So I went to see the fireworks over the Hudson river this weekend! Pictures will be forthcoming. I'm really excited about how they came out.

In other news, there have been break-ins in our neighborhood. The cops came from door to door urging us to put our cars into our garages and locking our doors at night. When my mother asked me to inspect the garage she told me to look in the corners for people! Needless to say, that freaked me out! I was scared that some random thug type person might try to kill me in my own garage! I know, paranoia! But still ... you have to wonder what people are capable of. I know that I'm overreacting. Seriously overreacting. But our neighborhood has never had a problem like this since it was built something like fifteen years ago.

So scary stuff. In less scary news I had a great time in the outdoors today (fantastic weather) and now I'm going to watch the Sense and Sensibility from 2007!

So I'm in the throes of starting up a new business. Things are going well. It's an internet start-up -- and though I'd like to say more about it, I'm not going to. I know that it sounds vague, and to be honest on most days I FEEL vague. But the truth of the matter is is that it seems better to start something on one's own than to rely on others to hire you. People never became truly in control working for someone else, and I realize this now.

It's been an exhausting experience but pretty exhilarating nonetheless. I can't believe the amount of paperwork and energy and exhaustion it takes to get people together working toward something you want. The control is intoxicating, seriously. I know that it's not as "secure", but it sure beats sitting behind a cubicle and for that I am happy.

Launch is set for soon. I'm excited. I can hardly wait.

It's like my brain has atrophied over the past year. All I've been doing is sitting around, feeling sorry for myself, working temporary jobs that don't pay and provide very little in the way of real-world experience. I got this idea in the shower. I mean, literally.

Things have been falling in place ever since.

I feel this new vitality. This is how it must feel like to join the real world.

Yes, yes. I'm extremely bad at this.
I have started my own venture just now. I'm in the middle of writing the business plan, and signing off on the loan. I really hope it works out. It's a rock-solid idea, but I've always been rotten at implementation.

I've left HL -- my old community -- and am writing in a private Blogger journal now. It's been an interesting move, but I no longer feel AS enthusiastic about keeping a rigorous record though I know I have to.

My brother was the recipient of a bunch of death threats recently. Of course we cauterized the wound and took the necessary precautions, but it's difficult to deal with something like, "I want to blow your brains out with an AK 47 you stupid son of a bitch." I still shake in the middle of the night just thinking about it. Maybe this is why I'm not sleeping so much these days.

At least it's made me think about things more optimistically. If I can get through one day without dying, I can get through the next, too, but unlike the old days (which I can hardly remember, funnily enough) I can't look too far in the future. It just gets depressing.

I am just EXHAUSTED.
It's overexposed and terrible, but here's a picture of an alleyway arch, courtesy of Princeton.


I hope you've all had a wonderful day.

The mango ice cream from Halo Pub is just tremendous. So was the weather. Tomorrow I'll make a tomato/chickpea rice for Shen, I think. I wish I had other vegetables at home, but the only other thing besides tomatoes that we've got is cabbage, and cabbage is a hard sell in the best of times, even when the person you're trying to sell it to is Irish.

It'll be a little basket. Tupperware and rice, perhaps a glass of fizzy Italian soda, the brilliant breeze and weather of the library square (which I should take a picture of but do not have here for some reason.)

I know I ought to use the camera that I have, but my brother stole my USB connector!

There's plenty to complain about, but I've got to beg off one more night, I'm just too, too tired.

I cannot believe that it's been
1) six weeks since I updated
and
2) Livejournal is 10 years old.

At first I thought it said twenty, but I was wrong. Thank God. I was like, has the Internet really been around that long? Well, yes, it has, but I'm pretty sure not very many people had it then, and even fewer who were civilians.

A special thank-you to youth brigade who reminded me.

The trip to London was fantastic. I promise I will include some pictures. Also, I have to go at length about something terrible that happened to my brother recently, but that's not the most cheerful story in the world, and so I will save it for later.

A few things that I've done since I've failed to update:

1) I've really gotten into the series Fringe. Like, in a big way. I can't believe how interesting that show is. It comes pretty close to perfect for me, what with the thriller/zombies/great character development and all that.

2) Gain ten pounds, lose fifteen and gain seventeen again. I'm not even trying/going on a diet or modifying my habits in any way! Perhaps I should do that, but that's beside the point. The point is, I'm a yo-yo and I'm not even TRYING. This is very perplexing and perhaps I should consult someone about this. (This hasn't, of course, happened in the span of seven weeks -- it's more like fourteen, but still.)

3) Started reading some interesting webcomics.

faith erin hicks' Ice is fantastic. (www.faitherinhicks.com/ice)
so is questionable content (questionablecontent.net)

and, last (but DEFINITELY not least)

dreamless.keenspot.com

For the friends who've been exasperated by my lack of updates, I promise that I will not do it again for the forseeable future. I do feel bad. It's just that post-London things have exploded in my family (and this, too, in a big way, because nothing ever happens halfway for me) so I guess I will talk about it at length once my thoughts come together

 
London!
Won't be back for a week. Will update from there.
Isn't this one hell of a bag?

Yes, I know that I haven't posted in a while, but that's how it goes. I'm employed and I'm in the process of trying to frantically finish something for work. I'm excited. It's still from home but I have a sense of purpose and suddenly things are opening up again for me. Life is ... good. I'm going to London soon, so I'm excited about that. I have tons of family there. I will take as many pictures as is humanly possible and post some here if I can.

See you all. Will hopefully post again before I leave.

I shouldn't let this get irregular again, though I'm constantly afraid of having nothing important to say. Today is officially Shen's birthday. It's amazing how I've known her for so long. Eight freaking years. Nine, I think. This is the ninth year I've known her. That is an awful number of years. May that number keep increasing.

Anoop did fine on American Idol tonight. Everyone liked Adam. Adam was great, I agree, doing that whole song in a falsetto definitely took balls. One cannot argue that Adam doesn't have balls.

I bought the 2000 Best American Short Stories book from the Princeton library for just a buck. I'm going to read the Junot Diaz story as soon as I wake up. I have such a new appreciation for short stories these days, particularly the ones that have good, strong characters. But many of them just consist of empty literary space.

I haven't been out of the house all day. It's very depressing. I didn't get my daily dose of vitamin D. You know something -- every day when I was in college I spent at least a few hours a day outside because the campus was spread on twelve miles of piecemeal land. Now I'm stuck in a very elaborate messy cage and even if I move I'll get noticed. I'm very surprised that anyone's noticed that I'm awake. I'm not supposed to be awake. My bedtime is 11:30.

Stock market rallied today. Geither unveiled the toxic assets buyout program. The man has every part of his face tacked on wrong.

Tomorrow I'm going into town. I will be more interesting soon.

More posts as to how I'm in a bad mood -- how I am inadequate etc. I'm having these fantastic, visceral dreams about eating in bed. I'm not even supposed to be awake. Today I made plans about my future, where I might go. The funny thing is that I've been sapped of all ambition. All I want is peace and the ability to think, uninterrupted. To stop having to present a false face to others. I'm not guilty of deception, per se, I'm just guilty of a lot of useless, unnecessary lying. Oh, and yes, it's also very difficult to live my life out of a 10 * 10 room.

At least I made some concrete plans today. So I have to do some concrete work tomorrow. I wish everyone who is reading this a great weekend. I will have more to say tomorrow.


This is your moment of Zen. I will contribute in a more meaningful way tomorrow. :)
Isn't this bunneh CUTE?

BUT I WORE GREEN!
And no, nobody's ever pinched me.

Yay -- ANOOP!

Sorry, I have to say that I was paranoid on Grand Ole Opry night, but somehow the boy managed. I am continually shocked and amazed by his resilience. Looks like I picked a fun one to back this week. I'm sure he won't win, but hey, you win some you lose some. Last seasons, the guy I liked became the winner, so my luck's run out ... for now.

Anyway, other than that I didn't do much. I thought I'd go into Princeton today but due to other problems that didn't happen. I tried to get the work done at home, but it was hard. Plus, there wasn't much food involved. I suffered from a hunger headache all day today. I've also missed Rachel Maddow for the past day and a half. Somehow I'm going to have to catch up on that. After the mess that's AIG and those awful bonuses, I want some good old fashioned populist outrage ... Rachel style. I'd better remind Shen that we ought to finish those Angry Populist hats and send those along to her.

Today I made a potato dish, but not enough of it. It was a good recipe. Scallop four potatoes and put them in a skillet with a half-cup water and three tbps vegetable/canola oil. In another pot, another glug of canola oil, a couple of hard dashes of paprika, parsley, cinnamon, oregano, coriander and cumin and a sliced small green chili. That second pot will be used to fry a green bell pepper and two plum tomatoes chopped. After the potatoes are cooked and the pepper/tomato mixture is both thoroughly fried, put the pepper/tomatoes over the potatoes, stir them up, fry the whole thing until there's some sizzle action, and then dump a ton of sharp cheddar cheese over it. Voila! Faux Mexican potatoes. Or something.

I made this up.

I know, I need a life. Recently, I've become employed, in a fashion. I hope that continues to go well for me. Maybe I'll have less time to invent recipes. I don't know. But I liked the way that this turned out.

So now I'm going to read the online newspapers again -- more time to get REALLY PISSED OFF at AIG -- and then do some reading. I have to update my book blog, too, but the sad fact is I haven't read a single book today. And I don't that that's happened for a long, long time.

Today was Vineet's birthday! It seems like forever since we moved here and met Vineet and Nikhil. Nikhil was already born when I met him (after all, he and my brother were classmates in daycare!) and his folks, but Vineet was about to be born -- was a baby -- when we met and now he celebrated his 13th birthday! Lucky thirteen! He's really lively and makes me crack up to pieces. Nikhil, Aditya, the Mumbicks, the folks, and all of the other grownups were there. 

Ram Uncle, Nitesh Uncle and Appa all tinkered around on the ping pong table. Mukunda and Appa got in a very good game themselves. Together the kids all watched Achmed the Dead Terrorist. Definitely some off-color jokes, but fortunately they were told in such a way that the kids didn't understand the double entendres. But I have to laugh.

Ranjana auntie made a phenomenal cheese/potato/vegetable casserole. We had the pizza from Papa Johns.

We did manage to get some practicing for the ugadi festival in, though I felt bad that we practiced on someone's birthday! I have to work on the music writing -- I did make some mistakes! -- with my father, on both the cellos (my brother and Nikhil are playing together) and the violin and piano together are playing the Indian hymn Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram. That's also coming along well. I definitely have to write more for the piano. Poor Vineet isn't getting any melody!

There's something very colorful about these family gatherings and get-togethers. Nandita Auntie was happy, I think, that the music was coming along, and she was also enthusiastic about the meeting. My mom and the two aunties talked and the uncles and Appa all talked, and it was one big scene. Karty also was there and thoroughly enjoyed himself; the kids enjoyed him back. Since it was Pi day I was disappointed that I wasn't able to bake anything today, but lately my baking has turned out all wrong so I know it's just as well.

Tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully Shen and I will be able to hang out. It's been a while since I've seen her. Venuri has a fever. :(. I hope she feels better soon. Will write tomorrow, am feeling sleepy ... until then --

So I changed my journal template. I hope it looks all right. I truly loved the last one -- and I was very hesitant to change it, but at the same time it's been like this for over a year now, and I thought it was time for something new. The text is bigger and easier to read. Also, you can see more at once. The boxes are smaller. Minty Peach makes the best templates.

I have a $300 stimulus check I have to cash and then I'm going to spend that money stimulating! 

(No! Please! Icky yuck!) 

I'm thinking of blowing that money on tickets to see my favorite food blogger -- Orangette -- speak in Idlewild. I might have to RSVP to get in, and it's probably already full (sigh). Also, I have to get my brother new headphones since I broke his. I should've done this coming back from the gym this morning but I was so hungry ...

I think I'll spend some time reading. I really ought to read more. I also want to by Bolano's 2666. It's a fantastic book (or three).

Lauren -- you there? I miss you!

In other news, my head hurts. Also, I'm behind on my reading. I watched the evisceration of Cramer by Stewart on The Daily Show and thought it was a pretty brilliant interview. I love it when he's in his element. Though it was uncomfortable to watch, Stewart's ire was totally understandable and deserved.

Earlier today I had a piano class. I can't get over my playing nervousness. I know that I have to practice but I have this mental wall saying that I might as well not bother because there's no way I can approach flawless playing. I have to stop psyching myself out. So what if it's not perfect? I mean, intellectually I know these things but personally -- subconsciously? -- emotionally? -- I can't seem to grasp this. I just feel miserable all the time. And yelled at. I hate the feeling of being yelled at.

Next month we're going to London, so I'm trying to be excited about that, picking out sites to visit, saving up to buy the Moleskine do-it-yourself map of the city. That should be fun. But I'm boring and mostly want to see architectural and bookstore sites. I'm not really interested in most of the standard tourist things. They're usually concerned with consequence and I just couldn't be bothered. 

 Sorry -- my journal deleted temporarily through no fault of my own. I won't name names, but you know who you are ... grr.

I've read two fantastic books recently. One's a reread with a corny title: Mara, Daughter of the Nile. But still, I've never read a book with better pacing, it's ingenious.

And then, of course I read Lolita, which is a book that I am afraid of and in awe of simultaneously. Nabakov is a fucking genius ...

In other news I'm going back to piano. Playing Scarlatti. I guess after "Teh Shame" I have to start small again. Not like Scarlatti is small musically but there aren't as many notes/pyrotechnics.

I started a new venture today. I don't know what the success of this venture might be, but I am optimistic. If this venture is successful I'll talk about it on here.

There is so much I have still to talk about. Here's a list:

1. The Tanzanian.
2. The Watchmen.
3. General get-together irritation.
4. This terrible life that I'm leading.

I can't compromise on my record!

The lady at the library was amused when I kept asking for cream puffs. I read a faintly pornographic sequel to Pride and Prejudice that referred to a penis as a man's "credentials". 

Also I thought about this one movie reviewer's description of the Watchmen's Dr. Mahnattan -- "he looks like they put him in a freezer and he came out a porn star."

*

I know that I haven't been around lately -- again, I apologize. I just can't get out of the house anymore.

I have started a new bookblog -- http://theduckreview.blogspot.com

I also saw the Watchmen, a movie I've been dying to see ever since I knew it was going to be made and come out. The verdict: the best comic adaptation I've seen to date, though that's not necessarily a great thing, because sometimes direct translations come out flat. But I did like the sheer violence. (I am a violent person in terms of what I want on the silver screen. But a pacifist when it comes to real people. It's the rational way to be. After all, there is such a thing as a healthy release.)

My brother is going to be home soon, so I have to make lunch for him. Today I did the grocery shopping and bought a whole lot of unnecessary things. For a while -- for a blissful minute -- it was like I was back on the rt 1 south Pathmark buying fizzy fruit sodas and frozen entries to take home with me to eat while watching SVU ...

Talk about living in the past.

Agh. He screwed himself over. No, really, Anoop screwed himself over. WHY, oh WHY would you choose that song?!

Back to Planet Earth with you, Sreya.

I know that I'm obsessed with American Idol but I just can't help it. Noop Dogg is adorable, and it's karaoke for two and a half hours, what's there not to like about it?

Oh yeah -- everything?

Damn the record industry. I'm not liking the format for the new season. The judges have too much control over everything. Wasn't the whole point of the show that America could choose the talent -- and not the executives?

PS -- inside joke. The Mumbicks could go to the bathroom today.