances of sadness Even bits of memory that corrupts the positive I plea— del

"If I could change I would take back the pain I would Retrace every wrong move that I made I would If I could stand up and take the blame I would If I could take all the shame to the grave I would" —Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, from "Easier To Run" "When you feel my heat Look into my eyes It’s where my demons hide It’s where my demons hide" —from "Demons", Imagine Dragons At the end of October and the beginning of November, people celebrate Halloween and remember their loved ones who have passed away. Many of us also celebrate around horror characters and anything else that will scare us, maybe wearing "scary" costumes and engaging in Halloween parties. When these days come, horror doesn't only come to mind. There are also the mythical creatures, ghosts, monsters and zombies (aren't those horror too?). And since there's All Saints' Day and All Souls Day, there come the subjects of death and the dead. Graves, tombs, cemet