Dear Loser Ariane and Epal Allan

Was about to go to bed, but for some reason I thought I'd go online for a little bit. There were the usual updates from Multiply friends -- the Atenean ones posting about the Blue Eagle Bonfire. It was funny, an overwhelming number of them decided to comment on the Putik Patch, formerly known as Bellarmine Field. Mia and I didn't even bother to stay around long enough to

There were some emails from work, which I promptly deleted (haha just kidding), there were some updates on the sites I frequented -- postsecret.com, Cecile Zamora's blog, and some other useless trifles that I enjoy so much.

Finally, there was a message from two friends which sent me typing this blog -- from Ariane, who told me she was officially leaving on Oct. 22, and from Sheryl, who told me that Allan was also leaving soon.

I've been friends with Ariane and Allan since I was 17, which makes our friendship just one year short of a decade. The proximity has helped fuel and sustain it -- anytime we wanted to get together for a spaghetti afternoon, an all-night dvd marathon, family dinner, spur of the moment "inuman", they were always just a phone call and a couple of blocks away.

But now, well. New York and Dubai will not accommodate our little get-togethers so well. And I realized, it is the small things that I will miss over the next couple of months. Random phone calls. Biking and barbecue days. Tree-planting (!), Last minute lending of clothes, money, food, time, energy, advice and sanity. As Tom Cruise said in Vanilla Sky, "The little things... there's nothing bigger, is there?"

Coincidentally, my cousin from New York sent me over some songs from Fab Moretti's new band "Little Joy." The nicest one is called "Brand New Start," a sweet little track that is now the soundtrack to this entry.

So there. This is a Brand New Start, for both you, and for me as well. And for everyone whose lives intertwined with yours (this means you Sheryl).

Even though I regularly call you losers, "epal" and other similar terms of endearment, let me say for the record, I will miss you.