The Happy Gardener ( previously Random - first blog)

Caldera

2011-12-05T23:36:00.003-05:00

Hello Endorphins, I've missed you.

Yes, I finally dragged my sorry, lazy b*** to the gym today. The last straw was when I realized recently that if I didn't do something to contain this issue, I might end up having to buy a whole new set of jeans and we all know how much I hate that. And I don't even really dislike going to the gym. Just like waking up, if I decide to do it and just push through the first couple of minutes, I am actually pretty sold on the idea.
And when I got out after the workout, the breeze was just right, and the right song was playing on my phone ... and yes, the aforementioned Es were making me giddy.

But now I've blown all that good energy from going to the gym and an early dinner and some house chores by staying up so late waging wars against the Zombiekind with my peashooters and puffshrooms. Oh well. Every day we learn. Some day we will retain.

And so, philosophically, to bed.

Codicil

2011-11-10T22:38:00.002-05:00

Today I entered into a life long commitment. And I did it with very little thought. Here's how it happened. I was at the checkout of the local Sports Authority, paying for my new gym bag among other things.

Guy at the counter : ( reading the tag on my new bag as he put everything in a bag) and this one has a life time warrantee
Me : !!
Me : ( a brief pause later) so what happens if anything happens to the bag ?
GATC : oh, you need to go to Adidas but they'll replace it for you.

There. Me and Adidas. *Together*. Forevvvver. And they say such things are hard to find.

A new wave of socks has entered my life. And with color to boot. (Haha. Socks and boot. Yeah, I am clever that way). Hope these last a decent while without getting all out of shape in two washes.

Lots of such hosiery musings that I could share but my heart isn't in it. Time to go read about supernovae and such.

and so to bed.

Milagroso

2011-07-28T22:03:00.003-04:00

Accidentally ended up watching an hour of So You Think You can Dance this evening. It was an amazing episode. Such beauty, such grace, such power. It was poetry in motion. And after watching a couple of dances, I felt like clapping - not the polite claps that you have to pull out when you listen to a pretty-good speech, or at some wedding or reception or some other party but the unembarassed clapping when you have been awed into a semi-trance - be it by wit or elegance or wonder or persona.

Anyways, here we are. I read somewhere - and I am definitely paraphrasing here - that "It is better to be content with all the seasons rather than be foolishly in love with Spring". I am not convinced. Rather, I disagree. First of all, love, by definition, is foolish. It is not a logical series of steps that ends with Hence Proved. Love is foolish. Love is overwhelming. Love is unreasonable. We demand so much and extend ourselves so much from/for the object(s) of our love. And we need love. Life needs love. More than love, though, life needs insanity. It needs imbalance. So go, find your rush. Whatever it is, find it. And love it. And don't let anyone talk you out of it. Especially that diabolical twin of yours - your logical self. Sure, go out there and chase the Human Dream - success, wealth, contentment. Be good, be responsible, be smart, be successful, be ambitious, be deep, be compassionate. But also : be insane. We all have something - a sport, a hobby, a job, a movie, whatever it is. Running, hiking, seeing the world, teaching, growing a garden, creating new technology, patenting success, solving puzzles, writing a book, being a star. Whether it is painting the perfect wall or a breathtaking canvas - singing, laughing, friends, making lists, rock concerts, skylines, window views, restaurants or reviewing movies. Organic, retro, recycled, intense or laidback. Whatever it is. Take my word, life's too short. How crazy for life to not be just that - alive? And how crazy for it to not be about *you* and your insanity. Cause if you are lucky and you find it, then there'll be those occasional moments. Where it's not about anything else - not success, not skill, not ambition, not praise, not luck, not any standard that anyone can impose on you. It is about you - and the rush. Go do it, there's always time to overthink and reason later. Find your rush.

Madrigal

2011-07-21T22:22:00.003-04:00

Softly falls the snow,
slowly rises the moon,
quietly blows the breeze,
steadily grows the friendship.
Slowly heals the bruise,
quietly flows the time,
steadily beats the heart,
softly comes the night,

and so fades my love.

~ finis ~

Marjorum

2011-07-13T22:04:00.005-04:00

The lightning came first. Then the thunder. It didn't scare her. It never did - especially when she could see the lightning first. She opened the window a little more. Here was the wind now. Some drops of rain in it but heavy with the promise of many more. Her eyes closed and she smiled slightly. That smell. That heady smell of rain and freshly sprinkled earth - most lovely of them all. She leaned out a little, breathing deeply and settled on the arm of her couch. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a table lamp sitting on the floor and casting a dim light about it. I should unpack but it'll have to wait. Her feet were tired from all the walking and standing in lines. Her neck was sore from all the driving around town. Moving is *so* much work. It was strange how everything happened so quickly towards the end. A few months ago, she was vacationing in her home town with her parents and suddenly she was back and her manager was telling her of her group being dissolved. Her buddies were looking for jobs elsewhere. She could stay - move to a different group but it didn't seem like a great idea. She looked too, and found some openings thanks to her friends. The interview went well and she impulsively decided to move. Well, impulsive for her in that it hadn't been planned and discussed many months in advance. These things didn't happen to her. Life marched along a gnerally well marked-out course. No surprises. Except, there were.I guess I should've seen it coming. Actually, maybe I did. Maybe that's why I responded well to the situation. But everything had been a blur. She was just now grasping the fact of the move. It wasn't her first, certainly. She had done this a few times in the past - except the last one was a good 7 years ago. The rain was failling a little faster now. But the wind and the fragrance, both equally delightful, continued. She remembered the monsoons in the land she grew up in. Of how she would sit there in the verandah smiling at the rain - happy for the parched earth that could finally slake its thirst and was thanking the rain with that fragrance. They should bottle this up and sell it And that reminded her of the other favorite smell of hers. Marjorum. Maruvam. Deep, lovely, unique. Green marjorum between strands of jasmine. Sigh. She yawned. I'll sleep wonderfully. And no work for another 2 weeks means sleeping in. Lovely.
The clouds weren't staying, the wind was taking them with it.She mused on her thoughts : Nothing original - pretty bland and self centered as usual. Not blog-worthy. Maybe I should branch into fiction

Finis

Alizarin

2011-07-05T21:10:00.006-04:00

Yup, life is complete. Now that I have the two things I've always wanted : Awesome cyan/turqoise/blue Vera Bradley bag and a pair of Keens. Yes, I haved Keened up. What are these Keens I speak of? They are just not-amazingly-got-looking, kinda funky, very expensive, seeming durable and extremely well-reviewed sandals that I've been mildly obsessing abt for the past couple of years. They are water-proof and light hike-ready as well. I will post a picture soon and you will see the light. As for the turqoise VB, it's already been documented in the past. Done. A life well lived.

And now it's time to move on. To new adventures and new discoveries. If there's one thing that I've learnt over the decades of my life, it is the fact that every time I think that life is all settled and pretty much going to progress in an unremarkable, steady sorta way (which is pretty often - in fact, I am in the throes of one such what-am-i-doing-with-my-life-i-need-goals-and-challenges phase right now), things change up. And that change, that unpredictability - I need. It's been a wonderful 5-6 months of steadiness, of contentment, of routine, of responsibilities - and I am very deeply grateful for all of it. Now, for some madness.

And so to the end of wonderfully relaxed long weekend.

apropos

2011-04-12T23:09:00.004-04:00

What is a girl to do?

She is to do taxes, bills, clean up, car inspections and all the assorted administrative chores of everyday life. And manage to convince everyone, including herself that she is a productive and contributive member of the work force. All this while analyzing the world, her words and her actions and shopping for a comfortable and not-bad-looking jeans. It is a hard life.

It was a strange sorta day. Nothing particularly joyous - in fact, in many ways it was more of the same. Loads of work to do, a realization that the time is never going to be enough, uncertainty over how to tackle issues at work while still managing to do all one wants to do. But somehow through all this, there was a strange Zen. A feeling of being just about whelmed - not overwhelmed in any fashion. And once I made it home and got through a mini workout which accidentally included some cardio - I blame it on the fun Bollywood playlist that I setup to go along with my fun with weights - there came over me this general mood of happiness. Of things being right and good. Happiness for family, old and young, for friends, for Spring, for balcony views, for a fairly organized house, for Mohd Rafi's wonderful voice. Of course, we all know that whenever this happens, it just means that Fate is waiting in the wings to sock you in the eye (as has been proved time and again to Bertie Wooster) but that's a post for a different day, isn't it?

On that note, Goodnight, me hearties.

Cat's paw

2011-03-28T22:02:00.002-04:00

Today
Today I don't keep my cool
Today I offer no explanations
and accept no excuses
Today I don't see your point of view
Today I expect your acceptance
and demand perfection.
Today it is not "whatever works for you" but "this is what I want".
Today you are not better than me 'cause I frankly don't care.
Today I am tired of the voice of reason and pay attention to my own voice.
Today I forsake the world and save my soul.
Today I don't apologize - for my books, my songs, my choices or my thoughts.
Today I meet the stare of my reflection.
Today I am okay.

Lumen

2011-02-14T23:02:00.005-05:00

I walked in to work like happy little sunbeam today. I was coming off of a wonderful weekend - relaxing, pleasant and warm - and had decided to approach Monday with an energy. It lasted like 15 mins. As usual, things had broken over the weekend and were waiting patiently for me when I got back on Monday. Much stress was encountered. And then this evening, determined to run in spite of the heavy traffic on the treadmills at the gym, I came home, changed quickly and went out to run on the warmest day in a month or so. Only to find that the bitter wind made my ears cry within a mile and a half.I soldiered on, regardless, but pain was encountered is all I am saying.

On that note, A Mid Winter Day's Dream :

Snows melting,
sun shining,
birds babbling,
outside my window
as I'm pleasantly dreaming
of spring coming.

Blooms planting,
temps rising,
days lengthening
in my warm thoughts
as I dream
of spring coming.

But,
daylight fading,
cold winds blowing,
gray clouds gathering
outside my window
as I foolishly dream
of spring coming.

~ finis ~

So there you have it. Cold winds will blow. Monkey wrenches will be bunged in the works. Life will go up, down and all around. The bad times won't wait for the good weather to be over. Everything will happen all at once and suddenly days will slow down to a crawl. But we shall persist. And I think I'm getting my smile back :-)

And so to bed.

Bulwark

2011-02-01T00:35:00.006-05:00

A blog in 3 to 4 parts - snapshots of the weekend.

We are bonded - bonded for life. We are different. Night and day with a million shades of gray. I bask in attention, especially yours and you stand back and smile. I jump for joy and sulk days away and you balance me out. You give me perspective. I am naive, eager to be pleased and give in to doubts. You weather the storms with solemn grit. You fear for my grace and I for your strength. Everything I learnt, I learnt from, with and around you. You laugh at my foolishness. I am foolish cause I am secure in the knowledge of your presence in my life. In everything I do. I stay a kid in your indulgent shade and I take you back to that carefree life with me. We will always be children.

~

It's amazing how a simple word, sight, sound or smell can trigger off a stream of memories. Like today, as I was in the car with C, I noticed that my lip balm had mango butter. And it smelled a little like it. Mango. Summers in India. Home made mango pickle. The blue and yellow striped, worn bag that Dad would bring mangoes in from the market. The smell of mustard powder. Juicy, full mangoes at the dinner table. Eaten with gusto. Yellow and golden. Sweet. Wonderfully, wickedly delicious. The tiny fibers around the mango seed that got annoyingly stuck in the teeth. Guarding the mango trees at my grandparent's place. This is a fun anecdote. My mom, brother and I would spend our summer vacations at my maternal grand parents' place some years when I was little. Our cousins would be there too. There were a couple of mango trees in the front yard of that house and one summer we had a couple of random kids stealing mangoes from the tree. My grandpa would have none of this. So, us kids - 3 or 4 of us, were convinced to spend hot summer afternoons in the mildly less-hot shade of the trees, on a little cot, guarding the mango trees. I don't remember too much about this other than the fact that it happened, that we did see the boys who were trying to steal the mangoes, that we hollered at them and a vague memory of the prickly, humid heat of the afternoon and the drowsiness that came with it.

~

I have been musing. On still afternoons. On clock ticks. On clean carpets and sharp shadows. On long, lean blinds that cut the light into shafts. On empty vases and water drops on freshly washed dishes. On dust on wood, and sunlight on the dust. On unopened mail and a neatly made bed. On the beauty and peacefulness of a quiet weekend.

~

Happiness is mine. It is the color of turquoise, texture of soft cotton and utterly beautiful.

And with that, I have now completed the rite of passage of womankind - wanting and obtaining an accessory for no real reason.

~

And now to bed where I need to figure out where all that tiredness and sleepiness that overcame me after my 30 min bike ride at the gym and the long drive home has now gone ...

Visiplate

2011-01-02T21:50:00.005-05:00

And so a new year is here. Another revolution, another year. A brand new, freshly minted, set of days. I am not usually big on grand celebrations on the occasion of a new year but I see the point. The ado. Say what you want about the future but there is no arguing about the fact that it is not fully predictable. It is unknown. Sure, you might find at the end of the year 2011 that nothing much has changed in the last dozen months but you don't know that now. Things may be different or not. The un-absoluteness. Hence the excitement. Yes, yes - Hope & Celebrations. Good stuff.

As is custom (and when I say custom, I mean I have done this once in the past), I have decided to do retrospective of the year now past. It was a good year. By all counts, it was. I am deeply grateful for all of it. So this should be fun. Let's see :

Ianuarius, Februarius, Martius : A hectic bunch of months. Looking for an apartment in the city, the relief of finding one that I like, The Big Move ( I actually had 7 friends helping me move, how awesome is that!? And in order to keep these wonderful people in my life, I have resolved to use movers the next time), Intro to City Life, Re-entry into the world of Running, Lots of time spent in Cafes coupled with Rediscovery of my Love for Writing using Paper & Pen and the resultant Danger of turning into a Snooty, Urban, Organic chick. Some Bad Decisions (yes, I capitalize based on the importance of these events in my life rather than rules of punctuation). A good trip to Oregon, A Bright Green-and-White Umbrella enters my Life (here)

Aprilis, Maius, Iunius : Puerto Rico - one of the best trips of my life. We were there for 3 days and the Fun never stopped. Really. The car-getting-towed-because-it-was-the-first-week-of-street-cleaning-on-the-day-that-i-got-back-from-the-trip did put a little damper on it, though. But still, it was totally worth it. Yes, it was that good. Spanish classes - that was fun. I probably retain like 20% of what I learnt in those set of classes but just thinking about and learning something completely different after a full day at work was so refreshing. Mi gusta mucho los clases de espanol! Slowly, but surely, Cambridge won me over. Made new friends and got to spend more time with old friends. A Graduated and seeing--a-live-address-from-the-current-President-of-United-States joined the list of things I never thought I would get to do in my life. ( I tell you, life is nothing short of fantastic many times, wilder than fantasy). More Writing and Happiness. And a little running.

Quintilis, Sextilis, September : A Globe enters my Life, I coin the word Pleasance (pleasantness), Closure is obtained on The Passport Picture Issue, I put forth the concept of 500 Days of Summer(plus 15 days of vacation/down time) and a Dream Comes True.My fond wish, to travel alone to Europe, Switzerland in particular, came true. I learnt quite a bit from the travels. Of how there is much to be learnt and experienced in the company of self, of how the beauties of Nature can both knock the wind out of you and bring tears to your eyes, of the warmth and friendship and relief of strangers in strange lands and how, sometimes, we come so close to missing out on dreams just 'cause we are not willing to stretch our hands and claim it. Deep. And tremendously fulfilling.

October, November, December : Stress abounds. Change abounds. And in the midst of it all, wonderful, wonderful Life flourishes. Parties, Get-Togethers, Halloween, Christmas, Holidays. And I become Aunt to Little Peanut. And of equal import, I become Owner of a Comfy Couch :-)

Like I said, deeply grateful. For many many things that went well. And many things that didn't go wrong. And for some things that didn't go according to plan.

And now, according to my tired self( which barely survived a ~ 3 mile jog+walk outdoors today), 'tis time for bed.

Happy New Year, me hearties! And a very Good night.

Getafix/Druid

2010-12-22T01:49:00.006-05:00

That's right. I wasn't able to decide what to name the blog and since both of them were related anyways, I chose to name it Getafix or Druid.

Sigh. It's 1:52 am. I should not be up. I should be in sweet sweet slumber laced with some fantastic dreams. But I am up. And so I shall blog.

It was a productive day. WFH day. The lesser said about the actual amount of office work done, the better. On the other hand, I finally did my laundry and cleaned my fridge. There is always a silver lining. I should just figure out how to work that into my weekly report now.

So it's PR's Annual Christmas Dinner tomorrow night and I was suddenly seized with an urge to contribute to the menu. I will put this down to C's evil influence. (Interesting : C's first appearance on the blog. Association with the word Evil. Hmmm)
Anywho. So there was the urge. And we all know how I get after that. So I finished up my chores in the evening and was planning on heading out to the stores to procure the necessary ingredients and implements around 7. Some work cropped up and my guilt that I hadn't been very productive work wise all day got the better of me. So finally, around 8-ish, I headed out with my 3 grocery bags and a tiny list of the necessary items. It was a cold day but I patiently pulled on all the layers and went out. By 9:30 things were looking bleak. I was still hunting down the necessary implements at Target and was finding out that a Double Boiler was not to enter my life at this stage. Thanks to C, I figured out that I would be able to avoid this step and proceed. Now there was the mad dash to a grocery store I never went to, running around the aisles, picking up all the ingredients and then being stumped, stymied and completely thrown off by the lack of Condensed Milk in the Baking Needs aisle. I swear - I went up and down that aisle 4 times and didn't find it. For good measure, I went up and down the neighboring aisle a couple of times too. The store was closing as I walked around so I had to give up and walk to the counter to get all the rest billed. I didn't know of any other stores that would be open this late but I wanted that Blasted Condensed Milk. What the heck is Condensed Milk anyways? I mean what sort of name is it? Are the collecting the Condensation of Milk from some ... oh forget it. Anyways, it was past 10 and I was without CM. Then, I suddenly remembered this other store that was supposed to be close to my place whose location and parking I had never figured out. No time like the present, I figured, and drove up there. Finally, at ~ 10:50 pm, I was finally home with everything I needed to make the thing that I wanted to make. Exhausted, hungry but successful. And also stupid. In general.

Our story continues at the stroke of midnight. OK - maybe 5 mins before that. This is when I started on the first step - attack the packet of Pistachios with the sole, blunt knife that I own. The rest of the cooking session was pretty uneventful (except when the spatula, with some chocolate on it, decided to take off on its own and went 2 feet up in the air before hitting a cabinet door and landing on the kitchen floor in a mess (all to the background of my aaaa-aaA-AAAAA- MUMMY!) Oh well) so I am going to present it in pics

But then, I was left with this :

And by the time all the cleaning was done and other assorted pre-going-to-bed tasks were completed, it was this late. And I couldn't go to bed right away 'cause I was hopped on all that chocolate that I licked/cleaned off of the spatula, etc. But, it might be worth it, *if* the Peppermint Fudge with Pistachios turns out ok ( by the way, I unashamedly pulled this recipe off a blog so no kudos to me).

In other news, I am utterly and completely grateful for the joy of having a wonderful nephew in my life now. You must understand that this guy is the cutest baby boy on earth right now. Anyone who thinks otherwise will have to come talk to me personally. It will not be pleasant. :-)

And so, very late, to bed.

Alright

Cornucopia

2010-12-14T23:24:00.004-05:00

Have I used this title before? Will google blogger alert me if I did? This is becoming a common question. Maybe this is a sign that I blog too much. Oh well.

I have been thinking about ambition lately. About what it means and what it means to me, in particular. I always believed that I wasn't very ambitious. I am only now finding out that that isn't really true. Sure, I might not be driven to assume powerful positions or rake in loads of money. Or become world famous. No, what I am after is broader, less measurable and yet far more tangible to me. Freedom and control. Freedom to work around my life and its' schedules and control over how I spend my time. A life that allows me to learn and grow, hopefully at work too. Learn and grow for the sake of learning and growth. A life where the everyday realities, practicalities and cynicism are well balanced by dreams and hopes realized. Where joy is a frequent visitor and laughter can be taken for granted every once in a while. Where the imperfections of people and relationships still allow for the general gratitude of their being around. Where a sense of purpose and an awareness of its (life's) beauty, fleeting beauty, revitalizes me often enough for me to not drag my feet around too long. Where my wants and wishes are in line with my capacity and faculties. Where the mind might be pensive, but not for too long and where most days, if they don't begin with hope, at least end with it. Sanguine.
That's plenty ambitious, don't you think ?

On a different note, I will always be a kid. I spent more than an hour at Target today, picking up everyday things. The good part about putting off doing such *required* shopping for a while is that you discover some lost joys when you go back to it. It's been quite a while. So, as I walked around the brightly colored Bath section and looked at all the shades of bath rugs and towels, walked past all those beautiful lamps and shades in the Home Decor section, carted by all those lovely hats and scarves next to the Shoes section, and wheeled slowly around the shiny and metallic Kitchen section, I smiled. It is so cool to be an adult and walk around the store and buy things for the house. Like these :

I know they are just washcloths but c'mon - the colors just are pretty. Or maybe it's just that 2 pieces of dark chocolate that I had an hour ago that is still keeping me giddy.

Anyways, considering that the alarm is set for 6.5 hours from now, I guess I should get some sleep.

And so to bed.

sartorial

2010-12-06T21:01:00.003-05:00

Don't really have my thoughts in order for the post but will go ahead anyways.

- If you watch enough weekend TV, you'll realize that most of the world is available for $19.95. Plus shipping and handling, of course.

- Running 3 miles on the treadmill after a looong break of laziness and over indulgence , coming home plenty tired and undoing those 30 mins by going after dinner like you were coming after a month of fasting : sad, and kinda disgusting. Realizing that Monday Night Football, that you don't get to watch usually, 'cause you are one of 15 people in Boston who gets only basic cable, is now accessible on one of those basic 12 channels 'cause the home team is playing the Jets (which makes for an awesome 9:2, 9:2 match up): priceless

- *Note : This could quickly turn bad if the Patriots proceed to own the opposition and turn the game into a long boring stretch of Patriot awesomeness, as they are wont to do.

- We don't really seem to change much from how we are when we are kids. We just grow into taller (hopefully :-)) versions of our 5 year old selves.

Alright, clothes in the washer, bills stacked up next to me on the couch, work waiting patiently on my laptop and Patriots growing more perfect by the minute. Hmm - the world won't right itself. Time to go to work.

So long, me hearties.

Pascal

2010-11-09T21:54:00.002-05:00

So, in a rare occurrence, I actually had decided what I wanted to write about this evening. The subject was going to be The Home Bell. But events have transpired since that caused me to change my mind. I shall, instead talk about The Tubing Effect. Ah, the agony. And the poignancy. Anyways, let's get started.

So, growing up in India, we didn't have a 24 hour hot water supply as I am now used to. When I was very little, we had at home an Immersion Heater. What is an Immersion Heater, you ask? It is the most horrific device humanity has ever devised. It's basically this metal coil thing that you plug in to the power outlet and immerse in water that is in a bucket, preferably metal. Yes, you heard that right. Imagine the most dangerous device you could have at home. And then multiply it by 10. That is the Immersion Heater. Anyways, we had this at home. And I think my Mom and Dad, to ensure my safety, brainwashed me about this thing and put the fear of God, or Devil, whichever is stronger, in me re the Heater. And just to be sure they did it twice. Well, if you saw me as a kid, you wouldn't blame them. I combined the intelligence of a i-don't-know-what and the safety instincts that went with that I guess.
So I lived in fear. If there's one thing that I am sure I will fear of all my life, it is this. Now you get it.

Anyways, chugging along with our story.

At some point, my parents realized that having this Immersion Heater around wasn't a great Idea. (Yes, I have decided to randomly capitalize words in my blog so it makes it seem more Intellectual. Or Sarcastic). Time passed along. Around this time, the cooler (richer) houses had these things - they were called Geysers - installed in their houses. A geyser (pronounced gee-zer not guy-zer) is essentially a little tank that heats water and is fed by water from the main tank of the house. And the water from the geyser went directly to the faucet (or tap as we called it) and life was zippy. We didn't have it.

What we had was this. Our own domestic Mussolini, was we fondly called Mom, would boil water in a big steel vessel. Just before The Bath, we would put the bucket out and she would pour in this water. Mind you, the bucket needed to have some cold water in it already 'cause otherwise the water would be waay too hot for the plastic. And this is how we have buckets at home that are older than me. And this is why, my dear Dad is more attached to the dining table, the dressing table, a couple of chairs, the
cupboard, etc than me. Purely because he has known and loved them longer.
Anyways, that was the arrangement. Now, my poor Mom had a 2 burner stove. And she had to make tea, cook lunch for my Dad and us (so she could pack it for us), etc, on this while she heated water. So occasionally, there wouldn't be enough time for the water to heat up in time for the baths. Follow me closely here. What would ensue : Yours truly would be all chirpy in the morning and ready for her bath and would fill up the mug with water from the bucket in a carefree manner. And then realize, in a slow sickening manner, as the water made contact, that it was not Hot Enough. I preferred scalding-hot, but I had a decent range that I was happy with. This was outside the range. The water was not cold. It was warm. That was the kicker. It was warm and it felt like this. It felt like the water was hot enough but instead of making contact directly, it was being circulated around my body in a Tube. Out of reach. Just outside the warm zone. It drove me nuts. It drove A nuts too. So we discussed it at length and named it The Tubing Effect. I honestly don't remember who came up with it but we both felt the same way about it.

So why are we talking about TTE in this blog? Today was another long day at work and I went directly from work to have dinner with friends. On the drive back home, I kept thinking about that nice hot shower that was waiting for me at home and how I would be all relaxed after it. You can guess what happened next. I came home, jumped in the shower and discovered that it is still haunting me after all these years. The Tubing Effect. No explanation. The water was just not warm enough. I almost teared up. But it too, did pass. And I am stronger now. But I resolved right there, in the shower, that I would tell the story.

Finis

Catchment area

2010-11-08T21:51:00.002-05:00

I was a big black cloud today. I was boring, whiny, bad tempered and pessimistic. I tend to get like that some times. Ok, many times. Isn't it amazing though - how self involved we (fine, I) can get sometimes. Only looking at issues, at problems, at things-to-do and not at all the things that are just there in life or just happen to work quietly and without-a-hitch-edly so our life can go wonderfully on? And even when something extra-ordinary or extra nice happens, how quickly do we get used to that and take it for granted?

We need windows. We need pauses. We need showers.

We need windows to see outside. To watch the rain. To watch real life - not the one that is playing in our head - the crazy one that is trying to catch, plan and analyze the next moment and moments while we blatantly ignore the current one. To watch trees and clouds and the skies. To watch people hurrying down the street. And to wonder. About all those lives and thoughts. And what we truly want and are.

'Tis true. Give me a pair of pajamas and a shower and some free time and I will wax philosophical at the drop of a hat.

Coming back to the very real world and its very real problems. My maintenance guy is absconding with my window blinds. (Again, it never ceases to amaze me - the number of times when I have said something that I never thought I would say. For instance - WARNING! TANGENT AHEAD!! - I was talking to a friend the other day and said "So there I was, just kinda sleeping in the coffin ...." and I stopped and was like - Whoa! I never thought I'd ever say that in my life! For the curious few, (and for the non curious ones who made it this far into this devious sentence or whatever-language-construction-it-is, I was talking to this friend about my stint as a volunteer at the Halloween event at work))

Phew!

And so to a little bit of work and eventually to bed.

Goodnight, me hearties!

Anodyne

2010-10-31T00:26:00.004-04:00

Yes, it is true. I have decided to be lazier than I usually am. To that end, I am posting some old stuff that I wrote.

But first, the prologue (you know my stories are never short).

Many many years ago, when I was a lowly grad student at a small desk in a sad windowless office ( as opposed to a lowly developer at a smaller desk in a smaller/sadder windowless cube), I received an email from a friend with this poem in it.

Despair

What have you seen today
and what are you thinking?
Did you learn anything new?
Or is it the same old you?

Failing, falling, always wrong
Will you ever learn to be strong ?
Grab the reins of your sick, low life
and see if you can hold?
Or let your fate drag you to death
Afraid to be bold?

Staring at defeat, right in the face,
Can you rise above, and scream in glory?
Well that would be a new story
if you won, but can you?
You won’t try to fly if the ground is giving way.
I know you would sleep and let the pain stay.

So rest, close your eyes and dream
Of everything beautiful and rosy
Don’t wake up and fight, no, this is easy
Courage is for the dumb
You are comfortably numb.

~ end ~

And given a choice between doing cutting edge research (My topic was "The changing sounds of movie songs in regional languages in India) and responding to the mail, I chose the latter. I pondered for a while. I liked the writing ( this guy is a very good writer, in general) and I liked the wording and imagery of his poem but disagreed with the theme. I was foolishly optimistic in those days (Yes, in spite of a windowless office desk). So I decided work around the general framework of his poem, change things around and give him my take on it.
What resulted was this.

An Answer to Despair

What have you seen today and
What have you not ?
Did you learn anything new
Or is it the same old you?

Failing, complaining, always regretting,
Will you ever learn to be strong?
Open your mind and heart
to the wonder of the life you own,
Or let your own spirits
chain your soul ?

Surrounded by petty thoughts,
Can you look through the darkness
and be happy to find yourself
with a piece of land below
and a patch of sky above ?

You can fly high over the horizon,
if your thoughts can take the reins.
Tomorrow is another day
and I know you’ll find your way.

So don’t let these troubles control you,
Wake up and look up at the sky.
So that you can face yourself again
and find a solace you never could.
Courage is not in extraordinary deeds or wonderful men.
It is in you and me who face life and smile.

finis

And that, me hearties, is the story. Hope you don't mind that I posted your poem here, SK.

And so to bed.

Cautery

2010-10-28T22:02:00.004-04:00

144th post. 12 squared. That was the first thought in my head when I logged in and saw the number on the post. I'll make Dad proud yet.

Recipe for a wonderful night's sleep. Get by for a week with your sleep tank running low, get through 4 days of a long week, drag your sorry, tired, old, currently-extremely-unfit self through 4 miles of running (on the pretext of checking out the neighborhood Fall colors), drive above-mentioned sorrier, tireder, older, currently-extremely-unfit self home over the span of 50 mins, take a longer shower than usual, and eat a hearty dinner. Now let's see who wins the snooze battle!

Multiple topics exist. But I shall pick a random post : something I had written a month or more ago.

We dream. We dream of fantastic settings and adventurous acts. Of places far away in space or circumstance. We dream of situations outside our comfort zone. And once in a while, we are lucky to be able to live the dream. Lucky to get the opportunity and to be brave or foolish enough to take it. But the dream that gives us great joy in its fulfillment also punishes us by that very fact. By turning into reality. By either being replaced by another dream and another wait or by ending and sending us back to our routine - leaving us forever restless and reminiscing. Such is our fate - to be eternally restless - us dreamers.

Rather deep. I feel like I am cheating, 'cause I am no longer in the mood that I was when I wrote this piece. In fact, as I typed that up, my mind was actively engaged in a debate with it's healthier twin about whether or not I should eat a chocolate muffin at this late hour. And guess who won? The devil always does.

And so to bed.

Solstice : Day 65

2010-10-06T23:26:00.003-04:00

I should have written/be writing about an absolutely amazing, fantastic vacation that I came back from a couple of weeks ago but I shall put it off for later. Some of you who are reading are thinking: "No, you shouldn't be writing at all". Well boohoo - it's my blog and so I will. :-)

Autumn is upon us. Fall is here. I like Fall. I equate it to the Sunday mornings of our lives. All the excitement and eagerness surrounding the end of a long winter(week) is done in Spring(Friday) and the happy, carefree fun Summer(Saturday) is over too and we come to Fall(Sunday). And this is how one beats an analogy to death and back.
Anyways, Fall and Sunday mornings. Both happy, content times. Time to get over the madness and excitement but not time yet to start fretting about the coming winter. The only thing that bugs me about it is that sometimes we have all this rain(like now) and all that gorgeous color is just washed away onto the pavements.

On to the next topic.

What does it take to have a happy day? It was indifferent work-from-home day. Rain outside, failing builds inside. Did manage to make some progress over the day but by the time I laced my shoes around 6:45 pm this evening, the day seemed headed straight to mediocrity. Especially given that I just started running again a few days ago after a long break and have only been running ~2 miles when I did. So I decided against the jacket, for the ipod and off I went into the drizzly, dreary and kinda cold evening. As usual, I ran faster than usual over the first mile and a half, coming to complete stops at the many signals on the way to the river. But for a change, once I got there, I decided to reduce pace and keep going for as much as I could. Pushed it in a couple of places but settled down to a decent pace. It felt good - just me and my shoes and occasional other joggers and the mist and the rain. 6.5 miles later, I was tired, short of breath, wet and slightly red in the face but most importantly, home.:-) And now a shower, good dinner, nice dessert and conversation later, I am extremely happy and content with the day and life in general. I am sure I won't feel the same when the alarm goes off at 6:30 am tomorrow, but that's another day.

And so to bed.

Stibium

2010-09-07T00:46:00.004-04:00

I apparently wrote this post up a while ago and didn't publish it for some reason.

So I turned a year older a few days ago. Now, that doesn't sound right. How does one turn a whole year older over one day? It happens over the span of the whole year. I guess I could say that I celebrated being around for another year. Finished another orbit around the sun - now, that sounds cool! This was a big one too. And as can be imagined, over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking of the past year(s) and all the people involved. Every time I do, I am filled with gratefulness and amazement. It is a crazy, complicated and often ruthless world out there. And to raise someone, especially someone kinda slow on the uptake and remarkably unremarkable like me to be happy, decently well adjusted, comfortable and confident in life is a tremendous achievement. So here, I want to raise a ... ummm 3/4th empty bottle of OJ to the A-Team - my family, friends, teachers, colleagues, neighbors, acquaintances and Goofy - for a job wonderfully done! You must know that you are awesome. I love you all.

zeitgeist : Day 24

2010-08-26T23:20:00.002-04:00

I've thought about writing multiple times over the last 3 weeks and things always got in the way. These 21 days can be easily summarized, though - I have been a happy camper. What have I been up to?

- I signed up for a half marathon in Grand Rapids, Michigan and tried to get my running pursuits into a semblance of a training schedule. In this process, I accidentally ran ~9.5 miles one weekend (planned to run 7) and laboriously ran 8 miles the next weekend. Both times, I ran pretty late in the morning and could be pronounced "medium rare" by the end of the run. Oh well - hopefully, I have learnt the lesson and will get my derriere out of zhe bed at an early enough hour.

- I managed to not go to bed before 1 am on all days of the weekends. Good, fun times with friends. As a side note, I now believe that you can tell a person's true age based on their opinion of sleep. Mine is a deep, abiding respect and a love, in the full sense of the word. No, seriously - think about that warm spot just below your pillow and below the comforter where your head rests comfortably after hitting the snooze button on the alarm - if that ain't love, I don't know what love is.

- A globe entered my life. This is big. Right from the time I first noticed and saw a globe up close, in the library of my school (some time around my 5th grade, I guess), I have been in love with globes. And the concept of owning one such. Now, why I took all these years to acquire one is one of those unfathomable facts. I did try, a couple of times (there's a blog somewhere out there in my archives that talks abt this) but was unsuccessful. Then there was the unfortunate case of B gifting me a globe of like 4" diameter where the equator cut through most of Africa. Finally, the globe of my dreams, with blue oceans and water bodies has arrived. I gave the UPS guy who delivered it one of my biggest smiles ever and literally jumped for joy when I opened the box ( even though I had ordered it myself - yes, I get super girly when it comes to packages delivered in mail). So basically, I have been globalized (haha). I was globeless - I am globeful. I was without and now I am with globe.

- Watched a couple of real good movies. Netflix - you are awesome. More on this later

- I did some reading, did some pondering, some couch traveling and finally put my trust in the gods and forces above and bought tickets for my vacation. After 3 hectic days of getting everything together, I solemnly sent out all the docs to get a visa to this place. This is always a solemn and involved process - and warrants a separate blog post as well. Right now, we are in the thick of the finger-crossing phase hoping everything will work out in time for the vacation. We = me + Goofy, my guardian angel.

That is the update. Life is good. The moon over the Charles, warm summer evenings, places far and close, random carpool conversations, days when you don't have the cold, the harmony of running and recovery, of ice-cream and slow walks - life is filled with snippets of awesomeness.

And so, me hearties, to bed.

Gulmohar : Day 3

2010-08-05T22:42:00.005-04:00

A couple of days ago, I forgot my wallet at work. I discovered this, thankfully, after a very long, traffic-ridden, but otherwise uneventful 35 mile drive back home. And then I discovered how absolutely stuck I was. I couldn't do groceries. I couldn't go out to eat. Hypothetically, if I needed to, I couldn't get gas (for my car, people). I couldn't do any of these 'cause I didn't have any serious money at home. I couldn't withdraw any money 'cause I didn't have any plastic at home either. Also, hypothetically, if I were to go out with friends and someone offered to order some Sangria for me, I wouldn't be able to drink that either, 'cause my ID was also in my wallet. No can do.

Anyways, it all ended well with me gaining possession of the said wallet pretty efficiently the next day but this did bring up a discussion with a friend today as to how would I be able to withdraw any money from anywhere if I didn't have my cards or my license on me. He suggested that I could go to a branch of my bank, close to home, and show them my passport as a form of identification to withdraw some money.

Show them my passport. Sounds pretty un-ominous. Pretty harmless, doesn't it? But he didn't know the half of it. Thankfully, not more than a handful of people know the half of it.

My passport is special. Rather, my picture on my passport is special. It is more than special. It is significant. In fact, it is epic. On a scale of 1 to 10 of terrible pictures, it wouldn't fit. The graph would need to be logarithmic if 1 is the worst value or exponential if 10 is the worst value. If there ever was an American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance of bad passport pictures, this would go beyond all the rounds of elimination and season finales and qualify as a winner for 10 straight seasons. Trust me, it is bad.

Now, for all this, its origin is pretty unremarkable. It was a very generic 3rd year, undergrad day. I came back home from school, some 8-9 hours after I had left in the morning, with a 30-35 min bus ride and a 15 min walk home. Though it doesn't really look like I did, I vaguely remember washing my face before dashing off to the photo studio to get a passport picture taken (The 4-5 people who have seen the picture will, in fact, swear that it looks like I hadn't washed my face for several days before the picture was taken. Or looked in the mirror for that matter). I was anxious to make it in time so I could get the photo done that evening - so I could pick up the copies the next day and finish my passport application in time to avoid the Dad's Responsibility Spiel. Make it I did and the photographer did his job pretty quickly.

At this point, I should take a minute to elaborate on the passport picture taking mechanisms prevalent in India at that time. For some reason, this was an insane setup. You would be in this tiny room, which was about a 100 degrees (Celcius!) and there would be one or two super huge lights focused on you - guaranteed to cause complete and utter blindness if you kept your eyes open for longer than 30 seconds. And then there was the Photographer. This supercilious guy who would take 10 minutes giving you directions on how to adjust the angle of your face just right and still click this astonishingly bad picture of you. Breathtaking, nay breathstopping picture.

Now that you have the background, you know what happened next. I returned home, little knowing that I had set into motion a sequence of events that were to end in a singularly unfortunate picture. I went back the next day and picked up the pictures. It was a shock. I have never claimed that I am beautiful or even close but this was a jolt. I staggered. I calmed myself down, waited a few seconds and looked again. No, it was real. And then I had to pay him the rest of the amount due (you had to pay an advance when you got the picture taken). Can you imagine the nerve of this guy to actually ask *me* to pay *him* when I was the one to take home the picture and suffer its presence for the rest of my adult life ?? Cold blooded son of Evil.

I honestly don't know how I gathered up the courage and/or foolishness to persevere with this picture and submit my application in person but I did. And for the last 10 years, I have carried it around faithfully, as a burden, every time I have had to cross international borders.

Last August, I had to renew my passport. I was so excited that I would finally be able to right that Wrong. To be able to sleep peacefully with the knowledge that the Ugliness is over. I got a fresh picture done (even though, I had some recent pictures that I had used for some immigration paperwork), filled up all the paperwork and sent in the check, the forms, etc to New York and waited patiently for the sweet release. I got my new passport in the mail, with my new picture. The old passport was both stapled and banded together (with a couple of rubber bands) to my new one. Also, in the package were instructions that said that I should always carry all my old passports along with the new one.

Moral of the story. Horror movies are right - It is *never* over.

Zoroaster : Day 2

2010-08-04T23:26:00.002-04:00

Ok - so day 2. Another nice day. I actually managed to work, cook a quick meal, win the bestest neighbor award by catching and disposing of a small bug for a highly frightened neighbor ( true fact - this poor 20 something girl was so scared of this tiny bug :-)), have a nice tea-and-chat with a friend, and run 4 miles.

What is the fear ?
Days of regret for inaction or not being myself

What is the hope ?
To lead a worthy life - affect at least one life positively and give them something to remember.

What is the risk ?
Falling, giving up, giving in and losing wonder and hope.

What is the prize ?
Laughter and warmth - of affection, of love.

What is the belief?
Goodness - in the world all around us.

What is the comfort?
People, words, music, the natural world

What is the fantasy ?
Mr.Tall, Dark, Handsome (TDH) who knows his Lord of The Rings, Airplane and football, has a fondness for cooking and a love of vegetarian recipes will move into the studio across from my apartment and realize that everything is life has been leading him to this girl who lives across from him.

And so, dear readers, to bed.

instauration : Day 1

2010-08-03T23:48:00.005-04:00

I am sitting on my couch (tangent : Much to my distress and dismay, I recently found out that the piece of furniture I've owned for more than 4 years now is a loveseat and not a couch(!) How I could have owned a loveseat for 4+ years is beyond me. It probably has something to do with His sense of irony. Anyhoo, I choose to ignore this fact and still call it my couch. Come on. Seriously, how can I ever frame a serious sentence with "I am sitting on my loveseat ..." ?? : end of tangent) after a late dinner - perfectly happy with life, people and the world at large. The late dinner was preceded by a late run. I had a super long drive back home this evening but since then, things improved significantly. AJ unexpectedly joined me on my run - I don't usually run with a buddy 'cause I am much better off with my ipod or my own thoughts but this turned out to be quite fun. We managed to run ~ 6 miles and had a very pleasant conversation as we most often do. And now the breeze from my open window informs me that this is going to be a pleasant night. Pleasantness (I think it should be called Pleasance) abounds.

And now to the point. El Punto. Lately I feel that I'm drifting. No, don't mistake me - I am just as lucky as ever and have been having quite some fun. But, I feel like I am sorta disconnected. Like I've lost my internal compass. Now, maybe this is just my lazy soul crying out for a vacation, or the hypochondria of a comfy, largely problem-free life(touch wood) or pre birthday jitters - but I am not entirely sure. So I've decided I need a new phase. We all know how much I love my phases. So, here it is. Are you ready? DRUMROLL
...
...
...
presenting
...
...
...
500 days of summer
(plus 15 days of down time/vacation)

Now, dear reader, I see that you have two questions:
1) What the squash does this 500 days of summer involve?
2) What the deuce is up with the (plus 15 days of down time/vacation)?

Two very good questions. Here are the answers :
1) 500 days of summer is 500 days. Of summer. As in a summery attitude. Of fun. Of life. Of complete immersion in life. Of being fully involved in whatever I do. Of doing what I want to do. Of no indifference. Of following all those crazy ideas that I have in my head that are best left unfollowed. Of immersion in all the consequences of that - embarrassment, sticky situations, lots of laughter, permanent psychological damage (but hopefully no restraining orders :-) )

2) So here's the deuce. 500 days from today is Dec 16th, 2011. What kind of phase ends on Dec 16th, 2011? But if you added a standard ~2 week down time/vacation to it, we end up with a nice date like Dec 31st, 2011. Now, you see.

What's that? Another question? How is this phase different from the many many phases that you've tried/started before, you say? The difference lies in the fact that for the first time, this phase is not about the results. It is about the process. The journey. I don't plan to have achieved anything by Jan 1st, 2012 - except still being around, that is. And I kinda like the whole no-emphasis-on-the-results mantra.

So, there you go. That's the current status. Day 1 just ended 20 mins ago and I think it was a great start. 499 days to go (plus 15 days of down time/vacation).

What do you guys think? You think I'll make it?

Before I end this very long post, here's a random fact for the day.
Apparently Orangutons are pound-for-pound, the most (or at least one of the most) energy efficient animals around. There, I've enriched your lives in some fashion now.

hearth

2010-07-26T23:34:00.003-04:00

It was a lovely day. And a lovely lovely evening. The weather was perfect. The walk back from my spanish class wasn't enough. So I wore my flip-flops and went to visit mr.Moon. It was so heart-fillingly pleasant to sit there in the moon light in this little outdoor picnic area-of-sorts down the street - with benches and chairs and tables - surrounded by the occasional chatter of the other lucky folks who were sitting around, with an excuse of eating ice-cream.

And I seemed to have managed to create the perfect station on Pandora for such an evening. Loveliness abounds.

Reflections of a Secret

2010-07-25T22:57:00.004-04:00

It's the secret in your eyes
like beginnings of new smiles
more beautiful than all the lies
that we lace with our goodbyes.

You see miracles in every day
like coming home, and summer rain
and this strange journey that connects
tomorrow to yesterday.

It's the secret in my eyes
like silhouettes in sunshine
more wonderful than the thoughts that hide
between those unsaid lines

Like the poet and his words,
and the way this life unfolds
I see love in all-around
not just the places that we look for

It's the secret in our eyes
the one that I can't define
but they'll find its echoes inside
all the stories we know we've to write.

finis

On a different note, I wonder what Christopher Nolan dreams about.

miercoles

2010-07-20T23:05:00.002-04:00

And I am back. Was off for various reasons but no matter.

It had been a while since I ran too, so I decided to lace up those shoes and go out on the usual circuit around 7:30 pm. But the circuit beat me. In fact, it trounced me. It was Germany and I was Argentina. Or Australia. I had to stop 6 times in 6 miles and finally, after 6 miles, I got KOed. Just like I do when I play Wii boxing with the machine. I had to alternately jog-walk the last 0.5 miles before I got home. How I was able to do this without too much trouble a couple of months ago is unfathomable.

As I was stumbling about my route, I wondered again : "why do I run?" and I finally figured it out. Many people say that running calms them down, that it gives them clarity as the mind quiets down. I don't think my mind quiets down. What actually happens, is that it is in focus. All the thoughts are very loud and clear and I am able to look at them with a certain detachment. I can ponder on them - how I feel about things, people, my troubles, my triumphs, relationships, etc - like an outsider while my entire sentient being is focused on two things. Two important things. Keeping those legs moving and keeping the process of respiration going. That is why.

Anyways, what the entire sorry exercise (pun unintended. Ok, sorta intended) proved was that I was out of shape. And I came to the conclusion that all this stems from the fact that I haven't been eating too healthy lately. Hmmm. Maybe that experiment of how long can one carry on eating an ice cream a day, among other things, is not a very good one. Damn! Why are all those fun ideas never as good as they are fun?

Oh well. Time for sleep and such.

Encyclical

2010-06-25T00:32:00.002-04:00

I needed that rain. After spending the day working from home on this warm, muggy day and after the kinda distracted and discontented week I've had, I was very happy when the breeze from the open windows brought news of upcoming rain. And it came at the right time - when I finished a big chunk of work and was ready to take a break for the evening. I stepped into the balcony and hobnobbed with the drops and it was as much fun as it used to be when the monsoons finally came to my city in India. And the 20 minute downpour followed by the sun breaking through the clouds inspired me. I undertook one more of my therapeutic home cleaning and re-organizing efforts. It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate that you can easily do without. (Remind me to talk about Jerome K Jerome's amazing thoughts on the same subject - in a a philosophic vein). I was pretty happy once I was done - got rid of a bunch of things and made the apartment more airy. I think there was some parallel between the physical event and my mental processes - I was a happy camper, rested and free, once it was done. And hopefully, it has tired me enough that I can go to sleep now. If not, there's always Mr.Wodehouse :-)

And so to bed.

Metronome

2010-06-23T23:31:00.004-04:00

I'm chasing after you in the gathering dusk,
you're racing far ahead, fading into the sunset.
Can't catch up to you, can't hold on to you,
always looking back, wondering when I first lost you.

And this sand in the hour glass, it's rushing fast.
This river of continuum, it gushes past.
The clock unwinds,
the moon tugs the tides,
while I'm caught in between
what was and will be.

So I'm letting go, I'm tired of the chase
I'll find some peace in this moment's embrace.
Just take my hand in yours, let's run to the daybreak
and burst into this life, finally awake.

Finis

Capulet

2010-06-23T00:05:00.004-04:00

Most everything in this wondrous world can be explained by evolution. But there are times when one just cannot deny the presence of some higher power, some One above it all. In fact, I think I have irrefutable proof for the existence of such a power. So last Friday I traveled from Portland, OR to Boston in the longest possible route. This also included a red eye flight. During this flight, I exchanged my aisle seat for a middle seat so that a Dad could sit next to his wife and 5-6 year old daughter. I didn't sleep a wink in the flight and had been tired when I boarded the flight. Through that long sleepless night, I kept thinking about that nice warm shower in my own bath (I had been away from home for 2 weeks at that point and I was really looking forward to being back in my own place) and that thought kept me strong. When the flight landed, I got out, got my baggage, hurried to the taxi stand and got a cab home as quickly as I could. As soon as the elevator reached my floor, I charged down the corridor and happily unlocked the gates to heaven and walked in. 15 mins later I was in the shower discovering that, for some reason, I couldn't get any warm water in the bath even though I had the dial turned all the way to hot. More than hot, actually. But nay, no hot water. Not even warm water. In fact, just cold water. I let some water go and then decided to go through with it in the hope that the water might turn warm midway through the shower. No. Now, tell me - how else can this extraordinary event be explained? The only, the sole, solamente explanation is that the One has an extraordinary sense of humor. Very ironic, very dry. Like that time when I came back home from an amazing 3 day (too short) vacation in Puerto Rico, managed to convince myself that I wouldn't fret about going back to work the next morning, got up all joyous the next morning, walked to my car with a spring in my step to realize ... that it had been towed.

Amen.

Trifecta

2010-06-16T02:57:00.006-04:00

Have more than a couple of incomplete posts but haven't really found the time and inclination to sit down and finish them up. Tonight too, I could have done this post an hour ago but instead, I spent that time being fascinated with the various options and settings that blogger gave me to redesign my blog. As usual, it was hard for me to pick one template that I liked but I realized that really, I could have a template a day, if I chose to. Having attained this wisdom, I promptly settled on one and here I am.

It was a good weekend. An ultra pleasant visit to Seattle to see dear old J & co. And a lovely drive back to OR along the scenic 101. It's crazy because, after a while, your mind adjusts to the amount of beauty around there and tries to push it into the background. Around 6 hours of driving, all on simple roads, along the coast, evergreens all along the way, through little towns in between, with occasional photo stops, through a few mountains and one really cool bridge, and a super cool sighting of a ship crossing under the bridge while I drove on it (the bridge, not the ship) and a short stop at a spectacular beach right around sunset - a great way to spend a sunny day. And I reached my destination after sunset - the fields on the outskirts of town stretching away sleepily, with a light blanket of mist over them, and a thin sliver of a moon, like a heavenly nail clipping that got stuck in the clouds. Life is beautiful.

Compass Rose

2010-06-09T00:55:00.005-04:00

There's stories of course. But the pictures are cooler. And easier to post :-)

A few pics at home from last week

And a few from last night, on the Historic Columbia River Scenic Highway...

Ariel

2010-05-26T00:14:00.002-04:00

It's amazing how connected we are to the world around us. At a very personal and atomic level. To the sun, the moon, the stars, the flowers and the wind. Walking back home from dinner after Spanish class, I had a chance to experience the lovely night.And it made it me so happy. Like I never wanted it to end. It's a night that would make you appreciate just how nice right-now is. It makes you thankful that nights follow days to give punctuation to our lives. It makes you want to give up any bitter thoughts about the past and the anxieties about tomorrow. It makes you just want to breathe and be. Alright - this breeze from my windows is making me poetic. Or maybe it is the thought of my work-from-home day tomorrow. Yes, I am as lucky as the devil :-)

Good night and God bless, people.

thaumaturgy

2010-05-23T22:21:00.006-04:00

I really should be working right now. But it's been a beautiful weekend and there's still a few hours of a graceful Sunday left and I am in my balcony and things are just so in place. So I shall, instead, post this piece that I started a few evenings ago, after returning from a nice jog around the river.

I am happily committed. To Boston. And by Boston, I don't snootily mean only that tiny city on the "right" side of the river. I mean Boston and the surrounding areas - everything that I associate with when I use the name "Boston" in the context of my life.

It's an arranged marriage, of course. It wasn't like I fell in love at first sight. Or that I liked it more and more every time I saw it and counted days for our next meeting until I couldn't stay apart any more and had to move here. No, nothing so romantic. In fact, it was a marriage of convenience. I had a job here. It offered security and contentment - a completely materialistic decision. I was here only once : for the interview which was mostly business-like with some small talk. The job seemed good, the people seemed nice and the pay was good. It was settled. I picked a day, packed my bags, bid my friends good bye and moved here.

I didn't like it here, initially. I missed my home (or rather, my previous home 'cause, like any true immigrant, I now have many homes), my people . Everything felt strange and cold and I didn't fit in. Now, after four years, everything is different. It isn't New York - it's not the foolish, overwhelming, all consuming passion of the youngest years. It's not wisely beautiful and filled with quiet grace like a couple in their 25th year of marriage - not Chicago, not Northern California. It's not indifferent - not New Jersey or San Jose. It is Boston. My Boston. Happily busy, preoccupied, whimsical yet very real and affectionate. It is that stage of a marriage, after the teething troubles and growing pains - when you know that there is a ways to go but you are in no hurry to get there 'cause things are pretty good right here. When you know him and he knows you and you can laugh and fight and even do both at the same time.

Just like any arranged marriage, of course, it took everything and everyone to make it work. Space to be my own person, to learn, to grow - provided by the anonymity of a new city and distance from home. The family of friends, colleagues and acquaintances - their wisdom and acceptance. Patience, lack of other options ( :-) ) and all those days in between.

The quiet of a still winter day, the precious white blanket of snow on every little surface, the stifling feel of a muggy summer day, the gratefulness that spring inspires and the radiance of Fall. The lovely breeze off Charles after/during a run and the stunning array of colors looking down from Mt.Wachusett. The emotion of watching marathoners smile through pain as they cross the finish line. Warm apple cider and cosy cafes. The schools, the students, the enthusiasm and the possibilities. All those possibilities and futures. So many moods and shades. True, the marriage has also changed me, jaded me a little and made me a little more cynical in parts. It's shown me more of the world. Where it has opened up my horizons to new places and new people, it has shown me the not-so-pretty side of life. The home less, the dirt, the attitude - and yes, the crazy pedestrians! :-) It has shaken some beliefs : replaced some unquestioning faith with a shaky, but more accepting, world view. Shown me how short-lived some happiness can be and taught me the importance of truly living in the moment. I guess it has made me wiser.

So today, finally after 4 years and 4 months, I can say that I am happily married. Or maybe, like the after effects of that other strenuous activity, it is my post-run endorphins talking :-)

O Sole Mio

2010-05-21T00:13:00.001-04:00

Lovely day. Started out alright and kept getting better. The sun showed up and smiled at me all day and I smiled right back at him. Had a breezy ride back home, ran ~ 6.5 miles around the beautiful Charles, and thanks to obliging SP, added a black Raspberry ice cream rush to the endorphin rush and am now finally dog tired. Ah, the sweet pain and tiredness of an over-active summer day!
And now for a dose of Zen ... and bed.

variegated

2010-05-10T00:21:00.002-04:00

Love Accordingly. "Love Accordingly". I saw this phrase painted on a sidewalk of a bridge while I was walking to the river in the rain last evening. Funny phrase. And rather deep too, I guess. As soon as I saw it, I had this image of all of us - girls, boys, kids, brothers, friends, moms, dads, teachers, colleagues - all, coming with a set of instructions. Information, rather. Who they really are, what they like, what they really want and what they really mean. And at the end of this information would be the phrase : Love Accordingly. Wouldn't life be much simpler ? But I guess that's what keeps life interesting - figuring out exactly who all these people that we "know" really are.

And so to bed.

apogee

2010-05-03T23:35:00.002-04:00

The table lamp on the nightstand needs a new bulb
The rent check needs posting
emails need composing
my legs need stretching
priorities need shuffling
life needs pause

I have like 4 posts (3 poems and a random piece I think) that are all in progress at the same time. I am not sure if I'll ever finish them.

Meanwhile, I am off to find the songs that they use for the Kindle ads - they are fun!

el punto

2010-05-02T23:47:00.002-04:00

Back from a happy trip to MI. Got to see the Big O address a bunch of graduating students - the man is a good speaker. Another of those things that I never thought would be a part of my life - watching one of the "President of the Free World"'s address in person. Life is truly an incredible, wondrous thing.

Came back to a very good day in Boston. It was one of those days where you don't want to go to sleep and just stay up to drink up the day before it's gone. Also, reminded me that this is part of my 500 days of summer. What is 500 days of summer? Other than a well-made, interesting, indie movie, it is the name of my new phase. What does it entail/involve? We(the royal we) are not sure yet. But it involves openness, adventure and a general state of well-being. And also punting work during the fin de semana and making the most of every day in general, I guess.

And before I close on this rather blah post, a simple yet powerful statement by Zainab Salbi, founder of the Women for Women International, as part of the commencement speech for the graduating class of 2010, Ross School of Business : "Live your truth every day. Don't wait. Live it now"

Buenas Noches.

el escritario

2010-04-19T02:08:00.004-04:00

It is 2:10 am (son las dos y diez de la noche - STOP! I've been doing espanol homework while doing the test-debug-run cycle on my looong running code for the last couple of hours and now I can't seem to get out of the translate-everything-into-spanish mode! Ah, my love for the parentheses!) Coming back to the point.(el punto! Pare!! STOP ALREADY!) Yes, the point. It's 2 am and now that I am done with my homework and it seems like my stuff is going to run for a while, I should be in bed. Why, then, am I posting this post under the watchful eye of Boltie ?
Because I had a perfect weekend. Yes, the weather was less than perfect. But since I didn't plan many outdoor activities, I did achieve my perfect weekend. And because I have no idea how many times things are going to align so perfectly in my life, I thought I should make a note of it.

Components of a perfect weekend :

1. Lazy Friday night with awesome Falafel and the fantabulawesome new Star Trek on Blu-ray. The movie is rife with coolness.
2. Lazy Saturday catching up with family and friends, cleaning up the house, re-arranging furniture to achieve a more airy setup, good breakfast and lunch at home, unbelievable chocolate cake as a reward for all the good work at home, general, un-agenda-ed hangout with a friend, watching the Departed, being totally impressed with zhe movie, latching onto a couple of tiny flaws in the movie and having fun at their expense.
3. Lazy Sunday running 3 miles at veery slow pace with a group of friends, wonderful desi buffet for brunch, very cool/impressive documentary on Obama/health care ( I must admit I watched it more for the photography and production values of PBS than the content. It was good to get a good summary of the whole year long drama in an hour long episode, though) on PBS, 1.5 hour afternoon nap (Oh! how long have I waited for this!), unplanned hangout at friend's place with good tea and conversation, walking back home, working unhurriedly and finishing the espanol homework.

And what greater joy is there in this world than to discover that the comforter bag that you have been saving and patiently moving from one house to the other over the course of 4 years, is readily available when you need it, and that you are still able to actually fit the comforter in said bag easily?

Here's a toast to all the angels who lined this up for me. Muchas Gracias!

And so, with espanol palabras swimming in my head, to bed.

igualmente

2010-04-01T00:13:00.002-04:00

I am lucky. I have nice windows in my house and on a good day, like today, I get to watch the clouds as they move over the city. (I even saw a couple of stars - how long has it been since I saw any of those!) My feet are able to carry me on a 6 mile loop around the river without too much complaint. (Running, I have never been sure of but walking, even when mixed in with running, is definitely something that I love and am comfortable with). And I'm constantly looking for more hours in my day. Touch wood.

And talking of luck, I've hit the jackpot. The mother load. So I started spanish classes yesterday and now a whole new world of random words has opened itself to me. And the cool thing is, even every day words, such as the current post's title, sound cooler and more random in espanol! Life has reached awesomeness.

And to think that just a few days ago, I had figured that the motto of my life was :
"Life, I dare you! I dare you to throw some shitty stuff my way. I guarantee you, any shitty thing you throw at me, I will find a way to make it just a little shittier for me!". Well, that still holds, I guess. It's an innate talent. Irregardless, good days are always around. Or maybe it's just the endorphins talking.

Coo coo ca choo, Mrs.Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (wo wo wo)*

* : No idea why this is in the blog. I just had to type it in.

And so, I-promise-you-I-am-not-stoned'ly, to bed.

putative

2010-03-28T23:36:00.003-04:00

Portland, Oregon zoo visit : A post that never got done :

Bonus :
Water bubbles and city views

ebullient

2010-03-20T01:30:00.000-04:00

A fine , sunny spring day

Let’s trade some stories and hours, my friend
it’s a fine, sunny, spring day.
No talk of angry or bitter things,
lets save them for another day

Let’s skip and skim on the surface of us,
just fragments of our lives.
You talk of books, I’ll talk of art,
I’ll make you wink and you make me smile.

No talk of love , but like and such
no warm embraces or promises
Let’s be new friends, happy to belong
Winding through words and silences.

If I rest my head next to yours,
will you promise to let it slide?
I’ll take your hand and you hold mine
Let’s put all our worries aside.

No don’t tell me your secrets today
It’s a fine, sunny, spring day
We’ll watch as time passes idly by
We won’t let it get in our way.

Let’s trade some stories and hours, my friend
It’s a fine, sunny, spring day.

primordial

2010-03-11T02:26:00.005-05:00

It's been another happy day in OR. Was off to Portland to have dinner with some old friends. And on the way to dinner we stopped by this ginormous bookstore called Powell's. This place actually occupies an entire city block. An entire city block! and has diff levels/floors! Amazing, I tell you. I wandered away happily for 20 mins and didn't even get through half the store I think. It was so lovely to see the rows and rows of books out there.

Of course, I just couldn't resist it - especially 'cause they also had used books that you could buy for real cheap. So I bought a book that has all that I want - something that I love to work on and filled with lovely pictures. Joy is in a book.

I think the future for the female species is pretty bleak. I was driving last evening and was listening to some radio show where they were talking about how men and women respond to break-ups and how they deal with them. Based on the 20mins worth of conversation between the hosts and some folks who called in it seems like here's what happens.

0. Break-up occurs

1a. Guy moves on to how life was pre-dating/pre-relationship. Is working out, hanging out, playing video games, partying, traveling ... basically going about the business of living. Precisely what makes sense and the reason for our existence.

1b. Girl is heartbroken/sad/upset/angry/devastated/confused/depressed, over-analyzing the guy involved/her decisions/her future/her past/her life in general/purpose of our existence, complaining to her girl friends, moping and eating ice-cream.

And this is after many many years of evolution. Don't you think we, as a species, should have progressed much further than this after being around for all these millions of years? Very strange. Of course, all this analysis is based solely on a radio show.

But still. I think there is only one way we should all be headed. Spock had it figured out. Cold, hard logic will save the world. That, and pointy ears :-)

Live long and prosper. And now for some happy garden pics and bed.

Tillamook

2010-03-09T10:29:00.004-05:00

I arrived in Oregon on Sunday night, past 11 pm. Having installed myself in the sweet, new and unbelievably clean city that is Hillsboro, and having spent all day Monday going about the business that I was here for, I decided to spend the evening visiting an old friend. The Pacific Ocean. It was around 6:30 by the time I was able to leave for Tillamook. It was dark already and there were clouds on the horizon but there are always clouds on the horizon here. I had done this route before, a couple of years ago during the day and I know that the drive is very pretty. But my free time on this trip is short, so I decided to do the drive in the evening anyways. It was a beautiful drive. The road is windy - I saw very few cars during the entire drive. There are tall, tall trees all around - trees that have probably been there forever. And it gets dark. It was around 7:30 and it was dark as the Devil's waistcoat out there. And then, I saw the stars. So many of them. I was amazed that I could see them as I was driving, with my lights on and all that! And finally, after about an hour and a half of driving, I arrived at Oceanside, a little town past Tillamook. This town meant business. The Ocean was *right* beside the town. I pulled over, opened the door and looked at the Pacific, from a height of abt 20-30 ft. It was a wondrous sight. Dark night, the sky so very busy with stars, the dark ocean - only really seen from the froth of the waves, and the rush of the continuous waves. The best setting for dinner, ever. Which I promptly had in my car. And then I hung around for a bit, drove a few feet to the next pullout and watched the ocean and the sky. Totally worth the drive. And then I turned around and headed back to the hotel. I hit some snow on the way, just to make it more adventurous, and was back by 10 pm. And before I left, I made a promise to my friend. Back for a sunset the next time.

Oh yeah, and there are cherry blossoms all around this place. Sweet.

rhododendron

2010-03-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

Ok. I admit it. This city is growing on me. Last night I ran my 6 mile loop - down to the river, around the river and back home. It was pretty late and dark but there were still folks running along the route. And the lights of the city and their reflections on the water made a pretty sight as I crossed the bridge on my way back. Of course, they probably looked much more beautiful due the fact that I was walking, not running at that point. Again, someday, I will figure out which part of running it is that I truly enjoy :-)

Today, there was a man sitting a couple of chairs from me at my cafe - vigorously sketching the people who walked in and out of the cafe. It was great to sit there, drinking my cider, writing idly and watching him sketch.

But I have got to watch myself. Pretty soon, I will be the snooty urban chick types that drinks herbal tea, wears shawls and multiple layers of strange & colorful clothing and just does not smile. If that happens, you have the permission to whack me on the head and knock some sense into me. Not smiling!! - that just doesn't make any sense.

Today's playlist :

- Falling in love at the coffee shop - Landon Pigg
- Think of you - A Fine Frenzy
- Closing Time - Semisonic

And so, dear readers, to bed.

orphic

2010-03-01T00:36:00.003-05:00

Today I rediscovered one of my first loves. The joy of writing. Of actually writing with pen and paper. Felt great to just sit down and write - the pen moving at a steady pace as blue lines of letters filled up the blank pages and thoughts flowed out of my mind and onto the paper.

Here is the result.

Everything has lead me to you. All the moments in my life - happy, sad, purposeful and random. All the choices that I made and the ones that were thrust upon me. All the people I met and the ones that I missed. All my friends and all my acquaintances. Everything that mattered and everything that didn't. Like the time I forgot my keys and went back up the elevator to my place and met T for the first time.

All the conversations that I overheard and the calls that got dropped. The movies and stories. The songs that I love and even the bad ones that I couldn't help but hum 'cause they got stuck in my head.

All the books that I read and all the places that I lived. All the jobs that I took and the ones that I passed on. The dates that I went on and the ones that I wiggled out of. The classes that I took. Plans big and small. Like traveling to Moldavia some day. Like deciding to wake up at sunrise one day and walking to the river to take pictures of the scene that I paid little attention to as I drove by everyday.

Like buying those sneakers.

All the roads that I walked on and all the causes I supported. All the mistakes I made and all the silliness. All the travel, all the miles. All the cafes and evening jogs. All the smiles and the arguments. The oceans and the maps. The meetings. The decisions and analysis. The trains. And planes and cars and buses. All the seasons and birthdays. All the goals. The quiet and the laughter. The confusion and anxiety and the heartbreak. All of it.

In some strange fashion, I was bouncing off of all these thoughts and all these events like some particle that we discussed in an Atomic Physics class that I took, on a lark, many years ago. Moving randomly so I could get here at this point of time. So I could bump into you. So you could change my life - affect it and change its course in a way that I cannot imagine.

Or maybe you won't. Maybe you'll be another random stranger who locks eyes with me for a second on the sidewalk and moves on. Maybe that moment is all that will be. Just the next link in the chain.

I look forward to meeting you.

Finis

Feel free to comment on this post- except if you want to just hawk some random website or sell viagra. That's just rude.

And so to bed.

Veela

2010-02-22T23:32:00.001-05:00

Chronicles of a new home.

Prophylactic

2010-02-15T21:52:00.004-05:00

It has come to a point where I am not sure if I have used the title already.. I should probably have a list of titles somewhere.. Will blogger complain if I try to create another post with the same name?

Coming to the actual topic of the post or the non-topic.
I ran 6.2 miles today. Ok - so I walked a few short stretches in between but still. It was fun. I had spent most of the day at home and realized around 5 pm that surprise, suprise! - I really wasn't that productive as I'd planned on being. So I pulled up my socks, pulled down my cap, pulled on my gloves and stepped out to run. I haven't run in a while but I've been looking fwd to running here - in the city - since my move. Anywho - around an hour = 15 songs = a kabillion steps in tune with my wildly swinging plaits = one really red nose later, I was back at my apartment. It was cold but not too cold and the run kept me reasonably warm so it was a pretty good one for the most part. Except for the last leg where I was getting tired and I told myself that I should just continue running and rest up at the lights at all the countless intersections on the way. Except I freaking hit every single walk-light on the way! Can you believe it? There I would be - 10 paces from the intersection reassured by the orange hand and as soon as I arrived at the said point, the stupid little white walking man would show up. What the squash! Oh well, it was good exercise on the whole and I got that dose of endorphins I sorely needed.

I am determined to always include the following in my life, whatever the future years bring me :

1. Soap bubble water+wand
2. Funny Youtube links/bad (read superfunny) jokes.
3. Most of the letters/emails that A(bro) sends me/has sent me over the years.
4. At least one plant.
5. Donations to good causes (within my means)
6. A few random prejudices
7. A good collection of Hindi, Telugu and English music
8. A pair of running shoes
9. Walking for pleasure and just to get around (to places reasonably accessible by walking)
10. At least a quick 2 mins in the balcony/patio every day (when it is not snowing/raining and when I do have access to a balcony/patio)
11. To Kill a Mocking Bird
12. Life of Pi
13. Cards and notes from friends and family.
14. Some dancing
15. Colors - water colors/crayons/pencils/oil paints
16. Random phone conversations with my peeps.
17. A sense of humor - especially about myself.
18. Poetry
19. Being outdoors/in the sun for at least 10 mins every day.
20. Spending atleast 2 mins of the day not worrying abt work, life, future, finances, car servicing, the works - and just seeing things in perspective.
21. Curiosity in people and the world.
22. Belief in goodness.
23. Looking out of windows.

And so to bed.

ab absurdo

2010-02-13T23:03:00.002-05:00

It all started when I was 15. With her. Jane Austen. I remember seeing her books lined up in a glass cabinet at the school library - Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion. I remember assuming that they were some boring non-fiction on exactly those subjects - sense, sensibility, pride, prejudice, persuasion and moving on without thinking twice. I should have stayed that way. I should have stuck to my Macleans and Wodehouses. No. I had to find an abridged version of the blighted novel - Pride & Prejudice in the form of a non-detailed text that was part of my brother's coursework. And I had to be overcome by this desperate urge to read the full version. And I had to read it. And fall in love with him. Mr Darcy. The most perfect of men. That alluring and evil combination of pride, brooding,stiff manners, knowledge, strong opinions, condescension towards everyone but friends, chiseled, handsome features and vast amount of wealth coupled with utter desperation and a very English cluelessness about how to approach the subject of his adoration. That alluring and evil and utterly impossible combination. Inconceivable! And that is how I fell, my friends. Instead of seeing him for the fantastic image of a fanciful mind that he was, I merely pooh-poohed his existence on the surface - all the while silently believing that he does, indeed, exist. And unicorns do too and pigs can fly.
He was and is my nemesis. Which is why, I own the 1995 BBC production of this book. Which is why I have watched several versions of Pride & Prejudice. And Sense & Sensibility. And Emma. And Persuasion. And Mansfield Park. Which is why, when I turned on the TV last night after coming back home after a long day at work, and I found yet another version of Emma playing on the PBS channel, I was unable to turn off the TV. Which is why, after "examining the workings of my heart" to borrow an expression from this very authoress, I am typing up this post on a Saturday night instead of being in deep, happy sleep (considering that I've been up since 6:30 am today).

Peace.

And so to bed.

Tesla

2010-02-11T23:02:00.003-05:00

I am weary. Weary of all the information. All the news. All the opinions. All the arguments. All the training. All the meetings. All the discussions. All the words. Too much of all this floating around. Sometimes I just want to turn off the show and immerse myself in my life - just me and things that immediately concern me.

But no, I am not weary any longer. I have been sitting at my window for the past 10-15 mins looking out at the scene. It is a nice view. The city and streets are quieter in the night and somehow more homely. I have nothing profound or funny to convey.In fact, I am happy to not convey anything and just muse on this scene with some old 50s/60s music in the background. Then "why blog?" you say? Precisely.

Mornie Alantie

2010-02-04T00:46:00.002-05:00

The fridge magnets are all packed. The walls are bare, save for the nails that held the paintings. The shoe-stand stands forlorn. My life waits patiently, all packed up and waiting for the morrow.

Good music is essential for packing. Ilayaraja has been such a comfort - the mostly 80s, early 90s music adding to the whole nostalgia of the moment.

And so to bed.

The patience of ordinary things

2010-02-03T00:05:00.005-05:00

Ok. I confess. I stole the title from a poem. A beautiful poem. And because I like the poem so much, I am not going to stop with the title. I am actually going to copy-paste it here so all of you (yes, all you seven of my readers - ok, I've inflated the number but you know who you are) can enjoy it as well.

The Patience of Ordinary Things
by Pat Schneider

It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they're supposed to be.
I've been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

"The Patience of Ordinary Things" by Pat Schneider from Another River: New and Selected Poems. © Amherst Writers and Artists Press, 2005

Wonderful poem. The fondness with which she expresses her love makes me take a deep breath every time I read it.

It's been a busy bunch of days. I've thought abt writing a few times over these couple of weeks but today I don't feel like talking about any of that.

I have realized a few things over the past few weeks. Yes, when you start with as little knowledge as I do everyday, then realizations come pretty often. But this was profound. When I was a kid, I'd find myself thinking pretty often : "When I grow up, I will/things will ........" . I've realized that I had never really grown out of that mode. Every time things get messy, I catch myself thinking "As soon as I am out of this mess,... " or "once I get all this done ..." - "my real life will begin". But that's the thing. This is the real life. This mess is your real life. This uncertainty is your adulthood. This crazy bunch of people that you hang out with - are and will be your buddies for life. This clueless, seemingly unbalanced, restless, planless, issue-ridden person is you. And you have to get on with it. I don't know if this is a really poignant piece of wisdom or just inane brain farts of a tired, sleepy mind. I really don't. But this is me. And that is not a bad thing. It is actually a comfort. That means that there's nothing that I need to get to, nothing to achieve before my real life starts. No agonizing on whether the decisions I make will get me to right starting point. It means I've jumped off the bridge already and I might as well enjoy the free fall rather than worry about whether I packed the parachute.

White Zinfandel

2010-01-17T22:31:00.007-05:00

Top n things that made me happy this weekend (I'll decide on n once I am done with the list)

Not necessarily in this order

* Opening my bottle of green apple soda at Panera and finding "Your life will be filled with sunshine" on the inside of the cap :-)

* Spotting a Volvo dealership as I was driving this morning. Don't ask - for some reason, I've always had a fancy for this company. I won't be able to identify a single model of their cars but still.

* Taking a walk to a little playground near a school close to home with friends and spending a good half an hour on the swings with S.

* My man Manning winning his first playoff since the Superbowl.(Poor Flacco - I do feel bad for that kid)

* The patterned socks I bought this evening. So I've always been one of those who buys a bunch of similar looking, boring socks and goes through them until it is impossible to match any 2 of them. This time around when it was time to buy new socks, I decided I actually wanted to like my socks. So off I went, spent a good 10 mins mulling over the sock aisle and bought a few socks with different patterns on them. This is so cool! I can't wait to wear them tomorrow - not that anyone but me will know that I am wearing these cool socks. But still.

* 20 mins of general chat with M&D back home.

* The good playlist I am listening to right now.

Looks like n = 7

It's been a very pleasant weekend. Relaxed hangouts, house hunting, work, playoffs, birthday lunches, errands et al.

And just like that, I think I'll post a picture.

And another

(Good times in India)

And eventually to bed.

Lachrymose troubadour

2010-01-05T23:02:00.004-05:00

'nuff with the poetry! What is up with all that gravity, seriously?

Anyhoo, I had decided that I would post a what-do-you-call-it, a look back at the year of 2009 before it ended. As expected, all that happened was the decision. Irregardless (which will remain one of my favorite words in this decade too), I've decided to do that now. Except I am sleepy. And tired. And happy that my code worked. And am wearing my favorite pajamas (the one with clouds on it) that says "on cloud nine". In short, I am giddy. So this is going to be one zippy post.

Let us see. (Rubbing hands) 2009, eh?

January: I came back after a good holiday at A's as usual and settled into my new home. Spent quite some time unpacking and setting up the new place. The high point of this month, apparently was the 2-door stackable organizer that I assembled all by my self!(comeuppance) I tell you - the excitement never ends here.

February : A wonderful trip to sunny California (where it rained most of the time) and all that time spent with good friends. Happy days. Also, I saw an orange tree (Hey P : not the tiny borange tree we saw, but a real one! (Explanation for naive readers - borange tree = bonsai orange tree)) laden with ripe oranges for the first time in my life. M is so lucky to have such a tree in her backyard. Other than that, I discovered the capital phrase : massive likeability (*This* is American Idol!) and Darnell Dockett of the Cardinals ( we need more such folks to sack Big Boring Ben of the Steelers).

March : By this time you've discovered that I am simply going through my old posts and coming up with this stuff. How amazing is it that I am actually trolling through stuff that is totally unremarkable to come up with more of such quality blogging?

INTERRUPTION : Retrospective! That is the word I was looking for!

Anyways, coming back to March. A poem that was in-the-works for the longest of times got done. Watched a fun improv show in zhe city. And most importantly, brought home my significant other. All 40 inches of gleaming, black, flatscreen. Pure evil and beauty. Predictably, watched the extended edition of Lord of the Rings. \
Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And for a red dawn. Forth Eorlingas!
P.S: remind me to tell you abt this webpage with the secret diaries of all the LOTR characters. Hilarious.

April : Running, Biking, spring and flowers. Sweetness.

May : More spring. More biking and running. Planting of a garden. Oscar Wao. And a catharsis of sorts with the post about bald mountain.

June : Mt.Washington is finally conquered. P's crazy one day trip and my own short trip to Michigan.

July : Ah! The Rockies! And the funniest, shortest hiking attempt in history - seriously, on the Continental Divide! The wonderful sand dunes at Alamosa. My obsession with Feist. And the resulting poem.

August : Ah August! My favorite month of this year. A super fun trip to dear ol' Mississippi. Met an amazing bunch of people and saw weed for the first time. That just sounds wrong but this was completely different. A beautiful drive up from MS to MI. And finally and most wonderfully! - the long dreamed abt, out of country vacation. Iceland! Reykjavik, Djupivogur, Akureyri, Jokulsarlon, Seydisfjordur, Siglufjordur, Kafla, Selfoss, Snaefellsness - all of it. Fantastic.Simply fantastic.

September : Cape Ann 25k. Finally, commitment to marathon. First blood donation. Yay! Realization of the fact that blood donation doesn't go well with strenuous activities such as marathon training. Not so yay.

October: Bay State marathon and resulting fund-raising. Happiness.

November : Uber laziness post marathon. Fun fun trip to NY with the junta.

December : A short but happy trip to India. Swell time hanging out with family and folks. Lame but funny New Year celebration followed by warm and fun dinner/breakfast. And finally back home. Back to where it all began.

All in all, it was a great year. I traveled to places new and old, enjoyed good health, met a lot of amazing people, made new friends, caught up with old friends and spent good times with the everyday ones, read books - new and old, wrote some poems, played with some oil colors, watched some amazing movies and just had so much fun. Here's to more of all that - to all of us! Love, laughter, luck, sunshine and all that is good.

Live long and Prosper (love that Vulcan!)

2009-12-28T23:12:00.005-05:00

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.

Debentures

2009-12-21T21:08:00.009-05:00

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 of the items on the list thanks to the game. But I am saved. I don't get espn. Turned off tv and moving on.

9.37 PM : One item done. Time for some hot water.

9.42 PM : Item 2 is done. It is still time for some hot water.

9.53 PM : Items 3 and 4 done. It is seriously time for some hot water!

10.48 PM : 5 done and 6 and 7 underway. Will get hungry very soon.

11.17 PM : I think I got through all of them! Or at least, the ones that I can remember now. Question : is it a good idea to go to bed hungry? Is there a good chance that I'll sleep right through the hunger and just get up as hungry as a bear post hibernation tomorrow morn? I have done this before but I can't remember how it all ended.

11.20 PM : Time to go a-hunting in the fridge.

And so, after a little nibble, to bed.

permeptory

2009-12-20T22:51:00.002-05:00

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 today but I don't remember them now so they probably weren't that important. And so, without further ado, to bed.

Umpteen

2009-11-24T00:28:00.003-05:00

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 course, I can't shake this feeling that all the "deals" and "sale prices" I got are going to be totally overshadowed by the mega Thanksgiving and post Thanksgiving sales later this week. But then that is my role in the system.

Peace is tearing up receipts and moving on ( I have mine carefully folded and sitting in a shelf, just in case).

And so to bed.

Sepia

2009-10-22T23:29:00.003-04:00

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'd shoot out of the homestead all ready to play. And out I'd be until dear A came looking for me as night fell. I somehow needed to reminded afresh everyday that there was a home I was supposed to be within when it got dark outside. Most of my other physical/aerobic activities are also probably a plaintive cry from my soul for a lost playtime. And then the craft work. All this painting business is not because of any talent. There was never any such promise. I'm just avenging all those days when I was not allowed around scissors and paints 'cause of the mess that it would invariably result in. So I spent an hour and more today busy mixing oil colors and painting away (take that, mummy! And I now have access to turpentine and linseed oil too, so hah! But there is a hole in this theory. As a kid, I was never allowed into the kitchen and was never involved in the process of cooking. I'd like to remain just as aloof now, somehow. No interest there. Hmm. So much for my hypothesis. Hmmph. End Tangent. So, inspired I was and painted for a good while and was decently happy with the outcome. And the rest of the evening seemed to have pleasantly evaporated like those incense sticks I light once in a while and it's 11.43 now.

And so to bed.

Concomitant

2009-09-28T22:42:00.003-04:00

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 marathon. Irrelevant (for marathon training) Good (for peace of a slightly-commitment-phobic mind)
4. Donating a pint of blood at the peak of marathon training. Not-really-the-best-idea (for MT) Good (for Karma)

All in all, things are good, though. I finished the last long run of the training (~ 21 miles) last Saturday. This was a big deal and did my morale a world of good 'cause I'd been unable to finish 15 miles the previous week or even run 6 miles without stopping a few days before that. Squash - even taking three flights of stairs briskly left me exhausted in the days after the donation. But then, things got much better. Thanks to my awesome plan of eating loads of stuff with Iron in it. Actually, the plan was just to eat loads of stuff - the Iron came along for free.

And so, brimming with confidence and Iron, to bed.

Wrackspurt

2009-09-20T23:21:00.003-04:00

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 infomercial for Jack Lallane's Power Juicer, Jack Lallane being some hot shot TV fitness guy from back in the day. Anyways, the Power Juicer can just eat up whole fruits and vegetables and produce juice. So you put in a potato, a tomato, a squash and 2 other veggies (I would NOT want to taste that but that's what they made in the infomercial) and out comes juice and get this - the rest is history! This is a strange and fun world we live in, I tell you.

Lying on grass in the sun and alternately napping and chattering idly with other such revelers is as close as it gets to Paradise. I spent an hour in Paradise today.

And just in case Wade Phillips is reading my blog : "I think it's a jerk move to call a time-out with a micro-second left so that kicker has already kicked by the time it's officially called."

And so to bed.

2009-09-09T22:33:00.003-04:00

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 finish the 25K and actually did better than I expected. My cup of joy runneth over. Again - I was kinda startled to find that I had done only 3-4 minutes better than the last time I ran this race 2 years ago (I'd been under the impression that I did much better this time) but still.

The other cool thing that happened as a result of finishing this race - not counting that delightful veggie-melt and those unbelievable home style fries I had for brunch after the race (this potatoes and home style fries thing is getting way out of hand and has to reined in as should this sentence at this point) - is that I finally decided that I am going to do the Bay State Marathon in Lowell, MA this October 18th! That's six weeks from now. Six weeks to go and no injuries as of now - hopefully I'll keep it this way and have a much better marathon experience this time around. Let's see how things go. But for now, the air is cool and the weather is good and the world abounds with guilt-free treats (home style fries, etc). So let the good times roll.

And so to bed.

gloaming

2009-08-13T09:25:00.002-04:00

** 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 and my body just wasn't ready for this run yet.

So I did something that I usually do not do. I quit and came back home and took a shower. Over the last few weekends, our running group has been steadily increasing mileage from 14 to 17 miles and our coach had told us to take it a little easy this week to rest up for the coming weeks. Of course, what the coach didn't know was that I was going to be out of town for a good 5 days later this week and would be going on a 10 day vacation at the end of the following week. But still. Let no one say that I am not a good follower of instructions.

Anyways, I was feeling a little bummed at breakfast 'cause I wasn't able to run but felt pretty good after a nice chat with the ancestors. And then, just as I was about to leave for work, I got a call from this Fedex delivery lady downstairs asking me to come pick up a package. I'd been expecting some important docs via Fedex and was a little worried abt them being delivered to the rental office while I was gone - I never dreamed that I'd receive them so quickly. So after a quick yelp of happiness, I bounced down the stairs to the grinning lady to pick up my docs. Everything in order. Perfection abounds!

A productive and pleasant day at work and at ~ 7.15 in the evening, I decided that I'd give running another try. So I laced up my shoes and headed out to my usual jogging trail. It was cloudy and a few rain drops were in the air now and then. It was humid but not too warm. I started off running and noticed that I was running a little faster than usual but my breathing was ok so I stuck to that pace. My shins/calves, as always in the first 2-3 miles, were tight and still hurt a little. I told myself that I wasn't stopping until the end of the 3 mile trail. This I did and my shins were not happy at this point. I stretched a little and decided to walk for a while on my way back. So I walked half a mile and as I did the sky got darker and it started drizzling. Then I started running and now my shins felt fine. Within a couple of minutes of running, I settled into a nice pace and then it finally happened. I just ran. I ran like it was the most natural thing to do. I finally ran like how I've always wanted to run in my mind. I had my ipod on but the volume wasn't very high and I could hear my even breathing and the steady sound of my shoes in the background. It was getting very dark and the drizzle increased in volume but everything seemed very comfortable. I finally got back to the parking lot at the head of the trail and was ambling to my car when the sky opened up. And down came the water. Big, fat raindrops all over the place. I was soaked in a minute so I decided that I might as well stretch. I spent 15 minutes stretching in the rain and it was the most fun I ever had stretching. And that is how I had a near perfect day.

P.S: On my way home, I stopped at the gas station to fuel my car. As I do on occasion, I computed the mileage once I filled up the tank. Hallelujah - 30 MPG! And that is how I had a perfect day.

Denouement

2009-08-02T20:23:00.005-04:00

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

Nomenclature

2009-07-29T21:09:00.002-04:00

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 the rain
it's here anyways.

Mistakes, outtakes
all the time so serious
Good sense, balance
leave no room for silliness

Oh, I'll take my chance
chasing blue skies
put me in life's hands
let it catch me by surprise

So,
slow down, mellow down
pick some flowers along the road
Each day, every day
has a story yet untold.

Oh! don't you see
that you can be free.
Laughter and patience
and hope is all you need.

And so to bed (a couple of hours later)

carbuncle

2009-07-15T00:19:00.005-04:00

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 wonderful views. We got to the Rocky Mountain National Park later that evening and drove around generally soaking in the vistas. We pitched our tents, had a good dinner and went to sleep. We had a really nice view of mountains from our camp site and I would have enjoyed it more if there weren't as many of those pestilential RVs around. I abhor these things. Still, it was excusable. I could tell you of the fun and games involved in pitching 2 tents that took us nearly as many hours ( I am only slightly exaggerating) but that information was never supposed to leave RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park - pay attention, will you!!) so I won't.

We had planned a nice, day-long hike for the next day so we got up pretty early and got to the trail head (or at least, what we thought was the trail head) by around 6.30 am. And this is when things got out of hand. So the trail that we were looking for wasn't marked on any of the maps at the trail head. In fact, no mention seemed to be made of the Mountain that we intended to get to (Mt.Ida). Poor A, our host, had looked up this trail and sent us all some links and info abt it but of course, we all had ignored it. After hmming and haing for a while, we identified a trail and started walking along it. Having greeted and taken pictures of some elk that were lounging about close to the trail, we continued. Pretty soon we came to a fork with about 4 trails emanating from it, none of which seemed to be leading anywhere. We picked the one that looked more promising and set off on it. In a few minutes, we realized that we were walking very close to the initial part of the trail that we'd taken. A few more alarming minutes later we realized that we were looping right back to the trail head. We hmmed and haed some more. We pondered. We discussed. We checked the map that we had. Finally we went back to the fork and decided to have a go at the only other trail that seemed to be leading away from the trail head (on the map). P and I ventured on this to do some recon work. It was all very marshy and there really was no trail but we kept at it for a few minutes. At this point, A and S waved to us from the fork and we made our way back. S, being the bright girl that she is, figured out that the trail that we were trying to hike on - the trail that we could not find - the trail that was clearly marked on the map as "The Continental Divide" - was indeed the Continental Divide!! And not a regular trail!! Once we looked at the legend, it all made sense. Who would have thought!! Wait! I don't think this information was supposed to leave RMNP either!! Ooops. Anyways, we marched back to the trail head rather sheepishly. We attempted to figure out the trail that would take us to Mt.Ida but we couldn't. We gave up and were looking for hiking trials elsewhere in the park when a car pulled up at the trail head and a couple got out of it and made it known that their intention was to hike to Mt.Ida. Here was happy coincidence indeed. We quickly set about behind them when we realized that we'd forgotten our map in our car. 10-15 minutes later, having recovered the map, we set off on the trail again. 10 minutes later we reached a big patch of snow with no sign of the trail anywhere. It was gone. Poof. As were the hikers ahead of us. Disturbing I tell you. We mulled over this for a little, went around the patch of snow in different directions, sighed and came back to the trail head. And yes, you have correctly assumed that this info was not supposed to have left RMNP either. So please do not discuss this with anyone else. Ever.

I must admit that I was giddy at this point. My lack of sleep over the last two nights and some exhaustion because of that was one reason. The other was that the situation was just so darned hilarious. It was around 9.30 am and we had made two abortive attempts to hike in the Rocky Mountain National Park and had no clue what to do next. Amyways, it all turned out good. We drove around in the park (including the drive on the highest motorable road in the US - at around 12,500 feet), walked up to a nice viewpoint, generally enjoyed the scenery and changed plans and drove all the way to the little town of Alamosa, Colorado. This place has many distinctions. One being that it, as we discovered that night, has one of the best Thai restaurants I've been to. They actually had a full 2 page vegetarian menu! The second was that the backyard of the Comfort Inn that we stayed at is just open prairie land. Well, meadows or something like that. But just loads of open land in general. As we walked in to the motel, we saw a couple of firecrackers burst out suddenly in the middle of all that dark space. It was some sight. And finally, this town also happens to be the town closest to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. Now, this was a fun experience. Up reaaaally early again the next morning, we drove out to the park before sunrise. The sun rose from the east, over the mountains and spilled over the tall 600-700 feet sand dunes and made all those open plains glow golden. And this fantastic scene set in the calm that is peculiar to sand dunes. It was deeply beautiful. Much fun was had hiking up the dunes and then sliding down some of them while chasing our footwear that P had whimsically started tossing down the dune before setting off on the slide. We rounded off the trip with a super fun white water rafting episode in the Royal Gorge in Cannon City. That was a blast. Other than enjoying getting splashed and bumped by the rapids, and taking turns "riding bull" on the front edge of the raft with our feet dangling in the water thanks to our cool guide, we had great fun making fun of each others' appearance in a wet suit. And then, it was back to Boulder and thence to Mass. All in all a happy trip. I just wish I could have given such an account without divulging some of the information that I did. Oh well. At least, I didn't mention our in-car discussion on Yak Spanking in the context of extreme sports or the Killing of the Bird by P on our way to the Great Sand Dunes NP (one minute we are breezing through the pre-dawn darkness and the next there is a 'whump' on the windscreen and A's exclamation on the stupidity of a low flying bird) or the Possible Maiming of Another Bird by P that followed shortly after (this one just deflected off the windscreen and careened off in that direction) or the Elk That Planned Our Cold Blooded Murder by lazily strolling onto the road while P was doing ~ 60 mph. If I had mentioned it, we'd never be allowed inside Colorado again. Ever.

And so to bed.

emblematic

2009-06-23T22:59:00.002-04:00

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 miler" and I was shamed into it. Anyways, all's well that ends well. I cheated and ran on the treadmill ( my excuse was that it was rainy and slushy outside) and did a fair amount of stretching so am feeling fine today. And now I really should get back to writing that analysis script for work, or get started on my new book, or do some of the chores - basically, something that is a wee bit more productive than writing this blog.

And then, eventually, to bed.

Diurnal

2009-06-21T23:01:00.002-04:00

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 early today. Am hoping Rafi's golden voice will lull me to sleep soon. The man has the voice of an angel.

sobriquet

2009-06-17T23:20:00.003-04:00

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.

zuzu's petals

2009-06-16T23:45:00.001-04:00

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 cleaning up an inbox, or wiping out the white board after finishing some thing, or checking off all items in a to-do list is as close to complete peace as I will ever get. Anyways, having done all this cleaning I thought I'd follow up by cleaning my yahoo mail box which doesn't get too much of important mail - just a lot of stuff that I can filter through and clean up once in a while. Hence. Therefore. But this was still done a good 20 mins ago. What transpired after? What events came to pass?
In short, what happened? My closet door is what happened. I noticed this evening when I came home that there was an issue with one of the sliding doors. I think it came off its groove and consequently is wobbling all over the place. In fact, I was having trouble closing that door. Of course, this implied that I couldn't go to bed. Why? Wh .. ok I'll stop. Because I cannot sleep with the closet door open. I do not know why. I cannot explain it. But the closet is pretty close to my bed and I just cannot go to bed with the door open and all my clothes visible. So, there was no option. Being sensitive to my downstairs' neighbors, I only spent 10-15 mins jiggling it mildly and just trying to get it to move enough to close the door for tonight. Tomorrow, we shall do a more thorough job of it. And now the conditions are perfect. And so to bed.

bracken

2009-06-15T22:58:00.000-04:00

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 - and Sheldon in particular. How cool would it be to get up into the morning, walk into the living room and be part of their usual conversation? Hilarious, I tell you.

Should I work or go to bed?

fractious

2009-06-09T23:02:00.000-04:00

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 out a week while waiting for the rescuers to get to him. It was a three hour drive to get to the base of the mountain and a good 7.5 hour hike including almost an hours break at the top. Loved it! I had a great time hiking and re-affirmed my love for the outdoors. I also managed to meet a couple of real nice, fun folks on my way back down as P preferred the more elegant way to get back to the base of the mountain - the van. And then there was that crazy three hour drive back home. Tired is one way to describe how we felt when we walked in at midnight.

Of course, I bummed around with P on Sunday and had plans in the evening => I postponed the stretching for the next day. Needless to say, negotiating the stairs has been interesting over the past couple of days. However, all is not lost. Managed to get a 4 miler with a 1 mile walk done today. It was the perfect weather for it. Light drizzle, temps in the 60s. And my shins didn't complain either. Or maybe they did - only my right quad and the left calf have been complaining way more loudly since the hike.

So I thought I'd end the post (yes, it's not done yet - I know - sorry) with some thoughts that have been flitting in and out of my mind as I type up this post :

- what are the words of that song that I was thinking of y'day?
- should I have done my laundry today?
- Dab it - how the heck am I going to get a* and b* done at work this week? (* a and b are things that need to get done at work this week)
- Man, did I botch that* up or what? (*that is something that I botched up big time recently)
- How the heck did I manage to set off the fire alarm twice in the last few weeks?
- How the squash am I going to get rid of this fried oil smell in the house?
- I should have done my laundry today.
- Didn't I promise the dear ol' four wheeler a clean up and wash after it's 5th birthday?
- Jeez - I botched that up.
- Am I thirsty?
- Yann Martel!! That's it - I remembered the name of that author!
- Why can't I just eat healthier?
- I think I am an endorphin junkie.

And so, my darling readers, to bed.

Proverbial

2009-05-28T22:37:00.000-04:00

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.

recalcitrant

2009-05-27T23:31:00.001-04:00

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 too much water. I'd borrowed a battery operated water filter and I swear that I double checked that I packed the cells along with the filter. To my utter consternation, I discovered around 9 0r 10 am at the trail head the next morning, that the cells weren't in the backpack. They just weren't. There was no way that could happen. But happen it did. The wise P, of course, did not pack the filter at all. He didn't get all fancy about cells and missing parts - he just chose not to bring the filter. Interesting. It was turning out to be a pretty hot day and getting hotter by the minute. We drove back to a gas station or some such place and bought some water. The only thing that kept us from buying a whole lot of water was the fact that we had packed enough food to feed a battalion and we weren't letting go of it. And of course, we had our sleeping bags, etc. (I must admit that poor P ended up carrying most of the camping gear.) We came back to the trail head, repacked our bulging backpacks, took some food out, put back most of it, hitched our sleeping bags to the backpacks, took one long longing look at our cars and set off. The trail was apparently marked out with blue blazes and P had a trail map. So everything should have been perfect. Except the trail wasn't really marked out and we didn't know how to read a trail map. I am not blaming anyone here but at least, I didn't claim that I knew how to read a trail map. I am just saying. So we got lost. Multiple times. And we kept hiking. It was hot. It was humid. And the trail was thick with vegetation. It was almost claustrophobic. And we kept hiking. At some point, I realized I'd lost my glasses which I'd taken off at one of our rest stops. We kept up a brisk pace - stopping every 3 mins for a break. At every break, we would madly stagger around and yank at our straps and try to get those back packs off our backs. We would eventually succeed. Then we would frantically gasp for breath for a few mins, all the while bouncing evil stares off of one another. Finally one of us would venture to say that we should get moving again. Teeter wildly as we swing on the backpacks again, attain equilibrium and move on. Repeat the drill. As I said - military efficiency. It started getting dark - similar to our mood and the looks I kept shooting P. Oh, by the way, at some point we ran out of water and started drinking out of every water body we saw. Finally, after I almost gave up hope and was pondering on who to bequeath my electric keyboard, we stumbled up to the camp site. There were a few people up there - all of whom had been on the trail several days and some who were doing the whole Appalachian Trail (talk about excessive energy). We grinned sheepishly and they gave us the look they reserved for imbecilic, amateur backpackers who arrive at camp site waaay later than they are supposed to in order to pitch a decent tent, and the formalities were all done. We somehow managed to pitch a tent - I don't remember helping P - in fact, I don't recollect him pitching the tent either - and we were both so tired so maybe we just got down on our knees and prayed. And then there was a tent. I remember ripping the packaging off some frozen food (which had thawed, melted and half-evaporated over the hike) and gobbling it up. And then the icing - no pun intended - on the cake. It got cold. It was insane. I had literally lost a couple of pant sizes on the way up thanks to the heat and humidity. And now, it was squashing cold. Of course, in the interest of reducing weight of my pack, I hadn't packed too much warm clothing. The last thing I remember as we were falling asleep is one of the hikers calling out to us from the next tent asking us to check ourselves for ticks because there were instances of lyme disease on the trail. Good Zucching Night Hiker!

We got up at some point early next morning and spent about an hour checking out the views from the top of the mountain and taking a few pictures and in general, acting like the hike up was totally worth it. And then it was time to pack up and head back. I would have left the camping gear and my sleeping bag up there if I were even 50% convinced that we'd be able to make our way back to our cars by the end of the day. But still, it was the morning of a new day. And we were foolishly optimistic. We headed out, all cheery. The trail took care of it shortly. We got lost. Again. And again. Up to a point where I saw blue blazes everywhere. Or nowhere. It was hot. It was humid. The trail was thick with vegetation. It was claustrophobic. And much to our consternation, we found out that we were still not very good at reading the map. Every once in a while, P would state in a measured tone that "pretty soon we should be turning left and going downhill. That will indicate we are x% done". We would invariably turn right and start going slightly uphill. I would stare at him. He would stare at the map. He would say " Oh, I think I get it. Pretty soon ....". After a while, I silenced him with one of my looks. I did what I could to help. I muttered curses at him, at the trees, at the trail, at the Appalachian authorities. I shared my theories on what we could do with those folks who marked the trails and my thoughts on blue blazes, etc with P. I think this is when he started fearing for his life and came up with the Bald Mountain concept. I think it marked the mid way point or a little beyond that. But he kept harping on it. "Bald Mountain, Bald Mountain" he said. "Just an hour away, half a mile away, as soon as this uphill stretch ends, around this corner, I can almost see it" he said. And we kept hiking. Finally, when I had given up hope and was re-thinking the whole electronic keyboard bequeathal (at this point I was only walking so I could keep P from the joy of stopping and resting), we turned a corner and the tree line opened up and in a few minutes, there we were! At Bald Mountain. There it was all bald and rock face, (don't remember if there was any sign board there) scorchingly hot. I fell down on my knees and kissed it. We took a short break there. After that, it was much better. We knew we would make it. And the last stretch of the hike was pretty much missing a trail. It was basically a dried up stream bed. So it went pretty fast as we ran down wildly , the weights on our backs adding to the pull of gravity. ( Whether this caused lasting damage to our knees, we do not know. But if it did, it doesn't compare to the lasting damage that was done to our brains over this trip). And at long last we were at the end of the trail. Of course, there was a complication. The trail head was still a mile away by road. Apparently the trail didn't end where it started - that would be too easy. P strongly recommended a cab but I would have none of that. I didn't face a 20% weight loss, shortening of my backbone from my heavy backpack, 4 shades of tan, numerous scratches from wayward branches, possibility of lyme disease and permanent brain addling to end my trip with a cab ride to the trail head. So I marched him down along with me down the road. I think I killed a part of his soul that day. And so, battered, bruised and much browner than when we started, we arrived at our cars a while later. When we saw our cars, we almost cried. And that my friends, is the story of Bald mountain.

Do P and I still hike/plan trips together? Of course, we do. Told you - brain damage.

copacetic

2009-05-26T23:46:00.000-04:00

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. Didn't sleep as much as I wanted to but ran, hung out, met with friends, attended parties (well, one at least) and most importantly, watched Star Trek. A was right. I looovved the movie. To all those hard core trekkies out there who sneer at this movie, tongue-sticking-out-making-spluttering-sound to you. I liked it. It was fun. It was funny. It was cool. And watching it brought back all those memories of watching the Original Series waaay back when I was a kid - probably in second or third grade. Memories of A and I talking into our match-box-rubber-band walkie-talkies playing Captain Kirk and Spock. Ah! the years! And Ah! the lost years! The years when I could have watched the complete Original Series and the others that followed if DoorDarshan, our faithful old TV network, hadn't canned the show. But no - wait! I can always make up for it now. Netflix is here. Eat my shorts, DD.

Next, an update on my Storm (sorry DI - had to do it. Would have loved an Android phone but it's only available on a shaky network). I know you've all been waiting on tenterhooks to hear how the first week has been. It's been pretty good, I think. Maybe. The thing is that I haven't really done much with it. The only thing that I can vouch for is that it can handle my superfat fingers very well while typing.

And lastly, a comment on the comment on my last post. Anonymous - Dude - are you aware that you blatantly violated Rule #2 !? And, to add insult to my shin splints, you also made your comment more random that my post!! I forgive you - just make sure you send me a link to your blog.

And so to bed ( and better posts, hopefully)

Rawlings and Zabrinski

2009-05-15T23:29:00.000-04:00

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.
* If, after reading the post, the reader is overcome with a sense of gratitude towards the writer (say he/she found the post superbly funny, amazingly stimulating (mentally), spiritually uplifting, and wants to give it a two thumbs up (like one of those movie reviewers who are giving every random movie a two thumbs up) (there I go with the parenthesis again)) and wanted to show his/her gratitude in a monetary fashion, the reader is free to inform the writer about this. I, the writer, will then open a pay pal account to make it easy for the reader to transfer any sum of money, say an even grand, to my, the writer's account.

Can't think of any other rules. And so to bed.

lynchpin

2009-05-15T00:20:00.000-04:00

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. Some times I wonder if I am inhaling something interesting without my knowledge. How does my brain come up with this stuff !? It's like it has it's own party going on up there...

Had a pleasant day at work (couldn't bike to work yesterday or today due to errand-running/weather related stuff) and at the end of it, I decided to try running outside in my new shoes. I jogged for ~ 40 mins - all of it nice and slow. Followed that with a nice stretching session in the gym and walked out to my car just as a light drizzle started. Life seemed awesome. And then I interacted with customer service folks from a couple of wireless companies and credit card companies. My euphoria died down pretty quickly.

I still don't want to get an iPhone. In fact, I resent the fact that most likely, I will have to get an iPhone. Why can't I just get a Storm at a price I like? Even if it sucks - it will by my sucky storm - with an identity and spirit. Instead, I will have a glossy iPhone with all style and no soul.

And now for the best part of an evening jog - the wonderful, deep sleep at the end of the evening. Who knows what tonight will bring? I might be cooking for the Dalai Lama or bonding with David Duchovny.

in toto

2009-05-12T23:53:00.000-04:00

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!

calamondin

2009-05-12T00:13:00.000-04:00

Hope in a garden

Hoping it will turn out like last year :

or the year before ...

And so to Wao and bed.

mayhem

2009-05-10T23:07:00.000-04:00

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 Fiber. I chuckle heartily every time I see this and invariably pick up a box when I'm there. If they make me laugh, they deserve my money.

And here's a picture from my short walk around my home this afternoon.

apellation

2009-05-07T00:30:00.000-04:00

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.

bugaboo

2009-05-06T00:16:00.000-04:00

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 cooked (on Sunday)? Hint - jaggery.
2. Can I consider myself a proficient cook if I get to a point where I am not chopping vegetables while they are being cooked in the pan ? Hint - this is a trick question.

I have so far counted 5 self proclaimed visitors and another couple who didn't choose to be counted but whose footprints lead to the scene of the crime. That's 7 down, 43 to go. And that, my friends, puts us in the home stretch.

And now, 'tis time for bed.

scuttlebutt

2009-05-02T23:47:00.000-04:00

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 roads were still slippery and dangerous, the snow on the sidewalks was muddy and dirty, the wind was biting cold, the trees all looked dead and it seemed like winter would last on for a long long time. Even two weeks ago, most of the trees were still bare and brown is all the eye saw except for the evergreens , that looked dusty and old. And now, here is spring, shamelessly flaunting her wonderful beauty all around. The sky is blue, the sunshine is golden, the rain when it falls is warm, the wind runs through the green grass - already needing to be mowed, the trees are filled with leaves that drown out the brown and flowers in every shade and color are bursting into bloom. Every ordinary house looks like a sweet home and all those roads are now picturesque, winding alleys. Two weeks. It's like spring - but on steroids. Sometimes, on a very cold winter day, or on March days when I am restlessly waiting for a change in weather, I curse myself that I can't conjure up an image of a nice spring day in my head - an image strong enough to make me feel like I am in one such day. But then, as I see the transition again this year, I am glad that I forget some things. This way, I can be filled with awe, year after year over the onset of spring.

rollicking

2009-05-01T22:55:00.000-04:00

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.

circumambulate

2009-04-29T23:29:00.001-04:00

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 evening all charged up to pull out and inspect all boxes, shelves, containers, cabinets, bags, suitcases, etc and launch The Search. This I did after whiling away some time after coming home. I searched every where. I went room by room and shelf by shelf and so on. Over the course of the evening, I found most of the things that I as looking for except for the bike keys. I also discovered that I had enough batteries to keep Massachusetts powered on for a day. The next time we have an ice storm and lose power, I'll just ask the light and power department to come over and stock up on energy. I found the two dozen bangles that I had bought the last time I was in India. I had looked for these once I got back and then figured that I left them back at home. I found them wedged in a side pocket of my suitcase. Joy is too small a word to describe my reaction. I did the rest of the search with a dozen bangles merrily clinking on each hand. I found a bottle of soap bubbles and a wand (a Christmas gift from a friend) Overjoyed is too small a word to describe my reaction at this point. Obviously, it follows that I took a brief soap bubble break. The soap water bottle had the following written on it: " Do not drink soap water. If consumed by accident, drink plenty of water.", etc. It would've been neat if it also said "Shake and do a little jig for a couple of minutes. Congratulations - you should now be able to burp bubbles.". That's the problem with the soap water industry - no sense of humor. Back to The Search. I also discovered that I own a plethora of belts (3). Every where I looked, there was a belt. They were in suitcases, in bags, in side pockets of suitcases, they were everywhere. And I don't even remember buying a single one of them. And finally, at the very end, in the last suitcase which was the last place that I looked, next to a belt(!), in a little pouch, I found the keys!!! Victory is mine!! Now, if I can drag myself out of bed early again. I can actually bike to work.

There is, as usual, a lesson in this blog. If you search and search hard, you will find what you are looking for. If you are lucky, you will also find bangles and soap water.

And so to bed.

panacea

2009-04-28T23:08:00.000-04:00

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 kidding. During spring/summer, I am happy wherever I am.

So I ran outside after work today. After a very unimpressive 3-4 miler over the weekend, I decided that I will try it again. It was around 5.30 but it was still plenty warm (~ 85 F). I ran really slow but I managed to do ~ 4 miles including the little hill at the very end. I was huffing and puffing and achieved beetification within 10 minutes (you must all call me "her redness" from here on). Yes, I wear my dorkiness on my sleeve. Decent run.

I also resolved over the evening to bike to work tomorrow. The grand plan is to get up early and bike to work before it gets warm. Let's see how that goes. It is that cursed hill at the very end that'll finish me. Cable cars is the solution. Cable cars and bike racks at the bottom of the hill (a distance of 10 min with a not too steep slope) - I'll make sure I drop that in the suggestion box at work.

I recently was reading abt how Ashton Kutcher achieved some milestone in Twitter. This irked me - that Ashton Kutcher, of all people, should achieve any milestone, albeit on the irksome Twitter, was simply not acceptable. So I decided that I shall achieve something. I have decided that I need to have 50 folks visiting my blog. The event ends when I achieve the requisite number of visitors, or 20 years from now, whichever comes first. Here goes. DRUM ROLL ....... I am already counting 4 including me and my stuffed animals.

And now, as most of you are desperately hoping, it is time for bed.

looking glass

2009-04-23T23:36:00.000-04:00

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.

chimerical

2009-04-19T22:43:00.000-04:00

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 was struck by the notion of riding my bike on this trail that I run on once in a while. It seemed like a good idea at that point and we all know how my "good ideas at that point" usually end up. By the time I got back home after ~ 14 miles of biking, the rear end did not think it was a good idea anymore. I must say that it was fun, though. It was still early by weekend standards so there weren't too many folks out and about. Also, I took the local roads and the trail so I got to listen to the happy spring morning noises - birds chirping, water gurgling, trees swaying, etc. Nice. Also, I slept like a baby log at the end of the day. Blissful.

This evening, when it was time to cook for the next few days, I decided that one of the dishes would be Okra - or ladies fingers, as I've always called it. Cooking LF is a complicated process. To make a really crisp LF fry, folks will tell you that the LFs should be very dry when you are cutting them. Considering that LFs are really sticky vegetables and that they get worse when you wash them, this is hard to achieve. Considering that I was too lazy to go to the Indian store and bought frozen Okra, this is impossible to achieve. Irregardless, I tried. I thought if I microwaved the Okra that I took out from the fridge, the moisture would evaporate and things would be fine. A minute later I found out that this is a bad idea. Apparently, whatever that sticky substance is that is inside Okra, oozes out of it when microwaved and makes things messier. I now washed the Okra and tried to dry it as best I could using paper towels. I finally managed to cut it up and put it in the pan. And now started the saga. It took forever to fry. Here's some steps you should follow if you are frying Okra or Ladies Finger with not too much oil:

1. Put Okra/LF in the pan with some oil.
2. Stand around and twiddle your thumbs.
3. Ponder on the imponderables. For eg:
1. When does the hair on our heads grow?
a. During the day or night?
b. Has it been captured on video?
c. Has it been youtubed?
d. If not, why not?
2. Life in the 1950s
3. When was the last time I flossed?

4. Stare at the pan.
5. Leave the scene of the crime. Take a relaxing shower.
6. Re-enter the kitchen, yelp and take corrective action.

If you strictly follow steps 1 through 6, I promise that you'll have Okra/LF that is charred on one side and decently fried on the other side and a strong scent of burnt carbon that will stay in your living room for many days in spite of the vent fan being on high for a looooong time and the balcony door open as well.

There. Now I feel that I've imparted enough weekend wisdom and can now turn in with an easy conscience. And so to bed.

Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej, Ravi

2009-04-14T23:39:00.000-04:00

'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 day, I realized it was spring and went berserk. I planted a bunch of seeds in 7-8 pots that evening. I wasn't able to find the plant labels that are supposed to be somewhere in the house, though. So, I have no clue which pot has which seeds. So now, I have to wait patiently until these plants grow and flower or fruit (technically, do vegetable plants fruit or vegetable?) or leaf(in case of herbs) to figure out who is who. For now, I have to contend myself with playing mind games on the poor seedlings by turning the pots by different angles on different days to ensure I don't cultivate a host of leaning towers of Pisa. This is the problem with growing plants indoors by the windows. Soon, my dearhearts, it will be warm enough to move you all outside.

And now it is really time for bed. Though I am not too sleepy. Maybe a little Wao. I just started reading "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" based on a dear friend/blog follower reco and I must say the first 13 pages are really impressive.

Wizengamot

2009-04-05T23:04:00.000-04:00

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 being affected by the cold and some exhaustion.(I wasn't really hungry when I got up and I was planning only for an hour's walk/jog so I hadn't bothered with breakfast. I am smart that way.) Anyways, I acted on this idea and by the time I finished jogging the 3 miles out again, wee babies who just discovered walking were racing me to the finish line. I started walking back and that's when I figured that my forearms were all stiff from keeping them bent at that 90 degree angle while jogging and that I needed to loosen them. At this point, passersby would have spotted an Indian girl, red in the face - particularly the nose, two plaits whipping around madly - thanks to the wind and the brisk walk, waving her arms around at seemingly random intervals and occasionally singing along with her ipod. I bet you the trail will be more deserted the next time. So finally, my 2.5 hr adventure later, I returned home. Excellent way to spend the morning and a good store of endorphins for the weekend.

The rest of the weekend was a nice assorted mix of dance class, drumming practice (1 hour of repetitive practice (which, by the way, sounded like someone was having an indifferent seizure over the drum set (I just realized I am actually nesting parentheses in non-code literature - talk about lack of focus)) later, I had finally figured out the first 6 lines of a song from Rock On!. AP is a saint. That is the only explanation for why he didn't chase me out of his house with a carving knife while I practised. Holy Ginger! I just realized I am still inside a parenthesis. Exit!!), hanging out with friends, reading, watching movies, house hold chores, catching up with some folks I hadn't met in a while, calling the family, etc. Of course, it was sunny all day today and the only time that I spent outside the house was in a car, or inside some other building. Still, no complaints. And now, it is time to put aside these trivial ramblings and get back to my revision of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. LOUD CRACK! (I just apparated into Hogwarts)

Riddermark

2009-03-16T23:50:00.000-04:00

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 tupper/plastic ware and get some real cookware. Well, store ware at least. So I went to the store y'day and bought me some Corningware. Having arrived at home, I discovered that what I'd bought was just one, not a set of two as I'd imagined, dish with a lid and also that it was much bigger than what I'd wanted. Now, how can I be so misled when it mentions both the quantity and dimensions of the containers on the box?'Cause I think I zoned out after reading some 20 labels in that section of the store. It often happens. Well, to be fair, I don't think it would have helped at all if I fully registered the dimensions of the corningware when I bought it. I have no idea of estimation - whatsoever. No idea. Yes, I am an engineer. No, I don't know how.

And now : Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And a red dawn! Forth Eorlingas!

Stop - couldn't help it. Had to say that - it's been in my head all evening. And now to bed :-)

Sangfroid

2009-03-14T01:36:00.000-04:00

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 picked up John Grisham's "The Client" from my bookshelf. So far I am ok with it. Let's see how it goes. Which reminds me - I mean to write about some of my favorite books growing up, one by one, in this blog. If you don't want to miss this exciting, once-in-life-time, I'd-rather-get-a-blister-on-my-little-toe-rather-than-miss-this-one opportunity, be sure to check back in soon.

And until then, I wish you find laughter and good literature.

Peace out.

Ablutions

2009-03-10T00:07:00.000-04:00

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.

Topaz

2009-03-05T22:41:00.001-05:00

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.

Hearth

2009-03-01T01:23:00.000-05:00

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, we have the options of .... drumroll ....
a) doing my taxes!
b) shopping online for big screen TVs!
c) logging in and doing some work (bo-o-ring)!
d) bumming around at home + chores

Contestant : "I'd like to pick Options b) and d) for $4000, please."

I swear - I am off Nyquil.

I finally finished "The Great Gatsby" two nights ago. It's a good book. And last night, when I had trouble falling asleep after staying up too late to watch a movie with friends, I restarted "The World is Flat". It's one of those books that I am reading not 'cause I like it but 'cause I'd like to have read it. Let's see if Mr.Friedman grows on me...

And so to bed.

seraphim

2009-02-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

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!

vinyl

2009-02-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

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 fascinating to see people, their relationships, how they change and how they don't and what makes them tick. Of course, thanks to my undiagnosed ADD, this observation business only happens in short intervals of time. Therefore, I'll never be a keen observer. In fact, I don't think I have been a keen anything in life, or done any activity keenly. I take that back. If making resolutions can be considered an activity, I am keen resolution-maker. I make like 3 resolutions a day. 50% of which I forget when I wake up the next day and the rest which don't seem that attractive to the old bean after a solid 8 hours of rest. Anyways, that brings us to my latest resolution. Have been lazing around and skipping workouts for a good while now and all this is making me lazy and dull. Need to get back on a routine.

Alright, if I want to make up for all those lost hours of sleep from my red eye flight, and go to work tomorrow not looking hung over like today, it is time I logged off. And so to bed.

Semper Fidelis

2009-02-07T23:20:00.000-05:00

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, not a fancy lock but some lock. I managed to lock myself out of my bathroom. As you can imagine, this presented a problem. Thankfully, there was hole in the door knob on my side (put there precisely for Einsteins like me) and resourcefully, I figured out how to unlock the door using that hole. It was pretty cool.

And so, with no further delay, to bed.

Vainglorious

2009-02-02T22:55:00.000-05:00

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 that I am using my old DVD player's remote and not the new one. Now, why I still have an old DVD remote when the player itself was committed to the recycle center more than a month ago, .... is something we must all ponder on. And all for a movie that, within the first 15 mins, is already a mistake.

And so to bed.

comeuppance

2009-01-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

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 experience with such do-it-yourself purchases from Walmart. So I broke out my tool kit. Another hour later, having used a hammer, screw driver, power drill/screw driver, pliers and measuring tape, I had that thing up. Of course, at this point I realized that 60% of the unfinished surfaces were showing up where they should not have been. I gave up for the day. This evening, I re-attacked the problem. An hour later, after undoing everything I did the previous evening and re-doing it, I was finally done. As I look at the cabinet while I blog now, I am filled with a sense of pride. And independence. And a growing realization that the back panel of the cabinet is highly skewed.

And so to bed.