I was riding a jeepney the other day when I saw this old sticker that made me snicker (sticker, snicker, sticker snicker).  It said "God knows HUDAS not pay!" (hwekwekwekwekwek...) XD

    I know, I know, that line's pretty old.  An oldie but goodie though.  Which made me think of other jeepney literary classics.  For instance, have you noticed  that new type of jeepney poetry?  Like haikus, they're short and sweet, each line painted on a small wood plank.  Whole verses would hang from hooks on the ceiling behind the driver's and passenger's seats.  They swayed each time the jeep sped up or stopped.  Here's an example:

"Kunin mo ang  puso ko" -> that's on the first plank
"pati na ang katawan ko" -> this one on the second plank, which hangs from the first.
"huwag lang"
"ang kita ko"

    Again, hwekwekwekwek.  But isn't it amazing that a new poetry form could emerge from our humble jeepney?  Of course the topics are limited to sex, income, and nonpayers-being-thrown-into-the-flames-of-hell-until-the-end-of-time.  But what  could be more important? XD

    It's a cultural phenomenon, not limited to the jeepney.  We Filipinos are, as a rule, fond of witticisms.  We like collecting quotes, song lyrics, acronyms.  We hoard these in our minds, where they gather in the corners like dustballs.  Like, do you remember the country acronyms we used to use in letters and slumbooks back in grade school? Like ITALY (I trust and love you!), JAPAN (Just always pray at night!).  Heh.  Actually, those are the only ones I remember.  I didn't actually get into that whole bandwagon, just like i didn't get into the stationery and sticker collecting phase that everyone else seemed to go through.  But that's a whole other entry.

    Just recently crimson_parsley told me what PHILIPPINES meant.

    P -umping
    H -ot
    I
    L-ike
    I-t
    P -lease
    P -lease
    I
    N-eed
    E-rotic
    S-timulation!

    Heh.  No wonder I didn't know this in grade school.  Not GP at all.  =p

    And everyone seems to have their favorite quote.  Like that overused chestnut "It's better to have loved and lost...yada yada...".  Or "There's nothing to fear but fear itself."  Or, for the Noranians, "My brother is not a pig!"   (i prefer the porcine one myself)

    It's also pretty standard to ask for a person's favorite motto in noontime show beauty pageants and  (again) slumbooks.  "Time is gold," "a rolling stone gathers no moss," "a stitch in time saves nine," "ang batang mabait, napupunta sa langit," ad infinitum (and ad nauseum).  My own favorite answers to the "What is your favorite motto?" question came from an old beauty pageant in Eat Bulaga (i think it was called TeeVee babes).

     Vic Sotto: (asks contestant): What is your favorite motto?
    Contestant: Ajinomoto
(insert eternal embarrassment here)

and another one:
    Vic Sotto: (asks contestant): What is your favorite motto?
    Contestant:  Melanie Marquez.
(huwaaaat????)

    But of all the quotable quotes that I've ever encountered, the one that takes the cake is a line from luckychan's brother JT's secret admirer.  They never found out who wrote the unsigned note.  Whoever you are, though, know that you have been immortalized in quote history.
Here it is:

    "You are like the air to my balloon,
    without you, I cannot fly..."

A classic, I tell you.  A classic.

* * *

In other news:

~Karen has attempted to be GTK (Great Teacher Karen), in a teaching demo which she performed yesterday
~Tala, Mayumi, Eric and Caloy, are received by Maria Makiling.  I have no idea exactly what they're talking about.  They're conversing in low tones, and they won't allow me (or Kulas the kapre, who has been tailing them) to hear what they're saying. (intrigued? read our upcoming novel! <--shameless and premature plug)
~those school shootings are insane...

over and out.