Why is it so hard to write when you really want to?
Sometimes I wonder - what if time had no units? What if time was just a way to think of the last time you were truly happy, or having the time of your life, or in pain, terrible pain, or with someone who dotes on you, or sad for no reason at all, or proud of yourself? Then, instead of saying that 45 days have passed between my last post and this one, I would say - eons have passed since then. My time in Cincinnati came to an end, I returned to Austin, revisited people from another time, went home - felt the magic and the temptation to never return, and then started a new semester in school again.
The night before I left Austin for India, Udit, Manik and I sat in Manik's room, with a depressed this-is-it attitude. The reason - Smartass Udit's fault for graduating in 3.5 years. Finally, after several semesters, Udit's ICA-fanaticism melted away, as did Manik's string of unfortunate relationships, and my overflowing schedule of activities and meetings disappeared with a poof. Several semesters of minimal contact faded - and we realized one of those cliche truths of life - that friendship is truly beautiful at times. That many years later, while flipping through an album (an electronic one, of course), we'd let ourselves be the victims of nostalgia.
This semester has mostly started with good things. Good classes, funny professors, wonderful living quarters etc. I use 'mostly' because I can't neglect the other things that aren't as great....my cooking for instance, the loads of homework and reading, and writer's block at the worst time - THE release. Other than that, I can't complain too much.
Over the break, I caught up on reading and movies - "Taare Zameen Par" was amazing - currently at the top of my list of favorite movies. The soundtrack, animation, direction, casting, cinematography were all perfect - Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safari - the main actors - were wow. 'The Inheritance of Loss' by Kiran Desai was an interesting, but rather heavy, and quite depressing, read. I liked it anyway. 'A thousand splendid suns' was good, but probably not anywhere in my list of top 10 books.
I should start on homework.
Should would could...
That's it - I'm out of excuses.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, December 15, 2007
More Flight pain
Wondering about all the other people traveling to
My luggage wasn’t overweight. Or was the check-in guy just nice/tired/frustrated?
Stomach feels empty. Cookies in bag not tempting at all. All sorts of chemicals churning around in bloodstream. Mind in a blitz.
Airport staff is requesting passengers to Laguardia to volunteer to give up their seats – for a compensation of $400. Glad I don’t have that chance. It would be tempting, but I’d have to pass it up.
Boarding should have started at 12:40 pm. It is currently 12:54 pm.
Great. Estimated departure time is now 1:30 pm. More time to write my work report.
All right cookies – you win.
***
210 calories later…
Hurray – boarding begins.
------------------------
I couldn't even stay up for take-off. Damn you Vicodin.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
On her hallucinations...
I think this is the closest I've ever come to wishing that I had never been born.
Pain swallows the ego.
I'm starting to sound like John Milton.
Pain swallows the ego.
I'm starting to sound like John Milton.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Wrighter's Block
The advantage of going for almost two months without posting (besides basking in the joy of being lazy) is that there is so much to talk about.
White water rafting was great. A little over-hyped, like skydiving, but fun nevertheless. The sad part is that the moments that I enjoyed most during rafting had nothing to do with being in the raft. At one point my guide let me jump off an 18 foot high cliff, and sometime later, let me ride a class I rapid on my back. Other than that, hiking along an actual trail, and making several thousand detours which included exploring mines and caves, walking down the sides of waterfalls, climbing walls and abandoned wooden structures was exciting, as was camping outdoors in 30 degree (F) weather.
Rock-climbing got a lot better. I progressed from a 5.6 to a 5.10 difficulty level, and actually completed a bouldering route. Tennis got shoved into the closet (quite literally) with the arrival of the winter season. The gym in our apartment complex was closed because of renovations (aargh), the trees burst into rainbow colors all around the city, Mana and I went disk-golfing (a hippie sport) for the first time in our lives (thank you Bryan), painted an orphanage, and impulsively decided to go skiing this weekend.
After spending all summer in a coffee shop and a library, this change was rather nice.
My cubicle-mate, Brian, is a blast. Although a diligent and intelligent worker, he always has time to share the funniest and most interesting stories, so that when I am not working, I’m laughing. We decided to improvise our cubicle…following the unintentional legacy of the window-guy [see previous post]. We added a mailbox (thanks to Charlotte’s genius art-and-craft skills), a Welcome mat, a Christmas tree (with office supplies as ornaments), and are in the process of adding curtains to the existing window, and installing another window behind Brian’s computer, which will show a winter scene. Our co-workers and Manager were highly amused.
Thanksgiving was glorious. My mom flew in to stay with me for 3 weeks, my dad came down from Syracuse; I got the chance to spend quality time with my parents for the first time in ages. I was relaxed and happy; and at my creative best despite limited sleep (Ammar and I put together the 3rd AO over Thanksgiving). Ammar actually said that he would make an amendment to the AO Constitution – to have a yearly fund to fly my parents in for a ‘super duper AO’. And super-duper it was.
White water rafting was great. A little over-hyped, like skydiving, but fun nevertheless. The sad part is that the moments that I enjoyed most during rafting had nothing to do with being in the raft. At one point my guide let me jump off an 18 foot high cliff, and sometime later, let me ride a class I rapid on my back. Other than that, hiking along an actual trail, and making several thousand detours which included exploring mines and caves, walking down the sides of waterfalls, climbing walls and abandoned wooden structures was exciting, as was camping outdoors in 30 degree (F) weather.
Rock-climbing got a lot better. I progressed from a 5.6 to a 5.10 difficulty level, and actually completed a bouldering route. Tennis got shoved into the closet (quite literally) with the arrival of the winter season. The gym in our apartment complex was closed because of renovations (aargh), the trees burst into rainbow colors all around the city, Mana and I went disk-golfing (a hippie sport) for the first time in our lives (thank you Bryan), painted an orphanage, and impulsively decided to go skiing this weekend.
After spending all summer in a coffee shop and a library, this change was rather nice.
My cubicle-mate, Brian, is a blast. Although a diligent and intelligent worker, he always has time to share the funniest and most interesting stories, so that when I am not working, I’m laughing. We decided to improvise our cubicle…following the unintentional legacy of the window-guy [see previous post]. We added a mailbox (thanks to Charlotte’s genius art-and-craft skills), a Welcome mat, a Christmas tree (with office supplies as ornaments), and are in the process of adding curtains to the existing window, and installing another window behind Brian’s computer, which will show a winter scene. Our co-workers and Manager were highly amused.
Thanksgiving was glorious. My mom flew in to stay with me for 3 weeks, my dad came down from Syracuse; I got the chance to spend quality time with my parents for the first time in ages. I was relaxed and happy; and at my creative best despite limited sleep (Ammar and I put together the 3rd AO over Thanksgiving). Ammar actually said that he would make an amendment to the AO Constitution – to have a yearly fund to fly my parents in for a ‘super duper AO’. And super-duper it was.
Halloween was another memorable day. Mana and I dressed up as a magical portrait from Harry Potter, using a huge wooden frame, which I actually carried around when I went trick-or-treating. The candy I got made up for my tired arms.
I suppose I should mention work too. I saw the Black Hawk, the Airbus A380 (a large and freakishly quiet airplane with a GE engine – the GP 7200), the GE 90 (a larger-than-an-elephant engine), and gave the worst presentation of my life. However, things got a lot better after that – keeping with the ‘you don’t know how good you’re doing until you know how bad it can get’ philosophy (thanks Ammar).
We finally fulfilled Mana’s dream of going to Chicago – a total of 10 coops landed in the Windy City for the coldest weekend in November. In between crawling under the jelly-bean (‘the Cloud – Gate’), running up and over bridges, climbing everything in sight that was higher than a foot, hanging off tree-branches, holding chicken-fighting tournaments in our hotel room at 3 in the morning, having a chicken-fighting ‘battle-royale’ in the center of Millennium Park (surrounded by the perplexed looks from amused on-lookers), racing inflatable horses, squeezing 8 people in a single hotel room, learning how to whistle through a grass-blade - I barely had time to realize that I might never see these awesome people ever again, or that I was in the middle of having the time of my life.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
When pigs fly..
So far, I have discovered that probably the most interesting thing about Cincinnati is its Flying Pigs.Which does not mean that I have anything against the city. Flying Pigs are cool. Flying pigs are rare - and let's face it - ridiculously funny too.
Back in the 19th century, Cincinnati was an integral part of the pig trade, and had the unofficial nickname 'Porkopolis'. Now, several statues of flying pigs litter the city - statues that were auctioned off and decorated differently, so that each one is unique. I saw my first one at the airport itself the day I landed in Cincinnati.
It's been fun being in a new city, in a new apartment, at a new work-place, but who said having fun was always easy? Getting furniture for our unfurnished apartment proved to be a challenge, especially during the first few days when Mana and I were still car-less, stranded in the city with a public transportation system from Hell. We quickly became fans of furniture of the inflatable variety, and others that need to be assembled with screws and infinite patience. Our TV stand is made of six blocks of styrofoam, and our first shower curtain was made out of two trashbags. Now we have replaced it with a fancier one with penguins on it.
But we seem to have lost interest in the whole concept of real furniture.
I work in a cubicle in the basement. And my cubicle has a window. The story is that some employee requested an office with a window. Since his placement was in a cubicle, and even worse, the basement, he was told outright that his request could not be granted. Undeterred, he decided to make his own. He printed out a picture of the branch of a tree on 6 regular sized A4 sheets, and thumbtacked them together on the bulletin board behind his monitor. On the side is a hand-written note of 'Let us never forget the Sun'. Good advice. The world should be thankful for engineers' sense of humor.
Speaking of our sense of humor, the second issue of the AO was released to thunderous reviews on September 10. It was probably one of those rare moments that made me wish I was back in school this semester, just so I could bask in the glory of our success. We even made it to Dr. Mark's Wall of Fame, as Ammar put it. Some students over in the Journalism school at UT, inspired by our newsletter, created their own - which they call The Yellow Journalist. So now, we have earned bragging rights for being the paragon, the magnum opus, the originals - the founders of a very untraditional tradition.
The Renaissance Festival, which I went to yesterday, is a keeper of untraditional traditions as well. Some of the shows were hilarious, the actors' 14th century costumes cool inspite of the 91 degree weather, the little stores and stalls priceless. A ministrel group that I particularly liked had the best drinking song ever:
So put some more guiness in us,
It's a sin if it's not guiness I say,
So buy me some guiness, and pour it right in us,
It might, just help us to get through the day
It's a sin if it's not guiness I say,
So buy me some guiness, and pour it right in us,
It might, just help us to get through the day
Between ice-skating, indoor rock-climbing, raging at apartment management for converting the tennis court into a helipad, white-water rafting, long conversations with the people who matter most, creativity, waiting impatiently for the trees to get on with autumn, a general sense of well-being ... I wonder if Mana and I will ever get around to buying furniture.
Probably when pigs fly.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Ranting and Renting
My other umbrella broke the other day. I think I'm going to blame it on Udit again, and kill him.
I recently finished reading a soppy story 'Dear John' by Nicholas Sparks about love and sacrifice, which did nothing to reinforce my belief in either. I picked up the book thinking I might like it more than Sparks' movies, but I ended up wasting endless hours and very few tears. Books like those just make me angry. A story that could've been wonderfully told in a page and half, was stretched over 278 unbearably long pages.
I've begun to think I might have anger management problems. Either that, or I could make heck of much better author than Nicholas Sparks.
On the other hand, I had much better luck with 'Freedom at Midnight' and 'No Man's Land'. And so far, pretty good luck with 'Snow falling on Cedars'.
I came to to the library today to return the last book and the last movie, vowing not to rent any more movies, because I need to go through my 10-book high pile in my apartment first, but I was powerless against the wall of movies there. My laptop DVD player has bailed out on me already.
I've been learning quite a bit about space-missions etc over the past few weeks. Everything from astronaut exercising constraints and equipments, to an account about the hows and whys of all the major disasters in the space era.
I made another list of goals the other day... and frankly, it scares me.
- Get a private pilot's license
- Get a scuba-diving license
- Get a sky-diving license
- Get a driver's license
To top all that off, I'm already fighting a temptation to get a haircut.
I recently finished reading a soppy story 'Dear John' by Nicholas Sparks about love and sacrifice, which did nothing to reinforce my belief in either. I picked up the book thinking I might like it more than Sparks' movies, but I ended up wasting endless hours and very few tears. Books like those just make me angry. A story that could've been wonderfully told in a page and half, was stretched over 278 unbearably long pages.
I've begun to think I might have anger management problems. Either that, or I could make heck of much better author than Nicholas Sparks.
On the other hand, I had much better luck with 'Freedom at Midnight' and 'No Man's Land'. And so far, pretty good luck with 'Snow falling on Cedars'.
I came to to the library today to return the last book and the last movie, vowing not to rent any more movies, because I need to go through my 10-book high pile in my apartment first, but I was powerless against the wall of movies there. My laptop DVD player has bailed out on me already.
I've been learning quite a bit about space-missions etc over the past few weeks. Everything from astronaut exercising constraints and equipments, to an account about the hows and whys of all the major disasters in the space era.
I made another list of goals the other day... and frankly, it scares me.
- Get a private pilot's license
- Get a scuba-diving license
- Get a sky-diving license
- Get a driver's license
To top all that off, I'm already fighting a temptation to get a haircut.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Cleveland
To say that my last two weeks, first in Ann Arbor, MI, and then in Cleveland, OH, have been eventful would be lying. Saying that my stay has been uneventful would be a lie too.
That's me - always in the middle.
It was nice being in Ann Arbor again. I didn't remember much from 10 years ago, but I stayed with some awesome family friends, had my all-time favorite pretzels at Briarwood Mall, drove past my old middle school, Tappan, and went kayaking on the Huron River. I also watched movies at the rate of 1/day, and slept an average of 10-11 hours daily.
I was also glad I escaped the thunderstorms and the cold, danky weather in Texas just in time. I never thought I could enjoy un-overcast skies, but the sunshine in Michigan was perfect.
Cleveland - Cleveland - Cleveland.
The city is not a pedestrian's best friend. Especially a pedestrian who walks without a map.
I think I could write a thesis on the Art of Getting Lost in Cleveland.
On my first day at work, I stood on the wrong side of the street, and took the wrong bus. By the time I found my way to the right stop, and taken the right bus to the next stop, I'd already missed the transfer bus. Fortunately I still made it to work in time. On my way back that day, I made the same mistake, at a different intersection. I reached my place after 8pm - 3 hours after I'd started. The buses have been nicer to me since then, and most of the bus drivers recognize me now. One of them, who'd been driving the unfortunate bus that I was on for 1.5 hours my first day, saw me yesterday, and announced gleefully - "I see you're not getting lost anymore!"
I still get lost everytime I go running. The streets in Cleveland are wickedly tricky. You think you're walking in a rectangle, when in fact, you're walking in a hexagon, an octagon, or a triangle. You may be walking down some street A, and pass another street B. A couple of blocks down, you'll see the same street B again. Last week, I was nowhere being close to where I started, and was wandering around in the dark. It was just after sunset. Fortunately for me, my friend Ankita - in Austin -called, and then looked up my location on Google Maps. She then guided me home.
It was the story of the week. I am so thankful for technology. And google. And friends who call me while taking a break from their dull lab reports.
Work's been good so far. Eye-opening and rather cool. The NASA Glenn Research Center is not the most glamorous place in the world, but people do a fair amount of good work there. I met some people who have been at that center for 40 years. It's a staggering thought, because I'll probably have retired in 40 years, from work or life. I share my office with my mentor and another co-worker. The last corner in the room is the snack-shack, stocked with ginger ale and root beer and diet sunkist (hooray!), and a 4 lb-box of twizzlers. Life couldn't get any better.
I'm starting to get the hang of apartment living too. Renting a room in an apartment with two crazy dogs and their sweet owner is not a bad deal. Cooking has been interesting, but I'll have to document that later. My cooking hasn't killed me yet - so that's definitely a good sign.
That's me - always in the middle.
It was nice being in Ann Arbor again. I didn't remember much from 10 years ago, but I stayed with some awesome family friends, had my all-time favorite pretzels at Briarwood Mall, drove past my old middle school, Tappan, and went kayaking on the Huron River. I also watched movies at the rate of 1/day, and slept an average of 10-11 hours daily.
I was also glad I escaped the thunderstorms and the cold, danky weather in Texas just in time. I never thought I could enjoy un-overcast skies, but the sunshine in Michigan was perfect.
Cleveland - Cleveland - Cleveland.
The city is not a pedestrian's best friend. Especially a pedestrian who walks without a map.
I think I could write a thesis on the Art of Getting Lost in Cleveland.
On my first day at work, I stood on the wrong side of the street, and took the wrong bus. By the time I found my way to the right stop, and taken the right bus to the next stop, I'd already missed the transfer bus. Fortunately I still made it to work in time. On my way back that day, I made the same mistake, at a different intersection. I reached my place after 8pm - 3 hours after I'd started. The buses have been nicer to me since then, and most of the bus drivers recognize me now. One of them, who'd been driving the unfortunate bus that I was on for 1.5 hours my first day, saw me yesterday, and announced gleefully - "I see you're not getting lost anymore!"
I still get lost everytime I go running. The streets in Cleveland are wickedly tricky. You think you're walking in a rectangle, when in fact, you're walking in a hexagon, an octagon, or a triangle. You may be walking down some street A, and pass another street B. A couple of blocks down, you'll see the same street B again. Last week, I was nowhere being close to where I started, and was wandering around in the dark. It was just after sunset. Fortunately for me, my friend Ankita - in Austin -called, and then looked up my location on Google Maps. She then guided me home.
It was the story of the week. I am so thankful for technology. And google. And friends who call me while taking a break from their dull lab reports.
Work's been good so far. Eye-opening and rather cool. The NASA Glenn Research Center is not the most glamorous place in the world, but people do a fair amount of good work there. I met some people who have been at that center for 40 years. It's a staggering thought, because I'll probably have retired in 40 years, from work or life. I share my office with my mentor and another co-worker. The last corner in the room is the snack-shack, stocked with ginger ale and root beer and diet sunkist (hooray!), and a 4 lb-box of twizzlers. Life couldn't get any better.
I'm starting to get the hang of apartment living too. Renting a room in an apartment with two crazy dogs and their sweet owner is not a bad deal. Cooking has been interesting, but I'll have to document that later. My cooking hasn't killed me yet - so that's definitely a good sign.
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