I couldn't resist posting this - read it in the newspaper today and it's been on my mind ever since. Around 5 people have already asked me why I suddenly start laughing. I said 'Nothing', but I know they don't believe me. It's that look you give when you see a nut.
Like I said, I saw this in the paper today (The Hindu, Metro Plus supplement) and I first thought of just putting the dialogues without the image. Then I thought I'd try my luck with Google - searched for 'Calvin pronoun' and this was the third search result. I think Google can read minds.
One click led to another and I found a treasure trove of such strips!! So...
Say hello to Moe everyone - this is his first time on my blog. Moe is the prototypical bully character in Calvin & Hobbes, "a six-year-old who shaves" who is always shoving Calvin against walls, demanding his lunch money and calling him "Twinky". Moe is the only regular character who speaks in an unusual font: his (frequently monosyllabic) dialogue is shown in crude, lower-case letters. Watterson describes Moe as "every jerk I've ever known". (Source: Wikipedia )
Oh! how I wish I had the flu To miss office on a Monday blue. Jealous of my neighbor - the housewife unseen, And so I became a monster green. Yellow it is, the day of Woden - Two more to go, two have been trodden.
Thirsty for red, but I only get orange. Now isn't it a pity! Nothing rhymes with orange. Red as in fun, red as in Fridays Red as in the last of all the weekdays
Let's go to the movies, let's have some fun, It's the day of Saturn, all said and done. God rested on Sunday and so will I, It will be Monday again and all I can do is sigh!
Oh poor Monday, what did you do? To be called a day so blue! Laugh on, Friday! It won't last long - If I work on a Saturday - like Thursday, you'll jus' tag along!
No other day has feelings so true Like my dear Monday, oh so blue! I won't curse you, will find no fault For my first poem came from your vault!
Phew! Finally. I agree it's nothing compared to masterpieces by other fellow bloggers, but hey, I have to start somewhere right? And my thoughts about Monday have undergone a change - I haven't started loving it, but I think I have found a soft spot for it after all!
Looks like Monday brings out the budding poet in me! Weird!
My friends find it weird that I read poetry like I read novels. I still haven't found an answer to give to them as to why I do that. Maybe my incapacity to write one makes me read 'em. Yeah, I think that's the reason.
I was reading from 'Particles, Jottings, Sparks' - a collection of brief poems of Rabindranath Tagore. And it has me spell-bound. Some verses are my favorites - I keep reading them over and over again. To me, it gives a whole new perspective to everyday things and it's a whole new joy altogether when these lines just pop up into my head when I see a sunset or the moon!
Some 'particles' -
Let's shut the door to block out sin! "Then how", says Truth, "shall I get in?"
Mud, you sully everyone's purity. But doesn't that simplly make YOU dirty?
Weeping at night won't bring back the sun, And it makes the light of the stars seem vain.
Work and rest belong to each other - Like eye and eyelid linked together.
Some 'Jottings' -
God desires to wear A garland made by mankind; Which is why his own basket of flowers Is left in the lap of the soil For us to find.
In my thorns, my errors lie, Not in my flowers. Let the thorns, my darling, be mine: The flowers are yours.
Those flowers of dawn that have gone, Deserting the day's light, At dusk come back again, Dressed as the stars of the night.
Let go of what must go! It will cause you hurt If you do not open the door To let it out.
And some 'Sparks' -
A sunflower: Earth's picture Of the rising sun. Not fully pleased, Picture erased, With a new sunflower Earth tries again.
With the past's pen in my hand I write my name on the future. Superimposed are the signatures Of later writers. In Time's notebook the muddle Of old and new combined: A ceaseless scribble.
You might be wondering why I made a blog post out of this. I've always seen my blog as a bookmark to the things in my life that I want to go back and read about. Yeah, the floods too ;-) For the truly interested, poetry gives a lot of peace. Those moments when I'm reading them, there's nothing else on my mind. It's like pin-drop silence in my mind (which is otherwise a cacophony of noises!) with nothing but the poem reverberating through it. That, folks, has to be felt, not read about.
I flooded my apartment today. Seriously. I'm not kidding. There was toe-deep water in the hall, the dining hall, the guest bedroom and the entrance of the master bedroom. My cleaning lady had left already so guess who did the water works? Yours truly, ofcourse. :-(
If you'd care to listen, let me tell you how it happened -
Saturday, in my home, is the day of the washing machine. I have a fully automatic, front loading washing machine (white color, if you must ask) - seems it was bought to make my work easier. Yeah right.
I put all the clothes inside the machine. Next, I plugged in the washing machine. I then connected the inlet pipe to the tap (we do not have a permanent connection for the inlet) and turned the tap on - water will start gushing into the machine the moment I turn it on. Now, this is where you should pay attention, 'coz apparently, I did not. The outlet pipe has to be at a height of atleast 2 ft from the level of the washing machine, so I generally place it inside the wash basin. Generally I do. Today I did not. I went ahead and added the washing powder (Surf Excelmatic - stop asking irrelevant questions! Oh wait, this is totally relevant - wait and see) and set the appropriate wash cycle. I switched the machine on and hit the 'Start' button. And I went into the kitchen to check on the cauliflower curry.
Time elapsed: 3 minutes. By now, I should have heard the rumble of the clothes tumble. I did not and I didn't notice it either. Stirred the curry and decided to see whats on TV - enter dining hall and I heard something synchronous with my steps - splat splat..spl-aa-t! Water water everywhere and no, you wouldn't want to drink it. Since the outlet was still on the floor, all the water entering the washing machine simply went out the outlet! Rushed to the washing machine (almost falling in the process) and switched it off, realized the outlet pipe issue and yanked it from behind the machine and pushed it into the wash basin! Phew! Close!
It wasn't close. It was way beyond close. I walked into the guest bedroom and saw that the water had reached the corner diagonally opposite to the door - which means the entire room was flooded. Not just any water mind you - Surf Excelmatic water! The one where all you have to do is place your foot lightly and let you body go - and see yourself win the figure skating championship at the Torino Winter Olympics. It was not as bad in the hall - just one long strip from the main door till the dining hall entrance. The dining hall itself was half flooded. Thankfully, my teak-wood dining table was spared.
After cursing myself and the washing machine with some choicest expletives, I spent the better part of 2 hours in flood relief measures.
And I almost burnt the cauliflower curry - hey, hold your horses, I said almost! I had the best lunch ever - there's no better accompaniment to food than hunger.
Scene: Me calling up my mobile service provider regarding an SMS I received about National Roaming enabled on my account. The last time they enabled roaming automatically and charged me Rs.49 every month for it! So this time I wanted to make sure there was no 'hidden' charges for this roaming.
CustomerCare Voice: Welcome to ****** ***, you're anytime anywhere Customer Service. Our menu options have been changed to serve you better. Please listen CAREFULLY before making your choice. Me: *smirking* (What the heck! CAREFULLY? Else what will happen? I'll end up making the wrong choice and actually talk to a person who can help? %#$@ ) Voice: For information about your account, press 1. For information about ******, press 2. For informat... Me: *presses 1 before the previous thing could complete* (I'm busy!) Voice: For billing information, press 1. For activating or deactivating a value added service, press 2. Me: *waiting for option to talk to customer rep, didnt get any, so press 1* Voice: To activate a service, press 1. To deactivate a service press 2... Phone: *Ping* 'Attention, battery low' displayed on screen Me:!$#@% *press 9* (It takes like 20,000 years to get to the 9th option, so..jus' go right ahead and press 9.) *expecting a non-automated voice saying Hi hello* Voice: If your query is billing related, press 1. If it is... Phone: *ping ping ping* Sounds like a death knell to me! Me: *presses 1* (It's the wrong choice (my query is not billing related)! I didn't listen 'CAREFULLY'. What're you gonna do? Sue me or send me to english class? !$#@) Lady: Good Morning, this is ABC here, how may I assist you? Me: Hi ABC, this is Priya calling from XYZ. I just got an SMS saying my National Roaming has been enabled. I wanted to confirm if it's free or if I'll be charged for it every month. Lady: Can I have your phone number please? Me: Phone number? *thinks: no caller ID!!! O for cryin' out loud!!* 9999999999 Lady: Hello? Ma'am your voice is breaking up, I can't hear you properly. Me: Yeah right, this is your network I'm using - you didn't know that? Lady: Ma'am, can you do something about it? I can't hear you. Me: What the bl**** heck! YOU do something about it ma'am - you're the service provider - you provide this network to me! How will I be able to do anything!! Phone: *piiiiiiiiiiiing* blank screen
Alert: If you don't watch Malayalam movies or if you don't like Mohanlal, well..sorry you have to leave so soon without readin' my post, Bye!
Has anyone seen the movie 'Chandrolsavam'? This is the one where Mohanlal comes in this real cool look (above) and is oh so cute!! I loved the movie, but you should know - I love all his movies. After Rajnikanth, I'm a huge fan of Mohanlal (my husband learnt this the hard way - made him watch 'Narasimham' almost 5 times!). I like him for the same reasons I like the Superstar - style, punch dialogues, bigger-than-thou portrayal of the characters..Man, I love movies like 'Praja' and my all-time favorite, 'Narasimham'. I've watched it every time it was telecast on any Malayalam channel - close to 8 or 9 times. To the extent, I know some of the dialogues too! :-)
I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I learnt Malayalam watching Mohanlal's movies. There's just so much in it for a fan like me who doesn't care a rat's ass about story or logic or all those things which 'smart' people look for in movies. I want movies where the hero always wins, the heroine or the hero's mom doesn't die on us, the villian is always punished in the end..add 2 or 3 good songs in between and a fight scene at the end where there is lotsa style - you got me hooked! I have enough tragedies in my own life and I do not want to see the same on screen, that's ok right? I'm not paying 150 bucks for a movie that makes me wanna cry - I mean, how lame is that?! You pay, you watch the movie and you cry. Why do people want to do that! You should have guessed by now - I do not like movies like 'Dil Se' where the hero is killed along with the heroine! What the heck was that all about!! Why spin the story around 2 people who were anyway going to get killed?
And talking about 'Chandrolsavam', been listening to this song all morning! In Chitra's magical voice (Chandrolsavam)-
Ponmulam thandu moolum…paatil njan kettu ninte… Hari raaga geetathin…aalapanam… Pooveyil kodi neeyum…ponnil njan kandu ninte… Malar meni charthunna…peetambaram…
BTW, any mistakes in the lyrics, don't blame me. I corrected it as much as I could, the rest is what I got off the internet.
Why this post now? Usual answer - Jus' like that! :-) In the mood for Mohanlal movies - Ravana Prabhu..Praja..Ustad..Narasimham (3 cheers for this one please).. Thandavam..Natturajavu... Balettan.. and hey, can't forget Kilukkam ;-) that's one of his older movies, but fun nevertheless.
The other day I had to go to the bank by myself - I say by myself 'coz I generally have my husband to drive me around (I'm not yet comfortable with our car and the Hyd traffic). The time couldn't have been better - 7:30PM, that time of the day between evening and night when software engineers (God, I so hate that title!!) like me realize another day has just whizzed past and it's time to go back to family. And sanity. Right, so I start at 7:30 and lucky for me, got an autorickshaw as soon as I walked out of my apartment.
For readers who haven't been in/seen an auto (I doubt there would be any, but if you're one of my 'international' readers (??!!), then this would interest you) - it is a 3-wheel contraption that makes more noise and smoke than a bunch of firecrackers but is still the preferred mode of commute in most Indian cities. The fare depends on the whims and fancies of the driver - so does the choice of road/pothole. An auto does not have to follow any traffic rules and it can fit in a gap where even a bicycle can only scrape through (reminds me of the Knight Bus from HP - hey, haven't made references to HP in a long long time, so I have literally 'earned' this reference! Fair enough, right?).
So I took an auto till the bank which unfortunately is on the opposite side of the road from where the auto stopped (which was in front of a bus stop btw). This meant I had to cross the road to get to my destination. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, life is never so simple. If you have been in India, you should know this already - pedestrians are not a class of people. Unlike the US, if a bloke is trying to cross the road, as a person driving a vehicle, you are not obliged to stop and let him pass. You have every right to run over that poor thing or atleast scare him out of his wits so he doesn't dare try that again.
So, this is how I was: 7:40PM (bank closes at 8 btw), out of the auto and at the bus stop, 7 autos in a line at the bus stop in various stages of motion, a road filled with vehicles all going at a min of 50kmph and beyond all this, my bank. Me, who hasn't been on the road (leave alone crossing the road) in months! That is when I understood how a foreigner should feel if he/she comes to India. And I'm terribly sorry for them. Crossing a road here is as adventurous as white-water rafting, if not more dangerous. Coming back to my ordeal - every time I took a step forward to cross the road, the auto nearest to me would decide to move 1 ft forward and stop (that means the auto is looking for passengers!) and I would move back 'coz the auto is moving forward! This happened so often that if someone just saw me, cutting out all the traffic 'n stuff, it would look like I'm trying to tap dance. Sloppily at that.
That's when the Gods thought of interfering - the traffic light near the bus stop went to Red - meaning no vehicles on the road I was trying to cross. Yippieee!! So I almost ran across the road (I learnt in my kindergarten to never run when crossing the road) and reached the divider. Unfortunately, the signals in India are so well coordinated that at any given point of time you cannot cross the entire road in one-go. You will have to wait at the divider (even if it doesn't exist) and do a round of tap dance again. And so I did. This time is was more of step-aerobics 'coz the divider was at a height from the road. Whatever!
The traffic light went red again - no movement of the vehicles on that bit of road that I'm yet to cross. Vehicles yes, movement, supposedly no. A tap dance later, I get across to find one last hurdle - no footpath. No walking space at all. Tap dance, step-aerobics and now, salsa.
Got to the bank, did my work and called up hubbie to pick me up. I don't play road rash. I don't do dancing either.
So no one told you life was gonna be this way Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA It's like you're always stuck in second gear, When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but...
I'll be there for you... When the rain starts to pour I'll be there for you... Like I've been there before I'll be there for you... 'Cause you're there for me too.
You're still in bed at ten, though work begins at eight, You burned your breakfast, so far things are going great, Your mother warned you there'd be days like these, But she didn't tell you when the world was brought down to your knees that...
I'll be there for you... When the rain starts to pour I'll be there for you... Like I've been there before I'll be there for you... 'Cause you're there for me too.
No one could ever know me. No one could ever see me. Seems your the only one who knows what it's like to be me Someone to face the day with. Make it through all the mess with. Someone I'll always laugh with. Even at my worst, I'm best with.... you - yeah
It's like you're always stuck in second gear, When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but...
I'll be there for you... When the rain starts to pour I'll be there for you... Like I've been there before I'll be there for you... 'Cause you're there for me too...
Why this and why now? Jus' like that! In the mood for F.R.I.E.N.D.S :-)
Love is in the air. It's also in blogs, newspapers, hoardings on the road side, shop windows and also at work (I think a colleague has got some Valentine gift and she's all of a flutter!). Greeting cards the size of a Hrithik Roshan (or Rambo, if you're 60 years old) poster, cuddly teddy bears holding 'I love you' hearts, the omnipresent chocolates - and all the pink!! My god, what is with the pink color, people!!! Cupid just went blind with all the pink and red - and you would not want a blind God of Love going around shooting arrows at all the wrong people! Imagine the catastrophe!
I've nothing against Valentine's Day being celebrated - it's romantic, I agree - but isn't it also expensive and flashy and too artificial? I mean..we have 365 days in a year (we also get 0.25 days in between in some years) and there's this one day where you decide to get all mushy and senti and romantic about your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend! What's the outcome? Well, a restaurant might get an extra 1500 bucks for lighting a candle on your table. Cadbury just got richer by a billion dollars. Archies might surpass Bill Gates to become the richest conglomerate ever. The roadside florist banega crorepati. Ofcourse, all this if you survive the VHP and Shiv Sena dudes. Every channel on TV has a heart next to its logo. Atleast a thousand people would have got engaged (seriously, if I were them I would choose a normal day to get engaged - you got one more day to celebrate instead of clubbing that with V day right?!). And yeah, if you're a rich guy, De Beers, Tanishq or Gili would be smiling their way to the bank. Isn't it too much of a coincidence that aaaaaall these people also get to be happy (read: rich) just because you're in love (even if its just for a day)?! This is why it makes me think that Valentine's Day is one big advertisement gimmick.
And no matter how hard I try, I just cannot remember people celebrating Valentine's Day back in 1996. Neither did we have Mother's Day or Father's Day or Pet's day! It's good psychology that these greeting card/chocolate/gift companies use. Things that concern one's family are close to one's heart. You would never think twice about spending exhorbitantly when it comes to these 'special' days. Do you know how costly baby cosmetics are? Why? 'Coz you dont care how much it costs when it comes to your precious li'l one!! You'll just pay up and be happy that you got your baby the best. A cute li'l dress with frills costs more than a pair of Levis jeans (the last I checked, my jeans cost me around 1600rs a pair). So the same goes for Valentine's too - spending 9000 Rs on a diamond ring (minimum amount to get a ring with diamonds that are visible to the naked eye) might seem too much on regular days - but not today, no!
I'm not saying we shouldn't celebrate Valentine's Day. We should. Any excuse to celebrate in life is good. We need all the celebrations and memories to get us through when we are down in the dumps in life. It's just that, there are people who are very much in love but unable to take the pressure the advertisements put on their love. Imagine what will happen if you forgot or couldn't afford to get your girlfriend/boyfriend (I left 'spouse' out on purpose - 'coz it doesn't matter) something for today. Doesn't it raise a question on how deep or true your love is? (If it didn't, marry that person as soon as possible please.)
So, what's the big deal about today? Nothing. It's just a regular Tuesday (which comes after just a horrible Monday).
Oh, did I mention..I've already sent a card to my husband. He's getting me a brown teddy bear with a red bow. Chocolates are a necessity these days. And we're having take-out at home this weekend with candles and wine (yippee!!! red wine - classic V day material, isn't it!) . I've put in a request for a pair of diamond studs, it's under consideration (I love my husband a lot a lot a lot).
What was that? Hypocrite? Yeah - you sure got that one right! ;-)
Don't feel sorry for my family by just reading the title. I cook well, if not really well. Let me put it this way, my hubbie and I both gain weight :-) and we eat home-made food most of the times **double smile**
I was reading Florussel's post about a sumptuous meal that she and her friends cooked - and it kinda reminded me of the times I ventured into the kitchen (with or without friends) to try my hand at cooking. Wonder why it was fun cooking when you didn't have to (like then) - and the least fun cooking when you have to (like now)! I still remember my mom asking me to help out in the kitchen and those days, I thought kitchen only meant actual cooking. Apparently there are other chores in the kitchen like cleaning and washing - no way!!! I went with full enthu to cook and my mom used to ask me to arrange the washed dishes back into the shelves - I went wild! **start shouting** "What do you mean arrange the vessels? I want to cook! I want to put all those powders 'n all into that kadai and stir it 'n stuff!!! **stop shouting** Mom wouldn't budge - when you start something new, start from the basic and then go to advanced, she would say. I wouldn't budge either (aakhir beti kiski hoon!). And so it ended every single time.
Then comes summer holidays of Class 10: My friend's mom was out of town for a while and we were 4 friends gathered at her place not knowing what to do for time pass. Dont know why we decided to bake a cake! My friend knew all the ingredients 'n all and we went about making the batter. Everything was hunky-dory till we had to put up the oven - we didnt know how to! So we decided to do it using the pressure cooker - fill it sand and then place the cake bowl on it so it will bake and not boil (we were smart enough to know that). Then one of us had a great doubt - "Hey, we're placing the cake mix on sand re! What if the sand gets inside it!! We're making plum cake, not sand cake!!" **everyone slaps forehead** "You're right dee! How could we be so dumb?!! Let's put a lid on it", said my friend. We took a lid, covered it up and placed it on the stove. My friend said we'll know when it's done the moment we can smell the cake. Sure thing! Meanwhile we got out a movie (it was this abomination called 'Spawn' and the print was pathetic).
After a while, there was this smell. Mmmm..**sniff sniff** "Oh dear God, the plastic!!!!!" The lid we chose was made of plastic. And plastic, it seems, does not like being pressure cooked. We opened the cooker to see the lid twisted in half and melting at the edges. No two guesses on how the cake was smelling. But it was made of chocolate - you do not waste chocolate. So we still gobbled it all up! Happily, laughing at what we did. :-) Ah..those were good times! **nostalgic**
My latest experiment? That would be last night. I was in a mood for some soup (tomato if you must ask). So I got this Maggi Tomato Soup thingie and decided to make some for myself (hubbie didnt want). I made a bowl full and had half of it and didn't know what to do with the rest. So you know what I did? I poured it into a small kadai, and added some dal and rasam-powder to it - voila! I had rasam! (it's a south indian second course thing btw). It wasn't as yummy as regular paruppu rasam (dal rasam), but chalta-hai types. Enjoyed it nevertheless (hubbie didnt even want to see it - I dont blame him!).
Cooking is fun if you want it to be fun. But if it's fun you would want to do it more often. If you do it more often, it wouldn't be fun any longer. But it is fun if you want it to be...Ogden Nash's vicious circle it is!
The Fontana di Trevi or Trevi Fountain is the most famous and arguably the most beautiful fountain in all of Rome. This impressive monument dominates the small Trevi square located in the Quirinale district.
The central figure of the fountain, in front of a large niche, is Neptune, God of the Sea. He is riding a chariot in the shape of a shell, pulled by two sea horses. Each sea horse is guided by a Triton. One of the horses is calm and obedient, the other one restive. They symbolize the fluctuating moods of the sea.
Trevi Trivia
The Fontana di Trevi is the 'Three Coins in the Fountain' fountain, the one that drenched Anita Ekberg in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Among those who are unaware that the "three coins' were thrown by three individuals, a current legend is reported that it is lucky to throw coins with one's right hand over one's right shoulder into the Trevi Fountain. Throwing one coin in will ensure that the thrower will return to Rome. Throwing two coins ensures that the thrower will fall in love with a beautiful Roman girl (or handsome boy), and throwing three coins now ensures that the thrower will marry that girl or boy in Rome.
Source: My travelogue
My hubbie and I went to Italy to celebrate our first wedding anniversary - and we threw just one coin each (we already fell in love and got married, so why waste 2 coins, eh?) So..we're going back some day to Rome!!
I just happened to see the pic on my desktop wallpaper and it brought back a whole lot of memories about our visit. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth (to the extent, the week after I came back, I actually looked up some career opportunities in Rome - found it was very difficult to get visas to work there! **sob sob**). The thing about Rome is that every nook and cranny in the city is filled with so much of history and art. The architecture is uniform throughout the city - be it old or new!
And Vatican City - whoa! There's a reason why they call it the City of God (apart from the main reason that it is the seat of the Holy Father). We were lucky (really really lucky) enough to meet Pope John Paul II (hubbie got to touch His hand - biggest blessing every!) - even rock-stars would feel like a nobody if they see the kind of love the people showed towards the late Pope. There were bands and people clapping shouting 'Giovanni Paolo' in a rhythm for the entire 3 hours!
The pic above is St.Peter's Basilica - rumor has it that all the churches in the world will fit inside this basilica! All the churches in the world! It looks normal in the picture, but just see the size of the people around and you realize how big it is. The statues on top are the Apostles - small? Well, if you stood next to it, you would be as tall as the statue's toe. I'm not kidding.
The above is Michelangelo's Pieta - that's Mary holding Jesus on her lap after his crucifixion. The thing to notice in that is, nowhere does Mary actually touch Christ! Amazing, isn't it?! This is inside the St.Peter's Basilica (that you saw above).
The above is a picture of the Vatican Gardens. What's the big deal? Well, whenever the Pope visits another country, He gets gifts of plants - and every single one of 'em is planted in this garden - so you'll kinda find plants from all over the world here! And it's beautiful beyond words folks, with natural water springs and fountains that would look best in a museum! And talking about museums...
This is a hallway in the Vatican Museum - that's gold you see on the pillars. :-) Rich, eh? The museum is rich - it contains the Sistine Chapel inside it, so you can imagine. It takes more than a month to do full justice to the museum and its art - we had to adjust with one day :-(
And what's Vatican City without the Swiss Guard! The uniform was designed by Michelangelo himself - if you've read Angels and Demons, in Langdon's words - 'Not one of Michelangelo's best works' ;-) And hey, don't feel bad for these guys - some of 'em drive around in a Ferrari! Vatican better pay them well for wearing that, right?!
These are called 'Sacred Steps' (Scala Santa in Italian) - supposedly the staircase from Pontius Pilate's mansion on which Christ was made to walk on his knees, carrying the cross. People still walk on their knees on those 30 odd steps as a mark of Jesus' sacrifice for mankind. And there are 4 places on the stairs that are encased in gold-framed glass - supposed to be places where drops of Jesus' blood fell. Arun and I walked up on our knees too. I cannot describe how it felt. If you're wondering how Pilate's staircase came to Rome - it did, thanks to the mother of Emperor Constantine, Helen who brought it from wherever-it-was. (FYI: Constantine was the Roman emperor who made Rome a christian state - till then it was a pagan state worshipping Roman pagan gods)
Enough for today eh? There's a lot more we saw, lot more we did..lot lot more that we experienced. And what I say to you: Go to Rome atleast once in your life. You will never find another place that has so much history and art in everyday life. There's no other city where you can walk on the same roads on which Caeser's chariots used to rumble on. Ofcourse, while you're at it, pay a visit to Florence, Venice and Pisa too - it's amazing! :-)
Disclaimer: All thoughts expressed here are my own. Reference to any person, living or dead, or any content, fictional or true, is purely coincidental. I do not guarantee that all information/crap provided here is authentic or fully supported by incontrovertible evidence. I do not represent or endorse any of the content/information available in the external sites that I talk about.
In short, what I say here are my thoughts and my ideas and if there's something here that you do not agree with it, you cannot sue me for it.Why did I think of putting a disclaimer now? Just like that. You never know when you'll get sued for something! Better safe than sorry, eh?
Today: I felt it was too presumptous of me to post something like this - as if the entire world is waiting with bated breath just to sue me! ;-)
24th January, 2006 Title: Blah Blah Blah - 2
Today's post was supposed to be on Calvin and Susie's snowball fight - die-hard fans would know the 'Snowball in June' incident..well, I got the strip, but couldn't login to Flickr to upload it. I could have just uploaded the image directly on the Compose window, but that made the size too small. And since I care about my 'readers' and their eyesight, I decided, in good faith, to keep that post for a later day - which is whenever Flickr would let me login :-(
I did not have Monday blues this week - 'coz I took leave yesterday! Hah! Nothing like bunking work/college/school on Monday, is there? People who read my blogs regularly (??!!) would know my angst related to Mondays. It's very simple - I hate Mondays. Hate 'em as much as I love Fridays. I dont know why, but that is the way it is. And since I did not have a chance to update my blog on Monday, I'm doing it today - the content is what it would have been had I updated it on Monday. Howz that for revenge? Muahahaa...
Kidding apart...I was swamped with work the last 3 days. Worked 28 hours straight without any sleep and learnt that there's nothing better in your life than sleep (and food - never forget the food people!!). And it takes your body atleast another 48 hours to get back into rhythm after missing one night's sleep. For me, it takes a week to get back. So I'm still in the process of doing that..(who knows, I might be sleep-blogging now!)
Come to think of it, this is not the kind of post I enjoy posting - 'coz it's so mundane and boring to read someone's account of how they spent their weekend! I would find it boring on somebody else's blog. So you know what? I'm in two minds whether to post this or not! Crazy me, eh? Yeah well, nothing new there...Let me try and make it more interesting..dont worry, I wont invent a character like Spaceman Spiff! ;-)
Today: No two guesses on why I didn't post it then! But I did end up posting the small size image - just can't resist spreading Calvin's message to the world!
1st February 2006 Title: I don't have time to be this busy
Great words from a great cat. Garfield has always been my inspiration to be lazy. Those half droopy eyelids, the gluttony and best of all, the attitude. Man, does he have an attitude!! I like a cat with an attitude you know. Like Hobbes or Tom (who Tom? C'mon!! Tom-&-Jerry Tom? **clarity dawns on reader's face** There you go!).
It's a wonder how all my favorite characters are not humans but cats. Point to be noted eh? Maybe it's 'coz they are so much less complicated than human beings. And so much more sensible. I watched this stand-up comedy show sometime back (don't know who or which channel) and that guy was going on and on about death - how humans like to kill (others or themselves). It was moderately funny, not absolutely hilarious like Ellen Degeneres (she rocks! Three cheers!). Anyway, from what he said, I realized that we humans are, afterall, nothing but civilized beasts. In that guy's words, we are 'beasts with baseball caps and automatic weapons'. The part I liked was about mass graves - how a dictator always has a mass grave in his country. This guy reasoned that if a dictator kills a 100,000 people, what the heck is he supposed to do with the bodies??!!! Dig a hole for each? C'mon you gotta think about the dictator right.. it actually made sense (I do not condone genocide, please dont misunderstand me).
Like I was saying - people are complicated. Our feelings, our emotions, our thoughts, our actions - everything about us is so messed up, it's a wonder how we manage to co-exist!
Today: Not one of my better works I feel :-(
Smile - this was the last part. Now I've done complete justice to my 'writing abilities' - bouquets/brickbats both welcome! :-)
I logged into my Blogger account this morning to write up something good (it's kinda my stress reliever) and I was at a complete loss for words for a new post! I know this might sound funny, but..I think I've hit a writer's block ;-) Naah..I need to be a writer to have that right? So..the problem is, I haven't done anything out of the ordinary for the last few weeks, thanks to my work, so I didn't have much to write about. And I do not enjoy writing things like I got up at 7 and brushed my teeth at 7:15. I find it difficult to write when I do not enjoy writing it! I'm my biggest reader and biggest fan! (Raaji: You got it right in your Y! 360 testimonial - I know you were just being nice when you said 'subtly' impudent - I'm nowhere near subtle these days, am I?! You can write it again changing 'subtle' to 'blatant' **smile smile** Rest of the world: And you thought 'impudent' was like a compliment! )
There is this absolutely useful feature in Blogger where you can save drafts of your posts before you actually publish them. And I went back and looked at the umpteen posts that I had written at some point, but did not publish due to some reason or the other (common reason is 'coz I never felt they were interesting!). Amazingly enough, now when I read them - well, I dont know how to describe it, but..something like nostalgia (too strong a word perhaps). Most of the posts were written when I was in the US - about things I don't even remember now!
So..to do justice to my self and to my words that came out so spontaneously at one point - I'm posting some unfinished 'drafts' that talk about nothing in particular. It seems unfair that I have so many 'unpublished works' (??!!!) and go without updating my blog for the third day in a row! :-)
Mini-series in parts - 1st part:
1st December, 2005 Title: God's Debris
Things are going a bit downhill for me the last few days. Throat infections, locks that won't open, bug fix reviews that don't seem to end, deadlines that just whoosh past at the speed of light - to name a few. I did find time to read Mary Higgins Clark & Ruth Rendell and managed to scare myself out of my wits sleeping alone at night. It's just a book, I know, but it does freak me out. But then, I'll still read them! There's a thrill even in scaring yourself you know ;-) (and calling up your husband in the dead of the night because your absolutely freaked out).
I'm reading Scott Adams' God's Debris. It's a really different book and I have a feeling I might like it a lot more when I've finished it. It does require a lot of patience (which is the first time for me 'coz I'd never come across a book before that needs patience). Download the book here -http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/godsdebris/
I'm having a lot of change in my life right now. It unnerves me a bit, 'coz it is, afterall, CHANGE! Oh, how I hate the word!
Today: For the world of me, I cannot remember what change I was talking about here!! **think think**
12th November, 2005 Title: Desperately desperate
Things are going wrong in Desperate Housewives. Susan gets dumped, Bree has no clue what she is doing...Lynette is..well, she's just behaving like any other woman would do..honestly. And Gabrielle...there's just no end to her fairy tale or her men, is there?!.. I'm only waiting to see how much more goofy things can get on Wisteria Lane. Whom do I feel sorry for? Mike, I think. You know why! And whom do I totally hate? (That's a tough one). No one actually. They are all adorable in some way or the other. Or maybe I'm a nut. I don't know which housewife I match to the most. Seriously, they are a all bit cuckoo in their heads (look who's talking!!).
I don't live in a place like Wisteria Lane. (I'm not sure if I should regret that or be thankful!) I live in a place where I don't even know the names of my neighbors. Leave alone names, I don't even know if there *are* people living next door. I'm not a bad neighbor - I'm just a very very busy neighbor. Trust me, I'm way too pre-occupied with all the things in my life that most of the times I'm just too tired to even bother.
I'm always reminded of this poem when I think about India and Pakistan - Good fences do make good neighbours, I feel.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone, But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, No one has seen them made or heard them made, But at spring mending-time we find them there. I let my neighbor know beyond the hill; And on a day we meet to walk the line And set the wall between us once again. We keep the wall between us as we go. To each the boulders that have fallen to each. And some are loaves and some so nearly balls We have to use a spell to make them balance: "Stay where you are until our backs are turned!" We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of outdoor game, One on a side. It comes to little more: There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, "Good fences make good neighbors."
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: "Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offense. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down." I could say "Elves" to him, But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather He said it for himself. I see him there Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. He moves in darkness as it seems to me, Not of woods only and the shade of trees. He will not go behind his father's saying, And he likes having thought of it so well He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent those of my employer. The fact that a particular comment is posted on this blog does not mean that I have endorsed it in any way or verified the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any such comment. I, in no terms, shall be held responsible for/associated with the content carried by the blogs I link to.
