Friday, November 18, 2011

Paano Ka Ba Magiging Akin?

Paano Ka Ba Magiging Akin?
(Unang nalimbag ang akdang ito sa isyu 16 ng Philippine Collegian noong 15 Nobyembre 2011.)
ni Ninalyn Uy
Isa lang naman ang pamantayan ko sa paghahanap ng karelasyon: ikaw.
Pero siyempre bola lang ‘yun. Gusto ko lang kunin ang atensyon mo, dahil hindi ko alam kung magkikita pa tayo ngayong semestre. Nababaliw na nga ako sa kaiisip kung ano ang kahahantungan ng “love story” natin.


Malas mo dahil mahilig akong magbasa ng Tagalog pocket books at manood ng mga Asianovela. Mula sa mga tauhang sinubaybayan ko, alam kong kapag nakuha ng isang babaeng hindi nagsusuklay at hindi naliligo pero kaiba at mukhang madiskarte ang atensyon ng isang lalaki, posibleng maging sila.

Kung bakit mo ba kasi pinipitik ang mga daliri mo sa harap ng mukha ko sa tuwing nagkakasalubong tayo. Lagi mo pa akong kinakalabit, at kahit na sitahin pa kita ng pinakamalulutong na mura, ngumingiti ka lang at tahimik na tumatawa. Tapos bigla kang magsisimula ng mga usapang may kinalaman sa akin—kung saan ako nag-hayskul, ano ang binabasa kong libro, kung masaya ba ako.
Buwisit na buwisit ako sa klase natin last sem, pero isa ka sa mga dahilan kung bakit hindi ako nag-drop. Kahit na naririnig kitang tumatawa mag-isa sa tuwing napapahiya ako sa recitation, at kahit panay ang turo mo sa akin tuwing nagtatawag si Prof ng volunteer, okay lang sa’kin.

Kasalanan mo kung bakit bigla kong pinag-isipan nang mabuti kung ano ang ilalagay kong profile picture sa Facebook. Kasalanan mo kung bakit napadalaw ako sa ukay-ukay nang mag-isa para lang, oo, mag-shopping. Nabasa ko kasi ang payong ito sa Internet: If someone’s flirting with you, please cooperate. Oo, walang biro. Pati mga payo sa internet, pinatulan ko na.

Hinanap rin kita sa Internet, akala mo. Nagbasa ako ng mga blog entry kung saan binabanggit ang pangalan mo; inalam ko kung sinu-sino ang common friends natin na posibleng magpalalim sa kung ano mang meron tayo. Pinagtanong kita sa mga kaibigan mo at lahat sila, nagkakasundong mabait ka nga.

Urong-sulong ka rin kasi. Hindi ka masyado assertive sa pakay mo sa’kin, kung mayroon man. Sa dami ng mga pagkakataong nag-usap tayo, hindi mo hiningi ang number ko kahit kailan. Hindi naman ako madamot sa “oo.” Hinihintay ko lang na gumawa ka ng first move. Nang tinawag mo ako noong huling araw ng klase natin para sabay tayong maglakad, nag-usap lang tayo’t naghiwalay na parang talent ni Kim Chiu sa pag-arte: wala lang.

Siguro nga wala naman talaga ako sa‘yo bukod sa isang kaklase. O marahil naghahanap ka lang ng Ate. Siguro kapag nagkita tayo ulit, tatango ka lang at bahagyang ngingiti pero hindi ka lalapit para makipag-usap. Kaiba ka rin kasi. Hindi ko rin alam kung bakit pero sa‘yo lang talaga ako natutuyuan ng laway at napapangungunahan ng duda at kaba. Siguro kasi sa lahat ng nagustuhan kong lalaki, ikaw lang ang hindi celebrity.

Sakaling makilala mo ang sarili mo sa akdang ito, alam mo naman kung saan ako maaaring puntahan o kausapin. At huwag kang mag-alala—hindi pa rin ako madamot sa “oo.” Aanhin ko naman ‘yun. ●
SOURCE: http://www.philippinecollegian.org/paano-ka-ba-magiging-akin/

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Best MashUp Everrr :)


I don't really like Adele. She bores the hell out of me but somehow this Glee mash-up had me singing her songs over and over. LOL. Not to mention this episode is by far the best Glee episode. :)

I just had to share it.

Naya Rivera nailed it. End of story.

It's 2011 and I'm talking about Rizal

Yeah. It kind of changed my life in many ways. Haha.

I have always been amazed of Dr. Jose Rizal's life story, his political views and the way he sees the world in general but I didn't expect that it was possible to admire him more.

Maybe I blame it on my Rizal professor for not inculcating it in me - how wonderful Rizal's family is. During my last year in college, I have learned about him and a few things about his family.

Reading this column of Ambeth R. Ocampo last November 15th, it kind of made like to go back to my Rizal subject days and if I could, I would ask my professor so many things about Rizal's family. It is no secret how heroic and intelligent Rizal was but this column gave me answers why and how Rizal became who he was and how we have known him.

It's amazing. The stories that were mentioned were a gist of what happened to his family after he got shot and died in Bagumbayan. After reading it, I smiled upon thinking that if Rizal changed our country and the world to a certain extent, just imagine how his heroics changed the lives of his family - those who were there when he was starting to realize he wasn't like the others; the people who shared the same blood and the ones who influenced and inspired him to do what he had done.

It's nice to think that you can still make an impact to people even long after you died.

I could honestly swear I'm not the most nationalistic person you'll meet. I'm the one who would suggest and would rather live in the States because it excites me but I admire this man. I admire this man not because his birthday and death date are celebrated as holidays but because it's 2011 and he still changed the way I see some aspects of this world.

I give credit to the Ocampo, he's the one who wrote this after all.

I'm 21 and it's been ages but Rizal still was able to make an impact in my life. Before, when I was asked: if ever given the chance to talk to someone from the past, who would it be? It was simple for me, I answered Mahatma Gandhi - he's one of the biggest influences of my upbringing.

But now I think, if ever given the chance... Gandhi can wait. I need to talk to my hero first.


Looking Back
Rizal as teacher and pupil
Ambeth R. Ocampo
(Inquirer)


Last weekend I accompanied the Reading Association of the Philippines on a pilgrimage to Dapitan. Since most of the members were teachers, I advised them to soak in the atmosphere of the place and appreciate being able to literally tread the ground Jose Rizal walked on during his exile there from 1892-1896. To me as a teacher, the most relevant artifacts on display were the original table and blackboard (actually just a slab of Philippine hardwood) that Rizal used in his makeshift school for boys there. Everything else in Dapitan is a reconstruction of the original structures that once stood there. Thus, Dapitan, like Emilio Aguinaldo’s eccentric mansion in Kawit, is one of my favorite historic sites because it has not changed much since our heroes lived there.

Dapitan was a social laboratory where Rizal put most of his ideas into action: he improved the town plaza and landscaped the ground with a relief map of Mindanao—a map that exists to this day; he taught the Dapiteños how to fish with a net and gave them their first taste of fluffy bread; he opened a sari-sari store, a school, and learned more about mangkukulam and herbal medicine in his effort to improve public health; he built a water supply system, tried his hand at the abaca- and brick-manufacturing business; he tilled the land and tended fruit-bearing trees on an estate bought from his winnings from the lottery.

This is the Rizal that people have to re-discover in order to make him relevant to modern times. Rizal did not just write the “Noli me tangere,” the “El Filibusterismo,”  and the “Ultimo Adios,” he wrote much more for a nation that does not read. Each time I go to Dapitan I re-read his letters to his family for here we see a plain Rizal, a Rizal without the overcoat, a Rizal who is heroic, although at the time those letters were written, he was yet to be executed to become a “National Hero” later.
Anyone who reads the Rizal family correspondence will discover his nine sisters like Narcisa Lopez, his favorite, whose nickname Sisa is immortalized as a tragic character in the “Noli.” Sisa wrote him on Feb. 27, 1886, saying: “I suppose you don’t know yet that I’m now the mother of six children. In this letter you will see the names of the three older ones (in their own handwriting), and of the last ones, the older was Isabel, the deceased one, and the two, one girl and one boy, are called Consolación and Leoncio López, who is as fat as a melon. The children of Sra. Neneng are three: They are called Alfredo, Adela and Abelardo. Olimpia’s shortly will be three, like Sra. Neneng’s. The two who are not here are called Aristeo and Cesario; the older one called  Aristeo, what a lively boy he is! His godfather is Sr. Paciano. He will be a useful boy when he gets older. At the age of two, he already knows a great deal. He is the only consolation of our parents, I tell you, because when you see this child, even if you are angry, you will be obliged to laugh, he is so funny.”

Based on the above and the fact that Rizal came from a brood of 11 children, one can only wonder what his stand would be on the RH bill   had he lived today. His large family was a constant ray of sunshine when he was homesick in Europe, and we can only imagine what joy Rizal got from letters. Another sister, Lucia Herbosa, in a letter dated Nov. 13, 1882, described a son born to her in 1882, whom they named Jose: “I amuse myself with José’s ear, which is like yours. I tell you that it is really like yours, but I pray that the likeness does not stop there, but that he may have your disposition, your goodness and diligence in good works.”
In July 1886 Lucia’s husband wrote Rizal about their daughter Delfina who was suffering from “a little inflammation of (the) eye, which is the cause of her absence from school. What a pity she did not become a boy! She is bright and very studious. Her mother is always telling her not to read because her inflammation might worsen, but she is so hardheaded.” Imagine, a child insistent on reading! Twelve years later, in 1898, Delfina would assist Marcela Agoncillo in Hong Kong in the sewing and embroidering of the first Philippine flag.
Even Paciano, Rizal’s older brother, was concerned about education, asking Rizal in July 1886: “Furnish me with information of the best   schools there. We have many nephews, most of them promising. It is a pity that these ones should fall into the hands of teachers who teach unwillingly and do so only for show. It is true that they inculcate in children very sane principles, such as fear and humility, the first being the beginning of wisdom and the second of apostolic and civic virtue, but it is also true that fear and humility lead to dullness.” Rizal replied that “children are not allowed to be themselves, to make noise or to play. Instead, they are made to recite the rosary and novena until the poor youngsters become very sleepy and understand nothing of what is going on. Consequently, when they reach the age of   reason, they pray just as they have prayed when they were children without understanding what they are saying; they fall asleep or think of nonsense. Nothing can destroy a thing more than the abuse of it, and praying can also be abused.”

We must not forget that the Philippines’ National Hero was not born great, he evolved over time, developing as a hero amid interaction with his family.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Hello Cold World, Paramore.

 

Hello Cold World
 Paramore

I feel happy, I feel sad, I feel like running through the walls
I'm overjoyed, I'm undecided, I don't know who I am
Well maybe I'm not perfect, at least I'm working on it

22 is like the worst idea that I have ever had

It's too much pain, it's too much freedom, what should I do with this?
It's not the way you plan it, it's how you make it happen

Yeah, it's how you make it happen


It's such a cold, cold world (hello cold world) and I can't get out

So I'll just make the best of everything I'll never have
Such a cold, cold world (hello cold world) and it's got me down
But I'll get right back up as long as it spins around
Hello cold world

Girls and boys keep lining up to see if they can measure up

They look good and they feel wild, but it won't never be enough
You say you're really hurting, at least you're feeling something

We can hope and we can pray that everything would work out fine
You can't just stay out on your knees, the revolution is outside
You wanna make a difference, get out and go and get it

Whoah, get out and go and get it


It's such a cold, cold world (hello cold world) and I can't get out

So I'll just make the best of everything I'll never have
Such a cold, cold world (hello cold world) and it's got me down
But I'll get right back up as long as it spins around
Hello cold world
Don't need my eyes open

Oh I, I just want to feel something

It's such a cold, cold world (hello cold world) and I can't get out

So I'll just make the best of everything I'll never have
Such a cold, cold world (hello cold world) and it's got me down
But I'll get right back up as long as it spins around (spins around)

Takin' Time For Instagram.

My iPod is doing wonders in my life. :)

I found a new friend in this app called Instagram. Yeah. They're kinda cool.

Photos... well... not exactly photography (but it could be) or maybe it's those nostalgic photos - they're kind of my cup of tea so, yeah. I'm kind of liking it.

Stop Eating Lobsters, Mommy. Lobsters are secret agent babies.


 Reaching Out.


If you could change anything, what would it be?
Saw this one on my way to work. 


Summerly.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Dreams, We All Have Them

Browsing through my archives, I saw this one. I saw it inside my NOV 2010 folder and, yeah, I figured I wrote this way back last year when I was still that kid who knew how to write. LOL.

I remember originally writing this for my FEU Advocate column but since there was another issue that came upon me that time, this one never got published. It's funny how it felt reading it just about a while ago. Man, my heart was too fragile way back then. Try reading it. Oh God.


Dreams, we all have them

Scratch Line


When your dreams come true, who would you want to be next you?


            I guess it’s just normal for a graduating student to, out of a random moment, suddenly think about what the future holds for her. By saying future, I do not mean year 3001, but future meaning, the real world.


            From previous years I have seen friends or cousins graduate and then learn that they’ve found a job, earning money for themselves and for their family. And also over the years, I have seen friends succeed. I have witnessed friends come on top of their careers.


            But one thing I have always hated witnessing is when friends have everything and still not be happy about it.



            Then on one random night, as I searched though my recent posts in Facebook, I read a friend’s status update that said: “There are five things a person needs to be happy: some work, some food, some friends, some fun, and someone.”


            It was a bit mushy but I thought it made it sense. Thoughts suddenly came flashing and remembered the friends I have been talking about earlier. I realized, just about then, that yes, you may have everything but without anyone to share it with, it is as good as nothing.


            As a grade school student, I dreamt of being a doctor, save lives. In junior high school, I wanted to be a Cheerdancer but as I reached Senior High, I then wanted to be a director.



            And as of the moment, I have many things in mind that I want to become after I graduate. I want to work for New York Times, be a team Manager for any college basketball team, be a photographer, an events manager. I want to watch Maria Sharapova live in French Open, see Paramore perform live, tell Charice Pempengco how much I’m proud of her. Some are really random, some are long-term goals but all of which are attainable and they are what I call my dreams.



            I know achieving some of it would take me to a rough road, full of temptations to go back and shut the door of all possibilities. But my answer is no, I won’t go back because I have decided to take a few people with me.



            Not sure who they are yet, but if ever, I want someone who knows me very well –

the one who knows my weaknesses and yet still believe in my strengths even if they are not obvious.


            I would also like to take someone who is honest enough to tell me what my mistakes are even if it hurts me a thousand times and more. I would also take with me someone who will keep reminding me of my goal because at times, I tend to forget them. Also, someone who would be willing to catch me once I fall and say “Hey! Stand up, we still have a long way to go.”


            Someday, school, which I call the Preparation Stage, will soon have to end. And all of us will be facing the next phase, which I call the Application Stage.


            Though the people surrounding us may cause trouble and pain, we all know that we are less of a person without them. And in a world of power and odds, it pays to have some people to be with ‘til the end.


            You may chose or fate may give one to you, but once you see and decide who you want to be there when your fantasies come to life, never let them walk away. Family, friends, special someone – whoever it may be, remember that some birds don’t come back after you have let them fly away.


            Graduating or not, ask yourself. Reflect. When your dreams come true, who would you want to be next to you?

Lora Gene Tumulak | Gone in Wanderland. Powered by Blogger.