Our endless YouTube surfing has led to many happy discoveries, like Jennifer Marianne Reyes-Peralta’s channel. She totally made our day with her super funny two-minute rants that we simply had to go find her.
READ: YouTube user Jennifer Marianne Reyes Peralta’s rants are LOL-worthy
Thankfully, she’s admittedly an “advanced” FB user (“puwede akong lumaban diyan,” she laughs at her know-how). One thing led to another, resulting in a Q&A that reveals how strong and insightful this funny woman really is.
Hello! Your videos are so funny! You’re so funny!
Aww, thanks. I only started it in Feb 2014 on Facebook but something happened, I couldn’t upload them anymore so I transferred it to YouTube.
Why did you start this series?
I started it around my son’s arrest. Valentine’s Day when I posted the first video. Hindi pa nahuhuli anak ko, pero namomroblema na ko nun. That was Valentine’s day. The next video I posted was after his arrest na.
Oh, we’re sorry to hear that.
He was arrested for drug-dealing, PHP500 lang ha, pero lifetime yung kulong. He’s 21 years old. Pasalamat na lang ako na at 21, matututo siya sa mga bagay-bagay. You really have to look for the silver linings. Anyway, yung utak mo punong-puno minsan, hindi mo na alam kung mag-fu-function pa siya or hindi. So I took my iPad and nagsalita ako. Tinatamad na ako mag-isip, hindi planado. Hindi ko alam anong lalabas sa bibig ko. Hindi ko iniisip kung ano susunod.
Oh wow. Heavy.
Yes, the videos are to keep my sanity. I stopped going to work—I was an events planner and save for a few things I’ve already committed to, I am a plain housewife. I need to be in the house because the younger children, they need the family to be together, para hindi [masyado] maramdaman yung nangyari.
How many kids do you have?
I have four. My son is the eldest at 21. And then I have a daughter who is 18. She’s studying in UP Diliman right now. Another girl, 13 years old, and a 12-year-old son. Pagpumasok na sila sa school, wala na akong ginagawa sa house. Yung videos na yung ginagawa ko. After that I noticed, people would comment. Naging libangan ko na yung pagsagot ng comments. I’m sorry this is so weird, but the good kind ah.
Why?
Honestly, kung [yung reach ng videos] dito lang sa Laoag, sanay na ko. I have 5,000 Facebook friends and kilala na rin ako sa Laoag. I write kilometric notes so sanay na ko [sanay na rin sila]. Kung dito lang, among my friends, it’s natural. Some of my friends from abroad would tell me, de-stressor nila yung videos at the end of the day. That’s why I kept on doing it, to make my FB friends laugh and to embarrass my children. Tapos umabot na diyan sa Maynila, kaya wow.
Haha, you got the FB friends laughing. How is the “embarrassing your kids” doing?
They were, but after awhile, natuwa na rin sila. Nung una, sabi ng 18-year-old ko, ‘nakakahiya pero in fairness, tuwang-tuwa mga classmates ko sa yo.” The younger kids, sabi nila sa kin, ‘Mama, sikat ka na! Kilala na sa school.’ It didn’t dawn on me. I started this only to keep myself sane.
And the husband?
Umiiling nung una, but lately, he’s cool about it. I think he loves the idea na may nakakapag-okay sa kin. Nandito lang kasi ako sa luob ng bahay.
So how do you go about your videos?
Pipindutin ko lang, may lalabas na sa bibig ko. One take lang.
You don’t even plan your subject?
No. Sasaibihin ko lang kay God, ‘Bahala ka na bossing, help me get the message across.’ You know, I used to do self-help seminars din kasi, for high school kids. I give a talk and ito rin yung approach ko sa kanila. Duon ko nakukuha. I used to live with seven gays, ako yung mommy nila. It dawned on me that people really just need to talk to somebody. I look at it that way.
At first, we wondered, how bored is this woman?
Yes, I’m actually bored. I am a fulltime homemaker, but I’m getting the hang of it. I used to go out a lot but at 41, I’ve had my fill.
Okay, you mentioned Laoag. How did you get there? Because we’re assuming you are Bisaya.
Tubong Ilocos ako. My Mom is from Laoag, my dad is from Bulacan but I’ve lived here all my life. I got married at 18, when I finished college, I was given a scholarship for a Masters in Communication in UP pero hindi ko na natapos because I gave birth. I went to work in Congress and then I came back here.
Nye. Where does the accent come from?
When I was in high school, I have that character. I’d call the radio station and act like a Bisayana to request songs. My friends call me “Shuleng” kasi may shuleleng, ha ha. When the first video came along, they’re like, ‘Here she goes again! Video na siya!’ Because when you check my posts on Facebook, my notes are serious but my posts tarantado rin. I’m a mixture, depending on my mood. With my son’s situation, there was no time to go crazy. There was no time to be my usual self, to be carefree. And I miss that. My only time to do that, to become that is during my Shuleng time on camera. Yun yun.
It’s amazing how you’re able to turn this situation around.
You really have to find the silver linings. Sabi ko okay Lord, ‘Sige, I’ll show you what kind of a woman I am made of. You give me this, and I will make sure I will not only go through this, but I will go through this laughing and making myself better.
This truly is inspiring.
I think of my problems only in the morning, one hour at most. After my morning prayers, I think of my problems and segregate: What can I solve? What can I not solve? Because there are problems that you can’t solve. Iintayin mo dapat ang Diyos at ang pagkakataon. You solve the things you can and pray on those you cannot. The rest of the day, I will find my enjoyment. Sabi ni Shuleng, ‘don’t think of your problems at night dahil pag may nangyari, nakasimangot ka.’
Can you us give one piece of advice?
At the end of the day, you just have to learn how to live with what you are and make the most out of that. Learn how to deal with that. But learn to deal with it in such a way that you can make the world a better place. Learn to deal with it and be real. One quote I really like: I would rather be the crazy bitch who deafens the world with my laughter, than to deafen the world with her sobs.
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