SMS Flirtation

I just read this article on texting in India today. It talks about how young people in India flirt with each other via text message nowadays because social and cultural constraints prevent them from flirting with each other the way western youths are able to. The article was written almost a year and half ago, but it really made me laugh because last summer, when I was in Chennai, I gave my phone number to a group of guys that we had hung out with a few times, some friends of a friend. About two days later, one of the guys sent me a really cheesy poem by text message. I kind of wish I had saved that poem because it was so cheesy that it was hilarious. The basic jist was that he was my “true friend” and so he thought of me at all hours of the day. And then it ended with “Good noon!” Being the oblivious person that I am, I was pretty puzzled by the poem and just assumed that he had sent it to all of his friends, but that wasn’t actually the case. Anyway, I definitely didn’t read into it, but I did think it was a funny poem to send out. Too bad I nytimes.com wasn’t my home page back then to clue me in.

A Quote

“A photo says, You were so happy and I wanted to catch that. A photo says, You were so important to me that I put down everything else to come watch.”    ~ From Jodi Piccoult’s My Sister’s Keeper

Some observations

An extra four hours can make such a huge difference. Cookies at the library cafe just aren’t as good as they used to be. Maybe that is God’s way of telling me that I should not be eating them. After a certain point in the year (i.e. February), it is no longer fun when it snows outside. Even if it means classes are canceled. I don’t want to go take pictures again or have another snowball fight. I just want to stop wearing my coat and hat. Is that too much to ask? I was really upset when the groundhog saw his shadow this year. And I am really upset that we have freezing temperatures the week before Spring Break. Especially because I am not going anywhere warm. I am just going home. There is so much going on this week, but I don’t have time to partake in any of it because all of my professors assigned work or a midterm.

**I wrote this in March, and I guess I never posted it. I’m posting it now because it makes me laugh, now that I am a college graduate, living in the real world of unemployment.

You Rock My World

On June 25, Michael Jackson, the king of pop, passed away. It caused a big media frenzy, and the entertainment news programs still feature a segment on him every night. It got to the point where some people got angry that we were so focused on a dead celebrity when there was so much other newsworthy stuff going on in the world.

My thoughts:

First of all, I was disappointed in the people, especially my facebook friends, who were “tired” of hearing about MJ and who cracked cruel jokes in the wake of his death. A man died. Maybe he was not actually a part of your family or mine. But he was a cultural icon for decades, and he reached a lot of people’s ears and hearts. He may as well have belonged to the millions of families in whose homes his music played for so many years. People were heartbroken that he passed so suddenly and so mysteriously. The extensive media coverage was a method of mourning, so I think it was totally warranted.

That all said, I actually did not watch MJ’s memorial service. I saw all of the clips that were replayed later, but I celebrated his life by listening to his music. The thing is, I was born at the height of his career, but most of his music is fairly new to me because my parents never really bought cassettes or CDs. We did purchase a copy of Thriller a few years ago, but I didn’t buy The Essential Michael Jackson until a month ago. I discovered a number of his older hits after his death. But on July 26, I got to visit his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Michael Jackson, I will forever remember you for your immense contribution to music.

Blog-arrhea

Soooo, hello.

I know I haven’t written anything in over two months. Well, actually, that is a lie. I’ve written several stubs of posts. But I haven’t bothered to expand on any of them or post a single thing. Sorry. Life happens. I still don’t really feel like writing a lot about these things, but they are all on varied topics, so I will just post my stubby stubs for your viewing pleasure. Maybe I will go back and edit them later.

Virtual hugs,

rd

A Year in Review… Sort of…

Every once in a while, I like to look back at old things that I have written in the past, especially what I have written in my diary. I just re-read some of my posts on this blog from about a year ago, before I went to India. I began this blog in order to keep my friends updated on my adventures abroad, but this blog became something entirely different for me; it became a place for me to share my thoughts, hopes, frustrations, etc. Granted, lots of these had/have to do with India or being an Indian-American college-age girl (or new graduate). Anyway, I re-read my posts from May and June 2008. A lot has changed in the world since then. A lot has changed within me since them.

I’m afraid I’ve become more boring since I wrote the tornado post or the post describing what I would do with an endless supply of money* or my avalanche or my rant about interpreting works of art and my subsequent effort to write a poem with a deeper meaning. (Did you actually click on all of those links and read them? You should. Those are my favorite posts on this blog.)

The point is this: I am jealous of who I used to be a year ago. I was sort of burnt out at the end of that school year, but it was nothing in comparison to how I feel now. I don’t have any definitive plans for my future right now, and thanks to the recession, jobs are not exactly jumping out at me. I’m not really excited about being a member of the “real world” (as opposed to the “imaginary world” of college) nor am I excited about these responsibilities and privileges I have as a new grad (See this NY Times article on grad speeches and how the older generations – whose policies of yesteryear and lack of foresight may be at the root of our economic troubles – are trying to spin the situation to make it sound glittery and inviting for us. I felt really depressed after reading it.) I was so excited for the summer and so full of life one year ago. And four years ago, before I began college, I thought I could conquer the world. I thought I could do anything I wanted to and be anyone when I grew up.

Well, I am grown up now. And though I am only a little more than three weeks out of college, I have already become jaded and bitter and hopeless. Okay, maybe that sounds worse than it actually is. But the point is, I want that back. I want to wake up in the morning and do something and be someone. I may be defeated right now, but I don’t want to look back at my life in twenty years and realize that I could have been a better person. Ah, now I am thinking of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” Whatever, I don’t have a problem with that. MJ knew what he was talking about in that song. Okay, starting now, I’m going to be a better person every time I look in the mirror. I challenge you to do the same.

—

*I would like to add to this post actually… I would also pay for Hindustani vocal lessons, haircuts at someplace other than the cheap cheap cheap place I go to now that always messes my hair up, storage containers so that I can finally actually organize every room in my house, sundresses/party dresses, and pashmina scarves.

I <3 Lemurs

Before I got bitten by two ticks and had to worry about getting Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme disease, I got to hang out with lemurs and take cute pictures:

Dude with a 'tude.

Wise old lemur.

Baby ringtails are sooo cute!

Awwww. Notice the baby tail. Such a cute family!

May is the month for posting pictures

A cute one…

I'm going to dress my offspring in scrubs some day.

There is a God

I took this picture while driving on the interstate today.

Me Mosaic

Hmm… pretty cool.

Pictures describing me

Photo Credits:
1. Radha Krishna, 2. Manipuri Traditional Plate, 3. Water sculpture, 4. » عصيرات «, 5. Tour Eiffel Bleu Europe, 6. Fly me to the Mooooon…, 7. ~ Light ~, 8. milano stazione centrale ferrovie – milan train station / italia, italy / hdr, 9. The Language Of Roses .. !!