Tagged again

Chitra tagged me. And since I was just bored enough to do it, I did. There are 30 - 3 questions in the tag. I'd like to know who came up with them first...

1. What's your latest addiction?
Chocolate chip cookies. Just rediscovered the addiction, actually

2. What are you listening to?
Kangal irandal from Subramaniapuram. The tune is simply fantastic.

3. How late did you stay up last night and why?
Midnight. I was supposed to keep tabs on a friend, and fell asleep on the job :(

4. Who were you with last Friday night?
Technically, alone. My roommate doesn’t count, cos I see him every night.

5. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now?
Unlikely, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed :)

6. When is the next time you'll see your close friends?
Probably around October. (That reminds me, I really have to go book my ticket to Madras)

7. What were you doing this morning at 7am?
Sitting up groggily, trying to shake the sleep out of my eyes

8. What radio station do you listen to the most?
92.7 F.M.

9. What was the reason you last cried?
It must’ve been over a year back. I’m kinda sketchy about the reason, though

10. Have you ever talked to someone when they were high?
Yeah, unfortunately.

11. What's the fifth text in your inbox say?
“Processing request for a refill of INR 100.0. Please pay to retailer” :)


12. Where was the last coffee shop you went to?
Coffee Day in IIT-M, about two weeks back

13. What's your outfit right now?
A polo and sweat pants

[No 14 and 15]

16. What were you doing at 11pm last night?
Watching Scary Movie 3 (yeah, yeah. Think what you will)

17. Who was the last person you talked to last night before bed?
Arpit. I needed some software for Albus (Yes, I'm going to work Albus into as many posts as I can)

18. Will you be driving in a year?
I already have my licence, if that’s what you’re asking…

19. Is there anything that you are craving right now?
Right now, no. But I woke up this morning wanting some of Mithali's delicious garlic bread.

20. When did your last hug take place?
August 1st, with dad and mum just before I boarded the train to Pune.

[No 21 either.]

22. Have you ever started a sentence with "No offense, but..."?
Occasionally, yeah.

23. Do you drink tea?
Yes. Black with no sugar and just a hint of lime. Chai is just too sweet.

24. Have you ever been arrested?
No. And I don’t intend to be.

25. Have you rode in someone else's car today?
No

26. Have you made a mistake this past week?
Not that I know of.

27. Who was the last person you texted?
AV

28. Are you happy with your life right now?
Well, not over-the-top happy. But I’m content with my life right now.

29. In the past 72 hours have you been under the influence?
No. Nobody good to drink with here :D

30. What's the connection between you and the last person you texted?
Best friend’s sister. Plus counselor, when she has the time.

I'm not tagging anyone. Take it up if it looks interesting.

In the last 48 hours

It’s funny how I find myself thinking, nay ruminating, a lot more now that I’m down with a cold. It’s almost as if my thoughts were escaping out my nose and the only way to stop them was to partially block the exit with snot. Yep, it’s gross. Why should I be the only one who’s gonna be miserable today?

I was looking through some notes that I made in my journal some time ago and I came across a piece I didn’t complete. The gist of what I wrote before I stopped is this: the worst fate that can befall a person is not thinking. Now though, I’m not so sure it’d be all that bad. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of aimless wondering, which could lead to self doubt, or worse. By the way, I can’t quite remember why I didn’t finish writing that. Maybe the strain of thinking about thinking was too much for me.

It’s been another wet weekend here in Pune. Miserably wet, if you don’t like the rain. Or are sick. Thankfully, the rain hasn’t been too heavy, because we really could do without new potholes. In fact, in 2007 the condition of the roads was actually an issue during the Municipal elections. Every newspaper had articles about potholes almost every day, including the gossip rags *cough* Times of India *cough*
The fact that the rain isn’t particularly heavy now is a cause for concern. I haven’t looked at the official data, but the general consensus is that the monsoons are starting earlier, pouring heavier in June and August, less in July and less rainfall overall. Commentators have also said that the unique geography of the Indian sub-continent has shielded us from the effects of climate change. But maybe there’s only so much that the Himalayas can do when everything else changes.

And to wind up, fun cold fact. The reason your phlegm is yellow when you have a cold is because bacteria that are normally under control in your nose have a surfeit of snot to gorge on. And the reason that there’s a surfeit in the first place is because that’s how the cold virus gets around.

....

Go, navigate away from this page. I have a conscience. I can’t willfully gross you out more than this.

Update 11/8/08: As it turned out, yesterday was pretty wet with landslides on the Pune-Bombay Expressway. And there's more rain expected later this week. Plus, my cold wasn't all that bad today, but it's still fun to think I can gross people out :D

The era of Albus

Exactly eight days back I got a new laptop. Yes, I’ve put the old Toshiba to rest. For now, that is. I think my dad’s thinking of patching it up and using it now. After all, it was a pretty solid laptop. Four years and no hiccups, except for a battery that conked off in late 2006. And it was pretty decently specced for a late 2003 model.

Anyway, this post isn’t to remember things past. It’s to look to the future. And the future is… wait for it… a little more…here goes…

An Apple MacBook!!!

Allow me to indulge myself for now. I won’t get all geeky and fill the page with processor speeds and amounts of memory and compare it to other laptops. Although, in case you're interested, the spec sheet is over here. (Mine's the MB403LL/A)Suffice to say that it looks brilliant, it’s great to use, I don’t have to worry about Windows viruses (ha!). And that I got it on a student’s discount (you might be able to as well. Check this out)

Yes, it’s been smooth sailing so far. Until the day before yesterday, that is. An upstart second-year student came up to me, asked me about my laptop (I’m thinking of calling it Albus, cos it’s white. Maybe Niveus… hmmm…)

Anyway, he asked me how much I paid for it. And then when I told him, the lousy bugger tells me he paid 4k less for the same model. I mean WTF!!!

And that brings me to a very sobering fact. No matter what you do and how cocky you feel about it, there will always be some upstart who goes one better.

End of story. Class dismissed.

P.S. I missed watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics cos I was watching old episodes of Scrubs on Albus (Albus it is). But I’ll make it a point to watch the closing ceremony.

P.P.S. Just because I named my laptop Albus doesn’t mean I’m some kind of Harry Potter nut. And to clarify, I wouldn’t name it Voldemort if it were black. Nor Sirius. (Note to self: STOP!!!)

And all good things...

...must come to an end. In a week's time I'll be off to Pune again. And I've never wanted to not go back more than I have now.

This has probably been the best vacation ever. Or, at least, in the last three years. To start off, I had a really good first month. Lazing around, sleeping late, waking late... the works. Then, my cousin lent me his old bike, which meant freedom! Or as much freedom as you can get on a 9 year old, 100cc bike. A bike that was in a pretty awful state of tune when I first got it.Still, it beats haggling with auto drivers so I'm not complaining.

Then I joined this theatre company. And boy, has it been the ride of a lifetime. The hours are pretty strenuous, and I didn't get to learn too much on the production and tech side of things (which is what I joined them for in the first place). I was working backstage for a few shows they staged in Madras. And let me tell you, when you listen to the applause from the audience at the end of a good show, there's no better feeling. All the running around, things getting lost at the last minute, people yelling, deadlines not being met...none of it matters during that moment. You're exhausted after 3 shows in two days, but you're also elated and the effort seems to be worth it after all. And that high is something you keep working towards, as Flighty told me today. It's very hard to walk away from theatre, no matter in what way you're involved, she said.

The company as such is pretty young. It's only in it's fifth year. And the oldest person who's a regular employee is 31. I didn't have to try very hard to fit in. And most importantly, there's Flighty. I swear, I think we'd have a chance, IF ONLY I DIDN'T HAVE TO GO BACK TO PUNE!!!!

Anyway, the inevitable must be faced. I just booked my return ticket to Pune today. My project this sem will have to be an especially good one to get me out of the deep blue funk that I will be in when I get off that train :(

Sigh. It was a good summer.

The top five useless accessories on public transport...

#5: Chevy, Dodge and Chrysler badges on Bajaj autos (Pune) I'm not kidding

#4: Stickers on autos that say "OK" (Bangalore). OK followed by the owner's name, current year, "good", "Super" whatever.Holographic stickers, at that

#3: Super weird grilles on Premier Padmini taxis (Bombay) I don't think I saw a single taxi with the standard fake-chrome grille the last time I was there.

#2: LEDs and Neon interior lights in taxis (again, Bombay) As a British car magazine spoke of a certain car model. "The lights give it all the subtlety of a Soho sex shop" ;-)

And the most useless accessory seen on public transport in India is...

Fare meters in autos (Madras)
They're never bloody used!

All my bags are packed...

I copied "Leaving on a Jet Plane" from Vod a few days ago, and now I can't get the song out of my head. Hence the lame title. Incidentally, Vod has actually left on a jet plane. And he's actually not sure when he'll be back again. Maybe it's not such a lame title after all then.

Got back from a trip to Bangalore this morning. It's nice to get away from the city for a couple of days. It's even nicer when it's all on the Central government's expense! The catch was that I had to sit in an auditorium and listen to THREE organic chemists speak, interspersed with biopics of two physicists. It's then that you realize what a bum deal biology gets in this country. The only science that gets less focus is Math. But then again, since physics owes a great deal to math, math does get some reflected attention. So it's just bio. And I've had to listen to physicists tell me how confusing bio is and how logical physics is for the last two years. Sigh.
It wasn't half bad, though. Only one of the lectures was really bad. Most people either gave up trying to listen, or fell asleep outright. The highlight must've been the time when the third speaker made a rocket in the auditorium. Using a bubble top water can and methanol. Really.

It was a fun outing otherwise. I met pseudo and Lioness after a whole year.Lioness hasn't actually changed very much. But pseudo has, or seems to have, rather. Maybe it's because I've gotten to know her so much better over the last one year. She doesn't seem like the self-conscious, slightly inhibited girl I met last May. More like one of the select group of people I'd like to have with me in front of my fireplace. If I had a house with a fireplace, that is :)

In other news, the last two weeks have been pretty hectic. I've been volunteering in a theatre company here in Madras. There have been a spate of birthdays. soupy, estarra, pseudo and Chitra, to name a few. Oh, and mine as well. Appropriate changes have been made to the blog since.

That's all about me for now. I'm gonna return to observing and commenting for the next few posts.