Alternate Vision

If I had all the time in the world, still, all this work that keeps piling on wouldn't get accomplished. So I've had to take a vastly different attitude to this whole graduate school business. I make sure I take lots of breaks, go running (capitalize on the good weather while it lasts and the fact that one of the best parks in the north east is five minutes from my house), spend a healthy amount of time cooking, sleeping and all the other 'essentials' to keeping sane. That said, there are times when you just want to pull all the hair out of your head and stick your head into the ground; I've always envied Ostriches for this remarkable characteristic. Thats when I drop everything and run to the nearest bar. Without a doubt a gradual metamorphosis of sorts is occuring within me, yet again. All of a sudden I have been exposed to myriad possibilities and opportunities and the eternal question that can consume any human being is slowly beginning to consume me- what is it that I want with my life? The first step to grappling with this bad boy has been and will continue to be identifying what I don't want. The thinking is that this elemination process will leave less on the table so I can focus my attention on what's important to me. I realize that decisions I make now will have profounds consequences down the road and hence I dare not say "it will work itself out, " not with these amazingly cool opportunities at my doorstep. TAing has been interesting. Just yesterday I had this girl stay after class to ask a question and half way through my explanation she burst out into tears. So I had to spend the next twently minutes rescuing her out of that fragile state and suddenly I foundmyself having tolook back at my undergrad years. What would I have done in her place? My brain was racing to seek the optimal solution. She needed a confidence booster, yes, and so thats what I proceeded to do. Time will tell how much that "lecture" helped. Ok, enough with the introspection. Am so tempted to go DC and watch the thievery in action yet again, but I won't.

Friday evening rolls around and in my hurry to drop of my stuff and make it to the GSA happy hour I lock myself out of my apartment. Splendid, indeed. And yea don't ask why I hadn't made a spare yet. After much contemplation I decide that calling Paula, my 80 year old landlady, would be inevitable. But alas the spare keys would not be delivered for another hour and a half. So I change plans and decide to hit the happy hour anyway, wash away the guilt and return when the keys were ready. I called Gaurav who was on his way to pick me up and decide to soak up the sunshine by sitting by the doorway outside my apartment. Enter Ben, the compassionate, friendly neighbor. Since it was our first meeting, pleasantries were exchanged ofcourse. Then,
Ben: "why may I ask are you sitting out here?"
Me: "Locked out man, and its only my 2nd week here"
Ben: "Oh, I think I can help you out."
At this point I was a bit confused, though hopeful nonetheless.
Ben: "Follow me"
We proceed on upstairs towards my apartment
Ben:"I tried this once before and it worked. I pray to god it doesn't work again."
He walks up to my apartment, sticks his key in and voila, like magic it opened. Now, who was this Ben? Was he really my neighbor? How did he open my apartment? Could his key open all the eight apartments? Could my key open all the eight apartments? I didn't know whether to rejoice or panic. Before I could mentally process what had just happened Ben excuses himself and leaves. If I decide to tell Paula, am not sure what she is going to think. If I decide not to tell her I am just living of the assumption that all my neighbors are a)trustworthy, though I know none of them and/or b) not all of them know of this "secret." I could sue for this sort of thing, but I won't. Weird.

If I was in Austin right now I would most probably be sneaking the captain a 1$margo just so we wouldn't be late for band practise; either that or getting my ass kicked by Emir, Cristin and Aga on someone else's bike (mine got stolen the night I bought it right outside my apartment) after one too many margos. I miss the brain freeze oh so much. BIG IF. Here I am brushing up cobwebs in what is turning out to be a futile endeavor to prepare well for my first class. Sure, its just an informal lecture to a bunch of undergrads. Nothing special about TAing. But oh no, they want me to be up there for 2 hours in front of 45 odd people. I thought AIESEC had prepared me well for such scenarios, but am not too sure about that, blame falls on me ofcourse. If I make it past ten minutes I'm gonna rejoice and hit happy hour tonight. No wait, I have to read a paper on "discounting the future: economics and ethics." Did someone say graduate school? On the bright side I got me a moto. So if your under 6-7 hours driving distance from here, brace yourself. Cities I hope to hit up: Detroit, NYC, Chicago, Toronto, DC, and Chicago. All in due time ofcourse. Ok maybe I lied. I am super excited about teaching. But its my first time. I need to shave. Badly.

Last twelve days in Turkey - Istanbul, Izmir, Ephesus, Marmaris and Olympos. He came, conquered and went. More of the below here

"Like every product from this Italian firm (based in Vicenza), the Cremona is the brainchild of Franco Serblin, a dapper man-of-the-world who does in fact think of his creations as musical instruments, not scientific ones. "Review

Apparently, he won't sell a high end speaker to just anyone and often requires his buyers to fly down to Italy and meet him in person before agreeing to sell it. Of course any audiophile willing to give his soul and an absurd amount of money for one of these beauties would consider this a pleasure. Nevermind the exorbitant price but these seductive, high performance speakers are top on my long term wish list. (maybe when I return in my next life as the King of Swaziland, after getting my fix of those twenty thousand bare breasted ladies I will make it down to Vicenza and seek Franco out). For now, I shall dream on!

Some refer to him as India's Martin Scorsese. His fetish for unearthing and exposing the mechanics of Mumbai's underworld, its modus operandi, thought and philosophy is unprecedented in the history of Indian film making. Yes, he has had his share of flops and his critics have often accused him of copying one too many Hollywood classics but tell me which contemporary Indian film maker brings to the fore, with such class and technical brilliance, the Mumbai underworld? How often does a Bollywood filmmaker swim against the tide, take a daring step, and lean away from contributing to the highly stereotyped "Bollywood movie" industry and instead produce larger-than-life films with a difference? Not as often as some of us would like to see. In that respect he is a maverick and a whiz with a clear-cut vision who has now established his signature style. He made his entry with Rangeela, and along the road ran into ups and downs while experimenting with various styles. But with his recent string of top notch movies like Company, Satya and now Sarkar he is infact creating a legacy. I just got done watching Sarkar.

Even though the movie is a tribute to the classic Godfather, Verma gives it his unique treatment, with enough panache and punch. NDTV

When a movie like Godfather is portrayed in the Indian context you must realize there is a whole lot more to it than meets the eye. Amitabh delivers with style, yet again. For those unfamiliar with some of the aforementioned films I urge you to check them out, especially if the likes of Goodfellas and the Godfather rocked your world, as it did to mine.

Simple words of truth that can help brighten up what often is a monotonous, daily routine for us. Especially relevant if you think your sucked in to the system and part of the rat race but want out. From crea8ive ignition,
-Leave your workstation
-Read. As if your life depends on it
-Have a hobby. That you start taking out time for
-Rest
-Be passionate
-Feel free to fail

Ran into Arun's blog through Mahi's. Both are worth a read btw. If ever in need of a fall-off-your-chair laugh, I highly recommend the latter.

Only one of them dey here. The short one, bobomi, dey for Dubai. Na with the other one I dey. Ehen DC be fine. Khai, e don tay be that. We don dey prepare ourselves.