Retrospection

Its been two full months since I kept track of my pursuits with life. In retrospection, its been quite a rat race. I played and won the finals of intramurals individual squash singles championship game. The recipient of blue-ribbon in this game is worthy of mention because of two reasons. First, he gave me the toughest fight ever in squash that I have played. Second, very strangely enough, I kept bumping into this guy in the restrooms of atleast three local night bars in Aggieville. Isn't that eerie? You bet it is!
One of the other things that happened on the career front are a lot of applications for monies towards research, travel, and conferences. The best deal that I like about these is that they not only provide additional lines in my so called curriculum vitae, but also help me organize and give a precise direction as to where my graduate research should be headed to.
And then there was this annual thing of the India Student Association called Kshitiz-The Horizon, to which I invited 'J' who was able to attend the cultural exhibition and the dinner. Am glad 'J' did not have to sit through the cultural show, because I myself did not like some of the shows that were performed, or should I say 'discharged'? Anyway, I appreciate the work that students like me take pains in organizing such a social event.
The other significant happening was doing a Rock 'n' Roll all-nighter with the girls. The friends of 'J' were visiting over for the Thanksgiving weekend.

'Marathon' Rush!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

I have been adding on an average of about 15 km a week to my running mileage for the past decade. That may not qualify me to be called an 'avid' runner. Nonetheless, I recently decided to turn to marathon running. There seems to be thousands of other newbies like me in pursuit of this not-so-formidable task. According to Runner's World, there were about 25,000 marathon runners in 1975 in the US. That number swelled to about 450,000 in 2005. But the marathon demands respect. 26.2 miles with decent pace is an extremely physiological and psychological challenge.

@ Radinas'

Monday, September 18, 2006

This is the second free drink at Radina's that I had in as many weeks. That speaks of the spending magnitude of my time and money at this local coffee house. Sunday morning, I had the company of 'J' though. We hang out ocassionally for coffee or alike to update each other of our lives, I believe. This day however, I had few sketches that I drew to show. And here comes a challenge! "You should draw a self-portrait". Its' a challenge because, never ever did I think of doing a self-portrait and I dont like looking at myself for long hours sitting infront of a mirror. And for gods' sake, in a rest-room? Those were the first thoughts that flew through my mind. But then, when a highbrow like 'J' gives an unscathed rationalization! You better listen. Doing a self-portrait gives an opportunity to do an in-depth exploration of ones' own psyche. That however, I will know at the end of this week.

Aishwarya Rai

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

One of my friends suggested working on a 'real face', akin Ash. I nurture an interest, amongst others called sketching that I do in my free time. Not that I set aside some time of the day to be free but I make myself free of all things to feed my interests, to run away from the daily chores, I guess. Anyways, my friends' suggestion was challenging. I haven't tried sketching a human face before. I usually do architectural designs, landscapes, and similar. So this was taking one up on, indeed. And what else could be more challenging than drawing the Miss World herself. It is much easier to draw a presentational and accurate portrait if you have the knowledge and understanding of the face and head of the person you are drawing. Well, understanding the most recognized and beautiful face was no challenge. In fact, it was the best deal of my pastime. So I set out on an intense adventure, uncertain of the outcome. I begin with an outline of her front-view face. That was easy. Now comes the tough part, eyes. Eyes are the most important and significative feature of the face. You screw up the eyes, you blew up the whole thing! I realized that eyes have to be shown with certain depth that is very characteristic of each individual you are dealing with. Nonetheless, I win again. I could see the 'depth' of her eyes! Smirk. Now, the next in line was the nose. I could get the nose quite right in the first go. But the most backbreaking of all were mouth and lips. They are the most fascinating part of the face, and very true of Ashs'. Oh! I loved this both the noun and verb part and am glad with the end product. Nevertheless, I feel triumphed and thats what all that matters. By the way, it took me about ~6hrs.

Being Vegetarian

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Grilled lamb ribs, chicken biryani, shrimp fry, and mutton kheema. How better could you treat your taste buds with? It can not get any better than this, especially when prepared by a seasoned cook and when your taste buds are trained to handle that. Today was the test of my tether to avoid temptation of eating all these. I decided to turn vegetarian almost four months back. Why did I switch? Because I had a choice and I chose vegetarianism. But then I dont judge people who chose to eat meat.

Hillbilly Hoedown

Saturday, September 02, 2006

A town with a population of 311 takes pride in a tradition started about 6 years ago in the backyard of a hillbilly. Aptly named, the festival is a celebration of country music with homemade food and booze indulged by the hoi polloi of town.

Vergas

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Jessica, Chiquita, Mark and I are visiting the Eichmillers for the weekend. This is an unforgettable visit in my life. Thanks to the deluge of arresting events during this trip.At about 3:00 in the morning we get pulled over by a cop for burnt-out headlight and are let go with a notice to get the light fixed in a week's time or so. But the disturbing thing was that cop tailing us for more than half an hour. What is the likelihood of a cop following us for so long? Very likely, if a young white woman is traveling with a rat terrier, a towering Irish man, and a shadowy and bald Indian in a car with an Alaskan registration plate.We meet Jackie and Steve Eichmiller, Jessica's parents in the wee hours of Saturday. Steve saved his au-naturel torso for the morning by showing up in his BVD's. It wasn’t at variance with what is to be expected at those hour(s), though. It was just me feeling that singularity. Nonetheless, it was a pleasure meeting the older and having been away from home and parents for almost four years, I felt nostalgic.