Bring In The Olds

The English language has a queer way of giving names and definitions. As what my highschool teacher used to constantly remind us then, the language which you are now using to read this blog post is defined by a lot of rules, adding always that for every rule, there are exceptions to it. Talk about being consistently inconsistent.

There's a current trend that's masking itself as a form of rebellion, of freedom, and of breaking free. You might already have heard some of these making headlines on the news. Even a noontime gameshow has one segment that features the people who follow that trend and pit them against the people who decided to make their lives a little bit more interesting by tracking down and busting the followers of this current trend. However, I'll leave you all to think what you want on that topic, because as it seems today, it can lead to political bickering and mixed emotions. And that's something I do not want to have to deal with.

During the last Cebu Blog Camp, there was a segment by Tonyo Cruz about Citizen Journalism which I took a liking to. I had heard he studied at a UP campus, so there was a big chance I'd be getting his ideas and notions of loving our country and serving our people. There was one part of his talk wherein he polled the audience on whether we still buy a newspaper everyday. I quite remember I was the only one who raised my hand to respond in the affirmative, which then got me a bit thinking.

While it is true that access to the internet has boomed for the past year, and along with that instant access to information and sources, whether it be breaking news or the latest gossip, I still believe in the power of print. All my elementary and secondary schooling years always involved stopping by a newspaper stand on the way to school everyday. It was always me that did the honor of handing the ten-peso coin to our suki in exchange for the local daily. Even if I happened to be falling asleep when we were nearing that place, I'd always scramble to the window just so I could be the first one to get my hands on the newspaper. Trust me, I was that hooked.

It was sort of a routine where I simply went directly to the back portion, where the Sports section was. After reading through each column and article, I then proceeded to the middle part of the daily, where the Entertainment and Tech News were located. After pouring through all these, I took out my ballpen and proceeded on to fill out the crossword puzzle. I was doing this so much that there was a time my dad had to disallow me from being handed the newspaper because I would be too engrossed with it. What can I say - I simply loved reading, even if it meant my head would be spinning after the long ride to school.

Nowadays, I show no mercy when I get my hands on a newspaper. If it were a daily novel, I'd be reading it cover-to-cover and more. However, it saddens me to see that the original classic of distributing news is slowly being eaten up by the advent of the internet. Not that I am against it, because I love the internet and all the benefits and privileges it can give to the people. Mind you, I wouldn't be blogging if I did.

Perhaps this is just a rollover from my past of being someone who treasures people and things a lot (yes, I really hate goodbyes), but the simple newspaper and tabloid have gone through a lot - causing revolutions to start, spreading propaganda for those who knew how to use it, give more life to coffee shop talks, and even be the cause of celebration once a good friend gets featured in the lifestyle section. It's influence has stood out in the best and the worst of times, and honestly, information wouldn't have been as interesting if they used rocks instead of the traditional tree bark.

Part of the reason why I read a lot is the win-win situation it can give - one, being a firm in the belief that you can never have enough knowledge, and second, because we'd be able to improve on proper grammar and spelling. Again, it will be up to you to decide if this goes out to a certain trend today, but all I'm hoping for is that this won't give civilization a need for cleansing once all is said and done. Formality and technicality is something we can all use - it has been the backbone of many successful systems and structures throughout history, and it still continues to be.

Now, can anyone tell me, in the scope of the English language, what you would call news that's old?

I thought so.

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you got me smiling after a long time there.