Below are the most recent 9 friends' journal entries.

Sunday, December 27th, 2009
locks	6:36p	Another one of those posts... Where has the writing gone? Possibly, nowhere. It isn't as if there isn't much to say. There is lots and lots and yet, it does not feel like I want to. Feels like I want to guard these inner experiences and thought processes, and let them go through their own cycles of maturity, fruition, and finally dissipation. I can, of course, spell them out in elaborate detail and depth but why? Most of them don't even survive long enough to see the words spelt on a post here. So, I let them pass. Rise and fall, shine, and then fade away... 'Another year draws to a close' - seems like the beginning of a novel, hmmm? 2010 should be interesting, just like all the years before it seemed. There is much to be thankful for, so many blessings to give and receive, crazy bouts of laughter and lots of lessons... and amazing people. I have another YES course to teach and it begins tomorrow morning. This time, the participants will be a bunch of Bhutanese refugee teens. Will be a busy week - hence, here goes. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Hope that 2010 brings all your dreams to life in colors, bright and splendid! May you have a zillion opportunities to share, to love, to laugh, and to celebrate! Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
sigfood	2:01a	Bangali Mashi's Kitchen http://sigfood.org/node/595 Bangali Mashi's Kitchen (BMK) serves authentic Unlimited* Bengali Thali in Kansha (Bronze/Bell Metal) utensils in the ghar ka khana style in an amicable ambiance. A-la-carte menu is also available. Evening snacks include Moglai Paratha, Rolls, Chops and Devil. Dum Biryani is also served. We undertake catering orders for small groups for griha pravesh, annaprashan, etc. Can also provide spotlessly clean and hygenic pre-packed lunches for corporates. For more details and Menu Please visit: http://www.bmk.co.in Thanks. (Comment on this)
Monday, December 21st, 2009
diffdrummer	5:37p	Decode your Decade Latter half of 2009(Dec. mainly) is loaded with potential for bloggers like me whose inkifer has dropped into invisibility (or rather whose keyboard is stuck in a muck of laziness.) We are at the end of a decade, beginning of another. What does that mean? Every one will be doing the decade, from John Stewart to John Doe. In addition to all those end-of-the-year review posts that threaten to invade our blogs(bring it on, nobody posts much these days) in the form of photos, first-line-of-first-post-each-month, monthly summaries etc, this year we get to take stock of the last ten years. Talk about the merits of living in a base-10 numeral world.(Are you listening America-still-measuring-distance-in-miles-and-feet?) There should be some material / writing prompts somewhere in those 3652 days even for the most dried-up of fountain heads. I am already feeling dwarfed by the immensity of this opportunity. A chance to do a review of the last ten years of life, events, movies, inventions, screw-ups, highlights whatever, or I could be a real optimist and predict the next ten. One of my favorite photo news blogs, Boston Globe’s Big Picture is out with the Decade in News Photographs. For a British version of the noughties, there is Guardian’s 2000-2009 in photos. Since the topic of news photo blogs have come up, another one of my favorites is The Frame, from Sacbee, another amazing news photo blog. The SacBee link is not the year in review, just one of their daily photo posts. Personally, the last ten years had been a phase change of enormous magnitude akin to pumpkin becoming a chariot or glaciers transforming into clouds, if only I could find the time and stimulus to write. Of course reading is easier, get the drift? (5 Comments |Comment on this)
barmaidblog	5:20p	The Fog Is Like a Cage Without a Key (Intermezzo) September 6, 2009 "Debra," says Victor, "it's absolutely not personal, and I hope you understand that." He's sitting on the desk in the back room, with Lanie behind the desk in the chair. "Not personal? Victor, you're basically putting me out on the street, and unless I'm misunderstanding something, it's because I cost too much." I try to keep as calm as possible, remembering some of the lessons I learned about my relationship with supervisors a couple of years ago. Lanie jumps in. "That's not exactly fair, Debra. With business down overall, we just don't feel like we need a manager on duty every weeknight. Pat has seniority, so if we're going to keep only one of you, it really has to be her." "Well, I'd be happy to go back to being a barmaid. I'm not too proud to take that step backwards if that's what you're worried about. And I have good relationships with all the girls." "We know you do, but the problem is, we've replaced you a couple of times over, and they're making less than you were when you moved up. So even if we got rid of one of them..." "You'd still be spending more money on me," I finish for her, and she nods. "Listen, we won't contest your unemployment claim," Victor says, handing me an envelope that contains two weeks' severance pay, something I'll be assured later by a lawyer friend that they weren't in the least bit obligated to give me. Lanie adds, "And you're an incredibly capable woman, we know you'll find another job." "With business down overall?" I ask, and Lanie winces a little. "Sorry. Okay. Can I have a letter of reference, at least?" "Debra, of course," she says. "In fact, why don't you write it? Just say what you'd want us to say, and we'll sign it." I laugh, pondering all the possibilities. It's not until I'm on my way home that it really starts to set in - six years of my life. Six years of dedication to a job is supposed to be a good thing, employers are supposed to value and honor that. Oh, God, what am I going to tell Jenny? She's only just barely recovered from what happened this summer, this kind of bad news could set her back. I'm so exhausted from it all... and I can only imagine how she feels. I have two weeks' pay in my hands, some money in the bank, and unemployment insurance on the way in a few weeks. If I get another job in the next month or two, I'll be just fine, and there's no reason she has to know I lost this one until I actually start the next one. I'll just find some place to hang out on the nights I would've been working. I'll even get some writing done for a change. This is absolutely the right thing to do. It'll be much better this way. Current Mood: reflective Current Music: Manfred Mann's Earth Band, "For You" (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 18th, 2009
barmaidblog	3:26p	Debra 2.0 Dara finally comes down to the Pub on Wednesday night, for the first time since I started working here a few months ago, and parks herself at the bar for a chat. We spend a little while catching up - on her wedding plans with Dennis, my Dad and how he's been dating the doctor who treated me in the ER a few years ago, and photos of Jessica's toddler Noah (who's just turned a year old!). We studiously avoid any mention of what happened between Jenny and me, partly because we discussed it to death while it was happening. Truth be told, I'm still considering whether even to blog about it, and we've covered that meta-topic enough, too. Jake, the tall, blonde bartender who trained me when I started here, wanders down the bar from where he's been serving a bunch of college kids on a break from studying for finals. I introduce him to Dara. "Congratulations, when's the big day?" he asks with a smile as he shakes her hand. "It's in June. How did you -- " She looks down at her other hand, where her engagement ring is revealed only by a bump in the half-finger of a convertible glove-mitten. Jake spreads his arms wide. "Dara, I'm a single male bartender in Manhattan. It's my job to divine the relationship status of every woman who drinks in here, if I'm able to do it." "That's impressive," Dara says. "And if I'd been single, or you thought so, what would you have done?" Jake shrugs and winks. "We'll never know, will we? Anyway, welcome to the Pub, I hope we see you here often." He returns to the other end of the bar, where patrons await, and Dara watches him as he goes. When she looks back at me, I'm grinning. "What? I'm allowed to look," she laughs. "In a way I'm kind of glad men are allowed to serve drinks here. I mean, some of the girls you worked with at the Bar were fun, but how about some eye-candy equal time, huh?" "Vince and Diego the barbacks weren't enough for you?" I pull another Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from the tap for her, and she takes off her glove-esque things. Dara shrugs. "Vince was taken almost as soon as I knew him, and, well, Diego was a devoted father. I think I might've just known them too well to look at them that way." She pauses to take a drink. "You know, I just thought of something." "What's that?" "Your new job at a new place, being single in a new apartment, starting up the blog again, even your father dating - it's kind of like one of those TV shows or movies that reboots. You know, like the new 'Star Trek' movie this past summer. Or that sitcom with Christina Applegate where at first she was a waitress at her father's bar, and then suddenly you were supposed to believe she'd been working in a doctor's office the whole time? They start down a completely new path, with new characters and new situations that never would've happened the first time around, and it's like the first time around never existed." I think about it for a minute, nodding. "There's only one problem with your analogy." "What, you don't get to hang out with Zachary Quinto?" "No - the stuff that happened the first time around really happened, and I don't get to pretend it didn't." I excuse myself briefly to take some orders from a group of men that's just arrived, and I see Dara looking at her hand and fingering her engagement ring. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: Muse, "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" (19 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
suku	1:37p	The return of the meme 1.How old were you when you first started your blog? 23. 2. How has your life changed since then? Quite a lot has changed, including my priorities. I discovered and lost. I gained and grew. I am living in another city. I am married. I am different but the essence is the same. I am still, confidently, a good person.   3. If you could go back and change one thing from your past, what would it be? A lot of things. I have not always given my best to things. I am too lazy to try and too scared to know, it's my greatest undoing but I genuinely think there's more of me to come. I just know I am special, even if it's established posthumously. 4. What is one thing you would do to make your blog better? My blog has given me more than I could ask for. It gave me an outlet, vast space as well as established a connection to exquisite thoughts and marvelous individuals. My earnestness at the same got me interviewed on tv and print. How would I make it better? By being more regular and enthusiastic in my entries, irrespective of who read it or if anyone read it all. I think I owe this to Dreamscapes. 5. If you joined the spice girls today…what would your spice name be? (ie, baby spice, scary spice, etc) That was such a sad question to end this meme. Perhaps, Wheeee Spice. Meme borrowed from Sunshin3girl. Current Mood: tired Current Music: 74-75-The Cornells (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
diffdrummer	10:03p	Cultural Need for a Chuck Norris Maybe every culture has felt it – the burning desire to have a hero to make fun of. A hero with muscles for brain and everything else. In the overwhelming ordinariness of our lives we are always on the look out for someone who can divide by zero, count to infinity, order a Big Mac at Burger King, get it and then drink napalm to quench the subsequent heart-burn. We call him by any name : Chuck Norris, Vin Diesel, Mr.T or if you are from that tiny sliver of state in Southern India - Kerala, we call him Jayan For the uninitiated, Jayan was the first hero who brought the gift of masculinity to Malayalam cinema(what is Malayalam?) Wide-lapelled shirts thrown open at the chest, bell bottoms that kicked bad guys' asses across borders and a rich full tone dialog delivery made him stand-out from other hero-material. Well known for doing his own stunts, he passed away while shooting an action sequence for a movie in 1980. Jayan meme started appearing, probably a decade after his death when a new generation of film-goers, especially teens and college kids realized the untapped potential of his by-now famous dialogs. Majority of these one liners owe their existence to the collective brain of Kerala's(where/what is Kerala) college campuses. In that way the Jayan meme is probably older than Chuck Norris facts, which is essentially an internet meme that started circulating in the early 2000s. There are sites dedicated to Jayan jokes and related law suits and controversies. Heroes face the same fate everywhere :-P Recently sajith made this post, which led me to realize that the world is in dire need of a Jayan desktop widget. I've a Chuck Norris widget on my desktop,thanks to this guy in France and Rainmeter. Every five minutes it illuminates my day with an important Chuck Norris fact which might elicit a chuckle or a smile from my work-fried brain. ( screenshot ) Btw I am a Rainmeter addict(What is rainmeter?), mainly because there were no cool things as Rainmeter when I was growing up. When we talked about connectivity we meant we had a bus route in our neighborhood. Thru' Rainmeter I get to live a nerdy teenage that I had missed. Back to the subject, with some basic skills required to survive in the digital world(namely cut n paste, googling and a smattering of P-shop) I fashioned a Jayan widget out of Chuck Norris one. ( One more ) Now I am waiting for a pissed-off Mr.Norris's roundhouse kick to visit high heavens. In the interim from my desktop Jayan informs me how convenient it'd be for him if there was a wild fire because he needs to light his cigarette and other such important Jayan trivia every five minutes. If anyone has a stash of Jayan jokes other than what is found here and here , please send them my way. If you are a Malayali whose rainmeter feels lonely without a Jayan widget, ping me. Or if you have time(30 min at the most) you can just beat the $%$#$ out of an existing widget and make an altar for Gabbar Singh or Rajnikant or Brucelee or your sweet boss. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
arunshanbhag	10:11p	Best Street Food: Asli Vada Pav, Sandwich and Bajjiyas You are not a Mumbaikar if you haven't tasted the street-side Vada Pav. Not the sterile globs you get in a restaurant. You gotta eat from the street stall. If you haven't, may I ask you to kindly turn in your Mumbaikar card! More Vada Pav, Sandwich and Bajjiyas! (18 Comments |Comment on this)
barmaidblog	5:36p	...but for Broader Shoulders My father lights the Shamos, and after he uses it to light the one other candle in the menorah, we quietly say the two standard Hannukah blessings followed by the Shehechianu, which is only spoken on the first night. We exhange gifts - a beautiful pendant with aquamarines for me, a necktie for him - and long, warm hugs. Then we sit down at his dining room table, which is conspicuously set for two instead of three - or four. "Where's the good doctor?" I ask as I spoon out some applesauce and sour cream for my potato pancakes. Dad smiles. "She's with her father tonight, too. We'll have our own candle-lighting tomorrow, though without the latkes this time. Two nights in a row of deep-fried foods isn't allowed when you're dating a physician, I'm afraid." "It's not allowed two nights in a row when your tips depend on maintaining a girlish figure, either. Which is why I'm having as much as possible tonight." Dad laughs, and we eat in silence for a few minutes. "Have you heard at all from Jenny?" I take a deep breath, and Dad apologizes. "That's okay, Dad. No, not since before Thanksgiving. And I wouldn't be surprised if she never speaks to me again." "I'm sorry," Dad says for the second time. "And how's the new place working out?" "Not bad. I like Emily well enough, for as much as I ever see her. I haven't figured out how to get her cat to stop scratching at my door in the morning, though." "You know, you were welcome to stay here as long as you wanted after..." He stops there. "It's okay to say it out loud, Dad. After Jenny threw me out. That is what happened. And I know that, but honestly, waiting an hour and a half after closing for the first train of the morning got pretty old pretty fast." I manage to add a smile. "How is it you're not working tonight? I thought Fridays were great tip nights." "They are, but I've only been at the Pub for a few months, so I don't have the seniority I used to at the Bar. And I probably would've asked for the night off anyway, or at least for a later shift - I wouldn't have missed your latkes for the world, you haven't made them in five or six years." "Yeah, I probably won't do it for five or six more, after the mess I made." "Oh, for heaven's sake, Dad, I'll clean it up - it's the least I can do." I take another few pancakes, despite starting to feel full. It's once a year, I remind myself. My father wipes some applesauce off his moustache, and takes a long swig of his wine. The silence fills the space between us, and I can practically feel him reading my mind, until the tears start forming in my eyes. "Debra, what happened to Jenny isn't your fault. It just doesn't work that way, no matter what you think you did or said wrong." I move some pieces of browned potato around my plate. "Daddy, I lost the woman I love, and it wasn't because of anything she did or said wrong. So tell me, when is it going to start feeling like it wasn't my fault?" "I don't know, honey. I don't know." Current Mood: confused Current Music: Levellers, "The Riverflow" (63 Comments |Comment on this)