INVADING INQUIRER’S YOUNGBLOOD
April 26, 2007
I just got a nice, advanced bday gift! My piercing article was published in Inquirer's Youngblood! Nice!
Ibang level na, hehe! Imagine my shock nung makita ko yung by-line ko, hehe astig! Di ko kase ine-expect na mapa-publish s'ya sa fave Opinion column ko sa Inquirer.
At the most siguro e mababasa ko s'ya sa website. Pero makita ko s'ya dyaryo? Hell no.
Kita mo naman kase mga articles sa Youngblood…Mostly e mga kadramahan chuva at may mga lessons learned. Tapos napansin ang piercing artik ko? Wow men!
Pangarap ko pa mandin talaga ang makita ang by-line ko sa Youngblood. Inquirer baby kase talaga ako. At avid followers kami ng Ate ko ng Youngblood.
Ewan pero something different naman kase ang piercings. Not to mention, di gaanong napapag-usapan ang reasons behind them. Basta ako, personal experience ko yun.
Pagkabasa ko nga kanina dun sa artik ko e nagdadalawang isip ako kung ipapakita ko sa family ko. Di kase nila alam yung istorya ko na yun. Basta ang alam lang nila, weird ako. That's it.
Pero naisip ko, pucha, Inquirer yun, tsong. Ibang level. Pwede ipagyabang, hehe! :p
Kaya yun, pinakita ko na rin sa kanila yung artik ko. Yung sis ko na isa, alangya, nabasa na daw n'ya yun. Walastik, nakikichismis pala sa files ko at nakikibasa, wow mali! Nabuking tuloy s'ya, hehe!
Yung isang ate ko naman, tinext ko kagad. Fave din n'ya kase ang Youngblood at talaga namang inaabangan namin lagi yun. Dali-dali tuloy n'yang pinakuha sa pamangkin ko yung dyaryo at binasa n'ya. Tinext din n'ya mga friendly friends n'ya na ka-Friendster ko at pinamalita na ang good news. Hehe proud na proud!
Ako naman e excited din at may-I-UNLITXT20 kagad ang drama para ise-send ko na lang sa mga groups ko ang good news. Walang tigil tuloy sa pagtunog ang cp ko dahil maraming nag-congratulate sa akin.
Late na rin tuloy ako naligo nun kahit may 10am class pa ako. Di bale kako, lagi naman ding late yung ka-one-on-one kong student, hehe! Ipapakita ko na lang yung artik ko sa kanya para maging proud naman s'ya sa Writing teacher n'ya, hehe! :p
Di naman ako na-late. 10minutes earlier pa pala ako, hehe! Pagdating tuloy ni student e pinabasa ko kagad yung published article ko. Kinuwento ko ang background nung artik na yun blah-blah-blah. Kinilabutan nga s'ya at s'yempre pa, sobrang proud s'ya sa akin. 
Tuwang tuwa pa naman sa akin ang batang yun. Gandang ganda s'ya sa akin, hehe! Tapos she admires me so much kase nagagawa ko daw lahat ng gusto ko, etcetera etcetera. Amen to that! Hehe!
Pati sis ko who works in Makati, tinawagan ako kagad sa cp pagkabasa n'ya sa artik ko. Kasalukuyan pa naman akong nasa skul at nagtuturo nung time na yun. Naka-silent lang ang cp ko pero nakita kong umiilaw kaya nasagot ko ang phone call n'ya.
Ayun, maganda nga raw, hehe! Natawa pa ako nung nag-react s'ya na, "Si ano ba yung ex mo na tinutukoy mo dun?" Oo, kako. Si _________." Haha! 
Napahalakhak tuloy kami, hehe!
Tinext ko rin yung kapatid ko na nasa NY. S'yempre pa, as expected, gusto makita nila Mommy at Daddy ang ginawa ko. As if naman makak-relate sila dun sa artik ko, hehe!
E si Mommy nga numero unong kumokontra sa piercings ko yun, hehe! Pati nga email add ko, pinapakialaman n'ya, hehe pero dedma lang ako. Wala naman akong ginagawang masama at ala naman akong napeperhuwisyo kaya oks lang, hehe pasaway noh?
Pero since Inquirer yun, sige, go. Nagpabili pa tuloy ako ng 5 copies, haha OA ba? Hehe oks lang, paminsan-minsan lang naman yan at di lahat ng tao e nabibigyan ng chance para makita ang pangalan nila sa Inq.
Yung ibang mga nagtext nga sa akin, manlibre daw ako. Haller! As if naman pinagkakitaan ko yung artik ko noh? TY lang yun kako. Oks na sa akin yung honor na minsan sa buhay ko e meron akong na-publish na artik sa Inquirer, at sa Youngblood pa, hehe astig!
What a nice bday present for me. In fairness, the Inquirer never fails to surprise me. The first time, nafeature ako sa website nila, unexpected din. Great, sabi ko sa sarili mo. Next time, dyaryo naman ang ii-invade ko, sa loob loob ko.
At heto nga, nangyari na. Hehe nice! Incidentally e bday ni bunso ngayon. Kaya never ko makakalimutan ang date na 'to. At eto pa, turning 29 na ako on May 2. E ang Youngblood e contributions ng mga twentysomething and below…sumaklit pa tuloy ako, hehe! Nakahabol bago mag-29…Galeng talaga!
Heto tuloy at lumakas ang loob ko na mag-submit pa ng ibang articles. Kaya lang, pucha, ma-eexpose na naman ang mga ka-weirduhan ko sa pamilya ko nito, haha wow mali! Dyahe!
E yun ngang piercing artik ko, nagrereact na sila. What more pa kaya sa iba noh? Sabi ko nga sa kanila, masyadong safe at bland ang pagkaka-edit nung artik ko. Mas gusto ko kako yung orig version…Ma-palabok. Mas exciting, hehe!
But I perfectly understand kung bakit ganun yung pagkaka-edit. Broadsheet kase e. Iba ang style of editing. E ako, creative writing chuva ang drama, hehe! Pero really, good enough na yun for me. Atleast, nakita ko ang by-line ko, hehe!
Nung kaseng sinend ko yung artik na yun nung March 1, as it is lang. As in kung paano ko s'ya sinulat noong December 2004. La ako binago dun. Hehe tamad! Kahit yung picture ng ear piercings ko, andun din, hehe!
Eto yung orig version.
At eto yung published version.
Sensya na ito lang ang nakayanan ng 7610 ko, hehe!
Piercings
I LOVE PIERCINGS—ANYTHING EXCEPT A NOSE RING.
I'm often asked about my piercings. I got 11 right now: six on my right ear, five on my left. I have been called "punk", "cool", "weird", "hardcore", "gothic", etc. because of my piercings. Well, I don't really give a damn. This is me, so love me or hate me.
To others, they may look like ordinary piercings. But to me, they're not just ornaments, they're a part of who I am. They speak so much about what I've gone through in life. Witout them, a part of who and what I am today will be taken away.
I only got three piercings when I was in college: the usual one on each ear, plus another in the uppermost part of my right ear, which really hurt, by the way. It got infected, so I had to remove my earring after awhile.
My love for piercings began after I finished college. A few months after graduation, I had my haid dyed light brown. It was a drastic change since I had always been known for my long, straight, silky, black hair. After that, I got two more piercings just above the usual place where earrings are placed.
Then came job hunting. When I trained as a customer service representative trainee for an American call center company, I was chosen as one of the batch leaders. That meant responsibility on my part, in addition to lots of things to memorize, quizzes, etc.
I was also enrolled in a driving school at the same time. My schedule required me to head straight for my driving lessons after the training sessions. It was so hard to concentrate on driving when I had so many thing to do when I got home (I also happen to be the treasurer in our house, so I handle money matters, jeez!). Training and driving lessons added up to hell.
To release the tension, I decided to go to a mall and have myself pierced. I got two more ear piercings and it seemed to me that the physical pain eased the pressure off my mind. It sure did hurt a bit but it was worth it. (That's my opinion, so don't give me a violent reaction, silly!).
From then on, piercings have become my outlet for anger, pressure, angst, etc. They mark the twists and turns my life has taken. Without any of my earrings on, I feel indifferent. It's as if something is missing.
Let me share a story about my ex-bf and me. He's four years younger. In 2003, he was still a university student while I was already working. We fought a lot about his drinking. I mean, I didn't mind his going out with his beer buddies, but I wanted him to give his studies a greater priority than anything or anyone else.
One day, I got tired of his childish acts, and the rebel in me wanted to spite him. So off I went to a mall to have uppermost part of both of my ears pierced. Boy, did it hurt! I had to sleep with a ponytail so that no stray hair would touch the sides of my ears. It was torture! For about a week or two, I couldn't sleep on my side.
I also had a Chinese character henna-tattoed on my left hand. In short, I did all the things he didn't approve of. I knew then that things were not going to work between us.
True enough, we broke up after a few months. And I found myself being pierced again. I could endure any physical pain but the emotional pain was killing me. I didn't mind being pierced over and over again to take away my attention from the pain that was piercing my heart.
My ears have been pierced probably 15 more times. Does that make me a masochist? I don't care! To each his own.
Me and my piercings—that it me. Welcome to my world!
P.S. I can't pierce myself. It scares the hell out of me.
———————-
Jonnah Jill R. Piad 28, is an ESL teacher in a university, and would love to have a tongue and/or a navel ring, too.
*There you go, what a nice bday present!*
links: digg this del.icio.us technorati reddit
1. basangpanaginip left…
Thursday, 26 April 2007 6:54 pm :: http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com
Astig. Congrats Jonnah. Kumusta ka na? (I mean tungkol doon kay badboy)
2. airwind left…
Thursday, 26 April 2007 11:52 pm :: http://killerpatatas.blogspot.com/
CONGRATULATION PO!!!!
3. laryuki left…
Friday, 27 April 2007 2:34 am :: http://laryuki.blogdrive.com
congratz ate =P
keep up the good work and not the piercings hehehe =P
4. barenaked left…
Friday, 27 April 2007 7:37 am
@BP, erwin and koya larr, maraming salamat! 
about the badboy? ayun, hayup pa rin s'ya, hehe! la na ako paki sa kanya. bahala na s'ya sa buhay n'ya!
5. redcomet left…
Wednesday, 2 May 2007 1:05 am
wow, kelan kaya mapupublish ang gawa ko? siguro after kong maging 40 and inde na sa youngblood haaayy
Wednesday, 2 May 2007 6:37 am
pwede ka humabol dun sa highblood. pang-60yo and up yun, hehe! kaya lang di mabenta. madalang lang ako makabasa nun sa PDI.
kidding aside, try lang ng try. who knows, diba? sinuwerte lang ako't napublish kagad kaunaunahang article na sinubmit ko sa kanila.
