Supper and a wet paper story

I've been craving to bake all this week. So my supper for today was some wonderful zucchini bread, thanks to this recipe and c-o-b soup.

Enjoy the weekend folks!

Oh, right. Wet paper story!(A weird title, dontcha think?)

So anyway today, on a whim, while I was at grocery line checkout, I decided to indulge myself by picking up the latest copy of the 'People' magazine(Yes, please dont imagine anything fancy, I'm quite boring like that). When I got home and unloaded the bags, I happened to dump a water bottle into the bag that had the mag. So, what else, yes...the cap wasnt fitted tightly and hence the magazine got soggy. And me being me, I didn't have the patience to wait for it to dry. So a light bulb went off in my head...the dryer! Yes! I dumped the mag into the dryer and set it for 10 mins.

What happened? Did it work, you ask? Erm. I didnt realize, putting a mag in the dryer makes the binding to come out, so I was left with a sheaf of loose papers- dry though!

So I guess it kinda worked, what do you think?

Timeless, Ageless

A forward from many years ago, stored for posterity. NOT my penning, wish it was. If anyone knows the name of the author for this, please to let me know!









You Are You

You are strong. . . when you take your grief and teach it to smile.
You are brave. . . when you overcome your fear and help others to do the same.
You are happy. . . when you see a flower and are thankful for the blessing.
You are loving. . . when your own pain does not blind you to the pain of others.
You are wise. . . when you know the limits of your wisdom.
You are true. . . when you admit there are times you fool yourself.
You are alive. . . when tomorrow's hope means more to you than yesterday's mistake.
You are growing. . . when you know what you are but not what you will become.

You are free. . . when you are in control of yourself and do not wish to control others.
You are honorable. . . when you find your honor is to honor others.
You are generous. . . when you can take as sweetly as you can give.
You are humble. . . when you do not know how humble you are.
You are thoughtful. . . when you see me just as I am and treat me just as you are.
You are merciful. . . when you forgive in others the faults you condemn in yourself.
You are beautiful. . . when you don't need a mirror to tell you.
You are rich. . . when you never need more than what you have.
You are you. . . when you are at peace with who you are not.

~Author Unknown

Non-stop repeat mode on

......hooked to this!

Odd!

* Some THREE years ago, I used an online florist in Bangalore to send a bouquet to a friend, wishing him for his exams. So this morning I open my email and find this :

Dear Madam/Sir
auto-reminder.
Last year on ... you placed an order to be delivered to XYZ

To deliver again ,Please place the order online.
Thank you
Mrs ABC

Sender's Email Address : Altoid

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Occasion : Good Luck
Instructions : Please deliver by [date]
Card Message : Best wishes for the exam
Delivery Date (DD/MM/YYYY) : 26/02/2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recipient Name : XYZ
Care Of :
Recipient Address : [The entire address]
Recipient Country : India
Recipient Phone No. : [number]

Errrrrrrrrrrm, NOT EXACTLY last year!

Glitch in the system?

* I am woken up (albeit rudely) at 2am this morning by an SMS. The sender's number looks like a cell phone number in India. It reads thus :

'Best wishes on India's Republic Day. Jai Hind'- From the Krishnans

Now, I can recall no Krishnans that I know, at 2 in the morning nor now when I am fully awake and in my senses.

So either they got the recipient number wrong or I should remember the Krishnans which I am just unable to.

Oh! and Happy Republic Day folks!

Thawed

There are snow days and then there are pileups. Today being a day off, thanks to MLK day and the skies turning it into a snow day was somewhat perfect. This wasn't a pileup kind of day....just an hour or two of snow and then the sun emerged, bright and warm. There's that small window of photo op, a sliver of time to capture this wintry mixture for posterity.

The Potomac river is everywhere in the VA/MD/DC area. It originates near Harper's Ferry and is carried along the C&O canal all the way to the Tidal basin in DC. A small park hosts this river as it flows through the county where I live. Its but a few miles away, the river that separates VA from MD. Its a beautiful park, filled with walking trails, a golf course and camping grounds.

The best time to visit this serene place is right after a snow shower. Its my favorite drive after clearing the snow from the driveway and off the car, the warmth of the sun sets the mood for a drive along the Algonkian park.

You enjoy this winter scenery while I go fix myself some green tea.

Writing prompt #3- Nearest funny fix

Before you read the prompt, make sure you will have 10 minutes of uninterrupted time to write and please do time yourself. Once you've written it, please leave a link here so we can come over and read it. Here goes:


Write about who your nearest and surest clown/joke/humour fix is? Who is that one person you can always count on making you laugh, even if you werent looking for one? Is it someone in your immediate family, a close friend, or perhaps its you? You could be your own clown! Alright, go on now-tell us about him/her and maybe leave a number as well so we could dial-a-laugh perhaps, if we need one?

Embellish

White inside, white outside!

Its 6 in the morning and I am fixing myself a breakfast of strawberries and yogurt while packing my lunch box for the day. NPR plays in the background detailing the preparations for Inauguration day which is just 5 days away. The sound of it seems to send chills down the spine...a historical moment and I live in the metro-DC area. Who would've thunk?

I shake the sun room curtains open. The sun is yet to shed light on how the day will turn out to be. I catch the word 'snow' on the weather forecast. I turn on the lights of the deck and I see white. The white of snow that's blanketed the bare brown of the wood.

As I dig into my morning fix, the yogurt seems smooth and delicious as it rolls on my tongue, soothing the ulcers which have made a painful appearance. It reminds me how I begin and end my day with...yogurt. Just like the smooth white that covers the deck outside, this smooth white is my comfort food.

For as long as I can remember, yogurt has been my daily accompaniment at every meal. Since moving abroad, I have tried every brand that has seen the light of the dairy aisle...from Dannon to Yoplait to Stonyfield farm, to yogurt smoothies to fruit-at-the-bottom. I have tried the desi brands as well from Reeta to the latest Desi Natural Dahi(which is my current favorite, the low-fat variety). I could finish even the most hated dishes/vegetables with a dollop of dahi. Whether its a quick breakfast or a late night snack(granola or fruits with a yogurt topping), dahi is my life-saver. Lassis are right on top of my favorite drink list. Which is why I loved our Delhi-Agra-Jaipur trip two years ago. The lassi in the area is thick, frothy and unforgettably good! If ever a diet were to be created that said no yogurt, that'll be the death of me. I am not a chocoholic or caffeine addict or any such. But dahi-olic, that I am!

Before I launch into brand endorsements, have any of you tried Greek yogurt? If you haven't, try a small carton of this. Pronounced 'Fa-ye' its thick, full of active cultures(which one absolutely needs!), protein-packed and yummy! Don't ask me why its different and why I like it better than others, for some years now- this has been my absolute all-time must-have.

As I scrape the remnants of my bowl of yogurt, I smile to myself. Whatta morning!

White inside, white outside!

Writing prompt #2

Before you read the prompt, make sure you will have 10 minutes of uninterrupted time to write and please do time yourself. Once you've written it, please leave a link here so we can come over and read it. Here goes:

Do you have any one moment in your life, when you were totally, madly, utterly embarassed? Was it a situation in which you did something, said something or just happened to find yourself in? If you recall those feelings of wanting to sink through the ground, or suddenly appear invisible....use this prompt to recount them and help us feel your plight!

Happy writing!

=======================================================================
Me : 'I can't do the climb down, puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeese. We've been at this for 4 hrs now, since 8am. And we walked like, I don't know, some ungodly kms last evening, when you guys made us get off one station early and hike from thereon to the campsite'

Team lead : 'Alt, how about some 'congress kadlekai'? That'll help you with the descent :)'

Me : (pouting some more) 'I refuse to be swayed by some paltry peanuts! I WILL NOT do the climb down. Somebody or SOME thing's got to carry me. My feet hurt!'
(more whining)

Team lead : 'Alt, listen. I'll keep pace with you. You can do it. See how well you made the climb. SavanDurga is your first trek/rock climbing trip. And you made it like a pro!'
(Muted sniggers around while the rest pretend to nod their heads in agreement)

Me : 'You don't mean it. I KNOW when you're trying to rope me in to sign up for more torture. I'm never coming again. '

After a minute's deathly silence while the wheels of my brain were churning..

Me : 'Why can't I hitch a ride with that friend of yours thats going down the hill to the village?'

Team lead : 'Um, NO. He has chores to do and that's why he gets to ride around in the bike unlike the rest of us that trek. Moreover, you don't want to give up already'

Me : 'Like hell I do! I am going to ask him to give me a ride down.'

Team lead : 'Don't tell me I didn't warn you, its going to be hard for you on the bike. Take it from me, you're better off walking down. If you take the bike, we'd definitely enjoy the sight of you going down the hill(literally and figuratively speaking) on it, but don't blame me when you see me at the bottom of the hill.'

Me : 'Hmph! You're just jealous that I won't be suffering like you will be!'

A few minutes later, a bike along with bike rider arrived. It was a customized bike...like boys at that age usually like their bikes to be. Definitely high-end customized. Looked fancy too! The chassis was tilted such that driver was no doubt angled over the steering like one of those formula racers, but the clincher was the pillion rider had to be sitting at a 45 deg angle(and if going downhill, get the picture?). There were no handles to hold on to.

Now, how was the ride, you ask?

The then and the now of travelling and everything in between

* 10 years ago, surviving 24+ hrs to get from Point A in India to Point B in the US(or vice versa) with a short transit stop at some EU destination was a sleepless saga with time spent feverishly between books, music, movies and plenty of restless walking up and down the aisles. I could never sleep on these flights. I would see everyone around me doze off the minute they tucked into their seats with the belts on. And I'd be the lone zombie easily polishing off 2-3 books per trip. Thats 2-3 books in a span of 24 hrs, no kidding!

And now, I cant seem to even finish one book. I am in a constant dazed state on flights, waking fitfully in between for the wonderful "asian vegetarian" fare that gets delivered to my seat at regular intervals. 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 hr flights just seem to get drowned in blessed sleep and the 2-3 hrs of layover serve as an intermission period for a restroom break and a cuppa.

Strange!

* Being away for a month, while it works out to be a decent break, its hard to get back to the rhythm of things back here. There's lots of work- both at work and home thats been piled up for sure. But everything gets tackled in a half hearted kinda way- the sights and sounds and smells from back home linger for a far longer period. Its cold back here- the sun doesnt see the light of the day till around 8 in the morning and decides to check out by around 4:30. The weather here in VA has been wet and miserable, to add insult to injury. All I do is curl up in bed and wish I were back home. Sleep doesnt seem to want to come to my rescue. I suppose all of it caught up with me on the flight.

* The program "Aap ki kachehri" run by Kiran Bedi on the Indian telly caught me by surprise. Judge Judy now has an Indian equivalent.

* How can we get over this disgusting trait back home of spitting? I mean seriously, what is it with getting the urge to spit all the time? Somehow civic consciousness about this has never gotten around. Just like Singapore has banned chewing gum, we have to find a way to curb this sickening trait.

* Watched Abhiyum Naanum at the theater on my last day at home. While it had shades of 'Father of the bride' the first half was immensely entertaining and a must watch. The second half drags for quite a bit with plenty of needless songs and dances. The Jogi character has been overly hyped, me thinks. All in all, Trisha was passable, Prakashraj and Aishwarya fit their roles to the T and the Ravi Shastri character was entirely timepass!

Writing Prompt #1

I thought this was a good way to start off my new year's blog posts.

Before you read the prompt, make sure you will have 10 minutes of uninterrupted time to write and please do time yourself. Once you've written it, please leave a link here so we can come over and read it. Here goes:


Write about a sleepover, a slumber party or the time you stayed somewhere overnight.


My earliest memory of a sleepover/slumber party is from 2 years ago. Gasp! I know! When I was well into my 30s. Yessiree, that's probably the first time I participated in a real sleepover- an all girls night long slumber party. If I had participated in any during my childhood days, I probably don't recall them or I never had one :). Either way, this is the only one I can think of, for now. Two of my best girl friends and I, at my home. They brought their 3 girls with them. The young uns played for a bit and tucked in early. Ahem, that was around 10:30. And we went on till I believe it was 4 am. Talking...just talking.

They had come after feeding their respective spouses and making suitable arrangements for keeping them occupied/entertained. You know, when you start talking...there's so much of introspection and tangential topics you separate into, that time flies. Really, it does. At the end of the night, we had talked about everything under the sun, and really nothing that would change the world.

At 4, I could sit no more. And one by one, the other two were forced to tuck in. I began to believe if I had not caved in, they'd have gone on for longer. But then I have this issue. No matter what time I sleep, I always am up by 6:30. On the dot.

Hence I woke up at around my usual time and finished the rest of 'Palace of Illusions' :D. Yes, I was so engrossed with the book that before I realized, it was around 9 and the girls were slowly waking up, one by one. And in turn, waking their mothers up too. I had prepped the previous evening to make some khara bath/kesari bath for breakfast. We were to have 'brunch' and then disperse.

So it was a delicious, delightful brunch. The kids loved having us fuss around them while they tucked in a "very Bangalorean" thindi. After they were done, it was our turn. To sit in front of the TV and watch some random nothingness while we dug into the food. By 11:30, we were all done. Cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher- all along chatting nineteen to the dozen, laughing, reviewing movies, songs, singers- everything in specific, nothing in general.

How come when you're hanging out with cozy company, time just zips through like a speedjet, but times which weigh you down just seem to drag for eternity? All I can recall of this night was the camaraderie and the sense of being amongst like-mindedness which is so hard to find on a regular basis around you.

And thus it was, my first most memorable slumber party.