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20th April, 2008.

It's weird how some dates are so significant...I remember exactly what I was doing on this day 5 years ago - taking the IIT exam (and falling asleep midway through it!), and then attending my cousin's wedding in the evening. That was a wonderful day.

2 years ago, I left UT for the annual DBF trip to Wichita, Kansas. That was a fun trip - the plane we had built actually flew, and we witnessed some rather amazing crashes.

And right now, I'm hiding in a library, trying to get my work done for the week. A 10-page report, a test, and two other assignments. Life could be worse. So this isn't so bad.

This last week has been uplifting. I feel like I passed through a storm and came out bruised, but very much alive. And just taking a step back from things really does help you see so much better - help arrives just when you least expect it - and life puts on its unpredictability-hat again. It's just better that way.

I attended the UT chorus recital for the first time on Friday. It was amazing.... Johnny was brilliant. 'Moondance' is currently my favorite song now (which changes every other day anyway). It was interesting watching the performers....it was like looking at a group handpicked for a movie - there was diversity in size, shape, hairstyles, expressions. One singer fiercefully reminded of Edgar Allen Poe - I'm not sure why. I've never even seen pictures of that author.

Some observations:
-All the clocks in my room still show different times. One of my roommates decided I was indulging in psychological trickery... she's probably right.
-My mom, according to my sister, has taken to sleeping with her glasses on. I remember how, a few years ago, my excuse for doing that was that 'my glasses help me see my dreams better'.
-At my roommate's birthday dinner the other day, I found that shooting tortilla chip-crumbs at people through drinking straws is the most fun thing ever.

Discovery

I made a discovery today...

I really don't like the American language.

Numb

Sitting down at the end of a long day, and thinking about everything that happened today, I am beginning to wonder...

When did I stop caring?
When was the last time I was really, truly, ecstatically happy?
Why do some people matter so much?
Why do the ones that should ... don't?
What happened?
Why are distances so long?
Why are the good times so short?
What was I thinking?

I wish I could have gone kite-flying.

A Flicker of Happiness

Have you ever seen someone's face light up when they saw you? Like literally - light up.

I think I noticed that for the first time today. I never thought I could make someone's day like that.

It felt good.

Chocolate-chip - cookie-dough - ice-cream - induced- midnight-ramblings

-Jashan on Friday was frickin' awesome. The performances were great, the crowd was great, the stalls were amazing. And I just couldn't shut up. I think I did 3 days worth of talking in those 2.5 hours. I wish I could do that more often.

-I saw two Albino squirrels today....one at the Capitol and the other outside the Aerospace building. I wonder if seeing another one neutralizes the good luck the sight of the first is supposed to bring. I definitely hope not.

-Watched 21 a few hours ago. Good movie. Great soundtrack. Also found that discussing a movie with a bunch* of guys is the most useless activity ever. Don't do it. Just say no. Etc etc.

-'Soul meets body' is currently the best song in the world.

-'Very Nice Ways to Say Very Bad Things' is probably the most interesting book that I've read in a long time...and shall leave unfinished. I guess I didn't realize that sometimes things can get really bad. Intriguing compilation though.

-Oh jeez - I have less than 4 hours of sleeping time left. Have to wake up before 6 for some involuntary volunteering. Fun times. :)

*'bunch' is the keyword here

Victory

Today shall go down in history as the day the author of this blog was victorious. She overcame her hurdles, bulldozed over the competition, crossed the highest mountains and swam across the deepest lakes, defeated Time, shunned the world... etc etc.

Not really. But once I graduate, I'll do all that too.

I actually completed that elusive bouldering route that I'd been struggling with for the past 2 months. With no takes! For all you non-rock-climbers (I pity your miserable existence - you are missing out on the joy and happiness that scaling a wall can provide), it means completing a route in one go, without falling).

The past two weeks have been full of disappointments. So much so that I'm tired of them, am ready to give up and move on. That's why these small things matter so much - if I hadn't been sulking for the past few days, I'd never have been as proud of today's little achievement.

The Joy of Aerospacelessness

Today was one of those days when I decided that it was a good thing that I had such a crazy schedule this semester.

After sleeping from 6pm yesterday till about 7:35 am today (with a 2-hour break in between around midnight - when I woke up for dinner/breakfast, called home and then promptly went back to sleep again), I was in a good mood when I went to volunteer today at Hornsby Bend with a group of surprisingly awake and alert engineers. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised when we ended up at the biosolids and water treatment facility, and learned quite a lot about waste management in Austin. It's amazing what they do - using simple methods, they recycle most of the waste from the city - using digesters, ponds, aeration tanks etc. The coolest (albeit freakiest) thing I learned was that if you fell into an aeration tank, you went straight to the bottom, since it's full of air bubbles, and died. A loong Nazar meeting followed, which was fun - it had more than it's share of light moments. I did stupidly declare that I had a relatively light week coming up - neglecting to mention that included, in reality, the work for a month compressed into a single week.

Holi is being celebrated on campus tomorrow - which is one thing I can look forward to. Not being at home for Holi sucks. Missing Papa's birthday today sucks even more. :(

But at least I get to look like a colorful whacko tomorrow. :)