About Me

Name: maan

Location: Philippines

i'm a total coffee addict. a hypomanic who runs and flips wild in the wards. has to constantly check on my schedule not because i forget things, but because i just obsessive-compulsively do so. i love singing and dancing so much, i just love having fun. and don't mess around with animals when i'm around, unless you want to be scalpeled down to your bones (just kiddin').

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The moment Janna told me about the books of Dan Brown, I knew that these are the books that I should be reading. It got me a little bit obsessed that I searched for it in every bookstores I go to. Unfortunately for me, my discovery about his books had been too late because it’s out of stock wherever I go. So I turned to internet for help, I had to read about it, anything about it! Maybe the reason it got me really intrigued is that the Da Vinci’s Code involves a lot of art and Catholic Church stuff and a lot of history: subjects that have always got me interested. I read some critiques about it and discovered that there are a lot of books disproving Brown’s books, pointing that Brown has not been factual about his claims. What the heck, whether his details about the Catholic Church or the Roman art or any conspiracies are accurate or not, it doesn’t matter that much to me. It’s not that I don’t care whether people are talking nonsense and bull**** about the Church. What I mean is that it’s the blending of these different and even contrasting elements into a brilliant story that stuns me. And in case that his information are really true and accurate, for me it adds as a major bonus, an addition to my understanding of the world. So I waited patiently to discover his genius.

I was right to have written Angels and Demons in my wishlist. And I was grateful to Jo for looking it for me. I’ve finished reading the book last Thursday. The last chapters were full of suspense and a lot of twists that my hands were already glued to the back cover of the book. I couldn’t stop turning the pages. My high expectations of the book were met even further. Just reading a few chapters of the book had me information loaded already. There are a lot of things mentioned in the book, particularly about the Catholic Church that somehow made a confirmation of my own theories about the Church. And about Faith. I was raised as a Catholic but I never believed that by only doing the Church rituals would I be able to glorify the Greatness of God. In fact, until now, I am still confused with the real significance and implications of intercessions. Not that I don’t believe in saints and angels, the truth is I really look up to them, for having such great faith and for fighting for it. I may not have the same strong virtues that they have, but I am moved by the power of God that has been touching my life ever since. I appreciate God’s daily miracles. I really don’t think that God will preferably attend to my needs over others just because I have a padrino.

Anyway, I guess the real conflict only comes when there are extremes of doing Science or doing Religion. When we become fanatics of either world. Both are just tools to understand the meaning of life, neither is life itself. It should complement each other, not contradict each other. It may sound impossible, but it can be done. That is if we’re going to allow for those both worlds to mature, not be stuck dead in their present existence, fearing that moving forward would ensure their end. The war between these worlds continues not because they are contradictory by nature, but because humans are their advocates. And humans are survivors by nature. Humans would do anything to fight for their faith’s survival.

The story was also interesting because of the detailed description of the laboratories, the plazas, the churches, and the art pieces. It was like a traveling experience for me. It was nice to learn more about architecture and the major schemes of design used during Bernini’s time. I would love to see those places someday. Ha! Me and my love in Rome!!!