Hey you..that's right, you. my inner artist. wake up!

So, yeah, I tried my hand at painting a pot sometime back..it actually turned out not so bad. I didn't think I have even a 0.1% of my mom's creativity, but I guess a little bit has trickled in :D.

make face time

I saw these Dentyne ads on the SF BART subway when I was heading home one day from work. It’s based on equating gum-chewing with the serenity to be found when you disengage from modern telecommunications. What a wonderful campaign..a much needed reminder that our world has gotten too detached and closed off due to our electronic world. let's bring back the human in humanity. Lets make some face time :)))

Oh, and their website's pretty cool too..do check out the different timers on the top right..I personally like the egg timer :)

Sachin Tendulkar...the Master, the Genius, the force, the hero...the Legend!

No words needed. His name speaks for him. His legend precedes him. Sachin Tendulkar reached yet another milestone where he became the highest run scorer in Test cricket.

So glad he is an Indian :)...and so proud.

India's slice in the sky pie

Yess..and India is back in the game. Very happy to hear about India's spacecraft that's gonna be sent to the moon. 3 cheers..I'm truly moonstruck!

of home, work and the grind..

Well, its been a long time since I actually started and finished a blog.
What's happened since then, you ask? I took time off for a long overdue visit to home. sweet. home. Ohh, the sights, smell and sounds of my motherland were just uniquely wonderful...the sound of the early morning kovil mani and suprabadhan playing in the background, the strong smell of filter காப்பி and watching the paal kara amma going from door to door to deliver fresh milk. That's right, the sounds that used to annoy me in the morning now seemed unique and something to treasure. Ahh..how your perspective changes!

Ma and I took a trip to visit Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. We went through Paniker travels and they did a really good job in arranging everything for us. I suppose it wasn't really a popular time to travel as there weren't a lot of people for the trip. Just another mother-daughter pair like us from b'lore who soon became fast friends and a family from chennai. Check out pictures from our trip here.
Apart from this, for the rest of my trip, I attended one of my best friend's wedding, did a lot of shopping for some cool indian clothes, gorged up of amma's awesome food , spent some time relaxing at home, going down memory lane, feeling more close to my dad as I haven't felt in years and met with relatives that I hadn't seen for more that three years. All in all, a frustratingly short but good break.
Now I am back in the US, its the same old grind with work and commute. Nothing's really changed in that front...sigh. But I did do some stuff that is blog-worthy. I'll definitely blog about that but I think I'll hit the publish button on this one first least it gets lost as one little bleep on google's servers and never sees the light of the day.

Peace.

Cody, the coding wonder dog!

My co worker brought his 9 weeks old terrier mix puppy to work the other day..goshh he was so cuttee. He was at work for two days and we all miss him already! I wish I had a puppie too..but umm.. I am really bad of taking care of myself, let alone a dog and besides, I wouldn't want to scoop poop and clean them and did you know dog's here have insurance too??

Err..perhaps, I need to think this one thru..(thinking..) gottit! All I need are friends who have cute puppies. That way I can play with them, have all the fun in the world but when its time to umm..ahem, do the scooping part, I can just turn the other way. Sweet!

Now, who has cute puppies..please come forward!

That will be $5 for using the lavatory, please!

American airlines has started charging passengers $15 for their first checked bag. They already charge for snacks.. and some airlines give a teeny tiny bag of pretzels that is so paltry, it is not even funny.
I wonder what's next..a fee for using the toilet?


check out the news article here.

Jugalbandhi

A big fan of shivamani..he rocks! Check out this video that I came across in utube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNSt46AfIG8

Blogger updates

I am still very much alive and kicking. I just have been lazy and haven't had the time to sit down and get a blog update done. What's been happening in my life worth telling after the kayaking trip? Umm, lets see..

• Went to this flower and garden show in Sf.Awesome gardens, some super duper talented people.
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• Did a total touristy thing.. rented a bike from fisherman's wharf and biked across the golden gate bridge to sausalito(my old office) and came back by ferry. I cannot describe enough the simplicity and beauty of northern California.
• Went to visit my friends in Minneapolis..I think I might have mentioned at least half a dozen times how much nicer it is just to visit a place that has snow and not live there...seriously. Right when I was flying, a big storm was predicted but luckily my flight landed ok without any delays and I was able to spend a wonderful time with my best buddies. We visited this waterfalls (I forgot the name) and parts of it was still frozen! in the middle of march!!yikes!!!
• San Francisco, we have arrived! My office has finally, finally moved to the city and the commute is soo sweet..ohh..can't tell you how much better it is. The new dig is close to downtown, many more options on places to eat, it is right at the water front, close to the pier buildings and my apt. is just a 45 min BART ride away. Yaay!!

Well, that's it folks. See you soon and thanks for sticking by for so long to read my posts. Either I have truly annoyed you to the extend that it has driven you to check out my blog just to shut me up or that you are totally vetti. Anyhoo, no complaints :).

Kayaking in the bay!

Yaay, Kayaking! Clear blue sky, cool breeze, silence, the sun glinting off the water and not to mention the seals...its fun :). I was initially apprehensive about kayaking in the sea coz I don't know swimming and I did not want to embarrass myself in front of my team mates. But..well, it all turned out good and I am glad I went for it. Check out my activity on the right (you gotta click on the pic).

Other updates this week- (same old commuting woes): Chased after a book given by my boss that I so thoughtlessly left on the bus (thank you iphone), woke up at a god forsaken hour in the morning to get to work early..only to sleep on the train all the way to daly city and end up taking my usual bus to work..grrgh! I am seriously hoping my work situation improves by the end of the month when my company moves into the city for real. for real, real.

My Hero!
When I look back and reminisce on my childhood, one of the most lingering memories that come to my mind is watching tennis matches with my dad and in particular, watching Pete Sampras dominate the world of tennis. It was my dream then to watch him when he was at the top of the game at Wimbledon. Although I haven't been able to achieve that, I did go see him last weekend at the San Jose stadium for the opening night of SAP open. Aging and retired though he was, he did beat Tommy Haas in two straight sets. Just seeing him on court brought back countless memories...the time when I sat in a particular seat for hours until he won the game just coz I thought that was lucky, of secretively watching late night matches, but finally giving myself away by yelling for him to win (:D), the nail biting prayers, the jubilant victory dances and the immense sadness when he announced his retirement.


Thank you, Pete, for the memories.

How to spend a week with 80 bucks

Of Break-ins, thieves and bike races....

So here's the story, for those interested. (No worries, I am not Kate Hudson and this is no movie.)

Friday (2/15/2007) : Had a hectic day at work but later enjoyed the peace and calm of Muir beach while the sun was still out..the scene was straight out of the "Dhom dhom" song; movie: Sindhu bhairavi. Tucked in a corner along CA-1 N, this beach is just perfect for someone seeking silence and calm. It also had a small hill that you could easily climb and you get a bird's eye view of entire beach and the horizon...gorgeous.



Well, coming to the more adventurous part of the evening, came back to the parking lot, only to see that my friend's car was broken in (passenger's side window) and my handbag, which I had so unthinkingly left in the car, missing. Yikes!



Saturday (2/16/2007): So, spent the good part of yesterday canceling all my cards, trying to get my duplicate id, changing locks of my apartment and car and basically berating myself again for being so careless.
Now I have an emergency stash of $80 at home, with which I need to get by until the end of this week, by which time, hopefully, one of the card companies send me a replacement card.

Sunday (2/17/2007): Attended the Tour of California- prologue at University of Stanford at Palo Alto. Put on my best sales voice to talk to customers about their upcoming products at one of my company's booths.



Mabbe I should just stick to code development :D.

And V for..?

Another valentine's day rolled by. Nothing great to report this year either..oh well!

• Found this pic of the google logo for V-day. I love google art.



• San Francisco had its annual pillow fight at the ferry building yesterday. Hitting perfect strangers with pillows??..oh this city is nuts! :)



• Heard that most restaurants were totally booked in the city and if you did manage to make a reservation, you would end up spending on an average around $89 per person! Sheesh..A romantic dinner at home has gotten a whole new meaning, hasn't it?

• Had a busy day at work yesterday but stopped by Twin peaks on the way home. Blessed with a clear sky, I was able to see the entire city spread out below me. It was just gorgeous. Nice way to unwind :).



• Came across this article on the web: Seven-day weekend? Count me in!

Kali.for.ni.cation

My kalifornication is almost complete now. I finally (finally!) got my California driver's license and vehicle registration done. I've been postponing it for so long. So, I can now legally drive in the sunny state. Yipee!

Other updates this week:

# Wait a minute...I signed up for some sunshine..please!!
It has been raining nonstop for a week now and although I am a big fan of rain, this is depressing. It would be really nice to see the sun once in awhile. Fact: Did you know that Seattle has the highest number of suicides in a year in the country?

# Had to play the role of Florence Nightingale this week..glad to see my friends getting better. I don't have the world's greatest immunity system but it was good to know that its doing its job..bad weather and germ factories withstanding :)

# iPhone galore!
I was super undecided on whether I wanted to spend my moola on an iPod (since I definitely need some muzik), an iPhone or an iTouch(which is just an iPhone without the phone). Although I still think that an iPhone is a completely unnecessary device, in the end I decided that I need to enjoy the product while the product would garner a response like "Oh wow, you bot an iphone..ooh!".
Its a nice feeling :).

Picture time once again..
These are some of the pictures I took of the lovely San Francisco. This link will get constantly updated as I don't intend to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs :)

Cheers!

Taare Zameen Par

Am sure there are much better and more deserving reviews out there for this movie so please don't consider this as one. I simply enjoyed this movie, a sweet, heartwarming story of a little boy who suffers from dyslexia. The focus stayed on the little kid, as it rightfully should have, the story moved seamlessly with small hints on how parents should understand their children's problems. There were some scenes that were very moving...esp. the 'Maa' song (great lyrics). Ofc, me being me, I was bawling the whole time. But seriously, kudos to Aamir Khan. Also I should add, the graphics at the beginning were very nicely done. The whole movie gave me a feeling of a painting...all soft and subtle brush strokes and in the end, a beautiful picture (pun intended :)).
If you haven't seen it yet, do so. You'll come out with less cynicism and more appreciation for such movies.

Tahoe Fun-2

As I had promised to myself, here's the secod part to my Tahoe fun blog..the one where I talk about my actual trip. I went with a bunch of friends all of whom I did not know bar one. We all knew this mutual friend, whom at that time, I barely even knew but then I was bored and I really wanted to go to Tahoe and my friend convinced me that it would be fun.

Day 1: Got up bright and early next morning for my first skiing experience. Woohoo! Alrite..I was gonna have somme fuun. So lots of enthusiasm and just a bit of nervousness. But being the Christmas weekend, there was a huge crowd everywhere we went and we had to wait in the line for about two and a half hours, and I could see my enthusiasm dwindling, but then we finally got to where the ski shoes were..and it was pretty slim pickings, I tell you. Well, got the shoes on, one foot and many hands at a time (:D)..sheesh, have you ever tried on those shoes? they are so hard to get on and they weigh a ton! I had such a hard time balancing and I hadn't even stepped out on the snow yet. Yikes! I was like one of those air puppet-balloons that you normally see at the car dealers...the ones that keep bending over.

Anyways, I am digressing..so we finally hit the slopes and it was soo much fun. I just loved it...ofcourse I sucked at it, being my first time n all, but still, it was great! After many tumbles and several dents to my pride later, I finally learned how to stop and even ski a bit. Our instructor was this 80 year old lady, totally fit and so full of energy, she put me to shame. Wow, unbelievable lady.

Day 2: We felt we hadn't had our fill of snow yet so we decided to stay back one more day. And this time, we tried Snow Mobiling. Wow. It was just, for the lack of a better word, great. To feel the wind on your face, see the scenery rush past you..it felt good. Altogether, a very nice trip. Lots of first time experiences for me.
. First time going on a trip where the majority of the group were complete strangers, only to make new friends.
.First time skiing.
.First time snow mobiling.

Oh, it is so nice to just visit a place that has snow.