the narra shirt

Natatandaan mo 'to?

Ang t-shirt na ginamit natin nuong Seniors' Week. Contest pa nga ng pagandahan ng design pero sinawimpalad tayong matalo. Huwat! itong magandang design na ito? Natalo?

Di ko na matandaan kung kaninong concept at sinong nag-drawing ng design na ito pero natatandaan ko na kaya tayo natalo eh dahil back print ang t-shirt natin at malinaw na malinaw na nakasaad sa panuntunan na kailangan ay nasa harapan ang desenyo ng damit.

Eh shempre, portyir na tayo, mahahaba na ang mga sungay, matitigas na ang mga buto (at iniisip na ang pagpasok sa mga unibersidad sa Maynila), mas ginusto pa nating matalo basta back printed ang t-shirt natin na usong uso nuong mga panahong iyon (ngayon, yucky, back print, sooooo 90's). Pinag-usapan pa kung rubberized o embossed ang tatak (embossed shempre).

Pero we got the last laugh (nagtawa nga ba? ewan) nang ang design na ito ang ginawang cover ng batch 91 year book (more like year magazine) dahil shempre, we have the power to do so. Si Edge kasi ang editor-in-chief at sya din ang nagsulat ng mabulalas, mabulaklak at thought provoking explanation (written on the back cover of the year book ata) ng mga symbols na makikita sa design. Natatandaan ko pa na may sinabi siyang about "us" (yung taong walang skin na kita ang flesh) shaping our own destinies (un mukha na ini-spin nya). Yung parang bato dun eh supposed to be ay Stonehenge na nakapatong sa Egyptian hieroglyphics although hindi sila mukhang ganun. Basta yun na yun, kapag sinabi ni Edge na yun yun... errrr---

Naitago nyo pa ang t-shirt na ito? Hindi na? well, well, well...

Its auction time. Bidding starts at PhP 2,000.00

Any takers? Wala?

Sino nga ba yung english teacher natin nuong II-Rizal?

I think I can speak for the group and say she was one of our favorite highschool teacher. We won our first choral recitation and we proudly dedicated it to her, as she was equally proud of us winning that one. She was a nanay, a teacher and a friend to us. At least that’s what I think of her.

Natatandaan ko, pinagawa nya tayo nuon ng book report. Gagayahin natin ang book cover at isusulat natin sa loob ang summary ng napili nating istorya. Syempre, babasahin natin isa isa ang ginawang book report sa harap ng klase. Kung pangkaraniwang titser lang sya, ganun nga ang ipapagawa nya pero dahil ibang klaseng titser nga sya, hindi lang natin babasahin ang book report, kailangan ay naka-costume din tayo ng main character ng libro natin. Kapag hindi interesting ang pagkakabasa, papatigilin na nya ito at ang susunond naman ang magbabasa.

When it was my turn, dressed as the character of my story, I think I got to read two or three sentences before she cut me short, probably gave me a low grade and moved on to the next student. I remembered Rhoda (I think) picked a dramatic scene from her book report, read it in front of the class, and I swear I saw her eyes turned watery, ready to cry. If it was her way of making her book-report-reading interesting, or if she was ready to cry out of stage fright, I wouldn’t know for sure, but the teacher cut her report short, too. Too bad. But JJ was different. He read a few sentences and ended it with “let the games begin” and he, together with a few classmates he asked to participate in his book report, recreated a baseball scene out of his book report. Ayos!

Pero hindi lahat ay happy ending. Natatandaan ko din, isang beses, nagalit sya sa buong klase. Galit na galit sya nuon, at takot na takot naman tayo. Di ko na matandaan papano nagsimula pero sinabihan nya tayo nuon na nagiging arogante na ang buong klase, at sinusukat natin lagi ang kakayahan ng mga guro natin. Pagalit nyang tinanong kung tama ba daw ang kanyang obserbasyon. Syempre, walang makasagot. Tinawag nya si Jameson (ata) na ang tanging naisagot ay “n-no c-comment, mam” na sinagot naman niya ng “I want you to comment!”

“Y-yes mam” was all Jameson could muster to say, which of course, only made matters worse. I couldn’t blame Jameson for answering that way, because I myself could’ve answered “yes mam” if she asked me if I’m the one who shot Ninoy. In response, or as punishment most probably, she made us write a gazillion word theme composition, typewritten, neatly bordered, with no wrong spelling or erasures whatsoever, may it be rubber or liquid eraser. That was before the advent of Bill Gate’s computers and word processing, mind you. I remembered laboring with our Jurassic typewriter back home, way into the wee hours of the morning, wasting probably four-trees-worth of typewriting papers, just to complete the no-erasures-composition.

Ikaw, anong naaalala mo?

Hopefully, her name.