trippin to the midwest

bought my ticket yesterday - i'm headed to the chi for an unexpected visit with the family. promises to be an 'explosive' weekend, i'm sure.

i'm actually technically going to milwaukee. (that's a tough one to spell!). haha, it's kinda funny that i'm going there to get to naperville. ah well, that's the only fare that was in the realm of affordability.

alas, one more day of the work week! and next week will be a four-day work week since i had to take monday off to get the cheaper fare. unfortunately for me, i'm wide awake right now cuz i took a long(!) nap after coming home from work (3.5 hours). since i was tossing and turning last night until 4 am, i've been thinkin about my bed all day. i guess i'll try to read myself to sleep with one of my library books. woohoo!!!

the namesake and waterworks

boy oh boy. what a movie for a sunday nite. if i were in better spirits (in a general sense), the movie would have been a bit freeing, and prophetic in a good way (like a road map of what's to come.) i'm not sure if it's the hormones or if the movie just struck some deep chords within, but tears were streamin.

overall, the movie was neat in that i felt like i could relate to the immigrant child perspective. growing up and figuring out that you're different from the mainstream wasn't really a fun process until these adult years when it's now 'cool to be ethnic.' funny how that happens, innit?

there were so many parts of the film that were times in my life that watching those scenes transported me back into those times, so much so that during these scenes i felt like i was watching my own life flash by. like the perpetual fear of late night calls from relatives in india, peer pressure to try blend in rather than be yourself, learning how to reconcile beef with your family, the trips to and from india as an american born desi (i refuse to add in the 'confused' cuz that word is just downright condescending. i mean who isn't confused in the grand scheme of life!!!), and much much more : )

basically, i think it's a must-see. it was worth my ten bucks (and duane-reade bought, 99-cent popcorn).

making it to friday

i do realize that i was a bit dramatic earlier in the week, posting in the wee hours of the mornin, but a gal should be allowed at least that. this is particularly true this week.

i made plans earlier this week to chill with a couple gal pals when little beknownst to me, something or one up there shat some bizarre concoction of rain, sleet, and snow down on the northeast. insane? yes, extremely. sadly, i was completely and utterly unprepared for the downfall. i knew it was going to snow today from the forecast, i didn't know though that it was going to ^$(*%)*% SNOW.

i was wearing my flat shoes with holes in the soles, the socks that meet the ankles, and was not wearing my poofy, down coat that makes life bearable in the pedestrian winters of the city.

like true troopers though, we sipped on jasmine tea in a veggie dim sum spot and ventured back to our corners of the city. (not without going berserks re:MTA service changes, of course)

as is usually the case these days, i'm already under the covers and hoping that somehow the sun will magically appear and take care of bizness or that tomorrow will be another day.

knowing my luck and having some grasp of reality, i realize the latter is more likely to happen.

wednesday morning

in bed,

under the covers,

eyes half-closed,

yawning.

on getting older

'tis true. i'm a-feelin bummed about growing up. yet another year of confusion about life's big questions to look forward to. but, i do realize (having received lots of lovin' yesterday in the form of flowers, a care package, text messages, and voicemail) that i have special people in my life to torment as i consider these scintillating questions. having shared these words 'o mine, i leave you with some other people's words. . .

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the old man, “I do that too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the old man.”
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the old man.
- - - - Shel Silverstein

check this out, too.

dreading the work week

alas, it's only tuesday!

and tuesday morning in bed at that.

if i lay here any longer, i'll be late late LATE!

climbing the ladder

as i looked ahead, i wasn’t sure that i could make it. neither was the end in sight, nor did those around have any insight that they could offer to make my travels easier. and so i climbed and climbed with little respite from the ladder’s endless curves, fluctuating inclines, and delicate bars that only the most refined and dedicated climbers could conquer.

my parents climbed with me at the very beginning. i guess i was one of the lucky ones. i even had a couple brothers nudging me along. they seemed to be in it for the long haul, but soon i learned there is no such thing as a Warranty of Infinite Support. sadly enough, it's not included with the purchase of the ladder.

there didn’t seem to be many obstacles from the get-go though. it all seemed fair and equitable, didn’t appear to be a race. there were letters and numbers flying all over the place though-coming at me from all different directions. i really wasn’t sure whether to precariously dodge them (i was on a ladder, afterall!) or beginning collecting them as my new, favorite pastime.

and then one sunny day, a big M and D hits me on the head, and i though hmmm, maybe i'll get an M.D., somehow-almost a coincidental accident-i slipped on the ladder only to regain my balance as a magic carpet with M.Ed. engraved in it saved me from continuing on a longer, more dangerous ladder that didn’t match my skill sets.

thinking back to the ladder’s origins, i met teachers, classmates, best-friends-forevers, tutors, mentors, peers, friends, acquaintances, and even enemies. i've always wondered about those letters and numbers floating around though. particularly the ones that look like Ss with one and sometimes two vertical lines that splice the letter down its center. why were those so different from the rest, and did they really need to be floating around, anyways?

adding to the routine...

i'm announcing the birth a blog chronicling me travels (read me the irish way.) i think it's the only way i can motivate myself to really buckle down and write about my travels without letting them wholly fade into a distant memory.

i can't really think of even one person with whom i've shared the truckloads of experiences and sights that i encountered during my month-long travels in north india, and this is probably one of the most efficient ways of doing it, seeing as we're all under so many time constraints these days. hopefully, it'll be of some interest . . .