Ishwar > Recent Status Updates

This book is actually so interesting and I want to keep reading the next page but I only have bits of free time lately and only get a few pages in at a time. It’s really irritating me that I can’t just sit and read the whole thing in one go.

Chapter 7 was very heavy. The ending was perfect.

Salvaging is a truly interesting concept. Also like how Durterte pretended he was a regular politician for a few hours before diving right back into being murderous.

The way people fell for political cults in 2016 will be studied for a long time in the next couple decades.

Is the entirety of Philippines governmental history just nepotism?

It baffles me the devotion people like Lascañas can show to political leaders. There’s so much information in this book and it’s all so important. The rise of the Punisher was another great chapter. The lies, the contradictions, the levels of blatant corruption, the deflections. How many more times do we need to see this before we the people stop it?

This was a very insightful chapter into Pat’s confirmation that she was a writer, but also how she got into trauma reporting. It ties in very well with Noynoy Aquino’s missteps; his complete lack of empathy. But also gives a really good understanding to what’s coming next. I did like the classic Filipino dark humour from Ramil. Saying of course families won’t blame him because the whole families are dead.

I really enjoyed the second chapter. Learning about her grandfather and some uneasy truths but also about the Philippines history of fighting and promotion of culture. Of course Ronald Reagan being Ronald Reagan as well. I wasn’t expecting a chapter like this in the book but I’m pleasantly surprised.

Nice introduction to Pat and sets the scene really well for what to expect in this book. Lots of emotion. Showing the human side of things. Basically what Pat’s spent her career doing before Duterte’s election.

Only read the first 2 chapters because it’s a late. I know it’s the 60s and it was even more acceptable back then, but “Luscious Lizzie” is crazy disrespectful.

Disappointed in Chad

There’s a lot of portrayals of monsters and humanization of them. It really does a great job of explaining the complexities of emotion and how she digested what happened around her. The struggles of trying to make sense of everything.

I really hate Derek

Jodi moved in with the fam and Shari’s realizing the extent of Jodi’s relationship with Shari’s mom

Getting deeper into the way Jodi broke her and her family down using isolation. Showing how her mother and her both fell for Jodi because of the desire to be loved by their mothers. Derek getting mad, leaving her to say “Please don’t be mad” hurt to read. She finally found an adult, but he was a creep too. She couldn’t recognize it (while knowing it’s wrong) as she’s led to believe she’s not worth more.

Seeing more of how things affected Shari. The things we all said about influencer parents and what it may do to their children. Hearing that it truly did that for Shari has been less of an “I knew it” and more heartbreaking. Comparing the YT channel to Ruby giving birth again was an incredible way to look at things. “Ruby’s drive was bringing in money for her family… often at the expense of her family”

So far I’ve read part 1: The Garden of Earthly Delights. It’s a nice way to start by giving a quick look at her youngest days and how her mother started her life online. The “small” things like her mother saying they can’t be friends until she has a family of her own and the way she was longing to have love and affection of her mother. More so as her mother showed disdain for her.