So many things - so little time!

I'm finally motivated to blog....couple of things have happened in life - went on holiday, got engaged, parents met etc etc but let's focus on my favourite subject - travel.

The bride is planning a 10 day vacay in Italy - making me incredibly jealous - very excited for her but still incredibly jealous and we got to discussing our top travel destinations that we want to visit. All of The Bride's currently seem to be in Europe. (1. paris 2. rome/ venice (though now florence also) 3. london 4. dublin 5. scotland. 6. moscow. 7 prague. 8. berlin).

I have a travel agenda for the next 3 yrs where I plan to strike off 1.New York 2. Istanbul (Turkey) 3. Angkor Wat/South East Asian island preferably Koh Samui. Post which, I will be looking at South America - Inca and Mayan civilizations{Machu Pichu- here I come!!] and also torn between the Eastern European countries like Prague etc. This list does not even include a trip to New Zealand where I will spend more than 6 days this time and explore the South Island.

There are so many places in the world that I will never get to see and this really causes me pain!

I will get down to making a comprehensive list of where all I need to go in the world and post it so I can have the pleasure of ticking it off/striking it through when I'm done!

Also, I have discovered new music after quite a while - In addition to the love of my life Robert Pattinson, 'Twilight' film also introduced me to a band called Muse whose track 'Super Massive Black Hole' is in the soundtrack. I really like the sound and realised how much I missed knowing good music or just hearing different things. In the middle of these discussions, I learnt about Damien Rice and also the sound of Gomez both of which I'm currently enamoured and listening to on loop on youtube. It's music like this which makes me realise why I need a Mp3 music player and why just radio on the phone is not enough!

I also appear to have given up reading - the last books I read were on holiday - Curtis Sittenfeld's Man of my dreams - eminently skippable and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go which I found very interesting - I also remember watching a movie on the same thoughts - 'The Island' starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannsen. Since then I have started a Joanne Harris 'Rune Marks' and the last in the Thursday Next series 'First Among Sequels' - both of which are still pending completion.

Mommy mania?

I'm surrounded by babies - it's a sea of them - let me count it! My BFF had a baby boy in Jan, The juggler's BFF has a baby girl last Nov, another friend of ours had baby girl in early Jan, next one is due in Sept and that's within like the immediate friend's circle - there are a multiplicity of babies that we know of - both my bosses had kids, other friends have produced little ones - and they all put up photies on facebook making you a part of their lives since you see the change in the baby everday - anyway the point is all these babies are making me broody! It started with my niece who is the apple of my family's eye - and I'm telling you - there has never been a kid as smart as her, but any way I digress!
I can spend hours looking at photies of other people's kids - which makes me somewhat creepy stalkerish but still....I'm really getting angsty to have kids of my own but the steps to achieve tht in India where you need to be legally bound etc etc seems to freak me out where I appear to have upped the drinking etc which will prevent me actually getting to that state! It's a vicious cycle I tell you- one that I have less than a year to break!

RIP - MJ

While I agree that Michael Jackson created some fabulous music and he rocked the 80's and some of the 90's - this massive outpouring of grief is way beyond my understanding. For the last 10 yrs or so, the man has been a recluse with accusations of paedophilia and paying women to have his children - he has declared bankruptcy and dangled children out of balconies. Obliterating all that, there is still no need for my facebook page to be completely filled with all these memories of MJ - which is actually a list of his songs and other random facts. None of us knew him personally - his music is what we remember and that still remains - we can still own those records - I think we should all go out and buy it so that his children actually inherit something not just a memory of a King that used to be!

Astrological help?

I've been having one of those months where nothing seems to go my way - it's not necessarily a major catastrophe but it's one of those season's where I overlook all the little things and land up not in trouble but with a leaden weight of guilt in my stomach - this in turn leads to wanting to drown my sorrows in alcohol which further leads to late nights and the cycle continues.

This has always been my biggest problem - I used to have a higher than average intelligence and I can retain information - I'm willing to work hard and I can work smart but I lack an attention to detail! so it will always be the small slips that catch me and these will always come at a time when I am facing a larger issue which is not necessarily my fault but compounded by this minor infraction, in totality gains a larger meaning.

I've discussed this with friends who also screw up and from their experience, we are not the only ones who screw up - others do it too! they are just more proficient at denying it or avoiding the issue altogether. It's just lucky few, who seem to do it consistently and feel it majorly. The best solution is over look it and pretend it never happened. Yes - good in theory, in practice crap - coz I'm one of those people who admit fault and always with an expressive face, cannot drum up cheer in the face of flaws.

For non work related issues, a classic example, cheap deal to fly to HKG - ticket for Rs.15K. Grabbed it, trying to work out dates and find out when the juggler is going to be in HKG. The first set of dates I chose had expired by the time I finally went to pay. When I decided on the next set and got leave approved, I went ahead and booked. 30 minutes later, it turns out the juggler will be in HKG the week after me....and 3 days later, during a discussion with my parents about how I think I won't have to change planes at the halt in SQ since it's only a 15 min difference, it turns out yes, it is a 15 min difference with an additional 24 hrs!! Yes, I have a whole day in SQ - which is not such a bad thing since, I've never seen and I have a cousin there so it all turned out ok but it's the attention to detail thing again!

I'm hoping that my moons were not in alignment this fortnight making the coming week, a pleasant experience otherwise as my twitters often read, this day/week/I need to curl up and die!

Reasons why I like being a girl:

• Chick lit - can you imagine the serious reading I would need to do otherwise?
• Girl bonding - I cannot imagine knocking back beer and competing in sports as an option
• Dresses/skirts - One has the option of not encasing one's legs in hot fabric
• Make up - the joys of girl bonding while dressing up
• I can cry during movies, Actually I can cry whenever I want and then get whatever I want
• Accessories - Bags, Belts, Shoes, shiny clips, Jewellery, the list goes on
• Having an excuse to be snappy once a month, twice a month, however often one wants

For a longer more comprehensive list, please visit the bride as well as the flip side of things!

To the Juggler on his 37th birthday

I know you hate celebrating the day since you did none of the work and your parents are the ones who should be congratulated. So we will start with that....

To Juggler's parents, thank you for the wise decision and the patience to have a child after you thought you would be done with child rearing - you did a fantastic job and 37 years later, it definitely seems worth it!

Birthday's, as I keep saying, are milestones of your life - another year completed, more goals achieved, more change accepted - it reminds me of where you are in your life and more importantly who you are.

This year,

• Just now, you did the boys holiday you've always wanted to do and the one you felt cheated out of
• You were asked to a representative of the music industry in India on your merit alone
• You went to Amsterdam twice
• Vienna + Prague struck off a list
• You have seen every responsibility you touch turn to gold
• You're team leading skills are appreciated - witness people willing to rejoin under your fold
• You watched your team at work grow [not physically], with pride
• Your sister praised you to the skies
• People still laugh at your jokes
• You discovered you have timing - no joke maybe but timing for sure ;-)
• You discovered remix versions of Auld Lang Syne
• You are financially secure with 0 debt
• You now own 2 pairs of Onitsuka Tigers
• as well as 2 original Yankee caps
  

There have been some setbacks:

• You were not chosen President of the U.S.A
• Your best friend passed away
• You only managed Hong Kong once in the last year
  

That's all I can think of - all in all, I think you had a good year and I don't know about you, but I'm certainly grateful for this day and you!

P.S. The juggler's response

Stress

definitions by Urbandictionary.com

1. To be overwhelmed with responsiblity
2. To contain an enormous amount of pressure
3. An unpleasant by-product of life in modern society

It also means ' a california slang term which defines a type of weed that is so shitty it causes "stress". ' Oh Well! U learn new things everyday!