Up, Up and Away

Apprehension.. That's what I feel each time I strap on my seatbelt and get ready for take-off.

Even after flying on hundreds of flights the feeling keeps returning like a bad penny..

Now, I'm not morbid by nature nor claustrophobic in general, in fact right after takeoff im absolutely fine..but there's something about sitting in an enclosed tin box and leaving the security of the ground beneath my feet that gets to me

Today is no different, as I board my flight and get in my seat, as I wear my seatbelt and hear the engines whir on beneath me.. I smile. I smile to mask my apprehension , then I wonder if the guy sitting next to me can see the fear on my face neways ..

I look out the window and say a silent goodbye to the city.. I look at the ground beneath and hope to stand on it soon

The airplane starts moving.. I hear the flight attendants go through the safety instructions in the background.. But I'm looking out.. I see an In 'n' Out restuarant sign..is that to be the last thing I see on earth??

No no no.. I look for something else.. The plane turns on the runway ready for takeoff.. Aah I see the sea.. The magnificent open sea.. And a bridge.. A man made piece of art seemingly standing strong against mother natures power!

Yes, my confidence in man made machines strengthens.. The flight takes off.. As the wheels leave the runway.. I say a silent prayer.. And then.. Up up and awaaay............

Playing Catch Up

Its been so long since I've written anything here and its more due to lack to time than lack of things to blog about!! I was reviewing all the posts lying around as Drafts in my dashboard (and there are soo many) and I figured this was really really not good :)

Some Time Capsule this will be if all the posts are never published :(. So i've promised to find a few hours each week to complete each of those posts and keep this blog more updated.

To quickly catch everyone up ..its been a pretty eventful year so far..
- My Mom and Grandmom paid us a visit recently - the best 20 days eveahh
- We started looking for a house..our very first home..yay
- We went on a trip to Yellowstone National Park
- I started another blog to post all my poems on (Yes!)

More on all of this and more coming soon..stay posted ;) ;)

Demystifying the Female Mystique

One often hears of the "impossible to figure out" woman, she comes up everywhere, in the idle banter of old men or the raucous babble of the younger male species.She is usually the point on which all men agree on, they all agree its impossible to figure her out!

I got this email the other day, which listed how a woman was contradiction personified, how when she says no she means yes and how when she agrees she really is disagreeing.Tsk Tsk..Men are soo simple (pun intended).

I wonder if these men ever think that what if women add that contradiction to themselves on-purpose. This "confusion" about women, is what gives them the mystical aura that most men find so alluring. Even the most educated woman in a highly paid job can "act" dumb at the drop of a hat!

There is no school that teaches women this art of befuddlement, yet every woman has a master's degree in the same. How you ask? Its simple, what you call befuddlement we call insaurance. Everyone knows how difficult it is to hold a Man's attention right? An averge man has the attention-span of about 1 minute, if a woman is to hold his attention longer that that she needs to pique his interest..and the easiest way? that right..confusion..

From times bygone, women were told to take care of their husbands and do what it takes to keep him "interested", since times bygone women have used contradiction as a way of adding to their mystery..Today's woman is definately going places, she's come a long way from the traditional home-maker role, and along the journey she's perfected the confundus charm. Where wit and intellect fail..Confundo!

Its Elementary My Dear Watson !

One of Mr. Sherlock Holmes adventures starts with an idyllic Dr. Watson challenging Holmes to guess the occupation of 5 random people that come down the street. Of course..Holmes being Holmes, does so with what seems like relative ease but with what truly is a highly polished sense of observation.



Yesterday, as I was browsing through the local grocery store, I decided to play a little detective myself. They say, you are what you eat, so what better place to "know" people than in a grocery store eh! What I found, while quickly checking out their grocery carts (p.s. - i wasnt trying to pry into anyones business, just trying to observe..so stop rolling your eyes!) and their overall demenor, is that its actually quite easy to somewhat conclude on the person's lifestyle.


First up, a white caucasian woman in her late twenties or early thirties wearing track pants and a cart full of fruits, health bars, nuts and milk. Category : Health-nut. Then up walks her boyfriend (why not husband you ask? no wedding ring / engagement ring AHA!) carrying 2 Jamba Juices. Update Category : Made for each other Health-nuts.


Then up, a dark couple of indian decent (it takes one to know one), checking out the price of each item before buying, their cart has one sole carton of milk, they seem to be arguing about something, the woman is dressed in a traditional indian attire (salwaar kameez) with the traditional indian sindoor in her hair, the man is dressed in jeans with a tucked in cotton full-sleeved shirt, with a pager on his belt and a cell phone in his hand. Category : newly married couple (the sindoor clearly indicates marriage in India, however the fact that she was still using it..most young women stop using it soon after landing in the USofA and their ackwardness with each other made me think newly married), homemaker wife and software engineer husband, probably working in one of the big software companies in the area.



This I admit was mostly based on the general demograpics of the area that I was in, rather than any specific observation, this is the most commonly found couple "species" (if you may), in that particualr area. So my guess, was simply based on wider demograpical data.


Up next, in the junk food isle, two young women, one white caucasian and one tall african-american each on their own cell phones (yet sharing a cart so seemed to shop together), the cart consisted of various ready to eat items, chips (of the plain salted and spicy jalapeno kinds), salsa's (both mild and hot varities), soda's (diet soda only), water, juices (again of various kinds), 2 cartons of milk (one whole milk and one 2% kind), whole wheat and white bread. Category : young freshman year room-mates. Based on the variety in their cart, they have obviously different tastes, yet one cart, indicating living together under one-roof. Going to school mainly because of the preppy "hip" look of their clothes and their bling bling cell-phones, and ever present giggles.


Finally at the checkout line, a white caucasian woman in early thirties, black skirt suit, checking out 5 bottles of wine, various cheeses, bread and frozen pasta. Category : working woman obviously, no kids (early thirties is still a little young in this country esp with working women to have kids), married (duly noted the wedding band while she was giving her credit card) and having a party tonite (5 bottles of wine)! From the looks of her clothes and perfect makeup she could be a HR manager in some company or a Lawyer by profession. The Dark color of her suit, tends to make me think it is the latter rather than the former..


Here surprising, I lucked out, the cashier at the checkout was quiet chatty, and while looking at the woman's ID commented on how her birthday was just yesterday and asked if she did anything special. The woman responded by saying, the people at her "firm" (law firm??) threw her a small party and then her "husband" took her out for a nice dinner and that tonight they were having a few friends over for an extended celebration for "her big 30" !. Without knowing it, she validated all my points of observation as true!!!!


As to the rest of the above observations..your guess is as good as mine :). While I may not be bang on, I think i'd have come close to the truth at least...man..i have waaay too much time on my hands!!





picture courtesy : http://www.sherlockian.net/

Today on CNN..

My parents always said a good start sets the tone for the rest of your day, now if that were really true, I'd be having a really bad year!

They say bad news make good news stories, I wonder why though. Have you ever wanted to wake up to the face of a man who open fired in a school full of innocent kids or to the graphic images of a war torn country? I know I havent.

Yet, day after day these stories make our front pages and morning news. Granted they're news worthy and should be reported, but do they have to be the burnt toast that goes with my morning coffee? People build towers ..yet I only read about bombs that bring them down..people climb mountains..yet I only read about people who die climbing down..

Maybe its wishful thinking to ask for a permanent change, so how about this..once a week, the Times , CNN , the LA Times and all you providers of our morning manna, decide to change your reporting formats..good news first..good stories later..go on..make my Sunday!