ardel is here... bow down all ye mortals!!!

i couldn't even imagine how to begin to explain to you guys just how monumental this day is for the paningit blogsite. but what the heck... i'll begin to explain it anyway... so here it goes...

today, my friend, ardel (hm... i'm not sure if he wants his last name mentioned here, so i won't say it's ocampo... oh shit.), finally gave in to my persuasion (been bugging him since i started this shit) and decided to go back to the one thing (that's maybe too overboard) that mattered in his life - his writing.

a brief history:

ardel and i met at white and blue (our university's official publication) back in 1996. well, back then, i was just a fledgling freshman / staff writer. while he, on the other hand, was already a seasoned and critically-acclaimed (or was it critically-criticized?) veteran / editorial cartoonist of the school (sorry man, i just had to play that age gap scenario.. sweet!). anyway, despite our differences (in age hahaha.. ok, ok, i'll stop, promise), we became buddies even after graduation.

ardel now works for a colossal telecommunications company. he has a wife and an adorable rugrat named aidan (my "inaanak" who just turned 1 by the way). we're still very close (ehem-ehem.. please remove any preconcieved homosexual innuendos you may have from this point on) because he and my wife are officemates and together, we are currently pursuing a master's degree in management.

end of brief history.

now, where was i? ah yes, so after approximately three months of incessant persuasion, ardel finally gave in and emailed about 33 minutes ago his first piece / contribution to paningit.blogspot.com. initially, he balked at the concept of writing for this blog. with a weird, sour smirk on his face, he asked what the hell could he possibly write about. i said he could write just about anything under the friggin' sun. there are no limits in the paningit solar system. plus i'm a good editor. why? because i abhor censorship. period.

so this is it pare. no more turning back. we will write for the sheer joy of writing and type away until our median nerves go kaput and we'll both suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. from here on, paningit readers will be sporadically treated with what i'd like to call "ardelian literature." it's a whole new planet compared to how i write. so it's a refreshing and welcome addition to this pathetic blogsite.

oh by the way, ardel's piece is aptly titled "paningit sa paningit..." i'll post it in a while.

i'm out.