My Stargirl

She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.

The new trend in the boarding house now is children's books. The "uso" did not come like a flash of lightning or like how we found out about a sugar-free buko pie somewhere in Davao. It started with the plan of the student center to acquire some books that will cater to the different age level of the kids. So, my boardmates, who worked for this NGO, rushed to the nearest bookstores and book sales in Cagayan de Oro. My boardmates went home late that night and I was already asleep. Earlier that night I was not really excited for the books because I thought that they will unpack it at the center. I was more excited for a layer of Food-for-the-lesser-gods or oatmeal cookies from Ate Zeny or simply a big bag of Holy Kettle popcorn (they're the best). When I woke up that morning, I thought that I was going to do my regular starters- little did I know that our house is filled with all the children's books my boardmates bought. They were piled separately according to age levels. There was also a cardboard with words written on it- DO NOT TOUCH. From the writing, I can tell it was Ate Chean's. I love books; it's not really that I want to read every time I see one. It's something about their color, the lay-out, the smell of the pages, the spine, letterings and the pictures. Well, for that morning, I tried to "touch" all the books that I can get my hands on. There were classics like Disney movies-turned-books, fairy tales of both Andersen and the Grimm's and some young adult books. That’s when I met Jerry Spinelli and his Stargirl. The book is primarily a typical high school life in US. I may even mistake it for a high school musical (book edition). But what makes Stargirl exceptional is the writer himself. Spinelli writes with much spontaneity and creativity. Just when I thought that I will be reading another young adult novel, he somehow got some string of surprises after every chapter that kept me glued to the very last pages. Stargirl was characterized well but what I really admired was Leo- the Mr. Stargirl in the book; he is the one that narrates about Stargirl and in many ways somehow represented the larger crowd of readers including myself.

After reading the book, I thought about the things that I learned from it or as Christianity Today coined it "redemptive value". So, I thought of writing about the two things I learned from Stargirl.

First lesson, it is really okay to have a couple of weirdness in us. Aside from it makes life more exciting, it is also worth writing and hopefully worth reading. For that, I compile my "weird list".

I collect tissue papers from restaurants. My goal was to collect it from places that I have visited. In the middle part of my strange collection, some of my friends from Manila sent me tissue papers. (even from those that I’ve never heard of and worse- I’ve never been to those restaturants).

My signature is the reverse of my family name- AZALP

I don't like to put "sagos" in halo-halo.

I think that the Bear Brand 1+ (milk for one-year old kids) goes well with my Twinings Lemon and Green Tea bags.

I don't eat the bones of sardines (My boardmates find it weird but I don't feel like eating it even if I know that they are already softened or crushed after processing).

I associate people with cartoon characters (but I don’t tell it to them).

I have bookmarks but I don’t use them, I use chapters as markers when reading.

I still have my stuff toy in my closet. I had it since I was five. It didn’t have a name before. It was Nameless like Jet Li in Hero but later on I called it Yellow.

I memorize more than 50 birthdates. (but I won’t sing with a ukulele for them like Stargirl)

Second lesson, it’s really good to help people you don’t know and it feels better to help them in secret.

I once brought a bag of goodies for a beggar on the street. (I don’t usually give to beggars but during that time I was just compelled to do it- though I can’t remember the reason why I did that)

I gave somebody P1000. He didn’t know it was from me. (I called it returning the favor).

In the end, I realized that there are things that are really too small to go unnoticed in this world- but they can really make the big difference. After reading the book, I thought about how Stargirl affected the entire Mica High students and how she affected my perceptions. (which includes a porcupine necktie on my December 2007 wishlist).