WICKED - GET TO KNOW THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST by: Uel Ceballos

You must have known her from L. Frank Baum’s book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and you must have despised her. She’s the green-skinned villainess Wicked Witch of the West, whom the Wizard of Oz wanted dead. Dorothy Gale had killed her unintentionally by splashing water on her, which was the Wicked Witch’s greatest adversary. Water melted her down, killing her with no traces left but her clothes, hat and broom.

We only knew the Wicked Witch as she was described and portrayed by L. Frank Baum, but another imaginative author in the name of Gregory Maguire wrote a parallel novel, serving as prequel to Baum’s book giving it the title Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of The West. Here he gave the Wicked Witch the name Elphaba and made the story revolved around the Oz, on the years way back before Dorothy comes in the picture.

The Wizard of Oz was already there in Gregory’s Wicked, and the story was strongly presented with political struggle about the rebels planning to overthrow the Wizard and bringing back to leadership the Great Ozma whom they believed has the full rights to govern the Oz. Wizard rules and projects indeed benefited the land but no matter what he does he will still remain a stranger from different world who just landed to Oz through an air balloon.

Unlike Baum’s book, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is not the sort of reading for the children. The book displayed aggressions, immoralities, sexualities and languages not fitting for the youngsters. As The Wizard of Oz awed and entertained us as a child, Wicked will give us lots of realization as we let its story be absorbed through our adult’s senses. The author gave us a complete account of Elpahaba’s life and on how she gained the name Wicked Witch of the West.

Here you will find out that Elphaba like us is also a human who once lived, laughed, cried, loved, and fought. The book gave so much emphasis to political strife, and to the main effect that it always has -- with the civilians and the innocents being the most affected of all. Here you will see the Oz in much different angle and you will meet different characters aside from Glinda, Elpahaba and the Wizard.  The book will help you see on clearer perspective on what does it really means to be wicked, and who are really the real wicked.

Get to know Elpahaba and follow her at Shiz University where she met Glinda, Boqs, and Fiyero – some of the major characters who greatly added colors to Elpahaba’s life journey. Surely you will be fond of the Wicked Witch; or you might get to love her as well as you fully understand what she had gone through.

For this wonderful fantasy novel, I will rate it with 8 cups of latte for all its uniqueness and fabulous plots! Hope you can read this one too; I assure you it will be a worthwhile experience around the Oz!

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE ... the final class with Morrie Schwartz by: Uel Ceballos

Photo taken from Wikipedia

It was back to the second year of my college life, on that one lazy afternoon when Yogi Bear, the name we teased to our Intro to Broadcasting professor, entered the classroom with his bearish dimples greeting us. He proceeded to the usual light-hearted discussion, cracking jokes at every half seconds interval and that never fail to uproar the laughter in the class. Ten minutes before the dismissal he announced the book-reading analysis he would require us to submit. The book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom didn’t sound appealing to me. I wondered if that had something to do with our subject or Yogi Bear was just leaving us something to do while he was commissioned to some far away island for his Press job things; he was a full-time media practitioner and a part-time professor to the poorman’s University. I didn’t get excited about the whole Tuesdays with Morrie project as that seemed to be so dull and boring…well, not after I’ve gone through the first words of Mitch Albom in this must-read masterpiece of him: 

“The last class of my old professor’s life took place once a week in his house, by a window in the study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves. The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The subject was the meaning of Life. It was taught from the experience.” –Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie was the story of a young man (Mitch) reunited with his old professor (Morrie) after long years of separation and lost contact. So intent was the dying old man to prove that the word “dying” was not synonymous with “useless”, that he made this final project with Mitch, narrating the trip as he crossed the bridge from life to death. On their reunion, the professor and the student came up with this final thesis about life’s greatest lesson. The impact didn’t affect Mitch alone but all the readers who got to know Morrie Schwartz through this beautifully written novel. The book inspired many souls especially those who have walked around for the purpose only of existing; spending their life in meaningless, light-speed pace. Indeed, to sit in Morrie Schwartz’s final class was a life-changing experience.

“Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hang on too long.” –Morrie Schwartz

When I read the chapter of Morries’ final goodbye, I was deeply moved. Suddenly I felt sad about the final class of the old professor going to an end. His life was never wasted anyway; he had lived life to the fullest and had given us profound wisdom and insight. The book is an incomparable treasure that leaves you forever warmed by its heartfelt message.  

“Be compassionate, and take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, the world would be so much better a place.”

Morrie’s wisdom continuously echoes on me and I would let it echo in my heart and soul for the rest of my life. I was very grateful to Yogi Bear for requiring us to read Tuesdays with Morrie -- this book is what I considered to be the most important lesson that he had imparted to us.

I know that it is still a long journey ahead of me, but I’m starting now to cross the bridge from “existing in life” to “living the life”.  The final lecture with Professor Morrie Schwartz was very memorable and life-inspiring.  I suggest you also take the same class.