UK, UK, going to UK..!

so, things have fallen together in some weird stroke of luck!!

i'll be going to UK, mainly triggered by Wiam winning concert tickets. My quit-job-date fell around the same time, and kailash generously (although that's not unusual of him) offered to pay a large part of the expenses. Further, it looks like Meryam is going to be there around the same time. And it will be the second time (if things work out) that I'll meet her randomly in another country. First time was when she visited chicago and then came down to see me in urbana-champaign. it was lovely!

Then, I might get to see nikki and all. I'm just amazed that I'll be going to those rock-hard concerts, and its for a good cause too. So no guilt for going all the way!

And for a change, I'll get to see UK and friends there, as I have been intending to, for a long long while. :) Yippee! I'll post pictures!

10 more days...

..or less if I stick by my 'quit this job' plan. And its high time. It really is about making some independent strides, and even at 26, it is new to me. Not that I'm incapable of doing things alone, or rebelling, or fighting for them, but even now I feel somewhat compelled to do things according to parental blessings. Which is a shame, considering their expectations of me are very different than mine of myself - causes a whole load of conflicting and unnecessary trauma/drama whatever.

I sthould just learn to stickfast like superglue. :) Maybe I should make that my icon to remind myself.

I have this amazing chance to attend a live8 concert in Hyde Park, where wee's won some tickets, and last night I was slogging to convey to Dad how i'll be fine, how i really don't want to fight.. and just when i thought i had him convinced and went up to hug him for being a brave dude, he says 'i didn't say yes'. As if I was bribing him for something he had resolutely taken a moral stand again. It makes me want to cry that I have to beg for things that are correct, that are fine. He told me 'You've had so much in life.. you got to travel blabla' and its true, I have; I have been lucky. But why should I not want more. I'm only 26 for crying out loud! I want out!

and gawdammit if someone who cares or doesn't reads this.. its better out in the open.

hola granola..

i have nothing much to say.. or maybe i do.

the other day I went out with Hem whom I found at hospitalityclub online. And he said about those that take yoga classes without knowing yoga's spiritual import, "You think you can pay money and learn something, NO WAY!". Hahaha. He was hyper-sensitive on some issues. Still, it was great to meet someone random from halway across the world and still connect. Well, granted he was Asian, Hindu and all, but he's had quite a different life. Given up schooling for a free life of travel.. I envy that - I can't imagine having forsaken the safety net of a university education. Life would have been so different. Perhaps.

I'm quite tired and lazy. On the upside, only this month to kill before I can be out and free into the open air only perhaps only later to wonder 'what do i do what do i do?'. Then I shall post pictures of beach hopefully and holiday spots... can't wait can't wait. july come soon! :)

Book Tag!

So I’ve been tagged! Let me give this one a shot..

Estimate the total number of books you've owned in your life.
How am I supposed to do this?? 10 per year of my life would be little. I’ll go by 40 per year – which including study books as a lit major would be safely inside the mark; approximately 1,000.

What's the last book you bought?
Books - I bought three at once. Veronica Decides to Die and By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, both by Paolo Coelho. The former was my gift to a friend for her birthday and I had mine signed for my birthday, too. I intuit that it will be good. The other book I bought(had my bro buy me) is He’s Just Not That Into You.

What's the last book you read?
He’s Just Not That Into You. Wiam sent me an article by this name, so I decided to pick it up. She has good taste, that girl

List 5 books that mean a lot to you.
I’m having trouble which despite my lit major is embarrassing…I’ll try. (None of the following from college)
o He’s Just Not That Into You. I wish this book had come my way a long time ago. An honest, funny, and no-nonsense guide to throwing out all the no-good excuses – and guys – we girls tolerate. I’m spreading this book to my friends. Trust me, if you’re even thinking of going to a friend for ‘advice’ on the guy you have a crush on but have doubts about, pick this up.
o Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. One of the early romances in my life. It got me interested in the author’s other works, and although I found her style consistently engaging, nothing held the magic of “Last night I dreamt I was in Manderley again…” (I have goosebumps). There is something of the Wuthering Heights haunted-love aura in the novel.
o The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin. Yes the actor! My brother bought it for my last birthday – and it was a healthy dose of laughter. A genius who is painfully unable to deal with day-to-day activities like crossing the street tries to make his way into the world. Maybe I read into it too much, but I believe humour comes out of a poignant understanding of life – and the only alternative outlook is that of tragedy.
o Le Petit Prince by Antoine de St-Exupery. I have to re-read this soon. There’s many reasons this left an impression on me. Actually its exactly that – this book is like a stamp, leaves an impression.
o Neruda’s Garden: An Anthology of Odes by Pablo Neruda. Gawd, I cannot remember now how I first met Pablo but this is one book I want to have. Celebrates all things in life. Life, the poor poets/believed you to be bitter...../ That is not true./ You are beautiful.."

Ok, turns out I do agree with Brad, I can think of a few more, theory books. Most, actually all, psychology-related such as Freud’s Hysteria, bits of Lacan and Fanon.

Tag five people:
Ah! I do know whom to tag! Sil, Grugeh, Zuby, Maggie, Ara and Andy.

Off you go!

omigawsh..

i stayed away for so so long.. but i have some good stuff to share by now..

piccies!

that was real yumm cake with real cream as zaki pointed out. Zaki had just come down from the U.S. and still attended my birthday. very happy about that. :) Got an iPod mini from bro' and just learned a few minutes ago about how its difficult to recycle. Well, lets hope I don't need to throw it for a long, long, time.

so one day before my birthday I got a book signed saying 'happy birthday' from paolo coelho.. yes i met him in person - and on one of the days that my camera was out of battery :s

its all right though.. i do have a picture or two on the day of my birthday that remind me that i saw him. i'll put them up on this blog soon. just have to rush to finish some work which is a sore really because i'd rather blog blog blog.

in a good way, we have some really good jobs coming in at the factory. for a change we'll have money coming in. of course that means more work but i've decided to let dad know that i'll be going a different way in a month.

i hope i keep up the resolution. *fingers crossed*

here i am..

..and i've played around a bit with the page.. only slightly noticeable.. put the picture up on the sidebar, rather than below. And added a google adsense bar which might earn me some revenue. my further venture into capitalism.

hoping however, to quit dad's work and look for some writing jobs..

which reminds me, need to make a few calls! :)

Giessen = German for ‘watering plants’ (from high school memory)

Lots of stuff to blog today. Your mind becomes blog-oriented after a while… its the writing life. You steal from your life just so you can write about it. You’re always watching, notepad in your head, sentences ready to be typed and saved.

So here’s one.

I have mastered the art of dirty-looking.

My regular victim is poor Dad, who just returned from his trip to Dubai. He made some unpleasant remark about my facial hair just before I went to the ‘beauty parlour’; he had it coming. I gave it to him, and he immediately offered, “Sorry”. Love the power! Go eyebrow-raise, scoff power!

Oh, and I got my hair trimmed today, and couldn’t stop dancing and prancing about with it when I came home today. It didn’t take any broken-hearted affair to get it done either, or maybe the haircut was long overdue. I think the latter.

I just have to share two very special incidents. I got a great email from Falco, and it did make my day! But even more so, I got a complete surprise as a guy at the office, who is a peon of sorts, walked in randomly to my office, and brought in a small pot with one of those everywhere plants, the ones you take-for-granted, and go oh-so-ugly. But he picked out this one.



‘Aww’ is all I can say! I was stunned. I let him put the plant amongst my other plant collection and he was off, leaving me with a goofy smile, and like I told Meryam over the email (omigawd, you’re on the blog again), I still have the smile when I think of it.

Omigawd I got a flower on a plant today!!! Awww…!

Err.. its another matter that just before I left I decided to have a lookie and noticed that it was dying. I poured in a bit of water hoping it will be resuscitated, but even if its not, the memory is well alive, and I’ll keep watering it!