A Little Waltz

This is a sequel to Claytonia Vices' Before Sunrise. Thank you for empowering me :D

Maybe he has 1000 Questions he wants to ask. She just had to know one Question: Did he show up in Vienna that December?

He in a way immortalized her in his book and the book IS about her. She still falters to accept openly that the book is about her.

It’s been 9 years since they last met. Their lives way battered. Well, not like they were living in the streets or caught in a battlefield. But yeah, their lives have been through reality; a far cry from the magical space they created in the beautiful streets of Vienna.

Before Sunset is the most romantically realistic, witty, and personal movie I have seen. Life does not often roll out as we plan or we simply hurt at times. Celine and Jesse has gone through these moments and I 'd like to believe in my own world that both of them always came back to this moment in time that they had in Vienna. It's the past that is secured with all their wishful thinking, youth and imaginations.
It is funny but sometimes memories are so strong that you actually feel you have cheated time.
You want to seize that.

Celine: So, I want to try something.
Jesse: What?
Celine: [Hugs him] I want to see if you stay together or if you dissolve into molecules.
Jesse: How am I doing?
Celine: Still here
Jesse: Good. I like being here.

The movie could have gone really, really bad if they'd kissed in the boat or simply showed how their differences suddenly melts away since they are "together". They have enormous baggage of their own; both of them are fighting their own demons. They talk and talk, pronounces philospohical stands but really never solve or repair any damage. They can at most think that as they have matured, they are better "equipped", not to repair the damage, but to accept it.

Jesse loves his wife but feels that he is actually running a nursery. Celine is involved with a war photographer who she meets occasionally. I'd like to think again that Celine is happy with him, but she's never been able to connect with anyone as much as she did with Jessie at that moment in time. Each time a relationship failed or felt something was amiss, both of them always used their moment in time as the yardstick.

Maybe it is a mirage. It was a day of wonder in Vienna and they didn't have to deal with the fights and misunderstanding that comes along with every relationship. It was the perfect day.
Lucky for them; they just had one day.

I hope Jesse catches his flight and not stay back for the little party at Celine's courtyard....not eat the delicious Garbanzo Bean Pasta that the woman is going to prepare...not dance with Celine among the lantern lit courtyard...not laugh at the French people making fun of him in French...I hope he does catch his flight!

But you know what, the heart wants him to stay.
:)

Tag3: I Like

I have been stale in the blog world yet again. Thank you Divyan (again!) for saving my day. I love tags; you at least have some kind of direction that you have to follow :)

There are more then 10 things I like in this world for sure. Here are some of my immediate likeness or say some of the things or days which makes my life a day simpler and nicer to look forward to another day.

MMTS: I love MMTS. It saves my sanity EVERDAY. When I first joined my present company at HITEC City, we had shuttles and cab plying for our transport from different pick up points. It is torturous going through the traffic of Begumpet and Panjagutta circle around the 9-10:30 AMs lot where everyone in Hyderabad seems to be heading towards HITEC only. I used to reach office feeling as if I'd just returned from a short trip out of town. Then after a month someone introduced to MMTS which takes me tops 25 minutes to reach office! Now, I take the MMTS train from the necklace road station everyday. I go in 5-10 minutes early just to sit and stare at the lake. It just makes my day :)

Friends coming over: I still have some couple of friends who are research students at my old institute and I love having them over at my place. Just cooking, spending time, laughing at silly things, yapping away to glory, and going oh hum about our age at the end of the night are priceless moments that I am going to forever treasure. It won't be long before all of us embark on different directions in life.

Fresher's Day: Every year our church organizes a fresher's day for the students/new families /professionals who come to Hyderabad. It is that single year of the day where we all come together on a nice sunny day in a park and make the freshers welcome amidst fun, food and frolic. I am all 25 but man
man it didn't deter me and my other friends from scurrying around like mad playing games. What with all the little things going on in my life, I unexpectedly had so much fun that day! Here is me and Ase, supposedly under an umbrella but I still got tanned!

Songs:
Bap Kennedy - Moonlight Kiss: I have seen the movie Serendipity for like 10 times over the course of 5 years. Thanks to Zee Studio and Hallmark for always repeating the show! There was this haunting song in the movie that I could never forget and I rekindled it by chance browsing through a friend's songlist. Now, Bap Kennedy - Moonlight Kiss is always on repeat. Amazing song!

Sting -Fields of Gold: Sting has been around since the time I knew music. Just realising his amazing journey from the Police days of "Every breath you take" to "Desert Rose" shows what a consistent artist he has been. I am not a Big fan but you cannot deny the greatness of an artist like Sting. I can't help but wonder how someone can write a song like "Fields of Gold" and then sing it to perfection like he does. Mankind is a marvel indeed :)

I Likes:
I like being in control of my life. Well, most of the time my life is anything but in control but I love the feeling of coming to my senses, taking a deep breath, realising that it's still ok and then smiling about it.

I like my new place. Life's pretty much changed for me the past 5-6 weeks. I used to live in this beautiful and spacious apartment with 5 of my girlfriends. We’d signed the lease for a year and it suddenly seems that the end of the lease poignantly signified our fate. We all had different plans; studies, change base, stick to present jobs etc. Now, me and another friend who decided to stick with our jobs got another apartment since we were so stuck up to share with anyone besides the people we knew and “trust” and well being stuck up means you do pay a price!
Anyways, the new place is not as swanky as the previous one but I somehow like it better. It's more homely and less complicated :)

mmmm I also like Facebook! It' s not open as Orkut or redundant as HI5. And the little things that you can do like playing quiz, buying virtual drinks and gifts for friends, asking random one liner questions etc are really cute.

The Vine gives me my daily bread these days and somehow, someway it always brings me to the ground :)

Now, I can't think of anymore random stuff to write :P

God's own country indeed.

The land of coconut and men in umbrellas has enchanted me beyond my expectations.
The first brush with Kerala, I’d like to believe, began with Anton, our enchanting driver for the entire trip from Cochin to Munnar and beyond. He was this crisp white shirt kind of guy with his striking mustache and a smile that made me smile!
Cochin’s bus drivers are mad; otherwise it was quite a nice and small bustling city. Anton made the sweep through the mad traffic as smooth as he could.



The second taste of Kerala still lingers in my mouth; Toddy, beef and more fried beef! Anton stops for Toddy at his friend’s shop on our way to Munnar. He also gets us fried beef and marachini ( mashed Tapioca) served in banan leaves. I almost cried! Best fried beef ever and awesome marachini which I almost made it my staple food!
About Toddy, I was a bit reluctant as I’d heard that it tasted like rice beer that we get back home and I am not a very big fan of that. However, I take a small sip and another sip again and again and again…. Yeah get the picture? :D

We stayed at Whispering Meadows which was an ok place and actually 10 km away from the main town; just like the way we’d wanted. It was hard to believe that I actually slept with the lull of crickets and other 101 sounds we hear from the woods....It still feels surreal to me after coming back to the city and comparing it to the jarring shrieks of vehicles.


In Munnar, the scenic pleasures just kept gettin better and better...

Then we went to Kolukkumalai: Highest tea estate in the world!

Anton had already made arrangements for us to go and visit the highest tea estate in the world. I was a bit reluctant as I thought it would be like any other tea estate...but boy was I wrong! It was one of the most amazing place I'd been to.

Our mode of transport was this very sturdy jeep with a very proud owner. Varghese was a Civil Engineer who had decided to start his own thing. It was pretty amazing to see him beam and speak about the jeep so proudly and the way he'd built up his small tour operations. Sad is the fact that I couldn’t register in the kind of engine, etc etc that he went on and on about. The romantic in me just rem’bers that he had to go all the way to Trivandrum to get this baby.

(We saw many huts which was built during the time of the British rule.)

The ride was BUMPY but the views kept me in awe. Reaching the top, we could see one part of Tamil Nadu on one side and Kerala on the other side. The amazing fact was that the weather was different in both the states and we could actually see that in one single frame.

Now, I ll let the pictures speak for itself...

Sigh ain't it beautiful? :)

You know, I have learnt one thing from this trip. The generalization that the people from the hills are naturally warm and nice people? is so very true! :)

Aerosmith and more...

Steven Tyler is a showman! His zest and zeal for life shows in his performance! I am not an ardent fan of Aerosmith but I grew up listening to their music. It was awesome seeing them perform live and I was just about standing 10 feet away from the showman himself! He had LICK ME tattooed (must be mehendi!) on his lower abs and yeah he wore a Pink hat :P
They opened with Taste of India…went on to Crying…Falling in Love…Dream on…Jaded... I was eagerly waiting for Crazy and Janie’s Got a Gun but the concert ended with I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.
So, that’s somehow the good part of the show on the whole.

On the other side of this is the story of Penny Lane trying to get a glimpse of the rock star amidst thousands of fans who would kill and even fly to get closer to him as much as possible! I swear I was not standing on the ground. I was on somebody’s shoes! So after the fifth song some of us decided to call it quits and found our way at the back to breath again. It was excruciating trying to get past the grunting fans who had decided to fix themselves on to the ground for the entire part of the show.

Penny Lane: Excuse me…oops (smiles)…sorry…sorry… (smiles)...sorry…
Fragile Man: OUCH! Your Heels! (Penny Lane STARES at the Fragile man)
Penny Lane: I Am Wearing Sneakers.
(Fragile man is lost for words, Penny Lane Smirks and moves on in life.)
(Background: Snicker, snicker, hee hee, snicker…)

We go right at the end. It was still crowded but I could at least stand on my own Sneakers :)

Bangalore is an awesome place. The right amount of laziness, heat and maximum cool people. EXCEPT for the traffic. It can be quite an ordeal.

Places to shop!: Tibetan Plaza, Commercial Street and MG Road.
Places to chill: Pecos and Opus (AMAZING!).
Confession: Concert became secondary. I had more FUN otherwise :)



(Pic: Parking lot of Opus :P )

Tag2: HAVE YOU EVER.......

Here's a long list of Have you evers...
(Courtesy : My Blog Manager)

Smoked a cigarette?: Yes. Peer Pressure! Didn’t like it that much actually but it seemed cool those days. I remember my spirited and intellectual bengali ma’am who taught us Abhijñānaśākuntalam on the lawns of our college.
She said , “Only uncultured people smoke.” Ouch!

Crashed a friend's car?: No.

Stolen a car?: No!

Been in love?: Yes.

Been dumped?: Oh yes. I rem’ber…poor me. I was in school and I wanted to marry him…my aim and aspiration in life! He dumped me for this girl grrr lol.

Shoplifted?: mmmm NO! (I thought I did…I was pretty naughty).

Been in a fist fight?: with my brother when we were kids!

Sneaked out of your parent's house?: LOL Yes! It’s so embarrassing now!

Been arrested?: No

Gone on a blind date?: No. I like guys who can see :)
The idea of "fixing up" don't appeal much to me. My favorite movie is but Before Sunset :)

Skipped school?: Oh yes. Me and my girlfriends bunked school to go and sit in this dingy restaurant to have momos (dumplings). We were of course caught and grounded.

Been on a plane?: Yes. I do not like flying on a plane, neither the train nor do I like the bus! I like travelling in a car with ample space around me and MUSIC!

Seen someone die?: Yes. The air that we breath is powerful. I saw that split-moment where a person makes a transition from this life to the next. Life is amazing.

Purposely set a part of yourself on fire?:
Well I think my hair. Someone said I could cure split ends like that. I stopped being gullible after that.

Been jet-skiing?: Yes. Course someone took me...the moment he’d speed up I’d turn off the ignition. I was SO SCARED.

Met someone in person from the Internet?: Well....No but Oku thinks I did.

Taken pain killers?: Yeah I guess. I was a sick kid.

Flown a kite?: Maybe I held one after it was flown by someone else.

Built a sand castle?: Yeat but it was nothing like a castle. The last time we were in Goa we built a shape of a woman over a woman’s body! :)

Gone puddle jumping?: Yeah of course.

Cheated while playing a game?: Yeah card game. But I’d let them know afterwards.

Been lonely?: Yeah I guess…I just can’t remember now.

Fallen asleep at work or school/college?: Yes...classes post-lunch were a struggle.

Used a fake ID?: No.

Felt an earthquake?: Yes.

Touched a snake?: No…so slimy!.

Slept beneath the stars?: Yeah but did not fall asleep.

Been robbed?: No.

Been misunderstood?: I think we are misunderstood everyday of our lives by someone or the other.

Won a contest?: can't remember...

Run a red light/stop sign?: I would stop even if I see a big truck 1km away and still I nearly killed me and the guy who was teaching me how to drive.
His face! I can still see his face…he looked so weird…lol

Been suspended from school?: No.

Been in a car accident?: Yes. This girl didn’t know how to drive!

Walked the streets drunk?: na.

Had déjà vu?: Yeah almost quite everyday.

Danced in the moonlight: Yes.

Witnessed a crime?: Yes.

Squished barefoot through the mud?: Yes

Been lost?: Yes I am BAD with directions. I plan to do soemthing about it. I will soon :)

Been on the opposite side of the country?: Some…need to explore more.

Swum in the ocean?: The beach.

Cried yourself to sleep?: Yep.

Played cops and robbers?: YES. Nothin can beat childhood days!

Recently coloured with crayons?: a year ago…

Sung karaoke?: Na. I am not so confident about my vocal chords.

Paid for a meal with only coins?: mmmmm

Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?: So many times…

Made prank phone calls?: Oh yes...When I was in school me and my friends used to call up our crushes.
Hello?
Can I talk to cute-guy's-name?
(Background)giggle giggle...here take the phone...no no i won't...thud...gimmme the phone
gimme the phone...wait....thud...click.
Hello? Hello?

Caught a snow flake on your tongue?: Na...how does it feel like?

Written a letter to Santa Claus?: I don't remember....

Blown bubbles?: Yes.

Bonfire on the ibeach?: Well I didn’t actually make it or sit around it but we went to this beach-side restaurant the first time we went to Goa. They had made a bonfire nearby…lovely.

Cheated on a test?: Test in school meant a lot of neck-craning and copying the wrong answers cos you were not confident about yours. Also, it meant a lot of misleading answers going through you too.

Gone skinny-dipping in a pool?: No. Oku wants to go though!

Been to an Aerosmith concert: No but I will on June 2nd!
:)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I recently went to see off my friends who were my juniors in CIEFL. We shamelessly took pictures outside the departure area oblivious to curious bystanders. I wonder about the power of pictures and how it can capture memories or even the essence of by-gone moments. As I looked at them, I realized that I wouldn’t have remembered all the little jokes or laughter that we shared that day if the pictures were not taken. I felt sad seeing them go. It was their end of something but otherwise also a new beginning.
Here is me with my favorite juniors....

I got me new shades. I love em :)

The one to the extreme left is Ashu a.k.a Trinity. I have known her for like 4 years now. She is one of my best friends; a bagful of surprises and lots of funny incidents and walks have cemented our relationship very nicely. We will be meeting in November this year in Goa.
Yes, she’s a Goa fanatic like me.

2nd from left is Aku. I never got a chance to interact with her personally but she is among the people who I would have liked to have known better. The funny thing is that both of us share two best friends and I am sure that just as I hear tid bits about her she also gets to hear about me.
I believe that as good friends we all bear testimonies for each other and my two best friends bore testimony for us.

Beni is on the extreme right. What can I say about Benz! She is my soul sister when it comes to music and similar clothes! We have a lot of similar stuff that it’s weird sometimes. Though I also didn’t get to interact with her personally also, it’s been fun discovering that we are both crazy about Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. Among all the people I know she’s the only person who I can gush/go on and on about JJ/BH and know that she is as interested as me!

Coming soon: How Penny Lane Rocked with Aerosmith! Yipeeeeee :)

Two Week's Break

I was home for a long 2 week's break. It was great to be with my nephew. He's going to be 3 this November and he calls me by name! (In our custom, nephew/nieces or any of the younger lot has to call their elders in a different manner; it would be like adding a respected prefix before a name.) Even if we correct him, he'd grin and still call me by name. I think I have never liked anyone call my name as much as I like him call me. Yeah it sounds corny….like I don't want it to! :)

It was comforting and nice to be in the surrounding that you grew up in. Dimapur is rapidly becoming crowded; with more traffic jams (!), high rise buildings and shops practically in every corner. The first time I went to Hongkong Market and Hazi Park: I went beserk. I wanted everything in sight. My sis was amazed at my excitement. I bought 7 pairs of shoes the first day and 6 more the next time around. Of course it was not ALL for me; half of them were for my friends. By price it was dirt cheap compared to Hyderabad malls and by style, far far superior!

Now that practically every shop owner goes to Bangkok, Nepal, Singapore etc., it truly is a shopper's paradise. Hail cheap airfares! :)

What surprised me was that I'd forgotten that pork was 100/- per kg! This in no way guarantees that you even get a kilo! A 100 kilo pig will disappear in one hour. I swear.
My dad and his wife came down from Kohima (Capital of Nagaland) and he wanted to buy me pork. (Yeah, everybody knows my love for pork). There is always a shortage of pork around town so we went straight to Bokajan, Assam which is 40 minutes away from Dimapur. (Dimapur is the commercial hub of Nagaland which borders the state of Assam on the west and north).

Once we reached pork land, I was surprised to see a line-up of vehicles and so many people hovering around pockets of stalls. I chuckled. All the vehicles bore Nagaland registered number plates; All the customers were Nagas!
Yeah we love pork that much :)

I also met my 94 year old grandma. She looks lonely now that she is partially deaf. She shed a tear as she remembered my mom. I felt bad. I don't want to live that long. I don't want to be dependent. I want to go from this world peacefully, painlessly and not be dependent.

While coming back I met an old acquaintance/friend who was on his way to Delhi (We still don't have direct flights, everything is via Kolkatta). He tells me now that on Mondays Sarojini Market offers clothes for 10/- Yes 10! I definitely foresee myself in Sarojini on one of the future hot swaltering Mondays. If anything at all, besides my old friends, what I miss most in Delhi is Sarojini Market! Otherwise I am forever trying to prove to my colleagues from Delhi that Hyd is a much better place. They still sneer at me.
My friend also tells me that he is going to run a national fashion magazine soon: First possible job opportunity.

Interestingly, I sat next to a 50+ man. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I could make out that he was a govt. official from the conversation he had with another guy in front.
He was on his way for a business summit in Delhi. I pretended to sleep but we ended up having a truly refreshing and stimulating conversation. It's always nice to gain knowledge from elders, who have been there and done that kind of thing. I never realized that our Government was trying so hard. I though they were all snoozing away.
Talking to him made me re-realize my old dreams: Two other possible job opportunities.
One was to be part of a soon to be thriving private sector in Nagaland or to get into service like him in order to make a difference.

Being a girl and of the "marriageable age" I got a lot of blah blah blah. I went prepared for the onslaught. There were actually 2 battles for me: The marriage factor and the state civils exam. Every parent I came across went on and on about the civil exams and how there is nothing like it. I could not even begin to explain to them how things are different. So I just shut up and nodded my head like a million times.
And every aunt I came across talked of marriage as if it was the only thing left for me to do!
But it was sheer fun telling some of my nosy aunts and cousins that I don't want to get married and serve my husband and forget that I have a life too. But yeah you can't just dismiss all. There are some people who say things and you just have to sit up and take heed.
You don't agree with them but you know where ALL that is coming from and so you understand.

Is’nt my nephew just adorable?
I miss him.

Eats, Shoots And Leaves

Personal opinion says that it’s (notice the punctuation please) a crime to write a review for a book without reading the whole book. I read half last night and will definitely finish it tonight. But my Oku says TODAY is the day I post one and also I 'm itching to post the back cover! So here it goes...

It’s phenomenal! (Please notice the punctuation again and kindly excuse my enthusiasm :))

I came across Lynn Truss’s (mind the punctuation yet again; it would have been different if her name were Jesus) book, Eats, Shoots And Leaves a year ago. I read the back cover hurriedly, frowned and moved on with life. Now, I am kicking myself for not reading it a year back! I would have at least known where to use my “it’s” and “its”!

This is in the back cover and it wonderfully illustrates why/how she chose her title:

A Panda walks into a café. He orders a Sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air."Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

So, punctuation really does matter, even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death.
This is the zero tolerance guide.

Grammar/Punctuation classes were always dry, boring and a sore in school. This book is about that but so far, I have never enjoyed reading a grammar book, if you will, like this.

My grammar/punctuation does go haywire, which showed in most of my assignments' reviews from my second-most favorite professor. His comments always went like this: “Good work(ahem!)….but watch your grammar….” Maybe this is why, even though I slogged and slogged, the highest grade I got from him was A-. Well, but he was known to be picky with his grades and a stickler for Perfect Grammar :)

I am NOT going to look back through my blog to see where I went wrong . If I did, I’d kill myself. Actually, I should be Hacked as Lynn Truss points out. She says that “No matter that you have a PhD and have read all of Henry James twice. If you still persist in writing, ‘Good food at it’s best’, you deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave.” A bit extreme huh?
There are lil' instance like these in the book and you can't help but chuckle.

Quiz

Q: Why were the kids afraid to go to Giant Kid’s Playground?
Answer: ?

You’d probably know the answer if you are not as ignoramus as me or if you have read the book OR if you look it up in the net.

Hint: A friend's answer: "....becos he said Trespassers will b Persecuted" :)

Who is he?

Believe me, I would have answered the Q point-blank if someone told me that it's something to do with the apostrophe!

A few years ago, this did make me sit up and realise the importance and greatness of Punctuation!...er for a while :)

"A woman without her man is nothing."
"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Disclaimer: My smiley, wherever applicable, is my period :)

Valentine Valentine

Past
Some years ago, a guy called this girl on 14th Feb from a convenience store/petrol station where they were getting some food for their road trip or something.
He said “...mmm Happy Valentine’s Day…but you know I don’t believe in that stuff because everyday is Valentine’s Day for me…with you"
awwww AWWWW :)
Now don’t ask me who this guy is. Guys like them exist no more or better still guys like my Oku are busy wasting their money sending flowers to someplace that his florist can't even pronounce! :)


Present
She along with this really worked up girl was coming back from a Clear-Your-Doubts meeting with a counterpart from another department.

She: "So what you doing tomorrow"?

Worked-up-girl: “Tomorrow? Gosh I have so much to do. Need to review like millions of documents for this project and you know the problem…” blabber blabber blabber...

She gave the How-can-this-girl-be-so-stupid-look and said , “I meant TOMMOROW…Valentine’s Day! TOMMOROW”

Worked-up-girl: “What?? TOMMOROW is 14th Feb so today must be 13th???”

She looks at WUG: Duh!

Yeah this is how I ushered Pre-Valentine’s Day.
Next morning I wake up and decided I don’t want to be alone as much as I say that I don’t care for the day. Called up girlfriends and they needed the same shot as me. I got out an hour early from office (I work till 8!).
Some of my colleagues thought I was goin to meet a friend as opposed to friends...mmmm I dont't know why people think that the other person is always attached especially when you are my age.
Yeah yeah I know...who cares! hee hee

Traffic was horrible horrible and the auto guy was complaning as if it was my fault!
That loser! :)
So I turned up the volume of my headfone and ignored him.


By the time I got there, they were already at Indi Joe's. It was packed with young lovers to middle age to old cute couples. Guess four of us were the odd ones.
(Penny Lane recommends this restaurant to anyone who loves sizzlers. Also, though they don't have a varied selection, the salads are awesome)
Then we went to this palce called Firangi Panni (What a weird weird weird name!)
For the early hours they played retro...well it gets yawn after sometime..
Much to my friend's dismay, they started playing hip hop by 10:30 and then the real fun began.

We had a Blast!
Danced away to glory!



With Ase (Ashu aka Trinity and Maha missing): Who is always dressed to kill with her awesome hair; the mother of all women; and the person who is after my life to make me wear a dress everytime. Well I don't look so bad myself eh :)

Hope next year I have a happening Valentine's Day too!

The Cook in Me: Redefining Penny Lane's Love for Pork

We had a lil birthday dinner at our place last week.
A typical Naga-invite includes lots of pork cooked with bamboo shoots, dal, dry fish hot chutney, rice and boiled veggies. It’s funny how 'typical' it had really become; a friend of ours would automatically reply to our Invite:

"Appt. 501 resident: Come over for lunch/dinner?
Friend: Let me guess the menu….pork, dal and rice!"

Well, our dear friend has gone back home and we miss him so much. He was the Rey of our Trove. Henceforth, all the salads that are tossed in Appt. 501 is a tribute to him :)

So this time, subconsciously, I decided to make sure that there should be something to outshine our pork! I love Pork but I also am a great lover of Salads along with this really cute friend of mine (She is 24 but looks not a day older than 18!). She goes Ooh Aah Ayaa to anything that is fresh, Italian (food!) and salad dressings.
My first tryst with salad dressing was Mayo, Mayo, and more Mayo. Then, came Ranch Dressing (thanks to The Dollar Shop!) and Honey Mustard Dressing. Then, I tried Karen Anand’s Italian Dressing which was light and tasted like sultry summer.
For our lil dinner, we mixed Honey Mustard and French dressing. The basil and parsley did magic...It was awesome! Got some good reviews too...well actually, I quote me, "rave reviews" as I recalled to this friend of mine...I was so happy and excited! :P
I even remember my Rocker friend asking me for the recipe. I did scribble the recipe (someone was actually asking me How to Make Something???) that night...but I did no justice... (This reminds me..I have to write it down properly and pass it on... )

Anyways, coming to the ingredients, American Sweet Corn has raided our fridge. Its awesome with any light salad dressing. Also, salami is now relegated Only as an important ingredient to any kind of salad we toss. I really like croutons but have never got around to making them. To be honest, I was never the one who would Cook...there was always this 'other person' who was better than me. But things have changed...I live with a friend who will get down and dirty and clean every nook and corner of the house but cook! She is just too cute....Well, lets just say that I also Can cook without any help. Its all full-fledged, my-own-style cooking and know what, I actually like it! Hopefully, I will try and make croutons over the weekend and if it tastes like how it should taste, I will post a blog on how I made them (not how to make em!).

I suddenly rem'ber Yan with his 1000watt smile-sans-eyes from Yan can Cook and his slogan "If Yan can cook, so can you!"

Penny Lane can cook too!

Lemme ask Jeeves!

Where is Jeeves???

I have to read up on my Jeeves.

:)

You

I found this while blog-viewing. Supposed to be a chain mail (I absolutely dislike them with the core of my being!) BUT this really is interesting and "different" as jenniferweisz puts it.

PS: Teeny-weeny portions edited to my relativity :)

"They call it the "Quarterlife Crisis."

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close do not really care or love you like they professed. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too and aren't really as cold, catty, mean, or insincere, but that they are just as confused as you are.

You look at your job, and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom. That scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute you are insecure and then the next, secure. You constantly try to nudge your "truths".

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try to cling on to the past for dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away. There is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken or don't even know if its broken or not and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't seem to work things out people you connect and care about. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person.
Now, someone fancying you without even Knowing you and random hook ups start to look cheap. Trying to fit IN the crowd and acting like you know things starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and you talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about money, the future, and making a life for yourself.

And while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Send this to your twenty-something friends. Maybe it will help someone feel like they aren't alone in their state of confusion. "