I leave for Bangalore in a few hours. My flight is at 7:15p on Sunday, 19th December. I return on the 8th of January. It’ll be a nice break after a very harrowing term in more ways than one.
I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to post from there, but if interesting things happen, I sure will try.
This photograph CO Thiago, from the STF at Dpreview.com. The original image can be found here
A Man and His Dog
A wagging tail.
A sagging belly.
Always active and lively.
Mostly listless and lethargic.
Barking twenty four-seven.
Sleeping, almost twenty four-seven.
Excited to see his master.
Still waiting to see his Master.
Looks forward to his best years with anticipation.
Looks back and wonders if those years were his best.
Happy to be in his company.
Happy to be in his company.
White people, Black people,
Indian people, Chinese people.
Blond, Brunette and Redheads,
Close cropped, let loose, tied up.
Some with a smoke,
Others on the phone,
Looking down at the street,
Or up at the sun.
Only a few talk
To a fellow by their side.
What are they thinking
As they try to beat the street-light?
Is it about last nights events?
The movie he watched with a room mate?
Or the fight he had at a bar?
Maybe he is thinking of the the
Person he was rejected by?
Or the person he didn’t
Have the nerve to ask out?
Maybe she is reminded of
A father she lost?
Or perhaps she is
contemplating the next days exam?
Will she get that much needed A?
How big will her next paycheck be?
Where will it be spent?
Will she have any left over to save?
Will she go to that party tonight?
And maybe meet that special someone?
So many thoughts can be seen
Just be looking a person in the face.
I want to know
I want to understand
I want to feel
All
Of
Them
A feature I’ve noticed in my everyday life for years, but never had reason or inclination to think much about it: Anything I take up with even a half-serious mindset, I get good at. By good, I mean definitely above average. Examples of this: Table Tennis, Golf, Squash, Cricket, Photography, academics, other random interests like playing the guitar, playing video games, or even just learning something new…I can’t come up with any more concrete examples, but this extends to almost anything I take up.
I can do it better…much better than the Average Joe. But I can’t seem to break that barrier from good to excellent. I know at least one person who is much better than me in everything I want to do. I being the competitive kind, try really hard (okay, this is relative) to become ‘really very good’ at it. But I can’t. This tends to get me slightly demotivated and I end up giving up whatever the interest is. It’s happened to me for so many things that I can’t care to list them here.
“Jack of all trades but Ace of none” is what I call myself. I’ve always wanted to be a “Jack of all trades but Ace of one.” I wonder if (and when) I’ll find that one thing. I hope it is soon.
The SonyEricsson P910 seems like a dream phone. It has everything that I could want in a single portable device. This includes adding up to 1 GB memory stick and using it as a portable MP3/media player. That is something I’ve been touting for a long time. Who wants to carry around a phone, MP3 players and a PDA. I don’t have deep pockets (literally and figuratively). It does include a camera…something that I don’t much care for. I do however wish they included WiFi capability with this phone. I think that would make it a killer device. It seems fairly small and light, even with the integrated keyboard. It is, however 1 inch thick, something that is a little more than I’m comfortable with.
I am however contemplating the lack of Windows support with this phone. It would be nice to have Windows Media Player 10, and other MS specific apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and a feature reduced Outlook. Once again, I reiterate the need to include WiFi. The phone that Jojo just bought, the HP iPaq 6315 from T-mobile has WiFi and I’ve used it on Dragonfly. It works pretty well.
But the ultimate dream machine? A PDA sized device, with a 40-60gb HDD and all the functionality of a Microsoft(??) PC. Oh yeah, it ought to include a phone. And want this portable delight to become something your more used to at home? Just drop it into a cradle on your desk, that would connect it to a LCD monitor, printer, speakers, web cam, mouse and keyboard. And with an array of extra USB/Firewire ports on the cradle, all further needs like a CD/DVD burner or drive, extra external HDD’s and perhaps an external video card can be attached to provide complete PC functionality.
The idea is there…now come on Microsoft, HP, Apple, Sony, IBM, or someone steal it from me and manufacture it for under 200grams. I swear I’ll be your first buyer, whatever the price. Okay maybe not whatever the price, seeing as how the P910 is $799 and that is about $700 more than I can afford. But hey, maybe by the time such a device is available I’ll have a job and will be able to afford it.
*Sigh* Now that is 5:50 AM, and perhaps time to sleep, I’ll go dream about having lots of money and this miracle PDA.
Now they want to monitor college students. I can see absolutely no good coming out of this. And as a side note, apparently the big push is coming from Republicans.
I got this CO Geoff. Since I’m bored and awake at 3:30 AM, I might as well, eh?
[x] kissed a member of the opposite sex.
[x] rode in a taxi.
[x] been dumped.
[x] shoplifted
[ ] been fired.
[x] had a job.
[x] been in a fist fight
[ ] snuck out of your parent’s house.
[ ] been arrested.
[x] stole something from your job.
[x] celebrated new years in times square.
[ ] went on a blind date.
[x] gone on an airplane by yourself.
[x] broken a bone.
[x] had a crush on a teacher.
[ ] celebrated Mardi-Grass in New Orleans.
[ ] been to Europe.
[x] taken caffeine pills.
[ ] been to Disney world.
[x] had a crush on someone you hardly knew.
[x] been to California.
[ ] been skinny dipping.
[x] regretted something.
[x] peed on someones lawn.
[x] skipped school.
[x] thrown up from drinking.
[ ] lost your sibling.
[ ] kissed a member of the same sex.
[ ] had sex with a boy.
[x] had sex with a girl.
[x] been in a car accident.
[ ] partied for days and days straight.
[x] had a family member die.
[x] played ‘clue’
[x] had a sleepover party.
[x] went ice skating.
[ ] dropped x.
[x] been cheated on.
[x] had a boyfriend/girlfriend.
[ ] had a threesome.
[ ] had a quinceanera.
[x] had a car
[x] drove
[ ] teepeed someone’s house
[ ] gotten a speeding ticket
[x] done the macarena
[x] done homework at home
[x] checked out a random person
[x] been drunk.
[ ] crashed a friend’s car
[x] been to Japan
[x] been in love
[x] had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back
[ ] made out with a stranger
[ ] gone on a blind date
[x] lied to a friend
[x] cut your own hair
[ ] slept with a coworker
[x] cut yourself on purpose
[ ] been married
[ ] gotten divorced
[ ] had children
[ ] seen someone die
[ ] been to Africa
[ ] slapped someone you loved
[x] been to Canada
[ ] been to Mexico
[x] been on a plane
[ ] Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show
[ ] thrown up in a bar
[ ] Purposely set a part of yourself on fire
[x] been snowboarding
[ ] met someone in person from the Internet
[ ] been pregnant or got someone pregnant
[ ] tried killing yourself
[x] taken painkillers
I’m sure this is part of a set of questions that assess whether one has truly lived life or some crap like that. It seems like one has only truly lived if sex, drugs and alcohol are a part of their being. That is truly scary.
I don’t even know what some of these things mean. Nevertheless, I think I’ve certainly lived, whether I’m being judged by this list or not.
It is not that I’ve not wanted to write. I’ve just not had the correct inspiration. November has also definitely had far less work that October. So by all rights, I should be posting more. I think the awful grades I’ve received in the Technical Writing class so far have not done much to boos my confidence. But also there has not been the same flow with words as I had earlier. I guess it’s just a phase. And I hope I’m over it.
Geoff’s turkey dinner on Thanksgiving was great. Having Shujah up here for 5 days was nice too. Bowling, pool, poker and some beer summed up the long weekend. And the next two weeks will be represented by paper, project, paper, project, paper and project. But that what one gets for not being proactive in the vacation. On the other hand, who wants to work during the vacation.
Talking about work – there has not been any DUST work off late. It seems to have slowed down a great deal. I’m a little worried about that. I do hope that we’re doing the Fall Comedian. I could use the money as and of course working that event is a bunch of fun.
I spoke to Angie today after a long, long time. It was great catching up with her. She has moved to DC now and seems to be doing pretty well for herself. I’m glad she called.
My new squash racket is here (after I broke the old one). I also got a bag, some grips, and a bunch of balls. I’m definitley making an effort to play whenever I can. I workout is good for me.
I tried the “4-5 thing rule” over my last two co-ops with some amount of success. But while I’m in classes, it’s a lot harder. How many things does college count for? What about work? And play? And hanging out with friends? Maybe a “2-3 thing rule” would be better. But even that I think would get fairly out of hand without impeccable time management…not something I’m known for.
I thought I’d conqured the insomnia. Almost 10 months I slept without much trouble. But the last week has been hell. And the worst part is that I am so tired tonight. Yet I just lie in bed and can’t sleep.
And while I’m on here: the lack of writing has been mianly because of a lack of time and lack of motivation. There has not been a lack of ideas, just a lack of inspiration to put them down in a readable form.
Pick up line of the month (CO Ravi)
Guy: Can I have a quarter?
Gal: A quarter?
Guy: Yeh, so I can call my mom and tell her how beautiful you are
Quote of the month
“True friends stab you in the front.”
Score of the month
The 181 I scored while bowling – my highest ever.
Drink of the month
Jamesons Irish Whiskey. It is the smoothest evar!
TV show of the month
The O.C.
Krishna Srinivasan 