Sunday, July 20, 2008

Strangebrew at ang Halaga ng Saya

Pasensiya na medyo matagal na rin akong hindi sumusulat dito ah. Nakakain kasi ang oras ko nga mga kung anu-ano sa eskuwela. Ang maganda naman doon, marami akong nakakalap na bagong pagkatuto na puwedeng pag-isipan. Kaya ito, mag-Filipino muna tayo.

Napanood niyo na ba iyong Strangebrew nina Tado at Erning, iyong pinalabas dati sa UNTV, tapos sa Studio 23? Sa nakaraan linggo kasi, nagkaroon ako ng pagkakataon na balikan iyong mga lumang episode nito. Natutuwa naman ako, kasi ang sasaya ng mga episode noon, at kakaiba rin talaga ang lapit nila sa pagkalap ng impormasyon sa pamamagitan ng mga panayam, at pag-arte nang nakakatawa. Kung ako sa inyo, papanoorin ko ngayon iyong mga lumang episode noon sa Youtube. May naglagay.

Kaya bigla naman akong nahumaling muli sa Strangebrew ay sa klaseng Filipino kasi namin, naisip namin ng kaklase kong si Jico na iyon ay gawing presentasyon sa isang sagala sa loob ng paaralan. Subalit, bago namin ito magawa, kailangan namin makumbinsi ang kagawaran na may kahalagahan ang napili naming tema para sa manoonood na Pilipino. Naisip namin na baka naman may matututunan ang manonood sa kung anu-anong pinag-uusapan sa Strangebrew. Totoo naman, na sa dinami-raming nironda nina Tado, marami nga namang matututunan ang mga manonood hinggil sa Maynila at iba pang lugar, sa nakakatawang paraan pa. Matutuwa na nga sila, matututo pa ng bago. O 'di ba? Puwedeng puwede?

Kaso, naisip ko rin na sa kahit anong bagay naman may matututunan ka 'di ba? Kahit na yata sa simpleng pagkain ng tsokolateng Magic Flakes, may matututunan kang bago 'di ba, kahit gaano kaliit? 'Di ba? TAMA! Kaya ito, kailangan pa naming isipin kung ano ang iba pang kahalagahan ng Strangebrew.

Bakit nga ba pinapanood ang Strangebrew? Dahil kay Tado 'di ba? Dahil kay Erning 'di ba? Dahil kay Jun Sabayton at Ramon Bautista 'di ba? TAMA! Natutuwa talaga tayo sa kakaibang lapit ng Strangebrew sa mga pinakakaraniwang bagay. Nakakatuwa siya. Papanoorin ba natin ang palabas na iyon kung gusto lang natin matuto ng tungkol sa Tubero, Barko, at MRT? Malayo yatang magkaganoon. Sobrang astig ng pagkakagawa ng Strangebrew kaya tayo na-hook. Iilan lang ang kagaya ng Strangebrew kaya natin siya pinanood. Bago ang konseptong iyon noong panahong iyon, at natuwa tayo. Masaya lang tayong panoorin iyon.

Ba't nga ba ako naghahanap pa ng ibang kahalagahan? Napakahalaga nga pala ng kasiyahan, lalo na kung kakaiba ito. 'Di ba nga ang karamihan ng tao, naghahanap lang ng kasiyahan sa buhay? Iyong iba nga, kapag masaya na, wala nang ibang hinahanap eh.

Minsan, natatandaan ko, parang natanong ni Tado sa Strangebrew sa isang taong mahilig makipag-gagambahan (o larong pinaglalaban ang mga gagamba) kung ano ang maitutulong ng ginagawa niya sa bayan. Siguro, naisip ng taong iyon, kahit hindi niya marahil nasabi, na "Masaya ito eh." Iyon na iyon.

Kaya kapag oras mo nang matanong ukol sa ginagawa mo, huwag kang mag-alinlanngang sabihing, "Masaya eh," lalo na kung ito ang totoo.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

I'm Sure You Can Relate

This Thursday was a special day for my high school classmate and very good friend, James Soriano. He was a champion debater back in high school, an honor student, and now a real writer for no less than Manila Bulletin. Thursday was when his very first article on his very first column, iThink, became available for the public to reflect on. Congrats pare!

Speaking of writing, I have recently been struggling with academic writing myself. I just really find it ironic that after two years of writing in a blog full of reflections, I find myself stumped about what to write for a simple, personal essay in English class. I even find it 'lame' (as my teacher called it earlier) that I missed my one and only chance of consulting with the teacher about what to write, and how to write it well (in her own, supposedly expert view; I have an almost completely different idea of what's good, so good luck to me).

For the past few days, attending English class has not personally felt very fruitful. We've been going through a lot of things about the essay that we already repeatedly learned in high school (like the thesis statement and topic and sentence outlines), from the best English teachers. The worst part was, we've been 'learning' at a much slower pace, since the class is supposed to focus on the writing process. I'm sorry if I sound like a kid, but I feel bored with what we are taking up in English. To add to that, I even seem to resent a lot of the new writing styles and tips our new teacher imparts to us. Bluntly, I cannot stand all of it.

I am pretty sure that if my teacher reads this post, she will end up thinking about how full of pride I am, despite me being a real beginner in writing compared to her. To clarify, I have nothing against my teacher and her style of teaching. I just do not find it useful enough for me, after learning so much for the past 4 years with a different style. I always feel that I have to protect whatever I learned from high school about writing, which makes me resent learning new things about the old things.

I feel stumped not only because I cannot find something to write about in a simple, personal essay, but also because I feel like I cannot learn anything new because of whatever pride I have.

We've all felt the same way. We've all felt like we were wasting time doing something in the place of whatever we feel we should be doing. The problem is, how can we learn if we keep resenting and resenting whatever comes our way? Even if it's really hard to see at this point, I guess there's always something new to learn from everything. There may presently be no clear manifestations of what we learn, but I guess they are bound to show themselves someday.

In all this uncertainty about learning, I just really hope I am not wasting my time.



By the way, whatever I wrote today is not a simple, personal essay, by choice. It only shows how I have to listen and re-learn things in class.