Disqus?

I know, I know, I have been lazy about replying to the comments lately. Part of it is the depression and schedule, but part of it is also that I miss the disqus application I had on the older format of the blog. Its a neat little application that allows me to reply back to comments instead writing another comment. However, a few people complained about the problems faced while commenting using disqus.

So here is the question: Is disqus really causing a lot of trouble, in case you are using on your blog or have used it for commenting? I am seriously considering to have it back on my blog. Does anyone have a strong opinion about that?

P.S.: I know, I know, this is my blog and I can do whatever I want with it and I don't need anyone's approval for that but I will still like to hear from you before I make this decision.

Hectic Life aka the Real Life

Yeah, yeah, you heard me. I have finally descended in the real world ans started a real job. I now have regular work hours, regular lunch hour, and hopefully, from tomorrow, a regular exercise routine. I have been trying to adjust in this regularity which involves waking up 5 in the morning (I am in office by 6AM, though I must add that these odd working hours are by choice) and sleeping by 9ish. I haven't achieved the second part yet and so I am constantly sleep deprived, which explains my disappearance for past two weeks (before that I was too depressed as I was going to become a regular person).

Hopefully as this routine sets in and I start sleeping at expected hour, I will be able to become a regular at my blog again but its not my top priority at the moment (yes, I have already started prioritizing my tasks). I am still missing Stanford and bay area miserably. More importantly, I am missing my irregular student life. And please don't start with the normal pep talk about how I will be earning now and all that non-sense. My friends have already gone through those and they don't work. I know I can't be miserable forever and I have to eventually snap out of it but it's not a command that you give to me and I will be out of it. I am not a computer. It's a process and it will take some time. So bear with me.

Anyway, I am writing this quick post to let you guys know that I am here and I do have a lot things I want to write about (including last week's Glee episode of grilled chessus), but it might take me some time. So please be patient with me and I will be back soon.

P.S.: If you haven't been watching Glee, I highly recommend that show. And if you don't live in US, I hope you might be able to find them online. As I live here, I have no way of knowing whether the link I posted here works internationally or not. But believe me it's a show worth watching. I wish they could make a bollywood version of it though I will be very cautious if they do, unless its done by the team that produced "Dekh bhai dekh".

Kya jamana aa gaya hai

(What has this world come to)

Honestly. So I bought a new GPS (my old GPS does not have advance lane guidance which makes it useless in this big city). I was very happy with this new GPS when suddenly something caught my eye on its FIVE-inch screen (its huge for a GPS).

“Eat Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster”

I stared at it for 5 secs (I was driving, couldn’t have stared longer than that). I thought it was a fluke or malware or whatever. Next time, same thing happened. MY GPS WAS SHOWING ADVERTISMENTS IN REAL TIME!! Granted it didn’t know that I hate sea-food so there is a fat chance of me trying out eating endless shrimp but I watched the Red Lobster pass me by, nevertheless. Something I wouldn’t have noticed, had my GPS wasn’t so particular to point it out. And who knows, may be with time it will learn my preferences and advertize accordingly. Isn’t that’s what Google and Facebook etc are doing?

I mean what’s next? Picking up random words from my conversation on cell phone and then advertizing about them on it? They already advertize based on your search pattern and site visited. This is getting way beyond invasion of privacy.

What do you think?

P.S.: Other than this annoying feature I love my new GPS. It actually gives me the speed limit of the road I am travelling on. True that most of time they don’t match the speed limit posted on the road but at least they have always shown a lower speed limit than posted one. At least I will not get a ticket for speeding.

Thinking aloud

So few days back, as I was leaving California, I went to an Indian restaurant with some friends. We landed there around lunch time, and as almost all the Indian restaurant in states have buffet for lunch hour (really, what’s up with that?), we opted for that. None of us had a clue whether this restaurant was a north Indian or south Indian cuisine and they had both north Indian and south Indian dishes in buffet menu. I first attempted some dosa with sambhar in my first round which, btw, was delicious. However during the second round, I went for north Indian dishes and realize that this was in fact a  south Indian restaurant (and a non-vegetarian one on that. They could have fooled me). Reason you ask? The baigan bharta had jeera (cumin) as well as curry leaves in it. Seriously! Jeera with curry leaves.

Honestly, I don’t get why south Indian cooks insist on mixing south Indian spices as curry leaves or rai (mustard seeds) in any and all north Indian dishes they prepare. I will never add jeera in a sambhar instead of rai (mustard seeds). EVER. Just imagine how will that taste like? So now can you understand my distaste when I discover south Indian spices in north Indian food? They simply don’t taste right. Period.

Normally I refrain from ordering a north Indian dish in a south Indian restaurant or a south Indian dish in a north Indian restaurant. If I want to eat north Indian dish, I will go to a north Indian restaurant and vice-versa. Simple. But I am not sure what to order when they prefer not to specify which cuisine they subscribe to, and the name of the restaurant is not obvious, and then, to top it all, they offer both options. I don’t have problem with either cuisine. I just want them separated from each other. Please don’t mix them up. They both have some great tasting . Why spoil any of them?

P.S.: 1. This reminds me of an ex-room-mate of mine (she was south Indian) who insisted that I don’t know how to make rotis (aka phulka), as I don’t put any oil on it. I tried to explain that that’s how we make roti in north India. She wasn’t convinced. And then one day when I was making parthas, she started screaming at me that I lied to her and we do in fact put oil on our rotis. I tried to explain to her that this is what we call a partha and not a roti. We don’t normally put oil on it unless you count people who like to put ghee on it afterwards (we, as in our family, normally don’t unless we have guests). But she was intend on proving me wrong and telling me how I don’t know my own culture and food habits! Needless to say, we went our separate ways soon after.

2. I should also mention that I have some great south Indian friends and this post is not about south Indian culture or people. I just don’t like people mixing the spices like that.

Wordless Wednesday: Not Bad, huh?

That’s how my new room looks like. As I said its a nice looking apartment. Note the phrase “nice looking”, that’s what it is. The building material is actually pretty poor quality. Paint is already chipping off, carpet is frayed and spotted (I haven’t been here for two weeks!). But look-wise its a good looking apartment and costs me same as my previous apartment. I guess I was lucky to land this deal.

I know its a bit personal but I don’t really have anything else to post. Haven’t felt comfortable enough to venture around to take pics in the new place. I will soon, I hope.

Suggestions for Mapping Software Companies

So the other day as I was trying to get to my destination using my now-a-days ever-confused GPS (Disha), I found myself driving in a seedy part of the town. Being new in a big city can be scary that way. You don’t know which turn will lead you to a place where you can be simply “at a wrong place at a wrong time” victim. As I drove away (as fast as I could) from that place, it occurred to me what if the GPS (or even the online mapping sites as google maps, mapquest or yahoo maps) have a system to warn about such a neighborhood.

I understand that such a system will have a lot of implications, including the real estate prices but it will help people like me who have no idea what so ever about this new place. May be they don’t have to downright announce a place to be unsafe but instead give some kind of crime index or something similar. A warning before cruising such areas can reduce the shock value at the least and put the stranger-in-the-town on their guard. Like this poor guy who came to bay area for a job interview at Google and for some reason, was in the shady Oakland. He was murdered for a mere $17. Having lived in bay area for 6 years, I know to avoid visiting Oakland (or Richmond, or East Palo Alto), if I can help it. Guess he didn’t know that.

I don’t want to end up like him. Seriously.

And while they are at it, it will really help if these GPS have a small text in some corner, indicating the maximum speed limit allowed on the road (if they already don’t have it. My GPS is around 3 years old so I have no idea about current development in this field). Again, stranger-in-the-town and state at times miss these signs since we are trying very hard to find our way and avoid having an accident at the same time. I really don’t want to get a ticket when I don’t have any address for it to be sent to. I will miss all the court summons and subpoena  associated with it as well and very soon I will become a fugitive (oh yes, I have a wild imagination. The story actually ends with me living in Canada under an assumed name and being found by the authorities using my blog. This blog. I will never leave you guys!).

Anyway, just few suggestion that I would find useful in my GPS or online map search. Is someone listening?

Wordless Wednesday: Emotions

 

Title: Tears

Location: Stanford, CA

Date: September 4, 2010

The Emotions of Relocation

So the relocation company helping me out with the move, sent me this document titled “Your Positive Relocation”. According to this “brochure”, there are five emotional stages of relocation: 1. Confusion & Denial; 2. Anger; 3. Loss & Depression; 4. Resentment; and finally, 5. Acceptance. I think I am somewhere between stage two and three. I remember being in stage one for quite a long time, actually till a week before the move at which point I could no longer deny it. And now its a mixture of the next two stages.

So my stuff arrived four days ago, which is good, except it looks so alien in this new apartment. It simply doesn’t belong here. To start with my student time furniture and stuff is no match to this nice, a bit upscale apartment (one advantage of being in Texas: for the same price, I get a better apartment in a nice place). It just give a feeling of being out of place, old and dirty. And it didn’t help when one of the mover commented on the weight and size (27”) of my TV which is unlike the TVs these days that are light, big, and very portable.

The house is a mess at the moment. I didn’t know how much stuff I have till it was time to move: about 50 boxes to fit everything I owned plus furniture, cycle, TV etc and not to mention the two suitcases (the big ones, you know the ones that every Indian living abroad owns. Well almost every Indian) that I had with me when I flew to Texas. Honestly, I could have organized everything much faster than its taking me. I just don’t have the spirit or enthusiasm to do so. Everything fitted so perfectly in my old home. I bought those things for that home because they worked there. They were the right fit. Now I don’t know how to arrange these old things in the new apartment. I just don’t. It doesn’t work. And again the feeling of these things of not belonging in this new place overwhelms me and I give up.

Its the small things too. Like every time I fondle with my keys to search for the apartment key, I automatically look for the silver key I have been using for past five years to discover with a surprise (each and every time) that it’s no longer there. I have this golden alien key that opens the apartment door. Weird.

Or,when I simply walk out of the door to do something, anything, I realize that I have no idea where the nearest store, or post office, or bank, or ANYTHING is. I have to walk back and switch on the laptop to find it.

Or, the fact that I don’t even know whether its safe to drink water directly from the tap. In my own home.

Or when the intrusion alarm start beeping whenever I open the balcony door. EACH AND EVERY TIME. I am simply not used to having an intrusion alarm.

Or the fact that my GPS, my old and faithful GPS, Disha (yes, I have a habit of naming my gadgets), don’t have an advanced lane guidance which makes it impossible to use it in this big city of road mazes where every highway has two names and has a toll for using certain lanes.

The fact that I am living off my savings at the moment doesn’t help either.

I can only hope the stage five arrives soon and brings some kind of joy with it.

P.S.: Sorry for the disjointed post. I just wrote down the train of thoughts, I guess. This post very much feel like my house at the moment: A mess.

UPDATE: I replied to all the previous comments. Sorry for the delay.

An Update

Why is it that when you don’t have access to something, you want to use it only then? I don’t have any internet connection today and today is the day I want to write a post. I guess it has something to do with human nature. Anyone wants to philosophize?

Oh well, the reason I haven’t been posting lately is because I moved approximately 1880 miles, from beautiful, picturesque California to plain, boring Texas. Oh why, yes, I am certainly not very happy about with the move. What gave it away?

Anyway, so today is the day during my entire move that I don’t have internet access. I will get my internet connection tomorrow, that is, if everything goes well and there are no technical difficulties. Yet, today is the day I have been itching to write a post since morning. So I found an insecure internet access and using that to write this update.

How has Texas treated me so far, you ask? Oh well, on the first day in this place, I got a flat tire. On my rental car (if you have rented a car, you would know the hassle it can cause). And then as I was waiting for the roadside assistance to arrive, it started pouring down. With proper thunder and lightening (it was some kind of omen, perhaps?). Poor guy from the road side assistance was completely drenched after he finished replacing the tire.

The second day in this place: I got drenched while looking at different prospective residents. However, I did find an apartment that I like (more or less), hence it was not a complete waste of time and energy.

And today, the third day in this place: I got drenched in sweat while trying to buy basic supplies for my new house. Why, oh why, every super market has to be so big in Texas? I get that everything is big in Texas but seriously there should be a limit on being big. I visited two super market and it took me 6 hours (honestly!) of driving and walking to get handful of cleaning supplies. I could have gotten the same things in under an hour in California. (Yes, I am missing California).

Oh, BTW, I shifted to my new apartment today morning. Its a nice sweet apartment but this is the first time in my life that I have decided to live all by myself. I am not sure how will this pan out. I have always had a room-mate. Although my room-mates are not my best friends in the whole wide world with whom I share intimate secrets but they usually end up being a decent friend whose company I enjoy and cherish. It is weird and kind of lonely without one. Hopefully, with time, I will get used to it.

And hopefully, with time, I will get used to this new place as well and won’t hate it as much. Someday, one day.

And yet again, I rambled, when all I wanted to say: Today is the first day of a new life. New place, new friends (well, technically, I do have some old friends here), new adventures. Life is kind of scary at the moment. Wish me luck!

P.S.: I will reply to all the comments soon. Things are getting kind of settled down now, so hopefully I will be able to become regular on blogosphere again. And then, I do need a ranting place again. So I will be back. 

Illogical Logics

“Her home was so messy.”
“But my home is even messier than hers.”
“Oh that’s alright, you are not married, na.”

How does cleanliness of someone’s house is a factor of gender, age, or marital status is beyond me.  To me its more about priorities and cleaning the house doesn’t make to top of that list for me. If it is same for a married woman who is juggling office, home and kids with what-so-ever no help from the husband, I sympathize with her. In that case, in all fairness, she has more right to have a messy house than me. Doesn't she?

**********************************************************************************

“So what did you have dinner today?”
“Um, toor daal, baigan ki sabji, roti, bonndi ka raita, salad and some achar.”
“You cooked all that just for yourself? I can never motivate myself to cook that much just for me.”

Honestly what are they trying to imply? Should I starve myself  to death because I am not married and have no one to cook for? Just because they need someone in their life to define their existence, it doesn’t mean everyone else should too.

**********************************************************************************

“You must finish your food. Do you know how many people in this world die of starvation. Think of them and finish your food.”


But how does overeating and eventually getting sick or gaining weight unnecessarily is going to help starving people? It’s not like that if I overeat, the surplus amount go to their stomach. I would happily give my food to any of them but why, oh why, should I torture myself? It doesn’t ease anyone’s pain, instead just give me some stomach ache.

Wordless Wednesday: Another Twilight

Title: Enjoying Sunset

Location: Lake Tahoe, CA

Date: July 20, 2010

Tuesday Tag: The Countdown

Post-defense-lazing-around means I don’t procrastinate anymore, which, in turn, means that I have a blogger’s block. Add a badly sprained ankle in the mix, I have absolutely nothing to blog about. Unless you want to listen to me complain about my sprained ankle, how hard it is to use crutches and how the the timing for having a sprained ankle couldn’t be worse. Yeah, I thought not.

Anyway, just to keep this blog alive, I borrowed this tag from PB. Just letting you know, I am still here. Will start blogging regularly again as soon as I start working again.

Ten hows:

1. How did you get one of your scars? Trying to get my bottle (I was two) from under the bed. Apparently, not as simple a task as it sounds.
2. How did you celebrate your last birthday? By eating Rasmalai.
3. How are you feeling at this moment? Bored.
4. How did your night go last night? Uneventful. Unfortunately.
5. How did you do in high school? Not too bad in spite being a dork and a nerd. Yes both at the same time.
6. How did you get the shirt you’re wearing? Free gift from a company while interviewing with them on-campus. There are advantages of being a student.
7. How often do you see your best friend(s)? At least once a week.
8. How much money did you spend last month? A lot. But then I went to Lake Tahoe and Disney land with friends. So not complaining.
9. How old do you want to be when you get married? I find this question to be offensive. Or, may be, I am just turning into an old spinster.
10. How old will you be at your next birthday? 32.

Nine whats:

1. Your mother’s name? Really? Creativity is dead. (No, that’s not my mother’s name)
2. What did you do last weekend? Attended a friend’s graduation ceremony, took some pictures and slept a lot.
3. What is the most important part of your life? Love.
4. What would you rather be doing? Sleeping.
5. What did you last cry over? Watching the song “Kar chale hum fida jano-tan sathiyon”. That song always brings tears in my eyes.
6. What always makes you feel better when you’re upset? Some pampering.
7. What’s the most important thing you look for in a significant other? Compassion.
8. What are you worried about? Packing and moving.
9. What did you have for breakfast? Some fresh air.

Eight yous:

1. Have you ever liked someone who had a girlfriend/boyfriend? Yes.
2. Have you ever had your heartbroken? Yes.
3. Have you ever been out of the country? I have been out of a lot of countries and inside few of them. Which country are you talking about?
4. Have you ever done something outrageously dumb? Does falling in love count?
5. Have you ever been back stabbed by a friend? Yes.
6. Have you ever had sex on the beach? And have sand in my hair. NO WAY.
7. Have you ever dated someone younger than you? No.
8. Have you ever read an entire book in one day? All the Harry Potter books from book 4 onward.

Seven whos:

1. Who was the last person you saw? My room-mate. Ten minutes ago.
2. Who was the last person you texted? My friend J.
3. Who was the last person you hung out with? My room-mate. In our living room. We watched the movie Dragonfly.
4. Who was the last person to call you? My mom.
5. Who did you last hug? My friend on Saturday while congratulating her on her graduation.
6. Who is the last person who texted you? My friend J.
7. Who was the last person you said “I love you” to? None of your business.

Six wheres:

1. Where does your best friend(s) live? Stanford and Puerto Rico.
2. Where did you last go? Post Office.
3. Where did you last hang out? Living Room. Oh ok, Dishdash (Mediterranean restaurant) for lunch on Saturday with my friends.
4. Where do you go to school? Stanford.
5. Where is your favorite place to be? Stanford.
6. Where did you sleep last night? On my bed in my room. Though, now you mentioned it, I will try to sleep on the kitchen counter tonight.

Five dos:

1. Do you think anyone likes you? Of course, I am a very likeable person. Wait till they really get to know me.
2. Do you ever wish you were someone else? Always. From Cinderella to a student at Hogwarts to the heroine (heroine and not actress) of one of those chick-flicks to Doctor Who’s companion. What can I say, I have an over-active imagination.
3. Do you know the muffin man? You mean the one who lives in Drury Lane? Barely.
4. Does the future scare you? Oh yes. However, it also excites me more than it frightens me.
5. Do your parents know about your blog? Nope.

Four whys:

1. Why are you best friends with your best friend?  So that I could have a best friend.
2. Why did you get into Blogging? Procrastination.
3. Why did your parents give you the name you have? Because they had to name me some thing. I guess they didn’t want to keep calling me “bachchi” or “baby” or “ladki” or something similar.
4. Why are you doing this survey? Trying to break my blogging dry spell.

Three ifs:

1. If you could have one super power what would it be? Mind-reading. Telepathy would be cool too.
2. If you could go back in time and change one thing, would you? Nah. Despite its up and downs life isn’t too bad.
3. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could bring one thing, what would you bring? A fishing boat.

Two would-you-evers:

1. Would you ever get back together with any of your ex’s if they asked you? Never. There is a reason they are my ex.
2. Would you ever shave your head to save someone you love? Sure. What’s the big deal?

One last question:

1. Are you happy with your life right now? Depends on the day you ask me. Sometimes yes, sometimes no (Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa). 

A free for all tag. Have fun.

Wordless Wednesday: Twilight

Title: Sunset

Location: Universal Studio, Los Angeles, CA

Date: August 3, 2010

Challenge of Friendship

I have been trying to catch up with the Blogosphere these days (though not commenting on everything I read but I am reading), and as it happens so often when you are in blogosphere, there are thoughts bubbling at the surface. And sometimes, very unrelated topics click perfectly with each other. Like the current challenge at Blogadda (and no I am not participating again, just thinking aloud): ‘Friends Forever’, and a post by Shilpa on ‘the other woman’. Completely unrelated? May be, may be not.

You see its all good and nice in a friendship as long as life is simple and easy. The real challenge of friendship is when your friends does something that according to your moral compass is wrong. It can be anything from having an extra marital affair (if they are married), or having an affair with a married man/woman, or as we desis (belonging to Indian subcontinent) are raised to be homophobic and transphobic, you discover (in case you are still homophobic/transphobic) they are gay, transsexual, transgender, or even cross dresser. What do you do then?

What do you say to your friend when they share with you something that according to your moral compass is wrong? You condemn them and walk away, or you stay and support them? And by supporting I mean really supporting, and not trying to get them to change their decision, or ignoring the big elephant in the room (the two approaches that people usually take when they don’t agree with someone else’s decision) but be there for them and tell them it’s okay, as long as they are happy. To hell with right and wrong. Because you know, the rest of the world is going to condemn them anyway (including their family), so will you join the society in condemning them or will you be there for them, as one of the last shoulder for them to cry on (remember family and society is going to condemn you as well for supporting them blindly)? Friends Forever?

Jaan pe bhi khelenge, tere liye le lenge: sabse dushmani

P.S.: Happy Friendship Day. And to all of my friends, who have stood by me and will stand by me again, no matter what: THANK YOU. I promise to be there for you as well, no matter what.

Fictional Crushes Tag

Rachna tagged me. Exactly what I need right now, a tag, to get back on writing business of blogging.

So this tag that Rachna created, is about, surprise surprise, fictional heroes (I have known Rachna since school days: she defines the word book worm. Its an accomplishment for me if I can find a book that I have read and she hasn’t! By book I, of course, mean fictional books and not course books). The tag requires to name ten fictional crushes I have ever had. I am not sure if I can name ten of them because like real crushes, my fictional crushes fades away and I don’t even remember them after a while. Yet, here is a list of my fictional crushes that I do remember(in the descending order of intensity of my crush: the top one being the most intense):

1. Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d'Anconia or simply, Francisco d’Anconia (Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand): I have the biggest crush ever on Francisco d’Anconia. Honestly, my heart race every time his name appears in the book. I dream about him, I wish he was real so that I can meet him just once in real life.

Why do I like him so much, you ask? He is a perfect man. He can do anything, any work perfectly and effortlessly. As Ayn Rand says while sketching his character:

Two things were impossible to him: to stand still or to move aimlessly.

"Let's find out" was the motive he gave to Dagny and Eddie for anything he undertook, or "Let's make it." These were his only forms of enjoyment.

Just my kind of person and then there is his famous money speech is a killer. Just an excerpt:

"So you think that money is the root of all evil?" said Francisco d'Anconia. "Have you ever asked what is the root of money? […]

"When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. It is not the moochers or the looters who give value to money. Not an ocean of tears not all the guns in the world can transform those pieces of paper in your wallet into the bread you will need to survive tomorrow. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor--your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money, Is this what you consider evil?”

2. Fitzwilliam Darcy or simply, Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen): I won’t be exaggerating if I say that he is every teenage girl crush. Well he was mine. On my sixteenth b’day, a neighborhood didi presented me with two abridged books: ‘Little Women’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Till then my reading habits were restricted to Archies, Tintin, Nandan, The Three Investigators, Nancy Drew and Famous Five. It was my first introduction to Jane Austen and I simply fell in love.

Why do I like him? In the first pass Mr. Darcy is arrogant, haughty, snob and all the other synonym of the word. But the way he changed for his love Elizabeth Bennet. All the things he did for her and the way he pursued her: simply romantic. Is it a surprise that I fell in love with him as a teenager?

3. Alan Shore (Boston Legal): The next fictional character that makes my heart go ‘ooh’, ‘aah’, doesn’t belong to a book but to a TV series called Boston Legal. But as he is still a fictional character, I think he counts. (Just so we are clear, I love Alan shore and not James Spader, the guy who plays Alan Shore. No doubt that James have done a great job but its the character that I have crush on and not the actor).

Alan is far from perfect. In fact, the first time I watched Boston Legal, I found him very inappropriate, sexist and even cheesy but his heart is in the right place. He always do the right thing even if it means being slightly off track, and even, at times, illegal. His arguments in the court, his logic, his views, his attitude, and his caring nature (despite being a lawyer), grows on you till he becomes irresistible. And the best of all, his friendship with Denny Crane. Denny Crane has completely opposite views about life, politics and everything else, as compared to Alan and yet both of them are inseparable. Difference in opinion do get in the way of their friendship and yet their friendship survives. I simply love watching that show and every time Alan Shore appears on the screen, my heart starts beating a bit faster.

4. Cole Turner (Charmed):  Yet another TV character who make my heart race. I started watching Charmed back in India (on Star Movies, I think). I am a big sucker for any TV series, book, movie based on magic, witches, wizards, vampires etc but honestly this series is very cheesy. But there are few characters that absolutely captivated me. Cole Turner (played by Julian McMahon) is introduced in season 3 as a love interest for Phoebe (played by Alyssa Milano) the youngest of the charmed sisters. He is half human and half demon, and is sent by the Source (of all evil) to destroy the Charmed sisters. But his human half fells in love with Phoebe: deeply and passionately in love. He turn against everything he has known for his entire life to be with her. Some thing or the other keep happening and the two of them never get together in real sense.

The tortured love, the bad boy, the rebellion all of these factors makes him so lucrative, I guess. He makes my heart pound. I love the season three to season five of Charmed just because of him. Coincidentally, I tried watching a lot of other movies and serials starring Julian McMahon but it was just the Cole Turner character that has that effect on me.

5. Raj Malhotra (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge): Let me start this one with the statement that I don’t like Shahrukh Khan. I think he overacts and dramatize even the simplest of the scenes. The only movie I can tolerate him in is Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and again, it has more to do with the character he played than him.

Raj Malhotra, is a party boy, an incurable flirt and yet when he falls in love, he is sincere, he is respectful and he understands Simran’s (played by Kajol) emotional turmoil of choosing between love and heart, or family and tradition. Which Indian teenager girl can resist him? I couldn’t. I have watched the movie uncountable times and each time I fall in love with him yet again.

Well that’s all the fictional characters I could think of that make my heart race. How about you? Pick up the tag if you like it. If you are a bookworm (or even a movie lover, or a TV addict), you would love doing it..

Wordless Wednesday: Stream Profiler

Not so wordless this week though. Well I have to tell you what you are seeing and not simply show you. So what you are seeing here is called a stream profile chamber and frankly, that’s what it is: a stream profile chamber. The upper 1/4the part of the photo shows you the real forest and the stream as it look if you are above this chamber (the part above the water). But then you enter this tunnel and you see how the streams really look like in nature. Can you see how the water from the small fall makes all those bubbles, the rock behind the branches going in and, of course, the fish swimming around? See how the sun rays are penetrating the stream?

It was an accidental discovery on the recent trip to Lake Tahoe (yep, that’s where I disappeared after my defense and hence, the long silence). I found this very unique and exciting and hence the picture. Or may be, years of grilling in academics have turned me to an absolute geek. No really, do you also think its cool or is it just me? Have I really lost the ability to communicate with the normal people (I was told that most of the PhDs do so I have been wondering)?

Title: Stream

Location: Rainbow Trail, South Lake Tahoe, CA

Date: July 20, 2010

(Canon EOS REBEL T2i camera, Canon 18-55mm lens @ 33mm focal length, f/10 aperture, 1/100 sec shutter speed and 3200 ISO (the reason the picture is a bit grainy) using a graduated 0.6 ND filter with darker side towards the top. Post processing: cropped slightly, straightened and increased contrast using Picasa3)

Blog Name Changed

Oh well, I am back. Yet again. Did you think I disappeared completely? Well, I didn’t. I just took a break, after my DEFENSE. That’s right! I have unofficially finished my PhD (officially, I finish in September). So, as promised, I am changing the name of this blog to “Just Life”. I am not sure when, and if, Google reader will show this change (its not showing any change, at the moment).

I am still in process of changing the blog design and will appreciate any suggestions or comments you might have.  :)

I am now officially a sinner. YAY!

I have been waiting for this tag to come around (that is, for someone to tag me officially) ever since IHM started it off. True, I don’t usually wait for the tags to come around but do them anyway, but this time I wanted to be tagged officially and do it completely legally (what if by doing it illegally, I get stuck with wrong colors). Finally, PB tagged me. A BIG thanks to her :)

So the tag is about breaking the gender stereotypes: things you do that do no belong to your gender’s characteristics as defined by the society. Hence, making you a social sinner. The tagee (the one who has been tagged) is supposed to list 10 such sins and then tag 12 more bloggers (otherwise the tagee will be cursed to wear blue clothes pants if they are a woman and pink shirts if they are a man – for next twelve years). Hence, the taggee now becomes the tagger and can officially join the facebook club of the sinners!

So here goes my list:

1. If I like someone, I usually make the first move. I actually prefer it that way. It makes me more comfortable. When I am out on a date with someone, I usually pay for myself, and often for the date as well ( I was the one who invited them for the date, then shouldn’t I be the one paying for it? Just my logic). The only trouble is that I am a big snob and hence, don’t have a crush as often (or may be its a good thing, at least good for my wallet).

2. Photography is my passion. To the extent that most of the people around me (usually guys), ask for my opinion before buying a camera or a lens, and at times, when their camera is malfunctioning (no, I don’t know how to fix a camera. Seriously).

Most of the photography club trips I have been to, I was the only girl amongst 15-20 odd guys. The photography trip I take alone, I usually end up talking to strangers (usually photographers). Some of them have given me excellent tips.

3. I have learned martial arts for 2 years and I am a blue belt in Kenpo Karate (I am planning to continue that once I am done with my PhD). I think I can do some damage to anyone who dares to attack me. I relish a good defense technique, even though it might mean gouging opponents eyes, or breaking their ribs, or snapping their neck, or breaking few bones, or taking off someone’s knee cap. Brilliant! The knowledge that I can do all that, gives me a lot of confidence, not that I will necessarily apply any of them in real life, unless I am attacked. However, I still don’t enjoy watching the WWFs or any other wrestling contest or any brutal sports. I think they involve unnecessary violence, done for the entertainment of some dumbos, instead of self defense.

I should point out that martial arts, among all the sports, is considered least favorable for a girl because, number 1 it’s a contact sports which means you have to be in close physical contact with the others almost all the time (and its a mixed sports, you have to work with both guys and gals). Secondly, it does involve getting hit repeatedly, which yet again not a very desirable thing for a girl, is it?

4. I am good in Maths. I have always been good in Maths (I consider it as my strength). I can solve quite a lot of questions in my brain without any need to write it down, which, for some reason, people think is amazing (or so have I been told). At times, few of them don’t believe that I have done it in my brain and accuse me of cheating or guesswork! Usually, their argument involves something on the line that a girl can’t solve those things in her brain. The girl’s brain, you see, is more adaptive in memorizing stuff than problem  solving. Or, so I have been told.

5. I read news regularly. I keep in touch with current affairs and follow the politics (world, US and India). I have political opinions. I can explain you anything from Kashmir conflict (when and why it started) to Arizona immigrant law to Tories recent budget in UK (not too many details but an overview). 

But I should confess that I am not a very good debater. I avoid conflict as much as I can.

6. I like Lego and any such puzzle solving, building things kind of toys etc. My room-mate and I put together all our furniture when we moved in our new apartment (in US, you usually get furniture in pieces with nails and everything which you need to put together). Since the age of 15 until I was 25, I was the one responsible for putting the lights up in our house on Diwali (as well as the Rangoli).

7. My specialization, Geophysics, requires a fair bit of field work. So I have roamed the villages of north-west Rajasthan, Gujarat and upper Himalayas during different field trips. And I must say, there is no better way to know the place than to do field work in that area.

8. I am an agnostic atheist. More importantly, I am anti-religion (basically, anti anyone who tell others what to believe in, how to believe, how to pray and how to reach salvation. To me its a personal business. None of us can know more about God than others, so the people who pretend they do, they are simply frauds). Though I am not sure if this is a manly stereotype or not, but there have been studies that say: ‘women are more religious than men’. So I am counting it.

9. I am not a clean/neat freak. I can easily leave dirty utensils in the sink for more than 2 days (if you live with room-mates with different cleaning habits, it stops bothering you after a while). I will prefer living in a clean place, but I am not too much bothered if I am not. It all depends on my work load. Cleaning the house is never on my priority list. I will do it if I have time.

10. Lastly, the most trivial point, which I think most of women in this decade have done: I have travelled alone. I actually travelled all by myself to a new country with no friends or family and no one to pick me up at the airport.

I am also a movie freak and love watching movies in the theater, which I usually do alone. I usually eat alone which means I can eat alone in a restaurant, even in a crowded restaurant. The stares and looks don’t bother me anymore.

 

As for tagging, I agree with liberalcynic that this tag is easier for women to write about and very difficult for men. Its easier to be a tomboy than a ‘girly’ or ‘sissy’ man. Still I would like to tag few of the male bloggers I do read and like. Hope they take up the tag. So I tag thee: Rachna, Pradeep, Viji, Gopal, Aathira, Sudipta, Broom, Titaxy, Braja. Guess, I have to wear  blue pants after all (I could tag only 9), can I wear blue jeans? Please?

Now I am off to my FB account to join the group officially. Sinners here I come..

P.S.: 1. BTW, if you want to take up the tag please do. I was being too prudish for waiting for it to come around. I don’t think you will be stuck with wrong colors for taking the tag anyway. Right IHM?

2. I should also confess that I like wearing dresses and skirts, and jewelries. I can spend hours shopping for those things as well.

For other things (as camera, laptops and other gadgets), I do like to search the market for the best deal (usually online). Am not sure which category does this fall into. (Buying gadgets vs shopping research: masculine vs feminine traits). Any ideas?

The Last Airbender

I spent two hours today afternoon watching M. Night Shyamalan’s version of The Last Airbender. Honestly, the moment I heard that M. Night Shyamalan was making this movie, I had my doubts so today I went to the theater with the lowest possible expectation and yet, I was disappointed!

You see, I am big, as in BIG, fan of the Nickelodeon animated series: Avatar, the last airbender and hence, I had to see the movie. I read the reviews before watching it today and had lowered my expectation (which were anyways very low due to M. Night Shyamalan) even further. Although, almost all the reviewers I read, none of them seemed to have watched the animated series and so they had no clue what they were talking about. These reviews actually make the source material, the animated series, look bad which it is not.

The anime series of Avatar, the last airbender (and technically, the movie The Last Airbender), is about this mythical world where the world is divided in four parts (and this sequence is important): (1) the Air nomads that live in three Air temples in Northern, Southern and Eastern air temples (they are more or less based on Tibetian monks. They are vegetarian, believe in non-violence and meditate a lot); (2) the north and south Water tribe that live on north and south pole (they, more or less, look Indian. Only look wise, other than that, nothing common with India); (3) the Earth kingdom consisting of various cities and towns, most powerful of them is Ba Sing Se (based on Japan? At least the names of Earth Kingdom cities and towns sounded Japanese like Omashu, Kiyoshi, and Ba Sing Se); and (4) the Fire nation that live on a series of islands that have volcanoes (based on south-east Asian countries, particularly Philippines (due to volcanoes)? Though the names in the Fire nation sounded more Chinese. And the fact that the first Fire benders were dragons, I am leaning towards China).

In each nation, there are few people born with the ability to bend their natural element at will, like people born in water tribe can bend water, change its temperature, etc. And then there is Avatar, the one who can master all the four elements and the one who is responsible to maintain the balance in the world. When one Avatar dies, another one is born in the next nation in cycle (cycle being Air, Water, Earth and Fire, told you the sequence is important).  He has to master all the four elements in the cycle starting with his natural element. However, 100 years ago, Avatar named Aang, who was a 12 year old airbender disappeared, just as the Fire nation began its attack on the other nation starting with the massacre of all Airbenders but one. They could do so using the fire-power of a comet that was passing the Earth at that time (it passes the Earth every 100 years. Fire-benders drive their power from Sun, and anything hot as a comet).

Now, 100 years later, the southern Water tribe teenager siblings, Sokka and Katara, discover the Avatar trapped in the glacier (he is still 12, lucky him!). But this Avatar has only mastered his natural element, Air. He has yet to master other elements. Unfortunately, the only water bender left in the southern Water tribe is Katara, who by no means a master. So Sokka, Katara and Aang (the Avatar) decide to go to northern Water tribe to learn Water-bending. The Book-1: Water, is about their journey to North pole to learn the Water bending.

The problem is that Fire-lord son, the banished Prince Zuko wants to capture Avatar so that he can return to his country with honor. He tracks Aang and his friends all through this book and nearly captures Aang quite a few times.

Of course, there are a lot of twist and turns and a lot of characters in the book like, my favorite, Uncle Iroh (Zuko’s uncle), or the strongest Earth-bender King Bhumi (King of Omashu). But then I have to give you blow by blow description of each and every episode of Book 1 to explain all the characters.

The anime series is really great. It is a perfect mixture of action, humor and emotions. And yet, M. Night Shyamalan took that and, completely and totally ruined it. He didn’t only neglect the humor part, he also didn’t let the characters develop any emotional bond with the audience. Like in the end of Book 1, the princess of Northern Water tribe and Sokka’s girl friend, Princess Yue sort of dies (well she goes to the spirit world), and it should be pretty dramatic and emotional scene and yet, we, as audience, didn’t feel anything. You ask, why? I will tell you why, the part of Sokka and Yue developing a romantic relationship was given as a narration of one line:

“My brother Sokka and Pricness Yue instantly became fast friends.”

That’s it! Where is the romance? Where is the emotional bond that audience develops with the Princess so that they would feel sad for her? And its just not this relationship, its all the relationships in the movie, to the extent I wouldn’t have felt a thing had he killed  Aang, the Avatar. Honestly, M. Night Shyamalan, you call yourself a director after this disaster?

And don’t even get me started with the feeble attempt to convert the 2D movie to a 3D (No, they didn’t shoot it in 3D. They simply superimposed it later and it sucks big time), or the fact that you made the fire nation as Indians! Seriously? With the names as Zuko, Azula, Sozin, Iroh, and Ozai? Do they really sounded like Indian names to you? Or did you think India has big volcanoes and it is a country consisting of series of islands? Or, did any of the Fire-nation characters in the animated series look Indian to you? Then, why?

And whatever happened to the sense of humor (the series is hilarious. It has pretty nice one-liners)? Or, simple acting? I mean, how could you okay any of those shots? It was a T-O-R-T-U-R-E.

I will never forgive you for this disaster you call a movie, Mr. M. Night Shyamalan! NEVER!! You ruined one of the bestest series on TV. 

For rest of you, if you haven’t seen the animated series, Avatar: the last airbender, please don’t judge it based on this movie. It’s an amazing series. And if you are into martial arts even the slightest bit, then this series is a must watch for you. The perfect stances, the graceful moves are simply a bliss to watch. I am not exaggerating. I wish I was half as graceful as any of them.

(*Images are linked to their sources)

P.S.: BTW, did you notice that Fire nation islands in the map looks like a smiley wearing shades and may be smoking a cigarette? He is so cute..

Finished

NaBloPoMo, that is. I wrote a post  everyday for the entire month of June, 2010! Yay!

Thanks to all of you for your comments, your encouragement. I did learn quite a bit. I just hope that the moment doesn’t die and I continue to write as frequently as I have been recently though it might disrupt a bit towards the latter half of this month as I will be travelling quite a bit (lots of photos!!).
On a side note, today I found (by accident) yet another cool male blogger that I have added in my subscription. As no one else has told me about him. I am assuming no one has found him yet, so here is his site. He is hilarious. I especially like his Tysism concept! :)