Friday, December 31, 2010

Auld Lang Syne 2010

It's finally time to sing Auld Lang Syne to 2010, a year of new beginnings, new opportunities and new experiences and truly, all's well that ends well.

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year but most importantly I wish you enough for the New Year 2011.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."


Quoted from the internet

This post is for the future


I'm blogging using an app called blogaway. I was surprised to note that despite owning blogger, google does not have an app for this. I think this app works well though and my new android phone is pretty awesome overall, not just for angry birds, or that would make it one expensive game. Reviews in the near future.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Kodak smile

And just like that it is the end of an era. RIP Kodachrome, you have captured some of our best smiles, some goofy and some fake, some tears and then some dramatics that we did only for the camera!

Gone are those days when we carefully loaded the film into the camera and not everyone in the house was allowed to do it or wanted to do it, it's not rocket science, but there is a correct way to do it and stressing over a damaged film roll was not particularly appealing and certainly the rolls themselves were not inexpensive either. The days when we thought twice before clicking a picture, when we made sad long faces as we got to the last of the 36 captures, when we looked forward to the opportunity to head to Foto Flash and have the film developed. The picking up process was even better as we'd cheat and check some of the photographs in the store itself or along the way and chronologically placing them in the album.

I got my first digital camera, a Canon A95 in 2004, it no longer works but served me well. And the cycle continues, point and shoot, a cent a picture or a dollar a picture whichever works and makes you happy :)

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The car under the bridge

Part of my everyday commute includes a short walk under a freeway, four contiguous blocks of concrete with tonnes of load on it, what if it came crashing down? But that's not what I've been pondering on! I almost always notice a lone car parked in the dark shadows on the two+ lane road with someone in the passenger seat ... I ponder as to where the driver is, what conspiracy he is hatching that makes him want to park his ford explorer* day after day under the bridge. What about his partner who sits idle, waiting for him? Puffing along the way or waiting for his guardian angel?

*Vivid imagination could have led to distortion of facts

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Bart and Caltrain

I already know all the stations on the Bart and Caltrain between here and to where I need to go. Although I was surprised to note that the Bart is slower than the Caltrain or at least the one I take. The oh-so-infrequent times when the B train emerges from the tunnels, it's speed is slower than the cars on the parallel road whereas the C seems to zoom by the cars and it is out in the open most of the time. Have to experiment with the cable cars and the regular buses, add public transport to what I love about the move!

Sunday, December 05, 2010

The numbers game

Started off well and continued the momentum right until three quarters of the year. And then there was a hiatus and now I don't think I can make up for the lost time especially with only so few days left in the year. Well, I reckon, there's no need to!

No mystery here: It's only the post count for the year, my hyper sensitive numbers part of the brain has been working overtime, that's all!

My angel on the tree

I think I need to start blogging tweet style or this blog could turn into a relic! That aside, I've put up a few Christmas decorations around the house, it is early but since everyone here has their houses decorated so beautifully, I decided to give in. Of course, mine's not as elaborate as theirs, but it makes me happy!

Back in the days, I don't think we ever put up the tree, lights, other decorations and the star any day before the 22nd or 23rd, the day when the Christmas holidays began in school. The Star was important, there were multiple ones but one central one outside with lights, these are the big colorful stars made of cardboard paper you see in houses in Mangalore, naturally the top of the tree had to have a star too or an angel, the youngest member of the family always got the chance to put that up. The nativity crib was something we didn't put up in the beginning, but later on it was the most awaited (NOT! since it takes so much patience) activity right on Christmas eve.

Around the same time we also made kuswar at home because it was impossible for the mother to do it all alone without help. No more home-made rice ladoos, chaklis, banana chips, kokkisa, neu-reo, keedyo, gulleo, thukdi or sharing tray fulls of kuswar with the neighbors and relatives. I don't know if anyone in Mangalore makes all this at home anymore, I hope some do.

Bringing down the tree and other decorations and carefully packing them was something no one wanted to do, but usually right on Jan 6th someone would half-heartedly kick start that initiative.