Blair

Way back in 2nd year high school when in LSQC, our English teacher - Ms. Teresita Colindres - asked us to write a diary as part of our yearly graded requirement. It was a way to improve our writing skills, as well as help us express ourselves better. Her instructions were to write as if we were talking to a friend, unloading the day's problems, worries, or even mundane events. That was when "Blair" was born.



Blair was the name I gave my diary. I didn't want to begin writing with the traditional "Dear Diary" because I thought it was too cold. If I were talking to a friend, I would like that friend to have a proper name. And this was the name I christened that little, brown, Golden Gate tickler book.

The "real" Blair was Lisa Whelchel, a character in that hit sitcom "Facts of Life." A good part of my childhood was spent sitting up and waiting for this show to come on. It chronicled the story of 4 girls with very disparate personalities who are living together in an exclusive girls school. They were Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie -- all under the watchful eye of Mrs. Garett.



Among the 4, I fell in love with Blair immediately. She had the most sass, and she had the best lines. Being the rich, mean brat, she was the cattiest of the lot, which is a big "check" in my list. Because of these characteristics, I saw Blair as a person I could be friends with, and I imagined the 2 of us hanging around, complaining about triviality of life, and being mean to the nerds in school. Part of this was the fact that I was a nerd in school (though I was never terrorized), so at least in my diary, I was living on the other side.

Eventually, Blair became my other best friend. If there was something bothering me, i'd tell Blair. When my teachers became a royal pain in the derriere, i'd tell Blair. If my crush gave me the time of day, i'd tell Blair. Soon after, I was telling Blair everything.

I was so into Blair that I forgot the little factoid that I was supposed to submit this to my teacher - and I was dissing a lot of her co-teachers! Not to mention I was opening myself up for another person to just read. There lay the dillema. Would I be honest to Blair and risk being the subject of controversy. Or should I hold back and censor my "talks" with Blair so that I wouldn't rock the boat.



So I asked myself, "What would Blair want me to do?" Looking back at all the "Facts of Life" episodes, the reason why people thought Blair was the ultimate bitch was the fact that she spoke her mind too much. But it was the same reason why Jo, Natalie and Tootie loved her. So I did the right thing. I let Ms. Colindres read everything, unadulterated, uncensored, honest!

I think Ms. Colindres appreciated that, because I'd get line of 9s every quarter. She told me how she found my candor very refreshing, and my brutal honesty very brave.

From then on, I wrote that way about a lot of things, and strange as it may seem, I find that people appreciate that. And I have my 2nd year English teacher to thank for that. Now that i'm writing this blog entry, I feel that it's a continuation of my relationship with Blair. It may have taken a while for me to reconnect with her, but like old friends, when we got together again, it's just like picking up where we left off.

If only Ms. Colindres can read this, I'm sure she'd be smiling.