Me,Myself and Tagged

Well talk about Murphy’s law. "If anything can go wrong, it will!"
The last week started off ominously with a trip to emergency as my headache of 4 days continued to dog me, followed by laptop crashing on a Sunday night, just before I had to send out reports on a Monday morning. So I spent the next 24 hours recreating reports for the postponed meetings, and it ended with K & I being locked out of the house, because both of us in a haze of colds left our keys behind.

But the above week is nothing compared with what the folks of New Orleans have gone through. Three years after Katrina thrashed their city to pieces, they started rebuilding their homes only to find storm Gustav threatening to do the whole thing again. What shocked me into silence was the courage of the city folk of New Orleans, to leave behind their homes to board buses and planes, with no idea where they are going takes not only courage but a sense of utter belief,that if they did it once they can do it again. As a CNN anchor spoke to New Orleans who were driving out, leaving behind their house, I didn’t see one person break down or even waver. The mayor speaking about a forced evacuation, had me holding my breath. Gustav however turned into a smaller storm and not too many people were affected by the storm and its water level. So God is watching out after all!

This week seemed to be the silver lining around my cloud. I got an award from Keshi (Thank you sweetness).

And I was double tagged this week
Tag 1 Days of my life : courtesy Priya
Two questions in each category answer them and then tag your friends from the blog-o-sphere Leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and you are all set.

Yesterday

-Your oldest memory?

-What were you doing 10 years ago?

Today

-Your first thought today morning

-If you built a time capsule today what would it contain?

Tomorrow

-This year

-What do you see yourself doing 14 years from now?

Oldest memory:
When I was 4, my parents had kinda dozed off, and I really wanted to watch Di- Di( a comedy show ,translated from German) on TV. So I got up and put the switch into the socket, the shock sent me spiraling to the sofa. Even now I can feel the zing on my fingertips (but funnily enough that didn’t put me off from watching tv all night long, after the hullaballoo had died down )

10 years ago:
I was in an internship, so it was 18 hour days, but the evenings were fun when the gang got together for 12 am ice-cream, in the only shop open in Chennai during that time.So if you remember a whole lot of noise in Egmore, Chennai at midnight , it was probably me.

First thought in the morning
I hate CR for keeping a meeting at 8am in the morning.. grrr

If you built a time capsule today what would it contain:
Books ,my grandma’s crochet and moms recipes . Though are the stuff for me that last through time.

This year…
Shopping during Thanksgiving.. this year is going to be extra special for my shopping list and really bad for K’s wallet.

14 years from now
Back home in Chennai, hopefully teaching and writing a book… But definitely blogging :) !

Second tag Wonderful Quotes: courtesy SMM

This was the really really hard one. I love books, the feel , the scent and mostly the characters. A book is a land that I live in for the time I’m reading it, so its really hard for me to select my favorite quotes and the worst part is most of my favorite books are back home. So these are the rules
Wonderful Quotes" tag. “The rules are
a) jot down 5 of your favourite quotes from the various books read
b) Tag 5 people at the end. If you don't have the books, then google them.

So now the hard part of my favorite 5 quotes

1.“When humor goes, there goes civilization. –Erma bombeck”
I bought “I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression” for my sister after her first daughter was born, but spent my supposed hours babysitting , reading and laughing . I think Erma epitomizes what I would like to be in an author – humor combined with human emotion is hard to write, but ensures that everyone reads with a smile and a thought.

2.” This above all — to thine ownself be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”- Polonius, Act I, scene iii – Hamlet
My mom being an literature major, used to give us abridged versions of Shakespeare plays from Scary (Macbeth) to Romantic (Midsummer Nights Dream). But I guess I fell in love with Hamlet at the age of 5 , and every quote from that play has a deeper significance now as an adult. Though as a child, I used to picture my self as the perfect Ophelia who lost her mind over her love , now I know Ophelia would have dumped him for a different prince given half the chance

3. "It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, Man had always assumed that he was the most intelligent species occupying the planet, instead of the *third* most intelligent. The second most intelligent were of course dolphins who had long known of the impending destruction of earth” – Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy
I’m not into Science fiction, but a pal sent me the eBook and asked me read it, which I did during my first month on the job. This book had me laughing so much, that I had to convince my boss that I had tourette syndrome and did not really find the training manuals which I was supposed to be reading hysterical :D !. I still wonder, what my colleagues thought of me that first month, when they were doing their 16 hour days!

4. "I'll thcream and thcream 'till I'm thick — I can, you know"- Violet Elizabeth Bott -William series
This was a series of children’s books which I loved. Enid blyton had already captured me with her English countryside and scones. This series of books took it to a higher level. This quote in particular is dear to me, as it was what I tried a couple of times on my family. From being cute the first two times it became annoying the third time, and my sister threatening to throw me out of the train the fourth. But its still ranks high when I am not going to get my way :D !

5. “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted” – Randy Pausch – The Last Lecture
Randy’s lecture for me was more a direct conversation. It addressed a lot of spots in my life which I had previously seen as unfair . This book is filled with quotes I love and use in my life. It changed my perspective and the way I looked at people around me.

I have to end with another quote of Randy’s which I think rings true for every situation
“Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out”

So for the tag - I choose Ani D, Uma, MIP, Vignesh, Priya (Quotes)/ SMM (Days)
Have fun people

Tthe joke for the gals (guys don’t hate on me :D) !

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging, violent river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed: 'God, please give me the strength to cross the river.'

Poof! . God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim
Across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twi ce.

After witnessing that, the second man prayed: 'God, please give me strength and the tools to cross the river'

Poof! ... God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.

Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed: 'God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the river'

Poof! ... He was turned in to a woman. She checked the map,
Hiked one hundred yards up stream and walked across the bridge.

Keep Smilin
Anu

Tagged!

Uma tagged me. I approached this post, first with apprehension and then with a growing thankfulness. I haven’t put in this much introspection about my life in recent times

6 Whatever’s about me

1.I love music of the past –50’s -70s (Hindi, English) , but an ardent admirer of A R. Rahman’s music
2.Strongly believe in God, but never am one for long drawn rituals. I also believe in Karma, what you give, definitely comes back to either bite you or do you good.
3.I love having a large group of friends. Different personalities, attitudes and thoughts are so much fun to assimilate into daily life.
4.Avid reader, but love history. Give me a book on the rise of the Roman Empire or Hitler or even History channel, and I’m content to just be in one place for ever.
5.From being short tempered and the first to jump to talk, I have become a lot calmer and a decent listener, but people still cant get me to shut up once I start talking
6.I take after my dad. We are totally laid back about work and life . But if something got to get done, you can count on us get it done on time and right (Well most of the time :) ) .

5 Things I miss in my life right now

1. I miss India, so much sometimes it hurts. I miss my parents and friends. And most of all I miss the hustle and bustle of Chennai. I also really miss hearing Tamil on a daily basis. Mylapore on a Saturday afternoon (sigh!)
2. I miss the really good Gobi Manchurian and Dal Makhani. Like the kind you get in the dhaba’s off Koramangala road, in Bangalore
3. I miss the free life of school and college . Age and responsibility seem to grow incrementally together , I wish sometimes they had a converse relationship
4. I miss office cafeterias. Ok that’s a weird one. But I work from home and its easy to be attached to your laptop all the time. In office, you always have an hour or less, to walk with your friends to the coffee room or even grab a bite to eat.
5. On the same note I miss my commute to office. I had an hour to read the paper or listen to music undisturbed on the light rail .Nowadays I log in by 8am and log off by 6pm, stuck to my laptop all the 10 hours.

10 Things I wanna achieve within a decade

1. Travel through Europe. Going back to my history roots, I would love to touch the ruins at Delphi, walk through the volcano covered statues in Pompeii , stare at Stonehenge and try to understand it
2. Learn to swim. I hyperventilate in cold water, so this one for me is the most challenging
3. Write a book. I have atleast started with my fiction blog, but I want to take my writing a few levels higher
4. Teach. My mom being a professor, this was something I wanted to be when I grew up. Writing this post I just realized, I had grown up :-D!
5. Finish one more education level. Hopefully this will help me with whole the teaching aim
6.Learn a musical instrument either guitar or piano. Though for this one I’m sure K or my mom will prefer to be in another room
7.Help set up a school for kids back home in India. I hate child labor or a child not able to exploit their full potential, because of financial situation or home conditions.
8.Set up my own garden. Right now in a apartment, I try my best, but I would love a garden like I had when I was young. Have an acre filled with vegetables and flowers (not forgetting the snails and squirrels)
9.Watch a play on Broadway
10. Become a parent , whom I hope is half as good at parenting as my or K’s parents


The Book Tag
**Pick up the nearest book.Open to page 123.Find the fifth sentence.Post the next three sentences.

Considering I haven’t been to the library for sometime, I picked up one of my favorites!


“Ma, can you stop boring my friend,” Alok said
“No,its fine,” I said reaching for more daal.
Actually the life Alok’s mother led at home intrigued me.

- Five point someone, Chetan Bhagat


Tag Five people

http://keshigirl.blogspot.com/ - Keshi
http://basicallythejobless.blogspot.com/ - Barath
http://viewsnmuse.blogspot.com/ - Ani
http://world-ani.blogspot.com/ - Ani Dundee
http://castelgard.wordpress.com/- Castlegard

And I’m tagging anyone else reading this post, I’ve learnt from this experience that sometime what’s in your head seems a lot clearer when you type it out

For the joke of the day

The Preacher Golf

There was this preacher who was an avid golfer. Every chance he got, he could be found on the golf course swinging away. It was an obsession. One Sunday was a picture-perfect day for golfing. The sun was out, no clouds in the sky, and the temperature was just right. The preacher was in a quandary as to what to do. The urge to play golf overcame him. He called an assistant and told him that he was sick and could not attend church. Then he packed up the car, and drove three hours to a golf course where no one would recognize him.
Happily, he began to play the course.
An angel up above was watching the preacher and was quite perturbed. He went to God and said, "Look at the preacher. He should be punished for what he's doing." God nodded in agreement.
The preacher teed up on the first hole. He swung, and the ball sailed effortlessly through the air and landed right in the cup three hundred and fifty yards away. A perfect hole-in-one. The preacher was amazed and excited. The angel was a little shocked. He turned to God and said, "Begging Your pardon, but I thought you were going to punish him."
God smiled. "Think about it -- who can he tell?"

Keep Smilin ppl
Anu