tag 15 - secrets

Lekhni tagged me with this “list 10 secrets about yourself“. I read hers and a few others and it was pretty much writing about oneself. Secretive or not depends on how open a blog one runs. Now, considering how fondly am referred to as an ‘open book/blog’, I was stumped. What more could I dig up about me that would hold a minute’s attention and not bring a yawn on the reader?

So I debated in my head on the whole tagline of this tag. So, jobless me one day decided to backtrack one route of the tag, by hopping from one taggee to the tagged and see where it goes. Guess what I disocvered? The fact remains that the word “secret” got tagged on along the way! Guess there are more freestylers around that I gave credit for. That is so what I’d do. Just to make folks talk I suppose. See how daring one can go.

Are you gonna tell us about your past loves, the time when you actually got caught for cheating, the jilted lovers or how about when you purposely sneezed into your sworn enemy’s food. Oo, how about the time when you spread that nasty rumor on that school friend who stole your position in the basketball team, or better yet the one time when you kissed your best friend’s boyfriend and pretended to care when you are hi-fi’ing yourself secretly or the time when you actually told your parents you were studying at a friends and ran off to watch the latest matinee, or something more naughty?

See, juicy? Very.

This is the kind people want to hear. Right? I know I would. Why’d anyone care if you liked M Rafi over Mukesh or if you grind your teeth when you sleep, or if you like french fries with mustard, or you read the last page of a magazine first? (I do, btw).

Nice, but ordinary. Don’t you think?

Now that I’ve set high expectations, it’s time to bring them crashing down. *wicked evil laugh*

I’ve done a few wild stuff back in the day when the repercussions couldn’t stretch too far and the only person I was answerable to or responsible for were, well, me. I now think back of all the capabilities I secretly hold within me and I occasionally feel twinges of self-pity, but definitely more relief as one can only shudder in horror where and how’d have landed if my parents had given me that freedom. Yes, that’s the kind of faith I have over my decisions!

I really did wish for this tag to be where I could teeter on the line and say it all, but I realize my readership’s increasing and some silent readers could very well be folks who may not look too kindly on my antics. So what do I do with this tag? (I know, ain’t I the girl scout trooper here, taking everything so seriously?! It’s a bane I tell ya.) So, this is how I plan on doing it. I shall tell you something about me, and then I shall take it a step further and tell you secrets I hold within me. These are not necessarily about me, but they are secrets alright. No, am not gossiping, and in any case, if you the reader do not know the person I talk about, it isn’t gossiping. I don’t have a name for it yet, but I surely know it ain’t gossip (and I am sticking to it!).

So, here you go. Remember they are secrets, so shhh:

1. I once bullied this guy on the phone. It was a prank that 2 of my friends and I put together. The said boy was a dork. He bugged us constantly. He kept telling us how he was handsome and a local Romeo and how all girls swooned over him when he, get this, biked (as in cycled)to school. Yeah. So, after a few months of this listening, one of my friends got so riled up and said, let’s play a prank. I ofered to be the voice behind this Juliet who would call him up and tell him how cute and smart he was and then ultimately when he was smitten with Juliet, we’d spill the beans. We were in 8th grade, and it went well. Afterawhile bullying came naturally to me. I was a bully in hiding. Such glee and pleasure I got out of the daily calls. Especially more so when he’d come to us later and with a pompous air declare how he had snagged a Juliet. was so much fun till I grew a conscience. No fun after that. Juliet stopped the calls and she slept better at nights. What an idiot eh?

No one need feel bad for the guy. He I believe married a gorgeous Sindi girl and is now father of twins. I wonder of course what that girl saw in him, but the saying love is blind didn’t just come out of thin air.

2. Was riding back home mid-afternoon once (must have been in 10th grade or so) and I saw my neighbor uncle do some major hand gesturing across the road. Tilt my head and I see this maid/nanny lady in the house across also similarly gesticulating. My very fertile imagination leaped with this spark. The uncle saw me and immediately grinned sheepishly and turned away. That further added chapters to my story.

3. I once tried shoplifting when I was 8 or so. I desperately wanted a set of some fancy colored bobbypins and mom refused. So as she stood and haggled with the pavement fellow regarding something else, I picked these up and held them in my hand, within my fist. The guy looked at me and shook his head. I slowly put it back turning very red in face. Thank heavens he was discreet and didn’t tell my mom. I swear I’d be walking around with a gollywog sorta hairdo with an inherent scare towards anything named ‘pin’.

4. A childhood buddy of mine recently got in touch. Last I knew he married this another friend of ours who was sufficientlys enior to him, married with a kid. Husband had passed away in the military. Commendable, noble gesture and the thing is, I know he truly loved her. Felt very happy. Then out of the blue he starts fessing up to me. He and wife indulge in menage a trois with a rotating 3rd participant. Was a little disconcerting, but as long as they are happy, who was I to judge. He assures me it’s a common happening in India, and I shouldn’t live such a sheltered life staying so far away from deep-rooted cultural restrictions. Ohkayy!

5. Since gas prices are hitting the roofs, I have started filling regular instead of premium into the Acura. Figured I was saving money. Till again, like an idiot, I casually told the husband and got an earful on how I was messing up his car and the performance and the engine’s getting busted etc etc and then he sat me down and did the math. For $1.40 I wasn’t exactly saving the world, the car or our savings. I filled premium this morning. (This was a secret till a few days ago when I got admonished for it.)

6. There was this girl who cheated on her Math exam for her 10th grade board exams. She and the girl sitting in front of her exchanged notes, formulae and read off each other’s papers. I sat in the row next to them and was really upset about it. Especially considering math wasn’t my forte and why should anyone else get more just by copying. Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t rat on them. A few years ago, I heard she was paying taxes on her million dollar home in Palo Alto. Ah well, all those formulae must’ve worked well.

7. I was recently told that if one had a mole on one’s body that one couldn’t see directly but only through a mirror, it was meant to bring fortune. I have a few. Moles, that is. Fortune, am still waiting.

8. I once cut my own hair. I was perhaps, 10 or so, and I hated how my coconut stringy tight curls weren’t as pretty as Pamela’s or Sheetal’s. So in an attempt to look cute, I cut a few stray strands up front in the hope of them magically becoming straight bangs and I’d do a swoosh like them or the female in the LUX or some such ad. Did I say my hair’s curly? Yeah, so you know what happened. Got yelled at nicely and had to further anoint my head with more coconut oil than in the Nadar shop till those strays grew back.

Quite sure I had read the abridged version of Mill on the Floss recently.

9. I can take some pretty mean self-portraits with my itty bitty camera, that have been put to some rather good use meant only for one pair of eyes. Not elaborating further in case I incriminate myself.

10. I secretly think I look like a one-eyed witch in my profile picture.

No more secrets. Am exhausted!

So who’s gonna do a brave tag, and not chicken out by just telling us your favorite authors, foods, or movies? Wait, let me tag:

Altoid, Archana, Booboosmom, Neha, Terri, Lakshmi, SB, Shmetterling, Pavan, Adithya.

 

potpourri 8

There’s so much happening since the last few weeks that June seemed to have been gone a long long time ago. That includes the vacation, the trip up, the events around it, coming back to work and how crazy the last week’s actually been. I need to start jotting down stuff before they get lost in memory.

1. Trip up to New England was good. Munchkin was quite the darling up and down, without making a fuss. Meeting extended family after a gap of 8-10 years was quite nice and a different experience. Everyone had changed and yet not changed in many ways.
2. Visited the Boston Museum of Science. AMAZING place. Really. After visiting the Smithsonian museums a few hundred times, this was refreshing time spent. The height was when the daughter, after spending 4 hours traveling the floors and exhibits, asked if we could come back again! There’s proof that if it could appeal to a middle schooler, the museum must hold a charm. Truly left bad that son wasn’t with us then.
3. Stayed a whole SIX days without speaking with son. It was a different kind of missing, and more than me I believe the husband fretted and wanted him back at the end of day four.
4. The interesting part is though I can’t nail it exactly, but son appears “changed”. Not in a bad, or significant way, but just changed. I guess this is what they mean when they say “every experience changes a part of you, and learning from it makes us a slightly different and better person than before”. I think I made those words up, but the sentiment remains. Feels good, definitely.
5. Sister and I in a frenzy to get my nose pierced ran to the tattoo parlor on the dot at 10 am. Only to find that apparently, they would open only at noon. So came home, ate lunch and then trooped back again. Can’t believe the husband actually humored me and stayed smiling through all the confusion. Boy, was there confusion. A set of family was leaving,and so were we to drive down, another family coming in, sister’s in-laws and parents each embarking on various discussions, with different sets of kids runnig all around getting in each one’s ways!
6. Had a panic attack when I was asked to sign a long very legal looking document for the piercing. Too many risks is what I thought. Half chickened out. Decided what the heck, it was just a teeny little shot of pain anyway. Thought this smooth middle aged nice looking man would do it as sister promised, but was called into a room by a short, pudgy chubby young man who sported a mohawk, jeans falling off his portly waist and a yellow bright tee which had way too many words on it for me to comprehend. His ears had ping-pong sized holes and he had more silver on his face, tongue, and hands than the gold in Tirupati. His voice on the other hand was probably the most soothing I’ve ever heard. With surgical precision he dove into the skin, right after the guy matter of factly told me “yeah, sure, everyone’s nervous”, just a bit, not much pain, but it will” and “stay comfortable, it does’nt matter to me how you sit” and “close your eyes, and we’re done” . Phew. The piercing as such was bearable, it was the twisting of the end inside that hurt, and I did say a few “aahs and ouchouchouch” but it was over before I knew it.
7. Come home to be welcomed like a strange being from outer space. The brother-in-law armed with a handycam, I had 6 pairs of eyes searching my nose and my face and the most inevitable question: “Did it hurt?” and constant approval nods. The husband just refused to offer any opinion and smiled through the whole thing. I even stuck my nose right up close and personal, and he just shooed me away “yea yea, it’s fine”. The poor guy. The stuff I put him through. In any case, I must give credit where it’s due. He’s a darling for allowing me to do what I want, and not let himself be burdened by it.
8. Then got into the vanand drove home down i-95 in record 8 hours, with 3 stops!!! No, I didn’t drive, he did. On complaining coz I feel he doesn’t let me drive, as he thinks am incapable of it, I was quite strongly reminded of another viewpoint by sister and sister’s father-in-law. That point being, that the husband cares for me so much that he’d rather bear the stress of driving than put me through it. Yeah. Okay. The husband had a look of relief when this was mentioned aloud.
9. Watched July 4th fireworks along with a few friends at the local High school. Drenched to the skin. The spirit once the fireworks started didnt wane a bit and in fact it dodn’t seem to bother anyone absolutely despite the crowds, waits and traffic. Seeing the enthusiasm, the joie de vivre and the sense of belonging folks exhibited, mom and I wished we Indians could do the same on such days at least.
10. Realized leaving work early only meant doing 8-10 hour work in 6 hours. That’s a lot to cram in, but at least I leave happy. I swore I would never bring home work and I hope to keep that up. It’s work. It’s part of my life and it shall stay back where it belongs.
11. This past week has been crazy and I’ve probably been putting in close to 70 miles a day. Pressing the accelerator with my right foot has only laid major stress on my right knee. It now hurts more than I can ignore and it’s only getting worse. Hoping to get rid of it in the next couple of weeks. The pain that is. The leg’s staying.
12. 70 miles is driving back and forth from work, then shuttling daughter and son to respective activities, and then the dance rehearsals in the evenings running late into the nights. The days were running into each other and it all came to an end Saturday night for the performance.
13. It was amazing to be back on stage again and the appreciation that flowed from folks who’ve never known me as a dancer before just added onto the most enjoyable evening in a long time. Probably the best moment was when my guru called me aside after the end of the show and said a few things that I would always cherish and keep in mind. It was a crowning moment and a timely affirmation, something that boosts a sagging morale. Accordingly, my foot and knee didn’t hurt the whole Saturday. Just proves that when you are involved and engrossed in a passion, the little pains, and annoyances cease to exist.
14. Have set a few goals for myself, now I only hope my bones and muscles allow me to realize a few of them.
15. Basement project’s driving all of us a tad crazy. I think it’s finally coming together, now to find a time to pack the junk we’ve been accumulating over the years a new home.
16. IKEA never fails to amaze and always delivers. Thank God for the swedes and their sense of style.

 

munh mein ghee shakkar, NOT

Who was that genius who forecast that there would be lesser blog posts coming through once I hit reduced hours?

Guess what? It is precariously standing on a precipice, on the verge of coming true!

Today I start to leave work at 2.30 pm, and the joy at saying ‘bye-bye’ to everyone while they made faces at me and humphed and grimaced and wailed at my receding back was a teeny step above blissville. Roads were crazy empty. Sadly, couldn’t zoom as the darned cops were almost at every corner hiding and pouncing on poor unsuspecting zoomsters. Come home and all I do is get back on the road shuttling between the library, optometrist, basketball game, and do the same route again for the pickup; all the while answering munchkin’s chattering inane and occasionally brilliant questions.

Considering that I blog from work (I mean, that’s putting good use of those boring in-between hours when you are twiddling thumbs and pretending to work) and the work hours are reduced, one doesn’t need to be a logical deductive reasoning guru to add the equation up.

But no, just to prove me wrong, I am now writing this post between making daal , choosing colors for the home theater in the works downstairs, and serving dinner. Now this kind of dedication is hard to shake. I do deserve an extra hour at work just to blog. Getting paid for it would just be perfect no?

Go Blogging. Yeah!

 

kissing googlers

To the girl (am pretty sure it’s a girl, why’d a guy search thus. Oh, maybe he would since the girl is not doing so…. hmm.) who fell upon my ‘Munchies’ post on googling

“should a girl kiss the boys upper lip?”

The long answer: Just like we’d share everything with this other person from toothbrushes to secrets to ice cream to bed to passwords to keys, this whole kissing thing is a two way street too. You share. Lips.

Breaking it down:

1. His upper lip, her lower lip

2. His lower lip, her upper lip

For the most part, the girls are left no choice but to work the 1st method.

There’s also the:

no-choice 1: His Upper lip and Her Upper lip and no-choice 2: His Lower lip and Her Lower lip,

which let me tell you, folks have tried with very unsuccessful and messy results!

So leaving the 2nd messy set out of the equation, why are girls left with no choice but have to deal with that upper lip? The reason being invariably the guy’s already thought this over a million times and he has the whole plan waiting to execute. Especially if it’s his first time. Kissing’s under-rated, frankly. There’s a whole procedure to it as I was made to watch in this show (There are parts 1, 2, and so on so check ‘em out, quite amusing! Part 4 has the whole trying out the kiss part.) on Disney or was it Nick (I forget which anyways.. ) last evening. It was quite entertaining in a very informative way. More on how not to kiss than the perfect kiss. Which helps so at least you know there could only be this many ways to mess up, but then again, we are a creative lot. Boundaries of mess-up-ville forever expand with pioneers daily added. Go us!

So yes, going back to the mechanics of kissing, as I have been told in various situations and mediums, the male gender obsesses about everything that has got to do with ’sex’ . Kissing is part of it. More like a ’sriganesh’ - I know, not the perfect metaphor, but I shall use it anyway. As I mentioned earlier, since the boys have already rehearsed the whole process a million times in their rooms and other places - alone, they are pretty much rearing to go once the opportunity presents itself. Opportunity is of course having a willing female participant.

Though it might just seem simple to kiss, there are whole lot of factors involved, the combination of which helps or ruins it all.

The hands (what do you do with those?) the chin, the nose (those aquiline sharp noses folks love: look good only in Mughal movies and portraits, the stubbier the better, I’d imagine), then there’s the angle of approach (geometry helps, if you didn’t ace it in high school, chances are you are going to widen the angles formed by your face at the lips and thereby produce lots of overlapping of skin, and not the kind you want), the tilt or the bending by the participants to achieve contact and ultimately, the quintessential tongue. Let’s not even go there. That’s kissing 202. If one is googling on asking if the upper lip was safe territory, then we talking basics.

Coming back to your question. I am not sure about you, but I’d ask to google one more which is o so relevant to how you’d want to go about this.

As boys start becoming men, their claim to fame is the appearance of facial hair. Some take pride in it, some try as hard to make it look like the juniper hedges lining the lawns, but ultimately look like scraggly seaweed as garnish on an otherwise appetizing main dish. This upper lip with a growth of this hair we speak about on boys or men who want to continue to assert themselves, or think cool, will pose a problem. Never mind the fineness or the lack of it, it simply is in the way. Kissing the upper lip, or whatever else you want to do with it simply involves taking into consideration navigating the bristles. It’s an added challenge. Some women like it too, I am told.

Let’s say you get lucky, and the clean-shaven dude is in your stars, then the choices widen. This is when the lower lip starts to look appealing. It always is, no matter the gender, why else would the guys make a beeline for it? Upper lips are usually thin, unless your name is Angelina Jolie or Goldie Hawn or your capability to get botox shots. So the target is almost always the lower lip. Upper lips just hang in there like roofs, like a side artist providing visual interest, without which the lower lip might look orphaned. I mentioned earlier, that with both parties wanting the lower lip, it creates an annoying, messy and ridiculous situation, where the fight’s always on who has the lower hand (read: lip). No fun there.

Sharing’s good. So share, don’t hog, and work it. Dead fish are no role models. Be alive, and yes, you may nibble and kiss. Bite? Nah, not yet. Whatever you do, do not grab both lips at the same time. That’s just so wrong.

The short answer: Depends. The early bird in this case gets the worm er.. lower lip.

 

a year later

June 28th 2007 I wrote this post.

A year later, June 17th 2008, I ask yet again.

 

ps: Can you tell am bored?

 

I pulled a

Carrie!

Hehe, Actually, yea, I think Carrie’s just about right…

Charlott’e s too cutesy for me, though I like her best, especially her elegant style of dressing. Funny I scored low, coz I so relate to the last couple of lines below! Yea, am a dodo like that at times…

Miranda’s a little off out there. She strikes me as conservative in the not independant way, and also seems like she’s always at the short end of things…

Samantha’s too brazen, but I like her pluck. I’d probably be more her pluckwise if I was born in a different era or maybe if I was 10 years younger. No wonder the parents thought I’d be better off married asap. *ok, I kid. But anyway, she’s funny as hell! rofl@the passage below, esp the drama part!

Alrighty girls, please try and post. Make this a tag yea? Especially if you’ve seen the movie or even watch the episodes on TV.

 Shmetterling, Pri, Gayathri, Archana, wickedT, Madhu, terri, Laksh, ChronicW, Sush and all the rest of you girls, take the quiz. It’s only 12 questions or so. Have some fun!

Sex and the City: The Four Women, the Four Elements:

Your results are based on the four Elements of Astrology: Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Each Element has its own set of characteristics, and each of us displays some combination thereof, usually with a focus on one or two. Samantha, Miranda, Carrie and Charlotte each personify one of the Elements and its basic traits. Which Elements most strongly influence you?

You scored 60% Carrie
Your answers peg you as a Carrie-type, much influenced by the Air Sign qualities associated with Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. Like confident Carrie, a sex columnist, you’re curious and perceptive, always seeking answers and never satisfied with the superficial. An Air Sign influence can lead to indecision and an avoidance of tough issues, like with Carrie and her on-again, off-again attachment to Mr. Big. Forward-thinking, incredibly intelligent and witty, you just exude quirky charm. You’d be utterly bored by someone who’s just a pretty face or hot body — though you don’t mind looking and flirting! You’re more turned on by an equally smart and funny mate, someone who challenges your mind and makes you laugh. You love to talk, so you need a good listener who’s open to playful and eccentric ideas about love and lovemaking.

You scored 20% Samantha
You identify with Samantha’s bold and liberated Fire Sign qualities, characteristics associated with the Signs of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. You’re strong, audacious and larger than life — and you take what you want! Sometimes you can even be thoughtless and selfish, as you get so caught up in craving immediate gratification and excitement that you overlook someone’s feelings. Your personal style likely reflects your desires: sleek, low-cut, revealing just a bit more than might be considered acceptable. Watch that you’re not coming on too strong, though. You could scare potential suitors off with all your drama. If you seek so much attention, the more basic qualities of the Fire Signs could be burned right out of the picture. Show less skin or cleavage and more of your creativity, your vibrant leadership skills and courageous generosity!

You scored 10% Miranda
You chose many of the same answers that Earth Sign-like Miranda, the cynical but pragmatic lawyer, might have chosen. Just like Miranda’s had a tough time deciding whether to give in to the affections of Steve the Bartender, you don’t give your heart up to just anyone. Miranda shies away from a relationship with Steve because he’s ‘just’ a bartender, not something more conventionally ambitious or stable. Those with powerful Earth Sign qualities — characteristics associated with Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn — are cautious in love and seek stability and status over nearly anything else. Earth Signs provide a steady, realistic attitude and they can bring order out of chaos. A little-known Earth Sign fact: Incredibly sensual, you seethe beneath that smart, expensive business suit of yours, yearning for intimacy but hesitant to give up your material needs, your career ambitions or your responsibilities for a passionate moment that might not turn out the way you’d hope.

You scored 10% CharlotteA romantic at heart, you chose the answers that demure Charlotte may have chosen. Strongly influenced by the intuitive, profound and sometimes naïve Water Signs — Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces — you’re like a mother, a mystery and a poet all in one. Though on the surface you may seem innocent and all about seeking the good in people, beneath the surface, you hide secret yearnings for intimacy, for attachment and ideal love. You’re seeking a knight in shining armor, a soul mate, someone who will complete you and tether you to the earth when you get carried away with your fantasies. You’re super-sensitive, soaking up the moods of others; you emote freely, crying at commercials and sappy movies. You also provide a shoulder to cry on and open arms for hugs. Be careful that you’re not so wide-eyed and trusting that you get taken in by some cunning wolf in sheep’s clothing.