Making a Fuss

Hi...I am soooo bored *yaaaawn*

"Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry

You don't know how lovely you are.

I had to find you, tell you I need you,

Tell you I set you apart.

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions,

Oh lets go back to the start.

Running in circles, Comin' in tails

Heads on a science apart.

Nobody said it was easy,

It's such a shame for us to part.

Nobody said it was easy,

No one ever said it would be this hard.

Oh take me back to the start."



(Src: The Scientist-Coldplay)

Bye...I am soooo bored *yaaaawn*

Tale of the Snail

After the rains this lonely slimy snail appeared on my backyard. It was pretty huge and also the friendliest snail I have ever seen :). As you can see it rendered itself to be photographed without any hangups. Normally these guys retrieve into their shell as soon as they sense some disturbance..but not this one.

Posing for the camera ( even sporting a Shaka sign :)) or asking for food?

Threw a couple of flowers just to make the frame look prettier.

But next thing you know the hungry fellow moved towards the petals

As you can see a part of the petal's already eaten up

And the snail lived happily ever after..

That was the tale of the snail.

Charter for Compassion

My friend shared this with me and I am shraing with whoever..

And its founder Karen Armstrong speaks....

. Also check out the speech she gave at the TED awards..My favorite line from her speech- " we have a talent as a species to mess wonderful things up "..

"Updates"

For J and anyone who is interested...

News in general...
School continues to take up a good chunk of time/life. Not much research happening but quite a bit of refelection happening..as in- what the hell am I doing and what the hell do I want to do in life/with life? Also, bumped into a fellow student and family friend who sounded frustrated with studies. His words" The more I learn the more I feel I don't know". I said...'welcome to the club my friend'.

Entertainment...
Attended a Diwali get together with mom, friend and prof. I call K and jr the anti-social elements in the family :D. Post dinner, the dance floor was open and my friend and I danced like crazy to upbeat Punjabi numbers (which was the only frustrating part). Prof surprised with this unseen side of me...mom not so much.
Read a couple of books by Shoban Bantwal. Pretty good, especially the Dowry Bride. Currently reading Jane Austen's Emma. So far--simply delightful!
Watched the COnstant Gardner( second time). What can I say..it was superbe, magnifique ( no it isn't a French movie), inspiring and sad. Also watched the Brick Lane. Good one. For some Bollywood fix, watched Swades ( 3rd or 4th time) and fell in love with SRKhan again.

Friends and Challenges...
My good friend in Mumbai is volunteering at a mental health day care. A Schizophrenic patient, 23yrs old, has a huge crush on her, bordering on obsession and follows her around all the time. She is pretty worried and doesn't know how to handle him. My words of wisdom ( with no disrespect intended)- ' I thought sane men are tough enough to handle and you are talking about a not-so-sane man here. Good luck alright'!
Another friend is not speaking to me. She ignored my phone calls, my messages and my emails!.Looks like I have the talent to piss off people and I don't even realize it until much later. What a dense-head I am! ( Incidentally I found this bumper sticker at the ISKCON gift shop that said- " You can pay with Visa or Karma" and I wondered if God was trying to communicate with me). The frustrating part is I dont know what I did that she is so upset with me. Karma! Karma!
On a happy note-a good friend's sister had her first painting exhibition. She has put up the pictures in facebook. Really good collection I thought. The girl definitely has talent. I hope to buy one if I can afford it. She has a B.Arch degree and worked for a while, then quit and sat at home and played house. One fine day she woke up and decided to start painting..just like that!.I think a star is born again.

Matters of the heart...not really but..
There is a new crush in life- crushes actually. I have been crush free for the last year and a half (a record of sorts I would say).One is Anthony Bourdain of "No reservations" ( only because Ian Wright of Globe Trekker is out of sight these days)and the other is this African-American dude I see at the campus all the time. I don't know his name, what he does, or where he is from and vice versa( I am pretty sure). All I know is he looks good and we always smile and say hello. I know it is superficial, lame, and fickle and vain but as the new saying goes "Crush ( and love too) is not blind"!

General Disposition..
The last couple of days the weather has been awesome. In other words it was cool, dull/downcast, and cloudy with scattering rains. It is a bit oxymoron-ish but the fact is dull weather and rain does something good to my disposition in general.

My Fabulous Trip- Central London!

I loved everything about London- the crowded streets of central London, its historical buildings standing side by side its modern structures, the parks, the cool modern cafes, the museums, traveling underground by the tube, taking the "red bus" ( sitting on the second deck, front seat) through Central London which was an incredibly fantastic experience!, its dark alleys and pub houses, all the famous department stores and last but not the least the super fashionable Londoners! The time I had there was definitely not enough.

The Future of Shopping

Now wouldn't this be something interesting to experience..can't wait!

So I am Back...

........from a short, super hectic, exciting and exhausting trip. Physically in pain after a long (~30 hrs with a couple of short transit stops), uncomfortable plane ride- economy class should be legally banned.

Mid term in two days and I am nervous and anxious.

Two assignments due last week and I am yet to begin work on it. (I am not usually this sloppy. I have a good excuse but still the thought of all this pending work is putting me off).

I should be studying but all I can think of is quitting school.
.
.
.
.
.
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I would really quit school if I could think of a better or more interesting option.

Happy Diwali to all---may the light of knowledge triumph over the darkness of ignorance! :D

Some General Stuff..

75% story of my life...



Received a new subscription request for Science magazine from AAAS. The $50 subscription for 51 issues ( student rate) comes with a free T-shirt. The 6-steps t-shirt- pretty accurate I say and the other one - pretty smart I say.
(FYI: I am stuck somewhere in the second step)

So while I am contemplating to subscribe or not, I went ahead and bought some "peace" and "holy-love" for myself.


Howz that for some fine jewelery huh? :)

Hmm....shouldn't I be doing something more productive than publishing this post!? Lets see- there is a paper to read for today's class ( not done!) and four papers to read and write a review for thursday's class ( half done!).

Next week I am off on a trip for two weeks..very much looking forward to this break from what appears to be a mundane existence at the moment! ( The Downer: I'll be losing four classes! Hell!)

(Mood: A bit bored and a bit whiny and not very articulate about it either)

Weird Week for Sure..

........

Sat through an invited talk by a social scientist from Chennai on Microfinance and Women empowerment in South India where she declared all men (or husbands) are alcoholics! Later, during the mingling/networking session I heard the speaker’s husband introducing himself to someone as- “Hi…I am the alcoholic husband”. That was funny!

Worked on a collaborative research proposal involving 10 professors from different disciplines, two NGOs, one University, and three countries!! Man what a kick-ass experience. Practically all-modern communication technology available was put to use. No idea if we will get the funding but a kick-ass experience nevertheless.

A friend found out that his girlfriend is pregnant. He is in shock although he is trying to hide it well. They have been dating only for 2-3 months so this was unplanned/ unexpected. He recently graduated, went on a short vacation, got back and got the news! Oh Man! So now the poor guy is getting hearty congratulations and free parenting advice to comments like “dude now we know you are not a virgin” to “well now we know everything works just fine”! I think all of us are in a bit of shock yet we all want to be happy for him.

(PS: Heard the girlfriend is pretty thrilled. She is 6 years older than him and she is so ready for a baby!).

Andhra Pradesh CM died in a helicopter crash. May his soul rest in peace. MSN reported that 100 people died from shock hearing about his death. May their souls rest in peace as well. *sigh*.

A friend might be getting divorced after all. *sigh* *sigh*

Multiple Orgasm

One hot, humid day at the store...

Me: Could I have a multiple orgasm please.

Girl at the counter: Sure! Just one for you today?

Me: Well, how much is one?

Girl at the counter: Its $4.50.

Me: Oh ok..well make that two please.

Girl at the counter: For here or to go?

Me: To go please.

...And few minutes later I walk home with two multiple orgasms in a paper bag to enjoy at home.


Trust me but that was more awkward than I thought. And not sure why someone would have such a strange name for an ice cream. Also, I cannot say if the ice cream lived up to its name but I can say that there was nothing extraordinary about it.

This is how a multiple orgasm looks like. ( flavors: chocolate, coffee and oreo cookies with an oreo cookie crust)

School's back in session today and like always I am nervous like hell!

Whats New At My End?

This was an email reply to a friend and I thought it would also make a decent blog update. Resorting to reuse-recycle approach due to lack of time, lack of ideas and simple laziness.

So whats new at my end?-

...'Nothing new or exciting has happened since the last 'summary-of-my-life' email I sent you a week ago :). Busy at work mostly and the rest of the time too tired to care.

By the way Felicia tricked us and all those who made elaborate preparations to face the "big storm" were royally let down. Smart me did not bother too much. Finally we got hit with a minor tropical depression and the last couple of days have been gloomy with slight rains and light winds. Great weather as far as I am concerned :). You know the "Wuthering Heights" kind of scene. Gosh! love that movie! have you seen it? I doubt.
So here I am discussing the weather, asking you questions and answering them myself.

Other news..I did an internet Quiz just for fun.It was " what your eyes say about you?". I must say I was extremely disappointed by the results. It says " Fear". Can you believe it?! I need to retake that Quiz again. I obviously did not pay attention while answering the first time. I only have normal human fears like -snakes, or being robbed in the night (actually anytime of the day) or getting hit by turbulence while flying ..

I know I am blabbering away as if you have all the time in the world to read my blabber. In fact my time is quite expensive too particularly at these times of recession. I shouldn't be wasting it on meaningless blabber . Sigh!

I saw Luck By chance. Good movie. I think Farhan Akhtar is pretty cool and Konkana Sen is wonderful!

So whats new at your end?'

We Have Been Warned!

We might be hit by a hurricane over the weekend. It even has a fancy name Hurricane Felicia.
In my "survival kit" so far I have batteries, a first-aid kit and an old sleeping bag.
I had planned on an early morning campus walk with my modest camera, a movie and an IndianBBQ meet at the house, with some friends, over the weekend. Hope the storm simply subsides and passes without any fuss and let us "hardworking" folks party and take a break!