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Finally something blog-able that doesn’t require too much work or thinking. So, CR passed me a tag and these are the rules -

1) Pick up the nearest book

2) Open to page 123

3) Find the fifth sentence

4) Post the next three sentences

5) Tag five people, and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

I’m reading 3-4 books now but I’ve only one book at arm’s length - The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Page 123 is Chapter 13, nearly the end of the book. [It's short fiction.]

The first drawback was the fact that it was probably now a marked place and that certain precautionary measures had been taken in regard to it since the scandal at Olsufy Ivanovitch’s last ball. Secondly, he had to wait for a signal from Klara Olsufyevna, for there was bound to be some such signal, it was always a feature in such cases and, “it didn’t begin with us and it won’t end with us.”

At this point Mr.Golyadkin very appropriately remembered a novel he had read long ago in which the heroine, in precisely similar circumstances, signalled to Alfred by tying a pink ribbon to her window.

And you know what, I don’t think I’ll bother tagging anybody. Take it if you want to, though.

1. Spanking new bottle-cap [crown cap] collection. I already have seven and am hopefully getting 3 more this week. Why bottle-caps? Stamps, coins, badges & pins, match-sticks et al - all of which someone I know is already collecting. No fun! And also cos they’re ultra cool.
2. Muxtape! I discovered this site today from here. And I love it! It’s where you can create and share mixtapes. I’ve listened to hordes of new music today and finally, there’s something I can turn to when I get sick of my iPod.
3. Sputnik Sweetheart by Murakami.
4. Chip-Sandwiches! Okay, I admit those are just regular, grilled sandwiches w/ crisps stuffed in. But I totally <3 them!

That’s all I have time for now, cos it’s 8 more minutes to lights out for Earth Hour.

Update: The rooftop seems to have been many people’s solace during the Earth Hour black-out. Anyhoo, that’s where my lil sister and I were too. We climbed up the high water tank and had a long, rambling conversation after ages. She’s old enough, but I still think of her as a clumsy kid. But last night, that changed just a little bit. She’s growing up!

Tomorrow, 21st of March, being World Poetry Day, CC, Meena & Sharanya are organising an open-mic poetry+coffee event at 10 AM at the upper-reaches of Mocha. Details of which, you can find here.

Since I’ve been poetry-lover for a fairly long time, this is going to be so much fun! Also, it’ll be interesting to see the different things that people enjoy. Discovering a great new director/author/poet is one amazing experience.
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On a totally unrelated note, I’m desperately looking for someone who can lend me Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. If you or someone you know can pass me the book, do leave a comment or email me. Thanks a mil!

A fortnight back, I found myself reading five-six books at a time. All of which were mentally exhausting and the kind that I had to muse about before I could proceed. That and other stuff kinda got to me and I decided to pause heavy reading for a while. So I was asking friends to recommend Fluff [essentially a genre of mushy, romantic, hyper, feel-good, happy-ending books!] Adit first gave me Red Lily by Nora Roberts, of which I couldn’t read more than 20 pages. Ultra-bad. Ugh. Read the rest of this entry »

What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.

- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera

I read Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) last may be a couple of years back. Re-reading it, I find I hardly remember sentences and sequences which I now find brilliant. 15, I guess, is too young an age to start grasping Rand. Or may be, and this is true with other books by Rand, every time you read her, the literature always adapts in parts to your current psyche. More than anything else, it’s fantastic to delve into the lives of her powerfully-sketched characters time and again and find that they seem astonishingly different each time. *Love*

Note: To all the mentals who read and then freak out about Davidoff Cigars, I smelt the cologne, not the cigars.

Travelled by PTC - 22A. Walked to my aunt’s. Laughed away hours. Pigged out at a buffet. Wore a watch. Read a book in a single sitting. Got asked out and refused. Listened to music through the night. Felt a guitar. Felt anger. Met AG. Looked at a movie disc and didn’t watch it. Got hand-me-downs. Wore saris. Hugged my sister. Madly Facebook-ed. Smelt Davidoff.

And uncluttered minds and miscellaneous things to do! After a long time, I feel floaty and high and altogether serene today. Which is kickass! It’s been a generally pleasant sunday barring the discussion Appa, I and Mum had about the prodigal cellphone (in amma’s opinion). Yeniway, appa as usual wants to get me one and amma as usual thinks it’s more distraction. Bottom line? No, I’m not getting a phone.

Ooh, apart from that spent morning picking out sari(WTF!) and jewellery for Forese symposium tomo. Why, why! Apparently, sari is formal and elegant and whatnot and we mandatorily have to wear it. Hmpf. Well, at least the Sankhya co-ordinator is sensible and is letting us wear ‘decent salwar-kameez’. Lmao! =)

Talked to A on the phone for about an hour and went Odyssey to pick out farewell present for Harish, who’s leaving to the US of A on the 27th! Naansens boy - will miss him!

Finally bought Shantaram - been wanting to read for ages and ages! Hee! And there’s STILL a lot of sunday left with a bright prospect of Chicken Teriyaki Sub and movie and exploring Joost! Brill, I say!

Update: Whattey naansens! Joost only runs on XP! Argh, aaargh! I get to d/l Joost after eons and it refuses to run on 2000! Bleddy! *Note to self: Terrorize whoeverresponsible to get XP*

Note: Thinking out loud. Please do skip the read if you aren’t infinitely bored. Nothing entertaining whatsoever follows.

There’s been a lot happening of late. So much, that things done and undone whiz in my head and at some point blend into something like those yum orange squashes. This wonderful initiative to fix as many potholes of the city as possible happened on the eve of Independence Day. Sadly, I couldn’t be a part of it cos the parental units gave their firm no as it was pretty late into the night. But happily, however, I’ve convinced them to let me go the next time it happens provided I do all the house chores. Which I will. And yes, If you want to be part of this, do go to the wiki and register yourself for updates!

Now, college symposiums begin next week and there’s been a lot of mindless work to be done. That apart, the world feels somewhat disconnected rather than it’s usual claustrophobia-inducing self. I’ve been having a lot of weird feelings about some people. I guess I should chuck them aside as none of them have any semblance of plausibility. These are very confused and I don’t really want to share them with anyone. Which has of course always been my problem.

Once again, I have that feeling of being an empty little box, like Kini says. That total emptiness that nags and nags you until you feel you must find something to do or you’d explode. Somehow, though I’ve been doing a LOT of things, none of them seem to make me feel worthwhile. This is the bad phase. I thought I was out of it, but not. The only thing I feel even slightly good about is my reading. Have been doing a lot of it lately - Sasthi Brata, Zadie Smith, Milan Kundera. Also discovered this wonderful poem. An excerpt:

So I would have had him leave,
So I would have had her stand and grieve,
So he would have left
As the soul leaves the body torn and bruised,
As the mind deserts the body it has used.
I should find
Some way incomparably light and deft,
Some way we both should understand,
Simple and faithless as a smile and a shake of the hand.
- La Figlia Che Piange (The Weeping Girl), T.S.Eliot

I love it that I’m always able to find music, poetry and books that always seem to speak of things relevant to my current psyche. It’s a blessed relief. Right now, I’ve restricted myself to about 25 tracks which keeping looping in my head or on Winamp. I can’t seem to bear listening to anything but those. There is a definitive sense of calm achieved which is very necessary to prevent me from becoming a snappy, irate and vicious person. Note to self: Find some bloody balance.

Happy thing though - all the girlfriends came home yesterday for lunch! Twas awesome day of fun talking, bonding and photo-taking! Here’s to more hours of happiness, less introspection and more activity!

Today was supposed to be the day of constant doing. And now, it’s the day of constant not-doing. Ugh. Was supposed to go to V’s place to check out her bro’s cool gadgets, go out for lunch with the girlfriends, Read the rest of this entry »

Found here. Interestingly, I’ve read 3 and 1/4 books of the 10. And I surely want to read the rest of them.

Been blogging an awful lot about HP in recent times. Can’t be helped. Watched Order of the Phoenix this morning. Loved the way the characters were sketched - Fred&George&Ron ultimately hawt! - but hated the direction. Really pathetic film. Probably because, the 5th part contains too many details and explanations, to which no film can do justice. They’ve tried to put in as much coherence as possible, but fail miserably.

The book, though, was fantastic in parts, but not on the whole. Prisoner Of Azkaban (Part 3) and The Half-Blood Prince (Part 6) continue to top my favourites. In this book, I thought she made it too emotionally charged and sort of made it an anticlimax. Also, I had to read King’s Cross a second time to vaguely comprehend what AD was saying. A fairly good finale, albeit with flaws in the plot.

It’s out. And I have it right here with me. Now to four hours of unsullied reading. =)

Tomorrow, officially. Have already read it though! Am saving my critique for after it releases, being the kind soul that I am. If however, you are the kind of insane person who wants to know what happens before you read the book, here are quite a few spoilers!

Anyway, San and I will be heading to Odyssey, Adyar at 5 30-ish tomo morning. Though I’m not fussed about getting the book early, just thought I’ll hang there to see the works. Besides, I can do this much for my kid sis.

Also, I think I’ll give Shiv’s treat a miss. It’s pretty late out and I don’t think my mum’ll much appreciate my going out when there’s family-outing-plan.

Yeniway, will defi read the book again tomo. Seconds have always been the best!

There’s so much that’s been happening over the last couple of weeks. Lots of good times, lots of memories, lots of bonding. My mind is brimming over with happy thoughts. Like usual, there’s either no time to chronicle them all or they’re too happy to be chronicled! Considering scrapping pvt. journal too.

Shopping with Vidu & Harish. Subs. Ocean’s 13. Big soap bubbles on a warm day (photos on flickr). New, comfy hawaii slippers. Walking into CCD wearing home clothes, hawaii slippers with hair in haphazard bun. Iced tea. Chocolate Fantasy. Hanging out at V’s place. Bike rides. Long, meaningless conversations. Kids and their career options. Confessions of an Indian Lover. Glib laughter. Late night phone chats. Lots of silliness. V & me experimenting with mad hair at Kanya. Layers. Hole in the pocket. Surprises. Packing. A sudden craze for miniatures.

Heading to Hyd this monday for little over a week!

…Then he realized that he had seen these tracks from the bridge on that hot afternoon with Sathe…He felt strange, without reason, at these linkages in perspective - I was there looking here, and now it is the opposite, this thought made him feel odd…but the decade to come pales before this second, the span of my life is less important than its quality. I want to sit here in the mild sun and try and not think, try and escape the iniquity of the restlessness of my mind. Do you understand. Doesn’t anyone understand the absence of ambition, or the simplicity of it. Read the rest of this entry »