Finally, its the end of the year and beginning of 2013. oh, err, its not like I am relieved that this year is done with. Actually its been a very quiet year for me. Nothing bad happened, nor did anything special happen.
I did not travel much.  I did not invest too much time for photography. I lost contact with a lot of good friends. I am beginning to forget how its to be at home. I realize being in a relationship is one of the best things that can happen to you. First hardest thing has to be learning a new language, swimming is the a very close second. After a few hours of aimless thrashing around in the pool under the 'watchful' eyes of the instructor, and bad, real bad ear infection, I am glad life jackets are available! I also find that its very hard to engage a child in interesting conversation. Being a baby sitter is pretty tough! Ice cream and chocolates are your best friends.

I believe anyone, absolutely anyone can lose weight if they put their weight being it (Did you see, what I did there!? ;) ). Crossfit is one of the best things that I did this year. I don't go anymore, but it felt like I was going to pass out at the end of every training stint. I also went on my toughest hike this year. It a hike up to the top of half dome, which was unsuccessful owing to the crazy snow storm at the summit. But it still was more than 14 hours of continuous hiking, gaining and loosing close to 4500 feet, and very cold conditions (which we did not prepare for). This hiking experience needs to be a post by itself.
I saw two of the worst movies I have ever seen. One was a tamil movie by name billa 2. The other one was a hindi movie called Dabaang 2. I have not watched the first part of both these movies and not particularly interested in watching these either.  After watching these two movies, my emotions were similar. A very confusing mix of uncontrollable rage, nervous laughter, and an evil grin at the thought of trying  to get someone(anyone!) else to watch it by advertising this as the movie of the century. I went a bit too far in my advertising campaign, and everyone saw straight through my story.

I finally bought a gaming console. I remember being really bitter about not having one when I was young. I had decided, when I get a job, the first thing I am going to do is buy a console. I kind of grew up and this pent up anger was no longer inside me. But a very offer for ps3 was something I could not pass. So, now its in my living room, slowly taking away over my life (in a very entertaining way I must admit). For the first time in my life, I have more than 3 pairs of footwear. I had always had one set of sneakers, a strap sandal and a shiny black shoes. I think I have far too many now.

Wow, I started this post not knowing what to write. Atleast I got to write some experiences this year. If I am not lazy before the end of this year, I'll write a part 2! Till then hope enjoy the ear worm for this post below!

Ah well, I have been procrastinating this post for a few days. But unfortunately I sound like rod stewart and missed work because of it.Anyways that leaves me with a lot of time for me for today!(Ah well, this was on Friday and I am still writing this post into the weekend!)

Ok, so we just had Halloween last week. I have never ever dressed up for this, neither have I gone partying. This year however, my CEO hosted a party at his house in DC. It was a chance to see how his house is(Who does not want to see the big man's house!) and also a good opportunity to interact with my colleagues while on the road( I stay 5 hours away from DC). Well after talking to everyone, it looked like I was the only one without a costume. I ended up going as Anonymous.




I missed a balloon festival a couple of weekends earlier. After some maniacal searching effort, found another  one a long 5 hour drive from here. Luckily I found three friends who joined me. I had an awesome time! The pictures are here if you want to take a look at it.


Some random thoughts. I was watching this video after a really long time. There were many copy cats of this exact copying of the experience dancing for an event, you know playing the song, dancing, surprising the others attending the event, making youtube headlines (you get the point right?). I was even part of a copy cat event for a birthday of a friend. Anyways, nothing beats an original idea (except clever marketing).

I never imagined  how it would be working alongside a rocket scientist or a person who defected from his home country. I met a defected rocket scientist from Russia who works with me. Its pretty cool coz he has all this stories about his life back there, and lots of things that I had never imagined. Lunch now is lively after a really long long time.

I was partnered with a lady who was deaf and dumb for a tennis event. It was a pretty good experience. Other than having to make eye contact while speaking, nothing was different (she was lip reader). It was a nice experience. Sports does bring all kinds of people together.

What else , hmm. Its Diwali the next week. Its been over 5 years since I have been at home for diwali. I frankly don't remember how much fun it is to burst fire crackers in the streets, or eat home cooked food (lots and lots of it). All  I end up doing now is a handshake wishing a few friends and an occasional dinner if I get invited to. I do really miss being back home. But I also dread going back. Its a very weird situation to be in.

Fate according to wiki refers to destiny. I really don't give a rat's ass about destiny (except of course they are names of some really, REALLY hot models!! lol!). With a life maximum life expectancy of say 60 years, fate doesn't seem to be that important (except if you are Einstein and you change the face of physics that is). That obviously means we should talk about the universe and physics! I want put you through it unless of course you are interested in it. I have a whole lot of information I would like to discuss. Astronomy, cosmology, stars, gravity, E=MC(squared), black  holes, worm holes,  ARE the stuff! Nothing else really matters, if you think about how small/insignificant we really are (( not insignificant if you are Eisenstein material, please keep up!) when compare to the Universe If you have Netflix, please watch this series. I have watched the whole series more than once, its fantastic! I have had interesting (At least I think so, lol!) conversation with many about the universe. If you want, I have  a few day's of conversation in me!

I have not gone on a solo travel which I am really pissed about. Not because I always have company, but because mostly I don't have company and I just sit at home in front of a TV. Next week hopefully I will head out for a trip for a whole day.  I don't have a spare wheel for my car, and that put me off. Now that I think of  it, it surely is a first world's problem!

Definitely should leave you with something to listen while read this blog. Just to make sure you spend at least as much time as the song takes to play! This is a song you have heard before , surely! I love U2, and been to two of their 360 concerts(not bragging one bit) and miss it now! I wish they were touring again soon around where I live. Not sure why this is the 'ear worm' for this post, it just is.

Wow! the week goes by so quickly that I have no time for a breather(or a post) Well, that is so cliche and not entirely not true. I have so much time for myself that without music, I would probably just kill myself.

I am getting better and better at playing tennis. I still get my ass whooped every time I play but its a good to be outside especially with the weather getting really nice. I went all out a couple of weekends back and played almost 8 straight hours of tennis. Wow! It was awesome, except that I could not move out of my bed for the next couple of days.

I went to an awesome awesome tribute to the Beatles. All the songs of 'Abbey road'. They ended with a bunch of all time hits of the Beatles. Hey Jude was the last song sung and it got the crowd going(albeit at the end of the show, before that the audience were more 'civilized', say Wimbledon like, claps, claps and more claps!) I went down with Nrn, who has never listened to the Beatles on his own. He was a good sport to have sat through the entire show, thanks to him!

I have been having brain farts at work the last week. Somehow feel detached to everything. The feeling , you know, is like you have a lot going, but you actually feel nothing is going on.

Travel this year has been bleak. I have not been on vacation since a week off late last year and previous to that, it was in 2010 that I had a vacation, sort of. It was a pretty eventful month.

I have been in a terrible mood since last night. I had meticulously planned something, and it just did not work/ I have no idea why its bothering me as much, or may be because I am just having my brain think through a lot of things in a short amount of time. I would definitely like to don some boxing gloves and go at it for a loooong time.

blah blah blah, i am too tired to write more. Its been a really long couple of days packed with a lot of stress, anger and disappointment.

Anyways, with respect to music, I have begun to listen more and more of snow patrol. Its like they were always there in my iPod player, but never gave them too much time. The song below is one of the best i think from them. I guess the only 'flaw' with them is that they begin to sound the same after you hear a few of their songs. You know, similar to Coldplay. But they are definitely worth much more than a ear!

Interesting weekend. Most of it was spent at home because it was raining outside. But Sunday evening was an awesome lake day. For people who do not know what that means, a Lake Day is a very windy day, cloudy with, grey skies and absolutely no rain. Lake day was a term coined by a bunch of us back in India. During our college days,  we would ride our motor bikes to Bellandur lake, and spend time talking about so many unusual and varied topics. Of course lunch on our way back was at a Dhaba. Anyways I digress.

Back to this weekend, most of it was spent at home because of rain. I did end up going to a greenhouse(es) which specialized in growing orchids. There were a total of 7, but I could make it only to 4 out of them which took close to 5 hours by itself! I got to test out my poor man's macro lens. It worked beautifully. The only thing that was a let down was my eyes, I just could not see sharp enough every time  to set the focus manually. I still managed a few good ones, a few of them I have uploaded here.

Saturday was day of the Harvest moon.  Unfortunately I could not go out and get any pics. Clouds, Clouds and more Clouds. I did make a cup of Masala Chai (been a while since I made one at home). I started reading a book that has been with me at least for over 4 years. As I write this, I realize that I actually do not remember the name of the book. Happens to me quite a lot I believe, I remembered I was in line for watching Inception and had no clue what the name of the movie was! It took me a few days later to know the name without having to search for it! Its funny that you can remember about times when and why you were forgetful.

I am making more headway into Hindi music. It's like, there were all these awesome songs and I had no idea that they even existed! Well, its never too late. I'll go back.

As always( always? :0 ) , here's a song that goes perfectly with a lake day and a cup of hot homemade Chai (and obviously this post too)! A cover version is part of the soundtrack of this movie(The cover version is by Franco Battiato, which I thought was even better than the original) I loved the movie in spite of it being pretty slow and may be even depressing. But the story was very simple with a message that even in extreme case of hopelessness, there is a way forward!

How to clean your earphones: Alright. My ear phones is something that I take good care of, and will definitely not take it out when it rains. The previous pair I had was ruined when I took it while running in the rain. Luckily I was able to get a replacement for it (almost free of cost). So, I happened to be listening to music when I got into my house yesterday, put the earphones in my pocket. I changed, had coffee, watched tv, contemplated going for a run, sat back, watched more tv and it finally hit me that I was hungry and there was nothing (that I wanted ) to eat. Ordered a pizza, and thought, hmmm, should make this day productive. Lets do laundry. There goes my earphones into the washer and then into the dryer. Long story short, my ear phones came out clean and sound perfectly fine. Unbelievable!

This weekend is one of the most packed weekends I have ever had in recent times. A lunch and dinner at a friend's place. Nice yummy tasty food (definitely better than what I cook and eat), I like! T20 world cup, so lots of cricket matches this weekend. More importantly Formula 1 in Singapore. Its going to be awesome! And a few hours of Tennis with some friends! Did I say this weekend is packed already?

I bought a bunch of kurta's the last time I visited India. It's time I took them out of the closet and used them. This weekend hopefully is when I shake the cobwebs off them and hopefully use them. They should fit me I hope.

Travelling abroad is awesome and its an amazing adventure, especially more so when you just made up your mind to do something that was in your 'to do' radar.. I had loads of fun doing that last year. Pretty sure I won't be go doing that this year though. I hope you are having fun if you are at it!

Starting off the weekend with this movie, it is my all time favorite. I have watched it a dozen times or more, and can still watch it a dozen times without getting bored ( only 24 times?, really? common I am just trying to be realistic here, I have watched only one other movie  a few dozen times!.)

I got a postcard from a far off country from a very good friend! And its one of the places from Top Gear. So it made it even more special! My refrigerator is now slowly filling up on the outside , more than the inside!

you are not going to leave my blog without listening to a song. So here it is! :)

Oh, I just realized that i am not that creative enough to add a post title for every(please stress on the 'ev' of every for the effect) post. Who does it, seriously?!?

random coming back to life post kinda

Perception. How it changes. Just a teeny weeny bit of information, changes the way you think about a person or a situation. I missed a lot of this information I guess, that's why growing up is fun!
Taking it with a pinch of salt, I am used to it as well. Growing up is not as fun any more.
Its been a long time since I saw a good Indian movie. More so because I have not given any movies a chance. I finally watched this Movie. Its a movie I dreaded watching for some reasons that wont be discussed here. Actually I can, but it will put you to sleep, now we don't want that do we? I still have lots of stuff below that will put you to sleep in any case :P. I did watch it today though and loved it.  Some of my friends had to listen to this song on a loop for over 15 times when I was drunk (And they did listen to it every time I played it during the crazy loop cycle :)) Those were fun times! Oh btw, if you drink beer, miller lite is the worst beer. The best one is Blue moon , just fyi
Its been a long time since I posted anything here. I did visit and write a few posts but haven't published any of them. Must be my poor grammar , but who cares!
Whats new? 'Nothing much, just the usual stuff' (That's the software engineer in me). Well I would like to say a lot has been happening, but the fact is there is not much happening.
I am the fittest I have ever been, never have drunk as many as beers in one sitting (Though most of it alone but trust me its not  that sad), treasured all the old times like never before which I did not care about much at that time ( the all knowing knowledge which comes with grey hairs I guess).
Its been a couple of years since I last visited home,. I am keen to go and visit my folks, but also nervous at the same time. Why, I am pretty sure why but you guessed it, it won't be explained here :P
I started playing tennis and I love it. Its as if I was born to play it ( though I lose every game I play :D).
What else, hmmmm,. I understand photography better than ever before, I am learning about new techniques and also things that I had never used before. I thought I had learned all I could from my current camera and was ready for an upgrade. Just a lazy Sunday proved me otherwise(I went through all the buttons and the manual). I still have a long way to go before I can upgrade to something better. Oh, I just learned how to use the poor man's macro lens without needing to invest in an expensive macro lens. I am excited to go try it out!
I love living alone. The last year has been great in instilling in me the responsibilities of managing the house on my own (I live by myself). I got a few indoor plants to 'spice' up my apartment. Its pretty cool to get dirty with mud , been a while I did some form of gardening (the last time I did something was at my house when I was in high school, we moved since and did not have a good amount of space to do any meaningful gardening)
I kind of hate it when people use '...' at the end of a sentance.
I got rid of all my music on my phone, and slowly started getting some new stuff.
I also learnt that distance is not a big factor in any relationship, no matter what the relationship is. Trust is.
That's it from me, thanks for reading! Here's a little sing to get you going!

I Miss this

Hope this helps. U2 concert at Boston  - 9/20/2009 - Stuck in a moment