The Happy Gardener

It is not you that I fight anymore your smiles, your words light and delightful, ruthless and seductive. No. It is me - my memories happy and treacherous trapped in my mind that hold me captive.

This word always reminds me of dentures. Debentures. Dentures. The scene: Me + pjs + sweatshirt + my couch + tv turned off The story so far : It's Monday night and I have a bunch of things to do online (work & personal) before I go to bed tonight. But (yes, I know that it is not correct to start sentences with but) I am tired after a long day at work and a good workout session in the evening. Plus (yes, I am also aware that it is incorrect to start a sentence with plus) I had a good dinner so I am sleepy. Dear SR has suggested that I do the obvious and procrastination but I decided to try to novel approach i.e. blog as you go. So will she get through the to-do list or won't she? Find out in the next update of this post. 9.16 PM : I lit some candles for no particular reason and upped the thermostat. I am now socked i.e. wearing socks. 9.16 PM : Y alerts me that the Giants are owning the Redskins. Monday night football! 9.21 PM : I was worried I wouldn't get through any o...

I am a deeply conflicted and divided person. A big part of me is Indian and a big part of me is not. I know : you'll say it doesn't make any sense that both these parts are big but that's the truth. My personality constitutes of two big parts. And every time I fly from here to India and back, I feel like I am crossing a stitch that binds those two parts together. This way, each trip and each stitch will bring them closer and closer. It's a nice thought. Clothes on a wash line. Strong sunshine in a blue blue sky. Neighborhood noises in the morning. Getting a view of the engine and the first few compartments as the train curves along a windy track. Personal conversations with strangers and semi strangers on public transport. Early morning temple visits. Lying on the sofa on a still afternoon with an empty head and listening to the rustle of the newspaper that Dad's reading. Good things about an India trip. I had a couple of other things that I wanted to write about to...

Some thoughts in my head over the past few days. Pure joy : sitting in the middle of a thoroughly and freshly cleaned house that has in-home laundry. Even if it, the laundry system, is not being used currently. Why then, is it required, you ask. Because. Just by being, in home laundry is the best comfort out there. 70s hindi songs make for very good company while pottering about the home, cleaning. We are slaves to our jobs. We fret about them, work hard on them, plan our holidays, our travel, our lives around them. Why? Because we are slaves to our careers and earning money. Career and money seem so abstract when you start thinking about life and everyday and the big picture. Until you want to buy that blu-ray player. Then, money makes a whole lot of sense. Shopping for others (others that you care about) is fun. I discovered this over the last 2 days as I ran around stores picking gifts for Ye Olde Family in preparation for my trip. I must say I am pleased with ze purchases. Of cour...

And I am back. Bay State Marathon : check I might have frozen the bajeezers off my crooked hobbity fingers but I made it to the finish line. The weather brought it on - cold temps, high winds, rain, freezing rain, etc but Goofy did it again. He pulled through and saved the day. Goofy is my guardian angel, FYI. And a big shout out to all my fantabulawesome friends for showing up and cheering for me and occasionally running with me in such horrid weather. You are fantabulawesome. All in all, it's been a good day today. Great weather, beautiful colors. I packed off at work pretty soon and got home, all inspired to paint. Begin Tangent : I realize that most of my interests/activities in my adult life revolve around some stuff that I felt cheated out of as a kid or had the most fun with as a kid. Running for example is my way of clinging on to play time. I was serious about play time as a kid. School was out at 3 and I'd barely manage to get home and change and have a snack and I...

I cannot finish my poems. My paintings don't get done. But this hardly seems complaint worthy when nature's working on a grand masterpiece alongside - Fall. A well worn, open book. The green and gold of the long stalks of corn. The glass like surface of a calm pool of water. The crimson, yellow and gold of the leaves of Fall. What makes all of these even better? Sunlight. Open, warm, life-giving sunshine. You can tell it's one of my favorite things. On to other things. Let's take a look at the good and bad decisions that I've taken regarding the marathon training this year : 1. Skipping multiple runs (sometimes for up to 10 days) to travel for pleasure : Bad (for marathon training) Good (for pleasure :-) ) 2. Letting my legs, and not the coach, decide how many mid-week runs I did and how long they were. Good (for MT) Good (for quality of life) 3. Waiting until I was able to run a good 25K road race after all the traveling before committing to running the full marath...

Blogger informs me that this is my 100th post. I refuse to cave under pressure and produce a scintillating post. I'll stick to my usual unique style - rambling and largely pointless. It's been an interesting couple of weeks and weekend. I ran a pretty bad 15 miler yesterday. My quads were sore to begin with and I had to stop around 13-14 miles and just walk the rest. It probably did some good for my quads but not my morale. But no worries - that's what good food and afternoon naps are for. Anyways, after a truly tasty, filling and more importantly, hilariously entertaining lunch with the gang, and a long drive home (Thank you Massachusetts for the ubiquitous construction!), I walked into ye olde homestead. I automatically flicked the TV on while I did the basic pottering around routine that is standard and 10 minutes later I heard a phrase that I never dreamt I would hear : " .. I started juicing and the rest is history ". What!!?! Apparently, this was an infomerc...

Ah! The crisp air, the slightest invigorating chill, the early dusks of Fall. The time when the lights at home seem warm and welcoming as you drive back from work at night. Well, in my case, the lights are all switched off until I actually get into the house and switch them on but you get what I mean. I am a happy camper. Have had a blissful set of days lately. From Mississippi to Reykjavik to back home in Boston. All those fantastic and wonderful sights and experiences. And just in time for that transformation from summer to Fall. Yes, things are good. The only fly in the ointment when I got back from my vacation was my worry about the upcoming Cape Ann 25k on Labor Day for which I felt woefully under prepared. But Goofy pulled it off yet again (Goofy is my guardian angel. Yes I have a name for him and yes there's some history to this but we'll get there later). Anyways, after just a 6 mile run the day after I got back and a 4 mile jog-walk two days after that, I was able to f...

** Wrote this up while traveling during the day yesterday and only got a chance to post it this morning. From sunny Mississippi!! Occasionally life gives us that one beautiful day. A very pleasant day when everything seems just about right. Like yesterday for instance. It started like any other day with me realizing when the alarm rang that 6 hours of sleep is really not enough and ignoring it - the alarm - to nap for another hour. I worked for a little and then decided to do a short run on the apartment gym's treadmill. I am not very fond of this gym but I figured this would be the most convenient time and setting. Anyways, off I went. After spending 10 mins trying to figure out where the remote for the TV was and running half a mile, I realized the following (yes, it was a great day for realizations) : - I really did not like this gym. - It's annoying to try to watch TV while running especially when the treadmill puts a steam engine to shame with its noise. - My shins hurt...

The thoughts that haunt me as the weary sun dips are the words that never will reach my lips. That though we might have lost our way my helpless love is locked in me and I wish my jaded heart believed that what we were, we still can be. finis

So I've been listening to this song "1,2,3,4" by Feist for the last week or so. If you've heard it you know that it's the kind of tune that gets ingrained in your brain and never lets you go. You'll be doing something totally random or not doing anything and you'll hear it in your head. Like I was running last evening and didn't have my ipod on me and guess which song my head automatically starts playing? The last straw was when I woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago to get some water - there I was padding my way to the kitchen, eyes still half closed and going "dum dum dum dum dum dum dum de dum....". Insane, I tell you. So anyways, the tune was still in my head last night and so I did the only thing I could do. I wrote a poem. Along the same tune. Here it is. Soul mates, mind games reading into everything Sun signs, star signs telling me what my future brings. Oh! I'm so tired of counting the days. I'd rather smile at t...

Colorado is a beautiful place. I was out there for the long weekend and had a great time. I've been meaning to write about it ever since but well, things got in the way - in the way of my generally lazing through life. It didn't start out so promising, though ( and here I am referring to my trip, not my lazing or my life - though it probably could be applied to both). I was supposed to get to Boulder on Thursday night but on my way to the airport here, I was pleasantly informed that my flight was delayed and that this would result in my not being able to catch my connection in Dallas. After resisting their incredible offer to enjoy a full night's stay at Dallas all on my expense, I managed to get a ticket for a flight out from my home town early next morning. The journey out and the first few hours in Colorado were pretty uneventful and pleasant. Once S and I stopped sneering at the smaller Rockies, and the snow caps and 14ers made their appearance, all of us enjoyed the wo...

So how has the efficient week been coming along you ask? Decently well, I must say. Considering that I actually could get my lazy self off the bed and in to work at a non late hour on both days in spite of the perfect rainy/gloomy weather to just stay in bed in my pajamas, I think I did very well. Tangent - I think the world would be a much happier place if we could wear pjs to most places. Everybody would be much more relaxed. There would be pleasant and cheerful colors and themes all around - I am yet to come across a gloomy or violent pair of pajamas. You wouldn't have to think as much about matching different shirts/tshirts/sweaters and jeans/pants/capris/skirts/shorts whatever 'cause pjs always come in sets. It really is a win-win situation. Back from the tangent: I even managed to get a 10 miler done y'day. It wasn't in the plan initially but J sent out a mail y'day which said that he "hoped that everyone got out on Sat'day or Sunday and did a 10 mile...

I am completely blocked. It's been 5 days since my last run ( a 6 miler on Tue). I thought of a short story while waiting at the airport on Thu and even made some notes but I can't write. I've been having trouble going back to the oil painting I started. I can't seem to get a hang of my schedule and couldn't get through some simple chores that I had for this evening. The situation is pretty bad. I need to get out of this lazy hibernation mode that I've been in ( not much activity, loads of food) and get into my efficient mode. Of course, the gray skies and the constant rain don't help but there's only so much I can blame on the weather. On the good side, I finished an awwwwwssssome book over the weekend. Ender's Game. Thanks to V for recommending a great book. I found it absozucchingly absorbing. And this afternoon, after lunch I watched "Pineapple Express". It was hilarious! Ok, in preparation for a solid week, I've decided to retire e...

It's been a confusing set of days. Especially today. But, I did laugh quite a bit - mostly at myself. And that's the best kind of laughing there is. I should go on a road trip. Every once in a while, especially when I am confused, I feel like getting into the car and just driving. Driving south. But there's always something to do the next day and you can't take off. One of these days, I must. Meanwhile, I have my comfort literature. Never quite got into comfort food but discovered the joys of comfort books long long ago. And so, confusedly, to bed.

I finally got done with a deadline at work. This had been eating up a lot of my time lately and I am relieved to get it off my back. Considering that I have been a little short on sleep lately - thanks to this and other reasons - and pulled in a nice six miler after work this evening, I should have been asleep a while ago. Or at least, happily curled up with Card's Ender. Instead, I am still up and blogging. Why? Wherefore? Well, I cleaned up my yahoo mail box for a while. Why? Wherefore? It all started when I got up super charged this morning - it was probably the adrenalin from the deadline. Anyways, I got up and decided to get through all my pending emails, to-dos, etc in my personal domain. I got through all that and got to work in good time. At work, while I was nervously waiting the results of a couple of runs that took a while (and on which hung in balance my efforts), I cleaned up my work email. I must admit it though. I love to organize. The feeling that I get after cleani...

Rain. The first rain after scorching Indian summer. That heady wonderful smell - the first smell I fell in love with - of the first drops of rain on the baked brown earth. Umbrellas and rain coats. Racing up the stairs to get the almost-dry clothes off the wash line before they get drenched. Wet shoes, wet socks, wet feet, wet everything. The promise of monsoon and the welcoming joy and relief in everyone. Dull and quiet afternoons. Watching glittering drops of light by the light of a street lamp. Puddles and potholes. Green green plants and trees and grass. The hypnotic drone of the wipers. Steam rising from the asphalt after a thunderstorm in the South. Hot tea and spicy snacks. The cool evening after-breeze. That said, I've been missing you Mr.Sun. Please pop in and cheer me up a bit. Note: Just heard the perfect insult. "You are an idiot wrapped in a moron". Ray Romano is funny as all get out. I'm in love. Again. This time it's the cast of the Big Bang Theory ...

It's been a good set of days. The week itself was fun, what with hanging out with folks on Wed - and before I forget, here's a shout out to "S" and "Y" for reading/pretending to read by blog and requesting to star in it ;-) - and watching "Up" the next day with the usual gang (awesome movie!). P was flying in on Friday and a few hours before his departure from O, it was decided that we would attempt to hike up Mt.Washington. As usual it was a slightly imbalanced plan. Late Friday night, I set out to pick him up from the hour-away airport. Somehow this turned into a road trip for 3 of my concerned friends. Suffice to say that there were bad jokes a plenty and some rather interesting conversation. Randomness abounds in my life. Anyways, it was around 2 am by the time we crashed and I actually managed to be up by 6.30 am the next morning. By 8.30 we were showered, breakfasted and packed and P was armed with enough stuff to survive a hurricane and live...

Got a nice six miler done this morning. And that brings the total to 32.75 miles. The shins felt pretty good after too. Wisely, I stretched the heck out of them. And just to be sure, I included Ice and Tiger Balm. Ice and TiBa is an awesome combo. Until you get some TiBa in your eyes, that is. Don't ask me how. Wanted to add a couple of comments on my earlier post. 1. It may not seem apparent reading the post but much fun was had over this trip. Granted, most of it was the giddy kind of fun that comes out of exhaustion but still. 2. Let's see you Haiku that, my haiku-loving-friend.

I've been light headed for a couple of days. Mostly because I pared down my long locks over the weekend. A nice summer cut and now I won't get the pony whiplash when I run. So I decided that I'll tell you the story of Bald Mountain. This was a hiking/camping/backpacking trip that P and I attempted three years ago during summer. It was, I think, ~ 20 mile round trip. It was somewhere in Vermont ( I am too bored to look it up now) and on the Appalachian trail. The plan was to for us to meet at the trail head, hike up carrying our backpacks (loaded with sleeping bags, camping gear, etc), camp at the top of the mountain (not the Bald One), and hike back down the next day. This is one of those memories. I doubt if I'll ever forget any part of it. We met around 9 or 10 at the trail head. We'd discussed this the previous night and we both planned to bring water filters so we could filter water from streams and other water bodies on the hike so we didn't have to carry t...

Had to use that word. Especially now that I've finished reading Oscar Wao. And yes, I am back. First things first. I need to keep track of my mileage on my new shoes and in general. So let's see - as far as I remember there was 3 miler, a 6 miler, a 3 miler, a 4.5 miler, a 7 miler, a 2 miler and a 1.25 miler. And that, my razor sharp whizkid brain tells me adds up to 30 miles, no 14.85 miles, no wait! 26.75 miles. And yes, you will notice that the last two runs were extremely unremarkable. That's the thing. I had a good 7 miler over the weekend, thanks to Y who ran with me and pushed me to a faster-than-usual pace and made sure I finished it, and then a quick 2 miler y'day and my shins were doing fine. All seemed well. And then today, I get on the treadmill and abt 13 mins later my shins went to town. And now, ice is my new best friend. Oh well. So much for those awesome shin/calf exercises that I've been doing religiously for 3 whole days. Next, had a great weekend...

So, I was having dinner with friends this evening and was stunned to discover that they didn't know about this contest-sorta-thing that I had going on. Amazes me - how people go about with little knowledge of the wonders all around them. Anyways, I decided that I should remind folks about it. I also thought it would be good to post some rules regarding this contest-sorta-thing. Rules * It is necessary for the reader to leave a comment on one of blog posts so that they be included in the head count (we are aiming for 50). (How else will I know you read my blog, Einstein? ) * Whenever possible, the comment should be less witty/interesting/deep/informative that the actual post. I understand that is a pretty hard thing to do, but oh well. Alright, alright. The comment may be more informative than the post. * It is not necessary that the reader enjoy the post in order to comment on it. * In fact, it is not necessary for the reader to finish reading the post prior to commenting on it. * ...

It happened! The first celebrity sighting in a long long time. Obama and his daughters. They were at my place and I was figuring out their sleeping arrangements along with my brother and sis-in-law. OK, so you must know that this was in my dream. I must say it's one of the wackiest dreams I've ever had. I was stressing out last night on the whole iPhone vs Blackberry Storm before I went to bed and so it follows that early this morning I dreamt that Mr.O and his daughters were visiting me, my bro and my s-i-l. It was funny. There we were, 3 hosts and 3 guests and we had this one room where I was trying to arrange all the beds and sleeping bags so everyone could sleep comfortably. My sister in law was fretting about making sure every one was comfortered and my bro was a little sleepy and grumpy and I just wanted them all to settle down and go to sleep. The biggest problem somehow was where Aliana (that was his younger daughter's name in the dream) would sleep - not sure why. ...

Beautiful day. Had to drive ~25-30 miles after work to get to a practice session for an upcoming performance. Had a solid practice session and headed back an hour later. Decided to test out my new running shoes and did a 3 miler on the treadmill. Did most of it at an easy pace and finished feeling pretty good. Stretched for a little and walked out to the car without pain/stiffness. It was a lovely spring evening - cool enough to feel good in a light t shirt after a run. Spent a couple of minutes admiring the glow of fresh green leaves against the light from a street lamp, got into my car and happily drove home. So this is probably a good drill. If I have 30-40 mins of cardio activity to warm up with, I might be able to run 3 miles without issues. It all seems moot. And now for a quick two pages of Wao and bed. We are taking the bike to work tomorrow, precious!

Hope in a garden Hoping it will turn out like last year : or the year before ... And so to Wao and bed.

Another weekend comes to a close. It was a good one. Good weather, good times. I bought my new running shoes yesterday. Of course, the fact that the skies got all dark and gloomy and there was a big downpour on my way back home bodes ill for them. But then, I have never been accused of being a quitter - especially when it's actually a good idea. So I shall bash on regardless. Have you ever wondered who discovered that pineapples were edible? I mean, they almost look like mini-dragons - not exactly inviting. Of course, this discovery must have taken place after the invention of the chain saw. 'Cause that is what you need to cut one - a pineapple, I mean. I tried to cut the one I bought yesterday and after a few scratches and some curses, I decided that it still wasn't ripe enough. Try another day. Oh, that reminds me. I was Trader Joe's yesterday. They have these organic bran muffins in different flavors there. And they are made by a company called - get this - Moral Fib...

Does life get in the way of sleep or does sleep get in the way of life? Just finished watching Juno. It's such a warm and sunny story. Loved it. and so to bed.

The plan was to go to bed early so I could get up early tomorrow morning, stretch, pack for the day and bike to work. The reality is that I just got back home after watching Russel Peter's new sketch and a cool video (from Top Gear) of the Bugatti Veyron doing 253 mph at AP's place. That is two zucching fifty three miles per hour. Insane. And waaaay cool. (Mental note : Add the following to the list of things to do the next time I have free time, or the next time I am doing something that I am not keen on doing - look up the list of current Bugatti Veyron owners. This should be possible) So, I decided to update the name of this blog based on Aditya's comment. I have also come up with a name for my autobiography that I will eventually attempt out of boredom : The imperfect Buddha and Other stories. Not sure if I picked up the "and other stories" from A - the phrase seems vaguely familiar. Other things to ponder on: 1. Why was a hammer involved the last time I cooke...

I am not a true blue New Englander. I am not proud of the Boston attitude. I don't think Boston is better than all cities South, North and West of Boston (there are no cities East of Boston). We all know that I do not enjoy driving on the crazy New England roads, especially after digging my car out of a mound of New England snow. And I definitely do not think that it is weak to live in a place with milder weather. I don't even use the one big advantage of living around Boston - the Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox and the Bruins. The Patriots I am now luke warm to (after Eli and his men put a stopper on their Super Bowl run and an indifferent season last year - prior to that, I just didn't like them) and the others I barely manage to connect with the right sport. But one thing I am big fan of. I love the New England Spring. Rather, I am foolishly, hopelessly, breathless and wide eyed school girlishly in love with the spring here. It's amazing. A little over a month ago, the r...

It's close to 11 pm on a Friday night and for a change, I am happily curled up with my Bill Bryson. He combines my two great loves - a wacky and sometimes silly sense of humor and travel. He is awesome. And so to bed.

No, I didn't make it. In my defense, I did manage to drag myself out of bed at 6.30 am and would have been ready to get out of the house by around 7 but I couldn't find the darned (I still need a suitable vegetable replacement for darn/damn/dang - something that can be ed) keys to my bike lock. Now, folks would argue that the parking lot of my work place is a pretty safe place and I could leave my bike unlocked and it would still be there when I got out of work, but I say nay. I mean, maybe. But once I discovered that I couldn't find the key, my mind kept coming up with all these scenarios in which some thug would make away with my bike. You never know - these bicycle thugs are always around. Better safe than bicycle-less. Anyways, I couldn't find the keys and that was that. So I took the ol' faithful 4 wheeler. Which brings us to the point. Ze nub. The number of missing/lost things at home had reached a critical mass with the missing keys. So, I came home this even...

Every day you learn something new. Over the last couple of days I learnt that tulips actually opened and closed with the sun. I never knew that tulips that have bloomed will close in the evening and re-open the next day. I was pleasantly surprised by the two wonderfully yellow tulips in my balcony. Spring is here. Well, actually summer's been here the last few days but I think we'll go back to spring again from tomorrow. It got really really warm and suddenly there is color everywhere. On my daily morning commute I now see the brilliant yellow Forsythias, white and pink cherry blossoms, lovely lime green leaves that are just sprouting on the trees, dark green evergreens, grass green grass, little yellow dandelions, lavenders, wild flowers of lavender, orange, blue and pink, tulips of all colors and those lovely hedges of purple flowers (Azaleas?). All these colors - on a 10 min commute. I am insanely happy by the time I get to work. That lasts about 10 mins after that. I am kid...

After musing on this a while, I have decided that I'd like four seasons in a year. Spring, Summer 1, Summer 2 - laced with a little Fall at the end and Football. We can have a month or two of Fall in Summer 2 and the leaves should start appearing again the week after Super Bowl. What say, Massachusetts? There's been too much disorder in my daily life lately and April seems to have gone off in a haze. Order shall be restored.

Another weekend has flown by. What is up with the speed of weekends? Still, no complaints. Two days of 60+ degree weather, one cloudy but one sunny - New England is finally getting the hang of spring. Having woken up bright and early at 7.30 on Sat'day morning, I decided to make the most of this and took my bike out. I thought I'd quaintly bike through the quaint suburban town that I live in - with its quaint down town area and quaint buildings and side walks. Of course, I also quaintly got lost. Well, I wanted to figure out the bike path to my office so I could try biking to work once in a while over the next few months. I decided to try out a route other than my usual car route in order to avoid the busy rotary (for my thoughts on rotaries in MA, please refer to the post named Plaudit)on the way. Long story short, 20 minutes after I took the alternate route, I found myself at the rotary, all in favor of taking my usual route. I made it to work and most of the way back when I...

'Twas a good day. Bugs I've been trying to fix for three weeks are finally fixed. Walked out to the parking lot at work around 7.15 pm without a jacket and it was pleasant. And there was still plenty of light. That made me super happy. Spent a good 40 mins practising dance (still need many hours to get good at the new pieces I am learning). Pottered about, did this and that and it is time to turn in. I came across this picture yesterday - http://www.shantalashivalingappa.com/ (Didn't want to paste the pic here without her knowledge). I have never seen such grace and power coupled with such serenity. Divine. Such pictures are why I get so fired up about dance. Of course, such pictures are also the reason why I ponder on giving up and quitting a lot of times :-). Nope - as long as I have understanding neighbors, or have friends who have understanding neighbors, the learning shall continue. Seeds are sprouting. Seedlings have emerged. A couple of weeks ago, on a nice weather d...

Had a glorious weekend. This truly is how all weekends should be. Got up at a decent hour on Saturday and saw patches of sunshine outside. The believer that I am, I decided to not bother with weather.com and generated my weather report by staring out of my living room window. It will be mostly sunny with temps in the high 50s is what I decided. After pottering about for a while and creating and transferring the playlist that catered to my mood onto the ipod, I drove out to a nearby trail. It's 3 miles out - so out and back would be a good 6 mile affair. I figured that I'd try to jog the 3 miles out and walk back to my car. I proceeded to do this and as I did, the sky got cloudier, the wind got gustier and the temp was definitely not in the high 50s. It was still pleasant in my sweatshirt so I jogged/walked happily. On finishing the loop, I got this idea that I should redo the whole thing. It seemed like a good idea at that time - probably 'cause my circulation was already b...

Since (yes, yes, I am aware that it is not right to start a sentence, let alone a new blog post with "since" but then it's my blog ha ha ) I just finished re-watching "Lord of the Rings" - this time the extended edition of the DVDs - over the past week, and re-affirmed that it is one of the best stories I've read, I decided to pay tribute to Tolkien by using random words from His books as the titles to my posts. Thank you, great sire! Your creativity completely overwhelmed me while I read the books and has blessed many an idle afternoon of mine with its ample food for thought and daydreaming. From Fangorn to Lothlorien to Ithilien, from Rohan to Mordor to Gondor, I've pondered some happy hours away. Seriously, if someone finds a portal to Middle Earth, it would be a sin to not let me know. On another note, Corningware entered my life, full of promise, but now it seems like it will come to naught. I finally decided to move past my old grad student-like t...

I've seen some recent comments on my running and since I do mention it quite a bit in my blog, I've decided to throw some light on it. The whole thing is pretty rummy. You know how every one has a thing? Well, I've somehow decided that running is my thing. I don't think I've convinced the whole gang, though. My shins, for one, couldn't agree less. But such is life. You give and you do, you do and you give and you still cannot make your shins happy. Just got back from a nice improv show and a yummy dessert in the city. Having realized that it is very late and that if I stayed up much longer, I might not be able to fall asleep, I promptly decided to open up my laptop, wrestle with Macafee for control over it(the said laptop), and blog instead of going to bed. All thanks again, of course, to the fact that I came up with the title for the blog and had to post it ASAP. I need a good book. It's been a while since I really got hooked to a book and I miss that. I pi...

P had the right word for the weather. Menopausal. First, it was almost 60 degrees over the weekend. Such good weather that we spent a few happy hours at a nearby bay armed with just sweatshirts. And this evening, when I walk to my car, I find a good few inches of snow on my car. I have whined about this before - after 6 miles of running, you just do not want to indulge in some fun snow cleaning. The weather gods are daft. And then I had to work industriously at the sink to build the little mountain of clean dishes. I have two tiny containers with food that I cooked on Sunday but a whole boat load of dishes to clean from that effort. Some one has got to explain this to me. But no matter. I am still happy. They (with a capital T) moved the clock over the weekend and we have more hours of daylight. Wheeeeeeeee! And now, to make sure I don't sleep walk through the (seemingly) longer days, it is time to turn in. And so to bed.

I finally got around to finishing that poem that I'd written the outline for years ago when I was living in the Sunburnt South. Go read the poem and have a good night while I go off hunting for that which shall be a balm for my sore eyes. Summer Conversations On a sunny afternoon with a lush, warm breeze, I try to eavesdrop on the wind chimes and the oak tree. The tinkling greeting an eager melody The answering rustle measured and steady. My own breath tries to join in only to be drowned in by the playful wind. I tilt up my face to the blazing sky and the summer is trapped within my eyes Silken threads of the sun weave their patterns across my face As I lie in wakeful sleep and time takes on a different pace Drunk on sunshine warm and drowsy, I let the hours slip away in this idle company. The afternoon shafts slowly turn to pastel hues The amber river is now a myriad shades of blue. The chimes are softer, only a murmur to the moon just whispered tales of a late summer noon.

I am back ... baby!(Costanza style). After the Cali vacations and the bouts of nasty colds and deadlines, all is well with the world and I return to the blogging world. How has everyone been ? I simply have to share my joy. Yesterday, I drove to work with the windows down in my car. The temperature was in the high 50s and there was a pleasant breeze. It is Feb and I live in Massachusetts! It took every ounce of self control not to break into a song as I walked to my office from the parking lot. Of course, here is what weather.com has to say abt tomorrow, er today, well Sunday : A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. WHILE LIGHT SNOW OR SLEET BRUSHES PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND SUNDAY... A MORE SIGNIFICANT STORM APPEARS LIKELY FOR SUNDAY NIGHT INTO AT LEAST MID TO LATE MORNING MONDAY. It is Feb and I live in Massachusetts. I guess those plans I had of going to the city tomorrow and bumming around there will have to be shelved. Instead, ...

And softly fell the snow. Snow fall, by the light of a street light, is one of those intensely beautiful sights of nature. The silence and stillness associated with it heighten that intensity. I got a glimpse of this as I closed the blinds in my bedroom a short while ago. Now, with a dose of Nyquil and Latika's theme music from Slumdog Millionaire for company, I shall try once more to debug an issue in my code. Good luck to me. Note to self: Try blogging under the effect of Nyquil/Advil PM some time(an hour or so after the intake). That should be interesting. Good night, me hearties!

Back after a busy week or so and a fun, relaxing weekend in Cali. Tangent: Had switched on the TV as I picked up my laptop to blog and happened to watch Anoop Desai sing "Angel of Mine" on American Idol. Simon Fuller, after listening to the song, told this guy that he had (and I quote) "massive likeability". Massive Likeability. I like that. Next time I am asked to do a peer review for one of my co-workers, I think I'll put that in " X needs to work on his/her planning abilities but, on the other hand, has Massive Likeability". Back from Tangent: So came back after a nice break. It was just what the doctor ordered. A clean break from work and the usual routine. And loads of fun too. Got a chance to catch up with old and close friends after a while. Actually the last few weeks have been interesting like that. Old friends have been popping in and I got quite a chance to observe and learn more about them. I am intrigued by people and I think it's fasc...

I am in bliss. Tired, fed to the gills, favorite-blue-pajamaed and comforte(re)d. This is the life. Rewind and what have you? A pleasant morning :cleaning up, pottering abt the house and some errands. Then I set off for my performance. As usual, my slot was almost towards the end of the show. So I amused myself taking my time with costume/makeup, thinking abt this and that, fascinating the heck out of this 5 year old sitting one row ahead of me, and occasionally watching the other performances. Anyways, point being, I arrived home late in the evening and hungry as hell. (This always happens when I have dance recitals but I will never learn.) I then proceeded to plough (take that Spellcheck! I like my English the English way) my way through a la-aa-arge eggplant parmesan sandwich and fries. Hence the bliss. Hence the inability to breathe in a prone position. Hence the blog. You never know what a day will teach you. Today, for instance, around 1.30 pm, I learned how to pick a lock. Well,...

So I started this post with nothing in mind. I just came up with the title word and decided to post. I know, I know. You're thinking - "isn't that what you do all the time, anyways?". And no, I don't. I actually have some thoughts in my mind before I post. Yes, it is true. I actually think about those random things that I post. Alright, so that's one paragraph. Moving on :-) I want to take this opportunity to thank Mr.Darnell Dockett (DT, Arizona Cardinals) for sacking Ben Roethlisberger. Twice.I was getting so tired of him having all the time in the world, before he finally threw the ball. And of him just towering over the rest of the players, in general. Good job, Mr.D. ** Back after a break. Spent the last 20 mins trying to start watching a movie, puzzling over why my DVD remote won't work, tapping it, searching and finding a fresh set of batteries for it, changing the batteries, trying it, being stumped by why it would still not work before realizing t...

So I bought a 2 door stackable storage organizer over the weekend. You know, one of those wooden, 2 door cabinet thingies that can be assembled. And last evening, I set about assembling it. "Easy Assembly, No Tools Required!" - is what it proclaimed on the box. Here is an honest account of what happened. I laid out all the pieces; the different kinds of screws, nails, dowels, hinge pins and other such implements on the carpet. I looked at the instructions. I started the assembly process. I got confused. I studied the pictures hard. I got even more confused. I continued the assembly process. I started getting impatient. I continued irregardless. At one point, I came to this instruction : "Attach Strike Plates to top corner of Doors to create left and right doors using Plate Screws. Strike Plate holes are not pre-drilled". Idaho Potatoes! What do you mean they are not pre-drilled? What part of no-tools-required do you not get!? Anyways, thankfully, I've had prior ...

What's up, Tiger Lily? Tiger Lily has decided to wake up at 6 am from tomorrow on and work out in the morning and head to work early. How long do you think that will last? Foot note : Tiger Lily has always been accused of optimism. Seriously, I need to get back into shape. In preparation, I ate up the last (big) piece of the chocolate cake sitting in my fridge. There is no way to go but up. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, precious. And so to bed.

Firstly, a shout out to all my friends who not only read my blog, but aren't ashamed to proclaim this by leaving comments. This makes me feel like I'm not spinning words into a vacuum (not that it would stop me) and makes me feel good in general. And based on the couple of comments re my last post, I gather that one of my readers is very logical and the other has a badger fetish. You think you know a person well and one day you discover they have a badger fetish. Just goes to show ... you can never tell. Am very tired. This happens at the end of any day that I have a performance in. The ratio is all whacko. Two hours of hair, dress and makeup and another hour to get out of all that and a performance of 10-15 mins. An average performance at that. Go figure. Over the course of dinner with friends, was asked to define flirting. After struggling to do so, I was disturbed to hear that I could have been flirting with folks when I thought I was just being social or friendly. Just goes...

Life spins fast. Chug chug chug and another day goes by. And occasionally, very occasionally, you have that one moment in a day, when your mind quiets down, achieves clarity and you realize that everything is going well. The to do list fades to the background and you have this sense of peace and well-being. I like that feeling. It's nice and deep and calm. Back to my usual undeep thoughts. It's been such a long time since I've played hooky - really. I mean - take time off for no reason and to do nothing in particular. I think I should. Every so often. I am forgetful, in general. Many times I leave home, and have to walk back to my apartment from the parking lot 'cause I have forgotten one thing or the other. So I decided that I need a way to help me keep track of the essentials. Here are the things I need every time I leave home in the morning- wallet, keys, cell phone, badge. To make it easy to remember I thought I'd use one of those things - you know, those things...

And in the wee hours of the 20th day of January, she arrived. Yes, I am back in the atmosphere. And no, there are no drops of Jupiter in my hair. And yes, you can tell that I am sleepy. In my defense, I spent the last hour and a half going through three weeks of bills and all the paper that gets mailed to me. So the new year has started. Started with some expenses on the ol' faithful car. With both the Mannings crashing out of race to the Bowl. With more snow than I know what to do with. With two working weekends. And with news of no raises this year. All this fills me with good cheer and a boat load of hope. Why? The year can now only get better. If January sucks, surely February cannot do the same! Surely, the girl is an optimist. And in need of sleep. And so to bed.